[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 191 (Monday, November 1, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H6056-H6064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1945
                       CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kahele). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee) 
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I wish a good evening to all of my 
colleagues and certainly members of the Congressional Black Caucus. It 
is my privilege to be part of the Special Order series of the 
Congressional Black Caucus as a coanchor with Congressman Torres from 
New York, and we thank him for his leadership. We thank, in particular, 
the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Joyce Beatty, who has been 
an enormous leader on any number of issues that are crucial to the 
American people and to African Americans.
  The one thing I say about the Congressional Black Caucus representing 
millions and millions of Americans is that we represent a diverse 
population of Americans. I am very proud to, as well, represent those 
African-American descendants of freed slaves.
  In fact, we rise today to emphasize the cruciality of the Build Back 
Better Act for moving the Nation forward and particularly moving 
forward those whom the Congressional Black Caucus represents. So I am 
very pleased this evening to be joined by my outstanding colleagues, 
who will include Congresswoman Adams from North Carolina, Congresswoman 
Bonnie Watson Coleman from New Jersey, Congressman Dwight Evans from 
Pennsylvania, and Congressman  Steve Horsford from Nevada. There are 
others, such as Congresswoman Gwen Moore from the great State of 
Wisconsin. Other Members may come.


                             General Leave

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear and refute a 
statement that I just recently heard on the floor. Nothing is ignorant 
in the Build Back Better bill and/or the bipartisan infrastructure 
bill. In fact, ignorance is stamped out by these bills. One, they are 
fully paid for as we are working the final edges of that, and, number 
two, they are doing things that are long overdue for America.
  Who are we as President Biden stands at the G20 and now at the 
climate change conference? Who are we? We are leaders of the free 
world. In fact, we are the leader.
  Although there are debates on the status of Russia and the 
competitive nature of China, all that has a basis in facts. But at the 
same time, as these facts are present, the United States continues to 
grow and to move and to ensure opportunity for its citizens. It is not 
our creed to randomly snatch people off the street and lock them up. It 
is not our focus to ensure that voices are not heard or that people of 
different religions are treated differently, arrested, isolated, and 
brutalized even. It is not our basic creed to enact laws that would 
help us take very important proprietary information from others.
  We are a democracy, and we are aided by the laws of that principle. 
So I take no back seat to whether or not Russia and China are 
competitive or are proposed world powers. What I say is that the United 
States has all the elements of continuing her posture of leadership, 
and one of those elements will be the successful passage of the Build 
Back Better Act and BIF, the bipartisanship infrastructure bill. This 
is the kind of legislation that is not seen even amongst our European 
friends of late nor of China or Russia.
  We are standing on the precipice of history, and I am very grateful 
for the

[[Page H6057]]

leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus that has been at the 
forefront of these matters. Again, working with so many of our 
colleagues, we lead as full committee chairs having input into this 
bill.
  Let me very quickly indicate that we are strongly supporting the 
$1.75 billion Build Back Better Act conceived and advanced by the 
President and House Democrats. We are grateful that we have had moments 
of negotiations with our other caucuses. Those caucuses are likewise 
ensuring that the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted.
  Mr. Speaker, what is wrong with that? When we finally bring a bill, 
we want to make sure that it is vetted, and that is what so many of our 
members of the CBC were able to do, to be part of the vetting.
  It is also important in 2021, this 21st century, that we go big. It 
is often said that the Federal budget is an expression of the Nation's 
values and that the investments made to build back better are, in fact, 
a clear declaration of congressional Democrats, of the Congressional 
Black Caucus, to ensuring that our government, our economy, and our 
systems work for the people.
  We have always been the voice of the vulnerable. We have always been 
the conscience of the Congress. So these are long-overdue investments.
  The Build Back Better Act makes transformative investments, as our 
chairwoman has often said. We need to continue growing our economy and 
lower costs for working families. This $1.75 trillion--which, by the 
way, I refute the statement of ignorance because the statement was 
ignorant because they were speaking of $3.5 trillion, which was paid 
for, but we have come to a conclusion and a compromise of $1.75 
trillion.
  Are the American people worth this? Are vulnerable communities worth 
this? Are children who suffer from lead pipes and water from those 
pipes worth it?
  The Congressional Black Caucus feels it is the case. That is why we 
have supported the improvement in education, healthcare, and childcare. 
Childcare, in particular, will particularly help those of our community 
who have for too long either gone without childcare and suffered or 
paid more than half of their income.
  Childcare is an important element of our work, and so I have the 
Gingerbread Childcare Center husband and wife who made the sacrifice to 
help vulnerable parents have childcare, parents who had to leave in the 
middle of the night, people who worked at night, essential workers, 
parents who worked for a period of time and, of course, did not have 
the kind of childcare that the Gingerbread--a wonderful daycare--
allowed us to have.

  We hope that these resources will help these kinds of entities in our 
community: $40 billion in education to specifically improve Pell grants 
and, as well, to work with historically Black colleges. I know we will 
hear that from my colleague, but it is extremely important that we have 
never left our HBCUs. They have been at the forefront of funding since 
President Biden has come into office. Through the years of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, and the voices of our members joined with 
our chairwoman of the HBCU Caucus, Congresswoman Adams, we have them 
included again in this legislation.
  I will be discussing as we go forward healthcare, which is extremely 
important. We are excited about getting aid to those in the 12 States, 
including Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina, among others, that 
did not opt in to the Affordable Care Act-expanded Medicaid. We left so 
many families along the highway of despair. Thank goodness we found a 
way to bring them now under the Affordable Care Act, to give them 
subsidies.
  Help is on the way, Houston. Help is on the way, Texas, with the 
highest number of uninsured, 766,000. Now, with Build Back Better, we 
will have a pathway for them to get healthcare. I can hear the noise of 
shouting now down in Houston, Texas, and I can hear the noise of 
helping families with children have healthcare, which they did not.
  We will talk about that more extensively and, as well, childcare, as 
I have mentioned, to be able to ensure not only childcare with only 7 
percent of your income but, again, universal and free preschool for all 
3- and 4-year-olds.
  That is something to say to China, Russia, and others, that America 
recognizes what its priority is, and it is our children.
  You will hear, Mr. Speaker, just a long litany of how lives will be 
helped, how we will rebuild families, home care, giving dignity to 
those essential workers, taking care of people in the latter part of 
their lives, ensuring dignity and income but also ensuring the 
opportunity for these individuals to be able to be cared for at home.
  I will be discussing further the affordable housing that is very 
important. Then, of course, is a major element of all of this, as the 
President stands in front of the tens upon tens of countries, leading 
on climate change, for which we gave him a standing ovation when he 
left for his European meetings.
  Mr. Speaker, you will hear more about this as we go forward this 
evening. I am delighted that the Congressional Black Caucus played such 
an instrumental role in dealing with the Federal Medicaid problem and 
solving childcare, HBCUs, climate change, and dealing with maternal 
issues for African-American women and many others.
  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield to the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina (Ms. Adams).
  Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas 
for her stellar leadership, for coanchoring tonight, and for all the 
support that she has continued to give, and the leadership of the CBC.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to speak about the importance of 
passing the Build Back Better Act, legislation nothing short of 
transformational for Black America.
  It extends the child care tax credit for a year, cutting child 
poverty in half. In North Carolina, that is a lifeline for hundreds of 
thousands of children who go to bed hungry every night.
  It puts $150 billion toward affordable housing, which has been 
described as the single largest and most comprehensive investment in 
affordable housing in history. In Charlotte and so many other 
communities across the country, that is real progress on our affordable 
housing crisis and real relief for over half a million Americans who 
don't have a roof over their heads.
  As the chair of the CBC HBCU Caucus and cofounder of the 
Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, I am proud to say that this 
package provides approximately $10 billion specifically for 
historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving 
institutions, including $3 billion for research and development grants 
at these institutions and $6 billion for increased Pell grants and 
institutional support to lower the cost of college.
  Universal childcare and pre-K will prepare children to receive the 
education that they need to succeed in school and be admitted to 
college.
  As the cofounder and co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus 
with Representative Underwood, I am also proud to say that the Build 
Back Better Act includes all eligible provisions of our Momnibus 
legislation and permanently expands yearlong postpartum Medicaid and 
CHIP coverage in every State.

  The maternal health and morbidity crisis in this country is 
unacceptable, but the Build Back Better Act gets us closer to the day 
when every parent who enters the maternity ward and every child born in 
America makes it home safe.
  Finally, I would like to take a point of personal privilege to 
recognize the hard work of our Congressional Black Caucus chair, Joyce 
Beatty, and all the members and committee chairs on this legislation.
  I believe that promises made must be promised kept, and this package 
keeps our promise to all Americans. I implore my colleagues to pass the 
Build Back Better Act and the bipartisan infrastructure framework 
together. This is Our Power, Our Message.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina for her words. Again, I emphasize her commitment, dedication, 
and work on historically Black colleges, and she is absolutely right: 
$10 billion. But more importantly, that is layered upon the dollars out 
of the American Rescue Act, out of the CARES Act, and the debt under 
President Joe Biden that has been effectively worked on in this 
congressional session. We know

[[Page H6058]]

that we are doing better by our students because we have done better by 
them as it relates to education.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson 
Coleman), who chairs the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime 
Security of the Committee on Homeland Security and has been committed 
to improving the lives of young African-American women and, of course, 
those dealing with mental health issues as well.

                              {time}  2000

  Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Texas 
for spearheading this Special Order hour and for giving me an 
opportunity to share a few of my remarks.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today optimistic, optimistic that our country is 
on the verge of taking a historic step forward for all of our 
communities. The Build Back Better Act is a once-in-a-generation 
investment in our country as a whole and in Black Americans, 
specifically. For too long, our country's institutions have been 
apathetic and even adversarial toward Black people. Four hundred years 
of slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration, and other forms of systemic 
violence have trapped Black Americans in a vicious cycle from which it 
can be nearly impossible to break.
  The Build Back Better Act will not instantly remedy four centuries of 
that pain and hardship, but it is a crucial starting point. Through 
revitalizing infrastructure and funding essential social services, the 
President's agenda will set the next generation of Black Americans up 
for success.
  Building back better means directly confronting the Black mental 
health crisis. This bill would fund universal childcare and pre-K, 
allowing Black mothers to return to the workforce while giving Black 
children the early childhood care that they need.
  Building back better means giving those same Black children safe 
places to grow up, to learn, and to thrive. We will do that by making 
the single-largest housing investment in our Nation's history.
  Building back better means ensuring those very same children have 
long, successful lives. That is why the bill invests billions of 
dollars into historically Black colleges and universities. This is new 
money on top of our annual funding of HBCUs.
  Many of us in this Chamber today, myself included, wanted more out of 
the Build Back Better Act. No, this bill is not perfect, and much more 
work will remain to be done after its passage. This does not change the 
fact, however, that the Build Back Better Act represents monumental 
progress for our country; progress for everyday Americans; progress for 
elder Americans; progress for children in America; progress for working 
Americans; and, yes, progress for African Americans and other 
minorities.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my wonderful colleagues to support the 
Build Back Better Act.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman very much for 
recognizing that this will be transformative, but as well, that it will 
do and improve in areas that we have not done in the history of the 
United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I am now delighted to yield to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans), from Philadelphia, who has been instrumental 
in dealing with issues of taxation and the empowerment of small 
businesses.
  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to first thank my colleague from 
the great State of Texas for yielding. Since I have been here, I have 
watched her relentless passion for Black people, and she has not let 
anybody stand in the way, and I am proud to stand with her and also the 
chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Chairwoman Beatty. She, too, 
has led this Caucus, and I am honored to be here just to add my voice 
to this discussion this evening.
  President Biden's Build Back Better framework would bring down costs 
that have held back families in Pennsylvania for decades. It would do 
this by cutting taxes and making childcare, home care, education, 
healthcare, and housing more affordable.
  Let me repeat that, Mr. Speaker. President Biden's Build Back Better 
framework would bring down the costs that have held back families in 
Pennsylvania for decades. It would do this by cutting taxes and making 
childcare, home care, education, healthcare, and housing more 
affordable. These investments will provide new learning opportunities 
for children, help parents--and especially working parents--make ends 
meet, and it positions the economy for a stronger growth for years to 
come.
  As the Congresswoman said from the great State of Texas: This is 
transformational. And that is why I am happy to be a part of this 
discussion. The framework will create good-paying jobs for 
Pennsylvanians, combat climate change, give our kids cleaner air and 
water, and make America the leader in global innovation and 21st 
century manufacturing, which means jobs and opportunities, which means 
a sense of hope and optimism.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a moment for all of us and we must not sit back. 
And the Congressional Black Caucus, by what is taking place here, is 
demonstrating that it is there. As the late John Lewis used to say: If 
you see something, do something. And the Congressional Black Caucus is 
following that lead.
  We all recognize, as the late John Lewis used to say: If you think 
things haven't changed, just walk in my shoes.
  I want to focus tonight on childcare, which is so vital to our 
families and putting our economy back on track. It is a major reason 
why many Americans have not been able to go back to work. In 
Pennsylvania, the average yearly cost of childcare centers for a 
toddler is over $11,000. That means a Pennsylvania family with two 
young children, on average, spends 22 percent of their income on 
childcare for 1 year.
  The lack of affordable options also contributes to the 15 percent 
gender gap in workforce participation between mothers and fathers; 15 
percent. That is outrageous. That should not be accepted.
  The Build Back Better framework is the way to go. President Biden has 
shown the kind of leadership and vision that is necessary. That is why 
the Congressional Black Caucus stands so proudly to join this effort 
with the rest of our colleagues who are ready to lead.
  This is just that kind of moment. We want to be at the right place at 
the right time. The building back framework would enable Pennsylvanians 
to provide access to childcare for more than 737,000 young children 
ages 0 to 5 per year from families earning under 2.5 times the State 
median income. I want to repeat that. The building back framework would 
enable Pennsylvania to provide access to childcare for more than 
700,000 young children ages 0 to 5 per year from families earning under 
2.5 times the median income, and it would ensure these families would 
pay no more than 7 percent of their income on high-quality childcare.

  This is something that is extremely important. This is something, 
when the President talks about building back better, it puts us all in 
the right position. It is something that needs to happen. It is 
something that is long overdue. We in the Congressional Black Caucus 
are prepared to join with the President and to send a message that 
building back better is in the interest of America.
  The President realizes that. He understood a long time ago about the 
needs that we have. So I compliment him in joining with our chairperson 
and joining with our colleague from the great State of Texas and their 
leadership, and all of us joining with him tonight to show that we are 
prepared to help lead this battle; that no one can do it by themselves, 
but we need to be prepared.
  We made a promise to build back better after the pandemic and this 
framework would do just that. Mr. Speaker, this is an opportunity for 
all of us. This is an opportunity for us to stand tall, to raise the 
issue about building back better. We all recognize this. This entire 
package, Build Back Better and the infrastructure package together, 
will make a huge difference in our economy.
  It is something that we all have worked on and we all understand the 
importance of it. So I share with you as one member of this Caucus, 
proudly of the Congressional Black Caucus, proudly of Pennsylvania, 
proudly a citizen of the United States, that I am ready for this. And I 
thank my colleague Sheila Jackson Lee for her leadership and all that 
she has done.

[[Page H6059]]

  As I have watched her, even though she hasn't noticed it, she has 
been in the forefront. She hasn't missed a fight, and I am glad to be a 
part of every effort.
  So with the Congressional Black Caucus I stand proudly on the 
President's Building Back Better framework, and I am ready to vote for 
it.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
for recognizing that a vital part of the lives of families is 
childcare.
  As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I know that he was 
extremely engaged in this very vital aspect of the President's Build 
Back Better, and, again, we thank the wisdom of the President of the 
United States, President Biden and Vice President Harris, for their 
wisdom about helping American families.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), the 
first vice-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and someone who 
worked extensively on work training issues, extensively on healthcare, 
and of course, on issues like childcare, as well.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my coanchor, my 
distinguished colleague Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for her 
tremendous leadership and for anchoring this Special Order hour, and, 
of course, our chairwoman, Joyce Beatty, for her tremendous leadership 
in leading the Congressional Black Caucus, which represents more than 
17 million Black constituents across this great country. We represent 
not only Black Americans, but all Americans, diverse Americans. And 
what those Americans have been telling me in my district back home in 
Nevada's Fourth District, it is time for us to build back better and to 
do it in a more equitable and inclusive way.
  Tonight, we are here to bring attention to the fact that we are 
standing at a crossroads of history. With the bipartisan infrastructure 
deal and the Build Back Better Act, Congress has the opportunity to 
finally rebuild our economy to deliver huge tax cuts to the middle 
class and to lower the cost of living for families on everything from 
childcare to healthcare.
  The question is: Will our colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
work with us to deliver these important investments on behalf of the 
American people? Now, we have seen transformative legislation like this 
before when Congress worked to rebuild the American society in the wake 
of the Great Depression, but never, and I mean never, have people of 
color benefited like they could under the Build Back Better Act.
  I think it is our majority whip,  Jim Clyburn, who has talked about 
the history of these other measures and how they actually left entire 
communities out. They left women out. They left communities of color 
out, and we are still dealing with the systemic issues of being left 
out of those policies for far too long.
  So I want to again thank our leadership because it wasn't just this 
bill and the drafting of this bill and, yes, President Biden wrote this 
bill, he wrote it with the support of his team at the White House, but 
with a whole lot of good input from colleagues over here in the 
Capitol, including here in the Congressional Black Caucus.

                              {time}  2015

  I know that there are colleagues of mine who have been working on key 
elements of this bill for a very long time. I know that they, like 
myself, are ready to act on behalf of the American people.
  So I look forward to having a little bit of a colloquy with my 
colleague from Wisconsin. I believe that it is so important, Mr. 
Speaker, that we talk about what is in this bill. For far too long, 
people have been focused about a top-line number, about the process, 
about the personalities here on Capitol Hill and whether certain 
factions are with the bill or working on the bill. With all due 
respect, I want to talk about policy and the policy that affects 
people, the people in my district, in Nevada's Fourth District, and the 
people all across this country.
  Why? Because the Build Back Better Act will cut childcare costs. For 
families that are eligible under this bill, they won't pay more than 7 
percent of their household income to cover childcare, something that 
women and communities of color desperately need as we talk about the 
workforce shortage and the inequities that are in our workforce.
  What sense does it make when someone who has to work--I will give you 
an example--Ms. Rosetta, who is a constituent of mine, is a home care 
worker. I had a roundtable with her and some other home care workers. 
She shared with me that when she started her job several years ago, she 
got paid $9.50 an hour. Today, she makes just over $10 an hour. Think 
about that.
  For several years, this woman, who is a home care worker, who goes 
into elderly citizens' homes to take care of them, to make sure that 
they are fed, that they are bathed, that literally she changes their 
diapers, she is their companion, she hasn't been given a raise of more 
than 50 cents over the course of several years. That is unconscionable.
  Under the Build Back Better Act, we are actually investing in home 
care workers, not only to help make that profession what it should be, 
an honorable one that pays them what they are worth, but also equips 
them with the support that they need for their own families. Why is it 
okay for them to take care of other people's families and then not even 
have the resources and the means to take care of their own?
  It also gives every child a head start with universal pre-K for 3- 
and 4-year-olds. Mr. Speaker, we have talked a lot about how we help 
young people get the start they need in life, and we know that by 
investing in their early success, it improves academic skill 
attainment, allowing them to read at an early age. Reading is essential 
to every other subject that they have to learn. It will ensure that 
they improve their graduation rates, which improves their life chances 
of success.
  To my colleagues on the other side, when you say that we are spending 
too much in this package, are we spending too much for that home care 
worker, for Rosetta, and so many other people like her? Are we spending 
too much to give working families the support they need to be able to 
afford childcare? Are we spending too much so that every child in our 
country has a good start through universal prekindergarten? These are 
but just a few of the benefits.
  Now, before I go on and I yield to my colleague here, I want to talk 
about one other important element. We have spent a lot of time on the 
Build Back Better Act, but I am also for the bipartisan infrastructure 
deal. Why? Yes, it is going to create millions of good-paying, union 
jobs. Yeah, I have no problem saying ``union'' here in this body, 
because it is the unions that helped build the middle class. If we are 
going to build this country back better, we need to do it with unions 
at the center of it.
  Not only does it do that, it expands broadband access, providing 
broadband connectivity in our households in rural communities and in 
urban areas.
  My district covers 52,000 square miles. I have parts of Las Vegas and 
North Las Vegas that need broadband, but I have six rural communities 
throughout Nevada, many of them that do not have adequate broadband. In 
fact, it is a broadband desert throughout certain parts of my rural 
communities. They need the investment.
  It also makes the largest Federal investment in public transit in 
history. Mr. Speaker, maybe more Members of Congress should have to 
ride the bus, and they would understand the investments that are in 
this bipartisan infrastructure bill.
  Yet, the minority leader on the other side is literally trying to 
whip votes against this bipartisan infrastructure bill, a bill that 19 
Senate Republicans voted for, along with every Democrat. Now, it is our 
turn to vote for it, and they won't work with us to deliver the largest 
investment in public transit in history?
  You have constituents that rely on public transit. That is the only 
way some veterans can get to their doctors' appointments. Seniors, 
college students, working people. This has direct implications on the 
climate crisis as well. When people have to stand outside for hours in 
order to catch a bus, that affects their exposure to everything from 
heat to snow in Wisconsin. We don't have that in Vegas.
  Finally, it will remove lead from the water our children and other 
vulnerable populations drink. These are just three of the very 
important provisions that are in the bipartisan infrastructure deal.

[[Page H6060]]

  I am ready to vote for these bills, Mr. Speaker. I wish we could 
schedule the vote tomorrow, because these are investments that people 
in Nevada's Fourth District are depending on. They sent me to Congress 
to solve problems and to make their lives better. These two bills do 
that, and they do it in very significant and meaningful ways. In fact, 
it is probably the largest investment in people in a generation, and we 
have a chance to do it. It is the Congressional Black Caucus, among 
others, that are leading.
  I want to yield to my colleague, Congresswoman Moore. Let me ask you, 
because I know as a member of the Ways and Means Committee, you have 
been a champion on the racial equity. You have been a champion for the 
poor, particularly women, women of color, who have been 
disproportionately affected by this pandemic and its recession on our 
economy. So what is it in this bill that makes you so excited to vote 
for it, and how will other communities benefit, beyond just some of the 
things that I have touched on?

  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman so very, 
very much for that question. It really has been a joy working with him 
on the Ways and Means Committee. It has been an education, and it has 
also been an opportunity to do those things that he has indicated that 
are close to my heart, and that is to create some equities for women 
and children.
  I want to just thank Representative Sheila Jackson Lee for anchoring 
this extremely important conversation with the American people today.
  One of the things that has been disturbing me about this entire 
debate is that people seem to really want to make some sort of bright-
line demarcation or differentiation between the bipartisan 
infrastructure bill--which will create economic opportunities, get rid 
of those darned lead pipes, expand broadband, create good union jobs, 
help create some great jobs for guys--and the Build Back Better 
initiative, as if that is some sort of welfare, a giveaway. Social 
spending is what it is referred to, a safety net.
  So what I wanted to seek from you, a clarification from you, Mr. 
Horsford, particularly since you were appointed by the Committee on 
Ways and Means, along with our colleagues, Representatives Sewell and 
Gomez, to look at our racial equity issue. Of course, we know that 
African Americans and Latinos are more likely to be poor, have a 
greater wealth gap, and lack of educational opportunities, so that when 
we think that we are investing in their improvement, that somehow it is 
welfare.
  But I would sort of want you to take up the argument where you left 
it with regard to some of the economic problems that we are 
experiencing. There are major complaints in our country about a 
slowdown in economic growth. What good is it to just grow the economy 
when only the people at the top get it and it doesn't, excuse me, 
trickle down to Rosetta, who is making $10.25 an hour doing the hardest 
work on earth there is?
  How does the earned income tax credit--I mean, we were taxing, before 
we changed this policy, to allow single, hardworking, essential workers 
that brought us food during the pandemic, stocked the shelves, we were 
taxing them into poverty. They had tax liability before the earned 
income tax credit expansion.
  Going to work with no healthcare, no health insurance, being unable 
to afford it, not having childcare, as you mentioned. Expanded Pell 
grants.
  Please explain how the Build Back Better plan really improves and 
buoys the economic platform upon which the country can improve. The 
workforce development initiatives that are in here, I was wondering if 
you could elucidate the connection between that and our economy and 
sort of diffuse this notion that it is simply a safety net and welfare.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Wisconsin makes a very 
valid point.
  I heard you over the weekend on one of the news outlets making the 
same point. Both of these bills are economic packages. I really resent, 
in fact, some of the inferences that have been made during this debate 
that somehow providing economic support for people to benefit and to 
fully participate in our economy is somehow an entitlement program.
  The child tax credit, for example. You talked about the earned income 
tax credit. I will talk about the child tax credit. This is a tax 
program. It is not an entitlement program. Just like we give tax cuts 
to the very wealthy and the big corporations--that is what the 
Republicans did when they were in the majority. They spent the majority 
of their time trying to figure out how to provide 83 percent of the 
benefits to the top 1 percent and a tax cut that some of the businesses 
did not even ask for, as much as they got.
  Now, Democrats are in charge, and what have we done? We started with 
the American Rescue Plan. In that, we provided a tax cut for middle-
class families, the child tax credit, which actually has already lifted 
about 50 percent of children out of poverty, higher rates for Black, 
Latino, and Native American children out of poverty.
  Now, there was a debate a couple of weeks ago that we now need to put 
a work requirement, means test, and we need to change the threshold to 
make people with lower incomes eligible and those with higher incomes--
like $90,000 is enough to not receive a tax credit. I am glad that 
President Biden rejected those ideas. But it was the Congressional 
Black Caucus that stood up and said no, because this is an economic 
package, and we need provide economic supports to families.
  The other part that you so ably noted is what are some of the 
barriers that women face in the workforce. You talked about this in our 
committee: childcare, healthcare, transportation. These are the basics 
that people need, particularly women. Who was the hardest hit during 
this pandemic and recession? Women, particularly women of color, Black 
women, Latinas, and Native American women. So if we are going to build 
back better, we need to do it in a way that is intentional in a way of 
helping them and making sure that they're supported.

                              {time}  2030

  I just want to share one story. Keeonn, who is a constituent of mine, 
is a young father in my district. He wrote to me about how he is using 
that child tax credit, which is a tax cut, and the advance payment that 
we provided, that $300 a month. You know what he is using that money 
for? To buy healthy food for his daughter.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Excellent.
  Mr. HORSFORD. And he said it may be only $300, but in the end, it is 
help that we are most grateful for. That is what this is about.
  When the Republicans gave the tax cut to the very wealthy, some of 
those corporations just went back and bought more stocks for 
themselves, made themselves wealthier, gave their CEOs bigger bonuses, 
didn't pay their workers more in wages, didn't expand healthcare, 
didn't provide childcare, didn't make their workers feel valued. And 
now because of that, many workers today are having a hard time.
  But yet Democrats, through the Congressional Black Caucus, are 
standing up, and we are pushing back, and that is what the Build Back 
Better Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill is all about. I 
yield.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. It is going to be great. Madam anchor, I 
don't know how much time we have, but I just want to say, I want to 
join Mr. Horsford in saying that I am really enthusiastic about voting 
for both of these bills, because I do think that it is going to create 
a brand-new environment for all of us where we will have workforce 
development training for these new technologies on climate and battery 
storage.
  I am so proud of the African Americans who have been chairs of these 
committees, like  Bobby Scott and Eddie Bernice Johnson, Maxine Waters 
who put $150 billion in for housing. As was indicated, these things are 
going to enable workers to truly participate in the economy. It is 
going to help companies, and we are going to build back better.
  I yield back to the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me thank both Mr. 
Horsford and Ms. Moore for one of the important colloquies that I have 
heard on the floor of this body, and that is to be able to speak to 
people who are

[[Page H6061]]

working hard every day, who are single parents, who work with their 
minds and their hands.
  I am glad to hear that we did not limit who would be able to receive 
these benefits, and we also crafted the vitality and the vigorous 
efforts of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  As I close, Mr. Speaker, I would like to just reiterate what Members, 
including the leadership of our chair, Chairwoman Joyce Beatty, 
Congresswoman Adams, Congresswoman Watson Coleman, Congressman Evans, 
obviously Mr. Horsford and Ms. Moore, what they all have said, if I 
might. And that is, let me reiterate that each piece of Build Back 
Better is a piece that is vital for the lives of Americans and African 
Americans.
  For example, $550 more in Pell grants for more than 5 million 
students. Then HBCUs, again, $10 billion. Seniors who have never had 
hearing aids, only 30 percent of seniors over the age of 70 who could 
benefit from hearing aids have ever had them. Medicare in this Build 
Back Better will include that extra benefit. Many of us have seen the 
caricatures of our seniors on television and elsewhere trying to hear. 
That is not anything that is funny, but it has been made light of. I 
want to give every senior an opportunity to hear.
  At the same time, I want to emphasize the importance of childcare. We 
are telling the story. Only 26.8 percent of Black 3- to 4-year-old 
children are enrolled in publicly funded preschool, with the average 
cost of preschool for those without access $8,600. We are going to stop 
it with this.
  We are not going to be the Trump trillion-dollar tax cut to the top 1 
percent and putting a deep dive into our deficit. We are going to put a 
deep investment into the American people, particularly those people of 
color.
  I think it is extremely important that we talk about children and 
healthcare.
  Mr. Speaker, how much time do we have remaining?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman has about 8 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. This is about children getting access to healthcare 
but, Mr. Speaker, there are many children that don't have access to 
healthcare. In those States where families were not able to access the 
Affordable Care Act--and there is something called Children's Health 
Insurance Program, and that does provide for some aspect of care--we 
had the Federal Medicaid concept, and so Build Back Better now is going 
to put all of those people under the Affordable Care Act, and that is 
going to give the family access to healthcare, which makes a sizable 
difference. I think it is extremely important that we do that, to be 
able to provide family healthcare.
  Now, I heard our Members be very truthful. We still want to get 
Medicare reduction on prescription drugs, a system that would allow 
that. We still want family paid leave, and somebody said that that was 
continuing to be negotiated. No, Mr. Speaker, it is working under the 
umbrella and framework of President Biden's agenda, and we want to just 
make sure that all of his agenda, within the context of being paid for, 
gets recognized. We want these families to receive the kind of 
resources that are necessary.
  My colleagues talked about the child tax cut. I would like to call it 
that. I would just like to be sure that we realize that if this plan is 
implemented, it may impact 17 million low-wage employees, such as 
hospitality workers and childcare providers, a framework of a tax cut 
that would help children. They are people who work important jobs but 
receive low pay, and this would get nearly 6 million people out of 
poverty with this kind of cut. This is a crucial contribution.
  Let me finish by letting you know what we have certainly gone through 
in Texas. Infrastructure is extremely important. Part of that is 
housing. During the pandemic, these are the kinds of signs we saw: ``My 
landlord is calling, and I must pay or I will be evicted.''

  Now, we have the American Rescue Plan and the CARES Act, but $150 
billion will be in for housing, improving the infrastructure of public 
housing. That hasn't been done in decades; 50 years I am told. And we 
will get that done. That is what is important about the BIF bill, the 
infrastructure bill that will have broadband. The very places where 
those people live, take the lead out of the pipes.
  And then, of course, for those of us who live in hurricane alley, our 
friends in Louisiana with Hurricane Ida, my constituents with Hurricane 
Harvey, and the number of hurricanes that have crossed the United 
States during 2017, one after another. We will have in that 
infrastructure bill a worthy response to the failing infrastructure of 
this Nation.
  We won't have to worry about what people say about Russia and China 
or any other country. We will be enormously competitive, even to the 
point of NASA. No one has even expressed their interest in that. They 
will have a space here to be able to keep us competitive in space 
exploration.
  It will be extremely important that we have the opportunity to stop 
violence with our community violence investment, $2.5 billion.
  I am delighted to say this is the work of the Congressional Black 
Caucus. They put their hands around all of it, for our constituents and 
the American people. What Mr. Horsford has been speaking of is that he 
is proud to give a listing. That is what I did, I did a roll call of 
just what is going to be helped with Build Back Better and with BIF.
  I am delighted to stand here with the vice chair, and I yield to the 
gentleman.
  Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  I want to laud her and the members of the Congressional Black Caucus 
for all of the tremendous work on behalf of our families, on behalf of 
children, on behalf of communities.
  I want to just point out one additional thing that Ms. Jackson Lee 
has worked on as the chair of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and 
Homeland Security in the Judiciary Committee and for her tremendous 
leadership on this. In her capacity on the Judiciary Committee, last 
year the United States saw the highest increase in gun homicides since 
national recordkeeping began. That was in 2020. And, sadly, we are 
still on track to see that number continue to increase this year.
  This violence, Mr. Speaker, falls disproportionately on young Black 
men. Even though we make up only 6 percent of the U.S. population, we 
account for about 50 percent of gun homicide victims. Now, those 
statistics aren't just numbers. They are lives. And they are lives that 
every one of us should be held to account for.
  For me, as a Black man, raising three children with my wife--two sons 
and a daughter--it hits me very directly because this is what we worry 
about every single day when our children leave our homes, because these 
are our friends, they are our children.
  I am proud, Mr. Speaker, that the Congressional Black Caucus made 
this issue a priority, and we went to President Biden and to Vice 
President Harris, and we talked to them about the need to stop the 
onslaught of deaths. And he listened. He listened, and he included $5 
billion of funding and a bill that I am proud to have sponsored, along 
with my colleagues, the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, which funds 
community-based violence intervention programs to save lives.
  Now, this is proven to work. These are community-based programs and 
partnerships with faith-based, community-based organizations to provide 
mental health and wellness, job training and placement, and 
intervention programs so that when we pass the Build Back Better Act, 
it will include $5 billion of funding over 8 years and an additional 
amount of funding specifically for workforce development and placement.
  For months now we have negotiated in good faith. We have worked with 
our colleagues. We have listened. Now it is time for us to move 
forward. No more delays. No more excuses about process, no more 
focusing on personalities here in Washington. Let's focus on the people 
and the policy that will benefit them and their lives.
  Four years ago, when the Republicans were in control of the White 
House, the House, and the Senate, they used their majority to pass tax 
cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent and the biggest corporations in our 
country. Today, Democrats are in the majority, and our priority is to 
deliver for the people.
  I am proud to work with my colleagues in the Congressional Black 
Caucus and the House Democrats to deliver this historic package. We are

[[Page H6062]]

going to get it done. I yield back to the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, we are excited about this violence 
emphasis. As I conclude my remarks, let me pay tribute to deputies in 
my district who were shot by an AR-15. We pray for them, their 
families, and we should understand that violence has to end.
  At the same time, let's take the words of John Robert Lewis, who sat 
with us on this floor for more than 27 years, and in his last life he 
said to all of us, the Congressional Black Caucus, that is what we are 
going to do, carry on. We are going to carry on to make sure that we 
bring transformative--transformative--legislation, not only to the 
American people but to African Americans and people of color to change 
their lives forever. That is what Build Back is, and that is what the 
bipartisan bill is. We will work to make sure we cross the T's and dot 
the I's. Carry on.
  Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, 
on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, and the Congressional Black 
Caucus, I am pleased to co-anchor this Congressional Black Caucus 
Special Order with my colleague, the distinguished gentleman from New 
York, Congressman Ritchie Torres.
  I thank the Chair of the CBC, Congresswoman Beatty of Ohio, for 
organizing this Special Order to discuss the reasons why the CBC 
strongly supports the $1.75 billion Build Back Better Act conceived and 
advanced by President Biden and House Democrats to support visionary 
and transformative investments in the health, well-being, and financial 
security of America's workers and families.
  Over the next hour, several of our colleagues will share their 
perspectives on why it is essential that we ``go big'' in building back 
better to our nation and all of its people have the opportunities and 
resources to compete and win in the changing global economy of the 21st 
century.
  Mr. Speaker, it is often said that the federal budget is an 
expression of the nation's values and the investments made to Build 
America Back Better are a clear declaration of congressional Democrats' 
commitment to ensuring that our government, our economy, and our 
systems work For The People.
  Mr. Speaker, these long-overdue investments in America's future will 
be felt in every corner of the country and across every sector of 
American life, building on the success of the American Rescue Plan, 
accommodating historic infrastructure investments in the legislative 
pipeline, and addressing longstanding deficits in our communities by 
ending an era of chronic underinvestment so we can emerge from our 
current crises a stronger, more equitable nation.
  Mr. Speaker, the bipartisan action we took in February 2021 when we 
passed the American Rescue Plan was a giant step in the right 
direction, but it was a targeted response to the immediate and urgent 
public health and economic crises; it was not a long-term solution to 
many of the pressing challenges facing our nation that have built up 
over decades of disinvestment in our nation and its people in every 
region and sector of the country.
  We simply can no longer afford the costs of neglect and inaction; the 
time to act is now.
  The Build Back Better Act makes the transformative investments that 
we need to continue growing our economy, lower costs for working 
families, and position the United States as a global leader in 
innovation and the jobs of the future.
  This $1.75 trillion gross investment will build on the successes of 
the American Rescue Plan and set our nation on a path of fiscal 
responsibility and broadly shared prosperity for generations to come.
  The Build Back Better Act will provide resources to improve our 
education, health, and child care systems, invest in clean energy and 
sustainability, address the housing crisis, and more; all while setting 
America up to compete and win in the decades ahead.
  The Build Back Better Act is paid for by ensuring that the wealthy 
and big corporations are paying their fair share and Americans making 
less than $400,000 a year will not see their taxes increase by a penny.
  Let me repeat that: No American making less than $400,000 a year will 
not see their taxes increase by a penny.
  In sum, Mr. Speaker, the investments made by the Build Back Better 
Act will expand opportunity for all and build an economy powered by 
shared prosperity and inclusive growth.
  No one is better prepared or more experienced to lead the American 
renaissance that will be produced by the investments made by the Build 
Back Better Act than President Biden, the architect of the American 
Rescue Plan and who as vice president during the Obama Administration 
oversaw the implementation of the Recovery Act, which saved millions of 
jobs and rescued our economy from the Great Recession the nation 
inherited from a previous Republican administration.
  And let us not forget that President Obama also placed his confidence 
in his vice-president to oversee the rescue of the automotive industry, 
which he did so well that the American car industry fully recovered its 
status as the world leader.
  Mr. Speaker, let me briefly highlight some of the key investments 
made by the Build Back Better Act.
  The Build Back Better Act will provide two years of free pre-K and 
two years of free community college to ensure every student has the 
tools, resources, and opportunity to succeed in life.
  It will also invest in our teachers and institutions that serve 
minority students and provide funding to give school buildings long-
overdue infrastructure updates.
  People lead happier, healthier, and more productive lives when they 
have had access to high-quality education and that is why the Build 
Back Better Act makes necessary investments to increase quality 
education by four years for all students at no cost to hard-working 
families.
  The Build Back Better Act expands access to affordable, high-quality 
education beyond high school, which is increasingly important for 
economic growth and competitiveness in the 21st century.
  Specifically, the Build Back Better Act will increase the maximum 
Pell Grant by $550 for more the more than 5 million students enrolled 
in public and private, non-profit colleges and expand access to 
DREAMers.
  It will also make historic investments in Historically Black Colleges 
and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and 
minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to build capacity, modernize 
research infrastructure, and provide financial aid to low income 
students.
  The Build Back Better Act will help more people access quality 
training that leads to good, union, and middle-class jobs and will 
enable community colleges to train hundreds of thousands of students, 
create sector-based training opportunity with in-demand training for at 
least hundreds of thousands of workers, and invest in proven approaches 
like Registered Apprenticeships and programs to support underserved 
communities.
  The Build Back Better Act will increase the Labor Department's annual 
spending on workforce development by 50 percent for each of the next 5 
years.
  The Build Back Better Act expands access to quality, affordable 
health care by strengthening the Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable 
Care Act (ACA) Marketplace programs that millions of Americans already 
rely on.
  It includes a major new expansion of Medicare benefits, adding a 
hearing benefit to the program for the very first time.
  Only 30 percent of seniors over the age of 70 who could benefit from 
hearing aids have ever had them.
  The Build Back Better Act strengthens the Affordable Care Act and 
reduces premiums for 9 million Americans who buy insurance through the 
Affordable Care Act Marketplace by an average of $600 per person per 
year.
  Just for example, a family of four earning $80,000 per year would 
save nearly $3,000 per year (or $246 per month) on health insurance 
premiums and experts predict that more than 3 million people who would 
otherwise be uninsured will gain health insurance.
  The Build Back Better Act closes the Medicaid coverage gap, leading 4 
million uninsured people to gain coverage.
  The Build Back Better Act will deliver health care coverage through 
Affordable Care Act premium tax credits to up to 4 million uninsured 
people in states that have locked them out of Medicaid.
  A 40-year old in the coverage gap would have to pay $450 per month 
for benchmark coverage--more than half of their income in many cases 
but thanks to the Build Back Better Act individuals would pay $0 
premiums, finally making health care affordable and accessible.
  The Build Back Better Act strengthens the ACA by extending the 
enhanced Marketplace subsidies that were included in the American 
Rescue Plan.
  It also provides an affordable coverage option for the more than two 
million Americans living in states that have not expanded Medicaid 
under the ACA and do not earn enough to qualify for Marketplace 
subsidies.
  When the Build Back Better Act is fully implemented soon gone will be 
the terrible old days when too many Americans are forced to choose 
between medical care and putting food on the table or affording other 
necessities.
  Mr. Speaker, approximately 3.9 million Black people were uninsured in 
2019 before President Biden took office and even with the Affordable 
Care Act's premium subsidies, coverage under the ACA was too expensive 
for many families, and over 570,000 Black people fell into the Medicaid 
``coverage gap'' and were locked out of coverage because their state 
refused to expand Medicaid.

[[Page H6063]]

  The Build Back Better Act closes the Medicaid coverage gap while also 
lowering health care costs for those buying coverage through the ACA by 
extending the American Rescue Plan's lower premiums, which could save 
360,000 Black people an average of $50 per person per month.
  With these changes, more than one in three uninsured Black people 
could gain coverage and with the addition of hearing coverage, more 
than 5.8 million Black people on Medicare will benefit.
  The Build Back Better Act will make an historic investment in 
maternal health, including for Black women, who die from complications 
related to pregnancy at three times the rate of white women.

  Mr. Speaker, the cost of preschool in the United States exceeds 
$8,600 per year on average, and for as long as we can remember, child 
care prices in the United States have risen faster than family incomes, 
yet the United States still invests 28 times less than its competitors 
on helping families afford high-quality care for toddlers.
  The Build Back Better Act supports families in need of child care by 
providing access to safe, reliable, and high-quality care delivered by 
a well-trained child care workforce.
  The Build Back Better Act will provide universal and free preschool 
for all 3- and 4-year-olds.
  This is the largest expansion of universal and free education since 
states and communities across the country established public high 
school 100 years ago.
  This is important because our nation is strongest when everyone can 
join the workforce and contribute to the economy.
  That is why this investment is vital to so many millions of--
especially women--who are often forced to choose between working to 
support their family or caring for their family.
  The Build Back Better Act will ensure that the vast majority of 
working American families of four earning less than $300,000 per year 
will pay no more than 7 percent of their income on child care for 
children under 6.
  Under the Build Back Better Act, parents who are working, looking for 
work, participating in an education or training program, and who are 
making under 2.5 times their states median income will receive support 
to cover the cost of quality care based on a sliding scale, capped at 7 
percent of their income.
  The Build Back Better Act will help states expand access to high-
quality, affordable child care to about 20 million children per year--
covering 9 out of 10 families across the country with young children.
  For two parents with one toddler earning $100,000 per year, the Build 
Back Better Act will produce more than $5,000 in child care savings per 
year.
  In addition, the Build Back Better Act promotes nutrition security to 
support children's health and help children reach their full potential 
by investing in nutrition security year-round.
  The legislation will expand free school meals to 8.7 million children 
during the school year and provide a $65 per child per month benefit to 
the families of 29 million children to purchase food during the summer.
  The Build Back Better Act will deliver affordable, high-quality care 
for older Americans and people with disabilities in their homes, while 
supporting the workers who provide this care.
  Right now, there are hundreds of thousands of older Americans and 
Americans with disabilities on waiting lists for home care services or 
struggling to afford the care they need, including more than 800,000 
who are on state Medicaid waiting lists.
  A family paying for home care costs out of pocket currently pays 
around $5,800 per year for just four hours of home care per week.
  The Build Back Better Act will permanently improve Medicaid coverage 
for home care services for seniors and people with disabilities, making 
the most transformative investment in access to home care in 40 years, 
when these services were first authorized for Medicaid.
  The Build Back Better Act will improve the quality of caregiving 
jobs, which will, in turn, help to improve the quality of care provided 
to beneficiaries.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is that the 
Build Back Better Act will also reduce the cost of homebased care for 
the hundreds of thousands of older Black adults and Black people with 
disabilities who need it and are unable to access it.
  Not to mention that investment in home care will raise wages for home 
care workers, 28 percent of whom are Black.
  In the area of housing, the Build Back Better Act makes investments 
to ensure that Americans have access to safe and affordable housing by 
providing resources to increase housing vouchers and funding for tribal 
housing.
  It also supports investments in programs that will help address our 
nation's housing crisis by increasing the supply of affordable homes 
for those in need and investing in historically underserved communities 
and those that have been previously left behind.
  Specifically, the Build Back Better Act makes the single largest and 
most comprehensive investment in affordable housing in history and will 
enable the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of more than 1 
million affordable homes, boosting housing supply and reducing price 
pressures for renters and homeowners.
  It will address the capital needs of the public housing stock in big 
cities and rural communities all across America and ensure it is not 
only safe and habitable but healthier and more energy efficient as 
well.
  It will make a historic investment in rental assistance, expanding 
vouchers to hundreds of thousands of additional families.
  And, perhaps even more importantly, the Build Back Better Act 
includes one of the largest investments in down payment assistance in 
history, enabling hundreds of thousands of first-generation homebuyers 
to purchase their first home and build wealth.
  In short, Mr. Speaker, this legislation will create more equitable 
communities, through investing in community-led redevelopments projects 
in historically under-resourced neighborhoods and removing lead paint 
from hundreds of thousands of homes, as well as by incentivizing state 
and local zoning reforms that enable more families to reside in higher 
opportunity neighborhoods.
  Th Build Back Better Act will spur and empower comprehensive action 
to build an equitable clean energy economy with historic investments to 
transform and modernize the electricity sector, lower energy costs for 
Americans, improve air quality and public health, create good-paying 
jobs, and strengthen U.S. competitiveness--all while putting our 
country on the pathway to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035.
  The Build Back Better Act extends and expands clean energy tax 
credits and supports clean electricity performance payments so 
utilities can accelerate progress toward a clean electric grid at no 
added cost to consumers.
  The Build Back Better Act invests in clean energy, efficiency, 
electrification, and climate justice through grants, consumer rebates, 
and federal procurement of clean power and sustainable materials, and 
by incentivizing private sector development and investment.
  Another exciting aspect of the Build Back Better Act, Mr. Speaker, is 
that it will drive economic opportunities, environmental conservation, 
and climate resilience--especially in underserved and disadvantaged 
communities--including through a new Civilian Climate Corps.
  Mr. Speaker, the Build Back Better Act includes a $100 billion 
investment to reform our broken immigration system--and does it 
consistent with the Senate's reconciliation rules--as well as to reduce 
backlogs, expand legal representation, and make the asylum system and 
border processing more efficient and humane.
  Mr. Speaker, immigrants eligible for such protection are an integral 
part of Texas's social fabric.
  Texas is home to 386,300 immigrants who are eligible for protection, 
112,000 of whom reside in Harris County.
  These individuals live with 845,300 family members and among those 
family members, 178,700 are U.S.-born citizen children.
  These persons in Texas who are eligible for protection under the bill 
arrived in the United States at the average age of 8 and on average 
have lived in the United States since 1996.
  They own 43,500 homes in Texas and pay $340,500,000 in annual 
mortgage payments and contribute $2,234,800,000 in federal taxes and 
$1,265,200,000 in state and local taxes each year.
  Annually, these households generate $10,519,000,000 in spending power 
in Texas and help power the national economy.
  The expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) enacted in the American 
Rescue Plan has already benefitted nearly 66 million children, put 
money in the pockets of millions of hard-working parents and guardians, 
and is expected to help cut child poverty by more than half.
  The Build Back Better Act not only extends this meaningful tax cut, 
but it also extends the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and 
the expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which help families 
make ends meet and put food on the table, reduce child poverty, and 
lessen the burden on hard-working Americans so they can provide a 
better future for America's children.
  Mr. Speaker, 22.1 percent of Black people fall below the poverty 
line, struggling to pay expenses like food, rent, health care, and 
transportation for their families.
  By extending the Child Tax Credit, the Build Back Better Act provides 
a major tax cut to nearly 3 million Black people and cuts the Black 
poverty rate by 34.3 percent, which will help the 85 percent of Black 
women who are either sole or co-breadwinners for their families.

[[Page H6064]]

  By permanently extending the American Rescue Plan's increase to the 
Earned-Income Tax Credit from $543 to $1,502, the Build Back Better Act 
will benefit roughly 2.8 million Black low-wage workers, including 
cashiers, cooks, delivery drivers, food preparation workers, and child 
care providers.
  To put it all in perspective, Mr. Speaker, we have before us a once 
in a century opportunity to make gigantic progress in making ours a 
more perfect union, and to do it in a single bound with enactment of 
the Build Back Better Act, the most transformative legislation passed 
by this Congress since the Great Society and the New Deal.
  I would urge my Republican colleagues to heed the words of Republican 
Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia who said colorfully earlier this 
year:

       At this point in time in this nation, we need to go big. We 
     need to quit counting the egg-sucking legs on the cows and 
     count the cows and just move. And move forward and move right 
     now.

  The same sentiment was expressed more eloquently by Abraham Lincoln 
in 1862 when he memorably wrote:

       The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy 
     present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we 
     must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must 
     think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and 
     then we shall save our country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by thanking my good 
friend and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman 
Beatty, for hosting this Special Order Hour and to Congresswoman 
Jackson Lee and Congressman Torres for anchoring it.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a consequential moment in our nation's history.
  On the tail end of a once-in-a-century pandemic--one that has 
resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, record unemployment rates, 
and that has left our economy counting the costs--we are in desperate 
need of substantive relief in all aspects of our society. We need bold 
action, from bold leadership, in order to deliver bold results--and 
that's what we have in President Biden's Build Back Better agenda. This 
agenda is a real opportunity to make historic, transformative 
investments in projects and programs that are supported by an 
overwhelming majority of the American people.
  As a Senior Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure 
Committee, I fought to include several provisions in this agenda 
through the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act that would greatly 
benefit communities not only in my district, but across the country. 
These include funding for a program that provides federal dollars to 
reconnect and revitalize communities historically harmed and 
marginalized by the construction of the Interstate Highway System; 
language to ensure prompt payment and sufficient payments to minority 
and disadvantaged subcontractors; and legislation to establish an 
electric grid resilience program for states like Texas to weatherize 
their power grids. Each of these measures--though different in nature 
and purpose--will collectively contribute to the rebuilding of our 
economy by creating more good-paying, equitable job opportunities.
  And as Chairwoman of the House Science, Space, and Technology 
Committee, I am steadfastly committed to strengthening our nation's 
research and innovation capabilities through the Build Back Better 
Act--both to ensure our continued international competitiveness and the 
wellbeing of our citizens here at home. I believe that investments in 
research and development now will pay untold dividends for the future 
health and prosperity of our nation, which is why we put resources in 
this bill that will help us address the climate crisis, rebuild after 
this pandemic, promote innovation, and renew and repair our research 
infrastructure. It also makes an unprecedented investment in the 
National Science Foundation, tapping into the diverse talent and 
institutions from across our nation. We need a STEM workforce that 
represents the rich diversity of America--because we cannot continue to 
lead in science and technology if we do not tap into all the brainpower 
our nation has to offer. To make sure of this, we included a provision 
that provides resources to support research capacity building at our 
nation's minority-serving institutions and invests in research, 
scholarships, and fellowships across all STEM disciplines.
  Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus has been and will 
continue to be at the forefront of these negotiations. Fifty-seven 
members--and six committee chairs--strong, our presence at the table, 
on behalf of our diverse constituencies, remains steadfast and will 
ultimately serve as the driving force behind our work For the People.

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