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Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions members such as Rashida Tlaib.
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May 14, 2026
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Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextMs. Tlaib of Michigan was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.)
Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, DTE Energy has a monopoly in my district. It is the primary source of utilities for gas and electricity for my residents. This is why it is critical and important for me to introduce the Make DTE Pay Act. It would substantially increase monetary penalties on utilities like DTE Energy when they seek customer rate increases within two preceding or following Clean Air Act violations.
Mr. Speaker, you might ask: Why?
It is because DTE was hit with more than $100 million in penalties for violating the Clean Air Act by a Federal judge. Within the same week, they got a $240 million increase in rates, and DTE Energy customers, our residents, already know we are paying some of the highest rates in the country for some of the least reliable services, all while DTE shareholders and executives get richer. Now we know DTE has, again, been hit by this violation. They turned around and put it on the consumers.
just the cost of doing business. It is insulting to every single family in my district that is being poisoned by the air they breathe because of this company, and they turn around and jack up our utility bills year after year.
DTE Pay Act. I encourage my colleagues to understand the importance of this. This legislation forces utilities like DTE to make a choice: Follow the Clean Air Act or face real financial consequences when they try to raise rates on customers whom they have already harmed.
We have to change the math. Polluting our communities must be as bad for business as it is for our health. Our families deserve clean air, reliable service, and accountability, not excuses and higher bills.
Republican Redistricting
Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, Republicans are trying to drag this country back to a Jim Crow South where Black political power is stripped and our voices are stripped, silenced, and dismissed. This time it is not with the hoods but with maps and court rulings that do the same old work.
the Voting Rights Act. It is because they turned around and changed the map to dilute Black voices. With the help of the far right, extreme Supreme Court, they are dismantling voting rights across the South and targeting our Black neighbors who have bled, marched, and died for our civil rights.
The administration promised to make life more affordable. Instead, they have gutted our healthcare for millions, invested in death and destruction abroad, and used their fascist ICE army to tear apart our communities. They know these policies are not popular among the American people. That is why they are redrawing the maps. It is because it is the only way they can win.
I am from Detroit, the most beautiful, Blackest city in the country. Come there, Mr. Speaker. It is the most loving and most resilient community that you have ever met. That is where I learned to speak truth to power, even if my voice shakes.
itself is under attack everywhere. We have seen all this before, Mr. Speaker, but like those who came before us, we will not be intimidated, we will not be silenced, and we will not back down.
Unhoused Persons
Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, right now, on any given night, in the richest country on Earth, nearly 771,000 of our neighbors are unhoused. One million children experience homelessness every year. Think about that: 1 million children. This is not accidental. This is a policy choice.
Every year, Congress passes another record-breaking military budget. We always find money for war and destruction, even though the Department of War hasn't passed eight audits in a row.
Somehow, we are told, there is not enough money to house our people. This is unacceptable. We know the truth. Congress has the money, and
Congress has the power to change that. What is missing is the political will to care deeply about those who maybe will have access to the same opportunities many of us had in this Chamber.
Housing is a human right. Our government has a responsibility to treat it that way. There will be no more excuses. We must act because our neighbors deserve a home and dignity, and we refuse to accept anything else.
Mr. Speaker, please join me in supporting the Unhoused Persons Bill of Rights resolution that lays out a real path forward, boosting affordable housing for so many of our communities, fully funding Federal housing programs, and expanding access to services for unhoused individuals. These are investments we need, and these are investments that the American people ask for.