Giving Voice to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Principles

Floor Speech

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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Jackson for his incredible leadership and, of course, CPC for hosting this Special Order hour.

Mr. Speaker, we know that since day one, the President of the United States has targeted policies and programs that are about equity, about women's rights, making sure that we are attacking and targeting racial injustices all around the country.

Let's call what it is. When you attack DEI, you are attacking people of color. You are attacking inequities, attacking again those that continue to allow the status quo which makes them money to again have injustices within programs and so forth.

To this President, anyone who does not look like him or does not have the same amount of money or income, shouldn't have equal opportunities. That is what we are telling the American people. It is no surprise then that he has filled his Cabinet administration with people who are set on racist daily deportation quotas, firing women in the military, or having senior advisers spend their time literally tweeting at and name- calling Black Congresswomen and community leaders.

This anti-Black and racist administration does not reflect the beauty and dignity of the American people. They have made it clear from day one about their policy choice to ignore and hurt our Black communities.

I grew up in the most beautiful, Blackest city in the country, where my strength and the way I move in trying to attack poverty and making sure that no child goes hungry, that we have clean air to breathe, that we have clean water to drink is because this is a city that knows what it feels like again for their government to turn their back on them.

The Health Department right now has canceled over a thousand grants dedicated to address issues that affect Black people, including Black maternal health where Black mothers are dying at a higher rate giving birth. Those funds were supposed to research maternal mortality, environmental injustices and contamination, disease prevention, and more. Yet again, this administration thinks Black people are disposable.

I know as the founder and chair of the Mamas' Caucus that Black women are three times more likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes, but now we are not even allowed to say Black for programs dedicated to solving maternal mortality.

As co-chair of the People's Environmental Justice Caucus, I know that pollution deeply affects the majority of Black communities. Growing up in Detroit, I thought that the smell of rotten eggs was normal. Then I learned it was because the government sacrificed our air and water to big polluters in communities like ours.

Just last month, homes in Gary, Indiana, were literally under water due to flooding. Our government was too slow and is still not responding like they should. Lead-contaminated pipes, dust, and paint still affect many homes across our country, especially in our city.

There is no safe level of lead, but again, the Trump administration, using the anti-DEI movement, canceled programs dedicated to replacing lead pipes. Think about that. Our U.S. administration right now thinks that clean water is not a great need in our country.

Trump's attacks against DEI aren't simply a culture war. It is through his executive orders and policies directly impacting our health, our wallets, and our future. We all deserve to be able to live with human dignity. What we are seeing with this administration is they don't care for that if we don't look like him.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Illinois hosting this Special Order.

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