Accessing Basic Necessities

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, access to utilities is often a matter of life and death. Without access to electricity or water, people may find themselves unable to keep their families healthy, their homes heated or cooled during extreme weather, or unable to sustain critical medical equipment in their home.

Utilities are not just a convenience, Mr. Speaker, but a fundamental human right that should be affordable and accessible to all. That is why Congresswoman Cori Bush, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, and I introduced a resolution recognizing the human rights to utilities, to affirm that access to water, sanitation, electricity, heating, cooling, public transit, and broadband are basic human rights. Utility access is especially critical for rural and low-income communities, like many in my congressional district, where many, again, are struggling to make ends meet and are on the front lines of the climate crisis.

The greedy corporations that own and operate utilities could choose to help families, but instead they are forcing them through the dehumanizing process of having their power cut off and their water shut down. Instead, companies like DTE in my community prioritize stockholder returns and CEO pay, trapping many of our neighbors in a cycle of poverty while they continue to make enormous profits.

Mr. Speaker, in the richest country on Earth, no family should be denied access to utilities, lack access to clean water, face energy burdens, and bear the brunt of corporate pollution. Access to these basic necessities is and should be a fundamental human right in our country. Condemning Racism and Bigotry Toward Haitian People

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, our Haitian neighbors from Detroit to Springfield, Ohio, are being targeted with hate, threatened with violence, and smeared with dehumanizing lies.

MAGA extremists, including the twice-impeached former President, are spreading disgusting lies about our Haitian neighbors. This is nothing more than xenophobia and anti-Black racism.

Our Haitian neighbors have been victimized by centuries of colonization, foreign exploitation, and repeated occupation and oppression by foreign powers, most notably by the United States. Haitian immigrant families in Springfield do not deserve to be targeted with a wave of bomb threats.

We must stop the dehumanization of our immigrant neighbors coming from both sides. We should welcome asylum seekers, not push legislation that funds separation of families and criminalization. We always, always must stand with our immigrant neighbors who are seeking a better life for their families.

I am so proud to have joined colleagues in the Haiti Caucus in introducing H. Res. 1473 condemning the racism and bigotry toward our Haitian neighbors.

Mr. Speaker, I say to our Haitian neighbors in Springfield and across our country: We love you. We see you. We stand with you, and we will always have your back. Safe Storage Saves Lives

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, my residents continue to share with me their fears of getting that dreaded phone call from their kids at school, that there is an active shooter, that there is a high-alert alarm now.

Just in the first month of the school year in my district, Southfield police arrested a 15-year-old boy for carrying a handgun in his high school. We are grateful for Michigan's OK2Say program that gave that student the ability to share that vital information that saved lives.

Gun violence is everywhere, Mr. Speaker. It is not just in our schools. After a Lions' game last week, gun violence took two innocent lives in the Eastern Market. We saw it, literally, at a children's splash pad in Michigan. Also, we even saw it at a block club, where many neighbors in the community were celebrating.

We must never get numb to the gun violence impacting our families, Mr. Speaker. The majority of our communities want more action on gun violence. That is why I am really proud to have worked with so many folks to introduce the Safe Storage Saves Lives Act, which would require firearm sellers to provide each buyer with a secure gun storage or safety device, a gun lock, for every gun they buy.

Mr. Speaker, in Michigan, the Children's Hospital of Michigan is now passing out gun boxes, literally storage for guns because they know this is now the leading cause of death for our children.

Of course, we have so much more work to do here in this Congress. It pains me that we continue to have inaction after continued over-and- over and high-profile shootings. It cannot become the norm. We must work together. Congress cannot ignore survivors' families forever.

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