After being elected as the House Minority Leader, Rep. Hakeem Sekou Jeffries, who represents the 8th Congressional District, which covers Central and South Brooklyn, recently delivered his first State of the District Address.
He also had a strong message for the citizens of Kings County: “Brooklyn, I’ve got your back!” Despite the fact that his new position would resonate across the country for all Americans.
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The congressman delivered a speech to an audience of around 2,000 people at Brooklyn Technical High School in Fort Greene, directly across the street from Brooklyn Hospital, where he was born. Jeffries is the first African-American to serve as the leader of either party in the House or Senate.
In his newly assumed position, Jeffries now joins New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and New York District Attorney Letitia James in a club of high-ranking public leaders who were born and raised in Brooklyn. The audience, which was primarily made up of Brooklyn residents, spared nothing in the way of excitement for Jeffries in his newly assumed duty.
Schumer reminded the audience that Jeffries represents one of the most diverse districts in both New York and America. He added, “He’s been fighting for the justice long before he was in this position. And we have put in office one of our very, very best.”
Jeffries, who is serving his sixth term in the U.S. Congress, has swiftly ascended through the ranks to surpass Nancy Pelosi as the highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives. He is now the first African-American to ever serve as the leader of any political party in the House or Senate.
That boy is fighting! He knows how to fight!” said a member of the cheering audience as Rep. Jeffries entered the Brooklyn Tech stage.
Yvette Clarke (D-9) and Nydia Velazquez (D-7), the other two representatives from Brooklyn in the House, joined Jeffries on stage. A long list of local elected officials, including NYC Mayor Eric Adams, Assemblymembers Rodneyse Bichotte and Stefani Zinerman, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, State Senators Scarcella-Spanton, Roxanne Persaud, and Zellnor Myrie, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, and City Councilmembers Sandy Nurse, Darlene Mealy, Brian Cunningham, and Crystal Hudson, to name a few, were also present.
The event’s opening prayers were led by Rabbi Efraim Zaltzman of the Chabad of Kingsborough, Imam, and Khatib Dalouer Hossain of the Baitul Mamur Masjid and Community Center, and Dr. Reverend Lawrence Aker III of Cornerstone Baptist Church, which Jeffries attends. The program was anchored by award-winning broadcast journalist Lori Stokes.
On stage to speak about Jeffries were Adams, Schumer, Velazquez, Clarke, James, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Each lost little time in disclosing the minority leader’s most significant legislative victories during his twelve years in office, including:
- The Inflation Reduction Act (also referred to as The Climate Bill) — the largest climate investment ever made in the United States and perhaps one of the most important climate laws in existence right now.
- The Build Back Better Act- This includes $150 billion in funding for the construction and maintenance of affordable homes that will be revolutionary. According to Jeffries, it is a primary focus going ahead. “And we get a second opportunity to move a major piece of legislation in [this] next congress.”
- Representative Jeffries is a key sponsor of The Equal Act, a bipartisan bill that eliminates the racial discrepancy between the punishment of powder cocaine and crack cocaine. This and other initiatives he is working on will directly affect the district.
- The Gun Violence Prevention Bill, In June, President Biden ratified the most comprehensive gun legislation in decades.
Rep. Jeffries partnered with Congressman Doug Collins, a staunchly conservative Republican from rural Georgia, on the First Step Act, which is largely recognized as the most significant criminal justice reform measure in ten years. At the ceremony, Mayor Adams said that Hakeem Jeffries had proposed criminal justice reform before anyone had even started a discourse about it.
The Broadway Junction Train stop in Brooklyn will soon receive ADA renovations thanks to federal funding that Jeffries and Schumer most recently obtained. According to Schumer during the occasion, this would feature an elevator that will help the tens of thousands of commuters who must ascend the lengthy, steep stairs in order to reach their trains.
Despite his endless list of legislative successes, Judge Raymond J. Lohier Jr. of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals presided over his swearing-in ceremony. The district address mainly served as a pep rally before his swearing-in ceremony, which featured stirring performances by Ballet Hispanico and STEM from Dance.
Rep. Velazquez of Jeffries stated, “It has been a long road, and we have been waiting a long time.” Adding, “but we have made a great step in dismantling systemic barriers to justice!”
Gov. Hochul, who made light of the fact that she was the only speaker who wasn’t from Brooklyn but from Buffalo, NY, also teased Jeffries in his new presiding capacity, asking, “Remember when you used to call me and ask for money [for your campaign]?… Well, guess what? I’m about to return the favor!”
“Now, I never thought I’d actually hear my name called 3,179 times,” Jeffries laughed, referring to the House voting for him as House leader 15 times after McCarthy consistently failed to get majority support from House Republicans.
“Praise God!” said someone in the rear.
Despite the applause, laughter, “Amens!” and fist-pumping for Brooklyn’s own, Jeffries was meticulous in speaking widely about his job as a representative of the American people as a whole. Following his inauguration, he utilized the final 15 minutes of his speech to address citizens both inside and beyond New York City’s borders:
“Over the last two years, all of us, partnering with our colleagues in the Senate and the House, led by President Biden, we worked hard to deliver big results for you, the American people to save the economy from a deep depression,” Jeffries added, referring to The American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Gun Bill Violence Prevention Act, which made gun trafficking a federal criminal for the first time in American history.
“The American people are watching. But what are they seeing?” he said, switching to a preacher’s cadence and rousing the gathering he knew so well. “We want to move the country forward; some other folks want to turn back the clock. We’re working hard to bring people together; some other folks want to tear us apart. We fight for the people; some other folks fight for the privileged few!
“We’ve got to be wary of folks who go to church and pray on Sunday, then come to Washington on Monday to prey on the American people… Prey on the poor, the sick and afflicted; prey on senior citizens, prey on your social security, prey on your Medicare, prey on your veterans benefits…”
“We’re not going to let them take your Medicare; we’re not going to let them take your social security; we’re not going to let them take your veterans benefits or anything you’ve worked hard and paid into!”
“Not now. Not ever!”
The audience rose to their feet. “Hallelujah!” could be heard from every corner of the stadium.
Jeffries, a superb communicator, “tuned up” the audience. They “Co-signed ” After that, there was lunch waiting for them in the lobby. Those in the know know that Hakeem Sekou Jeffries moved the whole audience yesterday night from synagogue to temple and then directly to church!
