[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 150 (Wednesday, September 25, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H5757]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      ACCESSING BASIC NECESSITIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, access to utilities is often a matter of life 
and death. Without access to electricity or water, people may find 
themselves unable to keep their families healthy, their homes heated or 
cooled during extreme weather, or unable to sustain critical medical 
equipment in their home.
  Utilities are not just a convenience, Mr. Speaker, but a fundamental 
human right that should be affordable and accessible to all. That is 
why Congresswoman Cori Bush, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, and I 
introduced a resolution recognizing the human rights to utilities, to 
affirm that access to water, sanitation, electricity, heating, cooling, 
public transit, and broadband are basic human rights. Utility access is 
especially critical for rural and low-income communities, like many in 
my congressional district, where many, again, are struggling to make 
ends meet and are on the front lines of the climate crisis.
  The greedy corporations that own and operate utilities could choose 
to help families, but instead they are forcing them through the 
dehumanizing process of having their power cut off and their water shut 
down. Instead, companies like DTE in my community prioritize 
stockholder returns and CEO pay, trapping many of our neighbors in a 
cycle of poverty while they continue to make enormous profits.
  Mr. Speaker, in the richest country on Earth, no family should be 
denied access to utilities, lack access to clean water, face energy 
burdens, and bear the brunt of corporate pollution. Access to these 
basic necessities is and should be a fundamental human right in our 
country.


          Condemning Racism and Bigotry Toward Haitian People

  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, our Haitian neighbors from Detroit to 
Springfield, Ohio, are being targeted with hate, threatened with 
violence, and smeared with dehumanizing lies.
  MAGA extremists, including the twice-impeached former President, are 
spreading disgusting lies about our Haitian neighbors. This is nothing 
more than xenophobia and anti-Black racism.
  Our Haitian neighbors have been victimized by centuries of 
colonization, foreign exploitation, and repeated occupation and 
oppression by foreign powers, most notably by the United States. 
Haitian immigrant families in Springfield do not deserve to be targeted 
with a wave of bomb threats.

  We must stop the dehumanization of our immigrant neighbors coming 
from both sides. We should welcome asylum seekers, not push legislation 
that funds separation of families and criminalization. We always, 
always must stand with our immigrant neighbors who are seeking a better 
life for their families.
  I am so proud to have joined colleagues in the Haiti Caucus in 
introducing H. Res. 1473 condemning the racism and bigotry toward our 
Haitian neighbors.
  Mr. Speaker, I say to our Haitian neighbors in Springfield and across 
our country: We love you. We see you. We stand with you, and we will 
always have your back.


                        Safe Storage Saves Lives

  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, my residents continue to share with me their 
fears of getting that dreaded phone call from their kids at school, 
that there is an active shooter, that there is a high-alert alarm now.
  Just in the first month of the school year in my district, Southfield 
police arrested a 15-year-old boy for carrying a handgun in his high 
school. We are grateful for Michigan's OK2Say program that gave that 
student the ability to share that vital information that saved lives.
  Gun violence is everywhere, Mr. Speaker. It is not just in our 
schools. After a Lions' game last week, gun violence took two innocent 
lives in the Eastern Market. We saw it, literally, at a children's 
splash pad in Michigan. Also, we even saw it at a block club, where 
many neighbors in the community were celebrating.
  We must never get numb to the gun violence impacting our families, 
Mr. Speaker. The majority of our communities want more action on gun 
violence. That is why I am really proud to have worked with so many 
folks to introduce the Safe Storage Saves Lives Act, which would 
require firearm sellers to provide each buyer with a secure gun storage 
or safety device, a gun lock, for every gun they buy.
  Mr. Speaker, in Michigan, the Children's Hospital of Michigan is now 
passing out gun boxes, literally storage for guns because they know 
this is now the leading cause of death for our children.
  Of course, we have so much more work to do here in this Congress. It 
pains me that we continue to have inaction after continued over-and-
over and high-profile shootings. It cannot become the norm. We must 
work together. Congress cannot ignore survivors' families forever.

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