[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 198 (Monday, November 15, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H6264-H6265]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             BREAKING NEWS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) is recognized 
for the remainder of the hour as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield to 
the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence). She is the second vice 
chair of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus. She is also one of 
the co-chairs of our Women's Caucus.
  At this time, I would like to say to my colleague and to my friend: 
Thank you for your leadership, and thank you for your strong voice.
  As a former mayor, we know she is used to leading, guiding, and 
speaking out.
  Mrs. LAWRENCE. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my CBC colleague, my 
CBC chair, an amazing leader for our country, Joyce Beatty, for leading 
this Special Hour. I also want to thank Congresswoman Sheila Jackson 
Lee, my colleague and mentor. She is just amazing.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of Build Back Better. 
We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a transformational 
change for women, for families, and for communities of color.
  Abigail Adams wrote a strong letter to her husband, John Adams, 
``Remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than 
your ancestors.''
  Today, I stand on the floor so proud and blessed to say that we have 
President Biden and Vice President Harris, who are laser-focused on 
helping women and families in Michigan and across the country.
  We are talking about remembering women and women of color. From 
affordable childcare, eldercare, expanding the child tax credit, and 
providing universal pre-K, this agenda lifts women out of poverty and 
educates our children while lowering costs.
  I want to be very clear as we stand here today as the Congressional 
Black Caucus, Black women in America carry the highest amount of 
student debt in America. So when we talk about Pell grants, this has a 
direct impact for Black women in America. When we talk about childcare 
and eldercare, women are the predominant workforce in eldercare and 
childcare, and they are disrespected with one of the lowest salaries 
for employment in the country.
  Let's talk about expanding the child tax credit. We know that for 
single women heads of households and families who are struggling to 
work and put their children in safe and affordable childcare, this is 
transformational.
  Madam Speaker, I had a father text me. We were on a Zoom townhall on 
this issue of childcare. He said: Congresswoman, I pay more for 
childcare than I do for the mortgage of my home.

                              {time}  1945

  This is transformational. When we talk about build back better, we 
are not talking about going back to a time in history. We are talking 
about being transformational and visionary and planning and plotting a 
path to success for all Americans. We know it is women--we saw this 
very clearly during the pandemic--who are bearing the brunt of all of 
these social challenges and Black women being in the top of that group 
bearing the brunt of this pandemic.
  It is Black and Brown women who disproportionately make up our 
childcare workers, and, again, I emphasize making poverty level wages. 
We can't turn a blind eye to this. The Black Caucus will not be quiet. 
The Women's Caucus will not be quiet. We know that when we lift women--
when we lift Black women--out of poverty, we are changing the economic 
structure in America. There are women who work two jobs--one to pay for 
childcare and one to pay for the mortgage, food, and shelter. I want 
you to know, Madam Speaker, that the Build Back Better plan builds back 
better for women and families, and it is time to get it done.
  I am so proud today to sit outside and watch the President sign into 
law the largest investment in our infrastructure to fix roads. For me, 
the priority is fixing the water infrastructure in America. A pothole 
is an inconvenience, but we need water to drink to stay alive and for 
human life.
  We know we have kicked this can down the road. We have had so many 
infrastructure weeks. But now history will say that Joe Biden led the 
way with this Congress and this Senate to start investing in our 
infrastructure. We are going to get the job done. We are really going 
to build back better.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman so much, Brenda 
Lawrence, for her leadership--breaking news.
  Let me just say, as Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence said so well, we 
are not going to be quiet. Today, we heard President Joe Biden not be 
quiet. We

[[Page H6265]]

also had the opportunity to hear Vice President Kamala Harris not be 
quiet.
  When we talk about the Congressional Black Caucus, let me say thank 
you to Vice President Kamala Harris, a former member of the 
Congressional Black Caucus. I thank Vice President Harris for leading 
by example, getting out there and fighting for our democracy and making 
sure that this is good for America.
  As we talk about breaking news and not being quiet and women--Black 
women--taking leadership roles, it gives me great pleasure to introduce 
and yield to our newest member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She 
is someone who comes with a lot of leadership, talent, and skills. It 
is a double honor for me because she represents the great State of 
Ohio. Madam Speaker, it is always good when you have a partner, so to 
be able to have a partner in Ohio's 11th District gives me great honor. 
The gentlewoman is someone who works hard, fights for her community, 
and understands the value of Build Back Better and what it will do with 
this once-in-a-generation action, transformational legislation.
  Madam Speaker, that person I am talking about, my friend, my 
colleague, and my partner is none other than Congresswoman Shontel 
Brown.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Brown).
  Ms. BROWN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, 
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, for her remarks; Congresswoman Brenda 
Lawrence; and my leader, my friend, my sister, and my mentor who is the 
chairwoman of the CBC, Joyce Beatty.
  As I rise to make my first CBC Special Order hour speech, I would 
first like to thank my esteemed Congressional Black Caucus colleagues 
for welcoming me with open arms after I was sworn in as their newest 
member days ago; for playing a critical role getting the bipartisan 
infrastructure bill across the finish line, and for shining the 
spotlight today on another critical piece of the President's agenda, 
the Build Back Better Act.
  Madam Speaker, the Congressional Black Caucus is often called the 
conscience of the Congress for good reason. The bipartisan 
infrastructure bill signed into law today by President Biden is a 
historic win for our economy, our communities, and the people of my 
district and from across this Nation.
  Its provisions, from rebuilding our roads and bridges to expanding 
broadband access and ensuring every person has access to safe drinking 
water, are supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans. That is 
why politicians have talked about getting infrastructure done for 
years. But today, with critical support from the CBC, we are delivering 
results--real results--for the people.
  But our work does not end there. We know the many challenges that 
have been holding families and our economy back for generations: high 
healthcare costs, lack of access to affordable childcare, rising 
prescription drug prices, students locked out of higher education 
opportunities, and shameful increases in food and housing insecurity. 
We know that Black communities have been disproportionately impacted by 
these many challenges for far too long.
  The answer to these challenges is not just more failed tax giveaways 
for huge corporations. The answer is to make investments in families to 
improve their lives, boost their paychecks, and lower their kitchen 
table costs.
  The Build Back Better Act delivers desperately needed action to 
tackle these challenges and lower the everyday costs that burden 
working families. It lowers healthcare costs by allowing Medicare to 
negotiate lower drug costs for seniors and expanding the ACA to bring 
down rising premiums. It provides universal preschool for all 3- to 4-
year-olds giving every student a chance to have a head start. It 
expands access to higher education by raising the maximum Pell grant 
and making large investments in HBCUs and other minority-serving 
institutions. It includes critical provisions to ensure no child goes 
hungry and every American has a roof over their head.

  Our task now is to pass a bill that reflects the President's agenda 
and our values: to promote equity, to ensure everyone has the 
opportunity to find a good-paying job, and to put money back in the 
pockets of American families by lowering the costs of living. Together 
with the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the Build Back Better agenda 
is going to create millions of jobs, reduce poverty, and rebuild the 
backbone of our country--the middle class. This is what delivering for 
the American people looks like.
  Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, as we bring this hour to a close, let me 
again thank our newest member of the Congressional Black Caucus, 
Congresswoman Shontel Brown for her words.
  Let me conclude tonight's Special Order hour by saying to America: 
The Congressional Black Caucus will continue to lead and to take bold, 
decisive actions to build back better by passing the Build Back Better 
Act. We heard that it will create more housing, it will furnish jobs, 
and it will also finish the job of the Affordable Care Act. It will 
provide a Medicaid coverage gap, and it will also provide funding, as 
you have heard, Madam Speaker, for HBCUs and helping families in need, 
giving them a tax cut, as Congresswoman Brown just highlighted for us, 
with the child tax credit to help ensure Americans' global 
competitiveness for the 21st century and unleashing the full potential 
of America's workers and families to thrive in the communities that we 
represent, especially those 17 million Americans represented by the 
Congressional Black Caucus. There are 17 million Black Americans, and 
then we look at some 80 million Americans.
  So with that, tonight we bring to it to a close, but we will not be 
quiet.
  It gives me great pleasure, Madam Speaker, to say thank you for 
letting us host the first hour on Build Back Better. Our power, our 
message, the Congressional Black Caucus.


                             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.

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