Relating to the Disapproval of the Presidential Report with Respect to the Indebtedness of the Government of Ukraine--Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I am not going to get into the debate before the floor, but I heard the city of Asheville referenced at the last debate from the gentleman from Kentucky, and I have to tell you, I am not happy with that. I sat here last week and tried to do a unanimous consent request to fund the Small Business Administration loan, and my colleague from Kentucky objected.
But don't pretend like this debate tonight has anything to do with Asheville, NC, a town that just got drinking water 2 days ago. You want to argue this, don't argue it on the merits of something that you objected to me trying to accomplish last week for the city of Asheville.
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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I understand we have about 7 or 8 minutes left. I may need to use all of them.
Let's talk about tomfoolery. Let's talk about being disingenuous. The gentleman from Kentucky knows damn well that he proposed an amendment that would have actually caused the bill to fail.
The gentleman from Kentucky also knows very well that the House has a posture that the disaster recovery bill has to be funded. The gentleman from Kentucky knows that this aid that I have tried to get to the House would have been fully funded. The gentleman from Kentucky also knows that I also support the amendment he offered, but he played the game that we play around here and tried to think that I wouldn't have the courage to stand up against that garbage amendment because it was the right amendment at the wrong time.
I yield, Mr. President, unless there is additional time and someone else wants to speak.
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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President. Mr. President.
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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I rise for an--
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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I rise--
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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry--
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Mr. TILLIS. Is it the ruling of this Chair that it is out of order to make the parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chair?
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Mr. TILLIS. Thank you, Mr. President.
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Mr. TILLIS. First, I have a parliamentary inquiry.
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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I want to understand the effect of the gentleman from Kentucky relinquishing time.
Does that mean that I would need to continue debate until the time is over; or at the time that I finish speaking, will we go to a vote?
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Mr. TILLIS. There is about 4 minutes left?
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Mr. TILLIS. There is 5\1/2\ minutes remaining?
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Mr. TILLIS. Parliamentary inquiry.
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Mr. TILLIS. Does the Senator from North Carolina have the floor?
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Mr. TILLIS. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have been accused of lying. I don't mind that. I mean, I am a politician. People do that every single day.
But I believe that someone may be guilty of misleading this body about my position. So I am going to take a few minutes to explain my position. It may or may not coincide with the end of time set aside for debate.
But our State motto is ``Esse Quam Videri.''
Mr. Chair, may I have order?
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Mr. TILLIS. My state motto is ``Esse Quam Videri.'' That is Latin. It means ``to be rather than to seem.''
Well, ladies and gentlemen, the gentleman from Kentucky suggests that I am against clawing back the Green New Deal and certain things that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle passed through reconciliation. Why would anybody with any experience in this body think that it wouldn't be one of the first things I would vote for when we have reconciliation? Right? How can anybody possibly suggest that I am against clawing back policies that were passed through reconciliation because I am going to need it to pay for tax reform when we pass reconciliation in the next Congress. So how can it--and I have said that we are going to claw back things, and we are going to pay for it.
If you listen to the gentleman from Kentucky, he said I am against repealing that. Well, both can't be true, ladies and gentlemen. They just simply can't be true.
I am for the very things--and I hope that the Senator from Kentucky knows I would be happy to cosponsor that bill. If I have it, I will tomorrow.
But I don't play games in this Chamber. I actually fight, in this case, for the people of western North Carolina who are suffering. I will defeat any amendment to aid to North Carolina if it stands in the way. But I know a little bit about legislative procedure, ladies and gentlemen. And anybody in here who pays attention to how a bill becomes law should watch this.
We could pass the SBA funding bill out of here because 99 out of 100 Senators said it was OK. One didn't. Now we would like to think that the House would receive it and pass it out because we have a tradition of not funding disaster recovery bills, but we know the current majority won't do it.
So anybody with a modicum of experience in legislative procedure and actually passing bills that get to the President's desk would know that it will have to be funded, and my colleague from the western North Carolina 11th District is working on a paid-for now.
So if you really care about the people in North Carolina, if you really understand the legislative process, and you really understand the posture of the House, then you know--you absolutely know--that this bill will be paid for before it goes to the President's desk.
Now, I have some people asking me why I am talking. Because I am going to get the final say here, and I am not going to let anyone else talk before we have to go to a vote. So if you are wondering why I am going on, I am not going to play the game of somebody coming up--I am only equating what they said about me--that I lied.
So, ladies and gentlemen, instead of relinquishing the time, unless I can be assured the minute I put this mic down we are going to go to a vote, then I have got to start quoting poetry or something because I am not yielding until time is out.
So, Mr. President, may I make a parliamentary inquiry?
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Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, how much time is left?
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Mr. TILLIS. You said 7 minutes and 35 seconds?
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Mr. TILLIS. OK. Mr. President, may I make an inquiry of the lady from the State of Washington?
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