[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 160 (Saturday, September 30, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H4927-H4933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024 AND OTHER EXTENSIONS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair will remind Members of the House 
that at the time the motion to adjourn was demanded, we were debating 
H.R. 5860.
  The gentlewoman from Texas has 6 minutes remaining. The gentlewoman 
from Connecticut has 5 minutes remaining.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Just so I can reiterate what I had said earlier, we now have really 
the language in both the Senate bill and in the House bill, and it is 
really not so clean a continuing resolution as it has been portrayed.
  This strikes the Member pay prohibition, in effect, giving Members a 
pay raise.
  Let me just explain. If you have a copy of the bill, on page 7--in 
the Senate bill, there is language that the Legislative Branch 
appropriations bill, what division it is, et cetera. Section 6, really 
what it does is the Senate bill prohibits the movement toward a Member 
pay raise.
  Now, what the House Republicans have done is, page 7, line 13, what 
they do, they just drop that part of the language that comes from the 
Senate bill. In essence, what they have done is to provide themselves 
with a pay raise.
  I think that you haven't given us time to read the 71 pages. I am 
hopeful that all of you have had the opportunity to read the 71 pages.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman will suspend.
  Once again, the Chair would like to remind Members that in keeping 
with the proper decorum on the floor, please direct your comments to 
the Chair.
  The gentlewoman will resume.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Jeffries), the distinguished Democratic leader.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) for her leadership and all of my colleagues 
in government.
  I rise today to have a conversation with the American people, so 
strap in because this may take a little while.
  I want to talk about why we are here at this moment on the brink of a 
shutdown that was entirely avoidable and has been brought to us by the 
extreme MAGA Republicans, who have decided that rather than pursue the 
normal legislative process of trying to find common ground; not as 
Democrats or Independents or Republicans but as Americans.
  Rather than try to pursue policy achievements through the normal 
legislative process, they want to threaten the American people with a 
shutdown to try to drive their extreme agenda down the throats of the 
American people.
  Why are we here at this moment on the brink of a catastrophic 
shutdown that will hurt everyday Americans, hurt children, hurt 
families, hurt older Americans, hurt veterans, and hurt the economy?

                              {time}  1315

  Why are we here at this moment when from the very beginning we have 
said that there is an opportunity to come together in a bipartisan way 
consistent with the spending agreement that House Republicans 
themselves negotiated?
  From the beginning of this process, we have said nothing more, 
nothing less--simply keep your word with respect to the agreement that 
you negotiated.
  Just so that the American people understand what we are talking about 
when we say simply that an agreement was negotiated, how did we get to 
this point?
  Well, heading into the 118th Congress, heading into this Congress, we 
said that we are willing to find common ground with our colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle whenever and wherever possible in the best 
interests of the American people and govern in a bipartisan way in the 
same way that we governed in the previous Congress where we passed bill 
after bill after bill to make life better for the American people.
  Many of those legislative efforts, whether it was the Infrastructure 
Investment and Jobs Act where we created millions of good-paying jobs 
for hardworking, everyday Americans to fix our crumbling bridges, 
roads, tunnels, our airports, our sewer and water systems, our mass 
transportation systems, it was bipartisan; largely Democratic in the 
House but bipartisan.
  We passed gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years. Why? 
Because we believe that we should do something about the gun violence 
epidemic in the United States of America with the fierce urgency of now 
and not as some of my colleagues want to do--unleash weapons of war 
that are not used to hunt deer. They are used to hunt human beings and 
shred children. We worked in a bipartisan way to pass the Bipartisan 
Safer Communities Act, to make progress for the American people.
  Then we worked on the Chips and Science Act that will bring domestic 
manufacturing jobs back home to the United States of America as opposed 
to our jobs moving in the other direction and to invest in science, 
technology, engineering, and mathematics to ensure that our young 
people have the skills to succeed in the 21st century economy and are 
competitive to continue to elevate American exceptionalism. That was 
done in a bipartisan way.
  Now, there were some areas where our Republican colleagues refused to 
do what was right, in our view, for the American people, and that is 
why in some instances, we needed to just act, to put people over 
politics. That is what we did with the American Rescue Plan and the 
Inflation Reduction Act.
  Our bipartisan track record continues. We stood up for the men and 
women who have served this country and who were exposed to burn pits or 
toxic substances or Agent Orange.
  Through the PACT Act under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and 
Chairman Mark Takano, we stood up for our veterans to ensure that 
millions of them would get the healthcare that they deserve. We got the 
PACT Act over the finish line. Once again, it was bipartisan in nature.
  We understood that there were grave threats to our democracy because 
of what occurred with the former President of the United States of 
America who incited a violent insurrection and tried to potentially use 
some loopholes within the Electoral Count Act to effectively steal the 
election, undermine the principle of free and fair elections, halt the 
peaceful transfer of power.
  We formed a committee under the leadership of Chairman Bennie 
Thompson who did an incredible job of presenting the stakes to the 
American people.
  The January 6th Committee explored the consequences of what happens 
when one individual and people who blindly follow them could undermine 
the very fabric of our democracy.
  It is important to note that the January 6th Committee was also 
bipartisan in nature. It was bipartisan, and every single witness that 
was presented worked with the former President.
  There is still more that needs to be done in that regard, but one of 
the legislative results of the January 6th Committee's wonderful 
presentation and exploration was that we passed reform to the Electoral 
Count Act to strengthen the institution of our democracy as part of the 
principle that we will never again allow a single individual sitting at 
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to try to undermine American democracy. We 
won't do it. That bill was bipartisan in nature.
  We also passed the American Rescue Plan at a moment of great crisis: 
The very beginning of the previous Congress, in the midst of a once-in-
a-century pandemic that cost so many lives, so much pain, so much 
suffering, so much death.
  We moved decisively under the leadership of President Biden to pass 
the

[[Page H4928]]

American Rescue Plan which put shots in arms, money in pockets, and 
kids back in school.
  We passed the Child Tax Credit as part of that that reduced child 
poverty in America by half. Not a single Republican would join us as 
part of the effort to make sure that the American Dream is alive and 
well in every single ZIP Code. We reduced poverty.
  These were things that were done for everyone, every single American, 
regardless of ZIP Code: Urban America, rural America, exurban America, 
suburban America, small-town America, the Heartland of America, 
Appalachia.
  We are committed to putting people over politics. That is what we 
were able to do with the American Rescue Plan and allowed the United 
States of America to emerge as the strongest economy of any advanced 
economy in the world.
  That wasn't a guarantee. We know we have more work to do. We know we 
have more work to do, and we want to get to work.
  Instead of getting to work on behalf of the American people, solving 
problems, joining and partnering with us in a manner that is designed 
to find common ground, extreme MAGA Republicans have been marching us 
to a dangerous government shutdown, which we will get to in a moment.
  We ended the previous Congress by passing the Inflation Reduction 
Act, striking a dramatic blow against the climate crisis, setting our 
planet on a sustainable trajectory forward, the largest investment in 
combating the climate crisis in the history of the world because we 
recognize that these extreme weather events will not go away on their 
own.
  America is leading, thanks to our Speaker Emerita and House Democrats 
and Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden.
  In that legislation, we also addressed the issue of healthcare 
affordability because we understand that the American people are 
dealing with grave challenges as it relates to their cost of living.
  In the Inflation Reduction Act, we began to address that in a serious 
way; strengthening the Affordable Care Act, lowering healthcare costs, 
and driving down the high price of lifesaving prescription drugs for 
millions of Americans. This included taking the price of insulin, which 
prior to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, would cost the 
average American family about $4,000 a year, and we drove that down to 
$35 a month, and we are just getting started.
  That is the track record coming into this Congress as the American 
people are suffering from what has been characterized as a Republican 
civil war. Apparently, it is because a handful of the more extreme 
Members on the other side of the aisle have concluded that what is 
necessary is to try to hijack the institution, to jam their rightwing 
ideological views down the throats of the American people because they 
understand that otherwise, these extreme policies cannot be achieved 
throughout the normal legislative process.
  We are supposed to believe that the chaos, the dysfunction, the 
extremism is largely a result of the narrowness of the Republican 
majority.
  We had the same exact majority, extremely narrow on the other side of 
the aisle. Instead of chaos, dysfunction, and extremism, we got things 
done for the American people--the same exact majority under the 
leadership of Speaker Pelosi and  Jim Clyburn and Steny Hoyer.
  That is the context coming into the moment that we are in right now; 
historic dysfunction that we have seen. We are on the brink of a 
government shutdown and at the eleventh hour, legislation is dropped on 
the American people.
  We are told that you have 5 or 10 minutes to evaluate legislation 
that is more than 70 pages long and expected simply to trust the word 
of our extreme MAGA Republican colleagues. The American people deserve 
better. They deserve better.
  We are working through evaluating that legislation on behalf of the 
American people. We have not had time to evaluate the bill that was 
dropped on the American people at the eleventh hour, immediately after 
what took place yesterday on the floor of the House where extreme MAGA 
Republicans put on the floor a continuing resolution that imposed 30 
percent or more draconian cuts on the American people, including 
cutting the Social Security Administration by 30 percent, devastating 
Social Security and the ability of the administration to administer it 
on behalf of older Americans in this country.
  We need time to evaluate whether in this bill that was just dropped 
upon the American people at the eleventh hour, does it try to cut 
Social Security because that is what you tried to do yesterday.
  We need a little time to evaluate whether you are trying to slash 
public school funding. Why are we concerned about whether the 
Republican majority is trying to slash public school funding? Because 
you put forth a bill that did just that yesterday.
  It would devastate the ability of American children all across the 
country to be able to learn in a manner that gives them the best 
opportunity to succeed and pursue the American Dream.
  Some versions of the Republican spending bills would slash Title 1 
funding, which goes to the most vulnerable children amongst us, by 80 
percent; effectively shut down public education in many parts of this 
country.
  I think it is a reasonable thing for House Democrats on behalf of the 
American people to have time to evaluate what you are trying to do with 
public education in a bill that House Republicans dropped on the 
American people at the eleventh hour.

                              {time}  1330

  We also are very concerned that from the very beginning of this 
Congress, Republicans had an objective to criminalize abortion care and 
to impose or march us toward a nationwide ban. We want the American 
people to understand that on this side of the aisle we don't believe 
that our colleagues on the Republican side should threaten a government 
shutdown as part of their effort to criminalize abortion care. That 
shouldn't happen. That should not happen.
  That is what Republicans are trying to do in a Defense bill that they 
just passed this week. We need an opportunity to evaluate the four 
corners of a bill that the Republican majority dropped on us at the 
eleventh hour, and what it does to reproductive freedom. I think that 
is what the American people would want us to do.
  Let us be clear to the American people, House Democrats believe in a 
woman's freedom to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions. 
Period. Full stop. The Republican majority wants to undermine 
reproductive freedom. We are trying to evaluate a bill, dropped on the 
American people at the eleventh hour, whether anything in the four 
corners of this bill would undermine reproductive freedom.
  Earlier in the year, my Republican colleagues threatened to default 
on America's debt, which connects to the moment that we are in right 
now because it ultimately resulted in Republicans agreeing to top-line 
spending numbers. That is part of what has brought us to this moment.
  An agreement was reached in May to avoid any shutdown drama by 
setting top-line spending numbers at the insistence of House 
Republicans, who then went into the Oval Office with President Joe 
Biden, who was negotiating in good faith, and arrived at top-line 
spending numbers.
  The bill was presented on the House floor and more than 300 Members 
of Congress voted for it, including 149 Republicans, a majority in the 
Senate that was bipartisan in nature, it was sent to President Biden's 
desk and signed into law, setting top-line spending numbers as part of 
an effort to avoid a reckless government shutdown.
  It took less than a week for the Republican majority to break its 
word in the agreement that House Republicans themselves negotiated, 
which leads us to this moment right now.
  The nerve of even threatening a catastrophic default in and of itself 
highlights the extremism that has permeated this Chamber from the 
beginning of this Congress on January 3. The full faith and credit of 
the United States of America and protecting it is a constitutional 
responsibility that we all have.
  By the way, when Democrats were in the majority and someone was in 
the White House from the other side of the political aisle--someone who 
we strongly disagreed with, the former

[[Page H4929]]

President--we raised the debt ceiling three times. There was no 
gamesmanship, no partisanship, and no showmanship. We raised it three 
times. That is simply what should have occurred this time around.
  As part of extracting policy changes that the American people don't 
support, we were threatened with defaulting on our debt for the first 
time in American history: it would have crashed the economy, sent the 
stock market spiraling downward, and triggering a job-killing 
recession.
  Under the leadership of President Biden, we reached an agreement to 
avoid a catastrophic default. In that agreement, we protected Social 
Security, protected Medicare, protected Medicaid, protected veterans, 
protected public education, protected public safety, protected our 
efforts to combat the climate crisis, and protected the American 
people.
  As part of that we reached top-line spending numbers that Republicans 
negotiated. Immediately, the Republicans then broke the agreement to 
bring us to this point. That is very unfortunate. All of this could 
have been avoided.
  We have a bill in the Senate that shortly would have ended the 
government shutdown. If in fact, as we have consistently asked for, 
this bipartisan spending agreement emerges from the Senate and makes 
its way over to the House, and if you put the bipartisan spending 
agreement emerging from the Senate on the floor of the House of 
Representatives and allow for an up or down vote, it will pass, and the 
extreme MAGA Republican shutdown would end. That is the way to proceed.
  Why can't my Republican colleagues commit to doing just that?
  Is this really a serious effort to end a government shutdown--
threat--when it is in the DNA of many of my colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle to shut down the government?
  It is not hyperbole. Let's just check the historic record. In the 
1990s, the Republicans shut the government down twice when Bill Clinton 
was President. The ransom demand at the time was: We want to slash and 
burn Medicaid and end Medicare as the American people know it. Unless 
that were to happen, we were told by Republicans that they would shut 
down the government. That is exactly what happened twice in the 1990s 
in order to try to slash and burn Medicaid and adversely impact 
Medicare. It is in the DNA of House Republicans.
  How do we know that?
  In 2013, the American people were forced to deal with another 
reckless, dangerous government shutdown. For 14 days, House Republicans 
shut down the government. Why was the government shut down in 2013?
  Because the demand was made, inherently unreasonable, that President 
Obama should repeal the Affordable Care Act, a signature legislative 
accomplishment that has been a force for good in the United States of 
America.
  We declined politely to take away healthcare from millions of 
Americans. We declined politely to allow House Republicans to impose a 
situation in America where more than 100 million people would have lost 
their protection for pre-existing conditions. We declined to allow 
House Republicans to impose an age tax on older Americans, which would 
have dramatically increased healthcare costs.

  Because we have declined to do those things, House Republicans chose 
to shut the government down in 2013 for 14 days. It is in the House 
Republicans' DNA.
  In 2018 and 2019, we faced the longest government shutdown in 
American history, 35 days of devastation visited upon the American 
people, unnecessarily so. What was the extreme ransom demand at that 
particular point in time?
  The demand was to waste billions of dollars of taxpayer money on the 
former President's ineffective, medieval border wall, which, by the 
way, he said Mexico would pay for. The House majority at the time 
turned around and tried to stick the American taxpayer with a bill--an 
ineffective solution to the issues around immigration that we should 
necessarily confront.
  Because we declined, respectfully, to pay that ransom note and stick 
the American people with billions and billions of dollars for an 
ineffective border wall that the previous President promised Mexico 
would pay for, the Republicans shut the government down for 35 days. It 
is in their DNA.
  The interesting thing about that government shutdown is that while we 
had taken the majority in January of 2019, the government shutdown 
started in late December. In other words, the government shutdown 
started with a Republican in the White House and Republicans in the 
majority in the House and in the Senate. You shut yourselves down at 
that particular moment. It is in their DNA.
  That is the backdrop and context for how we arrived at this moment. 
After the district work period throughout the month of August, we came 
back to Congress ready, willing, and able to get things done for the 
American people, to find common ground, to put people over politics, 
which is what we are committed to doing every single day we are here in 
Washington.
  When we came back in September, that is what House Democrats were 
prepared to do. We were told that to the extent any illegitimate 
impeachment inquiry would be launched, it would be done only with a 
serious up or down vote on the floor of the House of Representatives. 
That is what we were told by House Republican leadership. That is not 
what happened.
  Instead of coming back to Washington in September, knowing we were 
faced with the possibility of an extreme MAGA Republican government 
shutdown, and being laser-focused on finding the common ground 
necessary to fund the government in a way that protects the health, the 
safety, and the economic well-being of the American people--instead of 
doing that, without a vote on the floor of the House of 
Representatives--House leadership announces an illegitimate impeachment 
inquiry.
  There was no evidence of wrongdoing. There was no evidence of an 
impeachable offense. There was no evidence that any high crimes or 
misdemeanors were committed by the President. There was no evidence 
that the President broke the law.
  How do we know this?
  The Republicans' own witnesses told the American people that 2 days 
ago in a hearing that House Republicans called.
  Mr. Speaker, for 3 weeks, instead of focusing on solving problems for 
hardworking American taxpayers, House Republicans launched an 
illegitimate impeachment inquiry when House Republican witnesses have 
now testified before the American people that no evidence exists to 
justify impeaching the current President.

                              {time}  1345

  That is part of the context of why we are here: House Republicans 
wasting time doing the bidding of the former President, the 
insurrectionist-in-chief, who demanded an illegitimate impeachment 
inquiry be opened.
  As opposed to working together to find the common ground to meet the 
needs of the American people, they have been wasting time and taxpayer 
dollars on a reckless political stunt. That is why we are at the brink 
of the government shutting down right now. That was week one when we 
came back, the week of September 11.
  What happened in week two? Week two, the week of September 18, House 
Republicans, my colleagues, decided that they were going to try to jam 
extreme rightwing policies down the throats of the American people, 
strip away reproductive freedom, criminalize abortion care, bully the 
LGBTQ community, cut public education, cut public safety, cut 
affordable housing programs, cut the ability for veterans to receive 
the nutritional assistance that they needed.
  Week two they decided, the House majority, Mr. Chairman decided to go 
to the floor to pass bills that would do nothing to make life better 
for everyday Americans, do nothing to avoid a catastrophic government 
shutdown, do nothing to find common ground in a bipartisan way. During 
the week of September 18, a decision was made to try to jam extreme 
rightwing policies down the throats of the American people, and not a 
single bill was passed because House Republicans had an inability to 
get their act together with each other.
  Colorful words were used--I won't use them on the floor; they are in 
the public domain--as part of a Republican civil war, shooting at each 
other, fighting each other. Let me make something clear, House 
Democrats are here

[[Page H4930]]

to fight for the American people, to fight for the American people. 
That is what we should be doing; Not fighting each other as part of a 
Republican civil war.
  Last week, time was wasted by our House Republican colleagues 
fighting each other in what has been described as a Republican civil 
war--colorful language used not by Democrats to describe what was 
taking place on the other side of the aisle, but used by House 
Republicans to describe each other.
  I won't call out any individual Members on the other side of the 
aisle, but former Members, including a former Speaker, Paul Ryan, a 
good man--I disagreed with him on a whole host of issues, but he 
believed in the institution--made the observation that House 
Republicans are dysfunctional and need to get their act together. That 
is Paul Ryan, former Speaker. That same sentiment was echoed by current 
House Republican Members.
  Last week, they wasted time fighting each other as opposed to finding 
the common ground necessary to reach a bipartisan spending agreement. 
The former chair, top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, 
Rosa DeLauro, has made clear from the very beginning she was ready to 
sit down and talk to her Republican counterpart anytime, anyplace, 
ready, willing, and able to find bipartisan common ground. However, we 
couldn't find a partner on the other side, and so we proceeded in 
conversation with Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, and the Biden 
administration. They were all in alignment in a strongly bipartisan 
bill to avert a government shutdown earlier this week that passed in a 
motion procedurally to advance the legislation 77-19, strongly 
bipartisan.
  We were a part of those conversations thanks to Rosa DeLauro. That is 
a bill that would avoid a government shutdown and meet the needs of the 
American people in every single way and give us another 45 days or so 
to work through the normal appropriations process and reach common 
ground.
  However, instead of partnering with House Democrats, Senate 
Democrats, Senate Republicans, and the Biden administration, House 
Republicans decided to go it alone, fight a civil war, stand on an 
island on their own. So last week nothing happened on the floor of the 
House of Representatives.
  That brings us to this week. This week we returned earlier and had 
every opportunity. We continued to say, we want to partner with our 
Republican colleagues to find the common ground necessary to meet the 
needs of the American people and avoid a catastrophic government 
shutdown that will hurt everyday Americans, hurt children, hurt 
families, hurt the middle class, hurt all those who aspire to be part 
of the middle class, hurt working families, hurt veterans, hurt the 
poor, the sick, the afflicted, hurt the least, the lost, and the left-
behind.
  We have said from the very beginning that we were ready, willing, and 
able to find the bipartisan common ground to meet the needs of the 
American people and avoid a catastrophic government shutdown.
  Instead, my Republican colleagues spent this week peddling more 
chaos, more dysfunction, and more extremism, trying to jam extreme 
rightwing policies down the throats of the American people, cutting 
Social Security, slashing public school funding, criminalizing abortion 
care, including in the Department of Defense bill that House 
Republicans advanced earlier this week, to restrict military 
servicewomen from being able to travel in order to seek reproductive 
healthcare and threatened a government shutdown unless the American 
people were to be forced to agree with a policy that they don't 
support. They spent this week doing things like that.
  Yesterday, a bill was brought to the House floor to cut spending by 
30 percent or more in a manner that would do things like take food out 
of the mouths of women, infants, and children. We will never let that 
happen--not now, not ever, not in America. We will never let that 
happen. That is one of the extreme rightwing policies that my 
Republican colleagues spent this week threatening to do--threatening to 
do--taking us to the brink of a government shutdown.
  Now, from the very beginning, there was a clear path forward because 
a spending agreement was reached in May that everyone in this town 
agreed to abide by as a matter of law: House Democrats, House 
Republicans, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, and President Biden.

  Why, then, have we spent the last several weeks here in the House of 
Representatives trying to break that agreement and threaten a reckless 
government shutdown which, by the way, will have catastrophic 
consequences for the American people?
  We want the American people to know that we are going to do 
everything possible to stop extreme MAGA Republicans from shutting down 
the government. We are fighting on their behalf to put people over 
politics. That is why we are here. That is why we are making this 
fight.
  We want to do it in a bipartisan way, so we are in the process of 
evaluating the legislation that was dropped on the American people at 
the eleventh hour. Once we conclude that expeditious review of the four 
corners of the legislation, we can make a decision as to the best path 
forward, when we have said all week that the only path forward is a 
bipartisan one, is a bipartisan bill working its way through the Senate 
right now--Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans coming together to meet 
the needs of the American people. We are evaluating the four corners of 
the bill to see if it does what is necessary as part of our effort to 
fight for things like lower costs and better-paying jobs and safer 
communities, building a healthy economy for hardworking American 
taxpayers. Why? Because as House Democrats, we are committed to an 
economy that is built from the middle out and the bottom up, not the 
top down--not the top down.
  Therefore, we are in the process now of evaluating whether there is 
anything in the four corners of this bill that would impose upon the 
American people the trickle-down economic scheme that has been such a 
disaster for the American middle class and for all those who aspire to 
be part of the middle class.
  I think the American people deserve an opportunity for their elected 
Representatives, Democrats and Republicans, to evaluate the legislation 
that is in front of us--that is the least that can be done--when we 
know that for decades House Republicans and my colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle have imposed big tax cuts that benefit only the 
wealthiest amongst us and undermine the ability of the American people 
to truly pursue the American Dream.
  It was done most recently in 2017. The House Republican majority's 
signature legislative accomplishment was passing the GOP tax scam where 
83 percent of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1 percent. If at the 
end of the day this is all about fiscal responsibility, we want our 
Republican colleagues to explain why, in a bill that benefited only a 
handful of Americans, did they stick the American people with $2 
trillion worth of debt? Because the GOP tax scam was not paid for at 
all.
  House Republicans dropped a bill on the American people at the 
eleventh hour earlier today, and all we are simply saying is that we 
want time to evaluate whether there is anything within the four corners 
of that bill that would try to impose some trickle-down economic 
scheme.
  I have come to the conclusion over the years that trickle-down 
economics means only one thing for everyday Americans. You may get a 
trickle, but you are guaranteed to stay down. That is what trickle-down 
economics is all about.
  At the end of the day, we need to just evaluate where we are because 
House Republicans started this Congress by saying any bill that is 
brought before the people's House will be done so in a manner that 
allows for at least 72 hours of review. That was the House Republican 
policy, 72 hours of review.

                              {time}  1400

  Like many other things that have been broken promises throughout this 
do-nothing Republican Congress, you promised the American people they 
would have 72 hours to review any bill brought before the American 
people. You dropped this bill at the eleventh hour today and gave the 
American people minutes to evaluate it. That is unacceptable. It is un-
American. It is unreasonable. The American people deserve better.

[[Page H4931]]

  The American people deserve better because, at the end of the day, 
what we are endeavoring to do is to try to figure out where we are at 
on behalf of our quest to lift up the great American Dream for the 
middle class and all those who aspire to be part of the middle class, 
to do things that are pro-American, pro-worker, pro-labor union, pro-
entrepreneurial, pro-small business, pro-job creation, consistent with 
our views that, in America, when you work hard and play by the rules, 
you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for 
your family, educate your children, purchase a home, and one day retire 
with grace and dignity.
  Is that too much to ask? That is what we are fighting for on behalf 
of the American people. All we want is time, just a handful of moments, 
to be able to evaluate.
  Is there anything within the bill that was dropped on the American 
people at the eleventh hour--notwithstanding the fact that the American 
people were promised 72 hours for any bill, let alone consequential 
legislation. We just want to be able to evaluate within the four 
corners of the agreement where things are at in terms of uplifting that 
basic American principle.
  As I mentioned at the very beginning of my remarks, House Democrats 
continue to stand ready to find common ground with our Republican 
colleagues whenever and wherever possible. However, we will oppose 
Republican extremism whenever necessary. We will oppose any efforts to 
cut Social Security and Medicare. We will oppose any efforts to slash 
public school funding. We will oppose any efforts to undermine American 
democracy. We will oppose any efforts to flood our communities with 
weapons of war. We will oppose any efforts to undermine the progress 
being made on the climate crisis. We will oppose any efforts to 
undermine the great American Dream. We will oppose any efforts to 
undercut public education. We will oppose any efforts to walk away from 
the people who keep us safe at our border and around the United States 
of America. We will oppose any efforts to undermine the ability of the 
middle class to continue to thrive in the United States of America.
  All we are doing is making sure that we can assess the four corners 
of the legislation that is before us, avoid a catastrophic government 
shutdown, put people over politics, and make sure that we can continue 
the great American Dream; that you don't undermine freedom, you don't 
undermine reproductive freedom, you don't undermine the things that are 
necessary for every single American to thrive in every ZIP Code 
throughout the land, in urban America, in rural America, in suburban 
America, in small-town America, in the heartland of America, in 
Appalachia. That is all we are doing.
  When we complete our review, we will come back to the floor. We will 
make a decision. As Democrats, we will continue to put people over 
politics and continue America's long, necessary, and majestic march 
toward a more perfect Union.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) will control the time for the majority.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
the State of Nevada (Mr. Amodei).
  Mr. AMODEI. Mr. Speaker, there has been some indication of concern 
because the bill on the floor lacks language to prohibit a cost-of-
living increase that doesn't exist, that was not given, and which has 
no appropriation in the existing fiscal year budget.
  Normally, that would be the end of the discussion. However, I guess, 
being generous here, out of an abundance of caution and respect for 
those bill-drafting experts in the Senate, fixing that to include the 
Senate's genius language in this measure is something that is eminently 
doable in short order unless it becomes midnight because we have to 
have a couple more September State of the Unions.
  Therefore, even though it was not included in our legislation, even 
though there is no existing COLA or appropriation for it, if that is 
the only thing--I am going to say that real slowly--if that is the only 
thing that is wrong, then it is eminently fixable for that belt-and-
suspenders insurance policy for those who would support the bill but 
for the lack of that language.
  We shall see.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida has 4\1/4\ 
minutes remaining. The gentlewoman from Connecticut has 2\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to extend 
debate for both sides by 10 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans have shown they are 
unwilling and unable to govern. Some have shown they are willing and 
able to abandon our allies.
  Russian tyranny and aggression threaten more than just Ukraine's 
borders. We learned in Georgia, and we learned in Crimea, if you stand 
by while Russia takes an inch, they will take a mile. Vladimir Putin 
must be held to account for upending Europe's security in peacetime for 
a pointless and bloody war, which has disrupted energy markets and 
triggered food insecurity around the world.
  We must be clear about what this means, plain and simple. This is 
appeasement like the world experienced in 1938, which led to a 
cascading, murderous result.

  Ukraine's fight for democracy and sovereignty requires decisive 
action and absolute support from the free world. We must act like the 
leaders of the free world. We must not abandon our position as the 
world's beacon of democratic values. We must not surrender our global 
influence to Russia, China, or any group that threatens democracies.
  Members of this body have come together again and again to reaffirm 
our commitment to helping Ukraine defend itself against vicious 
invasion.
  Let us keep the government open, and let us proceed to make sure that 
we do not abandon our allies.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Valadao), another fellow appropriator.
  Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Florida for the 
time.
  Mr. Speaker, I think today we are at a really important moment in our 
history. Obviously, we are all frustrated, myself included as an 
appropriator. We have gone through this process. There was an effort to 
bring bills up sooner. We all would have liked those to have come up 
sooner, but playing games and dragging this out, and watching Members 
drag the process out even further than it needs to be, is not helpful.
  Ultimately, we need to get this passed. We need to get this over to 
the Senate as quickly as possible because the American people want us 
to get this done.
  There are a lot of efforts that need to move forward. We obviously 
need to continue the process of appropriating, and I think we have a 
commitment now from leadership to keep us here over the next 2 weeks, 
which I think is the right thing to do, so that we can finish the 
appropriations bills.
  We have done quite a bit, obviously. Moving the four bills off the 
House floor is a huge step for us. We have two more to move out of 
committee, and I think we will be moving that soon enough.
  The reality is, we need to finish our work, and these 45 days will 
give us the ability to do that. It makes a difference for the American 
people and makes a difference for us here in Congress, and sadly, it is 
something we need to do.
  Ultimately, we have to vote here in a few minutes, and I ask that all 
of my colleagues support the CR and get us through those 45 days so we 
can finish our work.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to note here that, 
first of all, I am very interested that there was a rereading of the 
bill as it came from the House and from the Senate and that there is a 
view that it needs

[[Page H4932]]

to be reviewed in some way because, in fact, as the bill stands, there 
is a pay raise that is being done, in addition to which there are 
student loan efforts that are thwarted, as well, making it more 
difficult for about 45 million borrowers to be able to get the kind of 
services that they need.
  I really want to make the point that I have had the opportunity to 
chair the Appropriations Committee for 2 years--and for those 2 years, 
with a 3- or 4-person majority--with the assistance of colleagues in 
the House and in the Senate. Last December, it was honestly just in the 
Senate because House Republicans refused to participate in the 
negotiations. I think there were very few, in the continuing resolution 
that we put forward, Republicans who voted for a continuing resolution. 
I think, if I recall the number precisely, it was nine, but it allowed 
us to be able to hammer out the bills over the next several weeks until 
December.
  At that juncture, what we did was we came together. We hammered out 
the bills. No one got everything that they wanted, but we could pass 
the bill.
  Now, I move forward to what happened last May and last June when 
there was a budget agreement that was hammered out by the President and 
the Speaker of the House. To be very honest with you, I did not vote 
for that budget agreement. I would have never let this Nation default, 
but I was very concerned about the harm that was going to be done to 
the people of this country through the appropriations process that was 
established by the majority, and that was to significantly cut $142 
billion from the services that we provide. That is education, mental 
health services, medical research services. All of that, I viewed, was 
going to be curtailed.

                              {time}  1415

  It is the law of the land. It is civics. When the House passes 
something, the Senate passes something, the President signs the bill, 
it is the law of the land. The Speaker of the House and the Republicans 
in this House walked away from that agreement, and that is why we stand 
where we are today in this effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished 
gentleman from New York (Mr. D'Esposito), an amazing leader.
  Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Speaker, just over 3 hours ago, we walked onto 
this floor with a plan and an opportunity to make sure that our 
government continues to work.
  Instead of moving that plan forward, we have spent the last hour 
hearing from a Member on the other side of the aisle trying to gain C-
SPAN ratings and I believe win a contest on how many times we could 
hear the term ``MAGA.''
  We are here this afternoon to keep our government running. Over the 
last hour, I walked across the street to my office, taking calls from 
constituents on Long Island in New York's Fourth Congressional District 
whose homes and cars were destroyed yesterday after a massive amount of 
rain and flooding.
  These are individuals who are Democrats, who are Republicans. They 
are not calling because they are from a political party. They are 
calling because they are Americans, and they are pleading with us to 
keep our government open. They are pleading with us to do the job that 
we were sent here to do and to govern.
  Mr. Speaker, that is what we have the opportunity to do, is to cast a 
vote, cast a vote today to continue to make sure that our government 
continues to run, that our government remains open so that we can do 
the job that we were sent here to do. That is what I urge my colleagues 
to do on the other side of the aisle.
  Today, Members are not making a partisan vote, they are making a vote 
in support of the United States of America. They are making a vote in 
support of residents back home who need our help. They are making a 
vote in support of moving this country forward.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Molinaro), another great leader.
  Mr. MOLINARO. Mr. Speaker, having listened for 45 minutes, I am 
amazed and confused as to what exactly my colleagues across the aisle 
thought we were doing in this very moment.
  In just moments, we have the opportunity to avert a Federal 
Government shutdown. It is a responsibility that we have to ensure that 
the people who work for this Federal Government have the support and 
the backing of those who employ them. It is critically important to the 
men and women who serve and sacrifice across the globe that they know 
that we have their backs. It is critically important that those in law 
enforcement, emergency response, and those all across this country know 
that in this moment we vote ``yes'' to keep this government 
functioning.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the text 
of H.R. 5860, as proposed to be adopted under suspension of the rules, 
be modified by the amendment that I have placed at the desk.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the modification.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       In section 101(9) of division A, before the period insert 
     the following: ``, and section 6 in the matter preceding 
     division A of Public Law 117-328''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the modification is 
agreed to.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I once again would reiterate what I have been saying all 
along and what I have said in the last several days: this House has 
overwhelmingly, in the last 2 days, the majority has demonstrated that 
we want to provide support for Ukraine's self-defense.
  We had several amendments: a Biggs amendment, a Gaetz amendment, a 
Greene amendment, all of which resulted in overwhelming support for 
Ukraine.
  I continue to believe that this is an appeasement strategy of the far 
right and, in fact, does not have a majority support in this body, but 
I believe that standing with our allies does have support.
  I would reiterate that our own Department of Defense--something that 
I believe my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have great 
regard for, listen to, support their efforts, increase funding for 
defense--care deeply about this issue of our national security and our 
ability to be able to defend our allies overseas. They all have a great 
affinity for this effort, and I applaud that, but that seems now to be 
abandoned.
  In the words of the Under Secretary of the Department of Defense, 
they cannot do without this funding. I would remind Members that in a 
very specific and poignant letter it lays out that: ``The bottom line 
is we cannot sustain adequate levels of Ukraine assistance with 
transfer authority alone.
  ``Delays to additional funding would also be perceived by Ukraine as 
a sign of wavering U.S. support and likely as a betrayal of our 
previous commitments.''
  Mr. Speaker, the United States betraying our commitment to Ukraine is 
essentially the bottom line on this continuing resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. DIAZ-BALART. Mr. Speaker, I would remind everyone that before we 
can fund anything else Ukraine, we have to start by funding the 
government of the United States of America.
  We have been on the floor for a while now, and let me just boil it 
down to this, if I may, Mr. Speaker:
  If you want to shut down the government and all that that entails, 
then there is an opportunity to do so by voting ``no.''
  If you want to keep the Federal Government working and open and allow 
the democratic process to proceed, then all of us have the opportunity 
to do so very simply, after all of the words are spoken, to just vote 
``yes.'' It could not be simpler, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by

[[Page H4933]]

the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Diaz-Balart) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5860, as modified.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, this 15-minute vote on the motion to 
suspend the rules will be followed by a 5-minute vote on:
  Agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal, if ordered.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 335, 
nays 91, not voting 7, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 513]

                               YEAS--335

     Adams
     Aguilar
     Alford
     Allen
     Allred
     Amodei
     Armstrong
     Arrington
     Auchincloss
     Bacon
     Baird
     Balderson
     Balint
     Barr
     Barragan
     Beatty
     Bentz
     Bera
     Bergman
     Beyer
     Bice
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Blumenauer
     Blunt Rochester
     Bonamici
     Bowman
     Boyle (PA)
     Brown
     Brownley
     Buchanan
     Bucshon
     Budzinski
     Burgess
     Bush
     Calvert
     Caraveo
     Carbajal
     Cardenas
     Carey
     Carl
     Carson
     Carter (LA)
     Cartwright
     Casar
     Case
     Casten
     Castor (FL)
     Castro (TX)
     Chavez-DeRemer
     Cherfilus-McCormick
     Chu
     Ciscomani
     Clark (MA)
     Clarke (NY)
     Cleaver
     Clyburn
     Cohen
     Cole
     Comer
     Connolly
     Correa
     Costa
     Courtney
     Craig
     Crawford
     Crenshaw
     Crockett
     Crow
     Cuellar
     Curtis
     D'Esposito
     Davids (KS)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (NC)
     De La Cruz
     Dean (PA)
     DeGette
     DeLauro
     DelBene
     Deluzio
     DeSaulnier
     Diaz-Balart
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Duarte
     Dunn (FL)
     Edwards
     Ellzey
     Emmer
     Escobar
     Eshoo
     Espaillat
     Evans
     Feenstra
     Ferguson
     Finstad
     Fischbach
     Fitzpatrick
     Fleischmann
     Fletcher
     Flood
     Foster
     Foushee
     Foxx
     Frankel, Lois
     Frost
     Gallagher
     Gallego
     Garamendi
     Garbarino
     Garcia (IL)
     Garcia (TX)
     Garcia, Mike
     Garcia, Robert
     Gimenez
     Golden (ME)
     Goldman (NY)
     Gomez
     Gonzalez, Vicente
     Gottheimer
     Granger
     Graves (LA)
     Graves (MO)
     Green, Al (TX)
     Grijalva
     Grothman
     Guthrie
     Harder (CA)
     Hayes
     Higgins (NY)
     Hill
     Himes
     Hinson
     Horsford
     Houchin
     Houlahan
     Hoyer
     Hoyle (OR)
     Hudson
     Huffman
     Huizenga
     Issa
     Ivey
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson (NC)
     Jackson Lee
     Jacobs
     James
     Jayapal
     Jeffries
     Johnson (GA)
     Johnson (OH)
     Johnson (SD)
     Joyce (OH)
     Kamlager-Dove
     Kaptur
     Kean (NJ)
     Keating
     Kelly (IL)
     Kelly (PA)
     Khanna
     Kiggans (VA)
     Kildee
     Kiley
     Kilmer
     Kim (CA)
     Kim (NJ)
     Krishnamoorthi
     Kuster
     Kustoff
     LaLota
     LaMalfa
     Lamborn
     Landsman
     Langworthy
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latta
     LaTurner
     Lawler
     Lee (CA)
     Lee (FL)
     Lee (NV)
     Lee (PA)
     Leger Fernandez
     Letlow
     Levin
     Lieu
     Lofgren
     Lucas
     Luetkemeyer
     Lynch
     Magaziner
     Malliotakis
     Manning
     Matsui
     McBath
     McCarthy
     McCaul
     McClellan
     McClintock
     McCollum
     McGarvey
     McGovern
     McHenry
     Meeks
     Menendez
     Meng
     Meuser
     Mfume
     Miller (OH)
     Miller (WV)
     Miller-Meeks
     Molinaro
     Moore (UT)
     Moore (WI)
     Morelle
     Moskowitz
     Moulton
     Mrvan
     Mullin
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal
     Neguse
     Newhouse
     Nickel
     Norcross
     Nunn (IA)
     Ocasio-Cortez
     Omar
     Owens
     Pallone
     Panetta
     Pappas
     Pascrell
     Payne
     Pelosi
     Perez
     Peters
     Pettersen
     Phillips
     Pingree
     Pocan
     Pressley
     Ramirez
     Raskin
     Reschenthaler
     Rodgers (WA)
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Ross
     Rouzer
     Ruiz
     Ruppersberger
     Rutherford
     Ryan
     Salazar
     Salinas
     Sanchez
     Santos
     Sarbanes
     Scalise
     Scanlon
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schneider
     Scholten
     Schrier
     Scott (VA)
     Scott, Austin
     Scott, David
     Sessions
     Sewell
     Sherman
     Sherrill
     Simpson
     Slotkin
     Smith (MO)
     Smith (NE)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (WA)
     Smucker
     Sorensen
     Soto
     Spanberger
     Stansbury
     Stanton
     Stauber
     Steel
     Stefanik
     Steil
     Stevens
     Strickland
     Strong
     Swalwell
     Sykes
     Takano
     Tenney
     Thanedar
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thompson (PA)
     Titus
     Tlaib
     Tokuda
     Tonko
     Torres (CA)
     Torres (NY)
     Trahan
     Trone
     Turner
     Underwood
     Valadao
     Van Orden
     Vargas
     Vasquez
     Veasey
     Velazquez
     Wagner
     Walberg
     Wasserman Schultz
     Waters
     Watson Coleman
     Wenstrup
     Westerman
     Wexton
     Wild
     Williams (GA)
     Williams (NY)
     Wilson (FL)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wittman
     Womack

                                NAYS--91

     Aderholt
     Babin
     Banks
     Bean (FL)
     Biggs
     Bishop (NC)
     Boebert
     Bost
     Brecheen
     Buck
     Burchett
     Burlison
     Cammack
     Cline
     Cloud
     Clyde
     Collins
     Crane
     Davidson
     DesJarlais
     Duncan
     Estes
     Ezell
     Fallon
     Fitzgerald
     Franklin, C. Scott
     Fry
     Fulcher
     Gaetz
     Gonzales, Tony
     Good (VA)
     Gooden (TX)
     Gosar
     Green (TN)
     Greene (GA)
     Griffith
     Guest
     Hageman
     Harris
     Harshbarger
     Hern
     Higgins (LA)
     Hunt
     Jackson (TX)
     Johnson (LA)
     Jordan
     Kelly (MS)
     LaHood
     Lesko
     Loudermilk
     Luttrell
     Mace
     Mann
     Massie
     Mast
     McClain
     McCormick
     Miller (IL)
     Mills
     Moolenaar
     Mooney
     Moore (AL)
     Moran
     Murphy
     Nehls
     Norman
     Obernolte
     Ogles
     Palmer
     Pence
     Perry
     Pfluger
     Posey
     Quigley
     Rose
     Rosendale
     Roy
     Schweikert
     Self
     Spartz
     Steube
     Tiffany
     Timmons
     Van Drew
     Van Duyne
     Waltz
     Weber (TX)
     Webster (FL)
     Williams (TX)
     Yakym
     Zinke

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Carter (GA)
     Carter (TX)
     Donalds
     Joyce (PA)
     Luna
     Peltola
     Porter

                              {time}  1442

  Messrs. GREEN of Tennessee and MOOLENAAR changed their vote from 
``yea'' to ``nay.''
  Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. KUSTER, and Mr. BARR changed their 
vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
  Mr. VAN DREW changed his vote from ``present'' to ``nay.''
  So (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and 
the bill, as modified, was passed.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Stated for:
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have 
voted ``yea'' on roll call No. 513.
  Stated against:
  Mr. DONALDS. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted 
``nay'' on rollcall No. 513.


                          personal explanation

  Ms. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present to cast my vote 
on rollcall 512 today. Had I been present I would have voted nay on 
rollcall 512.
  I was also unable to be present to cast my vote on rollcall 513 
today. Had I been present I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall 513.

                          ____________________