[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 162 (Tuesday, October 3, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H4962-H4967]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4394, ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT 
   AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024; AND PROVIDING FOR 
CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4364, LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024

  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on 
Rules, I call up House Resolution 756 and ask for its immediate 
consideration.
  The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:

                              H. Res. 756

       Resolved, That at any time after adoption of this 
     resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule 
     XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the 
     Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of 
     the bill (H.R. 4394) making appropriations for energy and 
     water development and related agencies for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. The first 
     reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of 
     order against consideration of the bill are waived. General 
     debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one 
     hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking 
     minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their 
     respective designees. After general debate the bill shall be 
     considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. The 
     amendment printed in part A of the report of the Committee on 
     Rules accompanying this resolution shall be considered as 
     adopted in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. The 
     bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of 
     order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived.
       Sec. 2. (a) No further amendment to H.R. 4394, as amended, 
     shall be in order except those printed in part B of the 
     report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this 
     resolution, amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this 
     resolution, and pro forma amendments described in section 4 
     of this resolution.
       (b) Each further amendment printed in part B of the report 
     of the Committee on Rules shall be considered only in the 
     order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member 
     designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall 
     be debatable for the time specified in the report equally 
     divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, 
     shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by 
     section 4 of this resolution, and shall not be subject to a 
     demand

[[Page H4963]]

     for division of the question in the House or in the Committee 
     of the Whole.
       (c) All points of order against further amendments printed 
     in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules or against 
     amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution 
     are waived.
       Sec. 3.  It shall be in order at any time for the chair of 
     the Committee on Appropriations or her designee to offer 
     amendments en bloc consisting of further amendments printed 
     in part B of the report of the Committee on Rules 
     accompanying this resolution not earlier disposed of. 
     Amendments en bloc offered pursuant to this section shall be 
     considered as read, shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally 
     divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective 
     designees, shall not be subject to amendment except as 
     provided by section 4 of this resolution, and shall not be 
     subject to a demand for division of the question in the House 
     or in the Committee of the Whole.
       Sec. 4.  During consideration of H.R. 4394 for amendment, 
     the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on 
     Appropriations or their respective designees may offer up to 
     10 pro forma amendments each at any point for the purpose of 
     debate.
       Sec. 5.  At the conclusion of consideration of H.R. 4394 
     for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill, 
     as amended, to the House with such further amendments as may 
     have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered 
     as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further 
     amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion 
     except one motion to recommit.
       Sec. 6.  Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in 
     order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 4364) making 
     appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year 
     ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes. All points 
     of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The 
     amendment printed in part C of the report of the Committee on 
     Rules accompanying this resolution shall be considered as 
     adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. 
     All points of order against provisions in the bill, as 
     amended, are waived. The previous question shall be 
     considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any 
     further amendment thereto, to final passage without 
     intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally 
     divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority 
     member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective 
     designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.
       Sec. 7.  House Resolution 699 is laid on the table.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Malliotakis). The gentleman from 
Pennsylvania is recognized for 1 hour.
  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I 
yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania 
(Ms. Scanlon), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the 
purpose of debate only.


                             General Leave

  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.

                              {time}  1215

  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and 
in support of the underlying legislation.
  House Resolution 756 provides for consideration of H.R. 4394, the 
Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 
2024, under a structured rule, with 1 hour of debate equally divided 
and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees and provides 
one motion to recommit.
  The rule makes in order 60 amendments. Further, the rule provides for 
consideration of H.R. 4364, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 
2024, under a closed rule, with 1 hour of debate equally divided and 
controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on 
Appropriations or their respective designees and provides for one 
motion to recommit.
  Madam Speaker, since President Biden took office, gas prices are up 
60 percent; natural gas prices are up 25 percent; coal prices are up 70 
percent; and electricity prices are up 24 percent.
  This should raise alarms on the other side of the aisle. I don't mean 
pulling fire alarms. This should get the attention of the other side.
  H.R. 4364 restores American energy dominance. It invests in our 
national security and delivers fiscal responsibility for the American 
taxpayer.
  As a Navy veteran, I am proud to support H.R. 4394, which provides 
$32.51 billion in Defense spending. That is an increase of more than $1 
billion over FY23 enacted levels.
  This legislation continues efforts to modernize the Nation's nuclear 
weapon stockpile, supports Columbia-class submarine reactor development 
and helps counter our adversaries.
  Additionally, H.R. 4394 prioritizes energy security and economic 
competitiveness by investing $200 million in critical mineral 
production and supporting domestic uranium enrichment capabilities.
  Finally, this legislation rescinds $5.58 billion of absolutely 
reckless spending that was wasted by the previous majority. It 
terminates Biden's waters of the United States rule and it cuts the 
dangerous, radical, and extreme Green New Deal programs.
  Madam Speaker, additionally, H.R. 4364 ensures that Members of 
Congress can address the needs of their constituents while prioritizing 
deficit reduction.
  H.R. 4364 reduces spending by 4.5 percent, provides Capitol police 
officers with an increase of $46 million over last year, and protects 
House networks by banning the purchase of telecommunications equipment 
made in China.
  As we work to pass single-subject appropriations bills, I am proud to 
support the underlying legislation which upholds the House Republicans' 
commitment to the American people.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
for yielding the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, over the past month, House Republicans have plunged 
this Chamber into chaos. Whether it is the extremists who refuse to 
honor the bipartisan budget deal negotiated with the White House and 
voted into law by bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress, and 
then sought to shut down the government with their outrageous demands, 
or whether it is House leadership who seem unable to prevent this 
destructive behavior or perhaps to leave this Chamber at all.
  As I and my Democratic colleagues push back against the majority's 
cruel, extreme, and unworkable agenda, Members on the other side of the 
aisle have been consumed with infighting and trying to distract from 
the fact that their refusal to work in a collaborative or bipartisan 
manner either with the Senate, Democrats, or even within their own 
party, has resulted in their failing to perform Congress' most basic 
job of funding the Federal Government.
  Just this past weekend, they brought us within hours of a devastating 
government shutdown. As the funding deadline approached, my office was 
fielding calls from terrified constituents; people feeling that come 
the end of month, their paychecks would no longer arrive and that 
critical government services which they rely upon would be interrupted.
  Parents wondered whether they would be able to make ends meet, 
whether they would be able to pay the childcare bills that allowed them 
to go to work and keep food on the table for themselves and their 
children. Seniors worried about heat assistance as temperatures drop. 
That is why Democrats stepped in to keep the government up and running 
without the outrageous rightwing demands coming from the most extreme 
and exotic fringes of the House Republican majority.
  Now, we have 6 weeks before another funding deadline, and we have a 
lot of work to do. The American people don't deserve this continued 
uncertainty.
  After the majority's reckless approach to government funding failed, 
time and time again, on the House floor, we still only have 4 of the 12 
appropriations bills passed through the House; 2 haven't even been 
marked up, another one has failed, and more may go down this week.
  One would think they would be willing to change tactics because after 
all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over 
again and expecting a different result.
  You would think they would be willing to come to the table, honor the 
agreements, pass the spending bills

[[Page H4964]]

that the American people should expect and certainly deserve, but 
apparently not. Instead, we see them doubling down on the strategy of 
jamming through unrealistic spending proposals that would devastate 
children, families, seniors, and veterans all across this country.
  That includes the two hyper-partisan bills they have brought to the 
House floor today; bills that continue to break the pattern of the 
bipartisan funding agreement that Congress approved last spring and 
that both parties in the Senate have been willing to honor.
  These bills slash vital services and include rightwing culture war 
provisions; bills that are so extreme that the House Republicans may 
not be able to pass them here, the Senate won't agree to, and the 
President certainly won't sign.
  The first of these is H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development 
funding bill. With this legislation, we should be ensuring that the 
U.S. is able to meet the challenges of today's and tomorrow's world.
  Unfortunately, the bill in front of us doesn't do that. It is full of 
harmful rescissions, repeals, and funding cuts. It attempts to impede 
the progress we have made by increasing America's energy costs, 
jeopardizing our energy security and hurting U.S. global 
competitiveness.
  It claws back important funding that supports programs to combat 
flooding, improve wildlife habitat, and reduce pollution in our 
drinking water. That includes millions in funding for the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers.
  Let me zoom in on that for a minute and talk about all the important 
work that the Army Corps does in my district alone.
  It is responsible for the regular maintenance of two major rivers 
running through and alongside Pennsylvania's Fifth district: the 
Schuylkill and the Delaware. That maintenance includes tasks like 
dredging, debris removal, and maintaining river embankments.
  This river work is critical to our region's environmental, public, 
and even economic health because it means boats can use our waterways 
without interruption, and larger vessels can sail into and trade at the 
port of Philadelphia.
  The broader budget cuts included in this bill undermine the 
importance and viability of all of these programs and means that 
additional measures to improve the health of our communities, both in 
my district and others, will go undone.
  Critically, this bill also fails to meaningfully confront the climate 
crisis. In southeastern Pennsylvania, we have already started to feel 
the effects of climate change, more intense and frequent storms have 
resulted in unprecedented, devastating flooding across our region.
  For example, the Eastwick neighborhood of Philadelphia, which sits 
adjacent to a flood-prone marsh, has experienced increasingly dramatic 
floods in recent years. About 3 years ago, Tropical Storm Isaias 
damaged more than 300 homes in this low-lying area. We have seen 
tornados and flooding in the Brandywine River region in Norristown and 
elsewhere.
  It is important for everyone here to realize that none of our 
districts are immune from the impacts of the climate crisis. Flooding, 
hurricanes, rising sea levels, wildfires, and other climate disasters, 
they affect us all.
  My Republican colleagues' denial of this fact would only leave us 
extremely unprepared and will prevent us from doing anything 
proactively to address these growing threats and help our communities 
be more resilient.
  Ultimately, it is our constituents and future generations of 
Americans who will suffer the consequences of these kind of policy 
failures.
  Additionally, just as families have started taking advantage of 
provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that reduce their home energy 
costs, this bill would increase energy bills for hardworking Americans.
  For all my Republican colleagues' talk, it is clear that Democrats 
are the only ones here willing to take action to keep costs down for 
American families, because with this bill, the majority is trying to 
undo the work that we did with the Inflation Reduction Act. They want 
to slash funding for programs that help people to weatherize their 
homes, purchase efficient appliances, and be able to afford to heat 
their homes.
  These programs have the potential to save Americans thousands of 
dollars a year. For the past several months, I have been holding 
meetings across my district to talk to constituents about these 
measures and help them access and improve their lives and their 
budgets. Now House Republicans want to take this away.

  This bill also blocks funding for initiatives that direct investments 
to our underserved communities most overburdened by pollution. My 
region has long struggled with dangerous air quality and its negative 
health impacts leading to high rates of cancer and some of the highest 
rates of childhood asthma in our Nation.
  Federal investment is needed to ensure that kids in my district and 
across the country can grow up healthy and have bright futures. In 
kneecapping this important work, it seems that my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle are more concerned with catering to polluters 
than the health of our children, and I find that incredibly 
disappointing.
  We are also considering today H.R. 4364, the legislative branch 
funding bill.
  Unfortunately, this legislation undermines the important work of this 
institution and threatens Congress' ability to move into the future and 
serve its constituents and America today rather than in the 19th 
century or so.
  I served on the bipartisan Select Committee on Modernization of 
Congress for 2 years. Since then, I have followed its subsequent work 
to produce recommendations on how to make Congress work better for the 
American people.
  Ultimately, that committee passed over 200 bipartisan 
recommendations, including recommendations related to diversity and 
inclusion among our staff here in Congress. Leading businesses around 
the globe have embraced diversity and inclusion because they know that 
a diverse workforce is more effective.
  Despite the successes we have seen in other sectors, it seems my 
Republican colleagues here in the House want to go backwards.
  Troublingly, they want to eliminate the Office of Diversity and 
Inclusion here on Capitol Hill. A well-functioning legislative branch 
is critical our democracy, and I know our democracy is strongest when 
Members of Congress and their staff look like the America we are here 
to represent.

                              {time}  1230

  We should all want to serve our constituents in the best way we 
possibly can, and we can only do that if we give our institution the 
tools and the staff to achieve progress with the times and truly 
represent our modern Nation.
  Unfortunately, this bill would undermine that goal.
  Even after flirting with a disastrous shutdown, my Republican 
colleagues are still trying to force through spending bills written in 
back rooms with no bipartisan agreement and riddled with culture war 
poison pills and devastating cuts. They do so knowing that these bills 
are so extreme that their passage is imperiled here in the House, and 
it is a fiction if they think it is going through the Senate or that it 
will be signed into law by the President.
  This continued dysfunction only hurts America and throws our country 
into chaos.
  The bottom line is that the House needs to do better than this. The 
American people deserve better than this.
  Madam Speaker, I strongly oppose both of these bills, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I have to share a story about Secretary Granholm because you just 
can't make up this stuff. NPR reported this story, which makes it even 
more rich.
  Secretary Granholm took a 4-day EV propaganda road trip on the 
taxpayers' dime that turned into an absolute nightmare for the 
Secretary. At a stop in Georgia, there was only one available EV 
charging station for the Secretary's motorcade. What did she do? Well, 
they had the Department of Energy advance team--who were traveling in 
gas-powered vehicles, I might

[[Page H4965]]

add--they had that advance team go in and reserve a spot while others 
waited in long lines, battling the summer heat.
  Rightfully, a family that was traveling with a baby actually called 
the police on Secretary Granholm and her advance team.
  Earlier this year, Granholm stated, ``We can all learn from what 
China is doing,'' regarding climate policies. Let's just talk about 
what China is doing because that is about as laughable as the story 
about her failed propaganda trip.
  China emits 30 percent of the world's global emissions. They emit 
more than the developed world combined. They emit more than the United 
States, the EU, and Japan combined. By far, they are the largest 
polluter in the world.
  My friends across the aisle will say nothing to criticize China, by 
the way.
  China's coal-fired power plants generate more than 23 percent of all 
forms of U.S. energy combined, and they are allowed to increase their 
emissions through 2030 under the laughable Paris climate accord. We 
could all laugh at this if it wasn't for the devastating effects that 
Democrats' climate policy has on the working class in America and for 
our competitive edge on our number one adversary on the world stage, 
and that is China.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman 
from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the distinguished ranking member of 
the Committee on Rules.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, let me say to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania that nobody has been tougher on China than yours truly 
here. I take a back seat to no one, and I don't want to be lectured.
  Madam Speaker, I wasn't going to speak on this rule today, but I feel 
compelled to say something because I see a pattern developing that I 
think needs to be called out. It needs to be called out, plain and 
simple.
  They are taking their awful appropriations bills on agriculture and 
foreign policy, and now energy and water and the legislative branch, 
and as the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania pointed out, they all have 
these deep cuts, and then they are loading them up with MAGA culture 
war crap. I think people ought to understand in plain terms what they 
are doing.
  Let's focus on some specifics.
  They say it is about woke Democrats this and woke Democrats that. I 
mean, give me a break. They want to get rid of an office here on 
Capitol Hill that promotes staff diversity and inclusion. Who wants 
less diversity? If you want everyone here to look the same, just say 
so.
  They want to make it illegal to put up a Pride flag next to a U.S. 
flag, by the way, at an embassy during Pride Month. That is woke? What 
is wrong with them?
  In one of these bills, they want to make it so that you can use 
taxpayer money to fire people for being gay. I mean, really? I mean, 
with all the problems in the world, this is what they focus on? This is 
what keeps them awake at night?
  This is nuts. This isn't about religious freedom. This is about 
giving people freedom to discriminate. If they want to be bigoted, so 
be it, but don't use the United States Government and taxpayer dollars 
to reinforce and spread your backward views.
  The reason I wanted to come down here is that this isn't just about 
politics. Hate crimes against the LGBTQ community are going up. My 
colleagues come to the floor not only failing to denounce that but 
advancing ideas which signal to people that it is okay to discriminate, 
that it is okay to hate. It is sick.
  I get it. This is popular in the extreme MAGA world, but I thought 
there were some moderate voices on the other side that might find this 
as offensive as I do. I guess I am wrong because Republicans continue 
to blindly come down here and support these hateful policies and vote 
for them time after time.
  I hope that the next Speaker, whoever that may be--maybe we will find 
out today--will do a better job of preventing this garbage from coming 
to the floor, but looking at the Republican Party in 2023, I won't hold 
my breath.
  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Let me be clear about something. You can't be anti-China and pro-EV. 
You can't be anti-China and pro-Green New Deal. These things are 
completely incompatible.
  Let me explain. Throughout the Biden Presidency, his administration 
has been dead set on advancing the foolish, reckless, and extreme Green 
New Deal agenda. This path forward has propped up our adversaries such 
as China, which we now rely on for critical minerals to build the 
expensive EVs that liberals like to parade around in in their affluent 
suburban neighborhoods. Biden's officials openly acknowledge that fact.
  During an Appropriations subcommittee hearing earlier this year, the 
Interior Secretary admitted that the Biden administration's Green New 
Deal policies actually make our Nation more reliant on China. She 
admitted it at the hearing.
  Do you know what? She is right.
  China accounts for 63 percent of the world's rare earth mining, 85 
percent of rare earth processing, and 92 percent of rare earth magnet 
production. This plays a massive role in producing 70 percent of the 
global EV battery supply.
  While Democrats cheer on these foreign green efforts, China is busy 
emitting more greenhouse gas than the U.S. and all other developed 
nations combined.
  It has never been more clear. When President Biden and Democrats push 
for their green agenda, what they are really doing is empowering the 
Chinese Communist Party, and they are doing it at the expense of the 
American worker.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I wish that our colleagues across the 
aisle were as concerned about the fact that this bill would increase 
our dependence on Russian oil, Russian oil that is being used to fund 
their illegal, inhumane war against the Ukrainian people.
  Madam Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an 
amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of a resolution 
which clearly states that it is the people's House's duty to keep our 
promise to American workers and seniors to protect and preserve Social 
Security and Medicare and fight against any cuts to these vital 
programs.
  Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my 
amendment into the Record along with any extraneous material 
immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove) to discuss our proposal.
  Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Madam Speaker, I have to tell you, there is a 
virus infecting this Congress, and it is not the 'rona. It is 
Republican testosterone poisoning.
  All year long, we have heard not one peep from Republicans about 
Social Security or Medicare--nothing. They have been passing 
legislation that erodes the health protections of Americans and then 
high-fiving after these horrible bills pass.
  They won't admit that 63 million seniors will be hurt by their cuts 
to Social Security--so watch out, granny, because they are coming for 
you--or that they will cut the lifeline of millions who depend on 
Medicare to survive.
  Instead, we have been stuck in this Republican romper room.
  The American people don't want to hear your lies, and they don't want 
to watch your Republican civil warfare meltdown.
  They care about their healthcare, jobs, keeping the government open, 
growing the economy, and protecting us at home and abroad.
  They care about being able to put food on the table and having a home 
to go to.
  They care about having a Social Security check in the mail, one that 
they were promised for their years of work.
  They care about what is real to them, and you are not it.

[[Page H4966]]

  For this reason, I ask my colleagues to defeat the previous question 
so that we can bring up H.R. 178, an important piece of legislation 
affirming the House's commitment to protecting Social Security and 
Medicare.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their 
comments to the Chair and not to other Members.
  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  It is quite the intellectual yoga exercise to somehow say that 
Republicans are encouraging Russian gas. It is the exact opposite.
  Let's think about it. Do you know why there are Russian oil tankers 
in the harbor in Boston? It is because far-left radical activists, 
namely the entire Democratic Party, have decided to cancel a pipeline 
that should have been running from Philadelphia into New England called 
the Constitution Pipeline that would have brought clean natural gas 
from Pennsylvania into New England so the residents there have cheap, 
abundant natural gas and are not forced to buy dirty petroleum from 
Russian.
  Again, the intellectual gymnastics and yoga are quite amazing.
  Let's talk about some other far-left, radical policies of my friends 
across the aisle and how it has made us more dependent on Russia and 
more dependent on China.
  For one, they have a new list of regulations on coal-fired power 
plants, making it harder for us to burn our clean coal here in the 
United States and forcing coal producers to ship coal to places like 
China, where they don't use scrubbers, by the way. Liberals across the 
aisle ended the Keystone XL pipeline, coincidentally killing tens of 
thousands of union jobs that they purport to support. They also 
canceled Federal oil and gas leasing on Federal land.
  I ask you, which policies make us more dependent on Russia, ours or 
the radical left's?
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania for her leadership and for managing this rule that we now 
have on the floor of the House.
  I stand here in the name of so many Americans who live in cities and 
rural communities that are so dependent on the Federal funding that 
helps to bridge local government funding, and also those who are most 
vulnerable in our Nation.
  As I rise today, we Democrats did come together to stop the shutdown. 
As I said earlier, there was applause across my district. At the same 
time, bills are passed that really shock me. Again, bills were passed 
that cut $800 million from the women, infants, and children program 
dealing with feeding babies. Then, one of the most talked about issues 
across America--we just saw something where Habitat for Humanity is 
building 39 homes under the name of the great President Jimmy Carter 
and his wife. Here we are cutting $1 billion to $500 million from the 
HOME Investment Partnerships Program that directly deals with the 
funding that is necessary.
  Can you believe the cuts in Medicare? Can you absolutely believe that 
that is what is happening? The bills are being passed by the Republican 
majority.
  Now, I thought they were concerned about Homeland Security--I served 
on this committee since 9/11--but border management funding has been 
severely cut for shelter and services programs, the very programs that 
are needed by those who come seeking asylum or even those who come 
whose asylum will be rejected, but the burden is on those local cities. 
The USCIS and the Transportation Security Administration are both 
receiving cuts.
  Then, of course, we are dealing with this particular legislation, 
legislative branch and energy and commerce.

                              {time}  1245

  It is important to note that funding dealing with water, dealing with 
climate, and dealing with renewables are all being cut.
  I offered amendments in particular to deal with water that were not 
accepted. I offered amendments to ensure that DACA residents could be 
hired, which we have done before. Those are individuals that did not 
spend any time in their foreign land, were brought here as children, 
and are now doctors, paramedics, lawyers, and teachers, and because of 
the DACA program we cannot hire them. How insensitive is that?
  Then the attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, all of the amendments 
throughout the entire time that attack them. Then to get rid of the 
diversity office that we worked so hard for, to ensure that this 
Congress, the people's House, the United States Senate, reflects the 
wonderment of America, this wonderful experiment that the world looks 
to and says: How great this land is. ``My country, 'tis of thee, sweet 
land of liberty.'' That is what America is to people. How can we in 
appropriations after appropriations put in these poison pills?
  We stopped the shutdown, but what I can say to you is there is more 
work to be done. We don't know what the vote will be on the floor 
today, but I want whatever happens, as I said before, to be for the 
best for the American people. That is Democrats leading.
  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Langworthy), my good friend and fellow member of the 
Rules Committee.
  Mr. LANGWORTHY. Madam Speaker, the Biden administration, through the 
Department of Energy, is making life harder for Americans and 
jeopardizing our energy security.
  Through gradually increasing efficiency standards, rebate programs, 
and other regulatory carrot-and-stick measures, this administration is 
determined to take perfectly reliable, affordable, and efficient 
appliances off the market and out of reach for ordinary Americans.
  The regulatory agenda being carried out at the Biden Department of 
Energy is a death-by-a-thousand-cuts strategy that will leave Americans 
sincerely worried about how they will be able to afford to heat their 
homes in the coming years.
  From gas stoves and furnaces to air-conditioners, the Biden 
administration is forcing Americans away from appliances and 
technologies that genuinely work and pushing them toward more expensive 
and less available options.
  Time and again, the left tells us that this hardship is the price we 
all must pay for a so-called greener and cleaner future. In fact, these 
draconian measures do little to achieve that future while depriving 
Americans of a quality of life we once took for granted.
  Madam Speaker, I am proud to support the underlying legislation, H.R. 
4394, because it will put the brakes on the out-of-control, out-of-
touch regulatory state that has been unleashed on the American people 
by the Biden administration.
  This legislation rescinds billions of dollars in wasteful spending 
from the poorly named Inflation Reduction Act that was intended to 
force Americans away from affordable and reliable appliances toward 
more expensive and less reliable options.
  Madam Speaker, I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this 
rule and this underlying legislation today.
  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez), a distinguished member of the Rules 
Committee.
  Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, just 3 days ago, Democrats voted 
to keep our government open. We told America how Republicans were 
slashing vital programs in their extreme appropriations bills.
  We voted down the Republican plan to drastically cut programs that 
keep our babies, children, and their mothers from going hungry, cut 
public school funding, cut agricultural investments, and cut support 
for small businesses. That is what the Republicans wanted to do.
  The American people heard our warnings, and their voices rang through 
Congress. Finally, we had a clean continuing resolution without those 
cuts on the House floor.
  With support from the American people, Democrats led the way in 
keeping our government open. It is a continuation of our work from last 
Congress where Democrats passed laws to make investments in our future 
energy independence and in our vision for rural development that has 
been lacking for decades.

[[Page H4967]]

  In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord says: My plan is not for you to suffer, 
but for you to prosper, have hope and a future.
  Democrats showed that we are ready and willing to make that 
prosperity plan a reality for Americans and especially for rural 
America.
  For too long in rural America and in rural New Mexico, our families 
have been leaving the farms and ranches that give us our identity, our 
``herencia y cultura,'' ``heritage and culture,'' and importantly, that 
give us the food we eat.
  Last year, Democrats passed bill after bill to change this trend. We 
want to invest in rural America.
  Through the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act, we can 
build the next generation of innovation in places like rural New 
Mexico. I am looking forward to an enchanted innovation hub in New 
Mexico.
  Now that Republicans are in charge, they want to gut those bills, 
making rural families pay more and get less.
  The Republican energy bill we are considering today wants to gut 
rural projects, like the SunZia line in Corona, New Mexico, which just 
installed the largest wind farm in the country. I call it the Route 66 
of renewable energy. These wind farms are generating revenues for 
multiple local ranchers.
  Let me tell you something. Many ranchers in the country don't make a 
profit. The USDA reported in 2020 that ranchers didn't generate enough 
profit to cover their own living expenses and debt obligations for 9 
out of 10 years.
  The Democrat prosperity plan changes that equation and allows 
ranchers to earn revenue from clean energy and from food production.

  What is more, a wind farm in a rural county like Lincoln, New Mexico, 
will provide $1.3 billion in taxes in 30 years. Lincoln County has 
never seen such revenue before and can use it to invest in rural 
healthcare and behavioral health.
  Rather than build on the transformational investments that Democrats 
made to support our rural communities, what are the Republicans doing? 
They are gutting our progress. They want to look backward.
  Indeed, all the appropriations bills that the Republicans are putting 
forth hurt American competitiveness, they hurt rural areas, and they 
hurt families who need to save money.
  Rather than incentivizing the programs that our children will need to 
save this planet and outcompete China, Republicans are taking us 
backward.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for a future where the 
Democratic prosperity plan can become a reality.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this rule.
  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Talking more about the Democratic fascination with helping China, 
let's go back to 2022. In 2022, gas prices hit an all-time record high. 
Instead of reversing the failed policies of the Biden administration 
that actually led to gas prices increasing at that rate, instead of 
doing that, Biden sold 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve to temporarily lower gas prices in a cheap political gimmick.
  What did this do? This drained our emergency energy supply to its 
lowest level since the 1980s, the lowest level since I was born.
  Who benefited the most from this? Well, it wasn't the American 
worker. It was China. According to the Department of Energy, China's 
state refining company bought 2 million barrels of Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve oil in 2022.
  Instead of powering China's economy, House Republicans are passing 
legislation this week that actually lowers energy costs, that ends 
radical Green New Deal programs, and restores our energy independence.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, funding the Federal Government is not a 
game. The American people who elect us to Congress depend on us to 
solve real problems. They don't send us here to play politics with 
their lives and our country's future.
  The incompetence, extremism, and infighting we have seen on display 
from our Republican colleagues is not serious governance. It is 
dangerous. It is destructive behavior, and it makes it wholly clear 
that there are Members of this body who care more about making 
headlines than the job they were sent here to do.
  Madam Speaker, our budgets reflect our priorities. Democrats are here 
to put people over politics, and these bills make it clear that my 
Republican colleagues are prioritizing scoring political points over 
working for American families or strengthening this body and our 
democracy or protecting our planet.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question 
and the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield 
myself the balance of my time.
  Madam Speaker, it is clear, President Biden's energy policies benefit 
our foreign adversaries, not the American worker.
  The Biden administration has made our vehicle market heavily 
dependent on communist China. The administration has also cut deals 
with Iran. I might remind everybody that Iran is a state sponsor of 
terror. In fact, the Biden administration released $6 billion in oil 
revenue that will fund terrorist operations against the United States 
and our number one ally in the Middle East, Israel.
  Recently, the President drained our strategic oil reserve to the 
lowest levels. To what end? To fuel China's economy.
  Earlier this year, FERC Commissioner Mark Christie predicted in a 
Senate hearing that our energy grid is: ``. . . heading for a very 
catastrophic situation. . . . ''
  Why is this? It is because of the far left's rush to foolish green 
policies. This is the wrong path to go down.
  This is why I am proud to support the underlying legislation which 
restores the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. It also helps our national 
security mission, increases funding for our ports and inland waterways, 
like the locks and dams that run through my district, and it invests in 
our Nation's security.
  After the previous majority spent $3 trillion outside of the 
appropriations process, this legislation actually reins in billions of 
dollars to reduce our out-of-control national debt.
  Under House Republicans, we have passed legislation to lower energy 
costs for the American family, reformed our permitting process, allowed 
the Mountain Valley pipeline to finish construction, and preserved 
vehicle choice in the marketplace. This legislation before us keeps up 
that commitment to the American people.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the previous 
question and ``yes'' on the rule.
  The material previously referred to by Ms. Scanlon is as follows:

   An Amendment to H. Res. 756 Offered By Ms. Scanlon of Pennsylvania

       At the end of the resolution, add the following:
       Sec. 8. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the 
     House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the 
     resolution (H. Res. 178) affirming the House of 
     Representatives' commitment to protect and strengthen Social 
     Security and Medicare. The resolution shall be considered as 
     read. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on 
     the resolution and preamble to adoption without intervening 
     motion or demand for division of the question except one hour 
     of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and 
     ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means or 
     their respective designees.
       Sec. 9. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the 
     consideration of H. Res. 178.

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

                          ____________________