Cbc Supports Investing in Infrastructure

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight for the Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order hour on this critically important topic, infrastructure. Tonight, we will share with you our positions, our plans, and the state of what we think about infrastructure.

I am so honored to be here tonight as a coanchor and as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Traditionally, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee would be here as our lead anchor. I thank her for allowing me, as chair, to stand in for her.

I am so honored that her coanchor will now be my coanchor tonight. It gives me great pleasure to talk about all of our members, Madam Speaker, but we are joined by someone who is not only a freshman but a freshman who is a leader, a freshman who is strong, a freshman from New York's 15th District, someone who came to Congress with a plan, someone who came to Congress saying that he wants to be here and be able to be a part not only of the Congressional Black Caucus but to be able to stand up and stand out and make a difference for his constituents. Madam Speaker, he has done far more than that.

Congressman Ritchie Torres serves on the powerful Financial Services Committee as a freshman. He is a leader when we talk about housing and infrastructure. Tonight, I get to dialogue with him. I get to listen to him, and we get to talk about other members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Tonight, we want to speak directly to the American people and reflect on the ideas and the critical interests of our constituents. Tonight, we gather in the sacred Chamber on the floor of the people's House to discuss America's infrastructure and to amplify Our Power, Our Message. You will hear this throughout the evening because we realize that it is about our power and our message, 57 members strong of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Tonight, we will educate our constituents. We will educate Americans about the importance of the investment in infrastructure in our neighborhoods and our communities.

Tonight, we will stand strong in support of infrastructure because we know roads and schools in our districts are crumbling and need urgent repair.

We also tackle this with bold Federal investments in our country's roads and bridges and access to broadband and transit and water systems and housing and human care. The investment in infrastructure, Madam Speaker, would support workers and create millions of good-paying jobs in urban and rural populations, the types of jobs that support workers, engineers, steelworkers, bus drivers, childcare workers, and rail workers, and their families.

Isn't that what this is about? Isn't that why we stand up for the people, to make them able to have good-paying jobs to take care of their families?

The Congressional Black Caucus understands this because we have lived this. I know this all too well when we talk about roads and bridges, when we talk about waterways and broadband.

What good is it to say let's educate our children, let's give them the technology that they need, and so we give them a laptop, a computer and all the software, but in many of our rural and urban communities, there is no broadband?

What good is it to have roads and bridges that people can travel, but where are they traveling to? They are traveling home. But what happens when there is no home, when there is no housing?

That is one of the reasons that we are here tonight, so that we can talk about this investment in our Nation's future that includes extending key tax credits, tax cuts that were included in the American Rescue Plan, which the Congressional Black Caucus stood tall to help pass, that will benefit lower- and middle-income workers and families.

We even created a domestic policy transportation team within the Congressional Black Caucus to talk about infrastructure, and I will use their language. In their recent meeting, they said that we need a modern American infrastructure plan. That, too, is what tonight is about.

You will hear facts. You will hear data. You will hear stories. You will hear the strong testimony of why we are saying to all of our colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, that we need an infrastructure plan that works for the American people.

Madam Speaker, the majority whip, Congressman James Clyburn, needs no real introduction. Mr. Clyburn hails from South Carolina. He has stood on this floor repeatedly and talked about the American way. He has been a leader, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, someone who has mentored most of us.

He has repeatedly said to us, which we must remember as members of the Congressional Black Caucus: We must exercise our power and our message. We must speak truth to power. And we must understand that on days that are bad and days that are weak, we are the strength. We are the Members that the American people who look like me look for. We are leaders.

Often, people will say: What is it that the Congressional Black Caucus stands for? What is it that the Congressional Black Caucus does?

Well, let me just tell you, the third most powerful man in the United States Congress is a part of the Congressional Black Caucus. We have six members of the Congressional Black Caucus that make up full chairs of committees and more than 22 that represent subcommittee chairs.

Tonight, as we talk about infrastructure--roads, bridges, broadband, waterways--we also talk about care, human care, human infrastructure.

Madam Speaker, it gives me great honor to yield to Congressman James Clyburn.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank the majority whip for setting the stage for us tonight to talk about traditional and nontraditional infrastructure, especially broadband. I think we all learned a message about the value of going beyond what the tradition is, and certainly broadband does that for us.

Earlier, Madam Speaker, I had the distinct pleasure of saying how honored I would be to be joined by our coanchor tonight, Congressman Ritchie Torres from New York.

I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres) for him to make an opening statement as we coanchor tonight.

Mr. TORRES of New York. Madam Speaker, I thank Chair Beatty for yielding. And I know brevity is the soul of wit, so I will express my thoughts as succinctly as I can.

I am honored to be the co-chair of the CBC Special Order hour and to serve under the dynamic leadership of the CBC chair, Joyce Beatty, who is a force to be reckoned with. I thank the gentlewoman for affording me the honor to co-chair the CBC Special Order hour.

I echo what our majority whip said, that we cannot afford to take an obsolete view of infrastructure. Infrastructure is about more than roads and bridges. It is about the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is about access to the internet, especially in a world of remote learning and telehealth. It is about safe, decent, affordable housing, which is a human right.

Abraham Maslow spoke about a hierarchy of needs, and the highest need we have is self-actualization. And in order to actualize ourselves, we have to meet our most fundamental needs, our need for employment, housing, transit, and education. That is what we mean by infrastructure.

Infrastructure is not simply physical, but it is social and human. It is that which enables us to become the best version of ourselves.

The component of infrastructure that matters most to me is affordable housing. I would not be where I am today were it not for affordable housing and the stability that it gave me and my family. For me affordable housing is not simply brick-and-mortar, but it is the foundation on which we build a better life for ourselves and our family.

It is often said that the south Bronx is the poorest congressional district in America, but I think of the south Bronx as the essential congressional district. Because it is home to essential workers who put their lives at risk during the peak of the pandemic so that the rest of the city and the country could safely shelter in place.

And I believe deeply that the essential workers of America, the essential workers of New York City should be able to afford to live in a city that cannot survive and succeed without them.

Now, the American Jobs Plan proposes hundreds of billions of dollars in new funding for affordable housing, but just as important as the dollar amount is how those dollars are spent. If we simply invest those dollars in expanding housing supply without expanding housing subsidy, then we run the risk of creating housing that leaves behind the lowest income Americans. We run the risk of creating the appearance rather than the reality of affordable housing.

When the subject of affordable housing is raised, the question that often comes to mind is: Affordable for whom?

We need deep affordability. We need real affordability. And the best path to deep affordability--to affordability for all Americans--is housing vouchers for all. Housing vouchers ensure that you pay no more than 30 percent of your income towards your rent.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to sponsor legislation with Chair Waters and subcommittee Chair Cleaver, which would expand the Section 8 program and establish housing vouchers as an entitlement, as a human right, codified in Federal law.

Housing vouchers for all takes on a special urgency because we are facing the greatest affordability crisis that we have seen since the Great Depression. There are 37 million Americans who pay more than one- third of their income toward their rent. There are 17 million Americans who pay more than half their income toward their rent. And that does not even factor in the cost of utilities, food, transportation, and healthcare.

There are millions of Americans who are living on the brink of foreclosure and eviction in the midst of COVID-19. And at the heart of the affordability crisis is the gap between supply and demand. The demand for affordable housing far exceeds the supply.

Madam Speaker, I will provide you with some statistics in New York City. In New York City, there are 1 million households earning at or below 50 percent of AMI, which is about $60,000 a year. But there are only 420,000 units affordable to those households. That is a gap of 580,000 units.

That is why we need a Federal Government that is going to take an expansive view of infrastructure and invest in the creation and preservation of affordable housing on a scale that we have not seen before. Our country deserves no less.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those eye- opening remarks.

Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield the floor to Congressman Bobby Scott. Congressman Scott hails from Virginia's Third Congressional District. A proud member of the Congressional Black Caucus, he is also one of those six chairs who I referenced earlier. He is chair of the Committee on Education and Labor. He is a scholar. He is a lawyer. He also takes the lead role when we talk about the Congressional Black Caucus and how we plan for the future not only for education and childcare, but also how we plan for the Congressional Black Caucus' budget.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), my colleague and friend.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his remarks. Congressman Bobby Scott is right. Tonight is about building back better. Tonight is about the Congressional Black Caucus demonstrating our power, our message.

Madam Speaker, as I talk about our power and our message, it gives me great pleasure to yield the floor to Congressman Andre Carson, who hails from Indiana's Seventh Congressional District. He is the grandson of a legend, someone who served in this House, someone who I had the opportunity to know and to witness her work in Congresswoman Julia Carson.

Tonight, my friend, my colleague, a leader when we talk about intelligence or counterterrorism, when we talk about looking at the future and how we stand up for infrastructure. He serves on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, so he comes to us this evening to share his thoughts on how the Congressional Black Caucus can help with this infrastructure plan.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Carson).

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Carson. I thank him for reminding us that America's infrastructure is in desperate need of investment. That is what this is about.

Talking about investment, Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Lawrence), the second vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, the chair of the Women's Caucus, someone who understands infrastructure probably more than most of us. You see, when she started as a postal worker before she worked her way up, she was in the community and on those roads. She was traveling across those bridges, and she was listening to people. That is why her constituents voted her to be mayor. As mayor, we certainly understand the things that you are hit with the most, our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our care for human infrastructure.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence. She is absolutely right; this is a public issue. This is a racial justice issue because we know our roads, our bridges, and our water systems are crumbling. We know our electric grid is at risk of catastrophic outages. We know many schools are crumbling from lack of attention and neglect. Too many lack access to affordable housing, and too many lack access to childcare and education.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Adams). We call her our HBCU czar. She is the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus' HBCU caucus, historically Black colleges and universities. She is also more than that. She has spent a lifetime educating children and college students.

She serves on the powerful Financial Services Committee, and she has a strong voice on the Education and Labor Committee and Agriculture Committee.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Alma Adams for her comments.

It is always a pleasure when we have the opportunity to work together. And I say to Congressman Torres that that is what we are going to do tonight.

I could not think of a better segue than to pitch it to Representative Torres. We have two members of the Congressional Black Caucus from the great State of New York. I am so used to saying the great State of Ohio, but tonight we have two freshman members of the Congressional Black Caucus who have been great supporters to our message, our power, who have been fearless leaders.

So at this time, I say to Congressman Torres, my coanchor, that I think it would be best for him to yield the floor to and make some remarks about Congressman Jamaal Bowman who will speak next.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres.)

Mr. TORRES of New York. Madam Speaker, we are not only from the great State of New York but the great county of the Bronx.

Education is infrastructure and who better to speak about education than a lifelong educator.

Well, before running for Congress, our next speaker was a principal who dedicated his life to educating the students of the northeast Bronx. He is one of the first Black Members of Congress to ever represent Westchester County, which has historically been ground zero for resistance to fair housing.

If you have ever seen the movie, ``Show Me a Hero,'' in Yonkers, that is the district of our next speaker. Even though he embodies how far we have come as a country, he knows more than most how far we must go.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Bowman), the one and only.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Bowman for reminding us of our history, as well as the need.

I am sure if Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was at this microphone tonight, Congressman Torres, she would look to you and she would say, let's get this done. She would look to you and she would remind us that part of this bold action means we must use all of our available resources.

She would remind us, in 2017, that the Republicans used the reconciliation process twice. Oh, how I remember how they used it against the Affordable Care Act. And how I remember that they used it not only for taking away American's healthcare, but a second time to pass the GOP tax scam of 2017, in giving more money to those in the top 1 percent.

But, tonight, we have heard from the top of our leadership. We have heard from Members from across the United States.

Now it gives me great pleasure to bring our last speaker to the podium. He is also our newest Member to Congress. He hails from the great State of Louisiana. He is someone who is no stranger to being an elected official. He is someone who has dedicated his life to serving the people. He has been successful. He is here in his own right, serving on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as the Small Business Committee.

Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter), my colleague and friend.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, how much time do we have left, please?

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Mrs. BEATTY. Then let me close by saying thank you to all of the Members of the Congressional Black Caucus. It was clear tonight that infrastructure is not only a big word, but it is a big deal, which encompasses many concepts, which comprises modern American infrastructure.

For some Members we have heard tonight, it is through traditional roads and bridges and waterways. For others, it is broadband and it is housing, it is human care.

Regardless of definition, the Congressional Black Caucus is ready to stand in the gap to support legislation and policies that will help infrastructure invest in America's future so we can build back better.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Torres) to say thank you to our Members.

Mr. TORRES of New York. Madam Speaker, I will just quickly state, you know, we are in the midst of an FDR moment, and we have an historic opportunity to govern as boldly in the 21st century as FDR did in the 20th century. But the difference between then and now is ours is going to be a new deal for everyone; Black and Brown new deal.

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Mrs. BEATTY. Strong. Congressional Black Caucus, our power, our message.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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