Melanie A. Stansbury

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Mr. Speaker, it rained yesterday in New Mexico--a real rain, a monsoon rain, a rain that we have been waiting for, for months in our communities. My social media was flooded with images of people celebrating, recording out of their windows and doors, dancing, and rejoicing. That is because in New Mexico, in our desert, water is life, water is culture, and water is what sustains us. As New Mexicans, we have been in the grips of a historic drought. The mighty Rio Grande has been dry for a record of over 90 days through our communities this summer. We have had record-low snowpack and the highest number of high-heat days over 90 degrees. In our communities, climate change is not a hypothetical. It is here. Our communities are on the front lines and bearing the brunt. Our farmers have been forced to drill wells and fallow their fields. Our acequias, which are hundreds of years old, have gone dry. Ancient orchards that have sustained our communities have been lost, and a bosque and wildlife have suffered through the consequences. This is not just New Mexico. It is happening all across the planet. Extreme weather is pounding the shores of California and Hawaii right now. Wildfires have left the West Coast and the East Coast covered in smoke for months. In August, globally, it was the hottest year in recorded modern history. The planet is raising the alarm, and our communities are on the front lines. For years, the United States has been a global leader. We helped to lead negotiations that led to global climate accords. We invested in new technologies and clean energy. We aggressively committed to stopping and transitioning pollution to save our economy and our planet. Yet, since the current President took office last January, not only have we seen one of the largest increases in pollution from the United States in modern history, but we have seen our standing as a nation fall in the eyes of the world. He rescinded climate policies on day one and removed us from international agreements, just this week announcing the removal of clean air protections and divestment from technologies that our Nation was at the forefront of, as our adversaries are stepping in to take over global economic dominance. He even invaded a foreign country to steal their oil, even when U.S. oil companies did not have a development plan for it. This has not only led to the highest prices at the pump that we have seen over a Labor Day weekend in the history of the United States, but it has set our country back decades. Why? To give kickbacks to his donors, oil and gas companies that he asked to donate $1 billion to his campaign; corrupt side deals with foreign actors and foreign leaders; his own insider trading, which he posted an AI image of in the Oval Office just this last weekend; and his own efforts to increase prices in order to line the pockets of his own investments and those of his family and friends. We are paying the price in drought, in heat, at the pump, in our food, in our housing, and in air that is too smoky to breathe for our children. Well, we have had enough, Mr. Speaker. That is why myself and a delegation of congressional leaders are headed to Climate Week in New York, to recommit to the United States climate leadership, to recommit to a climate-resilient future, to lay out a plan for a new deal for America, and to invest in the infrastructure, the technology, and global leadership that we need; but, yes, most importantly, to invest in our communities. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I am here on the House floor today to speak up, to speak out, and to demand climate action for our communities now. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Amodei of Nevada). Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President.