Gregorio Casar

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to call the attention of the House in recognition of the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. For over 50 years, IDRA has been steadfast in its commitment to equitable access to high-quality public education for every child and family that needs it. Both their research and advocacy focus on ensuring public schools have the tools necessary to succeed. Originally founded in 1973 by Dr. Jose A. Cardenas, IDRA quickly established itself as a singular voice for Texas students and parents in the field of education. In the early 1980s, Dr. Cardenas was an expert witness and, alongside IDRA staff, played a pivotal role in the Supreme Court's decision on Plyler v. Doe, guaranteeing equal protection for immigrant children across the country to access education in our nation's public schools. Since then, IDRA has continued working with lawmakers and policy advocates to help secure critical laws supporting bilingual education, equity in school funding, and the rights of immigrant students. Every year, IDRA supports the training of thousands of teachers and administrators on creating the best environment for our children to succeed, while connecting parents and schools so they have a seat at the table in shaping and supporting their child's education. IDRA has spent decades working to create a more equitable system for millions of students across the country, including those in my district. As the Congressman for the 35th District of Texas, I am proud to congratulate them on their 50 years of transforming public education and empowering our communities.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to recognize Mt. Zion Baptist Church on the celebration of its 150th anniversary this year. Founded 1873 in Williamson Creek, this church soon faced its first challenges. Only 10 years after its founding, a flood destroyed the church building. Through resilience and faith, the congregation worshipped and held services in their homes while their community rebuilt what was lost. In 1948, the old walls of Mt. Zion Williamson Creek were transported and reinstalled at their new home in Austin, where it became Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Beginning in 1970, under the leadership of the late Rev. Dr. G. V. Clark, the church experienced a large increase in membership and expanded its facilities on and around East 13th Street. With a deep commitment to his faith and community, Dr. Clark served the congregants of Mt. Zion for five decades. Our whole community is greatly indebted to him for a lifetime of service. For over 150 years, Mt. Zion has been a pillar of East Austin. Under the current leadership of Reverend Dr. Daryl Horton, Mt. Zion continues a tradition of commitment and service to our community through charity and volunteerism, like housing the elderly, feeding children, and the poor. As the Congressman for the 35th District of Texas. I am proud to congratulate them on their 150 years of faithful service and dedication to improving the lives of so many in Austin.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Chair, we must stop the dangerous, expensive, corrupt, and ineffective political stunts at the border and instead chart a new path for a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. Abbott's Operation Lone Star must end, and I urge passage of the amendment of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro), my good friend, to ensure Federal funding does not go to this failed program. Every day, Texas Governor Greg Abbott violates the rights of asylum seekers and violates the rights of our border communities all to score political points against President Biden. We have seen these inhumane policies in action that have taken the lives of children at the border, and we have lost National Guardsmen to death. This is not only inhumane, but Operation Lone Star is not effective. Governor Abbott is lighting $25 million on fire every week to cause suffering instead of creating solutions. Why do my colleagues across the aisle not want solutions? Because they have no interest in a functioning immigration system. They thrive off of keeping the immigration system broken so they can continue to stoke anti-immigrant fears for their own politics. Operation Lone Star, furthermore, is also unconstitutional. In Arizona v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled the Federal Government, not people like Governor Abbott, have supremacy over the immigration system. Abbott's unconstitutional, abusive, wasteful, and inhumane Operation Lone Star is a disgrace to our State and to our Nation. I want to be clear: Not one cent of Federal money should go toward caging families, cutting innocent people with razor wire, or drowning children, period.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Madam Speaker, I am Greg Casar, and I represent the heart of Texas. Thirteen years ago, I stood alongside construction workers as we sounded the alarm at Austin City Hall that workers were dying after being forced to work for hours on end in the sun without rest and without a water break. Our community came together and passed a local protection to guarantee everyone this basic right. Five years later, families in Dallas were mourning the losses of fathers and sons and brothers and tios who died on the job because they, too, were forced to work without a water break. That community came together to pass protections that guarantee this basic right. Now, as San Antonio bears the hottest 10-day streak in recorded history and as our globe bears the hottest days in recorded history, this month, people in San Antonio want to pass those same sort of protections, but Governor Greg Abbott signed a priority bill eliminating the right to water breaks for Texas workers beginning September 1. People are dying, like Eugene Gates and Justin Cory Foster and Felipe Pascual, dying while working in the Texas heat this year. We don't need more Texans dying in the sun. Instead, we need OSHA and the Biden administration to take immediate action in passing a Federal heat protection rule, because bearing the Texas heat is brutal but forcing workers to work in that heat is cruel.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 110th anniversary of the Alamo Iron Works strike in San Antonio, Texas. Back then, those organizers were fighting for better wages and working conditions, like workers are today. They started a tradition of labor strikes in the summer in the city of San Antonio. Mr. Speaker, 20 years later in 1933, the Finck Cigar strike began when 400 young Mexican-American women went on strike for better working conditions and won. In 1936, garment workers at the Dorothy Frocks Company in San Antonio began striking for higher wages. They went to jail that August of 1936, and still won. The next summer, in 1937, 80 workers at the San Antonio Laundry Company walked off the job. They demanded a 9-hour workday instead of 14 hours and won. Remember, when rightwing extremists pass antiworker bills, they are arguing that their bills are trying to take us to the good old days of Texas past. We know the truth: The history of San Antonio and the history of Texas is a history or workers organizing and winning.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, I am Greg Casar, and I represent the heart of Texas. Throughout my time in office, I have heard from and spoken with military families about what their greatest needs are. The answer that has most consistently come up isn't about the latest tanks or the latest guns. It is childcare. In fact, based on a 2021 survey from the Military Family Advisory Network, they found that 78 percent of military families have found it difficult to get childcare for their kids. This need is ever present in San Antonio, Texas, Military City USA. Military readiness means more than just stocking up on more and more weapons and gadgets. It means investing in the people of the military. Right now, the extreme rightwing is trying to bring forward a bill to spend more and more money on weapons that the Pentagon hasn't even asked for, and it happens nearly every year. The NDAA, our annual defense spending bill, provides funds that the Department of Defense is told to spend on obsolete weapons and programs. That is why I am proposing an amendment to the NDAA, alongside Congressman Castro, to provide adequate childcare for our military families.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, I was here alongside all of you during the State of the Union when my Republican colleagues stood up and started jeering, booing, yelling, and complaining saying that indeed, they weren't interested in cutting Social Security or Medicare. However, in the weeks since, it has become clear to me that was all talk and no votes, or as we say in Texas, all hat and no cattle. In fact, this week the Republican head of appropriations just said that she wants to see even deeper cuts to critical Federal programs. That means bigger classroom sizes for our students and our struggling teachers and longer wait times for our veterans seeking healthcare, all to finance bigger tax cuts for billionaires and multinational corporations. Social Security and Medicare are not safe until we step up and vote to make sure they are safe. That is why I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so that we can vote for H.R. 178, which would put our money where our mouth is. I urge my Republican colleagues to prove me wrong because what we are planning on voting on this week are things like a ludicrous gas stove bill of rights. Are they kidding me? What we are talking about voting on this week is deregulating gun accessories that have been used in mass shootings across the country. Really? It is disrespectful, it is dangerous, and it is a distortion of our oath and our job that we have committed to doing here today. So instead of bowing to the gun lobby, we are passing these ludicrous messaging bills. Let's work on solving real problems, or, at a minimum, let's stop these attacks on Social Security and Medicare.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, I am Greg Casar. I am a brand new Member of Congress representing Texas, and I am standing over here on the Republican side of the aisle; not because I am a Republican, I am a Democrat. I want the American people to see that there aren't any Republicans in the seats here behind me on the eve of our default. Where are the Republicans? This is not a simple political disagreement. This is a dire crisis being imposed on the working people of America. The American people could lose millions of jobs. You could lose your house. Your kids could lose their jobs. People could lose their savings. They aren't even here. They want to burn the House down and blame the firefighters for the flames. They are listening to Donald Trump who is saying: Do a default. That is shameful. It is dangerous. There is no patriotism in this. There is no morality in this. We just need five Republicans to sign the discharge petition with us to save the American people. We need the American people to speak up about why the Republicans are not in these empty chairs. The American people can save us. The Democrats are aligned and ready to avoid a default and make sure that billionaires pay their fair share and folks aren't kicked off their healthcare or deprived of food.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Chair, I rise today in opposition to House Republicans' H.R. 2494, which is not about defending police officers, it is about deporting people. This does nothing to defend against assault. This is about discriminating against immigrants. Let me tell you why. Under Texas law, an unwanted touch can be considered assault. My Republican colleague, Congressman Troy Nehls, a former law enforcement officer himself, pointed out during the bill markup that he had ``mixed emotions'' on that potentially leading to deportation. This is not theoretical. Just this month we saw this in Texas firsthand. Evan, an Austin resident, was at our State legislature peacefully opposing a bill there. As the bill was being taken up, the speaker of the house ordered the gallery to be cleared. Hats aren't allowed in the Chamber. As Evan was exiting the gallery, he was carrying his baseball cap in his left hand. An officer grabbed his arm and Evan swung around, surprised. The brim of his basketball cap bumped the officer. Evan was handcuffed and charged with assault by contact, a criminal charge. If Evan wasn't a citizen or had admitted fault, he would be deported under this proposed bill today. Here is another example from 2019. My constituent, Tania, was in mental health crisis. Her friends, family, and neighbors called 911 for help. The police and an ambulance arrived. The police said they needed to handcuff her to take her to the hospital. She was terrified. She was scared. She kicked as she was being handcuffed. The police body camera video has on the recording the officers saying: Thank you. That is now assault on a police officer, a felony charge for kicking. Rather than being taken to the hospital, Tania was booked into the jail. We feared that she would be deported. Because there was time for due process, her lawyers intervened. Members of Congress, such as Congressman Lloyd Doggett, intervened, and Tania was able to get out rather than be deported back to a country that she was brought from as a young child. If this law today had been in place, Tania instead could have been automatically deported. This law undermines due process and radically expands the ability to deport families from the U.S. who have never been charged or convicted of a crime. This bill would separate families and send people potentially to a country that they have never known, all for the brush of a hat or for the pinch of an arm. Mr. Chair, I am sick and tired of preposterous bills being heard in this Chamber. I am sick and tired of hearing the Republicans are for due process, freedom, or individual liberty, when we see bills like this that do nothing to reform our immigration system. This does nothing to increase public safety, and only leaves as collateral damage the freedom, due process, and individual liberties of those who are struggling to make this country a better home for themselves and their families.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, I am the son of immigrants and proud to represent the heart of Texas here in the United States Congress. For generations, my family has moved back and forth between Texas and Mexico, Mexico and Texas. People immigrate. Sometimes they are in search of safety, and sometimes it is for economic opportunity, but always for family and a better life. What folks aren't immigrating for is to bring fentanyl into the country as folks on the other side of the aisle have been talking about time after time after time. In committee it was laid out very clearly that over 90 percent of folks arrested for fentanyl trafficking are U.S. citizens and lawful residents. That is why this Republican anti-immigrant bill, H.R. 2, is cruel, extreme, and not based on fact. It would destroy the asylum system, cage children and families indefinitely, and make the situation at our border worse. In fact, this bill would eliminate funding for much of the remaining legal immigration system that we have, leading to chaos, but chaos, unfortunately, is what top Republican officials want. They want the immigration system to stay broken so that they can blame Democrats for it. This is a case of arsonists blaming the firefighters for the flames. For example, Congressman Castro and I worked with the Biden administration to expedite funding to Texas this month to ensure that migrants can sleep in a safe shelter while they process their immigration case instead of being in a tent on the border. In stark contrast, this Republican bill in front of us today would ban this source for shelters and services. Immigrants sleeping on the streets of Texas may be a better shot for FOX News cameras, but it is a much worse deal for everyday people. In Texas we are still mourning those killed by a mass shooter in Allen. We are seeking justice for the kids and the teachers killed in Uvalde. We haven't fixed our electric grid, and people are struggling to pay their rent and their mortgage. We need help from this Congress, but instead we get hate for immigrants. We should be creating an economy that works for everyone--immigrant and native-born. We should be expanding our freedoms, not ripping away peoples' rights. Let's welcome asylum seekers fleeing violence and catastrophe with a safe and orderly system. Let's create pathways for legal immigration rather than the broken system today that forces people to go around the rules. Let's work toward a safer and more just and more prosperous Western Hemisphere so that we reduce those factors that are pushing mass migration. Let's look at the role of U.S. sanctions that starve people abroad instead of feeding them. Let's recognize that immigrants are a key part of our past and our present in this country. Many of our joint faith traditions call for us to care for our neighbors near and far. I remember when my priest told me the story of how the Holy family was persecuted by King Herod and how Jesus, Mary, and Joseph had to flee across the border into Egypt. They had to cross a big river. The priest said that he forgets whether the river was called the Nile or the Rio Grande, but that is beside the point. Today, our story is no different.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, I am Greg Casar, and I represent the heart of Texas. I rise today to sound the alarm. Extremist Republicans are using the Texas legislature as a testing ground for their most extreme policies that they plan to spread across the country. Right now, top Texas officials are considering new laws to, one, create vigilante bounty hunter groups to go after immigrant families; two, defund our public schools; three, bar doctors from providing healthcare to transgender Texans; four, cap how much renewable energy our State can create; five, ban books and drag shows; six, block water breaks for construction workers; seven, ban citizens from Asian countries from attending public college; eight, they have already banned abortion and now they are going after emergency contraception. This vile blueprint may be the Republicans' plan for our State and our country, but they are not representative of Texas values. Texans take care of our neighbors, look out for each other. Americans want decent healthcare, housing they can afford, and a decent future for their kids. As public servants, we should lead with love and integrity. After all, Texas is a native word that means friendship, not cruelty. I may yield back my time, but not my efforts.

Mr. CASAR

Mr. CASAR. Mr. Speaker, I am Greg Casar, and I represent the heart of Texas. Today, thousands of my constituents are freezing without electricity. As Texans try to survive the cold weather and the climate crisis is being ignored in our State, they are also worried about paying for housing. They are worried because they have had their workers' rights stripped away, reproductive rights stripped away, and voting rights stripped away. They are worried that their kid could be shot in school. These are the concerns of the people. But Republican leadership here is working on none of these issues. Instead, they are trying to redistribute wealth from working-class families to their biggest corporate donors. But even though Texans may be without electricity today, we are far from powerless. We have a history of organizing for change in Texas. The same electricians who are getting the lights back on, the same medics caring for our sick, are sick and tired of right-wing extremism. These working families will be the ones to organize and create a true democracy where the people lead and the politicians follow. Mark these words as my first here in this Chamber.