Marc Veasey

Mr. VEASEY

Mr. VEASEY. I thank Representative Bass for her commentary representing the very international city of Los Angeles, again, a city with many immigrants, with many people who have contributed to the greatness and vibrancy of that city that we know as Los Angeles. I just really do appreciate all of her input on that. Mr. Speaker, I am going to call up to come and speak Mr. Dwight Evans. Mr. Evans, hailing from Pennsylvania's Second Congressional District, a State that also is very international, I am sure that your State was heavily impacted by the travel ban that was implemented by the Trump administration, and I believe the world needs to hear your remarks tonight, so thank you for being here tonight to speak. I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans).

Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania. And just like the city of Philadelphia, just like the city of Los Angeles, when we heard from Congresswoman Bass earlier, oftentimes the State of Texas is portrayed through popular culture as not being a very international place, but we are a very international place. Everyone has heard of the stories how every State Legislative Session, which one has just begun a couple of weeks ago, how Black and Hispanic voters, in particular, in the State of Texas, are targeted so our voting participation numbers will decrease. Well, someone who has been in that fight to help protect Black and Latino voters in the State of Texas to expand voting rights in the State of Texas; and not just that, again, in pop culture, our State has oftentimes been portrayed as one way, but a lot of people forget that the city of Houston is the fourth largest city in the country and one of the most international cities in the entire world, one of the largest ballots in the entire country, printed in--I forgot exactly how many languages. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee can tell you that later. So not only are voting rights being impacted in her district, but also I am sure that she felt the plight of many of the people who she represents who were stuck at airports, including the Houston International Airport, by the Muslim ban that was implemented by the Trump administration. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee for clearing up a lot of the misconceptions that are being purposely spread out there that this was something that was used by the Obama administration. It absolutely was not. It is being purposely spread on social media, and people are lying about the past and what happened. It is completely different, and I want to thank her for clearing that up. I now yield to the gentleman from Newark, New Jersey (Mr. Payne), who is the gentleman representing the eastern coast of New Jersey.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New Jersey. I now yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore), who represents a critical State, a State that some people think actually went a certain direction in the Presidential race because of voter suppression tactics. She represents the city of Milwaukee.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from the State of Wisconsin. Now I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who is my friend and colleague from another international part of the country, the Oakland Bay Area.

Mr. VEASEY

Mr. VEASEY. Absolutely. Education and workforce development with our changing workforce--STEAM jobs and STEM jobs.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands who is helping to lead tonight's Special Order hour. I, again, want to highlight how President Trump's inaugural address served as a preview of what the African American community can expect over the next 4 years. This past Friday, thousands of Americans from all over the country traveled to Washington, D.C., to witness the new President and what type of message he was going to deliver. Unfortunately, instead of starting his Presidency with a bold, new agenda that would benefit all Americans, what we heard was an inaugural address that reminded us that the America he wants to build will leave many of the constituents of those of us who serve as members of the Congressional Black Caucus behind. In his speech, President Trump said that a nation exists to serve its citizens. But for far too many, a different reality exists. He also painted another grim picture of mothers and children trapped in poverty in inner cities and rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our Nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and crimes and gangs and drugs that have stolen the lives of too many and robbed the country of so much of its unrealized potential. Those are problems that need to be addressed. I don't think that anybody will disagree with that. We need to make sure that our children have access to good public schools and good, quality education. We need to make sure that, as the nature of work changes in this country, people are ready to get those new jobs. We must make sure that we invest in our communities so that they prosper. But yet, very little of what President Trump proposed would actually address the root cause of any of those problems. Not even his new deal for Black Americans provides real solutions for the problems that he outlined in his inaugural address. Instead, we see the same recycled, broken promises. Since the creation of the Congressional Black Caucus, we have been fighting to uplift our communities. We have bold ideas to help transform the lives of those individuals that were mentioned and real ideas that can get going. I thank the gentlewoman as we prepare to have other speakers from the Congressional Black Caucus share their remarks.

Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, I thank all of the Members who have participated tonight. We are about to run short on our time here, but there are just so many other areas that need to be addressed, and the Congressional Black Caucus is going to continue to address those when we talk about safe communities; when we start talking about great education and some of the issues that we see with the nominee for the Secretary of Education that threaten to really cripple and hurt our public schools; when we talk about equal justice for all. How are we going to work with the Justice Department to try to foster some of the good initiatives that President Obama put forward in dealing with community policing? It is all of those things, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. VEASEY

Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman).

Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence).

Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Adams).

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), my classmate from the Buckeye State, representing the Columbus, Ohio, area.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York, the Empire State, (Mr. Jeffries).

Mr. VEASEY. I thank Representative Moore. I appreciate the gentlewoman's comments and I thank her for mentioning some of the issues with voter ID in Wisconsin, which may have tilted the election results in that State. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to my good friend from Brooklyn in the Empire State, Representative Yvette Clarke.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I next yield to the lone voice in the State of Wisconsin, someone who is always speaking out on these issues not just for her district, but for the many people around her State who want that voice from the CBC: Ms. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin.

Mr. VEASEY. I thank Mr. Scott of Virginia very much. Mr. Speaker, I inquire as to how much time I have left.

Mr. VEASEY. I thank very much Representative Lee. I really appreciate the gentlewoman's remarks. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to someone who, over the last 20 years, has been in nearly every battle in the United States Congress when it comes to the issue of civil rights. He is Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Maxine Waters). Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), the ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Conyers very much for his words as the dean of the House. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Maxine Waters).

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome you to tonight's Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour that will examine the negative impact of President-elect Trump's nominations for the position of U.S. Attorney General, Secretary of Education, and Secretary of Health and Human Services. Let's be honest here, the 2016 Presidential election showed us both the worst and the best of American politics. The most disturbing development of the election season, of course, was the President- elect's campaign that was an ``us versus them'' type of campaign that really divided the Nation. It was really sad for people to see that on display. On November 9, after winning the Presidency, the President-elect tweeted: ``Such a beautiful and important evening! The forgotten man and woman will never be forgotten again. We will all come together as never before.'' But will he keep his promise of doing all that he can to repair our divided nation? So far he has been very disappointing. And when you look at the nominations of Senator Sessions, Betsy DeVos, and Tom Price to key positions in his administration, it seems like he has forgotten, that he has forgotten and ignored our Nation's dark history of oppression, particularly to the African American community. The President-elect's nominees represent everything that the Congressional Black Caucus has vehemently fought against. As a caucus, we fought to ensure that the African American community is empowered with the tools it needs to achieve the American Dream. Mr. Trump's Cabinet nominations are set to push the dream back so far out of reach for millions and millions of Americans. Mr. Speaker, we have a list of Members that would like to speak tonight. I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the dean of the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. VEASEY. I thank very much Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Barbara Lee.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. VEASEY. I thank the gentlewoman. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. McEachin).

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson) for his timely comments. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), my fellow Texan from Houston.

Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to remind Members that we have 3 minutes per Member left of speaking time. I wanted to just remind Members of that so everyone will have an opportunity to speak on this very important matter. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson).