[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14962]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         ADMINISTRATION NEEDS TO FOCUS ON COUNTRY'S REAL ISSUES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Pocan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, our Nation has a lot of issues on its plate. 
We have to stabilize healthcare. We need an infrastructure plan that 
creates millions of good-paying jobs. We need to deal with the 
hurricanes and the aftermath not just in Texas and Florida, but also in 
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. We have a huge problem with North 
Korea and nuclear weapons, and that is just for starters.
  So what did President Trump spend his weekend doing? Fixing 
healthcare for tens of millions of people?
  No.
  Lobbying for a robust job-creating infrastructure plan?
  No.
  Sending aid to Puerto Rico?
  Not that either.
  De-escalate the situation in North Korea?
  Well, actually, quite the opposite. No. President Trump spent his 
weekend doing one of his favorite things: attacking Americans and 
various groups on his favorite medium: Twitter.
  His most recent attack: NFL players who use their constitutional 
right to freedom of speech to protest.
  But they are not the only ones and the only group being attacked. 
Back in July, The New York Times found that President Trump was on 
track to insult 650 people, places, and things on Twitter by the end of 
his first term. Well, 2 months later, he is certainly still at it. 
Instead of attacking our Nation's problems, he is attacking us.
  Let's take a quick look at some of the people and groups he has 
attacked both as a candidate and President. On this board we have just 
a handful of the people, places, and things President Trump has 
insulted, and if we were going to list them all, we would probably have 
to have dozens of poster boards.
  Here is a sampling: John McCain and Jeff Flake; Barack Obama; Hillary 
Clinton, even though the election happened a year ago; the media from 
The ``failing'' New York Times and the Amazon Washington Post to 
individual reporters like Katy Tur and Mika Brzezinski; ObamaCare; 
Hamilton, the Broadway musical; Jeff Sessions, his own Attorney 
General; the Emmys; Nordstrom; the Russian investigation; Rosie 
O'Donnell; the Paris climate agreement; Meryl Streep; Mexicans; 
protesters; fake news; John Oliver; Mark Cuban; Snoop Dogg; and this 
weekend, the NFL and its players.
  The list goes on and on. Well, it is actually easier to name the 
people and things that President Trump has not attacked than all of the 
ones that he has. So I came up with a very small list of people or 
groups that he has not attacked after several extensive Google 
searches.
  First, I don't think the President has attacked the barbershop 
quartet singing organization: the Society for the Preservation and 
Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing, also known as SPEBSQSA. 
To the best of my knowledge, he has never attacked them, so maybe he is 
a fan of barbershop crooners.
  Although it is fairly recent, pumpkin spice lattes. I know they just 
came out. It is a sign of fall, but so far there is no Twitter traffic 
from Trump attacking these tasty treats.
  Finally, these very fine people President Trump hasn't attacked 
nearly enough: the Klan, neo-Nazis, and other White supremacists.
  Instead of being the attacker in chief, President Trump is supposed 
to unify the Nation, but all he does is divide us. His job is to work 
for the American people, to deliver on the promises and actually help 
Americans.
  Here are the issues we need help with: stabilize the Affordable Care 
Act to ensure tens of millions of people keep their coverage, and don't 
just sabotage the marketplace.
  We need good-paying jobs and better wages for the American people. We 
need a job and infrastructure plan like the President promised, but we 
have yet to see.
  We need trade agreements that work for American workers. Again, 
another promise we have had with no tangible results.
  And we need aid for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands after last 
week's devastating hurricanes, much of what has yet to materialize.
  Mr. President, while you are so busy tweeting about the NFL, you 
attack a Black man for nonviolence more severely than White 
supremacists for violence.
  Look, taking a knee may have started as a protest about racial 
inequality, about behavior by some in law enforcement discriminating 
against others in this country, but unarmed people of color are being 
killed simply for the color of their skin.
  I think today taking a knee is becoming a broader sign of patriotism 
and respect for our country, for a country that can be even greater for 
every one of its citizens. It respects the lives lost for those in this 
country to fight for its ideals, which include nonviolent protests. It 
is a sign of love of country, a country with a promise that has to be 
for everyone regardless of the color of their skin.
  I join so many now in the NFL and elsewhere in taking a knee for the 
America that we all aspire it to be.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President and to direct their 
remarks to the Chair.

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