Summer Lee

I want to suggest that immigration is a national and Federal authorized responsibility.

Do you know where those individuals are?

Is it not true that it would be necessary to know who they are and where they are to actually initiate removal proceedings from the United States?

This is an oversight hearing, not an impeachment hearing. This is a hearing to address the questions of the work that has been done.

That would be a yes or no, Secretary Mayorkas.

Diversity fosters a wider range of ideas and approaches, leading to more innovative solutions and better problem-solving capabilities in the scientific community.

I and my colleague Rep. Bice plan to introduce our bipartisan Abandoned Well and Remediation Research and Development Act.

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss opportunities for this body to be more reflective of the nation it serves.

I believe this Committee's work will be an important start.

Republicans have been invoking this term 'two-tiered system of justice' a lot recently, so I want to talk about what the real two-tiered justice system is where Black and Brown people are over-criminalized and over-incarcerated.

When I look up at the walls of this Committee room and only see one person who looks like me, I feel reminded that many people for a long time did not believe that people like me belong here.

The 118th Congress has demonized all things remotely related to DEI.

Eddie Bernice Johnson, the first and only Black person to ever chair this Committee, she dedicated 40 years of her life to public service, and her work championed STEM education, diversity--and diversity.

But it does no good for any of us to suggest that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Homeland Security are the key and only reasons for migration.

It's so important that we look at the biases that AI technology presents.

This is not America.

It sets a dangerous precedent that this Committee, I believe, has a responsibility to answer or really to kind of account for.

It is clear that not one American, no matter what their party affiliation, abhors cartels violence and viciousness.

Embracing DEI initiatives and ensuring diverse representation among congressional witnesses will be a crucial step this Committee can take towards creating a more inclusive, innovative, and ethical future for everyone.

You don't need to be an astrophysicist to be a member of this Committee, and that is a good thing.

The real two-tiered system of justice is one in which, in 2021, according to the DOJ's Bureau of Justice Statistics, the imprisonment rate for Black men aged 18 and 19 was 11.6 times the rate for White males.

We well know that immigrants contribute $1.3 trillion in spending power to the economy.

For too long, we have failed to prioritize or even acknowledge the vast contributions that the Black community and other minoritized groups have made toward scientific discovery and innovation.

I do believe that we can do this and solve the problem of immigration reform together.

Today, I am disappointed to say that not only has this hearing been disingenuous with the American people, it has wasted an opportunity to go after real waste, fraud, and abuse.