[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H4219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT

  (Ms. Mejia of New Jersey was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Ms. MEJIA. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise with a complaint.
  A few days ago, while my colleagues in the New Jersey delegation and 
I attempted to carry out our oversight responsibilities at Delaney 
Hall, we found ourselves blocked by ICE and its contractor, GEO Group.
  While we can debate the abhorrent actions of this administration 
toward immigrants and Americans alike, what we should not debate is our 
right to carry out our duties on behalf of the American people.
  The bottom line is, Members of this governing body have a duty to 
oversee all aspects of our government and its entities. We have a duty 
to ask hard questions and challenge injustice, even when it is carried 
out by our own government.
  I have walked the halls of Delaney and Elizabeth Detention Centers. 
My account of medical abuse and neglect have been direct and truthful. 
Every American should be concerned about what Members of our delegation 
have relayed. They should be concerned of the persecution of one of our 
own Members, and they should demand that oversight continues.
  Today, the rights at risk are those on the margins, but ultimately 
injustice can and will come for us all.


                   Commitment to Protect Our Freedoms

  Ms. MEJIA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in a moment in which our Nation both 
celebrates its first founding while simultaneously forces within it 
attack the essence of its second.
  As we reflect on our Nation's 250th anniversary, I pause to recognize 
the democratic values hardwired into the 13th, 14th, and 15th 
Amendments, amendments that defined the American freedoms we fight to 
preserve and restore today.
  Ratified on July 9, 1868, and debated in this very Chamber, the 14th 
Amendment is one of the most transformative amendments in American 
history. It fundamentally expanded who counts in American democracy and 
established the principle that everyone born in these United States 
belongs here and deserves equal protection under the law.
  The word ``transformative,'' in fact, falls short. Because of the 
14th Amendment, individuals who walked these hallowed Halls were able 
to fight for marriage equality, bodily autonomy, equal access to public 
education, public housing, the right to form a union, collectively 
bargain, and much, much more.
  To put it simply, for more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has 
undergirded much of what we fight to enact and strive to defend in this 
Hall.
  Those protections have been under attack since their inception, but 
in recent years, these attacks have escalated, stripping some 
protections from the hands of our fellow Americans.
  This is why I rise at this moment, to remind my colleagues and fellow 
Americans about what is truly at stake. Those privileged and blessed to 
represent our fellow Americans have a special charge in this moment. I 
take that charge seriously, with a commitment to protect our freedoms 
today and for those who will come after us, generations to come.

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