[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 23, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H1007]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LET'S COME TOGETHER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Woodall) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I remember standing in your chair over 
these last couple of Congresses reading out that very same card at the 
end. Whether the Obama administration or the Trump administration, 
folks come down to the floor, they get caught up in the passions of the 
moment, and we do have opportunities to come together.
  I had not planned on coming down. I was actually in the Cloakroom 
making some telephone calls, and I heard my colleague speaking. I heard 
her with sincerity implore the President to come to his senses, come to 
the negotiating table, and end this shutdown. Then I heard her with 
sincerity implore the leaders of the Senate to come to the negotiating 
table, to come to their senses, and to end this shutdown. Then in about 
an hour and a half, I will be down here leading the debate on the rule 
for the minority, and we will bring yet another of the exact same bills 
we have brought to the floor that have gone absolutely nowhere in an 
effort to reopen the government.
  I would say to my friends that the secret to finding common ground 
isn't to ask everybody else to come to where you are standing. That is 
the new definition of compromise in this town. I have seen that, that 
gravitate in the five terms that I have been here.
  The definition of compromise is: Well, why don't you agree with me?
  The truth is the only movement I have seen in this debate over these 
last 32 days is the President this past weekend when he said: Do you 
know what? We have called on every single Member in every single 
Chamber to find a solution to the young men and women trapped in a DACA 
status, those families who come here with temporary protective status, 
and they are uncertain about their future--folks on both sides of the 
aisle have called for that--he said: Do you know what? Maybe we can 
broaden this debate, Madam Speaker. Maybe we can broaden the definition 
of what success looks like, and maybe we can break this logjam.
  Madam Speaker, I would just say to my colleagues: I will come back 
down to the House floor as often as you all want me to come back down 
to the House floor, and we can do exactly the same thing every single 
day knowing we are going to get exactly the same result from the White 
House and the Senate. Or, we can try to do something different.
  Candidly, my constituents didn't send me here to do the same thing 
over and over and over again with the same failed result. They sent me 
here to get success. They don't care if I win. They care if I succeed 
on their behalf. They don't care about Republican and Democratic 
priorities. They care about their family priorities.
  And I have to believe--though I don't know all of my freshman 
colleagues as well as I would like--I have to believe that even with 
all the new Members in this institution there is still more that unites 
us than divides us in this country. I love that about this institution. 
I love that about the men and women who are here.
  So, Madam Speaker, I ask this: Let's try to do a little more 
listening and a little less talking. Here in the rank and file, golly, 
I have to believe if I could pick out a few colleagues here, I am 
pretty sure that we could sit down at the table and solve this. I 
confess it is beyond our reach as we sit here today. This is a White 
House decision. This is a Mitch McConnell decision. And this is a Nancy 
Pelosi decision. We ought to all as rank-and-file Members be outraged 
when it does rise to that level because we lose control. 
Our constituents lose their voice.

  I am encouraging my leadership to be as open and honest and to be as 
flexible and creative as they possibly can in finding a solution. Every 
single one of us bears responsibility in this Chamber of what is going 
on.
  If Senate Democrats had let these appropriations bills move last 
fall, then we wouldn't be in this mess. If Republicans had passed a 
continuing resolution in December, we wouldn't be in this mess. There 
are 1,000 different decisionmaking points where we could have done 
things differently. We cannot change those, but we can change what is 
happening here today.
  I tell my constituents back home: If you want to understand what is 
happening in Congress, listen to the 5 minutes in the morning, listen 
to the 1 minutes at noon, and find out if the folks who are coming to 
the floor are celebrating opportunities for success or simply 
condemning their colleagues for not being invested in solutions.
  I believe in the men and women of this Chamber. I believe in the U.S. 
House of Representatives. I believe in self-governance in this Nation. 
Failing the American people, Madam Speaker, undermines that confidence. 
We have an opportunity to succeed, and I hope we will say yes to that 
opportunity.

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