Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, everyone should feel safe at work, and they should be safe at work.

I want to give testimony about Kenya, who is a 49-year-old certified nursing assistant. I want to bring her words here in the Congress to understand what we are trying to do, who we are trying to protect.

She said: ``You don't know if you are going to take the virus home to your family or not. I have two children, 16 and 18, and a 1-year-old grandbaby that I worry about all the time.

``I have a designated place where I take my uniform off and my shoes off to keep my family safe. I come in, go directly to the basement, where I already have a change of clothes, strip all my clothes off, put all of my clothes directly into the washing machine.

``Then there is my mom. I am her only child now, so that is a big scare because who is going to take care of her?

``It is very scary for my family. They don't want me to go back to work. But I have to go to work because I have to be able to take care of my family, and I tell them that my residents need me.''

These are the human stories behind the fact that people right now are asking us, the United States Congress, to pass legislation that is long overdue to protect workers in some of the most high-stress, least- appreciated positions in our communities.

These workers are on the front lines, day in and day out, serving vulnerable groups and facing rates of workplace violence at five times the rate of workers in other communities.

She is expressing in here just the stress of it and, on top of that, workplace violence.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a letter of support from SEIU on behalf of the over 1 million healthcare and social service workers across our country.

Service Employees

International Union,

Washington, DC, March 25, 2021.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the over 1 million

healthcare and social services workers of the Service

Employees International Union and the 80,000 nurses of the

National Nurse Alliance of SEIU Healthcare whom have been on

the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, I urge you to

support H.R. 1195, the Workplace Violence Prevention for

Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.

Nurses are on the front lines of care, and workplace

violence against healthcare workers, especially nurses, is an

enormous and underreported problem. Almost three quarters of

workplace violence injuries are suffered by healthcare and

social service workers and these workers are nearly 5 times

more likely to experience violence on the job than any other

worker in the US. As nurses, we know that threats and

violence are a major impediment to the essential care we

provide.

H.R. 1195 would direct the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) to issue a federal workplace violence

standard. This specific standard would require employers in

health care and social service assistance sectors to develop

and implement a plan to protect workers from workplace

violence.

The legislation requires that employer prevention plans be

tailored to a specific workplace and employee population.

This is important to overcome the very dangerous

myth that workplace violence is part of the job, essentially

random or unpredictable, and therefore, not preventable.

Workplace violence, in both health care and social service

assistance settings, has clear patterns and identifiable

risks. Research has found that evidence-based practices, when

implemented consistently, can significantly reduce incidents

of workplace violence.

We cannot expect nurses, who spend more time with patients

than any other health care providers and have been at the

forefront of providing care during the pandemic, to be able

to deliver the high-quality care we were trained to provide

under threat of violence and assault. A safe and violence-

free workplace is essential to good patient outcomes and an

exceptional healthcare system.

Essential workers have put their lives on the line

throughout the pandemic and now elected leaders must meet

their demands to be respected, protected and paid. We ask

that you support H.R. 1195 and send a clear message that

message that Congress will not ignore the harm and suffering

caused to health care, behavioral health and social

assistance workers by workplace violence.

Sincerely,

Martha Baker, RN,

President SEIU 1991, Chair, National Nurse Alliance of SEIU

Healthcare.

These are protections that should have long been in place and enforced. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

When passed and signed into law, I urge OSHA to immediately work to issue the standards necessary to protect these workers.

Madam Speaker, I gave that story of Kenya, who lives in Livonia, Michigan, because, on top of all of that, she was dealing with the number of protections that were lacking in the workplace.

Again, these are people who take care of our loved ones, take care of our sick, take care of those who are mentally ill, who need assistance, whose family members are not equipped for what they are trying to do. The least we can do, especially during this pandemic, is to offer them more protection and safety in the workplace.

Mr. Speaker, did you know that over 40 percent of mothers are sole or primary breadwinners for their families? It has been over 50 years since the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, yet the problems that preceded that legislation remain today. So it is time for the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Mr. Speaker, across the country, women are paid 80 cents to the dollar that men are paid, and the number is significantly lower for women of color. Black women make roughly 60 percent to the dollar. Native-American women make about 57 cents. And Latina women make just over 50 to the dollar.

The discriminatory wage gap is costing women thousands of dollars a year for doing the exact same work as their male counterparts. And I see this right here in my community and my district where women are forced to work longer hours, harder, just to make ends meet and put food on the table for their families.

My community is one of the poorest in the Nation, and the wage gap is one of the biggest factors for families who are really trying to get out of the cycle of poverty and get the support for their children so they can thrive.

I am grateful to my colleagues on the Committee on Education and Labor for bringing this long overdue legislation.

Madam Speaker, workers in our Nation deserve human dignity. That means the right to fight for safety and fairness in the workplace, as residents in my district know this all too well because we birthed the labor rights movement.

One of the most important provisions in the PRO Act provides for mediation and arbitration if the employer and union cannot agree to a first collective bargaining agreement.

My amendment guarantees that there will be no undue delay providing workers that agreement. Currently, almost 50 percent of unions fail to reach an agreement within a year with the employer. So my amendment specifies that the arbitration panel must issue a decision within 120 days. This furthers the core purpose of the bill by preventing employers from delaying this and putting the harm on workers.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in loving memory of Aiyana Jones, who was only 7 years old when she was killed by Detroit police.

The fact that the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act could have been named after countless other people murdered by police shows that this is long overdue. It is important to note this bill is a start, not the end, of our movement to transform what it means to feel safe in our country.

We must demand true accountability, justice, and reparations for the generations of police brutality against our Black communities. We must invest in the social programs that we know will give our communities the opportunity to thrive.

This is the justice that Aiyana Jones and George Floyd and many other lives lost to police violence deserve.

Madam Speaker, I rise because voting is a right that must be extended to all people, and, yes, that includes currently and formerly incarcerated individuals.

Madam Speaker, in a country that has yet to fully make amends or pay restitution for its racist past, we must recognize that taking away the right to vote as punishment for a crime is directly tied to the racist, mass incarceration system that continues to wreak havoc on Black and Brown communities.

The stripping of the right to vote of incarcerated people, especially Black folks, is directly connected to the racist past of our country, from slavery and Jim Crow laws to mass incarceration. It was done with intent, to disenfranchise them for the most sacred right: to choose the people and policies that govern.

Madam Speaker, people need to look it up. There are countries that allow formerly incarcerated people to vote.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking Chairman Grijalva, Congresswoman DeGette, and the committee staff for working with me on this amendment and for the continued leadership on this bill.

The amendment incorporates environmental justice communities like mine into this space. It would require a report on permits by providers serving environmental justice communities.

This measure, first introduced last Congress by the soon-to-be first Native American Cabinet Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior, Congresswoman Haaland, is an important step in identifying and removing barriers to access our public lands. Communities of color, low-income communities, indigenous communities, and those most impacted by pollution and climate change often have the least access to our national parks and Federal lands.

My 13th District Strong is an environmental justice community, an area that the State calls the epicenter of the asthma burden due to corporate polluters. Folks in my district deserve the same opportunity to enjoy clean air and public lands as anyone else so they don't grow up like me, thinking that sulfur dioxide and rotten eggs was just how the air smelled.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to please support this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the resilience of the residents in my district who have seen the traumatic impacts of the pandemic but they continue to show up for each other.

The sisterhood among the women of the Zeta Phi Beta's Highland Park Michigan chapter, Kappa Rho Zeta, in my district are a true testament to our community's strength. This sorority was founded with the purpose of upholding the tenets of sisterhood and service. Over the past 40 years, the sisters have given countless hours of community service to the people of Highland Park.

Their service and charity work has extended to so many organizations across my district. Even during some

of our district's most challenging times, they continue to show up for our neighborhoods and community members who are most vulnerable. They have spearheaded annual holiday celebrations for our seniors, provided workshops and assistance for pregnant mothers, and uplifted the graduating high school students of Highland Park by awarding scholarships to support them in their academic pursuits.

This is our district's strength. I am honored to uplift the 40 years of sisterhood, service, and strength of the women of Zeta Phi Beta's Kappa Rho Zeta Chapter and their many outstanding contributions to the residents of Highland Park and 13th District Strong.

Honoring Wayne County Residents Lost to COVID-19

The people define my district and its history, so it is essential that I give reverence to the residents who are among the 500,000 people in the United States who lost their lives as a result of the coronavirus.

I would like to honor a valuable member of the community who has passed, Ms. Abena Hogan.

Ms. Hogan was born and raised in Detroit and was a proud daughter of our community.

She began her first career in public service working for southeast Michigan's regional public transit system. After 20 years of service, Ms. Hogan briefly retired before she was called back into service to work for our Wayne County Clerk.

Ms. Hogan took immense pride in serving the people of Wayne County, and Ms. Hogan believed deeply in the power of the people and grassroots action. She will be dearly, dearly missed.

I also want to give tribute to a very highly respected public servant. This is Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon. He left a tremendous mark on our community and the community that he truly loved to serve.

Benny Napoleon served as our Wayne County Sheriff from 2009 until the time of his death. His love for Detroit and its people was unwavering. His tenure as Wayne County Sheriff was marked by his work to reduce inmate populations by utilizing alternatives to incarceration and employing electronic tethering.

Napoleon was well-known for his personality and his big heart, and he had a smile that would just light up a room.

Shortly after his death, we lost yet another public servant in our district, Mayor Dan Paletko.

Mayor Paletko served the Dearborn Heights community from 2004 until his death late last year. He prioritized making Dearborn Heights a welcoming place for all of its residents to call home and was especially proud of his city's rich cultural diversity and recreational resources. His pride in Dearborn Heights was evident in his dedication.

We will continue to honor the memories of not only the mayor, the sheriff, and Abena, but also the countless other residents of 13th District Strong who have lost their lives to this deadly disease.

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, Dearborn Heights Mayor Dan Paletko, and Abena Hogan are three of more than 16,000 Michigan residents who have lost their lives to COVID.

It is essential that our families who have suffered such a great loss this past year get the resources and support they need from our government so that they do not face financial struggles and hardship because of the pandemic.

We must act now. Our families and our communities can't wait any longer. Our families deserve recurring payments. Our local communities deserve direct aid. Our residents deserve to be vaccinated, and our students deserve to be educated in a safe environment where they can not only learn but thrive.

So today, I rise in remembrance of those we have lost due to COVID but lean on the strength and the resiliency of my district who deserves more.

Mr. Speaker, today is a great day. Today, we send a clear message to every LGBTQ person that you belong here, that you are loved for who you are, and that we won't stop fighting until you experience true equity and equality.

We are experiencing a crisis of violence against our LGBTQ neighbors, especially people of color, and our transgender communities. Today's passage is for Treasure Hilliard, for Paris Cameron, and for every LGBTQ person taken too soon by hate.

When one in five transgender people has experienced homelessness, when transgender people have half the homeownership rate of cisgender people, we have a structural problem. By outlawing discrimination in housing, employment, education, and public accommodations, we send a powerful message to the bigots, including those here in Congress, that their time is over.

Listen very closely, and remember these words: We are winning. We will continue winning. Our will is unbreakable. Our love is so much stronger than your sad, pathetic hate.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague from New Mexico. It is truly an honor to be able to serve with her.

Yesterday, she shared with me a young student in her district sent her a beautiful letter. It was her first letter from a young child in her district, and I lovingly called the child Teresa's truth-teller. I hope it starts a trend in her community.

Mr. Speaker, to many of my colleagues here, I ask them all to please come and tour my district. I lovingly call them 13th District Strong because they never stop fighting for justice even when many here across the country are always being asked to wait: wait for this, wait for change, wait for us to be able to tackle poverty wages. Those that can afford it, they wait, but our folks can't afford it anymore.

Raising the Federal minimum wage to $15 per hour has never been more urgent for my residents, and it is long overdue. You see, I represent the third poorest congressional district in the country. I want you to think about that for one moment.

I have an elderly couple who has to melt snow in a bucket so that they have the ability to flush their toilet because they can't afford water. Water has been increased by 400 percent in rates. I have a mother in my district who is pleading for me to find a place where her daughter can eat twice a day. More than half of my residents pay a third or more of their income for housing.

Our economy is structured in a way to benefit the few over the many. It is no surprise that the many it is not working for are the working people in our communities.

If we want to truly look and peek at the economy, measure the amount of debt our families have compared to their incomes. Look at the productivity numbers that are up compared to the wages that remain stagnant.

At the same time that our people are suffering, large corporations are seeing record-breaking profits, and CEOs are being paid record-high salaries. It is simply unfair and immoral.

Raising the minimum wage is also a matter of racial justice. Workers of color are far more likely to be paid poverty wages than their White counterparts, and Black and Brown workers are far more likely to be victims of wage theft. I know because I used to represent them and fight for their fair access to their wages that they have earned.

A $15 Federal minimum wage would increase the earnings of 38 percent of Black workers across our Nation, a raise that will be life-changing.

It is time for all of us right here in Congress to earn our own pay and deliver this overdue minimum wage increase without delay. I hope folks understand, $15 is already the compromise. It is. If the minimum wage had kept up with worker productivity, it would already be at $24 per hour.

Workers aren't asking for anything they aren't already earning for their bosses. Without workers, there is no profit. It is high time for us to end the pattern of exploiting workers, our neighbors, family members.

Raise the wage. It is the right thing to do for our Nation. It is so incredibly supported outside these Halls of Congress. Listen to the people who sent us here. They are urging us to please stop waiting.

We have been given the power to change their lives for the better. Mr. Speaker, I thank, again, my colleague from New Mexico.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the many outstanding contributions to the communities of Wayne County in Michigan's 13th Congressional District of Abena Hogan, as we honor her memory.

Born and raised in Detroit, Ms. Hogan was a proud daughter of her community. She began her first career in public service working for southeast Michigan's regional public transit system S. After 20 years of service, Ms. Hogan briefly retired before she was called back into serving the public once again, as the Community Relations Liaison to the Wayne County Clerk.

Ms. Hogan took immense pride in serving the people of Wayne County. She was an active member of countless community organizations, serving as a board member and as a volunteer, including the NAACP and Barton McFarland Community Council. Ms. Hogan believed deeply in the power of the people and grassroots action. She engaged people, young and old, on the importance of being involved and taking action.

Ms. Hogan was well-known for her boundless energy, willingness to always lend a hand to someone in need, and commitment to improving the quality of life for all community members. Ms. Hogan was affectionately called ``Queen Abena'' because of her commanding, yet loving presence. She was a true public servant and will truly be missed.

Please join me and ``Smile! One more time!'' as Abena Hogan always said, as we pay tribute to her memory and recognize her hard work on behalf of the communities of Detroit, Wayne County, and Michigan's 13th Congressional District.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the many outstanding contributions of the sisters of Zeta Phi Beta's Highland Park, Michigan Chapter, Kappa Rho Zeta.

Under the leadership of the late Ione H. Gibson, Florida Mitchell, Mary Grant, Louise Beamon, Brenda Reed and Constance Russell, Kappa Rho Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta sorority was founded with the purpose of upholding the tenets of sisterhood, service, and scholarship. Over the past 40 years, the sisters of Kappa Rho Zeta have given countless hours of community service to the people of Highland Park. Their service and charitable work has extended to several locally-based organizations, including the Agape of Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, Coalition of Temporary Shelter (COTS), Highland Park Lions Club, Park Geriatric Village, the Children's Center, Detroit Goodfellows, the Boys & Girls Club of Highland Park, and Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries in Highland Park. They spear-head the annual holiday celebration for the seniors of Highland Park. Kappa Rho Zeta Chapter also opened two Stork's Nest locations in the community to provide workshops and assistance for pregnant mothers. And, in the tradition of scholarship of Zeta Phi Beta, uplift the graduating high school students of Highland Park by awarding scholarships to support them in their academic pursuits.

The sisters of Zeta Phi Beta Kappa Rho Zeta Chapter have embodied the spirit of giving and the importance of service. Please join me in recognizing the women of Zeta Phi Beta Kappa Rho Zeta Chapter for their many outstanding contributions to the residents of Highland Park and the 13th Congressional District as they celebrate 40 years of sisterhood in service.

Mr. Speaker, after decades of living through discrimination from our government, my older Black neighbors in my district finally began having a sense of hope that a new generation of elected leaders is here.

Recently, however, those same neighbors have told me they began to feel that fear again because of what is happening here in this Chamber. In today's Republican Party, Marjorie Taylor Greene's world views are violent, anti-Black, racist, Islamophobic, and anti-Semitic, and they are condoned.

Every single day that goes by without outright condemnation from every single one of her Republican colleagues, without consequences for her extremist views, is an outright endorsement of white supremacy. We owe it to our residents who have been victim of these very hateful views to take action.

When Members like Marjorie Taylor Greene proudly claim that Muslims shouldn't be allowed in this Congress, or that 9/11 attacks were fake, or that the Speaker of the House should be executed, there must be consequences.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her incredible courage. I asked her to go last because this is so personal. This is so hard because, as many of my colleagues and my closest colleagues know, on my very first day of orientation, I got my first death threat.

It was a serious one. They took me aside. The FBI had to go to the gentleman's home. I didn't even get sworn in yet and someone wanted me dead for just existing.

More came later; uglier, more violent. One celebrating in writing the New Zealand massacre and hoping that more would come. Another mentioned my dear son, Adam, mentioning him by name. Each one paralyzed me each time.

So what happened on January 6, all I can do is thank Allah that I wasn't here. I felt overwhelming relief. I feel bad for Alexandria and so many of my colleagues who were here; but as I saw it, I thought to myself, Thank God I am not there. I saw the images that they didn't get to see until later.

My team and I decided at that point we would keep the death threats away. We tried to report them, document them, to keep them away from me because it just paralyzed me. All I wanted to do was come here and serve the people who raised me; the people who told my mother, who only had an 8th grade education, that she deserves human dignity; people who believed in me.

So it is hard. It is hard when my seven brothers and six sisters beg me to get protection, many urging me to get a gun for the first time. And I have to tell you, the trauma from just being here, existing as a Muslim woman is so hard. But imagine my team, which I love and just adore. They are diverse. I have LGBTQ staff. I have a beautiful Muslim who wears her hijab proudly in the halls. I have Black women who are so proud to be here, to serve their country. I worry every day for their lives because of this rhetoric. I never thought that they would feel unsafe here.

So I ask my colleagues to please try not to dehumanize what is happening. This is real. And you know many of our residents, from the shootings in Charlottesville to the massacre at the synagogue, all of it--all of it is led by hate rhetoric like this. So I urge my colleagues to please, please take what happened on January 6 seriously. It will lead to more deaths. We can do better. We must do better.

Mr. Speaker, this pandemic has taken the lives of nearly 16,000 Michiganders with 25 percent of the deaths from Wayne County and the city of Detroit.

Our communities are forever changed. The U.S. is on a course to reach 500,000 deaths by February 20. That is a half a million lives lost.

And in response to this record death toll, Congress has sent out one $1,200 check almost a year ago and another $600 check, for a total of $1,800. That is an average of $163 per month.

Mr. Speaker, there is not a single person in this Chamber or in my district who can survive on that little per month. My residents cannot afford to wait. The bills don't stop after 1 month; neither should the checks. The budget resolution ensures that we can do the work of delivering urgent relief to our families and every single district across the country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the many contributions of one of Detroit's longest-serving fraternal and service organizations, Palestine Lodge No. 357 F. & A. M.

Founded January 26, 1881, Detroit's Palestine Masonic Lodge has operated for one hundred forty years. The Palestine Lodge can count among its past members many high-profile residents, including James Vernor, originator of Vernor's Ginger Ale, a Detroit staple, and automotive pioneer Henry Ford. More recently, the Palestine Lodge, in affiliation with the Michigan Masons, has helped make significant contributions to its charitable foundation to make meaningful impacts on the lives of countless Michigan residents. These actions are not limited to its scholarship programs for students, its bikes for books child literacy incentive program, as well as its S.A.Y. Detroit tutoring and literacy program. In addition, the Palestine Lodge members give countless hours of volunteer time on local community initiatives.

Please join me in recognizing Detroit's Palestine Lodge No. 357 F. & A. M.'s many contributions to the residents of Michigan and the 13th Congressional District over the past one hundred forty years.