Providing for Consideration of H. Res. 676, Authorization to Initiate Litigation for Actions by the President; Providing for Consideration of H.R. 935, Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2013; and Providing for Proceedings During the Periods From August 1, 2014, Through September 5, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it is important that we remember why we are here today. We are here today not because of the majority's commitment to the rule of law, but because of politics. We are here because the Republican leadership of this House is trying desperately to placate the far rightwing of their base.

They are trying to placate a vocal and organized faction that refuses to accept the fact that the American people elected Barack Obama twice as President of the United States. They are birthers and Tea Partiers and minutemen militia members and supporters of nullification, but here is the problem: they will never, ever, ever be satisfied.

Listen to this finding from a poll taken just this month: 41 percent of Republicans surveyed believe that President Obama is not really an American citizen. That is percent. That is the base of the modern-day Republican Party, and it is ugly. If you are really concerned about the balance of power between the executive branch and the Congress, there are ways to address it.

Just last week, I worked with the Republican and Democratic leadership of the House and of the Foreign Affairs Committee to reaffirm the proper role of Congress in matters of war and peace. I brought a resolution to the floor under the rules of the House, and it passed by a vote of 370-40. That is the way we should do our work around here, not this nonsense about lawsuits.

It is the same with the Affordable Care Act. I know my Republican friends are devastated that the bill they hate so much is actually working. Millions of people who didn't have health insurance are now covered. Millions of people can now get preventive care. Millions of young adults can now stay on their family's insurance plan.

Being a woman is no longer considered a preexisting condition. Insurance companies can no longer discriminate against the sick, and as we learned just yesterday, the Affordable Care Act has already helped to extend the life of the Medicare trust fund by 4 years.

The entire Republican majority in this House was built on opposition to the Affordable Care Act, and yet it stands. The fact that it stands makes the Republican leadership do desperate and irrational things. It makes them vote to repeal the ACA over 50 times. It makes them decide it is somehow a great idea to sue the President for the way he is implementing the law.

It saddens me to see how low a once great party--the party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt--has sunk. Instead of addressing the real and pressing needs of our country--passing an immigration reform bill, raising the minimum wage, passing a long-term highway bill--they have been reduced to government shutdowns and lawsuits and partisan stunts and gimmicks.

This is show business at its worst. Enough of this stupidity. I say to my Republican friends: Do your job, do the people's work, this is shameful.

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