[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5655-H5656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WORKING IN A BIPARTISAN MANNER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Slotkin) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to answer a question that I 
was asked actually on the plane ride here yesterday from Michigan.
  I was sitting next to a woman. She recognized me. She was from a 
different political affiliation. She said: It just looks like such a 
mess in Washington. Is anything getting done?
  I will highlight some of the things that we actually did get done 
this week, just in the past week, because of bipartisan cooperation.
  It doesn't make headlines, it is not sexy, but I think it is 
important to understand that the country wants us to work together, and 
when we do, we pass things that are important.
  This week, we passed important bipartisan priorities and legislation. 
We worked hard to get them across the finish line.
  Here is an example. We passed the Customs Trade Partnership Against 
Terrorism Pilot Program Act. It is a lot of words, but it is a 
bipartisan bill I introduced in December of 2023. It is basically TSA 
PreCheck for freight coming across our borders. This bill will cut a 
lot of red tape for companies transporting goods across our borders.
  In Michigan, we are a northern border State. It will help keep our 
country

[[Page H5656]]

safe by creating this pilot program that allows us to move more freight 
and allow freight and warehouse companies to participate in Customs and 
Border Protection's CTPAT program. It is a public-private partnership 
that basically allows you to get preclearance to move freight and store 
freight that has been precleared.
  I introduced this bill because Michigan is a border State. Every 
single day we have 40,000 commuters, tourists, and truck drivers coming 
across our border.
  Mr. Speaker, $323 million worth of goods every single day is coming 
across our borders, one of the busiest land borders in the country.
  I introduced this bill specifically because of freight companies and 
businesses like Frontline Logistics, which is a small, 15-person 
business in Brighton, Michigan. They reached out and they said: Hey, we 
want to expand this TSA PreCheck program so we can grow our business 
and other small businesses can grow.
  The bill will become law because it was bipartisan, and I am grateful 
to the group of bipartisan Members in the House who sponsored this bill 
and helped get it passed not just in the House but in the Senate, and 
it is on its way to be signed at the White House.
  Here is another example from yesterday. There was not a lot of press 
on this. We passed the IMPACTT Human Trafficking Act, which is designed 
to give survivors of human trafficking and law enforcement officers who 
fight this crime the tools and the resources they need.
  Michigan is number eight in the country for human trafficking. Again, 
our border plays a role in this. It is an issue that is close to many 
people's hearts. We have had young women, in particular, taken from 
their homes and moved across State lines.
  Again, this bill will become law because it was bipartisan, and I was 
proud to introduce it with Representative Joyce as well as 
Representatives Wagner and Titus. That bipartisan support got it over 
the finish line in the House and in the Senate.
  Similarly, just yesterday, the House passed the Senate version of the 
Building Chips in America Act, a bipartisan bill that Congresswoman 
Kiggans introduced here in the House and on which I am a proud 
cosponsor.
  It will streamline the process so that we can build more microchips 
in the United States, manufacture more microchips in the United States. 
We invented those microchips. We make zero percent of the microchips 
that go in cars. That is a problem. We were able to pass this yesterday 
because it was bipartisan, and it passed unanimously in the Senate.
  These bills are evidence that we do not need to be at each other's 
throats. In fact, being at each other's throats is principally against 
the mission of what it means to be a Representative.
  It means you are not getting work done. It means you are doing things 
for political posturing. It means that you care more about making a 
statement that makes the news or goes viral on Twitter than you do 
about actually moving the ball down the field for your constituents.
  I hope that when Congress returns in November and when a new Congress 
is sworn in next year, we can learn that basic lesson. We do our best 
work when we work together, even when it is hard.
  We could do things that support the Commerce Department. Yesterday, 
they put in a big countermeasure to make sure that Chinese-connected 
vehicles aren't moving around in the United States. Congress should 
pass legislation that strengthens that.
  We could pass the farm bill, which should be bipartisan, a big piece 
of legislation every 5 years.
  The National Defense Authorization Act, funding our military, funding 
our military salaries, big appropriations bills that go to the 
essential function of government, all of that is work on our plate 
after the election.
  I sincerely hope that we are able to act like adults and do the 
things that most people want us to do, which is get in a room, hash 
things out, hammer it out, compromise, and move the ball forward for 
the American people. I urge my colleagues to remember this. It is much 
easier to get things done when we work together.

                          ____________________