[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 126 (Thursday, July 25, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7390-H7396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3877, BIPARTISAN BUDGET ACT OF 
  2019; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 549, VENEZUELA TPS ACT OF 
   2019; AND WAIVING A REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6(A) OF RULE XIII WITH 
   RESPECT TO CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS REPORTED FROM THE 
                           COMMITTEE ON RULES

  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, 
I call up House Resolution 519 and ask for its immediate consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 519

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 3877) to 
     amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 
     of 1985, to establish a congressional budget for fiscal years 
     2020 and 2021, to temporarily suspend the debt limit, and for 
     other purposes. All points of order against consideration of 
     the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. 
     All points of order against provisions in the bill are 
     waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered 
     on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage 
     without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate 
     equally divided and controlled by chair and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on the Budget; and (2) one motion to 
     recommit.
       Sec. 2.  Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in 
     order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 549) to 
     designate Venezuela under section 244 of the Immigration and 
     Nationality Act to permit nationals of Venezuela to

[[Page H7391]]

     be eligible for temporary protected status under such 
     section, and for other purposes. All points of order against 
     consideration of the bill are waived. In lieu of the 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the 
     Committee on the Judiciary now printed in the bill, an 
     amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the 
     text of Rules Committee Print 116-28 shall be considered as 
     adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. 
     All points of order against provisions in the bill, as 
     amended, are waived. The previous question shall be 
     considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any 
     further amendment thereto, to final passage without 
     intervening motion except: (1) 30 minutes of debate equally 
     divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on the Judiciary; and (2) one motion 
     to recommit with or without instructions.
       Sec. 3.  The requirement of clause 6(a) of rule XIII for a 
     two-thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee on 
     Rules on the same day it is presented to the House is waived 
     with respect to any resolution reported through the 
     legislative day of July 26, 2019.

                              {time}  1215

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Colorado is recognized 
for 1 hour.
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield 
the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), 
pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During 
consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose 
of debate only.


                             General Leave

  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Colorado?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, the Rules Committee met last night and 
reported a rule, House Resolution 519, providing for consideration of 
H.R. 3877, which is the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, under a closed 
rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled 
by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the 
Budget, and provides for one motion to recommit.
  The rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 549, the Venezuela 
TPS Act of 2019, also under a closed rule. The rule provides 30 minutes 
of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary, and one motion to 
recommit, with or without instructions.
  Finally, the rule provides same-day authority through the legislative 
day of tomorrow, Friday, July 26, 2019.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased we are here today to bring up two important 
bipartisan pieces of legislation. Let me start with H.R. 3877, the 
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019.
  For months, House Democrats have negotiated with the White House and 
the Senate in order to agree on budget levels for fiscal year 2020 so 
Congress can complete all the appropriations bills and avoid another 
governmental shutdown like we saw at the beginning of this year.
  Despite resistance from my friends on the Republican side of the 
aisle, the House is well underway with the appropriations process. We 
have passed 10 of the 12 appropriations bills, which fund nearly 96 
percent of the Federal Government.
  Unfortunately, the Senate has yet to take up any of the 12 
appropriations bills and, in fact, none of the bills have even been 
marked up by the Senate.
  The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 will set overall budget levels to 
avoid drastic cuts next year and allow House and Senate appropriators 
to negotiate final bills to avoid a shutdown and provide certainty to 
Americans and all the Federal employees who work for them.
  Importantly, this bill will also raise the debt ceiling for the next 
2 years. Put simply, we cannot put in jeopardy the full faith and 
credit of the United States of America. This bill rightfully provides 
the Treasury Department the ability to continue paying our bills and 
honor the commitments the U.S. has already made.
  While Members on both sides of the aisle may not like everything in 
this deal, it is a compromise which supports critical investments for 
all Americans and, I believe, sets us on a strong path forward this 
fiscal year.
  The rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 549, the Venezuela 
TPS Act of 2019. This bipartisan bill was debated on Tuesday under 
suspension of the rules, and I was disappointed more of my friends from 
the other side of the aisle didn't join every Democrat, 37 Republicans, 
and 1 Independent, to help get to the two-thirds vote required under 
suspension.
  Venezuela is currently in crisis. Their democratic institutions have 
been corrupted under the Maduro regime and, according to the U.N. 
Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration, more 
than 4 million Venezuelans have fled the country.
  I want to applaud the work of Representatives Darren Soto, Mario 
Diaz-Balart, and my friend, Donna Shalala, from the Rules Committee, 
for their work to advance this bill to provide temporary protected 
status for Venezuelan refugees already in the United States. That is 
why I am glad we have included this bill in the rule today, to ensure 
this bill passes the House as soon as possible.
  Mr. Speaker, overall, this rule provides for consideration of two 
very important measures we need to get done before the upcoming 
district work period. I urge all my colleagues to support the rule and 
the underlying bills.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I want to thank my good friend, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. 
Perlmutter) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes.
  Mr. Speaker, we are here today on two items, both of which are 
actually bipartisan ideas. And though this has been an eventful week 
and month at the Rules Committee, I am pleased that we are ending on 
such a high note before we return to our districts.
  Of course, this rule is not all sunshine and roses. It does add same-
day authority for any measure through tomorrow. My good friend, 
Chairman McGovern, had a term for this procedure in the last Congress. 
He called it ``martial law.''
  I would remind my friends that pushing through bills on short notice, 
at the last minute, and using the martial law procedure is a recipe for 
potential disaster, and certainly is no way to make good law. It is 
also contrary to the commitment the Democrats made, upon taking the 
majority, to provide 72 hours notice before bringing a bill to the 
floor for a vote; a rule they already are violating with one of the 
measures today, albeit only by a matter of hours.
  I would also remind my friends that with consideration of the budget 
agreement today, there is absolutely no other legislation that is so 
critical and that must be done this week to justify needing 
this extraordinary procedure.

  The only thing my friends would use this martial law for is to 
advance highly-partisan messaging bills in order to appease some 
faction or other in their caucus ahead of the recess. That is a waste 
of the committee's time and a waste of the House's time. And I assure 
you, you will have plenty of time for these types of bills in the fall.
  On a much more positive note, though, as I said at the start of my 
remarks, the two bills covered by this rule today are actually 
bipartisan, and we should all be encouraged by that.
  One bill, H.R. 549, the Venezuela TPS Act of 2019, was brought up on 
the floor on suspension on Tuesday. It, unfortunately, failed to reach 
the required two-thirds threshold needed for passage under suspension 
of the rules. But I have every confidence that it will easily pass the 
House later today under this rule; and I certainly look forward to 
supporting it with my friends on the other side of the aisle.
  Mr. Speaker, a lot of people talk about the need for bipartisanship 
around here, but in our second bill for today, we have an excellent 
example of what the word actually means. H.R. 3877, the Bipartisan 
Budget Act of 2019, is as advertised. It is a bipartisan bill that sets 
budgetary needs for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. It suspends the debt 
limit until July 31 of 2021 to protect the full faith and credit of the 
Nation. And it avoids devastating sequestration cuts.
  I said a moment ago that this is an excellent example of what 
bipartisanship means, and I truly believe that to be the case. This is 
a bill that was negotiated between the President of the United States 
and the leaders of both

[[Page H7392]]

parties in both Houses of Congress, resulting in the kind of 
bipartisan, bicameral budget deal in which all Members can have 
confidence.
  Is this bill a perfect one? No, of course not. No bill ever is. I, 
myself, would have preferred that this bill address entitlement reform 
and deficit reduction, and I am certain that some of my friends on the 
other side of the aisle would have preferred a lower defense spending 
number. Some of my friends on my side of the aisle would have preferred 
a higher defense spending number.
  But even when we both agree that this bill isn't perfect, it is still 
a good deal for the American people.
  I think this bill achieves four bipartisan goals that I would like to 
highlight.
  First, with the passage of this bill, we would avoid the horrific 
consequences of defaulting on our national debt, which would lead to an 
economic chaos the likes of which none of us should ever wish to see.
  Second, in setting new budgetary levels, we will avoid the automatic 
and devastating sequestration cuts that would have taken effect at the 
beginning of October of this year.
  Third, it allows us to move forward with clarity on the 
appropriations process for the coming fiscal year and probably for the 
fiscal year after that.
  And fourth, it allows us to resume the process of rebuilding our 
military after years of underfunding left it with a severe readiness 
crisis.
  When the Commander in Chief tells us that he needs something to 
defend America, there can only be one answer, and that answer is yes.
  Mr. Speaker, I think every Member of the House can be proud of the 
work done by the leaders of both parties to get us to this point. All 
five of the people in question, the President, the Speaker, the House 
Republican Leader, the Senate Majority Leader, and the Senate Minority 
Leader, negotiated in good faith and produced a compromise bill that 
all five of them stand behind.
  In order to get there, every one of them had to give up some things. 
That is what it takes to make a compromise, and this is what makes this 
bipartisan bill possible.
  I know there are Members of this House who are disappointed with this 
bill. I, too, as I mentioned earlier, am not completely satisfied with 
it. But I trust my leaders to negotiate on our behalf. And when they 
came back with this deal, I trusted that this was the best compromise 
they could reach. Everybody had to give something to get something, and 
I trust that the leaders of my party achieved as much as they could in 
the course of the negotiation.
  The same should hold for my friends across the aisle with their 
leaders of their party. Working together, all five did exactly what 
leaders are supposed to do; they led and, in doing so, came to the best 
deal possible, not for each party, but for the whole Nation.
  Now it is up to the Members of the House to say yes and move forward 
with the passage of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Cole for his comments, particularly 
about the Venezuelan TPS legislation, as well as the Bipartisan Budget 
Act of 2019. Truly, these are two bills that are supported by both 
sides of the aisle. Neither one is exactly perfect, but they are both 
good, and that is the kind of legislation we need to get through this 
body to the Senate and to the White House.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. 
Shalala), my good friend.
  Ms. SHALALA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and 
H.R. 549, the Venezuela TPS Act of 2019, this is lifesaving, bipartisan 
legislation to designate TPS for Venezuelans, and I appreciate the 
generous remarks of Ranking Member Cole.
  The socialist, narco regimes of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro have 
plunged Venezuela into catastrophe. Venezuela was once a thriving 
democracy. Now the economy, the health sector, the education system, 
and virtually every democratic institution is in ruins. The Venezuelan 
economy has completely collapsed, and the inflation is expected to 
reach 10 million percent this year.
  More than 4 million refugees have fled the continuous worsening 
conditions in Venezuelan. They have fled to Colombia, to Brazil, to 
Peru, to so many countries, and they have come to the United States, 
following the footsteps of millions of refugees before them; those who 
have helped make this the greatest country on Earth.

                              {time}  1230

  They have come to our shores in search of the freedom, democracy, and 
security that the Maduro regime has stolen from them, and so many 
Venezuelans have come to south Florida where they have contributed so 
much to our diverse community.
  In my district, there are approximately 17,000 Venezuelan-born 
residents, so this is personal for us. These are our neighbors, our 
friends, our students, and our teachers. My constituents cannot safely 
return.
  As the vote on Tuesday demonstrated, we are ready to take legislative 
action to allow Venezuelans to apply for temporary protective status. 
TPS has bipartisan support in the House and in the Senate, but now it 
is time for the Senate to take this bill up.
  Our hope is that passage of this bill in our House will light the 
fire under the Senate. Bipartisan TPS legislation has passed through 
the Senate committees. Now more than ever, it is time for them to take 
it up and to get TPS signed into law.
  TPS is a fundamental, literally, lifesaving component to our approach 
to the crisis in Venezuela, but TPS alone won't solve the crisis. The 
United States and the international community must continue to put 
pressure on the regime to facilitate a peaceful change in leadership. 
We must expose the corrupt networks that prop up the Maduro government 
and meet the urgent basic needs of the poor, the hungry, and the sick.
  Because our ultimate goal is to secure a stable and peaceful 
transition of power for the Venezuelan people, I want to thank my 
Florida colleagues, including lead sponsors Mr. Soto and Mr. Diaz-
Balart, as well as Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell 
and also our Puerto Rican colleague, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon. I also 
want to thank Chairman McGovern for his work to help make sure this 
bill was included in this rule.
  Viva Venezuela.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by doing something unusual in a rules 
debate. I want to agree with everything my good friend from Florida had 
to say. I am very pleased with her work and my colleague Mr. Diaz-
Balart's work on this legislation, as well as the other Members that 
she mentioned.
  This is an important bill for us to pass for exactly the reasons my 
friend laid out. The reality is we have an unfolding political crisis 
in Venezuela, and we have people at fear for their life and, frankly, 
leaving a collapsing economy.
  This country ought to be a refuge for people in those kinds of 
circumstances, so I share my friend's hope that we get this done here 
and then we get action in the United States Senate.
  I do want to advise the Chair, Mr. Speaker, that, if we defeat the 
previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to immediately 
bring up H.R. 336, the Strengthening America's Security in the Middle 
East Act of 2019, with an amendment that will make it identical to S. 
1, which passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote of 77-23 earlier this 
year.
  This bill includes many critical provisions, but the most important 
section of this bill is the Combating BDS Act of 2019, which will allow 
a State or local government to adopt measures to divest assets from 
entities using boycotts, divestments, or sanctions to influence 
Israel's policies.
  Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, the House passed H. Res. 246, a 
nonbinding resolution opposing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions 
movement; and while I appreciate the House's action in passing that 
resolution, we can do better in opposing this heinous practice than 
simply passing a nonbinding resolution. Actions speak louder than 
words. We cannot just say we believe in something. We must do 
something.

[[Page H7393]]

  H.R. 336 would do something. It would allow a State or local 
government to stand with us in defense of Israel.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my 
amendment in the Record, along with the extraneous material, 
immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oklahoma?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff), my good friend, for further 
explanation of this amendment.
  Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend 
from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) for yielding.
  H.R. 336, the Strengthening America's Security Act in the Middle East 
Act, is the House companion to S. 1. This bill was so important that 
the United States Senate made it their top legislative priority and 
passed it with overwhelming bipartisan support.
  H.R. 336, a bill introduced by Ranking Member McCaul, combines four 
various policy initiatives that deal with the United States-Israel 
relationship. This legislation authorizes assistance in weapons 
transfers to Israel; extends defense cooperation with Jordan; 
establishes additional sanctions on individuals supporting the Syrian 
Government; and, most importantly, allows States to divest from 
entities that are boycotting Israel.
  Just this week, the House passed, with bipartisan support, a 
resolution opposing the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, 
and Sanctions movement, also known as BDS. That resolution was a great 
stepping stone, but we need to do more. Now we must pass legislation 
with some teeth.
  There is no doubt that Israel is our greatest ally in the Middle 
East. It is the only Jewish state. Since her birth 71 years ago, the 
U.S.-Israel relationship has continued to grow stronger as we find new 
means for cooperation and ensure the safety of her and her people.
  It is time for the Democrat leadership to bring this crucial bill to 
the House floor for a vote. It is vital for all of us to come together 
and show our support for Israel. It is not solely Republican and not 
solely Democrat. We must continue to come together as a unified body to 
stamp out anti-Semitism and hate towards the only Jewish state, Israel.

  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I would just say to my friend, Mr. Kustoff, he and I served together 
on Financial Services, and there is agreement here. In fact, this 
resolution that he described as a great stepping stone, we just took 
and passed the resolution 2 days ago with 398 ``aye'' votes in favor of 
that.
  Today, though, we are here to focus on two other things, both of 
which are substantial measures in and of themselves, and we can look 
forward to other measures involving the anti-BDS movement or whatever 
we may be, but to deal with anti-Semitism.
  But today we are here, really, to applaud a deal that was cut among 
all of our leaders, Democrats and Republicans, that eliminates drastic 
cuts, approves funding, or funding levels, for the next year to 2 
years, and allows America to move forward without the real potential of 
shutdown like we had for 35 days when the White House, earlier in this 
year, refused to deal on certain subjects and appropriations. 
Thankfully, we got through that.
  I think, at this point, cooler heads have prevailed, and we are 
moving forward on the Bipartisan Budget Act; and then, as Ms. Shalala 
said, we are dealing with, really, a humanitarian crisis that exists in 
Venezuela, at this point, to provide temporary protected status to 
those who fled their country, who are in America, many of whom are in 
Florida, to provide them some protection while they are here and to 
make sure that they can comfortably, if you will, remain here and not 
fear that they are going to have to be deported back to Venezuela, 
where we know there is a lot of strife and danger.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I agree with my friend very much. These two pieces of legislation are 
excellent, and they are must pass, and I look forward with working with 
him on that.
  But this is such an extraordinary outbreak of bipartisanship, I think 
we should go for broke and bring up this other legislation as well, 
which is equally bipartisan, as my friend says. I don't want to waste 
this magic moment, Mr. Speaker. We don't get many of them around here.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from 
New York (Mr. Zeldin), my good friend.
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule and urge my 
colleagues to defeat the previous question so the House may take up 
H.R. 336, a bipartisan legislative package that would help fight back 
against the BDS movement, protect U.S. security in the Middle East by 
strengthening our alliances with Israel and Jordan, and sanction 
nefarious actors like Assad.
  The Senate version of this bill, S. 1, passed with an overwhelming 
bipartisan majority of 77-23. Surprisingly, the major point of 
contention for this package is the Combating BDS Act of 2019, a 
bipartisan bill that garnered over 100 cosponsors last Congress and 
would help combat the BDS movement.
  It is okay to have reasonable, legitimate concerns with any 
government in the world, including our own, but this hate-filled 
movement is not all about affirming the rights of Palestinians, as some 
suggest. It is about delegitimizing Israel by turning it into a pariah 
state cut off from all trade, tourism, military, diplomatic, and 
cultural ties with the rest of the world.
  BDS, whose founder was blatantly anti-Semitic, amounts to a 
declaration of economic war against Israel, with a goal of destroying 
it as the only Jewish state on Earth.
  I hear of college students all across our entire country who share 
very personal testimonials of how they are being targeted by blatant 
anti-Semitism in the name of BDS.
  Thankfully, this week, the House passed H. Res. 246, a resolution to 
forcefully condemn the BDS movement.
  Making a strong statement is great and should be celebrated, but we 
should wake up the next morning asking ourselves, challenging each 
other to what we can do about it.
  S. 1 has already passed the Senate, but it is not being brought up in 
this House, despite nearly 200 Members signing the discharge petition 
and over 100 cosponsors last Congress.
  This bill does not impede the right of any individual American to 
boycott or criticize Israel, as some suggest. Instead, H.R. 336 would 
combat the BDS movement by simply allowing State and local governments 
to have the right to counter the BDS movement by ending contracts with 
companies that boycott Israel, if they so choose, while protecting U.S. 
security in the Middle East.

  There were 350 cosponsors on the statement that was made earlier this 
week. There were nearly 400 votes on the House floor. Republicans and 
Democrats worked together through a process, from drafting the 
legislation to getting the bill marked up at committee, to passing on 
the House floor, and we should celebrate making a great statement.
  Now we should be passing a bill with teeth. We could do it right now. 
If this bill gets added to the voting before we leave here this week, I 
guarantee it passes.
  So not only did we, earlier this week, make a strong statement to 
combat the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic BDS movement, but we woke up the 
next day motivated to actually challenge ourselves to do something 
about it, and we got it done.
  The one thing that is concerning is that we keep asking for a vote on 
H.R. 336, and we are not getting an answer in response as to why it is 
not coming up for a vote or when it will come up for a vote. I would 
challenge anyone who has an answer to this question to please let us 
know, because we don't know what else to do other than bringing up 
today's proposal, for example.
  But if this is something that has already passed the Senate with a 
strong bipartisan majority, it is the right thing to do. We have almost 
unanimously condemned the BDS movement, and we are here on the House 
floor together with a bill that would pass, strongly?

[[Page H7394]]

  Let's get it done. Let's get it done right now. There are a lot of 
people who would celebrate that big win.
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I just want to continue to focus on what is before us today, and what 
is before us today is dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela 
and dealing with the budget of the United States of America, two 
accomplishments, both bipartisan, that I think will really assist and 
protect so many people who fled Venezuela to America, and particularly 
to Florida, but also provides for funding caps that help us with 
veterans, with infrastructure, with foreign affairs across the board, 
with our military.
  The President tweeted the other day that the Bipartisan Budget Act 
was a real accomplishment for veterans and our military, and I agree.

                              {time}  1245

  I am sorry that Mr. Zeldin and Mr. Cole would like to bring up 
something else.
  In fact, I was fortunate enough to be in the chair when the BDS bill 
and the resolution, H. Res. 246, I think it was, was being debated and 
passed by an overwhelming majority and it really was a huge 
accomplishment, which I am afraid the arguments that the gentleman is 
making now minimize what was accomplished just 2 days ago.
  I think we need to remain focused on these major pieces of 
legislation that will guide America for the next 2 years and will 
protect Venezuelans who fled their country for at least 18 months.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Zeldin), my good friend.
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman who just spoke for 
expressing his gratitude and his celebration for what passed earlier 
this week and I appreciate his support for what passed earlier this 
week.
  I would actually suggest that doing something about that statement 
that we made is not minimizing the statement that we made, it is 
actually maximizing the statement that we made.
  We are minimizing the statement that we made if we wake up the next 
day and decide that we are not going to do anything about it by passing 
a bill with teeth.
  Again, I would ask anyone who has an answer to this question, when 
can we have a vote on S. 1 and H.R. 336? It is a simple question. I 
don't have the answer to it, but if anyone can answer that for us, it 
would really help those who genuinely, sincerely, passionately believe 
in this legislation.
  I know from my conversations with colleagues on the opposite side of 
the aisle, I know of a number of colleagues who would enthusiastically 
vote for S. 1/H.R. 336. And I know of friends, colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle who have asked for a vote on S. 1/H.R. 336.
  Mr. Speaker, now would be a good opportunity, I don't want to put the 
gentleman on the spot, but if anybody can answer that question, we are 
very interested in having a vote scheduled on this bill.
  Let's maximize the statement that we made by adding that. It will 
pass and it will go to the President and it will be signed into law, 
and we will celebrate not only a strong statement made, but maximizing 
that strong statement made by doing something about it and passing a 
bill with teeth.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  I want to begin by thanking my colleague for a good debate and, 
frankly, for both of us having the enjoyable and unusual position of 
being in favor of both the pieces of legislation that are dealt with in 
the rule.
  I want to go back and talk, just briefly, about the Venezuela TPS 
legislation that our good friend and our fellow Rules Committee member, 
Ms. Shalala, has. That is an important piece of legislation. That is an 
important statement of American principles. I think it is an important 
institutional moment for us in the House, because we are passing 
something jointly to try and get the other body to do something jointly 
as well, because I am quite convinced if that got to the floor, it 
would pass in a very substantial bipartisan way. I am glad to work with 
my friends to achieve this.
  I suppose I am even more pleased about the bipartisan Budget Act. I 
want to again congratulate the five leaders on both sides of the aisle 
who actually got this done. The President of the United States sat down 
and negotiated this.
  We have a lot of people on my side of the aisle that are big 
supporters of the President of the United States. I hope they show that 
support today by actually voting for the deal that he negotiated and 
has tweeted out that he supports.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate in our own Chamber the Speaker 
and the Republican leader, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. McCarthy, for also 
participating in that and working together.
  I know each one of them had to go back to their caucuses and probably 
deliver some news that people in those caucuses did not want to hear. 
That is certainly true on our side of the aisle. I know it is true on 
the gentleman's side of the aisle as well.
  That is what leaders do. They come to agreements and they go back, 
and they explain to their supporters, ``Hey, I couldn't get you 
everything you wanted, even though I wanted those things, too,'' but 
every now and then you need to sit down and put what is good for the 
American people first.
  We all know that a catastrophic debt ceiling crisis and default, what 
that would do to our economy, how many people that would put out of 
work.
  We all know what having an agreed-upon deal in terms of stability 
going forward for 2 years means for the American military, but for 
every other agency of government as well. These are huge, huge wins 
even if there was some sacrifice.
  Now, would I like to do some more on deficit reduction and 
entitlement reform? I absolutely would. We will continue to work on 
that.
  But any time I can come to an agreement that saves the economy, that 
provides government stability, that gives our military the ability to 
plan and to rebuild itself over a 2-year period, and that the Commander 
in Chief is asking me to do, I am going to vote for that every single 
time.
  I am very proud to be voting for it with my friends on the other side 
of the aisle, who also, again, had objectives in this that they weren't 
able to reach.
  Finally, I would be remiss--I do this as seldom as possible--but I 
will praise the United States Senate, because the majority leader and 
the minority leader were also indispensable in getting this done, and 
in many ways probably came to an agreement between themselves 
faster even than the other parties involved. But at the end of the day, 
again, both of those leaders, the majority leader and the minority 
leader in the Senate, had to go back and tell their caucuses, ``Look, 
this is the best deal I can get. I can't get everything I want. We are 
not going to achieve everything we would like to achieve.''

  Again, I respect my colleagues who look at the deal and say, ``That 
is not good enough.'' That is fine, but can they tell me what is better 
that they can get passed?
  I see no alternative to this particular piece of legislation that is 
not worse.
  The worst thing to do would be to defeat this bipartisan budget 
agreement and then deal with sequester or a debt crisis or a shutdown 
or, at best, a CR that would project these quarrels forward into the 
next year.
  It is already a pretty tense political time between all sides.
  The fact, again, that we are coming together and making a bipartisan 
agreement really reflects well on our respective leaders on each side 
of the aisle and certainly on the President.
  I think if the Members will vote in a bipartisan fashion, it will 
reflect well on them and on the institution as well.
  Mr. Speaker, I know some doubted that we could ever work together. I 
think this is the most significant thing we have done together this 
year, and I just want to thank all concerned.
  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to supporting it enthusiastically. I hope 
others of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle will do the same.
  Mr. Speaker, with that, while I oppose the rule, I would certainly 
urge passage of both these important pieces of legislation, and I look 
forward to working with my friends in that regard.

[[Page H7395]]

  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) for his 
comments. I almost thought he was going to support the rule. I just 
felt it was moving in that direction, but not quite, but I do want to 
thank him.
  And, particularly, I think, during the 35 days that we were in 
shutdown mode at the beginning of this year, there were a lot of hard 
lessons learned by a lot of people, and there were a lot of people who 
suffered, starting with the people that needed assistance in one way or 
another by Federal employees who were, in effect, sitting at home 
waiting for us to open the government again.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased.
  Mr. Speaker, I would say to the gentleman, I think that hard lesson--
and we met pretty much every night in the Rules Committee, the 
Appropriations Committee, the gentleman is an appropriator--that was 
something that weighed heavily on all of us.
  Mr. Speaker, I do want to applaud the Republicans and Democrats, our 
leadership, and the White House in coming up with a compromise.
  I know there will be some on my side that will not support this for a 
variety of reasons, and I know there will be some on Mr. Cole's side as 
well, but, hopefully, we can garner enough support--and I think it will 
be strong support--today for both of these pieces of legislation that 
are brought up under the rule.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues for joining me to speak on 
the rule and these pieces of legislation.
  The rule provides for consideration of H.R. 549, the Venezuelan TPS 
Act, which we already know is supported by a bipartisan majority in 
this House.
  We also need and must pass H.R. 3877, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 
2019. This legislation will raise the debt ceiling for 2 years and 
increases discretionary spending caps for fiscal year 2020 and fiscal 
year 2021. The deal achieves parity between increases in defense and 
nondefense spending and lets the House and the Senate get back to 
negotiation on all of the appropriations bills so that Congress can 
fulfill its constitutional duty of funding the government.
  As we look ahead to the next several weeks, which we will spend in 
our districts visiting with constituents and touring local businesses, 
I look forward to sharing with my constituents that despite our 
disagreements and everything that they may see on TV, we can still come 
together and get things done on behalf of America.
  Mr. Speaker, I encourage a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the previous 
question.
  The material previously referred to by Mr. Cole is as follows:


                   Amendment to House Resolution 519

       At the end of the resolution, add the following:
       Sec. 4. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the 
     House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the 
     bill (H.R. 336) to make improvements to certain defense and 
     security assistance provisions and to authorize the 
     appropriation of funds to Israel, to reauthorize the United 
     States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act of 2015, and to halt 
     the wholesale slaughter of the Syrian people, and for other 
     purposes. All points of order against consideration of the 
     bill are waived. The amendment described in section 5 of this 
     resolution shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as 
     amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order 
     against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The 
     previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, 
     as amended, and on any further amendment thereto to final 
     passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of 
     debate equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader 
     and the Minority Leader or their respective designees; and 
     (2) one motion to recommit with or without instructions.
       Sec 5. The amendment referred to in Section 4 is an 
     amendment to H.R. 336 to add at the end of the bill the 
     following:

     SEC. 406. CLARIFICATION OF DEADLINE FOR REPORT ON 
                   ESTABLISHING AN ENTERPRISE FUND FOR JORDAN.

       For purposes of section 205(a), the term `stablishment of 
     the United States Development Finance Corporation' means the 
     end of the transition period, as defined in section 1461 of 
     the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development 
     Act of 2018 (division F of Public Law 115-254).

     SEC. 407. FORM OF REPORT ON THE COOPERATION OF THE UNITED 
                   STATES AND ISRAEL WITH RESPECT TO COUNTERING 
                   UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS.

       The report required under section 123(d) shall be submitted 
     in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

     SEC. 408. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON WITHDRAWALS OF UNITED STATES 
                   FORCES FROM SYRIA AND AFGHANISTAN.

       (a) Findings--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The foreign terrorist organization al Qaeda, 
     responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001, maintains 
     a presence in Afghanistan.
       (2) The Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham, better known by 
     its acronym ISIS, flourished in the chaos unleashed by the 
     civil war in Syria and at one point controlled extensive 
     territory in Iraq and Syria.
       (3) Al Qaeda, ISIS, and their affiliates have murdered 
     thousands of innocent civilians.
       (4) Al Qaeda, ISIS, and their affiliates have proven 
     resilient and have regrouped when the United States and its 
     partners have withdrawn from the fight against them.
       (b) Sense of Congress--Congress--
       (1) acknowledges that the United States military and our 
     partners have made significant progress in the campaign 
     against al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham 
     (ISIS), and honors the contributions and sacrifice of the 
     members of the United States Armed Forces who have served on 
     the front lines of this fight;
       (2) recognizes the continuing threat to the homeland and 
     our allies posed by al Qaeda and ISIS, which maintain an 
     ability to operate in Syria and Afghanistan;
       (3) expresses concern that Iran has supported the Taliban 
     in Afghanistan and Hizballah and the Assad regime in Syria, 
     and has sought to frustrate diplomatic efforts to resolve 
     conflicts in these two countries;
       (4) recognizes the positive role the United States and its 
     partners have played in Syria and Afghanistan fighting 
     terrorist groups, countering Iranian aggression, deterring 
     the further use of chemical weapons, and protecting human 
     rights;
       (5) warns that a precipitous withdrawal of United States 
     forces from the ongoing fight against these groups, without 
     effective, countervailing efforts to secure gains in Syria 
     and Afghanistan, could allow terrorists to regroup, 
     destabilize critical regions, and create vacuums that could 
     be filled by Iran or Russia, to the detriment of United 
     States interests and those of our allies;
       (6) recognizes that al Qaeda and ISIS pose a global threat, 
     which merits increased international contributions to the 
     counterterrorism, diplomatic, and stabilization efforts 
     underway in Syria and Afghanistan;
       (7) recognizes that diplomatic efforts to secure peaceful, 
     negotiated solutions to the conflicts in Syria and 
     Afghanistan are necessary to long-term stability and 
     counterterrorism efforts in the Middle East and South Asia;
       (8) acknowledges the progress made by Special 
     Representative Khalilzad in his efforts to promote 
     reconciliation in Afghanistan;
       (9) calls upon the Administration to conduct a thorough 
     review of the military and diplomatic strategies in Syria and 
     Afghanistan, including an assessment of the risk that 
     withdrawal from those countries could strengthen the power 
     and influence of Russia and Iran in the Middle East and South 
     Asia and undermine diplomatic efforts toward negotiated, 
     peaceful solutions;
       (10) requests that the Administration, as part of this 
     review, solicit the views of Israel, our regional partners, 
     and other key troop-contributing nations in the fight against 
     al Qaeda and ISIS;
       (11) reiterates support for international diplomatic 
     efforts to facilitate peaceful, negotiated resolutions to the 
     ongoing conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan on terms that 
     respect the rights of innocent civilians and deny safe havens 
     to terrorists;
       (12) calls upon the Administration to pursue a strategy 
     that sets the conditions for the long-term defeat of al Qaeda 
     and ISIS, as well as the protection of regional partners and 
     allies, while ensuring that Iran cannot dominate the region 
     or threaten Israel;
       (13) encourages close collaboration between the Executive 
     Branch and the Legislative Branch to ensure continuing 
     strong, bipartisan support for United States military 
     operations in Syria and Afghanistan; and
       (14) calls upon the Administration to certify that 
     conditions have been met for the enduring defeat of al Qaeda 
     and ISIS before initiating any significant withdrawal of 
     United States forces from Syria or Afghanistan.
       (c) Rule of Construction--Nothing in this section shall be 
     construed as a declaration of war or an authorization of the 
     use of military force.
       Sec. 6. Clause l(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the 
     consideration of H.R. 336.

  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and 
I move the previous question on the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous 
question.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

[[Page H7396]]

  

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