“I want to thank the committee for allowing me to record and submit my testimony today, as I’m currently travelling with Speaker Pelosi to the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow as part of my chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Climate Subcommittee.

I appreciate the committee hearing the concerns from many of us who believe critical changes are needed to the draft congressional maps for the South Coast region. Furthermore, it speaks well to this process that the committee has shown a responsiveness in addressing similar concerns with the recent state senate map, concerns that will be met if the cities of Fall River and New Bedford are united under a revised plan.

My views are informed by over 8 years of representation in the region, and specifically in the 2 anchor cities of Fall River and New Bedford that serve as its hub.

In a little more than a year from now, this district will be set for ten more years, and will far exceed any tenure I may be honored to serve for.

It’s because of this perspective, I realize your decision should not be about the person who represents this area, but about the people who are being represented.

Every ten years, there are a number of key principles that we return to each time we undertake a new redistricting process. Some of them are straightforward and practical, such as compactness and contiguity. And others, like the preservation of communities of interest, are at the heart of what makes a district tick. It creates the identity. It forms the character. And it ensures better representation by amplifying the voices of those who would be overlooked in districts that are centralized in other core areas.

As many of us here know, Fall River and New Bedford built their reputations on self-determination, and the ability to rise above challenging circumstances. From early on, these two cities provided unrivaled opportunity for those willing to earn it. The work was not easy however. The hours were long, the conditions were often difficult, but with Fall River at the center of American textile manufacturing, and New Bedford lighting the world with whale oil, it was undeniable that the efforts of those men and women laboring was paying off.

The prospect of succeeding on one’s own work, of being able to build a family, of making a future, was alive in these cities. And immigration numbers bear that out well. From there, a deep-seated culture began to take root in both cities, and between the cities, that has flourished and continues to this day.

Over the years however, the economic tides have shifted. Like many other U.S. cities with foundations based on production in a few key areas, the changing dynamics of the manufacturing and commodities trade receded in a way that left both Fall River and New Bedford struggling to compete. Despite these difficult undercurrents, the two cities have forged ahead, with progress largely a result of the sheer will of their respective populations. These two areas have adapted and survived over the years, with no expectation that anything would ever merely be given to them.

Key investments in workforce, investment, education, and healthcare have started to pay off. The long-planned and hard-earned development of the offshore wind industry on the South Coast has evolved from the challenging yet vital idea of harnessing the strength of offshore winds, into the creation of a economic powerhouse estimated to create 43,000 new jobs by 2030 – Well-paying jobs that will lift current and future generations of those in a region that has made good on its promise to invest in its own workforce. Coordination between the cities of New Bedford, Fall River, and the entire South Coast has broadened the horizon beyond anything that could be accomplished individually.

Now there are well known rivalries between the two cities. Durfee and New Bedford have gone at it on the football field since 1893, but these contests are over before everyone sits down for Thanksgiving dinner. Yet I’ve heard provincial arguments that, as separate congressional districts, each city would be freer and more effective to go at it alone, as two teams, with two coaches. And federal grants and resources are more competitively obtainable when they are regional and collaborative.

The clear and unambiguous approach has been to consolidate the South Coast region as it has moved swiftly to accelerate beyond incremental progress. Whether through the creation of the One Southcoast Chamber of Commerce to focus on opportunities for continued growth, the long-awaited construction of South Coast Rail, a regional health care system, and expansion of the agreement among the South Coast’s higher education and training institutions, there is no rational argument that a division would be beneficial.

Additionally, separating these two cities divides the Latino community which comprises 20 percent of New Bedford and 10 percent of Fall River. And it splits the largest Portuguese American congressional district in the United States of America. It isn’t just shared heritage and shared economic challenges that tie these two cities together – it is the every-day issues facing the families who call these cities home. My staff and I know this firsthand after hundreds and hundreds of Fall River office hours – more than every community in the district combined – and a district office in New Bedford that sees non-stop foot traffic seeking assistance on immigration and other federal issues.

The proposed decoupling of Fall River and New Bedford would disenfranchise those who have worked for years to create the unity that is now coalescing throughout the region. And though these two cities, and the immigrants that have labored for generations to build and sustain them, do not seek anything that hasn’t been earned, it is another thing entirely to deny them the progress that has finally arrived.

As a political process itself redistricting reflects electoral issues. But the effects of splitting these two anchor cities would be long term and profound… and short term political considerations, no matter how they are argued, would pale in comparison.

Thank you very much for allowing me this opportunity and I thank you for your consideration of this important decision, one that will affect this region for decades to come.”