[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H155-H156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ISSUES FACING AMERICAN FAMILIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, the American people expect Congress to 
address the issues they care about, kitchen table issues like being 
able to afford prescription drugs or get a good-paying job and 
addressing the gun violence that is plaguing our neighborhoods.
  But instead of getting to work for the American people, House 
Republicans, held hostage by MAGA extremists, spent their first week 
engaging in power struggles and brawls and political stunts. Instead of 
lowering costs for American families, they voted to help wealthy tax 
cheats and greedy corporations avoid paying their fair share of taxes, 
a move that would raise the Federal deficit by over $100 billion.
  Instead of creating better-paying jobs, they launched a new committee 
to chase down conspiracy theories and settle scores for the disgraced, 
twice-impeached former President.
  Instead of working to make our communities safer, they doubled down 
on their crusade to criminalize women's healthcare and end reproductive 
rights across this country. The party that once claimed to stand for 
family values has no interest in solving the most pressing issues 
facing American families.
  I am disappointed but never discouraged.
  No matter what political stunts House Republicans pull, my colleagues 
and I will remain focused on delivering for the people we represent. We 
will keep working to create better-paying jobs and opportunities for 
our children, to lower costs for families, and to make our communities 
safer.


                 Political Violence is Never the Answer

  Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, as political violence rises in our country 
and abroad, our Nation's leaders should be united in condemning 
political violence in all forms, as well as the vile rhetoric that 
fuels it.
  From Charlottesville to Pittsburgh to El Paso, we have seen the 
tragic results when lies spill blood and words echo as gunshots. These 
attacks ripple through communities stealing innocent lives, 
traumatizing survivors, and inflicting pain on those left behind.
  The underlying drivers of domestic violent extremism, antigovernment 
sentiment, racism, misogyny, and anti-Semitism are constant as threats 
and attacks move from one community to the next.
  We all have a moral responsibility to combat this scourge of hateful 
rhetoric, to ensure that every American can live free from bigoted 
speech and hate-fueled violence.
  But the resolution presented by Republicans today continues that 
pattern of stoking grievances and chaos in our communities rather than 
helping our communities work together to ensure domestic tranquility.
  Their resolution is far from a clean condemnation of political 
violence. By condemning only vandalism and violence against anti-
abortion facilities, it gives tacit approval to the far more frequent 
attacks against abortion clinics and other medical centers disfavored 
by the radical right.
  Political violence is never the answer.

[[Page H156]]

  I look forward to working with our colleagues across the aisle when 
they are ready to take seriously the very real threat of political 
violence, condemning such violence in all forms, rather than using this 
issue to stir up more division, chaos, and ultimately more violence.

                          ____________________