Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act of 2017

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 734 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, during consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), the ranking member of the Rules Committee, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and the underlying legislation. The rule provides for consideration of the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1892, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

Mr. Speaker, this 2-year budget agreement begins to repair our military and frees our armed services from the harmful spending caps and the devastating practice of funding our troops with stopgap spending bills. It raises defense discretionary spending levels in fiscal year 2018 by $80 billion and nondefense levels by $63 billion, while raising fiscal year 2019 levels by $85 billion and $63 billion respectively.

I have been told that this will move spending levels from 2009 spending levels to 2011 spending levels, consistent with what we had done during those periods of time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the distinguished gentlewoman for her help to make sure that the Rules Committee effectively and carefully got their work done this evening, and I want to thank the gentlewoman. I do know it is 3:30 in the morning, and the entire committee, the entire Rules Committee, was prepared on both sides, and I thank the gentlewoman and the staffs that were included.

Mr. Speaker, Members of Congress who are elected by their respective districts come to Washington to represent their districts. But perhaps, I think, more importantly, some bit of those people also take into account, not just the representation of their district, but the pride and authorship they have in particular about America, about being a part of America and us standing together.

Tonight, we are going to have a chance to say back to one of our Members who has come to Washington, D.C., representing her home of Puerto Rico, home territory of Puerto Rico, and to say back to her that this body offered its condolences for the storms that happened last year.

She stood up, representing Puerto Rico. She is a former Speaker of the House of Puerto Rico. She stands with the people of Puerto Rico. She has come and visited Member after Member after Member to sell to them, not only the attributes of how to fix Puerto Rico, but came and did the things legislatively.

With great, great admiration, I will tell you that our next speaker, who is a member of the Republican majority, has really done an outstanding job as a brand new Member of this body; and I am pleased that we can say tonight, included in this package is that disaster package that the House passed last, I think, October.

She has worked hard. She has had faith and confidence, not only in her home territory of Puerto Rico, but in her body here, the United States Congress.

Mr. Speaker, it is with extreme pride that I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico (Miss Gonzalez-Colon), the former Speaker of the House of Puerto Rico.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Mitchell), a member of the Republican leadership team.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a Statement of Administration Policy, which is referred to as a SAP. It comes from the Executive Office of the President.

Mr. Speaker, if I could read the last paragraph: ``If the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 were presented to the President in its current form, his advisors would recommend that he sign it into law.''

Statement of Administration Policy

Senate Amendment to H.R. 1892--Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018--(Sen.

McConnell, R-KY)

The Administration supports Senate passage of the

substitute amendment to H.R. 1892, the Bipartisan Budget Act

of 2018. This amendment raises the defense spending caps for

fiscal year (FY) 2018 and FY 2019, a key step toward

fulfilling the President's promise to rebuild America's

military and ensure funding would be provided to support the

enacted National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year

2018 (NDAA).

After years of dangerous spending reductions and an

unpredictable budgetary environment perpetuated by numerous

continuing resolutions, the Bipartisan Budget Act lays the

groundwork for full funding of America's national defense,

within the framework of the Administration's National

Security and Defense Strategies and the NDAA. Passage of this

legislation would ensure America is prepared to deter and, if

necessary, defeat the full spectrum of threats from rival

powers, rogue states, and terrorist organizations like the

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

The Bipartisan Budget Act lays the groundwork for higher

investments in several Administration priorities, including

infrastructure and combating the opioid epidemic, and the

Administration looks forward to working with the Congress to

reflect the Administration's detailed funding priorities for

the remainder of FY 2018 and for FY 2019 for both defense and

non-defense needs.

At the same time, it is critical that the Congress work to

decrease non-defense spending in other areas to reduce

America's growing national debt. The Bipartisan Budget Act

provides non-defense discretionary spending levels higher

than the Administration deems necessary. Additionally,

although the Bipartisan Budget Act does include some spending

reductions, the Administration has proposed hundreds of

billions of dollars in additional spending reductions that

the Congress should also enact without delay in order to

improve our fiscal state.

Further, the Administration recognizes the Congress's

desire to provide significant funding for victims of the

recent hurricanes and wildfires, as provided in the

Bipartisan Budget Act and previously in the House-passed

supplemental bill (H.R. 4667). The Administration looks

forward to working with the Congress to ensure that adequate

oversight is exercised over disaster-related funds to ensure

that these funds reach the communities devastated by natural

disasters and are not misapplied.

The Administration supports other components of the

Bipartisan Budget Act, including greater certainty for the

Children's Health Insurance Program, an extension of funding

for Community Health Centers, and repeal of Obamacare's

Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). The IPAB authority

allows an unelected, unaccountable board to undertake major

changes to the Medicare program. The repeal of IPAB furthers

the President's goal of repealing and replacing Obamacare.

The Administration also supports suspending the debt limit

until March 2019 to provide the certainty to markets around

the world that the United States will honor its obligations.

Furthermore, the Administration is concerned with future

extensions of special interest tax deductions and benefits in

the wake of tax cuts and reforms that were enacted in

December 2017.

The President's top priority is to keep the Nation safe

from those who wish to harm it, both at home and abroad. To

do so, the United States military needs the resources

provided in the Bipartisan Budget Act, which have previously

been supported on a bipartisan basis in the NDAA and in

multiple bills passed by the House.

If the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 were presented to the

President in its current form, his advisors would recommend

that he sign it into law.

There should be no question about that, that the President of the United States is asking not only Members of Congress but the American people to understand how important it is to make sure that this government is up and running, to make sure that our military is funded, and that the men and women who protect this great Nation, those volunteers to our military, deserve a right to have us fully fund our military for the rest of the year.

I know and the Chair knows, Mr. Speaker, that this deal is only until March 23. But we should not ever allow our military to be put in harm's way. They are the ones who protect us, and for us putting them in harm's way without the money to protect them I think is bad timing and a bad way for us to extend our support to the military.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today, at 10 minutes to 4 o'clock Eastern time, that we can say we are going to move forward with this bill that fully funds the military for the rest of the year. I will ask our Members at the very end, accordingly, to please support this underlying legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this past year, 80 members of our armed services lost their lives in training and noncombat-related fatalities. We are going to attempt tonight, not wait, to pass a bill which will offer funding for our military.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would advise the gentlewoman I will be closing as soon as she does.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my friend and colleague, the ranking member of the Rules Committee; and the entire Rules Committee, Republicans and Democrats; and our staffs for their work late tonight and well into the morning.

Mr. Speaker, there was a question about the President of the United States and his advice that he has provided to this body. The President of the United States has indicated through a Statement of Administration Policy that there would be an expectation the President would sign this bill.

What does this mean?

This means that, as quickly as we can accomplish this rule, the underlying legislation, and the vote, perhaps as early as 7 o'clock this morning or earlier, the President of the United States may sign that; meaning that the American people could wake up today with confidence that the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives has averted a further problem through the leadership of making sure that we move forward to fund the government.

Make no mistake about it: there will be people who vote ``yes'' and people who vote ``no,'' and that is up to them. But, Mr. Speaker, tonight I would ask every Member of this body for that ``aye'' vote to do the right thing to fund the government.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

We saw a shutdown just over 2 weeks ago, and here we are again; I believe this is the fifth one since September. And since the Republicans control every branch of the government, we have to wonder what is going on here.

I stood in this same spot after midnight in 2013 and announced that the great government of the United States was closed for business. At that point, they were closed for business for 16 days, which means all the Federal buildings and parks were closed. The vendors who had little mom-and-pop stores, newspaper kiosks, and things at Federal businesses lost all the money, a lot of it, people with lunchrooms. The estimate was $24 billion was lost to the Federal Government.

As I recall that particular one, that was because Senator Cruz, a Republican from Texas, didn't like the Affordable Care Act and apparently was not in favor of giving healthcare to the American people.

The first shutdown that occurred when I first came here was during the Clinton administration, when Speaker Gingrich shut down the government of the United States because he was unhappy with the plane seat in Air Force One that had been assigned to him.

And 2 weeks ago, it was blamed on the Democrats, which is very strange, since the Democrats do not have the vote to shut down the House. Only the majority has those votes. And this is the first shutdown in history, as far as we can find, that the group of persons who control the House, the Senate, and the White House have given themselves a shutdown. It is a pretty sad day for us.

So here we are, 3:30 a.m., 3\1/2\ hours after a government shutdown once again. We have really got to stop this. I tell you, our fellow Americans are in a state of nervous anxiety. The stock market dropped 1,000 points in a single day, twice this week. We have perplexed the entire United States of America as well as large parts of the world.

And I would think that a reasonable person, looking at all this, would be understood to believe that perhaps Republicans are incapable of running the government because it is purely, purely government by nothing but crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

If we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 3440, the Dream Act. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation must pass before the time runs out on hundreds of thousands of young people who were promised, by a previous administration, that if they registered and paid $500, they could stay in the only country they know.

Without any warning, the new President invalidated the program and their lives. The things that they were promised were taken away, and those young people, a part of our lives, are living in fear. I really hope that we can do something about that. It is past time.

But I think what happened to them was most un-American.

So I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham) to discuss our proposal.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), a distinguished member of the Committee on Rules.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the Democratic leader.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of my colleague if he has any further speakers?

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, let's acknowledge that a deal like this could have come much sooner if the majority tried bipartisanship from the very beginning. Instead, our Nation has had to go through four short-term funding fights and two government shutdowns to arrive at where we are this morning. All of that was entirely preventible. It was brought on by the majority's inability to get its work done.

It was little more than a week ago that President Trump stood in this Chamber and gave his State of the Union Address. In it, he proclaimed: ``I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people.''

That was Tuesday. But the following Tuesday, the President said that he would love to see a shutdown. He keeps injecting incredible confusion and uncertainty as to what he actually would be willing to sign into law. I am aware that my colleague, Mr. Sessions, did assure us that he wants to sign this bill.

Mr. Speaker, it has been an awful long night, and it didn't need to be. We don't need to take up every crisis to the very brink. Since you control every lever of power in this government, you have failed the most basic responsibility: to run this government in a sensible and intelligent way. Everybody--all of us--know, whether we want to admit it or not, that this is no way to run a government and certainly not a government as important as the one we were sent here to represent.

I also urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question so the House can take up the Dream Act because time is so quickly running out on those young people. It would be a blot on our conscience for the rest of our lives if we did nothing to help.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me.

I thank the members of the Rules Committee, all of them, for the great service they provide to the House of Representatives, this great House of the people.

I wish that the Speaker would treat the House of the people with the dignity that it deserves by giving us an opportunity, just an opportunity, for him to say that he would bring legislation to the floor, the Hurd-Aguilar bill for one, and then the other pieces of legislation regarding DACA so that the House could work its will under the queen-of-the-hill rule.

Last night, Mr. Clyburn, the assistant leader; Mr. Hoyer, the Democratic whip; and I sent a letter to the Speaker. It said: ``Dear Mr. Speaker: In the spirit of bipartisanship, we write again to reiterate our sincere desire to ensure that the government remains open and that the priorities of the American people are properly addressed. As you know, Democrats have been clear that we support a budget agreement that ensures our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to protect our country and that America's middle class and working families have the tools they need to succeed. As part of this agreement, we have always expected that the House and the Senate would address the issue of DACA and the DREAMers.

``Most of our Members believe that this budget agreement is a reasonable compromise to address America's military strength and critical domestic priorities, like fighting the opioid crisis, boosting the National Institutes of Health, moving forward to resolve the pension crisis, caring for our veterans, making college more affordable, and investing in childcare for working families.''

The agenda that I read was what we fought for and obtained in the budget agreement. We did not object to the large amount of money that was in the bill for defense, although some had asked: What is the purpose? What is the mission?

We said: Let's go forward with that. But to keep faith with the budget agreement, we insisted that the increases in defense would be met by increases on the domestic side.

So we have fought this fight. This is a success for us to get, as I said, the opioid crisis, boosting the NIH, the pension crisis, caring for our veterans, making college more affordable, and investing in childcare for our working families. This was the fight we had

with the Republicans because they have a reluctancy to support domestic spending.

So the fact that this came to agreement after months of going back and forth on the caps, I think, is very important to recognize.

But, again, writing to the Speaker: ``We are writing to again reiterate our request that you make a public statement regarding the scheduling of a vote on a DACA bill. Our request is that you publicly state that you will schedule a vote to consider the bipartisan Hurd- Aguilar bill and any other DACA bills that you wish to consider under a Queen of the Hill rule,'' as I mentioned earlier.

``We strongly believe that Members of the House and their constituents deserve the same dignity that Leader McConnell has extended to Members of the Senate by allowing for a vote on this issue.

``Thank you for your immediate attention to this letter.''

So we haven't heard back from the Speaker on this, but I do support defeating the previous question.

One of the gentlemen on the other asked: Why would anybody vote against this bill? Why would anybody vote against this rule?

Well, because we have an opportunity right here to take matters into our own hands. Defeat the previous question so that we can take up the Dream Act.

That would be the House working its will, because we do know that the Dream Act has support on both sides of the aisle. We thank our Republican colleagues, those who have spoken out publicly, for their courage in supporting this protection.

If another country said that they were going to deport 800,000 people or place in jeopardy their protections under the law, we would be appalled. We would criticize them. So how can we, the United States of America--give me your poor--you know Emma Lazarus. I don't have to go into it right now.

But I do. We all carry it in our hearts. So I urge a ``no'' on the previous question because a ``yes'' would have allowed us to bring up the Dream Act.

I really want to disabuse anyone in this body of any idea that we are not there to support our men and women in uniform and to give them the resources they need to keep themselves and our Nation safe. But I do recognize also that what our military are protecting is the greatest country that ever existed in the history of the world, the United States of America.

What is the United States of America?

It is a country governed by a constitution that has been a beacon to the world. It is a country populated by the beautiful diversity of America. It is a country that has a beautiful patrimony given to us by God, our natural beauty. Fighting for those values is what we try to do in this bill.

Why can't we extend the hand of friendship and protection to our DREAMers?

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for allowing me to support this rule that will have, finally, this bill to be considered on this floor.

I think it is important to acknowledge that still, 5 months after the storm, after Hurricane Maria and Hurricane Irma hit Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, 30 percent of Puerto

Ricans are still without power. That is something that you will never expect in a U.S. territory or neither a State.

So that is one of the biggest reasons I stood here, at 3:30 in the morning. Why? Because it is time to show our deeds in terms of supporting a bill that will have the money to restore the power grid in Puerto Rico, to help the island to recover from the last hurricanes.

Also, we were facing a medical cliff in April of this year--a medical cliff that will put an end to the insurance to 680,000 patients in the island. That is the reason this bill is so important for Puerto Rico.

Actually, we have been waiting for 2 months. This bill has been stalled in the Senate, and I actually am very happy to see that agreement between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate voted 71-28 to have this bill here tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I need to say that today Congress will make a critical vote in terms of that we finally have a budget deal, and this is the time to vote, not for ideologies, but for the people, for American citizens all over the States. For the States and territories that were struck by disaster during the last year, this bill will provide billions of dollars, including improvement to Puerto Rico's electrical power network.

It also takes the steps to secure the island's Medicaid program and ensure that our people do not lose their health coverage. For the past year, I have been fighting to ensure Puerto Rico receives the money necessary to avoid that medical cliff now in April. This funding will give Puerto Rico and Congress the time to craft a long-term solution, not just for Puerto Rico, but for all U.S. territories, and help out the medical problems that we all face.

I want to thank, especially, the Speaker of the House, Speaker Ryan, the members of this leadership who have been supporting me all of the way; the chairmen, Chairman Walden, Chairman Burgess, Chairman Sessions, Chairman Frelinghuysen; and all members of this House leadership who have been working with me, visiting the island, even Members from the other side of the aisle, supporting Puerto Rico.

You know what? That is the hard work that we need to do for our people.

On the Senate side, I need to thank our special friend and advocate, Senator Marco Rubio, who has been supporting this issue since day one.

I also want to thank all Members of both Chambers willing to save Puerto Rico from near collapse and to help their fellow citizens in the island.

I urge my Democratic colleagues, if we want to help Puerto Rico, now is the time to do it. It is not just talking, it is time to act. It is time to vote for this kind of bill. We can't be hostage of another bill, and I do support having an immigration bill happen.

This is a disaster bill that has been included. It has been included in this budget, and we must take action today. That is the reason; this is the time to show it, not by words, by acts. That is the reason I ask my colleagues to vote for this, not say just we want to help Puerto Rico. This is the time to show you really want to help Puerto Rico; you really want to help the island.

I understand that, as the Senate did a few minutes ago, we can come together and support what we are willing to do. In Puerto Rico, there are still a lot of things that need to be done. There are so many needs to be met. But let's continue to work together, as the Senate did today; and I hope, and I expect, the House can do the same thing.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise because I believe we ought to help the DREAMers. My Republican colleagues have said they want to help the DREAMers as well, yet they have done nothing.

I am deeply frustrated, angry, and disappointed that in the greatest deliberative body in the world, we are constantly prevented from deliberating.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to defeat the previous question so we can bring up the Dream Act so we can help nearly a million people in this country, mostly young people who came here when they were very, very young, who know no other country but this country as their own.

We ought to find a way to protect them, to give them peace of mind. That shouldn't be a radical idea. Yet we can't seem to ever bring to the floor a remedy, a solution to help these people.

Speaker Ryan, when he took the gavel in 2015, promised a return to regular order. He said: ``We need to let every Member contribute.'' He also said: ``We ought to open up the process and let people participate.''

Well, there is a bipartisan group here who believe we ought to protect the DREAMers, who have a solution: the Dream Act. Let us bring it to the floor, have a debate, and vote on it. If my Republican colleagues don't want to vote for it, they can vote ``no.'' But we ought to have a debate on this.

This is a big-enough deal. This is an important enough issue where we ought to have this debate. It really is frustrating that at this late hour we can't even get a commitment from the Speaker of the House to bring this issue to the floor.

This spending bill that we are talking about, this budget deal, would pass overwhelmingly. All Democrats, I am sure, would support it if the Speaker would just make one promise, and that is that we can bring a bill to the floor, a bill that we think is appropriate, to help the DREAMers. That is it.

If my Republican friends don't want to support it, they can vote ``no.'' But to not let an issue like this be debated on the floor, to not think it is important enough to bring before the full House, is unconscionable.

I don't know whether my friends on the other side of the aisle have met DREAMers or not, but they have been here. They have been knocking on your door. These are incredible people. They contribute to this country in so many ways. They have led efforts to help protect people who have been victims of hurricanes all throughout this country. They have saved lives. They serve in our military.

All we want is a vote. That is it. And I just, for the life of me, can't quite understand why this is such a heavy lift.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question so we can have this debate. I am tired of all the excuses. I am tired of all the reasons that we are being given why we can't debate this issue. This is important. These are real people. These are members of our community. They are our neighbors. The time has come for us to act.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question. Let's have this debate. Let's protect the DREAMers. Let's do the right thing. But enough of the excuses. Enough of the excuses. It is time to vote.