Economic Justice Issues

Floor Speech

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Ms. OMAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the basic and dire human right that so many of us take for granted, the right to a safe and stable home.

Last week, families across this country gathered around in their dining rooms to give thanks and break bread, but many families in my home district were not sitting around for a holiday dinner. Instead, they were facing an indescribable tragedy. The day before Thanksgiving, a fire broke out in a 25-story public housing building in the Cedar- Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis where I grew up. Five people lost their lives. And more than a week later residents are still in the hospital recovering from their injuries.

After the brave men and women of the local fire department cleared the scene and controlled the blaze, we discovered an almost unbelievable reality. These homes were not equipped with sprinklers. You see, these buildings are so old that it is exempt from laws that require such lifesaving equipment.

And that isn't the only egregious safety issue that our public housing residents are forced to endure.

There has been a ban on building new public housing since the 1990s. In fact, the Cedar-Riverside building that sustained the fire was built in the 1960s. And the Federal Government has been underfunding the repair and maintenance needs of the homes for years. In Minnesota, the backlog of repair needs totals over $300 million. So not only are these homes half a century old, they are practically being held together with little more than hope and masking tape.

Make no mistake, we, as lawmakers, bear responsibility for the deplorable conditions of our public housing and for the deplorable and unsafe conditions that millions of Americans are living in today. This is our fault. The Federal Government has all but abandoned public housing.

We cannot continue to pretend that we can't see the crumbling buildings in our districts. We can't continue to ignore the hundreds of thousands who experience homelessness because of waiting lists for housing assistance. And it goes beyond the homeless population.

Millions of Americans are living every single day in fear of eviction. Twelve million Americans are paying more than half of their income in rent, and about 6,300 people are evicted every single day.

How can we in Congress call ourselves leaders if we continue to ignore this crisis?

I, for one, refuse to continue down that path. It is time for a bold and progressive solution.

I will be introducing legislation that ensures every public housing unit in this country is equipped with sprinklers, so that we never see another devastating tragedy like the one that befell the residents of my district. And we will be demanding accountability from HUD, requiring the agency to report on exactly how many units are not fitted with sprinklers and how much money the agency needs to fix this glaring hazard. But that is not enough.

Last month I introduced Homes for All Act, which would make an historic investment of $1 trillion in public housing and low-income housing and build a record 12 million new homes over the next 10 years.

My bill would also ensure that public housing residents are guaranteed access to important wraparound services like employment assistance, child care, and financial literacy courses.

And just as important, my bill would make sure that public housing funding is a mandatory part of our Federal budget, meaning that the government wouldn't be able to abandon these new homes or neglect their upkeep. Public housing would now be treated like any other important guaranteed source of assistance, like Social Security and Medicare.

While my legislation is bold, it is also absolutely necessary. Every human being has a right to a safe and affordable home. And without an historic investment in our public housing stock and greater accountability for the safety of our residents, we will continue to face tragedies like the ones that claimed the lives of five people in Cedar-Riverside last week. We cannot let that happen, and I will not let that happen.

Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for allowing this conversation to take place today.

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