United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Madam Chair for yielding, and I thank Ranking Member Kay Granger for her work.
Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to do a video, as we all are communicating with one another virtually, about my colleague and friend with whom I have served for over three decades, Nita Lowey.
I went to school in Nita Lowey's district many, many years ago. When she came here, we became friends. Shortly thereafter, she came on the Appropriations Committee, and we served together, as Speaker Pelosi said, on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. I served on that committee for 23 years. I have great affection for that committee.
We served under a gentleman named Bill Natcher from the State of Kentucky. He used to stand when he presented that bill to the floor and say: ``This is the people's bill.''
Mr. Speaker, this is the people's bill.
This is a bill that must pass. They say that good things come to those who wait. They have waited too long, had too much pain, physically; too many deaths; too much psychological damage; too many lost jobs. This is, however, a good thing that will come to those who need it so badly.
I want to thank Chairwoman Lowey, who has performed such extraordinary service on the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies for a long time; and the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs for a long time; and for the Appropriations Committee.
I want to thank my friend, Kay Granger. We are perceived as being awfully partisan, and this has been a partisan project as well. It took us from May 15 until today to get this done. We passed, in the interim, October 1, another bill of substantially lesser sum than the one we passed in May, and a little more than what we are passing--actually, twice what we are passing today. All of it was needed.
The American people have been waiting and watching and hoping that Congress would not only be able to avert a shutdown but also to provide much-needed COVID-19 relief.
Mr. Speaker, we now have a bipartisan agreement, and the legislation will achieve both of those aims.
Kay Granger, as I said, is somebody who was a mayor in Texas, and mayors know they have to get things done, and Congresswoman Granger has been somebody who wants to get things done. She and Nita Lowey have been a team in getting things done. I thank both of them.
This bill completes the appropriations process by investing in the American people, in our national defense, in economic opportunity, in strengthening safety net programs that keep Americans out of poverty.
As I said, I thank both Nita Lowey and Kay Granger.
I particularly want to thank an extraordinary Member of this body. She is not called a Congresswoman. She is not a Member of this body, but she is a person without whom we would not be nearly as successful as we have been over this last year. She has made this year less painful for millions and millions and millions of Americans.
Her name is Shalanda Young. She sits right behind me, an extraordinary talent whose leadership makes seminal contributions to all the sections of this bill and to previous bills dealing with appropriations and the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is, in many ways, an indispensable person when we come to dealing with bills of this magnitude. She works for Mrs. Lowey, as does Chris Bigelow. Both have done extraordinary service.
Shalanda Young, Mr. Speaker, represents the best of us. I say that because she represents a lot of the staff we have here. She is extraordinarily talented, extraordinarily patriotic, and extraordinarily dedicated to the work of the American people, and extraordinarily underpaid.
Members are going to be underpaid in this bill, too. We beat our chest, and we have money in there that says we don't get a COLA one more time. Aren't we so courageous. I am disgusted by that, Mr. Speaker, and I want all of America to know; I want all of my constituents to know. Every Member in this place, whether I agree with them or not, is worth a COLA, at least trying to keep them even with the cost of living in this country. We struck it one more time, as we pretend that we think the COLA is unjust.
However, that is de minimis to this bill, but, certainly, will not dissuade me or ought not to dissuade anybody from voting enthusiastically, energetically, and proudly for this bill.
As a result of this omnibus, the next President will be able to start his administration focusing on immediate challenges instead of trying to finish the previous year's work.
I want to say something on that one more time. I have talked to Ms. Granger, who is going to be here. There is no reason, Mr. Speaker, why we can't pass appropriation bills by September 30, the ending of the fiscal year, October 1 being the beginning of the new fiscal year.
I am frustrated, as the majority leader who is supposed to be able to make things work here, with my colleagues. We did make it work here, but our Senate colleagues did not pass a single bill prior to the election, so here we are.
In addition, this end-of-the-year package includes critical clean- energy legislation passed by the House earlier this year that makes important progress toward addressing the climate crisis while ensuring that America can create good jobs by leading the clean-energy economy.
We were also able, in this bill, Mr. Speaker, to include legislation that protects patients from surprise bills by removing them from the fight between insurers and providers and implementing a fairer process for resolving disputes.
On COVID-19 relief, while we were unable to secure agreement on every priority that Democrats and some Republicans wanted--we don't always get everything we want. So be it. That is the process.
We were able, however, to include many of the provisions we included in previous bills on May 15 and October 1, which I referred to earlier, for which Democrats have been fighting for months and that Americans desperately need.
These include resumption of expanded unemployment benefits, another round of direct payments, relief for renters, and assistance to make sure that Americans can put food on the table. In the richest country on the face of the Earth, we have people in food lines who can't feed themselves. That is not only wrong, but it is immoral and inconsistent with my faith and, I think, the faith of most.
There is additional help for small business--appropriate--and resources to help schools reopen safely.
In addition, we secured another $3.36 billion for GAVI, and I thank the chair. It is a small program, relatively speaking, but it is about keeping people healthy around the world.
We are a shrinking globe, and this COVID crisis came from abroad-- wherever it came from, Europe, contrary to the President saying it came only from China. It came from Europe; it came from China. We have a moral responsibility to make sure that it doesn't keep coming and that we help our brothers and sisters abroad as well so that we, too, can be healthy.
In the new year, we will continue to work to ensure that our country can meet the challenges of COVID-19, including help for State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments that are on the front line. Who is delivering the shot in the arm? States and local governments.
No compromise is perfect, of course, and this is not perfect. So many people have said that, but that goes without saying. We don't do perfect. We are human beings. If we do the right thing, we do the best we can. It is essential that we move forward and do our jobs for the American people.
That is why the House did its job by passing the Heroes Act in May and again in October and why we passed appropriation bills to fund nearly all of government by July 26.
It is disappointing, as I have said, that the Senate waited until November to begin serious consideration of appropriation bills. I don't mean the subcommittees didn't work; they just didn't report anything out.
Thankfully, though, we are taking action together. America, we are taking action together. And you can be pleased when you see the board light up, mostly overwhelmingly green.
I urge the President to sign this legislation without delay, just, Mr. Speaker, as I urge him to sign the National Defense Authorization Act in which you played such a critical role, Mr. Speaker, and we passed earlier this month. I fear that he will veto this bill for an unrelated, totally nongermane issue, and we may be back here on the 28th.
If we are not here on the 28th, again, Nita Lowey, I want to say to you: Thank you. How much we appreciate your contribution, and how much we appreciate the contribution of all of those who might be leaving either voluntarily or involuntarily. We thank them for their service.
Mr. Speaker, let's finish the work of the 116th Congress.
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