[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 171 (Wednesday, October 18, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5026-H5028]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1145
ELECTION OF SPEAKER
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question now recurs upon the election of
a Speaker. The tellers will please come forward and take their seats.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole).
Mr. COLE. Mr. Speaker pro tempore, I rise for the purpose of placing
in nomination the name of the Honorable Jim Jordan for the position of
Speaker of the House at the direction of the Republican Conference.
Mr. Speaker pro tempore, 2 weeks and 1 day ago, I was on this House
floor and in this Chamber defending my very good friend and our former
Speaker, Mr. McCarthy, from an effort to vacate the Chair.
In the course of that speech, I made the remark that those who did
this, whether intentionally or unintentionally, were going to put the
Congress in a state of chaos and the country into a state of
uncertainty. I think the last 2 weeks have vindicated that observation.
We have a chance today to end that chaos and to end that uncertainty.
When these races happen, there are always a lot of hard things said
on both sides of the aisle. There is a lot of finger-pointing that goes
on. I don't intend to be involved in any of that today. I think the
decision in front of us is far, far too important for that.
I am very proud, very proud, to place in nomination the name of our
good friend, my good friend, our Republican candidate for Speaker, the
Honorable Jim Jordan of Ohio.
I have had the privilege of knowing Jim Jordan for a long time. I
have been in Congress for a long time. For his entire period in the
House, I have had the honor of serving with my friend.
My friend is not exactly a shrinking violet. You don't win national
championships in college; you don't come to this floor with a sincere
set of beliefs and a desire to make a change and be shy about it. My
friend is not a shy person.
I have learned some things about him over the years. He is a person
of absolute personal integrity. I have never once had to question
something that he told me. He is an honorable man.
I also think we all know he is a pretty direct man, too. I don't
think anybody in here on any issue of any substance would have to guess
where Jim Jordan is going to stand.
He doesn't deceive. He doesn't dissemble. He simply tells you
straight up that this is what I believe; this is why I think it is the
right thing to do for the country; and that is what I am going to try
and accomplish, and I am going to work with you in any way that I can
to do it.
The other thing I think we have found in the last couple of weeks is
what it takes to be a Speaker. The one thing I know--never having been
one and never having aspired to be one--is that it takes a spine of
steel to do this job.
My friend has that kind of determination, has that kind of character,
and has that kind of spine. I think the next Speaker is going to need
that quality, and I know my friend has it in great abundance.
If you are a Republican, it ought to be a pretty easy decision, my
friends. This is somebody who believes what we believe and has fought
for and shown that over and over again.
When I first got to know him, a lot of his focus was on spending.
That is exactly where the focus of this House ought to be.
Now, he has laid out a plan, not just a short-term plan, as to how we
deal with the appropriations process. I am an appropriator. I think I
know that that is not the root of the problem.
Unlike any other Speaker we have had, he has had the courage to talk
about a long-term plan and to get at the real drivers of debt, and we
all know what they are. We all know it is Social Security. We all know
it is Medicare. We all know it is Medicaid.
No President of either side has been willing to deal with this. No
Speaker of either side has been willing to deal with this.
My friend, our former colleague John Delaney, and I offered a plan. I
still file it every year--John is not here anymore--which is to go back
to 1983 and do what we did then and address Social Security. We can
never get any help.
This is a guy that wants to create a debt commission, a bipartisan
debt commission, and get at the roots of our spending problem. That
takes courage.
{time} 1200
Republicans ought to support somebody with that kind of courage. He
is not only focused on one thing. I don't know anybody that has done
more to highlight and talk about the border disaster that is underway
right now as we speak.
I had the privilege of serving here when Jeh Johnson was Secretary of
Homeland Security. I have a very high opinion for Jeh Johnson. I think
he is one of the finest public servants that I ever met. He was asked
on one occasion to define what was a crisis on the southern border.
He said: Any time that you have more than 1,000 illegal entries a
day, you have a crisis.
We have 10 or 11 times that every single day. In that tide of
humanity that is coming across, there is a boatload of fentanyl coming
to kill tens of thousands of all of our constituents.
There are human traffickers who are taking advantage of young men and
young women and, frankly, predators in our own country, and they are
bringing them across, not by the 10s or 20s or the dozens, but by the
hundreds and the thousands.
There are, amongst that flow of people, people that wish us ill.
There are people who are not fleeing from oppression. There are people
who are terrorists or criminals that are coming into our country for no
good reason.
That is not an immigration problem. That is a border security
problem. They are not the same thing. We can debate immigration. That
is a worthy debate. We should never have to debate border security.
Nobody has highlighted that issue like my friend Jim Jordan. Nobody
has done more as a committee chairman to move legislation that would
meaningfully deal with this problem.
This, my friends on both sides of the aisle, but with all due
respect, particularly this administration and my friends on the other
side, need to look at this. You need to look at this seriously. Don't
confuse it with immigration. You are not going to have immigration
reform until we have border security. It cannot be done. He has been
the number one champion of that. It is one of the number one issues
that we have.
[[Page H5027]]
Finally, I want to talk about something that can bring us together.
There are a lot of things we disagree on, legitimately so, but most of
us do not disagree about the security of the State of Israel. All of us
on both sides of the aisle reacted with horror and with deep sympathy
and with legitimate outrage at the crimes that were perpetrated against
the people of Israel in the last week. All of us know that they are
within their rights to respond forcefully and swiftly to defend their
people and punish those who brought that upon them.
In a moment of crisis--and we are in a moment of crisis--we should
come together and act. We know we can't do that without a Speaker of
the House. Now, it is a narrow majority, but my friends and I are in
the majority. We need to produce a Speaker.
We have a candidate who we know where he will stand on issues that
are important. We know where he is going to stand on spending because
it is where he has always stood. It is not like he changed over the
course of his career.
We know what he is going to do on the border. We read H.R. 2. We have
seen what his committee produced. It is not just money; it is policy
and change that will provide security for the American people.
Finally, and I say this on a bipartisan basis, I know he will stand
up for Israel, and I know in that area we can come together. That
crisis is on us now. We may get a request at almost any time to act. We
need to be able to act. My friend will act on that crisis. He has shown
it his whole career.
It is with a great deal of pride that I have the privilege of
nominating my friend, our chairman of the Judiciary Committee, but a
person whose principles you know, whose actions you can trust, and who
in a time of crisis will respond with the leadership we need, Jim
Jordan.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from
California (Mr. Aguilar).
Mr. AGUILAR. Mr. Speaker pro tempore, I rise today at the direction
of the House Democratic Caucus to place into nomination for the
position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Honorable
Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
Here we are again, Mr. Speaker pro tempore, and I promise to make
these speeches shorter if we get closer to a compromise, but I am not
certain that is going to happen at this moment.
While the Republican candidate for Speaker is making late-night
backroom deals to secure the gavel, Leader Jeffries has once again
extended the hand of bipartisanship for a path forward.
One thing was very clear yesterday, the vote total: 212-200. The
People's House has spoken and Leader Jeffries has the support to be the
Speaker that this country needs. Mr. Speaker pro tempore, 212-200, no
amount of election denying is going to take away from those vote
totals.
Mr. Speaker pro tempore, we shouldn't be surprised at the vote count.
I noted yesterday the legislative acumen of the gentleman from Ohio.
Would it surprise anyone that in addition to not passing a single piece
of legislation, he has never put up a piece of legislation that has
made it to a committee?
The Speaker of the House must be a legislator, and the gentleman from
Ohio falls short in that regard. He supports an extreme agenda and is
hell-bent on banning abortion nationwide, gutting Medicare, gutting
Social Security, and giving cover to January 6 attackers. Those aren't
the values that we share.
If we don't see a Speaker elected in this round, there is going to be
another candidate, another internal Republican Conference vote, and a
secret ballot. The country can't afford more delays and more chaos.
Fifteen days should be enough.
House Democrats are united on this path forward. We are united behind
Hakeem Jeffries. We are united to put people over politics, to lower
costs, create better paying jobs, build safer communities, and defend
democracy.
Once again, we are coming together to achieve this common goal, and
that is to make Hakeem Jeffries Speaker of the House of
Representatives.
Mr. Speaker pro tempore, Hakeem Jeffries has done what we haven't
seen from the other side of the aisle, and that is to keep the Caucus
united. When extreme MAGA Republicans vowed to send our country into a
devastating default, it was Leader Jeffries who led House Democrats to
reject the extremism and keep the government open. Mr. Speaker pro
tempore, we have the vote totals to back that up.
It has been Leader Jeffries and House Democrats who have shown a
willingness and a conviction to keep our promise to deliver for
American families, and it will be Hakeem Jeffries who moves our body
and our country forward on a bipartisan path.
Mr. Speaker pro tempore, who on the other side of the aisle will take
``yes'' for an answer and work with us to achieve three common goals?
My colleague and good friend, the gentleman from Oklahoma, mentioned
one of them: supporting assistance to Israel. What he left out was
assistance to Ukraine and our national security objective.
Second, above all else, we must commit to keeping this government
open and functioning.
Finally, Mr. Speaker pro tempore, we need to put this body on a
bipartisan path to achieve real results for the American public. That
is what we were sent to do. That is what we need to do. That is why
Hakeem Jeffries is the leader we need at this time to lead this
Chamber.
Mr. Speaker pro tempore, I would like to nominate Hakeem Jeffries as
Speaker of the House.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. There being no further nominations, the
Reading Clerk will now call the roll.
The tellers having taken their places, the House proceeded to vote
for the Speaker.
The following is the result of the vote:
[Roll No. 523]
JEFFRIES--212
Adams
Aguilar
Allred
Auchincloss
Balint
Barragan
Beatty
Bera
Beyer
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Bonamici
Bowman
Boyle (PA)
Brown
Brownley
Budzinski
Bush
Caraveo
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carson
Carter (LA)
Cartwright
Casar
Case
Casten
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Cherfilus-McCormick
Chu
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Cleaver
Clyburn
Cohen
Connolly
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Craig
Crockett
Crow
Cuellar
Davids (KS)
Davis (IL)
Davis (NC)
Dean (PA)
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Deluzio
DeSaulnier
Dingell
Doggett
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Evans
Fletcher
Foster
Foushee
Frankel, Lois
Frost
Gallego
Garamendi
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Garcia, Robert
Golden (ME)
Goldman (NY)
Gomez
Gonzalez, Vicente
Gottheimer
Green, Al (TX)
Grijalva
Harder (CA)
Hayes
Higgins (NY)
Himes
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Hoyle (OR)
Huffman
Ivey
Jackson (IL)
Jackson (NC)
Jackson Lee
Jacobs
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Kamlager-Dove
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim (NJ)
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster
Landsman
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Lee (PA)
Leger Fernandez
Levin
Lieu
Lofgren
Lynch
Magaziner
Manning
Matsui
McBath
McClellan
McCollum
McGarvey
McGovern
Meeks
Menendez
Meng
Mfume
Moore (WI)
Morelle
Moskowitz
Moulton
Mrvan
Mullin
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Nickel
Norcross
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Pallone
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Peltola
Perez
Peters
Pettersen
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Pressley
Quigley
Ramirez
Raskin
Ross
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Ryan
Salinas
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Scholten
Schrier
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Sewell
Sherman
Sherrill
Slotkin
Smith (WA)
Sorensen
Soto
Spanberger
Stansbury
Stanton
Stevens
Strickland
Swalwell
Sykes
Takano
Thanedar
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Titus
Tlaib
Tokuda
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres (NY)
Trahan
Trone
Underwood
Vargas
Vasquez
Veasey
Velazquez
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Wexton
Wild
Williams (GA)
Wilson (FL)
JORDAN--199
Aderholt
Alford
Allen
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Babin
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Bean (FL)
Bentz
Bergman
Bice
Biggs
Bilirakis
Bishop (NC)
Boebert
Bost
Brecheen
Bucshon
Burchett
Burgess
Burlison
Calvert
Cammack
Carey
Carl
Carter (GA)
Carter (TX)
Ciscomani
Cline
Cloud
Clyde
Cole
[[Page H5028]]
Collins
Comer
Crane
Crawford
Crenshaw
Curtis
Davidson
De La Cruz
DesJarlais
Donalds
Duarte
Duncan
Dunn (FL)
Edwards
Emmer
Estes
Ezell
Fallon
Feenstra
Finstad
Fischbach
Fitzgerald
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Flood
Foxx
Franklin, Scott
Fry
Fulcher
Gaetz
Gallagher
Garcia, Mike
Good (VA)
Gooden (TX)
Gosar
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Greene (GA)
Griffith
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Hageman
Harris
Harshbarger
Hern
Higgins (LA)
Hill
Hinson
Houchin
Hudson
Huizenga
Hunt
Issa
Jackson (TX)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Kean (NJ)
Kelly (MS)
Kiley
Kim (CA)
Kustoff
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Langworthy
Latta
LaTurner
Lee (FL)
Lesko
Letlow
Loudermilk
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Luna
Luttrell
Mace
Malliotakis
Mann
Massie
Mast
McCarthy
McCaul
McClain
McClintock
McCormick
McHenry
Meuser
Miller (IL)
Miller (OH)
Miller (WV)
Mills
Molinaro
Moolenaar
Mooney
Moore (AL)
Moore (UT)
Moran
Murphy
Nehls
Newhouse
Norman
Nunn (IA)
Obernolte
Ogles
Owens
Palmer
Pence
Perry
Pfluger
Posey
Reschenthaler
Rodgers (WA)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose
Rosendale
Rouzer
Roy
Salazar
Santos
Scalise
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Self
Sessions
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smucker
Spartz
Steel
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Strong
Tenney
Thompson (PA)
Tiffany
Timmons
Turner
Valadao
Van Drew
Van Duyne
Van Orden
Wagner
Walberg
Waltz
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westerman
Williams (NY)
Williams (TX)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Yakym
Zinke
SCALISE--7
Diaz-Balart
Ferguson
Gonzales, Tony
Granger
Rutherford
Simpson
Womack
McCARTHY--5
Bacon
Chavez-DeRemer
Gimenez
Kiggans (VA)
Lawler
ZELDIN--3
D'Esposito
Garbarino
LaLota
DONALDS--1
Buchanan
EMMER--1
Buck
GARCIA, MIKE--1
Ellzey
BOEHNER--1
Kelly (PA)
GRANGER--1
Miller-Meeks
WESTERMAN--1
Stauber
CANDICE MILLER (MI)--1
James
ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--0
NOT VOTING--0
{time} 1315
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The tellers agree in their tallies that the
total number of votes cast is 433, of which the Honorable Jim Jordan
of the State of Ohio has received 199, the Honorable Hakeem Jeffries of
the State of New York has received 212, the Honorable Kevin McCarthy of
the State of California has received 5, the Honorable Byron Donalds of
the State of Florida has received 1, the Honorable Tom Emmer of the
State of Minnesota has received 1, the Honorable Lee Zeldin of the
State of New York has received 3, the Honorable Steve Scalise of the
State of Louisiana has received 7, the Honorable Mike Garcia of the
State of California has received 1, the Honorable Candice Miller of the
State of Michigan has received 1, the Honorable John Boehner of the
State of Ohio has received 1, the Honorable Kay Granger of the State of
Texas has received 1, and the Honorable Bruce Westerman of the State of
Arkansas has received 1.
No person having received a majority of the whole number of votes
cast by surname, a Speaker has not been elected.
____________________