Gwen Moore

I urge the committee to support this bill that would allow Medicaid reimbursements for doulas and midwives to combat maternal mortality.

Water. It has no enemies, and--but we are--it is endangering all of our lives, as we fail to deal with those investments.

Any infrastructure package must be inclusive of Tribal communities, including strengthening requirements that Federal agencies consult and engage with Tribal communities in a meaningful way.

We hope you will consider the public-private partnership concepts. Please keep in mind to put in place safeguards that ensure minority participation.

We need to be proactive, Mr. Chairman. Because when Congress is silent, little to no DBE participation occurs.

We need a well-funded public transportation system.

Indian reservation roads, which make up the principal transportation system for residents and visitors to Tribal and Alaska Native communities, are some of the most underdeveloped networks in our Nation.

It must remain a Federal priority to ensure that all communities could benefit from investments in infrastructure.

Robust investment in infrastructure is a win-win-win situation.

As Members of Congress who care deeply about ending unequal access to federal contracts and addressing our nation's glaring infrastructure needs, we hope you understand the need to make sure both goals are met in any infrastructure package…

Simply just hoping and praying and wishing that minority and small contractors get an opportunity, those who already face obstacles will get an opportunity, is just naive and damaging.

There is no reason why any package to invest in our infrastructure in order to foster a safe and modern transportation system should not also help small businesses like yours.

I just wanted to commemorate the second anniversary of the death of someone who originates and emanates from my district in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and that's Joseph Stone.

So we helped rich people, but we did not help the most vulnerable and the more poor.

The jurisdictional loophole is a major source of the high rates of violence against our women and the lack of a response.

Our women are murdered 10 times the national rate on reservations.

I am a direct descendant of a tribal leader who understood the connection between tribal sovereignty and safety for Native women, and that understanding informs and commands the work that I undertake today.

The importance of the restoration of tribal jurisdiction, supplementing with tribal resources to tribal law enforcement, and compelling the Federal Government to take this issue seriously and investigate and prosecute cases of murdered and…

I do want to follow up with--my colleague on the Republican side talked about lists of things that are really critical.

We want to make sure that they are not being produced or taken from countries where people are being murdered and that have unfair labor practices.

While these tariffs have had draconian impacts on all of our constituents and districts, they are having an impact on China, as well.

As you put together an infrastructure package, we write to urge you to take steps to ensure that minority contractors can fully participate in all projects funded by any proposal in the 116th Congress.

What these challenges do point out is the need for lawmakers to continue to make forceful efforts to attack the historically and ongoing inequality when it comes to federal infrastructure contracting.

Transportation projects mean jobs and businesses for communities across our nation and ensuring that all businesses in our communities, including small and disadvantaged concerns owned businesses, must remain a priority.

I just would appeal to my colleagues to not accuse us of lazy legislating to ask for these tax returns when we have such a conflicted President.