[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 36]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           POLITICAL THEATER

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, we closed the last year of Congress with some 
very productive work on both sides of the aisle: we passed a 
transportation bill; we reformed No Child Left Behind; we passed the 
tax extenders bill; and we passed an omnibus bill. I thank Speaker Ryan 
and the Republicans for working in a bipartisan fashion.
  But we are back here in 2016, and as President Reagan would say: 
There they go again.
  Yes, they are trying to repeal the ACA for the 62nd time, and for the 
11th time to try to defund Planned Parenthood. These bills are not 
going to become law. The President will veto them.
  It puts us back in a situation where this House isn't being used for 
America's priorities of putting people back to work, dealing with the 
crisis in the Middle East and maybe having an AUMF passed, and dealing 
with criminal justice reform and passing a bill.
  The idea, as I understand it, is to pass the bill; the President will 
veto it; it won't become law; and have the first veto override on the 
day that the March for Life is here in Washington. This is being done 
for political theater, to appeal to the March for Life people, and not 
for what America needs: to put people back to work and protect our 
people from terrorism in the Middle East.
  I wish we would get back to the way we finished up 2015.

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