Providing for Consideration of H.R. Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Extending Limits of U.S. Customs Waters Act; Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Denouncing the Biden Administration's Immigration Policies; and Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Opposing Efforts to Place One-Sided Pressure on Israel with Respect to Gaza

Floor Speech

I thank my friend, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Massie), for the customary 30 minutes.

(Mr. NEGUSE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, today's rule, as Mr. Massie articulated, again provides for the consideration of four bills.

Mr. Speaker, I suspect that you will be familiar with these four bills because these four bills were under a rule 2 days ago.

What happened to that rule? It failed, and that is part and parcel of the chaos and dysfunction that House Republicans have engulfed this august Chamber in for the better part of the last 15 months.

As of 2 days ago, seven rules--seven--have failed on the House floor, Mr. Speaker. You might be wondering and those watching from home might be wondering how many rules failed when Democrats had the majority under Speaker Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi.

In fact, from 1999 to 2023, only two rules failed on the House floor, neither of which happened when House Democrats were in control of this Chamber.

The last bill, Mr. Speaker, to pass the Rules Committee and make its way to the President's desk without suspension of our rules was almost 1 year ago. That is unprecedented.

It is not hyperbole to say that Republicans have literally presided over the most ineffective session of Congress in history.

Despite, by the way, Mr. Speaker, the pressing challenges that our Nation faces, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle repeatedly show that Republicans have no capacity or desire to govern, instead prioritizing unwarranted censures, sham impeachments, and nonbinding resolution after nonbinding resolution.

Instead of debating core issues, like lowering costs, growing the middle class, building safer communities, addressing our critical national security needs, we have spent yet another week here in Washington wasting time.

This is the third time that we are considering a variation of one of these nonbinding resolutions today. Stunts over solutions, Mr. Speaker, has become unfortunately, the majority's motto. This is not how governing is supposed to work.

I have served in this body for some time now. I know there are serious Members on the other side of the aisle. I wish Republicans would pull back their caucus and this institution from the brink and work with us in a bipartisan way to address core needs of the American people. Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have yet to show any desire to do so, but hope springs eternal.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, while I congratulate the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), the chairman of the distinguished Rules Committee, I must say I am confounded by the audacity of any House Republican to come to the floor and lecture any of us about national security when my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have held hostage a bill that passed the United States Senate on a bipartisan basis to address the national security needs of this country. For months, the majority has held that bill hostage and refuse to put the bill on the floor.

Republicans also have the audacity to come to the floor and lecture us or the White House. The White House needs no reminder about the necessity of supporting our allies. My colleagues have implored this institution to do its job in supporting our allies abroad. It is the Speaker and the House Republican caucus that refuse to do the same.

Lofgren).
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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for my colleague from Wisconsin. We served together on the Subcommittee on Federal Lands, and I certainly agree with him about the preservation of liberty and the importance of liberty in our founding documents as the core fabric, core threat in our country, but I must also just say that I don't think the American people share House Republicans' priorities. Let me explain why.

On Monday, the Rules Committee will be meeting to consider a number of bills. House Republicans put out a notice yesterday what those bills would include. Let me just give you a sampling, Mr. Speaker: the Refrigerator Freedom Act, the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, the Clothes Dryers Reliability Act, and--this may be my favorite--the Liberty in Laundry Act.

While I appreciate the gentleman from Wisconsin's very passionate defense of liberty, I am not so sure the American people had that in mind. I don't think they are thinking of the Liberty in Laundry Act. I think they expect this House Republican majority to actually address the consequential challenges that face our country, not waste time on petty games and nonsense bills.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate the passion of the speakers on the other side of the aisle, including the gentlewoman from Wyoming, but facts matter, Mr. Speaker. And this body must dispense with the notion that any of this, the ills that they have spent all this time describing, are attributable to the Biden administration.

Mr. Speaker, I will read you a quote. This is from January 2018: ``I would have preferred a permanent reauthorization''--let me repeat that--``permanent reauthorization of title VII to protect the safety and security of the Nation. By signing this act today, however, I am ensuring that this lawful and essential intelligence program will continue to protect Americans for at least the next 6 years. We cannot let our guard down in the face of foreign threats to our safety, our freedom, and our way of life,'' President Donald J. Trump.

I understand we are going to have robust debates about the mechanics and the nuances with respect to this particular bill but spare us lectures about the need for a shorter runway and a shorter reauthorization, when the former President, whom apparently the House Republican caucus continues to take orders from, made clear and abundant his desire for a permanent reauthorization of this program with none of these reforms, by the way. None of them.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I just want to read from an article from a few days ago. This is from FOX 5 in Atlanta. The headline: ``Marjorie Taylor Greene standing by eclipse, NE Earthquake comments.''

``Georgia Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene is standing by comments she made about last week's earthquake in the Northeast and Monday's eclipse.''

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Mr. NEGUSE. Yes, sir.

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Mr. NEGUSE. No, I am addressing the Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am reading an article, a newspaper article. Has that become objectionable now in this body?

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Mr. NEGUSE. I thank the Speaker. I will dispense with it quickly. I will just simply say, again, this is quoting from the article here that: ``The Republican Representative then posted on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, that `God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent.' Greene also pointed to Monday's eclipse, saying there are `many more things to come.'''

To the extent that my friend from Kentucky was looking for me to make a connection here to the debate that we are having, I suspect it is self-evident, but I am not so sure that the American people should necessarily be taking much stock into the arguments that are being made by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, including from the speaker that we just heard from.

Again, I am going to go through this list of bills that they have noticed for Monday: the Liberty in Laundry Act, the Clothes Dryer Reliability Act, and the Refrigerator Freedom Act. I can assure the gentleman from Ohio, I don't think any of the American people believe that he works in a think tank, given these bills that they have apparently noticed for this House to consider next week.

Today's rule, put simply, is a testament to the Republican playbook since assuming the majority 15 months ago: chaos, gridlock, and infighting. Over the past year, honestly, it has been difficult to understand what my colleagues across the aisle truly want.

At the beginning of this Congress, the other side of the aisle voted for a House rules package that they promised would entail an open rules process for amendments, yet this Congress is on pace to have more closed rules than any Congress in the last 100 years, over a century.

A minority of House Republicans now dictate what proposals will even have a chance to be considered in this Chamber, to stand in the marketplace of ideas that our colleagues claim to love so dearly.

Mr. Speaker, our colleagues across the aisle reject compromises at every turn. My Republican colleagues rejected a bipartisan immigration deal that came out of the Senate before even reading the bill text. The bill passed with 70 votes, Mr. Speaker, in the United States Senate.

Our allies around the world have literally been left stranded, and House Republicans won't even bring the bill up for an up-or-down vote. Instead, their top priority is the Refrigerator Freedom Act, Mr. Speaker.

The American people deserve better. They expect better. Enough of the political stunts. Enough of the infighting. Let's get back to work, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question and the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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