Original Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution of 2021

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise. I rise today as I always do, with great respect for all and love of country at heart.

I rise today for a very special reason. Today is one of the days that I will cherish for the rest of my life. What I will do today is something that I believe will help us to commemorate an unfortunate circumstance that our country has been a part of.

This is the day that I will have the opportunity to bring to the attention of the Congress of the United States of America a very special resolution. This is a resolution that is supporting the designation of Slavery Remembrance Day.

The resolution proposes that August 20, 2021, serve as the first Slavery Remembrance Day. And this is done to remind us of the evils of slavery.

Mr. Speaker, I have noticed that as time has passed during my lifetime, there have been those who have sought to whitewash, to sanitize, the evils associated with slavery. This is a necessary resolution because this resolution will forever allow us to remember the horrors of slavery, the events that have shaped our current circumstances.

Slavery was our seminal sin. It was the sin that has, for too long-- centuries, for too long--had an impact on the politics, the economics, the social standing of people in our country.

This resolution reads as follows. I shall not read it in its entirety today, but there are some portions of it that are exceedingly important.

Whereas this resolution may be cited as the ``Original

Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution of 2021.''

For those who keep records, it is H. Res. 517. It has been filed, and it has more than 75 original cosponsors. I am saying original and more than 75 simply because, right up to the last minute, we were adding people, so more than 75 original cosponsors.

I shall do all that I can to memorialize the persons who are original cosponsors, and I shall seek additional cosponsors of this resolution.

Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes August 20,

2021, as ``Slavery Remembrance Day'' and commemorates the

lives of all enslaved people while also condemning the act

and perpetuation of slavery in the United States of America

and across the world.

Whereas we posthumously recognize the following Members of

Congress, who served during and after the Reconstruction era,

as honorary cosponsors of this resolution.

Their names are listed. I will not read them today. I want to do something very special when these names are mentioned, and they shall be mentioned in the near future. But their names are all here, persons who actually served in the Congress of the United States of America. These are persons who merit a special place in history because of all that they had to endure to serve our country.

Whereas, on August 20, 1619, the first 20 enslaved Africans

were brought to what is now Fort Monroe, then Point Comfort.

At that time, the time that they arrived, August 20, 1619, it was Point Comfort. History has a way of reminding us of things. ``Point Comfort,'' the place where 20 enslaved Africans arrived. Point Comfort.

Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes August 20,

2021, as ``Slavery Remembrance Day'' and commemorates the

lives of all enslaved people while also condemning the act

and perpetuation of slavery in the United States of

America and across the world.

Whereas African tribal chiefs captured, enslaved, and sold

their captives to transatlantic slave traders.

You can't tell the story without telling the whole story. You have to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If there is a scintilla of a mistake in what I say, I would beg that people would contact me and let me know, because the truth about slavery must be told. And the truth is that African people sold other Africans into slavery.

Whereas over the period of the Atlantic slave trade, from

approximately 1526 to 1867, millions of humans were abducted

and shipped from Africa, and 10,700,000 arrived in the

Americas as personal property.

Whereas the majority of enslaved Africans brought to

British North America arrived between 1720 and 1780.

I do want to emphasize the fact that they were personal property, chattels. They could be bought; they could be sold. I do understand that this is a part of the history that we don't cherish. It is a part of the history that we don't care to recall, but it is a part of the history that we must remember.

We cannot allow ourselves to think, for any amount of time, that history will never repeat itself, and we have to be ever vigilant as to prevent history

from repeating itself. This is why we must have a remembrance day.

This is not the only remembrance day, my dear friends. We remember 9/ 11, and it is commemorated for the lives that were lost. We remember Pearl Harbor. We remember January 6, the date of the insurrection. And my prognostication is that there will be a January 6 remembrance day.

Days such as these, days that are infamous, should always be remembered in the annals of history, and they should forever live in infamy. But we have to remember these days.

Whereas 6 percent of African captives were sent directly to

British North America.

Whereas by 1825, the population of the United States

included about one-quarter of the people of African descent

in what has been called the New World.

Whereas the Middle Passage from West Africa to the West

Indies was dangerous and horrific for enslaved people.

Whereas the Middle Passage carried mothers, fathers,

children, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, and

individuals from all walks of life to slavery in the

Americas.

Whereas although the sexes were separated, men, women and

children were kept naked, packed--and even stacked, I might

add--but packed close together, and the men were chained for

long periods.

Whereas according to some historians, about 12 percent of

those who embarked did not survive the voyage.

Whereas sharks followed the slave ships to feed on the

bodies of slaves thrown overboard.

Whereas enslaved people suffered a variety of miserable and

often fatal maladies due to the Atlantic slave trade and the

inhumane living and working conditions.

Whereas infant and child mortality rates were twice as high

among slave children as among Southern White children.

Whereas enslaved people often worked from sunup to after

sundown, 6 to 7 days a week often without food for long

periods of time.

Whereas enslaved Black families lived with the perpetual

possibility of separation caused by the sale of one or more

family members.

Stepping aside from the text for a moment, it has to be painful to hear this, to know that on the auction block a mother could be separated from her children and to know that on that auction block families would be separated and could be sent in different directions.

Human beings were treated as property. The suffering that they endured is unthinkable and unimaginable. It was suffering that not even the mind of Dante could imagine. They were persons treated, to a certain extent, like animals. The enslaved Black families were human beings.

Continuing with the text:

Whereas it is estimated that approximately one-third of

enslaved children in the upper South States of Maryland and

Virginia experienced family separation in one of three

possible scenarios: sale away from parents, sale with mother

away from father, or sale of mother or father away from

children.

These are the horrors of slavery and the evils of slavery that we can never ever forget. Just as we never forget other horrors and just as we have remembrance days for them, we should have this remembrance day for slavery.

Continuing with the text:

Whereas Nat Turner was born into slavery in Southampton

County, Virginia, in 1800.

Whereas Southampton County was home to many plantations,

and enslaved people outnumbered free Whites.

Whereas Turner learned to read and write at an early age, a

young age, becoming deeply religious.

Whereas Turner was sold to several different masters over

the course of his life, the last time in 1830.

Whereas Turner preached to his fellow enslaved people

developing a loyal following.

Whereas Turner began planning a revolt with a few trusted

fellow enslaved men from neighboring plantations.

Generally speaking, we honor people who fight being held in captivity. Generally speaking, they are held in high esteem, and they are celebrated for their desire to be free and their willingness to fight for their freedom--generally speaking.

But one has to ask: Where are all of the statues for Nat Turner?

Where are all of the resolutions that have been written extolling the virtues of Nat Turner?

The question must be posed: How can we honor those who enslaved to a greater extent than we honor those who suffered the horrors of slavery?

Continuing with the text:

Whereas Turner began planning a revolt with a few trusted

fellow enslaved men from neighboring plantations.

Whereas Turner's rebellion began in August 1831, quickly

growing from a small handful of enslaved individuals to more

than 70 enslaved and free Blacks.

Whereas the rebels went from house to house in Southampton

County, freeing enslaved people.

Whereas the rebels were ultimately defeated by a State

militia that had over twice the manpower of the rebels, with

three artillery companies reinforcing it.

Whereas Turner was captured 6 weeks after the rebellion was

put down, whereupon he was quickly convicted and sentenced to

death.

Whereas in retaliation for the uprising, Virginia

officially executed 56 Black people with at least 100 more

killed by militias through extrajudicial violence.

We are now talking about people who were killed because other people fought for their freedom.

Stepping aside from the text, we can never allow ourselves to sanitize the horrors of slavery. This resolution is important. There has to be a day of remembrance.

Whereas the rebellion caused widespread panic among

slaveholders throughout the South, resulting in widespread

violence against enslaved people.

Please, Mr. Speaker, understand, I take no great pride in reading this and presenting this. There is no great pride in this. There is pain. This is sinful and shameful, and we can never forget the horrors of slavery.

Whereas in the wake of the rebellion, the Virginia General

Assembly passed legislation making it illegal to teach

enslaved free Blacks to read and write.

I take no pleasure.

Whereas the Underground Railroad was a network of

individuals who helped around 100,000 slaves escape to the

North.

Whereas the railroad began when a conductor often posing as

a slave would enter a plantation and attempt to guide

runaways.

(1200)

Whereas the escapees would travel 10 to 20 miles each night

between safe houses or ``stations'' to avoid detection,

waiting in safe houses for the next along the line to be

alerted to their presence.

Whereas Ms. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery along the

Underground Railroad, a network of abolitionists who guided

escaped slaves to the North, traveling primarily at night to

avoid bounty hunters.

My dear friends, my dear brothers and sisters, many of these persons were not of African ancestry. We didn't get here by ourselves. There were people of goodwill, of many stripes who made it possible for us to have these opportunities that we have today. I thank them all. My prayer is that there will always be such people of goodwill to assist those who find themselves in harm's way, due to injustice.

Continuing with the text:

Whereas Ms. Tubman returned to the South no less than 13

times to free 70 enslaved persons, including much of her

family, for which she would be given the name, Moses.

Whereas Ms. Tubman deftly led those she saved North during

the fall and winter, when there would-be captors stayed

inside to avoid the cold.

Some things bear repeating. Whereas Ms. Tubman deftly led those she saved North during the fall and winter, when their would-be captors stayed inside to avoid the cold.

Whereas in Ms. Tubman's own words: ``I never ran my train

off the track, and I never lost a passenger.''

Whereas during the Civil War, Ms. Tubman served as a nurse,

scout, spy in the Union Army, becoming the first woman to

plan and lead a military operation in the United States,

liberating 700 enslaved people in South Carolina.

Whereas the life of Ms. Tubman continued working to

improving the lives of oppressed people, raising funds and

building schools, as well as a hospital, in the name of

formerly enslaved people, while participating in the women's

suffrage movement.

Whereas John Brown, an abolitionist who ran an important

stop on the Underground Railroad, dedicated his life to

slavery.

Whereas John Brown led a militia in guerilla attacks on

pro-slavery towns in Kansas, losing one of his sons in the

struggle.

Whereas John Brown, with the help of Harriet Tubman,

planned and organized an invasion of the South to free all

slaves.

One has to ask: Where are the statues of John Brown?

One has to ask: How is it that we have statues within a short distance of where I stand now honoring those who would enslave, but not honoring those who would set the slaves free?

One has to ask: How do these things happen?

But one has to also be appreciative of the fact that their removal is almost a certainty now.

One has to be appreciative of the fact that there are those among us who

have taken up the fight for freedom, and they have brought it to the very floor of this House of Representatives.

I am grateful to those who have concluded that we must remove the statues of those who would enslave, and my prayer is we will replace them with some statues of those who fought to free the slaves. This is my prayer.

Continuing with the text:

Whereas John Brown began his invasion at Harpers Ferry,

West Virginia, but was surrounded and captured by Federal

troops led by Robert E. Lee, losing two more sons in the

fight.

There are still people alive today who don't want John Brown to be celebrated. They don't want the people who gave their very last breath, the very last ounce of their existence to the cause of freedom. Celebrate those who would enslave, but not those who would free the slaves.

I am grateful to those people of goodwill who stand today to continue the struggle for liberty and justice for all, as extolled in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Whereas the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on

January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, and

provides that ``Neither slavery or involuntary servitude,

except as a condition of punishment, except as punishment for

a crime whereof the parties shall have been duly convicted,

shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to

their jurisdiction.''

There is much more that can be said about the 13th Amendment. Because I do not say it at this time, I beg that you not charge me for not knowing some of the things that can be said about the 13th Amendment.

Continuing with the text:

Whereas beginning in the 20th century, African Americans

began to relocate from Southern farms to Southern cities,

from the South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West, in a

movement known as the Great Migration.

Whereas the relocation of formerly enslaved individuals and

their descendants also included unfavorable and, at times,

unjust interactions with law enforcement that often resulted

in imprisonment and convict leasing.

Stepping aside from the text, in Sugar Land, Texas, bodies were unearthed. In Sugar Land, Texas, 95 bodies unearthed. Those who study these things have concluded that they were likely the victims of convict leasing.

Convict leasing was a means by which slavery was continued by another name. Convict leasing allowed laws to be used to have persons who committed petty offenses held in jail. They were detained. Couldn't pay a fine. These Black Codes, as they were called, allowed for convict leasing to continue.

Persons were arrested for just standing around, not having a job, put into the convict leasing program. And 95 such bodies were found of persons who are thought to have been victims of convict leasing in Sugar Land, Texas. Just outside of my congressional district, I might add.

Continuing with the text:

Whereas convict leasing, also known as slavery by another

name, was a system that allowed persons to lease imprisoned

individuals to private entities, often corporations and

plantations.

Whereas the remains of 95 persons thought to be of African

ancestry, who were subjected to the State of Texas convict

leasing system, were discovered in 2018, at the construction

site of Fort Bend Independent School District's James Reese

Career and Technical Center in Sugar Land, Texas.

There is much more to be said about this. In the days and weeks to come, I shall say more about this and what has happened to these 95 persons, human beings, buried, to a certain extent, in a common grave area.

Whereas while slavery was abolished, descendants of the

enslaved continue to live with the effects of slavery's

progenies: Jim Crow, mass lynchings, segregation, police

brutality, mass incarceration, and institutionalized racism.

Stepping aside from the text, I am a son of the segregated South. I have experienced these progenies, some of them. Not all of them, of course. I am 73 years of age. I have been blessed to live longer than many thought I would, not because of some illness, but because I was born Black.

The prognosticators never projected or prognosticated that I would be standing here. There was nothing at my birth that would have given anyone reason to believe that I would stand here. And probably there was nothing that would give persons reason to believe that I would stand here and read this resolution.

For many, this is a resolution that is not supposed to be filed; it is not supposed to be heard.

I am a liberated Democrat. I am not going to allow my agenda, the agenda of those who have suffered, to go unnoticed. It won't happen on my watch. As long as I am in this House, I am going to remind us that we have a duty and a responsibility, as well as an obligation, to understand the evils of slavery and understand how they have not evaporated. They have not simply faded away. To this day, the progenies of the evils still haunt us. They haunt us in this very House.

For those who are offended, I beg that you would forgive me, but I don't have any recourse. Those who sent me here, they didn't send me here to do all that I can to get along and go along. They sent me here to try to make a difference. I guess I have a case of the ``can't help its.''

I do what I can do, because I know my history, and I have suffered the pain from a progeny of slavery.

Continuing with the text:

Whereas despite the horrors of slavery and against all

odds, enslaved people became thought leaders and

revolutionaries and changed the course of American history.

Too often they are forgotten, pushed aside.

Too often, the history that they made is stolen.

Too often the status quo will wait until they can find a proper person to attribute the history to.

The status quo too often selects the persons that ought to be celebrated in history, and too often those persons are not the persons who suffered to bring the history to a better place.

The status quo has many ways to defend itself. The status quo can do it with the power of appointment.

The status quo can do it by acknowledging people and ignoring others.

The status quo has many ways to defend itself.

I am reminded of the words of Voltaire. He reminds us that--and I am paraphrasing--it is dangerous to be right in matters where the established powers are wrong.

So the status quo defends itself, and the true history is not always known. There will come a time, however, when the truth about some of the history I am aware of will be made known.

Mr. Chairman, the House is not in order. Someone appears to be on the phone in the House. I ask that we kindly investigate. This is a matter of serious concern, and a person ought not be on the phone in the House. It is contrary to the rules of the House. A person ought not do this when a serious matter is being discussed on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Doesn't matter who that person is, by the way. And if the person doesn't stop, I will put the person's name in the Record, because I know who it is. I am not going to suffer that kind of disrespect.

Resolved, this resolution may be cited as the ``Original

Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution of 2021.'' That is section

1 in the short title.

Section 2, Slavery Remembrance Day.

That the House of Representatives:

One, supports the designation of a ``Slavery Remembrance

Day'' to serve as a reminder of the evils of slavery.

Two, condemns slavery and its evil progenies; and

encourages all to acknowledge the importance of slavery

remembrance.

I am grateful to the Speaker for allowing the time. I am grateful to the majority leader. I am grateful to the whip. I am grateful to all of the chairs. I am grateful to the many persons who are cosponsors of this resolution.

As I indicated, it was coming to me as I was moving to the floor, and I have found a note from my staff. I am eternally grateful to my staff.

Seventy-seven cosponsors. These are the persons who are part of what I believe to be a historic resolution.

Those who are not should not be condemned. We simply but only ask that they would become cosponsors, and this can be accomplished quite easily. Contact my office and let us know that you would like to be a cosponsor. The love we have for you is not diminished one scintilla because you are not an original; it is not. I am not that kind of guy. I am interested in having persons of goodwill become a part of this resolution. And there is much more that will be said and done as we move forward with the resolution.

I thank all of the persons who are here today. I appreciate the fact that

this House functions as efficaciously as it does.

I am going to remember who was standing with the gavel at hand. I am going to remember the faces. This is a special moment in time. I will remember those who were to speak after me.

I will remember this wonderful lady who is seated over to my left, who has always been so kind and so generous and gentle.

I will remember the person who has prevented someone else from talking on the phone and who doesn't allow it to happen in this House when there is business before this House. She is evenhanded; she treats all of us the same.

I will remember the Parliamentarian, who has allowed his COVID beard to continue. That is just a joke, friends. I want to bring a bit of levity. But the Parliamentarian has been very helpful, and all of those who are associated with the office, have been very helpful.

I pray that on the August 20 or before, this resolution will receive a vote in this House so that this House can go on record, as it has gone on record for many other things, as supporting Slavery Remembrance Day.

Mr. Speaker, it is my honor now to yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Representative from California and my colleague on the Rules Committee for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Today, we are here to discuss the rule providing for consideration of H.R. 4040, the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act, and H.R. 263, the Big Cat Public Safety Act.

First, H.R. 4040 will extend several Medicare telehealth flexibilities that were initially utilized during the pandemic.

Telehealth has allowed many Americans to receive needed healthcare across the Nation. While my Republican colleagues and I appreciate the extension of these important programs, we believe that permanently authorizing them is the better option.

Once again, the Democrats have decided to skip the committee process and refuse Republican input or look at any possible improvements to the bill. I know that many Members will be supporting this bill, but I still must mention this missed opportunity to strengthen healthcare and telehealth, especially for rural Minnesota and rural America.

Second, H.R. 263, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, would make it illegal for any person to trade, breed, or possess any prohibited wildlife species, specifically exotic big cat species like lions, tigers, snow leopards, et cetera. The bill would impose civil and criminal penalties for violators and grant the Federal Government the authority to order forfeiture of big cats held in private captivity. Many of the provisions of this legislation already exist under the USDA regulatory scheme.

More than anything, Mr. Speaker, I am wholeheartedly disappointed in how my colleagues are managing the remaining time left in this Congress. The absence of any sense of urgency to fix the real problems facing this country is incredibly frustrating.

This country is at the doorstep of a recession, but instead of addressing it, the U.S. House of Representatives is spending time on the regulation of big cats. My constituents are calling my office because their families are struggling to pay for basic needs like food and gas. They are calling because they want us to secure national borders and address the fentanyl epidemic. They are calling because they want to know what Congress is doing about rampant crime in cities across the country. These are the issues facing our constituents. These are the issues they are calling about because they are the issues affecting their everyday lives and the ones we should be focusing on.

It is because of the irresponsible policies by Democrats that we have such a big hole to dig ourselves out of, and now they want to ignore these problems altogether and take up our precious time left in Congress to consider legislation built off reality TV.

Mr. Speaker, I oppose the rule, I ask Members to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider H.R. 8488, a bill to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from sending petroleum products from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, is an important national security tool and safety net for this country. The United States has already been improperly depleting the Strategic Petroleum Reserve under this administration since it is refusing to increase domestic production during an energy crisis.

We most certainly should not be selling our emergency supply to an adversary like China.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan) to speak further on the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague from the Rules Committee that, as I mentioned before, many of the Republicans plan on supporting the telehealth bill, although I think we missed the opportunity to have Republican input and have an improved bill. But we are able to do more than one thing.

My colleague mentioned that this is very partisan. Gas and oil prices are a serious, serious issue for our constituents. As I mentioned before, it is about their getting to work, it is about their getting to school, and it is about their getting to church. They need us to address the cost of oil and gas.

The Democrats have really just simply tried to distract from this issue and tried to distract us with all kinds of other things and not really talk about the issues facing our constituents.

And like I said earlier, we certainly do have Republican support for the telehealth bill. As a matter of fact, I believe that there are Republican sponsors of that bill.

But I think that what is happening now is the Democrats are truly trying to distract from the issues that are really facing our constituents.

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

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

I just have to say that the calls for working together ring hollow to me because working together should be happening in markup. Working together should be happening in committee meetings. But the Democrats have repeatedly and consistently chosen to skip the committee process and bring things directly to the Rules Committee and directly to the floor. And so when they call for working together, I think that that starts at the committee process.

And as for bringing solutions to the floor, the Westerman-McMorris Rodgers bill that would address the energy costs has been brought repeatedly as a PQ to the floor. The Democrats had the opportunity to take a look at that and to vote on it.

With a more exact answer, I yield 1 minute to my colleague from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

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

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to mention that finding middle ground actually starts with allowing the minority input into bills, whether that be in committee or offering amendments on the floor. But that is where finding middle ground and that is where finding bipartisan solutions starts.

I would also like to remind my colleague from the Rules Committee that this PQ would not stop consideration of the bills in the rule. It would simply allow consideration of the amendment that was proposed.

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

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

I have to just mention again, because I am confused, and I want it stated very clearly what I have said repeatedly. There are many Republicans who will be supporting the telehealth bill.

Mr. Speaker, there are many Republicans that will be supporting the telehealth bill. That is not where I am concerned that we are not addressing constituents' issues with.

Where I am concerned about our constituents is the price of gas and the inflation that they are facing, and that we need to be addressing those issues; and that is why we offered the PQ that we did. And that is why we have offered repeated solutions to the cost of gas and the inflation facing our constituents.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I do continue to be disappointed in my colleagues. It is possible that they are really this out of touch.

The typical family is now spending almost $500 per month. Across the country, people are making changes like skipping meals, changing driving patterns, and even delaying retirement to adjust their lives to cope with the accelerating inflation; inflation caused by out-of- control government spending and regulation.

Cities across the country are experiencing record crime waves. We have a serious immigration crisis leading to the deaths of countless people at our southern border and in our hometowns because of the fentanyl drug crisis crossing along with them.

I know that, like mine, your offices are getting daily calls about all of these. Why are we spending time on anything that does not work directly to solve those devastating problems in our country?

Maybe it is because Democrats want to distract us from the fact that their policies got us here, rather than fix them. We could be discussing genuine efforts to stop crime or increase domestic energy production or alleviate pressure points to the supply chain.

But, for the sake of the Green New Deal and rampant government spending, Americans are going to have to suffer through inaction on real issues facing Americans by this Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I oppose the rule, and I ask Members to do the same.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1256 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Fischbach), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

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

Mr. Speaker, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 1256, providing for consideration of H.R. 263, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, under a structured rule.

It provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources, makes in order one amendment, and provides one motion to recommit.

The rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 4040, the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act, under a closed rule.

The rule self-executes a manager's amendment from Chairman Pallone, provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and provides one motion to recommit.

Finally, the rule deems as passed H. Res. 517.

First, the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act, led by Representative Cheney, and I am a proud cosponsor, will extend critical telehealth policies implemented during the pandemic while making it easier for seniors to access telehealth services.

We know that because of the pandemic, healthcare visits to the doctor drastically changed, and these health services have become critical to patients in accessing care. The pandemic made access to healthcare difficult, but telehealth turned this negative into a positive.

To avoid exposure, many patients, including high-risk, vulnerable people, choose to visit their doctor by video or telephone to receive care. In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, we in Congress authorized bipartisan legislation expanding telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries in March 2020. This was especially important for our seniors and underserved areas, where it is already significantly more challenging to access in-person care.

Telehealth is a very popular program among populations living in both remote and rural areas and in highly populated areas. According to a recent study, nearly a quarter of U.S. adults over 65 had a video doctor's visit during the pandemic.

In November 2021, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it would extend some telehealth coverage through 2023. However, certain telehealth services are scheduled to end when the declared public health emergency expires.

Why should we end something, a program, that is helping vulnerable people access medical care?

Telehealth is no longer an innovative option for accessing healthcare services. For many, these services are a lifeline.

H.R. 4040 would extend critical telehealth policies under Medicare that were initially authorized at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through 2024. Specifically, H.R. 4040 would provide patients with better access to telehealth regardless of where they are by removing geographic barriers.

It would expand the availability of telehealth services for patients by increasing the number of health clinics' eligibility, including federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics.

It will allow flexibility for Medicare beneficiaries to access mental health telehealth and ensure audio-only telehealth services under Medicare continue to be covered.

These provisions will help increase access to care and allow Medicare to adapt to innovations in medical technology, all while reducing healthcare costs and significantly reducing wait times for patient care.

H.R. 263, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, will improve public safety and protect wild animals by prohibiting the private possession of lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, cougars, or any hybrid of these species.

In short, this bill prevents people from keeping big cats as pets and helps ensure that these animals are not kept in inhumane conditions. Many law enforcement and first responder groups are supportive of this legislation and are asking Congress to pass this bipartisan bill to protect themselves and the general public.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support these two bipartisan bills, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. Speaker, today Democrats are talking about expanding access to healthcare and helping our constituents live healthy lives. That is what Democrats are bringing to the floor today in a bipartisan way.

But yet here we are with some Republican colleagues across the aisle continuing to insert divisive politics into a debate about healthcare, about being able to see your doctor, and about being able to live a healthy life. Perhaps it is because there are billions to be made in gun sales or oil sales. But Democrats will continue to try to find Republicans on the other side to save American lives.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).

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

I absolutely agree that we can do more than one thing at a time. But unfortunately, today should be a day that we are working together in a bipartisan way, again, to expand access to healthcare for fragile Americans that want to have an opportunity and deserve to have an opportunity to see their doctor.

So, while my colleagues continue to talk about the millions and billions of dollars that gun manufacturers and oil folks are making, we want to talk about expanding healthcare.

But let me remind my colleagues, too, that it is easy to come to the floor and rant and rave when you have no real ideas to offer or solutions.

But let's take a look at the facts. The current drop in gas prices is one of the fastest declines in over a decade. Gas prices have declined by an average of 50 cents per gallon over the past 34 days. The most common price at gas stations across the country is now $3.99, with around 20,000 gas stations across over 30 States.

But, you see, it is not just about gasoline. We are also increasing availability and options for Americans to drive electric vehicles. So we can do more than one thing.

But I urge my colleagues across the aisle, if they truly care about telehealth, if they truly care about improving healthcare options for Americans, that we focus on the two bills, the rule that we have in front of us.

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

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

Working together means meeting each other in the middle when we agree or disagree on an issue, finding middle ground. That is what this bill does because some Republicans and Democrats agree that the healthcare of the American people is worth so much more than nonsense political headlines.

So today, once again, we come together, some of us, to help continue to save lives by passing this bill.

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

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

It is unfortunate that we fail--some of us on this floor--to recognize that the lead author of this bill is a Republican member of their caucus. Unfortunately, it is a Republican member of their caucus that they no longer find conveniently friendly to their agenda of hate and division.

Today, we stand together, and I urge my Republican colleagues to support this bill, to, again, help Americans find the doctor and the healthcare that they need in order to live a better life.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

The two bills before us for consideration, H.R. 263 and H.R. 4040, will increase access to critical healthcare services and improve public safety. I am proud of Representative Liz Cheney.

And while my colleagues continue to argue and work against the healthcare of the American people, we will stand together with those Republicans that have the courage to stand up for healthcare and healthcare options.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the previous question.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the previous question so that we can amend the rule to immediately consider the Protecting America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act.

H.R. 8488 is a bill introduced by Ranking Member Rodgers and me, and it is simple. It would prohibit the Department of Energy from sending America's emergency oil reserves, known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, to China.

Now the Democrats are in denial about why their constituents are paying so much at the pump for gas and diesel fuel. It is directly a result of the Biden administration and Democrat policies that began the day that Joe Biden was sworn in as the President of the United States. Because of his war on the oil and gas industry, our domestic production and our refining capacity has declined by more than 1 million barrels per day since President Trump was in office.

Americans know what they were paying for gas in January of 2021. They know what they are paying for gas today. They know they had more money in their pocket to spend on things for their family. They know they are having to make decisions now about their travel. It is affecting their cost to go to work, to take their kids to school, or to go to their place of worship.

Energy prices have surged past historic records. People have been forced to pay more than $6 per gallon in some regions of the country. Now President Biden and the Democrats are looking for cover. He is looking to distract the American voters from the painful realities of his anti-fossil fuel agenda by releasing an unprecedented 260 million barrels of oil from the SPR, or the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Releasing this oil is going to be no more than a blip for gasoline prices.

It seems as if the White House and Democrats are taking victory laps over a temporary decrease in the price of gasoline. It is because Americans are on vacation, they are not driving as much, they are staying home--staycations--and they are not using as much. It is a supply and demand issue.

But it is also a cause and effect issue. The cause is the Biden administration's Democrat policies against fossil fuels because they have some sort of utopian ideal that Americans are just going to--let's see, in the words of Secretary Granholm: transition to electric vehicles.

Let me be clear: I like electric vehicles. I think they ought to be a part of the mix. In fact, more electric vehicles on the road means less emissions and better air quality.

But instead of forcing it, why not let the free market work?

Why not let the free market come up with alternatives and more cost- effective modes of transportation for Americans versus government policies trying to push this utopian ideal?

It is not the solution to the energy crisis Americans are facing today. Releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not the answer either. In fact, the Biden administration is releasing more than 1 million barrels per day, but it really has nowhere to go because our refineries are at capacity and our pipelines are full. As a result, America's emergency reserves are being sent to China which is using it to build up its own strategic reserves.

The irony is that when prices plummeted at the onset of COVID, President Trump's Department of Energy wanted to buy oil and fill up the SPR. Democrats opposed that. Let's see, buy low, sell high. Oil was really cheap. President Trump wanted to fill up the SPR. Now that oil is really high, this President wants to release it and give it to China.

We are going to have to replace it.

Are we going to replace it at a high price?

The other irony is that this isn't about fossil fuels because President Biden traveled 11,000 miles roundtrip to Saudi Arabia to beg the Saudis for oil. He didn't beg them for batteries for electric cars. He begged them for oil which is going to be refined into the transportation fuels that we use.

I have got an idea for President Biden and for Democrats: How about embrace American energy production?

How about President Biden travel down to Port Fourchon, Louisiana, or to Midland, Texas, and talk to American energy producers and ask them the question: How can we meet the domestic demand that we have here in this country?

How can we, with American energy production, lower the costs for moms and dads, American families, here at home by American production, providing American jobs, and producing American resources?

We have been blessed in this country with abundant resources in oil and gas. Unfortunately, we have been cursed by liberal politicians.

We have been cursed by liberal politicians who want to take those abundant resources off the table and continue to hurt American families who are trying to fill up their car just to travel to work, to school, and to church.

Mr. Speaker, we need to defeat the previous question, we need to stop selling or giving, or whatever, oil to China--an adversary--and we need to focus on domestic energy production.

So, Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question so that the House can immediately consider this important bill. I urge my colleagues to vote against this previous question and for the replacement.

Mr. Speaker, you know, there are some bipartisan issues in this bill. There is no doubt about that, if the Democrats were to reach across the aisle and actually work with us. Issues like telehealth are important.

But we are getting ready to break for the August recess, and American families are hurting because of what they are paying at the pump for the price of gas. We have the opportunity to stop the sale of oil to China and help Americans maintain their strategic national resource and not give it to China. That is what we are asking for.

Unless we are focused on energy policies before we go home for recess, there are a lot of other things we could do to address the pain that Americans are feeling right now, this week, before we break for the August recess.

Instead, we are going to have some feel-good legislation that won't even pass the Senate.

We could help American families today, yet the Democrats continue wanting to try to hoodwink the American people; place blame on Putin and others for energy prices, when we know what is causing the price at the pump; and that is the Biden administration's policies on energy.

Let's quit giving oil to China, let's hold that strategic asset, and let's lessen the price at the pump by passing good energy policy in this country.

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise, a proud descendant of the enslaved people who made cotton king and America great; the enslaved people who had a hand in the construction of this Capitol, who had a hand in the construction of the White House; the enslaved people who constructed roads and bridges across the length and breadth of this country, who worked for more than 200 years without a payday. They made the difference for what we call the United States of America on the global scene at the time.

I am honored to be a descendant, and I am honored to say also that this House, on July 27, took the historic step of according them Slavery Remembrance Day, a day to remember their lives and commemorate their accomplishments.

It is important that we do this because, for too long, we have reviled the slaves and revered the enslavers. For too long, we have placed them in such a position as to cause the people who are the very descendants to be ashamed of who they were associated with, with reference to their heritage.

I am proud that this House has taken this important historic step with Slavery Remembrance Day, but I am also proud to say that at 2 o'clock tomorrow in Room 145A at the Washington Convention Center, we will continue to talk about this piece of legislation that we passed, H. Res. 517, the Original Slavery Remembrance Day Resolution.

We will talk about this. We will give a legislative update. The Reverend Al Sharpton will be there, and he will give insightful information on this very topic.

I am just proud that we no longer fear having those persons who made this country great recognized by this Congress, and that had been the case in the past.

I thank all the Members of the Congress, 218 of whom who voted for this legislation. I thank the President, who recognized Slavery Remembrance Day. I thank all of the leadership for allowing this resolution to come to the floor.

I thank Ms. Elizabeth Warren, the Senator who supported it, and I thank Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Hoyer was a man of his word, a person of his word. He said this resolution would come to the floor for a vote. He supported it, and it came to the floor for a vote.

I thank you for the courage that you showed, Mr. Hoyer, and the judicious insight that you utilized to make sure that we had this opportunity.

Tomorrow, we continue what I cannot finish today at the convention center, 2 o'clock, Room 145A.