[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13707]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 DYSFUNCTIONAL REPUBLICAN-LED CONGRESS

  (Ms. PLASKETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call out the dysfunction 
of this Republican-led Congress.
  At every turn, this House has abandoned Americans who are counting on 
strong action from Congress to protect families. Whether it is Flint, 
gun violence prevention, or the Zika virus, this Congress has shown its 
unwillingness to tackle the real issues affecting the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, in the United States and its territories, there are now 
more than 23,000 confirmed cases of Zika. An emergency request for 
supplemental resources to fight Zika came to this House more than 6 
months ago. Similarly, in the 3 months since House Democrats took to 
this floor to call for a vote on commonsense gun safety legislation, 
there has not been a single vote.
  Mr. Speaker, this Congress' inaction on these issues has dire 
consequences for many in communities across the country, including the 
more than 40 men and women who have lost their lives to gun violence in 
the Virgin Islands this year and the number of unarmed African 
Americans killed in police shootings. Are they not important?
  The water crisis in Flint is the very issue that this Congress should 
take up.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on this Congress to act now to fully fund the 
President's emergency request to fight Zika, to support the children 
and families in Flint, as well as bring a vote on legislation to keep 
our communities safe from gun violence and aggressive police practices.

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