[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 195 (Thursday, December 15, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H9886-H9890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CELEBRATING DEPARTING MEMBERS
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Bush). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Madam Speaker, this is an hour to celebrate
Members who are departing this Congress, including myself, and I have
some remarks to share. I will also be joined later by the gentlewoman
from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), but first we are going to hear
from the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch of the
Committee on Appropriations of the U.S. House of Representatives, one
of our cardinals, a great public servant from the State of Ohio,
Representative Tim Ryan.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).
Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan
for putting this together. You can see that Ohio and Michigan can
periodically get along with each other.
I am honored to rise for a few minutes here, Mr. Speaker, to address
this House for the final time as a sitting Member of Congress. I think
it is appropriate to begin with the preamble to the United States
Constitution.
``We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect
Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.''
``We the people.'' This is the people's House. There have been 12,421
Members of Congress who have sat here in this Capitol. Of almost 700
million people, who at one point or another were citizens of the United
States, 700 million, and a little over 12,000 were sent here to govern
this country, to meet the obligations that the Founding Fathers put in
the preamble of the United States Constitution.
I will tell you, there have been some great Americans, some of the
best, who have served in this Chamber. But there also have been
scoundrels, crooks, and liars. This is the people's House. This is the
people's House, so it has reflected over, in a few years, 250 years,
the world's oldest republic.
If there is one thing I hope that all Members and all citizens can
grasp and touch, it is gratitude. I know I feel tremendously grateful
to come from a working-class family in Ohio and end up here for 20
years serving the communities that I grew up in, that I played sports
in, that I raised my family in. It is an honor to be a citizen of the
United States.
This country has fed more people, clothed more people, cured more
people, and liberated more people than all the other countries in the
world combined.
I think to get out of this mess that we are in, the polarization, the
hate, the anger, the fear, the first step out of that is with
gratitude. If we all start from a place of gratitude, we will have a
much different opinion of the country, of each other, and of what is
possible for us, because this country has always done great things. But
we do great things when we are together, when we embrace normalcy, when
we embrace decency, when we embrace compassion.
When you walk through these doors, you are a leader, and you are
charged with making the tough decisions, the hard decisions, not the
easy decisions, not the ones that are going to make your next election
a little easier. But the challenge today is to be called to lead and
lead vigorously, lead boldly, because that is what the world needs us
to do right now.
This country has always been innovative. We need to enter an era of
reform, of reconciliation, and of innovation across the board.
The systems are all broken. The economic system is broken, the
immigration system is broken, the welfare system is broken, the
education system is broken, and we are not going to fix these if we are
not decent to each other, if we don't talk to each other.
{time} 1400
Some of the solutions will be conservative, some will be liberal and
progressive, but it is through that conflict, those arguments and
debates that this very Chamber was set up to do that we come to the
best possible solution, and that, ultimately, is what we are talking
about.
We the people have got to come together. As we approach the 250th
anniversary of this country, let us renew our commitment to each other
so that we can meet President Lincoln's charge ``that this Nation,
under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of
the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the
Earth.''
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Ryan for his
wonderful public service here not only for the people of Ohio, but
really for all the people of this country.
What does it mean to run for Congress, to serve in Congress? Why do
it?
Personally, I didn't run for Congress until I was 58 years old, after
a career as a union organizer, a human rights activist, running
Michigan's workforce system, and creating innovative new programs under
then-Governor Jennifer Granholm, our Energy Secretary today, and then
starting my own statewide clean energy finance market as a green energy
entrepreneur. But a Trump Presidency put these priorities, each and
every one of them, and indeed our very democracy in grave danger, and I
was inspired to run to replace my father after his retirement.
Coming into Congress with the historic freshman class of House
Democrats in the 116th Congress, we started in the middle of a record-
breaking government shutdown. Our very first action as an office was
gathering impacted workers together alongside my Michigan colleagues at
the Detroit airport. We had workers reflecting the full range of
Federal duties: From transportation professionals to environmental
stewards who worked for the EPA.
Gathering this coalition would serve as a model for the work we would
do over the next 4 years. When our staff met at UAW Region One a few
months later for our first retreat, we would define our priorities, and
it was really three overarching priorities for our office: First,
raising the standard of living for working people; second, protecting
our one precious Earth; and third, fighting for human rights at home
and abroad. We have organized our work around these priorities ever
since.
Let's start with raising the standard of living for working people.
Certainly, making education affordable is a key part of that. After the
Speaker appointed me to the Education and Labor Committee, I was
honored to be elected vice chair of the committee by my fellow
Democrats.
And then Chairman Bobby Scott asked me to lead the America's College
Promise Act to provide 2 years of tuition-and-fee-free community
college and also 2 years of virtually free study at historically Black
colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions.
We introduced the bill, and we debated it. But can you imagine how
amazing it was when Joe Biden was moving toward the nomination to be
the Democratic candidate for President and he adopted my bill, and then
he made it part of his Build Back Better plan?
I had the privilege of welcoming First Lady Jill Biden to a community
college in my district once and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to
two different community colleges to celebrate the inclusion of this
bill in the President's Build Back Better plan and fight for its
passage. We didn't get it across the finish line due to the
intransigence of one person, Joe Manchin, but we are not about to give
up until we make free community college and accessibility of HBCUs for
everyone a reality.
[[Page H9887]]
Probably the biggest area of my advocacy for workers and their
families came in labor and employment policy.
I served as a whip to push the Raise the Wage Act through the House,
and we fended off efforts to water it down with things like regional
minimum wages that would consign poor areas of this country to
permanent, structural poverty. We had to fight hard to keep the one
fair wage aspect in the bill, to make sure we end subminimum wages for
tipped workers, who are mostly women and disproportionately of color.
I helped write the PRO Act and was so honored to play a special role
in shepherding it through the Education and Labor Committee and the
floor of the House.
I led a small band of labor stalwarts in opposition to Trump's new
NAFTA, which is called the USMCA. While I fervently hope the
legislation succeeds, and I have worked with the Biden administration
to ensure that Mexico and Canada meet their obligations, I fear too
much of our trade policy discards the views of workers here at home and
also abroad in the name of furthering the interests of multinational
corporations. That has to end, and we have to put workers' interests
and the planet's interests first.
One core part of my belief about how to be a Congressman is that it
is not all about passing legislation and overseeing the administration.
When it comes to labor issues, I believe you have got to get out there
and support workers' organizing and bargaining campaigns directly. We
did this many, many times. Let me give you just a few examples.
We organized a major solidarity action when the UAW struck General
Motors, and I walked the picket line regularly and welcomed many
colleagues, including Senator Elizabeth Warren.
When the RWDSU helped Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, organize
to join the union, I organized a delegation of Congresspeople to go
down there with me, and I went a second time by myself to join current
AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler to encourage the workers to keep fighting
after they lost their first election, which was marred by many unfair
labor practices by the corporation.
I organized almost all of my fellow Harvard alums in the House to
support Harvard grad employees when they were campaigning to win a
first contract, and that was ultimately successful under pressure from
us and many others.
More recently, when Senate cafeteria workers who are members of UNITE
HERE Local 23 were fighting for a long overdue, just contract, I got
arrested with many of them to push the issue. Happily, Mr. Speaker,
they won a good contract soon thereafter.
Just recently, I participated in campaigns to support railroaders who
desperately need paid sick days and the demand for full funding for the
National Labor Relations Board so it can fulfill its function to
support private sector workers' rights to organize and bargain
collectively.
I can tell you, I am going to continue not only my own efforts to
support workers, but I am going to continue organizing Members of
Congress to be involved.
There is so much more we can and must do to lift up working families
and help them live dignified lives. We did preserve the pensions of
millions of American workers. I am so proud we got that done.
I was proud to fight with my brothers and sisters in the Progressive
Caucus to include affordable childcare, universal preschool for 3- and
4-year-olds, paid sick leave for all, and the child tax credit in the
House version of Build Back Better. Congress needs to keep fighting to
get these things done.
Our team was super active on our second priority as well, protecting
our one precious Earth. Let's start with clean air, water, and land. I
joined the bipartisan PFAS task force right away, and I passed
legislation twice to prevent the harmful incineration of PFAS
chemicals, especially on military bases. We have so much more work to
do on PFAS, that is for sure. It is truly the DDT of our times, and we
have got to deal with it.
Around Christmas of 2019 green ooze began to leak out onto I-696, the
interstate highway through my district in the town of Madison Heights.
My staff and I led an effort to help ensure the cleanup of toxic waste,
in coordination with the EPA and State and local governments, and it
was really everybody working together that got it done.
There were many such efforts, but of course my biggest focus was
climate change. I supported the original Green New Deal resolution from
day one. I remember being out on the lawn when we introduced it. I am
one of only 27 Senators and Representatives out of 535, Mr. Speaker, to
support all 12 Green New Deal bills. Even more importantly, I helped
put meat on the bones personally in several ways.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and I authored the BUILD Green Act to invest
$500 billion over 10 years to jump-start the transition to all-electric
public vehicles, mass transit, rail, and help modernize the Nation's
crumbling infrastructure.
Senator Sherrod Brown and I introduced the American Energy Worker
Opportunity Act to support fossil fuel and coal workers and their
families impacted by the transition we need to make as soon as possible
to clean energy. Simply stated, workers who, over generations, built up
wonderful pay and benefit packages; if they work on a pipeline or a
refinery or a coal mine, it is not their fault that we have to change,
and they shouldn't suffer, and that bill would take care of that issue.
I introduced the EV Freedom Act with Representative Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez to build a nationwide network of high-speed EV chargers
to transform our transportation sector and end our reliance on fossil
fuels.
And I am still going, right up to my last days in Congress. Today,
this very day, I partnered with the chair of the Speaker's Select
Committee on Climate Crisis, Kathy Castor from Tampa, to introduce the
CLEANER Buildings Act, my bill, alongside her bill, the LOWER Energy
Bills Act. These pieces of legislation will ensure we can meet
President Biden's goal to reduce economy-wide emissions and transform
our Nation's buildings to be energy efficient and climate resilient.
Mr. Speaker, people count the amount of emissions, greenhouse gas
emissions, in different ways, but if you add up the energy we use to
heat and cool and light our buildings, it is 42 percent of all the
emissions in this country, all the electricity and natural gas. So we
really have to deal with that.
These measures are collaborations between my amazing staff and many
advocacy groups fighting for environmental justice and to save life on
Earth as we know it in a way that actually advances racial and economic
justice.
In terms of my priorities, the third is peace and human rights for
all people everywhere, and we have been equally active in that area as
well.
First, though, let me say that while I have worked super hard on
peace, this is probably Congress' and the Democratic Party's greatest
weakness. Our business is largely unfinished on these. For example,
authorizations for use of military force, or AUMF.
The Constitution says this body, the Congress, the Article I body, is
responsible for deciding when to send our young people into harm's way,
and then the President is the Commander in Chief. We have fallen down
in this duty, and we are still falling down.
We are relying on decades-old authorizations for use of military
force. We ought to have the guts to end every one of them and work with
the administration when we need a new one to put it into place. Every
time we do it, it should have a sunset so that we force ourselves to
make the hard decisions about war and peace.
Secondly, nuclear nonproliferation. I don't need to talk long about
this. Almost nothing is happening. We are down to having one agreement
with Russia left. We are really nowhere with China. We have an
increasing number of nuclear states. We are, hopefully, battling hard
to keep Iran from joining them. But we need to get back to the business
that was really bipartisan.
Who can forget Ronald Reagan taking on ending the use of nuclear
weapons? So we have really got a long way to go there.
Also, Mr. Speaker, reducing military spending. My goodness. Just the
increase in the Pentagon budget that we passed through this House in
the NDAA recently, the other day, just the increase above what the
Pentagon asked
[[Page H9888]]
for that Congress stuffed in there would have paid for my whole
America's College Promise Act, plus some other big needs of the
American people. I am for the U.S. absolutely being the strongest
military in the world, but we shouldn't be spending more than the next
8 to 10 countries combined.
We have got to have a diplomacy first, a peace first, a human rights
first foreign policy and take care of the needs of our people and the
poor and working people around the world.
{time} 1415
As a lifelong human rights advocate, I feel I can say that we had
more success in the human rights area. Although, the situation is
certainly dire in so many parts of the world. Let me mention just a few
highlights.
The House passed my bipartisan resolution condemning the coup in
Burma, and we have continued oversight of the very troubling human
rights situation there, as well as the inspiring efforts of the Burmese
people to resist repression.
Indeed, my first foreign trip as a Congressman was to Bangladesh to
visit Rohingya refugees just over the border from Burma there.
I have been a vocal advocate for human rights in places like India,
which is in danger of becoming a Hindu nationalist state rather than a
secular democracy; the world's largest democracy.
I am a lover of Hinduism, a lover of Jainism, Buddhism, other
religions that were born in India, but we need to protect the rights of
all people there, whether they are Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews,
Christians, Jains--whatever.
I have been active about human rights in Egypt, where thousands of
political prisoners languish in jail. Israel and Palestine have been a
particular focus of mine. I am proud to have written the Two-State
Solution Act, the most forward-leaning U.S. bill in many years to try
to hold Israeli and Palestinian leaders alike accountable to take steps
to advance a two-state solution.
Now, with a far-right government filled with troubling racist and
homophobic leaders taking over in Israel, all of us who love that
country's democratic ideals and seek justice for Palestinians as well
will have to redouble our efforts. Perhaps my biggest focus in this
area has been Haiti.
I founded the first House Haiti Caucus in Congress in decades and
recruited three dynamic Congresswomen who represent large Haitian-
American constituencies to co-chair with me: Val Demings of Florida,
Yvette Clarke of New York, and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
With the support of our great Committee on Foreign Affairs chairman,
Greg Meeks, we greatly increased Congressional oversight of U.S. policy
on Haiti, including two standalone hearings with witnesses representing
diverse perspectives and a Department of Homeland Security review of
its policies after the humanitarian disaster in Del Rio.
We have pointed out that the status quo is untenable, and we have
demanded inclusion of the breadth of Haitian civil society in dealing
with the ongoing crisis there.
Whether on our three overarching priority areas that I have just
discussed or other vital matters, like reducing the epidemic of gun
violence, one thing I want to emphasize is that working in Congress is
all about teamwork. We have got a tremendous amount done in these last
4 years, and it is all due to an amazing team of individuals who
brought tremendous idealism, passion, professionalism, hard work, and
love to make life better for working families.
I am going to share the names of everyone who has worked on Team
Levin these last 4 years. Let's start with the District Office in
alphabetical order: Jenny Byer; Robert Charara; Will Cochran; Eleanor
Gamalski; Jolie Habashy; Walt Herzig; Zeenath Hussain; Dan Klein; Kyle
Pollet; Lauren Schandevel; Amairris Simmons; Justin Walters; Sean
Wolski; America Yahya; Stephanie Yaldo-Sheena.
And here in the Washington, D.C. office:
Abbas Alawieh; Mez Araya; Taryn Brown; Don Chen; Erica Fein; Ben
Gerstein; Julia Kalusniak; Courtney Laudick; Austin Laufersweiler;
MaryGrace Menner; Ven Neralla; Colton Puckett; Catherine Rowland;
Jamari Torrence; Alex Schmitt; Sabrina Steel; Derrick Utley; Janae
Washington, who is sitting here with me now; and Jacob Wilson.
And what did we get done, this amazing group of people?
In the 116th Congress, speaking of legislation, we introduced 59
pieces of legislation: 22 bills, 30 amendments, and 7 resolutions.
We passed 40 pieces of legislation through the House of
Representatives: 10 bills and 30 amendments.
And we got 6 pieces of legislation all the way through the process
and signed into law by that previous President.
In the 117th Congress, as of earlier this week, we introduced 50
pieces of legislation: 32 bills, 13 amendments, and 5 resolutions. And
we are introducing three more pieces of legislation yet this week, one
of which I mentioned.
We passed 21 pieces of legislation through the House so far: 6 bills,
2 resolutions, and 13 amendments; and we saw three pieces of
legislation signed into law.
Mr. Speaker, we are still hoping for two more: Renaming the post
offices in Bloomfield Township and Hazel Park, two Michigan communities
in my district.
Passing legislation is just one part of our work. Serving all of our
constituents, regardless of their political views or their
circumstances, is another big part.
The bottom line, being a good Member of Congress is about taking care
of people, whether their problems relate to immigration, Social
Security, veteran benefits--whatever. And rather than get into numbers
here, let me focus on just a few stories.
We led a bipartisan push to prevent the deportation of Iraqi
nationals, and we secured the return of Jimmy Aldaoud's remains to the
U.S. after he was deported, and he died of diabetic shock just weeks
later. That man had never set foot in Iraq, he spoke no Arabic. He was
obviously American. I won't go into all the upset about that, but his
tragic story helped awaken society to these senseless deportations.
Together, we helped our residents navigate a once-in-a-century
pandemic. We worked with State partners to help constituents obtain
expanded pandemic unemployment benefits that this House created, and
we worked with the State Department to help constituents stuck overseas
during the early global COVID shutdown. We helped them make it home.
And we helped countless small businesses, of course, obtain PPE and the
EIDL loans.
We fought successfully for the release of a Black high school student
who was put in juvenile detention for not completing her homework, Mr.
Speaker, during remote learning; put in, essentially, jail for young
people.
Remember the story of Grace, as she was called? It made national
news. And the fact that it happened speaks to structural racism in
educational and criminal justice systems. And the need to fight it both
case-by-case, like we did with Grace, and systemically to end it as a
future of our country.
We helped a Royal Oak couple overcome incredible odds to be able to
complete their fertility treatment overseas during the height of the
pandemic.
Just last month, my wife Mary and I visited with this wonderful
couple and the son who was born as a result of these efforts, who is
today a healthy toddler.
And what to say about the case of Danny Fenster, a journalist who
attended the same high school as me who was held as a political
prisoner for 5\1/2\ months in the horrible, insane prison in Burma.
His incredibly tenacious family and I were in constant contact, and I
spoke to ambassadors across the globe working to bring him home.
My staff and I were so honored to join the family to welcome him home
to the U.S. when he touched down in New York, and to follow his
continued advocacy for press freedom in Burma and everywhere. And
today, he is a journalism fellow at one of our most prestigious
universities.
One of the things I think is most important for an effective
Congressional operation is breaking down barriers and creating great
collaboration between the D.C. and district offices. It is not that
easy.
[[Page H9889]]
Let me share a few stories that illustrate why I think this is so
important. In a virtual outreach event with sexual assault survivors
and advocates, we met Carmen Wargel of Royal Oak and heard about
significant problems for survivors seeking to prosecute those who
abused them.
Because of that activity in the district, we authored an amendment
that passed the House in the Violence Against Women Act to promote
better outcomes and care through vertical integration in prosecution of
sexual assault.
Okay, let me put this straight. I had never heard of virtual
integration in prosecution. I am a lawyer. I know what virtual
integration is in business. I had never heard of it.
When we put together what had happened to this person--I think she
had five different prosecutors on her case, one after the other--it was
because of our discussions with constituents in the district that we
wrote legislation that passed the House.
Another big deal for us was introducing a resolution recognizing
Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. It was the first time this had ever
been done in Congressional history. But we didn't just do this in D.C.
It was inspired by abortion care providers at home in the district, and
we marked it with an event at the Northland Family Planning Clinic with
Renee and Lara Chelian in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Certainly, our Community Project Funding projects are another great
example of D.C.-district collaboration. We worked with community
leaders to put forward projects for Federal funding in line with our
shared priorities; nearly $28 million when you combine fiscal years
2022 and 2023. In March of this year, 2022, all 10 of our projects for
the fiscal year were signed into law by President Joe Biden.
To give just a few examples of this, we are providing 3.5 million
gallons of additional storage at the Chapaton Retention Basin to reduce
combined sewage overflows, alleviate residential basement flooding
during heavy rain events, and improve the water quality of Lake St.
Clair, which serves as a source of drinking water for much of Southeast
Michigan.
We are creating a community space to serve as a heating and cooling
center for residents of Hazel Park and neighboring Ferndale, a gallery
for local artists, and a location for job fairs and educational
seminars.
We are establishing an Individual Development Account program at
Macomb Community College for workforce development and certification
courses, offering direct services to individuals to enhance employment
opportunities and regional prosperity.
We have done a lot, and I am so proud of all that this team has
accomplished, and especially the way we have done it, not just working
hard but supporting each other. Building the beloved community from the
inside out, even as we fight for justice in our local communities and
in far-flung areas all across this planet.
So I suppose there is no better place to conclude than one of our
signal achievements: Passing a resolution to allow the staff of this
very House of Representatives to organize unions and bargain
collectively.
Amazingly, Congress passed legislation in 1995 to apply Federal
employment regulations including collective bargaining to Capitol Hill.
But when they implemented the legislation in 1996 the next year, they
included the Capitol Police and the Library of Congress and the
Architect of the Capitol, and so forth. But they left out the people
who work with us most directly--our own staff in the district offices,
in our D.C. offices, and on our committees.
That was 26 years ago, and that wrong was never corrected until this
year when House employees came to introduce a resolution to extend
these basic rights of democracy to our staff, and together, we passed
it through this House of Representatives.
I was so moved when my own staff were the very first to organize a
union with a Congressional Workers Union, and now they are the very
first to bargain a contract.
Mr. Speaker, already 14 offices have voted to unionize with CWU, so
the precedent is set, and I believe more offices will organize and more
contracts will be bargained in the 118th Congress.
That is why I came to Congress, to expand human rights, to expand the
voice and power of workers and justice for their families, whether they
are in the halls of Congress or on farms or in factories or offices
across this land and beyond our shores.
I don't believe in the great person theory of history, Mr. Speaker.
This has never been about me as a person or a leader. It is about
building a team that wants to fight for justice. It is about partnering
with activists doing the same. It is about learning from each other,
falling down, and getting up to fight on another day.
I am so grateful to the people of Michigan's Ninth District for
giving me the opportunity to serve you in this way. I have learned so
much from you in our union halls, our veterans' lodges, our school
buildings, and our workplaces.
As I leave Congress, I believe just as strongly as I did when I
started helping workers organize unions with SEIU in 1983, that it is
for the working people to set the direction of this country. That is
our hope to tackle climate change. That is our hope to create a world
of racial and economic justice. Onward we go.
{time} 1430
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn
B. Maloney), one of my amazing colleagues, the chairwoman of the House
Committee on Oversight and Reform, and a fearless champion for New
Yorkers and Americans from all over this country.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, to my colleagues
on both sides of the aisle, it has been a privilege to have had this
extraordinary opportunity to serve with you for the past 30 years in
the House of Representatives.
A special thank you to our tremendous Democratic House leadership.
Thank you, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, for being a great strategist,
mentor, and friend; and, Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, for what you have
taught me and all that you have done for this great Nation.
Thank you to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a trailblazer who was the first
female Speaker of the House in history and is rightfully being called
the most effective Speaker in modern times. A very special mention to
the new minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries. New York is so proud of you.
Like Speaker Pelosi, my career has been a series of firsts. I was the
first woman to represent my district on the city council and to
represent my district in Congress and the first in history to give
birth while on the city council. Many men became fathers, but I was the
first one to become a mother while serving on the city council.
I was also the first woman to serve as chair of the Joint Economic
Committee, as well as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
I remember almost as if it were yesterday, walking toward the Capitol
as a newly elected Member. I had just defeated a 14-year incumbent
Republican, who outspent me 4 to 1. No one thought I could win. Yet, I
did, and I had such a feeling of hope and optimism for what could be
done to help people.
I will never forget walking down the aisle, not to get married but to
be sworn into the United States Congress. I said it then, and it is
still true today, that serving in the United States Congress is the
thrill, honor, and extraordinary opportunity of a lifetime.
The first time I ever walked onto the floor of this historic Chamber
was 1992. It was called the Year of the Woman.
I announced my run for Congress on the day of the Planned Parenthood
v. Casey Supreme Court decision, which placed restrictions on Roe to a
woman's right to choose.
Along with great New York leaders like Bella Abzug, Geraldine
Ferraro, and Elizabeth Holtzman, they expressed their outrage, and I
announced my run for Congress to fight to reverse this situation and to
bring other changes.
It is really hard to believe that, years later, in 2022, the Supreme
Court didn't just chip away at abortion. They bulldozed our rights into
the ground, depriving 33 million American women of access to abortion.
When I first entered Congress, about 10 percent of Congress were
women. Back then, the entire Women's Caucus
[[Page H9890]]
could meet in an elevator. Our numbers have now moved to 149, or nearly
28 percent.
As the great New Yorker Shirley Chisholm once said: ``You don't make
progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You
make progress by implementing ideas.''
There is no better place in the world to implement new ideas than the
United States Congress, and that is just what I did.
In the last 30 years, I have authored and passed more than 80 bills
and had 12 Presidential bill signings with five of our Presidents,
which are usually reserved for transformational legislation.
President Clinton signed my Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act and the
Standby Guardianship Act for children. President Bush signed my Debbie
Smith Act, which has been called the most important antirape
legislation ever passed, as well as many sex trafficking prevention
laws, and CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United
States, to protect our infrastructure and country.
In 2009, President Obama signed my Credit Card Bill of Rights, which,
according to the CFPB, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has
saved consumers over $16 billion each year since 2009.
Even President Trump signed my Never Again Education Act to support
Holocaust education, as well as the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act,
which is part of the reason why my coat is hanging here.
I wore this coat for well over a year, every single day, until we
approved the necessary funding for this vital program to help our
heroes and heroines.
They were there for us. We need to be there for them, and they still
need more help. More legislation needs to be passed this year to help
them.
Just this past April, President Biden signed my bipartisan Postal
Service Reform Act. Thanks to Oversight Committee Ranking Member
James Comer, we proved that bipartisanship can prevail over partisan
bickering in the best interests of America.
All of these achievements would not have been possible without my
fellow Members of Congress, who have proven to me that if you work hard
enough, our government can provide for the people.
I truly believe that the best legislation is always bipartisan, and I
hope our Congress can come together more for more meaningful
legislation as we did after 9/11, as we did after natural and financial
disasters, as we came together during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as we
came together in our bipartisan infrastructure bill and so much more.
Believe me, there is no Nation that is better, stronger, or more
innovative than the United States when we work together.
I also recognize those who have worked in my office over the years,
including my district office staff, my D.C. staff, and the staff of the
Oversight Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.
Our work truly would not have been possible without your hours of
dedication, your intelligence, and your selfless dedication to public
service.
To each and every one of my friends and constituents, thank you for
your continued support and inspiration. It has been the honor of my
life to represent the people of New York's 12th Congressional District.
I also thank my wonderful family, my two amazing daughters, Christina
and Virginia; my son-in-law, Peter; and baby Leland. You are the joy
and meaning of my life.
Thank you to the love of my life, Cliff Maloney, who is with me in
spirit and whose support always meant the world to me.
As I speak today, I am thinking of the important work that lies
ahead. Rest assured, I will continue to keep fighting for the issues
that are near and dear to my heart, including the Equal Rights
Amendment. Let's get it ratified and in our Constitution.
There can be no time limit on equal rights, and the ERA is needed now
more than ever to stop any more bulldozing over women's rights.
We need Senator Schumer, and over 150 of my colleagues have joined me
in writing to him and requesting him to put the time limit bill on the
floor for a vote so that the American people can see who is for equal
rights and who is against it.
Infrastructure is in my DNA, especially in these times when
modernization and new systems for transportation are so vital to our
future.
I am proud that the two largest federally funded construction
projects--not in New York City, not in New York State, but in the
entire country--are in the district I am privileged to represent, the
Second Avenue Subway and the East Side Connector.
I am proud to have brought more than $10 billion in infrastructure
funding to my district alone, and as I part, I will continue to work
toward building high-speed rail between New York and Boston. Nothing
would build our economy stronger or better.
My dear colleagues, together we have bent the moral arc of this
Nation in the direction of justice and fairness, but we mustn't rest
until equal means just that--equal.
Finally, I have always regarded public service as a loan, one that I
must repay each and every day I am in office. Thanks to your tireless
efforts, wisdom, and support, I feel like I leave office debt-free.
The best is yet to come.
It has been an honor to work and serve with all of my colleagues.
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Representative Maloney, your account is
overflowing with the work of justice that you did for the people of New
York and, indeed, the American people. We all know it, so thank you so
much.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. It has been a privilege to be
inspired and to work with you, and thank you for being arrested with
me--
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. That was quite an honor.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York.--as we protested for the rights
of women to make decisions about their own bodies. I would say there is
no democracy if you cannot make your own healthcare decisions.
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. That sounds right to me.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. It was an honor to work with
you. I will miss all of my colleagues.
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. It was a big honor to be arrested with you.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my wife, Mary Freeman, and my kids, Koby, Saul,
Ben, and Molly.
It has been a real honor to serve in this body, and I promise to keep
the fire under your feet to do the work of justice.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________