[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 170 (Wednesday, November 18, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H8346-H8350]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE PEOPLE'S NIGHT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Walker) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing us to engage in what
we call People's Night 2. The House has been working diligently for the
citizens of our districts. We have passed solid legislation that is
good for the economy, that protects life, that helps small businesses,
veterans, bills that reduce taxes. I would guess that maybe not all of
our citizens are even aware that the House has actually passed a
balanced budget. In fact, there are over 300 pieces of legislation that
have been passed through the House but have been stalled in the Senate.
Tonight, we want to highlight some of the legislation, but also, and
with all due respect, we are calling on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
to get moving on these bills. I am joined by several colleagues this
evening to share why we believe it is time to move on behalf of the
American people.
Our first Member, colleague and friend, from Pennsylvania, Mr. Ryan
Costello. Mr. Costello is a freshman, along with myself, our shortstop
on the baseball team, and a strong voice speaking out on those who
sometimes cannot speak for themselves, and that is our veterans. We
promise that we would go to Congress and work hard for the men and
women who depend on us to get the Veterans Administration correct.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Costello).
Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend
from North Carolina for yielding. Mr. Walker has really been a leader
in no time on so many issues. It is nice to be his hall mate and also
his teammate on the baseball field, and I appreciate him putting
together this Special Order to raise a number of issues that we have
gotten through the House here and that we are respectfully calling upon
the Senate to take up.
I am here to speak about the crying need for change and increased
accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs that can be
facilitated by the immediate passage of H.R. 1994, the VA
Accountability Act of 2015. This is a bill that myself and many others
have cosponsored under the leadership of Chairman Jeff Miller, and it
is a bill that I am requesting that the Senate take up and pass with
bipartisan support here in the House in July.
It gives the Secretary of the VA the additional tools he needs to
accelerate the badly-needed culture change at the Department of
Veterans Affairs. It gives the Secretary of the VA what he needs to
rebuild the trust between the VA and this Congress, taxpayers, and,
most importantly, the veterans of this country.
H.R. 1994 includes many provisions to fix the broken personnel system
at the Department. But, most importantly, this bill authorizes the
Secretary to remove or demote any employee for poor performance or
misconduct while also increasing protections for whistleblowers who
have been, and continue to be, very important in the oversight role of
the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Many of you know the Philadelphia Regional Office has seen scandal
after scandal. It has experienced a gross lapse in management,
mishandling of claims, the administration of improper payments, and
fabricated data. On top of that, the hostile work environment and
whistleblower retaliation occurred on a nearly daily basis.
This bill brings accountability to the managers at the Philly VA
responsible for these actions, as well as those across the country in
the VA, who have acted improperly.
I believe a majority of VA's employees--as we all do here in
Congress--this is an important point to make--most people that work at
the VA are hard-working public servants who are dedicated to providing
quality health care and timely benefits for veterans.
{time} 2000
I am sure the majority of these employees are just as frustrated in
that most of us see that the VA problem employees continue to be moved
to new positions as opposed to being removed from the payroll. We have
seen time and again how poor performance can spread like a cancer
through a workforce and how the presence of bad employees only leads to
poor customer service and is an impediment to the quality of service
our veterans have earned.
Our veterans deserve nothing less than the highest quality of care,
and it is our job as Members of Congress to do everything in our power
to ensure that their care is placed before the interests of entrenched
bureaucrats and poor performance. If we want what is best for our
veterans, then the status quo at the VA is not acceptable. It is not
working. It is failing the mission of the Department, and it is failing
the veterans the VA is supposed to serve.
Mr. Speaker, if we do not give the Secretary the tools that he or she
needs to hold VA employees accountable, then we are just as culpable
for any future VA failures. The antiquated civil service laws that have
fostered the VA's cultural mess need to go. That is what the VA
Accountability Act does. That is why we are calling on the Senate to
take it up.
After the largest scandal in VA's history--and, in my home State, the
continued problems at the Philadelphia VA--the VA has only successfully
fired three employees for wait time manipulation even though over 100
hospitals have been identified as having gamed the appointment system.
That is simply unacceptable. H.R. 1994 would give the Secretary the
tools he needs to hold more employees accountable faster than can be
done now under existing civil service rules.
As Mr. Walker will continue to do this evening in pointing out a
number of bills that have been ushered through the House--reform bills
that improve the welfare of this country and that reform various
bureaucracies--H.R. 1994 does just that. I urge the Senate to take
action and push for accountability just as we have done here in the
House on behalf of this country's veterans.
I thank the gentleman for organizing this Special Order tonight.
Mr. WALKER. I thank Representative Costello. His hard work on the
Veterans' Affairs Committee is duly noted.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, these bills are not making it to the
President's desk. We are tired of the argument that the President will
most likely veto these legislative bills or of the filibustering that
we hear about sometimes in the Senate. We hear the word
``reconciliation'' a great deal. Reconciliation is a simple majority
vote. Fifty-one votes in the Senate is what is needed to get it to the
President's desk under reconciliation.
If we think back, this is how Harry Reid shoved ObamaCare into the
culture and fabric of the American people--by reconciliation, by a
simple majority. In fact, it has been Mr. Reid
[[Page H8347]]
who has blocked, filibustered, and sat on legislation to protect the
President. That is why the American people elected Republican
majorities in the House and the Senate. It was to clean up Washington
and to stand against President Obama's far-left agenda.
One of the ladies I have been able to meet who has worked hard and
who has been a voice is a nurse, a small-business woman, and a former
educator. I specifically like the nurse part, being married to one for
23 years. She is the middle daughter of working class, Great
Depression-era parents. Having had 40 years of experience in working in
the healthcare field, she is uniquely positioned as a credible and
effective leader on healthcare policy in Congress. She is a strong
leader on fiscal and budget reforms, but her voice for life in these
halls is one that is heard throughout the country.
From Tennessee's Sixth District, Congresswoman Diane Black is that
voice, and I would like for her to share a little bit more on her
specific piece of legislation.
Mrs. BLACK. I thank the gentleman from North Carolina, my good
friend, Congressman Walker, for bringing us together for this very
important conversation.
Mr. Speaker, a lot of Americans worked very hard to deliver these
historic majorities to Congress, but, today, there is a feeling that
the more things change, the more they stay the same. We billed this as
the ``New American Congress.'' Yet, like last year and the year before
and the year before that, too many House-passed bills remain trapped in
the U.S. Senate.
The House passed the REINS Act in July, which would prevent the Obama
administration from legislating in the form of government rule and
would give Congress the final say over the major Federal regulations
just like our Founding Fathers intended. But where is it today? Nearly
4 months later, it continues to languish in the upper Chamber, awaiting
for a chance for debate.
More recently, the House passed the Justice for Victims of Iranian
Terrorism Act, requiring Iran to make good on its $43 billion of
delinquent payments to the victims of its state-sponsored terrorism.
Once again, this good and decent bill is collecting dust in the Senate.
Mr. Speaker, I understand the challenges that our Senate leadership
faces. The do-nothing Senate majority of the last Congress is now the
do-nothing Senate minority of this Congress. They are filibustering
countless House-passed bills and bringing the wheels of government to a
grinding halt, but we cannot let that stop us from bringing up these
bills for full debate in the light of day and putting our priorities in
front of the American people.
While we are at it, it is time to change the rules of engagement in
the upper Chamber. In a body of 100 people, a majority is 51. It really
is that simple. The cloture rule is nowhere to be found in the U.S.
Constitution. It is an antiquated Senate rule that is not effectively
serving the institution today. I call on the Senate leaders to turn the
page and break the logjam so that we can put the American people's
priorities on the President's desk.
I don't doubt that the President will veto many of these measures.
For goodness sake, he vetoed a bill to fund our troops, so I put
nothing past him. Let's put him on record. Let's ensure that President
Obama is required to accept or to reject our ideas and to defend that
decision to the American people.
Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is this: The American people delivered
us this majority, and they expect us to use it.
Again, I thank my colleague from North Carolina.
Mr. WALKER. I thank Representative Black and appreciate her heartfelt
words.
Mr. Speaker, in nearly a year of holding the majority, the President
has only vetoed three of our bills. In fact, only once, I believe, he
has had to do that in the last 8 months.
Politico, back in February, published this prediction: ``Though
Obama's three vetoes are thus far a record low...experts expect Obama's
final 2 years to be packed with high-profile veto showdowns.''
That hasn't happened.
My next friend and colleague who would like to share a little bit of
his heart is someone I have grown to admire and respect. I am
privileged to serve with him on the Homeland Security Committee where
just a few months ago, I heard one of the more powerful 5- or 6-minute
talks that I have heard since I have been here in Congress in which he
was willing to stand up for the Family Research Council and Tony
Perkins against the tax from the Southern Poverty Law Center--
specifically the President--who had put them on a hate list.
In fact, I am going to yield him a little bit of leeway so he may
share some things that may be a little bit in context but that may be a
little bit off as well. It is my privilege to introduce and to hear
from a great Congressman from South Carolina, Representative Jeff
Duncan.
Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman. I
thank him for having this People's Night 2, so as to take the
opportunity to speak to the American people about, really, what have
become a lot of frustrations since they elected a Republican House and
a Republican Senate.
In fact, I did a tele-townhall last night, and a number of comments
and questions that I had was: Why can't you guys get more bills to the
President's desk? I had to explain that there is a 60-vote filibuster,
the modern filibuster--a 60-vote threshold--over in the Senate. I had
to explain what a modern filibuster rule is in the Senate.
A Senator from the great State of South Carolina actually
filibustered on the floor. He spoke for 48 hours without stopping,
without sitting down. He held the floor of the Senate to make a point
for 48 hours. That is the traditional filibuster that you hear about.
Today, in the 21st century, when we hear that a Senator has filed a
filibuster and that there is a 60-vote threshold to get over, what that
means is a Senator has just put his name on a bill, and he doesn't have
to go down and utter a single word, and he doesn't have to stand on the
floor for a single minute. In fact, he can go to Charlie Palmer's and
have a steak and call it a ``filibuster.'' America, this is wrong.
I had a conversation with some Senate staff today because I think
they ought to change their Senate rules.
They said: Well, the Senator--and he is a Senator I respect a lot--
disagrees with your position. They pointed out that the Senate
filibuster rule, the 60-vote threshold, has helped Republicans in the
past to stop bad legislation. They said it stopped amnesty.
I said: Well, hold on right there. Amnesty, actually, passed. The
Gang of Eight bill passed, and we failed to bring it up in the House.
We stopped it on the House side.
They said: Well, it stopped gun control and a lot of other things.
I said: Yes, but it is keeping right now a lot of good things from
making it to the President's desk.
America gave us this majority, and they really expect us to pass
bills out that reflect the Republican principles, morals, values, and
convictions of the electorate that sent us here and gave us this
majority. They expect us to pass bills out of the Congress and to send
them to the President's desk. Then the President can do whatever he
wants with those bills, but I think, if he vetoes them, then America
will see the dichotomy between the Republican governance and a Democrat
President.
Now the Senate rules. They are not in this book. This is the United
States Constitution. It is a pocket copy that I carry with me. You
can't find the Senate rules in this. It does say that both bodies--the
House and the Senate--make their own rules to govern what goes on here,
but they are not spelled out in this document. It is time for Mitch
McConnell and the Republicans over in the Senate to actually have a
``come to Jesus'' meeting and really talk about what is stifling the
Republican work when the Republican electorate in this country has
given us the majority and expects us to do the work.
I want to shift gears for just a minute because this is the People's
Night, and I want to talk about something that is on the minds of the
American people--the safety and security of our Nation and the national
security issues in the wake of the Paris attacks, in the wake of the
Lebanon bombing, in the wake of a lot of things that we are seeing with
stabbings and other things that are going on by ISIS, primarily, but
you can throw Boko Haram
[[Page H8348]]
and some others who are committing acts of terror into the mix as well.
Americans are concerned about the safety and security of our Nation.
I chair the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee on the Foreign Affairs
Committee. Just this afternoon, it was revealed that the Honduran
police stopped five Syrians who were carrying falsified Greek
passports, and they had flown all over Latin America before they had
gotten to Honduras. They were headed north to the Guatemalan border. If
they were headed north to the Guatemalan border, it tells me they were
going to take advantage of our porous southern border, like many others
have, to enter into this country. We don't know why. What we do know is
five Syrians traveled to Honduras on fake Greek passports, and they
were apprehended by the police.
People are criticizing the Republicans for wanting to hit ``pause''
on the Syrian refugee program, and they are saying, ``You don't have
compassion.'' Let me tell you that you don't lock the door because you
hate the people on the outside. You lock the door because you love the
people on the inside.
We have to protect America. That is what we are charged to do. When
we raise our hands and swear an oath to the Constitution--to uphold it
and to defend this great country--we are charged as Members of Congress
to protect this great Nation, first and foremost.
I thank the gentleman for some leniency. I will continue to speak on
behalf of the American people. It is time for Mitch to get moving on
some bills that are Republican bills over in the Senate.
{time} 2015
Mr. WALKER. Historically, I would like to put this inaction in some
kind of perspective. We actually have to go back to James Garfield in
the 1800s to find such a low number of vetoes. James Garfield only
served 7 months, or about 200 days. President Obama has been in office
nearly 7 years. Compared to other Presidents--for example, President
Kennedy, though obviously never completing his term, however--he used a
total of veto 21 times. Ronald Reagan used a total of 78.
Why is this so important? Well, the answer is simple. This is not
political theater. It is the process that exposes the President's
continued desire to rely on government and not the private sector,
which may explain the national debt skyrocketing from $10 trillion to
nearly $20 trillion that is predicted by the end of his term next year.
We need to end covering for the President or for other Members on these
tough votes.
When the President vetoes legislation, he has the obligation to
explain to the country the reasons that he is against such bills that
help the American worker and protect families and small businesses. It
is one of the only measures that our Founding Fathers provided to
Congress in holding the President accountable.
It is a privilege to introduce a friend from Georgia's 10th
Congressional District, a fellow freshman who is passionate about the
cause of the American people, someone that is authentic, someone who
founded the Cultures and Values Network and was the host of his own
radio talk program. He has become a dear and close friend of mine. I
would like for the American people to hear from Representative Jody
Hice from Georgia's 10th Congressional District.
I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.
Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
North Carolina for hosting this People's Night for this Special Order.
I appreciate all that you do, and I appreciate your leadership and your
friendship. It is good to have another minister on the grounds. I am
honored to serve with you.
Like has already been discussed by so many tonight, I likewise
experience a great deal of frustration. I have had conversations, as
have others here, with individuals in the Senate frustrated over that
60-vote threshold to even debate an issue over there.
Like others, I have been told that they have protected our country
from so many other horrible pieces of legislation or that, ultimately,
it is irrelevant because the bill would probably be vetoed anyway.
There are excuses after excuses.
The fact of the matter is that the American people sent us here to do
a job, to represent them to the best of our ability. I am honored to be
here with my colleagues here tonight.
I am proud of the fact that, over the 10 months or so that I have
been here, we have passed probably hundreds of bills, meaningful
legislation, legislation that would protect the American people,
legislation that would strengthen our national security, that would
care for veterans and provide the kind of care that they deserve,
legislation that would empower American businesses and small
businesses, legislation that would increase transparency and
accountability within government agencies.
For example, in order to protect the American citizens, as we all are
so concerned about these days, we passed H.R. 3009, the Sanctuary
Cities Act, that would not allow any State or local government to
continue to receive funding if they harbor illegal alien criminals.
Cities like San Francisco and many others would no longer be able to
have a government-bankrolled sanctuary to provide such a thing for
illegal alien lawbreakers.
In addition, as the Representative from South Carolina just referred
to moments ago, the threat of ISIS and the authentic threat against the
West from terror attacks is real. We are living with that reality
today.
So we passed in this body H.R. 237, which would provide the Secretary
of State with the authority to revoke or deny passports to individuals
who are aligned with foreign terrorist groups.
It would also provide critical assistance to law enforcement and
intelligence service personnel to make it easier for them to flag
suspects when they are traveling internationally.
Perhaps most importantly, that bill would help prevent turned
Americans who are now fighting alongside of ISIS from coming back to
the United States undetected. Again, these bills and many others like
these have not even received a hearing on the other side of the
Capitol.
This body has passed the VA Accountability Act, which would allow the
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary new authority to fire bad
employees in order to assure that our veterans are receiving the care
that they deserve.
Additionally, this body has passed the Death Tax Repeal Act, which
would eliminate a tax which is unfairly imposed on family estates after
a loved one has passed. That bill would ensure that farmers and small-
business owners would not be taxed for the success of their loved one
who has passed away. It would help keep small businesses and farm doors
open.
This body has passed multiple pieces of legislation that would
increase government transparency and accountability, which our
constituents deserve. To that end, we have passed the IRS Email
Transparency Act. We also passed the Prevent Targeting at the IRS Act.
The list goes on and on and on, is my point.
I am proud to stand here tonight. I am proud to state that we, this
entire body, have successfully passed real and meaningful legislation
that would vastly improve the lives of our constituents and our Nation.
However, the reality is that, without a fully engaged and willing
partner on the other side of the Capitol, all this work that we have
done equates to nothing more than a vacant parking lot. It amounts to a
wicked limbo of immobility or lethargic stasis. Quite frankly, the
American people deserve more than this.
I urge our friends on the other side of the Capitol to start taking
up some of the legislation that this body has passed and to do so with
a sense of urgency.
I realize that they are described as the most deliberative body in
the world, but, frankly, it feels as though they are helping create an
environment of absolute dysfunction.
I encourage them to take up bills and to move them forward so that,
working together, we can become the most decisive body in the world.
The clock is ticking. The American people are excellent timekeepers.
Mr. WALKER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Hice for those
passionate comments.
You know, in life, sometimes you run across people who are authentic,
who truly have a servant spirit. One of those people I have been
privileged to meet is right here in the Halls of Congress.
[[Page H8349]]
He is a Representative from Arizona's Eighth Congressional District.
He is a Reagan conservative in his seventh term. He has one of the most
powerful and passionate voices, a huge heart, but a strong voice for
life. It is a privilege for him to be a part of our People's Night 2.
I yield to my friend, my colleague, and the great Representative from
Arizona, Representative Trent Franks.
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, if I could, let me express
sincere gratitude to Congressman Walker for leading this effort
tonight.
The people of North Carolina did a very wise thing to send this man
to Congress. He has represented them faithfully. He is a Valley Forge
American that I wish there were more of in the United States Congress.
Madam Speaker, the direction of America and the world under the
leadership of Barack Obama is alarming to any reasonable observer. To
those outside the beltway, Republicans seem weak and unwilling to
effectively respond.
One of the hidden-in-plain-sight reasons for this false perception is
the rules and present practices in the United States Senate controlling
the parliamentarian instrument of the ``motion to proceed to
consider.'' This is the mechanism that allows the filibuster in the
United States Senate.
Mr. Speaker, just very briefly, it takes 60 votes to allow a bill to
come to the floor for debate in the United States Senate. It takes
another vote of 60 votes to allow that bill to be actually voted upon.
The truth is that, with 54 Republicans, it takes 6 Democrats to help
allow either debate or a vote to occur in the United States Senate.
Unfortunately, regardless of the nature of the bills, in recent
years, this simply has not been allowed to occur. Mr. Speaker, this has
become a boot on the throat of the Constitution and a stalemate to this
Republic.
I would suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, that, if we don't change it, the
people of this country are going to become so wearied of this process,
so convinced that we will remain in gridlock forever, that they will
simply wash their hands of the American Government. If they do that,
then the Founding Fathers' dream itself could die in this generation.
It must not be allowed to happen.
To put this in practical terms, Mr. Speaker, the House of
Representatives passed some months ago the Department of Homeland
Security appropriations bill. The only thing that we did, using our
article I powers of the purse, was to say that we would not fund the
President's illegal, unconstitutional executive order on immigration.
That bill then went over to the Senate, fully funding the Department
of Homeland Security. Democrats in the Senate said: No. We are not
voting on the bill. You guys are shutting the government down.
Democrats want very much to shut this government down because they
know that the left-wing media will make sure that Republicans are fully
blamed for that reality. That is what they want. It is not a deterrent
to them. It is an inducement.
Mr. Speaker, the choice for House leadership is either to dumb the
bill down so the Democrats will support it and thereby completely make
the Republican base heartbroken or allow the government to be shut
down. No one is accountable under this scenario, and it has to change,
Mr. Speaker.
For my Republican friends that say, well, what if we are in the
minority, well, we have been in the minority and ObamaCare passed and
all of these other things passed because, unfortunately, the
willingness of the Senate Democrats today to abuse this filibuster is
so prevalent that it stops anything of consequence that matters to this
country. Mr. Speaker, that has to change.
Under the current rules and practices, the balance between the
reasonable opportunity to deliberate or debate and the ability to
actually make a timely decision in the U.S. Senate no longer exists.
The technical remedy to fix this is to adopt a change in the rules that
will satisfy both the majority and the minority, prevent gridlock, and
allow for consensus and the spirit of bipartisanship to return.
Tomorrow, Mr. Speaker, I will be introducing a resolution calling
upon the Senate to adjust their rules to prevent this mindless
stalemate and the practice of the current rules as written.
The goal, Mr. Speaker, is not to do away with the Senate filibuster,
but to maintain the ability of the minority to have leveraged objection
to either majority overreach or deeply contested legislation while
restoring the accountability and deliberation to what is called the
world's most deliberative body.
Mr. Speaker, I have one last example. Almost 2 months ago this House
passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. We have passed
many bills that have never gotten to see the light of day in the Senate
because of the Senate filibuster.
The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act required that babies
surviving an abortion be given the same treatment and care that would
be given to any child born naturally premature at the same age.
{time} 2030
This bill now languishes in the Senate. It is uncertain if it will
even be allowed a fair and honest debate up or down. These are born-
alive children, Mr. Speaker--born alive--and no one can obscure the
humanity and personhood of born-alive babies or claim that there is a
conflict that exists between now separate interests of the mother and
the child. Nor can they take refuge within the schizophrenic paradox
Roe v. Wade has subjected this country to for now more than four
decades.
Mr. Speaker, protecting born-alive survivors of abortion is not a
Republican issue. It is not a Democratic issue. It is a test of our
basic humanity and who we are as a human family. Before my colleagues
in the Senate vote against this bill or, far worse, do as they have
done so often and use the Senate rules to filibuster and avoid a vote
and to deprive this bill of an honest debate and a fair vote, I would
implore each one of them to ask themselves two questions in the
stillness of their own heart.
First, is turning our backs on the most helpless of our born-alive
children truly who the United States of America has become? Second, is
voting against or filibustering against a bill to protect born-alive
human babies from agonizing dismemberment and death who they have
become as a Senate and what they want to be remembered for?
Mr. Speaker, it is time that we recognize that there are certain
bills that are worth a vote, bills like protecting this country from a
potential Iranian nuclear option and bills like protecting this country
from allowing its little born-alive children to be killed
indiscriminately. Mr. Speaker, that time has come.
I thank the gentleman for his kindness.
Mr. WALKER. Thank you, Representative Franks. I think America just
saw some of the eloquence as well as the passion with which you speak
for America's unborn.
As we have talked tonight about the many pieces of legislation that
the House has worked on diligently over the last 10, 11 months, here is
just a partial list that I hold in my hands: legislation that is good
for the American family, a balanced budget, reduction of taxes, taking
care of our veterans. Tonight, with all due respect, we are calling
upon Mitch McConnell and the Senate to move, to move diligently and to
move urgently. It is past time.
Tonight before my closing comments, I yield to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania's 12th District, Representative Keith Rothfus. It is maybe
just a bit off topic, but something that is very important about what
has been going on over the last week.
syrian refugees
Mr. ROTHFUS. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his
leadership in organizing this Special Order. I thank him for allowing
me to take a few moments to again take a look at what has been going on
across the world and the troubling news that we have from abroad.
I rise tonight, Mr. Speaker, to call for a moratorium on the entry of
refugees into the United States from Syria and all other countries that
have been infiltrated by ISIS and other terrorist groups until security
concerns can be adequately addressed.
In the wake of the recent attacks in Paris, in Beirut, and on a
Russian plane flying over the Sinai, my first
[[Page H8350]]
and foremost concern is for the safety and security of my constituents
in western Pennsylvania.
To put it simply, the safety and security of the American people are
nonnegotiable. Right now we simply do not have the mechanisms in place
to ensure that the 10,000 Syrian refugees that the President would have
come into this country over the next year and other refugees from
terrorist-controlled areas are properly vetted.
FBI Director James Comey has said as much: ``If someone has never
made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their
identity or their interest reflected in our database, we can query our
database until the cows come home, but there will be nothing show up
because we have no record of them.''
The Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Homeland
Security have said the same. It is both reasonable and prudent to
insist that we know exactly who these individuals are before they
settle into our towns and cities.
Currently, we have neither the capability nor the capacity to do
this. The recent attacks have awakened us to the reality that Islamic
State terrorists have the worst of intentions not only for Christians
and other religious minorities in their own region, but for the entire
Western world. They are not, as the President has claimed, merely a
setback. They are acts of war by a terrorist scourge against decency
and humanity and freedom and everything that we as Americans stand for.
It comes as no surprise, then, that ISIS has already stated it
intends to attack the heart of the United States here in Washington,
D.C., and it is not impossible that ISIS terrorists could enter the
country by posing as Syrian refugees. In fact, reports indicate that a
Syrian passport was found next to the body of 25-year-old Ahmad al-
Mohammad, one of the suicide bombers in Paris. He was born in Idlib, a
city in northwest Syria, and the Paris prosecutor's office said his
fingerprints matched those of a person who traveled through Greece last
month.
So the security concerns that the American people are raising are
not, as the President and others have suggested, without merit. They
are completely legitimate, especially as the number of refugees is set
to increase to 85,000 in 2016 and 100,000 in 2017, a significant
increase from the average 70,000 per year over the past several years.
The truth is that the American people are an incredibly compassionate
and generous people. We have a rich history of assisting people in
other nations around the globe when they are suffering from a
humanitarian crisis, poverty, oppression, or war. Since September 11,
2001, the United States has resettled 748,000 refugees from around the
world. The American people have also assisted innocent Syrian refugees
fleeing from violence in search of a better life, providing $4.5
billion in humanitarian aid since the start of the crisis in Syria to
help them relocate in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and other
nations.
While we desire to assist those who need help around the globe, we
have a solemn duty to protect our citizens. The bottom line is we need
to put the safety and security of Americans first. The solution I am
proposing today is indefinite, but not necessarily permanent. It is the
only responsible thing to do under these circumstances.
We need time to review and implement policies that will ensure that
those who seek refuge in the United States are properly vetted.
I also urge my colleagues in the Senate to act boldly and promptly to
ensure the security concerns of the American people are addressed.
Mr. WALKER. Thank you, Representative Rothfus.
Our second People's Night was scheduled weeks ago before the
terrorists struck Paris.
I believe it is appropriate this evening to send out our sincerest
thoughts and prayers to the Parisian families and others whose lives
have been changed forever by these cowardly attacks. Though my heart is
heavy, my discontentment with this administration has reached a new
level of frustration.
Last year President Obama stated that ISIS was not a serious threat.
In fact, many of us remember him referring to them as the JV squad.
Just hours before this barbaric attack, the President emphatically
expressed that ISIS had been contained and they were no longer
expanding.
As a member of the Committee on Homeland Security, I couldn't
disagree more. According to the FBI, there are more than 1,000 open
investigations that are ISIS or terrorist related. ISIS is a clear and
present danger to the American people.
Earlier today, in a joint hearing with the Committee on Foreign
Affairs and the Committee on Homeland Security, General Jack Keane
shared these words:
ISIS is the most successful terrorist organization of our
time. The world does not believe that our country is serious
about taking on ISIS.
The general added:
ISIS is not contained, and they are at war with us, but we
are not at war with them.
While President Obama plays down the threat, other world leaders are
leading and exhibiting and showing strength. Even the Pope has been
warning us that these attacks and others could be the beginning of
world war III.
After reviewing the evidence and testimony, I am convinced that it is
only by the grace of God and the diligent work of our local, State, and
national law enforcement that we haven't been hurt in the same manner
that played out just last weekend in Paris. Sadly, President Obama has
yet to offer any plan, any strategy, or any solution to slow down these
sons from hell.
There is more evidence, continuing evidence of the disastrous Obama
doctrine. The words of the President this past weekend sounded more
like a spokesperson for the United Nations than America's Commander in
Chief.
This is more of the same flawed foreign policy that we have
experienced, just like we did in the recent Iran deal. May I remind us
that 25 Democrats stood with Republicans, rebuking such a deal. Even
more are calling on the President to speak with clarity and with
boldness. The American people have grown weary of the constant swag and
condescending responses.
Mr. Speaker, how much longer can we afford to wait on a President who
stubbornly refuses to identify these devils as radical Islamist
extremists? I would hope and pray that all Members of this House would
band together, demanding the President deliver a definitive course of
action. It is time, Mr. Speaker, for the President to settle up.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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