Economic Justice Issues

Floor Speech

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Ms. PRESSLEY. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Tlaib for her leadership on this and so many social justice issues. I really appreciate her organizing this Special Order hour, and I hope that, in some ways, it assures the American people that we have not lost sight of them and that this Congress continues to lead and to legislate on those issues of care, concern, and consequence to the American people. I know this is the number one constituent call that my district office receives, and I am certainly not alone in that.

Housing First is not just an approach to ending homelessness; it is a fundamental truth that should guide everything we do in these Chambers. When we speak of our priorities, when we speak of the important work we hope to do here, housing must come first.

Housing is the foundation of everything, and, therefore, must be foundational to everything that we seek to accomplish here as a body. Housing is a critical determinant of health and wealth and must be the foundation of our fight for greater justice for all.

I also would like to reiterate some of the points made earlier regarding our young people learning.

Earlier today, we heard from some young people about many of the barriers and obstacles to their readiness to learn. Housing was chief amongst them. As we see our families destabilized by growing gentrification and displacement and more families experiencing homelessness, this is certainly a contributor and a barrier to their readiness to learn. It is traumatic to not have a home.

I want to thank my sister in service, Representative Ilhan Omar, for providing us with a vision for the future of housing: housing as a right; housing as a guarantee; housing for all.

In cities across the country, including those in my district, the housing supply lacks both in quantity and quality. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in my district, the Massachusetts Seventh, two-thirds of residents and renters and those at minimum wage must work at least 84 hours a week to afford a decent one- bedroom at-fair-market-rent apartment.

When housing is in such short and perpetually deteriorating supply, we must ask ourselves: Where do we expect people to go?

When housing prices continue to skyrocket and we are constantly redefining affordability to hide that reality, where can people go?

For decades, this Nation's public and affordable housing supply has been chronically underfunded. Any serious solution must match the scale of this unprecedented crisis.

States must act; cities must act; and the Federal Government must act. How we choose to spend our money is a direct reflection of our values.

Representative Omar's Homes for All Act invests a total of $1 trillion into our Nation's affordable housing stock. I was proud to be an original cosponsor of Homes for All, just as I was proud to cosponsor Senator Warren's American Housing and Economic Mobility Act.

However, it is the work of activists and agitators on the ground that has pushed this issue to the forefront. While there is still much to do, I am heartened by the efforts of my colleagues, and I associate myself with all of their thoughtful and impassioned comments and legislative proposals highlighted during this Special Order hour.

We must continue to mobilize, to organize, and to legislate until Homes for All is no longer a promise, but a guarantee.

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