Video: Adams Speaks at Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum
The Congresswoman spoke to her accomplishments and priorities during the 117th Congress, and answered multiple questions from constituents and attendees.
CHARLOTTE (September 6, 2022) – This morning, Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) spoke at the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum, formerly known as the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum. The Congresswoman spoke to her accomplishments and priorities during the 117th Congress, and answered multiple questions from constituents and attendees. The forum was held at the Belmont Regional Center at 700 Parkwood Avenue in Charlotte, with attendees in person and online.
Video from the forum is available on Facebook and on YouTube.
Additional details about the forum are available here.
Below are selected excerpts from the Congresswoman’s presentation:
On Partisanship:
“As a member of Congress, I can’t allow politics or partisanship to get in the way of passing transformative legislation or delivering excellent constituent service to every resident of the 12th district. Though it is hard to overcome the partisan divide, I continue to believe that the solutions to our country’s challenges don’t belong exclusively to any political party. That’s why I work with a Republican Congressman from Arkansas, Representative French Hill, who serves with me as co-chair of the Congressional Bipartisan Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus. Along with French, we have Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina and Representative Mike Turner from Ohio in our leadership. Working together, we’ve signed up over half of Congress— including many Republicans— for my IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act, a transformative piece of legislation to fund the infrastructure needs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country.”
On Congress’ Accomplishments This Term:
“Contrary to popular belief, we’re getting a lot done in Congress. Just this term, we’ve passed the American Rescue Plan Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. For those of you who don’t know, the Inflation Reduction Act is the greatest investment in fighting climate change ever. It’s going to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. That means we’re going to meet goals that President Biden set out for us by the end of this decade.
“The Inflation Reduction Act also invests in health care and brings costs down for American families. If you’re on Medicare, we’ve finally put a cap on the annual out-of-pocket expenses you’ll have to pay for prescription drugs- at a maximum of $2000 per year; and for Medicare recipients, we’ve capped insulin at $35 a month. In the wealthiest country on the planet, you shouldn’t have to choose between putting keep a roof over your head, or affording life-saving medication. Period.”
On Housing:
“As some of our affordable housing partners can attest, the ARP [American Rescue Plan] rescue funds couldn’t be used for most affordable housing projects. So I went to David Rouzer, a Republican who represents Eastern North Carolina, and we put together the LIFELINE Act to unlock over 8 billion dollars across the United States. The law gained a lot of support and cosponsors, and due to the bill and advocacy from housing stakeholders, the Treasury Department unlocked Billions of dollars to lower the cost of housing— money that’s going to be used to create tens of thousands of affordable housing units across the entire country. That’s a big deal, folks!
“But it’s still not enough. Affordable housing is one of the biggest issues for Charlotte … I want you to know that as a member of the Financial Services Committee, I’m working on legislation to address the commercial landlord crisis in Charlotte. When families can’t compete with corporate buyers who can pay cash, they get priced out of the housing market, and their family loses the security and economic opportunity that comes from owning a home. And unless we do something, it’s only going to get worse.”
On Higher Education:
“I want to address the recent bomb threats at Howard University. Last week’s bomb threats towards Howard University are yet another unacceptable interruption of the academic life of our HBCU communities. Since January, scores of Historically Black Colleges and Universities have received threats, including schools in North Carolina. In February, JCSU [Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte] received a threat of violence.
“Now, these acts of terror have entered a second academic year. Like all academic institutions, HBCUs are still recovering from the academic disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic - further unaddressed disruptions are a burden for our students, faculty, staff, and the entire HBCU community. Our HBCUs expect – and deserve – nothing less than urgency in bringing the perpetrators of these threats to justice. So over the past two weeks I’ve been on the phone with other members of Congress and members of the President’s cabinet, pressing to make addressing these threats a priority before it happens to Howard, JCSU, or any other HBCU again.
“Finally, I must thank President Biden for not only forgiving $10 to $20 thousand dollars in student loan debt, but also for cancelling the debt of students who went to predatory institutions – many of them Black and Brown – who were cheated out of their education.”
On the Dobbs Decision:
“From reproductive care to LGBTQ rights to contraceptives, Congress has a responsibility to stop state governments from rolling back our rights. That’s why I voted for, and the House passed, legislation like the Right to Contraception Act. This legislation establishes a statutory right to obtain contraceptives and for health care providers to provide them. It protects Americans from state and local legislation that would deny people access to contraceptives.
“It’s why I was a proud cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, which is gaining bipartisan traction in the Senate. This bill would protect interracial marriage and same-sex marriage (still, over 100 of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle voted against protecting interracial marriages); and it’s why I supported the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, which would protect someone’s constitutional right to move freely between states to seek care, as well as the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would enshrine the protections first guaranteed by Roe v. Wade into law.
“I care deeply about these issues, from my work as a state legislator to my leadership as the co-founder and co-chair of the Black maternal health caucus in Congress. Let me be clear: Our granddaughters shouldn’t have fewer rights than our daughters had, and our daughters shouldn’t have fewer rights than we had. That’s why I was willing to get arrested this summer, and why I’d stand up again for these rights.”
Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. represents Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in Congress. She serves on the House Committee on Financial Services; as vice chair of the House Committee on Agriculture; and Workforce Protections subcommittee chair on the House Education & Labor Committee.
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