[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 28, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H1472-H1473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1045
                          HONORING DIANA VESGA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Barragan) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, in honor of Women's History Month, I want 
to highlight a Latina trailblazer, Diana Vesga. This remarkable woman 
is the chief operating officer of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 
the largest art museum in the western United States.
  Prior of joining the museum in 2014, she worked as an investment 
banker and as a senior executive at Univision.
  A Colombian immigrant, she is one of the few Latinas in art museum 
leadership and only one of a few women to hold a chief operating 
officer position among the top art museums in the country. Just 10 
percent of museum administrators nationwide are Hispanic or Latino, and 
even fewer are Latinas.
  Diana grew up in a family of artists and art leaders and has used her 
unique perspective to embrace and value all cultures as the museum 
expands. As the new Smithsonian Museum of the American Latino is in 
development, we could use her wisdom and the wisdom of other Latinas 
and Latinos in the industry.
  Mr. Speaker, Diana is an inspiration to Latinas everywhere.


                        Support Medicaid Funding

  Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to support funding for 
Medicaid, a crucial program saving millions of lives, including Latino 
lives.
  Eager to balance our budget on the backs of poor people, my 
Republican colleagues have proposed extreme cuts to Medicaid. Medicaid 
has served and transformed millions of lives, especially in minority 
communities. Medicaid has been a vital lifeline for Latino communities 
which face disproportionate health crises, from diabetes to mental 
illness.
  Since 2013, Medicaid expansion has cut the rate of uninsured Latinos 
in half, and Latino youth now make up over a third of children on 
Medicaid. This is a critical program and critical coverage for Latino 
communities.
  It means a little boy struggling with chronic depression has access 
to mental health care. It means a working daughter can spend more time 
at home caring for her mother with Alzheimer's. It means less medical 
debt, fewer hospitalizations, and greater access to preventative care.
  To cut costs, Republicans have suggested we impose work requirements, 
cut funding, or repeal the Affordable Care Act all together. All of 
these ideas would strip healthcare coverage from poor Americans who 
depend on Medicaid.
  Republicans claim they want to balance our budget. In reality, they 
want to slash critical programs for underserved groups. The single 
mother of three who spends all day taking care of her children should 
not lose access to healthcare. The disabled senior who can't survive 
outside of an assisted living facility should not lose access to 
healthcare. The little girl with leukemia whose immigrant parents can't 
afford a cancer screening should not lose access to healthcare.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to protect Medicaid and invest in 
expanding it. Millions of Americans are depending on it.

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