[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 12, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H6828-H6832]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1147, WHOLE MILK FOR HEALTHY KIDS
ACT OF 2023; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 357, ENSURING
ACCOUNTABILITY IN AGENCY RULEMAKING ACT; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules,
I call up House Resolution 922 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 922
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. 1147) to amend the Richard B. Russell National
School Lunch Act to allow schools that participate in the
school lunch program under such Act to serve whole milk. 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 Education and
the Workforce or their respective designees. After general
debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the
five-minute rule. The amendment in the nature of a substitute
recommended by the Committee on Education and the Workforce
now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted in the
House and in the Committee of the Whole. The bill, as
amended, shall be considered as the original bill for the
purpose of further amendment under the five-minute rule and
shall be considered as read. All points of order against
provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. No further
amendment to the bill, as amended, shall be in order except
those printed in the report of the Committee on Rules
accompanying this resolution. Each such further amendment may
be offered only in the order printed in
[[Page H6829]]
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, and shall not be subject to a demand
for division of the question in the House or in the Committee
of the Whole. All points of order against such further
amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of
the bill 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. 2. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in
order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 357) to require
the head of an agency to issue and sign any rule issued by
that agency, and for other purposes. All points of order
against consideration of the bill are waived. The amendment
in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on
the Judiciary now printed in the bill 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 the Judiciary or their respective
designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.
Sec. 3. Notwithstanding section 3(z) of House Resolution
5, on any legislative day of the second session of the One
Hundred Eighteenth Congress before January 9, 2024-- (a) the
Speaker may dispense with organizational and legislative
business; and (b) the Journal of the proceedings of the
previous day shall be considered as approved if applicable.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Minnesota is recognized
for 1 hour.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. 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
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Minnesota?
There was no objection.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. Speaker, we are here today to debate the rule
providing for consideration of H.R. 357 and H.R. 1147. It provides a
structured rule for H.R. 1147 and makes in order bipartisan and
Republican amendments, provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and
controlled by the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and
provides one motion to recommit. The rule further provides for
consideration of H.R. 357 under a closed rule, with 1 hour of debate
equally divided and controlled by the Committee on the Judiciary and
one motion to recommit.
Under our Constitution, those who make the laws are accountable to
those who elect them. Career Federal employees are not beholden to the
voters of this Nation, and yet unelected bureaucrats across the Federal
agencies--in one case in particular, a single low-level career
employee--have been making thousands of rules that impact this
country's voters and taxpayers.
According to a recent Pacific Legal Foundation study, career
employees and unconfirmed officials issued over 70 percent of the rules
at the Department of Health and Human Services between 2001 and 2017.
These rules have economic impacts on the people of this country, just
as the laws we pass in this Chamber do, yet we are accountable to the
voters who elect us. Federal employees are accountable to no one.
Former President Trump addressed this issue with an executive order
that required agencies' informal notice-and-comment rules to be
initiated and signed by senior appointees, with exceptions. The Biden
administration has revoked that. As a result of revoking this order, in
2021, Congress passed just 143 laws while Federal agencies issued 3,257
rules, costing taxpayers $1.927 trillion, or the equivalent of $14,684
per household.
According to the study, only 2 percent of the Food and Drug
Administration's rules were issued by principal officers, and 25 of
these rules had an impact on the American economy of at least $100
million or had other substantial economic impacts. That means unelected
bureaucrats, who are not accountable to the taxpayers, are costing
those taxpayers thousands upon thousands of dollars.
This majority has made a commitment to ensuring our Federal
Government is held accountable. The Ensuring Accountability in Agency
Rulemaking Act would lessen the power of career civil servants who are
not accountable to the taxpayer. It would require, with exceptions,
that rules be issued and signed by presidentially nominated and Senate-
confirmed appointees. This upholds the Constitution by putting
decisions in the hands of those who are held accountable to the
American people. It improves the ways this government is by the people
and for the people.
We are also here to discuss the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. Mr.
Speaker, coming from one of the top dairy producing districts in the
country, I am proud to stand here in support of this legislation. The
bill expands milk options for the school lunch programs under the
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to include flavored,
unflavored, whole, and reduced-fat milks.
Whole milk has been demonized as unhealthy, but it is full of the
calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein that growing kids need.
Since the misguided Obama-era regulations were put in place that the
Biden administration has chosen to continue, rather than seeing health
improve, we have continued to see child health decline. We also have
fewer people participating in the school lunch programs. Like many of
the regulations that took place at the time, the milk restrictions are
not having their intended effect.
Meanwhile, dairy farmers in my district are struggling. Milk prices
and demand remain stubbornly low, in most cases below the margin of
your average dairy farm. For what purpose? Because the Federal
Government places arbitrary restrictions on the meals our children can
enjoy?
This bill is a win-win for children and producers alike. It gets kids
the nutrients they need while giving schools more flexibility to meet
the needs of their students, and it provides a larger market for dairy
farmers to sell their delicious product they stand proudly behind.
Mr. Speaker, I support the underlying legislation, urge all Members
to do so, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for
yielding the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is here in the Capitol today. The
President of Ukraine left his war-torn country to come to the United
States to plead for our help in repelling Putin's murderous and
unlawful invasion, in protecting his people, and in preserving their
democracy.
As he did so, Putin unleashed a devastating missile attack on Kyiv
and was captured on video drinking champagne and toasting the downfall
of Ukraine if its Western allies falter.
President Zelenskyy came here to ask the United States to stand tall
and honor its commitment to an ally, its commitment to democracy, and
its commitment to upholding international law. In response, the United
States House of Representatives is debating the merits of chocolate
milk.
We will not long remember the MAGA majority's great gas stove war of
2023 or their attempts to make it easier to kill the endangered lesser
prairie-chicken, but the sad fact is, these bills have consumed weeks
of precious floor time this year as the House majority struggles to
pass any legislation of note.
{time} 1230
The world will, however, remember if the United States fails to
support Ukraine in its hour of need.
President Zelenskyy, our NATO allies, and the American people should
expect better from this Congress. Under this extremist majority, they
are doomed to disappointment, which again brings us here today to
debate chocolate milk.
When I was home this past weekend, I had the chance to talk with many
of
[[Page H6830]]
my constituents. I met with women small business owners to discuss
their challenges. I talked to college students about their concerns
regarding attacks on reproductive freedom here in the United States. I
gathered with people in our community who have lost loved ones,
neighbors, and friends to gun violence, and I listened to their calls
for action on commonsense gun safety legislation.
Overwhelmingly, people came to talk to me about making our country a
place where all Americans, all children, can thrive. That means
bringing down the cost of healthcare, childcare, household energy, and
high-speed internet so families can care for their kids, heat their
homes, and stay connected. This means investing in infrastructure,
good-paying jobs, and public education so we can strengthen our
economy, lower costs, build safer communities, and create opportunities
so everyone has a shot at a brighter future.
These are the things I came to Congress to do.
In these last legislative days of the year, these aren't the things
that House Republicans are doing. I would call it unbelievable except
we have seen the same story play out over and over again in this
Chamber all year.
For months on end, MAGA extremists have dragged our country to the
brink of default, nearly shut down the government twice, and even
ousted their own Speaker. Pushed by the most extreme members of their
Conference, they have brought chaos to the House floor. They have put
up bills only for them to tank and have to be withdrawn as they fight
among themselves. They spent 25 days just arguing over which one of
them should be Speaker. This is all on the American people's dime.
Now, with pressing challenges at home and around the world, they are
pushing a completely discredited impeachment inquiry and other naked
political stunts, all to distract from their own inability to govern.
They have done nothing to deliver for the American people, and
Americans deserve better than this.
House Republicans refuse to get their act together. Today, they have
brought to the floor two misguided and marginal bills that fail to
address any of the major threats or concerns our country or our
constituents face. Both bills open the door to the influence of more
special interests in our government's functions.
I should note that, today, we were supposed to consider two
additional bills impacting our national security and individual rights.
Due to infighting among Republicans and their own committee chairs,
these measures were pulled last night from the schedule, leaving us
with another wasted day of chaos and incompetence.
The first bill we have today is H.R. 1147, which makes changes to
school nutrition standards in a way that would undermine science and
undo important progress made over the past 13 years.
Schools play an essential role in our kids' health. For so many
children, the meals they get at school represent the majority of
calories and the most nutritious meals they consume all day.
We saw this reality clearly during the first days of the pandemic
when, as schools closed down, the prospect of missed school breakfasts
and lunches threatened the health of children across America.
The meals served in schools are based on the most recent set of
dietary guidelines as determined by child nutrition experts. These
guidelines stay current and are updated at least every 5 years. In
fact, in February of this year, the Biden-Harris administration began
the latest update.
When I served on my local school board, and before as a Home and
School president, I was involved in efforts to improve and implement
what was at the time new Federal improved nutrition standards for our
district's meals.
Through that experience, I know just how important nutritious meals
are to helping students succeed and form lifelong healthy habits. We
have seen immense benefits since Congress passed the Healthy, Hunger-
Free Kids Act in 2010.
The research shows that the millions of children who participate in
school meal programs have better overall diet quality than those who do
not. Studies prove, despite arguments to the contrary, that students
eat and enjoy these meals. When presented with healthy choices, they
take them.
Allowing whole milk, particularly flavored whole milk, to be served
in schools is against current dietary recommendations and against the
recommendation of experts, including the Academy of Nutrition and
Dietetics, the American Heart Association, and the American Academy of
Pediatrics.
We know that too much saturated fat can raise bad cholesterol levels,
a known cause of heart disease. Most troubling, many varieties of
flavored milk that are pushed by this bill contain unhealthy chemicals,
such as artificial colors and flavors, and nearly twice the amount of
sugar as plain milk.
At a time when one in five school-age children already has adverse
cholesterol levels, we should not be making it easier to serve
unhealthier meals in schools.
This bill blatantly ignores the science.
Even if you deny these facts, everyone should be able to admit we are
long overdue for a comprehensive child nutrition reauthorization. We
owe it to students and their families to consistently improve the meals
that schools are serving. The last comprehensive reauthorization of the
laws governing school meal programs was done 13 years ago.
I wish the Republican majority would spend more time helping to pass
comprehensive policies to support our schools as they work to provide
healthier and more satisfying meals to our students within current
nutritional standards. We should not waste time on this one-off change
to serve special interests that circumvent the normal process for
updating meal standards.
I think we owe it to our children, their health, and their futures to
let the experts guide what we are providing them to eat in schools. We
should not allow politicians to make the decisions in what should be a
science-based process.
Today, we are also considering H.R. 357, another attempt by the
Republican majority to derail the Federal rulemaking process. This is
an unnecessary and vague bill designed to undermine the critical work
of Federal agencies.
It is part of a MAGA narrative that unfairly and untruthfully paints
hardworking Federal employees, nonpartisan experts in their fields, as
faceless bureaucrats who are somehow hostile to everyday Americans.
The fact is that the regulatory process that our Republican
colleagues seek to frame as a battle against some vast bureaucratic
conspiracy is actually an essential part of ensuring that we all have
clean air and water to breathe and drink, healthy food to eat, and safe
planes, trains, and automobiles to travel in.
The truth is that Congress already has a wide range of ways to
exercise oversight and control over rulemaking.
If the majority is so concerned about improving the process, they
would join Democratic efforts to ensure corporate interests can't game
that process. They would advocate for incorporating more public
feedback in those agencies' decisions.
They don't really want to make the process better. Instead, bills
like this would create a bottleneck in our government's operations that
will prevent rules that the Republican majority doesn't like.
This bill would politicize the process of confirming nominees to
administrative agencies even more than it is already. Individual
Senators would have even more incentive to block an administration's
nomination for partisan and corporate goals. More corporate influence
would be allowed to infiltrate the Senate confirmation process.
Ultimately, our agencies would be obstructed from doing important work
to protect the American people's health and safety and making
government function better.
It is clear my Republican colleagues don't want to make our
government work better. These aren't traditional conservatives. They
are nihilists dedicated to grinding government to a halt.
With this bill and their previous efforts to decimate Federal
rulemaking, they prefer to upend the regulatory process, even if it
improves the lives of Americans every single day.
The Federal Government has long played an important role in promoting
[[Page H6831]]
the health, safety, and welfare of the American people. We should
ensure that it is able to continue doing so.
Again and again, we have seen this Republican majority prioritize the
wrong things this year, and today is no different. They are using
valuable floor time and committee time to pass marginal bills, enable
their own infighting, and launch an act of petty political vengeance
against the current President. Then, they are going to call it a year
and go home for the holidays. This is an unacceptable way to govern. It
is not governance at all.
Mr. Speaker, I deeply oppose this rule, and I reserve the balance of
my time.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. Speaker, I want to comment that rules and
rulemaking is one of the things that I hear from my constituents. It is
one of the most important things that they talk about and call me about
when they have concerns.
I think H.R. 357 simply makes the process accountable the way it
should be. We should not have bureaucrats making rules from D.C. for
farms in Minnesota or for a variety of streams and waterways in
Minnesota when they are not there seeing it.
I think this is an important part of the government being responsive
and accountable to the American people. I find it very important that
we need to get the rulemaking under control.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from New York (Mr. Langworthy).
Mr. LANGWORTHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the rule that
includes consideration of the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, an
important step to ensuring America's children have access to healthy,
nutritious options in their school cafeterias.
I represent the southern tier of New York, known for its proud
tradition of dairy farming. Today, the southern tier is one of the top
dairy-producing areas of the country. The entire Nation, including our
Nation's children, depend on the ability of farmers to make ends meet
and to get their products onto shelves, whether it is in our grocery
stores or our school cafeterias.
Time and again, we have listened to the challenges dairy farmers are
facing, from regulatory overreach, including from the Biden
administration, to the volatility in the marketplace that is putting
their long-term survival at risk.
The Biden administration's latest changes to the USDA Dietary
Guidelines, restricting access to whole milk for children in school
cafeterias, are certainly not helpful either.
Contrary to what this administration claims, the science is
indisputable here. Milk provides essential minerals and nutrients for
growing children. Sadly, thanks to the overreaching policies of
bureaucrats here in Washington, the vast majority of America's children
are unable to meet the recommended levels of dairy consumption
necessary for their health and growth.
Mr. Speaker, we need to ensure that all milk options, including whole
milk produced by dairy farmers like those in New York's southern tier,
are available to America's kids in school. That starts by passing H.R.
1147 and reversing the Biden administration's scientifically
unsubstantiated Dietary Guidelines.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a cosponsor of the Whole Milk for
Healthy Kids Act. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee, I
look forward to supporting this legislation and ensuring that we don't
take healthy, nutritious whole milk from America's kids.
Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The epidemic of gun violence has touched every corner of America,
tragically devastating families, tearing apart communities, and
scarring schoolchildren.
In 2022, nearly 50,000 people died by guns, an average of one person
every 11 minutes. This includes almost 20,000 homicides. Mass shootings
skyrocketed from 272 in 2014 to 645 last year. In 2020, firearms became
the leading cause of death for American children and adolescents. From
2013 to 2022, there was a staggering 87 percent increase in the child
and teen firearm death rate.
In 2023, the heartbreak has only continued. As of today, there have
been over 40,000 lives lost and over 630 mass shootings. Over 800
schoolchildren 11 years old or under have been killed or injured with
guns. Over 4,000 school-age teens have been touched by gun violence.
The American people are crying out for Congress to act. Yet, the
House of Representatives is using its precious time to debate chocolate
milk. The American people deserve better.
House Democrats are ready to work with Republicans to tackle this
epidemic. If we defeat the previous question today, I will offer an
amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 715, a bipartisan bill to
require a background check for every firearm sale.
Mr. 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.
{time} 1245
Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Thompson).
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding. Like the gentlewoman, I spent my entire weekend in my
district, and not one person came to me asking me to change the law on
chocolate milk.
We have important work to do, Mr. Speaker, and I rise in support of
taking action to end the gun violence epidemic.
This holiday season, there will be another 40,000 empty chairs at the
dinner table because that is how many people died from gun violence in
2023.
We have had 636 mass shootings this year so far. We have had more
mass shootings than days of the year. On one day in April, there were
11 mass shootings.
In America, the greatest country in the history of the world, guns
are the leading cause of death for children and teenagers. American
children face the daily threat of gun violence in schools, churches,
temples, and mosques. They face the risk of gun violence in grocery
stores, shopping centers, and in their own homes.
Instead of taking action to protect our kids from gun violence, House
Republicans have used valuable floor time playing political games, and
this week is just more of the same.
Recently, a House Republican colleague stood on this floor and begged
for anyone in their party to come to the floor and name one
accomplishment that the Republicans have been able to do that would
allow people's lives to be made better.
There is an accomplishment in reach. Today, I call on Republicans to
join Democrats and pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act.
Background checks are popular. They are supported by over 90 percent of
the American people, including a majority of Republicans and even a
majority of NRA members.
Mr. Speaker, background checks are effective. Every day, background
checks stop more than 160 felons and more than 60 domestic abusers from
getting a gun from a federally licensed dealer.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the
gentleman.
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to
oppose the previous question so we can pass the Bipartisan Background
Checks Act, save lives, and help ensure that more American families
never have to suffer the loss of a loved one.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, as well, and I
yield myself the balance of my time.
With the rule we consider today, the Republican majority ends a
failed year in the choke hold of its most extreme members. They are
finishing out 2023 as they started: unproductive, ineffective, and
unconcerned for the American people. They have ignored the real
problems facing our Nation today, issues like the gun violence crisis,
ongoing threats to Americans' fundamental freedoms, access to economic
opportunity and good-paying jobs, and threats to our national security.
[[Page H6832]]
They have filled this Chamber with culture wars and conspiracies and
pushed policies that would hurt our children, families, students,
seniors, members of the Armed Forces, and workers. They have turned
their backs on our allies: democracies standing in the breach against
forces that pose serious threats to our own national security. They
have wasted days, weeks, and months with cheap political stunts all to
the detriment and on the dime of our constituents.
Congress is supposed to work for the people, and this is not what the
people sent us here to do.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to put people over politics and to
oppose the previous question and the rule, and I yield back the balance
of my time.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I do just want to comment that I was in my district this weekend, and
I heard a lot about out-of-control rulemaking at the Federal level by
the government in general.
Do you know what, Mr. Speaker?
I did hear about whole milk, so I do think the issues we are dealing
with are of concern to the American people.
Moreover, I am proud of my colleagues for following through on their
commitments to the American people. The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act
directly responds to constituents who want to expand the options for
healthy drinks in our school. Expanding the Richard B. Russell National
School Lunch Act to include flavored, unflavored, whole, and reduced
fat milk options decreases the control Washington has over the day-to-
day choices Americans make and increases the chance that a kid will
reach for a milk over a soda.
The Ensuring Accountability in Agency Rulemaking Act holds the
government accountable by requiring rules made in Federal agencies to
be issued and signed by presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed
appointees, ensuring the rules made in Federal agencies are beholden to
taxpayers' priorities.
Mr. Speaker, I support the rule and the underlying legislation.
The material previously referred to by Ms. Scanlon is as follows:
An Amendment to H. Res. 922 Offered by Ms. Scanlon of Pennsylvania
At the end of the resolution, add the following:
Sec. 4. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the
House shall proceed to consideration of the bill (H.R. 715)
to require a background check for every firearm sale. All
points of order against consideration of the bill are waived.
The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order
against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous
question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on
any amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening
motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and
controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees; and
(2) one motion to recommit.
Sec. 5. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the
consideration of H.R. 715.
Mrs. FISCHBACH. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and
I move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. 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.
____________________