[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10812]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 REPUBLICAN PARTY FEVER HAS NOT BROKEN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Gallego) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, in 2012, President Obama was speaking to 
some of his supporters in Minneapolis. They were eager to know how he 
was planning to make progress on key issues in his second term, given 
the uncompromising rabid opposition of the majority in this House.
  Here is what President Obama said: ``I believe that if we're 
successful in this election, when we're successful in this election, 
that the fever may break, because there's a tradition in the Republican 
Party of more common sense than that.''
  Five years later, I can say--we can all say--that the fever has not 
broken. The fever is running as hot as ever. The fever drove this House 
majority to threaten default on our Nation's debt, to shut down the 
Federal Government, to indulge racist birther conspiracies, to elevate 
the very champion of those conspiracies to the Presidency of the United 
States.
  Ten years ago, I know Republican leaders could not imagine that kind 
of conspiracy would spread throughout the Republican Party rank and 
file, but it did and it has.
  Five years ago, GOP leaders could not have imagined that their party 
would nominate Donald Trump and elect him to the Presidency, but they 
did.
  One year ago, I know Republican leaders could not imagine that they 
would cover for the Trump campaign and Trump administration's collusion 
with the Russian Government, but they have, and they are.
  For far too long, Democrats have wanted to believe that the GOP would 
come to its senses. We wanted to believe that it was really just a 
fringe minority within the GOP that was the problem, that sober, 
sensible leaders like John Boehner and Mitch McConnell wanted to do the 
right thing, but they couldn't because of the Tea Party. They couldn't 
unless we helped them.
  And that is why Democrats bailed out Boehner time after time, jam 
after jam. Democrats have to stop deluding themselves. There is only 
one Republican Party, and it is the party of Trump.
  It is the party whose Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, blocked efforts 
by the Obama administration to stop Russian interference in the 2016 
election. It is the party that every day looks the other way in the 
face of Trump's appeasement of Russia and fails to hold Trump 
accountable.
  Last week, Congressman Ted Lieu and I introduced two amendments to 
the National Defense Authorization Act that the House is debating 
currently on the floor.
  The first would endorse the intelligence community's assessment 
regarding the Russian's meddling in our 2016 election. This is critical 
because Donald Trump has repeatedly cast doubt, as recently as 
yesterday, on the report that despite unanimous agreement from all of 
our intelligence agencies, that indeed there was collusion, that indeed 
there was interference by Russians.
  The second amendment would block an outrageous Trump administration 
initiative to create a new cybersecurity partnership with the Russian 
Government. Trump's plan would let the fox into the henhouse and pave 
the way for more election interference in our upcoming elections and 
others, all at the invitation of Donald Trump.
  These would have been two sensible steps that the House of 
Representatives could have taken this week to counter interference in 
our elections, but last night, the GOP leadership, under Chairman 
Sessions and the House Rules Committee, blocked these amendments. They 
refused to give these amendments a chance to be debated and voted on 
the floor.
  As more and more information comes out about Russia, Americans all 
over the country keep hoping that the GOP will do the right thing, that 
they will put country before party and hold Trump accountable, but they 
have not, and they will not.
  Just this past week, Donald Trump, Jr., himself released emails that 
show unequivocally the Trump campaign's eagerness to collude with the 
Russian Government, but that hasn't changed a thing.
  It hasn't stopped Speaker Ryan from blocking a Russian sanctions bill 
at the Trump administration's request. It hasn't stopped Chairman 
Sessions and the Rules Committee from blocking my amendment to set the 
record straight on Russian interference and help prevent it in the 
future.
  The truth is, they are all complicit. It is time to recognize the GOP 
majority is not the victim here. They aren't suffering from a fever 
that Democrats have to help fight.
  It is the United States Congress, as a whole, that has a fever, and 
it is the GOP's grip on the majority that is the cause.
  It is time for us to face reality. The problem isn't the Tea Party, 
it is the Republican Party.

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