[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 29 (Thursday, February 14, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2002-H2003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE DEMOCRAT PARTY?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Green) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I ask one question today: What 
happened to the Democrat party?
  Democrats, up until just recently, were a lot closer to the middle. 
Take John F. Kennedy, for example, who argued in favor of supply-side 
economics and fought for tax cuts and personal responsibility.
  Bill Clinton and Dianne Feinstein are recorded decrying rampant 
illegal immigration. Bill Clinton described Democrat policies on 
abortion as safe, legal, and rare. Even as recent as last decade, 
Barack Obama attacked companies for hiring illegal aliens.
  But something new is emerging from their ranks. Dangerous extremist 
ideas are becoming the new normal on the left side of the aisle.
  Let's begin with infanticide. Are Democrats truly accepting killing 
babies outside the womb now?
  A Democrat head of State, last month, casually defended it on a radio 
station broadcasting in the Nation's Capital. He explained to listeners 
that an infant already delivered would be kept comfortable while a 
mother and a doctor discussed letting the child die.

                              {time}  1045

  When pressed for clarification, he explained that the scenario he 
envisioned involved a baby with deformities. Assuming he meant 
something like Down syndrome or something similar, this is an 
outrageous claim. If you go and ask people with Down syndrome, they 
think their life is worth living, and I couldn't agree more.
  If all of that is not sitting well with you right now, well, we are 
just getting started, or I should say, they are just getting started.
  How about the newly unveiled Green New Deal? This massive overhaul of 
the entire U.S. economy was reportedly drafted over a single weekend by 
a bunch of staffers and environmental activists. The visionaries behind 
this massive bill are hoping to eliminate air travel, gut and rebuild 
every building in America, eliminate 99 percent of cars, eliminate 
nuclear energy, and ban affordable energies like natural gas.
  One of the authors of the Green New Deal laments that we aren't sure 
we will be able to fully get rid of flatulating cows fast enough to get 
down to zero carbon emissions. Of course, that has been pulled off 
their website, following the appropriate national response.
  But don't worry, the authors tell us, if passed into law, the 
government will guarantee each and every one of us a high-paying job, 
free education for life, a house, free money, and healthy food for all 
Americans.
  How about the various proposals to get free healthcare for everyone? 
The most popular one of these, Medicare for All, was introduced by a 
self-described socialist and has received enthusiastic endorsement of 
2020 Democratic Presidential candidates. Cautious estimates of the cost 
of Sanders' plan start at around $32.6 trillion over the next 10 years.
  Even if we implement the most aggressive tax plan to seize and 
redistribute wealth, the hard-earned work of some Americans, we only 
raise $720 billion over 10 years, or 2 percent of what Medicare for All 
will cost.
  Keep in mind, our revenue for the entire United States over that same 
period will only be approximately $40 trillion, unless, of course, this 
bill passed and we tailspin toward a second Great Depression.
  Democrats have abandoned all reason in the immigration debate as 
well. We are witnessing Democrat officials offering homes, voting 
rights, welfare, and taxpayer-funded education to anyone and everyone 
who is able to sneak into the interior of the United States. It has 
been estimated that each illegal border-crosser is a net fiscal burden 
of $74,722 to the United States, and that is before all the goodies I 
mentioned previously are added.
  Moreover, we have one primary agency in charge of identifying and 
apprehending illegal aliens who go on to commit other crimes, 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Democratic officials are 
demanding we eliminate them. Instead, they tell us to give everyone 
amnesty, something estimated to cost taxpayers another $2 trillion.
  With all the free programs available to illegal aliens in the United 
States, it is no wonder they are flooding over the southern border. 
According to the White House, 400,000 migrants were apprehended 
attempting to illegally enter the United States in FY18 alone.
  Along the way, reports from nonpartisan organizations state that one 
in three women are sexually assaulted on the trip north. They also have 
to pass through something called the route of death. Do we really want 
to incentivize people to make this trek?

[[Page H2003]]

  A wall and a crackdown on illegal immigration would surely 
disincentivize migrants and save lives.

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