Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, it is a great honor to be able to recognize Gunnery Sergeant Henry Baul, the fifth African American marine in the Nation to be inducted into the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942 following President Franklin 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 20,000 Black marines trained at a segregated facility named Camp Montford Point, New River, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The Montford Point Marines is derived from the name of the facility, and Mr. Baul trained there.

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

Mr. Baul, age 96, is a resident of the city of Detroit. He is also the founder and president emeritus of Montford Point Marines of America, Inc., a nonprofit organization.

I am proud to recognize Mr. Baul and his work and service. Mr. Baul and so many others decided to serve our country even in the face of adversity and discrimination right here at home.

Today I lift up the veterans across the 13th Congressional District in Michigan in recognition of their service and commitment.

Madam Speaker, it is with great honor that we recognize the legacy of Bob Berg, a communications professional and long-time public servant in the city of Detroit.

Born April 1, 1943, in Watseka, Illinois, Mr. Berg grew up on farms in central Illinois and went on to earn his bachelor's degree in political science from Wesleyan University where he wrote for the student paper. After graduating, Mr. Berg held several positions, including leading the state capitol bureau for United Press International covering Governor William G. Milliken. He was later hired in the Public Affairs office of Milliken.

In 1982, Mr. Berg went on to the role for which he is most well- known, serving as press secretary for Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young. Mr. Berg's professionalism and work ethic earned him his reputation for being an exceptional press secretary. He served on Mayor Young's staff for eleven years, touching on many issues that faced Detroiters.

Beyond his time serving under Mayor Young, Mr. Berg began his own communications firm. He was honored by New Detroit in 2014 with a Leadership in Race Relations award and by the Detroit Urban League in 2018 as a Distinguished Warrior. Mr. Berg served on several organizations, including on the board of the Coleman A. Young Foundation, the Detroit Police Foundation, and the Detroit Urban League.

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

Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, community members came together to celebrate the life of Lila Cabbil, affectionately known as Mama Lila, or Ms. Cabbil, a dedicated and well-known activist and a member of our community.

With genuine respect for her legacy, we join with the community in celebrating Ms. Cabbil, remembering the impact she continues to have on so many people and hold her tight to her family. She will be sincerely missed and long remembered. Mama Lila lived to serve and advocate for a better quality of life for her community.

Born in North Carolina and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Mama Lila possessed a strong sense of justice and willingness to stand against injustices. She became involved with the civil rights movement and was a close friend of Rosa Parks.

Mama Lila soon became a prominent leader in the movement, becoming the president of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development. She has been a tireless advocate for economic and social justice, as well as for food and water justice in the city of Detroit.

In addition, Mama Lila has served as an educator for younger generations, advocating for greater social awareness and sensitivity. She facilitated dialogue across cultures and built relationships in order to address systematic oppression and combat racism.

We offer our words of praise as a memorial for Mama Lila. May her family find comfort in their faith and their memories of this fine person and her distinguished life.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I am proud to be a supporter of H.R. 1500, the Consumers First Act. The act ensures that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau serves its statutory purpose of protecting consumers from unfair, abusive practices, and holding greedy corporations accountable when they take advantage of people in our communities.

The residents of the 13th District in Michigan are charged a whopping 369 percent APR rate by payday lenders.

According to the Center for Responsible Lending, payday loans drain over $4.1 billion in fees a year from people in 35 States that allow triple digit interest rates for payday loans. Car title loans drain over $3.8 billion in fees annually from people in 22 States.

Madam Chair, together, these loans drain nearly $8 billion in fees every year, money that should be going to pay rent or buy groceries. Instead, it is going to line the pockets of predatory lenders who are making record profits.

Across Michigan, 600 payday lending storefronts each issue 3,000 loans a year. Most of those loans are used by a borrower to repay their prior loans; and 90 percent of these loan borrowers in Michigan re- borrow within 60 days.

This is why I am offering an amendment that ensures that our residents are protected from predatory lending in the payday and auto loan industries. This amendment will provide those of us in Congress with the information necessary to know how these industries are operating and how our residents are being impacted directly.

A doctor can't treat a disease without the necessary lab work or research. This also applies to our ability, as public servants, to push back against these loans being offered in all corners of our communities that push our residents more into poverty.

This payday lending amendment would require the CFPB to report to Congress quarterly the number of investigations opened and closed relating to payday and car title lenders.

It requires an oversight report every quarter on the number of enforcement actions, an estimate of how much in fees payday or car title customers pay, how many times in the previous 12 months payday customers rolled over their loans, and how many car title loan borrowers lost their cars in the previous 12 months.

Madam Chair, we have a responsibility to tackle this debt trap crisis that is set up for more profits for corporations but leaves the American people in financial despair with no escape.

In Michigan, predatory lenders are looking to squeeze money out of low-income people with deceptive and abusive practices and have, unfortunately, found a steady stream of business back home in our districts.

Taking advantage of people in difficult situations is immoral, but companies continue to stretch and break the law for an extra buck, regardless of the human cost.

In my district, Detroiters with payday loans are more likely to file for bankruptcy, be evicted, or face utility shutoffs than any other Detroiter without payday loans.

Madam Chair, I say to my colleagues, these numbers are not unique to the State of Michigan. Our constituents are being harmed by these abusive, greedy practices, and we have to make sure we have all the information we need to take action and protect our families.

We know that many consumers who are forced to get high-interest, high-fees payday loans are targeted low-income families. Many are taken advantage of because they have relatively few other places to turn.

According to the New York Fed, more Americans than ever were at least 3 months behind on their auto loans, and it said delinquencies were worsening among subprime borrowers. Auto debt is now nearing $1.3 trillion.

Madam Chair, many of our constituents are a missed payday or a family emergency away from being forced to rely on payday loans or missing an auto payment. Many are already in that position. It is our job to make sure we have the information necessary in this body to protect them.

Madam Chair, this amendment strengthens consumer protection, and I encourage my colleagues to support it.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Will the gentleman yield?

Yes.

Correct.

Madam Chair, I do want to clarify to my good colleague that this is not an annual report.

We want to know, every quarter, changes in payday complaints. So just be aware that this is about a quarterly report regarding those changes. This is not an annual report.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I do want to note the burden outweighs the cost on our residents back home.

We need to be able to know exactly what is happening on the ground at home in regard to these kinds of practices and abusive behavior by payday lenders.

We as a body need transparency and understanding of what is going through the CFPB, and we are not able to remedy these challenges for our residents without that information.

Madam Chair, I hope that we can agree this is a bipartisan issue. This would impact a majority of our States across this Nation.

Madam Chair, again, I hope I can get some support from my good colleague, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 218.

Madam Speaker, we must have a moral awakening, a spiritual revolution on how we treat a person's health in this country.

We must understand that every single human has a right to be healthy and comfortable, to live with dignity, and to receive the healthcare they need to flourish.

At present, this understanding is in conflict with a sinister, unjust force in our society: corporate greed.

Why are people forced to skip insulin injections so they can pay their rent?

Why are my residents charged $70 for a PrEP, a pill that could dramatically reduce HIV transmission, when the same pill costs $7 abroad?

Corporate greed has replaced the moral imperative that everyone live in health and dignity. There is more wealth in this country than any other in human history, and millions go without health insurance and prescription drugs, people condemned to live with pain and suffering because we have chosen corporate profits over our dignity as a nation.

We are watching a crisis unfold in real time. It is time we break the corporate stranglehold on our health and well-being, lost profits of the insanely wealthy be damned.

We have much more important things to protect. We have the soul of this country to rescue.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to uplift my LGBTQ neighbors at home in the 13th Congressional District. I want them to know that I uplift them today, and always, as their unwavering advocate in the United States Congress.

There are ideals and values we all should attempt to live up to in this country. I know many of us ran to be in this Chamber to ensure that our laws match those values and ideals as well.

When I think of these issues we confront as people and as a representative body, I always feel that we must use an approach that is rooted in values that uplift our whole communities. The values of equality, justice, and acceptance come to mind when I think of the need to pass the Equality Act.

Far too long, our LGBTQ neighbors have been forced to live a life of fear, a life in hiding, a life of oppression, and a life of instability.

We have come a long way in the LGBTQ rights community, but we have a long way to go. The Equality Act is a step in the right direction on this important path toward justice.

I think of the right side of history, when the right to marriage was afforded to same-sex couples, the moment when our LGBTQ neighbors in Michigan were able to create that special bond with their loved ones.

But I am also reminded of the stark reality that they faced being in States where they could still be fired from their jobs the day after their wedding for being gay.

I think of the trans community across the country that still faces discrimination and violence, especially trans women of color who are disproportionately targeted and killed. Our laws still do not protect them.

LGBTQ Americans remain vulnerable to discrimination on a daily basis and, too often, have little recourse. Fifty percent of the national LGBTQ community live in States where, though they have the right to marry, they still have no explicit nondiscrimination practices in other areas of their daily life.

One's identity could still mean deep harm and even death for some communities in this country, and we must change this.

I think of our LGBTQ neighbors who are denied public accommodation just because of who they are and whom they love. I think about how we are failing them by not living out our values rooted in justice.

This week, we have a chance to begin to change with the Equality Act. We now have a pro-equality majority,

Madam Speaker, in this Chamber, and I am so glad we can change the fact that LGBTQ folks are being denied housing, services, and employment in the majority of our States.

I am so glad to be part of ensuring that everyone has full protection in our civil rights laws, regardless of who they are and whom they love.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from the great State of Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley), my colleague.

Madam Speaker, I also would love to recognize the fact--it is pretty historic--that Madam Speaker who is presiding over this Chamber right now is a member of our beautiful community, of the LGBTQ community. That, to me, is pretty historic as we now are debating and putting forward the Equality Act. That is Congresswoman Angie Craig.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), my colleague.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Haaland).

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Porter).

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).

Madam Speaker, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who puts this Special Order together every week, has truly been committed to the rights of our LGBTQ neighbors, and I am very pleased that many of my colleagues tomorrow, in a very bipartisan way, are going to be supporting a historic, historic bill: the Equality Act.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to recognize the Honorable Judge Damon J. Keith for his leadership and tremendous contributions to the civil rights movement, and to honor his memory.

Born on July 4th, 1922 in Detroit, Michigan--a fitting birth date for a man who upheld the rights so cherished by our nation--Damon Keith was the youngest of six children born to Annie and Perry Alexander, a Ford factory worker. Keith was a proud graduate of the Detroit Public School System, graduating with honors from Northwestern High School in 1939. Keith was the first of his family to attend college and from there he went on to serve in the military before graduating from Howard University Law School in 1949. Judge Keith returned to Detroit to begin his legal career, earning an LLM from Wayne State University.

Damon Keith worked in his own private law practice until 1967 when he was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Judge Keith served as Chief Judge from 1975 to 1977 before he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Judge Keith's career is distinguished by his tireless defense of the U.S. Constitution. He decided several important cases that advanced civil rights in the State of Michigan. His legacy in the civil rights movement includes deciding cases against segregating schools, employment and housing discrimination, and federal wiretapping policies. Key among these cases are a 1970 decision ordering desegregation of Pontiac schools, a 1971 ruling that Nixon and AG Mitchell violated the federal constitution by wiretapping students in Ann Arbor, and lastly a 2002 ruling that deportation hearings held in private are unconstitutional--an opinion in which he famously wrote, ``Democracies die behind closed doors.'' He was also instrumental in upholding the rights of local workers across the state. In 1973, Judge Keith ordered Detroit Edison to pay $4 million to black employees who were victims of job discrimination and ordered the company to create an affirmative action program. He also ordered the union to pay $250,000 for failing to protect their workers from discrimination. His tireless work and fight to advance the quality of life for all people are memories and values we will forever cherish and continue to uphold.

It is a great privilege to recognize a gentleman who contributed so much of his life to fight for human rights and civil equality for human beings. This is in recognition of a great

loss to our state and a tribute to Judge Keith's surviving family as we honor his legacy.

Madam Speaker, 6 years ago yesterday, Westland firefighter Brian Woehlke made the ultimate sacrifice when he died courageously battling a blaze at a local strip mall.

Brian, who was born in Detroit, certainly was courageous, and he lost his life after the 29 short years he had been on this Earth.

On the sixth anniversary of his tragic passing, let us remember him and his loving family that survives him, including his wife, Jennifer, and his daughter, Ava. We thank them for their selflessness and bravery, and we honor them by offering unwavering support for the men and women who continue to serve as our first responders across the country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a civil rights icon. Judge Damon Keith passed away this past week. He said one of his mentors, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, would say to him: When you finish Harvard law, Judge Keith, I want you to use the law as a means of social change.

Judge Keith said: That is what I am trying to do in my lifetime.

The civil rights icon was courageous. He will be sorely missed by many, but even more in his home community of the city of Detroit.

In one of his most famous cases, he said, in his opinion, that: ``Democracies die behind closed doors.''

And from a recent Detroit Free Press article, in 1973, Judge Keith ordered Detroit Edison to pay $4 million to Black employees who were victims of job discrimination and ordered it to create an affirmative action program.

Some of these are just a little hint of the incredible contribution that Judge Keith had to our Nation. He will be sorely missed, but, hopefully, his legacy on civil rights and justice for all will continue on in our work here in this Chamber.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today recognizing the amazing contribution of our Congressional Progressive Caucus in allowing many of our colleagues who are pushing bold and progressive ideas, especially around college affordability.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Porter).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar).

Mr. Speaker, we talk about opportunity a lot in this Chamber. The opportunity to thrive, the access to get ahead in life if you worked hard. We tell our kids every day that opportunity is abundant. It is everywhere, in every corner. If you just work hard, you can have access to a tremendous amount of opportunity.

Yet we know now that many roadblocks exist through no fault of their own. This is why it is so critically important to talk about the college affordability issue and crisis in our country.

There are many motivations to go to school. For many first-generation college students like me, it is to help their families. Many want to give back to their community, yet many are not able to fulfill this dream because of affordability.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, Michigan ranks among States in the bottom half in college attainment. Fewer than 30 percent of Michigan adults hold at least a bachelor's degree. We are closing the door on those who want to help others, whether it is their family or their broader community.

Studies show that first-generation college students go to college in order to help their families. Sixty-nine percent of them say they want to help their families compared to 39 percent of students whose parents have earned a degree. This desire also extends to the community with 61 percent of first-generation college students wanting to give back to their communities compared to 43 percent of their non-first-generation peers.

Regarding college school loan debt, students used to think about getting good enough grades when we go to college. That is what we were focused on. Not anymore, Mr. Speaker. Students today are forced to make a decision between a degree and access to that opportunity or debt.

In 2016, 64 percent of Michigan college graduates left school with debt, an average of over $30,000 a year, the 11th highest in the Nation. Even after factoring in grant programs, low-income families have to pay more than 70 percent of their income to cover college costs.

I want to share a story of my friend in college. It took him close to a decade because he was serving our country. He came back after serving not only as a U.S. marine but also doing civil service work for the United States Army. He came back, and all he wanted to do was become a schoolteacher, a public educator. He loves it. It is his passion.

As he sits in his classroom every single day educating our children, he has to also deal with the increase in debt, with the high cost of interest, and with all those things that now put him in a financial crisis.

The bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is that low- and middle-income households already face higher burdens. They are less likely to have family assistance and more likely to have other pressures such as a part-time job or family caretaking roles in addition to their schoolwork.

As many low-income students avoid applying to college altogether due to costs, borrowers who are tens of thousands of dollars in debt aren't able to purchase homes, start their families, obtain employment in certain fields, and save for retirement.

Student loan debt is further putting low- and middle-income students and their families into a downward spiral that leaves many worse off than they were when they started school.

This is not how it has to be. Student debt has a greater impact on low-income borrowers, as many of us know. In fact, borrowers in low- and moderate-income households face education debt that has averaged 24 percent of their income in 2010 alone. The average for all households was 6 percent.

Looking at that more deeply and really unpacking that, we also have to look at food insecurity and housing insecurity when it comes to college affordability. The current state of college affordability leaves so many students in housing insecurity as well as food insecurity.

Most college students, Mr. Speaker, attending at least half-time are not eligible for SNAP assistance unless they work at least 20 hours per week or they work part-time in a work-study program, have young children, or meet certain other requirements. Again, they are stuck in a spiral of insecurity. However, working 20 hours a week has been shown to lengthen the time it takes to graduate, just like for one of my best friends.

Increased college costs lead to a heightened risk of dropping out as well. I have seen many, many of my friends who started with me who could not finish because they couldn't afford it.

On-campus housing comprises anywhere from 24 to 42 percent of students' total budgets. Meanwhile, the cost of off-campus housing surrounding universities tends to be higher than the standard market rate. We see that in all our districts across the Nation.

These steep costs have consequences. One survey alone found that 42 percent of their undergraduate students had experienced housing insecurity within the past year.

In many cases, housing insecurity is coupled with food insecurity. In one study, 59 percent of students at a 4-year university experienced food insecurity. What that means is not having enough to eat, just like my colleague from California talked about for a specific resident in her community who only could afford to eat once a day.

The bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is that the more college becomes unaffordable and out of reach for working- and middle-class families, the more we subject students to poverty as they try to obtain higher education.

As income inequality increases and as we see it across our Nation every single day, and college tuition and living expenses go up as well, we are creating an environment where fewer people have an opportunity to thrive, fewer people can help their families, and fewer people have the means to help their community. This should not happen in our country, and we should be working day in and day out to correct this.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 170.

Madam Speaker, I grew up in the district I serve where I have seen firsthand the results of the failing to hold those in power accountable to the laws of the land. From corporate polluters who continue to violate the Clean Air Act with no real enforcement to stop the violations that hurt our public health, I have also seen firsthand a megabillionaire who directly violated Federal and State processes that resulted in thousands of trucks to rumble through our local neighborhoods where one in five children have asthma.

Do you know why those in power looked the other way? Because of political influence on my colleagues who then became conflicted.

This is why I rise today to put forward H. Res. 257, which creates a transparent process to ensure the protection of our democracy. That ensures that we don't have a lawless society that results in irreparable harm to the American people.

Doing nothing when we are seeing a blatant disregard of the United States Constitution and our ethical norms is dangerous. No one, Madam Speaker, including the President of the United States, is above the law.

I know many have focused on actions that were conducted prior to his taking the oath of office, and that is important. However, as critically important are the actions by the President after he swore to uphold the United States Constitution before all of us.

He is not a CEO, Madam Speaker, anymore, but a public servant who is held accountable not to shareholders and investors, but the actual American people, real people, people who expect all of us to follow the laws.

In the 2 years since he took office, President Trump racked up more than 1,400 conflicts of interest involving the government, those trying to influence it and The Trump Organization, according to a report released by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

President Trump used the Presidency to enrich himself by repeatedly promoting his businesses as extensions of his administration. Political allies, wealthy donors, special interests, and foreign governments have adopted a key tactic of patronizing Trump's businesses to garner favor with the Trump administration.

Here are some of the key findings from CREW's tracking of Trump's conflicts of interest:

President Trump made 118 visits to his properties in his second year in office, bringing his 2-year total to 281 visits to properties he still profits from while serving as President of the United States.

In his second year in office, President Trump and other White House staff promoted Trump businesses on at least 87 occasions. More than 150 political committees, including campaigns and party committees, have spent nearly $5 million at Trump businesses since he became President. At least 13 special interest groups lobbied the White House since Trump's inauguration, some for the first time, around the same time they also patronized a Trump property.

At least three foreign governments held events at Trump properties during Trump's second year in office. Two of those countries did so after holding similar events elsewhere in previous years.

Not only has President Trump still refused to divest from his businesses, he seems to have doubled down by reinforcing the idea that The Trump Organization is an extension of the Trump administration.

These offenses must be investigated.

In total, CREW found more than 900 conflicts in the second year of the Trump administration. This presents a clear picture of a Presidency used to turn a profit and the President's businesses serving at points of access to the corridors of power.

This report shows that special interests, foreign governments, and political allies continue to pour money into Trump's bank accounts while the American public is left in the dark about whether or not the President's policy decisions are made in the best interests of our country, or is it in the best interests of the President's bottom line, benefiting himself personally.

We have been sent here to legislate. I am thinking about the historic For the People Act we passed right here in this Chamber, the gun reform package we passed, legislation to protect our lands, to increase and strengthen healthcare for Americans, and much more.

I am proud of my first bills. One protects our public health in regards to petroleum coke exposure, and the other, which has a wide range of support, would prohibit the use of credit scores by the auto insurance industry.

However, Madam Speaker, none of these bills is free from the harm that comes from the current administration and the President of the United States not complying with the clauses of the United States Constitution. When these conflicts and direct violations to the Emoluments Clause are not investigated, we set a dangerous precedent that those issues we passed in this Chamber are not important.

I think about the recent announcement that T-Mobile and Sprint would like the Federal Government to approve a merger between the two companies. In the same breath, T-Mobile spent close to $200,000 at the D.C. Trump hotel. This is what we call an upgraded version of pay to play, and it dangerously corrupts our democracy.

When President Truman sidestepped the Constitution and went to war, every sitting President had done the same. One of the first major challenges to the War Powers Act came in 1981 when President Reagan deployed military personnel to El Salvador without consulting or submitting a report to Congress.

In 1999, President Clinton continued a bombing campaign in Kosovo beyond

the 60-day limit cited in the law. A more recent War Powers Act dispute arose in 2011 when President Barack Obama initiated a military action in Libya without congressional authorization.

You see, Madam Speaker, when we do nothing, we set a precedent and allow it to become the norm. I can't stress enough how dangerous this is to the core of our democracy.

This will not be the last billionaire CEO who runs for President who will attempt to not divest from his business interests.

Now, what we have witnessed from this administration are acts that could very well be impeachable offenses outside of the scope of the Mueller investigation. We have a duty in this Chamber to inquire about these acts, to investigate them, to find out if there was any wrongdoing, and to seek accountability if it has been found.

That is why, today, I have introduced a resolution that calls on the Judiciary Committee to inquire into these activities that may be impeachable offenses. There are serious pieces of evidence out there, many that have come through the various committees of this body, in the media, and things within the public eye. An investigation will take a look at all of those things with the question: Are these impeachable offenses? Is our President acting above the rule of law?

As Congress, we have a job to ensure that is exactly what is not happening. If, at the end, it gets the President to comply, then we have done our job. If the President doesn't, then we move forward and, at the very least, put any future President on notice: Congress will hold you accountable and will require you to divest in your businesses.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 6 o'clock and 34 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Thursday, March 28, 2019, at 9 a.m.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of the Special Order today.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to co-chair this Special Order for the Congressional Progressive Caucus with my amazing colleague from California, Katie Porter.

This is a privilege for me to be able to work with so many of my colleagues on the issues that they are very passionate about, from healthcare to environmental justice to LGBTQ rights. It has been an honor to lead this and to be part of this.

Today, we are talking about an important, important issue to one of my colleagues whom I have known for over 15 years as a community organizer and, later, as an immigration rights attorney working on civil rights issues. It is an honor to introduce my colleague from the State of Washington, the leader on healthcare for all, our wonderful, great colleague, Representative Pramila Jayapal.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal).

Madam Speaker, that was incredible. And obviously, many of us in the Congressional Progressive Caucus have fully supported so much of what Medicare for All stands for. I thank the gentlewoman from Washington for her leadership and courage for taking on such a bold move.

Madam Speaker, I am very honored to be here representing the community that raised me. I was raised in Southwest Detroit, in the 13th Congressional District. Growing up in Southwest Detroit, I actually thought that smell was normal, all the pollution that I kind of grew up in, all the truck traffic. As I got older, I realized it wasn't normal. It wasn't normal that so many of my neighbors were getting cancer or had respiratory issues. It wasn't normal that one of five children have asthma.

We have one of the highest--one of the worst air qualities in the State of Michigan in the 13th Congressional District; and it is the third poorest Congressional District in the country.

So the deadly consequences of being uninsured is real for my constituents at home; through no fault of their own, but for the fact that they live in communities that are polluted and communities that lack so much opportunity to be able to thrive.

So this is an important issue, not only to millions of Americans today, but to my residents; this need for universal healthcare. It is a topic that most, if not all of us in this Chamber were sent here to work on. It is a topic that is always on the minds of our residents every single day. It is a topic that is literally a life or death situation, and an issue that has bankrupted many of our families; an issue that we should not be worried about in this country.

We are the richest country on the planet, but the United States is the only industrialized country without universal healthcare.

Fifty thousand residents in my district are uninsured. This is why I am thrilled and excited that over 100 of my colleagues have signed on to sponsor the Medicare for All Act.

More than 30 million Americans are without access to healthcare right now without insurance, with an additional 40 million who cannot afford co-pays and the deductible.

Pharmaceutical companies make billions, Madam Speaker, in profits, while working Americans are forced to go through extraordinary measures to pay for care.

Just the other day, I heard a mother talk about losing her 6-year-old child, her little girl, because she couldn't afford insulin. This is why we need something bold, courageous, transformational, and that is supporting Medicare for All.

We spend the highest amount per capita in the world on healthcare. We need a better system for our constituents. We need Medicare for All.

This system is one that many more of my colleagues should get behind. It provides a system where our constituents will know that they are secure and getting healthcare that they need today. This is a system that will take away the worry of our constituents who have constant, day-in, day-out thinking about the cost of healthcare, and whether or not their current insurance even covers it.

It is really important to be clear about Medicare for All. One, it includes comprehensive coverage for primary care, for hospital, outpatient services, prescription drugs, reproductive health services, newborn care, long-term care services. This is so critical for my residents.

Constantly do I hear, day-in, day-out of families that are taking care of their parents and not having access to long-term care coverage.

It supports mental health and substance abuse treatment, laboratory and diagnostic services, and so much more.

Patients will have complete freedom to choose their doctors. I am going to say this again. Patients will have complete freedom, under the Medicare for All Act, to choose their doctors, hospitals, and other providers that they wish to see.

Long-term care, again, in support for our older Americans, our neighbors, and those with disabilities, will be covered.

Medicare for All will decrease the costs by reducing inefficiency; preventing healthcare corporations from overcharging; and increasing transparency in our system.

Medicare for All will also decrease prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to finally negotiate our prices.

The legislation also preserves healthcare programs for our veterans and our Native Americans.

Healthcare is a right, Madam Speaker, not a privilege for the wealthy.

And not only is this the most incredible class, and not because I am part of it, but it really is, it is the largest incoming class since Watergate but, more importantly, it is the most diverse.

We not only ran because we wanted to be first, or we wanted to be diverse, we ran because we speak differently; we serve differently; and we are much more courageous than, I think, previous classes ever have been.

So, I am asking our colleagues to please stand up and support Medicare for All. Give it a chance. See the possibility of finally being able to provide for our constituents' universal healthcare.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.