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200 DAYS OF DELIVERING FOR THE PEOPLE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, Wednesday, tomorrow, marks 200 days of this Congress and 200 days of House Democrats delivering for the people.
Together, with President Biden we have created millions of jobs since he took office at a faster pace than any President in U.S. history. Economic growth projections are up. Wages are up. And unemployment is down.
With the passage of the American Rescue Plan, we have brought needed relief to families across the country.
More than 160 million Americans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. And nearly 70 percent of adults in the United States have received at least one shot.
We invested in helping schools reopen safely and to make up for lost learning time. We sent money to States and to local communities to help keep childcare providers on the job and to lower costs for working families. And we got more than 163 million economic impact payments into the hands of hardworking Americans in 2021.
And last week, child tax credit monthly payments began hitting the bank accounts of roughly 39 million households, covering almost 90 percent of children nationwide. That is historic tax relief for nearly every working family across the United States.
And behind each of those numbers is a family member, a neighbor, a colleague faced with untenable circumstances, getting the support that they need.
Last week I had a chance to sit down, Mr. Speaker, with families in my district. I represent northern Colorado. It is a wonderful place. Many of these families shared with me exactly what these child tax credit payments will mean for them and for their families.
Annie in Boulder, a woman that I met last Wednesday, is 8 months pregnant, and her child tax credit payment is helping her pay for healthcare while she is on maternity leave until she is able to return to work full time.
Johanna from Fort Collins, already received her credit on July 15, and she will use that credit to pay for a summer camp for her son.
Others shared how these payments will help pay for their childcare, for food, or rent payments. Child tax credit payments for many Colorado families, for many California families, for many Texas families, for many Montana families, for many American families is a lifeline because the payments mean money in the pockets of hardworking parents that will ultimately help strengthen our economy and build better lives for their families.
The bottom line is that with the child tax credit and with the American Rescue Plan, help is here for so many.
I recently had an opportunity to take a road trip across my district to see what the American Rescue Plan has meant for families in northern Colorado from Boulder County to Larimer County up to the Wyoming border from Vail to Grand Lake to Bailey, Evergreen, and many places in between, visiting with families and small business owners, childcare workers, and communities.
And we heard story after story about how these funds are helping our communities, providing support to local food banks who have seen skyrocketing demands, providing a needed lifeline to small business owners and renters, and supporting, as I said, our cities and counties amidst the unprecedented moment that we are all experiencing.
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We have always said that at this time of unprecedented challenge, we could not leave our families or our communities to weather this moment alone. Well, we have not. President Biden has not. House Democrats have not. Senate Democrats have not. And we will not.
Mr. Speaker, 200 days--200 days of shots in arms, money in pockets, children in schools, people in jobs. And our work is just getting started, because we will continue to deliver for the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Lieu), my good friend, the co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, someone who has been delivering for the people in his district in California and for the people of our country for many years.
Mr. LIEU. Mr. Speaker, I would ask to engage Representative Neguse in a colloquy to ask a question.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to entertain the gentleman's question.
Mr. LIEU. Mr. Speaker, that wonderful tax cut for American families with children, did any Republican congressman vote for it?
Mr. NEGUSE. It is funny that you ask that question, Mr. Lieu, because not a single Republican, not one, voted for the child tax credit; no laughing matter, as it were.
Mr. LIEU. That's right. It was Democrats in the House, Democrats in the Senate that got the American Rescue Plan signed into law, and President Biden enacted it.
Some of you may wonder, well, what else is in this American Rescue Plan.
So we have this amazing tax cut for millions and millions of American families with children, but in addition, the American Rescue Plan was designed to do four things: To get shots into arms, children into schools, people back on their jobs, and cash in their pockets. And it is doing all four of those.
We know that since January 20, there has been over 3 million jobs created under the Biden-Harris administration. We know that jobless claims have been cut in half. The American Rescue Plan had stimulus checks go out to millions of Americans who needed cash in their pockets. It also provided billions of dollars to schools across our country so they could reopen safely, and it also had money for restaurants and small businesses. It had additional economic injury disaster grants. It also had shuttered venue grants to help those shuttered venues. It was so full of programs to help the American people that we now have projections that our GDP is now going to skyrocket.
We see people coming back into jobs, and we see America back on track, and not a single Republican voted for that American Rescue Plan.
You know what else was in that plan? Funding for local government. I served in local government. I was on the Torrance City Council; I loved that job. It is very clear to me that one of the big aspects of local government funding is funding for public safety, funding for our firefighters, funding for police officers. Not a single Republican voted for that local funding for public safety. This American Rescue Plan was a transformative law and it is still continuing to provide benefits to the American people.
Just a few days ago, as Representative Neguse mentioned, on July 15, most American families got a tax refund--hundreds of dollars. This is going to happen again the middle of next month; they are going to get hundreds of dollars again. And then it is going to happen again on the 15th of September, and again on the 15th of October, and again on the 15th of November, and again on December 15.
This is transforming the lives of Americans. It is allowing hardworking parents to have cash to provide childcare, cash to get gas for their car, to go to work, to get back into our economy, get back into the labor market; and again, not a single Republican in the House or in the Senate voted for the American Rescue Plan. And this was just the first 6 months of Democrats in control.
What did the Republicans do when they were in control? Well, they also did give tax cuts, except it went to the top 1 percent. It went to billionaires. And all of you know that, because you didn't get a tax cut. You would have remembered if you did, but you didn't. The American people actually did not get this, because it went mostly to billionaires.
Democrats and Republicans, very starkly different. The first 6 months in office, we chose to give a tax cut to the middle class, to families with children, and we are not done. Now we are working on the American Jobs Plan that is going to have an infrastructure component. It is going to have money for elder care. It is going to have workforce retraining. It is going to help restore the millions of jobs that were lost during this pandemic. We are working on the American Families Plan, because this amazing tax cut for families with children, we want to make it permanent. We want to give Republicans another chance to vote for it, because we want to make this tax cut for families with children permanent. Hopefully, we are going to get bipartisan support for that.
What else is going to be in the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan? It is going to have funding also for education. Studies show that in terms of education, the most impact it can have on a human being's life is under the age of five. So we are going to have funding to have universal preschool for three- and four-year-olds. This is when their brains are developing. This is when you can have tremendous impact that is going to affect them for the rest of their lives.
We are going to extend higher education funding to provide free community college for anyone who wants it. We are in the 21st century now. We simply have to expand our education. People have to learn more skills so they can prepare for the economy of the 21st century.
Hopefully, Republicans will join us. Hopefully, we will get bipartisan support, and we will continue to make America as great as we want it to be and to move forward on a bipartisan basis. We ask Republicans to join us, but for now, we do know not a single one of them voted for the American Rescue Plan.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from California.
If the distinguished gentleman from California might be willing to engage in a brief colloquy with me, I would be interested in yielding to him.
I was fully aware that the House Republicans didn't vote in favor of the child tax credit, but you mentioned a litany of other programs that have come to pass over the course of the last 200 days that have had a dramatic impact on the American people.
Is it your understanding that no Republicans voted for, for example, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund as part of the American Rescue Plan?
Mr. LIEU. That is correct. Even though a number of them took credit for that program, they actually didn't vote for it. So I don't want the American people to be confused. If your Republican Member of Congress claims credit for the American Rescue Plan, they did not vote for it. But hey, if they want to talk good things about it, we are happy to accept it, but your Republican Member of Congress did not vote for the American Rescue Plan.
Mr. NEGUSE. Well, Mr. Lieu, I couldn't agree with you more. And you make a very interesting and salient point, because as we reflect on the 200 days with House Democrats leading the charge here in the Congress, pushing to get money in pockets and restaurant revitalization funds and funds for small businesses and the child tax credit payments, and funds for our schools and funds for firefighting departments and local communities, we know that House Democrats have been working for the people.
And while it is unfortunate that the House Republican Caucus has been unwilling to partner with us in this effort, we certainly hope that they will come around.
Mr. Speaker, as you know, one of the privileges of serving in this august body is meeting giants. The Speaker, of course, is familiar with the refrain that we stand on the shoulders of giants, and that is certainly the case in the instance of the colleague of whom I have the honor of recognizing, someone who has been a voice for the voiceless, who has been a champion for working families in our country, for doing everything that she can possibly do to eradicate poverty, not just in the State of California, but across the country.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), my distinguished colleague and friend.
Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank my colleague and the gentleman from Colorado for his gracious comments, remarks, and leadership. And just know that we are in this together, and we have been in this together for a long, long time. And this is really working for the American people. It is in our blood. We have no option. And you certainly--in the short time you have been here--you certainly have hit the ground running and have shown who you are and whose you are. So thank you, again, so much.
And to, of course, our co-chair, Mr. Lieu, let me just say thank you for your clarity of purpose and making sure that--yourself and Mr. Neguse--making sure that the truth is told. And oftentimes, we forget that the truth shall set you free. But I always marvel at you, Congressman Lieu, and Mr. Neguse, especially when you are on the media. You don't pull any punches. You tell the truth; you cut through all the noise. And I think the American people deserve that. Thank you both for that, and thank you for giving us a chance to be with you this evening.
Mr. Speaker I rise also with my colleagues to highlight the fact that House Democrats have delivered for the people in the first 200 days of this Congress. House Democrats and the Biden administration have begun building back bolder. We have helped tackle this virus head on by putting shots in people's arms, and money in people's pockets.
And, yes, to address the crisis of poverty in this country, the American Rescue Plan expanded and improved the child tax credit, which I had the honor of working with my colleagues, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, and our chair of the Committee on Appropriations, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, to establish the foundation for this.
This benefit has made a significant impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of struggling families, especially for communities of color. In my district alone, the newly improved tax credit will directly benefit 108,600 children. That's in the Golden State of California. Child poverty is about the highest in the country. And it will lift over 10,000 children out of poverty. Now, for the people, we must make it permanent.
Mr. Speaker, let me just say that Democrats, we rescued Republicans. There were zero--mind you--zero Republican votes, as my colleagues have said over and over again, for the creation, for example, of 3 million jobs, for investing $130 billion to help schools reopen safely. There were zero Republican votes for the child tax credit and for putting money into the pockets of American families who, through no fault of their own, have been living on the edge, struggling to survive, begging for help.
Well guess what? Democrats delivered for everyone; everyone, regardless of their party affiliation, regardless of who they voted for, or even if they didn't vote. And, yes, some Republicans, they have the audacity to tout these benefits as if they supported them. But you know what? That is okay. That is okay. We are delivering for the people regardless.
And, yes, African Americans and people of color were disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus, and we made certain that equity and funding for low-income and vulnerable communities and low-wealth populations were targeted and included.
Now, last time I looked, Republicans also have many constituents who face socioeconomic and racial bias and have had a difficult time just surviving because of systemic racism and economic inequality. Republicans have constituents who have faced these adversities; we do also. But guess what? Republicans did not step up. We did.
Mr. Speaker, I hope now that the public understands who is on their side. You all are making it very clear. I hope the public really understands what this is about and really who is standing with them.
Mr. Speaker, we must continue to build back better and bolder, and I sincerely hope that these efforts will be bipartisan. For after all, we were elected to represent and support our constituents. Not abandon them, mind you, in the time of need.
So, yes, I am proud to have helped minority leader, for instance, McCarthy's constituents. I am proud to have helped Senator McConnell's constituents. But I hope that they recognize that the benefits that extended to them during this unprecedented pandemic, I hope they will recognize and rethink the importance of working for the people.
Again, I am very proud to have supported the American Rescue Plan regardless of party affiliation. And I am very pleased that we were able to take care of our colleagues' constituents when they wouldn't.
Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank the gentlewoman from California, and I certainly could not have said it any better, because we were proud to take the steps that were necessary to help constituents across the country.
The problems, the challenges that we face as a country don't discriminate on political lines or jurisdictional lines. We don't focus on helping Republican communities or Democratic communities. American communities, that is who we are here to help; American families, the American people.
Mr. Speaker, Social Security was created over 80 years ago. And I was at an event earlier today. As we talked about the child tax credit, I was joined by my colleague, Mr. Lieu. And Senator Booker was so eloquent as he described the child tax credit program, in particular, as a new Social Security for kids, for children.
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So that every child in the United States has the opportunity to succeed and live the American Dream, that is what it is all about. The stories that you heard from my colleagues today, that is who we are helping. The single mother in Broomfield, Colorado, who is trying to make ends meet. The working family in Texas, California, Iowa, Nebraska, Seattle, or Florida trying to find the resources to pay for childcare, to put food on the table, to pay their mortgage, that is what the child tax credit is all about.
Mr. Speaker, 200 days, 200 days of progress. I am proud of the work. My colleague, Mr. Lieu, is proud of the work that House Democrats have done in partnership with President Biden; the work that Representative Axne has done to fight for farmers in Iowa; the work that Representative Harder has done to increase appropriations for firefighting in the Western United States, as we are besieged by wildfires; the work that Representative Delgado did to secure local community support for the smallest cities, towns, and municipalities in rural America.
Money in pockets, shots in arms, children in schools, and people in jobs. Mr. Speaker, 200 days, and we are just getting started.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 127
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