What Lateefah Simon said, and what was done

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the distinguished career of Dr. Michael Stewart Witherell, the Director of the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Dr.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Daphne Muse, a daughter of Washington, D.C., who made Oakland, California, her home for more than 50 years. She recently transitioned at the age of 81.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bipartisan legislation, the Small Business Cybersecurity Assistance Evaluation Act.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member McGovern and Ms. Scanlon for the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the rule and to the dangerous Republican reconciliation bill.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and remember the three victims of the shooting at the Islamic Center in San Diego, California. Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha, and Nadir Awad were ripped from their lives far too soon.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about who we are in this moment when the world is watching us choose. The President's illegal war has already lasted 75 days and cost us over $29 billion.”

“Mr. Speaker, the ranking member is right. This is a very strange bill. It is absolutely right that it is judges who make the determination whether bail should be recorded in the record.”

“Dr. Clarence Jones, the speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King, told me a story that, during the civil rights protests in the mid-1960s, hundreds of Black, White, and Jewish young people sat at lunch counters throughout the South, understanding and knowing what they were up against, while the Klan burned cigarettes on their backs, spit in their faces, pushed them from behind, and knocked them down.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the retirement of a towering figure in the Bay Area, the Chief Executive Officer of La Clinica de La Raza, Inc., Ms.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Grand Lake Theater, a historic movie palace located in Oakland, California. The Grand Lake Theater opened its doors to patrons on March 6, 1926, boasting a Neoclassical facade designed by famed Bay Area architects the Reid Brothers and a striking, 52-foot-tall rooftop sign complete with 2,980 colored bulbs.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a son of Oakland, California, my constituent, Ryan Coogler, whose film ``Sinners'' has earned 16 Academy Award nominations, the most of any film in Oscar history.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, this bill doesn't secure elections. It shrinks the electorate. I find it so interesting that in real time we are having this conversation.”

“Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Velazquez for her support, particularly for freshman members from the Democratic side on the Small Business Committee and to Representative Williams for his collaboration on this bill.”

“Mr. Speaker, in 1968, 75 percent of Americans disapproved of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today is his birthday. The FBI called him the most dangerous Negro in America.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Hayes for bringing us here tonight. Mr. Speaker, America, this country, has long promised that every child has a right to learn. That promise exists because parents, not just this Chamber, parents, refused to give up on their children's future.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about betrayal. Nearly 14,000 veterans who served this Nation will sleep unsheltered tonight, not in beds. They will sleep on concrete, in cars, and under bridges.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind us what this Nation used to do to its children. Before 1975, this country locked up 200,000 disabled children in institutions.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of a long-time leader of the Oakland faith community, Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., who passed away on September 19, 2025, at the age of 94.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Coach John Beam and to give condolences to the Beam family. Beam left an imprint on Oakland, California, that will never fade.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the House and oppose the defunding of Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide. The Republicans' cruel budget bill, which all Democrats opposed, included a provision to block Federal Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving Medicaid funds.”

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 672 would require the United States Postal Service to designate unique ZIP Codes for a number of communities across the country. This bill aims to address certain issues related to economic development and public safety regulations and mail delivery.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in defense of every child in this Nation who deserves to enter into a classroom and be treated with dignity, care, and respect.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the late Congressman John Robert Lewis on the fifth anniversary of his passing. Congressman Lewis said, in a beautiful quote: ``Children holding hands, walking with the wind.”

“Mr. Speaker, as Black Music Month comes to a close, I rise in the House today for 1 minute to honor my dear friend, D'Wayne Wiggans. D'Wayne Wiggans passed away on March 7, 2025, and my community of Oakland, California, and the world continues to grieve.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for yielding time. As the Representative of California's 12th Congressional District, representing the East Bay, I rise today in opposition to H.”

“Mr. Speaker, as a new Member of Congress, I was under the understanding that our job here is to lift up the voices of those in this country that hold our Nation together with their own hands: The working parents who will absolutely go hungry and will come home to empty refrigerators when their SNAP benefits are cut under the majority's big, cruel bill.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose the administration's cuts to critical gun violence prevention programs, and I rise today in deep solidarity with the innovators of CeaseFire, violence interrupters, and community organizations around this country that spend every day, hour after hour, working on the ground and in our communities to stop gun violence.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman McGarvey for yielding me the time. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Stauber, and I am excited to work with him so closely during my time in Congress to advance the opportunities for folks with disabilities in this country.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose our administration's attacks on our Nation's nonprofit sector. Since January, our President has launched an all-out assault on our Nation's nonprofits, threatening to pull funding and proposing executive orders that target our groups serving the good people of the United States.”

“With Republicans pushing a reconciliation bill that would kick millions off from their medical care, the administration has also created an unprecedented attack with power to revoke nonprofit status.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the House to highlight my support of Head Start. I most recently visited an organization in my district called the Unity Council that serves families, parents, seniors, and children, providing them with affordable housing, career opportunities, community engagement and, yes, Head Start programs.”

“Madam Speaker, today I rise to address the House to celebrate my constituent, W. Kamau Bell, who won ``Celebrity Jeopardy!'' It is a pretty cool thing. Not only did he win ``Celebrity Jeopardy!'' but as a constituent who has lived in my district in Oakland, California, since the 1990s, he has consistently given back philanthropically to young people and underserved communities, again for almost 30 years.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Velazquez for this opportunity to speak. I thank Chairman Williams for working with me to introduce this bill. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this effort to prioritize small businesses in the future through funding opportunities by preventing pandemic fraudsters from accessing Federal small business funds.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 22 brave men and women from the Oakland Fire Department. These men and women responded to the call for help and literally ran into the fire last month in southern California.”

“California, to join other men and women from around the country to aid southern California in this horrendous and heartbreaking effort to quench the fire. As we see historic wildfires across California, the intensity will continue to remain, and our fervor and our commitment to support our first responders will be swift.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, I oppose this misleading bill that deeply will criminalize doctors who provide the most basic and emergency healthcare to women.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Chu for organizing the California delegation in support of our fellow Californians who are grieving as a result of the devastating fires in southern California.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Raskin for the time. Mr. Speaker, I am honored today to speak in this Chamber as a survivor. Folks know back home that I have been doing this work for 30 years, day in and day out.”

“H.R. 30, and I repeat, does nothing to advance these solutions. Instead, it broadens the definition of domestic violence in ways that punishes survivors, making them inadmissible and subject to deportation, regardless of their legal status.”

“Mr. Speaker, Congress should support an impartial international criminal justice system to promote accountability and justice around the world. Imposing mandatory sanctions and visa restrictions on foreign individuals interacting with International Criminal Court prosecutors is a broad, dangerous approach, which is why I oppose this bill.”