Ayanna Pressley Accuses GOP Of Working To 'Entrench Systemic Discrimination Against People Of Color'

last year

At a House Oversight Committee hearing last week, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) spoke about Republican opposition to DEI.

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Transcript

00:00 Thank you. Chair now recognizes Ms. Presley from Massachusetts.

00:04 Thank you Mr. Miller for joining us today. I want to take a moment to discuss

00:08 the critical importance of DEI work. Colleagues across the aisle have waged

00:12 an all-out war on diversity, equity, and inclusion. I'm not sure if it's that they

00:17 just hate one aspect of it like diversity or if it's the combination of

00:23 all three. Regardless, this Republican majority has demonstrated it's out of

00:28 touch with the priorities of everyday people and has focused its effort on

00:31 passing legislation and budgets to undermine DEI and entrench systemic

00:35 discrimination against people of color, folks with disabilities, and other

00:38 marginalized groups. Republicans sought to defund the Office of Civil Rights and

00:43 the Department of Education, which is essential to confronting the rise in

00:47 anti-semitism and Islamophobia impacting our students. Republicans voted to stop

00:52 the hiring of DEI personnel in the military despite evidence that it will

00:56 improve military readiness and Republicans consistently use harmful

01:01 rhetoric at every opportunity to undermine the talent, knowledge, skills,

01:04 and the training of professionals in every sector where DEI initiatives exist.

01:09 And they often pervert, mischaracterize, and weaponize the words of Dr. Martin

01:16 Luther King Jr. despite the fact that his children, his surviving children, have

01:20 repeatedly asked them to cease and desist from doing so. It is no surprise

01:25 that the same people complaining about DEI are the same people who complained

01:29 about the Me Too movement, about Black Lives Matter, about the ERA, about the gay

01:36 rights movement, and so much more. The fact that as soon as someone who was

01:41 black or gay has a disability earns a promotion, Republicans complain that they

01:45 are unqualified and begin ranting about how diversity, equity, and inclusion is

01:50 ruining the country. It's shameful, it's untrue, it's discriminatory, and we must

01:57 not back down in our efforts to create a nation that respects all people. Might I

02:02 add that the opposition is majority overwhelmingly white and male. Now

02:09 President Biden signed a historic executive order on his first day in

02:12 office to take a whole-of-government approach that embodies equity in the

02:16 administration's work to ensure all people benefit, not just the wealthy and

02:20 well-connected. Mr. Miller, the Office of Management and Budget plays an

02:25 outsized role in implementing and overseeing the executive orders on

02:28 equity. Can you explain why equity is an important part of performance goals,

02:33 performance goals for agencies? Thank you Congresswoman, and there was a phrase that

02:40 you use that is central to explaining it, is that government should work for all

02:46 Americans. So one example of something that we are doing is around

02:52 accessibility associated with government services. We have many

02:57 government digital websites and services where it's hard for some people,

03:03 including disabled individuals, to access those government services and we're

03:07 working to improve that. Our services aren't working if they're not serving

03:13 all of America. Very good, I agree. What is an example of how President Biden's

03:20 executive order on equity has helped folks across the country? Well, we, one of

03:28 the things that we have done is to broaden and discussed in this hearing the

03:33 way in which we are utilizing federal financial assistance to reach more

03:38 broadly into communities to improve performance of the dollars, to make sure

03:42 that community-based organizations that might otherwise not have applied for

03:46 federal funds are able to access those funds and better deliver because they

03:51 are better, they're closer to those in their community. That means better

03:55 results, that means more efficiency, and frankly that means less waste on useless

03:59 overhead. Thank you. The executive order, this is truly a first of its kind. I'm

04:05 proud to partner with Ranking Member Raskin on legislation to codify key

04:09 aspects into law so that they will exist in perpetuity. The truth is that America

04:15 needs DEI to disrupt systems of oppression that are active in every

04:20 facet of our society. DEI initiatives are how we combat white supremacy,

04:24 anti-semitism, ableism, sexism, transphobia, and more. On the face of this

04:29 opposition, I applaud those who are committed to doing this work from

04:32 college presidents, corporate executives, to community organizers and academic

04:36 researchers, and to those who are against DEI. I would love to know really what you

04:43 are so afraid of. What are you so threatened by? Thank you. I yield.

Ayanna Pressley Accuses GOP Of Working To 'Entrench Systemic Discrimination Against People Of Color'

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