[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 208 (Thursday, December 2, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H6865-H6869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 6119, FURTHER EXTENDING GOVERNMENT 
                  FUNDING ACT; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee 
on Rules, I call up House Resolution 829 and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 829

       Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be 
     in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 6119) making 
     further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending 
     September 30, 2022, 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 the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on 
     Appropriations or their respective designees; and (2) one 
     motion to recommit.
       Sec. 2.  Notwithstanding clause 8 of rule XX, further 
     proceedings on a vote by the yeas and nays on the question of 
     adoption of a motion that the House suspend the rules offered 
     on the legislative day of November 30, 2021, or December 1, 
     2021, may be postponed through the legislative day of 
     December 10, 2021.
       Sec. 3.  House Resolution 188, agreed to March 8, 2021 (as 
     most recently amended by House Resolution 774, agreed to 
     November 5, 2021), is amended by striking ``December 3, 
     2021'' each place it appears and inserting (in each instance) 
     "January 21, 2022''.
       Sec. 4.  Notwithstanding section 3 of this resolution, on 
     any legislative day of the second session of the One Hundred 
     Seventeenth Congress before January 10, 2022--
        (a) the Speaker may dispense with organizational and 
     legislative business; and
       (b) the Journal of the proceedings of the previous day 
     shall be considered as approved if applicable.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California is 
recognized for 1 hour.
  Mrs. TORRES of California. 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

  Mrs. TORRES of California. 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 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, today the Rules Committee met 
and reported a rule, House Resolution 829. The rule provides for 
consideration of H.R. 6119 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 
Appropriations and one motion to recommit.
  The rule also provides that requested roll call votes on suspension 
bills considered on November 30, December 1, or December 2 may be 
postponed through December 10.
  Finally, the rule provides for recess instruction suspension 
authority and same-day authority through January 21, 2022, and allowing 
the House to convene the second session of the 117th Congress on 
January 10, 2022.
  Mr. Speaker, we are here today to consider a continuing resolution to 
keep our government open and operating for the American people. A 
continuing resolution will allow the Appropriations Committee to 
complete its work on full-year appropriation bills and provide needed 
funding to many critical programs that help our small businesses, our 
veterans, our local governments, and so much more.
  It is, frankly, a bit disturbing that we need a structured rule for 
this very basic function. I think it speaks volumes that the other side 
seems uninterested in engaging in our most essential responsibilities. 
I would say I was surprised but, sadly, this appears to be just another 
step in a long line of attempts to undermine needed accountability and 
investment this year.
  In September, we passed a continuing resolution to keep the 
government open until December 3 and allow for the House and Senate to 
negotiate omnibus government funding legislation.
  The other side has so far refused to negotiate for full-year funding 
bills.

[[Page H6866]]

They have refused to be responsible with the programs that so many of 
our constituents depend upon.
  As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I know firsthand the 
impact that a lack of full-year funding will have.
  Without full-year funding, we will not be able to help the VA reduce 
its backlog to help our veterans and their families.
  We will not be able to provide our military with the funding to 
promote readiness, and we won't be able to provide a badly needed pay 
raise for our troops.
  We also won't be able to help our small businesses, who continue to 
struggle because of the pandemic.
  Those problems may be acceptable to the other side, but not to 
Democrats. As the economy continues to recover from the pandemic, this 
bill will ensure that we can keep the government open and avoid the 
disastrous consequences of the Republican-led 2018-2019 shutdown.
  In the meantime, we hope Republicans will start the process of 
offering constructive proposals to address the critical issues facing 
our country. Our constituents deserve that much at the very least. I 
look forward to that discussion when it does occur.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. 
Torres), my good friend and not only fellow member of the Rules 
Committee, but fellow appropriator, for yielding me the customary 30 
minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today's rule covers one item, a continuing resolution to 
fund the government and keep it open and operating through February 18, 
2022.
  While I am grateful that we are taking steps to avoid a government 
shutdown, I am disappointed by the solution before us, yet another 
short-term funding bill with full-year funding negotiations no closer 
than they were a few months ago or a few weeks ago.
  Mr. Speaker, today's resolution is the second continuing resolution 
we have had to pass to cover fiscal year 2022. Sadly, I expect it will 
not be the last. This state of affairs was absolutely avoidable and 
reflects poorly on the Democratic leadership.
  I have often said that government funding is the most fundamental 
responsibility of Congress. Unfortunately, we are nowhere close to a 
full-year appropriation funding deal. We are no closer to an agreement 
today than the last time we passed a continuing resolution in 
September. The reality is that the reason we are having to consider 
another continuing resolution today is because of the majority's 
insistence on focusing on partisan priorities rather than on the 
critical business of governing the nation.

                              {time}  1245

  For months, the majority's focus has not been anywhere near where it 
should have been. Instead of reaching a full-year deal on government 
funding or even a top-line agreement on funding levels, the majority 
has insisted on working on other partisan matters.
  Since the passage of the last stop-gap funding measure, House 
Democrats have focused solely on their massive reconciliation bill, 
month after month, focused on enshrining partisan policies into law. 
These efforts may satisfy their progressive base, but they fail the 
American people as a whole.
  The majority currently controls the House, the Senate, and the 
Presidency, and if they can swing the votes, they can pass whatever 
they want into law. But with that ability also comes a grave 
responsibility, a responsibility to govern the country. Unfortunately, 
the majority has been abandoning that responsibility.
  Mr. Speaker, October 1 marked the beginning of fiscal year 2022. By 
rights, the House and the Senate should have both passed our standard 
12 appropriations bills through both Chambers of Congress and into law 
by that date. But since we did not, a continuing resolution was 
necessary.
  Now we are on the second continuing resolution of this fiscal year, 
and in all likelihood, a probable third one is coming in February, 
unless my friends on the other side actually start negotiating in 
earnest. At this point, we are unfortunately no closer to passing these 
12 bills or an omnibus spending bill than we were back on October 1.
  This is truly a failure to govern. While the majority focuses on a 
push to make the government bigger and bigger, they are failing to fund 
the government which already exists today.
  What happens as a result? We move from continuing resolution to 
continuing resolution, getting no closer to a final spending deal. Not 
involving Republicans until the very last minute and just expecting us 
to indefinitely support CR after CR is no way to govern, and frankly, 
the failure to have any conversations about how to come to an agreement 
on a full-year appropriations bill is indefensible.
  While I am sure former President Trump will be pleased to know his 
last budget continues on almost a year after he left office, there is 
real work that can and should be done.
  But what is perhaps the most frustrating has been the way in which 
the majority has bungled reaching a relatively simple deal on this 
particular continuing resolution. Knowing full well that this Friday's 
deadline was coming up, the majority instead dithered for months on 
their reconciliation package.
  This week, finally acknowledging that real discussions needed to be 
had with Republicans, the majority instead continued to twiddle their 
thumbs. Indeed, Republicans in the House were completely shut out of 
this process, leaving us all in the dark about the nature of today's 
bill until this morning. Once again, the majority has chosen to go it 
alone rather than choosing to work across the aisle.
  The majority is well aware that their current stance on a larger deal 
is dead on arrival in the Senate. As long as they continue to insist on 
omitting the historically bipartisan pro-life protections which have 
existed in law for more than 45 years, Republicans cannot and will not 
support bills that end these protections, and the Senate will not pass 
them.
  But that is not the only point of disagreement. The majority has been 
unwilling to fund our Nation's defense at the levels agreed to by the 
authorizers and appropriators in the House and currently being debated 
in the Senate. These increased levels are necessary to ensure continued 
defense readiness worldwide, especially given the ongoing tensions in 
places like Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Afghanistan, and the 
Taiwan Strait.
  But instead of governing and seeking to address these challenges, the 
majority is pandering to the most extreme elements of their Caucus, 
trying desperately to pass bills that lower defense spending levels and 
omitting key bipartisan pro-life protections from appropriations bills. 
And instead of governing, the majority holds the American people 
hostage under the threat of a government shutdown, dragging the country 
from one self-inflicted crisis to another.
  Mr. Speaker, the sooner the majority gets serious about reaching a 
full-year deal, the better for the country. There are real, damaging 
consequences to the failure to pass full-year appropriations bills, 
both at home and abroad, and the sooner the majority brings its 
attention back to the critical business of governing the country, the 
better off we all will be.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge opposition to the rule, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I once again state that the failure of not being able to pass a 
timely budget lies at the feet of the Republican Party. They have 
refused to come to the table with actual fair negotiations.
  If my colleagues across the aisle want to have a debate on a woman's 
right to choose what to do with their bodies, then I would welcome 
that.
  I would also welcome a debate on issues like gun violence. If we care 
about life and we say that we are pro-life, we should be pro-life for 
everyone, including our high school students that are suffering every 
single day at the hands of the failure of this Republican Party to come 
to the table.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  If we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment on the 
rule to immediately bring up H.R. 6056, the Parents Bill of Rights Act.

[[Page H6867]]

  Mr. Speaker, education is one of the most important issues that we 
face today. Determining how our children will be educated determines 
the future fate of our Nation.
  Unfortunately, many school districts have been ignoring the wishes of 
parents or, worse, telling parents they cannot play a role in their 
child's education.

  Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe made Democrats' 
position on education clear when he said: ``I don't think parents 
should be telling schools what they should teach.'' I couldn't disagree 
with him more, and thankfully, neither could Virginia voters.
  Instead, H.R. 6056, developed by Education and Labor Committee 
Republicans, would enshrine a list of rights into law to make clear to 
parents what their rights are and clear to schools what their duties to 
parents are.
  These rights include the right to know what their children are being 
taught, the right of parents to be heard, and the right to protect 
their child's privacy.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my 
amendment in the Record, along with 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 gentlewoman from 
Louisiana (Ms. Letlow), the sponsor of H.R. 6056 and a member of the 
Education and Labor Committee.
  Ms. LETLOW. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the previous question so we 
can immediately take up H.R. 6056, the Parents Bill of Rights Act.
  As a mom of two and a former educator, I can tell you from firsthand 
experience that education is not something that can happen without 
parents playing a role. The learning process requires both sides to 
work together and have collaborative partnerships that ensure a 
student's success.
  Parents should not have a system of values and beliefs forced on 
their children or send them to school while fearing indoctrination by a 
political agenda. The idea that government can exclude parents and have 
total control of the classroom will never work because it ignores the 
simple truth that these are our children, not the government's.
  The Parents Bill of Rights Act puts safeguards in place that ensure 
that the foundation of education is built on a meaningful dialogue 
between a family and their child's school. This bill has five core 
principles that are designed to create mutually beneficial partnerships 
and lead to greater collaboration.
  Those five principles are: one, parents have the right to review 
their school's curriculum, reading materials, and State academic 
standards; two, parents have the right to lawfully engage with their 
local school board and educators; three, parents have the right to see 
a school's budget and spending, including detailed information about 
revenues and expenditures; four, parents have the right to protect 
their child's privacy; and, finally, parents have the right to keep 
their child safe and be updated on any violent activity at school.
  The ideas contained in this bill are not partisan or polarizing; they 
are simple and common sense. In my home State of Louisiana, a similar 
parents bill of rights passed with broad support from both Republicans 
and Democrats, and I hope we can follow suit here in Congress.
  Several weeks ago, Louisiana's State Superintendent of Education, Dr. 
Cade Brumley, wrote about how family involvement is critical for 
educational success. He said: ``It takes a family to raise a child. 
Schools exist to support that effort with a responsibility to provide a 
quality education in a safe environment.''
  Mr. Speaker, we have the opportunity today in this body to take a 
step forward for America's families, and I hope my colleagues across 
the aisle will join us in that effort.
  Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I welcome a healthy debate on the future of our children while they 
are in school. A healthy debate will also include a responsible code of 
conduct, basic respect, and accountability issues.
  It would also include accepting the fact that our children every 
single day are subject to gun violence, but yet, conspiracy theories in 
full display in Congress continue to deny our children and their 
parents the safety that they are demanding.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Utah 
(Mr. Owens), my good friend and ranking member of the Early Childhood, 
Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee, for further 
explanation of the previous question.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the previous question so 
that we can immediately consider H.R. 6056, the Parents Bill of Rights 
Act.
  As a father of six children and a grandfather of 15, I know from 
experience that parents who are informed and engaged are always the 
best advocates for their own children.
  I also grew up in a home with teachers. My dad was a college 
professor for 40 years, and my mom was a junior high school teacher.
  Recent attempts to discredit the role of parents and to silence their 
genuine concerns should be very concerning to every American. There has 
never been a time more important than now to stand with and for 
America's parents.
  I have heard directly from Utah's moms and dads. They don't want 
Washington bureaucrats and career politicians dictating the decisions 
that determine the education, development, health, and well-being of 
their children. They want and deserve a say.
  Democrats' and the leftist teachers unions' efforts to nationalize 
education, mandate curriculum, and impose one-size-fits-all models from 
D.C., while ignoring the will of teachers, parents, and students, have 
been extremely harmful.
  This last year, we have seen the academic and emotional needs of 
young learners totally ignored. Keeping our children out of the 
classroom went against the science. It also went against good old-
fashioned common sense.
  Here are some sobering facts. During the 2020 through 2021 school 
year, students fell behind an average of 5 months in math and 4 months 
in reading. Low-income and minority children fell an additional 1 to 2 
months behind their White and wealthy peers.
  Even before the pandemic in 2017, the United States Department of 
Education found that 75 percent of Black boys in the State of 
California failed to pass standard reading and writing tests. In 2019, 
only 15 percent of Baltimore eighth grade students were proficient in 
reading, and about 10 percent were proficient in math.
  This is beyond politics and party lines. It is about the future of 
our great Nation. It is about the success of our children.
  There is an urgent need to raise the bar of education in our country. 
We cannot do this by pushing parents out of the driver's seat and 
ignoring academic needs for our students. Our Parents Bill of Rights 
will address both concerns.
  Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Continuing conspiracy theories, the big lie, drove thousands of 
Americans to come to the U.S. Capitol in a violent attempt to overthrow 
our government. In full display today, once again we have Republicans 
that are continuing with their conspiracy theories about what is and 
isn't happening on our school grounds.
  Well, let me tell you what is happening in some of the schools in my 
district.
  For the very first time, under the Biden administration, children 
have access to healthy food. They have food programs. They are learning 
how to grow their own food.
  For the very first time, families that spend hours driving to and 
from work, hardworking parents, have the relief of knowing that 
childcare is available for their children.
  This is what is at stake today, the real issues of what is happening 
and not happening in our schools and access to education. It doesn't 
just take a healthy family to raise a child. In the words of the former 
first lady, sometimes it takes a village.

[[Page H6868]]

  Vote on this CR. Fund the government and continue to fund healthy 
programs that help our children thrive in their schools.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1300

  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), my very good friend and the ranking member 
of the Committee on Education and Labor, for further explanation on the 
previous question.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Oklahoma for 
yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so 
we can bring up H.R. 6056, the Parents Bill of Rights Act.
  There has been a push to silence parents around the country. Powerful 
teachers unions, several school boards, Democrat politicians, and the 
Biden Justice Department have all voiced opposition to the rights of 
parents to have a say in their child's education.
  We will not stand for this kind of intimidation, and we will not 
tolerate the left's attempt to push parents out of the decisionmaking 
process when it comes to their child's education.
  That is why we have introduced the Parents Bill of Rights. This 
legislation will protect rights parents already have but that are now 
under attack.
  I can't imagine why anyone would oppose the Parents Bill of Rights 
Act. Making school spending and curriculum transparent should already 
be the norm. After all, what do schools have to hide?
  This bill will also ensure that schools do not share or sell private 
student data or attempt to administer health examinations without 
parental consent. These are extremely important decisions that belong 
to parents, not bureaucrats or school administrators.
  The left's assault on parental rights is outrageous. To claim that 
parents are akin to domestic terrorists just because they don't agree 
with the left's agenda is beyond the pale. Yet, it is these very 
attacks that have shown Americans all around the country just how 
important it is to stand up to the left. We cannot let our fundamental 
rights be stripped from us, especially the right to raise our children.
  This bill is ushering in a new era of education, one where parents 
won't take a back seat to the system. One thing is certain, our 
children and the country will be better off for having the Parents Bill 
of Rights.
  Mrs. TORRES of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, by continuing to promote conspiracy theories and 
refusing to come to the table to talk about the real issues that we are 
funding here today, the Republicans in Congress continue to deny 
parents and children the education that they need by continuing to deny 
healthy food programs, once again.
  So let's focus on what is healthy and not healthy for our children. 
Continuing to drink the Kool-Aid that led thousands of people to hurt 
our U.S. Capitol Police officers, to beat them with our own American 
flag, that is what they are selling here today.
  We need to work on a budget for the people. This is the people's 
House. That is why they voted for us to come to Congress. Let's focus 
on the real issues and not play into the political theater that is 
being offered here today.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, the bill in front of us, in some ways, is a simple bill. 
It is a continuing resolution. It goes for a certain amount of time. 
Sadly, it reflects the basic failure of this institution to focus on 
its job.
  We have had more than a year to deal with what we should be dealing 
with, the passage of the budget. We extended--I actually voted for the 
extension--the last continuing resolution to provide time.
  Now, my friends knew at the beginning of this process the number of 
things that they had to do. They knew if they took out the Hyde 
language and those protections that they would never get a deal. Yet, 
they did that anyway.
  They did that without consultation. They did it in committee. They 
had the votes. They had every right to do it. They also knew at the end 
of the day they were going to have to have bipartisanship on 
appropriations bills. They will not pass in the Senate because of the 
filibuster. There is sufficient support on both sides of the aisle.
  Every single Republican in this Chamber actually supported the 
reinsertion of the Hyde amendment in the legislative process, telling 
our friends: If you take this out, we are not going to be working with 
you until it is restored.
  So far, we have not seen any effort to do that.
  Mr. Speaker, my friends on the other side also put in lots of poison 
pills--again, lots of things that they knew Republicans would not 
accept. That is fine in a reconciliation package. They really don't 
need our votes. That is not true in an appropriations bill.
  It is my understanding that both ranking members in both Chambers on 
the Committee on Appropriations said: Look, we are not sitting down to 
negotiate until the Hyde protections are back in.
  They are historically bipartisan. They have been there 45 years. Most 
of my friends on the other side of the aisle have voted for them over 
and over and over again, whether they liked them or not.
  Frankly, if you are going to have to get a bipartisan deal, when you 
put partisan pills in, you know you are going to have to take them out 
at some point. You might as well do it at the beginning of the session.
  We also have had no engagement from either the administration or our 
friends on the other side about any spending limits whatsoever. What is 
our top-line number? Nobody has been willing to sit down and talk about 
that. Quite frankly, that is a problem.
  Mr. Speaker, we probably ought to be looking at that, as we have done 
in previous years over multiple years going forward. We could also make 
adjustments if we are in a crisis. We have done that before. But we had 
a framework that we could operate under, and it has actually 
facilitated the appropriations. I would recommend to my friends that 
might be something they want to talk about with both sides.

  But in the end, the deal here is not hard to see. The deal involves 
three simple things. There are lots of details, lots of other things to 
be negotiated.
  First, defense spending is going to have to come up. That is not just 
Republicans telling you that. The Democratic-controlled House Committee 
on Armed Services and the Democratic-controlled Senate Committee on 
Armed Services both put in $25 billion more than in the President's 
base budget or in the bill that our friends passed out of committee but 
never brought to this floor because they don't have the votes to pass 
it. So that is one.
  Number two, my friends, in the 12 bills that they have passed through 
the Committee on Appropriations--and I commend them for that--raised 
domestic spending by 17 or 18 percent. That number is going to have to 
come down. We can talk about how much, and we can talk about where, but 
it is way too much, and it is way out of balance.
  And number three--and my friends were told this over and over and 
over again--if you take out the Hyde protections on life, there will be 
no Republican votes for your bill. Now, we can pass continuing 
resolution after continuing resolution. After all, that is Donald 
Trump's last negotiated budget, the budget you got when you had a 
Republican President, Republican Senate, and a Democratic House.
  Mr. Speaker, quite frankly, many of my friends on my side of the 
aisle would prefer that. I would prefer a deal. I would prefer a more 
robust defense budget. I am willing to talk about some of my friends' 
domestic priorities--quite frankly, some of which I share and would 
support and have in the past. I am also, though, not prepared to yield 
on the Hyde amendment, and my friends know that.
  Mr. Speaker, we know what a deal is: more defense; less domestic 
spending; removal of poison pills; restoration of historic, bipartisan 
protections on life. Do those things and we can have a deal, I think, 
pretty quickly. Stay where you are at and we will not have a deal, and 
we will be right back here in February, doing another continuing 
resolution.
  The most basic responsibility of Congress is to fund the government. 
Unfortunately, we are no closer to a full-

[[Page H6869]]

year spending deal that we truly need. My colleagues in the majority 
have wasted months focusing on other matters--notably, a wildly 
expensive and unrealistic reconciliation spending package--rather than 
doing the hard and essential work of governing the Nation. I urge my 
friends in the majority to rethink that course.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous 
question and ``no'' on the rule, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.

                          ____________________