[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 38 (Tuesday, February 28, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H920-H921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TOXIC WASTE IN MICHIGAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the 12th 
Congressional District and the State of Michigan to say to Norfolk 
Southern: Don't dump your toxic waste in our State.
  Late last Friday, we learned that shipments of solid and liquid toxic 
waste from the East Palestine train derailment in Ohio were being 
transported to Michigan for disposal.
  Norfolk Southern chose to dispose truckloads of hazardous materials 
at multiple sites, including one operated by U.S. Ecology, one of our 
region's most negligent and notorious corporate polluters. These 
companies treat poisoning our communities as the cost of doing 
business, and we are done with it.
  I am so proud of our residents who spoke up and who helped halt 
further shipments into our State. I want to thank every single one of 
them from the bottom of my heart for speaking the truth and demanding 
better from all of our officials from the State and the Federal EPA.
  We will never give permission for corporate polluters to continue 
sacrificing the health and well-being of our communities and our 
families.
  Our environmental regulators State and Federal must aggressively 
protect all of us from this threat and hold these polluters 
accountable.


                               DTE Energy

  Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I rise today to say that DTE Energy, an 
investor-owned utility monopoly in my district, charges some of the 
highest rates in our Nation while providing some of the most unreliable 
service and performs hundreds of thousands of utility shutoffs per 
year.
  Right now many of my residents are in the seventh day of no power: no 
gas, heat, or electricity.
  This past week has been yet another nightmare for more than close to 
1 million DTE customers as well as 200,000 consumer energy customers in 
our State who have endured days on end without power and heat after a 
completely foreseeable winter storm.
  Why?
  Because DTE doesn't invest in reliability. It invests in profits and 
pays for shareholders and executives. The company made $1.1 billion in 
profits last year alone.
  Investor-owned utilities like DTE will always put profits over the 
people whom we serve in this Chamber.
  During the worst of the pandemic in 2020, Madam Speaker, DTE shut off 
power to customers more than 80,000 times despite being subsidized by 
our Federal Government to the tune of $268 million in CARES Act 
funding.
  The reason?
  They paid out $807 million to shareholders instead of keeping the 
power on for our residents who were struggling through the pandemic.

                              {time}  1015

  Since 2015, DTE has received over $775 million in rate hikes, the 
second highest rate of increase in our Nation, and they just announced 
their intention to seek another massive rate hike.
  DTE has failed to invest in the infrastructure upgrades necessary to 
prevent outages, instead choosing to maximize profits for its 
shareholders and spending millions on campaign contributions to avoid 
real accountability.
  I am sick and tired of wealthy corporate executives lining their 
pockets while our communities suffer and continue to be exploited.
  That is why, last year, I introduced the Resolution Recognizing the 
Human Rights to Utilities with Representatives Cori Bush and Jamaal 
Bowman.
  Madam Speaker, access to utilities is not a privilege; it is a 
fundamental human right. People depend on it for medical and for 
safety, again, in their

[[Page H921]]

own homes. In the richest country on Earth, every single family should 
have access to electricity, heat, and water. We need public power for 
all.


                    Honoring the Life of Eva Alvarez

  Ms. TLAIB. Madam Speaker, I rise today in memory of Eva Alvarez, a 
community activist who worked to improve the lives of countless 
immigrant families across southeast Michigan. Her life was suddenly cut 
short this past weekend in a tragic accident.
  Eva worked on public policy advocacy for the Michigan Immigrant 
Rights Center, one of the State's strongest immigrant empowerment 
agencies, where she championed policies to improve the lives of 
immigrants, Dreamers, farmworkers, and TSP holders.
  She was an incredible leader. Eva will be missed. She is known for 
her spirit of hope and optimism, which helped her persevere and remain 
steadfast in her work. She could always be counted on to offer a kind 
word to uplift others.
  Eva's sudden passing will be felt deeply throughout our communities. 
Please join me in honoring the life of Ms. Eva Alvarez, and please 
extend our condolences to her family as we mourn her loss. May she rest 
in power.

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