[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 112 (Monday, June 28, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3232-H3238]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CBC SUPPORTS INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
any extraneous materials on the subject of this Special Order hour.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Ohio?
There was no objection.
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight for the Congressional
Black Caucus' Special Order hour on this critically important topic,
infrastructure. Tonight, we will share with you our positions, our
plans, and the state of what we think about infrastructure.
I am so honored to be here tonight as a coanchor and as chair of the
Congressional Black Caucus. Traditionally, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson
Lee would be here as our lead anchor. I thank her for allowing me, as
chair, to stand in for her.
I am so honored that her coanchor will now be my coanchor tonight. It
gives me great pleasure to talk about all of our members, Madam
Speaker, but we are joined by someone who is not only a freshman but a
freshman who is a leader, a freshman who is strong, a freshman from New
York's 15th District, someone who came to Congress with a plan, someone
who came to Congress saying that he wants to be here and be able to be
a part not only of the Congressional Black Caucus but to be able to
stand up and stand out and make a difference for his constituents.
Madam Speaker, he has done far more than that.
Congressman Ritchie Torres serves on the powerful Financial Services
Committee as a freshman. He is a leader when we talk about housing and
infrastructure. Tonight, I get to dialogue with him. I get to listen to
him, and we get to talk about other members of the Congressional Black
Caucus.
Tonight, we want to speak directly to the American people and reflect
on
[[Page H3233]]
the ideas and the critical interests of our constituents. Tonight, we
gather in the sacred Chamber on the floor of the people's House to
discuss America's infrastructure and to amplify Our Power, Our Message.
You will hear this throughout the evening because we realize that it is
about our power and our message, 57 members strong of the Congressional
Black Caucus.
Tonight, we will educate our constituents. We will educate Americans
about the importance of the investment in infrastructure in our
neighborhoods and our communities.
Tonight, we will stand strong in support of infrastructure because we
know roads and schools in our districts are crumbling and need urgent
repair.
We also tackle this with bold Federal investments in our country's
roads and bridges and access to broadband and transit and water systems
and housing and human care. The investment in infrastructure, Madam
Speaker, would support workers and create millions of good-paying jobs
in urban and rural populations, the types of jobs that support workers,
engineers, steelworkers, bus drivers, childcare workers, and rail
workers, and their families.
Isn't that what this is about? Isn't that why we stand up for the
people, to make them able to have good-paying jobs to take care of
their families?
The Congressional Black Caucus understands this because we have lived
this. I know this all too well when we talk about roads and bridges,
when we talk about waterways and broadband.
What good is it to say let's educate our children, let's give them
the technology that they need, and so we give them a laptop, a computer
and all the software, but in many of our rural and urban communities,
there is no broadband?
What good is it to have roads and bridges that people can travel, but
where are they traveling to? They are traveling home. But what happens
when there is no home, when there is no housing?
That is one of the reasons that we are here tonight, so that we can
talk about this investment in our Nation's future that includes
extending key tax credits, tax cuts that were included in the American
Rescue Plan, which the Congressional Black Caucus stood tall to help
pass, that will benefit lower- and middle-income workers and families.
We even created a domestic policy transportation team within the
Congressional Black Caucus to talk about infrastructure, and I will use
their language. In their recent meeting, they said that we need a
modern American infrastructure plan. That, too, is what tonight is
about.
You will hear facts. You will hear data. You will hear stories. You
will hear the strong testimony of why we are saying to all of our
colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, that we need an infrastructure
plan that works for the American people.
Madam Speaker, the majority whip, Congressman James Clyburn, needs
no real introduction. Mr. Clyburn hails from South Carolina. He has
stood on this floor repeatedly and talked about the American way. He
has been a leader, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus,
someone who has mentored most of us.
He has repeatedly said to us, which we must remember as members of
the Congressional Black Caucus: We must exercise our power and our
message. We must speak truth to power. And we must understand that on
days that are bad and days that are weak, we are the strength. We are
the Members that the American people who look like me look for. We are
leaders.
Often, people will say: What is it that the Congressional Black
Caucus stands for? What is it that the Congressional Black Caucus does?
Well, let me just tell you, the third most powerful man in the United
States Congress is a part of the Congressional Black Caucus. We have
six members of the Congressional Black Caucus that make up full chairs
of committees and more than 22 that represent subcommittee chairs.
Tonight, as we talk about infrastructure--roads, bridges, broadband,
waterways--we also talk about care, human care, human infrastructure.
Madam Speaker, it gives me great honor to yield to Congressman
James Clyburn.
Mr. CLYBURN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for
yielding to me. I thank her for the tremendous leadership she has given
as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. I appreciate her work, and
I appreciate her friendship.
Madam Speaker, I woke up this morning to several headlines, one of
which came from a little town in my congressional district, Summerton,
South Carolina.
Those who have studied a little bit of our history will know that
Summerton is a little town that started our Nation on the road to Brown
v. Board of Education. It was Briggs v. Elliott, the first case to
challenge segregated schools in this country, and that case became one
of five that have become known as Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka, Kansas.
But that is not why Summerton, South Carolina, was in the news today.
It was in the news today because that little town's entire water system
has failed. All the people in that town have been subjected, over the
last several weeks, to poison in their water system.
People were getting sick. Nobody knew what was causing it. People
were being diagnosed with all kinds of things, like swimmer's ear when
they had never been in a swimming pool.
{time} 2100
Today, the estimated cost of fixing their water system is more than
the entire budget of the town.
Summerton is just one example of what is happening all over this
country. Little towns like Summerton, rural communities, schools,
childcare centers, you name it, the people in that little town need
their infrastructure fixed.
Now, that is traditional.
But I will tell you something else about the little town of
Summerton: Scott's Branch High School, the school where Brown v. Board
of Education started, that is what the school was, Scott's Branch High
School; it is still there. It is the third building, but the school is
still named the same. Less than 34 percent of the students in that
school district are connected to the internet.
Now that means in that little school that challenged segregation
years ago because they were not being adequately educated--and I can
talk all night about this--kids walking 9.4 miles to school every day
one way and 9.4 miles back home. They weren't suing to integrate the
schools, all they wanted was a school bus. These are the basic things.
And you look at that school district today, they want to be connected
to the internet.
And we have colleagues in this place who tell us that they are all
for an infrastructure bill so long as it confines itself to traditional
infrastructure issues like roads and bridges.
Well, we need roads and bridges, but we need water and sewerage. We
need to deepen our ports, fix our rail systems. The greatest country on
Earth needs to do something about its rail system.
And I remember when rail was not traditional infrastructure. Of
course, I wasn't around, but I remember from my studies when rail was
not traditional infrastructure. It wasn't until Abraham Lincoln gave us
the transcontinental railroad that rail was considered infrastructure.
The interstate highway was not infrastructure. Dwight Eisenhower gave
us the interstate highway, and then it became traditional
infrastructure.
Today broadband has got to be a big part of infrastructure. COVID-19
has exposed some real flaws in our system, and when it comes to
education we have many children who have already lost a full year of
school; some are threatening to lose a second year of school. What
happens to a sixth or seventh grader when they lose 2 years of school?
But the children who had the internet stayed in touch with education,
which tells me that in that school district there in Summerton, South
Carolina, where less than 40 percent of the students are connected to
the internet, they run the risk of 60 percent of their children losing
another year of school. They will be no better off than those students
were back when Brown v. Board of Education was decided in 1954.
So this infrastructure bill has got to be about more than what is
traditional. It has got to be looking toward the future. And it seems
to me that we, as the greatest country in the world, need to look to
the future. What do we want
[[Page H3234]]
for our children and our grandchildren? We should not tie ourselves to
that which is traditional. Traditional alone means what has been. We
need to be futuristic.
Now before I close, Madam Speaker, I want to share a little story. I
often tell this story. Back when the rural electric co-ops were
celebrating their 50th anniversary of rural electrification, they
decided to publish a tabletop book, and they called the book, ``The
Next Greatest Thing.'' And the reason they called the book, ``The Next
Greatest Thing'' is because one night a farmer in rural Tennessee stood
up in church and said to them, brothers and sisters, let me tell you
something, the greatest thing on Earth is to have the love of God in
your heart, but the next greatest thing is to have electricity in your
house.
Think about that. Broadband will do for the 21st century what
electricity did for rural America in the 20th century. And this is our
best opportunity to bring rural America in line with the rest of us and
make sure that children will not be limited in their educational
pursuits by where they live. We are too great a nation for that.
This is a great country. It doesn't have to be made great again. What
we have got to do is make this country's greatness accessible and
affordable for all of its citizens.
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank the majority whip for setting the
stage for us tonight to talk about traditional and nontraditional
infrastructure, especially broadband. I think we all learned a message
about the value of going beyond what the tradition is, and certainly
broadband does that for us.
Earlier, Madam Speaker, I had the distinct pleasure of saying how
honored I would be to be joined by our coanchor tonight, Congressman
Ritchie Torres from New York.
I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres) for him to make
an opening statement as we coanchor tonight.
Mr. TORRES of New York. Madam Speaker, I thank Chair Beatty for
yielding. And I know brevity is the soul of wit, so I will express my
thoughts as succinctly as I can.
I am honored to be the co-chair of the CBC Special Order hour and to
serve under the dynamic leadership of the CBC chair, Joyce Beatty, who
is a force to be reckoned with. I thank the gentlewoman for affording
me the honor to co-chair the CBC Special Order hour.
I echo what our majority whip said, that we cannot afford to take an
obsolete view of infrastructure. Infrastructure is about more than
roads and bridges. It is about the quality of the air we breathe and
the water we drink. It is about access to the internet, especially in a
world of remote learning and telehealth. It is about safe, decent,
affordable housing, which is a human right.
Abraham Maslow spoke about a hierarchy of needs, and the highest need
we have is self-actualization. And in order to actualize ourselves, we
have to meet our most fundamental needs, our need for employment,
housing, transit, and education. That is what we mean by
infrastructure.
Infrastructure is not simply physical, but it is social and human. It
is that which enables us to become the best version of ourselves.
The component of infrastructure that matters most to me is affordable
housing. I would not be where I am today were it not for affordable
housing and the stability that it gave me and my family. For me
affordable housing is not simply brick-and-mortar, but it is the
foundation on which we build a better life for ourselves and our
family.
It is often said that the south Bronx is the poorest congressional
district in America, but I think of the south Bronx as the essential
congressional district. Because it is home to essential workers who put
their lives at risk during the peak of the pandemic so that the rest of
the city and the country could safely shelter in place.
And I believe deeply that the essential workers of America, the
essential workers of New York City should be able to afford to live in
a city that cannot survive and succeed without them.
{time} 2110
Now, the American Jobs Plan proposes hundreds of billions of dollars
in new funding for affordable housing, but just as important as the
dollar amount is how those dollars are spent. If we simply invest those
dollars in expanding housing supply without expanding housing subsidy,
then we run the risk of creating housing that leaves behind the lowest
income Americans. We run the risk of creating the appearance rather
than the reality of affordable housing.
When the subject of affordable housing is raised, the question that
often comes to mind is: Affordable for whom?
We need deep affordability. We need real affordability. And the best
path to deep affordability--to affordability for all Americans--is
housing vouchers for all. Housing vouchers ensure that you pay no more
than 30 percent of your income towards your rent.
Madam Speaker, I am honored to sponsor legislation with Chair Waters
and subcommittee Chair Cleaver, which would expand the Section 8
program and establish housing vouchers as an entitlement, as a human
right, codified in Federal law.
Housing vouchers for all takes on a special urgency because we are
facing the greatest affordability crisis that we have seen since the
Great Depression. There are 37 million Americans who pay more than one-
third of their income toward their rent. There are 17 million Americans
who pay more than half their income toward their rent. And that does
not even factor in the cost of utilities, food, transportation, and
healthcare.
There are millions of Americans who are living on the brink of
foreclosure and eviction in the midst of COVID-19. And at the heart of
the affordability crisis is the gap between supply and demand. The
demand for affordable housing far exceeds the supply.
Madam Speaker, I will provide you with some statistics in New York
City. In New York City, there are 1 million households earning at or
below 50 percent of AMI, which is about $60,000 a year. But there are
only 420,000 units affordable to those households. That is a gap of
580,000 units.
That is why we need a Federal Government that is going to take an
expansive view of infrastructure and invest in the creation and
preservation of affordable housing on a scale that we have not seen
before. Our country deserves no less.
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those eye-
opening remarks.
Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield the floor to
Congressman Bobby Scott. Congressman Scott hails from Virginia's Third
Congressional District. A proud member of the Congressional Black
Caucus, he is also one of those six chairs who I referenced earlier. He
is chair of the Committee on Education and Labor. He is a scholar. He
is a lawyer. He also takes the lead role when we talk about the
Congressional Black Caucus and how we plan for the future not only for
education and childcare, but also how we plan for the Congressional
Black Caucus' budget.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), my
colleague and friend.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding and, more importantly, I thank her for her leadership of the
Congressional Black Caucus and her leadership on the Committee on
Financial Services.
Madam Speaker, we are slowly recovering from the economic mess that
we inherited after the last administration. The number of jobs, up.
Unemployment, down. Initial claims for unemployment insurance, down.
The economy is going in the right direction, but, clearly, not fast
enough.
That is why the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan are
so important. The American Jobs Plan will create funding for the
traditional infrastructure, like roads, bridges, tunnels, rail, public
transit; also investments in ports.
It also proposes significant investment in broadband. And we have
heard how important broadband is because it connects families and
businesses to the internet, and connects students to the internet.
Those students who did not have connectivity could not take advantage
of educational opportunities for over a year, and if they don't get
connectivity, they will be disadvantaged going forward.
We need to have universal broadband, and the investments in the
American
[[Page H3235]]
Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan will go a long way towards
universal access to broadband.
We even have electric charging stations for people who are not
inclined to buy electric cars if they can't charge those cars on the
highway. And people are not building charging stations along the
highway because there are not that many electric cars.
The American Jobs Plan will have funding for electric charging
stations so that more people will be inclined to buy electric cars. And
not surprisingly, as soon as that happens, all of the restaurants up
and down the highways will have charging stations so people will be
inclined to hook up; and while they are waiting, they will go in and
take advantage of the restaurant.
Madam Speaker, those are just some of the investments in the American
Jobs Plan.
It also includes school construction. There is an article recently in
Virginia that told the story that about 50 percent of the schools in
the Commonwealth of Virginia are over 50 years old. That sends a
disappointing message to students when they are going into old schools.
It gives the impression that education is not important. We need to
improve our schools, and we can do that with the funding in the
American Jobs Plan.
Madam Speaker, we have funding to improve housing, that we have
heard, and many other projects. Creating millions of jobs, good-paying
jobs--mostly union jobs--where they are guaranteed to be able to
negotiate a decent wage and equal pay for equal work. But those jobs
will go unfilled unless we also pass the American Families Plan, which
has funding for childcare and early childhood education and improved
child nutrition so parents can actually go to work; job training and
apprenticeships and improved access to higher education so workers can
get the skills needed to perform those jobs.
These bills will create millions of jobs and enable workers to
perform those jobs, and these programs will be fiscally responsible
because they will be paid for.
Madam Speaker, that is how we will build back a better America.
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks.
Congressman Bobby Scott is right. Tonight is about building back
better. Tonight is about the Congressional Black Caucus demonstrating
our power, our message.
Madam Speaker, as I talk about our power and our message, it gives me
great pleasure to yield the floor to Congressman Andre Carson, who
hails from Indiana's Seventh Congressional District. He is the grandson
of a legend, someone who served in this House, someone who I had the
opportunity to know and to witness her work in Congresswoman Julia
Carson.
Tonight, my friend, my colleague, a leader when we talk about
intelligence or counterterrorism, when we talk about looking at the
future and how we stand up for infrastructure. He serves on the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, so he comes to us this
evening to share his thoughts on how the Congressional Black Caucus can
help with this infrastructure plan.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson).
Mr. CARSON. Madam Speaker, I thank the Congressional Black Caucus for
giving us a leader, a hero, a visionary, a general, and a true public
servant in Chairwoman Joyce Beatty, a fellow Midwesterner.
Madam Speaker, when I see people like Congresswoman Beatty, it
motivates me in the spirit of my grandmother, in the spirit of Fannie
Lou Hamer, in the spirit of Harriet Tubman, in the spirit of Sojourner
Truth. That fearlessness, that boldness, that commitment to liberation
in freeing us from physical shackles along with mental shackles.
Madam Speaker, I am proud to join my great colleagues in the
Congressional Black Caucus tonight in support of the INVEST Act, a bill
that we marked up over 18 hours in the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure.
Madam Speaker, now this is one of the greenest bills to ever come to
the floor. It provides strong support for sustainable infrastructure,
green infrastructure, and green transit.
The INVEST Act also addresses critical water projects for clean
drinking water and wastewater projects, priorities that are long
overdue after the racial injustices discovered in the Flint water
crisis.
{time} 2120
The INVEST Act includes strong job creation provisions for minority
contractors and transportation professionals that will help spur Black
generational success and wealth.
We also know that access to reliable transportation is a civil rights
priority. It is critical to economic and educational opportunities.
This bill makes big investments to cut carbon emissions. For electric
vehicle technologies, it expands EV charging stations and networks
across our country by investing $4 billion in charging infrastructure,
helping the U.S. shift to the next generation of clean vehicles. I am
especially proud of the EV charging stations approved in the bill for
Indianapolis, which has one of the first green bus rapid transit
systems.
This bill also dedicates $8.3 billion for activities targeted to
reduce carbon pollution and provides $6.2 billion for mitigation and
resiliency improvements. It also advances the development and
utilization of green construction materials.
It makes our roads safer with a great boost to smart road
technologies and roadway safety programs, plus record levels of
investment in walking and cycling infrastructure, complete streets
planning and smarter road design, and safe routes to schools.
This bill also strengthens passenger rail service, as Mr. Clyburn
mentioned. At my request, our staff request, there were provisions
included to improve rail safety by addressing highway-rail grade
crossing needs, as well as addressing trespasser and suicide fatalities
and eliminating gaps in railroad safety.
This bill also creates a Federal blocked crossing program to collect
data and enforce a 10-minute blocked crossing limit. This is a huge win
for the problems we have faced in Indianapolis and other places as
well.
Madam Speaker, the INVEST Act is a long-overdue bill, and I urge my
colleagues to help us in passing this monumental piece of legislation.
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Carson. I thank him
for reminding us that America's infrastructure is in desperate need of
investment. That is what this is about.
Talking about investment, Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman
from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence), the second vice chair of the
Congressional Black Caucus, the chair of the Women's Caucus, someone
who understands infrastructure probably more than most of us. You see,
when she started as a postal worker before she worked her way up, she
was in the community and on those roads. She was traveling across those
bridges, and she was listening to people. That is why her constituents
voted her to be mayor. As mayor, we certainly understand the things
that you are hit with the most, our infrastructure, our roads, our
bridges, our care for human infrastructure.
Mrs. LAWRENCE. Madam Speaker, I thank the Congressional Black Caucus.
I want to recognize and say how much we appreciate and how much
Congress has benefited from the bold leadership of our chair, Joyce
Beatty. I thank her for hosting, with the Congressional Black Caucus
leadership, this Special Order hour.
Madam Speaker, I rise to speak on the urgent infrastructure issue
that needs and deserves the attention and the action of this body. Our
water infrastructure in the United States is in serious need of repair.
Families in Michigan and across this country are struggling to get
safe and clean drinking water because of lead pipes in their homes and
communities, not to mention the contamination of our water system
sources.
I am from Michigan, and the Great Lakes weigh on my mind constantly
as the largest body of freshwater in this country.
A 2016 study found that there were more than 6 million lead service
lines across the United States, serving 15 to 22 million Americans.
This is a crisis.
Madam Speaker, I have lived through and witnessed the Flint water
crisis in Michigan. I saw where the people, the United States citizens
of this country,
[[Page H3236]]
their drinking water was poisoned, and because of that, we saw them
getting sick and being hospitalized.
I am sad to say, not only did it happen in Flint, but it is happening
all over our country. This issue disproportionately affects communities
of color and the poor.
We have an opportunity, a once in a generation chance, to rebuild our
infrastructure and to build back better for the American people. The
Americans Jobs Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure framework both
tackle our water infrastructure problem.
These proposals will replace lead pipelines across this country. It
is an action that is long overdue.
This is an investment that could not come soon enough. I want this
Congress to know that the Federal investment in public water
infrastructure projects--it is embarrassing to say--under our watch has
fallen from 63 percent of our overall investment in 1977 to just 9
percent in 2014. Let me repeat that. We invested, at one time, as a
government, 63 percent in our water, and now it is down to 9 percent.
This is unacceptable.
Let's pass a comprehensive infrastructure package to rebuild our
water infrastructure, fix our roads and bridges, and invest in electric
vehicles while creating good-paying jobs and positioning ourselves for
the future.
This is a public health issue; it is a racial justice issue; and it
is an economic justice issue. Access to clean water is a basic
necessity for human life.
I am grateful to stand with my colleagues from the Congressional
Black Caucus and call for our Nation's investment in infrastructure.
This is our power, and this is our message. We must get this done.
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence.
She is absolutely right; this is a public issue. This is a racial
justice issue because we know our roads, our bridges, and our water
systems are crumbling. We know our electric grid is at risk of
catastrophic outages. We know many schools are crumbling from lack of
attention and neglect. Too many lack access to affordable housing, and
too many lack access to childcare and education.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms.
Adams). We call her our HBCU czar. She is the chair of the
Congressional Black Caucus' HBCU caucus, historically Black colleges
and universities. She is also more than that. She has spent a lifetime
educating children and college students.
She serves on the powerful Financial Services Committee, and she has
a strong voice on the Education and Labor Committee and Agriculture
Committee.
{time} 2130
Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Beatty for yielding.
I thank Representative Torres for his leadership and thank Chairwoman
Beatty for being such a phenomenal leader and a role model for all of
us.
I am pleased to be here tonight to support the Congressional Black
Caucus members, known as the conscious of the Congress, not only
because of what we believe, but because we show up on days like this.
I rise tonight to talk about an essential infrastructure investment,
an investment in our historically Black colleges and universities.
Earlier this year, the bipartisan leadership of the HBCU Caucus,
Representative French Hill from Arkansas, Senator Chris Coons from
Delaware, and Tim Scott from South Carolina, as well as our vice
chairs, Representative Terri Sewell and Mike Turner, came together to
introduce the bipartisan IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act.
We introduced this legislation to help light a fire for our schools.
The IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act represents a historic investment in both
the physical and the digital infrastructure of our historically Black
colleges.
Our Nation's HBCUs deserve a level of investment and engagement
reflective of their multibillion dollar impact on our Nation's economy
and their collective impact on the minds of millions of our Nation's
future leaders.
We have bipartisan agreement on that. Don't just take it from me. In
the words of Senator Tim Scott, ``HBCUs have educated and produced top-
notch graduates in every field--all while operating on minimal budgets.
I can only imagine what more they will accomplish with proper
funding.''
Our Nation's low-income, first-generation college students deserve
that opportunity, and to ensure that that happens, the schools that
they attend must be made whole. There are more than 102 across this
Nation. I had the privilege of serving for 40 years on the campus of
Bennett College in Greensboro, and I am a graduate twice of North
Carolina A&T State University, and Johnson C. Smith University is in my
district.
Finally, as we have a national debate about infrastructure in
Congress and across the country, I want to make one thing clear, that
the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act is not only an infrastructure bill, it
is also a jobs bill. And this bill creates jobs and enables HBCUs to
continue to be a critical source of diversity in the workforce. This
bill has the potential to create over half a million jobs while
investing in critical HBCU infrastructure.
Historically Black colleges and universities are essential
infrastructure for the next generation of students, workers,
innovators, athletes, creators, thinkers, and leaders, and that is why
we need to pass the most transformative legislation for historically
Black colleges and universities in history. You have got to rectify
over 150 years of neglect, broken promises, and institutional racism.
Any infrastructure package that leaves this House must include a
historic investment in our HBCUs. I am not going to rest until we
remove all of the barriers to their success and the success of our HBCU
students.
So I ask my colleagues to please join me in our bipartisan list of
over 70 cosponsors in the House and Senate in supporting the IGNITE
HBCU Excellence Act. Our power. Our message.
Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Alma Adams for her
comments.
It is always a pleasure when we have the opportunity to work
together. And I say to Congressman Torres that that is what we are
going to do tonight.
I could not think of a better segue than to pitch it to
Representative Torres. We have two members of the Congressional Black
Caucus from the great State of New York. I am so used to saying the
great State of Ohio, but tonight we have two freshman members of the
Congressional Black Caucus who have been great supporters to our
message, our power, who have been fearless leaders.
So at this time, I say to Congressman Torres, my coanchor, that I
think it would be best for him to yield the floor to and make some
remarks about Congressman Jamaal Bowman who will speak next.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres.)
Mr. TORRES of New York. Madam Speaker, we are not only from the great
State of New York but the great county of the Bronx.
Education is infrastructure and who better to speak about education
than a lifelong educator.
Well, before running for Congress, our next speaker was a principal
who dedicated his life to educating the students of the northeast
Bronx. He is one of the first Black Members of Congress to ever
represent Westchester County, which has historically been ground zero
for resistance to fair housing.
If you have ever seen the movie, ``Show Me a Hero,'' in Yonkers, that
is the district of our next speaker. Even though he embodies how far we
have come as a country, he knows more than most how far we must go.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bowman),
the one and only.
Mr. BOWMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Torres for that
introduction and for yielding, and I thank him for his overall
leadership and vision, not just for our country, but for the Boogie
Down Bronx.
I thank Madam Chairwoman for her incomparable leadership, and wisdom,
and vision for the CBC and for our country.
It is my honor to stand here with both of you to call for a big,
bold, visionary infrastructure package that finally addresses the
disparities in our economy. We like to think of America as the land of
opportunity where anyone can achieve success and shape their
[[Page H3237]]
own future with little more than hard work and determination. For many
people, that is exactly the reality that they exist within, thanks to a
little luck, determination, opportunity, and one-sided historical
Federal investment.
Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would like to us
believe that this accurately represents our history, but,
unfortunately, most Black Americans have been written out of this
narrative. Consider the world as it exists today in our history of the
redlining of Black and Brown communities, as well as other racially
biased policies of the New Deal. These divisions have always been
rooted in Federal policy.
President Biden has said he considers this infrastructure package to
constitute a generational investment in the American public and in
communities like mine in the Bronx, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, and
Yonkers. And now is the time for us to right the wrongs of that
history.
The infrastructure package of 2021 must be rooted in racial and
economic justice. We must uplift the care economy, fix our public
housing, rebuild our crumbling schools, expand access to Medicare, and
end our dependency on fossil fuels, among many other things. No
American with this infrastructure package should be left behind.
As the White House considers this infrastructure package, let's take
a deeper trip into our history. In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead
Act, redistributing 10 percent of the land in the country, arguably
constituting the single greatest wealth transfer in our history.
African Americans never received their 40 acres of land after slavery,
while White Americans received millions of acres of land which gave
them the opportunity to self-actualize.
Housing now accounts for over 40 percent of household wealth, with
much of this housing-related wealth stemming from Federal investments
in homeownership during the New Deal. Because of redlining--one of the
largest drivers of the wealth gap--of the over $1 trillion invested
between 1934 and 1962, in 2021 dollars, less than 2 percent went to
non-White families.
We can no longer attempt to build out the middle class on the backs
of marginalized communities. We must make sure that the next round of
generational investment incorporates everyone, beginning with those
most marginalized.
If we make this infrastructure package inclusive and comprehensive,
we can give every single American a job, a career, and the resources
they need to flourish from the Bronx; to Mount Vernon; to Yonkers; to
New Rochelle, New York.
If we have the courage to address the climate, economic, and racial
injustices that threaten the human race, we can give our children and
grandchildren a future they deserve.
We can either impart the full story of American history to our
children or doom ourselves to relive it. In the case of infrastructure,
an investment of this scale, repeating the failures of the past is
unacceptable. To meet the promise of our democracy, we must give every
person in our country an opportunity to both survive and thrive. That
begins with a robust and comprehensive infrastructure package. This is
our time. This is our moment.
{time} 2140
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Bowman for reminding
us of our history, as well as the need.
I am sure if Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was at this microphone
tonight, Congressman Torres, she would look to you and she would say,
let's get this done. She would look to you and she would remind us that
part of this bold action means we must use all of our available
resources.
She would remind us, in 2017, that the Republicans used the
reconciliation process twice. Oh, how I remember how they used it
against the Affordable Care Act. And how I remember that they used it
not only for taking away American's healthcare, but a second time to
pass the GOP tax scam of 2017, in giving more money to those in the top
1 percent.
But, tonight, we have heard from the top of our leadership. We have
heard from Members from across the United States.
Now it gives me great pleasure to bring our last speaker to the
podium. He is also our newest Member to Congress. He hails from the
great State of Louisiana. He is someone who is no stranger to being an
elected official. He is someone who has dedicated his life to serving
the people. He has been successful. He is here in his own right,
serving on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as
the Small Business Committee.
Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield to the gentleman
from Louisiana (Mr. Carter), my colleague and friend.
Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, Madam Chairman Beatty,
Coanchor Torres, it is indeed an honor to join you tonight with your
incredible leadership, Madam Chair, with your tenacious ability to
lead, direct, and command the respect of 57 Members of this august
body, to fight tirelessly on behalf of the people of your district, but
also all the people of our great country. I thank you for your
leadership.
This week, the House will take up an important bill for our Nation's
future, the INVEST Act.
Americans have grown weary, and justifiably so. We have talked about
an infrastructure bill for a very long time, and we have kicked the
proverbial ball down the road as far as we can.
The people deserve more. The people deserve better. They deserve an
infrastructure plan now, and one that speaks to traditional
infrastructure, brick and mortar, as well as human infrastructure,
broadband, housing, opportunities for our communities to rebuild, to
grow, to thrive.
As a Member of the House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, and as a Representative of one of the largest
transportation hubs in the Nation, I know this legislation will
reimagine and rebuild our infrastructure in Louisiana and across
America.
This is a big bill and it does big things. It steps up to the
challenges we face now and prepares us for challenges to come in the
future. It powers economic development, creating good-paying jobs,
building and fixing our crumbling infrastructure.
It connects communities by supporting public transit and new, high-
speed, low-emission railways between cities like New Orleans and Baton
Rouge and the river parishes in between.
It restores communities that have been harmed by old transportation
decisions, like neighborhoods and districts that were cut in half and
live in the shadows of interstate overpasses.
It also invests in passenger and freight rail. Both are very
important to me because my district is home to the only port served by
six Class 1 railroads, and it contains a corridor that badly needs new
high-speed rail from New Orleans to Baton Rouge.
Investing in and supporting freight rail would allow them to continue
driving our economy and reducing greenhouse gases from shipping.
The plan to connect New Orleans and Baton Rouge was delayed by a
shortsighted decision of a previous Governor. But this bill and this
administration gets us back on track.
Connecting two of the biggest cities in the State with high-speed
passenger rail makes all the sense in the world; tying communities
together, creating jobs and opportunities throughout the State of
Louisiana, providing the resources to have cleaner forms of
transportation.
Infrastructure now means so much more than stop signs and sidewalks.
It means access to broadband, affordable and safe housing, and support
for people caring for parents or children.
This bill starts that, and the rest of our efforts must continue to
move forward in the vein of including people.
We need physical infrastructure, but we also need human
infrastructure. We need to invest in highways and ports, but we also
need to invest in the environment and the environmental safety of our
communities, because I have long said that people should not have to
die for their jobs. We must invest in the corrections that will create
a safer and better environment. We need to invest in our people. We
need to invest in affordable housing and the opportunities for
neighborhoods and communities to stand up.
I look forward to fighting for all of this, and then some. I look
forward to
[[Page H3238]]
building back better. America deserves better. America deserves more.
America deserves a robust infrastructure plan, and America deserves it
now.
Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, how much time do we have left, please?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman has 1\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Mrs. BEATTY. Then let me close by saying thank you to all of the
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus. It was clear tonight that
infrastructure is not only a big word, but it is a big deal, which
encompasses many concepts, which comprises modern American
infrastructure.
For some Members we have heard tonight, it is through traditional
roads and bridges and waterways. For others, it is broadband and it is
housing, it is human care.
Regardless of definition, the Congressional Black Caucus is ready to
stand in the gap to support legislation and policies that will help
infrastructure invest in America's future so we can build back better.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres) to
say thank you to our Members.
Mr. TORRES of New York. Madam Speaker, I will just quickly state, you
know, we are in the midst of an FDR moment, and we have an historic
opportunity to govern as boldly in the 21st century as FDR did in the
20th century. But the difference between then and now is ours is going
to be a new deal for everyone; Black and Brown new deal.
Mrs. BEATTY. Strong. Congressional Black Caucus, our power, our
message.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________