119-hres540

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 540 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 540

 Supporting the values of the Equity or Else quality-of-life platform 
and acknowledging the need for the House of Representatives to use the 
 platform as a holistic framework for drafting and implementing policy 
that promotes racial and economic equity for all across various social 
 issues.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 June 24, 2025

 Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania (for herself, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mrs. 
 Ramirez, Ms. Adams, Mr. Carson, Mr. Fields, Mr. Garcia of California, 
 Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Omar, Ms. Schakowsky, 
 Mr. Thanedar, Ms. Tlaib, and Mrs. McIver) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Supporting the values of the Equity or Else quality-of-life platform 
and acknowledging the need for the House of Representatives to use the 
 platform as a holistic framework for drafting and implementing policy 
that promotes racial and economic equity for all across various social 
 issues.

Whereas the foundation of any nation is the institutions that lay the structure 
 for the people's development;
Whereas, according to the United Nations, the five basic institutions in a 
 community are education, health care, housing, food production and 
 delivery systems, and clothing;
Whereas through qualitative and quantitative empirical data we know that in 
 Black, Brown, Indigenous, and working-class communities, systemic racism 
 has sabotaged basic quality-of-life institutions while maintaining 
 resources for a privileged few;
Whereas equity requires providing resources identified by impacted communities 
 to alleviate harms caused by various social injustices including but not 
 limited to racism and other forms of discrimination;
Whereas directly impacted communities must guide and inform processes committed 
 to equity;
Whereas through hundreds of listening projects, town hall meetings, and 
 engagement with grassroots organizations across the United States, the 
 Equity or Else campaign has engaged tens of thousands of people across 
 the country on the impact racism has had in education, housing, health 
 care, food production and delivery systems, the environment, youth 
 investment, immigration, senior rights, and economic development;
Whereas, in May 2022, representatives from organizations across the country 
 reached consensus on the Equity or Else quality-of-life platform;
Whereas, in September 2022, the Equity or Else quality-of-life national platform 
 was released as a living, breathing framework that can be used to shape 
 racial equity policy at the local and Federal level;
Whereas local communities around the United States are using the Equity or Else 
 framework to develop racial equity policy solutions;
Whereas the Equity or Else campaign is calling on local governments and the 
 Federal Government to adopt a ``zero tolerance'' approach to racial 
 inequity, expressed through policy and practice; and
Whereas supporting the Equity or Else framework ought to include investments in 
 eliminating food deserts and investing in Black farmers, funding safety 
 net hospitals and ensuring they provide equitable care to all patients, 
 transformative initiatives like Medicare for All, investing in public 
 schools and ending the school-to-prison pipeline through evidence-based 
 models such as community schools, investing in youth centers and free or 
 low-cost childcare, providing job opportunities for every youth that 
 wants one, uplifting rent control as a means for controlling 
 gentrification and affordable homeownership pathways, eliminating lead 
 pipes and guaranteeing clean water for all, banning discriminatory job 
 screenings for formerly incarcerated people and providing widely 
 accessible, low-cost apprenticeship and job training opportunities, and 
 opening up better pathways for citizenship to all immigrants: Now, 
 therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

    (1) supports the values of the Equity or Else quality-of-
 life platform, including the acknowledgment that racial 
 inequity can only be undone by changing the belief systems that 
 currently serve as a foundation for our institutions, policies, 
 and society at-large;

    (2) recognizes the need to change its belief system and 
 expresses a commitment to evolving the House of 
 Representatives' practices to prioritize and listen to impacted 
 communities and to craft and pass transformative legislation 
 that advances racial and economic equity across various social 
 issues; and

    (3) acknowledges that without equity there is fascism.
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