[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 13 (Saturday, January 20, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H586-H587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FIRST ANNIVERSARY

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, last night, on the eve of the first 
anniversary of President Trump's inauguration, President Trump earned 
an F for leadership.
  President Trump and congressional Republicans' obsession with passing 
a tax scam to benefit the wealthiest in our country and corporations 
has blinded them to their responsibilities to the American people.
  Despite controlling the House, the Senate, and the White House, the 
Republicans were so incompetent, so negligent, that they couldn't get 
it together to keep the government open.
  They could get it together to pass a tax credit, 83 percent of which 
benefits the top 1 percent, but they couldn't get it together to pass 
CHIP and its fuller complement to meet the needs of America's children 
and families and seniors.
  President Trump said about President Obama at the time of the 2013 
GOP government shutdown: ``I mean, problems start from the top, and 
they have to get solved from the top. And the President is the leader. 
And he's got to get everybody in a room, and he's got to lead.'' 
President Trump then.
  President Trump now, as President, President Trump tweets: ``Our 
country needs a good `shutdown.'''
  Your wish has come true for your 1-year anniversary because of all-
around incompetence, inefficiency, and prioritizing with all your heart 
and soul that 1 percent at the expense of the rest of the country.
  Now, there is no such thing, as we know, as a good shutdown of the 
government. Republicans' total inability

[[Page H587]]

to govern is once again threatening our economy, weakening our 
communities, and dangerously depriving the military of the certainty 
they need to keep our Nation safe.
  I say the economy because a shutdown hurts the economy. The facts are 
there from their previous shutdown.
  I am proud the House and Senate Democrats' unity is insisting on a 
budget that supports our military and the domestic investments that 
keep our Nation strong and honors our values by protecting our 
DREAMers.
  I hope that we can now conduct bipartisan negotiations--bipartisan 
negotiations--in a transparent way that unifies the country, where we 
can find common ground to honor our responsibility to meet the needs of 
the American people.
  It is important to note that this is the fifth Republican shutdown. 
They don't believe in governance, so shutting down the government is 
sort of a means to an end for them.
  I just want to note that in 2013, when the Republicans last shut down 
the government--it is really important--that 231 Republicans voted to 
shut down the government to zero on their side--231--and that included 
Speaker Ryan, Leader McCarthy, Whip Scalise, and Chairwoman McMorris 
Rodgers.
  Later, on October 16, when it was time to open up the government, it 
was just a kind of a remarkable thing.
  I said 231. It was 229. Let me be fair, 229.
  When it was time to open up the government, it was remarkable because 
the Republicans still did not want to do that.
  On October 16, 144 Republicans voted to keep the government shut 
down--144. 198 Democrats voted to open up the government to zero. 
Nobody voted to keep the government shut down.
  So what is this? What are they taking about? Do people not think that 
people have a record to see what their votes have been?

  This is their fifth shutdown since the nineties. This is their fourth 
CR since September. Get it together. Wipe the tears of joy from your 
eye about passing a tax cut that benefits the wealthiest in our 
country. Get down to business for everyday people in America and stop 
using children as a shield to cover up what you are not doing for the 
American people.
  When we had the majority and President Obama was President, one of 
the first bills we sent to his desk was CHIP. That has always been our 
priority. But it must be accompanied by legislation to support 
community health centers, which serve 27 million Americans, including 
those CHIP kids, medical education for primary care doctors who serve 
the needs of those children, Medicare extenders. The list goes on and 
on of what that package is but what the Republicans did not want to pay 
for in their ill-founded CR that they put forth.
  A CR weakens the government. A CR weakens our national defense. 
Secretary Mattis has said that over and over.
  This action shuts down the government. The CRs debilitate government. 
Let's get serious. Get it together. Stop romancing yourselves about 
that tax bill and start getting serious about meeting the needs of the 
American people.

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