[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 15 (Monday, January 22, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E85]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   WAIVING A REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(a) OF RULE XIII WITH RESPECT TO 
  CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS REPORTED FROM THE COMMITTEE ON 
 RULES, AND PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Saturday, January 20, 2018

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the rule 
suspending the rules providing legislation be considered in regular 
order, what is frequently referred to as a ``martial law'' rule.
  I oppose the rule because it is irresponsible and further 
confirmation of the inability of this President and congressional 
Republicans' inability to govern.
  In accepting his party's presidential nomination, the current 
President loudly, boldly, and ridiculously declared: ``I alone can fix 
it!''
  One year later, on the anniversary of his inauguration, which by the 
way was witnessed by one of the smallest crowds in history, the verdict 
is in.
  The President cannot fix anything; he is not leading the nation and 
he has failed at his primary and most basic obligation: managing the 
executive branch of the government and taking care the laws be 
faithfully executed.
  But the President's failure is not his alone, it is shared with 
Republican acolytes in the House and Senate, who from Day 1 of this 
Administration has lived in fantasy world where facts and truth and 
science and good public policy do not matter.
  This President and our Republican friends across the aisle persist in 
the mistaken and false belief that the American people are clamoring to 
take away affordable quality healthcare for millions of Americans, to 
virtually eliminate taxes on the multinational corporations and the top 
one-percent, to deprive 9 million children of health insurance, and to 
deport 800,000 law-abiding and patriotic Dreamers from the land they 
love and only country to which they have ever pledged allegiance.
  Mr. Speaker, the reason we are now in this mess of the Republicans' 
making is because they consciously chose not to work with Democrats to 
come to a necessary bipartisan agreement to lift the Budget Control Act 
(BCA) spending caps, giving appropriators the direction they need for 
full-year funding bills.
  The reason given for passing each of the prior Continuing Resolutions 
was that the extra time was needed to reach a comprehensive agreement 
to fund government operations in a fair and balanced way.
  Yet, even with the extra time, Republicans made no progress during 
any of the previous extensions.
  This should not be surprising; the House GOP is carrying the water 
for the president, who a few months ago said ``we need a big beautiful 
shutdown.''
  Mr. Speaker, I will not support a CR that does not include full 
funding for disaster recovery for the areas affected by Hurricanes 
Harvey, Irma, Maria, and the California wildfires, extends additional 
health access for veterans, provides funding to combat the opioid 
epidemic, and protects pensions.
  And most important, I will not support a CR or budget agreement that 
does not address and resolve the crisis the Republican Administration 
has inflicted on 800,000 Dreamers and their families, including 124,000 
Dreamers in my home state of Texas.
  Instead of acting responsibly to address these issues and fund the 
government for the remainder of the fiscal year, House Republicans 
continue wasting time.
  Mr. Speaker, the CR proposed by Republicans included a six year 
reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), 
which provides health coverage to nine million children, and which 
Republicans allowed to lapse on September 30, 2017.
  This is not a meaningful extension.
  In contrast, making CHIP permanent would not only provide long-term 
stability for families, providers, and states, it would save $6 billion 
according to the Congressional Budget Office.
  CHIP, which enjoys broad public, could have been reauthorized months 
ago in a stand-alone bill but Republicans chose instead waste months on 
efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and enact unpaid-for tax cuts 
for the wealthy.
  I know firsthand about the important work done through CHIP.
  My state is home to the Texas Children's Hospital, and any of my 
colleagues who believes it is acceptable to play politics with 
children's health clearly does not appreciate the work done there.
  This CR included additional tax cuts totaling over $26 billion, 
including a two year delay of the medical device and Cadillac taxes, 
and a one year delay of the health insurance tax.
  At the same time, the CR failed to address numerous other expired and 
expiring health priorities, from funding for community health centers 
to waiving caps on therapy services for seniors on Medicare, to 
preventing cuts to safety net hospitals.
  Mr. Speaker, despite controlling the House, Senate, and the White 
House, Republicans have not funded the government for the entire year, 
even though we are already four months into the fiscal year.
  Democrats, meanwhile, have done the work with which we were tasked.
  I am a member of the Budget committee and we Democrats proposed a 
budget that:
   Respected the needs of all Americans, including those who serve 
bravely in the Department of Defense;
  Honored the sacrifice of our heroes in uniform;
  Protected programs like CHIP, made investments in infrastructure and 
ensured that Americans have access to quality healthcare.
  Because the President and congressional Republicans refused to work 
with Democrats and compromise on how to provide relief from the BCA's 
sequester level spending caps, they are lurching from CR to CR--
degrading the readiness of our military and preventing government 
agencies from properly serving the American people.
  This is not a responsible way to govern.
  Republicans need to work across the aisle with Democrats and get our 
work done--including upholding the long-standing precedent of agreeing 
to parity when providing relief from sequester caps.
  I urge all Members to reject this Rule and start focusing on the real 
needs and interests of the American people.

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