Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to be here with my partner, Congresswoman Jayapal from the State of Washington, and we are running the Progressive Caucus Special Order hour. We are delighted to kick off this session, which is about the…

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman for those extremely thoughtful and lucid remarks. I also wish to associate myself with the idea that, here on this issue, we cannot act purely as partisans. I suppose I can make a partisan speech with…

Mr. President, after reviewing Rachel Brand's record and testimony during her confirmation hearing, I cannot support her nomination to become Associate Attorney General. Ms. Brand is a fierce supporter of the so-called Patriot Act and the…

Mr. President, during this week, National Police Week, I honor all those who serve to keep us safe. I honor three Maryland officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2016. Corporal Jack Colson of Prince George's County Police…

Over the past several decades, the productivity of American workers has grown higher than ever before. At the same time, corporations, shareholders, CEOs have been exploiting these workers and hoarding more and more of the wealth that…

We are all trying to get to the right place in terms of providing the support and resources that are needed.

For years, they have refused to allow Congress to vote on democratic legislation to raise the minimum wage.

She said when you are sick, you can't work. And if you can't work, you can't earn. And if you can't earn, you can't pay a policy.

I want to note my very strong objection to this committee's refusal to allow Senator Bernie Sanders to testify here today.

I think the leadership of this committee is actually suppressing a lot of the important issues that really should and in history have been grappled with by this committee.

high-ranking public employees... are underpaid compared to what they could be making in the private sector.

That is ridiculous. That is ridiculous.

the Federal Government was the place that was open to hiring women and members of racial minority groups when the private sector refused.

So on that theory we would not want to allow extreme inequality in the private sector to become the justification for driving wages down further in the public sector.

the Federal Government historically has been a place that has been open to people facing serious discrimination in the private sector like women, like African Americans

I can't visualize who we are talking about as being overpaid within the government workforce.

the timing of this hearing is at least a bit unusual.

The real lesson for today's hearing is not that middle class Federal workers are making too much. It is that private sector workers, especially those with the lowest incomes and educations are making too little.