Filemon Vela: “Blaming and punishing the people who are seeking protection is inhumane.”

I would urge the Committee to once again include the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act in the upcoming infrastructure package with the same authorization level included in HR 2--$50 million annually over 5 years.

I must say now I get it. Your--your testimony has been so compelling and shed so much light on the battle that you consistently wage to protect the very people for which the Voting Rights Act was passed.

States are willing to sacrifice their own political power to do harm to minority voting rights.

Most of us on this Subcommittee represent pretty large swaths of land, and I can't go to any farmer in the 270 mile stretch of south Texas that I represent without hearing about how difficult it is for farmers to get loans and financing…