Adriano Espaillat

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise today in celebration of Josephine Baker, a daughter of Harlem and beloved in France, who, in her wake, made history yesterday. Josephine Baker became a bridge between France and the United States, especially in the fight against discrimination. She was an artist, a civil rights leader, a World War II resistance fighter, shining bright both on stage and off it. She was a woman of countless firsts: the first onstage, the first in the movies, and the first Black woman to break the rules and shatter the glass ceilings. Yesterday, she became another first, the first American-born, first Black woman, and first entertainer to be inducted into the French Pantheon. She joins nearly 80 luminaries in this Paris monument, where she will continue to be a bright light for all of us. I commend the French people and President Macron and thank them so much for keeping the legacy of Josephine Baker alive. Thank you so much. Merci beaucoup.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend my colleagues for acting to tackle the climate crisis. Under President Biden's leadership, we are celebrating America's efforts to combat our world's largest existential threat: global warming. Last week, Speaker Pelosi led a diverse group of House Democrats to Glasgow, Scotland. I was part of that group, the COP 26 conference, and our message was clear. The U.S. is proud to be back in the Paris Agreement and will continue to demonstrate our commitment to reach net- zero emissions. Our commitment was met by action, not only with the agreements that were struck during the conference, but also the sound policies included in the Build Back Better Act. The framework's $555 billion investment represents the largest single investment in our clean energy economy in history. This includes buildings, transportation, industry, electricity, agriculture, and climate-smart practices across lands and waters. As an environmental justice policy, the Justice40 acknowledges decades of environmental burdens on Black, Brown, and indigenous communities. Upholding this policy is vital to guarantee that communities that have weathered the costs of climate change finally receive commonsense human rights. Let's build back better. Let's build back green.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, last week, we celebrated Veterans Day. In that spirit, I rise today to honor a man of exemplary service, unwavering dedication to our country, and someone I am proud to call a constituent, Mr. Herb Barret. Mr. Barret is someone who has lived a remarkable life of service. He is a veteran and a former member of the Marine Corps who risked his life for our country in the Korean war--sadly, but often known, as ``the forgotten war.'' Marines live by a set of values and principles, such as honor, courage, commitment. They are the bedrock of our Nation's character, and what Mr. Barret embodies every single day in our community. Throughout his esteemed career, Mr. Barret has shined bright as a beacon of perseverance and commitment, inspiring all of us with his valor along the way. Mr. Barret is a dedicated member of our community in New York City and has laid the groundwork for the next generation of public servants to follow in his footsteps. He is a living example that anything that is possible in this country through hard work, dedication, and perseverance, through the physical, mental, and moral battles faced during combat and while serving in our communities on behalf of our great Nation. He is a man of great integrity, courage, and humility, and I am proud to call him a member of our community. Honoring Dr. Juan Tapia-Mendoza

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I also rise today to honor Dr. Juan Tapia-Mendoza, a fellow Dominican immigrant and New Yorker who has fought tirelessly to achieve the American Dream--and that he did. Before Dr. Tapia-Mendoza opened his pediatric practice, he was a graffiti artist known only as ``C.A.T. 87,'' whose work was found all over the subway cars and across the city of New York in empty lots, particularly in northern Manhattan and beyond. Though he dropped out of school at a young age, his art showcased a strong motivation, and he was able to channel that motivation into his studies and return back to Santo Domingo to study medicine. Upon his return, Dr. Tapia-Mendoza, opened Pediatrics 2000 group, which now has two locations in my district and serves over 20,000 children, supporting not only the health of our children, but their education and literacy as well, fostering the next generation of young leaders in our community. His clinic is also an art gallery, a center that brings together young people in our neighborhood for healthy activities; uniting medicine and art to uplift our children. Dr. Tapia-Mendoza's incredible story was the subject of a recent documentary titled, ``The Graffiti Artist Who Became a Doctor,'' which was recently awarded an Emmy award. Mr. Speaker, I am here not only because he won that Emmy but because he also was there for the entire community during this horrible pandemic. He is a shining example of how tenacity, artistry, and community intersect. I commend Dr. Tapia-Mendoza for his work and for using his story to inspire a new generation of our Latino youth.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor 26 incredibly talented Latina women in the field of literature that I had the pleasure of meeting this morning. These women are a huge part of the Latin American Women Writers Project. They represent the best in our community, the leaders that stand tall today to inspire our youth and our entire community. Their efforts to ensure inclusion and representation in journalism, creative writing, and storytelling, and sharing these ideas with us here today, are commendable. They are laying the groundwork, Mr. Speaker, to uplift and inspire the next generation of Latina writers. I hope that the discussion we had today will continue onward throughout our communities and across this great Nation and that their work will continue to inspire many in our communities, particularly the next generation. They have used their voices to share their stories with our families. Mr. Speaker, I welcome them.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of millions of individuals across our country who rely on public housing to keep a roof over their heads and for millions who need access to safe, stable, and affordable housing across our country. Housing is a basic right and the foundation on which we build our lives and our families, and though it is clear that this is essential, far too many Americans struggle to keep a safe roof over their heads. In fact, homelessness is now at epidemic levels across our country. Particularly in our urban cities, families are homeless. Children, women, seniors, and veterans are homeless. When we speak of the Build Back Better program and our agenda, we speak of introducing the importance of prioritizing the most at-risk communities. This is whom we are focusing on in the Build Back Better agenda, the most at-risk communities in our country. We speak of equitable access to the basic needs of the American people. That is what we speak about when we speak about Build Back Better. We have included provisions that ensure children in need have access to free school lunches. We have worked to expand Medicare benefits for seniors. We have fought to include and boost the child tax credit, which will provide families with much-needed financial health, lifting children, Mr. Speaker, out of poverty. We have included historic provisions that will be better for our Nation for years to come. But today, Mr. Speaker, I want to focus on the significant investments the Build Back Better Act secures for public and affordable housing needs. The Build Back Better Act will make the single largest, most comprehensive investment in affordable housing in our entire history. Over $150 billion for housing is an enormous investment toward solving our pressing housing challenges and needs across the country. Importantly, this bill includes billions to expand rental assistance, $24 billion for new housing vouchers, and as we know, Mr. Speaker, many people are backed up on their rent. But in addition to that, Mr. Speaker, $65 billion to address public housing repair backlog for 2.5 million residents, a significant resource for the National Housing Trust Fund to build and preserve thousands of homes for low-income families who are disproportionately people of color. This is a major investment, an unprecedented investment in housing in my district, which has the largest stock in the New York City Housing Authority of public housing, and it has the highest number of rent- stabilized apartments, and the city of New York will benefit greatly. Due to the COVID-19 global crisis, we are on the brink of a housing crisis, Mr. Speaker, an eviction tsunami, and up to 40 million people in America are at risk of being displaced. This crisis is here, and we want to act on it right now. It will take generations for our Nation to recover. Plus, we are now experiencing a shortage of 7 million affordable homes for working-class and low-income families nationwide. For every 10 households in need, Mr. Speaker, there are fewer than four affordable, available homes. Not a single city, State, or district, has enough housing to meet these dire demands. And even when housing is available, it may not necessarily mean that housing is safe. My district has the largest concentration of public housing and it has, as I said earlier, the highest number of rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. Yet, they lack the critical resources needed to create habitable living. This is a great investment, Mr. Speaker. The Build Back Better program is an immense investment in housing.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 363.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 605, to honor the life and impact of John H. Johnson. Though he was born in Arkansas, and known for his work in Chicago, Johnson's impact isn't limited by geography. In fact, in the village of Harlem, his work is beloved. He was a trailblazer of African-American media, starting his first magazine at 24, going on to have an internationally acclaimed career in publishing, with magazines like Ebony and Jet being globally renowned and internationally recognizable to this very day. Madam Speaker, Johnson said that you have to change images before you can change acts and institutions--and changing acts and institutions, he did. The impact Johnson had on his community and the world of media cannot be understated, and still serves as a role model of perseverance and success to this very day, inspiring the next generation of Black and Brown leaders. November 1 is celebrated in Arkansas as John H. Johnson Day. With great pride, I rise today to support this resolution, but he is also revered and loved in the village of Harlem.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, today I rise in strong support of H.R. 2119--the Family Violence Prevention and Service Improvement Act. This bill heavily invests in resources and programs to protect and support women like Gladys Ricart, a 39-year-old-woman and former constituent of mine who was killed by her ex-boyfriend on her wedding day. After years of physical and mental abuse, she left him to move on with her life, even as he continued to threaten and stalk her. As she moved on, she met her soulmate, and was happy and eager to marry the man of her dreams. What should have been one of the happiest days of her life, was instead her last. Her ex-abuser fatally shot Gladys on her wedding day. But her legacy lives on and in 2001, the Brides March was created to remember Gladys Ricart and to bring awareness to domestic violence. Heartbreakingly, Gladys' story is not isolated or unique. By passing the Family Violence Prevention and Service Improvement Act, we also have an opportunity to honor her memory--her and the hundreds of thousands of women who have stories just like Gladys'. This crucial legislation would put millions of dollars towards expanding support for culturally specific domestic violence programs, investing in community-based prevention initiatives, and creating an underserved population grant program. These resources would help to connect people to advocates and help them safely navigate life during and after leaving an abusive relationship. And as I think of all the resources this legislation will make available, I think of Gladys and the hundreds of women who march on her behalf. I think about the one in three woman, particularly black and trans women, who will experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime. I think of the irreputable, lasting harm domestic violence causes families and children. I think about all these lives that will be catastrophically changed or lost and I know that they deserved more. As we prepare to vote, I implore everyone to think of all the good the Family Violence Prevention and Services Improvement Act will do for all survivors.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of every single TPS holder, DACA recipient, essential worker, and farmworker in this country who have pleaded for this Congress to act; not just today, Madam Speaker, but for the last 35 years. During the pandemic, our Nation's undocumented immigrants rose to the occasion. They kept our grocery shelves stocked, packing warehouses running, and cleaning and sanitizing businesses, caring for our families--particularly our seniors, Madam Speaker--and delivering food right to our doorsteps while this country came to a standstill--to a halt. Our praise and lip service are simply not enough. How can we build back better without delivering for those who delivered for us-- literally delivered for us--during this pandemic? Building back better means providing real reform for our undocumented neighbors. There are about 5 million undocumented immigrants who risked their lives during the worst pandemic in our history. They risked their lives each and every day, and the countless more that kept this country afloat, like our more than 30,000 DACA recipients who stepped up for us and worked on the front lines as physicians, residents, nurses, and paramedics. Madam Speaker, let's stand up for immigrants.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a woman of many firsts, an upstanding member of our community, and someone I am blessed to call a constituent. Her name is Dr. Renee F. Washington Gardner. She is the longest-serving female pastor of Harlem's Memorial Baptist Church in its entire history, dedicating decades of her life in service to church, her community, and God. This past Sunday marked her 17th year of service. She is the first woman to also be named a moderator of the United Missionary Baptist Association in the group's 60-year history. Pastor Gardner is no stranger to shattering glass ceilings and paving the way for the next generation of cleric leaders. Under her guiding principle of unity, hope, and grace, Memorial Baptist Church has proven vital to the strength and resiliency of Harlem, and we are forever indebted. With Pastor Gardner at the helm, I trust that this work is only the beginning, and the Memorial Baptist Church will continue their mission of uplifting our community's most vulnerable and ingraining the spirit of strength into the fabric of our neighborhood.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my good friend and constituent, a veteran, a public health servant, Dr. Jose Contreras Rodriguez, on his retirement after dedicating over 65 years of his life to protect our Nation and the community's health. Dr. Contreras hails from Santiago, the Dominican Republic, and he did his residency at the University Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Before completing his residency, he was drafted by the United States Army to serve during the Vietnam war, where he joined many honorable men and women who risked their lives to defend our freedom and our way of life. After his military service, Dr. Contreras returned to Puerto Rico to complete his residency by 1971. He was also a community doctor. He helped lead efforts to combat the great inequities in the healthcare system and prostate cancer in the male population. Dr. Contreras is a true hero in our community. He is a veteran, a doctor that practiced. He was chief of the department at New York Presbyterian Hospital. For many years he worked for the families in the community of Washington Heights, right there on Fort Washington Avenue, where he still has his office, his practice. Madam Speaker, we congratulate him and we will miss him. We ask that this House would always remember Dr. Jose Contreras.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise today as I do every day in strong support of the millions of undocumented immigrants whose contributions to our communities cannot continue to be overlooked. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to provide sound immigration reform through reconciliation, and I urge my colleagues to join me in prioritizing this timely and long-overdue effort. We must find the collective will in this House, in the Senate, and in the White House to finally resolve this pending issue. The American Dream is for all of us, Madam Speaker. It is for TPS recipients. It is for Dreamers. It is for farmworkers and essential workers who put their lives on the line during the pandemic. How can we build back better without providing real reform for our undocumented immigrants? Or are we to abandon a nation of immigrants? That is the question. Let me be very clear, Madam Speaker: Including immigration reform in budget reconciliation is not without any precedent. While the Senate Parliamentarian's decisions have not gone our way, we must forge ahead and continue to bring solutions to this community. If not now, then when? How many times will we be able to tell vital members of our communities to wait in line to be treated fairly and equally in our country? These are our neighbors, Madam Speaker. These are folks who helped us through the pandemic. These are the food delivery people who came to our homes while we shivered in fear during the pandemic. These are the over 400,000 farmworkers who picked the fruits and the vegetables that we put on our table during the pandemic. These are the home care workers that took care of our very frail seniors, that scrubbed themselves clean before they went to work, and when they went back home, had to do the same not to infect their children. They are heroes. These are American heroes who kept us alive during the pandemic. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to pass much-needed legislation that reforms our broken immigration system. More than two- thirds of all undocumented immigrants work in frontline jobs and are essential workers in industries such as healthcare, home care, transportation, agriculture, food production, and construction, among others. Including sound immigration reform would advance our economic recovery from the pandemic, reduce our national deficit, raise wages, add a cumulative $1.5 trillion to the GDP over a decade, and create more than 400,000 new jobs. President Biden and Vice President Harris have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to pass immigration reform and have expressed strong support for including immigration reform in our budget reconciliation process. It is also broadly supported by the American people. Congress has not passed substantial immigration reform in more than 35 years, Madam Speaker. Due to the Senate filibuster, a cynical remnant of Jim Crow, budget reconciliation provides the only glimmer of hope that will turn this into a reality. It is an unfortunate truth that the other side of the aisle has rejected every proposal, Madam Speaker, every single proposal, and obstructed every single piece of immigration reform legislation that we have put forward. The filibuster has once again blocked our progress every step of the way. For decades, we have failed to sign into law permanent legislative solutions to this problem. Budget reconciliation is the only tool we now have available. Millions of immigrants in our country have lived their lives in fear and uncertainty for far too long. They are counting on us to get this done, and I am committed to making it happen. I will always stand behind asylum seekers, refugees, and families who come to this country to make a better life for themselves, just as I once did. That is the promise of America, Madam Speaker.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of refugees who are at the border seeking refuge and asylum due to economic conditions and a climate crisis in Haiti, where they witnessed a horrible earthquake and several devastating storms. They seek shelter, food, and opportunities. In recent days, Haitians have shown up at our door. They are looking to get our help. America has a longstanding tradition to help refugees. It is simply inhumane to turn our backs on them. They have witnessed horrendous climate conditions, the assassination of a President, and instability in their Nation for many decades. We must continue to hold the torch. We must continue to provide access to each and every one of those refugees who come to our door, and we will be able to determine which are allowed to be granted asylum. Let's uphold our legacy of America, a nation of immigrants.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, we are living through a 21st century assault on the right to vote--the likes of which we haven't seen since Jim Crow. Without a doubt, it's the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War--and future generations will never forgive us if we don't meet this moment. Meeting this moment requires us to act--and we need the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. The right to vote is sacred, the cornerstone of our Republic. But like Franklin Roosevelt warned--our Republic, if we can keep it. Today's vote is a referendum on how willing we are to stand by our oath--the oath we took to protect our democracy. We must keep it. Our democracy depends on how we vote today. Vote to protect the future of this country.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor the life and work of the most prominent merengue artist in the world who, sadly, passed away yesterday, the great Johnny Ventura. Johnny Ventura started his career in the 1960s with his Johnny Ventura El Combo Show. His career quickly flourished both nationally and internationally with his contagious music. He also embarked on a life of public service as the mayor in Santo Domingo and a member of the Congress of the Dominican Republic. Just last February, we honored him here in Washington, D.C., as part of the yearly event, Dominicans on the Hill. He prided himself in being the ambassador of merengue and, as such, of the Caribbean and the world. We will always remember him for his contagious songs, including ``I am the Merengue,'' ``If I am born again,'' ``Tobacco,'' and ``Patacon Pisao''; ``Yo soy el Merengue,'' ``Si vuelvo a nacer,'' ``El tabaco,'' y ``Patacon Pisao.'' (English translation of the lyrics spoken in Spanish is as follows:) The sound of the bass drum stops today The sound of the saxophone rests The guira also rests today. El sonido de la tambora para hoy El sonido del saxofon descansa La guira tambien descansa hoy. We will always remember him for his great service to people, and for his music and dedication to music. He will always be present in our hearts through his songs that often were funny and sometimes melancholic as he sang to the diaspora. Madam Speaker, as you know, folks from all over the world find themselves in an economic exile and, at times, think of the family they left behind. They think of the wonderful beaches, rivers, and mountains that they left behind, and they could only claim that feeling through songs like the songs that Johnny Ventura often played for all of us. He had a contagious smile and a wonderful rhythm of music with African bass instruments. Adios, Johnny Ventura. Good-bye, ``Merengue Artist to the Bass Drum''; adios, ``Merenguero Hasta la Tambora.'' Good-bye, ``Oldest Horse''; adios, ``Caballo Mayor.''

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 20-year anniversary of the Clinton Foundation opening its headquarters in Harlem, USA. For the past two decades, the Clinton Foundation has been at the heart of the Harlem community, empowering local businesses and working to improve the neighborhood. This is, as you know, Mr. Speaker, an iconic neighborhood in the United States, and it is the center of the African diaspora in the United States, if not the world. Throughout their time in Harlem, the Clinton Foundation has helped facilitate the microfinancing of 136,000 low-income women entrepreneurs. It has created sustainable models to help foster entrepreneurship, and it has undertaken critical projects to address inequalities in this community. From 2002 to 2013, the foundation operated the Clinton Economic Opportunity Initiative, offering technical and managerial support to local entrepreneurs. However, the work did not stop at the boundaries of Harlem. In fact, in 2013, the foundation expanded their mission of unlocking opportunity and addressing inequality across our country and the world. Due to the extraordinary work of the foundation, 430 million people in more than 180 countries have benefited from the Clinton Global Initiative. Twenty-one million people now have access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications, 1.2 million children's books have been distributed to under-resourced communities across the world, and 71 megawatts of clean energy projects have been facilitated in small island nations. In the face of the pandemic, the Clinton Global Initiative also launched Action Network which brings together leaders from business, government, and philanthropic sectors to take action and address inequalities facing historically excluded groups. Now, as we look to the challenges of the next 20 years, we know that the Clinton Foundation will continue to sharpen their focus on partnership building, expanding upon new horizons, and empowering more and more communities. I want to commend the Clinton Foundation on their prodigious work of the past 20 years and their strong presence in the village of Harlem and thank former President Clinton and former Secretary Clinton for their continued dedication to furthering humanity and prioritizing historically excluded and underserved communities.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I enthusiastically support the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. I am glad that Congress is finally taking action to formally memorialize Juneteenth as a Federal holiday just a year after my home State of New York took this step. Juneteenth is a reminder of a sad chapter in our history but one that we overcame, and this holiday will be a reminder that our freedom is not guaranteed but rather something that we will always fight for. While this new holiday is an important step, in the backdrop, there are numerous efforts underway to limit the teaching of uncomfortable parts of our history, and there is an insidious plan to restrict the most important of our rights, the right to vote. Let this new holiday be not just a reminder but also a call to action that we must continue to work to secure our rights and freedoms.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Suozzi for his leadership on this bill and for working with me on this fight for justice. I also want to thank Chairwoman Waters and Ranking Member McHenry for working with us to get this bill out of the committee. Today, I rise in support of this bill to honor a group of brave men who have yet to receive their due commendation: the Harlem Hellfighters. This distinguished group of African-American and Puerto Rican men were patriots of the highest valor. Their bravery, dedication, perseverance, and service helped the United States and our Allied forces in our fight to secure victory. But, Madam Speaker, these fighters weren't even permitted to serve alongside their fellow White soldiers. Our government threw them to the side--assigning them to a unit of the French Government rather than our own. They put their lives on the line for the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, despite doing so at a time when many like them did not enjoy the very freedoms they fought to protect.

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, these men spent 191 days in combat and were the most active regiment throughout the entire First World War. Under constant enemy fire and cast away from the nation they swore an oath to protect, they still persevered, fighting until the end. There is no doubt that their heroism impacted the outcome of the war and, undoubtedly, American history as well. This bill is a necessary first step to righting the decades-old injustice. It is about time the Harlem Hellfighters' invaluable contributions be commended and commemorated, and their service be formally recognized by our government. Let's finally give these men the Congressional Gold Medal they deserve.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, congratulations to our chair, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, for her hard work. Madam Speaker, a day after passing the historic commission with robust bipartisan help, we are here now to support this emergency security funding bill. The attacks on January 6 exposed the dire state of our Capitol's security infrastructure. As a member of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, I have been alarmed to learn of just how outdated our security infrastructure really is, and how we had let it deteriorate for far too long. The funding package that we are about to pass today will change that. It will allocate $2 billion in investment, including updating cameras on Capitol grounds, purchasing new protective equipment, increasing the number of frequency of security sweeps, et cetera. I called for many of these changes and improvements back on January 6 and January 7. I am glad to be here to support this. Madam Speaker, I rise to support this bill.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the underlying bills. January 6 was an unprecedented event that exposed the real threat to the beating heart of our democracy: our Capitol and all of us who work in it. Shortly after the insurrection, I expressed the need to form a 9/11- style commission, not only to get to the bottom of this and who was responsible for it, but also to ensure that it never happens again. This is exactly what these bills do, Madam Speaker. The security of our Capitol and our democracy is not a partisan issue. However, the other side of the aisle has attempted to turn this into a sideshow, Madam Speaker, into a circus. I submit to you that the attempted murder of our Vice President, the attempted murder of our Speaker, and the attempted murder of any one of us is not a sideshow, it is not a circus, it is a real threat to everyone across this great land. Taken together, these two critical bills will help us finally recover from the January 6 insurrection. We must ensure that these sacred Halls will never again be overrun by racist thugs against our democracy.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, yesterday, April 19, marked the 32nd anniversary of a terrible assault, a sexual assault in Central Park that marked the history and marked really the story of New York City. But it was also one that resulted in the wrongful arrest and conviction of five young Black and Latino boys for a crime that they did not commit. For years, they were known as the Central Park Five. But after years of injustice and now long after being exonerated, they are now known as the Exonerated Five. These young men were minors. They were really young boys who were innocent of every single crime they were charged of, and still spent from 6 to 13 years behind bars. They have faced a horrendous story. They have names. They have faces. They have first names and last names, and they are: Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. They will be here in the Capitol, Madam Speaker, tomorrow. Each one of these young men were deprived of their childhoods, of their innocence, and, most important, of their future. Racial bias and bigotry were at the crux of these young men being deprived of their civil liberties. It is an old tale. These young men aren't alone in their stories. They are the stories of so many young Black men, Brown men, and Black and Brown young women in our country. As we brace for a court decision, Madam Speaker, they will be visiting the Capitol as free men tomorrow. But this isn't a story just of misfortune. It is also a story of resilience, the resilience of little boys who were turned into men far too soon; the resilience of a community that never stopped fighting for justice, including grassroots organizing and Council Member Bill Perkins; and the resilience of those that continue to fight today, continue to fight for change, and continue to fight for a new just criminal justice system. This is an opportune debate, Madam Speaker, as we brace for a court decision that we hope will be just and that the Nation will be in peace; a criminal justice system that, today, often criminalizes far too many Black and Brown young people. We see stories like theirs replay in the evening news each and every day. So we must never forget. When we see another Black and Brown young man being targeted, pulled over, handcuffed, shot to death in the street, knees on their necks, all while they are innocent, we know that this is not justice. That is why we need to continue in our fight transforming policing in our country. We know that is not justice. We cannot allow law enforcement to get away with use of excessive force on many young people across this country and ruining their futures. We know that is not justice. End the choke hold. End the no-knock warrants. Transform our criminal justice system. End over-policing of Black and Brown people. Abolish the death penalty. Dismantle the institutions that are rooted in white supremacy. No one should have to lose their life or be robbed of their future, Madam Speaker, because we didn't step up and fix our broken system. We know that is not justice. Madam Speaker, 32 years ago, five young men from Harlem were robbed of their future, but alas they rose above and stand tall today as leaders, advocates, and activists fighting tirelessly to reimagine how we see justice in our country. They have given back to their communities and to our country, and we thank them for their perseverance, for using their voices for change and for coming here to this Capitol tomorrow. I hope that we use this anniversary on both sides of the aisle as a reminder of how much work still needs to be done to transform our institutions to serve every single one of us.

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 121. members recorded pursuant to house resolution 8, 117th congress Adams (Brown) Allred (Wexton) Baird (Walorski) Barragan (Beyer) Bass (Brownley) Beatty (Lawrence) Buchanan (Cammack) Carbajal (Correa) Cardenas (Gonzalez, Vicente) Costa (Correa) Crenshaw (Fallon) Donalds (Cammack) Green, Al (TX) (Thompson (MS)) Grijalva (Garcia (IL)) Higgins (NY) (Kildee) Jackson Lee (Butterfield) Kind (Connolly) Kirkpatrick (Stanton) Langevin (Lynch) Lawson (FL) (Evans) Lee (CA) (Khanna) Lieu (Beyer) Lowenthal (Beyer) McEachin (Wexton) Meng (Clark (MA)) Mfume (Connolly) Moore (WI) (Beyer) Moulton (Perlmutter) Napolitano (Correa) Omar (Pressley) Palazzo (Fleischman) Payne (Pallone) Pocan (Raskin) Porter (Wexton) Rush (Underwood) Sewell (DelBene) Stefanik (Katko) Trahan (Lynch) Watson Coleman (Pallone) Welch (McGovern) Wilson (FL) (Hayes) Wilson (SC) (Timmons)

Mr. ESPAILLAT

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I include in the Record a letter from the Equal Rights Advocates in support of H.R. 7. Equal Rights Advocates, April 14, 2021. Re Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7) and vote no on harmful amendments. Dear Representative: As the House votes on the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 7), Equal Rights Advocates strongly urges you to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 7, without amendments that limit its scope or undermine its critical protections. Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is a national, non-profit legal organization based in San Francisco, California, whose mission is to protect and expand economic and educational access and opportunities for women and girls. We have a long history of working to address pay discrimination and to close the gender wage gap. We have litigated numerous cases relating to pay discrimination and regularly provide information and resources to employees who contact our free legal information hotline regarding unlawful gender and race-based pay disparities. We also advocate for various bills at the state-level to ensure economic and gender justice for women and families. Most recently, ERA has co-sponsored SB 973 (Jackson, 2020) which requires California employers with 100 employees or more to submit an annual pay data report to the Department of Industrial Relations outlining the compensation and hours worked of its employees by gender, race, ethnicity, and job category. This allows state agencies to more efficiently identify patterns of wage disparities and encourages employers to analyze their own pay practices to ensure they are fair and lawful. Additionally, ERA co-sponsored the California Fair Pay Act, SB 358, (Jackson, 2016) which amended and strengthened our state's Equal Pay Act to prohibit employer secrecy rules, clarify that workers must be paid equally to coworkers of another sex who perform substantially similar work, unless the employer proves that the disparity was due to a legitimate, job-related, bona fide factor not based on or derived from sex. We also cosponsored AB 168 (Eggman, 2017) which prohibits California employers from inquiring about prior salary and requires them to provide the pay Scale for a position in question upon reasonable request and AB 2282 (Eggman, 2018) which clarified that prior salary cannot be used on its own, or in combination with a lawful factor, to justify a wage differential under the California Equal Pay Act. Finally, ERA also chairs Equal Pay Today, a national collaboration of organizations working at the local, regional, and federal level to close the gender wage gap. Today in the United States, despite the passage of previous equal pay legislation, including the critically important Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the gender pay gap remains pervasive. Women, even those who work full-time and year round, still only earn 80 cents to a man's dollar. This gives rise to a nationwide pay gap of $900 billion every year. For women of color, the pay gap is even larger. For every dollar earned by a non-Hispanic white man, Latina women earn only 53 cents, Native American women only 58 cents, and Black women only 61 cents. These large pay gaps, although of varying sizes across demographics of women, prove harmful to the economic security of women and families across the country. The negative economic consequences of these gender pay gaps are especially pronounced as ``mothers are primary or sole breadwinners in half of U.S. households with children.'' Of these female-headed households, one-quarter of them fall below the poverty line. As it stands, the gender and race pay gaps are closing at a glacial pace. At current rates, the gender wage gap will not close until 2059. For women of color, the picture is even bleaker. It will not be until 2124 that Black women receive equal pay to white men and not until 2233 that Latinas receive the same. Now is the time for action. The Paycheck Fairness Act is an important step in accelerating the closing of the gender pay gap. Among many provisions, the Paycheck Fairness Act would bar retaliation for discussing or disclosing wages. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, across the country, about half of workers were prohibited or strongly discouraged from disclosing their wages to other employees. Yet, when an individual is unable to discuss wages with other employees, it becomes exceedingly difficult to determine if one is making less than one's colleagues. By ending the practice of pay secrecy, the Paycheck Fairness Act would make it harder for employers to keep pervasive practices of pay discrimination hidden. In addition, the Paycheck Fairness Act would also prohibit employers from relying on salary history when setting the wages of their employees. This provision is critical as the practice of relying on prior salary can lead to a single act of pay discrimination following a woman throughout her career. One year out of college, women are already earning 7 percent less than their male colleagues, even after controlling for factors such as college major, occupation, or hours worked. If a woman's prior salary is used by future employers, the gender pay gap will continue to persist as a depressed past salary continues to be used to determine future wages. Prohibiting employer reliance on salary history will help stop the perpetuation of unequal pay. Another crucial provision in this version of the Paycheck Fairness Act is the commitment to pay data collection. As mentioned above, ERA fought for pay data collection at the California state-level and secured this via SB 973 (Jackson, 2020). The need to ensure equal pay is now more apparent than ever during the current COVID-19 health and economic crisis, which has exposed the lasting harm of unequal pay and other contributors to economic security on women, and in particular, women of color. Pay data collection helps uncover pay discrimination, which is a major contributor to the overall gender and race-based wage gaps. Recognizing that pay discrimination is difficult to detect and address, the Obama Administration announced a proposed revision to the Employer Information Report (EEO-1) to include the reporting of pay data by gender, race and ethnicity beginning in 2018. For more than 50 years, large companies have been submitting these EEO-1 reports with demographic information to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This data has helped the agency to identify patterns of occupational segregation and discrimination and enforce federal equal pay and anti- discrimination law. However, the Trump Administration put a halt to the implementation of this new rule, dealing a significant blow to the fight for equal pay. The Paycheck Fairness Act would also close loopholes that allow employers to pay women less without a legitimate business justification and would provide the same robust remedies for sex-based pay discrimination as race and ethnicity based discrimination. It would also require wage data collection and support salary negotiation skills training programs to give women the tools to advocate for higher wages. Salary negotiation workshops have been shown to be highly effective. For example, in a study conducted following the free salary negotiation workshops put on by the city of Boston, the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston found that nearly half of the women who were interviewed had either successfully negotiated a pay raise or starting salary that brought them either to or above the market rate following the training. As the bill states, these continuing pay disparities have devastating impacts on women, especially women of color. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have found this to be even more true. Since last February, 2.4 million women have exited the workforce, or, been pushed out of the workforce, highlighting a dramatic regress for gender equity. More and more women are forced to stay home in order to care for children and loved ones while men continue to work. Before the pandemic, ``women did, on average, three times more unpaid care work than men, and this responsibility has heightened since the pandemic given school and childcare closures, and increased care needs for elderly relatives.'' Women who are able to remain in the workforce, however, are still paid less than their male colleagues, especially Black women and women of color. COVID-19 has exacerbated these long-standing gender and racial inequities. Now, more than ever, elected officials must recognize these disparate impacts and deliver solutions to American women. Without continued efforts to provide women with the tools to challenge and unearth pay discrimination and provisions to keep employers from perpetuating persistent inequalities, the gender pay gap will not close. The Paycheck Fairness Act is an important step on the path towards a future where women can stand on equal economic footing to their male counterparts. For these reasons, we are proud to support the Paycheck Fairness Act and urge you to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. Jessica Stender, Senior Counsel, Workplace Justice & Public Policy.