Issued November 19, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC — SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry issued the following statement following the U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of the Build Back Better Act:
“Essential workers demanded Congress pass the Build Back Better Act to help all families thrive and today the House of Representatives delivered. With the passage of this landmark legislation in the House, we are on the precipice of making historic investments in care, climate, jobs, and justice and protections for immigrant communities that will make a lasting difference for working people and families.
“Now, the Senate must follow through without delay and deliver on its commitments to pass the full vision of Build Back Better.
“To build a resilient, inclusive and equitable recovery, we need game-changing investments in creating and improving jobs for home care workers, expanding access to affordable home and community care for hundreds of thousands of seniors, people with disabilities, providing child care for families who are struggling to find the support they need and comprehensive national paid leave. The Build Back Better Act also helps to tackle the climate crisis and establishes critical protections for immigrants who have long resided in the U.S. And these game-changing savings for families and workers are fully paid for by asking the wealthy and big corporations to pay their fair share. This is what essential workers — and especially the Black, Latina, Asian American Pacific Islander, Indigenous and immigrant women hit hardest by the pandemic — worked so hard for last year. This is why they mobilized in record numbers, using their collective power to demand a path toward social and economic transformation.
“Workers of all backgrounds, in districts red and blue, are eager to feel the changes in their lives that they’ve been promised, and President Biden is ready to sign this bill. The Senate must take this once-in-a-generation opportunity to begin unrigging the rules of our economy and bring Build Back Better across the finish line, so people can see their democracy working for them.”