[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H3052-H3057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AS
STEWARDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT, MAJOR SUPPLIERS OF UNITED STATES ENERGY
RESOURCES, CRITICAL PROVIDERS OF FOOD PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURING
CAPACITY, AND DRIVERS OF NATIONAL ECONOMIC STABILITY, AND RECOGNIZING
THE WORK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN THE 119TH CONGRESS IN
SUPPORT OF THOSE VITAL COMMUNITIES
Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1189, I call
up the resolution (H. Res. 1182) expressing support for rural
communities across the United States as stewards of the environment,
major suppliers of United States energy resources, critical providers
of food production and manufacturing capacity, and drivers of national
economic stability, and recognizing the work of the House of
Representatives in the 119th Congress in support of those vital
communities, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1189, the
resolution is considered read.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1182
Whereas over 70 percent of lands in the United States are
considered rural and nearly 20 percent of the population of
the United States lives in rural communities;
Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes that a
clean environment and a strong economy are not mutually
exclusive;
Whereas rural communities are a critical source of energy
production in the United States, producing over 80 percent of
the renewable energy produced in the United States and over
60 percent of the coal-generated electricity produced in the
United States;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to reform processes under the Clean Air Act for establishing
and implementing air quality standards, and for permitting
stationary sources of emissions, so that rural areas that
experience wildfires or foreign sources of pollution are not
disadvantaged and are allowed to continue to grow and create
jobs;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to streamline the process for building interstate natural gas
pipelines, which will lower the costs of energy for rural
communities when it comes to powering their homes and
businesses;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to provide reliable and affordable electricity for rural
communities by ensuring that any proposed regulation that
impacts the electric grid is addressed appropriately through
the Federal regulatory process in order to prevent any
compromise of grid reliability;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to prioritize on-demand, dispatchable baseload electricity
generation in the interconnection queue, which will
strengthen the reliability of the electric grid for rural
communities;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to reduce the costs of home and commercial appliances by
rolling back burdensome Biden-Harris regulations;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to remove restrictions on exporting United States liquified
natural gas, which will increase economic and employment
opportunities for rural communities;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to preserve hydropower resources for rural communities by
requiring transparency in relicensing processes, in order to
continue to provide such communities with affordable,
baseload electric generation;
Whereas the House of Representatives is committed to
building a healthier America and advancing policies that
bolster health resources for rural communities, incentivize
disease research and prevention efforts, and increase access
to care across the United States;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to provide resources to rural communities devastated by the
opioid crisis and to crack down on deadly fentanyl analogues;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to work to improve access to health care by expanding
telehealth coverage for seniors and providing resources for
telehealth in rural communities;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to lower patients' insurance premiums by over 11 percent;
[[Page H3053]]
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed an historic
investment in rural health care through the Rural Health
Transformation Program, delivering $50,000,000,000 to
efficiently transform rural health care access, and through
cutting waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid and reinvesting
those funds directly into the historic Rural Health
Transformation Program;
Whereas the Working Families Tax Cuts (Public Law 119-21)
created new opportunities for States to expand home and
community-based services and improve access to care in rural
communities;
Whereas the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (Public
Law 119-75) streamlined enrollment processes for eligible
out-of-State Medicaid and CHIP providers and improved access
to care in rural and underserved communities;
Whereas the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (Public
Law 119-75) extended Medicaid disproportionate share hospital
payments, preserving access to hospital care in rural and
underserved communities;
Whereas rural communities are experiencing a resurgence of
manufacturing investment and capacity and are the backbone of
supply chain resilience across many industries in the United
States;
Whereas the House of Representatives is committed to
strengthening the domestic manufacturing industry and
generating economic investment;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
strengthening domestic manufacturing and growth to provide
significant economic benefit and job creation for rural
communities;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to keep users safe online as more rural communities get
connected to high-speed internet and to provide consumers in
rural communities significant protections from unsafe
products and deceptive practices;
Whereas the House of Representatives has passed legislation
to provide rural Americans with choice in the vehicles they
purchase and drive by eliminating costly and impracticable
electric vehicle mandates;
Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes rural
communities are experiencing significant demographic and
economic shifts, creating new challenges in an increasingly
technologically connected world;
Whereas the House of Representatives unleashed an 800-
megahertz spectrum pipeline and reauthorized the spectrum
auction authority of the Federal Communications Commission,
which will ensure rural communities can get access to new
spectrum necessary for 5G and 6G connections; and
Whereas the House of Representatives expedited the process
for deploying broadband in rural communities by directing
government agencies to prioritize broadband permitting
applications: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives, through
policies that unleash domestic energy production, enhance
health care quality and access, bolster manufacturing
capacity, and increase broadband connectedness, has
demonstrated support for the prosperity and economic growth
of the United States, including especially strengthening
rural communities.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution shall be debatable for 1 hour
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees.
The gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie) and the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pallone) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie).
{time} 1310
General Leave
Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the
legislation and to insert extraneous material on H. Res. 1182.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Kentucky?
There was no objection.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, before I begin my remarks, I didn't hear, until you
just announced, that David Scott had passed. What a wonderful man
from the great State of Georgia. The resolution is from a new friend
from Georgia.
David was either married to Hank Aaron's sister or Hank Aaron was
married to his sister. I can't remember which, but he and Hank Aaron
were brothers-in-law. I told him one time that my son loved collecting
baseballs. Of course, one of the most valuable ones you could ever have
was Hank Aaron's, and he brought one to me one day.
I didn't know him that well, but he was one of those kind of guys
that if you mentioned something like that to him, he would remember it
and make sure he took care of you. He was a gentleman, and he will be
missed.
Also, while I have the floor and before I get into my remarks, David
McKinley was a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, a very
valuable member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, very serious.
He was a great engineer, but also a great person with a great heart. He
passed away last week. I think his services are this coming Monday.
Members of Congress get to serve with some really wonderful people,
and none more than David McKinley. To the level that I knew Mr. Scott,
he was a wonderful man, too.
I thank the Madam Speaker for that indulgence.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to be here today to discuss a resolution
demonstrating the work House Republicans continue to do to improve all
the lives of the American people, especially those who live in rural
parts of our great Nation.
I am here to discuss H. Res. 1182 to cut through the noise that
Democrats continue to make in opposition to the President and to
congressional Republicans.
It seems that no matter how reasonable or even how bipartisan a
policy has been in the past, Democrats choose partisan politics over
the American people. Take, for example, our work in Congress, along
with the administration, to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in
government health programs. Energy and Commerce Republicans have
prioritized restoring program integrity in our government health
programs throughout this entire Congress, starting with H.R. 1, by
ensuring critical safety net programs can continue to serve their
intended purpose of protecting our most vulnerable Americans to now
launching a nationwide investigation into Medicaid programs across the
country.
It is disheartening that Democrats refuse to come to the table to
safeguard pregnant women, their children, low-income seniors, and
individuals with disabilities. Republicans will continue advancing
policies that protect important Federal programs.
I am here today primarily to highlight the many ways in which House
Republicans are unleashing growth in the economy following years of
heavyhanded government intervention under the Biden-Harris
administration.
House Republicans are creating the right environment for individual
Americans to set their own course and to achieve their own dreams. For
example, Republicans have enacted legislation to release domestic
energy production, such as reversing the Department of Energy's
restrictions on LNG exports and requiring Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission approval of grid-planning policies to preserve reliability
to keep the lights on for American families and businesses.
House Republicans have worked to ensure that rural manufacturers are
not unfairly penalized for emissions they did not create when we passed
commonsense reforms to the Clean Air Act permitting and permitting
relief for broadband deployment.
House Republicans have worked to enhance healthcare quality and
access through the Working Families Tax Cuts and Lower Health Care
Premiums for All Americans Act.
House Republicans have bolstered health resources for rural
communities through the Rural Health Fund Transformation Program, the
most significant investment of its kind in history.
House Republicans also enacted the SUPPORT Act and HALT Fentanyl Act,
which provide crucial resources to rural communities devastated by the
opioid crisis.
House Republicans have worked hard and continue to work hard this
Congress to accelerate economic growth and opportunity for the American
people.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I also wish to express my sympathy to the family of
David Scott.
David was someone that I talked to a lot, who I considered a friend,
and was always supportive of me. In his position as the chairman of the
House Committee on Agriculture, he was always looking out for farm
interests for not only farmers in his district but
[[Page H3054]]
around the country, and he worked, of course, on the farm bill so many
times over the years.
There were even times when I was working with him on some agriculture
issues because, although I don't have many farms, we have Rutgers and
the Cooperative Extension Service in my district. There were many
issues that came before the committee that I worked with him on, so I
will definitely miss him and am sorry about his passing.
Madam Speaker, I wish to speak about this bill today because I think
that it is very unfortunate that this resolution is coming to the
floor. Prices are soaring for the American people. Trump's reckless war
of choice continues in Iran, and Republicans are spending valuable time
here on the House floor bringing up an undeserved resolution to
essentially pat themselves on the back and to pretend that they have
supported rural communities when in fact they have not.
Trump and Republicans promised they would lower costs on day one, but
Americans are over $5,000 poorer today because of their policies. That
is per person.
Yet, rather than doing something to actually address the
affordability crisis, they are making it worse. House Republicans are
bringing up a resolution that does nothing. It is just commemorative.
It is not going to make life better for one American living in rural
America. Instead, it is a pathetic attempt, in my opinion, for
Republicans to show that they care about rural America when their
actions show the exact opposite.
Thanks to Trump's reckless war in Iran, diesel prices are now over $5
per gallon, drastically increasing costs for farmers across the
country. The war has also caused fertilizer prices to skyrocket,
leaving 70 percent of American farmers unable to pay for all their
fertilizer needs.
Republicans promised to bring a bill to the floor that would allow a
higher blend of ethanol in gasoline, known as E15, to be sold year-
round, but they haven't. Year-round E15 would greatly benefit corn
farmers in rural America, while also saving drivers money. Republicans
have also done nothing to address the massive amount of energy being
consumed by data centers that are rapidly expanding in rural areas,
driving up energy costs.
Turning to health, Republicans have created a healthcare
affordability crisis that is disproportionately impacting rural
Americans. Republicans' big, ugly bill cut Americans' healthcare by
more than a trillion dollars, the largest cut in our Nation's history,
which will result in 15 million people losing their health coverage.
These deep cuts are hurting rural Americans the most. Rural clinics are
already being forced to close their doors. Hospitals in rural
communities are shutting down maternity care units and laying off
healthcare workers. Another 300 rural hospitals are likely to shutter,
closing down altogether or reducing services. This is driving massive
increases in uncompensated care.
The big, ugly bill made unprecedented cuts to Federal Medicaid
spending. This will have a disproportionate impact on children and
disabled people in rural areas who are more likely to rely on Medicaid.
Republicans will claim that a temporary $50 billion slush fund,
representing just 5 percent of the $1 trillion cut to healthcare, will
somehow overcome the long-term suffering of rural providers in
communities that rely heavily on Medicaid. This is false. The slush
fund is temporary while the cuts are permanent, and it can be used for
an array of purposes other than payments to struggling rural health
providers. The $1 trillion in healthcare cuts will compound over time,
devastating the healthcare safety net in rural communities far into the
future.
{time} 1320
Republicans have also refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax
credits, driving up healthcare premiums for rural Americans. Rural
residents' premiums are increasing by an astonishing 107 percent, and
rural Americans are facing thousands of dollars in additional out-of-
pocket costs.
As rural Americans lose their healthcare coverage and watch their
doctors' offices and hospitals shut down critical services,
congressional Republicans are doing absolutely nothing to fix the
problem that they created.
Despite the false words in this resolution, House Republicans have
done nothing meaningful to expand internet access for rural America.
In the last 15 months, Republicans rescinded billions of dollars from
public broadcasting stations that serve rural areas with programming
and emergency alerts. They have withheld broadband investment from
rural and Tribal communities. They sabotaged the BEAD program with
inferior broadband technologies to save money--supposedly to save
money. It doesn't really. And they topped it all off with the fact that
House Republicans cheered as the Trump administration tore WiFi out of
rural schoolbuses. It is clear that rural Americans are not being
served by Republicans. They are frankly being ripped off.
This resolution also pats Republicans on the back for supposedly
bolstering manufacturing capacity in rural communities, but the reality
is Republican policies are harming the manufacturing sector.
Manufacturers are reeling from the uncertainty of Trump's chaotic
tariff strategy. These tariffs have raised costs for manufacturers and
could reduce manufacturing investments in the U.S. by $490 billion in
the next 5 years.
Mr. Speaker, if Republicans really want to show rural Americans they
care about them, they would roll up their sleeves and actually put
together bills, not meaningless commemorative resolutions, that would
actually make a difference, but this Republican majority is simply not
capable of that.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution, and I reserve the
balance of my time.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Fuller), the newest member of the
Republican Conference who was the newest Member of the House for a
couple days, but he is becoming a good friend and someone I am getting
to know better.
Mr. FULLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
First off, to my Democratic colleagues, I want to express my
condolences for the passing of Representative David Scott. He was a
great man and an example of what a statesman should be in this body. I
am sending my condolences to his family, your party, and the Georgia
delegation, as well.
I rise to explain this resolution to not only this body but my
Democratic colleagues. In 2013, when I was 31 years old, I was
stationed here at Andrews Air Force base in Washington, D.C., and I was
diagnosed with cancer. I went through a 13-hour surgery and 2 weeks in
an ICU room.
I am a kid who grew up in Appalachia, and I said a prayer to God with
my wife, Kate, that if God gave me more time to be on this planet, I
was going to leave Active Duty, return home to the Appalachian
communities I grew up in, and fight for them each and every day. That
was a promise that I made in 2013, and, Mr. Speaker, this resolution is
a fulfillment of that promise that I made in an ICU room so many years
ago.
I have dedicated my career to fighting for these communities.
Now, I have heard from our Democratic colleagues and in the previous
statement they kind of joked about this resolution. I stand before you
because I want to celebrate these communities. The Democratic Party,
who was founded by Thomas Jefferson, now has forgotten this part of
America. What we have seen under President Trump's leadership and
Speaker Johnson's leadership is that this forgotten America, rural
America, Appalachia America is forgotten no more with this leadership,
and that is exactly what this resolution does to celebrate those
communities that have been long forgotten by their party.
I rise today to celebrate everything that the Republican leadership
has done in this body to lift up those communities that have been long
forgotten. I want to make sure that those communities that sent me here
to represent them--that was a promise I made to Georgia-14. That is the
promise I made to Appalachia as a whole. That is the promise that I
made to rural communities, that I will be a
[[Page H3055]]
warrior for them in this body. Anytime there is a chance for me to
celebrate the positive work that we are doing in this body, and if
there is a chance for me to celebrate those communities, I am going to
take that opportunity.
I appreciate Republican leadership for allowing me to bring forth
this resolution basically in less than a week of me being here. It is
an incredible honor for me to, hopefully, pass legislation in this body
celebrating those communities that their party has forgotten.
I rise today to fulfill not only a promise that I made so many years
ago in an ICU room at Walter Reed to fight against rural poverty, to
fight for Appalachian communities and rural communities, but I also
want to raise awareness of the great work that the Republican
leadership here has done under Speaker Johnson's leadership and
President Trump's leadership.
One of the main things that I want to highlight is President Trump
using those tariffs that were just mentioned, making sure that he is
bringing manufacturing back to communities that have been hollowed out
by 30 to 40 years of policies that had been put in place by the
Democrats. Finally, good manufacturing jobs are coming back to
districts just like mine.
This is the fulfillment of a promise that I made to God in a hospital
room, and I celebrate these communities. Rural and Appalachian
communities need to know that they will always have a warrior in Clay
Fuller here in this body.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Ruiz), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to represent and speak up for the
people in California's 25th Congressional District, home to
farmworkers, laborers, and families in the Coachella, Imperial, and San
Jacinto Valleys who wake up each morning breathing some of the most
polluted air in the United States.
These are communities where childhood asthma rates range from 20 to
35 percent. We have the highest asthma hospitalization rate in the
whole State of California.
These are communities where particulate matter concentrations
regularly reach 10 times the Federal limit.
These are communities where Medicaid is not a talking point. It is
what stands between a sick child and the treatment that they need.
Today, we are voting on H. Res. 1182, and I want to be direct with my
colleagues about what this resolution actually is because the title
alone does not tell the story.
This resolution is titled: ``Expressing support for rural
communities. . . . '' But when you read the actual text, when you look
at the specific provision it celebrates, you find something very, very
different, very heartbreaking.
You see, this resolution is a political message. That is all it is, a
self-congratulatory shield built to cover up the harm Republicans have
created in rural America.
Let me go through what this resolution actually says. The resolution
celebrates ``legislation to reform processes under the Clean Air Act
for establishing and implementing air quality standards . . . so that
rural areas that experience wildfires or foreign sources of pollution
are not disadvantaged. . . . ''
What they are actually celebrating is weakening the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards, the science-based thresholds that determine how
much pollution is safe to breathe.
The FENCES Act, which Republicans passed just last week and this
resolution applauds, would strip EPA of its authority to sanction
States that fail to reduce air pollution and hand a free pass to the
worst polluters with no accountability, no incentive to clean up, and
no recourse for rural communities living downwind.
In my district, which is also rural America, dust from unpaved roads,
farms, off-road vehicles, the expanding exposed lake bed of the Salton
Sea, diesel emissions, ozone, agricultural smoke, and contaminants like
hydrogen sulfide combine into a toxic mix that threatens the health of
more than half a million people living in rural America. This
resolution wants us to applaud making it easier for that to get worse.
The resolution celebrates ``legislation to provide rural Americans
with choice in the vehicles they purchase and drive by eliminating
costly and impracticable electric vehicle mandates.'' What they are
celebrating is the termination of the clean vehicle tax credit, the
$7,500 credit that made electric vehicles accessible to working
families.
Families in my district where temperatures routinely exceed 110
degrees are now priced out of cleaner vehicles, locked into higher fuel
costs and breathing dirtier tailpipe emissions.
{time} 1330
That is not choice. That is a trap.
The resolution celebrates legislation to ``remove restrictions on
exporting U.S. liquefied natural gas, which will increase economic and
employment opportunities for rural communities.''
What they are celebrating is prioritizing LNG exports over the energy
costs and needs of the American families they claim to support in rural
America. That is because when we export more gas, then there is less
domestically. When there is less domestically, then domestic prices
rise, making it more expensive for rural America. Rural families pay
more to heat and cool their homes. This is not energy independence.
This is energy exportation at the rural America's expense.
The resolution celebrates legislation to ``reduce the costs of home
and commercial appliances by rolling back burdensome Biden-Harris
regulations.''
What they are actually celebrating is rolling back energy efficiency
standards, meaning families will pay more on their utility bills month
after month and year after year, as if costs aren't up in rural America
already. In a desert region back home where air conditioning is not a
luxury but a survival necessity, that is a direct hit to household
budgets that are already stretched.
Through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, better known as the big, ugly
law, the centerpiece of everything this resolution is celebrating,
Republicans cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and $120 billion from
SNAP, the most in history. This will disproportionately hurt rural
Americans.
That bill put over 300 rural hospitals at risk to close. It will
leave 15 million people uninsured, many of them in rural America. It
will raise average household energy bills by up to $192 annually, and
even in California $670. It gutted the National Environmental Policy
Act's community review process so that local, rural community members'
voices are shut down.
It phased out clean energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction
Act, raising energy costs for families in rural America, added an
estimated $3 trillion to the national debt, and accelerated the
projected insolvency of Social Security and Medicare by 1 year.
Mr. Speaker, I am a physician. I have taken care of patients in my
district. I know what it means when a family cannot get to a hospital
because the closest one has closed. I know what it means when a child's
asthma goes untreated because their family lost Medicaid.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Jack). The time of the gentleman has
expired.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the
gentleman from California.
Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, I know what it means when a farm worker spends
the day in the field breathing air that exceeds Federal safety limits
and then goes home to a house where they cannot afford the utility bill
because their appliances are less efficient, their gas costs more, and
their child suffers from asthma.
This resolution does not reopen a single closed rural hospital. It
does not put food on a single rural kitchen table. It does not clean
the air a child breathes in rural America. It does not restore the
Medicaid coverage it took from millions of Americans. It does not undo
the harm of nearly $1 trillion in cuts to programs that rural families,
who are the very people this resolution so-called claims to champion,
depend on to survive.
What this resolution does is ask this Chamber to applaud the way
things are going to hurt rural America, to put a bow on it, and to call
it support.
Mr. Speaker, this is not support. This is a cover-up.
For the families I represent who are already carrying more than their
fair
[[Page H3056]]
share of pollution, poverty, and neglect, this resolution is an insult
dressed up as a tribute.
If my colleagues truly support rural communities, they will repeal
those cuts. If they truly support clean air, they will stop celebrating
legislation that weakens the standards that protect it. If they truly
support working families, they will stop handing corporations
exemptions while families pay the price.
Mr. Speaker, vote ``no'' on this do-nothing messaging resolution, H.
Res. 1182.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I am trying to answer everything that was just brought
up. It would be difficult to do because I am trying to figure out
exactly how to attack things that just weren't really accurate.
I would say, one, it would be accurate to say we want to give people
choices in choosing their appliance.
Would they rather pay hundreds of dollars more today to save over 46
years, I think is one of the estimates, to lower their bills.
Somebody could say: I want to pay a few hundred dollars more today
and save pennies every month over the next 46 years. I get my payback.
I think Americans should be able to make that choice.
The other is regarding Medicaid. It affects you if you are illegal,
if you are ineligible, and if you are able to work. There are States
that cover people who are not here in a legal presence. The other one
is we want to require that you check the rolls more than once a year
and verify when people come on the rolls of Medicaid. It seems like we
passed the bill now that we found out about Medicaid. We are looking at
a dozen States already but that is just what we found in Minneapolis
alone.
Mr. Speaker, we stand behind this bill. We did these great things for
rural communities.
The other is the rural transformation fund. That money goes directly
to rural hospitals, so it does make a difference. I can read quotes
from different people from different States, and blue States, saying
how it is going to transform their rural health system.
Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the gentlewoman from
New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury).
Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I want to just take a moment as our
colleagues did across the aisle to recognize Ranking Member David
Scott and his family from Georgia. It is a sad day. Certainly Ranking
Member Scott has proudly served this institution for a great many years
and particularly on the Agriculture Committee which has helped so many
Americans. I want to take a moment to just thank him, his family, and
his community for his service to our great Nation.
Mr. Speaker, for me his passing also brings to light the fundamental
hypocrisy that I see embedded in this resolution today.
I was actually quite shocked, disgusted, and angry when I read this
resolution. That is because I am a daughter of rural America. I was
born and raised in rural New Mexico. I was born in Farmington, New
Mexico. I am the daughter of a machine operator who was one of the
first women heavy equipment operators who built a coal-fired power
plant in rural America which your resolution is celebrating.
I grew up working with my hands digging trenches and bussing tables
in rural communities in New Mexico, so to read a resolution that is
filled with celebrations and rebrands in an attempt to try to repackage
a bunch of corporate giveaways and tax breaks for billionaires as some
sort of celebratory resolution for rural America and the hardworking
people who get up every day, work their jobs, and can barely make ends
meet is not only a joke, it is an insult to hardworking Americans in
every community across the country.
Let me just say this: Even though this resolution is trying to
rebrand your big, ugly bill and give it a new name, even though this
resolution is trying to self-congratulate you on a bunch of corporate
giveaways like gutting environmental programs and public consumer
safety programs so that corporations can save and make more money on
the backs of the American people, let me just say this: You don't have
a branding problem. You have a policy problem.
{time} 1340
The policies that the Republicans are putting forward don't actually
help working people in America. Any attempt here today to try to
package it in a different way for the American people is basically just
that, an exercise to try to make what they have already shoved down the
American people's throats somehow seem more appealing.
I want to say how completely out of touch with rural America this
resolution is. It celebrates rebranding a bill that cut healthcare for
millions of Americans. It is attempting to celebrate a bill that took
food out of the mouths of millions of American children. It is
literally celebrating legislation to put oil and gas pipelines and LNG
terminals in rural America. It is celebrating gutting clean air
protections and repackaging that as a gift to rural America.
You are welcome. You can't breathe clean air anymore, according to
our colleagues across the aisle.
That is what is actually in this resolution, a list of the litany of
bills that our colleagues across the aisle have spent the last several
months passing, including their utility bills. Showerheads, they spent
precious time for an entire week to pass high-pressure showerheads for
rich people's bathrooms. Congratulations.
Republicans have the majority in the House, the Senate, and the White
House, and this is what they are celebrating? It is so out of touch
with real people. Real people are struggling to put food on the table
and a roof over their heads.
Right now, real farmers are facing diesel prices and a lack of access
to fertilizer. They are wondering how they are going to plant their
fields and how they are going to break even and pay back their bank
loans at the end of this season.
Congratulations. The President did that by going to war, an
unauthorized war, in the Middle East.
Republicans don't have a branding problem. They have a policy
problem. They have used their time in the majority to pass legislation
that gives permanent tax breaks to the richest Americans, and our
lowest earning Americans actually saw a tax increase. Republicans are
coming to the floor trying to celebrate this legislation and rebrand
what they passed previously? It is outrageous.
Let me share the things that we are doing for rural America in my
district. We are passing earmarks to build fire stations with emergency
services. We are building hospitals. We are building behavioral health
clinics to help people with the opioid crisis. We are building rural
housing. We are building water pipelines. We passed the first free
childcare policy in the country and are using Federal resources to
build daycares and elementary schools across New Mexico. We are
investing in Tribal communities.
We are delivering millions of dollars to our communities every single
day because that is what rural Americans are asking for. They are not
asking the Republicans to pat themselves on the back for giving tax
breaks to Wall Street billionaires.
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to give the Republicans a round of applause
if they would like that, but I am not voting for this resolution. I
urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I am prepared
to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to
close.
Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I am very proud of the two speakers
who preceded me on the Democratic side because they represent rural
districts, and I think they understand why this commemorative pat on
the back that we are voting on today is really not deserved and simply
not accurate.
I said at the Rules Committee that my mother used to use a phrase:
Self-praise stinks. Frankly, regardless of what is in the resolution,
the idea of bringing a resolution to the floor that has no impact
whatsoever but just says how wonderful we are is kind of absurd in
itself--the very idea that we should waste time on the floor on what I
would call commemorative resolutions
[[Page H3057]]
that have no substantive impact whatsoever but just say how wonderful
we are.
Whether you are saying the Republicans are wonderful or the Democrats
are wonderful or all of us are wonderful makes absolutely no sense to
me because it is just self-praise, and frankly, that does stink.
That is all this is. There is nothing in here that is going to make a
difference either way. It is just an effort by the Republicans to say
we have done all these wonderful things for rural America when, in
fact, they haven't.
If they really wanted to do something, they wouldn't bring
commemorative resolutions to the floor. They would actually try to pass
some legislation that addresses the concerns right now of Americans
living in rural America.
Mr. Speaker, for all those reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote
``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I urge my colleagues to vote
``yes'' on H. Res. 1182, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Smith of Nebraska). All time for debate
has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1182, the previous question is ordered
on the resolution and the preamble.
The question is on adoption of the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. PALLONE. 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 will be postponed.
____________________