Let's Keep Our Eyes on the Future

Floor Speech

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Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I thank you so much for your dedication to this body and your oversight this evening. I thank all of the very hardworking professionals who help to run the floor of the House. I am so pleased to be back on the floor of the House of Representatives this day, February 4.

Some on the outside project fair criticism, question, demand, want of us. Some may look at us even with a frustrated or loathing eye. We all know how often we hear the statistic about how popular Congress is. What pours in here through money, outside influence, the money that circles around this building.

And when we walk onto this floor of the House of Representatives, though, we are all but just Members. We are representatives of our constituents, carrying a voting card, carrying a voice, representing the values, the determinations, the wishes and the wants of our district, and forced to come together to make a determination.

We ask ourselves: What do we demand of this institution?

I had the privilege of being here this evening as we have seen a long debate, a long time of Special Orders ensue, those who reflected on the events of January 6, the horrible insurrection that took place, the desecration of this institution, this pride and joy of the United States of America, both the House and the Senate momentarily taken over. And I join my colleagues in those reflections.

We saw the other side of the aisle reflect on energy needs, energy resource needs. We also saw some contributions made to constituents back at home.

Tonight, as you look out to the Capitol--and we know this--it is not a full Chamber right now. These are obviously also different times, Madam Speaker. We don't have many outside guests walking through the Congress due to the pandemic. But everyone is allowed to look at the Capitol and see the lantern, see the tholus that supports the Statue of Freedom, that supports Lady Freedom. That lantern is lit right now.

And what is that lantern saying?

That democracy rings out, that freedom rings out, that our future is still within our grasp.

I am proud and grateful to be here tonight, Madam Speaker. I know that the time is not always a given. We certainly recognize that in the midst of this pandemic. We reflect just a month in to this 117th session of Congress. I am very excited about this 117th session of Congress because it is new. It is a new session.

And what do we get with new?

A month ago, January 4, the day after the swearing-in of the new Congress, we passed our rules package, we had procedural votes. I am very proud to say I introduced my first bill of the Congress, the Resilient Manufacturing Task Force Act, a bipartisan bill, focused on our domestic supply chain needs to ensure that we can withstand future disruptions, that we can continue to test our system, that we can bring together the best and brightest of America to get in front of challenges and create jobs and continue to create jobs.

I come from Michigan, and I am really proud of coming from Michigan and I am proud of what Michigan's story is, particularly coming out of the year 2020, and what that means with regard to the first bill I introduced in the 117th Congress, our manufacturing economy, our innovation capabilities.

We have continued to monitor this economy. We are seeing some ricochets, some growth in areas we weren't expecting, some job loss. Michigan's at about a 7.5 percent unemployment. We are going to build it back better. We are going to get people back to work with good wages and good benefits and a dignity for what they do. You see that in manufacturing, when people work with their hands, when they produce, when they are part of an outcome and a productivity. And it is really very exciting to see that Michigan will continue to be a leader.

It must be recognized, our leadership, because when those supply chain disruptions hit almost a year ago, when we saw the PPE shortages in our hospitals, in our healthcare system for the individual American who was going to the grocery store looking for some hand sanitizer or a roll of paper towels, it was the Michigan manufacturers who stood up immediately to rework their supply chains, to rework their production channels, to source that PPE, from the big three--from Ford, Chrysler, GM--on down the supply chain. And it was absolutely amazing, and it was union workers to boot.

And then the great innovation of America, the story that will also be heralded and seen coming out of this pandemic was the creation of a proven and tested vaccine that we invested in immediately. My colleagues and I will reflect on that, that the first thing we did as a body together, all of Congress, everyone who gets to stand in this body voted to fund the research for the vaccine, the very beginning of March. And we got that vaccine, and it got produced in a place called Portage, Michigan. As the year began to reach its conclusion, the trucks filled with that vaccine, and it started to get in the arms of the people who were counting on it. Absolutely miraculous. So unique to the place that I am privileged to call home.

As we reflected in 2019, on the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, the question I would ask my colleagues is: What is our moonshot of the next 50 years?

We certainly met one in the year 2020, yet we haven't stopped continuing to innovate. We haven't stopped continuing to keep our eyes on a future that we are inheriting and that our next generation is inheriting.

I am optimistic about this next generation. I am optimistic about what they represent and about my opportunity to engage and to listen to the students of America and to advocate for them from the Halls of Congress. It is why I proudly sit on the Education and Labor Committee.

President John Kennedy said: ``To govern is to choose.''

To govern is to choose. And we make those choices. See, I don't get to issue proclamations instead of voting. I take a vote. I come down, ``yes'' or ``no.''

Which way do we decide to come down as a nation?

Are we going to agree as a people with one another every step of the way?

Absolutely not.

No union is perfect in that regard. But what makes and builds toward a more perfect Union, as our Founders compelled, and as we compel each other, is the constant dedication to doing the work, to standing up for people, to calling out truth and what is right.

I certainly am not shy of doing that, Madam Speaker, and I know that that was important for us at the beginning of the pandemic to listen to the science, to recognize the threat and to take its seriously, and to also be resilient. And I see that resilience all around my district, Madam Speaker.

And I continue to be compelled to the constituents of the 11th District, to the falling COVID rates in Michigan. We continue to pay tribute and to recognize those who are suffering, those who are struggling from COVID-19, families who are separated from one another as an individual is getting their treatment. We hold them in our hearts. We think about them and we remain dedicated to the prevention and the cure and the effort to end this pandemic.

I am so excited to welcome President Joe Biden to the White House. We were here for his inauguration. We were here to hear his remarks. His invitation for unity and unity by way of delivering; unity by way of delivering for the American people; the Buy American provisions that will continue to invest in American manufacturers and using our Federal dollars to identify new supply chain opportunities for us.

I see this all over my district, from Northville up to Troy and Auburn Hills, what people are working on and how we can help them to continue to do that.

Madam Speaker, I thank you for the time tonight and I yield back the balance of my time.

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