[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 121 (Thursday, July 18, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H7095]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WORK ON KITCHEN-TABLE ISSUES

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, in Matthew in the New Testament, it talks 
about: ``You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered 
from thornbushes or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears 
good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.''
  Mr. Speaker, the tree of the House of Representatives hasn't borne 
much fruit this week. At a time of hurricane and floods, the continued 
border crisis exacerbated by inaction on properly defining ``asylum'' 
or ``legal immigration,'' instead of the kitchen-table issues families 
sent us to work on, we get impeachment questions that, for all the 
hype, barely mustered one-fifth of House votes to not table that 
discussion. Next week is another round of Robert Mueller, after 2 years 
and tens of millions of dollars of drilling a dry well.
  Mr. Speaker, for those who watch this House, our constituents, to 
actually feel embarrassed by its governing, even causing our Speaker 
pro tempore to abandon the Chair--out of privilege, I believe--over 
this infighting, we have some serious self-contemplation and soul-
searching to do as a body to uphold the dignity of this institution, 
not just change the rules to support the inappropriate language of its 
leaders of this House or attack our close ally Israel with a BDS 
resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, we will be recognized by the fruits we produce in this 
body.

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