Accomplishments of the 117th Congress

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, today, we have once again seen the majority party unable to govern. The defense bill was scheduled today, and apparently the majority party cannot get its act together, so we are not considering the defense bill today. Unfortunately, the Republicans seem to be frozen by their own dysfunction.

It is interesting that we have scheduled today to show the work that the 117th Congress did that is making such a positive effect today in America. Today, we ought to reflect on what Democrats accomplished by standing together last Congress, with some bipartisan support.

The 117th Congress was one of the most productive in American history because Democrats united behind a common cause: investing in America, making us stronger, safer, healthier, and more competitive in the 21st century.

Now, the historic investments we made to create jobs, lower costs, and build the economy from the bottom and middle out are coming to fruition. Conveying the scale of these laws' positive impact on our country is no easy task, especially in a single hour, and we do not expect to do it in this hour alone.

We can look at the past 32 months of consecutive job growth in America. We can point to the 13.5 million new jobs, including 800,000 new manufacturing jobs in the last 2\1/2\ years, added to our economy under the Biden-Harris administration.

The previous administration, by comparison, Mr. Speaker, added 500,000 manufacturing jobs to the economy in the first 3 years before the pandemic. Indeed, we created more jobs in 2 years than any prior administration has added in a single 4-year term.

We pushed the unemployment rate to a generational low, with more Americans working today than at any point in our Nation's history.

Rather than stalling out into a recession, our economy continues to boom because Democrats put people over politics to invest in America.

Goldman Sachs just put out a report estimating that we will see another 200,000 manufacturing jobs in the next 2 years alone. That makes a million new manufacturing jobs incorporated into what will then be a 15 million new jobs accomplishment.

With inflation threatening to eat into more take-home pay for working Americans last Congress, Democrats stepped up to pass policies to reduce costs, raise wages, and create jobs.

The results are now in: It worked, and it is still working. Wages continue to go up; inflation continues to go down; and our economy continues to grow at a steady pace.

There are many factors at play, Mr. Speaker, in the global economy, but we owe these strong economic trends in no small part to the laws we enacted in the last Congress.

Economic strength alone, however, doesn't capture all that these laws are accomplishing for the American people.

The best way to understand how these laws are transforming our Nation for all Americans is to meet Americans where they are to hear firsthand how these policies are making a difference in their lives and the lives of their families.

This year, Mr. Speaker, members of the Regional Leadership Council appointed by minority Democratic Leader Jeffries have had those conversations with countless Americans at schools, hospitals, union halls, small businesses, VA clinics, farms, and factories across the country.

We have also sought to identify further funding opportunities, implement these policies, and inform the public about how they can access these programs and opportunities.

Mr. Speaker, tonight we want to show Americans how their tax dollars are building a better future for their families and communities.

We are working with Democrats to ensure that those investments reach every community in every corner of the country, and we look forward to working with Republicans to do the same. It doesn't seem to be their focus right now, but maybe it will be.

All Americans deserve to feel the impact of these policies, whether they live on the quietest country road or the loudest city street, because investing in America, Mr. Speaker, means investing in all of America.

Over the next hour, the members of the Regional Leadership Council will detail our implementation progress and show how investing in America's agenda is changing lives.

Mr. Speaker, I will now turn to my colleagues, and I yield first to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I now yield to the gentleman from northern California (Mr. Huffman).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, investing in America, making a difference for people, that is what we are doing.

Blunt Rochester).

Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, the leader, for organizing this Special Order hour and especially for his steadfast leadership of the Regional Leadership Council.

What I love about Steny is that his whole focus on this is about implementation, but it is also about informing people about all the things that have been done to support the American people.

I thank Mr. Hoyer and Leader Hakeem Jeffries for creating and organizing our group, and I am honored to represent my colleagues of Region 9, which includes the States of New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and my home State of Delaware.

Our region, like the entire Regional Leadership Council, has been focused on the implementation of the historic legislation passed in the 117th Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris when Democrats put people over politics and delivered transformational change.

Leaders like Representative Jennifer McClellan in Virginia's Fourth Congressional District have delivered results for her constituents, funding to reconnect Richmond's historic Jackson Ward neighborhood that was split in half during the construction of the interstate highway system. This funding was delivered through the bipartisan infrastructure law and is reconnecting communities.

Chairman Bobby Scott was able to secure over $400 million for the city of Norfolk in Virginia's Third Congressional District to help create more climate-resilient infrastructure in the face of increased flooding.

Representatives Kweisi Mfume, John Sarbanes, and Dutch Ruppersberger also celebrated the launch of a new workforce hub in Baltimore that came as a direct result of the Chips and Science Act. The hub will help train workers to step into good-paying jobs and build the region's skilled workforce all while catalyzing investments in clean energy.

These stories are just some of the stories all around Region 9, including in Delaware. After decades of effort, with families waiting and struggling when nobody believed them, our veterans in this country started a movement for better healthcare. We, under Democratic leadership, not only believed them but fought for them and were able to turn that into action with the passage of the PACT Act.

Before you here is the result of a resource fair that we did in Delaware. My office did a constituent resource fair where we had hundreds of Delawareans come out to learn about resources from dozens of Federal, State, and nonprofit agencies. On the spot, 30 veterans were able to sign up and be screened for the PACT Act. Those were benefits that now those families will be able to have.

I am going to tell a story that is personal and goes back over 20 years of a small town in Delaware called Ellendale, a rural community reliant on well water. Residents of Ellendale had been forced to bathe, cook with, and drink dirty water. They had fought for decades to secure a local connection to clean and reliable drinking water.

Here they are holding the water in their hands.

With the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the historic investments made through the Inflation Reduction Act, small, rural towns like Ellendale will finally be able to open their taps and know that clean, drinkable water will be flowing from them, meaning that they will be healthier and able to thrive. I am so proud of the work that we have been able to do.

Lastly, I would just say this: All of our work has expanded drinking water across this country. Drinking Water State Revolving Funds have gotten $14 billion, provided over $500 million directly to small and disadvantaged communities and over $500 million to remediate lead contamination. Included was a provision that I authored for the first- of-its-kind, low-income water bill assistance program.

I will end with this: We came out of a pandemic as a country. Don't forget where we came from. The 117th Congress, with President Joe Biden, passed historic legislation that will provide for the American people clean drinking water, clean air, access to the internet, cheaper healthcare, newer roads and bridges, and more jobs.

The bottom line is, we put politics to the side, and we supported the people. We didn't just do it with words. We did it with action. We delivered for Delaware, and we delivered for the American people.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for talking about how the impact of the Investing in America agenda has worked for America and Americans.

Meng).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for bringing to the American people's attention the consequences of the investments we have made in America and how it has impacted our families and our friends all over this country.

Dean).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her comments, making it clear that we invested. We didn't just spend money, we invested to make America better and American lives better.

Craig).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her contribution to showing how investing in America has made a difference in rural America and made a healthier America.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington State who has made such a difference in this Congress, making sure that people understand that we have invested in America and their lives are better.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for his observations with respect to investing in America, making a healthier America, healthier families, both from a physical health standpoint and a mental health standpoint.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HOYER. Kelly), a member of the Regional Leadership Council.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source