[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  THIRTY-EIGHT PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the House of 
Representatives, the Republican Conference, and my friend Paul Ryan for 
his election to be Speaker of the House. Those on the other side of the 
aisle are lucky to have him.
  It is sad that he had to promise Members of his Conference in writing 
to not address a national issue on behalf of the American people. He 
had to swear that he would not allow a vote on immigration reform as 
long as President Obama, well, is President Obama. The new Speaker had 
to promise to put party unity ahead of national public policy in order 
to be elected Speaker.
  One of my colleagues from Alabama, who was so vehement in his 
opposition to immigration, came to the floor last week to read Speaker 
Ryan's pledge into the Congressional Record.
  So the Congress that did nothing on immigration reform for the last 2 
years will do nothing for the remainder of the President's term. It is 
really stunning. You must promise to do nothing in order to be Speaker 
of the House of Representatives.
  Maybe those on the other side of the aisle will come up with a new 
oath of office for leadership positions: Raise your right hand and 
repeat after me, they will say. I swear I will not let anything happen 
on my watch. I will faithfully uphold and defend the principles of the 
do-nothing Congress and pledge allegiance to the do-nothingness for 
which it stands; that I will ignore all cries for help, no matter how 
loud from the American people; that I will not let public policy get in 
the way of party politics; and that party unity is more important than 
the United States of America, so help me Tea Party.
  Why would one faction within the Republican Party demand a promise 
from the new Speaker that he not bring up any immigration legislation 
to the floor? Because the opponents of immigration and immigration 
reform would lose. They must demand from the Speaker that the majority 
not rule in the House of Representatives because the opponents of 
immigration know they are actually the minority.
  This is a telling moment for the Republican Party, and it is not 
confined to immigration. The majority of the country supports Planned 
Parenthood continuing to provide basic health services and 
contraception to women. But playing to a smaller segment of their base, 
Republicans threaten to close down the government in order to block its 
funding. They want the minority to rule, and they want the tail to wag 
the dog.
  On the environment, in the wake of decades of scientific evidence 
that human beings have helped to cause climate change, what is the 
Republican response? Do nothing. It is a liberal hoax, they say. We can 
buy another beach house farther inland when the beach house is, well, 
farther inland.
  Members on the other side of the aisle celebrate the antics of a 
county clerk who refuses to follow the law and do her job, which 
includes issuing marriage licenses to two men or two women who want to 
spend their lives together.
  Maybe House Republicans think they are standing on principle, but the 
majority of the country has been fighting against exclusion, second-
class treatment, and bigotry for decades. The rest of us have embraced 
equality. We support voting rights, the same pay for the same work, and 
police in communities that protect and serve, not just stop and frisk.
  Here in Congress, as we saw last week with the discharge petition to 
preserve the Export-Import Bank, sometimes the majority can break the 
gridlock of this minority and actually take action.
  As we saw last week on the bipartisan budget and debt ceiling vote, 
sometimes Republican leaders take action for the good of the country, 
despite the calls from the do-nothing caucus, well, to do nothing.
  On all these matters, do nothingness comes with a cost. It is the 
cost of deported immigrants, and businesses that cannot hire people 
legally, of women who are denied lifesaving health screenings, honoring 
families as first-class citizens no matter who heads them, a cleaner 
planet, and safer neighborhoods.
  There is a political cost as well. A colleague from South Carolina 
summed it up in the documentary ``Immigration Battle'' on PBS 
Frontline, which I also appeared in. Addressing a group of Republican 
voters in his district, Congressman Mick Mulvaney said, ``At some 
point, we are going to have to figure out that if you take the entire 
African American community and write them off, take the entire Hispanic 
community and write them off, take the entire Libertarian community and 
write them off, take the entire gay community and write them off, what 
is left? About 38 percent of the country.'' The Congressman concludes 
by saying, ``You cannot win with 38 percent of the country.'' You want 
to know something? He is right.
  We know from the environment, from the fight for marriage equality, 
the fight for civil rights, the fight to modernize our immigration 
system, that taking no action is precisely the problem.
  I think the new Speaker understands this, and someday I hope my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle agree with him and let the 
majority rule in the people's House.

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