[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.

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