Rashida Tlaib: “I thank Congresswoman Lee for yielding. Of course, she cannot just let us speak about the incredible, powerful…”

“I thank Congresswoman Lee for yielding. Of course, she cannot just let us speak about the incredible, powerful leadership she has had in this Chamber for 26 years. Of course, I was blessed. I had no idea she was going to be assigned as a mentor to me and then birth the wonderful Grants E-Newsletters because she told me this is what you have got to do is fight for your access and fair share of our resources for our districts. She got me right on the Task Force on Poverty. Thank you for that. You have been incredible, again, the last 26 years. Your determination and what I have watched you do has changed this institution forever. You have not only created this amazing momentum and movement around talking about poverty in this institution that really wasn't ready for people like us, Congresswoman Lee, but you pushed back against the stigma in health disparities of our neighbors living with HIV and AIDS when it was unpopular; ending the discriminatory Hyde amendment that restricts access to abortion care when some people in this Chamber would not even say the word ``abortion.'' You have done so much for all the incredible residents of the city of Oakland and the surrounding communities. I want to take a moment and thank them, thank them for continuing to send you here to this body; to continue letting you change this institution to be better. It will be forever changed because Congresswoman Barbara Lee served here for 26 years.…”