[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H1399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, this morning, the President is being lauded 
for a speech that stayed on message and was optimistic. Those accolades 
would be deserved if his actions bore any resemblance to his words. 
But, instead, we were subjected to a barrage of third grade sound 
bites, falsehoods, and half-truths, just like always.
  The President condemned the vandalism at the Jewish cemeteries. Yet, 
earlier the same day, he suggested that these anti-Semitic acts were a 
``false flag'' operation possibly committed by Jews themselves; which 
is very similar, by the way, to what White supremacist talking points 
circulated by David Duke are all about.
  The President also condemned the racist hate crime murders in Kansas 
of an Indian engineer.
  But why did it take him nearly a week to break his silence? Didn't 
this act of domestic terrorism deserve a tweet?
  He didn't commit to doing anything about it until he was nudged by a 
tweet by Hillary Clinton.
  The President says he wants to fix health care, but all the House 
Republicans can agree on is to kick 30 million people off their 
insurance.
  Yes, Mr. Trump, we already knew that health care was complicated. It 
is good to know that you finally understand it as well.
  The President said he wanted to invest in women's health, but his own 
party is committed to defunding Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood 
offers health care to one in five women in this country.
  The President said he supports democratic ideals, but he won't 
advocate them around the globe. He says he supports diplomacy, but his 
budget cuts the State Department by 37 percent.
  The President says he wants to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure, 
but congressional Republicans have already implied they won't give him 
the money.
  The President said he supports the rule of law, but he is violating 
the Constitution's Emoluments Clause every single day.
  And worst of all, the President says he supports the troops. Then he 
blames the military for his own botched raid. This disgraceful 
abandonment of responsibility makes a mockery of the grief of Chief 
Petty Officer Owens' widow, who wept in front of all the American 
people watching the speech on TV last night.
  His comments earlier in the day blaming the military are really 
indescribable. I agree that we must never forget Ryan Owens' sacrifice, 
and that is why we must understand the circumstances that led to his 
death and follow through with his parents' request for an independent 
investigation.
  This speech demonstrates that the President can read from a 
teleprompter that he so derided during his campaign. Last night, he 
showed a calm and civilized face to the Nation. Was this a one-night 
stand or a changed man who recognizes the ominous responsibilities of 
being President of the United States?
  We have seen the President's Mr. Hyde face in his tweets and his 
unhinged press conferences. I think the question before us now is: Will 
a single night of soothing platitudes be sufficient?
  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is something we read. What we do know is that 
Dr. Jekyll could not suppress his dark side. The question is: Can the 
President?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

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