200 Days of Delivering for the People

Floor Speech

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Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank my colleague and the gentleman from Colorado for his gracious comments, remarks, and leadership. And just know that we are in this together, and we have been in this together for a long, long time. And this is really working for the American people. It is in our blood. We have no option. And you certainly--in the short time you have been here--you certainly have hit the ground running and have shown who you are and whose you are. So thank you, again, so much.

And to, of course, our co-chair, Mr. Lieu, let me just say thank you for your clarity of purpose and making sure that--yourself and Mr. Neguse--making sure that the truth is told. And oftentimes, we forget that the truth shall set you free. But I always marvel at you, Congressman Lieu, and Mr. Neguse, especially when you are on the media. You don't pull any punches. You tell the truth; you cut through all the noise. And I think the American people deserve that. Thank you both for that, and thank you for giving us a chance to be with you this evening.

Mr. Speaker I rise also with my colleagues to highlight the fact that House Democrats have delivered for the people in the first 200 days of this Congress. House Democrats and the Biden administration have begun building back bolder. We have helped tackle this virus head on by putting shots in people's arms, and money in people's pockets.

And, yes, to address the crisis of poverty in this country, the American Rescue Plan expanded and improved the child tax credit, which I had the honor of working with my colleagues, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, and our chair of the Committee on Appropriations, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, to establish the foundation for this.

This benefit has made a significant impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of struggling families, especially for communities of color. In my district alone, the newly improved tax credit will directly benefit 108,600 children. That's in the Golden State of California. Child poverty is about the highest in the country. And it will lift over 10,000 children out of poverty. Now, for the people, we must make it permanent.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say that Democrats, we rescued Republicans. There were zero--mind you--zero Republican votes, as my colleagues have said over and over again, for the creation, for example, of 3 million jobs, for investing $130 billion to help schools reopen safely. There were zero Republican votes for the child tax credit and for putting money into the pockets of American families who, through no fault of their own, have been living on the edge, struggling to survive, begging for help.

Well guess what? Democrats delivered for everyone; everyone, regardless of their party affiliation, regardless of who they voted for, or even if they didn't vote. And, yes, some Republicans, they have the audacity to tout these benefits as if they supported them. But you know what? That is okay. That is okay. We are delivering for the people regardless.

And, yes, African Americans and people of color were disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus, and we made certain that equity and funding for low-income and vulnerable communities and low-wealth populations were targeted and included.

Now, last time I looked, Republicans also have many constituents who face socioeconomic and racial bias and have had a difficult time just surviving because of systemic racism and economic inequality. Republicans have constituents who have faced these adversities; we do also. But guess what? Republicans did not step up. We did.

Mr. Speaker, I hope now that the public understands who is on their side. You all are making it very clear. I hope the public really understands what this is about and really who is standing with them.

Mr. Speaker, we must continue to build back better and bolder, and I sincerely hope that these efforts will be bipartisan. For after all, we were elected to represent and support our constituents. Not abandon them, mind you, in the time of need.

So, yes, I am proud to have helped minority leader, for instance, McCarthy's constituents. I am proud to have helped Senator McConnell's constituents. But I hope that they recognize that the benefits that extended to them during this unprecedented pandemic, I hope they will recognize and rethink the importance of working for the people.

Again, I am very proud to have supported the American Rescue Plan regardless of party affiliation. And I am very pleased that we were able to take care of our colleagues' constituents when they wouldn't.

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