WATCH: In Powerful Mother’s Day Speech, Pressley Calls for Policy Change to Support Mothers and Caregivers

Mr. Speaker, every year at this time we wax poetic about the contributions of mothers. We call their work valuable, their love limitless, and their role invaluable.

Mr. Chairman, mothers across America don’t want Hallmark cards. They want policy changes.

I grew up in a small storefront church on the south side of Chicago, where my grandfather was the pastor. And even as a pastor, he often said he would rather watch the sermon than listen to it.

Mr. Speaker, mothers in this country deserve policy. A policy that looks at them, centers them, serves them, and they will prefer it to a bouquet, verbal or otherwise.

We often undermine mothers by telling them that caregiving is their greatest contribution.

We tell women that while motherhood is an aspiration and the greatest contribution they will ever make, for many a safe pregnancy is a privilege, not a right.

And we force them into broken health care systems that deny them bodily autonomy, criminalize the outcomes of their pregnancies, and endanger their lives.

We tell mothers that keeping their babies warm, safe, and fed is their number one mission, and as mothers panic to meet their most basic needs during the pandemic, we are warning them against neglect. We are allowing policy gaps to cause shortages of infant formula.

While we tell mothers that they have to work just as they would without their children, and that their parents must work as they would without their children, we are also telling mothers and caregivers just a few weeks after their baby is born. Failed to pass universal paid leave policy to get people back to work.

We tell mothers, “It takes a village, and we are so proud to be a part of them,” yet fail to invest in safe and affordable child care. .

We remind mothers that they are their children’s first teachers, sending them into the world with hearts full of hope, but the harsh reality is keeping them up at night: policy gaps. We’re telling them that we can’t protect our children from guns. Whether on the block or in the classroom.

We tell mothers that in the twilight of their lives, after giving birth to their babies, we will take care of them, and we will tell our elderly that we will care for them in the community with dignity and the care they need. Water down the social programs that help you get older.

Mr. Speaker, mothers do not need empty praise. They need policy changes.

Now, by the grace of God and the sheer will, genius, and sacrifice of my mother, my hero, Sandy Presley, the woman who gave me roots and wings rests in peace and strength. like.

There are many lessons that her example has taught me. Their main opinion was that being a mother was her greatest accomplishment and her superpower, in her opinion. But that wasn’t her only identity.

And because I had a front row seat to her humanity from early on, I saw many of the struggles and challenges she faced on a daily basis.

It’s not because I don’t have a good personality. It’s not for lack of a strong work ethic. But it was because of the lack of policy or the violence of policy.

Mr. Speaker, as a nation, we are punishing and marginalizing the very people who gave us life. But still, mothers and caregivers persevere, continuing to do the work of community and movement building, mothering, and parenting. This is despite the fact that 101 years have passed since then, and gender equality is still not enshrined in the constitution.

We haven’t passed the Equal Rights Amendment yet, but we’re still speaking out and standing up within power navigation systems that aren’t built for us to speak out.

Together, we strive for a more just America every day. Because being a mother, being a mama, being a mama is our superpower.

However, this is not a just country that supports us as parents and caregivers.

We want this country to be a just country, a fairer and more just country for the generations we are raising and for generations to come.

We fight for the rights of our children and grandchildren. We act with the clarity and conviction that only stewards can.

Leaving the world a better place is not an abstract concept. It is rooted in the children in front of us.

Every society owes a debt of gratitude to its mothers, and in their name we seek a world that responds to their aspirations.

A world where babies are kept safe. A world where every baby is safe.

Mr. Chairman, I think I would rather watch the sermon than listen to it.

thank you. I yield.

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