Restore the American Dream

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Representative Deluzio lending his voice on the House floor to speak to some of the injustice out there. Certainly, representing a district that has immense amounts of rail, it is important for us to address safety, consumer ridership, and also the economy.

Over these past months and years, we have seen far too many hardworking Americans struggling to get by and crippled by costs.

Recent data shows that more than one-quarter of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. We need to be sensitive to all of these perspectives as they relate to working families.

Meanwhile, corporate greed and wealth disparity are at an all-time high. One of the countless recent examples of billion-dollar corporations putting profits over people's lives came during and after Hurricanes Helene and Milton made landfall, wreaking death and destruction across the southeastern United States. In their wake, complaints of price gouging poured in as families trying to flee the devastating storms reported skyrocketing costs for airline tickets, gas, hotel rooms, and more.

Despite many States having anti-price-gouging laws--these vary from State to State--the largest corporations can often easily avoid liability. That is why, last month, I joined a dozen of my Democratic colleagues in a letter led by Senator Elizabeth Warren calling for a Federal anti-price-gouging law to protect American consumers.

Unchecked corporate greed has hurt everyday Americans for far too long. Democrats are ready to face this issue head-on. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that President-elect Trump and Republicans share the same commitment. Rather than working with us to drive down the cost of living and make big corporations pay their fair share, they have announced their plans to expand the Trump tax scam.

Expanding this unpopular law will only further cement massive tax breaks for Trump's billionaire buddies like Elon Musk while sticking the working-class people who voted for him with higher costs on everyday goods through his half-baked tariff scheme.

Experts from both sides of the aisle have said plainly that if these GOP policies are implemented, they will send prices surging and claw back any progress we have made to stem inflation. These are not the types of policies that the American people signed up for.

Republicans and Democrats alike need to stand together to enact a bipartisan tax plan that would lower taxes for working- and middle- class families while ensuring everyone pays their fair share, including Trump's billionaire buddies.

If they aren't willing to join us in this effort to support middle- class Americans, we will fight back however we can, and that is a promise. Of course, it involves all sorts of angles that speak to the doability for working families, making certain that regulations speak to the needs of consumers for rail safety, growing the economy, and providing efficiencies so that American families are justly served.

We need to do a lot of business in the upcoming session, and we need to do it with American families in mind, those working families who struggle in the economy. We need to make improvements and let fairness be our guide.

I thank Congressman Deluzio for his leadership on behalf of working families and on behalf of safety. I know we both have districts that require that sort of laser-sharp focus. It is an honor to serve with him. I thank him for raising his voice and boldly speaking for justice for our American consumers.

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