Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the exemplary leadership and faith-based work of Pastor Jean Overman, who has been recognized as the 2021 Pastor of the Year for the National Christians in Action.

Pastor Jean Overman has dedicated her entire life's work to serving the people in her community in and around Inkster and Western Wayne County in Michigan's 13th Congressional District. Her drive to serve for the good of our communities has had a profound impact on the lives of many. In addition to her pastoral duties and spiritual work, she serves as Executive Director of Operation Refuge, a local charitable organization that runs a number of programs to assist our most underserved populations. Its Mother's Pantry program affords families emergency food assistance in a grocery store-style setting. And, its Camp Inspire, a summer STEM camp, is a catalyst to instill confidence in young women and inspire them to explore science and technology studies.

In short, Pastor Jean Overman is an advocate for social justice, uplifting issues around poverty, education, racial justice and more. Her work reflects her love of community and her passion for creating a better future for our families. Her commitment to help those in need is unwavering and truly reflective of what it means to live like Christ.

Pastor Jean Overman is a true public servant, and we are truly grateful for her advocacy and her work every day serving the district. Please join me in recognition of her outstanding achievement.

Madam Speaker, in Michigan's 13th, we proudly speak truth to power, even in the face of a racist in chief.

Those who incited an attack on the people's House do not get to talk about healing and unity. They have torn this country apart. They have stoked the fire and then handed the gasoline to Donald Trump.

Dr. King once said: ``True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.''

Today, we must embody those words, and we must understand that peace must be centered in truth and action.

We cannot, Madam Speaker, sit idly by after a violent attempted coup and allow lies and hate to continue. Today, we stand up for our constituents, who continue to be harmed by Donald Trump.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the legacy of public service and commitment to our communities of the late Mayor of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, Daniel Paletko.

Dan Paletko served as mayor of Dearborn Heights from 2004 until his death in 2020. Paletko served one term as a Michigan State Representative and more than two decades as a Dearborn Heights City Councilman. He prioritized making Dearborn Heights a welcoming place for all its residents to call home and was especially proud of the city's rich cultural diversity and recreational resources. His pride in Dearborn Heights was evident in his dedication.

Beyond his public service, Mr. Paletko volunteered his time to many community-based organizations. He was particularly involved with his church community at St. Linus Church, where he served as an usher. He also proudly gave his time to Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programs and to the American Legion.

Please join me as we recognize Mayor Daniel Paletko's many contributions to the families of Dearborn Heights and the 13th Congressional District as we give honor to his memory.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution because I want every single person in my district to know that not only are they part of the squad, but they are--we are all here to stay. I want them to know that they belong; that we see and hear them loud and clear.

Mr. Speaker, I am more proud today than ever to be the daughter of Palestinian immigrants; to be the first in my family to graduate high school and, later, college; to have grown up in the city that birthed movements that fought and won against racism and inequality in our country. It is a city that taught me to never back down; to speak up when I see injustice, and one that elected the first of two Muslim women serving in the United States Congress.

This resolution chooses all of us. It chooses you. It chooses those who are marginalized and, more importantly, it chooses the values that we all must live up to.

We cannot allow anyone, especially the President of the United States, to erode our core American values. I urge my colleagues to please choose our country, choose the American people, and to support this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Dorothy Jones, a long-time resident of Detroit's 48217 community.

I first met Ms. Dorothy Jones in 2008. She was very active in her local block club. She was passionate about the right to breath clean air and stood up against corporate polluters like Marathon Petroleum Refinery. Ms. Jones was never a person to shy away from a challenge, and she always accepted nothing less than the best for her family, friends, and her neighborhood.

I am honored to have known Ms. Jones for more than 10 years. She would take me to task on important issues, which I always welcomed and for which I was better for it. I am grateful for her engagement on these issues that affect the quality of life for so many residents in the 13th Congressional District. It is truly an honor to have known her and served Ms. Jones. We honor her memory and her surviving family members.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring awareness to the incidence of cancer and cancer mortality in Wayne County, Michigan. Wayne County ranks in the top four counties with the highest incidence of cancer in Michigan.

In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a part of the World Health Organization, has classified outdoor air pollution as a carcinogen, citing 223,000 lung cancer deaths worldwide in 2010. It's no coincidence that Wayne County is home to some of Michigan's most heavily industrialized areas. Wayne County is home to Michigan's only oil refinery, one hundred eleven Superfund sites, massive transportation infrastructure, steel mills, and more.

More telling than the clouds of smoke, the odors, and the haze hanging in the air, is the pollution's toll on human lives. There is no doubt that the cancer, respiratory disease, and other illnesses have caused great distress to the families impacted. Too often, we sacrifice the quality of life for our residents. We have lost too many lives and it's time to say enough. We have an opportunity to reverse course and do better by future generations.

Therefore, I rise today to honor those whose lives were cut short by cancer and will continue to fight for environmental justice for the people of Michigan's 13th Congressional District.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pride and respect that I recognize the legacy of James Boggs, a worker and activist, who played a pivotal role in labor organizing and the civil rights movement in the city of Detroit.

James Boggs was born in Alabama in 1919. He eventually moved to Detroit, where he became an auto worker. Active in his workers union, Mr. Boggs was passionate about the political issues facing workers and African Americans. His experiences and increasing interest in far-left philosophies inspired him to pen The American Revolution: Pages from a Negro Worker's Notebook, his most well-known work.

Mr. Boggs married Grace Lee in 1953. Their influence as a couple and individually had a tremendous impact on the organizing community, drawing influence from global history and observations of the everyday struggles of people. Together the Boggs's grassroots efforts to uplift voices of community members resulted in their founding of a summer leadership program. That legacy and program lives on in the James and Grace Lee Boggs School in Detroit.

I am proud to acknowledge and uplift Mr. Boggs's many achievements as we celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of his birthday.

Madam Speaker, I take offense to my colleague from Arizona saying we are not going to win. This is not a game. These are people's lives.

When my colleague says we need to try, we have tried. I am asking them to try harder because we are creating a whole generation of children, Madam Speaker, who will remember what we did. They will remember that we caged them up like animals. We ripped them away from their parents and pumped them with drugs to make them stop crying for their mothers.

No amount of apologizing and no amount of debating in this Chamber will make it better, Madam Speaker. I am asking my colleagues to be more humane, to debate real policy change that will address the crisis at the border, like comprehensive immigration reform.

We must do better for these children. Again, no amount of apologizing, no amount of debating, no amount of politicking will make it better.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Linsey Porter, a former mayor of the city of Highland Park, Michigan. His advocacy and leadership will be missed.

Born in Detroit in 1954, Linsey Porter grew up in Highland Park, where the Porter Family moved to in 1955. He graduated from Highland Park High School in 1972 and continued his education at LeMoyne Owen College in Tennessee where he completed four years. During that time, Porter founded and was first President of the Out Of Town Students Association to make the school, which was not equipped to support out- of-state students, a more welcoming place. This marked the beginning of his career in advocacy.

After college, Porter returned to Highland Park. Though a diligent worker, Porter found his work in insurance to be unfulfilling. He gave up his position to return to advocacy and run for Mayor of Highland Park because he wanted to help people grow and have his city be a better place for people to live. Porter was elected the 30th Mayor of Highland Park in November of 1991. He was the first Mayor in Highland Park to be elected to three consecutive four-year terms. Prior to being elected and re-elected Mayor, he also served two terms on the City Council, with his last term as Council President.

Linsey Porter was most proud of the economic revitalization that occurred during his tenure as Chief Executive Officer for the City of Highland Park. With his vision and energy, he secured millions to fund new development, including single-family and multi-family housing, two shopping centers, new police cars, fire engines, and the creation of Oakland Industrial Park, which location once was the world headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation. Two of his greatest accomplishments were encouraging the Budco Company to build their World Headquarters in Highland Park (1000 jobs) and the expansion, renovation of the Davison Freeway, America's first freeway.

Please join me in tribute to Linsey Porter as we pay our respects and honor to his family.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and respect that I recognize the legacy of James Boggs, a worker and activist who played a pivotal role in labor organizing and the civil rights movement in the city of Detroit.

James Boggs was born in Alabama in 1919. He eventually moved to Detroit where he became an auto worker. Active in his worker's union, Mr. Boggs was passionate about the political issues facing workers and African Americans. His experiences and increasing interest in far-left philosophies inspired him to pen ``The American Revolution: Pages from a Negro Worker's Notebook,'' his most well-known work.

Mr. Boggs married Grace Lee in 1953. Their influence as a couple and individually had tremendous impact on the organizing community, drawing influence from global history and observations of the everyday struggles of people.

Together, the Boggs' grassroots efforts to uplift voices of community members resulted in their founding of a summer leadership program. That legacy and that program lives on in The James and Grace Lee Boggs School in Detroit.

I am proud to acknowledge and uplift Mr. Boggs in many of his achievements as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birthday.

Madam Speaker, it is a great honor to recognize Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency's After-School 21st Century Learning Centers program participants. The young people who have participated in this program have shown initiative and growth.

Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency has been a resource for the people of Wayne County. Their wraparound programming demonstrates an understanding that investing in our children is investing in a better future and better quality of life for all the residents in the 13th Congressional District. The young people who have participated in this program have shown determination to achieve their highest potential.

It is an honor to recognize our young people in this program and, hopefully, be able to show that they can be an investment for the future, and I acknowledge their outstanding accomplishment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub tragedy to remember those who lost their lives on that horrific night.

It should not be lost that this happened at an LGBTQ nightclub during Latino night and that those who lost their lives were mostly our Brown and Black neighbors.

Just this weekend, I joined community members, advocates, and local elected officials to demand action on gun violence in our country. Hundreds of us gathered for this rally across the street from where organizers were getting ready to open Motor City Pride, Detroit's Pride celebration attracting tens of thousands of people wanting to celebrate the community and recommit to the fight for justice for our LGBTQ neighbors.

A few hours after the gun violence rally wrapped up and Motor City Pride opened, armed neo-Nazis right outside of the gates of the festival taunted attendants, creating an unsafe environment for all of us.

I bring this up because the fight against gun violence is intersectional. The fight against hate is intersectional.

Let us remember those who have been lost to gun violence. Let us remember those at Pulse. Remember those at Stonewall Douglas.

I commend our people who have taken action out of the tragedy that shouldn't have happened at all. It is time for us elected officials in this Chamber to do what we can to stop gun violence and hate in this country.

Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that we honor the memory of James Robinson, who fought heroically in the American Revolution. Like many African Americans who fought for American independence, Mr. Robinson's contributions went unrecognized for too long. We will right that injustice by recognizing his accomplishments and honoring his memory.

Mr. Robinson was born into slavery in Maryland in 1753. After the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, he served in a light infantry regiment. James Robinson fought at the battles of Brandywine and Yorktown, during which he played a pivotal role in the overtaking of the British rampart. The battle of Yorktown ended with the British surrendering. Mr. Robinson was rewarded by French General Marquis de Lafayette with a Gold Medal of Valor.

Despite having been promised his freedom in exchange for his service, Mr. Robinson remained in slavery. He fought in the war of 1812. He eventually became free and went on to work as a preacher. In short, James Robinson lived an extraordinary life. He passed away at the age of one hundred fifteen, buried without recognition for his bravery and remarkable work.

It is an honor to see James Robinson's contributions receive the recognition they deserve. We are thankful for his service and give honor to his memory and legacy.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to acknowledge the life of World War II veteran, Joseph Christopher, Jr. Born March 16, 1923 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Mr. Christopher left his hometown as a young man to serve his country in the Armed Forces in November of 1945. Joseph Christopher was honorably discharged with a World War II Victory Medal and an Army of Occupation Medal in February of 1947.

After his time spent in courageous commitment to our country, Mr. Christopher was the victim of a hate crime by police officers in Mississippi upon his return home. He was badly beaten, thrown into jail without his family being notified, provided no medical attention, and deprived VA benefits. Despite this experience, Mr. Christopher was never bitter and worked only to have a positive impact on others for the rest of his days. Joseph Christopher was an honored community member who was loved by his family and friends alike.

It is with great sadness that we recognize the loss of Joseph Christopher and give tribute to his surviving family.

Madam Speaker, it is with great honor that I recognize Gunnery Sergeant Henry L. Baul, the 5th African-American Marine in the nation to be inducted into the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942 following President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Executive Order 8802, which ended discrimination in the armed forces.

Although the executive order may have intended to end all discrimination, it did not end segregation. Between 1942 and 1949, approximately twenty thousand Black Marines trained at a segregated facility named Camp Montford Point, New River, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The Montford Marine Corp is derived from the name of the facility and Mr. Baul trained there.

In 2011, President Barack Obama and the 112th U.S. Congress passed legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Montford Marine Corp at a special ceremony at the U.S. Capitol and Marine Corps Barracks here in D.C.

Mr. Baul, age ninety-six, is a resident of the city of Detroit. He is also Founder and President-Emeritus of the Montford Point Marines of America, Inc. non-profit.

I am proud to recognize Mr. Baul for his work and service. Mr. Baul and so many others decided to serve this country even in the face of adversity and discrimination right here at home. Today, I lift up the veterans across the 13th Congressional District and the great state of Michigan in recognition of their service and commitment.