Congressional Black Caucus Hit the Ground Running in August

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SYKES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for bringing us together to highlight what we saw while we were home.

I also thank my colleague and neighbor to the north for sharing some of what she heard in Cleveland. It didn't change too much a little further down Route 77, and what we saw in Ohio's 13th Congressional District.

I am here to highlight those issues, about what we heard during our district work period. Just one word: affordability. Gas, groceries, housing, and healthcare all just cost too much, and wages aren't keeping up with the sharp increases that we have seen in these everyday essentials. Ohio's households are paying an average of $2,200 more per year in basic living expenses. They just don't have it.

Meanwhile, at home, young people stopped me to share that they are worried about the steep increases in gas prices. For example, the average price of a gallon of gas in Ohio has increased 37 percent since last year. That is $1.13 a gallon. That might not seem like that much to my colleagues who are in California or New York, but if you are in Ohio and you are paying an extra $1.13, almost paying $5 per gallon, that is a little bit more than what we can handle.

Parents stopped me in the grocery stores because they are worried about keeping food on their tables with the price of meat, bread, and milk all rising this year, not to mention the continuous and ongoing recalls and the power outages that are making people throw all their food away that they already couldn't buy in the first place. Families are expected to spend hundreds of dollars more on their grocery bill than they did last year. That is on top of the fact that there are aggressive, aggressive cuts to SNAP benefits, making it all even worse.

During the work period, my office and I hosted several housing roundtables--several. I repeatedly heard from seniors who are worried about staying in their homes. Whether it is the cost of property taxes that are pricing them out, or whether they can't pay for improvements like ramps and railings to help them get around, they are concerned about whether or not they will be able to age in place.

Also, don't get them started on their children, who they just can't seem to get out of their basements. They are concerned that they will never be able to get their kids out of their homes because they simply cannot afford another place to live.

According to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, the average rent in Ohio's 13th District has increased 16 percent since 2019, making housing less affordable for renters who are on a fixed income, but that is not even the half of it.

The cost of healthcare continues to rise, and harmful cuts to Medicaid and Medicare enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act began taking effect this year. That means that 37,000 residents in our area are seeing higher healthcare costs tied to the end of the enhanced ACA tax credits, while nearly 30,000 people are losing healthcare coverage due to changes in Medicaid and marketplace eligibility rules.

The State of Ohio saw the second highest number of people unenrolled--that means uninsured--because of the cuts to the ACA tax credits. For us in Ohio's 13th District, it is even worse because our largest employers are hospital systems, so not only are we talking about access to care, but we are talking about the people who work in these jobs. It is not just the doctors, the nurses, and the folks who provide direct care. The accountants, those in the supply chain, the people supplying toilet paper--all of this is going to impact my community. It is not only their health and well-being, but the economic backbone and our economic engine are suffering.

When I was elected to Congress, I promised to bring my constituents' voices with me to Washington. That is why I am here, even though the room is empty, standing here before you, Mr. Speaker, to raise awareness about rising costs and to offer some solutions. Maybe somebody will play the tape back since no one seems to want to be here for this important discussion, but I am going to go ahead and provide some solutions.

First of all, gas prices have skyrocketed. Why? It is because of Trump's reckless war of choice in Iran. The military actions have resulted in the loss of life for 18 servicemembers, with hundreds more injured. We don't even know some numbers because they are hiding them.

The costs to Americans are in the billions--billions of dollars. We cannot afford this reckless war. It is one of the reasons why gas prices are high, as well as the cost of goods.

I voted five times--five--one, two, three, four, five times to end this reckless war. Yet, here we are: new strikes on Iran with no end in sight.

As the co-leader in the Housing Affordability Working Group, I am leading legislation that lowers housing costs for renters and homeowners alike. I introduced the HOMES Act, which ends tax breaks for private equity firms buying up houses in Ohio and across the country, making it more difficult for people to find a place to live.

To bring down the cost of healthcare, I am fighting to reinstate the enhanced ACA tax credits and to repeal cuts to Medicaid and Medicare that will throw people off of their healthcare and put our hospitals at risk of closure. Visiting a doctor when you are sick shouldn't be a privilege reserved for just those who can afford it.

That is why I am also working to keep more money in people's pockets. My Lower Your Taxes Act expands the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, and my No Tax on Overtime for All Workers Act-- underline ``all''--will help you keep more of what you earn. That includes all workers and not just the few who are in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

I also supported the TIPS Act to end Federal income tax on tipped wages. I also voted for the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act, which has been signed into law, thankfully, because of our previous administration, ensuring that teachers, firefighters, and other public employees receive their full Social Security benefits.

Mr. Speaker, we have an affordability crisis here, and there are solutions available. The Democratic Caucus, as well as the CBC, is fighting for an affordable America, but Congress is doing nothing to solve the problem. My constituents can't wait. If we are being honest, Mr. Speaker, yours cannot wait either.

If we are not doing the will of the people, what are we even doing here? We are wasting time, energy, and more money than we already have. We must pass commonsense legislation to lower costs now before we head back home, because how dare we go campaign for our seats when we aren't making the lives of people in the United States of America better.

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