Climate Action Now Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act.

My amendment includes findings recognizing the importance of the Paris climate agreement's task force addressing the impact of climate change on displacement and the global refugee crisis.

The United States is responsible for nearly a third of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today and, thus, bears more responsibility for the climate crisis than any other country. But the climate crisis is a major contributing factor of yet another devastating crisis we are facing today: the global refugee crisis.

In 2017, more than 60 percent of the internal displacements in the world was a result not of conflict but of natural disasters. Since 2008, an average of 24 million people has been displaced by catastrophic weather disasters each year.

Within three of the most vulnerable regions of the world--sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America--143 million people could be displaced by climate change impacts by 2050.

We do not need to look that far from home to know this. At least 400,000 residents of New Orleans were displaced by Hurricane Katrina for at least a few days, and many were displaced permanently. A disproportionate number of them were Black Americans.

We saw it happen last year in Puerto Rico when 3,000 people died because of Hurricane Maria and our current administration failed to help them recover.

At a time when climate change is making droughts and famines worse, making conflicts fiercer and repression more brutal, our country is resettling historically low numbers of refugees. The United States should be offering protection and support to climate change refugees. Instead, we have capped the number of refugees that we resettle to only 30,000 people next year.

Citizens of some of the countries that have been hit hardest by climate change, including Yemen, Iran, and Somalia, are currently subject to an arbitrary and racist Muslim ban. We cannot be willing to turn our backs on those suffering because of the effects of global catastrophes.

We have to acknowledge that this tragedy is not going to go away any time soon. As food security, drinking water, and energy supplies become scarcer, more and more families are going to be forced to leave their homes.

Countries that are responsible for perpetuating the climate crisis, like the United States, should rise as leaders in offering protection and refuge for displaced communities. It is our duty, as one of the richest countries in the world, to support the Paris Agreement and its task force on the impact of climate change on displacement and the global refugee crisis.

Mr. Chairman, I ask for support for this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. OMAR. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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