Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 10 (Thursday, January 18, 2024)

[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 10 (Thursday, January 18, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H219-H225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

AUTHORIZING FULLY ELECTRONIC STAMPS

Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 2872) to amend the Permanent
Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2013 to allow the Secretary of the
Interior to issue electronic stamps under such Act, and for other
purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:
Senate amendment:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Further Additional
Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

The table of contents of this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short Title.

[[Page H220]]

Sec. 2. Table of Contents.
Sec. 3. References.

DIVISION A--FURTHER ADDITIONAL CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024

DIVISION B--OTHER MATTERS

Title I--Health and Human Services
Title lI--Compacts
Title lII--Counter-UAS Authorities
Title IV--Budgetary Effects

SEC. 3. REFERENCES.

Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference to
``this Act'' contained in any division of this Act shall be
treated as referring only to the provisions of that division.

DIVISION A--FURTHER ADDITIONAL CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024

Sec. 101. The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024
(division A of Public Law 118-15) is further amended--
(1) by striking the date specified in section 106(3) and
inserting ``March 8, 2024'';
(2) by striking the date specified in section 106(4) and
inserting ``March 1, 2024'';
(3) in section 123, by striking ``94 days'' and inserting
``129 days'' and by striking ``94-day'' and inserting ``129-
day'';
(4) in section 124, by striking ``$663,070,000'' and
inserting ``$2,199,260,000''; and
(5) by adding after section 146 the following new sections:
``Sec. 147. (a) Amounts made available by section 101 for
`Department of Energy--Atomic Energy Defense Activities--
National Nuclear Security Administration--Weapons Activities'
may be apportioned up to the rate for operations necessary to
mitigate issuing WARN notices for `06-D-141 Uranium
Processing Facility, Y-12' in an amount not to exceed
$760,000,000.
``(b) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall notify the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate not later than 3 days after
each use of the authority provided in this section, and the
Secretary of Energy shall provide a weekly report to the
Committees specifying the obligations incurred for the
purposes specified in subsection (a) with amounts made
available in this Act.
``Sec. 148. Amounts made available by section 101 for
`Department of Transportation--Federal Aviation
Administration--Operations' may be apportioned up to the rate
for operations necessary to fund mandatory pay increases and
other inflationary adjustments, to maintain and improve air
traffic services, to hire and train air traffic controllers,
and to continue aviation safety oversight, while avoiding
service reductions.''.
This division may be cited as the ``Further Additional
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024''.

DIVISION B--OTHER MATTERS

TITLE I--HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Subtitle A--Public Health Extenders

SEC. 101. EXTENSION FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS, NATIONAL
HEALTH SERVICE CORPS, AND TEACHING HEALTH
CENTERS THAT OPERATE GME PROGRAMS.

(a) Teaching Health Centers That Operate Graduate Medical
Education Programs.--Section 340H(g)(1) of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256h(g)) is amended by striking ``and
$21,834,247 for the period beginning on November 18, 2023,
and ending on January 19, 2024'' and inserting ``$21,834,247
for the period beginning on November 18, 2023, and ending on
January 19, 2024, and $16,982,192 for the period beginning on
January 20, 2024, and ending on March 8, 2024''.
(b) Extension for Community Health Centers.--Section
10503(b)(1)(F) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act (42 U.S.C. 254b-2(b)(1)(F)) is amended by striking ``and
$690,410,959 for the period beginning on November 18, 2023,
and ending on January 19, 2024'' and inserting ``$690,410,959
for the period beginning on November 18, 2023, and ending on
January 19, 2024, and $536,986,301 for the period beginning
on January 20, 2024, and ending on March 8, 2024''.
(c) Extension for the National Health Service Corps.--
Section 10503(b)(2)(I) of the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 254b-2(b)(2)(I)) is amended by
striking ``and $53,506,849 for the period beginning on
November 18, 2023, and ending on January 19, 2024'' and
inserting ``$53,506,849 for the period beginning on November
18, 2023, and ending on January 19, 2024, and $41,616,438 for
the period beginning on January 20, 2024, and ending on March
8, 2024''.
(d) Application of Provisions.--Amounts appropriated
pursuant to the amendments made by this section shall be
subject to the requirements contained in Public Law 117-328
for funds for programs authorized under sections 330 through
340 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et
seq.).
(e) Conforming Amendment.--Section 3014(h)(4) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended by striking ``and section
201(d) of the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other
Extensions Act, 2024'' and inserting ``section 201(d) of the
Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act,
2024, and section 101(d) of the Further Additional Continuing
Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024''.

SEC. 102. EXTENSION OF SPECIAL DIABETES PROGRAMS.

(a) Extension of Special Diabetes Programs for Type I
Diabetes.--Section 330B(b)(2)(E) of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 254c-2(b)(2)(E)) is amended by striking ``and
$25,890,411 for the period beginning on November 18, 2023,
and ending on January 19, 2024'' and inserting ``$25,890,411
for the period beginning on November 18, 2023, and ending on
January 19, 2024, and $20,136,986 for the period beginning on
January 20, 2024, and ending on March 8, 2024''.
(b) Extending Funding for Special Diabetes Programs for
Indians.--Section 330C(c)(2)(E) of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 254c-3(c)(2)(E)) is amended by striking ``and
$25,890,411 for the period beginning on November 18, 2023,
and ending on January 19, 2024'' and inserting ``$25,890,411
for the period beginning on November 18, 2023, and ending on
January 19, 2024, and $20,136,986 for the period beginning on
January 20, 2024, and ending on March 8, 2024''.

SEC. 103. NATIONAL HEALTH SECURITY EXTENSIONS.

(a) Section 319(e)(8) of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 247d(e)(8)) is amended by striking ``January 19,
2024'' and inserting ``March 8, 2024''.
(b) Section 319L(e)(1)(D) of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 247d-7e(e)(1)(D)) is amended by striking ``January
19, 2024'' and inserting ``March 8, 2024''.
(c) Section 319L-1(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 247d-7f(b)) is amended by striking ``January 19,
2024'' and inserting ``March 8, 2024''.
(d)(1) Section 2811A(g) of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 300hh-10b(g)) is amended by striking ``January 19,
2024'' and inserting ``March 8, 2024''.
(2) Section 2811B(g)(1) of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 300hh-10c(g)(1)) is amended by striking ``January
19, 2024'' and inserting ``March 8, 2024''.
(3) Section 2811C(g)(1) of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 300hh-10d(g)(1)) is amended by striking ``January
19, 2024'' and inserting ``March 8, 2024''.
(e) Section 2812(c)(4)(B) of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 300hh-11(c)(4)(B)) is amended by striking
``January 19, 2024'' and inserting ``March 8, 2024''.

Subtitle B--Medicaid

SEC. 121. DELAYING CERTAIN DISPROPORTIONATE SHARE PAYMENT
CUTS.

Section 1923(f)(7)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396r-4(f)(7)(A)) is amended by striking ``January 20, 2024''
each place it appears and inserting ``March 9, 2024''.

SEC. 122. MEDICAID IMPROVEMENT FUND REDUCTION.

Section 1941(b)(3)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1396w-1(b)(3)(A)) is amended by striking ``$5,796,117,810''
and inserting ``$5,140,428,729''.

Subtitle C--Medicare

SEC. 131. EXTENSION OF THE WORK GEOGRAPHIC INDEX FLOOR UNDER
THE MEDICARE PROGRAM.

Section 1848(e)(1)(E) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395w-4(e)(1)(E)) is amended by striking ``January 20, 2024''
and inserting ``March 9, 2024''.

SEC. 132. MEDICARE IMPROVEMENT FUND.

Section 1898(b)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395iii(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``$2,250,795,056'' and
inserting ``$2,197,795,056''.

Subtitle D--Human Services

SEC. 141. EXTENSION OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES PROGRAMS.

Activities authorized by part B of title IV of the Social
Security Act shall continue through March 8, 2024, in the
manner authorized for fiscal year 2023, and out of any money
in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise
appropriated, there are hereby appropriated such sums as may
be necessary for such purpose.

SEC. 142. SEXUAL RISK AVOIDANCE EDUCATION EXTENSION.

Section 510 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 710) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)--
(A) by striking ``and'' after ``November 17, 2023,''; and
(B) by inserting ``and for the period beginning on January
20, 2024, and ending on March 8, 2024,'' after ``January 19,
2024,''; and
(2) in subsection (f)(1)--
(A) by striking ``and'' before ``for the period beginning
on November 18, 2023,''; and
(B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``, and
for the period beginning on January 20, 2024, and ending on
March 8, 2024, an amount equal to the pro rata portion of the
amount appropriated for the corresponding period for fiscal
year 2023.''.

SEC. 143. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY EDUCATION EXTENSION.

Section 513 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 713) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding clause
(i)--
(i) by striking ``and'' after ``November 17, 2023,''; and
(ii) by inserting ``and for the period beginning on January
20, 2024, and ending on March 8, 2024,'' after ``January 19,
2024,''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B)(i)--
(i) by striking ``and'' after ``November 17, 2023,''; and
(ii) by inserting ``, and for the period beginning on
January 20, 2024, and ending on March 8, 2024'' after
``January 19, 2024''; and
(2) in subsection (f)--
(A) by striking ``and'' before ``for the period beginning
on November 18, 2023,''; and
(B) by striking ``fiscal year 2023.'' and inserting
``fiscal year 2023, and for the period beginning on January
20, 2024, and ending on March 8, 2024, an amount equal to the
pro rata portion of the amount appropriated for the
corresponding period for fiscal year 2023.''.

[[Page H221]]

TITLE II--COMPACTS

SEC. 201. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE COMPACTS OF
FREE ASSOCIATION WITH THE FEDERATED STATES OF
MICRONESIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL
ISLANDS.

Section 2101(a)(1) of the Continuing Appropriations Act,
2024 and Other Extensions Act (Public Law 118-15; 137 Stat.
81; 137 Stat. 114) is amended by striking ``February 2,
2024'' and inserting ``March 8, 2024''.

TITLE III--COUNTER-UAS AUTHORITIES

SEC. 301. COUNTER-UAS AUTHORITIES.

Section 210G(i) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6
U.S.C. 124n(i)) is amended by striking ``February 3, 2024''
and inserting ``March 9, 2024''.

TITLE IV--BUDGETARY EFFECTS

SEC. 401. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

(a) Statutory PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of
this division shall not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard
maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay-As-
You-Go Act of 2010.
(b) Senate PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of this
division shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard
maintained for purposes of section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71
(115th Congress).
(c) Classification of Budgetary Effects.--Notwithstanding
Rule 3 of the Budget Scorekeeping Guidelines set forth in the
joint explanatory statement of the committee of conference
accompanying Conference Report 105-217 and section 250(c)(8)
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985, the budgetary effects of this division shall not be
estimated--
(1) for purposes of section 251 of such Act;
(2) for purposes of an allocation to the Committee on
Appropriations pursuant to section 302(a) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974; and
(3) for purposes of paragraph (4)(C) of section 3 of the
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 as being included in an
appropriation Act.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Granger) and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro)
each will control 20 minutes.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I rise to claim the time in opposition.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentlewoman from Connecticut opposed
to the motion?
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I am not opposed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. On that basis, pursuant to the rule, the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr.
Roy) each will control 20 minutes.
The gentlewoman from Texas is recognized.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to yield 10
minutes of my time to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro),
and that she be allowed to control that time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the short-term
continuing resolution. While we have made progress in our efforts to
finish fiscal year 2024 bills, Congress has much more work to do, and
more time is needed to negotiate bills both sides can support.
The House and Senate took very different approaches in this year's
bills, and finding common ground will not be easy. However, now that
the Speaker has negotiated a top line, we can move forward.
I want to be clear. As we begin to conference these bills, House
Republicans are committed to fighting for meaningful policy changes.
I thank the Speaker for his reasonable plan to keep the government
open and give Congress more time to negotiate.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this CR, and I reserve
the balance of my time.

{time} 1545

Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, first of all, let me step back and wish the chair of
the Appropriations Committee, Ms. Granger, a happy birthday.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this continuing resolution, which
I hope is the last of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process.
This continuing resolution keeps the government open while the
Appropriations Committees in the House and the Senate continue
bipartisan negotiations on final 2024 funding bills that are in line
with the agreement we have had since last June.
I am encouraged by the conversations that have taken place since the
top-line numbers were reaffirmed in the Schumer-Johnson agreement, and
I appreciate the good faith and the respectful four-corner negotiation
that took place to put forward this continuing resolution.
I hope the current pace and tone will result in swiftly finalizing
all 2024 funding bills in a bipartisan fashion.
I might add that I think the Senate just voted a short time ago,
overwhelmingly, I think, 77-18, to move forward the appropriations
bills.
House Republicans wasted the entire duration of the first continuing
resolution and most of the second arguing over 2024 funding levels they
agreed to last summer. However, I believe we have finally moved on from
that charade, and there is now a mutual understanding that the only way
to finally end the saga of 2024 funding is to write appropriations
bills that can earn the support of both Democrats and Republicans in
the House and Senate, bills that will likely need to pass under
suspension of the rules like the bill we are considering today.
While there may be a Republican majority on paper, more than 200
Democrats will be needed to keep the government's lights on and ensure
that the American people have uninterrupted access to the services and
programs that help their families stay healthy, boost our economy, and
keep us safe and secure.
That is why Democrats in both Chambers have also made clear that the
final funding bill cannot include any poison pill riders.
In addition to negotiating and passing the 12 appropriations bills,
Congress still must respond to President Biden's supplemental request
for our urgent national security needs. We must quickly provide
additional support to Ukraine in their fight against Russian tyranny.
We cannot allow Vladimir Putin to be rewarded for perpetuating a
pointless and bloody war. We cannot allow Russia to bully sovereign
nations into ceding their territory to a tyrant.
We know Putin believes that ``Russia's borders do not end anywhere.''
He is profoundly mistaken, and we must prove him definitively wrong.
We must also support Israel's efforts to defeat Hamas while ensuring
we do everything possible to protect innocent lives and provide
humanitarian aid.
Finally, we must work in good faith to resolve the very difficult and
critical issues at our southern border. We have to come to a bipartisan
compromise and show the American people Congress is still able to
address urgent crises.
Congress must avoid a shutdown. We must enact full-year spending
bills and emergency assistance for Ukraine, for Israel, and for the
civilians caught in the crossfire, as well as for our border and for
the American people, as soon as possible. To those ends, let this be
our last continuing resolution.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I do rise in opposition to the legislation that was
just sent to the United States House of Representatives from the United
States Senate.
I just spent a good deal of time going around the country, traveling
to Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Madam Speaker, you might
imagine why.
I spoke to thousands of Americans. Not one American said: Please,
Congressman Roy, add more money to the debt. Please, Congressman Roy,
keep spending money we don't have. Keep deficit spending every year,
bankrupting our kids and grandkids.
Nonetheless, that is precisely what we are doing yet again, kicking
the can down the road. That is what we do. It is what we do best in
this Chamber. It is what we do best in Congress. It is why the American
people are so frustrated with this town and with the swamp because it
is a swamp that is entirely not drained.
We are sitting here doing the same thing again. It is Groundhog Day
in the House Chamber all the time, every day, yet again spending money
we don't have.
Last year, an agreement was reached with spending levels and caps.
Now, I didn't particularly love those levels

[[Page H222]]

and caps. A number of us didn't. There were supposedly some side deals.
Madam Speaker, does that sound swampy? Side deals. What was written
into the law? What was written into the law was a level that was
somewhere around a 1 percent reduction over last year's enormously
bloated omnibus spending level, a 1 percent cut.
Can this body possibly adhere to those caps? No. We can't do that.
Last year, we tried to fix this place. We tried to do appropriations
bills. We passed 10 appropriations bills out of the committee and 7
appropriations bills off the floor. We tried to restore regular order.
We had about 1,100 amendments. We tried to process those so the
American people could see their Chamber working again.
Nevertheless, what happened? Everything reverts back to the mean in
this town, the same old story because a side deal is cut. We have to
spend at a higher level, you see, Madam Speaker, and that is what is
going on back and forth between the Senate and the House.
The American people need to understand what is happening. This
continuing resolution will fund their government at the same level as
last year's massive omnibus spending bill that all of my
Republican colleagues, all of them with the exception of two in this
Chamber, were adamantly opposed to, voted against, spoke out against,
put press releases out against, and campaigned against, and they are
going to vote for it.

Right now, they are going to vote to continue to spend at that level.
Not only that, they are going to vote to continue to fund the radical
progressive policies embedded in it, continue to fund the bureaucracy
that is at war with the American people, continue to fund open borders,
and continue to fund Alejandro Mayorkas even as we attempt to impeach
him in the Homeland Security Committee.
We are going to fund him. We are going to fund those open borders. We
are going to fund the United Nations. We are going to fund the World
Health Organization. We are going to fund UNRWA to give money to the
Palestinians to give to Hamas.
We are going to campaign against those things, but we are going to
fund them.
My Democratic colleagues want to hide behind side deals rather than
adhere to the agreed-upon caps that would at least modestly reduce
spending by 1 percent.
That is what is happening in this Chamber, and we are going to do
this CR in order to buy time to cut a deal that will increase spending,
that will increase spending past the caps in order to honor side deals
and to actually increase the funding for a Federal Government that is
at war with the people whom I represent.
That is shameful. Under no circumstances should we vote for that.
Under no circumstances is this something that we should be supporting.
We should stay here and do our work, but, instead, people said: Why
can't you give the time back, Congressman Roy, so we can go catch our
planes before the snowstorm gets in?
I am sorry. I think maybe we should stay here and do our job and
actually find a way to cut spending like we campaign on over and over
again.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

General Leave

Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the measure under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Crane).
Mr. CRANE. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for her leadership,
and I thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Roy) for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I agree with Mr. Roy's comments. This continuing
resolution extends government funding at the same levels of the
lameduck Biden-Pelosi omnibus.
To be clear, this funding is going to continue funding Biden's
disastrous policies, such as the Biden border crisis, Biden's war on
American energy production, and a woke and weaponized bureaucracy.
Our Nation owes almost $34 trillion in debt and counting, and the
interest the Treasury Department must pay is steadily marching higher
and higher. Over the next decade, annual Federal Government deficits
are projected to double to nearly $3 trillion, and the cost of our
interest on the debt will exceed the Pentagon's budget within the next
10 years.
Our Speaker, Mr. Johnson, said he was the most conservative Speaker
we have ever had, yet here we are, putting this bill on the floor this
afternoon without conservative policy riders. Conservatives don't have
the chance to amend it. We are honoring the McCarthy-Schumer side deals
from the Fiscal Responsibility Act that led us to vacate Speaker
McCarthy in the first place.
Talk is cheap, and the American people deserve better.
The notion of fiscal discipline itself might as well be put in a time
capsule. Congress considers no budgets. Legislation never hits against
cost limitations. Every bipartisan disagreement is solved simply by
spending more on the pet programs of the opposing party.
This continuing resolution is a perfect example of how we have
arrived at this unsustainable fiscal situation, and I urge my
colleagues to oppose this legislation.
The last thing I want to say is that I think it is rich to hear some
of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle discussing the
sovereignty of the Ukraine border and how necessary it is to protect
their borders while we do nothing to protect our own.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Arizona for his comments.
I would note that, in this bill, we will be voting to fund, as I
said, a Department of Homeland Security responsible for the border
crisis with wide-open borders and continued funding for the CBP One app
being used to use parole abusively to flood the zone into Texas where
Texas is having to spend $12.5 billion doing the job of the Federal
Government.
We will fund the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, which lost track
of 85,000 migrant children, and the Environmental Protection Agency's
electric vehicle mandate to make two-thirds of new cars EVs by 2032,
destroying our economy and piling up EVs on the lots of car dealerships
around the country. We will fund the EPA's natural gas and methane
rule, destroying access to reliable energy. We will fund the EPA's
power plant rules aimed at knocking off coal and natural gas power
plants, making us wholly dependent on wind and sun for energy, the
unreliable energy that it is.
We will fund the IRS doling out billions in IRA tax credits to
corporations, many of them billion-dollar corporations.

We will fund the World Health Organization undermining our own
sovereignty and cozying up to the CCP.
We will fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, which supports Hamas over our ally
Israel. Even as we go out and give lip service to supporting Israel, we
will be voting to fund their enemies right now, today, on the floor of
the House.
We will fund the pro-China, anti-Israel United Nations Human Rights
Council.
We will fund a weaponized Department of Justice and FBI going after
parents like Scott Smith and Mark Houck.
I have more.
That is what we are doing. We are voting to fund a Federal
bureaucracy that is at war with the American people while we indebt our
children for generations.
Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr.
Good).
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Roy for yielding
time.
Here we go again. The more things change, the more things stay the
same.

[[Page H223]]

Fourteen months ago, we asked the American people to give us the
majority. They entrusted us with the majority, running primarily on
fiscal responsibility and securing the border. Thirteen months ago, we
roundly condemned the omnibus, the $1.6 trillion Christmas omnibus that
was put in place 13 months ago. Yet, we are operating today and now
extending the very Biden-Pelosi-Schumer policies that are bankrupting
the country, destroying the country, and under which the American
people are suffering.
Suffering, you ask. Yes. They are suffering under record 40-year high
inflation and 20-year high interest rates. The average American family
is paying $1,000 more a month for essentials than they were paying when
the President was first elected 3 years ago.

{time} 1600

We have a $200 billion monthly deficit, $2.5 trillion a year. As has
already been said, we are $34 trillion in national debt. We will be $36
trillion in debt by the time we get to this next election, and we have
the majority in one-half of the legislative branch.
When will that begin to account for something? When will that begin
to matter for something? When you have the majority in one branch or
one House of one branch, shouldn't you get half of what your policy
priorities are? Shouldn't you get half of your spending objectives?
Yet, what we seem to do over and over is decide what the Senate will
take, what the President will sign, and that is what we send to the
other body. That is what we send when we have the majority here in this
very House.
When is that going to matter? What are we prepared to do? What are
the red lines that we are willing to draw, and what are we not willing
to do just to keep government open?
We say that we are getting things done. We say that we are working
together. We say that we are showing that we can govern, and yet, we
are not even willing to risk a temporary pause in the 15 percent of the
nonessential part of the government in order to try to force change
here in Washington.
No. We are going to continue the status quo. We did this in May with
the failed responsibility act. We did it with the continuing resolution
in September. We did it with the continuing resolution in November. We
did it with the NDAA. We did it with the FISA extension without
reforms. Today, we are going to pass another major piece of
legislation, predominantly with Democrat votes, minority votes, when we
have the House majority.
This is a loser for the American people. It is a loser for the
country. How many times have we said on our side the border is the
fight to have. The polls overwhelmingly show that is the number one
issue of the American people. They blame the Biden administration. They
blame the President for his failed border policies that are
facilitating the border invasion. Just yesterday, 14 Democrats from the
minority party voted with us to condemn, denounce, and call for an end
to the President's open-border policies.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the
gentleman from Virginia.
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Speaker, we could have utilized that
momentum to attach border security to this continuing resolution. We
could have then dared the Senate to vote against it and dared the
Senate to vote against funding the government and securing the border,
and we failed to do even that.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, there are other things that we are funding that we
shouldn't: The ATF rule banning up to 40 million pistol braces; the ATF
rule massively expanding background checks without the consent of
Congress; the Department of Education's student debt cancellation
schemes, despite the Supreme Court ruling against them; public health
agencies like the CDC, the NIH, and FSA held unaccountable for COVID
tyranny, enforcing masks and vaccines upon our children; the Department
of Veterans Affairs vaccine mandate, which I have introduced
legislation to get rid of; the chief diversity officers at the
Department of Defense and throughout government, indoctrinating people,
pushing out a radical, leftist agenda with critical race theory and
DEI; the Pentagon's abortion travel fund; the FDA's rule allowing
abortion drugs to be shipped by mail; taxpayer-funded gender transition
surgeries at the Department of Defense.
We are funding all of that with taxpayer money and borrowed money. We
are indebting our kids and our grandkids to fund the bureaucrats that
are undermining the freedom of the American people, preventing them
from being able to prosper, according to the rights given to them by
the Almighty because this government is failing to do its job, and
worse, is interfering with their God-given rights to do what they want
to do for their families.
Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr.
Davidson).
Mr. DAVIDSON. Madam Speaker, I always tell people back home: Beware
of bipartisanship. The most bipartisan thing in Washington, D.C., is
bankrupting our country, if not financially, morally.
As my colleague from Texas just highlighted, it is not just the
spending; it is all the terrible policies that are attached to the
spending.
We can tell by the way the time is structured, but it is bipartisan.
It is 50/50 Republicans and Democrats. One of the mottos in the first
unit I was in in the Army was, ``Deeds Not Words.'' The words are so
good.
I was down at the border with the Speaker and 60 of my colleagues,
and we were going to fight. We were only going to fund a border that is
secure. We were going to fund the government, but only if we secure the
border. We were going to make the Senate a counteroffer, but by the
time we could even get back to this town, our Speaker had surrendered
to a four-corners deal, the very thing we said we wouldn't do.
It is the deeds that are the problem. If we were back in the
minority, we would be united again. We would be opposed to this. We
were just a year ago. We were opposed to it. The words were good, and
the deeds were also good, but now when we have the chance to govern, it
seems we have lost our resolve.
Who is getting hurt by this? The American people are getting hurt by
this.
None of us promised to come here and do this. We promised, as
Republicans, things that are in conflict with the Biden
administration's promises, and the only way we are going to do that is
to force the vote.
By going along with this, let's be clear, we are being buried. We are
being buried by debt. We are being buried by crime. We are being buried
by an invasion at our border, buried by fentanyl, buried by drugs, by
suicide, by endless wars, by failing schools, by corruption. Frankly,
it is a fatal overdose of government. I wish I could just wake up and
it not be true, but it is.

Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The American people are tired of getting a complete lack of
representation from their Representatives. Nobody in this country looks
at Congress and says: Wow. Heck of a job, guys and gals. Well done.
Who would do that? Would we do that?
By the way, it does not matter who is sitting in the Speaker's seat
or who has got the majority. We keep doing the same stupid stuff.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have no problem with
wide-open borders endangering the people that I represent. None. My
constituents are the ones left holding the bag, and the people of Texas
are the ones left spending $12.5 billion. My people are the ones who
have had six kids die from fentanyl poisoning in the school district
that I represent.
It is not fun to smirk at that, is it? We are talking about dead
children from fentanyl poisoning because of wide-open borders because
of the policies of my Democrat colleagues who refuse to do anything
about it. My colleagues won't do anything about the

[[Page H224]]

wide-open borders. I will continue to speak to my colleagues.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks
to the Chair.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I am addressing my comments to the Chair. I
am addressing the Chair on behalf of the people that I represent who
are dying in Texas because of Democrats, directly because of Democrat
policies. They can shake their heads all they want, but the blood of
the people in Texas is on their hands.
My colleagues flippantly dismiss the fact that people in Texas are
dying because of their policies, and the migrants that they pretend to
care about are dying because of their policies. Then they lie and say
that Texas is responsible for migrants who die in the Rio Grande River
when their own Department of Justice offers the truth, which is, those
migrants died in the river and were pulled out by Mexican authorities
before Border Patrol was ever contacted.
The Democrats have no problem lying to the American people just like
Alejandro Mayorkas lied to the American people about Border Patrol
agents whipping Haitian migrants.
It is something that happens over and over and over again, but the
question for my colleagues on this side of the aisle is: What are we
going to do about it? Are we going to keep writing them a blank check?
Are we going to keep saying: Here is more money, Secretary Mayorkas?
Leave us exposed. Leave people dying. Leave children dying from
fentanyl. Migrants are dying in the Rio Grande, so we can go out and
campaign on border security.
Why don't we do something about it?
Here we are, again. Catch your flights. Get on out of Washington,
D.C., before the snowstorm comes in, but give them all the money in the
world they need to endanger the people that we represent.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, everybody in this country expects us to do our job,
and yet, we continually fail to do it.
We continue to spend money we don't have, undermining our own
national security, and our own well-being, funding a bureaucracy that
is at war with the people that we represent.
At some point, we ought to actually do what we campaign on. At some
point, on both sides of the aisle, we should actually recognize that
the American people expected a republic for the Representatives that
they send to the United States House of Representatives to actually
represent them.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, as I said at the outset, this continuing resolution
keeps the government open while the Appropriations Committees in the
House and Senate continue bipartisan negotiations on the final 2024
funding bills that are in line with the agreement that we have had
since last June.

I am so encouraged by the conversations that have taken place since
the top-line numbers were reaffirmed. I appreciate the good faith and
respectful four-corner negotiation that took place to put forward this
continuing resolution.
My hope is that the current pace and tone will result in swiftly
finalizing all of the 2024 funding bills in a bipartisan fashion
because that is what we are here to do. That is our job to govern. That
is what the American people expect of us.
Some of my colleagues would see that this government would shut down
and don't care how hurtful that would be. I have a quick story to
share.
Today, on my way to a meeting in the CVC, a young woman who I see
just about every day, called me over and with fear in her face, she
said to me: Are you going to keep the government open? I said: We are.
She said: Thank you. You don't know how stressed we all are and fearful
of what will happen to our jobs and our families.
Some of my colleagues would like to see a government shutdown because
we don't pay a price. We don't give up our salaries. Maybe if we did,
people would have a different view, but that young woman knows that if
this government shuts down, she will not be able to take care of her
family. That is what people should be thinking about in this body this
afternoon.
Madam Speaker, I say to my colleagues, let's do what is right for the
American people and the people who work in this institution and who
work in agencies all over this country. They need to know that we can
govern, that we want to govern, and that we know how to govern.
I believe that is possible in a bipartisan way. I have seen it in the
past. I look forward to proceeding now.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

{time} 1615

Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, when Congress fails to do its job,
the consequences are real.
Families suffer, the economy takes a hit, and government costs rise--
all unnecessarily.
The Senate Amendment to H.R. 2872--Further Additional Continuing
Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 proves one thing, this
dysfunctional Republican majority is unable to govern without help from
the Democratic Caucus.
Instead of working to finish the FY 2024 funding process between now
and when the first CR was enacted, House Republicans wasted time by
ousting their own leader, further propelling the House into chaos and
bringing partisan bills to the floor that not only have zero chance of
becoming law but include massive cuts and poison pill riders that move
us further apart, not closer to resolution.
H.R. 2872 would avoid a government shutdown today, but kicks the can
down the road and adds unnecessary complexities that will increase the
likelihood of future shutdowns by creating two separate CR dates.
This Continuing Resolution (CR) provides for continued funding at
FY23 levels with two end dates:
March 1, 2024: Agriculture, Energy and Water, MilConVA, and THUD
Appropriations
March 8, 2024: CJS, Defense, FSGG, Homeland Security, Interior, Labor
HHS, Education, Legislative Branch, and SFOps
The bill also includes a number of anomalies for public health
extenders, Medicaid, Medicare, Human Services, Compacts, and Counter-
UAS Authorities.
This legislation also lacks emergency supplemental funding for
Ukraine, Israel, humanitarian assistance, childcare, disaster victims,
broadband, Indo-Pacific allies, and a number of other pressing
priorities.
Although this legislation is flawed in many significant ways, a
government shutdown would be devastating for Americans across the
country.
A government shutdown would hurt hard working families in Texas:
172,877 active duty and reserve personnel serving our nation's armed
forces in Texas would be forced to go without the pay they earn during
a shutdown.
The Small Business Administration would stop processing small
business loans, halting a program that provides $2,742,702,800 in
funding to small businesses in Texas every year.
176,276 people flying through Texas airports every day would face
potential delays and safety concerns due to staffing impacts on TSA
agents and air traffic controllers.
786,686 people in Texas would soon lose access to Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
benefits.
168,413 federal workers in Texas would be furloughed or forced to
work without pay, in addition to the many employees of businesses with
government contracts who could be laid off, furloughed, or see their
hours cut.
Workers at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be sidelined,
risking interruptions and delays to the 892 food safety, pharmaceutical
manufacturing, and other inspections conducted in Texas last year.
The Department of Agriculture would be forced to stop processing
housing loans, which provide $456,125,359 in funding to help 2,742
families in rural Texas communities buy homes every year.
The Department of Agriculture would be forced to stop processing farm
loans which provide $209,391,000 in funding for farmers in Texas every
year.
3,291,584 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
beneficiaries in Texas would lose access to benefits in a prolonged
shutdown.
5,413,161 people who visit national parks in Texas every year would
be turned away or unable to fully access parks, monuments, and museums.

[[Page H225]]

State governments would be forced to pay for federal services like
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, potentially
risking benefits for the 20,846 TANF beneficiaries in Texas.
A government shutdown would hurt working families, damage our
economy, interrupt vital services, endanger our national security, and
force millions of our troops and government employees to work without
pay.
It is time to get serious, it is time to do the work we are required
to do as Members of Congress regardless of our political stripes.
Congress has a responsibility to keep our government open, and I hope
we can work with House Republicans and the Senate to facilitate the
timely completion of full-year spending bills and a supplemental
package.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger) that the House suspend the rules
and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 2872.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROY. Madam 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 motion will be postponed.

____________________