[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4493-4499]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1945
CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS--ROAD TO RUIN: HOUSE REPUBLICANS FAIL ON THE 
                                 BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and to include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special 
Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, it is an honor and a privilege, once 
again, to come to the House floor on behalf of the Congressional Black 
Caucus and join with my distinguished colleague from Ohio, 
Representative Joyce Beatty, as we anchor this Congressional Black 
Caucus Special Order--the CBC hour of power--where, for 60 minutes, we 
get an opportunity to talk to the American people about issues of great 
importance to the African American community, to our democracy, and, 
certainly, to our country at large.
  Today, we are here to discuss, tragically, the House GOP's continued 
failure to demonstrate the ability to govern in a basic fashion--that 
is to pass a budget, which is required by statutory law, as of April 
15. That deadline has come and gone, and we are still waiting for the 
House majority to present a budget to this body for our consideration.
  We were told for years by people, including by the current Speaker of 
this great House, that the most fundamental tenet of governing is the 
passage of a budget. Yet, even with Republicans in firm control of both 
the House and the Senate, it seems that this Congress is still unable 
to get its act together. It is a stunning act of legislative abdication 
of basic responsibilities. We are going to explore that tonight, not 
just from a procedural standpoint, but from a standpoint of how this is 
indicative of this majority's unwillingness and inability to do the 
business of the American people.
  It is now my honor and my privilege to yield to my distinguished 
colleague, my coanchor, my classmate--the always eloquent and 
effervescent gentlewoman from the great city of Columbus in the great 
State of Ohio, Representative Joyce Beatty.
  Mrs. BEATTY. I thank the gentleman.
  I always look forward to engaging in our Congressional Black Caucus' 
Special Order hour and, tonight, for our dialogue, for our debate, on 
the House Republicans' repeated failure to pass a budget.
  First, let me say, as your classmate and colleague, being able to be 
the voice for your constituents and my constituents and America at 
large, it is an honor. I think it is so important, when we think about 
how important the work of this Congress is, for us to take on 
challenging the House Republicans' road to ruin.
  Madam Speaker, tonight, the Congressional Black Caucus is going to 
discuss the importance of why we should pass a budget. Not only that, I 
am sure Mr. Jeffries and I will have a dialogue about the value and the 
importance of having a budget. As Members of Congress and, especially, 
as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, we know specifically that 
a budget creates jobs and that it raises the paychecks of hardworking 
American people while reducing the deficit in a balanced and 
responsible way.
  Madam Speaker, let me just take a moment to point out that this is 
not the first time that the Congressional Black Caucus has held a 
Special Order hour on the subject of the Republicans' inaction. Earlier 
this year, the Congressional Black Caucus came to this House floor and 
implored the Republican leadership to do its job--the job America wants 
us to do--and that was to enact commonsense gun control legislation. To 
date, Madam Speaker, Republicans have continued to fail the American 
people by putting forth or by bringing forth commonsense gun control 
legislation. It is still hanging out there, waiting for action.
  Now, again, here in the House of Representatives, the people's House, 
we are faced with another instance of Republican failure. Under law, as 
spelled out in title III of the Congressional Budget Act, Congress is 
directed to complete actions on the concurrent resolution on the budget 
by April 15, as we heard Mr. Jeffries remind us. A concurrent 
resolution on the budget means it is supposed to pass both the Senate 
and the House, again, by April 15. At this date, neither Chamber has 
considered a budget resolution for 2017.
  Madam Speaker, I don't know about your constituents, but in my 
district, Ohio's Third Congressional District, my constituents expect 
Congress to work; so let's take a look at it.
  What happens when people refuse to do their jobs?
  If postal workers don't deliver, you don't get your mail. If farmers 
don't farm, people don't eat. If teachers don't show up, our children 
don't learn. People all over America take their jobs seriously, and 
they expect us, as their elected officials, to also do that. It is time 
for House Republicans to get America off the road to ruin and back on 
the path to prosperity.
  When Speaker Ryan took office--this is worth repeating, and 
Congressman Jeffries mentioned this earlier. When Speaker Ryan took 
office, House Republicans stated that passing a budget was a basic 
function of government. However, the statutory deadline of passing a 
budget resolution by April 15 has come and gone, although House 
Republicans made passing a budget a top priority for this year. In the 
Republicans' own words, they can't even accomplish the basic functions 
of government--their job.
  Madam Speaker, why do we care that we don't have a budget? Let me 
give you the answer.
  The importance of setting a budget is that it lays out the blueprint 
for the appropriations process. It outlines government spending for the 
year. Without a budget, we have 12 appropriations bills that are 
working their way through Congress without there being guiding 
principles on overall spending. If we cannot as a Congress perform the 
basic functions of governing, how are we going to tackle the much more 
complicated issues, such as income inequality, education quality, 
tuition affordability, tax reform, and so many others?
  Once again, House Republicans have demonstrated the degree to which 
the sharp division within their Conference is impeding Congress' 
ability to work for the American people. Instead of coming together 
with Democrats to pass a budget resolution that will create jobs and 
grow the paychecks of hardworking American families, they have just 
decided not to pass a budget.
  This decision was made despite the fact that President Obama 
submitted his budget request to Congress back in February. As you may 
remember, Madam Speaker, the Republican majority here in the House of 
Representatives and the Republican-controlled Senate took the 
unprecedented step of refusing to receive the OMB Director for a formal 
hearing so as to present the President's budget.
  Madam Speaker, how did that turn out for us? We all know how it 
turned out. The Republican Conference failed the American people, and 
it set us on a road to ruin by not passing a budget.
  Mr. Jeffries, I look forward to our continuing this dialogue tonight 
with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank Congresswoman Beatty for a very thorough 
presentation and for pointing out that the Speaker, himself, and the 
Republican majority have indicated that they should be judged based on 
their capacity to complete the basics of their job responsibilities, 
which include the passage of a budget resolution. In fact, it was then-
Congressman

[[Page 4494]]

Ryan who, in 2012, stated that failing to enact a budget has serious 
consequences for American families.
  There are at least three current health crises that we are trying to 
deal with in America and throughout the world, but Republicans have 
abdicated their responsibility: the Zika virus, the Flint water crisis, 
and the opioid addiction that is ravaging communities in the inner 
cities, in suburban America, and all throughout the rural parts of this 
country; yet House Republicans have failed not just to put forth a 
budget that would provide a roadmap to deal with these issues, but they 
have chosen to simply ignore these crises in a manner that represents 
such a stunning departure of what responsible Members of Congress 
should be doing at this particular point in time.
  I am thankful that we have been joined by the distinguished 
gentlewoman from the great Lone Star State, who has always been 
thoughtful and eloquent on issues of importance not just to her 
district, which is anchored in Houston, Texas, but through her 
membership and leadership on the Homeland Security Committee as well as 
on the House Judiciary Committee. She has been so thoughtful and 
effective on a great many issues in the context of our safety, of our 
well-being, of criminal justice reform, of course, and of the 
protection of civil liberties--all issues that are fundamental to our 
democracy in the same way that a budgetary roadmap is fundamental to 
our democracy.
  Let me yield to Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. I thank my colleagues for their eloquence but, more 
importantly, for the Congressional Black Caucus in its taking up the 
mantle of the moral compass of justice.
  One would argue that justice is tied to our committee, the Judiciary 
Committee; but as I look at this Congress and as I look at a very small 
document called the Constitution, one can anchor the responsibilities 
of this body--of both the House and the Senate--Mr. Jeffries, in the 
Bill of Rights. I would like to just, very briefly, take us on a 
journey that indicates that our moral compass is broken because a 
budget that was supposed to be passed on April 15, by midnight, was 
not.
  To the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands, let me thank her. She 
will have her own distinctive story, in her eloquence, about the 
fairness to the territories.
  I listened, as I came in, to the presentation by the gentlewoman from 
Ohio, who knows full well that we need a budget to ensure that there is 
full employment in America. Then I work extensively with my colleague 
on the Judiciary Committee, and we will not pass or fund prison reform 
without a budget.
  I rise today, however, to weave in and out of my comments about the 
moral compass that is broken to indicate that my district--the 18th 
Congressional District in Houston, Texas, and Harris County--is under a 
terrible emergency disaster. We are underwater. We are again facing an 
enormous rainfall that has been listed as historic and, possibly, as 
catastrophic.
  Let me acknowledge my mayor, Mayor Turner, and county judge, Judge 
Emmett, for the work that has been done so far; and let me indicate two 
pastors with whom I have just gotten off the phone, Bishop Dixon and 
Bishop Bady, who are watching hungry people come to a site, looking for 
food.

                              {time}  2000

  As I was speaking to the emergency leadership, they are indicating 
they were evacuating babies from apartments and people were being 
displaced.
  So what does that have to do with where we are today and no budget? 
Well, we know that the President introduced his budget a few months 
ago.
  Because of his responsibility, we know that Homeland Security was 
provided funding and FEMA was provided funding to deal with emergency 
declarations of a disaster.
  My district now needs it more than they have ever needed it. They 
need it in terms of providing for those immediate needs of vulnerable 
people without the resources to have stocked food, medical care, 
clothing, and also those who may be off work now because of the 
disaster.
  So we don't have a budget. We are not moving along to ensure that 
FEMA, which has seen a lot of disasters over the last 2 years, has the 
necessary funding to do their job. That is a broken moral compass.
  It also reflects the Constitution because we are owed an equal 
treatment under the law and due process under the Fifth Amendment. 
There is no due process when I hear that one area is under water and we 
are not able to get help.
  Let me also say that, as I watch a broken moral system, I also look 
at the predicament that we will be in with the Zika virus.
  Congressman Jeffries has mentioned the opioid crisis, and we cannot 
forget the water crisis in Flint, but there is also the water crisis 
across the Nation. There is hard work that is being done by the Members 
in Michigan and Mr. Kildee.
  They need a budget to be able to fund the crisis or to help repair 
the crisis, restorative dollars, that a budget does to give a roadmap 
to the appropriators.
  I also know that we are facing another potential epidemic, if you 
will, the Zika virus that is taking control of places like Puerto Rico 
and other places in the Caribbean, places that we have not yet fully 
documented. I can assure you that the Gulf Coast States of Florida, 
Louisiana, and Texas are in the eye of the storm.
  The President a couple of months ago dutifully and responsibly 
introduced to this Congress a request of $1.9 billion--no, I didn't say 
trillions. I didn't say 5 billion. I said 1.9 billion--so that the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can do their job.
  Mr. Jeffries, colleagues, if we are not doing our job, we need those 
who have the distinctive responsibility for issues of health and 
epidemics in this country to be able to do their job.
  We have now been told by the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention that it is not just in the prestages of pregnancy that the 
Zika virus can have a severe impact.
  It is throughout the pregnancy. We also know that they have just 
determined that it will be severe brain damage that will come about.
  So how irresponsible can it be to not put forward the emergency 
supplemental of $1.9 billion? I have sent letters to Secretary Burwell. 
I have sent letters to, obviously, the President of the United States 
in supporting his efforts. I have sent letters to our leader, Nancy 
Pelosi, who has been a champion on these issues of Zika funding. And I 
have sent a letter to Speaker Paul Ryan.
  Might I speak to the Speaker and certainly ask that a half-baked, if 
I might say, contribution to fighting the Zika virus is not going to 
work because any taking of monies from other places is going to damage 
the funding of malaria, tuberculosis, and a universal flu vaccine. Yes, 
it is going to undermine our needed and continued effort of fighting 
Ebola.
  Let me finish by simply saying this: Along with the idea of the Zika 
virus and other crises, when we hear headlines like this that indicate 
Americans still don't see a vibrant labor market, then you know what 
else is needed under this budget? We need a budget to be able to fully 
fund the retraining of Americans.
  I have introduced legislation that will train middle-age or middle-
management workers and others and give them a stipend while they are 
being retrained for the 21st century jobs. We cannot do that with a 
budget not passed and an assessment not being made on how we would fund 
job training.
  Lastly, the Supreme Court heard a case today dealing with the issues 
of executive orders and immigration. I would argue that Texas and the 
other States do not have standing because they are not required to give 
driver's licenses or anything else, as the President provides a 
prioritization of who should be deported.
  I will say to you that, over the years, we have said over and over 
again to pass comprehensive immigration reform, which could have been a 
key element of a budget revenue to be able to help this country move 
along.

[[Page 4495]]

  Without a budget and an intelligent discussion about what 
comprehensive immigration reform would do as an added revenue for this 
country, here we are mumbling along while Houston remains under water, 
needing resources from FEMA, while the Zika virus is in distress with 
no monies and while a number of other important issues are not 
addressed.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Jeffries for allowing me to spend a moment 
to at least tie in the Bill of Rights that deal with the very core 
values of this country.
  We have let down that basic document that guarantees equal 
protection, guarantees a certain freedom to be protected, guarantees 
that Americans have due process, if you will, and certainly guarantees 
the freedom of expression so that Americans can speak and be heard. 
They are speaking, but they are not being heard. What a shame that this 
budget has not been passed.
  I am grateful to the Congressional Black Caucus. Let me acknowledge 
the chairman and say: Let us keep our fight going because we have 
reason to provide that kind of comfort to the American people.
  Madam Speaker, Last week, House Republicans blew past the statutory 
deadline for Congress to enact a budget--reflecting apparently the 
belief of the Leadership that their already severe budget proposal was 
not radical enough to pass through a Republican Majority.
  The Do-Nothing Republican Congress is back.
  Instead of coming together with Democrats to pass a budget resolution 
that will create jobs and grow the paychecks of hard-working American 
families, Republicans have decided not to pass a budget at all.
  The Republican-led Budget Committee, at the direction of the House 
GOP Leadership, put forward the most devastating `Road to Ruin' budget 
in history, but the Republican majority has rejected the plan as 
insufficiently severe.
  Here's what was too weak to satisfy the radical forces that have 
seized control of the Republican Party; a budget that would:
  1. End the Medicare guarantee for seniors;
  2. Make $6.5 trillion in cuts--the sharpest cuts ever proposed by the 
House Budget Committee;
  3. Devastate investments in good-paying jobs, education, and American 
infrastructure;
  4. Repeal the Affordable Care Act and dismantle the affordable health 
care of 20 million Americans.
  Republicans have failed to keep their promise to pass a budget but 
their goal is still clear: to take us back to the radical trickle-down 
agenda that shattered our economy and hollowed out the wages of middle-
class Americans.
  At the same time, House Republicans have done nothing to help the 
thousands of Americans struggling to protect their families from the 
three public health emergencies of the Zika virus, opioid addiction and 
the Flint Water Crisis:
  1. As the House Democratic Leadership wrote to Speaker Ryan last 
month, these public health crises require swift and decisive 
Congressional action.
  2. Also last week, Democrats on the Appropriations Committee wrote to 
Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY), requesting an immediate hearing on the 
Administration's $1.9 billion emergency supplemental request for Zika, 
pointing out that ``The Zika virus is a true public health emergency 
that has the potential to affect millions of Americans this summer, 
including more than two million pregnant women.''
  3. But House Republicans have responded with nothing but inaction and 
indifference.
  Instead of taking action to pass a budget or address urgent public 
health crises, House Republicans are now wasting a full week 
grandstanding on the IRS.
  That's just the kind of hollow, meaningless posturing the American 
people have come to expect from the Do-Nothing Republican Congress.
  As NPR notes:
  Under Republican leadership, the 114th Congress has been ``short on 
meaty legislation and short on weeks in session . . . But there seems 
to be plenty of time to think about other things. Last month, one House 
member introduced a measure that would nationally recognized magic as 
an art form.''
  Hard-working families deserve a Congress that invests in their 
future, protects safety, and creates a level-playing field for them and 
their children to succeed.
  Democrats will continue to press for a budget that creates jobs and 
raises the paychecks of the American people, while reducing the deficit 
in a balanced and responsible way.
  Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in its review of the 
President's Immigration Executive Actions, which, as a result of 
congressional Republicans' inaction, address our Nation's broken 
immigration system and set important priorities in enforcing our 
immigration laws.
  The President's executive actions fall well within both the clear 
legal authority provided by Congress and the Constitution, and the 
well-established precedents of immigration actions by every Democrat 
and Republican President for the last 50 years.
  1. Six Republican presidents have used the same clear authority to 
make our immigration enforcement priorities better fit our values as a 
people and our needs as a nation;
  2. Past presidents have routinely acted in the face of Congressional 
inaction;
  3. Numerous noted legal scholars have found that the President's 
actions are well within his legal authority.
  The Immigration Executive Actions follow the same constitutional and 
legal precedent used by every Administration--Republican and 
Democratic--since President Eisenhower.
  Just as Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush did before him, 
President Obama took executive action to make our immigration system 
better meet the needs of our country and better reflect our values as 
Americans.
  As former Republican Senator Richard Lugar wrote in the New York 
Times:
  ``. . . whether or not you like President Obama's actions, he has 
operated under longstanding provisions of law that give the executive 
branch discretion in enforcement. This presidential prerogative has 
been recognized explicitly by the Supreme Court.''
  Democrats stand for restoring sense to our utterly broken immigration 
system--so that we stop tearing apart families and separating parents 
from their children.
  Last month, House and Senate Democrats filed our own amicus brief 
with the Supreme Court in support of the President's Immigration 
Executive Actions.
  We are confident that the Supreme Court will affirm these vital 
immigration reforms and allow the President's steps to start fixing our 
immigration system to move forward.
  While Republicans stand with Donald Trump's incendiary anti-immigrant 
agenda, Democrats will continue to champion the comprehensive 
immigration reform our nation needs.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from 
Texas. She raises several important points.
  One of the things that has struck me during my time here in Congress 
is that, under Republican reign, we have consistently seen government 
by crisis on one issue after the next.
  From the group of people that spend so much time messaging the point 
to the American people that they believe in fiscal responsibility, 
where is the fiscal responsibility in failing to put forth a budget 
consistent with the law that you supported?
  The other thing that amazes me--and the gentlewoman from Texas raised 
the point about the Supreme Court case that was argued earlier today on 
the immigration executive order issued by the President--I sit on the 
Judiciary Committee along with the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee and we 
hear almost every week about how lawless this President allegedly has 
been in terms of his time in office.
  Now, it is interesting to consistently hear the lectures about how 
lawless this President has allegedly been from people who believe that 
President Barack Obama exceeded his authority on January 20, 2009, the 
moment that he took the oath of office because there are folks who 
still cannot believe that this man is the President and leader of the 
free world. So I never buy that lawlessness argument.
  This is a group now that supports essentially undermining the 
Constitution over in the other house of this Congress. The President 
has done his job in putting forth the Supreme Court nominee, who is 
clearly qualified not according to Members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, but according to Orrin Hatch himself, one of the leading 
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, amongst others.
  The lawlessness is not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It 
is taking place right here in the United States Congress under the 
leadership of House and Senate Republicans.

[[Page 4496]]


  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me just finish my point by saying 
that the reason why the budget is not here is because they could not 
muster the votes of the majority and they could not muster them even 
though their budget ended Medicare, it took $6.5 trillion in cuts from 
the overall budget, it devastated good-paying jobs, education, American 
infrastructure, and, again, it repealed the Affordable Care Act and 
dismantled the Affordable Care Act for 20 million people.
  Even with those poison pills to draw in support for some kind of 
budget that would fit within the law, their responsibility or the 
responsibility of Congress--they are in the majority--they could not 
pass or get on the floor a budget.
  Clearly, the moral compass is broken. More importantly, it denies 
equal protection under the law, in my interpretation, of millions of 
Americans depending on this Congress doing its job.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the thoughtful observations 
of the gentlewoman from Texas.
  I think we want to bring Representative Stacy Plaskett into this 
conversation in terms of the stunning inability to present a budget.
  As Representative Jackson Lee said, what else is there to do in terms 
of satisfying the extreme elements of your party? Privatize Social 
Security and throw older people out of their homes across the country? 
What else can you do?
  We are going to explore some of these draconian cuts that were in a 
budget that apparently is not extreme enough.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett), my 
good friend and colleague by way of Brooklyn, New York, I point out. We 
are so thankful for her presence here in the Congress. It is my honor 
now to yield to her.
  Ms. PLASKETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Jeffries and I thank 
the Congressional Black Caucus for giving us this opportunity to always 
be the conscience of this Congress.
  I want to thank the gentleman for his tireless efforts to raise 
awareness on not just the Committee on the Judiciary, but all of the 
work that he does.
  This group has come together this evening to talk about the fact that 
once again the Republicans have created a road to ruin in their budget 
failure.
  We talked about the fact that this Republican Congress has blown past 
the statutory deadline to enact a budget last week, reflecting, 
apparently, the belief of the leadership that their already severe 
budget proposal was not even radical enough to pass through this 
Republican majority.
  The gentleman talked about some of the draconian measures that were 
already in the budget that they had proposed, which seems to have not 
been sufficient enough for their caucus.
  At the direction of the House GOP leadership, the Budget Committee 
put forth one of the most devastating budgets in history and the 
majority rejected that plan as insufficient, which can only lead us to 
believe that it was not even severe enough for them.
  Some of the things that were in that budget were an end to a Medicare 
guarantee for seniors, makes $6.5 trillion in cuts--the sharpest cuts 
ever proposed by the House Budget Committee--devastates investments in 
good-paying jobs, education, and American infrastructure, repeals the 
Affordable Care Act and dismantling the affordable health care of 20 
million Americans.
  Now, as expressed by the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), in 
February, the administration, our President, requested support for 
Americans through the budget that he submitted to this Congress, which 
provided support for education, job training support, bolstering our 
obligation to seniors, real tools for growth for the territories in 
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and others by inclusion in the 
Affordable Care Act and expansion of Medicare.
  But it seems that the Republicans have failed their promise to pass a 
budget, never mind even listen to or hear the head of OMB on that 
budget.
  Their goal is still clear, to take us back to radical, trickle-down 
agenda that shattered our economy in the past and hollowed out the 
wages of middle-class Americans.
  At that same time, House Republicans have done nothing to help the 
thousands of Americans struggling to protect their families from the 
three public health crises the chief spoke of: Zika, the opioid addict 
addictions, and the Flint water crisis. In Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, 
Florida, and now even Texas, this is a real crisis concerning the Zika 
virus.
  Last week, Democrats on the Appropriations Committee wrote to 
Chairman Hal Rogers requesting an immediate hearing on the 
administration's 1.9 billion emergency supplemental request for Zika, 
pointing out that: ``The Zika virus is a true public health emergency 
that has the potential to affect millions of Americans this summer, 
including more than 2 million pregnant women.''
  What did that committee do? Absolutely nothing. Not even the respect 
of a hearing. They have not responded to anything but just their 
inaction and indifference.

                              {time}  2015

  Instead of taking action to pass a budget or address urgent public 
health crises, the House Republicans are now wasting a full week 
grandstanding on the IRS. That is just the kind of hollow, meaningless 
posturing the American people have come to expect from this Congress.
  Hardworking families deserve a Congress that invests in their future, 
protects their safety, creates a level playing field for them and their 
children to succeed. Democrats will continue to press for a budget that 
creates jobs, raises the paychecks, creates opportunities for American 
people while reducing the deficit in a balanced and responsible way.
  I look forward to hearing, with the rest of my colleagues, their 
thoughts on this budget process and even possibly solutions for us as 
American people to come away with a clear budget that creates growth 
and opportunities for Americans.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Plaskett. She 
raised several important points. She noted that our colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle continue to embrace this notion of trickle-down 
economics, which is sort of the foundation of many of the slash-and-
burn cuts that are contained in at least a budget document that has 
been passed in prior years and the document that was put forth by the 
Committee on the Budget this year, this belief that if you lower the 
tax rate for millionaires and billionaires, that it will result in some 
residual benefit to the American people. But there is an irony in the 
embrace even of that term, ``trickle-down economics.''
  With the leadership of Representative Bobby Scott and others, the CBC 
has consistently put forth a budget designed to open the floodgates of 
prosperity for working class Americans and middle class folks all 
throughout this country, but what the Republicans want to do is 
trickle-down economics. The only thing that you get with that 
philosophy, you may get a trickle, but you are guaranteed to stay down.
  We are thankful that Representative Scott for so many years has 
consistently put forth through his leadership a budget from the 
Congressional Black Caucus designed to be both fiscally responsible and 
consistent with our ideals as a country that looks out for the least of 
those amongst us.
  Let me now yield to the distinguished representative from the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, Mr. Bobby Scott.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
getting the title of our State correct. I thank the gentleman from New 
York and the gentlewoman from Ohio for yielding and organizing 
tonight's Special Order.
  Last week, the House of Representatives failed to pass a budget by 
the statutorily mandated date of April 15. This failure is unfortunate 
for our budget process, but perhaps not unfortunate for the American 
people because

[[Page 4497]]

no budget is better than the proposed Republican budget that would have 
been brought to the floor.
  Our Nation's budget reflects priorities, but the Republican budget 
only highlights the wrong priorities. The budget the House Republicans 
wanted to bring to the floor would be even more devastating to 
students, working families, and seniors than their previous proposals.
  The Republican budget would end the Medicare guarantee for seniors by 
converting Medicare into a voucher payment that would not keep pace 
with medical inflation, shifting billions of dollars in medical costs 
onto our senior citizens.
  The Republican budget would repeal the Affordable Care Act and would 
jeopardize the health insurance for millions of Americans, even though 
the budget assumes all of the revenue collected by the Affordable Care 
Act to pay for the Affordable Care Act, all of those taxes remain in 
the budget.
  The Republican budget includes a total of $6.5 trillion in spending 
cuts, largely unspecified. If this level of cuts were ever made, it 
would devastate our investments and jobs, education, research, and 
would essentially eliminate any new transportation projects.
  On top of these devastating cuts to vital programs that support and 
uplift hardworking American families, the Republican budget calls for 
trillions of dollars in tax cuts that would primarily benefit 
millionaires and billionaires, and then they claim the tax cuts would 
be revenue neutral, suggesting that we are to believe that trillions of 
dollars in new taxes would be imposed to pay for those tax cuts for the 
wealthy. But despite this, the Republican budget is not a credible 
plan.
  Are we really going to dismantle Medicare? Are we really going to cut 
hundreds of billions of dollars out of education and job training and 
transportation? Are we really going to raise trillions of dollars in 
new taxes to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy?
  I don't think so. But the House leadership couldn't even secure 
enough votes for this budget proposal because a faction of their 
conference wanted even deeper, unrealistic spending cuts. Budgeting is 
about making tough choices, and the only choice the Republicans seem to 
have made with the budget proposal is that we can only balance the 
budget on the backs of students, workers, seniors, the disabled, and 
vulnerable communities across the Nation while cutting taxes for the 
wealthy.
  The Congressional Black Caucus knows that is not the right choice. 
That is why, as we have done for the last 30 years, we have diligently 
prepared our own budget alternative to the Republican budget, which we 
would have offered as an amendment to the Republican budget if they had 
brought up their proposal.
  The CBC budget chooses to invest in programs that we know will grow 
our economy and ensure that every American family is able to prosper. 
Our budget proposes a comprehensive jobs program, totaling $500 billion 
over 3 years that will accelerate our economic recovery and ensure that 
it reaches virtually every community in America while also investing in 
what will guarantee America's long-term economic competitiveness.
  This jobs plan includes funding for direct jobs creation programs, 
school modernization, jobs for teachers and first responders, immediate 
investments in our Nation's crumbling infrastructure, assistance for 
neighborhoods and families still reeling from the housing crisis, job 
training programs, and summer jobs.
  Our budget calls for significant and sustained investments--
approximately $300 billion over the next decade--above the President's 
request for programs that have been instrumental in lifting millions of 
Americans out of poverty. Some of these proposals include restoration 
of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, expanding 
access to affordable housing, increasing access to quality and 
affordable education, increasing funding for job training and Trade 
Adjustment Assistance, adjusting the earned income tax credit and child 
tax credit to inflation, as well as decreasing the age where you can 
benefit for the earned income tax credit down to 21 years of age.
  Thanks to the leadership of Congressman Jim Clyburn, our budget also 
ensures that Federal resources are targeted more efficiently toward 
eradicating poverty by targeting Federal spending toward persistent 
areas of poverty through the 10-20-30 formula.
  Our budget also includes more than $340 billion above the President's 
request for education over the next decade. This additional money will 
help make college more affordable by increasing the Pell grant, fully 
funding the President's free community college program, reducing 
interest rates on student loans, and financing other proposals to 
ensure that no student graduates from college saddled with unmanageable 
debt.
  The CBC budget also provides much-needed funding for families of 
Flint, Michigan, to help address the short-term and long-term cognitive 
and behavioral development of children exposed to high lead levels. 
However, the Congressional Black Caucus appreciates, unfortunately, 
that Flint is not the only community in America impacted by lead 
exposure. This is why our budget includes funds to help not only Flint, 
but also other communities across the Nation deal with the effects of 
lead exposure.
  Unlike the Republican budget, the CBC budget clearly shows how we pay 
for these additional investments. Our budget sets a new revenue target 
of $4 trillion over the next 10 years above the current revenue 
baseline. To demonstrate how this is achievable and realistic, our 
budget suggests several specific alternatives, totaling $7 trillion, 
that the House and Senate committees can choose from to reach that 
target.
  We ask for $4 trillion in new additional and specifically outline at 
least $7 trillion to choose from. We do this by specifically talking 
about closing specific corporate loopholes, treating capital gains and 
dividends as regular income, a reasonable fee for financial 
transactions, restoring the estate tax to levels paid over a few years 
ago, specific items where you can choose from and, in fact, if we just 
cancel the Bush-era tax cuts, we would have almost $4 trillion in new 
revenue right there.
  At the end of the day, our budget realistically reduces the deficit 
by approximately $3.2 trillion over the next decade compared to the 
Congressional Budget Office's March 2016 baseline. The CBC budget 
chooses investments in America's children and workers, protects our 
most vulnerable communities, and changes the wrong choices offered by 
the Republican majority.
  I hope that we will have an opportunity to debate these issues if the 
House Republicans are ever able to bring their road-to-ruin budget to a 
full House vote.
  Again, I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Would the gentleman indulge one question?
  It was mentioned during that very thorough presentation of what is 
contained in the CBC budget the 10-20-30 program, and of course 10-20-
30, an initiative that has been championed by the CBC through the 
leadership of Representative Jim Clyburn, would put forth a formula 
where 10 percent of the funding allocation would go to counties where 
20 percent of the population has been living below the poverty line for 
30 or more years. Is that correct?
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. That is correct. If you look at that, those 
counties and areas are spread all over the country, and if we are ever 
going to eradicate poverty, we have to target it to the high poverty 
areas, and 10-20-30 does exactly that.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentleman. In fact, what 
Representative Clyburn has consistently pointed out, which I think is 
important in an era where we are trying to find common ground and deal 
with the problems confronting the American people, if you look at a 
breakdown of persistently poor counties across the country and overlay 
that with congressional districts, a majority of those counties are 
actually represented by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
  This is something that we believe should be embraced by the Speaker 
and

[[Page 4498]]

our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, as it would benefit, by 
the numbers, the constituents that they represent even more so than 
those of us within the CBC or on this side of the aisle.
  Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. That is exactly true. I thank the gentleman 
very much for pointing that out.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Scott.
  Let me now ask my colleague, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), 
to just react to some of what we have heard.
  One of the things that I thought was interesting in the presentation 
related to this budget is that if you look at the numbers, they are so 
extreme. I was on the Committee on the Budget during my first 2 years 
in Congress, but these numbers are even more extreme than what I 
remember in the 113th Congress. The budget apparently will cut $157 
billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over a 10-
year period.
  The Republican budget that came out of the committee would cut 
roughly $2 trillion from Medicaid. When I was on the committee, the 
number was $700 million. I thought that was out of control, $700 
million. Now we are at $2 trillion over a 10-year period apparently.
  And then we have got cuts in higher education. The proposal is $185 
billion over 10 years.
  You have to ask the question: Why would anyone propose such draconian 
cuts?
  The answer is clear. This is not something that is often talked 
about, but the objective is to create a situation where you can 
dramatically lower the tax rates for the wealthiest amongst us. The top 
tax rate right now is 39.6 percent, but what the budget that has been 
put forth by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would do is 
that it would create two tax rates, one at 10 and the other at 25 
percent. So what you will see is a tax cut that goes from 39.6 percent 
to 25 percent.
  The way that you balance a budget and pay for it is on the backs of 
working families, the middle class, senior citizens, children, the 
disabled, the poor, the afflicted, and everybody else who doesn't fall 
into the category of millionaire or billionaire.

                              {time}  2030

  Now, you wonder how it could be possible that anyone could think that 
they could get away with such a draconian budget. Well, again, the 
argument is trickle-down economics.
  But what I found fascinating--and maybe you could react to this, 
Representative Beatty--is that if you actually look at a side-by-side 
comparison of the economy 8 years under President Clinton with a side-
by-side comparison of the economy 8 years under George W. Bush, and 
then a side-by-side comparison of the economy 8 years under President 
Obama, I think it is pretty clear who actually has been the responsible 
fiscal stewards.
  There were 20.3 million jobs created under the Clinton Presidency. 
America lost 650,000 jobs in 8 years under the Bush Presidency. America 
has now gained more than 14 million private sector jobs under 8 years 
of the Obama Presidency.
  What has been demonstrated is that the argument that if you lower tax 
rates, you create economic prosperity, is phony. Because Bill Clinton 
raised the top tax rate to 39.6 percent. It didn't seem to adversely 
impact the economy. In fact, it was humming between 1992 and 2000. 
George Bush comes to office, lowers the tax rate for high-income 
earners from 39.6 percent to 35 percent. We had the greatest recession 
in the history of modern America; the worst financial crisis since the 
Great Depression.
  President Obama comes into office and he raises the top tax rate 
again from 35 to 39.6, more than 14 million jobs are created, the 
unemployment rate has dropped under his tenure from over 10 percent to 
5 percent, the deficit has been reduced by more than a trillion 
dollars. The stock market has gone from 6,000 to over 16,000. Now it is 
up to 18,000. I haven't been in the 401(k) system as long as 
Congressman Scott, who clearly is monitoring the situation. So the 
prosperity numbers have been phenomenal.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) for her reaction.
  Mrs. BEATTY. I think Mr. Jeffries and our other colleagues have said 
it so well, but here is what I am afraid of.
  I think the Republicans--the GOP--want to take us down to the radical 
trickle-down agenda that shattered our economy and hollowed out the 
wages of middle class, hardworking Americans.
  You said it all with that comparison from Clinton to Bush to now 
President Obama. And I could add to that long list: some 18 million 
people with health insurance; women having some of the best healthcare 
opportunities, getting mammograms for those who are under- and 
uninsured. We are able to have college students stay on their parent's 
insurance.
  So I think when we look at what is happening, there are billions of 
dollars that they want to do away with in programs. And we can add to 
that: the $185 billion from Federal college aid for low-income students 
or the $150 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, 
or SNAP. Many of my constituents refer to that as their food stamps. 
And certainly, but for the Congressional Black Caucus, those members on 
the Agriculture Committee, those Members in leadership fighting for us 
to restore those dollars, I think it is quite simple.
  I think what we are hearing tonight from our members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus is that they are trying to take us back in 
history. They are trying to take us back to an era of time, and we are 
not going to let them do that. We have too much at stake. We have 
gained so much.
  Someone may ask us tonight: Why are we here? Why are we the 
conscience of the Congress, Mr. Speaker? Why are we here tonight 
talking about the road to ruin and destruction by not having a 
congressional budget?
  I think the facts speak for themselves. I think that the American 
public needs to know that this is not something that just affects the 
Congressional Black Caucus. I want that to be clear. This affects 
America.
  You mentioned it with Mr. Clyburn's 10-20-30. The fact is more 
individuals who don't look like members of the Congressional Black 
Caucus will benefit. And that is the difference between Democrats and 
Republicans. We care about all people.
  They profess to have hearings on poverty, and then when you look at 
the results of their own budget and what they are doing to those 
individuals who live in poverty--chuckle we may, clear our voice, Mr. 
Speaker, as we may--the facts speak for themselves. They are not 
creating programs that will help us eliminate poverty. And it is as 
simple as that.
  Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank you for laying that out. And I think history 
can be judged by objective observers as it relates to fiscal 
responsibility. But a few facts that perhaps some in the Chamber may 
have had amnesia about, but maybe it bears going through.
  Sequestration and painful budget cuts as it relates to the extreme 
agenda of some here in the Congress have been brought to us in a manner 
that has cost us both jobs and the ability
to experience accelerated financial growth.
  We saw in the aftermath of a severe economic shock the approach that 
was taken by our friends over in Europe of extreme austerity did not 
bear financial fruit. It was the stimulus package that was put forth--
with not a single vote from anyone on the other side of the aisle--that 
was actually the financially responsible approach taken to help deal 
with the train wreck that President Obama inherited and to get the 
economy back on track.
  But, of course, the objective from the very beginning--not my words, 
but the words of the Senate majority leader on the other side of the 
Capitol--was to make the President a one-term President.
  I just don't even understand the philosophy of a President who takes 
office, inherits the worst economy since the Great Depression, and the 
number one agenda is to make sure that he is a one-term President. But 
that was an unsuccessful political endeavor. He gets a second term.

[[Page 4499]]

  The first thing that some of my good friends on the other side of the 
aisle decide to do, as we approach the end of the fiscal year in 2013, 
was to shut down the government for 16 days. It cost us $24 billion in 
lost economic productivity. That is not hyperbole. Those are facts.
  And what was it all for?
  Because there is this obsession--perhaps clinical in nature--with the 
Affordable Care Act. This is why we voted more than 50 times to destroy 
it, defeat it, delay it, and do everything possible to stop it.
  What could be possibly wrong with making sure that preexisting 
conditions don't prevent someone here in the greatest country in the 
history of the world from being able to get adequate medical care? What 
is wrong with more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans 
actually having health care?
  Yet, in the budget that apparently is not extreme enough, we would 
take away the Affordable Care Act.
  So these are just some of the facts. I wish we had some more time to 
explore it. That is not hyperbole. Historians will judge this 
Presidency and this Congress. I, of course, am of the belief that many 
will conclude that this is a Congress that has majored in obstruction, 
minored in dysfunction, and done everything possible to pursue a degree 
in legislative malpractice to the detriment of the American people. And 
I am hopeful that we can just get back on track and try to find common 
ground to do the business of the American people, which is why each and 
every one of us was sent here to the people's House.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Republican 
controlled House has once again missed a key deadline when it failed to 
pass a budget resolution before April 15. Despite promises to the 
contrary, House Speaker Paul Ryan has been unable to bring a budget 
resolution to the floor in a timely fashion. This is simply 
unacceptable.
  Completing a budget resolution is an important step in the budget 
process that will lay out Congress' spending priorities and create a 
unified vision for a more prosperous nation. While Democrats have 
endeavored to work cooperatively with Republicans to pass a 
comprehensive budget resolution, Speaker Ryan has insisted on pushing a 
budget that divides our country while further slashing critical 
investments aimed at strengthening our economy. The Republican budget 
reflects the needs of only a select few instead of the views and 
priorities of every American and places the burden of deficit reduction 
squarely on the backs of middle and working class Americans.
  It is clear that our most vulnerable segments of the population--the 
elderly, minorities, low-income earners, and others--have been most 
impacted by the Great Recession. Yet this latest Republican budget 
resolution continues to reflect the failed economic worldview that 
wealth will trickle down when we give massive tax breaks to the 
wealthy. Time and time again, history has demonstrated that this is 
simply untrue.
  It is unfortunate that the Republican-controlled Congress today is 
subjecting millions of hard-working families to even greater pressures 
to work longer hours for less pay, while we continue to prop up the 
wealthiest earners and biggest corporations with tax breaks and other 
loopholes. The Republican budget exemplifies these principles and 
drives the wedge deeper between the wealthy and our most vulnerable.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe our nation is on a dangerous path under this 
Republican leadership. Congress should be working to create jobs and 
increase pay for hard-working American families, not giving additional 
tax breaks to the wealthy and cutting spending for key social programs. 
The Republicans have long abandoned their commitment to pass a budget 
resolution that reflects the needs of all Americans. Thus, I am 
strongly urging my colleagues to support fiscally sound and morally 
responsible budget alternatives that will create a level playing field 
and new opportunities for every American.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Loudermilk). The Chair would remind 
Members that remarks in debate may not engage in personalities toward 
the President, including by repeating remarks made elsewhere that would 
be improper if spoken in the Member's own words.

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