Consideration of Certain Resolutions Reported By the Committee on Rules
Floor Speech
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend and the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Rules for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I just want to, for the record, say there is nothing before us in the rule that has anything to do with any kind of assault weapons ban or policing. This is simply a rule that would waive the 24- hour requirement.
Look, to be candid, the Democrats have now opened the door for Republicans to use this in the future to push forward our agenda, which is going to protect the rights and liberties of individual people.
I would like to take this time to point out the hypocrisy and the irony I see coming from across the aisle. Let me just talk about that.
Madam Speaker, 9 days is all it took before the Speaker reinstated her authoritarian COVID lockdown, proving once again that House Democrats are unable to govern unless they stack the deck. I would also remind my good friend that he consistently referred to these tactics as ``martial law'' during his time in the minority.
If I can just quote the chair on same-day authority during the 109th Congress: ``My problem is with significant pieces of legislation, some legislation which may not have even been heard by committees of jurisdiction, which may not have been reported out of committees of jurisdiction, bills that will come before us that the House has never even considered, things that we will not have an opportunity to be able to read before we vote on them.''
That was in the 109th Congress. Where is the outrage now?
Madam Speaker, for over 790 days, the Speaker used COVID-19 as a weapon to deny the Republicans the ability to advocate on behalf of millions of Americans that they represent. Just last week, it looked like we were finally returning to regular order. Now, it is more of the same tricks and tactics.
The blanket same-day rule before us this morning allows House Democrats to ram through their radical agenda, an agenda that does nothing to address the serious problems the American people are facing.
What are those problems? Under the Biden administration, our Nation has careened from one crisis to the next. It has been absolute chaos.
Right now, families across the country are facing 40-year high inflation that is expected to cost the average American household an extra $6,000 a year. Yesterday, we were told that we are officially in a recession when the GDP fell for a second quarter in a row. Although the Biden administration is attempting to deflect blame by referring to this latest economic disaster as a ``transition period,'' the American people know that we are in a recession and facing hard times to come because of the radical policies of the left.
It is only going to get worse with the recently announced build back broke deal, which will raise taxes on Americans. It will try to socialize American healthcare, and it will try to implement the radical Green New Deal policies that have led to this energy crisis in the first place.
Madam Speaker, this is no way to run the people's House, but I want it noted that the door is now open. I find it absolutely hypocritical that there was outrage against us when Republicans used the same tactic but now it is okay when the Democrats want to do it. I am looking forward to the day when power returns to the Republicans, and we will see if there is outrage at that point.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I am glad the gentleman also quoted himself. You can tell how I am handling this debate because I don't want to be quoted in the future when the shoe is on the other foot. But I will point out the hypocrisy from my friends on the other side of the aisle that their outrage is obviously selective of who is waiving the rule and who is not.
Look, we can talk about procedure all day here. That is not going to fix the real problems that are facing the American people. According to the National Federation of Independent Business, inflation is the top problem reported by businesses. This is the highest inflation we have had since 1980, literally the highest inflation in my lifetime.
Instead of working to lower costs for businesses and workers, the SEC proposed burdensome new rules requiring businesses to disclose extensive climate-related data and additional ``climate risks.''
Setting climate policy is the responsibility of Congress, not unelected career bureaucrats who are absolutely unaccountable to the American people.
That is why, if we defeat the previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider H.R. 8589 that would prohibit the SEC's woke climate rule from moving forward.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, here to explain my amendment is my good friend, a senior member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the sponsor of this bill, Congressman French Hill of Arkansas.
Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), who is a member of the Financial Services Committee.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I just want the Record to reflect that I am not outraged about this rule. I just was simply, at the beginning of my remarks, my opening statement, pointing out the hypocrisy from my friends across the other side of the aisle who had this selective outrage when we waived the 24- hour requirement. But it is okay when they do it.
And again, I am almost gleefully looking forward to the opportunity when we are in the majority for myself to help the then Chairman Cole of the Rules Committee do the same thing; and we will see what kind of hypocrisy comes from the other side of the aisle and how they will then have outrage when we do it.
But I am not outraged about this. I think that if we are going to move forward today, we should defeat the previous question. That is what I am passionate about, and that is what my friends that have spoken here today are passionate about, because they want to run a bill, authored by my good friend from Arkansas, that would actually help the economic crisis; that would actually help fight inflation.
So, please don't confuse passion for helping the American people out of this financial problem with outrage. There is no outrage on this side of the aisle.
But to explain more, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Steil), my good friend, and a rising star of the Financial Services Committee.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, it is quite remarkable that the gentleman is now telling us that this is about gun-related bills, because 14 hours ago we had questions in the Rules Committee. Those questions went unasked because the minority is unsure.
You know who was unsure when they were in the minority? My good friend. Let me quote him again. When the Republicans tried to waive the 24-hour requirement, my good friend said: ``Once again, we are here on the floor debating a martial law rule that also makes the suspension day. Here we are, once again, unsure of what we will be considering today, tonight, or tomorrow.''
So last night, at 7 P.M., my good friend, ranking member of the Rules Committee, Mr. Cole, asked a series of questions because we wanted to get some light shed on it. He asked, what would this rule specifically be used for? The majority said they didn't know. They were unsure.
He asked if this were to be related to gun-related bills, and if those bills would be changed. The majority said they didn't know. We are unsure here.
He asked if this authority would be used for other bills. The majority said they didn't know.
He asked if the House would be in session this weekend, and also the response was, the majority didn't know.
So it's amazing how the majority is, today, so confident on what is being run today through this rule when, just 14 hours ago, when we asked those questions, those answers were not provided to the minority.
But here to talk more about the resolution that I will personally offer if we defeat the previous question is my good friend. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to again say we asked a litany of questions to try to give the minority guidance on what bills would be considered today, the context of those bills, the timing of those bills, whether we would be here this weekend. The response constantly was either: I hope not; I am unsure; I don't know. So, here we are, in the dark.
But for the purpose of a rebuttal, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my good friend.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I want to quote my good friend, the chairman, again, this time from 2017, when he stated that martial law allows the majority to ``rush their bill with its brand-new backroom deals to the floor today without any proper deliberation.''
I think that pretty much sums up perfectly what we are doing here today.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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