[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 14 (Thursday, January 23, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H306-H307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      LOWERING COSTS FOR AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, eggs in my district are $9.19 or, as one 
resident said, it is ten bucks to buy eggs, Rashida.
  I want everyone to think about this because the Federal minimum wage 
is $7.25 right now. We know grocery prices are out of control, and our 
government is failing to lower costs for working families. This is why 
my residents don't call it the minimum wage. They call it the 
starvation wage. It has been 16 years since Congress has raised the 
Federal minimum wage.
  Let's get to the core value here of understanding this. A mother in 
our country right now can work for an hour and not be able to afford 
eggs. It is really unacceptable. I heard the reasons, but they still 
don't add up. It is

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unacceptable that billionaires and corporations are consolidating their 
power and price gouging the American people, our families.
  This crisis should be our focus. I understand that there are many 
dynamics that they keep putting forward. Why aren't we doing anything 
about it? Fear and division keep us distracted from what is really 
going on. Those that are rich and wealthy in our country become richer 
under every single decision I have seen so far.
  One glaring thing missing in the 200 executive orders that we have 
seen this week is any mention of lowering the grocery prices for our 
families, not one word. We know there have been promises made by this 
current administration that they are going to lower costs for Americans 
on day one. Three weeks into the new Congress, we haven't seen a single 
bill come to the floor on this issue.
  In my district they are drowning in the high costs of healthcare. 
Don't get me started about auto insurance, which is now up 40 percent, 
many paying almost the cost of rent, the cost of their mortgage to have 
auto insurance which is required by law to have if a person owns a 
vehicle.
  Instead, we are seeing threats of tariffs that will drive grocery 
prices higher. Instead, we see them getting rid of protections for 
discriminatory actions by companies, by actors that we know fully 
intended to benefit from racist policies.
  I know that this doesn't matter to the current President and his 
billionaire friends. They don't worry about the cost of a carton of 
eggs or milk or groceries, especially when the three wealthiest men in 
America are sitting right behind the current President at his 
inauguration. Their combined worth, so that the American people 
understand, is $911 billion.

  It is clear that the billionaires now control our government, and 
this Chamber can't let that happen. We need legislative action to lower 
the cost of living for the American people. Trust me that this is a 
bipartisan issue. Every corner of our country is asking us to do 
something about this.
  These are issues that, again, matter to many, many families. That is 
why my residents care about it so much. Stop with the fear-mongering 
and the hate. I know you are distracting us because you are helping 
your billionaire friends, but you are hurting so many American people 
who are drowning right now with the cost of living.


                          Embracing Immigrants

  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, immigrants in our country are already under 
attack, especially our undocumented neighbors. These are hateful and 
divisive executive orders and a violent assault on our communities and 
our country. Our very identity, as we all know, is a nation of 
immigrants.
  I wouldn't be here as a child of immigrants. My father, with only a 
fourth grade education, was able to work in the auto plant line. My 
mother only had an eighth grade education. They were able to achieve 
the American Dream to see their daughter become a United States 
Congresswoman.
  What are we doing instead of embracing that identity? We are 
punishing sanctuary cities that embrace our immigrant neighbors. We are 
dismantling asylums and humanitarian paroles. We are dehumanizing our 
immigrant neighbors. We are banning all refugees, even those who waited 
patiently for years, who followed the law, had flights booked, already 
cleared, and were denied entry.
  We are already laying the groundwork. He is already doing it for the 
Muslim ban, many of our neighbors, myself, my family, all of us. Even 
though it is not directly targeted toward us, attacking a whole faith 
is un-American. Sending ICE to schools, hospitals, and churches is 
hateful and divisive.
  He is even trying to override the 14th Amendment of the Constitution 
to end birthright citizenship. It is clear from my residents and folks 
around the country there is absolutely no doubt if you are born in the 
United States, you are a U.S. citizen. The President does not have the 
authority to change that, period.
  We must fight back to prevent these policies rooted in racism and 
white nationalism. That means opposing plans for mass deportation. Our 
families must protect each other. It has nothing to do with public 
safety. They want us distracted so they can help their billionaire 
friends become richer.
  That means opposing his plans for mass deportation. It means showing 
up to defend our friends, coworkers, and neighbors when they raid our 
communities.
  It means my colleagues must stop voting to pass racist and 
authoritarian legislation that expands deportations and paints our 
immigrant neighbors as violent criminals.
  Trump's executive orders call immigrants coming to our country 
seeking a better life an ``invasion.'' The only invasion we face is ICE 
coming into our communities to sow chaos, racially profile our 
neighbors, and tear our families apart.
  This has nothing to do with public safety, it is about stoking fear 
and hate because they want to distract us from what is really 
happening.
  Making the wealthy class richer.
  Corporations are already celebrating.
  Meant to keep us silent as this administration goes after every 
single marginalized group in our country.
  Now is the time to resist this fearmongering, to stand with our 
immigrant neighbors and make it clear that our communities are stronger 
than those that hate us.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President and Vice President.

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