Equal Representation Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose H.R. 7109. I mean, think about it. It is another Republican attempt to attack immigrant communities in this country.

So many of us, our children, and our grandchildren are immigrants, and we have the hypocrisy to stand in this room here and continue to attack immigrant communities.

Republicans are trying to amend the Constitution through unconstitutional means. The Census Bureau has constitutionally mandated responsibility to count the number of persons in the United States, to count every single person, because as the Member prior from this side said, they are here. They are contributing. They are paying taxes. They make it possible for us to be able to retire and then be able to have the benefits that we have worked so hard for because they are paying those taxes, and they serve our communities.

Republicans are adding Census questions to have a chilling effect, to keep people afraid, to make them nervous, to discourage their participation in the Census.

The ultimate effect that it is going to have on these communities, like mine, is undercounted and underrepresented. Our democracy grows weaker every single time these kind of actions are brought to this floor.

We must ensure that the Census remains as accurate as possible and free from the political interference that would rob whole communities of the resources and the representation they are entitled to.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage a ``no'' vote.

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