H.Res. 540

[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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