Adopting the Rules of the House of Representatives for the 117th Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, a rules package is one of the most consequential things we will consider in this entire Congress.

As we stand here in the opening days of this Congress, I am proud that the reforms before us represent a collaborative process that began many months ago. We asked Members on both sides of the aisle for ideas; we listened to our many caucuses and coalitions; we spent hours in the Rules Committee listening to input during our Member Day hearing; and we spoke with the outside groups that study these issues.

Weeks and weeks of thoughtful discussion got us to this point. That process made the final product an even stronger one--not for one party or the other, but for this institution and for all those Americans counting on us to represent them; not the special interests or the monied interests, but our workers and those struggling to get ahead.

This is a rules package that encourages us to tackle the most pressing issues facing our Nation today, like climate change, through the continued work of the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

I want to thank Chairwoman Castor for her leadership, along with Chairman Pallone and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, who have encouraged us to think big when confronting the threat of climate change.

We are confronting the pandemic without any waste or fraud. That is through the ongoing work of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, under the stewardship of Chairman Clyburn.

It makes reforms to our budget rules so we can deal with these dual challenges through an all-hands-on-deck approach, while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

I want to recognize the many Members, especially the Blue Dogs, the Progressives, and the New Democrats, who worked together to make this compromise happen.

We are also focusing on those who have traditionally been left behind through the creation of a new Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth.

I want to thank Speaker Pelosi for her commitment to making sure that our policies lift up every single American.

This new select committee will sharpen our focus on the income and wealth disparity crisis that plagues our Nation today.

This package honors all gender identities by changing pronouns in the House rules so they are gender neutral.

Look, we made this change for the sake of inclusion, not exclusion. But I have got to be honest with you. I heard the distinguished minority leader say that this rules package was canceling Mother's Day. I mean, are you kidding me?

He also claimed that these rules make it so Members can no longer say ``father,'' ``mother,'' ``son,'' or ``daughter.'' Madam Speaker, has he even read these rules? That is just not accurate. That is not how this works.

And, by the way, our Founding Fathers are still our Founding Fathers.

Madam Speaker, maybe this is meant as a distraction. Maybe if we can create a controversy, then we are not talking about the ongoing pandemic, from which over 350,000 people have already died due to mismanagement and incompetence, or maybe we are not talking about the attempted coup being planned down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But the bottom line is what has been said is just not accurate.

I love this. Someone just handed me this. A Member on the other side from, I think, Arizona, for instance, tweeted:

If I stand up and I say that I am a proud husband of my wife of almost 40 years now, then they would say that I violated the rules because you can no longer use any version of husband or father or gender reference between man and woman.

I don't know what the hell he is talking about, Madam Speaker. Oh, my God; that is my response to this.

I mean, Madam Speaker, this is why people really are frustrated with Congress and with Washington. I think we, in this Chamber, need to hold ourselves to a higher standard when it comes to facts and reality. Unlike the White House, this should not be a fact-free zone; we ought to focus on facts.

If my Republican friends want to disagree on policy, we can disagree on policy. There are lots of issues that separate us, and we should debate those issues. That shouldn't be a radical idea. But people shouldn't make things up just to create a controversy. Accuracy matters, and it should come before saying whatever helps you get another hit on FOX News.

Anyway, Madam Speaker, for those who insist on trying to disparage what we have done in the written rules, I want you to bring the bill to the floor and show me where it says, in writing, that we are canceling Mother's Day or that you can't refer to yourself as a husband or father or mother or grandmother.

Give me a break. Enough is enough. We have to stop this. We have to focus in on solving the problems that face the American people.

This rules package also requires that oversight plans from committees include how they intend to combat race, gender, and other inequities. It makes the Office of Diversity and Inclusion permanent. This will commit our institution to creating a diverse workforce for many years to come.

As we tackle these issues, Madam Speaker, this rules package creates a more transparent process for ideas to be considered. It makes permanent the requirement that all bills that come before the Rules Committee get a hearing and a markup first. It preserves the motion to recommit, while making reforms so that it can no longer be used to hijack the legislative process for political gamesmanship.

We are also continuing temporary rules changes that have ensured we completed the people's work as safely as possible during this coronavirus pandemic. I am impressed with how this Congress was able to adapt and find a way to function in the midst of this worldwide health emergency. During the pandemic in 1918, Congress was not able to adapt, but we did.

I would just say to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we need to listen to the Speaker's recommendation that we all continue to follow the best and most current health and medical guidance.

Madam Speaker, we acted. While we can and we should do much more for Americans struggling today, I am proud of what we were able to accomplish in the last year. It is no small part due to the implementation of remote voting by proxy and the development of virtual committee proceedings.

Admittedly, Congress isn't always known for being on the cutting edge of the digital world. This rules package, however, seeks to change that even further. It contains many reforms designed to help us better embrace technology so that we can get our work done as efficiently and as transparently as possible.

Congresswoman Eshoo and the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, under the leadership of Chairman Kilmer, were instrumental in these new changes.

Madam Speaker, now, I just want to speak candidly for a moment.

As important as these reforms are and as proud of them as I am, I know there is something even more important, and that is the foundation that they are built upon.

Ethical leadership must be the bedrock principle of this and every Congress. If the American people do not begin to trust their fundamental institutions again, then division, conspiracies, and mistruths will continue to fester.

This body, each of us, must do our part. No matter what side of the aisle you are on or who you vote for, we must hold ourselves to the highest standard of leadership. People can and should question our positions on the issues, but we should never act in a way that invites anyone to question our motivation. That is why this rules package doesn't just tinker at the edges, it breaks new ground through transformative reforms.

It removes floor privileges for formers Members convicted of crimes related to their House service or election. This will ensure that we can do our work here without the undue influence of law breakers. We task the Ethics Committee to come up with a bipartisan plan to handle ``deepfakes,'' because we need to stop the spread, intentional or unintentional, of manipulated media that is created to mislead the public.

I will note that we initially plan to go even further, amending our Code of Conduct with this rules package, but we heard some of our colleagues' concerns. We agreed to take a little bit more time to get the language just right, and we will do that through our bipartisan Ethics Committee.

Thanks to the leadership of Congresswoman Porter of California, we strengthen Truth in Testimony disclosures for witnesses that testify before Congress. Now the public and all Members will have more information about those who appear before congressional committees.

Our rules will further protect whistleblowers. This package prevents retaliation. It also makes permanent an office dedicated to ensuring congressional offices know how to handle whistleblower complaints in a responsible and secure way.

I want to recognize the tremendous work of many people, from Majority Leader Hoyer and Congresswoman Speier to members of the Progressive Caucus that made these reforms a reality. In short, we are holding ourselves to a higher standard, Madam Speaker, not by changes developed in a vacuum just among ourselves. We also spoke with outside groups and experts and included their feedback. This is how the package was developed, through conversation, collaboration, and consultation.

My Rules Committee colleagues, including Ranking Member Cole, offered input that was invaluable. Our committee chairs and their excellent staffs worked with us early in the morning and late at night as this package took shape. I am deeply grateful for the work of all of our caucuses, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, the New Democrat Coalition, the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, the Congressional Asia Pacific American Caucus, and the Blue Dog Coalition.

The Problem Solvers Caucus was, once again, involved with crafting this package. I always appreciate the chance to work with Congressman Gottheimer and Congressman Reed. We even got to work with a new member of the Problem Solvers this Congress, Representative Van Taylor. And I could go on and on.

Input from the nonpartisan staffs across this institution made this package stronger. That includes those with the offices of the Parliamentarian, the Congressional Budget Office, the Clerk, the General Counsel, the Congressional Research Service, the Sergeant at Arms, and the Chief Administrative Officer, just to name a few. Many staffers worked through the holidays on this, and I am deeply grateful for their efforts, especially the incredible staff on the Rules Committee.

Democrats have been entrusted by the American people to lead this institution, but the rules package is about more than party. It is about making this Chamber work at its best for the people we represent. These reforms will do that. They will hold us to a higher standard so we can get it done for them and in a way that makes the public proud.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support in passing this package, and let's implement real reforms so we can quickly get to work on behalf of the American people.

We don't always agree on everything, but they are up in the Rules Committee diligently at every meeting making the case for their side of the aisle.

I especially want to thank my ranking member, Mr. Cole, who cares deeply about this institution. And while we probably will not agree on this rules package, we agree that we need to make this a better place, and we need to hold it to the highest standards in terms of integrity, and to make sure the American people have trust in what we do here.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments, I will put him down as undecided on this package.

I am sure we will hear more about the motion to recommit throughout this debate, but I do just want to point out for the record, to be historically accurate, that the motion to recommit has had many different forms since its first inception. In fact, it was very, very different when I first ran for Congress.

But having said all that, I would tell the gentleman that if those who initiated the motion to recommit way back when saw how it was being used today, I think they would object very strongly to it. They didn't see it as a tool to play political gotcha games to undermine legislation.

Madam Speaker, I would also remind the gentleman that, you know, quite frankly, most of the motions to recommit that passed, all the Republicans voted against final passage of whatever bill it was. So the issue is not one of being a constructive legislator. It has turned into a political gotcha game.

I think that we all talk about reading the bill. The problem with the motion to recommit is you don't get to see what it is you are proposing until a few minutes beforehand. I just want the Record to reflect that.

On the issue of paygo, I would just remind the gentleman that when the Republicans were in charge, they had this thing called CutGo, and they exempted all kinds of things from CutGo. They exempted efforts to gut the Affordable Care Act. They exempted tax cuts for billionaires and corporations.

So I think what we are talking about is a modest exemption for two international emergencies, the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis. Most people, except for a few in Washington, actually believe that it is not only a national emergency, but an international emergency.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crist).

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, if the gentleman is interested in honest debate, I hope he will inform us where in the rules package it says that you can't refer to yourself as a father, a son, a grandfather, a wife, I mean, whatever. There is nothing in the rules package that says that. This is not reality.

I would also remind the gentleman that when he was in charge, this was the most closed Congress in the history of the United States Congress.

And if we are worried about protecting our democracy, I hope the gentleman and others will join with us in protecting the will of the American people, the millions and millions of voters who cast their votes for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, and vote to make sure we have a smooth transition to the next administration.

I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I don't even know where to begin.

Look, let me repeat, what we are doing is building in an exemption to deal with two worldwide emergencies: one is the coronavirus pandemic, which, unfortunately, this White House mismanaged terribly; the second is to deal with the issue of the climate crisis, which everybody but a few Members in this Chamber believe is a crisis.

Madam Speaker, I will remind the gentleman that he has voted for exemptions when it comes to tax cuts for billionaires and corporations; he has voted for exemptions when it comes to taking people's healthcare away from them. So, obviously, we don't share the same values here, but I am very proud of what is in this package.

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

I appreciate the admonition here, and I wish the distinguished minority leader would have remained because he talked a lot about debate, and then he gave a speech and ran off the floor.

But I would be careful, I would say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, about using words like ``hypocrisy'' because I was here when you were in the majority. You presided over the most closed Congress in the history of our country, more closed rules than any other Congress.

The motion to recommit, arguably, is a procedural motion, but when you closed rule after rule after rule after rule, any substantive amendment, you blocked. But my friends had no problem with that at the time, and now, all of a sudden, they do.

Again, I would just say to the distinguished minority leader, who keeps talking about mind control and people banning him from being able to say that he is a father or a son, I don't know what he is talking about. Please show me in the rules package where he can't say all of those things. There is nothing--nothing--in the rules package.

I would just urge my colleagues--as I said at the beginning, I get it. The White House is a fact-free zone, but we have to aspire to be different. We can have our policy disagreements, but we shouldn't be making things up. I mean, I would like to think we are better than that, no matter how much we disagree on substantive issues.

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

I think this is a good rules package. As I said at the beginning, it reflects consultation with Democrats and Republicans; almost every caucus that you can think of was consulted on this. I think the end product is a quality product.

I am particularly proud of the ethics reforms banning Members who have been convicted of corruption, protecting whistleblowers and making sure that their identities can't be revealed.

I am proud of the creation of the Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth. One of the things this pandemic has demonstrated is that there are great disparities in this country, and those disparities existed even before the pandemic. We need to address that issue.

In terms of the exemptions for paygo, I mean, we are talking about two international, worldwide emergencies: the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis. I think every country in the world has recognized that they are emergencies, that we need to think big and boldly in how we deal with these issues.

The unfortunate thing is we have had an administration that has not handled the pandemic appropriately, and as we gather today, well over 350,000 people, fellow citizens, have perished.

Let me just say, also, Madam Speaker, that I was also inspired by the remarks of our Republican colleague Don Young, yesterday, when he talked about the need to work together. I was dismayed by the tone of the minority leader's comments on the opening day. In all of my years here, I have never heard anything quite so negative and combative.

But here is the deal: We need to figure out a way to work together to get things done. You don't have to agree on everything to agree on something. The something we agree on, we ought to move forward. We can fight about the other stuff.

If we are going to get things done, facts have to matter.

I have got to be honest with you: In listening to the critiques of this rules package, one of the things that I found particularly disheartening was the distortions and, quite frankly, the falsehoods with regard to getting our rules language to be more inclusive. I don't understand why it was necessary for some to try to make things up. It does not entice the kind of collaboration and the kind of cooperation to get that something done.

I am a great fan of my ranking member, Mr. Cole. This will probably get him in trouble, but I think he is one of the finest Members of this institution. We work together very well in the Rules Committee, notwithstanding some very, very difficult debates. But at the end of the day, I know he cares deeply about this institution. I know people like Don Young care about this institution, and there are good Members on the other side who care about this institution.

We have a slim majority here. If we are going to get anything done, if you are going to get anything done, we are going to have to find a way to work things out. But we have to all agree that we want to get things done.

So it is in that spirit that I hope that this rules package will cultivate the kind of atmosphere in which we can get some important things done. Whether it is on the climate crisis, whether it is on economic disparity, whether it is fighting to end hunger in this country, whether it is to make sure we can expand healthcare protections for people, whether it is about justice and fairness in this country, we have a lot of work to do.

I hope, with the new administration coming in, that maybe there will be a different tone. Maybe it will be less combative. Maybe the discussions will be based more on fact. I hope and I pray that that is the case. But we have to come together, and we have to get things done for the American people.

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