H.Res. 594

Madam Speaker, I am very proud to be able to stand here today remembering the Constitution and saying to my good friends that this floor belongs to the American people. This floor is a floor, as John

Lewis has often challenged us, that calls upon us to be courageous.

I am also here to say to you that I have no doubt that the United States military, with the will of the American people, will ensure that all Americans come out of Afghanistan and our allies. But at the same time, I am grateful for the idea of a build back America act that will have Texas get universal pre-K childcare, tuition-free community college. And then, of course, the invest act that will see us get $537 million for bridges, $100 million for broadband, $3.3 billion for public transit so that our climate can improve.

I know that the Texas delegation, State representatives who sacrificed and came to this Nation's Capital to cry out for justice, Texas Democratic representatives who are here in this place now, that H.R. 4 is going to save the day, not partisan, but it is going to make us a democratic Republic. And we need to pass H.R. 4 because John Lewis said: Do you have any courage?

Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and an original cosponsor, I rise today in strong support of the Rule governing debate of Senate Amendment to H.R. 3684, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; S. Con. Res. 14, Budget Resolution For Build Back Better Plan; and H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in strong support of the Rule governing debate of Senate Amendment to H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which represents the most significant long-term investment in the United States' infrastructure and competitiveness in nearly a century.

This legislation will make life better for Americans across the country, create a generation of good-paying union jobs, grow our economy, invest in communities that have too often been left behind, and better position the United States to compete globally and win in the 21st century.

The United States is the wealthiest country in the world, yet after decades of underinvestment, the country's roads, bridges, and water systems are crumbling, and our electric grid is vulnerable to catastrophic outages.

Too many families lack access to affordable, high-speed internet, clean drinking water, and public transportation, and too often, past infrastructure investments have disproportionately and negatively impacted low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

Investing in our infrastructure--and investing in communities across the country--can create millions of good-paying jobs in underserved areas and lay the groundwork for not only a full economic recovery from the pandemic, but also usher in a new era of American innovation and prosperity.

The historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act invests $550 billion in new federal investment to make an array of transformational investments in our country's infrastructure including:

$121 billion to repair and rebuild our roads and bridges with a focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians.

$89.9 billion to modernize America's public transit, by increasing routes, reducing the transit maintenance backlog, and providing more frequent service, resulting in better options for riders, improved environmental outcomes, and increased access to jobs and essential destinations.

$66 billion to modernize and expand passenger and freight rail networks across the country, to position our railways to play a central role in our transportation and economic future.

$15 billion in zero emission and clean buses and ferries and to build the first-ever national network of electric vehicle chargers in the United States, in order to address the adoption of electric vehicles and support domestic manufacturing jobs.

$42 billion to modernize our airports, ports, and waterways;

$50 billion to weatherize our infrastructure and insulate it against the threats of droughts, floods, and wildfires.

$55 billion to drinking water infrastructure, including eliminating the Nation's lead service lines and pipes, thereby delivering clean drinking water to up to ten million American families and more than 400,000 schools and child care facilities that currently do not have it, including in Tribal nations and disadvantaged communities.

$65 billion to upgrade our power infrastructure to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy.

$21 billion in environmental remediation, making it the largest investment in addressing the legacy pollution that harms the public health of communities and neighborhoods in American history.

$65 billion to connect every American to reliable high-speed internet, building on the billions of dollars for broadband deployment in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Across this country, far too many communities are struggling with crumbling roads and structurally unsound bridges, outrageous congestion, lead-coated pipes and no broadband access.

The Senate Amendment to H.R. 3684 addresses economic disparities in our economy and the consequences of decades of disinvestment in America's infrastructure that have fallen most heavily on communities of color.

Through critical investments, the legislation increases access to good-paying jobs, affordable high-speed internet, reliable public transit, clean drinking water and other resources to ensure communities of color get a fair shot at the American dream.

These critical investments are first steps in advancing equity and racial justice throughout our economy.

Additional investments are needed in our nation's caregiving infrastructure, housing supply, regional development, and workforce development programs to ensure that communities of color and other underserved communities can access economic opportunity and justice.

This bill will address these challenges, and will also deliver much- needed investment to my home state of Texas, making life better for millions of Texas residents.

Specifically, under the bill, Texas is expected to receive:

$26.9 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs and $537 million for bridge replacement and repairs with a focus on climate change mitigation, resilience, equity, and safety for all users, including cyclists and pedestrians;

$3.3 billion over five years to improve public transportation options across the state through healthy, sustainable transportation options for millions of Americans;

$408 million over five years to support the expansion of an EV charging network in the state; and

Texas will also have the opportunity to apply for the $2.5 billion in grant funding dedicated to EV charging in the bill;

A minimum allocation of $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state, including providing access to at least 1,058,000 Texans who currently lack it.

In addition, 8,381,000 or 29% of people in Texas will be eligible for the Affordability Connectivity Benefit, which will help low-income families afford internet access.

Madam Speaker, in sum, I encourage all members to support the Rule governing debate of Senate Amendment to H.R. 3684 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, so that we can invest in strengthening our infrastructure and competitiveness, and do so in a way that creates the good-paying union jobs of the future, addresses long-standing racial and economic injustice, and helps to fight the climate crisis.

Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, and on the Budget, I rise in strong support of the Rule governing debate of S. Con. Res. 14, which reorders budgetary priorities to provide $3.5 trillion investments to build back better and provides reconciliation instructions to 13 House and 12 Senate committees to support visionary and transformative investments in the health, well-being, and financial security of America's workers and families.

It is often said that the federal budget is an expression of the nation's values and the budget resolution before us is a clear declaration of congressional Democrats' commitment to ensuring that our government, our economy, and our systems work For The People.

Madam Speaker, these long-overdue investments in America's future will be felt in every corner of the country and across every sector of American life, building on the success of the American Rescue Plan, accommodating historic infrastructure investments in the legislative pipeline, and addressing long-standing deficits in our communities by ending an era of chronic underinvestment so we can emerge from our current crises a stronger, more equitable nation.

Should our friends across the aisle join us in this endeavor, it would send a powerful signal to the American people if our colleagues across the aisle would join us in this effort because nothing would better show them that their elected representatives can set partisanship aside and put America first.

And that bipartisan achievement would portend success for similar initiatives in the area of strengthening the infrastructure of democracy in which every American has a vital interest, national and homeland security, and criminal justice and immigration reform.

I would urge my Republican colleagues to heed the words of Republican Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia who said colorfully several months ago, ``At this point in time in this nation, we need to go big. We need to quit counting the egg-sucking legs on the

cows and count the cows and just move. And move forward and move right now.''

The same sentiment was expressed more eloquently by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 when he memorably wrote:

``The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.''

Madam Speaker, the bipartisan action we took in February 2021 when we passed the American Rescue Plan was a giant step in the right direction, but it was a targeted response to the immediate and urgent public health and economic crises; it was not a long-term solution to many of the pressing challenges facing our nation that have built up over decades of disinvestment in our nation and its people in every region and sector of the country.

We simply can no longer afford the costs of neglect and inaction; the time to act is now.

The Build Back Better Plan makes the transformative investments that we need to continue growing our economy, lower costs for working families, and position the United States as a global leader in innovation and the jobs of the future.

This $3.5 trillion gross investment will build on the successes of the American Rescue Plan and set our nation on a path of fiscal responsibility and broadly shared prosperity for generations to come.

The Build Back Better Plan will provide resources to improve our education, health, and child care systems, invest in clean energy and sustainability, address the housing crisis, and more; all while setting America up to compete and win in the decades ahead.

The Build Back Better Plan is paid for by ensuring that the wealthy and big corporations are paying their fair share and Americans making less than $400,000 a year will not see their taxes increase by a penny.

Let me repeat that: No American making less than $400,000 a year will not see their taxes increase by a penny.

In sum, Madam Speaker, the investments made by the Build Back Better Plan will expand opportunity for all and build an economy powered by shared prosperity and inclusive growth.

Madam Speaker, while I am proud to strongly support this Rule and underlying bill, I would be remiss if I did not express my disappointment at the Rules Committee's decision to not include my amendments to this bill.

Jackson Lee Amendments #6, #7, and #8 are easy to understand and vitally important--they simply protect state legislators who, in keeping with their sacred oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, refuse to perform unconstitutional acts under the guise of legislative process.

Specifically:

Jackson Lee Amendment #6 allows for federal judicial review of any warrants issued for the arrest of a state legislator where said state legislator refuses to engage in the state legislative process due to a reasonably held belief that doing so would infringe on the right to vote.

Jackson Lee Amendment #7 inserts a Sense of the Congress stating that a state's power to arrest a duly elected representative of a constituency for refusal to engage in a state's legislative process should be subject to federal judicial review where such elected representative's refusal is premised upon a reasonable belief that participation would result in the suppression of voting rights or other violations of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Jackson Lee Amendment #8 privileges against arrest any member of a state legislature for any reason except treason or murder while the legislature of that state is debating or voting on legislation relating to redistricting or election practices or legislation relating to the right to vote in federal, state, or municipal elections.

These amendments would have critically strengthened H.R. 4 because state legislatures across the country are utilizing every weapon in their arsenal to curtail voting rights; and no one should fear arrest due to fighting for the Constitutional rights of their constituents.

This includes my home state of Texas, where earlier this month officers of the Texas House of Representatives delivered civil arrest warrants, signed by the Texas state Speaker of the House, for more than 50 absent Democrats in an attempt force a vote on the naked attempt at voter suppression known as Texas S.B. 7.

This is the latest Republican attack on these brave state legislators, which began on May 30, where after a night of impassioned debate and procedural objections, these Democratic lawmakers in Texas took action to block passage of this massive overhaul of the state's election laws.

Since the arrest warrants were issued, it is my understanding that mass intimidation of the Texas House Democrats has occurred.

State officials came to their homes with the purpose of dragging them back to eviscerate the voting rights of thousands of Texans.

These elected Texas Representatives have had to hide away from their friends, their families, and their loved ones, all to ensure that Texans retain their most sacred of rights.

They are risking their freedom to ensure every Texan has full access to their constitutional right to vote.

Texas Republicans seek to pass voting regulation laws focused on diverse, urban areas, by setting rules for the distribution of polling places in only the handful of counties with a population of at least 1 million--most of which are either under Democratic control or won by Democrats in recent national and statewide elections.

Standing between all of this and the voting rights of thousands of Texans are those brave state legislators who currently have a warrant out for their arrest.

No elected representative in this great nation should fear that he or she will be locked away for simply standing up for justice and ensuring that America's citizens have the right to vote.

For this reason, I believe that H.R. 4 would have been greatly strengthened by the inclusion of my amendments in the Rule.

I strongly encourage all Members of Congress to support this Rule and the underlying bill, because it is the responsibility and sacred duty of all members of Congress who revere democracy to preserve, protect, and expand the precious right to vote of all Americans by passing H.R. 4, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Madam Speaker, I am here today to remind the nation that the need to pass this legislation is urgent because the right to vote--that ``powerful instrument that can break down the walls of injustice''-- faces grave threats.

The threat stems from the decision issued in June 2013 by the Supreme Court in Shelby County v Holder, 570 U.S. 193 (2013), which invalidated Section 4(b) of the VRA, and paralyzed the application of the VRA's Section 5 preclearance requirements.

Not to be content with the monument to disgrace that is the Shelby County decision, the activist right-wing conservative majority on the Roberts Court, on July 1, 2021, issued its evil twin, the decision in

Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 601 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam 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

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

Madam Speaker, earlier today, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 601, providing for consideration of three measures.

First, the rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4 under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their designee. The rule self-executes a manager's amendment from Chairman Nadler, provides one motion to recommit, and provides the Judiciary Committee with the authority to insert in the Congressional Record explanatory material related to H.R. 4 no later than August 24.

The rule also provides for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 3684. The rule makes in order a motion offered by the chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure that the House concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 3684. The rule provides for 1 hour of debate on the motion equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure or their designees.

Finally, the rule provides that S. Con. Res. 14 is adopted under adoption of the rule.

Madam Speaker, today is an important day. The underlying bills before us today are critical pieces of legislation to enact President Biden's Build Back Better agenda. This plan will create good-paying jobs, put money in the pockets of American families, lower healthcare and childcare costs, and invest in our Nation's infrastructure paid for by ensuring that the wealthiest Americans are paying their fair share in taxes. We also take important critical steps today to secure the right to vote and safeguard our democracy.

S. Con. Res. 14 begins the process to enact this important legislative agenda. In short, the resolution sets out President Biden's Build Back Better plan, which includes critical investments that we can and must make now to provide a better future for our country.

This is a plan to create jobs, to cut taxes, and to lower costs for working families.

Our plan will make things affordable for the middle class and working families and reduce healthcare costs.

The Build Back Better plan will help prepare our Nation for the impacts of climate change: Through historic investments in a reimagined Climate Conservation Corps, investments that will put people to work to protect and conserve our public lands and open spaces, invest in the electrification of our infrastructure, and ensure that we can prepare for and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

We will provide for wildfire prevention and mitigation, resources that are desperately needed, Madam Speaker, across the western United States as we continue to experience devastating wildfires year after year. My State of Colorado, along with many other western States, are in the midst of a terrible drought which, combined with extreme heat, is continuing to wreak havoc on our communities.

As a father of a 3-year-old daughter who will be starting preschool just next week, we will invest in our children through the Build Back Better plan by ensuring universal pre-K for every 3-year-old and 4- year-old in our country, provide tuition-free community college, childcare for working families, upgrading school infrastructure, and strengthening our education workforce.

We will fund investments in child nutrition programs, expand Medicare, Madam Speaker, for the first time in its 55-year history to include dental benefits, vision benefits, hearing coverage, critical coverage that will help our seniors access the care that they need.

The Build Back Better plan will be transformational for the American people, reaching every aspect of their lives and making investments in resources that they can rely on. Madam Speaker, we will lower costs for the American people, we will cut taxes, and we will create jobs. This resolution is a first step toward making those critical investments a reality.

I now turn to a bill that I know, Madam Speaker, you care deeply about, as you are the sponsor of the legislation, and that is the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, H.R. 4. Voting is a sacred right foundational to our democracy and to our Republic. It is a right that many have fought and died to secure and that the late civil rights hero, our dear friend and colleague, John Lewis, fought to protect, despite being harassed, jailed, and beaten. Madam Speaker, as you know, Mr. Lewis often told us that the vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool that we have.

Unfortunately, it is a right that is once again under attack, and we see it, Madam Speaker, in the laws that are being passed in Georgia and in Florida and in Iowa. In State after State after State, and in the glaring absence of Federal standards and enforcement, partisan legislatures are making it harder for those who are legally eligible to vote to do so.

We cannot stand by, Madam Speaker, as discriminatory measures run rampant, blocking Americans from participating in our democracy.

Voting is a constitutional right. It is ingrained at the very core of who we are as Americans, Madam Speaker. As a Congress, protecting that right is foundational; it really is the heart of our duty.

The vote can only truly represent the people's voice if they have the ability to execute it freely and easily. That is why Congress needs to take clear, decisive action today to protect voting rights by passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. This bill would strengthen the VRA and respond to recent Supreme Court cases striking critical provisions of the bill, while making clear that Congress has the power to create a new formula.

The VRA has been reauthorized, Madam Speaker, as you know, on a bipartisan basis for decades, most recently in 2006 when the reauthorization on the VRA passed this Chamber 390-33, and in the Senate 98 votes for it, zero votes against it. This should not be a partisan issue.

Our democracy is safeguarded only when every eligible voter has the opportunity to participate, and that is what we will ensure today by passing this bill out of the House.

Finally, Madam Speaker, as you know, the rule provides for consideration of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This bipartisan bill is an important down payment toward meeting the critical infrastructure needs of our communities. We all know that our Nation's infrastructure is in desperate need of repair, and this bipartisan bill seeks to make those much-needed investments.

The bill invests in our roads, our highways, our bridges, focusing on making infrastructure resilient to the impacts of climate change and natural disasters.

It has become particularly clear over the course of this last year that access to affordable, reliable broadband is absolutely critical for Americans to be able to do their jobs and to participate equally in remote learning, to access healthcare, to stay connected. This Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides $65 billion to expand broadband coverage to areas most in need across the United States, and it also takes steps to make sure that that coverage is more affordable for individuals for whom those costs might be prohibitive.

The bill makes critical investments in our drinking water infrastructure, ensuring that clean, safe drinking water is a right in all communities.

Lastly, I would be remiss, Madam Speaker, if I didn't mention that there are several priorities that I have been working on with many of my colleagues from the western United States that are part of this bill, the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership Program, my bill to help restore our forests and respond to wildfire risks; the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Program; and, of course, the Disaster Safe Power Grid Act, which ensures a safer and more resilient power grid in the face of emergencies.

The Senate has already passed this bill and shown the desire to invest in our infrastructure, and the House must now do the same.

Madam Speaker, these three underlying bills that we are considering today make essential investments in American families and communities, and we have to meet this moment for the American people.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I must say with great respect for my colleague from Minnesota, I think the Republican minority leader of the United States Senate, Mitch McConnell, would disagree with the gentlewoman's characterization of the bipartisan infrastructure bill being for--I think she said--urban cities or blue cities.

Madam Speaker, 19 Republicans voted for that bill in the United States Senate, including the Senate minority leader. So I think that it is important for us to recognize that the investments made in that bill, as well as the investments made in the resolution, the Build Back Better plan that we are also considering over the coming weeks are incredibly important for the future of our country.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Ross), a distinguished member of both the Committee on Rules and the Committee on the Judiciary.

Madam Speaker, you know what is interesting? I don't remember the ranking member complaining about the deficit 3 years ago when they passed tax cuts for billionaires across our country to the tune of $2 trillion in terms of adding it to the deficit. I don't remember them complaining about process when they had to do three rules within a time period of 6 weeks to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act back in 2017.

I heard much today by way of process, but very little in terms of substance. Why? Because they know that the plan we have put forward today will lower costs, will cut taxes, and will create jobs.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished Speaker of this House.

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

Madam Speaker, I certainly understand where my colleague is coming from and have great reverence and respect for him and his service to our country, and I certainly look forward to continuing to work with him on the important issues that he described.

But defeating the previous question would hand over the floor to the Republican Conference. And, as you know, Madam Speaker, we have incredibly important pieces of legislation that we are considering, specifically, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and the bipartisan infrastructure budget, and the President's Build Back Better plan today.

Madam Speaker, I look forward to voting for the rule, and would encourage all Members in the House to vote for the rule, to vote for the previous question so that we can proceed with the business of the House.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), who is the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

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

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague on the Rules Committee for the respectful way in which she has engaged in today's debate. I wish I could say the same for all of the speeches that Members have delivered today.

I think it is unfortunate to have deeply partisan speeches made on the floor on matters of such great significance. I have great respect and reverence for Democratic and Republican Members of this body who have served so honorably in our Nation's Armed Forces and who have been working together to do everything they can, in concert with the administration, to evacuate Americans and our Afghan partners out of Afghanistan.

I think it is unfortunate, as I said, to hear folks politicize that particular issue. I didn't hear much, Madam Speaker, regarding the bipartisan infrastructure deal that we are considering today. I didn't hear much by way of specifics in terms of the voting rights advancement act that we are considering today. Why? Because my friends on the other side of the aisle know that both the Build Back Better plan and the bipartisan infrastructure deal will create jobs, will lower costs, and will cut taxes.

I wish we could have a reasonable debate on the merits of these particular policies, but it is clear that some would prefer to avoid that debate entirely.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), my distinguished colleague on the Judiciary Committee.

Madam Speaker, while I would relish the opportunity to respond to the points made by my colleague, we have a lot of enthusiasm on our side to speak in support of this rule.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on Appropriations, who has led on the child tax cut for decades.

Madam Speaker, my colleague from California is certainly right about one thing, the Build Back Better plan would raise taxes on billionaires. The tax cuts that ultimately were approved by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle several years ago for the richest Americans in our country, we do not pursue that in our bill. Instead, we pursue tax cuts for working families, for middle-class Americans.

Madam Speaker, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on Financial Services, whose leadership has kept millions of Americans in their homes over the course of the last year.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Alabama (Ms. Sewell).

Madam Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

We have heard a lot about partisanship during the course of today's debate.

What are the three bills that we are considering within the rule today?

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act. VRA has been reauthorized by Republicans and Democrats in the United States Congress for decades. The last time it was signed by George W. Bush, a Republican.

A bipartisan infrastructure deal that earned the votes of 69 Senators, 19 Republicans, including Mitch McConnell, but apparently, that proposal is too radical for the House Republican Conference.

And a Build Back Better plan that would invest in American families, that would lower costs, that would cut taxes for working families.

Americans are worth investing in. Our families, our students, our teachers, our firefighters, our communities

are worth investing in. And we have a chance to do that today.

The late Congressman John Lewis once said that every generation leaves behind a legacy. What that legacy will be is determined by the people of that generation. Madam Speaker, I would say that our legacy must be one of progress, of courage, and of action.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this rule and on the previous question.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to today's rule.

Madam Speaker, before I came here, I was listening to the debate. I listened to Congressman Gallagher, a veteran, come to the floor and talk about an idea that he has, an idea that here we are, Afghanistan is collapsing, and thousands of Americans in Afghanistan are trying to get out.

Here we are, called back for a special session. All his previous question would say is that we would have to have a report every day on those Americans, that we wouldn't pick a timeline until the mission is finished, and that people would be able to be brought back.

As I listened to his impassioned speech, I waited for the response. I listened to my friend on the other side. He respects Mr. Gallagher, but he could not turn the floor over because if the floor were turned over to Republicans, instead of changing the election law and spending $5 trillion, they would put the American public first. God forbid we would do that.

Madam Speaker, I heard the Democrat on the other side say we could not turn the floor over to the Republicans to let the American public know how many Americans were there. It would be devastating-- devastating--to allow that to happen.

This week, the House is in session for the first time since Kabul fell to the Taliban. What is happening in Afghanistan is a disaster for America's security and credibility, not for just today and not for next week, but for decades to come. Other countries are questioning whether we have the resolve to honor our word because of the bungled withdrawal.

President Biden magnified this damage over the past week by hiding at Camp David, delivering incoherent speeches, and is reported as failing to contact a single foreign leader for 36 hours. Today, he signaled an unconditional surrender to the Taliban, promising to leave in just 7 days.

We just had a classified briefing for all the Members. I don't believe any Member walking out of there believes that in 7 days we could get the thousands of Americans out. That is why we can't relinquish the floor to the Republicans to actually get a report on it.

Madam Speaker, the President's actions gave the impression of incompetency and a declining power. This week, we learned that the Taliban seized millions in U.S. weapons, making them stronger than they were 20 years ago.

Madam Speaker, it is reported the Taliban now has more Black Hawk helicopters than Australia. Military missions should be dictated by our Nation's interests, not by our enemies or by arbitrary timelines.

Right now, there is no greater national priority than getting our people home. But I just heard from the Democrat on the other side that we could not relinquish the floor to allow Mr. Gallagher's, a veteran's, previous question to come up because that would be dealing with the Nation's interests right now. No. We need to deal with the Democrats' priorities right now.

As I look around, I see our allies responding to this crisis with the seriousness it deserves. Madam Speaker, the Speaker called us back here. We are not the only body of power that has been called back.

In Britain, Parliament returned from its summer recess. Do you know what they are doing, though, Madam Speaker? They are working in an emergency session on this current situation to get their citizens home.

In France, President Macron is trying to rally the U.N. Security Council.

This House should be correcting this disastrous record left by this Commander in Chief and proving that America never abandons her people or shrinks from defending our interests.

Madam Speaker, that is not what I heard on this floor. I heard a direction, Madam Speaker, by the Democrat leading and in charge of this right now that we could not relinquish the floor simply to Mr. Gallagher's request of letting America know how many Americans are there and to not put a timeline until every American comes home.

We should be doing nothing else on the floor until every single American is home. Democrats called us back for an emergency session, the first session since Kabul fell to the Taliban. But faced with a national security and credibility crisis in Afghanistan, they have done nothing to plan to address it.

We were allotted 90 minutes, and, oh my God, we went over 15 minutes. But we made sure that then the Democrats had to shut that meeting down, that Members of Congress could ask no more longer questions because we needed to get back to the floor right now.

When history writes about this day, they will talk about the entire week. They will talk about last night, how Congress worked late into the night, actually ordered food to come in, was in the Speaker's Office for late hours, spent their day calling other Members and twisting votes. We had reports that the President called people, that former Presidents called people, and that people were threatened and that their spouses were threatened about jobs. We heard that they were threatened even in their own campaign.

But what were they threatened about? Was it anything to deal with Americans coming home? No. It was about this rule. It was about what we are bringing up right now. The reason we had to stop our briefing was because we had to come to the floor to deal with this.

So, what are we talking about? $5 trillion of hard-earned taxpayer money being spent on more Big Government, changing election law to benefit one party over another, outlawing IDs even though the majority of America wants it, and nothing about how that $5 trillion will spend $1 bringing Americans home or making us safer.

What is the definition of a public servant? I would say doing something for the good of the others.

Madam Speaker, the party today of the majority, the Democrats here, their interest is themselves, to stay up late into the night while other nations are working to bring their citizens home.

Madam Speaker, as people walk onto this floor and vote on this bill that they worked late into the night on, I want them to think about one thing. I want them to think about those American families in Afghanistan who late into the night were not knowing if they could even make it to the airport, not knowing if they will even get out, and wondering if the public servants were thinking of them. The sad answer is the majority was not. They were thinking of themselves, that it is too important to deal with anything else.

Madam Speaker, there are allies who are sitting in Afghanistan. Why did they go? They went to defend America because America was attacked and out of the respect and character of who we are.

This body, elected and respected around the world, in a time of crisis doesn't speak of it and doesn't act on it but only acts for themselves and, in a moment of time of using the rules to allow the opportunity to change its course and to correct them when they were wrong, the voice of the other side says: No, we could not turn the floor over to allow America to know how many Americans are there or to get a report on it.

Just as they bang the gavel down, the 90 minutes have come. You have asked enough questions. You can ask no more because we must get to the floor to pass $5 trillion and change election law so the Democrats believe they can buy and change an election.

Madam Speaker, if there is any moment in time to put an election aside, if there is any moment in time to put politics aside, I would have thought today was the day. I would have thought we were being called back so that we could focus on what the rest of the world is focused on.

So when the Speaker came to the floor to speak, I turned my volume up. Surely, she was going to speak of this day. Surely, she was going to talk about the Gold Star families. Surely, she was going to thank those veterans and those who have served here knowing what they are going through and what they are watching.

And you know what she said? Speaker Pelosi actually said: Today is a great day of pride for our country and Democrats. Today is a great day of pride for our country and our Democrats.

Let me be very clear. It is not. It is an embarrassing day for our Nation. We are 3 weeks away from the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, and this is what history will write. This is what you did with your majority. This is what you controlled. This is how you made sure you would not release the floor for the idea that Americans can find out how many are stuck in Afghanistan or how they are going to get home.

I hope you are proud of that because this is what your leadership has done. This is what your leadership worked on. This is what the power of the twisting of the arm has delivered. The United States of America is not going to let terrorists dictate when and how we get Americans out.

I firmly believe what has been said many times and especially by Abraham Lincoln, `` . . . government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.'' If you believe that too and you are watching, I ask that you pick up your phones and you call, especially if you are a Democrat because I do not think the leadership here represents you with what they are asking for. I know your love of this country.

I know the thousands upon thousands of Democrats who served their Nation, who served in Afghanistan, and I know those Americans who are in Afghanistan are not just of one party. I would like to see both parties work on the issue, what is really before us.

Can you not put politics aside? Can you not care for one moment that you could rig an election to get elected? Can you not care about making government so large that you are going to bring more inflation and trillions of dollars?

That is what you spent last night on. That is what you spent the whole time on. That is what you brought us in for. That is what you closed the briefing on, but we couldn't ask any more questions. Time is up. That is what you are fighting so hard for that a veteran who has served his country asked for a previous question to simply say: Can we get a report of how many Americans are still there? And asked that we do not pick a date when we get out until every American is out.

But I heard the leadership on the other side say that we could not do that. We have to change the election law. We have to spend $5 trillion. This is what we came back for in a special session. This is what our mission is.

Everyone who votes for this rule today, that is what you are voting for. That is what you are championing. That is what history will write. And, no, it is not a good day. Maybe in your caucus you think it is a great day for you and the Democrats. It is an embarrassing day for America. It is an embarrassing day for this floor, and it is embarrassing that you would even move forward with it.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his distinguished role on the Committee on Rules.

Now, let us praise the Committee on Rules for the important work that they do making sure that legislation comes to the floor in a way that is consistent with the rules of the House, and in this case, a budget that is consistent with the values of our country.

I thank the gentleman from Colorado and the chairman, Jim McGovern, for his leadership as well. And to each and every member of the Committee on Rules, we have to salute them, on both sides of the aisle, for the time they put in and how they facilitate the work of the House.

Madam Speaker, today is a great day of pride for our country and for Democrats. We have a President with a big, bold vision for our country and unprecedented opportunity to keep our promises for the people. We promised ``for the people'' that we would lower healthcare costs by lowering the cost of prescription drugs; we would increase paychecks by building the infrastructure of America; and we would have cleaner government by passing legislation.

This rule does all three of those things and much more, enabling the Congress to vote on some of that legislation today; some of it in the bill, and some of it for later.

When the President spoke about the infrastructure bill which is provided for in this rule, he said to our Republican friends, I want to find our common ground on infrastructure, but I will not confine my vision to what is in the bill that we can do in a bipartisan way unless you want to help us build back better. I like to say build back better for women, because that is what this budget will do; that is in this rule.

So I salute the President, not only for his vision and his determination to get the job done, but for the priorities that will be contained here in this budget as we go forward.

The Build Back Better budget agenda is one that is liberating for families, not just women, moms and dads, with childcare, with a child tax credit, with universal pre-K, with home healthcare, with workforce development. So that not only are we building the physical infrastructure of America, we are building the human infrastructure of America to enable many more people to participate in the success of our economy and the growth of our society. It does so with equity, a 40 percent justice provision that will be in there.

Now, it remains for us to work together, work with the Senate, to write a bill that preserves the privilege of 51 votes in the Senate. So we must work together to do that in a way that passes the House and passes the Senate, and we must do so expeditiously. Expeditiously.

The authorizations for highway, et cetera, will expire September 30. By October 1, we hope to have in place, that is the plan, to have in place the legislation for infrastructure. That is bipartisan, and I salute that, but it is not inclusive of all of the values we need to build back at a time when we have a climate crisis.

So I salute our distinguished chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Mr. DeFazio, for the knowledge that he brings, the value system and the knowledge that he brings to looking at how we do a reconciliation bill, a build back better bill in a way that is preserving of our planet for the children. For the children.

Exciting in all of this is the fact that we will have the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. This is pretty exciting. And I commend you, Madam Speaker, for your leadership in making this possible; for you to be the author of it. But when you are the author, though, you will no longer be able to preside, you have to come down and manage us on the floor. So it is appropriate that during the rule that will enable this to come to the floor, you are presiding, so we can all congratulate you in a highly visible way.

This legislation is so important. I was very much a part of passing the previous bill, that was in 2007, we wrote it in 2006, it became effective in 2007 when President Bush was President. We had Republican majorities in the House and Senate, and we passed the legislation overwhelmingly. Over nearly 400 votes in the House, unanimous in the Senate; signed by President Bush, as bipartisan as anything that has come to the floor.

We walked down the steps of the Capitol in a bipartisan way, saluting the fact that we had extended the Voting Rights Act and President Bush signed it. And with great pride, he came to your neck of the woods, to Selma, on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march. But he came as the person who had signed the Voting Rights Act. And even more important than that, Laura Bush came, too, so their hearts are in this legislation.

I would hope that there would be some level of bipartisanship on that as well. We will talk more about that as we go into the debate on that bill in a little while.

But I do, again, want to thank Congresswoman DeLauro for her relentless, persistent, dissatisfied until now, I hope satisfied to a certain extent, more to come, of the child tax credit. For 10 Congresses she has introduced that bill, and now it is being advanced.

And Mr. Yarmuth, the chair of the Budget Committee, will lead us now as we prepare in our individual committees, our work for the Budget Committee to put together a package.

Madam Speaker, as you know, a national budget should be a statement of our national values. What is important to us as a Nation should be reflected in our budget. And this will be the case. And under the leadership of Mr. Yarmuth, who is not only values-based, but eloquent in conveying that message, we are very excited about how we go forward.

Again, I mentioned Peter DeFazio. In terms of the Voting Rights Act, the very distinguished chair of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Nadler; and Zoe Lofgren for her work as chair on the Committee on House Administration; Mr. Butterfield, and so many people; and our distinguished whip, Mr. Clyburn, who has made this his life work.

Passing this rule paves the way for the Build Back Better plan, which will forge legislative progress unseen in 50 years that will stand for generations alongside the New Deal and the Great Society. This legislation will be the biggest and perhaps most consequential initiatives that any of us have ever undertaken in our official lives.

Everything we do is about the children. As you have heard me say when people ask me, what are the three most important issues facing the Congress? I always say the same thing: Our children, our children, our children; their health, their education, and the economic security of their families, a safe environment in which they can thrive, and a world at peace in which they can reach their fulfillment.

When children come here to the Capitol, it is such an invigoration for us and an inspiration to us to see them because we are here for them. And as I say to them, as you see the statues and the monuments to those who went before, it is appropriate that we honor them, but they want us to honor you, the future of our country, to make it better for the children.

Again, any delay in passing the rule threatens the Build Back Better plan, as well as voting rights reform, as well as the bipartisan infrastructure bill. We cannot surrender our leverage for the children. For the first time, I don't remember a time as historic as this, for the children.

President Biden has given children leverage in his visionary proposal. The children have the leverage, not those at the high end who benefitted from the Republican tax bill, and I wouldn't even have brought it up except you are

acting as if you don't even know, when you added $2 trillion, or more, to the budget to give 83 percent of the benefits to the wealthiest people in our country.

Leverage for the rich, no. We don't begrudge them their success, but this is about leverage for the children, for them, for their families for the future.

And guess what? It would be our attempt to pay for this bill so it is not a burden to those children as we go forward. And that means that some of the people that benefitted from that tax bill, that tax scam in 2017, are now going to have to pay their fair share, fair share, pay their fair share, and that we may have to address other ways to pay for the legislation by putting the responsibility on the high end, both whether it is corporate or individual, so that we can again make progress for the children without burdening them with the debt, some of which they got in 2017.

So it is a pretty exciting day. I congratulate all on the Rules Committee for going in time and again as we sought clarification on how we go forward. I thank Mr. McGovern, Mr. Neguse, and so many other members of that committee.

I thank all of our colleagues for their involvement in all of this. And I would hope that as we proceed, we could do so in the most transparent, bipartisan, and fair way for the children.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I will just say, it has been a long and bumpy road to get here so I am happy to finally be here on the floor with the rule.

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

Madam Speaker, House Resolution 601 provides for the consideration of two controversial partisan bills and deems the $3.5 trillion reconciliation resolution adopted that strips away local control and adds trillions to the national debt.

The bill deemed adopted under this rule is S. Con. Res. 14, the $3.5 trillion tax-and-spending binge that passed the Senate earlier this month.

Madam Speaker, prices are at a 13-year high, and inflation is rising. President Biden has already spent $1.9 trillion and is now looking to spend an additional $3.5 trillion, all while his administration pays Americans not to work and stifles our robust economy.

Not only does this budget call for the highest sustained Federal spending level in American history, but it also amounts to a whopping $68 trillion over the next decade. It raises taxes on the American people, shifts jobs overseas, and taxes American employers at one of the highest rates in the world. It eliminates ``right to work'' protection and does nothing to address the historic flow of illegal immigration at the southern border.

Democrats know their proposals are unpopular. They can't even get their own conference to agree. Instead, they are resorting to smoke and mirrors to push it through and hoping the American people aren't paying attention. Where is the transparency?

If Democrats truly want to serve and help the American people, they need far more transparency and input from everyone, not just a few. This is no way to build a budget.

Madam Speaker, then there is H.R. 4, which would make changes to the Voting Rights Act and strips State and local governments of their ability to manage their own elections. The Constitution places the responsibility for elections at the State level, and we have a long history of letting each State run their own elections. But H.R. 4 grants the Federal Government unprecedented control over State and local elections. It empowers the Attorney General to bully States and forces those States to seek Federal approval before making changes to their own voting laws.

H.R. 4 also provides incentives for advocacy groups to file as many objections as possible to manufacture litigation in the hope of triggering coverage under the Voting Rights Act. We need safeguards that make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. H.R. 4 is not the solution.

Madam Speaker, finally, the final bill in this resolution is the Senate amendment to H.R. 3684, which provides for $1.2 trillion in new infrastructure spending.

Madam Speaker, I hate to say it, but my Democrat colleagues are using the bipartisan infrastructure framework to force their Members to also push through trillions more in their outlandish spending resolution. Our constituents are tired of Washington playing games with their livelihoods.

To be sure, investing in our Nation's infrastructure is critical. However, only a fraction of this $1 trillion-plus bill is for roads, bridges, and other projects the American people would consider traditional infrastructure. With tens of billions for electric vehicle plug-ins, Amtrak, and light rail, if you live in a deep blue city, this bill is for you. But if you are one of the millions of Americans in a more rural area, this bill leaves you behind.

Madam Speaker, our country's infrastructure should not be tied to the Democrats' partisan spending spree, especially during a pandemic. But here we are. Until Democrats stop playing games and work with their colleagues on a truly bipartisan compromise, I urge my colleagues to oppose this rule and the underlying bills.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), ranking member of the Budget Committee.

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

Madam Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for additional consideration of H.R. 5071, authored by Representative Gallagher.

Madam 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.

Madam Speaker, President Biden's failure to lead has resulted in a national security and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan that we cannot ignore.

Now the Taliban is back and the United States is less safe. The President has offered no specific plan for getting those Americans out of Afghanistan safely.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Gallagher), from Wisconsin's Eighth Congressional District.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mast).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy).

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the minority whip.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Waltz).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers), the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington).

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert).

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to close.

Madam Speaker, Democrats continue to ram through controversial policies and reckless spending with a complete disregard for the rules and with no consideration of what those decisions will mean for future generations and what they have to pay back.

President Biden took office saying he would be President for everybody, but he certainly isn't acting like that. The legislation before us today that is included in this rule would leave rural communities behind, concentrate even more power at the Federal level, and tax and spend recklessly.

The President is too busy pressuring Members of his own party to support $5 trillion in spending to even address the crisis in Afghanistan.

Madam Speaker, I oppose the rule and the underlying bills, and I ask Members to do the same. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

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