One Step Closer to Universal Healthcare and the American Dream and Promise

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Ramirez for her incredible leadership and energy to provide a needed voice on an issue that is so critically important.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to applaud President Biden and the Biden/Harris administration for the incredible steps that they have taken. Thank you for believing and demonstrating action and not just words.

I firmly believe in delivering permanent protections for Dreamers because immigrant rights are, in fact, human rights. President Biden's announcement to expand healthcare coverage for DACA recipients will protect some of our most vulnerable neighbors, family, and friends.

Dreamers strengthen our economy and enrich our workplaces, our schools, and our communities. Over the last decade, DACA has brought stability, possibility, and progress to more than 800,000 people--these are our family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Even though this is their home, they are being denied the basic rights of healthcare, something that everyone, regardless of their station, should enjoy.

Secretary Becerra's new proposed rule will allow DACA recipients to purchase qualified health insurance coverage. This is a step toward justice for folks who have been forced to pay sky-high, out-of-pocket costs for healthcare, or worse still, to go without lifesaving treatments because they are just too expensive.

Fixing our broken immigration system will save lives and we must keep fighting to give Dreamers a permanent pathway to citizenship. A permanent pathway to citizenship. These actions from the Biden/Harris administration are vitally important for so many Louisianians in my home State and people across the United States who need these vital protections.

Any policy is penny-wise and pound-foolish if we don't take into consideration all people. When people can't get affordable health insurance, they don't get it. It is that simple. When they can't afford it, they don't get it. It puts the burden on our emergency rooms. It ends up costing more money on the back end. Emergency room visits are far more expensive, and it is much more difficult to provide the needed care that individuals should have.

Preventative care is a heck of a lot cheaper than after the fact. Providing resources is a heck of a lot cheaper on the front side than after the fact. Having a process that is clear for people who are here to abide by is a heck of a lot cheaper than after the fact.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to this proposed rule being finalized, and I stand firmly with my friends in the Progressive Caucus. I stand firmly with the White House in providing resources that will deliver permanent protection for Dreamers because, again, immigration rights are, in fact, human rights. They are rights that we all should stand firm for, that we all should stand together on, that we all should recognize as a human issue and an American issue.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source