Recognizing Black Maternal Health Crisis

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Congressional Mamas' Caucus, I am asking our Chamber to please take a moment to recognize that we are experiencing a Black maternal health crisis in our country.

In Michigan's 12th Congressional District, we are experiencing not only the Black maternal health crisis but also an infant mortality crisis.

We don't want another study. We want action.

Michigan has had one of the highest death rates among Black women in our country because our systems and institutions have failed to provide our Black neighbors with the comprehensive, high-quality care they deserve, a system free of systemic racism.

To address the Black maternal mortality crisis, we must understand and acknowledge our country's racist history and the ways in which it has manifested in our healthcare system. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women. This is unacceptable.

Black women have consistently been neglected and mistreated in our healthcare system. They should feel safe and supported by their healthcare professionals, and they should be believed.

Black women in frontline communities like ours also live with the devastating effects of preexisting conditions from air and water pollution.

I founded the Congressional Mamas' Caucus with Mothering Justice because we were tired. We were tired of policies created about mothers but not with mothers.

I am also incredibly proud to have been a supporter and cosponsor of the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, a comprehensive bill that would address every dimension of the maternal health crisis in America.

This legislative package will extend WIC eligibility, fund community- based organizations, prioritize Black maternal mental health, support incarcerated mothers, and invest in Federal programs to address the Black maternal health crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I will not stop until Black women receive the equitable, nondiscriminatory, comprehensive care they deserve. Get the Lead Out

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, water contaminated by lead service lines can be found in every single congressional district in our country. From rural areas to densely populated cities, lead service lines are widespread and pose serious health risks to all of us, but particularly our children.

I founded the Get the Lead Out Caucus with the goal of eliminating lead from our drinking water once and for all.

Experts have estimated that we need $60 billion to replace every single lead pipe in America in the next 10 years. We continue to wake up to stories about children being poisoned and cities having to hand out bottled water because they have failed to invest in our water infrastructure.

We are now seeing our own food supply being impacted by toxic water being used to wash produce that ends up in our refrigerators and on our dining room tables.

People across our country are being forced to drink, bathe, cook, and wash dishes with water that is literally poisoning our bodies.

This is a public health crisis, Mr. Speaker, and it affects all of us in the United States.

I am proud that I am leading, in partnership with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and Lisa Blunt Rochester, an appropriations request to provide $1.5 billion in additional funding for lead service line replacement in Michigan and throughout the country in the next fiscal year.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to please join me in this initiative. I know that many of our municipalities have talked to all of us about struggling to find the resources to meet the urgent need for lead pipe detection and replacement, so this $1.5 billion would keep us on track for our goal of total nationwide lead pipe replacement in the next decade.

Tribal nations across the Great Lakes remind us that water is life. There is no more precious resource than water. We must continue to demand that clean, affordable water is a human right in our country. Congratulating Laila Nasher

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to congratulate Laila Nasher, a resident from our district and a dedicated leader in our community, for becoming the first Yemeni-American woman to earn the prestigious Truman Scholarship award.

Born in Aden, Yemen, Laila is a proud immigrant and was raised by her mother in Detroit. In 2021, I had the honor and privilege of Laila interning in our office, and since then I have watched from afar her incredible commitment to public service, and it continues to just grow.

Laila is committed to advancing equity in our public education and supporting underserved communities and first-generation college students like herself. As a student at Harvard, she is now studying social anthropology and history and inspiring young Yemeni-American women in our community and across our country to pursue their dreams.

I am so proud of Laila in receiving the Truman Scholarship award and cannot wait to see all that she is going to be able to accomplish in the years to come. Please join me in congratulating Laila for her outstanding achievements and deep commitment to our community.

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