Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, briefly, I think one of the things that is important to acknowledge is that to have such a broad and vague provision in what qualifies as promotion, it includes research and, one could argue, primarily affects scientific research to prevent us from actually having the evidence to assess these substances for what they are. Currently, much of the research that is being conducted right now is reliant on private funding, or the stigma and fear and the chilling effect associated with having these provisions on the books, which are largely unnecessary, prevents such critical research from being funded. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Correa), my colleague.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, with acknowledgment of that point, I think many of us have a shared outcome and a shared goal here, which is to help people who are hurting. Right now, more than 40,000 people die in the United States of opioid overdoses annually. At least one in two PTSD patients cannot tolerate or do not respond adequately to existing treatment. We have promising indications that certain drugs that, frankly, are unjustly, in my opinion, placed on a schedule I list have promising outcomes for people who are suffering from PTSD, including our veterans. We have to have the research in order to develop these holistic, whole person treatments. That research deserves to be in the realm of the public. That research deserves to be eligible for public funding. A blanket, vague ban that was borne out of fear and the paranoia of the war on drugs should not be defining the limits of our ability to act responsibly today. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, it is such an honor to be here just over 2 years after we introduced the original Green New Deal resolution, which has now inspired a great deal of similar resolutions and Green New Deal resolutions adopted and introduced into municipalities and States across the country. Not only have similar resolutions been introduced, but we also have seen inspiration for other forms of Green New Deal legislation, like the Green New Deal for Public Housing, the Green New Deal for Public Schools, and beyond. But I think one thing that is very important for us to discuss is a very urgent matter, which is the infrastructure package that is right here before Congress that is being negotiated by both the House and the Senate. While I certainly wish sometimes that our legislation was informed primarily by the legislators that are here writing this legislation, by communities that are impacted by this legislation, it goes without saying that there is a great deal of dark money involved in the fight on climate change, and that dark money is intended for us to not act in this situation. We have lobbyists from companies like ExxonMobil bragging about their role in shaping our Federal legislation and curtailing our ambitions and in fighting against key provisions to draw down our carbon emissions. Whenever I see something like this, whenever I see how dark money and lobbyists act as a wedge and a cudgel between elected officials and public servants and the people that we are supposed to represent, not only do I think it is heartbreaking, but it is very much tragic. There is a key issue that we have here in acting on climate, and the big part of that issue is something that we call kind of a principal- agent problem where the people in charge of making decisions are simply not aligned and not incentivized to make the right ones because they are not feeling the impact of it. I get concerned when we have conversations that the politics of the day get involved and intercede, and they complicate the policy for a generation. It is so critically important because I can't help but imagine that so many of the people that are in charge of blocking action on climate will not see the world that they are leaving to generations to come. We have a moral responsibility to leave this world better than we found it. This is not about theory anymore. This is not about challenging the science anymore. In New York City just yesterday, people woke up having a harder time breathing and having a harder time seeing the horizon because of the smoke from the Bootleg fires out in Oregon coming out to our city. Wildfires will come and impact all of us. Floods and waters will come to impact all of us. But they will not impact all of us equally. The most vulnerable communities will be left behind, and we can stop it. It doesn't have to be this way. Not only can we stop it, and not only can we draw down our emissions, but we can create millions of jobs doing so--millions of good union jobs. We can create a civilian climate corps. We can transition to renewable energy. We can build infrastructure that all people can enjoy that is not just attuned to the wealthy. We can restore our land. We can live in harmony with an economy where we can care for one another instead of extracting off of each other. We can build this world, and this world is close. It is so close. It is so close. That is why we see dark money mobilizing the way that it is right now, because they know that we can win. Hopefully, in this package, we will continue to win. But this fight does not stop now. It does not stop with this infrastructure package. It will not stop, frankly, throughout the course of our lives because we have a responsibility to leave this world a better place for ourselves and our children.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer six amendments to the INVEST in America Act. It is imperative that any infrastructure bill that we work on and is passed by Congress helps to achieve two goals: one, address the history of injustice and displacement that traditional and historic infrastructure investment has imposed on communities of color and working people, like the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway; and the second is to prepare for and create good, dignified union jobs in building the infrastructure that helps mitigate climate change. One amendment that I am offering today would double the funding to replace lead water infrastructure in schools. In the richest country in the world, no child should be poisoned by their classroom water fountain, yet that is exactly the case for millions of American schoolchildren. In New York City alone, at least 400 schools, many in the Bronx, contained faucets with elevated lead levels as recently as 2019. I am also offering an amendment today with Representative Moulton to increase rail funding by 20 percent. Mr. Speaker, I urge support and passage of these amendments.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, during rollcall vote No. 173 and H.R. 1374, I mistaken recorded my vote as ``yes'' when I should have voted ``no.''

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I know this has been a very difficult week for us as a global community, as communities that are concerned for human rights, all human rights in general, and in particular, the rights of Palestinians and Israelis alike that have been impacted by the fear and violence of this week. Now, what I think is, you know, important is that--I will start with a story. As a little girl, my family comes from the island of Puerto Rico, and I grew up visiting my family on the island of Vieques, communities on the island of Vieques, where the United States bombed its own territories, its own communities. And I would go to sleep as a little girl to the sound of U.S. bombs detonating. Practice is what it was called at the time. Practice. And when I saw those air strikes that are supported with U.S. funds, I could not help but wonder if our communities were practice for this. This is our business because we are playing a role in it. And the United States must acknowledge its role in the injustice and human rights violations of Palestinians. This is not about both sides. This is about an imbalance of power. When I first got here in 2019, the Israeli Government refused to admit two Members of the United States Congress, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, into the country. They banned Members of this very body because of who they were. They said it was a sign of weakness. We have to have the courage to name our contributions, and sometimes I can't help but wonder if the reason we don't do that, if we are scared to stand up to the incarceration of children in Palestine, is because maybe it will force us to confront the incarceration of children here on our border. If by standing up to the injustices there, it will prompt us to stand up to the injustices here. We have a responsibility. And if we have historically said and committed to a role as an honest broker, then we must fulfill that role. That means we have to be honest with ourselves, with what our aid supports. We have to be honest and ask ourselves questions like why we are using our veto power on the U.N. Security Council in preventing statements from being released about concerns for this violence alike. The President and many other figures this week stated that Israel has a right to self-defense, and this is a sentiment that is echoed across this body. But do Palestinians have a right to survive? Do we believe that? And, if so, we have a responsibility to that as well.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, while at a hearing with the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Subcommittee on Environment, I missed the Roll Call No. 132 vote. Had I been present, I would have voted: ``yea'' on rollcall No. 132.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day. Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of representing an incredibly diverse community of individuals at home in New York 14, many of whom are Tibetan. In fact, one of the largest constituencies of Tibetans in the world makes its home in New York 14. For decades, the Tibetan people have bravely fought for their freedom, including to seek and fight for the freedom to simply be Tibetan: to speak their language; to practice their Buddhist religion; to sustain their culture, their traditional medicine, and their land; and to live freely in their own country. It is the responsibility of all those who value freedom of speech and expression to stand with them against gross human rights abuses. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand with the Tibetan residents of New York 14 and all those across the country in their righteous fight against persecution.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, 29 days ago, on January 6, 2021, insurrectionists attacked our Capitol seeking to overturn the results of our Nation's election. Twenty-nine days ago, the glass in and around this very Chamber was shattered by gunshots, clubs, and by individuals seeking to restrain and murder Members of Congress duly elected to carry out the duties of their office. Twenty-nine days ago, Officer Sicknick, who just laid in honor yesterday in our Nation's Capitol, was murdered on the steps just outside this hallowed floor. Two Capitol Police officers have lost their lives since, in addition to the four other people who died during the events of January 6. Twenty-nine days ago, food service workers, staffers, and children ran or hid for their lives from violence deliberately incited by the former President of the United States. Sadly, less than 29 days later, with little to no accountability for the bloodshed and trauma of the 6th, some are already demanding that we move on, or, worse, are attempting to minimize, discredit or belittle the accounts of survivors. In doing so, they not only further harm those who were there that day and provide cover for those responsible, but they also send a tremendously damaging message to survivors of trauma all across this country that the way to deal with trauma, violence, and targeting is to paper it over, minimize it, and move on. Sadly, this is all too often what we hear from survivors of trauma as the reason why they don't get care; that what they experienced wasn't bad enough or too bad to talk about; or that they are afraid of being invalidated, accused of exaggeration or making a mountain out of a mole hill. As a result, thousands, if not millions, deny themselves the care that they need and deserve to live better lives. Twenty-nine days ago, our Nation's Capitol was attacked. That is the big story, and in that big story resides thousands of individual accounts just as valid and important as the other. Tonight, for this Special Order, we will begin to hear and commit to the Congressional Record just some of those many stories. I thank my colleagues who have bravely come forward today to share their accounts. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch).

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Espaillat).

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips).

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon).

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I think that what Representative Tlaib speaks to is so powerful and so important because when we attack not just Members of Congress and focus on them because of their gender, their faith, their race, their creed, we make everyone on this complex feel unsafe and feel less than safe. Our seats do not belong to us. They belong to the people of the United States. We, as Members who come in and leave this Chamber, are not permanent fixtures. There are so many others in this country who see themselves in the 435 Members of this body. And to see individual Members targeted, demeaned, singled out by virtue of how they were born is to single out and demean so many people in this country who see themselves on this floor. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. Bush), a powerful woman and leader that so many in our country see themselves in.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Bush for her comments today and for how she carries herself in this Chamber every day, which is just a powerful demonstration of why so many people are inspired by her example. Madam Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, lastly, I would like to close, speaking to some of the individuals who have already been mentioned, and some of the folks who have already been mentioned in prior remarks: our staff, our Capitol Police, our House clerks, we thank you. We know how many of you were put in the line of danger because of the job that you have. We know and felt how many staffers were willing to put themselves on the line in order to protect the Members that they serve alongside, and that is a weight that no one should have to carry. And so we say thank you to our House clerks. We say thank you to every single staff member of the United States Congress. We say thank you to our food service workers. We say thank you to our custodial workers, sweeping up the glass on the floor shattered by white supremacists, cleaning up after their mess. There are not enough ways to say thank you. We say thank you to our Capitol Police who were willing to defend us. And, again, to our staffers we say thank you. I would be remiss if I did not specifically thank my staffer right here to my left, Gerardo Bonilla Chavez, who was with me on the day of the attack, and who did everything he could to protect me. I want his community to know that he is a hero. I want his parents and his family to know that he is a hero. Our staff already know that he is a hero, and I believe he is a hero, too. And I know it is not just him. He will be the first one to say that. But to every one of our House clerks, we say thank you; to our Capitol Police we say thank you; to our food service workers, our custodial workers, every person here that was standing to fight for our democracy, we thank you. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the centennial anniversary of the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights by sharing some of their rich history in New York's 14th Congressional District. The center was founded as the Queens Independent Society in 1920 when a few Jewish families looked for a safe space to congregate in Jackson Heights. The center was first called the Queens Independent Society because the term ``Jewish'' was not permitted at the time. The original building itself was based in Woodside, an adjacent neighborhood to Jackson Heights, because at the time Jews were not welcome in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights. However, in 1928, the center was able to rename itself the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights, and in the 1950s, they officially moved their brick and mortar into the neighborhood where they are housed today. Today, the center is known in the community as an inclusive and accepting space, hosting a number of diverse community events throughout the year, as well as housing our beloved Queens Center for Gay Seniors. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights. Thank you for your ongoing service to our community.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address what is top of mind to Americans across the country, and that is the extraordinary economic and health hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout this year. The reason I decided to rise today is because we are here convening in Washington, and just a day or two ago, the Senate majority leader, Senator McConnell, decided to break the Senate. He broke the Senate as there are thousands of people in Texas lined up for food lines. He broke the Senate while hospitals no longer have beds to house the sick. He broke the Senate and dismissed the Senate while 30 million Americans are on the brink of eviction. He dismissed the Senate when every single day when we go back to our communities, people are asking us: Is there going to be help? Is there going to be a second stimulus check? Are we going to get the resources that we need? He broke the Senate. And in breaking the Senate, we are abandoning our people. Thanksgiving is around the corner, and there are millions of Americans that won't be able to afford a meal to eat, that don't know if they will be kicked out of their home, that are unsure if they are going to have to quit their job to care for their child. And we are having entire bodies, and the Senate prides itself as one of the most deliberative bodies, they abandoned them. The number of Americans living in poverty since May has grown by 8 million people, since just May 2020. According to a study from Columbia University, this rise in poverty has been concentrated in Black and Latino children and people. The CARES Act stimulus checks and unemployment benefits lifted more than 18 million individuals in the United States out of monthly poverty in April alone. But this number fell from 18 million to 4 million individuals in August and September after unemployment benefits were expired. Just 44 percent of people in the United States are very confident that they can afford the needed food that will be necessary for the next 4 weeks. That means the majority of people in the United States are not very confident in their ability to eat over the next 4 weeks, according to a new Census survey data. About 10 percent, or 3.5 million households, are not at all confident in their ability to eat the week before Thanksgiving, and the Senate broke. It is unconscionable, unconscionable leadership to abandon our people. And while we are arguing about negotiations, and while we are arguing about points, people are going hungry. And we are dismissing their needs as blue State needs or as bailouts depending on what party you voted for. Hunger has no party. Illness has no party. And when we allow suffering to be alleviated or concentrated based on political affiliation, we are doing a disservice to our entire Nation. This uncertainty in food reflects food hardship across the country, with 5.6 million households with children struggling to put enough food on the table in the last 7 days. Landlords filed at least 43,500 evictions in 17 major cities from March until September. An estimated 13.4 million adults living in rental housing today--nearly one-in-five renters--were not caught up on rent. Small businesses don't know if they are going to survive or exist in a month, in a week, in January. We cannot afford to wait for a new administration or another election, or a political state of play. We need to get people help now, and the Senate broke. They broke. We are supposed to be here to work for everyday people. We are not supposed to be here to work for political donors or political favors or the powerful. We are here to serve the people who are most vulnerable, all the way up to the top. But we start with the people most in need. Our country is going hungry on the week before Thanksgiving, and the Senate broke. I don't care what party you are. It is an abandonment of our responsibilities as elected officials who are charged with acting in the public trust. The unemployment rate jumped in April to a level not seen since the 1930s and still stood at 6.9 percent in October. Some 10.8 percent of Black workers and 8.8 percent of Latino workers were unemployed in October compared to 6 percent of White workers. Last week, 1.1 million Americans filed new unemployment claims. Today, 4.4 million Americans are receiving pandemic emergency unemployment compensation, up from 1.4 million in August. Last week was the 35th straight week total initial claims were greater than the worst week of the Great Recession, and the Senate broke. You know, I want to address some of the claims, because yesterday I said that we need to make sure that people get economic relief due to these shutdowns. And I was surprised to hear so many Republicans now concerned about how we are going to pay for it or using other people's money. But the Senate majority leader wasn't concerned about other people's money when he authorized a $4 trillion leveraged bailout for Wall Street in March. He wasn't concerned about where that money came from. He wasn't concerned about how we were going to pay for that. It is only when we are talking about relief for working people, for children, for families, for parents, for education, for healthcare that, all of a sudden, we can't pay for any of these things. But when it comes to tax subsidies for private jets, we have got the money for that. When it comes to the endless appropriation towards more and more military spending, when we aren't even, technically, in growing elements of war, according to some people, we have money for that. But we don't have money to feed our own kids. We don't have money to educate people. We don't have money to provide healthcare. But we have money for private jets. We have money for tax loopholes for yachts. We have money to incentivize stock buybacks. We have a billion dollars to invest in research and development for a vaccine-- which was proudly invested in and a good use of public funds--just for pharmaceutical companies to take these publicly developed drugs and then sell them back to the public at no discount, so we don't even get a return on this investment. How is that fiscally responsible? So we are living in a world and a state of play in our governance where the party who is eager to help subsidize private jets somehow can't find the dollars and the cents to get people a $1,200 check. It is unconscionable, and it is wrong. And the Senate broke. I am rising today, because it is extraordinarily difficult to represent a working-class district, not a private jet district, and go home every week, just as I am about to do again, and feel as helpless in this body because the majority of its Members and the majority of the Senate can't seem to get it together and get people the help that we need. And the Senate broke. This is what I have to do. This is what we are resorting to, speaking to an empty room because the Senate broke. So if there is anything that I have left to say, if there is anybody out there that is listening, if you are a working family, if you are struggling to get the food that you need, if you feel like you are on the brink of eviction, we see you. We see you. What I ask of the Senate and what I ask of our Republican colleagues in the Senate is to act as if you were the one that was going hungry. Act as if it is you getting evicted from your house. Act with that urgency. That is all I have to say. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Hope Lee, a revered constituent of New York's 14th Congressional District who is celebrating his 100th birthday this year and has served so valiantly for our country. During World War II, Mr. Lee received a Bronze Star Medal, two Purple Hearts, and a Combat Infantry Badge for his service to the country during World War II. Mr. Lee, in fact, was supposed to go to Washington, D.C., this year to get his Congressional Gold Medal of Honor this May, but it was postponed due to the pandemic. I think it is incredibly important to honor his work and his service here on the House floor. He is extraordinarily proud of his service in the U.S. military and hangs his American flag outside his house for every U.S. holiday. In fact, he and his wife, Rose Lee, have been happily married for 76 years, and Mr. Lee still does the cooking for himself and his wife. Madam Speaker, I ask our colleagues to join me in recognizing Mr. Hope Lee. Thank you for your service, and happy birthday, Mr. Lee.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I present this amendment by opening with the stance of the U.S. Marine Corps, which is that: ``War is not a game.'' I'm quoting the Marines. The Marine Service brand and issues associated with combat are too serious to be gamified in a responsible manner. Now, this amendment is specifically to block recruitment practices and funding for recruitment practices on platforms such as Twitch.tv, which are live-streaming platforms that are largely populated by children well under the age of military recruitment rules. Children as young as 13, and oftentimes as young as 12, are targeted for recruitment forms that can be filled online. This amendment is in direct alignment with both those values but also the values that children should not be targeted in general for many marketing purposes, in addition to military service. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman for including my two amendments here regarding housing discrimination. Yesterday, the President had tweeted that he was ``happy to inform all of the people living their suburban lifestyle dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low-income housing built in your neighborhood.'' Now, this is classic, textbook discrimination. And we are here to rise to say: Uh-uh. This is not going to happen on our watch and that our Nation is strengthened and exemplified by diversity of class, race, and all backgrounds when it comes to housing; that HUD and the Department of Housing has an affirmative responsibility to not just prevent discrimination but to actively dismantle years and decades of actively racist and discriminatory policy. That is our responsibility, and we have a responsibility to block that discriminatory policy wherever we see it.