[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 23, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H7226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        CONSENSUS RULE SUBVERTED

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, it has now been 6 
legislative days since H.R. 553, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity 
Act, was denied a standalone vote.
  Democrat leadership subverted their own rules and prevented a vote on 
this bipartisan legislation, which now has 371 cosponsors, over 86 
percent of the Members of the Congress.
  Under new rules in this Congress, H.R. 553 qualified for the 
Consensus Calendar, a provision for bills to receive a standalone vote. 
An article published in The Hill stated today: ``The new rule keeps top 
House leaders from squelching any bill that has at least 290 
cosponsors, or two-thirds of the House membership.''
  Sadly, the Democrats did just that. They targeted and removed H.R. 
553 from the Consensus Calendar.
  Democrat leadership should bring this bill to the floor. The time is 
now to give these rightly deserved benefits to the surviving spouses of 
servicemembers and finally end the widow's tax.
  In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget 
September the 11th in the global war on terrorism.

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