Ritchie Torres: “I thank Chair Beatty for yielding. And I know brevity is the soul of wit, so I will express my thoughts as succinctly as…”

“I thank Chair Beatty for yielding. And I know brevity is the soul of wit, so I will express my thoughts as succinctly as I can. I am honored to be the co-chair of the CBC Special Order hour and to serve under the dynamic leadership of the CBC chair, Joyce Beatty, who is a force to be reckoned with. I thank the gentlewoman for affording me the honor to co-chair the CBC Special Order hour. I echo what our majority whip said, that we cannot afford to take an obsolete view of infrastructure. Infrastructure is about more than roads and bridges. It is about the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is about access to the internet, especially in a world of remote learning and telehealth. It is about safe, decent, affordable housing, which is a human right. Abraham Maslow spoke about a hierarchy of needs, and the highest need we have is self-actualization. And in order to actualize ourselves, we have to meet our most fundamental needs, our need for employment, housing, transit, and education. That is what we mean by infrastructure. Infrastructure is not simply physical, but it is social and human. It is that which enables us to become the best version of ourselves. The component of infrastructure that matters most to me is affordable housing. I would not be where I am today were it not for affordable housing and the stability that it gave me and my family.…”