Karen Bass

I am here to rise in support of the Protecting American Lungs and Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act and to speak in opposition to the motion to recommit. I am concerned that some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are…

We're a little over time.

So, I just want to thank you all for your time. I look forward to working with my colleague because this is a bipartisan issue.

So, we set up all of these barriers, and my dream is to have legislation, which we do have a bill, that calls for a one-stop reentry center similar to what Ms. Martin runs.

I had the incredible opportunity of visiting the prison where you were incarcerated.

We want to make sure we are providing recently released prisoners the tools and resources to successfully reintegrate into society so we can end the cycle of reincarceration.

While we are grateful for the funding we have, more is needed, more funding that is flexible and unrestricted.

In certain areas, if you don't have a driver's license, you cannot--you're not employable.

It's so important and it's so critical to lift up the experiences of those with justice involvement.

I want to leave with a 1930 editorial in the Raleigh News and Observer that noted the elation of the audience witnessing a lynching as follows: ``Men joked loudly at the sight of the bleeding body. . . . Girls giggled as the flies fed on…

I'm pleased that the Subcommittee is holding this very important hearing on the issue of challenges to reentry for returning citizens.

When we are considering legislation to support the reintegration of returning citizens, she suggests that they be involved at every stage, hired as consultants in design of reentry services.

In inner city America, we fight for local hire because lots of times in areas with high unemployment, the people that are working do not reflect the folks that live there.

I do not believe that it is rocket science to figure out how to deal with a burgeoning youth population.

I do not think any of this is rocket science. We know how to solve these problems in the United States. We just choose not to, so young people are criminalized.

I hope that we have the political will to force China and Mexico to stop manufacturing.

We need to keep supporting, for example, the expansion of the behavioral health workforce that can take care of people with chronic behavioral disorders like addiction, both in our cities as well as in our rural areas.

I am encouraged by recent reports that China has been cracking down on its manufacturers of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.

I also want to make sure that we don't expand the scope of mandatory minimum sentences.

I am concerned that addiction is a health issue, and rather than relying solely on incarceration, we need to also focus significantly on treatment.

I urge my colleagues to put partisan politics aside and put the needs of our constituents and the American people first.

This is a sad day in U.S. history when we have to vote on Articles of Impeachment because Donald Trump has abused the power of the Office of the Presidency in his attempt to cheat his way to reelection. The facts are uncontested. Fact one…

It compromises our standing in the world, and why would allies trust us anymore if this is the way that they are treated?

The idea that the most corrupt President that we have seen in recent history withheld military aid because he was concerned about corruption is ludicrous.

This is a sad day in U.S. history when we have to vote on Articles of Impeachment because Donald Trump has abused the power of the Office of the Presidency in his attempt to cheat his way to reelection.