Barbara Lee

Ms. LEE of California

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. Renel Brooks-Moon as she receives the Key to the City of San Francisco from Mayor London Breed. This prestigious recognition is a testament to Renel's extraordinary contributions to our community and her trailblazing career in broadcasting and sports. Born in Oakland to her beloved educator parents Nathaniel and Juanita Brooks, who inspired her path to achievement and amazing journey and success story, becoming one of the most beloved women luminaries in the Bay Area. A Woodside High School and Mills College graduate, she began her broadcasting career at KCBS and KFRC before breaking through at 106 KMEL in 1986. Later, she woke up the San Francisco Bay Area with her iconic ``Renel In The Morning'' show on 98.1 KISS-FM. She became the San Francisco Giants' public address announcer in 2000 and excelled in the position for 24 years. As one of the first Black women in this role, Renel broke barriers and made history in Major League Baseball. She was the first woman to announce a world championship game in any professional sport and the first to announce MLB's All-Star Game. Renel Brooks-Moon has had a profound impact on our community, not only entertaining and informing us but also being a role model for aspiring broadcasters, particularly women and people of color. Renel's impact extends beyond broadcasting. She has volunteered in community service and received honorary doctorates from Mills College and the University of San Francisco, recognizing her contributions to education and society. Her journey from a young Giants fan to the team's iconic voice that Bay Area fans have loved for more than two decades exemplifies the power of perseverance and believing in your dreams. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Dr. Renel Brooks-Moon. Her legacy as a broadcaster, community leader, and trailblazer will continue to inspire, empower, and uplift the community now and for future generations, making her a true San Francisco Bay Area icon.

Ms. LEE of California

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to deliver my final floor speech as a member of the United States House of Representatives. For 26 years, it has been the privilege of my lifetime to serve my incredible constituents in California's 12th Congressional district. I'd like to first and foremost thank my staff and all the members Team Lee that have worked tirelessly to serve our district and help us achieve so much. These are truly dedicated public servants, and their commitment has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on not only me, but on our district and country. As we say, once a member of Team Lee, always a member of Team Lee. I would also like to thank my family, who have stood beside me through all of the triumphs and challenges of the last 26 years. I could not have done it without them. As I look back on my time in Congress, I feel a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to not only serve my community, but to advance justice, equity, and peace throughout our country and the entire world. It is a gift to serve, and with that gift, we were able to: Save twenty-five million lives around the world from AIDS, through the bipartisan PEPFAR program--arguably the most successful foreign assistance program in American history. Fight back against endless war by securing bipartisan votes to repeal Authorizations to Use Military Force. As Chair of the Appropriations subcommittee on State & Foreign Operations, I worked to expand investments in diplomacy and development, to build a better, safer world. Specifically, I worked to strengthen our presence and partnerships with Africa and the Caribbean. As the official Congressional Representative to the United Nations General Assembly, I worked to support greater international cooperation for fighting poverty, discrimination, and abuses of human rights, as well as working towards global peace and justice. Urge the Surgeon General's office to highlight gun violence as a public health crisis in the U.S. Author legislation to launch the American Women Quarters program, which honors the contribution of American women by featuring their likenesses on U.S. quarters. Introduce the first-ever comprehensive sex education bill, aiming to ensure that students receive medically accurate information on sexual health. Advocate for a shift in federal policy by reducing military spending and addressing the bloated Pentagon budget. Launch the Ron V. Dellums Memorial Fellowship aimed at boosting the number of minority students in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM) fields through robust financial scholarships. And help pass legislation that drastically reduced child poverty in the U.S. through my leadership as a member of the Appropriations committee, among many other things. My final two pieces of legislation serve as bookend moments for me. Last week, alongside former Senator Laphonza Butler, we were able to pass legislation that awarded my mentor and friend, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed upon a civilian from the Congress. The bill was signed by Vice President Harris, who is the pride of my Congressional district. It was truly a beautiful moment to witness. And this week, I'll be introducing legislation to extend the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, otherwise known as PEPFAR. I worked alongside my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and President George W. Bush to establish this legislation over 20 years ago, and in that time the program has saved over 25 million lives around the world. President Bush and I disagreed on virtually everything, but we came together to address one of the most deadly diseases in human history. And together we must continue forging ahead to achieve our goal of an AIDS-free generation by 2030. I'd like to thank the constituents of California's 12th Congressional district, the most enlightened district in the country, for giving me their faith and trust to fight alongside them for a better tomorrow. They elected me to strengthen our communities. To push back against oppression, militarism, and corruption. To fight for legislation that embodies our values of justice, equity, and peace for all people--no matter their race, religion, or sexuality. Fighting this fight on behalf of the East Bay in Washington has been one of the greatest honors of my life. We've made incredible progress--from critical health care reforms at home and abroad, to lowering costs for working families, to enacting historic climate and gun violence legislation. We've got a long way to go. But I'm proud of the work we've accomplished together. Let us keep up the good fight.

Ms. LEE of California. Thank you, Gwen Moore, and I told you: Don't get weary, and you will get there, and you reap what you sow, and you got it. Thank you for being our voice on the Ways and Means Committee. God bless you. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LEE of California. This is how we play jazz, right?

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, let me, once again, thank everyone, all of my colleagues, but especially my constituents, who I considered the most enlightened, most diverse and most progressive, yes, congressional district, for giving me the faith and trust to fight alongside you for a better tomorrow. Also, I just want to say I started with a Scripture, and I want to close with one as I leave this august body. This is Proverbs 16:3. It reminds us of this. It says: Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans succeed. Now, this comes from the Bible: Even in retirement, we are called to commit our actions to God. I believe in the separation of church and state. I also believe in those values that those Sisters of Loretto taught me, and that was to go where the need is the greatest, do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God. Thank you again, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to all of my colleagues for being here tonight, and thank you to the House of Representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, for, yes, being part of Team Lee. Mr. Speaker, I yield to Ms. Moore of Wisconsin. Okay. Gwen Moore is going to close. Since we have 45 seconds, this is how we do it.

Ms. LEE of California. Thank you again, and thank you for being here. Congresswoman Moore, I have to say I am glad you stayed here throughout this Special Order. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Ms. LEE of California. We have an Oakland-Birmingham, Oakland-Selma connection, which is so important because of you, though, Terri.

Ms. LEE of California. So we have this Oakland-Alabama connection.

Ms. LEE of California. That is right.

Ms. LEE of California. Yes.

Ms. LEE of California. Well, Congresswoman Sewell, let me just say thank you. I want to make sure everyone knows you represent Selma, Alabama. She represents the heart and soul of the civil rights movement. Terri Sewell has put Selma and its aspirations and its dreams and its needs on the map of this House of Representatives, and I just wanted to tell you.

Ms. LEE of California. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow.

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, let me tell you what a pleasure it is to work with my friend, Congressman DeSaulnier, because there are very few people who will take on issues that they really aren't quite settled with, and he did. Race, racism, and systemic racism, all the hate that surfaces as a result, really present a clear and present danger to our country. You as a White man really understood what privilege is and understood what the history is. I thank my friend very much for being a partner because that is what this is. We all have to work together. He is supporting my truth resolution, H.R. 40, calling for a truth, racial healing, and transformation commission. Hopefully, we would like an executive order, but what you just said is the rationale, Mark, for why we have to have the truth told about the history of Black people, especially in America, and why only with the truth can we heal, and only then can we move toward transforming this country. My friend has been an example of exactly what we are talking about. I just want to thank you for your brilliance, your leadership, and your sensitivity. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

Ms. LEE of California. I am right next door.

Ms. LEE of California. He has come around all the way, full circle.

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. DeSaulnier), who is my neighbor and friend from next door. Mark DeSaulnier has come to Congress, and we have become very good friends and colleagues. We really chartered some new courses and brought them to Capitol Hill to get our Democratic Caucus to talk about race and racism.

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative and Ranking Member Bobby Scott, the former chair. I thank him for his leadership. I feel that our children's future is secure with him here. Again, as he spoke, I have to go back to Galatians 6:9, where I opened, because I am hearing this over and over again: ``Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.'' I think all of you have spoken to that not only about myself but yourselves, so I thank you. I just pulled the Scripture out of the clear blue sky tonight thinking about what to say, and all of you are validating this. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis), who is my friend and my brother. He is somebody who has worked so hard to make sure that our young people have a second chance. So many have been unjustly incarcerated for nonviolent offenses who should be able to go through rehabilitation, get a job, and go on to live their lives. Danny is the author of the Second Chance Act. He also has worked on sickle cell, diabetes, and all the healthcare issues. He is remarkable. Thank you for being my friend.

Ms. LEE of California. Thank you so much, Paul, for those words and for your friendship and for your leadership and for being someone who I can talk to confidentially. You mentioned my mother. Actually, when she was giving birth, she needed a C-section. They would not admit her to the hospital because she was Black. The bottom line is she almost died in childbirth. The bottom line is I almost didn't get here. I almost didn't breathe. My mother almost died. That is where my fight for women's health, for justice, for gender equality began--at birth. Thank you for that reminder, Paul. Bobby Scott is another Representative who is a great leader, who supports and puts forth policies to help our working men and women, the middle class and low-income people, to really grow the middle class by moving into the middle class. He is also somebody who cares about our young people, education, HBCUs, minority-serving institutions. He is really a man of all seasons. I just want to thank him. He represents another part of my family in Virginia. Paul Tonko represents one part of the Lewis family in New York, and Bobby is my family's Virginia Representative. Thank you again, Bobby.

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend so much for those beautiful words. You are the resident poet, we know, but you are able to articulate how the spirit moves in public policy. So, I thank you for showing us where the North Star is so that we can move in that direction.

Ms. LEE of California. I am going to miss you, too, Congresswoman Lucy McBath. Just look at you and how far you have come in leadership now on that Judiciary Committee and where you are in honor of your son. Just look at what you have done to bring this House together, to focus on the issues of gun violence, working with many, many colleagues. As I listen to you, I am very humbled by what you said, and I am reminded back of the Scripture: Let us not grow weary of doing good. I just want you to stand tall and continue to fight the good fight because the country needs you right here, fighting for life. Thank you very much. God bless you. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my sister, my Palestinian sister whose voice speaks for many, many people in our own country and throughout the world. Rashida Tlaib is not only a voice for people who never had a voice in this body but she is also a great legislator. I always like to tell people, you know, Rashida Tlaib cares about clean water. She cares about public safety. She cares about housing. She cares about making sure that her constituents have the best constituent services in the country, as the best Representative who we all model our district offices after. Rashida Tlaib.

Ms. LEE of California. Representative Moore, thank you very much for reminding us of that, and let me just say because of Republicans and Democrats we have saved 25 million lives, and we must have a permanent clean extension of PEPFAR. President Bush and I disagreed on every single policy. I voted against everything that he put forward, but we came together to save lives, and I thank him. I thank all of those who up until this point have kept this bipartisan and encouraged Republicans and Democrats to continue to do that. I will be working on this from the outside. I thank Representative Moore very much for being here with us tonight, and I hope that you will be able to stay for a few more minutes as soon as I yield to someone else.

Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, we have forwarded this letter to President Biden asking him to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list with at least 20 Members who have signed that letter.

Ms. LEE of California. Well, let me just say to Representative Gwen Moore, I am so happy you came to Cuba in spite of no option for me except to invite you to Cuba because you came back and continued to do the work to help normalize relations with Cuba. All we want are normal relations. There are so many scientific discoveries that Cuba has developed that Americans could benefit from, and there is much we have developed that the Cuban people could benefit from. Let me tell you, there is a treatment that prevents amputations from diabetes. Representative Burgess, who we honored earlier knows about that treatment, Heberprot-P. We saw in the clinics 80 to 90 percent effectiveness used all around the world, but because of the embargo, we weren't able to get a clinical trial here in America. Well, let me just bring you up to date very quickly. This procedure prevents amputations for those who have diabetes, and, of course, the Black communities, the Brown communities have a disproportionate rate of amputations. This is 90 percent effective. Finally, we got clinical trials here. You talk about not giving up. Finally, finally, there is a company now that is in phase 3--I believe it is phase 3--of the clinical trials, so hopefully we will be able to have this treatment in America. Can you imagine us taking 25, 30 years just to get this far and how many people could have benefited from it? While we are talking about Cuba, I was recently there, and I will include in the Record, Representative Moore, on your time a letter to President Biden. Many of us have been trying to remove Cuba from the state-sponsored terrorism list. This is from over 130 civil society organizations of Cuba--not the government, civil society. I am going to read one paragraph: ``Cuba is not a terrorist state. There is absolutely no evidence that may support a claim otherwise, as has been recognized by the overwhelming majority of the international community and many sectors in the U.S., including a number of U.S. Government specialized agencies that, by the way, attach great value''--mind you, great value--``to their professional cooperation with Cuba in their fight against this scourge.'' Mr. Speaker, I include this letter in the Record. Asociacion Cubana de las Naciones Unidas, Havana, November 8, 2024. Mr. Joseph Biden, President of the United States. Esteemed Mr. President: The purpose of this letter, signed by organizations movements, networks, groups and social actors that widely represent the Cuban civil society, is to request that Cuba be removed from the list of terror sponsoring states. This measure defined the Cuba policy pursued by your predecessor. It was not introduced by your administration; however, your administration has enforced it; therefore, your administration is held responsible for its serious consequences. Cuba's designation in that list is arbitrary, and as it is well known, was driven by political motivations. It is also contrary to the norms of civilized coexistence among nations and has highly unfavorable consequences for the operation of the Cuban economy and the well-being of the Cuban people. This action has compounded the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the U.S. government and in place for many years now, and which accumulated financial, social and human damages are beyond calculation. A recently observable consequence has been the surge of Cuban emigration to the U.S. using lawfully regular, as well as irregular channels. Cuba is not a terrorist State. There is absolutely no evidence that may support a claim otherwise, as has been recognized by the overwhelming majority of the international community and many sectors in the U.S., including a number of U.S. government specialized agencies that, by the way, attach great value to their professional cooperation with Cuba in their fight against this scourge. Further to denying the truth, this designation automatically triggers the application of coercive economic measures that preclude Cuba's access to foreign financial and banking institutions and payment agencies, as well as to sources of financing, technologies, and supplies and materials associated with public services in such basic areas as healthcare and education. This designation also hiders Cuba's payments for raw materials, food supplies, medicines, fuel, and equipment and related parts and accessories. It also interferes with Cuba's foreign financial operations, including our country's debt settlement transactions. It deals a hard blow to the Cuban tourist industry and discourages Cuba's foreign business relations. And it halts productions and gives rise to supply gaps and shortages. Our families are suffering the consequences of this unfair label. Our families have endured the wear, pain and loss caused by the application of the coercive economic actions derived from this description. For decades, our capacity to normally and effectively satisfy the needs of their members and build, free from foreign intervention, a legitimate and collective project that contributes to our society has been damaged. Cuba has recently faced a severe energy contingency. It has also been hit by two devastating hurricanes and two earthquakes, which caused additional suffering and material losses to its people and economy. Removing our country from the List of States that allegedly sponsor terrorism would contribute to the economic, social, and psychological recovery of the affected regions and populations, the improvement of our countrymen's living conditions, and the well-being of Cuban families. Mr. President, all we are asking is that you do what is right before the end of your term of office and let justice prevail by removing Cuba from the list of terror sponsoring States.

Ms. LEE of California. Thank you, my sister, Rashida Tlaib. Let me thank you for your strength and for again being a voice that has never been represented before on this floor. Also let me thank you for staying strong and not growing weary, Rashida, because you were my mentee. You were, but it didn't take long for you to get it. I know you, and I see you. I know what it means to be here. Don't grow weary. Keep at it. Thank you again for being here. Paul Tonko, my relatives' Representative and my friend from New York, who I love dearly, thank you for being here this evening. I am going to miss you, but I will be seeing you.