Promoting Housing Access
Floor Speech
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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, we face a housing crisis in our country. In metro Detroit, there are three extremely low-income renter households for each unit that is both affordable and available.
In response, State and local public developers are using innovative policy tools to build new housing developments that are financially sustainable and affordable.
That is why I co-led the introduction of the Public Housing for the 21st Century Act, which provides public housing authorities and housing finance agencies with the latest best practices for mixed-income public housing.
While Federal subsidies have long been insufficient to address the housing crisis in our country, Mr. Speaker, the Public Housing for the 21st Century Act would ensure that communities have access to the latest models and policy options, creating a pathway for real affordable housing.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to please join me in promoting housing access in every single district across our Nation by cosponsoring this bill. Rhetoric Incites Violence Against Palestinians
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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, Hisham, Kinnan, and Tahseen are all Palestinian college students who were shot while wearing a keffiyeh and speaking Arabic on their way to a family dinner in Vermont.
Just weeks ago, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American child, Wadea, was stabbed 26 times in a hate crime in Illinois. They had to take the knife out of his body.
Mr. Speaker, the constant dehumanization of Palestinians has real consequences. It is fueling anti-Palestinian racism and violence. The dehumanization and rhetoric repeated by many elected officials, many in this Chamber, is inciting violence against Palestinians.
My heart goes out to every family affected by violence, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, and any form of hate.
One of the Palestinian victims who was shot in Burlington, Hisham, wrote: ``This hideous crime did not happen in a vacuum. As much as I appreciate and love every single one of you here today, I am but one casualty in this much wider conflict.
``Had I been shot in the West Bank, where I grew up, the medical services that saved my life here would likely have been withheld by the Israeli Army. The soldier who shot me would go home and never be convicted. . . . Any attack like this is horrific, be it here or in Palestine.
``That is why when you say your wishes and light your candles today, your mind should not just be focused on me as an individual but, rather, as a proud member of a people being oppressed.''
When I talk about Hisham, Kinnan, and Tahseen, I think of my two Palestinian boys living right here in the United States. Remembering William ``Bill'' Goodman
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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, today I recognize my friend William ``Bill'' Goodman, a true people's lawyer who never wavered in his pursuit of justice.
I met Bill over 15 years ago when he was president of the Maurice and Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. He was a mentor of mine and so many movement lawyers and a hero to those who sought justice.
Over the course of his career, Bill sought to focus his work on the protection of civil liberties, holding the powerful accountable to the Constitution, and fighting for the working class at home and around the world. He was always ready and willing to fight for the most vulnerable among us.
Bill was a pioneering people's lawyer, both in private practice in Detroit and leading the Center for Constitutional Rights and the National Lawyers Guild.
He was proud of representing the Attica prisoners, the Guantanamo Bay detainees, the Vietnam survivors of Agent Orange, and so many victims of police violence and corrupt persecution.
It speaks to Bill's character that one of the most important lawyers in American history will best be remembered by those close to him and for his endless jokes and bottomless love for his children and comrades. Please join me in honoring Bill Goodman and remembering his life and legacy.
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