Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 90th birthday of Mr. Zeddie Coley, a remarkable member of the OH-11 community.

Mr. Coley was born in Albany, Georgia in 1933 and graduated from Monroe High School is 1950. He earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1953 from Albany State College, where he also became a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. In 1974, he completed his master's degree in education from Cleveland State University. After receiving his formal education, Mr. Coley served in the United States Army.

Mr. Coley was married to Shirley Ann Jackson (1932-2019) for 68 years and together they have two daughters, Carma Coley (Warrensville Hts.) and Cynthia Coley-Anderson (Chicago), both retired teachers. He is the proud grandfather of five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Mr. Coley began his teaching career in 1955 in the Cleveland Public Schools system as a fourth-grade teacher at Wade Park Elementary. Moving forward, he continued his career in the East Cleveland City Schools as a science teacher, retiring as an administrator in 1984. He continues to maintain contact with many of the students he has taught throughout the years.

Since 1964, Mr. Coley has lived in the Lee-Harvard Community. There, he served as an active member of the Harvard Community Services Center, a member of their Board of Trustees for 27 years and as president of the Walden Avenue Street Club for 30 years. In addition, he served as an Education Association Committee Chairperson. During his tenure, he was active in hiring several principals in the Lee Harvard area schools and spear-headed the track and field stadium renovation committee for John F. Kennedy High School. Mr. Coley has received numerous honors-- Harvard Community Services Center's Lifetime Achievement Award, Senior of the Year for Ward 1, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority's Black Diamonds Award, John F. Kennedy's Community Volunteer Award, and the Neighborhood Leadership Award, to name a few.

He has been an active member of the East Zion Baptist Church for over 60 years. As an avid gardener. he takes pride in harvesting vegetables to share with his neighbors. When asked what he loves most about Cleveland, he says, ``Cleveland gave me my wife, which makes me love it the most.''

Happy birthday to Mr. Coley.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my wonderful colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus for organizing this session tonight.

I join them today in recognizing the significant contributions of Black women to the advancement of the equal rights amendment.

Of the more than 12,000 Americans who have served in Congress, only 58 have been Black women. Remarkably, despite our historic and continuous small number among the Members of the House, Black women have often been the driving force behind significant policy shifts that have paved the way for change.

Among those achievements are landmark bills like the equal rights amendment, championed by Black women since its inception. A hero of many Americans inside and outside Capitol Grounds, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm was a relentless advocate for equal rights in America. Nicknamed ``Fighting Shirley,'' she stood on this very floor in her first term and decreed that the ERA was destined to become the law of the land. Today, we honor her legacy by advocating for the long-overdue ratification of the ERA.

Congresswoman Chisholm did not stand alone in her fight for equal rights. From educator and activist Mary Church Terrell in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to Congresswoman Barbara Jordan in the 1970s, Black advocates for women's suffrage helped drive the ERA forward.

In recent years, we have seen leaders fight for State ratification of the ERA, including our newest colleague, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, who along with two Black female colleagues--State Representative Jennifer Carroll Foy and fellow State Senator Mamie Locke--led the final charge that resulted in Virginia being the 38th State to ratify the amendment in 2020.

That legacy lives on, as my colleagues in the 118th Congress maintain and build on the work of our predecessors. With Representative Pressley's efforts to remove the constitutional deadline for ratification and Representative Bush's leadership of the first-ever Congressional ERA Caucus, we are closer to ratification than ever before.

I stand in awe of the power, strength, and contributions of these trailblazers and icons, both past and present.

As we continue the fight today, it is an honor to walk alongside my Democratic Women's Caucus colleagues to enshrine the ERA in the Constitution, continuing the legacy work started by the Black women who came before me.

Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm envisioned the ERA as the law of the land

in 1969. She once said she wanted to be remembered as a woman who dared to be a catalyst of change, and she will always be known as just that.

Like our ancestors Terrell, Chisholm, Jordan, and more, Black women will continue to help lead the charge, but we cannot do it alone.

To my colleagues who have yet to join us in championing equal rights, I say to you: Dare to become a catalyst of change with us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today ahead of National Entrepreneurship Week and during Black History Month to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable contributions of Black business owners.

Entrepreneurship drives economic growth and creates jobs, yet too few Black businesses have the capital and connections to start and scale successful companies, contributing to the racial wealth gap through entrepreneurial inequity.

Here are the facts. Of the 6 million employer businesses in the U.S., just 130,000 are Black owned, barely more than 2 percent.

My district's entrepreneurs are helping drive our region and Nation's economy forward, and I will share their stories as we celebrate Black Americans' past and present achievements.

That includes people like Kanisha Harwell, owner of Balance Cheer and Gymnastics in my hometown of Warrensville Heights. Kanisha started her gym after experiencing the lack of support for diversity in gymnastics, taking on multiple jobs to fund the creation of an inclusive environment for Black athletes.

Minority entrepreneurs are a vital asset to our economy, and I urge my colleagues to work with me to build a more equitable economy for all.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to emphasize the importance of closing the disposable e-cigarette loophole to continue our progress in reducing youth e-cigarette use.

The danger disposable e-cigarettes pose to our young people cannot be underestimated. Currently, it is estimated that more than 700,000 middle and high school students vape on a daily basis--more than 700,000.

Use of disposable e-cigarettes by our youth has increased by more than 2,000 percent since 2019. Although disguised with flavors like apple and strawberry, the truth is that a single e-cigarette can have the same amount of nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.

A loophole left by the previous administration excludes e-cigarettes and disposable e-cigarette products from the tobacco flavoring guidelines, which are at the heart of this epidemic.

Closing the Trump-era loophole will ensure the flavor ban applies to disposable e-cigarettes. Keeping America's youth safe and healthy depends on it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the extremists in this Chamber to stop playing political chess with the lives of working people and families.

In 2021, 85 percent of Americans over the age of 50 opposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare to reduce the national debt.

Clearly, the economic scheme proposed by the GOP is in direct opposition to the people's will: slashing Social Security and Medicare for the working class while giving tax breaks to the wealthy.

The GOP scheme also proposes a ridiculous 30 percent--yes, 30 percent--national sales tax, a huge setback for working families, increasing the cost of everyday essentials and raising gas prices.

As if that wasn't enough, this scheme is holding the reputation of our Nation hostage to extremist demands for cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

Democrats stand with the people. Dismantling Medicare and Social Security will never be up for debate.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Grijalva for his leadership and for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7618, a bipartisan bill to recognize the Kol Israel Foundation Holocaust Memorial as a national memorial.

H.R. 7618 was unanimously voted out of the House Natural Resources Committee on July 20, 2022, and its bipartisan Senate companion, S. 4121, led by Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, favorably passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on July 21, 2022.

Mr. Speaker, this bill recognizes and honors a memorial in my district with a remarkable history. In 1961, surviving victims of the Holocaust erected the Kol Israel Memorial, dedicating it to the 6 million Jewish victims of the Nazi regime, its allies, and collaborators.

From 1939 to 1945, the Holocaust touched all corners of Jewish life from east to west, from Africa to Northern Europe. Thriving Jewish life in mainland Europe was decimated. The genocide wiped out entire Jewish communities, villages, and towns in a campaign that Nazis carried out with ruthless precision. They did so with mass shootings, concentration camps, and death camps like none the world had ever seen.

The trauma, pain, and suffering inflicted on the Jewish community were not confined to their side of the Atlantic. Many members of our American Jewish community were touched by profound loss, and survivors found refuge in many communities across the United States.

One such group of survivors made its way to northeast Ohio, putting down roots in Bedford Heights, a thriving part of Ohio's 11th Congressional District. They never forgot the horrors of the past and began planning a memorial to the 6 million as early as 1959, only 14 years after the end of the Second World War.

Since the memorial's dedication on May 28, 1961, survivors and their families have continuously cared for what is likely the oldest memorial of its kind in the United States.

On the memorial's exterior walls, the survivors engraved the names of their family members and loved ones. At the foot of the monument, the survivors also buried firsthand artifacts and keepsakes and ashes of victims from three concentration camps.

Given its historical significance, the Kol Israel Memorial deserves to be recognized by Congress. Designating the site as a national memorial ensures that future generations understand the true legacy of a very dark chapter in history.

This legislation comes at no cost to taxpayers and does not establish the memorial as a unit of the National Park Service. The Kol Israel Foundation will retain oversight and responsibility for the memorial, as it has for six decades.

Members of the Ohio community, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, the Ohio General Assembly, and prominent local and national stakeholders, have all supported efforts to recognize the Kol Israel Memorial.

The bill also enjoys wide support from a coalition of organizations such as the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, the Anti-Defamation League, and the American Jewish Committee.

I thank all the cosponsors of this legislation, including our seven co-leads from both sides of the aisle: Representatives Kaptur, Ryan, Beatty, Joyce, Balderson, Gonzalez, and Carey. They, too, have a deep understanding of the importance of the Kol Israel Memorial and this legislation, particularly at a time of rising anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world.

Let me take one moment, Mr. Speaker, to speak about the dangers of Holocaust denial and distortion. Last night on ``60 Minutes,'' we watched in shock and disgust as the President of Iran denied the existence of the Holocaust and pretended to seek more information on its veracity.

Today, let us all speak in a loud and clear voice: The Holocaust happened. It was devastating. We must work every

day to remember so that we may honestly say ``never again.''

I am honored to represent one of the country's most celebrated Jewish communities, which happens to reside in Ohio's 11th Congressional District. Now is our opportunity to honor the victims of the Holocaust who call this country home and remember their bravery, dedication, and everlasting legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my House colleagues for taking swift action on H.R. 7618 so we may send a strong signal of support for our Jewish community.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this critical legislation.

Mr. Speaker, House Democrats have been fighting to lower costs for hardworking American families every day. From the gas pump to the grocery store checkout lines, we have reclaimed our commitment to our mission of creating a fair and balanced economy where Americans can thrive, and our efforts are starting to pay off in some areas.

For example, gas prices continue to drop across the Nation, which leaves a little more money in the pockets of American families, allowing them to spend more on necessities like putting food on the table.

We have passed a series of bills to lower everyday costs for Americans, including the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act and the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act.

However, we need more.

We must continue to put people over politics and pass more comprehensive legislation to help Americans thrive.

Madam Speaker, our Nation thrives because of the strength of our families, and when our families succeed, our economy succeeds.

For this reason alone, Congress must continue to pass powerful bipartisan legislation like the CHIPS and Science Act.

The act demonstrates our commitment to putting money back in the pockets of Americans. It addresses critical issues like inflation and strengthening domestic supply chains in ways that could impact our economy and national security for generations to come.

The stresses of the last 2 years took a huge toll on our country. However, recent progress, including a growing job market, and declining costs of some critical goods and services prove that we are on the right track.

Voting for the CHIPS and Science Act will help ensure we ease the financial burden carried by American families and boost our economy because a Nation's backbone is its family. When they thrive, America thrives.

Madam Speaker, when President Biden took office, we wasted no time getting to work to rebuild a devastated economy.

From the Build Back Better Act to the American Rescue Plan, we have taken bold steps to make possible the incredible economic progress we see today. Progress that made the United States the first major economy in the world to recover and exceed prepandemic levels of its GDP, and 2021 saw the most jobs created in American history, while keeping 3.7 million children out of poverty.

Whether it is more good-paying jobs or the cost of groceries and gas, our goal remains the same, to create a balanced economy so that Americans can thrive.

Together with President Biden, we are fighting every day to make it a reality.

Mr. Speaker, imagine waking up one morning to a sharp, debilitating pain ripping through your lower abdomen that is so excruciating it brings you to your knees, then going to your doctor seeking relief, only to be told that while the medicine exists, because of a new anti-contraception law, you will simply have to endure; endure the unbearable pain that is so all-consuming it limits your daily activities.

By threatening access to contraception, this is the new reality extremists propose for tens of thousands of Americans.

Americans who rely on contraceptives to manage health challenges like menstrual cramps, hormone imbalance, and even acne, are now grappling with the fear of no access as the far right continues its war on reproductive healthcare.

Today, I proudly voted for the Right to Contraception Act because all Americans should have the right to access and use birth control, regardless of the reason why.

Madam Speaker, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, I have been overwhelmed with powerful testimonies from my colleagues, family, and friends about their reproductive health journeys.

They have shared their fears and concerns for their daughters, granddaughters, and nieces now living in a post-Roe America. They offered firsthand, intimate accounts detailing some of their personal and sometimes painful experiences, wanting me to know

how critical it is for Congress to make Roe the law of the land.

These moving, shared memories spoke of very private life situations, from sexual assault to personal family planning decisions. Yet, they still told me in hopes of uniting in our fight against attacks by far- right extremists, extremists who are determined to strip women of their reproductive rights and criminalize abortion care in all 50 States.

To these women, I say thank you. Thank you for your bravery, your honesty, and your courage. Your stories were not told in vain and will serve as inspiration to continue our fight to protect, defend, and restore the right to decide.

Madam Speaker, a woman's fundamental healthcare decisions are hers alone to make and should never be mandated by politicians.

This week, I stand proudly with my fellow House Democrats to reaffirm my support, and I will vote for the Right to Contraception Act.

Reproductive healthcare should be available to everyone regardless of where they live. This week, we are another step closer to restoring critical access for all.

Mr. Speaker, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These inalienable rights have served as a compass in guiding us as we strive to create a more perfect Union.

Yet, recently, these rights have been the target of relentless political attacks by a Supreme Court that has seemingly abandoned the promises of our Constitution and by far-right extremists with a radical agenda to dismantle decades of progress to take us back, back to a time when people were ashamed and murdered because the person they chose to love didn't have a certain skin color or was of the same gender and back to a time when women could not access legal and safe reproductive healthcare measures.

Today, I stand in solidarity with the millions of Americans who have been angered by these disgraceful acts to say that I refuse to be taken back because we have come much too far.

Madam Speaker, it has been more than 3 weeks since the Supreme Court ignored the constitutional right to privacy that guaranteed women could make their own reproductive health decisions. Now, States are encouraged to restrict or ban abortion and birth control.

We are now witnessing the horrifying consequences of an extreme agenda to criminalize women's reproductive health decisions, including the arrest of doctors.

Americans overwhelmingly support protecting women's reproductive rights, and I stand here today to affirm their voices and carry out their will.

Last week, House Democrats passed two strong bills to defend women's right to decide. This week, we will once again ensure progress, not regression, when we pass the Right to Contraception Act.

Far-right extremists continue to wage an all-out war to control women's reproductive rights, but we will continue to put people over politics and ensure birth control access for all.

Mr. Speaker, extremists have waged an all-out war against reproductive health freedom, and American bodies are being used as political battlegrounds to advance their radical agenda.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Americans have overwhelmingly voiced their opposition, and we must not ignore them. I am determined to defend reproductive healthcare rights of millions of Americans from all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, and I implore my colleagues to join me in the fight.

A post-Roe America sets our country's five decades of progress backward and threatens the health of marginalized communities who already face systemic barriers to accessing healthcare. Extremists have proven they will not stop until they have criminalized Americans for their right to take ownership of their reproductive health.

It is time that we make Roe the law of the land.

I urge our colleagues across the aisle to prioritize the will of the people and undo this grave injustice and protect it from being overturned in the future.

Madam Speaker, while the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has impacted millions of Americans, we must also acknowledge its economic and racial implications.

We live in a country plagued by generations of healthcare inequities and racial disparities. Black, Latino, indigenous, and other communities of color already face healthcare barriers and will only continue to suffer in the aftermath of a post-Roe America.

State trigger bills that restrict or ban more than half of a country from reproductive healthcare access have already stripped millions of their fundamental right to decide their reproductive care. But our fight continues.

I implore my colleagues in Congress to unite to pass legislation to protect every American's constitutional right to travel freely and voluntarily throughout the United States, including for reproductive healthcare.