Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1130) to repeal restrictions on the export and import of natural gas; providing for consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 684) condemning the actions of Governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, for subverting the Second Amendment to the Constitution and depriving the citizens of New Mexico of their right to bear arms; and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5525) making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2024, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana for yielding me the time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it is good to be back on the House floor with the gentlewoman from Indiana. It is great to be with her, and so far, she is allowing me to actually speak and hasn't called for me to be silenced.

The last time we debated, I stated an uncomfortable fact about he who shall not be named and the gentlewoman had me silenced, had my words stricken from the Congressional Record.

You just have to love that, Mr. Speaker. The party of free speech that rails against woke this and cancel culture that, and calls us snowflakes, can't handle it when someone comes down here and tells the truth. They try to silence the people they disagree with. It is really quite stunning.

Here is more of the truth, and let's see if I am allowed to talk this time.

Mr. Speaker, under Republican control, the House of Representatives has become a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all. What we are dealing with today is a bunch of weird, whacky, poorly drafted culture war nonsense.

This is all just a waste of time. These bills aren't going anywhere. It is not even political theater. It is theater of the absurd.

The government shuts down in a few days, and instead of actually working with Democrats to keep the lights on, instead of actually doing something to fix the problems that the American people want us to fix, my Republican friends are doing nothing.

The roof is on fire, and instead of calling 911, they are sweeping the floors. I mean, it is beyond nuts.

Last night in the Rules Committee, during our hearing on this rule, I had some Republican Members telling me they didn't like my tone. They didn't like the fact that I said we don't share the same values.

I am sorry I hurt people's feelings, Mr. Speaker, but the truth is the truth. We don't all believe in the same things. When it comes to my friends on the other side of the aisle in this Chamber, we really don't share the same values. I know many of my friends on the Republican side are nice and good people, but their ideas are not nice and are not good.

Let me just give you a couple of examples.

Democrats want to make sure that our kids go to college and get a good education that prepares them for the workforce, and instead of working with us, Republicans go on and on about woke this and woke that in our schools.

Apparently, anyone who wants to teach facts is woke nowadays. They want colleges to stop being ``woke,'' even though they can't quite define what that even means. It is all political BS, Mr. Speaker.

Here is another example. Democrats actually want an economy that works for everyone, and thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, we are fighting to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, but not Republicans. They are talking about woke economic policies.

I don't even know what they are talking about or what they mean, but do you want to know what people back home talk to me about? They are asking me: Why are Republicans trying to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires? Why are Republicans trying to go after Social Security and Medicare?

Another example, Mr. Speaker, is that Democrats actually care about strengthening and protecting the Violence Against Women Act, but not Republicans. A majority of their Conference voted against extending the Violence Against Women Act. Let me say that again: A majority of their Conference voted against extending the Violence Against Women Act.

Now, they have the nerve to come down here and talk about violence against women and use it as part of their sick ploy to go after immigrants. Give me a break. Their bill is so poorly written that it could hurt survivors of domestic violence.

I could go right down the list. It is obvious to me that, at some point, the RNC talking points went out to everybody, and those talking points said woke, woke, woke. Now, we have to waste time on this trash.

It is just another week of the GOP circus. As I have said before, calling this a clown show is an insult to actual working clowns.

Most of all, it is an insult to the American people for Republicans to use these hallowed Halls and to spend hours and hours of time this week on these absurd, awful bills. Again, none of them are going anywhere.

The reason to be in Congress is to help people. That means putting people over politics. It means not caving in to the most extreme members of your party. It means getting stuff done, which is a radical idea.

None of these bills, as I said, are going anywhere. Yet, here we are, playing these absurd, ridiculous games.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed listening to the chairman of the Rules Committee, but let me just state for the record that nothing he talked about will be at all impacted by any of the stuff that we are talking about here today. None of these bills are going anywhere.

If you want to pass legislation to address some of the issues that were raised, maybe we ought to work in a bipartisan way. Maybe it ought not to be ``my way or the highway.''

These aren't serious pieces of legislation. These are press releases. Let's all be honest with the American people about that. This is not serious legislating. We haven't done serious legislating here in a long time.

Mr. Speaker, I will zoom in a little bit on this Congress in general. I just mentioned that this is the most dysfunctional Congress in history. If anyone wants proof, look no further than this resolution: five more closed rules that allow zero amendments to come to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, for folks who don't know, a closed rule means no amendments. It means: Take it or leave it. If you have a good idea and want to improve a bill, too bad.

This is how they govern in Russia and China, and that is what the Republicans are turning this place into.

With these five closed rules they are bringing to the floor today, Republicans are breaking their own record for shutting down debate. With today's vote, there will be 106 closed rules in this Congress-- 106. This is now officially the most closed Congress in the history of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, what gets me is that my friends on the other side have been totally fooled. They were tricked by their own leadership, first by Speaker McCarthy and now Speaker Johnson.

The gentlewoman from Indiana and her colleagues on the Rules Committee were promised a more open process. They were told the Rules Committee was going to be different, more open, would have more regular order and more amendments, and more debate.

Speaker McCarthy was even blackmailed into putting members of the Freedom Caucus on the Rules Committee to guarantee a more open process, but apparently, it didn't matter because he totally broke his promise, and now Speaker Johnson is shredding it.

During the first 9 months under Speaker Johnson, we saw 64 closed rules, even more than the 42 closed rules we saw under Speaker McCarthy. They traded a bad Speaker for an even worse one. Republican leaders have blocked 5,799 amendments from even coming to the floor. Mr. Speaker, 5,799 amendments have been blocked from coming to the floor by the Republican majority.

By the way, they are not just Democratic amendments. They blocked Republican, bipartisan, and Democratic amendments. They blocked an amendment to disrupt the smuggling of U.S. firearms across the Mexican border. They blocked an amendment to combat fentanyl trafficking at ports of entry.

Holy hell, Mr. Speaker, they even blocked my amendment to protect food for seniors who participate in the Meals on Wheels program. They have even blocked over half of their own Republican Members' amendments.

Let me say that again. Most Republican amendments have been blocked by this Congress. These amendments have been prevented from even seeing the light of day or getting a debate on the House floor. There have been 98 amendments that Rules Committee Republicans had either authored or supported that have been blocked by their own majority.

When you are on the Rules Committee, you like to have a little juice, but 98 of your amendments, Republican amendments, have been blocked by your own party. That is almost 100 amendments, and that is just Rules Republicans.

I am sure they would have loved to have had the opportunity to debate their amendments on the floor. If Rules Committee Republicans can't get amendments, how the hell do you think the rest of us are doing?

Republicans said they wanted an open process in this Congress. They want an open process, my foot, Mr. Speaker.

Under this majority, the Rules Committee has become a place where democracy goes to die. Their Members should be outraged with the Speaker and this leadership just as much as Democrats should be. Again, 106 completely closed rules blocked all amendments--a shameful statistic, an all-time authoritarian high set under this Republican majority.

Let's look at the results. Look at what they have to show for it. Republicans had the most unproductive Congress in the history of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, 26 days we went without a Speaker because they were fighting with each other. Weeks were wasted with failed rule votes while they argued among themselves instead of negotiating with Democrats.

There were broken promises on the appropriation process where they kicked the can down the road with another failed CR, bringing us to the brink of catastrophic debt default and then asking Democrats to bail them out. Mr. Speaker, 10 months of passing no legislation through the Rules Committee that ever became law.

I congratulate my friends. In addition to being the most incompetent, dysfunctional, unproductive Congress in American history, they now have also presided over the most closed Congress in American history. Well done, well done, and they are not done yet. We have to live through 3 more months of this. God help us.

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

Mr. Speaker, again, I reiterate what the gentleman from South Carolina just said. We have different viewpoints and different values.

I am sorry that he feels he lives in a wrecked country. I don't believe that. I think the United States of America is the greatest country on this planet, and I am proud to serve in Congress to try to help the people of this country. I would never refer to this country as a ``wrecked country.''

Again, the gentleman who just spoke, I thought when he was appointed to the Rules Committee, he was appointed to make sure that we had a more open process.

I regret to inform the gentleman that 106 closed rules slipped by him this Congress. I appreciate him standing in the breach.

By the way, when he refers to all the amendments that were rejected as being dumb, 50 percent of them were Republican amendments.

I think 27 of your amendments were denied. I wouldn't classify them as dumb, even though I may disagree with the intent.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record a list of the 106 closed rules issued by the Republican majority in the 118th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, beneath all these statistics about closed rules are actual ideas that are being blocked from being debated on the House floor.

These are thoughtful proposals that Members have worked hard to develop, ideas to help actual people, and they deserved a debate in an up-or-down vote.

They are proposals like this: An amendment to disrupt the smuggling of U.S. guns across the Mexico border to help cartels, an amendment authorizing funding for DHS to combat fentanyl trafficking at our ports of entry, and an amendment to prevent cuts to Meals on Wheels.

Those are home-delivered meals to seniors, Mr. Speaker, and that was my amendment, by the way, so I can assure you that it was a very, very good idea.

They even blocked an amendment to provide postpartum mental health information to pregnant students, and that was a Republican amendment.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans haven't just blocked amendments by reporting out closed rules. Their structured rules, the rules that allowed a few amendments, have also continually blocked thoughtful, rule-complied amendments.

They seem especially focused on blocking Democratic ideas from a debate in an up-or-down vote on the floor. A quarter of their structured rules--get this--blocked all Democratic amendments.

Now, let me quickly just list a few ideas that Republicans were either too afraid to debate or couldn't spare 10 minutes for consideration on the House floor: An amendment to protect children from getting asthma; amendments to ensure the regulation of dark money in politics, and to prevent corrupt pay-to-play political donation deals with Federal contractors; and an amendment to provide cancer screenings to Federal firefighters as part of their DOD annual physicals, when we know they are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals as part of their jobs. There is simply no excuse for this, Mr. Speaker.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, after listening to the gentlewoman from Minnesota, I was confused when she said, you don't offer alternatives. That is what amendments are. They are alternative ideas.

I just went through a list of some of the alternatives we wanted to offer dealing with firefighters and cancer screening, dealing with children with asthma, and dealing with making sure senior citizens have adequate access to nutrition. Those are alternatives. Those are ideas.

My friends, unfortunately, are in control of this place, so they get to bring the bills to the Rules Committee.

We try to present alternatives through the amendment process, but here is another alternative. If we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 16, the American Dream and Promise Act of 2023.

Mr. Speaker, the bigoted hatred that we are seeing directed at immigrants in Ohio and across the country is sickening. According to research done by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, there has been a rise in conspiracy theories that stigmatize minorities and promote hatred of ethnically diverse communities.

Get this. Politicians' use of bigoted rhetoric can also play a role in hate crime incidents. It is sad, but to be frank, we didn't need researchers to tell us this.

We can see and we can hear it from the Republican Party every single day, and it does a grave disservice to the Dreamers, to TPS holders, and to DACA recipients in this country who only know America as their home.

These are taxpayers, small business owners, educators, and critical parts of our communities. Dreamers were brought to the United States as children through no fault of their own, and it is past time to grant them the pathway to citizenship that they rightly deserve.

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to fix our broken immigration system and secure our border, but unlike the messaging bills before us this week, this is a bill that actually does something, and it is actually bipartisan. It sends the message that we are sick of the vitriol and hate crimes against this community and that we value their many contributions that make this country a better place.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar), a great leader, to discuss our proposal.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Garcia), who will also speak on the importance of defeating the previous question.

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

You have got to love when Republicans try to talk tough about immigration reform. I just want to remind my colleagues that one of the most conservative Senators in the United States Senate is from Oklahoma. He wrote a comprehensive immigration reform bill that has some very tough provisions in it. Their standard-bearer, the man who I cannot name on the floor for fear that my words will be taken down, told Republicans to not allow it to come to the floor for debate or a vote.

They would rather have a campaign issue than to solve a problem. I mean, let that sink in. Let that sink in.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article from the National Institute of Justice titled: ``Undocumented Immigrant Offending Rate Lower Than U.S.-born Citizen Rate.''

Mr. Speaker, all day long, Republicans spout hateful rhetoric about undocumented immigration and crime because they want us to be scared and they want to divide us, but their claims are simply not rooted in truth. In fact, undocumented immigrants are less likely, not more, than U.S.-born citizens to commit crimes, including violent crime.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article by the CATO Institute titled: ``Sanctuary Jurisdictions in Florida Do Not Have Higher Crime Rates.''

Mr. Speaker, there is no evidence, none, either in Florida or in the rest of the country that sanctuary cities result in more crime. There is none, zero. However, that won't matter to Republicans because they are unmoved by the facts.

Mr. Speaker, earlier I listed some examples of ideas that Republicans blocked from even being considered on the floor. Here are a few more. I just want people to appreciate this.

An amendment that would protect access to IVF for Federal employees, they blocked it.

They blocked an amendment to require a study for Tribal consultations before enactment of an oil and gas bill that could affect their subsistence resources.

An amendment to make critical targeted investments in small-town police departments for the recruitment, retention, mental health support, and training they need to protect themselves and their communities, they blocked that, too.

They blocked an amendment to ensure continued access to emergency care for pregnant servicewomen at military treatment facilities.

Maybe Republicans don't believe in IVF or any of these other ideas, but they can just vote ``no.'' Why block these ideas from even being debated unless they are afraid they would pass?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am not prepared to close yet. There may be someone else.

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

I want to get back to this extraordinary closed House. I just want everybody to appreciate how awful this process is.

Here are yet more examples of ideas that were too scary, too revolutionary, too controversial to even be debated on the House floor, according to this Republican majority:

An amendment to provide grants to organizations that are helping to transition servicemembers to civilian life, including job recruitment training, they blocked that. I mean, what are they thinking? Who does that?

They blocked an amendment to ensure that students with dietary restrictions like lactose intolerance can have an alternative to whole milk at lunch. Is lactose intolerance now woke? I mean, I don't get it. That was blocked.

They blocked an amendment to ensure that a bill wouldn't cause our domestic energy prices to increase.

I ask, again, what is the majority afraid of? I mean, we have our differences. We ought to have substantive debate on the floor and then have votes. I am willing to bet there are some thoughtful Republicans who would support some of these amendments that I mentioned here.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

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

We have heard a lot about wokeness here today, but I want to focus on the woke Democratic ideas that Republicans have blocked in this record- breaking closed Congress. I mean, ideas like protecting IVF, fighting fentanyl trafficking, and making sure lactose-intolerant students have something nutritious to drink at lunch. Wow. I mean, that those ideas are woke is crazy.

There have been 106 closed rules. That is a big number, a record- breaking number, but much more important is what that number represents. These ideas and all the other blocked amendments I highlighted would have helped everyday Americans. Is that woke? Is it woke to try and keep kids from getting asthma, to provide job training to veterans? To provide cancer screenings to firefighters, is that woke?

Mr. Speaker, I don't know what my Republican colleagues are afraid of. Maybe they are afraid to vote ``no.'' Maybe they are afraid to vote ``yes.'' This is Congress, Mr. Speaker. We are here to take hard votes. This record-breaking number of closed rules is a disservice to the people the Republicans represent.

Mr. Speaker, while Republicans want to talk about being woke, I wish instead that they would wake the hell up and do the people's business. For example, I don't know, maybe pass a bill to prevent a government shutdown. What we are doing today is merely a political exercise. Their obsession with trying to inject politics and culture wars into everything is getting really old, almost as old as the Presidential nominee.

Let me just say I love this place, and I love all the different things that we have been called on to do. I will just say this, Mr. Speaker: I want everybody to join with me and let's end this. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), 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 unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, last night, the Rules Committee met and produced a rule, H. Res. 1455, providing for the House's consideration of seven pieces of legislation.

First, the rule provides for H.R. 3724, the End Woke Higher Education Act, to be considered under a structured rule.

Second, the rule provides for H.R. 4790, the Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act, under a closed rule.

Third, the rule provides for H.R. 5339, the Protecting Americans' Investments from Woke Policies Act, under a closed rule.

Fourth, the rule provides for H.R. 5179, the Anti-BDS Labeling Act, under a closed rule.

The rule provides for H.R. 7909, the Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, and H.R. 5717, the No Bailouts for Sanctuary Cities Act.

Mr. Speaker, I support this rule and the underlying legislation, beginning with H.R. 3724, the End Woke Higher Education Act.

As a Member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, we have spent countless hours addressing the serious issues within higher education under the Biden administration, where activism is often prioritized and differing viewpoints are silenced.

These conversations have become increasingly necessary, as we have seen waves of anti-Semitic protests where students are supporting terrorist organizations, and these protests are sweeping the Nation.

Too many institutions of higher education have cowered to the mob of protesters, often compromising the safety and well-being of their students. Freedom of speech is under attack on our campuses nationwide, and it is our students who are paying the price.

This mindset weakens what has historically been the strength of America: free-flowing and open debate at our institutions of learning. We must not let campus activists, woke faculty, and partisan administrators turn post-secondary education into DEI indoctrination camps. Denying speech undermines the very fabric of the Nation and is against everything our Founders intended.

Mr. Speaker, I am glad this legislation includes my Students Bill of Rights Act of 2024, which aims to address the erosion of First Amendment rights faced by students, and provides protections for academic freedom and expression.

Our students should never feel afraid to express their point of view or fear retribution or negative consequences for their future.

This woke mind virus doesn't stop there, which brings me to H.R. 5339, the Protecting American Investments from Woke Policies Act. It protects the retirement savings of workers, retirees, and their families by rolling back woke ESG requirements that have nothing to do with the bottom line.

The bill ensures that financial institutions are focused on maximizing returns in retirement plans rather than advancing the Biden- Harris administration's radical agenda at the expense of American workers. Forcing often underperforming and relatively high-risk investments on our seniors is not what they are asking us to do in this Chamber.

In this spirit, I am glad the bill includes one of my pieces of legislation, the Retirement Proxy Protection Act. The bill ensures that fiduciaries prioritize economic interests of plan beneficiaries when voting on shareholder proposals.

Finally, the rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 4790, a comprehensive bill package targeting unelected bureaucrats.

Time and time again, this administration has prioritized, again, an ESG agenda and initiatives that are against the well-being of workers and American businesses.

Democrat-appointed bureaucrats are attempting to use regulation to create climate and social policy in our financial markets, ultimately raising costs and limiting growth.

This legislation aims to stop unnecessary political reporting requirements for companies, make Federal regulators more transparent, and reduce the SEC's power over shareholders.

I am proud that another one of my bills, the No Expensive, Stifling Governance Act, or No ESG Act, is included as part of this package.

I will also touch on a bill brought forward by the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota), my friend, H.R. 5717, the No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act.

I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bill. Despite the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 clearly stating that no restrictions can be placed on communication between local or State authorities and Federal immigration officials about someone's immigration status, many cities still choose not to comply.

We have known for years that sanctuary cities create incredible challenges for Federal law enforcement, and in doing so, public safety is endangered.

Let's take Aurora, Colorado, for example. They are experiencing unprecedented gang violence due to a neighboring sanctuary city.

We also know that the Biden-Harris administration has been a master class in how to not handle border security. This administration has totally failed, alongside the sanctuary cities, in enforcing our immigration laws because the crime that finds a home in a sanctuary city spreads to other jurisdictions.

If sanctuary cities choose to operate this way and endanger their own communities, neighboring communities, and, ultimately, the entire Nation, then they must be forced to balance their irresponsible choices with the loss of other Federal support. It is pretty simple: If you fail to comply with the law, you should not expect support.

Our constituents understand and also demand that their tax dollars not support sanctuary cities that actively undermine their public safety and our immigration law.

The rule also provides for consideration of H.J. Res. 136 to push back on EPA overregulation, H.R. 5179 to end anti-Israel boycotts, and H.R. 7909, the Violence Against Women Act, which would crack down on crime caused by the Biden-Harris administration's open-border policies.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to consideration of these important bills, and I urge the passage of this rule.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), my colleague and the chair of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I note that what my colleague, the ranking member, does not note is that this House has passed under Republican leadership more than 300 bills out of the House of Representatives with 92 percent bipartisan support. Many of these bills go to the Democrat- controlled Senate where they die.

The ranking member also likes to criticize this majority when he knows full well just last Congress when he was chair, the Rules Committee was no bastion of an open process.

For the record, here are some statistics that might help paint a better picture and provide context for the cherry-picked numbers the Member rattled off.

It is true there have been more closed rules, but this majority has reported nearly twice the amount of bills in the last Congress. Considered as a percentage, this majority has reported fewer closed rules than when he had the gavel.

Even more, over a third of the closed rules were because no amendments

were offered, making the rule closed by definition.

Not considering those closed rules brings us still at roughly the same rate as a percentage of closed rules from the last Congress but with significantly more bills offered.

I also remind this body that the previous Congress saw the use and abuse of partisan en bloc amendment votes, which created omnibus-style amendments designed to defeat Republican, or tough amendments, and had the practical effect of stifling the Republican minority.

Even with this procedural atrocity, the ranking member still can't claim a higher ground on making minority amendments in order.

We also needed to keep up with the onslaught of regulations from the Biden-Harris administration that they have unleashed on the American people from unelected bureaucrats.

We have considered numerous disapproval resolutions, which traditionally are carried closed because of how they are written. The ranking member carried on this tradition when he had the gavel.

While the ranking member wants to talk about how we are stifling Democrat amendments, this majority has actually made more minority amendments in order as a percentage than the previous Congress when he was calling the shots.

While the ranking member shakes his finger at the majority for the way this Congress has gone, I point out that he understands the unique difficulties and the tough decisions the Rules Committee is tasked with in moving the majority's agenda.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to my colleague from South Carolina (Mr. Norman).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Fischbach).

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

The other side of the aisle won't even deport violent criminals. That is against the very safety of American citizens. In New York City, under Bill de Blasio, they passed a series of sanctuary city policies between 2014 and 2018 that prohibit the New York Police Department and correction and probation departments from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents except under very limited circumstances.

However, now, more than 100,000 migrants have passed through New York City since the spring of 2022, and 58,000 still remain in the city's care. Current Mayor Eric Adams and the Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, have said: ``We don't have capacity.''

For years, ICE has warned that sanctuary cities create a public safety threat, and they are one of the biggest impediments to public safety efforts. However, under the Biden and Harris administration, the crisis at the southern border has only worsened the consequences of sanctuary policies and made enforcing current immigration laws even more difficult.

H.R. 5717, despite mischaracterizations from my friends on the other side of the aisle, creates an incentive for local jurisdictions to cooperate with Federal immigration officials by prohibiting Federal funds from being used to provide sanctuary for illegal aliens going to sanctuary jurisdictions. Under current law, it creates a perverse incentive for sanctuary cities to willingly flout the law.

H.R. 5717 holds sanctuary cities accountable for exacerbating the Biden-Harris border crisis and flouting Federal immigration law by prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars to fund housing, healthcare costs, and other benefits for illegal immigrants in such municipalities.

Taxpayers who are at risk due to the border crisis should not be funding local governments not interested in upholding the rule of law. No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities corrects these perverse incentives and ensures that taxpayers are not on the hook for this lawlessness.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire if the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) is prepared to close.

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

Despite what my colleagues on the left have to say, the American people know that the Biden-Harris administration has been a relentless, woke assault on the American economy, the education system, and even Americans' retirement accounts.

The American people know the Biden-Harris administration has resulted in crippling inflation, a wide-open border, decreasing public safety, and increasing drug overdose deaths.

With the bills before us today, we continue to deliver for the American people. House Republicans are fighting at every turn to secure our borders, restore our economy, and protect free speech and free markets.

The Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act and the No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act are commonsense bills that would immediately make our communities safer, something the Biden-Harris administration has repeatedly failed to do. I would hope that our colleagues on both sides of the aisle would support these important bills.

I look forward to moving these bills out of the House this week, and I ask my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on the previous question and ``yes'' on the rule.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for yielding the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, over the past month, House Republicans have plunged this Chamber into chaos. Whether it is the extremists who refuse to honor the bipartisan budget deal negotiated with the White House and voted into law by bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress, and then sought to shut down the government with their outrageous demands, or whether it is House leadership who seem unable to prevent this destructive behavior or perhaps to leave this Chamber at all.

As I and my Democratic colleagues push back against the majority's cruel, extreme, and unworkable agenda, Members on the other side of the aisle have been consumed with infighting and trying to distract from the fact that their refusal to work in a collaborative or bipartisan manner either with the Senate, Democrats, or even within their own party, has resulted in their failing to perform Congress' most basic job of funding the Federal Government.

Just this past weekend, they brought us within hours of a devastating government shutdown. As the funding deadline approached, my office was fielding calls from terrified constituents; people feeling that come the end of month, their paychecks would no longer arrive and that critical government services which they rely upon would be interrupted.

Parents wondered whether they would be able to make ends meet, whether they would be able to pay the childcare bills that allowed them to go to work and keep food on the table for themselves and their children. Seniors worried about heat assistance as temperatures drop. That is why Democrats stepped in to keep the government up and running without the outrageous rightwing demands coming from the most extreme and exotic fringes of the House Republican majority.

Now, we have 6 weeks before another funding deadline, and we have a lot of work to do. The American people don't deserve this continued uncertainty.

After the majority's reckless approach to government funding failed, time and time again, on the House floor, we still only have 4 of the 12 appropriations bills passed through the House; 2 haven't even been marked up, another one has failed, and more may go down this week.

One would think they would be willing to change tactics because after all, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

You would think they would be willing to come to the table, honor the agreements, pass the spending bills

that the American people should expect and certainly deserve, but apparently not. Instead, we see them doubling down on the strategy of jamming through unrealistic spending proposals that would devastate children, families, seniors, and veterans all across this country.

That includes the two hyper-partisan bills they have brought to the House floor today; bills that continue to break the pattern of the bipartisan funding agreement that Congress approved last spring and that both parties in the Senate have been willing to honor.

These bills slash vital services and include rightwing culture war provisions; bills that are so extreme that the House Republicans may not be able to pass them here, the Senate won't agree to, and the President certainly won't sign.

The first of these is H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development funding bill. With this legislation, we should be ensuring that the U.S. is able to meet the challenges of today's and tomorrow's world.

Unfortunately, the bill in front of us doesn't do that. It is full of harmful rescissions, repeals, and funding cuts. It attempts to impede the progress we have made by increasing America's energy costs, jeopardizing our energy security and hurting U.S. global competitiveness.

It claws back important funding that supports programs to combat flooding, improve wildlife habitat, and reduce pollution in our drinking water. That includes millions in funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Let me zoom in on that for a minute and talk about all the important work that the Army Corps does in my district alone.

It is responsible for the regular maintenance of two major rivers running through and alongside Pennsylvania's Fifth district: the Schuylkill and the Delaware. That maintenance includes tasks like dredging, debris removal, and maintaining river embankments.

This river work is critical to our region's environmental, public, and even economic health because it means boats can use our waterways without interruption, and larger vessels can sail into and trade at the port of Philadelphia.

The broader budget cuts included in this bill undermine the importance and viability of all of these programs and means that additional measures to improve the health of our communities, both in my district and others, will go undone.

Critically, this bill also fails to meaningfully confront the climate crisis. In southeastern Pennsylvania, we have already started to feel the effects of climate change, more intense and frequent storms have resulted in unprecedented, devastating flooding across our region.

For example, the Eastwick neighborhood of Philadelphia, which sits adjacent to a flood-prone marsh, has experienced increasingly dramatic floods in recent years. About 3 years ago, Tropical Storm Isaias damaged more than 300 homes in this low-lying area. We have seen tornados and flooding in the Brandywine River region in Norristown and elsewhere.

It is important for everyone here to realize that none of our districts are immune from the impacts of the climate crisis. Flooding, hurricanes, rising sea levels, wildfires, and other climate disasters, they affect us all.

My Republican colleagues' denial of this fact would only leave us extremely unprepared and will prevent us from doing anything proactively to address these growing threats and help our communities be more resilient.

Ultimately, it is our constituents and future generations of Americans who will suffer the consequences of these kind of policy failures.

Additionally, just as families have started taking advantage of provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that reduce their home energy costs, this bill would increase energy bills for hardworking Americans.

For all my Republican colleagues' talk, it is clear that Democrats are the only ones here willing to take action to keep costs down for American families, because with this bill, the majority is trying to undo the work that we did with the Inflation Reduction Act. They want to slash funding for programs that help people to weatherize their homes, purchase efficient appliances, and be able to afford to heat their homes.

These programs have the potential to save Americans thousands of dollars a year. For the past several months, I have been holding meetings across my district to talk to constituents about these measures and help them access and improve their lives and their budgets. Now House Republicans want to take this away.

This bill also blocks funding for initiatives that direct investments to our underserved communities most overburdened by pollution. My region has long struggled with dangerous air quality and its negative health impacts leading to high rates of cancer and some of the highest rates of childhood asthma in our Nation.

Federal investment is needed to ensure that kids in my district and across the country can grow up healthy and have bright futures. In kneecapping this important work, it seems that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are more concerned with catering to polluters than the health of our children, and I find that incredibly disappointing.

We are also considering today H.R. 4364, the legislative branch funding bill.

Unfortunately, this legislation undermines the important work of this institution and threatens Congress' ability to move into the future and serve its constituents and America today rather than in the 19th century or so.

I served on the bipartisan Select Committee on Modernization of Congress for 2 years. Since then, I have followed its subsequent work to produce recommendations on how to make Congress work better for the American people.

Ultimately, that committee passed over 200 bipartisan recommendations, including recommendations related to diversity and inclusion among our staff here in Congress. Leading businesses around the globe have embraced diversity and inclusion because they know that a diverse workforce is more effective.

Despite the successes we have seen in other sectors, it seems my Republican colleagues here in the House want to go backwards.

Troublingly, they want to eliminate the Office of Diversity and Inclusion here on Capitol Hill. A well-functioning legislative branch is critical our democracy, and I know our democracy is strongest when Members of Congress and their staff look like the America we are here to represent.

We should all want to serve our constituents in the best way we possibly can, and we can only do that if we give our institution the tools and the staff to achieve progress with the times and truly represent our modern Nation.

Unfortunately, this bill would undermine that goal.

Even after flirting with a disastrous shutdown, my Republican colleagues are still trying to force through spending bills written in back rooms with no bipartisan agreement and riddled with culture war poison pills and devastating cuts. They do so knowing that these bills are so extreme that their passage is imperiled here in the House, and it is a fiction if they think it is going through the Senate or that it will be signed into law by the President.

This continued dysfunction only hurts America and throws our country into chaos.

The bottom line is that the House needs to do better than this. The American people deserve better than this.

Madam Speaker, I strongly oppose both of these bills, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Rules.

Madam Speaker, I wish that our colleagues across the aisle were as concerned about the fact that this bill would increase our dependence on Russian oil, Russian oil that is being used to fund their illegal, inhumane war against the Ukrainian people.

Madam Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of a resolution which clearly states that it is the people's House's duty to keep our promise to American workers and seniors to protect and preserve Social Security and Medicare and fight against any cuts to these vital programs.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove) to discuss our proposal.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, funding the Federal Government is not a game. The American people who elect us to Congress depend on us to solve real problems. They don't send us here to play politics with their lives and our country's future.

The incompetence, extremism, and infighting we have seen on display from our Republican colleagues is not serious governance. It is dangerous. It is destructive behavior, and it makes it wholly clear that there are Members of this body who care more about making headlines than the job they were sent here to do.

Madam Speaker, our budgets reflect our priorities. Democrats are here to put people over politics, and these bills make it clear that my Republican colleagues are prioritizing scoring political points over working for American families or strengthening this body and our democracy or protecting our planet.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose the previous question and the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 756 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), 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 have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of the underlying legislation.

House Resolution 756 provides for consideration of H.R. 4394, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024, under a structured rule, with 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees and provides one motion to recommit.

The rule makes in order 60 amendments. Further, the rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4364, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2024, under a closed rule, with 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees and provides for one motion to recommit.

Madam Speaker, since President Biden took office, gas prices are up 60 percent; natural gas prices are up 25 percent; coal prices are up 70 percent; and electricity prices are up 24 percent.

This should raise alarms on the other side of the aisle. I don't mean pulling fire alarms. This should get the attention of the other side.

H.R. 4364 restores American energy dominance. It invests in our national security and delivers fiscal responsibility for the American taxpayer.

As a Navy veteran, I am proud to support H.R. 4394, which provides $32.51 billion in Defense spending. That is an increase of more than $1 billion over FY23 enacted levels.

This legislation continues efforts to modernize the Nation's nuclear weapon stockpile, supports Columbia-class submarine reactor development and helps counter our adversaries.

Additionally, H.R. 4394 prioritizes energy security and economic competitiveness by investing $200 million in critical mineral production and supporting domestic uranium enrichment capabilities.

Finally, this legislation rescinds $5.58 billion of absolutely reckless spending that was wasted by the previous majority. It terminates Biden's waters of the United States rule and it cuts the dangerous, radical, and extreme Green New Deal programs.

Madam Speaker, additionally, H.R. 4364 ensures that Members of Congress can address the needs of their constituents while prioritizing deficit reduction.

H.R. 4364 reduces spending by 4.5 percent, provides Capitol police officers with an increase of $46 million over last year, and protects House networks by banning the purchase of telecommunications equipment made in China.

As we work to pass single-subject appropriations bills, I am proud to support the underlying legislation which upholds the House Republicans' commitment to the American people.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I have to share a story about Secretary Granholm because you just can't make up this stuff. NPR reported this story, which makes it even more rich.

Secretary Granholm took a 4-day EV propaganda road trip on the taxpayers' dime that turned into an absolute nightmare for the Secretary. At a stop in Georgia, there was only one available EV charging station for the Secretary's motorcade. What did she do? Well, they had the Department of Energy advance team--who were traveling in gas-powered vehicles, I might

add--they had that advance team go in and reserve a spot while others waited in long lines, battling the summer heat.

Rightfully, a family that was traveling with a baby actually called the police on Secretary Granholm and her advance team.

Earlier this year, Granholm stated, ``We can all learn from what China is doing,'' regarding climate policies. Let's just talk about what China is doing because that is about as laughable as the story about her failed propaganda trip.

China emits 30 percent of the world's global emissions. They emit more than the developed world combined. They emit more than the United States, the EU, and Japan combined. By far, they are the largest polluter in the world.

My friends across the aisle will say nothing to criticize China, by the way.

China's coal-fired power plants generate more than 23 percent of all forms of U.S. energy combined, and they are allowed to increase their emissions through 2030 under the laughable Paris climate accord. We could all laugh at this if it wasn't for the devastating effects that Democrats' climate policy has on the working class in America and for our competitive edge on our number one adversary on the world stage, and that is China.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Let me be clear about something. You can't be anti-China and pro-EV. You can't be anti-China and pro-Green New Deal. These things are completely incompatible.

Let me explain. Throughout the Biden Presidency, his administration has been dead set on advancing the foolish, reckless, and extreme Green New Deal agenda. This path forward has propped up our adversaries such as China, which we now rely on for critical minerals to build the expensive EVs that liberals like to parade around in in their affluent suburban neighborhoods. Biden's officials openly acknowledge that fact.

During an Appropriations subcommittee hearing earlier this year, the Interior Secretary admitted that the Biden administration's Green New Deal policies actually make our Nation more reliant on China. She admitted it at the hearing.

Do you know what? She is right.

China accounts for 63 percent of the world's rare earth mining, 85 percent of rare earth processing, and 92 percent of rare earth magnet production. This plays a massive role in producing 70 percent of the global EV battery supply.

While Democrats cheer on these foreign green efforts, China is busy emitting more greenhouse gas than the U.S. and all other developed nations combined.

It has never been more clear. When President Biden and Democrats push for their green agenda, what they are really doing is empowering the Chinese Communist Party, and they are doing it at the expense of the American worker.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

It is quite the intellectual yoga exercise to somehow say that Republicans are encouraging Russian gas. It is the exact opposite.

Let's think about it. Do you know why there are Russian oil tankers in the harbor in Boston? It is because far-left radical activists, namely the entire Democratic Party, have decided to cancel a pipeline that should have been running from Philadelphia into New England called the Constitution Pipeline that would have brought clean natural gas from Pennsylvania into New England so the residents there have cheap, abundant natural gas and are not forced to buy dirty petroleum from Russian.

Again, the intellectual gymnastics and yoga are quite amazing.

Let's talk about some other far-left, radical policies of my friends across the aisle and how it has made us more dependent on Russia and more dependent on China.

For one, they have a new list of regulations on coal-fired power plants, making it harder for us to burn our clean coal here in the United States and forcing coal producers to ship coal to places like China, where they don't use scrubbers, by the way. Liberals across the aisle ended the Keystone XL pipeline, coincidentally killing tens of thousands of union jobs that they purport to support. They also canceled Federal oil and gas leasing on Federal land.

I ask you, which policies make us more dependent on Russia, ours or the radical left's?

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy), my good friend and fellow member of the Rules Committee.

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

Talking more about the Democratic fascination with helping China, let's go back to 2022. In 2022, gas prices hit an all-time record high. Instead of reversing the failed policies of the Biden administration that actually led to gas prices increasing at that rate, instead of doing that, Biden sold 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to temporarily lower gas prices in a cheap political gimmick.

What did this do? This drained our emergency energy supply to its lowest level since the 1980s, the lowest level since I was born.

Who benefited the most from this? Well, it wasn't the American worker. It was China. According to the Department of Energy, China's state refining company bought 2 million barrels of Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil in 2022.

Instead of powering China's economy, House Republicans are passing legislation this week that actually lowers energy costs, that ends radical Green New Deal programs, and restores our energy independence.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, it is clear, President Biden's energy policies benefit our foreign adversaries, not the American worker.

The Biden administration has made our vehicle market heavily dependent on communist China. The administration has also cut deals with Iran. I might remind everybody that Iran is a state sponsor of terror. In fact, the Biden administration released $6 billion in oil revenue that will fund terrorist operations against the United States and our number one ally in the Middle East, Israel.

Recently, the President drained our strategic oil reserve to the lowest levels. To what end? To fuel China's economy.

Earlier this year, FERC Commissioner Mark Christie predicted in a Senate hearing that our energy grid is: ``. . . heading for a very catastrophic situation. . . . ''

Why is this? It is because of the far left's rush to foolish green policies. This is the wrong path to go down.

This is why I am proud to support the underlying legislation which restores the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. It also helps our national security mission, increases funding for our ports and inland waterways, like the locks and dams that run through my district, and it invests in our Nation's security.

After the previous majority spent $3 trillion outside of the appropriations process, this legislation actually reins in billions of dollars to reduce our out-of-control national debt.

Under House Republicans, we have passed legislation to lower energy costs for the American family, reformed our permitting process, allowed the Mountain Valley pipeline to finish construction, and preserved vehicle choice in the marketplace. This legislation before us keeps up that commitment to the American people.

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

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

Madam Speaker, just 3 days ago, Democrats voted to keep our government open. We told America how Republicans were slashing vital programs in their extreme appropriations bills.

We voted down the Republican plan to drastically cut programs that keep our babies, children, and their mothers from going hungry, cut public school funding, cut agricultural investments, and cut support for small businesses. That is what the Republicans wanted to do.

The American people heard our warnings, and their voices rang through Congress. Finally, we had a clean continuing resolution without those cuts on the House floor.

With support from the American people, Democrats led the way in keeping our government open. It is a continuation of our work from last Congress where Democrats passed laws to make investments in our future energy independence and in our vision for rural development that has been lacking for decades.

In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord says: My plan is not for you to suffer, but for you to prosper, have hope and a future.

Democrats showed that we are ready and willing to make that prosperity plan a reality for Americans and especially for rural America.

For too long in rural America and in rural New Mexico, our families have been leaving the farms and ranches that give us our identity, our ``herencia y cultura,'' ``heritage and culture,'' and importantly, that give us the food we eat.

Last year, Democrats passed bill after bill to change this trend. We want to invest in rural America.

Through the Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act, we can build the next generation of innovation in places like rural New Mexico. I am looking forward to an enchanted innovation hub in New Mexico.

Now that Republicans are in charge, they want to gut those bills, making rural families pay more and get less.

The Republican energy bill we are considering today wants to gut rural projects, like the SunZia line in Corona, New Mexico, which just installed the largest wind farm in the country. I call it the Route 66 of renewable energy. These wind farms are generating revenues for multiple local ranchers.

Let me tell you something. Many ranchers in the country don't make a profit. The USDA reported in 2020 that ranchers didn't generate enough profit to cover their own living expenses and debt obligations for 9 out of 10 years.

The Democrat prosperity plan changes that equation and allows ranchers to earn revenue from clean energy and from food production.

What is more, a wind farm in a rural county like Lincoln, New Mexico, will provide $1.3 billion in taxes in 30 years. Lincoln County has never seen such revenue before and can use it to invest in rural healthcare and behavioral health.

Rather than build on the transformational investments that Democrats made to support our rural communities, what are the Republicans doing? They are gutting our progress. They want to look backward.

Indeed, all the appropriations bills that the Republicans are putting forth hurt American competitiveness, they hurt rural areas, and they hurt families who need to save money.

Rather than incentivizing the programs that our children will need to save this planet and outcompete China, Republicans are taking us backward.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for a future where the Democratic prosperity plan can become a reality.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this rule.