[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 38 (Wednesday, February 26, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H1215-H1219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CLIMATE CHANGE IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Wild). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2019, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Espaillat) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, today we are convening our monthly 
special order hour of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to talk about a 
pressing issue to our Nation, to our planet, in fact, and especially to 
communities of color.
  Climate change is a real global problem. It is affecting folks around 
the world contributing to natural disasters and droughts that lead to 
immigration and increased conflict.
  We have seen how the Caribbean, which stands in the pathway of 
natural disasters, has been hit time and time again from Superstorm 
Maria to Hurricane Irma to the recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico. We 
have seen how this region of the world, the Caribbean, which is our 
third border, continually gets hammered by natural disasters.
  In fact, just 2 days ago, the National Security, Military and 
Intelligence Panel of the Center for Climate and Security, a 
nonpartisan security policy institute, released a damning report. 
Within the report it said that higher levels of warming will pose a 
catastrophic and likely irreversible global security risk over the 
course of the 21st century.
  Last September, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change released yet another dire warning that the effects of climate 
change are already irreversible, and we only have just about a decade 
to act before it is too late.
  One thing that is important, though, about climate change is the 
disproportionate impact it has on communities of color. This is called 
environmental injustice, and that is why it is important that we 
address this from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus perspective, the 
perspective of those representing communities of color.
  Climate change affects our everyday lives in big ways and small ways. 
Take my grandson, for example. He suffers from asthma and acute 
allergies, and other health issues that a lot of our kids have that are 
worsened by air pollution.
  The issue is communities of color are not the biggest contributors to 
the pollution of climate change. In fact, they contribute less but are 
disproportionately hurt by climate change. We take public 
transportation. We don't fill our streets with very expensive polluting 
cars, but we bear the greatest burden from this and many other 
pollutants. This is also called environmental injustice.
  That is why I have introduced a resolution on environmental justice 
to ensure that the government acknowledges and addresses the 
disproportional harm that climate change has on our community and 
communities of color.
  Let me just take a moment to talk about some of my other work on this 
issue, because I believe it is a good summary of aspects that need to 
be addressed.
  I was proud to support H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which 
passed the House last year and will keep the U.S. in the historic Paris 
climate accord. I was able to include an amendment to that bill stating 
that climate justice and environmental justice must be included in our 
efforts to meet the Paris Agreement and mitigate and adapt to climate 
change.
  When we apply funding and when we allocate funding to address climate 
change, those communities in crisis must be given the funding first. 
This must be a core tenet of our policies to address climate change. 
Every law we pass and every action we take to mitigate and adapt to 
climate change must include acknowledgment and protections for 
marginalized and frontline communities who bear the burden of climate 
change.
  One of my predecessors in the U.S. Congress, the late, great Adam 
Clayton Powell, Jr., one of the great civil rights leaders of our 
times, led year after year his Powell amendments to ensure Federal 
funding did not support segregation. Every time he introduced the 
amendments, they would be voted down. They would be systematically shut 
down. But yet he continued to present them year after year after year. 
Finally, during the 1960s in the middle of that decade when the civil 
rights legislation was drafted and passed, that legislation which still 
benefits many of us across America, it was the Powell amendment that 
was included in civil rights legislation.
  Environmental justice is my Powell amendment, and I believe we must 
work to ensure that in every bill this House considers environmental 
justice is upheld and advanced.
  I have also introduced the Green Climate Fund Authorization Act which 
commits the United States to provide climate finances to keep the 
planet

[[Page H1216]]

under 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming.

                              {time}  1515

  The Green Climate Fund is an independent, multilateral fund 
established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 
Change to help developing countries limit or reduce their greenhouse 
gas emissions and adapt to climate change.
  We often read about the migration dynamic playing out on our southern 
border, and we think very often that those families are fleeing 
violence. That may be the case for some families, but many of them are 
also fleeing food security issues manifesting themselves in the 
triangle countries because of a horrible drought caused by climate 
change.
  Developing countries have limited capacity to reduce their greenhouse 
gas emissions, and through the Green Climate Fund, the U.S. can 
contribute our fair share to enable mitigation and adaptation 
activities that uphold environmental justice across the globe.
  Because it is these exact nations that are also on the front line of 
climate change, though they have contributed the least to these causes. 
Yet, one of the most important new approaches to combating climate 
change that has received a lot of traction and attention in the past 
year is the Green New Deal. I was proud to be an early supporter of 
this bold proposal, and many of my colleagues have since signed on to 
it and support it as well.
  The Green New Deal pushes us to reach net-zero emissions and a 100 
percent renewable economy to stop polluting our planet and ensure a 
safe climate for generations, for all of us, to come. It epitomizes 
environmental justice for frontline communities, especially 
underresourced groups, communities of color, Native Americans, people 
with disabilities, children, and seniors.
  The Green New Deal calls for a just transition for communities and 
workers to ensure that there are jobs and training for a clean economy. 
The Green New Deal will save American families money with investments 
in weatherization, public transportation, and modern infrastructure.
  We often talk about the infrastructure bill. Whether it is $1 
trillion or $2 trillion, it must be built green.
  It recognizes that combating climate change is an important 
intersection for promoting clean air and water and providing nutritious 
food, affordable and safe housing, and high-quality healthcare and 
jobs.
  The Green New Deal recognizes that we need to build resiliency in the 
face of worsening and more frequent climate-related disasters and that 
marginalized communities often bear the brunt of these disasters.
  Arguably, the most important aspect about the Green New Deal is that 
it forces us to think about combating climate change, not just in a 
singular policy aimed at emissions, but with all the policies we 
consider here in Congress, whether it is energy, education, the 
economy, jobs, or infrastructure.
  We need serious investments to mitigate and adapt to climate change, 
but it will cost us more in the long term if we do not act now, 
financially and existentially. Climate change, ultimately, is an 
existential threat to all of us across America and across the planet.
  By the time a child born today retires, in 2085, the U.S. will be 
spending $300 billion each year on climate resiliency.
  The time to invest is now. In fact, the time to invest was two 
decades ago.
  But here we are. We need serious investment in our infrastructure and 
our transportation systems. We need to invest in green roof technology 
and innovative urban agriculture to address not just the carbon 
emissions of the agricultural field, but also to address intersectional 
issues of food security and climate change.
  Earlier this year, our Democratic majority, led by Speaker Nancy 
Pelosi and Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter 
DeFazio, released a framework for infrastructure investment that takes 
many components of the Green New Deal into account.
  It makes bold investments in public transportation systems to harness 
zero-emission technology and reduce congestion. It ensures that newly 
proposed transit projects are judged on their capacity to reduce 
emissions and congestion.
  The framework includes provisions like those in the Transportation 
Alternatives Enhancement Act, which will prioritize projects that 
promote biking, walking, and other alternative, cleaner forms of 
transportation and infrastructure. The plan will boost investment in 
resiliency and green infrastructure to a degree that we have not yet 
seen before. It will make improvements in regional water resources to 
protect local ecosystems across the Nation.
  In short, Democrats are proud to put forward proposals that will not 
only protect our planet but will invest in America's communities, 
invest in American workers, and invest in America's youth and future 
generations so we are prepared to tackle this momentous task in the 
decades to come. And the Green New Deal is one of the ways we are doing 
just that.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Barragan), my colleague, the second vice chairperson of the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
  Ms. BARRAGAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and 
for holding this Special Order to address the impact of the fossil fuel 
industry on Latinos and how a Green New Deal can address the needs in 
our communities.
  From sea level rise, to the location of power plants, to fossil fuel 
extraction, to the urban heat island effect, the inequities from our 
energy system and who bears its consequences are everywhere. People of 
color are on the front line of this issue. We are hit first and worst.
  We need a climate bill that rises to the scale of both the climate 
crisis and the damage from environmental racism that impacts my 
district and the districts like it across the country.
  The best way for us to understand these challenges and how to 
overcome them is to meet environmental justice communities where they 
are.

  Our local challenges can provide useful information for Federal 
climate policy that can address environmental justice issues across the 
country.
  America needs to lead on a just transition away from fossil fuels, 
and climate solutions must account for what that means for communities 
like mine. We deal with pollution from oil refineries and ongoing urban 
oil drilling, which has a direct impact on the quality of the air we 
breathe.
  At the same time that the fossil fuel industry has a disproportionate 
footprint in minority communities, these industries often provide jobs, 
including union jobs, to my constituents. As we work to unwind the 
fossil fuel economy, we need our climate policy to ensure a just 
transition includes the needs of communities of color. This means 
creating union jobs in the clean energy industry with great benefits, 
and it means opportunities for minority-owned businesses to play a role 
in the clean energy future of tomorrow.
  We must also focus on air emissions from ports and the communities 
near them bearing the burden. In my district, I have the Port of Los 
Angeles, one of the most ambitious ports in the country when it comes 
to reducing emissions. At the same time, the port is a significant 
source of air and climate pollution, and communities in my district 
believe the best path forward is for the port to achieve zero emissions 
as quickly as possible.
  These are challenges that face ports throughout our country. Our 
climate policy must invest in America's ports to keep them competitive 
and on a pathway to zero emissions.
  As Democrats are in the majority, we are in a position to move 
swiftly and boldly on this issue, and we must do so.
  Madam Speaker, I look forward to working with my colleagues this year 
to craft bold climate solutions that leave no community behind.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New 
York (Ms. Ocasio-Cortez), my colleague.
  Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from New York, 
Representative Espaillat, for holding this incredibly important hour on 
not just the climate crisis but the Green New Deal, in particular.
  As I was preparing for this evening, I would be remiss but to say 
that, last night, we had a national Democratic debate, and not a single 
question was asked about our climate crisis.

[[Page H1217]]

  Right now, the global consensus, the IPCC report coming out the U.N., 
is sounding the alarm on what will happen if we do not keep emissions 
down to contain our warming levels below 1.5 degrees Celsius. But if 
you look at today, we are on track to hit 3 degrees Celsius by 2100. 
This can bring unprecedented chaos to our order.
  Throughout this entire year, as we discussed the Green New Deal, I 
have noticed that there has been an awful lot of misinformation about 
what is inside this resolution. A tremendous amount of wild claims, 
everything from saying we are seeking to ban airplanes to ending ice 
cream. As a consequence, I realized that many of my colleagues have 
never even read the resolution that they are speaking on. They haven't 
opened a single word of it. It is actually only about--I have it right 
in front of me--14 pages long.
  So I have decided that since some of my colleagues across the aisle 
could not, for some reason, read the resolution, that perhaps this hour 
would be spent best reading it to them for the public record.
  So, today, what I would like to do is to read the Green New Deal 
resolution for all those who are interested, who may want to fire this 
up on C-SPAN, or who may want to sit in the audience today.

       H. Res. 109, resolution recognizing the duty of the Federal 
     Government to create a Green New Deal.
       Whereas the October 2018 report entitled ``Special Report 
     on Global Warming of 1.5 Celsius'' by the Intergovernmental 
     Panel on Climate Change and the November 2018 Fourth National 
     Climate Assessment report found that--
       (1) human activity is the dominant cause of observed 
     climate change over the past century;
       (2) a changing climate is causing sea levels to rise and an 
     increase in wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and other 
     extreme weather events that threaten human life, healthy 
     communities, and critical infrastructure;
       (3) global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond 
     preindustrialized levels will cause--
       (A) mass migration from the regions most affected by 
     climate change;
       (B) more than $500 billion in lost annual economic output 
     in the United States by the year 2100;
       (C) wildfires that, by 2050, will annually burn at least 
     twice as much forest area in the Western United States than 
     was typically burned by wildfires in the years preceding 
     2019;
       (D) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral reefs on 
     Earth;
       (E) more than 350 million more people to be exposed 
     globally to deadly heat stress by 2050; and
       (F) a risk of damage to $1 trillion of public 
     infrastructure and coastal real estate in the United States; 
     and
       (4) global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees 
     Celsius above preindustrialized levels to avoid the most 
     severe impacts of a changing climate, which will require--
       (A) global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from 
     human sources of 40 to 60 percent from 2010 levels by 2030; 
     and
       (B) net-zero global emissions by 2050;
       Whereas, because the United States has historically been 
     responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas 
     emissions, having emitted 20 percent of global greenhouse gas 
     emissions through 2014, and has a high technological 
     capacity, the United States must take a leading role in 
     reducing emissions through economic transformation;
       Whereas the United States is currently experiencing several 
     related crises, with--
       (1) life expectancy declining while basic needs, such as 
     clean air, clean water, healthy food, and adequate 
     healthcare, housing, transportation, and education, are 
     inaccessible to a significant portion of the U.S. population;
       (2) a four-decade trend of wage stagnation, 
     deindustrialization, and antilabor policies that has led to--
       (A) hourly wages overall stagnating since the 1970s despite 
     increased worker productivity;
       (B) the third-worst level of socioeconomic mobility in the 
     developed world before the Great Recession;
       (C) the erosion of earning and bargaining power of workers 
     in the United States; and
       (D) inadequate resources for public-sector workers to 
     confront the challenges of climate change at local, State, 
     and Federal levels; and

                              {time}  1530

       (3) the greatest income inequality since the 1920s, with--
       (A) the top 1 percent of earners accruing 91 percent of 
     gains in the first few years of economic recovery after the 
     Great Recession;
       (B) a large racial wealth divide amounting to a difference 
     of 20 times more wealth between the average White family and 
     the average Black family; and
       (C) a gender earnings gap that results in women earning 
     approximately 80 percent as much as men, at the median;
       Whereas climate change, pollution, and environmental 
     destruction have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, 
     social, environmental, and economic injustices (referred to 
     in this preamble as ``systemic injustices'') by 
     disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples, communities 
     of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, 
     depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, 
     women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, 
     and youth (referred to in this preamble as ``frontline and 
     vulnerable communities'');
       Whereas, climate change constitutes a direct threat to the 
     national security of the United States--
       (1) by impacting the economic, environmental, and social 
     stability of countries and communities around the world; and
       (2) by acting as a threat multiplier;
       Whereas the Federal Government-led mobilizations during 
     World War II and the New Deal created the greatest middle 
     class that the United States has ever seen, but many members 
     of frontline and vulnerable communities were excluded from 
     many of the economic and societal benefits of those 
     mobilizations; and
       Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes that a new 
     national, social, industrial, and economic mobilization on a 
     scale not seen since World War II and the New Deal era is a 
     historic opportunity--
       (1) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs in the 
     United States;
       (2) to provide unprecedented levels of prosperity and 
     economic security for all people of the United States; and
       (3) to counteract systemic injustices: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that--
       (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a 
     Green New Deal--
       (A) to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through a 
     fair and just transition for all communities and workers;
       (B) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs and ensure 
     prosperity and economic security for all people in the United 
     States;
       (C) to invest in the infrastructure and industry of the 
     United States to sustainably meet the challenges of the 21st 
     century;
       (D) to secure for all people of the United States for 
     generations to come--
       (i) clean air and water;
       (ii) climate and community resiliency;
       (iii) healthy food;
       (iv) access to nature; and
       (v) a sustainable environment; and
       (E) to promote justice and equity by stopping current, 
     preventing future, and repairing historic oppression of 
     indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant 
     communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural 
     communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the 
     elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities and youth 
     (referred to in this resolution as ``frontline and vulnerable 
     communities'');
       (2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of 
     paragraph (1) (referred to in this resolution as the ``Green 
     New Deal goals'') should be accomplished through a 10-year 
     national mobilization (referred to in this resolution as the 
     ``Green New Deal mobilization'') that will require the 
     following goals and projects--
       (A) building resiliency against climate change-related 
     disasters, such as extreme weather, including by leveraging 
     funding and providing investments for community-defined 
     projects and strategies;
       (B) repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in the 
     United States, including--
       (i) by eliminating pollution and greenhouse gas emissions 
     as much as technologically feasible;
       (ii) by guaranteeing universal access to clean water;
       (iii) by reducing the risks posed by climate impacts; and
       (iv) by ensuring that any infrastructure bill considered by 
     Congress addresses climate change;
       (C) meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United 
     States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy 
     sources, including--
       (i) by dramatically expanding and upgrading renewable power 
     sources; and
       (ii) by deploying new capacity;
       (D) building or upgrading energy-efficient, distributed, 
     and ``smart'' power grids, and ensuring affordable access to 
     electricity;
       (E) upgrading all existing buildings in the United States 
     and building new buildings to achieve maximum energy 
     efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, 
     and durability, including through electrification;
       (F) spurring massive growth in clean manufacturing in the 
     United States and removing pollution and greenhouse gas 
     emissions from manufacturing and industry as much as is 
     technologically feasible, including by expanding renewable 
     energy manufacturing and investing in existing manufacturing 
     and industry;
       (G) working collaboratively with farmers and ranchers in 
     the United States to remove pollution and greenhouse gas 
     emissions from the agricultural sector as much as is 
     technologically feasible, including--
       (i) by supporting family farming;
       (ii) by investing in sustainable farming and land use 
     practices that increase soil health; and
       (iii) by building a more sustainable food system that 
     ensures universal access to healthy food;
       (H) overhauling transportation systems in the United States 
     to remove pollution and

[[Page H1218]]

     greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector as 
     much as technologically feasible, including through 
     investment in--
       (i) zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing;
       (ii) clean, affordable, and accessible public transit; and
       (iii) high-speed rail;
       (I) mitigating and managing the long-term adverse health, 
     economic, and other effects of pollution and climate change, 
     including by providing funding for community-defined projects 
     and strategies;
       (J) removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and 
     reducing pollution by restoring natural ecosystems through 
     proven low-tech solutions that increase soil carbon storage, 
     such as land preservation and afforestation;
       (K) restoring and protecting threatened, endangered, and 
     fragile ecosystems through locally appropriate and science-
     based projects that enhance biodiversity and support climate 
     resiliency;
       (L) cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned 
     sites, ensuring economic development and sustainability on 
     those sites;
       (M) identifying other emission and pollution sources and 
     creating solutions to remove them; and
       (N) promoting the international exchange of technology, 
     expertise, products, funding, and services, with the aim of 
     making the United States the international leader on climate 
     action, and to help other countries achieve a Green New Deal;
       (3) a Green New Deal must be developed through transparent 
     and inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership 
     with frontline and vulnerable communities, labor unions, 
     worker cooperatives, civil society groups, academia, and 
     businesses; and
       (4) to achieve the Green New Deal goals and mobilization, a 
     Green New Deal will require the following goals and 
     projects--
       (A) providing and leveraging, in a way that ensures that 
     the public receives appropriate ownership stakes and returns 
     on investment, adequate capital (including through community 
     grants, public banks, and other public financing), technical 
     expertise, supporting policies, and other forms of assistance 
     to communities, organizations, Federal, State, and local 
     government agencies, and businesses working on the Green New 
     Deal mobilization;
       (B) ensuring that the Federal Government takes into account 
     the complete environmental and social costs and impacts of 
     emissions through--
       (i) existing laws;
       (ii) new policies and programs; and
       (iii) ensuring that frontline and vulnerable communities 
     shall not be adversely affected;
       (C) providing resources, training, and high-quality 
     education, including higher education, to all people of the 
     United States, with a focus on frontline and vulnerable 
     communities, so that all people of the United States may be 
     full and equal participants in the Green New Deal 
     mobilization;
       (D) making public investments in the research and 
     development of new clean and renewable energy technologies 
     and industries;
       (E) directing investments to spur economic development, 
     deepen and diversify industry and business in local and 
     regional economies, and build wealth and community ownership, 
     while prioritizing high-quality job creation and economic, 
     social, and environmental benefits in frontline and 
     vulnerable communities, and deindustrialized communities, 
     that may otherwise struggle with the transition away from 
     greenhouse gas intensive industries;
       (F) ensuring the use of democratic and participatory 
     processes that are inclusive of and led by frontline and 
     vulnerable communities and workers to plan, implement, and 
     administer the Green New Deal mobilization at the local 
     level;
       (G) ensuring that the Green New Deal mobilization creates 
     high-quality union jobs that pay prevailing wages, hires 
     local workers, offers training and advancement opportunities, 
     and guarantees wage and benefit parity for workers affected 
     by the transition;
       (H) guaranteeing a job with a family-sustaining wage, 
     adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations, and 
     retirement security to all people of the United States;
       (I) strengthening and protecting the right of all workers 
     to organize, unionize, and collectively bargain free of 
     coercion, intimidation, and harassment;
       (J) strengthening and enforcing labor, workplace health and 
     safety, antidiscrimination, and wage and hour standards 
     across all employers, industries, and sectors;
       (K) enacting and enforcing trade rules, procurement 
     standards, and border adjustments with strong labor and 
     environmental protections--
       (i) to stop the transfer of jobs and pollution overseas; 
     and
       (ii) to grow domestic manufacturing in the United States;
       (L) ensuring that public lands, waters, and oceans are 
     protected and that eminent domain is not abused;
       (M) obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of 
     indigenous peoples for all decisions that affect indigenous 
     peoples and their traditional territories, honoring all 
     treaties and agreements with indigenous peoples, and 
     protecting and enforcing the sovereignty and land rights of 
     indigenous peoples;
       (N) ensuring a commercial environment where every 
     businessperson is free from unfair competition and domination 
     by domestic or international monopolies; and
       (O) providing all people of the United States with--
       (i) high-quality healthcare;
       (ii) affordable, safe, and adequate housing;
       (iii) economic security; and
       (iv) clean water, clean air, healthy and affordable food, 
     and access to nature.

  That is every word in the Green New Deal, and I want every person in 
this body and across the country to ask themselves why this is so 
controversial.
  Why is healthcare for every American so controversial?
  Why is protecting our planet for the next generation so 
controversial?
  Why is dignified labor and protection at work so controversial?
  Why is taking on the fossil fuel industry so, so controversial?
  Because, for years, we have prioritized the pursuit of profit at any 
and all human and environmental cost. I humbly ask my colleagues and my 
country to question our priorities for once, because our priorities 
have led to an unprecedented amount of income inequality to millions of 
people living in poverty and many more who feel unstable in their 
economic life.
  So, please, as a moral, economic, and political prerogative, I humbly 
ask our country to care for our planet.

                              {time}  1545

  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from the great 
State of New York, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, and the 98 Members who 
are cosponsors of the Green New Deal.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson 
Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, allow me to thank the gentleman from 
New York for his friendship and for the recognition that the clarion 
call has to be called.
  Let me thank my colleague and friend from New York as well, from the 
great borough of the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for her clarion 
call.
  I want to take this from a perspective of civil rights and the idea 
that, most often, civil rights are defined by the movement of the 
1960s, framed around the marches of poor people led by Dr. King and 
many others who saw the inequities dealing with the treatment of 
African Americans and others in the social justice system.
  One might not think that that movement ties directly to where we are 
today. As a cosponsor of the Green New Deal, I see this as a question 
of social justice. When the foot soldiers marched, many did not 
understand why they were attempting to change the way people had lived 
for decades and, yes, centuries. They didn't fully understand that the 
unequal treatment under the law was oppressive and denied families, 
children, regions of the country the ability to reach their highest 
dream.
  I represent, still, the many communities that are experiencing 
inequities. When I held a meeting some weeks ago to deal with what we 
call cancer clusters, I had a thousand people at a townhall meeting. A 
chemical, creosote, had gotten into the soil of neighborhoods, which, 
in Texas, with your patches of land, front yard or back yard, you plant 
your fruit trees and other garden vegetables.
  I asked: ``If you have cancer or your relatives have cancer, would 
you stand up?'' Two-thirds of that audience stood. Today, I am still 
getting calls from people in surrounding neighborhoods, talking about 
that chemical.
  When you begin to look at purifying and cleaning, making sure the air 
quality is clean, making sure the soil quality is clean, it is looking 
at ways not to diminish people who are working in industries, who are 
in hardworking, blue-collar jobs, but to expand their vision of what 
can happen if you commit to the reasonable policies of the Green New 
Deal that speak to bringing everyone to the table and addressing this 
as a civil rights moment, not judging it on the inequities of race but 
on the inequities of the quality of your neighborhood and the quality 
of your life.
  As I listened to the reading of the legislation, there is room at the 
table for everyone. There is room at the table for scientists. I was a 
member of the Science Committee for a good number of years. I believe 
in good science.
  There is room at the table for technicians, people who are embracing 
technology.
  There is room at the table for primary and secondary students who can

[[Page H1219]]

learn what climate change has done and what the impact is, and how 
science is connected to a green economy.
  There is room at the table for elected officials.
  There is room at the table for large industries that have in their 
companies huge departments dealing with the environment.
  The sadness is that that information is not given to all of those who 
look at these companies and see a particular purpose, but they don't 
know that they are working on environmental issues. My argument would 
be about education and information, and understanding that there is so 
much about quality of life that is tied to the quality of the air and 
water.
  Now, just one moment of deviation, as a member of the Homeland 
Security Committee, as one of the first Members who went to her 
district to speak about the coronavirus, asking why the administration 
had done nothing and had not given information to the American public, 
who said that it was urgent that they give this information. 
Unfortunately, in a presentation which we have seen when we deal with 
climate change or the Green New Deal, it was reported to us, Members of 
Congress, that there was nothing to worry about; it wouldn't get here 
to the United States.
  Well, I dealt with H1N1 as a Member of Congress, and the Ebola virus, 
which hit Dallas, Texas. I am in Houston, and before we understood what 
it was, various providers had treated the individual but had already 
left the State. Information can save lives.
  Just recently, before I left Houston, I had a press conference to at 
least share with the community the various documents and handouts about 
how one should react to any signs of a flu-like symptom, not to 
diagnose yourself, but to get to a health provider. In the Green New 
Deal, it talks about access to healthcare.
  Many of my constituents died from creosote because they had no access 
to healthcare. When I say creosote, the ramifications--cancer, 
respiratory illnesses.
  I rise today to join my colleagues in a clarion call. I am supposed 
to be at the Homeland Security Committee right now, but I really wanted 
to join in this commitment that we need to inform, educate, and 
activate so that we can begin to be on the journey in America, the 
greatest Nation in the world.
  In fact, the United States of America is the Nation now that is being 
looked on to bring relief on the coronavirus. And we are still missing 
a team or a plan.
  But the greatest Nation in the world can now be at the forefront of 
leading the idea that green is real and right, and it is good for the 
American people, good for our families, good for our children, good for 
the leadership that we must give to developing nations and other 
nations around the world.
  I rise to join my colleagues and thank them again for their 
leadership.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Sheila Jackson 
Lee from the State of Texas, Congresswoman Nanette Barragan from the 
State of California, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from 
the grea State of New York for bringing important facts to the table 
that will dispel the scare tactics that are being deployed and peddled 
across America about this Green New Deal. It will save lives.

  I represent the district that has one of the highest asthma rates in 
the State, Harlem. There is a significant number of bus depots in 
Harlem polluting the air. In East Harlem, the children have one of the 
highest levels of respiratory diseases and asthma. Washington Heights 
is cut right through its heart by a polluting railway called the Cross 
Bronx Expressway. We are surrounded by highways, and we are surrounded 
by pollution, leading to a very low quality of air, which leads to 
disease and leads to death.
  This has been an enlightened conversation about the Green New Deal. I 
hope America understands the particulars behind it and that we are 
better equipped and better informed to make the right decisions in 
support of this lifesaving piece of legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I thank you for this opportunity to allow the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus to talk about the importance of 
protecting our planet in the way in which the Green New Deal will do, 
while we are also making our Nation better.
  I thank everyone who was able to participate, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.

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