[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 21, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H5717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  WELCOMING THE HONORABLE MAYRA FLORES TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  The SPEAKER. Without objection, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Doggett) is recognized for 1 minute.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, central to the preservation of our 
democracy is recognition of the results of fair elections you lose just 
as much, if not more, than the elections which you win. Tonight, we 
welcome to this Chamber a new Member and recognize a fairly won 
Republican victory in my home State for the 6 months remaining this 
year in the term of our recent colleague, Filemon Vela, who resigned.
  Mayra Flores was born and raised in Tamaulipas, Mexico. She came 
legally to the United States at 6 years old with the help of her father 
and became a naturalized American citizen.
  Mayra graduated in 2014 as a respiratory care practitioner and 
currently works caring for those with chronic respiratory issues. With 
Latino Texans bearing a very disproportionate burden from the pandemic, 
she has been on the front lines combating COVID. She graduated from 
South Texas College, and her husband serves as a Border Patrol agent. 
Mayra will be the first Mexican-born woman to serve in the House and 
the first Hispanic Republican woman to serve in our Texas delegation.
  She ran a very vigorous campaign. I congratulate her on her success. 
I see that she brings a beautiful family to our Chamber. I look forward 
to working with her this year.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady), who 
is the senior Texas Republican in my Ways and Means Committee.
  Mr. BRADY. Madam Speaker, on this day in 1788, the United States 
Constitution was ratified making that remarkable document the law of 
this land, and it began with those immortal words: ``We the People.''
  So 234 years to the day after that call to create a more perfect 
Union, the U.S. House of Representatives makes history today with the 
inspiring swearing in of the first Mexican-born Member of Congress, 
Mayra Flores of Texas.
  There is so much to be impressed by with Mayra. She was born and 
raised with humble beginnings in Burgos, Mexico. From a young age, her 
parents and grandparents raised her with strong conservative values of 
faith, family, and hard work.
  She came legally to the United States at 6 years old, and with the 
enthusiastic help of her father, she became a proud, naturalized 
American citizen. Growing up, Mayra worked alongside her parents in the 
cotton fields in Memphis, Texas, to earn extra money for school 
supplies and clothes. With the support of her family, Mayra graduated 
as a respiratory care practitioner and has worked ever since to care 
for the elderly and the disabled.
  She did serve on the front lines helping patients combat COVID-19 and 
remains every day an active member of her community in south Texas. She 
remains a firm believer in the American Dream--it is a dream she is 
living--and will always fight so that others can achieve it, as she 
has.
  A proud wife and mother of four, her husband serves as a Border 
Patrol agent in the Rio Grande Valley working to protect our country 
during an unprecedented border crisis.
  So on behalf of the entire Texas delegation, please welcome with me 
to the United States Congress the Honorable Mayra Flores, her husband 
John, and their four beautiful children.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Flores).

  Mrs. FLORES. Madam Speaker, I rise today to give a voice to the 
voiceless and to say that the people who live and work in south Texas 
have had enough. We want to be heard, and we are tired of being treated 
like second-class citizens.
  I was born in Burgos, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and raised with strong 
values to always put God and family first. My father, Saul Flores, 
moved us to the United States because of the promise of America. He 
told me that in this country, if you work hard, you can accomplish 
anything. My story proves he is right.
  But right now our people are struggling. They are taken for granted. 
That ends now.
  I am here. I have risen from working in the cotton fields to 
representing the community I love in the United States Congress. And I 
will give them a voice. I will use it to say: Our lives are not a game. 
Our people deserve to have opportunity, security, and freedom, and I 
will work every day to give it to them.
  I am a proud Border Patrol wife and a mother of four young children 
fighting for a better future for them and for all our children.

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