WASHINGTON – Today, following the vote to Censure Representative Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) released the following statement:
“Today, I voted YEA on a resolution to censure Representative Jamaal Bowman for pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building on September 30th, 2023. While I disagree with the decision of the Republican majority to put the resolution on the House Floor, and the watering down of the censure process, I believe what Representative Bowman did was wrong and as Members of Congress we should be held to a higher standard.
Representative Bowman has been a champion on educational issues, and we have worked side by side to advance childcare, healthcare and access for students and I look forward to continuing our work on the Committee of Education and the Workforce to address the historic underfunding in our K-12 schools, the teacher shortage, and many of the other issues plaguing our nation's education system.
In my hometown of Waterbury, Connecticut, we continue to mourn the lives of two firefighters who died, and another who was seriously injured, when their fire truck slammed into a tree while racing to respond to a false alarm. I have spent the better part of the last decade, working with the families of those firefighters and the Waterbury community, to honor their memory and educate our children on the work of first responders.
After the vote, I met with Representative Bowman and had the opportunity to share with him the work of the Rivera-Hughes Memorial Foundation, which was created to memorialize Waterbury Firefighters Heriberto "Eddie" Rivera & Howard Hughes and empower youth toward positive academic, social, and healthy outcomes by offering afterschool programs, summer camps, job hunting seminars, and high school internships.
While there may be some who do not understand this vote, I cannot set an example for these children by saying one thing to them and doing another – and party affiliation should not matter. Representative Bowman has expressed interest in supporting the work of the Rivera-Hughes Foundation and I look forward to making that contact.
I wish the Republican majority would stop with these nonsense, political theatre votes and begin to work on behalf of the American people.”
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