Providing for Consideration of H.R. Build Back Better Act; and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this historic legislation and the related Rule to propel American progress. The infrastructure bill along with the Build Back Better Act will usher in a transformational 21st century for the American people. Rebuilding our nation's infrastructure will create millions of living wage jobs for the American people coast to coast. It will add value through work in every state, hamlet, district and territory of our nation.

This measure rewards work in every sector--in both hardware and software. The motor vehicle industry, new carbon free energy systems, modern highways, airports, bridges, ports, rail grade separations, broadband, and so much more. These bills strengthen America's families and communities by relieving economic burdens that have held them back. It allows millions of Americans to access affordable health insurance and medications, child and elder care, and robust education and workforce training to meet new horizons in this new era.

Major investments in education and health care for our children and seniors have been long overdue. And, the environmental provisions to heal our earth in an era of climate change will restore clean water, clean air, healthy forests, and regenerative soils.

Please let me thank all the Committees and Members who have worked so very hard on this measure. The cost of the related bills is paid for and, as more jobs are created, and the overall wealth of our nation increases, not only the annual deficit but also the accumulated national debt will begin to be repaid. By passing these bills, this Chamber meets its obligations to the American people of today and tomorrow. Let us pass this transformative legislation as a critical step in advancing its content to the other body. We acknowledge more changes will likely occur as the bill moves forward. But tonight, this House embraces the future.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in strong support of the rule governing debate, as well as the underlying bill, which is the Build Back Better Act (RCP 117-18, H.R. 5376 ), legislation making visionary and transformative investments to change for the better the health, well-being, and financial security of America's workers and families.

Madam Speaker, the federal budget is an expression of the nation's values and the investments made to Build America Back Better are a clear declaration of congressional Democrats' commitment to ensuring that our government, our economy, and our systems work For The People.

Madam Speaker, these long-overdue investments in America's future will be felt in every corner of the country and across every sector of American life, building on the success of the American Rescue Plan, accommodating historic infrastructure investments in the legislative pipeline, and addressing longstanding deficits in our communities by ending an era of chronic underinvestment so we can emerge from our current crises a stronger, more equitable nation.

The Build Back Better Act makes the transformative investments that we need to continue growing our economy, lower costs for working families, and position the United States as a global leader in innovation and the jobs of the future.

This $1.75 trillion gross investment will build on the successes of the American Rescue Plan and set our nation on a path of fiscal responsibility and broadly shared prosperity for generations to come.

The Build Back Better Act is paid for by ensuring that the wealthy and big corporations are paying their fair share and Americans making less than $400,000 a year will not see their taxes increase by a penny.

Let me repeat that: No American making less than $400,000 a year will not see their taxes increase by a penny.

In sum, Madam Speaker, the investments made by the Build Back Better Act will expand opportunity for all and build an economy powered by shared prosperity and inclusive growth.

During general debate, I will discuss in greater detail all of the salutary aspects of the Build Back Better Act, but today I will confine my remarks to discuss how the legislation holds substantial benefits for my home state of Texas.

The Build Back Better Act will bring down costs that have held back families in Texas for decades by cutting taxes and making child care, home care, education, health care, and housing more affordable.

These investments will provide new learning opportunities for children, help parents and especially working parents make ends meet, and position the economy for stronger growth for years to come.

The Build Back Better Act will create good-paying jobs for residents of Texas, combating climate change, giving our kids cleaner air and water, and making America the leader in global innovation and 21st century manufacturing.

Specifically, Madam Speaker, the Build Back Better Act delivers the largest investment in child care and early education in history by providing access to affordable child care.

Child care is a major strain for families in Texas, where the average annual cost of a child care center for a toddler is $9,428, meaning that a Texas family with two young children would on average spend 21 percent of their income on child care for one year.

The lack of affordable options also makes it difficult for parents, and especially mothers, to remain in their jobs, contributing to the 26.1 percent gender gap in workforce participation between mothers and fathers in Texas.

The Build Back Better Act will enable Texas to provide access to child care for 2,011,503 young children (ages 0-5) per year from families earning under 2.5 times the Texas median income (about $205,204 for a family of 4), and ensure these families pay no more than 7 percent of their income on high-quality child care.

The Build Back Better Act will provide universal, high-quality, free preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old in America.

In contrast, today, only 24 percent of the 775,102 3- and 4-year-olds in Texas have access to publicly-funded preschool, and it costs about $8,600 per year for those who cannot access a publicly-funded program.

The Build Back Better Act will enable Texas to expand access to free, high-quality preschool to more than 588,286 additional 3- and 4-year- olds per year and increase the quality of preschool for children who are already enrolled.

Parents will be able to send their children to the preschool setting of their choice--from public schools to child care providers to Head Start--leading to lifelong educational benefits, allowing more parents to go back to work, and building a stronger foundation for Texas's future economic competitiveness.

The Build Back Better Act cuts taxes and reduces some of the largest expenses for workers and families, like education, health care, and housing.

Madam Speaker, the average cost of a 2-year degree in Texas is $2,885 per year, and $11,096 per year for a 4-year degree, straining many student budgets.

To help unlock the opportunities of an education beyond high school, the Build Back Better Act will increase maximum Pell Grant awards by $550 for students at public and private non-profit institutions, supporting the 486,377 students in Texas who rely on Pell grants.

The Build Back Better Act will also invest in Texas's 112 minority- serving institutions and the students they serve, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs).

Madam Speaker, of the world's biggest economies, the United States is second to last in investing in workforce development, and funding for federal job training programs has dropped by almost half since 2001.

The Build Back Better Act invests in training programs that will prepare Texas's workers for high-quality jobs in fast-growing sectors like public health, child care, manufacturing, IT, and clean energy. Fifty-nine public community colleges in Texas will have the opportunity to benefit from grants to develop and deliver innovative training programs and expand proven ones.

Madam Speaker, 18 percent of children in Texas live in food insecure households, harming their long-term health and ability to succeed in school.

The Build Back Better Act will ensure that the nutritional needs of Texas's children are met by expanding access to free school meals to an additional 1,642,000 students during the school year and providing 3,631,226 students with resources to purchase food over the summer.

When it comes to housing costs, more than 1.7 million renters in Texas are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, while homeownership remains out of reach for many families.

The Build Back Better Act expands rental assistance for Texas renters, while also increasing the supply of high-quality housing through the construction and rehabilitation of over 1 million affordable housing units nationwide.

The Build Back Better Act addresses the capital needs of the entire public housing stock in America, and it includes one of the largest investments in down payment assistance in history, enabling more first- generation homebuyers to purchase their first home.

Madam Speaker, access to affordable quality health care should be a right, not a privilege, and residents of Texas facing illness should never have to worry about how they are going to pay for treatment.

The Build Back Better Act will close the Medicaid coverage gap to help millions of Americans gain health insurance, extend through 2025 the American Rescue Plan's health insurance premium reductions for those who buy coverage on their own, and help older Americans access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare.

In Texas, that means 1,554,000 uninsured people will gain coverage, including the 771,000 who fell into the Medicaid coverage gap, and 1,066,400 will on average save hundreds of dollars per year.

In addition, the Build Back Better Act will support maternal health and invest in national preparedness for future pandemics.

Finally, the Build Back Better Act will expand access to home- and community-based care to more of Texas's senior citizens and disabled citizens and improve the quality and wages of caregiving jobs.

Prior to the pandemic, 15 percent of children under the age of 18 in Texas lived in poverty.

The Build Back Better Act will bolster financial security and spur economic growth in Texas by reducing taxes on the middle class and those striving to break into it.

Specifically, the Build Back Better Act extends Child Tax Credit (CTC) increases of $300/month per child under 6 or $250/month per child ages 6 to 17, which will continue the largest one-year reduction in child poverty in history.

And critically, the agreement includes permanent refundability for the Child Tax Credit, meaning that the neediest families will continue to receive the full Child Tax Credit over the long-run.

The Build Back Better Act will also provide a tax cut of up to $1,500 in tax cuts for more than 1.5 million low-wage workers in Texas by extending the American Rescue Plan's Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansion.

From 2010 to 2020, Texas experienced 67 extreme weather events, costing up to $200 billion in damages.

The Build Back Better Act will set the United States on course to meet its climate targets--a 50-52 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2005 levels by 2030--in a way that creates good-paying union jobs, grows domestic industries, and advances environmental justice.

The Build Back Better Act represents the largest ever single investment in a clean energy economy--across buildings, transportation, industry, electricity, agriculture, and climate smart practices in our lands and waters.

And the Build Back Better Act will create a new Civilian Climate Corps that will enlist a diverse generation of Texans in conserving our public lands, bolstering community resilience, and addressing the changing climate, all while putting good-paying union jobs within reach.

In clean energy and in other sectors, the Build Back Better Act will also strengthen domestic manufacturing and supply chains for critical goods, benefiting American businesses, workers, consumers, and communities.

To put it all in perspective, Madam Speaker, we have before us a once in a century opportunity to make gigantic progress in making ours a more perfect union, and to do it in a single bound with enactment of the Build Back Better Act, the most transformative legislation passed by this Congress since the Great Society and the New Deal.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to join me in voting for the rule and voting to pass H.R. 5376, the transformative, life-changing Build Back Better Act.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Burgess is as follows: Amendment to House Resolution 774

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 3. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 5854) to amend title 28, United States Code, to prohibit payments of compromise settlements arising out of certain violations of the immigration laws, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 4. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 5854. H.R. 5854

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Illegal Immigrant Payoff Prohibition Act''. SEC. 2. NO PAYMENT OF COMPROMISE SETTLEMENTS ARISING OUT OF CERTAIN VIOLATIONS OF THE IMMIGRATION LAWS.

Section 2414 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``No payment of a compromise settlement may be made in relation to a civil action brought by an alien who is inadmissible under section 212(a)(6)(A) or (7)(A)(i)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A) or (7)(A)(i)(I)), or who entered the United States in violation of section 275(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1325(a)), in connection with conduct described in any such section, unless expressly authorized by law.''.

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