[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 82 (Thursday, May 14, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3457-H3458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FAMILIES DESERVE CLEAN AIR

  (Ms. Tlaib of Michigan was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, DTE Energy has a monopoly in my district. It 
is the primary source of utilities for gas and electricity for my 
residents. This is why it is critical and important for me to introduce 
the Make DTE Pay Act. It would substantially increase monetary 
penalties on utilities like DTE Energy when they seek customer rate 
increases within two preceding or following Clean Air Act violations.
  Mr. Speaker, you might ask: Why?
  It is because DTE was hit with more than $100 million in penalties 
for violating the Clean Air Act by a Federal judge. Within the same 
week, they got a $240 million increase in rates, and DTE Energy 
customers, our residents, already know we are paying some of the 
highest rates in the country for some of the least reliable services, 
all while DTE shareholders and executives get richer. Now we know DTE 
has, again, been hit by this violation. They turned around and put it 
on the consumers.
  Corporate polluters like DTE treat breaking environmental laws as 
just the cost of doing business. It is insulting to every single family 
in my district that is being poisoned by the air they breathe because 
of this company, and they turn around and jack up our utility bills 
year after year.
  That is why it is critical and important that we introduce the Make 
DTE Pay Act. I encourage my colleagues to understand the importance of 
this. This legislation forces utilities like DTE to make a choice: 
Follow the Clean Air Act or face real financial consequences when they 
try to raise rates on customers whom they have already harmed.
  We have to change the math. Polluting our communities must be as bad 
for business as it is for our health. Our families deserve clean air, 
reliable service, and accountability, not excuses and higher bills.


                        Republican Redistricting

  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, Republicans are trying to drag this country 
back to a Jim Crow South where Black political power is stripped and 
our voices are stripped, silenced, and dismissed. This time it is not 
with the hoods but with maps and court rulings that do the same old 
work.
  People might find this insulting, but it is very obvious why we need 
the Voting Rights Act. It is because they turned around and changed the 
map to dilute Black voices. With the help of the far right, extreme 
Supreme Court, they are dismantling voting rights across the South and 
targeting our Black neighbors who have bled, marched, and died for our 
civil rights.
  The administration promised to make life more affordable. Instead, 
they have gutted our healthcare for millions, invested in death and 
destruction abroad, and used their fascist ICE army to tear apart our 
communities. They know these policies are not popular among the 
American people. That is why they are redrawing the maps. It is because 
it is the only way they can win.
  I am from Detroit, the most beautiful, Blackest city in the country. 
Come there, Mr. Speaker. It is the most loving and most resilient 
community that you have ever met. That is where I learned to speak 
truth to power, even if my voice shakes.
  When Black political power is attacked anywhere, then our democracy 
itself is under attack everywhere. We have seen all this before, Mr. 
Speaker, but like those who came before us, we will not be intimidated, 
we will not be silenced, and we will not back down.


                            Unhoused Persons

  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, right now, on any given night, in the richest 
country on Earth, nearly 771,000 of our neighbors are unhoused. One 
million children experience homelessness every year. Think about that: 
1 million children. This is not accidental. This is a policy choice.
  Every year, Congress passes another record-breaking military budget. 
We always find money for war and destruction, even though the 
Department of War hasn't passed eight audits in a row.
  Somehow, we are told, there is not enough money to house our people. 
This is unacceptable. We know the truth. Congress has the money, and

[[Page H3458]]

Congress has the power to change that. What is missing is the political 
will to care deeply about those who maybe will have access to the same 
opportunities many of us had in this Chamber.
  Housing is a human right. Our government has a responsibility to 
treat it that way. There will be no more excuses. We must act because 
our neighbors deserve a home and dignity, and we refuse to accept 
anything else.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me in supporting the Unhoused Persons Bill 
of Rights resolution that lays out a real path forward, boosting 
affordable housing for so many of our communities, fully funding 
Federal housing programs, and expanding access to services for unhoused 
individuals. These are investments we need, and these are investments 
that the American people ask for.

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