[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H6932-H6936]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRESSIONAL PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS: DELIVERING IN THE FACE OF REPUBLICAN
CHAOS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 9, 2023, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Ramirez) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
any extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Madam Speaker, we are here talking about the work that
we have done, or tried to do, in this past year. This week is the last
week Members of this body will gather to work on legislative business
for 2023.
The last time I convened the Special Order hour, my colleagues and I
came to the floor to discuss the impact that the debt ceiling would
have on everyday, working people. We said over and over that a debt
ceiling agreement that shortchanged funding for vital programs
shortchanges everyday people.
I find that, much like in May, we are in the same place fighting to
protect and to preserve the programs our communities need. Just like in
May, I am here to remind this body why we were sent here and who sent
us here: Our constituents.
Let me be clear. Who sent us here are our constituents, not MAGA
extremists, not lobbyists, and definitely not Donald Trump.
This year, my colleagues and I on the Congressional Progressive
Caucus have been fighting like hell for policies that protect people,
including expanding healthcare for DACA recipients; addressing gun
violence; securing protections for the workforce; and centering our
policies around equity and justice.
I am proud to say that we have been able to deliver for our
communities, yes, even in the midst of chaos. While we were able to
accomplish so little--although I know that my colleague tried to talk a
little bit about what the GOP tried to do--I am convening this Special
Order hour to speak truth to power.
Madam Speaker, let me be clear and say that Republicans have held
progress hostage. It has been a year, and we have spent more time on
speakership elections--19 to be exact--pointless censures, and
political theater, jeopardizing the safety and the well-being of
people, instead of moving policy that improves their lives.
We have spent countless hours subjected to words that dehumanize and
devalue Brown and Black people, and I have witnessed firsthand as
Members across the aisle call immigrants vile names like infestations
over and over again, not just here but during my committee hearings;
denying their humanity.
I have spent more time attending vigils than celebrating life because
Republicans are intent on holding up bills that would address gun
violence.
I have spent more time voting ``no'' to protect my constituents from
harmful cuts and reckless policies than I have had the opportunity to
vote ``yes'' to legislation that prioritizes working people and
families.
I have spent more time on picket lines affirming that workers deserve
living wages, protection from retaliation, and the right to
collectively bargain than actually passing policies that ensure that
all workers are compensated well, respected, and valued.
When I was elected to Congress, I told my community that I was
committed to delivering results. I am here today to say that in the
face of everyday Republican-manufactured obstacles to progress, their
political games, their disorganization, and their opposition to
honoring our shared humanity, I remained true to my commitments and my
values as a Member of Congress.
I have remained focused on delivering results for Illinois' Third
Congressional District and honoring our diverse multicultural,
multigenerational community.
I am not alone.
My colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus have also
remained true to their commitment and their values and focused on
delivering for their districts. I am grateful to be flanked by such
dedicated, persevering, and courageous leaders.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to welcome one of my colleagues to share
some of the progress that she has made and what Congress must still
continue to do to accomplish and deliver for the people.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms.
Lee).
Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I stand here today because we
are just 1 month from another government shutdown, and Congressional
Republicans have demonstrated once again that they are more concerned
about satisfying their culture warrior base than actually addressing
any of the problems their constituents face.
Madam Speaker, that hasn't stopped us from delivering for our
districts. I am here because the everyday working-class people of
Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties came together to say, everybody
should have a livable wage, clean air and water, affordable housing,
decent transportation, and healthcare.
The people I represent resoundingly rejected the status quo and
decades of corporations leaving us behind and polluting our communities
without accountability. They demanded political representation that
will actually try to solve the problems they face and not play
political games with their lives.
Our movement's detractors, including those in Congress, many of them,
will try to make you believe that people from working-class backgrounds
representing working-class districts are too consumed by fighting
national political battles and don't do enough to deliver for our
districts.
Let me be clear. Key priorities of the Biden administration, like the
Inflation Reduction Act, would not have happened without progressives
here fighting tooth and nail to ensure that our communities had what
they needed to thrive. Despite Republicans' dysfunction, we haven't
stopped fighting even for one second.
We are proud to have delivered in my district nearly $1 billion in
Federal investments for infrastructure, affordable housing, STEM
innovation, clean air, and good-paying jobs because the people of
Western Pennsylvania and across the country deserve leaders in Congress
who have lived their struggles and work as hard as they do.
Whether it was delivering $400 million from the Department of
Energy's clean financing program to fund EOS, a battery storage
manufacturer that will employ thousands of workers in PA-12's Mon
Valley, in particular, or the over $150 million to improve transit in
Pittsburgh, or helping to deliver $50 million for affordable housing in
the historically divested Hill District of Pittsburgh.
Our movement in Pennsylvania is delivering on priorities that won't
just improve our communities but the lives of people across the
country. We are demonstrating the power we can recognize when
communities that have been left behind elect leaders that have actually
gone through what they have.
Throughout history, and particularly over the past four decades,
working-class people, disproportionately Black and Brown, have been
told our priorities are too radical, our needs are too unrealistic, and
that our lives are expendable. Our movement stands in direct contrast
to that, standing up to monied interests and fighting for our
communities to be healthier, stronger, and more resilient.
The wins we have secured that I have talked about today represent
just a small part of what our movement has done while in elected
office, and you can be sure we are not done yet.
On the other side, Republicans are demonstrating that they are
fundamentally unserious when it comes to addressing the problems that
their constituents face, and all of our constituents.
[[Page H6933]]
Now Republicans are fighting battles so they can reconcile their
internal struggle between satisfying their rightwing cable-news culture
warriors and their ultra-wealthy corporate donors.
They are an embarrassment, and their constituents and our country
will remember.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Madam Speaker, as the gentlewoman was talking, I
started asking myself that if our colleagues that are in the majority
were actually serious about delivering for their constituents, then
perhaps we would spend less time in censures; perhaps we would spend
less time fighting each other, doing whatever kidney-elbow situation;
arguing with each other on the corners, and all the games and all the
other things they do, and actually pass legislation that helps people's
experiences improve, like legislation around housing, making it more
affordable so that no one has to live in a tent.
It is interesting because Republicans seem to really care about
homelessness when it is someone that is undocumented, that is an
immigrant or asylum seeker, but they have had the opportunity in
leadership in these past 12 months to pass legislation to address
housing, and instead, they are cutting funds for housing.
They say they care about families and women and their wives and their
children, but they refuse to pass paid leave.
They say they care and are worried about healthcare, but are they
really? Because if they were worried about healthcare, we would be
doing less of the crazy theater here--19 elections for a darn Speaker--
and actually pass quality healthcare.
Let's talk a little bit more about what they haven't done and what we
should be focusing on.
I know that the gentleman from Utah attempted to talk about the GOP
accomplishments, but I couldn't figure out which one accomplishment he
was able to actually tangibly prove.
Let's talk about housing. It is no secret that housing prices are
skyrocketing.
In Chicago, for example, we have seen a 5.7 increase in the cost of
rent in 1 year. In some communities, it is as high as a 20 percent
increase.
As temperatures plummet, more people find themselves in tents
suffering cold nights in unsafe conditions, or they are just one
paycheck away from homelessness.
You would think that our colleagues would be concerned about
government shutdowns since so many people are just one paycheck away
from homelessness. While working families are struggling to pay rent,
we faced not one, but two threats of a Republican national shutdown.
I have to say it over and over. This is what my constituents ask me
about every time I go back home, or message me: We didn't elect you all
to spend your time fighting each other because you don't like each
other, or because one person said this thing that this other person
didn't like. All this time you spend censuring each other and fighting
instead of negotiating appropriation bills that would fully fund our
communities.
Yet, that is what 12 months in Congress have looked like. The
Republicans are leaving everyday American families literally out in the
cold.
In spite of Republican chaos, I, along with Representatives Rashida
Tlaib from Michigan-12, Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts-07, Jimmy
Gomez from California-34, and Greg Casar from Texas-35 are delivering
when it comes to housing.
We introduced H.R. 5827, the Tenants' Right to Organize Act,
legislation that will protect the power of tenants with Federal
vouchers to organize.
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We know that throughout our Nation, from big cities, like Chicago, to
smaller cities, tenants have recognized that when we fight, when we
come together and claim our power, we win.
Tenant organizing is not only winning battles against unfair housing
practices, unjustified evictions, housing discrimination, and
uncontrolled price hikes; it is also changing housing public policy.
The Tenants' Right to Organize Act, my bill, aims to amplify their
efforts by protecting the organizing rights of tenants with housing
choice vouchers and tenants living in low-income housing tax credit
properties. It also expands protections for mixed-status families and
those who may not be eligible for tenant-based rental assistance.
Currently, only public housing tenants have legally recognized the
right to organize. By extending this right to housing choice vouchers
and low-income tax credit tenants, the bill acknowledges that all
tenants deserve decent, safe, stable, and sanitary housing.
The fight for safe, stable, equitable housing must also include
tenants, and as we are encountering a worsening housing affordability
crisis, we understand that now, more than ever, all tenants must have
the right to organize.
Now, let's talk about immigration. This is a place where I find the
most dissonance. The same people that love to quote Scripture--God has
called me to love him above all things--and then they seem to forget
the second commandment: Love your neighbor as you love yourself--it
couldn't be more clear as it comes to immigration.
I cannot count the number of times the same people who quote
Scripture come to this podium to respond while scapegoating immigrant
communities, demonizing them, and then saying that they care about
them, ``poor immigrants.''
Well, if you cared about them and if you cared about humanity, and
certainly if we were living our Christian values, then we would be
looking for legal pathways so no one would have to endure what so many
people seeking asylum have to do every single day.
Republicans have repeatedly tried to introduce legislation and
resolutions that deport unaccompanied children. These are the same
people that say that they are the ones of family values, they are the
ones protecting life and children. They want to end asylum, and they
want to jail families.
They are trying again right now. They are seeking to extort immoral
and deplorable border provisions in exchange for aid for Ukraine. I
have said it before and I will say it again and again and again: It is
hypocritical, cynical, to target immigrants when many of the people who
serve in this Chamber, some of them with me right now, have reaped the
benefits of immigrant labor and become wealthy on the backs of
immigrant sacrifice.
It takes courage to cross the border, to seek a job, to pursue an
opportunity to raise your children in safety. The courage of our people
stands in stark contrast with the cowardice of my colleagues.
There is nothing people-centered, nothing noble, nothing redeeming
about their extremist approach to border immigration policy. Let's just
be clear. They are scapegoating immigrants right now so they can say to
their voters that they are doing something about the border, but they
are not going to want to do enough, because they want to take the
border conversation and issue to the polls in November.
Their unwillingness to negotiate, to actually get to the root cause
of migration, is mind-boggling. They don't want solutions. Because if
they wanted solutions, they would understand that actually addressing
immigration, passing comprehensive immigration reform, would actually
prioritize our economy. It would actually address the root causes of
migration in Central and South America by creating legal pathways, by
working with these countries, by ensuring that we help strengthen their
democracies.
Yet, in spite of all the Republican chaos, a number of us have
reintroduced the Dream and Promise Act, and we will work and work until
we deliver it.
In spite of my Republican colleagues' inability to act beyond the
border, we are here taking that first step in the right direction to
give Dreamers and immigrants in America an earned pathway to
citizenship that reflects our values as a Nation, a multicultural
democracy of diversity and inclusion. We are here moving the needle to
a real comprehensive immigration reform package that embraces our
values as a nation.
Now, let me talk a little bit more about that. There are 9.8 million
job openings right now. You can go to your local grocery store, go to
Aldi, because some of us shop there still, very proudly, or you can go
to absolutely any
[[Page H6934]]
other store. You talk about supply chain, and you realize that we don't
have the workforce we need in order to address the issues of economy of
the moment.
Now, just imagine, if the people that are here already, of the 11
million people living in the shadows, some of them for the last 30
years, if they were able to get a work permit, they would pay taxes,
generate revenue for the Federal Government, helping address our issues
of budget. They would address supply chain issues, our manufacturing,
hospitality, agriculture, and the list goes on in terms of the
different trades that are desperately needing workers that would get
the workers they need. They would actually extend Social Security by
decades if we passed comprehensive immigration policy, but that is not
what we want to do.
We are so insecure perhaps about ourselves that we are unable to see
the bigger picture of the economy for our country. Comprehensive
immigration reform is a solution to the economy. Comprehensive
immigration reform is the American way. This country was founded by
immigrants, and every single person in this Chamber right now comes
from a family who also migrated to this country, unless you are from
the original indigenous communities.
Let me say this. As the only Member of Congress married to a Dreamer,
this issue is extremely personal to me. I am committed to fighting this
fight until we have a humane immigration policy that doesn't question
the validity of people's lives and claims, that doesn't impose hurtful
limitations on our communities, or doesn't leave anyone behind. No
bans. No walls. No raids. Punto.
I want to talk to you a little bit about education and veterans.
While extreme Republicans have served up hate and fear from every
direction with no regard for the harm it causes our communities, I have
been focused on addressing the real issues everyday people face--people
like Army veteran Christopher Brown from Des Plaines, Illinois, who was
promised by ITT Tech that his GI benefits would cover his tuition, only
to be left with $95,000 in student loans, or Navy veteran Bryan Tario
from Lisle, Illinois, who was left with a significant debt after DeVry
failed to be clear about the amount of money needed to complete his
education.
Constituents in our districts have real problems that require real
policy solutions. There are bad actors who should be held accountable
and whose impact on our constituents can be minimized through
prevention and redress.
These are the problems we should be addressing. If we spent the
actual time addressing these issues, we would see the American people
feel the improvement in their day-to-day lives.
Too many veterans are defrauded by predatory, often for-profit
institutions that see the GI Bill education benefits and only see a
profitable exploit.
In spite of the Republican chaos, I, along with Representative Mike
Levin from California, have introduced the Student Veteran Benefit
Restoration Act, my very first piece of legislation in United States
Congress.
H.R. 1767 establishes an across-the-board process for student
veterans to have their GI Bill education benefits restored in
qualifying instances, such as when a student veteran has been defrauded
by an educational institution.
While Republicans waste our time doling out impeachments and
censures, they deny veterans who have been defrauded justice, leaving
them without recourse or the ability to start again in a reputable
institution using the benefits they earned while serving our Nation.
It is time to bring H.R. 1767 to the floor, and I know that our
veterans are watching closely and deserve it.
Now, I want to talk about health. Every person in Illinois' Third
Congressional District has a right to achieve their dreams. As Members
of Congress, our policy choices should enable them to realize their
full potential.
Access to healthcare and healthcare services are critical supports to
that end. That is why, while Republicans have made it their mission to
cut funding for hospitals, healthcare providers, on-the-ground
organizations that support health equity efforts, and programs that
enable the healthcare ecosystem to function, my colleagues and I have
made expanding access to healthcare services a priority.
Republicans proposed a Labor-HHS appropriation bill that cuts vital
programs and services by 28 percent, equivalent to $64 billion.
Democrats held the line, and this bill did not pass. However, my
colleagues, of course, did not stop there.
In spite of their chaos, I, along with so many of my colleagues,
continue to deliver for our communities. Our fearless chair,
Representative Jayapal, also introduced the Medicare for All Act, which
would expand healthcare coverage to everyone, and I am a proud
cosponsor of it.
We advocated for and we are proud to see the proposed rule from the
Department of Health and Human Services that would grant eligibility
for healthcare coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,
DACA, recipients.
I introduced an amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriation bill that
affirmed how critical it is for the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau to maintain its independence from congressional meddling so that
it can continue to address practices that harm consumers, especially
predatory lending that leads to medical debt.
Medical debt puts people in an impossible position, having to choose
between seeking necessary healthcare services and paying for their
basic needs, like housing, food, and heat.
We didn't do that work alone. Achieving health equity requires
collective action, which is why I am proud to highlight the work of the
AIDS Foundation of Chicago. In partnership with over 200 organizations
and with funding support from the Ryan White program, the AIDS
Foundation of Chicago served over 8,000 individuals last year through
case management, housing, emergency financial assistance, and food
support. Services include, but are not limited to, connections to
housing, medical care, transportation, and behavioral health support.
The last thing I want to talk about is appropriations, something that
this leadership doesn't seem to figure out. We are on our second
continuing resolution, and the way things are going, we might have to
go to a third one in January.
Let's not forget that Democrats have effectively kept the government
open amid Republican infighting and, goodness, so much disorganization.
If we remember their first attempt at a continuing resolution, it
included terrible anti-immigrant provisions and about a 30 percent cut
to government services, which would have meant that in Illinois' Third
District, 10,901 women and children would have gone hungry, 28,187
active and reserve servicemembers would have gone without payment in
Illinois, and 5,000 residents in Illinois' Third District would have
lost access to Federal help and vouchers.
These are not the goals of people who care about working families.
How can you say that you are the party of family and then do everything
you can to slash resources for them? To me, on the contrary, it is a
vicious attack on working families.
At that time we said that if the Republicans were serious about
averting a shutdown, they would bring a clean CR to the floor to keep
our government running and to continue bipartisan conversations about
funding priorities.
With less than 24 hours to avoid a shutdown, Republicans presented
another CR. In spite of the Republican chaos, I, along with so many of
my colleagues, delivered.
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We defeated the extremist CR, and that victory made the clean CR that
averted a shutdown possible.
We forced them to, at least momentarily, back down from their anti-
immigrant demands and their cold disregard for working families. Let's
remember that fight is not over.
You just heard a number of my colleagues, particularly the last one,
talk about H.R. 2. H.R. 2 is the most anti-immigrant bill we have ever
seen pass the Homeland Security Committee. We call it the child
deportation act.
They want to bring back draconian Trump-era border policy. In the
same sentence, they talk about how they are concerned about the women
and children crossing the border. If that is not dissonance and
hypocrisy, I don't know what is.
Let me say this loud and clear. It is our responsibility to deliver
for the
[[Page H6935]]
people who sent us here. We are looking like chaos under Republican
leadership. We must continue to double down, push back, and fight for
working families.
I am committed to continuing the fight for an appropriations package
that protects essential safety net programs and vital services, brings
Federal resources back to my district and the State of Illinois, and
prevents further cuts that threaten the well-being of our communities.
Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Summer Lee for joining me today
as we talked about the Progressive Caucus' Special Order hour, the
things that we continue to work on, and the victories in the midst of
the chaos.
Here is what I want to say as I wrap up. Two days ago, I got back
from Guatemala and Honduras. I went on my first committee delegation
trip. As I visited Guatemala as a United States Congressperson, I
couldn't stop thinking about my mother and how she has reminded me over
the years of the 1,800-mile journey she took, walking and suffering as
she was pregnant with me. She left poverty. She left a place she loved
to have a better opportunity for me, her daughter.
I think about the moment that we are in today. I am very proud that I
am the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. I am very proud that I am the
very first Latina of many to come from the Midwest. But I am more proud
and honored to be able to be in this place, in this Chamber, fighting
every single day for working families.
I am fighting for women who deserve paid leave and for constituents
across the country who deserve quality healthcare.
I am fighting for clean water, clean energy, affordable housing, and
the ability of the American people not to have to worry about living
paycheck to paycheck.
I am fighting for that senior in my district who calls me crying:
``If the government shuts down and I don't get my Social Security
check, at 74 years of age, I am out in the street.'' These are the
people who send us to Congress.
Madam Speaker, most of my colleagues, while celebrating and partying
at holiday celebrations, perhaps having many spirits, should be
reminded why they were sent to this Chamber. They were sent to
represent the people who see them as their voice.
I will say to women, women of color, immigrants, the working class,
children and our youth, Brown and Black people, the LGBTQ community,
advocates and activists, on-the-ground organizations providing critical
services, and anyone who feels afraid or invisible right now, to
friends and allies of the progressive movement, and to my constituents
in Illinois: I see you. I am fighting for you every single day.
There have been hard days in Washington, D.C., when I have been the
only woman, the only Latina, the only elected official with a mixed-
status family where people are making decisions that will impact my
life and your life, things that will impact the people I care about and
the people you care about.
If there is ever a moment I falter, I think about my roots. I think
about who I was sent here to fight for, and I find my footing again. My
community is with me wherever I go, no matter how far away from home I
might be.
While Republicans and their destructive agenda seek to decay the
trust we have with one another, and they seek to divide us by holding
resources hostage, community holds us together.
I refuse to allow Republicans and their obstruction of justice stop
my colleagues and I from achieving true progress. I believe that
progress is possible and that we can build a country that honors and
respects the humanity and dignity of all marginalized people.
I believe that seeking asylum is a human right. I believe housing is
a human right. In a country as rich as ours, no one should ever go
hungry. No one should be trapped by crippling debt, whether it be
student loan debt or medical debt. Brown and Black people are not
disposable.
I fiercely fight for a world in which no one has to make impossible
choices between going hungry or keeping the lights on at home.
I fight for a world where my loved ones like my uncle, who has been
waiting for so long, can finally feel like this country is his home;
where the color of our skin isn't a death sentence; and where we don't
have to protest to ensure that climate change is taken seriously and
the land and the people who take care of it are respected.
I believe in a self-determined future where all Palestinians and
Israelis are free and safe. Our futures are intersected, and that
realization can provide a path to coexistence.
A more just and loving world is possible. Progress is possible. It is
possible because of the collective movement we are building--a
progressive movement that does not move in fear but moves in courage.
The work is nowhere near done. Whether Republicans like it or not, I
am here to stay and do the work that secures the future for all people.
May we be reminded in this new year why we are here, who sent us here,
and the responsibility we have to represent our constituents.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, during the 118th Congress, Democrats
have worked persistently to advance legislation and policies that
support the American people.
This Congress, Democrats have been met with fighting and incompetency
from Republicans, an unwillingness to work together, and one of the
most unproductive sessions in the history of Congress.
Despite the chaos, we have kept the government from defaulting on its
debts and made sure that the government stayed open to do the work of
the people.
I have worked with my colleagues to fight for the 18th Congressional
District of Texas and my constituents, ensuring that the work of the
federal government continues despite the chaos from Republicans.
House Democrats stand firm in our commitments to protect essential
safety net programs and vital services, deliver for our districts, and
prevent further cuts that would threaten the wellbeing of our
constituents.
Democrats are united in putting People Over Politics to lower costs
and grow the middle class.
As we wrap up the 1st session of the 118th Congress and look forward
to the 2nd session, it is the job of Congress to fund our government,
pass legislation that betters the lives of the American people, and
ensure that we advocate for our constItuents.
Extreme MAGA Republicans have had a difficult time coming to a
consensus on how to pass their wildly unpopular and harmful
legislation.
Instead of working in a bipartisan matter, they are wasting time and
taxpayer dollars by bringing legislation to the floor that has no
chance of passing the Senate and being signed by President Biden.
Congress should be working to lower costs and protect of national
security instead of focusing on partisan politics.
As we go home for the holidays to our constituents and families, we
bring with us a looming government shutdown, a result of incompetency
and disfunction from extreme MAGA Republicans.
When we come back in January we must get back to our work.
The American people deserve a Congress that is serious in manner and
functions to the best of its ability.
My friends across the aisle have not been willing to compromise
during any of the most time-sensitive and dire moments in the 118th
Congress.
While they have been focused on division and fear, House Democrats
have worked to advocate for their communities while simultaneously
offering to collaborate on the most crucial legislation on a bipartisan
basis.
In this Congress, I have worked tirelessly to improve the lives of my
constituents in Houston.
I have worked to fight against sex trafficking and introduced
legislation to stop human trafficking in school zones, introduced gun
safety legislation as well as legislation to stop the trafficking of
fentanyl, and have brought over $200 million in grants to my district.
While I am proud of the work that I have done for the 18th
congressional district of Texas, there is still much work that we need
to do.
We have been kicking the can down the road for months, and rather
than address the main duty as members of Congress--funding the
government--House Republicans instead are launching baseless
accusations against our President to score cheap political points.
Under Republican leadership we have just barely avoided two
government shutdowns by the skin of our teeth and have been unable to
pass meaningful legislation that would improve the lives of Americans.
This is not to say Democrats have not tried to reach across the
aisle.
We indicated we would be open to negotiation to avert the first
shutdown, and we were
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rebuffed until the situation was at its most critical point.
We indicated we would be open to negotiation to avert the second
shutdown, and our friends across the aisle took to the media to express
countless times that they would refuse to work with Democrats to find a
solution.
By trying to suppress Democratic voices, Republican leadership is
silencing half of the country simply because they have a different
worldview.
Moreover, by not passing serious legislation, Republicans are
stifling the very constituents who put them in office.
To serve the people who elected us to Congress, we all must work
together to enact positive change born from compromise and a combined
desire to serve as a voice for our constituents.
The performance of Republican leadership in this Congress has been
utterly disappointing, and I urge my colleagues across the aisle to
remember that to serve the people, we must work together to provide
comprehensive and meaningful legislation.
____________________