200 Days of Delivering for the People

Floor Speech

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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.

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.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to entertain the gentleman's question.

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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.

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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?

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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.

Lee), my distinguished colleague and friend.

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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.

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.

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