[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 208 (Wednesday, December 9, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H7056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CONDEMNING ACTIONS OF THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Crenshaw) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to unequivocally condemn, in 
the strongest possible terms, the actions of the Speaker of the House, 
Nancy Pelosi.
  Just last week, referring to her obstruction of bipartisan targeted 
relief bills that we could have voted on on this floor, she said: 
``Don't characterize what we did before as a mistake. . . . That was 
not a mistake; it was a decision.'' When asked what had changed, why 
she is finally coming to the table on COVID relief, her response was 
simple: A new President.
  We have known for months that Speaker Pelosi was holding the American 
people hostage for political gain. I have said it; my colleagues have 
said it.
  While Americans suffered under unscientific, foolish lockdowns, 
Pelosi withheld relief for political purposes--not policy purposes, but 
political purposes.
  But we now have a full admission. She said the quiet part out loud.
  This was never about what was best for the American people, never 
about honest policy disagreement. It was about preventing President 
Trump from getting any credit. It was about politics.
  Speaker Pelosi made a simple calculation. She bet that, if she could 
keep Congress from reaching a deal on COVID relief, that would hurt 
President Trump and Republicans and give her more power.
  Even when Members of her own party asked her to bring commonsense, 
standalone bipartisan relief measures to the House floor that would 
easily become law, she refused. She would say over and over again that 
nothing is better than something.
  She was being honest. She honestly believed that nothing was better 
than something.
  But better for who? Not for the American people, that is for sure.
  She believed that nothing was better than something for her and her 
party. It is hard to imagine a more awful and heartless strategy.
  What is worse, Speaker Pelosi does all of this while people in her 
home State suffer from unscientific, unconstitutional lockdowns that 
Democrat leaders in California are forcing upon their citizens.
  These lockdowns are not based in science, never have been. Study 
after study shows they yield little, if any, benefits, but they impose 
extreme costs on the small businesses suffering under them.
  Do you know what else? The Democrat leaders making these executive 
orders, they know this, too, because they are violating their own 
guidelines. The Speaker of the House couldn't even let a pesky little 
lockdown get in the way of a haircut appointment, even though those 
same lockdowns destroy the lives of her constituents.
  We have all seen the heartbreaking video of Angela Marsden, the owner 
of the Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill in Los Angeles. Everyone should 
have to watch that testimony, as Democrats shut down her outdoor--
outdoor--dining while a Hollywood studio sets up shop right next door.
  She represents millions of Americans suffering who have taken note of 
the hypocrisy of these lockdowns, of the double standards as big 
businesses can operate freely while small businesses are shamed into 
submission and told, wrongly, that they are the ones who must sacrifice 
to slow the spread, that the demise of the business they spent their 
whole lives building is the price to pay because ``if it just saves one 
life.''
  But this is unscientific nonsense and we all know it. Study after 
study shows outdoor dining is safe, that outbreaks are not occurring 
because of our small businesses: our gyms, our restaurants, our salons. 
And yet these small businesses are in the crosshairs of the cowardly 
politicians across the country.
  This madness has to stop. This arbitrary application of executive 
orders is deeply, deeply unconstitutional.
  Justice Gorsuch recently stated: ``There is no world in which the 
Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor 
stores and bike shops, but shutter churches, synagogues, and mosques.''
  Americans have had enough. It is time to stand up against the 
hypocrisy of these so-called leaders deliberately harming the citizens 
they claim to represent and to condemn the deeply partisan actions of 
the Speaker of this House.

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