Restoring the American Dream

Floor Speech

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Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my first general remarks on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, and I would like to start by thanking my predecessor, Jim Langevin, for his 22 years of distinguished service representing the people of Rhode Island's Second District.

As the first quadriplegic ever elected to Congress, Jim was no stranger to life's challenges. No matter what was thrown Jim's way, he always persevered.

For over two decades, Jim Langevin made Rhode Islanders proud through his leadership here in this body. He became widely recognized as an expert on national security and particularly cybersecurity. He was a trailblazer for the disability community and shepherded several key pieces of legislation that have made our society more accessible for all.

Most of all, Rhode Islanders always knew that they could count on Jim to listen to their problems and to advocate for their families here in Washington, D.C.

I thank Jim for all his years of service to Rhode Island.

I am so honored that Rhode Islanders have chosen me to take up the mantle of representing the Second District. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity, and I feel a great sense of responsibility to deliver for the working people who sent me here to fight on their behalf.

I enter Congress as a proud descendant of immigrants. My grandparents came of age during the Depression.

On my mother's side was Grandpa Bob, the son of Irish immigrants who grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts. After serving in the Marines in World War II, Bob took a job as a steelworker at a company that made airplane parts.

On my father's side was Grandpa Louis, the son of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who was raised in New York City and served in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II. After he returned, Louis worked as a bookkeeper in New York for a company that canned tomatoes.

Neither of them worked in particularly glamorous jobs, but with a lot of hard work and a little help from the GI Bill, these two children of immigrants were able to buy houses for their families, put their kids through school, and earn a ticket to the middle class.

That is the way it is supposed to be in this country. If you work hard and play by the rules, you ought to be able to have a stable life, a comfortable retirement, and provide opportunity to your children.

We all know that has gotten harder. That American Dream of economic mobility has broken down for many families, and it was never fully afforded to others to begin with. There are a lot of statistics to back this up, but the Rhode Islanders I talk to don't want to see data. They feel it in their gut. They know that they are working harder and harder, but they feel that middle-class lifestyle slipping further out of reach.

This has to change. As a Representative for Rhode Island's Second District, I am determined to restore the promise of the American Dream so that everyone who is willing to do the right thing and work hard can get ahead.

That starts by going to bat for working people against the powerful interests and their well-funded lobbyists who stand in the way of better wages, better benefits, and good-paying jobs. We must fight for the right to organize because you cannot have a broad middle class without healthy labor unions. We have to take on Big Oil and Big Pharma, which are keeping record profits for themselves while overcharging Rhode Islanders at the gas pump and at the pharmacy.

We have to invest in childcare and universal preschool because no child's future should be limited by whether or not their parents have a lot of money.

I will advocate for vocational training and apprenticeships so that we have more people, like my Grandpa Bob, who can make a living by making things in this country.

I will partner with anyone on either side of the aisle to bring back more manufacturing jobs and transition to a clean energy economy.

I will always fight to defend the freedoms and democratic ideals that make us the greatest nation on Earth.

This is my commitment to the people of Rhode Island. There is no question we have a lot of work ahead of us, but together, I am confident that we can deliver real change to Washington so that all Rhode Islanders and all working Americans can have the opportunity to succeed.

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