[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 25, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2962-H2967]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOLDING POWER ACCOUNTABLE
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mrs.
Ramirez of Illinois was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of
the minority leader.)
General Leave
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include 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. Mr. Speaker, last week, I joined Representative Chuy
Garcia, Representative Jonathan Jackson, and Representative Danny
Davis at the ICE Processing Center in Broadview to investigate ICE's
inhumane and unlawful detention of immigrant families and our
constituents.
The visit to the processing center comes after credible reports that
the center is being used to unlawfully detain immigrants, contrary to
city and State ordinances, including constituents of the Members who
sought entry.
The reports suggest that constituents are being housed in the
processing center for prolonged periods of time without access to their
medication, to legal counsel, or even basic necessities.
Let me be very clear. Just because something isn't named a detention
facility doesn't mean this administration isn't going to use it as one.
If people are detained there, it is a detention facility, period.
As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I came to the ICE
Processing Center in Broadview to fulfill my congressional oversight
authority granted under appropriation laws.
Under the law, Members of Congress have the authority to enter any
facility operated by the Department of Homeland Security used to detain
people. Whether the facility is formally identified as a detention
facility is irrelevant.
The operational capacity of agents and staff at the facility is also
irrelevant when it comes to allowing access to Members of Congress. It
is the role of Congress to provide oversight.
Let me say that loud and clear for any of my colleagues that are here
and that perhaps have forgotten that. It is the role of Congress to
provide oversight. I suggest Kristi Noem and DHS staff read section
527(a) of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of
2024, which is Public Law 118-47.
Am I shocked? Let me be honest. I am not shocked. We were illegally
denied entry. While we weren't surprised, it was pretty disrespectful
for Members of Congress to not be able to do their job.
I want my colleagues to visualize this. There are four Members of
Congress, all of them showing their ID. In addition to wearing their
congressional pins, they are identifying themselves.
We ring the doorbell, and we are waiting for about 45 minutes. We
wait to gain entry into the facility where no one comes to the door at
any given time. No one responds through the intercom. The cameras
demonstrate someone is watching us.
{time} 1740
We are waiting there to do the job that we were called to do by law
which is to conduct unannounced oversight. When we finally get
acknowledged--which, by the way, it meant I saw unmarked cars going in
and out of the side gate--as we walked through, we were talking to
someone who was unwilling to identify themselves through a little hole
through the gate.
He refused to identify himself. When we told him we were there, do
you know what he said, Mr. Speaker?
``Given guidance by my superiors, I am told that you should send an
e-mail to DHS.gov.''
He told four Members of Congress, including a Member of Congress who
is the Member of Congress in that jurisdiction of where that holding
center is: ``Just send an email.''
Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that people understand. We have sent
emails, and we have sent letters. I want to make sure that the American
people understand what is happening to us.
We have sent emails, and we have sent letters. We have challenged the
illegal, unconstitutional actions of this
[[Page H2963]]
authoritarian government, and we have not received any responses.
It is our job as Members of Congress to provide accountability and
oversight of activities of the executive branch. Activities that, by
the way, this Chamber right here funds through appropriations.
Activities that we authorize, or do not, through lawmaking, which is
our constitutional role.
My favorite part of our interaction that day--1\1/2\ hours of our
time outside waiting to be seen--was the sign that staff from the
holding center placed on the door which reflects ICE's formal response
to our visit.
Mr. Speaker, let me tell you what the sign said:
``ICE field offices are not detention facilities and fall outside of
the section 527 requirements.
``When planning to visit an ICE facility, ICE asks for requests to be
submitted at least 72 hours in advance. Visit requests should be
submitted during business hours to the Office of Congressional
Relations, (OCR) at [email protected]. Visit requests are not
considered actionable until receipt of the request is acknowledged by
OCR to the requestor.
``ICE does not house aliens at these locations, rather these are
working offices where ERO personnel process aliens to make custody
determinations based on the specific circumstances of each case. Aliens
determined to require detention are transferred to an ICE detention
facility pending removal or the outcome of their removal proceedings.
Due to our high operations tempo, we are not facilitating any visits to
ICE field offices or suboffices at this time.''
Mr. Speaker, is that unbelievable? Maybe it is.
Actually, it is believable because given Noem's disregard for
Congress and the rule of law, this is what they do.
Mr. Speaker, do you know who makes the laws that govern the DHS
facilities? Do you know who makes the laws, Mr. Speaker? It is
Congress.
Mr. Speaker, do you know who doesn't get to just change the rules
when they decide? It is DHS.
Mr. Speaker, do you know what is not a valid consideration for
denying illegally required oversight? Your operations tempo.
You see, Mr. Speaker, as a result of our visit and the visits of
Members that they have conducted in New Jersey, California, New York,
and Illinois last week, ICE issued new guidance that unlawfully
restricts Members of Congress to access ICE facilities.
Mr. Speaker, you heard me right. They decided that they were going to
issue new guidance to go above Congress and further put a policy in
place that is against the law.
Two days ago, Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, Ranking Member Jamie
Raskin, Subcommittee Ranking Member Lou Correa, and subcommittee
Ranking Member Pramila Jayapal, affirmed that Kristi Noem, DHS, and
Immigration and Customs Enforcement are illegally obstructing
congressional oversight by denying Members of Congress access to
multiple facilities used to detain immigrants in recent weeks.
Tonight, over the next 45 minutes or so, I will be here with my
colleagues talking to the American people about what is happening, and
what we are hearing directly from them. My colleagues and I will
discuss how we will continue to assert congressional authority, even if
Kristi Noem, even if Stephen Miller, and even if RFK and everyone else
in that Cabinet attempts to obstruct us from doing our congressional
work of congressional authority and legislative action.
I will yield to my colleagues who will share how they have attempted
to provide oversight despite this hostile administration's lack of
respect for Congress as a coequal branch of government and how we are
actively defending our communities against this authoritarian agenda.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter).
Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the congresswoman for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to affirm a simple truth: Congress is a
coequal branch of government, not a ceremonial afterthought, not merely
a suggestion box, and not someone that is along for the ride. We are
constitutionally equal with our powers delineated in Article I of the
United States Constitution.
Yet, under the Trump administration, we have witnessed a disturbing
pattern: a blatant disregard for the constitutional role of Congress
and its vital duty of oversight. Subpoenas are ignored. Testimony is
blocked. Oversight is treated not as a safeguard and not as a
constitutional role or duty of democracy but as an inconvenience of
power, an inconvenience of having the audacity to do our jobs and to
make sure, yes, sir, that you are doing yours, because that is a part
of our responsibility.
It is what we take our oath of office for. It is what the
Constitution and the Framers of the United States Constitution
envisioned when they set out some 237 years ago to write the United
States Constitution, that no one body would become so powerful that it
could do as it pleases without any checks or balances.
Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker. This is not about partisan politics. It
is about the preservation of our Republic.
When an administration past, present, or future believes it can
operate without oversight or accountability, then democracy begins to
erode.
Congress has both the authority and the obligation to shine light
into the darkest corners of our government. Oversight is not
obstruction, it is our constitutional duty.
We owe it to the American people to ask hard questions, to demand
honest answers, and to ensure that no one--I mean no one--not even the
President, is above the law. That is not defiance, that is democracy.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for his comments.
That is democracy. Today we are talking about how we preserve democracy
under the circumstances that we are living in.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson
Coleman) to say a little bit more about that today.
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Ramirez for convening
this very important discussion.
I will talk about something that is a little bit of an extension of
this, but I do want to remind people that I visited Delaney Hall
Detention Facility in the State of New Jersey with LaMonica McIver and
Rob Menendez. It was difficult getting anyone to address us and give us
the kind of inspection and respect that our offices deserved.
The suggestion that Members now should have to make an appointment
before inspecting one of these facilities defeats the notion of
oversight. Oversight is to catch the operation going as it is.
Oversight is to see if the conditions are humane, the food is
delivered, and that people are treated well, et cetera.
It is insane that this administration could think that they could put
this condition upon us.
I will talk about what I consider is a further extension that this
administration is out of control. What we have seen in recent weeks in
L.A. and over the past few months across the country is another
illustration of an outrageous abuse of power by our President and his
Cabinet.
{time} 1750
President Trump, Deputy Chief of Staff Miller, and Secretary of
Homeland Security Noem have gone too far, letting their hatred of
immigrants overwhelm them to the point of abusing innocent Americans.
Their actions pose a threat to all of us. They have disregarded the
rights of citizens and noncitizens alike.
In just the last few months, DHS has accused a U.S. citizen of
entering the country illegally and held that person for days, despite
the person showing his birth certificate and Social Security card.
A U.S. Army Purple Heart veteran who has lived in the U.S. for nearly
50 years was told to leave due to a 15-year-old minor drug conviction.
In Newark in January, ICE detained a veteran without a warrant,
disregarding his veteran ID card.
A 10-year-old U.S. citizen with brain cancer was deported because his
parents were undocumented.
Trump's actions tell us that no one is safe from his storm troopers.
How ICE agents are going about fulfilling Trump's arbitrary arrest
quotas is also alarming.
[[Page H2964]]
Masked, plainclothes officers have been entering communities and
abducting people to process them for deportation. This is extremely
dangerous for several reasons. The first is the risk of confusion for
those being detained and arrested, as well as for bystanders.
Think about what you might do if you witnessed three to four men in
street clothes grabbing someone off the street and throwing them in the
back of a black SUV. It doesn't take much imagination to see the danger
involved if a Good Samaritan were to intervene.
Additionally, the lack of clearly identifiable uniforms has made it
easier for copycats and impersonators to purchase fake gear on Amazon,
allowing them to go around neighborhoods harassing residents. We have
already seen this happening.
In response, I introduced a piece of legislation, the ICE Visibility
Act, to eliminate this confusion and increase safety in our communities
by requiring ICE officers to wear visible and distinct uniforms at all
times.
This administration is creating chaos and confusion on our streets
and infringing on the freedoms and the liberties of Americans.
This bill that I am introducing obviously won't solve the problem of
a runaway ICE that puts arrest quotas over the rights of our
communities, but it might just prevent a disaster that is waiting to
happen.
This illustration of governance abuse, about rogue ICE agents, about
disrespect at detention facilities, and about the poor quality of those
facilities means that our work is vitally important to the well-being
and the safety and security of those who are in our country and those
who are being detained here for whatever reason.
I thank the gentlewoman for this opportunity to speak to this issue.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman for her
leadership, for her integrity, and for her principled leadership in
times such as this. We are so grateful for her.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) to
talk a little bit more about the work that we have to do, and frankly,
to remind us that this Chamber, this House of Representatives that we
call the people's House is a coequal branch of government.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for organizing this
critical Special Order hour to shed light on the horrors inflicted on
immigrant communities by the Trump administration.
I am proud to represent the Inland Empire of southern California just
east of Los Angeles. My district is home to a thriving immigrant
community. It has been enriched by immigrants just like so many other
communities across the country.
In recent weeks, this community has been plagued by fear. Images of
masked agents dragging people out of cars, using excessive force, and
disappearing individuals in unmarked cars are sowing fear. We cannot
allow this to continue. Make no mistake, this is all on President
Trump.
The President has instructed ICE to meet arbitrary deportation
quotas. Their aggressive and baseless target number of 3,000 daily
arrests does not require them to focus on violent offenders and
criminals.
Instead, mothers and fathers who have been in this country for years
with no criminal record and who have raised their children in the
United States are being targeted.
This administration's claim that it aims to deport violent criminals
is a falsehood.
What we are witnessing is the erosion of due process.
I have been especially troubled by the image of a landscaper, a man
whose sons have served in the Marines, being punched repeatedly in the
head by ICE agents this past Sunday.
Is this something my Republican colleagues are proud of? That we
repay veterans of the United States Marine Corps by assaulting,
detaining, and deporting their father who was simply trying to provide
for his family?
Last week, I joined several of my colleagues to tour the Adelanto ICE
detention center. Thanks to the work of my colleague, Representative
Judy Chu, our delegation was able to enter the facility to conduct an
oversight visit and speak with some of those being detained.
What I saw was people held in deplorable conditions, many of them
being denied access to clean clothes for 10 days. Immigrant detention
is a multimillion-dollar industry with some private prison groups now
aiming to cash in on the funding included in the Republican spending
bill.
The GEO Group that owns Adelanto boasted about a $31 million windfall
if they keep full capacity.
Republicans want to boost the funding of ICE to hire more masked
agents and pay out more contracts like that at Adelanto.
According to my Republican colleagues, our budget is too tight to
provide healthcare or groceries for those in need, it is too tight to
keep hospitals in rural areas open, but it is flush with enough cash to
pay for more masked agents and more inhumane detention facilities for
those who are beaten and dragged off the street.
This is not who we are. This is not the character of our country. I
don't think my Republican colleagues understand the gravity of their
silence. It seems they have been silenced from speaking out against
this brutality due to their fear of this President.
They are even too afraid to hold townhalls to face their own
constituents directly. It is sad that many Members of Congress have
rolled over and enabled this cruelty that is now happening in our
country.
There are Members on this side of the aisle who have not been silent,
who have actively opposed this President and will continue to speak
out. Democrats will continue to be a check against this President. We
will continue to fight for the due process rights of every American. We
will continue to show up in our communities so that the American people
can see that there are some Members of Congress who will actually
listen to and fight for them.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr.
Johnson).
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I commend Congresswoman Ramirez
for conducting this Special Order hour, and I thank her for yielding me
time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my Congressional Progressive Caucus
colleagues to express my utter horror at the way in which the Trump
administration is catapulting us towards an authoritarian state.
We in Congress are one of the three branches of government, yet the
President has been acting like a king since day one.
Since assuming office, Donald Trump has dismantled Federal agencies
and unlawfully halted billions of dollars in congressionally
appropriated Federal funding. He has undermined the delicate system of
checks and balances by flagrantly ignoring court orders. He has
arrested a judge and a mayor. He has threatened to arrest a sitting
Governor. He has taken to the floor and handcuffed and detained a
United States Senator. He has accused and caused to be indicted a
United States Congresswoman for having the temerity to do her job by
being at an ICE facility to conduct oversight.
{time} 1800
He has also violated the right to due process by dispatching armed,
masked, unidentifiable people, wearing plain clothes and tactical gear,
onto the streets of select American cities. They pull up on people,
jump out with assault weapons, force them into unmarked cars, and
disappear them. Their families learn days later that their loved one
has been shipped off to a foreign gulag without presenting evidence to
a judge that they should be removed.
Trump has done this to legal permanent residents and talked openly
about doing it to American citizens.
While unleashing terror on our streets, Trump's brazenly corrupt
decision to accept a $400 million Boeing 747 jet from Qatar for his
personal use is a direct violation of the Emoluments Clause of our
Constitution, and it has caused a firestorm of controversy.
Yet, MAGA Republicans in control of Congress turn a blind eye to it.
My Republican colleagues are afraid to hold Donald Trump accountable.
The majority is afraid to investigate the serious national security,
public integrity, and foreign policy implications of the President
accepting an emolument from a foreign government and flying around in a
Qatari jumbo jet, taking it
[[Page H2965]]
with him as a door prize when he leaves office in January 2029--if he
leaves office. This is blatant, in-your-face corruption to see how far
he can go in his attempt to replace democracy with dictatorship.
Congress has the authority to introduce Articles of Impeachment
against the President, but I don't expect that it is going to happen
because my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are too afraid to
do so. It is the ultimate exercise of congressional oversight, and it
requires a simple majority vote in the House of Representatives and a
two-thirds majority vote in the Senate in order to impeach and convict.
I am prepared to take any necessary action to stop Trump's reckless
assault on the Federal Government and our democracy. While I believe
many of Donald Trump's actions merit impeachment, I believe that the
critical first step needs to be taken by this body as soon as possible.
As I said before, I don't expect it to happen because MAGA
Republicans have completely abdicated their constitutional
responsibility to exercise any shred of oversight on this out-of-
control executive.
In fact, this Congress has acted as a rubberstamp as Trump
consolidates power in and unto himself. Time and time again,
Republicans continue to capitulate on their core principles in complete
sycophancy of Trump's disastrous, antidemocratic agenda.
Despite being in the minority, House Democrats are working tirelessly
to push back against Trump's hostile government takeover by litigating
his illegal actions, introducing legislation to curb his powers, and
mobilizing the public against his destructive agenda.
I have joined thousands of Georgians and millions of Americans
against the Trump administration's attacks on Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid, and other public services, including SNAP benefits
for children, infants, and seniors.
Though it is unlikely that a Republican-led House will do anything to
hold this executive accountable, we are going to continue to do
everything we can to demonstrate to the American people that we are not
going to take this lying down. We are going to be with them. We are
going to be out on the streets in peaceful protest. We are going to
make sure that we preserve and protect this democracy that our
forefathers and foremothers have fought so hard to guarantee to us.
I will not stop doing the job that my constituents sent me to
Washington to do because a megalomaniac is trying to override the
Constitution, and I hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle
will do the same.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for his words.
Mr. Speaker, I don't know about Congressman Johnson, but perhaps in
Georgia or in other parts of the country this may be happening. I have
not met a constituent who has told me, ``Congresswoman Ramirez, I wake
up in the morning asking how my life could be better,'' and then answer
that immediately by saying, ``Do you know how my life would be better?
If the President of the United States of America had a $450 million new
plane that had been donated from a foreign country.''
I have never heard a constituent tell me when I have asked them what
the most important thing is for them right now: ``Do you know what the
most important thing is for me? It is for Kristi Noem to get $50
million more in the budget. By the way, cut my Medicaid, groceries, and
SNAP benefits because what I really want is for this person who was
never elected to get an upgrade on a plane. Make sure that you dedicate
$50 million of taxpayer dollars so that she can have a brand-new plane
so that she can cosplay wherever the hell she is going.''
I have never heard that. I hear the gentleman. I am curious. What
Members of Congress have heard from their constituents--perhaps in
Louisiana or other parts of the country--that what they care most about
is that we cut their healthcare and cut SNAP benefits and that we make
it harder for them to age in place or retire with dignity because their
number one priority is to take their taxpayer dollars to ensure that
the President becomes even richer and that she gets more costumes to
wear around the country?
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his work and courageous
leadership.
Something the gentleman said was that our constituents didn't send us
here to make sure that the rich get richer. Our constituents didn't
send us here so that the President can become even richer by selling
off coins or offering people to be able to come to the White House,
which taxpayers pay for, and have dinner with him if they invest more
on his coins.
Our constituents said: ``The rent is too darn high. I can't buy a
house. I have to choose between going to the doctor and buying
groceries. I don't know if I could afford the car payment and tuition
for my son or daughter in college. This darn job I have, it is so
difficult to make sure that I can cover the costs, so I have to work
a second job. What are you going to do about it?''
That is why I am so grateful that we are here having a conversation
about what the job of Members of Congress is: to make the lives of
their constituents better.
It is not to make Donald Trump's life better, not to make Kristi
Noem's life better or richer, but to make their lives better.
One of the other things that we should be doing as Members of
Congress is affirming that we are a coequal branch of government, the
thing that I ask eighth graders about in their Constitution tests all
around the country.
Part of that work is oversight, but it is ridiculous and infuriating
to me that my Republican colleagues, who continue to obstruct oversight
every chance that the majority can, don't seem to agree. My colleagues
on the other side of the aisle seem to think that who got them elected,
who they serve, that the only people who matter are not the 730,000
constituents that they have but Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and Elon
Musk, as long as he and Donald Trump are getting along and paying for
elections.
Congress' power is critical in this moment. Congressman Johnson said
it so beautifully. We have to do everything in our power to ensure that
our constituents know who we are here for. Otherwise, we can't be the
people's House.
Congress' powers are established to be a check on an out-of-control,
lawless executive branch like the Trump administration. For instance,
when the executive branch decides to use a notorious offshore prison
with a history of gross human rights violations as a staging location
for mass deportations without due process and in violation of
international law, I thought that would be an ideal time for Congress
to conduct oversight.
{time} 1810
It is why I requested that the Committee on Homeland Security, that
some of us here serve on, would conduct an official oversight visit to
CECOT.
I was of the opinion that a congressional delegation needed to
urgently go to CECOT in El Salvador and check on the health and well-
being of all the political prisoners who we have sent to that heinous
place.
My Republican colleagues disagreed, and Chairman Mark Green said that
my official request to conduct oversight in my capacity as a member of
the Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Oversight,
Investigations, and Accountability was ``to virtue signal to [my]
radical base.''
At least he responded to that one. When I asked him to conduct
oversight of Guantanamo, after the first flights to Guantanamo
separated undocumented immigrants from the protections of our
Constitution and their due process, and even amidst the reports that
the U.S. was spending more than $40 million of taxpayer money holding
migrants in Guantanamo, in that case, I was just ignored. I didn't
expect much more.
Republicans in Congress have repeatedly given up their power. I don't
know why. They got elected by the people to represent the people, but
they are just rolling out the red carpet for Trump's authoritarian
regime. Republicans in Congress have allowed Trump to literally walk
all over them. They are enabling a massive expansion in Presidential
power and completely surrendering the power and authority of Congress.
If they don't want to actually assert their authority as a coequal
branch,
[[Page H2966]]
then why are you here? In allowing the administration to rescind funds,
freeze funds, and cancel grants and contracts that were duly
appropriated by Congress, Republicans have given Trump the power of the
purse. But the power of the purse is Congress' power. It is our job. It
is what we were sent to administer for the people. They have abandoned
a critical check and balance.
Republicans have become the enablers of Trump's authoritarian power
grab, and you don't have to look farther than the Speaker of the House.
He was quoted yesterday saying: ``Many respected constitutional experts
argue that the War Powers Act is itself unconstitutional.
``I'm persuaded by that argument. They think it's a violation of the
Article II Powers of the Commander in Chief. I think that's right.''
That is the leader of Congress saying that Article I, Section 8 of
the Constitution, which gives Congress the constitutional authority to
declare war, is a violation of Article II Powers of the President.
That tells you all you need to know. Mike Johnson is more loyal to
the President than he is to the separation of powers. He is more loyal
to the administration's authoritarian agenda than he is to the
Constitution. He is certainly more loyal to this President than his
constituents who depend on Medicaid and Social Security for their daily
life needs.
We will remind them that Congress has a job to do and that we will
not concede the power of the people.
I ask my colleagues, again: Why did you come here?
They made a lot of campaign promises. Perhaps while you are
campaigning you actually listen to some people. Perhaps what they heard
from people was, we are tired of a government that doesn't deliver to
the people. Make my life better, not worse.
Yet, somehow, we are waiting for a Senate bill, this big, ugly bill,
as if it couldn't get any uglier, that would actually slash more
resources from the very same people that sent us here instead of making
their life better.
Mr. Speaker, we have to ask ourselves in this moment what role are we
playing and who are we here for? Did we take an oath to protect the
Constitution of the United States of America or not?
Is our loyalty to the values of this country and the people that sent
us here? I hope it is not to super-PACs, but rather the people, our
constituents.
Or is it doing whatever Donald Trump tells you to do?
This is a critical moment in U.S. history. I will highlight, as I
wrap up my Special Order hour, a few people that despite the darkness,
despite the stoking of fear that you see happening throughout the
country, continue to demonstrate who we are and who we should be as a
Nation.
I will start by recognizing someone who I believe to be a leader in
the community. He is someone who I know stands up by defending our
neighbors. He is someone who recognizes that fear does not create unity
and love. Fear creates division. As we reflect on what it means to
stand up to authoritarianism by defending our neighbors, our
neighborhoods, and our culture, I recognize a longtime community leader
and a public servant, Billy Ocasio.
Billy was born and raised in Humboldt Park in Illinois' Third
Congressional District. Billy's leadership over several decades has
made a significant impact in Chicago, Illinois, and its local Puerto
Rican and immigrant community.
A proud product of Chicago Public Schools, Billy graduated from Von
Humboldt Elementary School and Roberto Clemente Community Academy.
Rooted in the community that raised him, Billy served as the 26th
Ward alderman for 16 years, from 1993 to 2009, where he championed
major infrastructure and community development projects, including the
creation of Division Street's signature Puerto Rican flags, the
McCormick Tribune YMCA, and Humboldt Parks' first-ever public library
branch.
Billy's service expanded as he became senior adviser to then-Governor
Pat Quinn, as he was appointed to work on social justice issues
impacting communities across the State of Illinois.
Both Billy and his wife, Veronica Ocasio, have lent their talents and
time to creating and growing the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts
and Culture, also based in Humboldt Park. In Billy's role as president
and CEO, as well as in Veronica's role as director of education and
programming, the Ocasios have nurtured the museum to become a locally,
nationally, and internationally celebrated institution.
Through exhibits, events, oral history sharing, and more, the
National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture does important work to
preserve and uplift the rich culture of Puerto Rican traditions and to
stand up to gentrification through cultural resistance.
On behalf of Illinois' Third Congressional District, I commend Billy
Ocasio for his lifetime of service and commitment to fighting for our
communities. At a time when wannabe kings threaten welcoming cities
like Chicago, I am inspired by the stories of local residents
demonstrating that diversity, that equity, that inclusion which are
exactly what make our communities and our country strong.
In a time such as this, we need to summon the courage of those who
came before us to unapologetically and defiantly defend immigrants from
the administration's authoritarian attacks. History presents us with
plenty of inspiration. In some cases, it is someone who made it
possible for the grandparents of so many of my colleagues to be able to
serve in this very same Chamber.
Today, I honor the legacy of Sister Frances Xavier Cabrini, better
known as Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants, whose life and
legacy remind us of the enduring strength and dignity immigrants in
America have.
Born in 1850 in Lombardy, Italy, Frances Cabrini arrived in the
United States in 1889 to New York, at the invitation of Pope Leo XIII,
who encouraged her to bring her mission to the growing number of
Italian immigrants in the Americas.
At the time, Italian Americans were targets of xenophobia,
discrimination, and even violence, just like other immigrants living in
the United States at the time and today.
Italians were wrongfully seen as unable to assimilate, dangerous, and
a threat to the American way of life, language which is also,
unfortunately, still familiar today.
Yet in the face of this hateful, dehumanizing rhetoric, Mother
Cabrini responded not with fear or hatred--what our President wants--
but with bold, unwavering love and compassion.
As the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus, she built a movement grounded in hope, service, faith, and
fierce love for those under attack by those in positions of power.
Under her leadership, the Sisters established more than 60 schools,
hospitals, and orphanages, many of them serving newly arriving
immigrants, the sick, and the poor.
{time} 1820
In 1909, Mother Cabrini became a naturalized citizen of the United
States. She believed in the promise of this Nation--not as an abstract
ideal, but as a place where those seeking refuge and opportunity could
find dignity, community, and purpose. At a time when her own community,
the Italian community, was under attack, she chose to claim her place
in this country, not as an outsider, but as a full participant in
shaping its future.
Her naturalization is particularly worth reflecting on today, when
President Trump seeks to roll back the hard-won rights of immigrants,
especially the right to birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed
under the 14th Amendment of our Constitution.
President Trump has repeatedly questioned this right, threatening to
unravel one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy:
that all who are born here belong here.
In 1946, Mother Cabrini was canonized as a saint by Pope Pius XII,
becoming the first American to be beatified by the Catholic Church. She
is now recognized as the patron saint of immigrants, a title that
honors her tireless advocacy for all those who migrate and her
unwavering belief in the sacred dignity of every single human life.
In Chicago, many know her from the former Cabrini-Green public
housing development, which stood as a symbol both of the challenges of
poverty and
[[Page H2967]]
segregation, and of the enduring hope of working families seeking a
better life. Her name endures in our memory because her legacy endures.
As we close out Immigrant Heritage Month, Saint Frances Xavier
Cabrini challenges us to stand up to those in power who would seek to
divide us and pit us against our own neighbors.
Despite those who seek to use their faith to justify their cruelty,
we remember that the Bible itself teaches us that: ``When a stranger
sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall
treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and
you shall love him as you love yourself.''
For my colleagues who say they read the Bible every day, that is
Leviticus 19:33-34.
In a time of rising nationalism, expansion of imperialism, and fear,
may the example of Sister Cabrini guide us back to fierce,
compassionate, inclusive love.
May her memory inspire us to build a nation where everyone feels a
deep sense of belonging, where every person's humanity is honored, and
where we truly love our neighbors as ourselves.
May she inspire us to build an empire, as she says, of hope,
solidarity, and compassion.
As I close, I am reminded of the words of Mother Cabrini. I thank all
of my colleagues who have joined today's Special Order on Holding Power
Accountable: Congressional Oversight against Trump's Authoritarianism.
Members of Congress are actively defending our communities against
this agenda, and we will continue to show up.
To the constituents who are worried about their Medicaid, to the
constituents who are worried about their neighbors, to the constituents
who are asking themselves: How can the President say one thing and do
the other? How can he talk about peace and go start a war? How can he
say that he is a Christian and hate his neighbors? I want you to know
that not all Members of Congress here are the same.
Some of us have the courage, the ability, and the willingness to
defend our communities, regardless of their legal status, regardless of
who they love, regardless of their financial status.
We believe in due process. We believe in the rule of law and the
Constitution, and I think that some of my colleagues on the other side
took an oath saying that they believe in it, too. We believe in our
democracy and checks and balances and accountability. We believe that
undermining our laws and processes make all of us less safe.
We continue to demand that this administration allow us to exercise
our right to oversight in all of its forms. I ask my colleagues, as I
wrap up, the question that I asked before: Why did you come here? Why
are you here? Why do you leave your family every Monday or Tuesday to
get on a flight and be here for 4 to 5 days? What will your legacy be?
What will your grandchildren say about what you did in this place?
I know what Mother Cabrini did in a time where Italians were treated
as less than human. She stood up for them. She made it possible so that
your grandparents and your great-grandparents could be able to give
your parents and your families the life that they deserve so that you
can serve here in Congress with me.
What will your legacy be? If you are wondering why constituents don't
believe in government, it is because we say one thing, and then harm
them. I believe that this is a moment where we can choose to love, to
choose compassion, to choose unity over hate, over darkness, or over
using Truth Social to demean and degrade other people because we don't
agree with them.
I say to you that as long as Members of Congress, like Congressmen
Johnson, Takano, Watson Coleman, Carter, and I are here, we continue to
demand that this administration honor due process, that we continue to
do congressional oversight--especially in ICE facilities and detention
centers, and that we ensure that people being held there are treated
humanly, with dignity and respect. We are not alone.
The American people will continue to protest for their rights. The
American people will continue to show up. The American people will
continue to demand more of us, not less of us. They will continue to
demand that we protect and expand democracy, not suppress voters.
We say and continue to say that it is our responsibility for such a
time as this to be reminded why we decided to come to the people's
House, and who we represent and who we serve because I do not represent
or serve at the pleasure of Donald Trump. I serve and represent 730,000
people in the Chicago area, and I will fight for them every single day
and the democracy that we all took an oath to protect and serve.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Hamadeh of Arizona). Members are
reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the
President.
____________________