[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 69 (Monday, April 20, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H2979-H2980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 WELCOMING THE HONORABLE ANALILIA MEJIA TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I cannot overemphasize the level of 
enthusiasm that I and the New Jersey delegation express today on the 
swearing in of Congresswoman Mejia. I cannot. We are so enthusiastic, 
and I think you can tell from her own constituents who came here today.
  I just want you to understand that her leadership was so important, 
her reaching out to the grassroots, her reaching out and standing up 
for working families, but even more so for young people. Young people 
were so enthused by her.
  Many of us are concerned about the future of our democracy and 
whether younger people are going to vote, whether they are going to 
participate. Analilia made it clear that that was so important to her, 
and so we had--She got so many people who were younger to come out to 
vote, to actually participate in the election, to knock on doors, and 
all the things that are so important to our democracy.

[[Page H2980]]

  She talked about solutions. She didn't just say: We want you to come 
out. She talked about solutions for working people that would actually 
make a difference. This is what is really important.

  The reason that we are so enthused is that we see someone who reaches 
out to young people, who is a grassroots organizer, and who understands 
the problems of working families.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the new member of our New Jersey delegation, 
the gentlewoman, Congresswoman Mejia.
  Ms. MEJIA. Mr. Speaker, good evening. It is a privilege and an honor 
to stand before this Chamber. We, the privileged few, are honored with 
the responsibility to represent the interests of our fellow Americans 
at home and across the world.
  I thank my new colleagues for their warm welcome and the great people 
of New Jersey's 11th Congressional District for their trust. I thank, 
of course, my husband, Robert, and my two children, Langston and 
August, for being my best supporters. The three of them mean the world 
to me. I also thank my sister, Anaisa, and my two mothers, Luz and 
Michele, and my dearly departed father, Francisco, for always standing 
alongside me.
  My presence in this Chamber is, in many ways, an unlikely reality. I 
am the daughter of a Dominican factory worker and a Colombian 
seamstress who knew struggle. Yet, I stand before you, representing the 
great 11th Congressional District of New Jersey, a place rich in 
history and eager to make more.
  I bring greetings from Morristown, where George Washington led 
through the harsh winters of the Revolutionary War.
  I bring greetings from Bloomfield, New Jersey, as well, which led the 
way on access to public education for all. In fact, I send greetings 
from every corner of my district. My constituents are eager to hear how 
we shall work together to improve the lives of the many I am honored to 
represent.
  Mr. Speaker, there is an African proverb that says: If you wish to 
know the end, you must strive to understand the beginning. This proverb 
feels timely as I begin my tenure in this lauded space, at the 
precipice of our Nation's 250th anniversary. As I address this body, I 
am ever present to the fact that it was conceived and designed as the 
people's House, a counterweight at critical moments, where people may 
have the fullest say.
  I stand before you on this day, the 20th of April. I want to remind 
you that on this date in 1871, an ``Act to enforce the Provisions of 
the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and 
for other Purposes,'' otherwise known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, was 
signed as an attempt by we the people to make true the promise of 
freedom and equity hard earned through conflict and peacemaking.
  The third in a series of Enforcement Acts, it was designed to protect 
the civil and political rights of individuals, under threat by the 
violence of vigilante groups intent to deny the protections of the 
Constitution for those who earned it through blood, sweat, and tears.
  The 14th Amendment defined citizenship and guaranteed due process and 
equal protection of the law to all Americans. Vigilante groups like the 
Klan, however, threatened by the idea of expansive freedom, used 
violence to undermine the Republican Party's plan for Reconstruction.
  The Ku Klux Klan Act made it a Federal crime to deny any group or 
individual ``any of the rights, privileges, or immunities or 
protections named in the Constitution.''
  In a moment in which a State-sanctioned vigilante group threatens due 
process and equal protection, and our highest Court questions 
citizenship, clearly defined in the Constitution, it is important for 
us to strive to understand the beginning so that we may protect what we 
hold most dear all the way through to the end.
  I join you today with a message delivered by the people of New 
Jersey's 11th Congressional District but echoed nationally: Stand up, 
defend, restore not only our democracy, but also a just economy that 
actually works for working people.
  Stand up for folks like Bob, a retired fire captain who served at 
Ground Zero, struggling to access healthcare because of staffing cuts 
and hiring freezes.
  Stand up for Mary, who alongside her husband, dropped her own health 
coverage just to afford their child's college tuition.
  Think about and stand up for Larry and Joe, who work hard every day 
and deserve a just retirement in their golden years.
  These are not just abstract policies or debates. These are real 
consequences of the decisions made in this Chamber. At a time when our 
Constitution and our rights are under strain, we are called not just to 
serve, but to stand up, to protect, and to deliver on the promise of 
equal protection and justice under our great laws. That is the work 
ahead of us. That is the work that we must take on.

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