Providing for Consideration of H.R. Save the Internet Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Investing for the People Act of and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so the House can immediately bring up meaningful disaster relief.

I want to thank my friends and colleagues from across the aisle, Representative Woodall, obviously, Chairman McGovern, Ranking Member Cole, and others on the Rules Committee, for allowing me to speak last night on behalf of the amendment. I also want to thank them for their help in previously passing very similar legislation.

My amendment is quite simple. The text contained the same dollar-for- dollar amounts from H.R. 268, the House-passed disaster assistance bill.

This bill was a work of compromise and work that many of us representing districts that have been hit by disasters in 2018 worked on. It includes a bipartisan amendment that I and many others sponsored, which raised the crop and livestock loss assistance to $3 billion, from approximately $1 billion. That is included in the final text.

Unfortunately, my amendment was not made in order; but, if we defeat the previous question, it will be included in an amendment, along with other important provisions, to help those affected by the natural disasters of 2018.

Disaster relief has never been a partisan issue in the United States of America, and it should not be a partisan issue today. I urge my colleagues and I ask every Member in this body to defeat the previous question so that we can immediately bring up legislation to deliver on our promise of passing disaster assistance prior to leaving for the Easter break.

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