Trump's First 100 Days
Floor Speech
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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to coanchor this Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour, along with the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Brown), my distinguished colleague.
For the next 60 minutes, members of the CBC have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on the harmful policies of Donald Trump's first 100 days in his second term, an issue of great importance to the Congressional Black Caucus, to the Congress in general, to constituents that we represent across this country, and really to any living, breathing person on this planet.
The first 100 days of this administration have been about policies that are delusional, diabolical, destructive, and dangerous. These have been doozy policies and politics that are doing nothing but hurting America, and especially Black Americans.
We are also going to be talking about so many of these policies that seem uniquely targeted to focus on the place and the progress of Black Americans. Make no mistake, if you are trying to hurt Black Americans, you are inadvertently also going to hurt all other Americans because so many folks are dependent on Section 8 vouchers, on Social Security, on Medicaid, on Medicare, on an economy that is working, on not being tariffed up the wazoo so that we can be able to purchase goods and services that we need to keep this economy growing.
The American people need a moment of peace and structure coming from this administration, not the chaos and the ringing of alarms every single moment.
This is not hyperbole, even though it might sound like it. This is not partisan spin. We have seen this when we have gone into our districts, when we have hosted townhalls, when we have talked to the American people. Everyone is saying the same thing. How can we protect our Constitution, protect our economy, protect our way of life, our freedoms, our liberties; not deport us? What is this administration doing to help us rather than to hurt and harm and divide us?
The power of this country is in the people. For the next 60 minutes, the Congressional Black Caucus is going to be speaking to the people in crystal clear ways, using crystal clear words about how we are on the brink, if not through the door, of a constitutional crisis, of an economic, of a political, of a moral crisis, and a crisis of the very identity of this country.
It is often said that when America has a cold, Black America has pneumonia. Let me tell you something. We are all up in urgent care and in the community clinics and in the hospitals because we are all sick right now.
We cannot afford another 100 days of the 100 days that we have just seen.
I have so much more that I want and that I will say, but I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Brown) to share some words before we allow members of the Congressional Black Caucus to also speak to the American people.
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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Brown from Ohio for her remarks.
As you can see, Congresswoman Brown was breaking it down, she was keeping it real, and she was bringing the receipts. That is what the Congressional Black Caucus does each and every day. We break it down for the American people, we keep it real for the American people, and we bring the receipts for the American people. The problem is there are so many receipts to share right now in just 100 days, we don't have enough tote bags for all the receipts.
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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Lucy McBath from the great State of Georgia for her remarks, and I am grateful that she talked about DOGE because the reality is that DOGE has not found any substantive evidentiary fraud in all of their work these past 100 days.
If they had, they would be blasting it across every social media platform and every network. They probably would be making stamps and stamping your head with all of the fraud that they have found, but that is not the case.
What they have been doing, however, is harassing and intimidating and disrespecting our workers, creating a hostile environment for our Federal workers, intimidating them to resign or to leave, mostly because of ideology, not because of the work they are doing.
We have to continue to tell the truth, which is that government is people. Government works because of people. When you have a healthcare claim, when you are trying to get your insurance, when you are trying to apply for FEMA, when you are trying to get your Social Security payment, when you are trying to get access to your Medicaid or your Medicare benefits, when you are trying to find a nursing home facility, when you are trying to get a passport, when you are trying to call in to the government to get the help that you deserve from the government that we have all pledged to provide for you, there ain't going to be nobody to answer the phone when you call because DOGE and this administration are actually working overtime to make sure that you don't have access to government.
The policies of this administration are working overtime to try to make sure that there will be no government and they are painting it all under the auspices of Black folks because somehow they think that Black America is responsible for so many of the ills that they are trying to cure.
Once again, as Representative Brown shared, the diversity, the equity, and the inclusion, and when last I checked, this country was founded on all of those things. It has been made great because of all of those things.
When we talk about DOGE, I know one thing for sure is that these folks working for DOGE are actually squatting in the departments where they have worked to terminate Federal workers, and they are bringing in washers and dryers and mattresses and all their kids, living rent-free in departments that are actually designed and structured to answer the call and to take care of the needs that you have as a citizen, as a constituent, as an American. We have to talk about that. That is the fraud.
I know she has a trunk full of them.
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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Jasmine Crockett for her remarks and for always keeping it real. I will reiterate some of the things that she said, which is that this administration has been targeting Black Americans, possibly because they are so afraid of our shine. This administration and its policies have certainly been laser focused on trying to tear down Black women. You don't have to connect too many dots to understand why that is.
I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ivey) to break it down for us and share some of his receipts.
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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honorable Glenn Ivey for his very sobering remarks.
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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I again want to add my thanks to Representative Glenn Ivey for talking about healthcare and the fact that this administration has been cutting grants to the National Institutes of Health and cutting clinical trials.
Over the weekend, I was at an event. We had doctors and advocates who talked about cancer, about breast cancer. This country is actually on the precipice of discovering a vaccination for breast cancer, a cure for breast cancer. We have amazing scientists in this country who have been researching this, and they are at the point of clinical trials.
Mr. Speaker, I don't know if you know anyone in your family who is a survivor of breast cancer or any other kind of cancer. Oftentimes, when you go in and the surgeon puts you under to take it out, they don't know if they have gotten all of it out. They hope that they have, but for some odd reason, we have not advanced the technology to get all of it out. We are now on the precipice of being able to do so.
Mr. Speaker, do you know what this administration did? Instead of accelerating those clinical trials, instead of offering funding for that research to continue, instead of wanting to be a champion of the cure for cancer, this administration cut that research, cut that funding, and cut those clinical trials. They cut funding to educational institutions, to colleges, and to universities that are doing that kind of research. They essentially cut off our future scientists, innovators, and problem-solvers.
Our kids, who are investing their time, their money, our money, and their sweat to go to school and get an education and learn enough to help this country move forward and progress, are getting the short end of the stick. They are actually being beaten on the head with a stick that is held by this administration.
Representative Ivey talked about what is happening with the judiciary. In fact, this President actually said he didn't know if he even had to uphold the Constitution. Then, this administration is going to sue Justice Roberts. We have moved from three branches of government to one branch of government.
Republicans are silent tonight, just like they have been silent at all the markups and all the hearings we have had this month. They are silent, afraid, and unwilling to stand up for their constituents.
Mr. Speaker, they are only willing to defend this administration. They are going to be tasked hard when they continue to have to go into their districts and sell the fertilizer that they have to feed their constituents, voters, Americans, the fertilizer coming out of this administration designed to harm everyone that hasn't bent the knee.
Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Rhode Island (Mr. Amo).
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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island for his remarks.
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Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I am so grateful to be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and I want to just share some of my own stories coming from my district and also my experience.
I was in that Judiciary Committee where we had the hearing on immigration, and I was in that Committee when Republicans voted to deport and detain Americans, where they voted to allow for cavity searches on children, where they voted to allow ICE to go into domestic violence shelters, where they voted to allow January 6ers--those who wreaked havoc on this Capitol, assaulted Capitol Police, and terrorized everyone in this building--where they voted to allow them to work for the Federal Government, including the Department of Homeland Security.
I ask: How can you deport an American? Where are you going to deport an American to?
I don't understand.
I have yet to see anything from the Republicans or even from this administration, can we get a poster, can we get a picture of what a safe American looks like, what a nondeportable American looks like?
That is because I want to know. I want to be able to share that picture and that photo with my constituents to say: So if you look like this, if you are maybe this shape, if you have this degree of melanin, if this is the color of your hair, or this is the color of your eyes, or this is what you say, or if this is what kind of accent you have or not, then you might be safe.
I think the American people need to know which one of them will be deported next. I think the American people deserve to know which of their Representatives is going to stand up for them. That is because I know when the question was asked: Will you stand up for Americans and prevent them from being deported? Raise your hand. Only Democrats raised their hand.
I also have to ask when our loved ones and when our friends and family members go overseas and they get snatched, are Republicans going to pick up the phone and ask to have their constituents brought back?
Are they going to fight for them?
That is because in that Committee, they said that they were not going to. They have said that they are not going to fight for their healthcare, for Medicaid, for Medicare, and for Social Security.
I represent Los Angeles. People think it is flossy and glossy, I like to say. However, I have the third highest Medicaid enrollee district in the country. Mr. Speaker, 7 of the 10 highest Medicaid enrollee districts in this country are in California, and some of them are Republican districts.
I think we all want to know, Black Americans, White Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino Americans, all Americans want to know: Are you going to cut their Medicaid? Are you going to cut their Social Security?
Mr. Speaker, 140,000 children under the age of 19 and 40,000 seniors over the age of 65 in my district are at risk because of the policies coming from this administration. Nearly 8 million Americans get healthcare through Medicaid and through CHIP, which is on the chopping block.
This President wants to cut $5.6 billion from the Department of Education. The House Republicans' budget includes $330 billion in cuts. Pell grants, school lunches, Head Start, and everything are on the chopping block.
In my district, we have L.A. Unified School District. For many of the kids who go to school, their only meal is when they go to school.
I am trying to figure out when folks say that they are Christian, what kind of Bible are they using? That is because the Bible that I have, Mr. Speaker, doesn't say that you starve children, that you cut off their healthcare, and that you cut off the healthcare for their grandparents.
Mr. Speaker, if your Bible says that, then I submit that maybe you change your Bible. That is because that is unchristianlike to kill seniors and children.
Let's talk about rolling back bedrock civil rights-era policies that are designed to actually allow everyone the opportunity to compete and participate in this marketplace. It is not about giving handouts. It is about creating opportunity. It is about creating access to competition.
Mr. Speaker, why would you be afraid of that unless you are mediocre, less than average, and need extra help because you can't compete?
Well, don't come for Black America. Fix yourself.
Let's talk about the workers who are the backbone of our economy, the workers who run this government. I am always surprised when folks are talking about unelected bureaucrats. Elon Musk is an unelected bureaucrat. Keep it real. All the staff who help us do our jobs and help our constituents are unelected bureaucrats, and the majority are actually Republicans. The administration wants to cut the salaries that allow folks to answer the phones for our constituents.
California has the second highest number of Federal workers.
Why are the Republicans going to cut that?
Mr. Speaker, might I remind you that we have the Olympics coming, we have the FIFA World Cup coming, we have the All-Star Game, and Super Bowl coming, and we are still producing movies and TV. We are helping people with their passports and their visas. If Republicans want all these games to be successful, then they have to resource the departments that process the visas and applications that allow people to come here. So let's keep it real.
Mr. Speaker, if you want to talk about housing, this administration is proposing to terminate section 8, cutting rental aid and evicting 32,000 families from their homes. This President even refused to come to Altadena after the urban fires. That is how little this administration thinks about Black communities.
This administration is not interested in Black America, even though this administration wanted to thank Black America.
What kind of thanks is that when they cut funding to HBCUs, when they cut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, and when they cut Meals on Wheels and SNAP?
We are going to make America hungry again. We are going to make America sick again. I have a binder full of actions from this administration that have come out of this administration in just the last 100 days. They are terrifying. Not only are they terrifying for Black America, but they are terrifying for all America.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to happily close out this CBC Special Order hour and remind America that we will be back again next week with more information, more receipts, and more truth.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my co-lead, Congresswoman Shontel Brown from the great State of Ohio, and all the members of the Congressional Black Caucus who spoke tonight, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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