Sydney Kamlager-Dove · TranslatePolitics.com

House of Representatives

Providing for Consideration of H.R. 1501, Protecting Domestic Mining Act of 2025; Providing for Consideration of H.R. 9436, Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act of 2026; Providing for Consideration...

2026-09-01

“I want to praise Republicans for condemning Trump's socialist actions. But I think Trump is a really big socialist. He makes the government own parts of companies. That's bad. Democrats want to help families. But Trump helps his friends instead. He gives them contracts and tax breaks. That's socialism for the rich. I want Republicans to denounce Trump too. Don't lecture people about socialism. People know what they feel. Public services are being cut by Trump. If you really hate socialism, then join us against Trump. Otherwise your words are just gaslighting. I want you to vote no.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I rise to applaud my Republican colleagues for condemning President Trump's socialist actions, but they won't admit that the President is the biggest socialist in America today. President Trump has turned the Federal Government into a shareholder in private American companies, taking ownership stakes in companies and putting Washington directly into the business of picking winners and losers. So let's get into it, Mr. Speaker. Democrats want to make sure American families can put food on the table. Donald Trump has taken a 10 percent stake in Intel Corporation. Democrats want clean water. Donald Trump wants his friends to have drilling contracts on public lands. Democrats want families to pay less for prescription drugs, while Trump wants to give his billionaire friends and family another tax break. His socialism is about his social circle getting more while the American people get less. Denounce that, but don't lecture the American people about socialism. They are not stupid nor confused about what they are feeling in their pocketbooks. County hospitals, emergency rooms, police, fire, roads, stoplights, public schools, libraries, public pools, and parks are all funded by socialism and are getting squeezed by this administration's cuts and shenanigans. If my Republican colleagues truly oppose government ownership of private companies and truly condemn socialism, then I invite them to join us in denouncing Trump's own policies. Until then, save the gaslighting for the convention and miss me with this nonsense. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

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House of Representatives

Congressional Black Caucus Hit the Ground Running in August

2026-08-31

“I want to blame the President for everything. People in my district are complaining to me. They say that gas and groceries are too expensive. They say they can't afford a house. They are mad at the President's event. They say it's a stupid distraction. I will complain about the President's trade fight with Canada. I say that Canada is hurting us on purpose. I say that our economy is at the bottom of the lake. I want you to think the President is doing a bad job. People in my district get help from the government. They are worried they will lose it. I want you to think that the President only helps his rich friends. I want you to think he doesn't care about regular people. I want you to think he's obsessed with silly things. I want you to think that Republicans in Congress are too weak to stand up to him. I want to impeach his budget director. I say that he punishes states that vote for Democrats. I say that this is an abuse of power. I want you to think that the President wastes money on wars and doesn't care about healthcare. I say he is not healthy. I want you to think that he's in cognitive decline. I say he's stealing oil from Venezuela. I say that this is wrong. I say he hurt immigration reform on purpose. I want you to think that he's terrorizing immigrants. I say he doesn't care about climate change. I say people in my district are suffering. I want you to think that the President is failing them. I want you to think that I'm fighting for you. I want you to think that Republicans are not.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the great State of Virginia, Congresswoman McClellan, and to the Congressional Black Caucus for organizing this Special Order hour. For the past month, we have been home in our districts, listening to our constituents. For me, they run up on me in the streets, in the grocery store, and at church. What I am hearing is very simple: People are tired of paying more and getting less, and they have a lot of questions. I am going to tell you what I am hearing. I am going to share with you the questions that my constituents are asking because there are huge gaps between what this administration promises and has promised and what working families are actually experiencing. Let's get into it, and let's start by talking about the economy. In Los Angeles, in my district, gas is $6, at least, depending on where you go. You can go to some gas stations, and it is as high as $8. Groceries are too expensive. I have constituents telling me that they are making choices between buying a protein to feed their children and not buying any protein at all for maybe a day or 2 days or an entire week. The housing market is in the toilet. Money is too expensive, the rates are too high, and if you buy a home or are trying to fix up your house, you cannot even find the workforce for some of these smaller projects. They are asking: Where is our economic relief? Just recently, they just saw the President hosting a racing car event on The National Mall, a bill that most likely the American people are footing, that has not, will not, is not benefiting their bottom line. Working people are not stupid. They know the difference between a stunt to distract and having real conversations about what you are doing to help them at the pump, to help them get a home, to help them purchase groceries. I actually have a question for Secretary Bessent: Why can't you fix the economy? If tariffs, tax cuts, and deregulation were supposed to deliver prosperity, then why are families still struggling to make ends meet? Here is another question I have heard: What are we doing to Canada and what is with all of these tariffs? The administration keeps telling Americans that tariffs are paid for by somebody else. If someone is telling you that, you need to remind them that they don't know how to do math because American consumers and businesses are ultimately the ones that are feeling most of those costs. Those costs are going up, and they are disrupting supply chains. Now, Canada is fighting back with new tariffs on hundreds of American products, so Canada is boycotting our goods. They have been boycotting tourism to our country. They have jacked up the prices on appliances, on steel, on agriculture equipment, on toilet paper. Thirty percent of the paper pulp for our toilet paper comes from Canada. Not only that, but they have also enticed close to 50 of our most prominent tenured faculty in American colleges and universities who are saying good-bye to the United States and hello to Canada. Our prices are going up. We are suffering a brain drain. Our toilet paper is going to be too high. We have a President who seems more obsessed with changing the name of a lake, from Lake Ontario to Lake America. However, don't be distracted by this Lake America nonsense because it looks as if, by the looks of it, it is our economy that is at the bottom of the lake. People keep asking me: Well, this President keeps talking about America First, but who is actually first? Republicans ran on putting American families first, but too often the folks who are benefiting from these tax breaks, from these cuts, from these backroom deals happening with the administration are people who already have the most. The folks who are asking me about what Republicans are doing are concerned about their SNAP benefits, housing assistance, and Medicaid. In my district, 400,000 of my constituents are enrolled in Medicaid. They are concerned. The working class is being disrespected every single day, and they are tired of the propaganda coming from this administration, telling them that what they are experiencing is not real. Then they also ask about Republicans. They say: Well, how come Republicans aren't standing up to Trump? What are they doing? That is also a question that I have, wondering is there a backbone in the Republican Party. We should ask that, really, of Senators Cornyn and Cassidy: At what point does loyalty to the country become more important than loyalty to one man? Congress is supposed to be a check on the executive branch, not a cheer squad for it. They ask about this Russell Vought guy: Who is this guy, and why does he still have a job? I don't know, but I am working on it is what I tell them. I have introduced Articles of Impeachment against OMB Director Russell Vought after the administration admitted in court that Federal funding was terminated based on political criteria. If a State voted for Kamala Harris or voted with Democrats, they were on the short list for cuts. We are talking about Federal dollars that belong to the American people, not to the President or his political allies. When an administration uses government funding to punish a State because of how their residents voted, that is not governance; that is an abuse of power. They have been asking about healthcare. They want to know: Why is it that we have a President who can find money for spectacle, while Republicans tell families there isn't enough money to protect their healthcare when we have an endless, unnecessary war costing $2 billion a day, and Republicans cannot find money to pay for healthcare. They also want to ask about the President's health. They want to know: Is he healthy? That is because what they see on the television doesn't look healthy. Then they remind me how every week during the Biden administration, Republicans were whining about Joe Biden's health, but that was a President who was awake. Joe Biden wasn't sleeping in meetings in the Oval Office. Joe Biden wasn't putting a whole bunch of concealer and foundation on his hand to cover up blotches. It has been radio silence from the Republicans on the health of this President. They want to know if he is in cognitive decline, and the transparency of the President's health is vitally important and a valid question to ask. People have been asking about Venezuela and why this administration is stealing their oil. The American public deserves to know what our government is doing overseas and why. They have asked me: How can this administration kidnap a sitting President, steal a country's oil, and then enslave the people in that country just to get rich for themselves, and how do they think this is okay? There are no answers. When we are in our hearings asking Cabinet members these questions, they don't seem to have any answers for us either. My district, my city, is also asking about immigration and why this country is sanctioning terror in the streets. We had a bipartisan immigration reform bill that this current President tanked, and we still need immigration reform. We need an immigration system that is secure, that is orderly, that is humane, and that is functional. Terrorizing community members in the streets is none of those things. When workers are hiding in their homes, afraid to go to work and afraid to get their children to the doctor, then our communities suffer, our neighborhoods suffer, and our economies suffer. All of those things are at the hands of this administration and this President. I was in my district. It was over 100 degrees for a couple of weeks during the month of August in Los Angeles. So people are asking about that: Why is it so hot? What is this administration doing about climate change? What they are doing is unleashing fossil fuels and giving permits to anybody who has the cash to buy one, damaging our natural land, drilling, and taking the climate with us. Ultimately, the people in my district are asking about themselves, which is what they should be doing. They want to know why this administration is not helping them with jobs, with student debt, with healthcare, and with a trustworthy and credible government with an agenda that is forward-thinking and actually is centered around them. That is because my constituents are showing up every day. They are working, they are hustling, and they are making ends meet. They are doing their part for this government and this economy, and they are wondering why this administration, why this President, is not showing up for them and why they are getting the short end of the stick. The Black Caucus has been showing up. I have been showing up. I wish my Republican colleagues would do the same. That is because fighting for a healthcare system that works for all; for an economy that is just; for an education system that is funded, just, and in every community across this country; and for an economy that supports growing jobs, supporting small businesses, and re-creating the vibrancy that each of our districts deserves should be the priority of this President and this administration. It should not be trying to find another way to host another spectacle or distraction at the expense of the American people.

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House of Representatives

ICE Must Comply with Judge's Orders

2026-07-23

“You shot Carlitos. Now you must give him medical care. A judge said so. I visited Carlitos. His hand was purple. His fingers were atrophied. He has headaches and nerve pain. He might have a bone infection. He might lose his arm. You must give him medical care. You must follow the judge's orders.”

Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to once again demand that ICE immediately provide my constituent, Carlitos Ricardo Parias, urgently needed medical care. Carlitos is a father, husband, and volunteer in our community who was even recognized by city council for his service. Last October, ICE shot Carlitos near his elbow. He received initial care at a hospital, but since being transferred to the Adelanto ICE facility in December, ICE has denied him proper care for the injury they caused. I visited Carlitos in late May. His hand was purple, his fingers were atrophied, and he is experiencing headaches and nerve pain. I am worried that he may have a bone infection and that his arm could be amputated. Carlitos urgently needs medical attention, and many more at Adelanto do, too. Last week, a Federal judge ordered sweeping changes to improve Adelanto's conditions for detainees. It is time for ICE to comply with this judge's orders and end this cruelty at Adelanto and nationwide.

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