Alma Adams

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a great leader from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community: Mother Sarah Mingo Stevenson. After a lifetime devoted to public service in her community, to her church, and, most importantly, family, Sarah Stevenson left us at the grand age of 97 on September 26, 2023. A Charlotte civil rights pioneer, she played a huge role in the creation of an influential forum for political and social dialogue in the city. The Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum continues to this day and is a required stop for candidates running for office in Charlotte and statewide. As the first Black woman to serve on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, from 1980 to 1988, she carried on her work of activism from the seventies when she effected the desegregation of public schools in the district. Her courageous leadership and encouragement of small businesses, women, and civil groups over the years have been part of her undying legacy. She will be sorely missed. I look forward to witnessing the many ways her legacy will continue to impact lives to make Charlotte and North Carolina a more just and fair place. Sarah Stevenson earned the respect of men, women, and little children, and she made the world much better than she found it. Rest in peace, Ms. Stevenson.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, today, I rise for the millions of American families that will suffer due to the manufactured debt ceiling crisis. Defaulting on our sovereign debt will be a disaster from Wall Street to Main Street to streets in my district and to the kitchen table. Our economy is being held hostage for so-called ``work requirements'' that disproportionately harm women and people with disabilities and people of color. Just one example: Food insecurity is at the highest level in 4 years, but MAGA Republicans will only prevent a financial catastrophe if we cut SNAP benefits for families, for veterans, for students, and for our seniors. This would only deepen the hardships that vulnerable Americans face. Shame on you, Republicans. There is a simple solution to averting catastrophe: Pass a clean debt ceiling bill. Quit playing games with our country's future and come on back to Washington and do your job.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.J. Res. 45, which will disapprove of waivers and modifications on borrowers of Federal student loans. As a former educator of 40 years, I am ashamed and astonished to see that my colleagues would introduce such divisive, misleading, and harmful resolutions. This partisan, all-Republican-led bill would end the one-time debt relief and the December payment pause. The Department of Education would also be prevented from issuing a similar ruling to the Biden administration's one-time debt relief and extension of payment pauses in the future. Let me be clear. This barely one-page bill does absolutely nothing to advance, to enrich, or to uplift borrowers. Under the Biden administration's plan, 43 million borrowers would be eligible for student loan relief, and 20 million would be eligible for full forgiveness of their loans, ensuring that individuals affected by emergencies, including COVID, are not placed in a worse financial position. Within my own district, there are more than 120,000 estimated eligible borrowers under the Biden student loan relief plan. Mr. Speaker, 79,900 of those borrowers were deemed automatically eligible for relief, and that is about 65 percent of the eligible borrowers. More than 50,000 of those were fully approved applicants that were sent over to loan servicers for discharge. That is about 42 percent of the eligible borrowers in my district. Tens of thousands of constituents from my district and across the country will have the ability to live their lives without the looming effects of student loan debt. Just imagine the millions of borrowers that would be impacted across this country, as well. Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle fail to realize the impact that this would have for so many Americans. This legislation moves to rid student aid borrowers in this country of any opportunity to better their financial situations.

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, it is a step toward borrowers buying that house, taking that long-awaited trip, starting the family they wanted to start, and starting a business. Education is an American right and a privilege, and no one should deny that right from anyone. I look forward to having a meaningful conversation, and I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the president of Johnson C. Smith University, Clay Armbrister. JCSU is Charlotte's own HBCU and the only accredited historically Black college or university in the 12th Congressional District. The Golden Bulls have a rich legacy in the Biddleville neighborhood in Charlotte that extends all the way back to 1867. President Armbrister has helped preserve and extend that legacy during his tenure. I have been so very proud to work with President Armbrister to grow Johnson C. Smith University. For 5 years, President Armbrister has been a transformative leader, not only for JCSU but for the West End and the entire Charlotte community. Under Clay's leadership, JCSU has modernized its campus, overcome a pandemic, and led a historic fundraising drive to raise $80 million to support the university's academic and career-ready programs. He courageously excused student loan debt for hundreds of students. Last year, I said President Armbrister is one of the true heroes behind America's progress during the pandemic, and he has continued to earn that compliment with his leadership in our community. I am so very proud to call him a friend. I wish him and his incredible wife, Denise, the very best in their future endeavors, and I congratulate him on his retirement. May God bless him.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise because too often in our schools the sounds of students talking and lockers clanking in hallways are giving way to silence and violence. Today, I rise because desks that should be covered in gum are too often covered in blood, the blood of students and their teachers. Today, I rise because three 9-year-old children and three adults are dead in Tennessee, as well as the person who killed them. Tennessee State representatives Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson wanted to bring attention to this tragedy. They wanted to honor the victims of the mass shooting at The Covenant School with action instead of insulting their memories with silence. From the floor of the Tennessee House, they led the public gallery in chants of ``no more silence,'' ``we have to do better,'' and ``gun reform now.'' Tennessee Republicans were so afraid of this message that they expelled Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, the two Black representatives, for their actions. These two courageous young men knew, as we do, that we cannot wait to be saved from the gun epidemic. They knew there would be more dead. Unfortunately, since the mass shooting in Nashville on March 27, over 900 additional people were killed by gun violence in our country, 22 in Tennessee alone. It really makes me sick. It makes me livid that we continue to accept the status quo and that we are comfortable living in a country where at any time our friends, our families, our neighbors, even our children and our grandchildren, can die a horrible death because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time when the wrong person had a gun. We will be judged if we don't act, not only by history, not only by our God, but by our children who will inherit our country with this metastasized gun cancer still attached. I am a Christian. As someone who knows and reads and lives Scripture, I can tell you beyond a doubt that the AR-15, the assault rifle, is the golden calf of Washington, D.C. Too many people in the people's House worship this idol and treat it with reverence. However, just like in Scripture, if we continue to worship this idol, the result will be physical and spiritual death. I stand with representatives Justin Pearson and Justin Jones in saying: No more silence. We have to do better. Gun reform now. No more silence. We have to do better. Gun reform now.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me thank the gentleman from Illinois for co-hosting this Special Order hour with the gentlewoman from Missouri. I thank Representative Cori Bush as well for spearheading the ERA and for working toward this fight for all of us. I rise today to observe Women's History Month and to reiterate this year's Black History Month theme of Black Resistance. Since we last celebrated Black History Month and Women's History Month, Ketanji Brown Jackson has become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court; Beyonce claimed the record for most Grammys won in a lifetime; Serena Williams retired as one of the most accomplished athletes of all time; Congresswoman Summer Lee became the first Black woman to represent Pennsylvania in Congress; and Jennifer McClellan became the first Black Congresswoman from Virginia. In my home of Charlotte, North Carolina, Vi Lyles made history as both the longest serving woman and the longest serving Black mayor in our city's history. In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, my friend and mentor, the late Annie Brown Kennedy, the first Black woman to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly, passed away at the age of 98 after a long and storied career. These women join the legacy of other women we are celebrating here today, the women who helped lead the movement for the adoption of the equal rights amendment. The equal rights amendment is still absolutely necessary because, according to the Constitution, we are not equal. Just look at the Dobbs decision. Look at all of the legislation from the State to the Federal level that aims, intentionally or not, to tell women what they can do with their own bodies. Look at the maternal health crisis in America. Even as science, technology, and healthcare make amazing advances, the number of women dying due to childbirth is going in the wrong direction, and Black women have mortality rates that are three times that. As Women's History Month comes to an end, we must continue to teach the history of women--Black women, indigenous women, LGBTQ women, and women of color--from the halls of our campuses to the Halls of Congress because if you learn women's history, you learn very quickly how far we have come and how much further we have to go. Each of us have a role in this history. If you learn this history, teach it. If you live this history, make it. Join me and join us, join the CBC and all of my colleagues in renewing the push for the equal rights amendment and equality for women not only in the United States but across the world.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Horsford and the coanchors for this evening, the gentleman from Maryland and the gentlewoman from California. I do rise today to lend my testimony to the conversation about police reform, safe communities, and the value of Black lives. The brutal beating and the death of Tyre Nichols is a reminder that we do, indeed, have a long way to go to solve the structural racism and the systemic police violence in America. Tyre was a son. He was a father. I am a mother and a grandmother of sons and daughters. He had a passion for skateboarding and photography, a young person with purpose, potential, and his life was ahead of him. The Congressional Black Caucus has always been the conscience of the Congress, and that is why we are pushing for reforms to our justice system, specifically regarding the actions and the conduct of law enforcement because no one in this Nation should fear interacting with police officers in their communities, but many Black and Brown people do each and every day. Everybody wants to be safe, and we want safer communities. Tyre Nichols should still be alive today. That is why we must address the public health epidemic of police violence that disproportionately affects our communities. Senator Tim Scott, a Republican, in his quote was absolutely right: We have got to unite against this blatant disregard, he said, for human life, especially from those who have been entrusted with immense power and responsibility for our communities. We are keenly aware that the police are asked to handle situations sometimes that they simply aren't trained for or equipped to handle. But like many CBC members, I've been there when a police beating or shooting rocked our communities. In my home of Charlotte, North Carolina, Keith Lamont Scott was having a mental health crisis when he was shot and killed by police, leading to the first major protest and demonstration for Black lives in our community. That doesn't absolve the officers involved of responsibility, but what it does mean is that with better training and a different approach to policing, Keith Lamont Scott could be alive today, and he should be. Another man, Justin Carr, lost his life during the protests. Keith Lamont Scott and Justin Carr should both still be alive today. Something has got to change to prevent further unnecessary deaths, and that is why the CBC and I have consistently supported the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and other necessary reforms. Police culture needs to change, and it needs to change right now. That is why the CBC is actively engaging all relevant stakeholders with the aim of developing a legislative solution that can pass Congress and ensure meaningful police accountability reforms. For every mom and dad and son and daughter, and for every Black person, it is imperative that we deal with this issue and form some legislative solutions and some executive actions and community-based results. That is how we can put an end to this pattern of Black lives being taken at the hands of law enforcement. I leave you with the words of Zianna Oliphant, who was 9 years old when she addressed the Charlotte City Council in the wake of the Keith Lamont Scott protests in 2016. She said: ``I feel like that we are treated differently than other people. I don't like how we're treated. Just because of our color. . . . ``We are Black people, and we shouldn't have to feel like this. We shouldn't have to protest because y'all are treating us wrong. We do this because we need to and have rights. ``I was born and raised in Charlotte. I've never felt this way until now. I can't stand how we're treated. It's a shame that our fathers and mothers are killed, and we can't even see them anymore.'' Mr. Speaker, 9 years old, this young lady was. The truth is clear. Children can even see it. I hope as the CBC continues its work, more of our colleagues will see the truth as well.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to celebrate the first day of Black History Month and to honor the Greensboro Four for exemplifying this year's Black History Month theme: Black Resistance. Black history is American history, but it is important to remember that this isn't ancient history. The Greensboro Four, also known as the A&T Four, sparked the sit-in movement in 1960, just 63 years ago today. Think about that. Only six decades ago, during my lifetime, Black Americans in the South were forced to use different water fountains, eat at separate lunch counters, go to different bathrooms, and, most of all, suffer the indignity of second-class citizenship. That is why on February 1, 1960, four courageous Black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, my alma mater, Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil, sat down at a Whites-only lunch counter and asked to be served. In doing so, the Greensboro Four changed the United States forever. The sit-in movement spread to cities across the South where Black resistance against segregation, discrimination, and Jim Crow eventually led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed segregation in public accommodations. It is with great pride today that I recognize the A&T Four and every American who joined the sit-in movement to protest the racism of the Jim Crow South and eventually changed public policy. These protests against injustice led to civil rights and voting rights for Black Americans, as well as equal protection under the law. Whether it was at that Woolworth's counter or on a bus in Montgomery or in a jail cell in Birmingham or a bridge in Selma, Alabama, or on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial or a Baptist Church in Atlanta or in a St. Louis, Missouri, courthouse before the Civil War or at a slave rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in the antebellum South, Black resistance has nourished and slowly but surely worked to perfect American democracy. We, as a Nation, have a responsibility to learn from our past and work diligently to carry on the legacy of these four men and all of our ancestors in the movement by ensuring equal rights for all of the people and protecting the civil rights we all fought so hard to win. Black history is more important than ever. If it wasn't so important, they wouldn't try to stop us from teaching it. Last month, Florida schools announced they would not teach an advanced placement course in African-American history. The State of Florida's letter to the college board claimed the course ``lacks educational value.'' I disagree. We can't afford to remove critical thinking from our curriculum. Our students won't understand American history without understanding African-American history. Those who don't understand history, Mr. Speaker, are doomed to repeat it. That is why this February, all Americans must recommit to teaching Black history in our homes, our schools, our churches, on TV, on Twitter, and, yes, even in the Halls of Congress. We must be unified and unafraid to say ``Black'' and to teach our history and heritage. Because if we don't remember the Greensboro Four, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King, John Lewis, Hattie McDaniel, Frederick Douglass, Harriet and Dred Scott, Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and countless others, someday, somewhere, someone will have to endure what they endured to win, yet again, the rights and the respect they fought for. That is why for me, every month, Mr. Speaker, is Black History Month.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor two outstanding North Carolinians and my colleagues retiring from the U.S. House of Representatives, the Honorable G. K. Butterfield for 18 years of service and the Honorable David Price for 34 years. These gentlemen have given a total of 52 years of service to our State and Nation for which we are indeed grateful. True statesmen, Representatives Butterfield and Price have been invaluable Members of Congress and they have served with incredible distinction. They are well-respected, admired, loved by colleagues here in Congress, and revered by citizens back home. They each have made their life's work all about service. Having known each of them for a very long time, I have appreciated the opportunity to learn from them and to work with each of them in North Carolina and here in Congress. Service has been their legacy as it is the rent we pay for living on this Earth. Together, these incredible Members have kept their rent fully paid up throughout their careers and in North Carolina and in this Congress. Both scholars and men of enormous intellect, Price and Butterfield have been leaders in their communities, and they have used their expertise on and off Capitol Hill to interrupt injustice and ignorance. Our resident historian, G. K. Butterfield, who served on the Energy and Commerce Committee, worked as a civil rights lawyer, a trial judge, a superior court judge, and served in the North Carolina Supreme Court. Retired teacher and distinguished professor, David Price, led numerous congressional missions abroad during his three decades on the Hill, and he has been influential in his committee work on the Appropriations Committee. Both have been personal mentors and friends to me, and impactful advisers who I will truly miss. I thank Congressman Price and Congressman Butterfield for their friendship and for their service. I wish them and their families Godspeed as they retire and take on the next chapter in their lives. God bless you. Please know that our Nation is much better off, and you have certainly made it much better than you found it. God bless you.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Right to Contraception Act. Family planning is a private decision, and contraception should always be legal, from prophylactics to Plan B. The Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs has opened Pandora's box. For some Justices, judges, and State legislators, the next steps include rolling back established rights and precedents, including the right to contraception. That is why the Right to Contraception Act is so important. This legislation establishes a statutory right to obtain contraceptives and for healthcare providers to provide them. It protects Americans from State and local legislation that would deny people's access to contraceptives. From reproductive care to LGBTQ rights, and now to contraceptives, Congress has a responsibility to stop State governments from rolling back our rights. My granddaughters shouldn't have fewer rights than my daughter had. Pass the Right to Contraception Act.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his extraordinary support. Madam Speaker, I rise today because I am pretty damn angry. You know the Supreme Court's decision overturning the right to abortion care is fundamentally wrong. The Supreme Court green-lit forced pregnancy, taking away the right to bodily autonomy for women. Abortion is still healthcare. People will still need to access it, and that is why I am supporting the Women's Health Protection Act. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, we have a State-by-State patchwork that denies women equal protection under the law. While abortion is still legal in my home State of North Carolina, the State of Texas is suing the government to compel women to carry pregnancies to term, even if it kills the mother. The attorney general of Indiana wants to force rape victims--even 10- year-old girls--to carry pregnancies to term. We have a responsibility to stop this draconian overreach by State governments, and we have got to make reproductive freedom--reproductive freedom--the law of the land.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today for the millions of children who will go hungry next week if Congress does not extend child nutrition waivers. No student or child should ever go hungry in our country. At the start of the pandemic, Congress authorized waivers to help make it easier for schools to deliver meals to kids, and we gave 10 million more children access to healthy food. Given the reality of higher prices at the grocery store, children and their families can't afford to lose the free, nutritious meals available at schools across the country. As a 40-year educator, I know hunger has been a crisis in our schools and our communities since long before the pandemic. Madam Speaker, one in seven households today has a child struggling with food insecurity. In my home State of North Carolina, food insecurity has been a tragic fact of life for our kids and our students. Before the pandemic, in North Carolina, 92,000 students were participating in the Summer Food Service Program, and 441,000 children were receiving SNAP assistance. These numbers have only gone up. Our choice is clear: We can choose to act, or we can let millions of children go hungry. Madam Speaker, as always, I am standing with our students, and I urge all of my colleagues to support S. 2089, as amended.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and her great work. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address the hunger crisis in our communities and in our schools. Millions of children will go hungry on June 30, just 2 weeks from now, if we fail to act. Let me say that again for anyone who may not have heard me. Millions of children will go hungry on June 30 if we do not act. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an article from the Charlotte Observer outlining how the children in my district will be affected. No More Free Lunch for Some CMS Students Starting Next Year (By Anna Maria Della Costa) A program that has provided free meals to K-12 students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will stop at the end of this school year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's universally free school meals arose out of pandemic-era waivers that allowed all K-12 students to get school breakfast and lunch at no cost regardless of their family's income beginning in March 2020. Those waivers are set to expire June 30, despite school nutrition advocates urging Congress for an extension in the federal 2022 spending bill. School meal programs will return to pre-pandemic procedures for the 2022-23 school year, which means free breakfast continues and lunch may not. ``I just want to remind everybody. it's the U.S. Department of Agriculture that this falls under, this is not the CMS Board of Education trying to give everybody a tough time on free and reduced lunch,'' Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh said during the board's meeting Tuesday. ``We were hopeful that maybe the bill that was set forward would be approved, but it was not extended out.''

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, at the beginning of the pandemic, this body authorized waivers to help make it easier for schools to offer meals to kids, and we gave access to healthy, nutritious foods to 10 million more school-age children because finding reliable food sources became a problem. In case my Republican friends need a reminder, President Trump signed that legislation into law. Even as the pandemic continues and food prices are on the rise, these waivers are set to expire at the end of the month. As a 40-year educator, I know that hunger has been a crisis in our schools and our communities since long before the pandemic. That is also why when I came to Congress, I founded the Adams Hunger Initiative to help coordinate the response to the hunger crisis in my community, and why hunger has been one of my top priority issues in Congress. In my home State of North Carolina, food insecurity has been a tragic fact of life for our kids and our students. In fact, I just heard from members of the North Carolina PTA today about their ever-present concerns about food insecurity and how it will impact our students. In 2018, 441,000 North Carolina children participated in SNAP, and 207,351 residents participated in the Women, Infants, and Children program, or WIC. In 2019, 92,010 students participated in the summer food service program. Almost 100,000 students needed help from their school, so they didn't go hungry--again, that was before the pandemic. In Charlotte, the hunger crisis led at least 24 elementary, middle, and high schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District to open food pantries to serve students in need during summer breaks and the vacation. For example, at Windsor Park Elementary in east Charlotte, members of the Windsor Park Neighborhood Association donated food to keep the shelves stocked for scores of food-insecure and housing-insecure children. In west Charlotte, University Park Creative Arts School is restocked on a regular basis by Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and thanks to local donors it has a refrigerator and a large freezer to offer diverse options for students and families. The need is real, and it is staring us in the face. It is also important to note that these two schools, along with 66 other local schools that will fall into the Community Eligibility Provision, will still be able to offer meals and food to students at the same levels of service as the past 2 years. However, approximately 114 of our district's schools are not eligible for that provision, meaning that access to summer nutrition will become a patchwork. When students return at the end of the summer, fewer students will get the meals that they need. Our choice is clear: we can choose to act, or we can let millions of children go hungry. As always, I am standing with our students. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Omar and the Congressional Progressive Caucus for hosting this important Special Order hour tonight.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to remember my friend who was a champion for the people of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and North Carolina; a trailblazer for Black women, especially those in public service; and a sincere, authentic, and humble servant of God who always looked out for ``the least of these'': the Honorable Ella Butler Scarborough. I include in the Record, Madam Speaker, a remembrance from her colleagues on the Mecklenburg County Commission that reads in part: ``Commissioner Scarborough's passion was limitless, and her loss is immeasurable.'' Board of County Commissioners Statement from the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners--Ella Scarborough, Congressional Record The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners was saddened to learn of the passing of Commissioner Ella Butler Scarborough. Commissioner Scarborough was more than a colleague or public figure. Throughout her life, Commissioner Scarborough was a pillar in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community who made an immense impact, especially on the lives of our most vulnerable and marginalized citizens. Commissioner Scarborough was elected to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners in 2014, and went on to serve as Chair from 2016 to 2018, making her the first African American woman to be elected to that position. Prior to serving on the Board of County Commissioners, Commissioner Scarborough made history as the first African American woman to be elected to the Charlotte City Council, serving from 1987 to 1997 (district and at-large). She was also a statewide candidate for U.S. Senate in 1998 and ran for Charlotte mayor in 1999 and 2001. In 2008, Commissioner Scarborough served as a North Carolina delegate at the Democratic National Convention. In the 1960s, during her youth in South Carolina, she became known for her activity in the civil rights movement. A fierce advocate for youth literacy, solutions to homelessness and equality, Commissioner Scarborough's tireless efforts and dedication to the community at-large was exemplary and instrumental in eliminating inequities that created challenges for many in our community. Commissioner Scarborough was a member of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. She was the devoted mother to two children and widow of Levern ``Pete'' Scarborough. She graduated from South Carolina State University with a degree in library science education and earned a master's degree from the University of Charleston in West Virginia in organizational leadership. Commissioner Scarborough's passion was limitless. and her loss is immeasurable. Our prayers go out to her family, friends and the entire Mecklenburg County community that is a better place today due to her dedication. Signed--The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners: Chairman--George Dunlap, District 3. Vice Chair--Elaine Powell, District 1. Pat Cotham, At-Large. Leigh Altman, At-large. Wilhelmenia I. Rembert, Temporary At-Large. Vilma D. Leake, District 2. Mark Jerrell, District 4. Laura Meier, District 5. Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, District 6.

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, Ella's loss is immeasurable in part because she was a veteran of the civil rights movement going all the way back to her youth in South Carolina. The consciousness and her conscience of that movement was seen in her work as a pillar of our community who fought for our vulnerable and marginalized. She worked for equality and equity not only for Black Americans but for every community. She worked for the homeless and unhoused; she worked for youth literacy and public education. Even as her health failed, she never stopped fighting. Like many HBCU graduates from her generation, she made history. She was the first African-American woman elected to the Charlotte City Council and the first to serve as the chair of the Mecklenburg County Commission. Her leadership opened doors and inspired others. She encouraged other Black women to run and serve. But Ella was the kind of person who was more concerned about the work she did than the history she made. She was a true child of the civil rights generation. She was the great-grandniece of the legendary Mary McLeod Bethune. Her entire family was involved in the movement. When she was 17, she put her body and her life on the line to integrate a segregated movie theater in her community. Five years later, as a student at South Carolina State, she did the same at a bowling alley in Orangeburg. This time the activists were not so lucky. South Carolina Highway Patrol officers fired into the crowd of students--Ella's friends--killing 3 and injuring 10 times as many. Ella was spirited away out of danger by a member of the football team. It is a blessing that Ella was spared that day to continue her fight. Even when she was jailed in the fight to end Jim Crow, she never stopped fighting, and she never forgot her blessings. However, overcoming adversity and integrating segregated spaces was something she had done since the day she was born. As Charlotte's Hannah Hasan wrote: She has been fighting since birth. She was born premature; 3 pounds. At that time Black babies weren't guaranteed an incubator, so her little body had to fight just to exist. Indeed, when her father convinced the hospital to admit baby Ella to the ICU in Sumter, she became the first Black baby in that space. Perhaps that miracle was why she was never afraid. It was a miracle. But the greater miracle of Ella Scarborough was that after she counted her many blessings, she extended those blessings to others, both as a member of her faith home, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, and then as an elected official and public servant. Blessings are not just ours to have but to give. That was the lesson that I hope we can all learn from Councilwoman, Commissioner, and Chairwoman Ella Scarborough as we honor and remember her today.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his work on this bill. I rise in support of the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act of 2022, a bill that I am proud to have cosponsored. North Carolina is home to over 45,000 Federal employees who are restricted from having a nurse practitioner or physician assistant diagnose or oversee the patient's treatment and care for their workers' compensation claim. North Carolina is one of many States that currently authorize nurse practitioners to provide this care for non-Federal employees. H.R. 6087 will increase patient choice for the tens of thousands of Federal employees in my State by making the Federal Employees' Compensation Act consistent with State law. As chairwoman of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, I am disheartened to hear that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle argue that we are rushing this bill. H.R. 6087 has gone through the normal legislative order. My subcommittee held a hearing on this bill in December 2021, and the Education and Labor Committee held a markup on the bill in March just a few months ago. Of note, the bill passed out of committee with a bipartisan, unanimous voice vote. This is a commonsense bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6087.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, information can save lives. Even children's cartoons used to say that ``knowing is half the battle.'' So, during the fifth Annual Black Maternal Health Week, which runs April 11-17, I want to impress upon our community that research and data could not be more important to our efforts to close the mortality and morbidity gaps between white and Black parents. When my fellow members of Congress learn that Black Americans are three-to-four times more likely to die in childbirth than white Americans, they pay attention--even if they're not paying attention to concepts like structural racism, implicit bias, and social determinants of health. However, the data also tell us that bias and racism are alive and well in healthcare; or as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who we lost 54 years ago this week, once said: ``Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in Health care is the most shocking and inhumane.'' Health care is not equal in our country, and it never has been so we shouldn't be surprised when that inequality extends to mothers and their children--and the numbers here don't lie. Unfortunately, we know the truth: maternal health in America is in crisis, and like so many crises, the maternal mortality crisis has hit Black America harder. As we've seen from the COVID-19 pandemic, the adage is true: when white America comes down with a cold, Black America gets pneumonia. In maternal care, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from preventable pregnancy-related complications than non-Hispanic, white women--no matter their level of education or socioeconomic status--even though 60 percent these deaths are preventable. What's worse is for every mother lost there are hundreds of near misses. And annually, approximately 50,000 women experience severe pregnancy complications which result in serious health consequences. However, because we have this data, we've been able to develop policy solutions to address the Black maternal health crisis in America. If we get this work done, we will not only raise the tide for Black women-- who are among the most marginalized and the most vulnerable--we will also improve outcomes and care for all women. My work on this issue started when I joined up with then-Senator Kamala Harris and the Black Mamas Matter Alliance to introduce our Annual Black Maternal Health Week resolution, something we've done every year since. Then, in 2019, I joined the youngest Black woman ever elected to Congress, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, to launch a Congressional caucus focused on Black maternal health. As the co-founders and co-chairs of the bipartisan Black Maternal Health Caucus, we developed a solution: the Momnibus. The Momnibus is a package of 12 bills to comprehensively address all aspects of the maternal mortality crisis, with a focus on Black parents using reproductive justice as a guide. It is a solution that says, unequivocally, Black mothers matter. With the support of a historic coalition of nearly 200 health care providers, Black mothers, policymakers, researchers, activists, and maternal health advocates we crafted a collaborative, targeted and timely set of policies to improve maternal health outcomes for Black pregnant and postpartum individuals, particularly during the COVID pandemic. The Black Maternal Health Momnibus will fill gaps in existing legislation to comprehensively address every dimension of the Black maternal health crisis in America. Throughout the process, we remained very intentional about centering the voices of Black women and ensuring Black woman-led organizations are consulted often. The Momnibus makes investments in social determinants of health, community-based organizations, the growth and diversification of the perinatal workforce, improvements in data collection and quality measures, digital tools like telehealth, and innovative payment models. Finally, in addition to direct efforts to improve Black maternal health outcomes, the Momnibus focuses on high- risk populations, including women veterans, incarcerated women, and Native Americans. When we reintroduced the Momnibus last year, we went from nine bills to 12 bills because we had to have legislation to address immunization--vaccines--as well as COVID-19. The state of maternal health in this country is a crisis, but with the pandemic, we experienced a crisis within a crisis--and tens of thousands of pregnant women have had to struggle with being pregnant or giving birth while experiencing COVID-19. Two of these new bills in the Momnibus package promote maternal vaccinations to protect the health and safety of moms and babies and invest in federal programs to address the unique risks for and effects of COVID-19 during and after pregnancy. Last year, we received good news when all the eligible provisions of the Momnibus were included in the Build Back Better Act, which passed the House. The Momnibus provisions in Build Back Better invest in addressing social determinants of health that influence maternal health outcomes; fund community-based organizations working to improve maternal health outcomes; grow and diversify the perinatal workforce to improve maternity care; support moms with mental health conditions and substance abuse disorders; invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities to train culturally competent health professionals; and address the effects of COVID-19 and climate change on mothers. That's a comprehensive approach to this crisis, something we've never tried before. However, the Build Back Better Act is stalled in the Senate and will likely be passed in a more limited form, if at all. We as Members of Congress must take the Black maternal health crisis seriously. Moms and children are dying, and we must act. When we think about how important mothers are, we should recognize that parents touch so many lives, even outside their immediate families. Their threads weave into countless others to form the fabric of our communities. When we lose a parent to this crisis, we lose teachers, volunteers, activists, professionals, caregivers, parishioners, and mommies. When too many threads are pulled, the fabric unravels. We owe our communities a different future. This Black Maternal Health Week, let's work together to pass the Momnibus into law. Our mamas cannot wait.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, today, I am proudly introducing the bipartisan Supporting Diverse STEM Students Act, along with my colleagues, Representatives Fitzpatrick, Sewell, and Turner. I am especially proud to do so during my 5th Annual HBCU STEAM Days of Action, a time where hundreds of participants from HBCUs, advocacy organizations, technology companies, and industry leaders meet with Republican and Democratic Members of Congress. They're here to advocate for equitable federal resources to make sure that every talented student has access to world class science, technology, engineering, arts, and math education. We know that a well-prepared workforce--inclusive of America's diverse communities--is necessary for cultivating our United States' Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, or STEM, capacity. However, underrepresented minority students are disproportionally left behind in their STEM studies. Researchers find over a third of Black and Latino students switch out of their STEM majors before earning their degree, in part due to a lack of access to the academic resources that traditionally help support students to completion. This bill focuses on supporting those diverse STEM students into career success by supporting institutions that predominantly serve minority students in their capacity to provide direct scholarships and comprehensive wraparound services, such as academic advising and tutoring, work-study, and undergraduate research opportunities. As the United States continues to support the cultivation of our STEM talent, we must help better provide the resources that help retain, prepare, and promote the success of underrepresented and diverse students in STEM.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, today, I proudly introduced the bipartisan and bicameral Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2022, alongside Representative Hinson, Senator Merkley, and Senator Cassidy. For too long, stillbirth has been a silent crisis. According to a recent study, nearly 1 in 4 stillbirths are potentially preventable. And the data comparing the United States to other countries informs that our nation can do more to prevent stillbirth. In our nation, an alarming 23,500 babies are stillborn every year. This is greater than the number of babies that die during the first year of life and more than ten times the number of babies that die annually due to sudden infant death syndrome. While the rate of stillbirth has declined since the 1940s due to improvements in maternity care, in recent years, the decline has slowed or halted. Stillbirths increase the risk of maternal mortality and morbidity and negatively impact parental mental health and family well- being. Like many of the health crises in our country, disparities exist, and Black women are over two times more likely than White women to have a stillbirth. Stillbirth rates are also high for American Indian or Alaska Native women, who are almost 1.5 times as likely to have a stillbirth compared to White women. Hispanic women also experience higher rates. Despite impacting families from all backgrounds and women with otherwise healthy pregnancies, stillbirth is more common for women who are 35 years or older, of lower socioeconomic status, for women who have multiple pregnancies, like twins or triplets, and women who have already experienced the loss of a pregnancy. In addition, stillbirth also occurs more commonly amongst women who smoke while pregnant or are diagnosed with certain medical conditions like hypertension, diabetes, or obesity. Further, women from less advantaged backgrounds and who are marginalized, continue to experience a greater burden of stillbirth. And these disadvantages are further impacted by the social determinants of health. For example, women in maternity care deserts and rural areas have fewer healthcare providers. Nationwide, approximately 10 percent of births take place in counties with limited access to maternity care. According to The Lancet, in a 2016 study, the United States ranked number 48 out of 49 high-income countries in annual stillbirth rate reduction. Furthermore, in comparison with the same group of countries, the United States stillbirth rate per 1,000 births was higher than 24 other countries. All the available data suggests that further reduction in the incidence of stillbirth is possible. And the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act will help reverse this shocking trend of stillbirths and maternal mortality in the United States. My bill amends Title V, the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant of the Social Security Act, to clarify that stillbirth prevention activities are an allowable use of funds. This clarification will support stillbirth prevention activities, thereby saving the lives of mothers and babies. In 1966, at a press conference for the Second Convention of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: ``Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death''. The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act will help address this health injustice and ensure that more babies experience a healthy birth and make it home with their families.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record statements from UNCF, TMCF, NAFEO, Alabama A&M's President Wims, and the Executive Leadership Council in support of the resolution. Washington, DC (February 7, 2022).--Over the past month, more than two dozen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have received terroristic threats in an apparent attempt to disrupt and, presumably, sow fear in our campus communities. These attempts to intimidate the HBCU community reached a peak on Tuesday, Feb. 1--the first day of Black History Month--when 13 HBCUs were forced to disrupt their normal operations due to coordinated threats posed to their respective campuses. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) are pleased that the federal government has characterized its ongoing investigation into these threats as ``threats of terror with the utmost seriousness'' and as acts of domestic terrorism, as announced during a recent briefing by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Given the federal government's characterization of these threats, we anticipate and expect that the Justice Department will fully prosecute the individuals responsible for these heinous acts and we look forward to the swift conclusion of this matter. Unfortunately, these terrorist acts fall squarely into a recent trend line documented by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that reflects a sharp increase in right-wing extremist attacks and plots in the United States in recent years. HBCUs, as institutions founded for the original purpose of educating and uplifting former enslaved people and their descendants, have been at the forefront of social and economic justice advocacy for more than 180 years. Our universities' missions and their historic legacies naturally put them at odds with the enemies of equality which, even in the 21st century, makes our institutions and their students, staff, faculty and administrators an apparent target for extremism. Notwithstanding these attempts to terrorize our community, our HBCUs remain unbroken and unbowed. The actions of a misguided few will not deter our institutions from fulfilling their collective mission to educate our nation's next generation of teachers, entrepreneurs and leaders. We are hopeful that congressional, state, community and philanthropic leaders will join with us and offer the support that is needed for us to offer our students the sense of security needed as we move forward with the same sense of resilience we have shown since the founding of the first HBCU in 1837. Reflecting on these incidents, we are reminded of the words of the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, which still are instructive today: ``I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust . . . We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better. Dr. Harry L. Williams, President & CEO, Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF). Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President & CEO, United Negro College Fund (UNCF).

Ms. ADAMS. I thank Chairman Scott for his courageous leadership and support of our schools. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my resolution (H. Con. Res. 70), which condemns the recent despicable, cowardly bomb threats to more than 30 historically Black colleges and universities. These were hate crimes, acts of terror. As a proud two-time HBCU alumna of North Carolina A&T State University, a retired professor of 40 years at Bennett College in Greensboro, and now a representative of Johnson C. Smith University in my district, I know HBCUs can overcome any challenge, but those challenges should not include terrorism or racism. The congressional response from my colleagues to these threats has been robust. We came together to call for swift action from Federal law enforcement. The threats were quickly addressed by members of Federal, State, and local law enforcement. Thanks to the Department of Justice and its agencies for working swiftly in this regard. My thanks as well to Chairman Scott, whose leadership has resulted in more than $6.5 billion in funding to HBCUs, more funding than the last 10 years combined. Our HBCUs, their faculty, their staff, and especially their students are strong. They are resilient. They are brilliant paragons of academic excellence. But they shouldn't have to respond to threats and secure their campuses on shoestring budgets. While today's resolution rightly condemns these cowardly acts of violence against our hallowed institutions, Congress must continue to respond with action and legislation. Finally, I want to address the perpetrators of these crimes. I am praying that the hate that inspired these acts leaves your heart forever, that you take a moment and imagine yourself in different circumstances. Imagine growing up on the ghetto streets of Newark, New Jersey, your mom cleaning houses to make ends meet. You save every penny to go to college because the most important people in your life have taught you the value of education. You make it to an HBCU, becoming the first member of your family to go to college. It is a big responsibility. Because HBCUs are special places, especially for Black Americans, they invest in you. They lift you up. They help you succeed in ways you never thought possible. They take you from cleaning houses with your mom to serving in the U.S. House. Similar experiences are shared by millions, and that is what you attacked when you threatened our HBCUs. That is what you deemed worthy of hate and violence. And that is why Congress must condemn these actions. Mr. Speaker, I move that we pass this resolution, and I ask all of my colleagues to support it.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, along with my Congressional sorors, I rise to re-introduce this Resolution honoring Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. for her 114th anniversary. Throughout these 114 years, AKA sorors have carried out the mission of AKA with pride and strength. As my sorors near and far continue to carry out the meaningful mission of AKA, I extend my respect to all.

Ms. ADAMS

Ms. ADAMS. Madam Speaker, today, I am proudly introducing the bicameral EDUCATORS for America Act, along with my colleagues, Representatives Axne, Hayes, and Gallego, and my partners Senators Reed and Casey. Education is perhaps the most precious gift we have, the sharing of information about our world as we currently understand it to the next generation. Being an outstanding educator requires a generosity of spirit, a will of steel, and a heart full of empathy. I understand the value of education. As an educator for forty years, l had the opportunity to see bright young minds in my classrooms hard at work. I always hoped that some of these bright young minds would go on to become educators themselves. Unfortunately, I saw that students aspiring to become educators were sometimes discouraged--by the student debt they would face, by the salaries they would earn, and by the lack of support they would confront. Educators are struggling, particularly as we continue to grapple with the pandemic. We cannot afford to neglect the educator pipeline any longer. We simply cannot wait for the next generation of educators to appear. We must act intentionally to urgently recruit educators into the classroom, and more importantly, retain educators in the classroom. As such, educators should be given the opportunities and support they need. This bill does just that: it addresses educator preparation, support for educators, financial assistance, and mobilization of states and local communities in improving the educator pipeline. I will close with this quotation from a titan in American history, W.E.B. Du Bois: ``Of all the Civil Rights for which the world has struggled, and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental.''