Providing for Consideration of H.r. 3354, Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018; Providing for Consideration of Motions to Suspend the Rules; and Waiving a Requirement of Clause 6(A) of Rule Xiii with Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions Reported from the Committee on Rules

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I have nothing but the highest respect for my colleague from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), and I know he wants this House to run better. But the fact of the matter is, I feel bad that he has to defend this lousy, restrictive, indefensible process.

As I said last night in the Rules Committee, regular order in this House is dead. The current Republican leadership has made it very clear that they have nothing but contempt for regular order, and today's appropriations package is only another example of that fact.

Instead of considering bills one by one, and allowing thoughtful debate and Member input, Republican leaders decided to call up eight appropriation bills all at once this week, and even set amendment deadlines while Members were back in their districts for the August work period.

Last night, in the Rules Committee, Republicans blocked 229 amendments from even coming to the floor on the four bills we are talking about today alone. Those are Democratic and Republican ideas that won't be heard and won't be debated. Who knows how many more they will block on the next set of appropriation bills?
That is not the open process that we were promised by Speaker Ryan.

That is not regular order, my friends.

What is even worse than this terrible process is the substance of the bills that are being brought before us. They are filled with funding cuts and poison pill riders that attack women's health, attack poor people, attack healthcare rights; repeal important financial reforms that protect our constituents and our economy; undermine the Affordable Care Act; make our land, air, and water dirtier; make our roads less safe; and undermine important civil rights protections. I could go on and on and on and on.

These bills are political documents, Mr. Speaker. They are red meat for the Republican base which, I think, is at around 15 percent of the American people the last time I checked. That is right, Mr. Speaker, the majority's ideas are so unpopular that over three-quarters of the American people disapprove of what they are doing here today. That is not coming from any liberal or leftwing source. That poll was released last week by FOX News, you know, the network that you guys always watch.

We all know we will need a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown on October 1, so why are we wasting the House's time on this partisan exercise when we should be dealing with the CR? And oh, yes, we need to raise the debt ceiling, pass a budget, continue to fund hurricane relief, and so much more we need to do.

Mr. Speaker, I am sick and tired of playing to the extremes. I am sick and tired of this President picking a fight with a different group of people every week, constantly trying to divide Americans, rather than unite us for the common good.

And the latest target are the DREAMers. The DREAMers are our coworkers, our relatives, our neighbors, and our children's classmates.

They have lived nearly their entire lives in America. They are part of the very fabric of our country.

The decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is a cruel betrayal of their trust in the United States. It needlessly and stupidly robs us of the enormous talents, hard work, and ingenuity of these 800,000 young people. Ending DACA is a lose-lose proposition for America and for us all.

President Trump vowed to show great heart in his decision and declared that DREAMers could rest easy. That is a lie, and that is a betrayal.

And shame on the Republican leadership of this House that has avoided making DACA a permanent program for nearly 7 years. Shame on the Republican Party for voting against the DREAM Act in 2010, even though it ultimately passed the House.

Shame on the Republicans in the Senate for blocking cloture in 2010, when it was clear that there were plenty of votes to pass the DREAM Act then. Shame on the Republican leadership of this House for not making DACA a permanent law when President Obama first initiated the program in 2012.

Shame on the House Republican leadership for failing to take up the Senate-passed comprehensive immigration bill for the past 4 years, which included DACA and a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship for the DREAMers and so many other immigrants caught in legal limbo in our country.

Shame on the Republican leadership for being such political cowards that they have failed time and time again to actually demonstrate leadership and resolve these problems.

800,000 young people, who are totally American in every way that matters, put their trust in the United States Government and in us here in this Congress, not just to protect them, but to be proud of them.

They have been cruelly betrayed.

The memo issued yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security even says that they should be prepared to pack their bags and be deported to their countries of origin. But, Mr. Speaker, the simple truth is, America is their home.

It is unconscionable that the President pardoned radical racist Sheriff Arpaio, who actually is a criminal, while punishing 800,000 law-abiding, hardworking DREAMers.

I stand with the CEO of Microsoft and hundreds of other business leaders who said to the President: ``To deport a DREAMer, you'll have to go through us.''

I stand with the thousands of religious leaders, college and university presidents, mayors, State attorneys general, and civic leaders who demand that we reject the President's decision and have Congress pass the DREAM Act immediately. This Congress cannot and must not continue to fail these 800,000 young people.

This morning, this House passed emergency aid for Hurricane Harvey. A DREAMer died in Houston attempting to rescue victims of the floodwaters. Another DREAMer, who is a Houston paramedic, and who worked night and day in rescue and relief efforts, just found out yesterday that his country, the only country he has ever known, has turned its back on him. Well, I refuse to turn my back.

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the DREAMers need a permanent legislative fix. We can do that this very day. If we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up Representative Roybal-Allard's bipartisan, bicameral bill, the DREAM Act. It is time to do what is right.

You know, earlier today, Speaker Ryan said: Well, we have time to work this out. Really?

The Speaker seems totally content to have 800,000 people continue to live with uncertainty and fear. I think that that is sad and that is cruel.

He also said: We need to develop some sort of compromise.

I don't know what he is thinking about. Maybe he is thinking about trying to add more border security money or add this stupid wall that the President keeps on talking about.

Well, here's the deal. There is nothing to compromise on. You either support the DREAMers or you don't. They are not political pawns. They are people like you and me and our kids. They deserve better from us.

Stop screwing around with their lives.

Defeat the previous question. We can pass the DREAM Act today.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say to my good friend from Oklahoma, who I respect a great deal, that if he wants to defend this process, he can go right ahead and do so. But I think most people watching this, the fact that two-thirds of all discretionary Federal spending is going to be decided in, like, a week's time, I don't think is a good process, and I don't think it is one that the American people have much confidence in.

I don't think it is reasonable to expect that any Member, really, has read all 1,305 pages of the eight bills that my friend is bringing to the floor, and I am not sure everybody has had time to read all the 970 amendments that were proposed--many of them that were not made in order by the Rules Committee. So this is not a process I think anybody wants to defend.

The final point I want to make with regard to the President's decision on DACA, as the gentleman knows, this Congress and the previous Congresses could have acted on this any time they wanted to.

When the Democrats were in control here in the House, we did. We passed the DREAM Act. Unfortunately, many of you wouldn't support it, but it actually passed the House, and we had Republican obstructionism in the Senate.

Now, if you want a legislative fix, we have the solution for you.

Vote ``no'' on the previous question, and we will bring up Ms. Roybal- Allard's bill to pass the DREAM Act. We will get this done today. We will actually have a day of consequence where we are doing something to help people in this country.

So, Mr. Speaker, as I said, I am going to ask my colleagues to defeat the previous question. We will then offer Representative Roybal- Allard's bipartisan, bicameral bill, H.R. 3440, the DREAM Act.

{time} 1445

The legislation would help thousands of young people like the ones whose heroic stories my colleagues will highlight today and who are Americans in every way except on paper.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the gentleman neglected to mention that there were 227 amendments, Democratic and Republican amendments, that were denied yesterday. The frustration that we have over here is that we are going through an exercise with these appropriations bills knowing that they are going nowhere and that we are going to have to deal with a short-term continuing resolution, and there will probably be a big omnibus that will be passed at the end and which might not reflect any of the deliberations that we are doing on the appropriations matters in the next couple of days.

It is a little bit frustrating because we have other things to do.

What we are saying is let's make this week a week of consequence, and let us bring up the DREAM Act.
President Trump did something horrible yesterday. He basically pulled the rug right from underneath 800,000 good, decent, and law-abiding people, citizens in this country, good people who are American in every way except they don't have a piece of paper. They were brought here, in many instances, when they were infants. They now have businesses, are leading relief efforts in Texas, and serve in our military. And he pulled the rug right from underneath them all. It is a cruel, awful, and nasty thing to do.

Listening to the rationale of this White House, this kind of schizophrenic tirade that we have seen unfold where 1 minute he is against the DREAMers, then he loves the DREAMers, then he is against the DREAMers, then he loves them, all of this kind of rambling that we have seen out of the White House hasn't changed the fact that he has thrown 800,000 lives in turmoil. People now have to live in fear and in uncertainty, and it is just a rotten thing to do. What we are saying is let's fix it.

My friends say they didn't like what President Obama did through executive order. We tried to legislate. We did, in 2010, pass the DREAM Act here in the House. Republicans did their best to make sure we couldn't bring it to the floor in the Senate, but we tried that way.

Then President Obama, thank goodness, stepped up to the plate and put forward an executive order which has protected 800,000 people.

My friends say that they like the DREAMers and they want to help them. Well, let's help them. You guys are in charge. You can do anything you want. All we are asking for is a vote--that is it, a vote.

The way we can ensure a vote is to defeat the previous question so we can bring up the DREAM Act.

If you don't have the courage to bring it up yourself, then vote to defeat the previous question and we will bring it to the floor. We will have the debate, and you can vote any way you want.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry that my friend doesn't like words like ``cruel'' when it comes to the President's actions with regard to the DREAMers.

A man named Jesus Contreras, a Houston paramedic, helped rescue flood victims after the storm, Harvey, hit Texas. Now he faces deportation if stripped of his DACA protections. I don't know what you call that. I call it cruel. I can't imagine why anybody would want to take away this man's ability to be able to live his life in the only country he knows, a man who is saving lives.

This is just one of many stories. We are telling these stories because we are hoping that maybe it might move some of my friends on the other side of the aisle. Maybe it might move the leadership to allow us to schedule a vote and actually fix this and remove the level of uncertainty and fear that, now, 800,000 people have to deal with because of what the President did yesterday and because of the inaction, over the years, of this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

First of all, with regard to the underlying bill that is being brought before the House today, a whole bunch of appropriations bills bunched together in an unprecedented way and, I would say, in an undemocratic way as well--nobody has had a chance to read these bills, over 1,300 pages--I don't think anybody in this Chamber has read them all.

Close to 1,000 amendments were submitted. They were all asked to be submitted before we came back into session while people were still on work recess. I don't think Members have had a chance to review all of the amendments. As I said, hundreds of good amendments have already been rejected.

Last night in the Rules Committee, I invoked Senator John McCain's name. He recently wrote a piece in which he called upon Congress to go back to regular order. I agree with him. We ought to go back to regular order. That is what the Speaker of the House promised when he took the gavel, we would have regular order. This is not regular order. This is not the way we should decide spending matters.

I will tell you right now that there will be lots of mistakes in this legislation that is being rushed through--if it even goes anywhere-- because we are now being told we are going to have to do a continuing resolution, and chances are we are going to end up having to do a long- term spending bill. But process matters, and when you bunch things together and when you rush things like this, mistakes are made.

As I said in my opening, we are going to ask for people to vote ``no'' on the previous question. If you vote ``no'' on the previous question, I will offer an amendment to bring up Representative Roybal- Allard's bill, which is the DREAM Act, which would actually solve the dilemma that we face. It would solve the dilemma that 800,000 good people in this country are now facing as a result of President Trump's cruel decision yesterday to repeal DACA, to end DACA.

These are people who, as you have heard from all my colleagues as they have told their stories, are working in this country. They are leading efforts to rescue people in hurricane-ravaged Texas. They are paramedics and they serve in our military.

These are good people. This is their country. They were brought here as infants. This is the only country they know. The fact that we are treating these good people in such a terrible way, every one of us should be ashamed. That is not who we are. We keep on saying that every time the White House does something else that we find offensive. We keep on saying: That is not who we are; that is not who we are.

Well, at some point, we have to prove it. We have to show it.

If we believe DREAMers are a valuable part of our community, then we need to protect them. This is a way to do it today. There is no need for compromise and more discussion. It is very simple: you either support the DREAMers or you don't. That is it. That is the only question at hand. If you want to load it up with all kinds of other extraneous materials, that is not a fair thing to do. That is not what these people deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are hearing from their constituents. I know they
are hearing from their churches, synagogues, and mosques that we need to protect these people.
Well, let's do it. The DREAMers don't need your words. They don't need your sympathies. They don't need your empathy. They need your vote.

We have an opportunity today, by voting ``no'' on the previous question, to have a vote today on whether to protect the DREAMers. It is that simple. Some of my colleagues on the Republican side have spoken very eloquently about the DREAMers. If you mean it, then give us your vote. If you mean it, do less talking and give us the vote. That is what we are asking for today.

Vote ``no'' on the previous question. Let us help these great people.

Let us help these people who have been such a valuable part of our community. Let us treat them with the dignity and respect that they deserve. Let us recognize that they view this country as their home. We should view this country as their home as well.

Vote ``no'' on the previous question. If that doesn't work, then vote ``no'' on this lousy rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source