Fostering Undergraduate Talent By Unlocking Resources for Education Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank him for his leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor.

Madam Speaker, I pay special tribute to Congresswoman Chu, the chair of the caucus in the House that represents the Asian Pacific American community, and Pramila Jayapal, a member of the Judiciary Committee, instrumental in bringing this legislation as well, the NO BAN Act, and, again, the right to counsel legislation.

As I was thinking of this legislation today--I have a statement for the record, but I was thinking back to the ``rump'' hearing that we had under the leadership of the Judiciary Committee at the time the NO BAN was announced. The distinguished chair, Ms. Chu, talked about how people reacted at the airports and the rest--among them, John Lewis--going to the airport.

But at this hearing, it was so remarkable, because people turned out. Diplomats showed up and spoke for their colleagues who were still in the diplomatic service, saying how wrong this was. They took professional risk as members of our diplomatic corps. There were around a thousand of them who signed a statement opposing this ban.

The military was there, our men and women in uniform. They were there saying: You are hurting us. We have made promises to interpreters and others who have helped us in Iraq and Afghanistan--they were Muslim-- and now they can't come to the United States? It is wrong on its face, but we are not even keeping our word. Who will trust us? Who will trust us if we don't have respect for people?

Some military who were Muslim--actually Khizr Khan was there, a Gold Star father, he came and was very brief in his testimony. He had some good advice about what we could do about this.

But our men and women in uniform who are Muslim were hearing this, in Khizr Khan's case, a Gold Star family whose son had given his life for our country, a Muslim, and now we were saying there is going to be a Muslim ban.

What was interesting, though, was that a leader of the evangelical community was there. And this bill is sending a strong message. It is repealing all versions of the Muslim ban, the refugee ban, and the asylum ban, rescinding each cruel version of the President's discriminatory bans, including his executive order mandating extreme vetting for refugees and asylum seekers.

Well, the person who was there, and the record will show, representing the evangelicals, he said in his testimony that the United States Refugee Resettlement Program is the crowning glory of American humanitarianism, and here this President is rejecting that focus of who we are as a country and the model we should be.

In fact, all this administration has done is diminish the opportunities for those who would come here--some for fear of persecution, others because they had helped us, and others because of the Statue of Liberty, again, a beacon of hope to the world that is constantly undermined by this administration.

So, Madam Speaker, I salute the maker of this amendment, Chairwoman Judy Chu. I salute Pramila Jayapal, who has been relentless, persistent on this matter, and I thank all of our colleagues who fought so hard.

Just to recall, we remember the day after the inauguration that women turned out in huge numbers not only in Washington, but all over the country and all over the world. They knew the power of their presence.

So, when this came shortly thereafter, people understood the power of their presence, and people showed up at airports and wherever a manifestation of support for our Muslim community was needed. It was really quite a defining time for our country, because people knew their power and the power of their presence, being there, being there for everyone in our country.

So, Madam Speaker, I am very grateful to the makers of this motion, to the Judiciary Committee. And to Chairman Nadler, I thank him for giving us this opportunity to honor what the Statue of Liberty means to us and to the world.

Then just go look at Ronald Reagan's statements about the Statue of Liberty and the beacon of hope that it is to the world and contrast it to the attitude that we see coming out of this White House now.

I hope we have a good, bipartisan vote on this repeal of the Muslim ban and the access to counsel that goes with this legislation.

Madam Speaker, on the base of the Statue of Liberty, which is a beacon of freedom and hope for the world, are inscribed these words: ``Give me your tired, your poor/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/ Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.''

I rise to join my colleagues in support of the ``NO BAN'' Act to rescind the President's Muslim ban, which betrays everything the Statue of Liberty and our nation stand for.

I salute Congresswoman Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the lead on this legislation--which is the first Muslim civil rights bill in our nation's history.

Thank you also to Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal for her leadership to ensure that those unjustly detained have access to legal counsel.

It is particularly senseless that the President continues to inflict his Muslim ban on the country as we face the COVID-19 pandemic.

These bans harm the economy and public health by depriving our nation of the researchers, scientists, physicians and other medical professionals desperately needed to crush the virus.

More than 100,000 medical professionals in our country are from just two of the countries included in the ban.

Overall, the ban has led to a 15 percent drop in new physicians from Muslim-majority countries coming to America.

These bans fuel anti-Muslim discrimination, which sadly, the White House is encouraging, when it misleads the public and says that the bans are needed to keep us safe--when in reality, the bans only weaken our response, by banning doctors and medical professionals from our shores.

At the same time, the bans erode our national security and devastate families: separating families and preventing thousands from attending loved ones' births, graduations, marriages and funerals. One study finds that these bans have prevented more than 9,000 family members of U.S. citizens from entering the country, including more than 5,500 children.

More than 400 national, state and local civil rights, faith-based, national security and community groups, from AFSCME and Amnesty International to United We Dream and Veterans for Peace, have spoken out to demand passage of the NO BAN Act to ``end the harmful Muslim Ban and put in place vital protections against future discriminatory bans.''

``The NO BAN Act is a clear and unequivocal response to the Muslim Ban that would ensure no one can be banned from our country based on religious or nationality-based discrimination ever again.

``Regrettably, the Muslim Ban validates the worst stereotypes about Muslims; that they are inherently foreign and violent and pose such a threat to the United States they should be banned.

``The ban on Muslims comes after generations of politicians hostile to religious minorities have attempted to ban Jews, Catholics, and Latter-day Saints. Congress now has an opportunity to take action against the Muslim Ban and this troubling history by sending a strong message that our nation rejects religious bigotry.''

With this bill, Congress is sending that strong message. We are:

Repealing all versions of the Muslim ban, the refugee ban, and the asylum ban--rescinding each cruel version of the President's discriminatory bans, including his executive order mandating ``extreme vetting'' for refugees and asylum seeking;

Strengthening immigration law to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on religion--and ensuring that it applies to non-immigrant visas, entry into the U.S. and the approval of any immigrant benefit; and

Limiting executive authority to prevent any president from issuing future bans like the Muslim ban--imposing strict requirements before any future restrictions can be issued & enacting reporting requirements to Congress to create an oversight mechanism for the future.

The Democratic House will always stand up to defend our values. As Pope Francis said, ``It's hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help.''

I urge a strong bipartisan vote to put an end to this act of callousness and discrimination from the White House.

Madam Speaker, I urge a strong ``yes'' vote.

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