Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, January 14 marks the first time in 6 months that families will not receive an expanded child tax credit payment, a program to support children and families that Congress passed last spring with the American Rescue Plan.

For the last 6 months, working and low-income families have had the relief of knowing that every month they would receive $250 per child, and $300 for kids under six.

These payments have been a lifeline for families, helping them put food on the table and provide for children as the pandemic rages. As a result, child poverty and hunger then dropped in this country by almost half.

More than 76,000 families in my district received these monthly payments, and they are worried about what will happen now that the payments have ended. Just last weekend, two constituents, a dad and a grandmother, approached me to say how important the CTC program had been.

We cannot go backwards. The Senate must move quickly to pass the Build Back Better Act and extend the child tax credit. America's children are counting on us.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to help bring this bill to the floor and to push for its consideration in the Senate.

Pennsylvania--and Philadelphia, which I represent--is the birthplace of our democratic Republic, but it is now ground zero in the battle for the soul of our Nation.

A decade ago, when the last redistricting occurred, the Pennsylvania legislature launched an attack on election rights, which has only escalated over the years. Voters have had to battle in court to get fair districts and to overturn discriminatory voter ID laws that threaten to disenfranchise more than half a million eligible Pennsylvania voters. And in the last 2 years we have seen these threats multiply as the former President and his far-right allies have tried over and over again to make it harder to vote and to throw out the legal votes of Pennsylvania's eligible voters.

This bill is not a takeover of State elections, it is a response to attempts by State legislatures, like Pennsylvania's, to make it harder for Americans to express their most essential freedom--voting--by exercising our duty under Article I Section 4 of the Constitution to protect that right.

I urge all of my colleagues, no matter what party, to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, as chair of the Congressional Youth Mentoring Caucus, I rise to recognize National Mentoring Month, a time to celebrate the impact of mentoring and raise awareness about the critical need for caring adults to become mentors, as our youth face the often-overwhelming challenges of our time.

One-third of young people in the United States don't have a meaningful connection with adults outside their homes, and the pandemic has only made it harder for them to call on caring adults for support.

Mentoring has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my adult life, allowing me to participate in the personal and professional growth of scores of young people. I am fortunate to be able to continue that mentoring with some of the best and brightest young people in my district through our Congressional Youth Cabinet, where high school juniors and seniors in my district, on a monthly basis, explore the policy and government issues facing our community and our country.

I urge all adults to think about how they can serve their communities and the next generation by becoming a mentor, whether through sports, career exploration, school, or faith-based programs.

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the House Communications Standards Commission Summary of Final Decisions:

May 24, 2021. The House Communications Standards Commission

conducted Poll 117-1:

1. Based on the Complaint submitted to the Commission on

April 22, 2021, by Representative Earl L. ``Buddy'' Carter

against Representative Zoe Lofgren and Representative

Lofgren's Answer to the Complaint, submitted to the

Commission on May 6, 2021, this Commission was asked to

decide if a violation of the House of Representatives

Communications Standards Manual occurred. The vote was as

follows:

Ms. Scanlon, ``No.''

Mr. Sherman, ``No.''

Mr. Bowman, ``No.''

Mrs. Cammack, did not vote.

Mr. Latta, did not vote.

Mr. Steil, did not vote.

No violation was found.

Mr. Speaker, if the last few years have taught us anything, it is that we cannot take our democratic institutions for granted. And to protect them in the future, we must codify many of the rules of the road for good government which have been trampled in recent years by those more interested in personal power than the public good.

That is why I rise in support of the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which would limit future abuses of Presidential powers, strengthen our system of checks and balances, and protect against foreign interference in our elections.

I am proud to offer my amendment to this important piece of legislation which would increase the frequency with which the inspector general of the Department of Justice must report to Congress any improper communications between the Department of Justice and the White House.

We all should be concerned about the threat it poses to our country when the occupant of the White House, whether it is Nixon, whether it is Trump, or whether it is anyone else, when they treat the Department of Justice as their own personal law firm, using taxpayer dollars to advance personal or political ambitions, or to block the investigation of corruption.

We are learning more every day about the heroic public servants in the Department of Justice and elsewhere who raised their voices to push back against misconduct in the White House. My amendment would make it easier for these individuals to alert Congress to misconduct and allow us to better protect our democracy.

I urge my colleagues to do their patriotic duty to protect our Constitution, and to support both my amendment and the underlying bill.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 838 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), 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 be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, today, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 838, providing for consideration of H.R. 5314, the Protecting Our Democracy Act, under a structured rule. It provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. It self-executes a manager's amendment from Chairwoman Maloney and makes in order 34 amendments. It also provides en bloc authority to Chairwoman Maloney and one motion to recommit.

The rule also provides for consideration of S. 1605, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, under a closed rule. It provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services. It provides authority for the chair of the Armed Services Committee to insert into the Record explanatory materials through December 10 and provides for one motion to commit.

The rule also provides for consideration of S. 610, the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act, under a closed rule. It provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means and provides for one motion to commit.

Finally, the rule provides the majority leader the ability to en bloc requested roll call votes on certain suspension bills through December 9, 2021.

Mr. Speaker, ever since the founding of our great Nation, we have debated how to appropriately check and balance the various branches of our government with a primary concern, dating back to the 1700s, being how to prevent abuses of executive power and how to address such abuses when they occur.

In the 1970s, Congress passed a variety of reforms in response to abuses of the Nixon administration to address the imbalance between Congress and the President--laws like the War Powers Act, the Inspector General Act, the National Emergencies Act, and the Impoundment Control Act.

Now, just like then, Congress must pass additional reforms to protect against Presidential impunity and reset the dysfunctional relationship between the branches of government.

Many Americans did not realize that we didn't already have laws to prevent the kinds of abuses we saw during the Trump administration. They thought that our laws required the disclosure of tax returns by Presidential candidates and the avoidance of financial conflicts, particularly from foreign nations, and that our laws prevented the use of pardons to protect political allies from criminal liability.

In a country founded by men for whom public service to promote the common good was the highest calling, we have long expected our elected leaders to adhere to ethical standards that far exceed minimal legality, and for the most part, they have. People didn't realize that a wayward President might have a dangerously wide berth to avoid legal and ethical guardrails, subvert the other branches of government, and escape accountability for doing so.

They were surprised that the former President and his administration would offer pardons in return for political favors, illegally repurpose taxpayer dollars, violate the Hatch Act, or remove inspectors general when they investigated executive misconduct.

They were surprised that the former President would politically interfere in

Federal law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, order Federal agents to violently disperse peaceful protesters, or use his office to direct business to properties that he owned and profited from.

This is no way for a democracy to function. When a President, any President, abuses the power of their office, we all suffer, and our democracy is weakened. We often hear that the United States is a nation of laws, not men, but so long as those laws are enforced by men, we need a functional system of oversight and accountability to prevent lawlessness, graft, nepotism, crony dealings, and abuses of Presidential power.

The Protecting Our Democracy Act focuses on three major areas of reform: limiting abuses of Presidential power; improving accountability, transparency, and the system of checks and balances; and protecting against foreign interference in our Nation's elections.

Former President Trump and his administration made it abundantly clear that the functioning of our democratic institutions had become too dependent on the good behavior of good people and that our government was vulnerable to the dangers posed by people in positions of power who might value their own political or financial interests more than public service or the common good.

These are not esoteric concerns. Just last week at a townhall, several of my constituents asked sharp questions about the failure to hold anyone accountable--so far--for inciting the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the misuse of government funds intended for COVID relief, and the measures necessary to hold people in contempt when they defy congressional subpoenas.

While the Trump administration may have ended, our democratic institutions are still vulnerable to future Presidents who try to commit the same crimes, abuses of power, and other improper actions.

The Protecting Our Democracy Act is the culmination of years of work by dozens of bipartisan Members and nine congressional committees to institute reforms to protect our democracy and rebalance the relationship between Congress and the President.

For decades, Congress has ceded many administrative and oversight responsibilities to the executive branch. Congress is granted broad powers in Article I of the Constitution, but over time, many of these powers have been weakened or absorbed by the Presidency.

This has been a long and slow process with Presidents of both parties over the past 50 years taking advantage of the broken system of checks and balances to expand Presidential power. But it has become increasingly clear, particularly so over the last administration, that this problem has dangerous consequences.

To protect against abuses of Presidential power, the Protect Our Democracy Act prevents Presidents from pardoning themselves and updates Federal bribery laws to prevent quid pro quo pardons. The Protect Our Democracy Act suspends the statute of limitations so that Presidents cannot escape accountability for crimes committed before or during their terms in office. And this act would allow Congress to enforce the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, preventing future Presidents from accepting money or gifts from foreign governments or others who seek to influence Presidential actions.

To improve transparency and accountability, this act makes a series of necessary reforms to bolster the enforcement of congressional subpoenas. Presidents have increasingly used a variety of legal methods to stall or obstruct congressional investigations, and these issues came to a head during the Trump administration where the executive branch refused to turn over information to Congress for so long that the administration ended before Congress could obtain that information. Congress needs to be able to promptly and effectively conduct oversight in order to fulfill its constitutional role as a check and balance to a rogue administration.

The Protecting Our Democracy Act's reforms will give Congress important legal remedies to ensure that the recipients of congressional subpoenas actually comply with them in a timely manner. It will place important limits on presidentially declared emergencies so that Presidents cannot indefinitely maintain emergency powers.

The Protecting Our Democracy Act will additionally prevent the President from illegally diverting or spending taxpayer dollars. It will prevent Presidents from dismissing inspectors general when they conduct investigations that disclose misconduct by an administration.

Importantly, the Protecting Our Democracy Act will reinforce measures to prevent the White House from trying to interfere in Federal law enforcement for political reasons.

Lastly, the Protecting Our Democracy Act includes policies to protect our Federal elections from foreign interference. Since 2016, numerous foreign governments have gone to great lengths to interfere in our elections and manipulate American public opinion.

Building on the reforms passed by the House as part of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, the Protecting Our Democracy Act would require campaigns to affirmatively report any contact with a foreign government or its agents, expressly prohibit those contacts, and strengthen criminal penalties for knowing and willful violations of the prohibitions.

All in all, the reforms in the Protecting Our Democracy Act will establish essential guardrails to protect our democratic institutions from illegal and unethical behavior by a President or his or her administration. These reforms are long overdue, and I strongly encourage my colleagues to support this bill when it is considered on the floor.

However, I do want to note to my colleagues that while the Protecting Our Democracy Act can address many of the abuses of the recent administration, and prevent them in the future, ultimately, the responsibility for holding the executive accountable falls to Congress.

Under our Constitution, Congress plays an equal role in the functioning of our government. Through our powers to authorize and appropriate funds, conduct oversight, pass laws, structure government agencies, and grant executive authority, under Article I, the first article of the Constitution, Congress has the ability to limit Presidential power and punish Presidents who break the law, violate norms, or act in ways to undermine our constitutional order. And we all must have the courage to exercise that power.

So while it is true that Congress has ceded many of its Article I powers, the responsibility to get them back falls entirely on us. We cannot count on an executive, of any party, to relinquish powers that we have given away. Whether it is war powers, emergency powers, or the enforcement of subpoenas, ethical norms, and criminal penalties, it falls on Congress to pass legislation to resolve these issues.

Mr. Speaker, today's rule also provides for consideration of the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. I applaud the work of my House colleagues to consider and pass the NDAA in a timely fashion, and I regret that the Senate has once again held up congressional business.

This year's NDAA makes important and necessary improvements to our national security policies, ensuring that the United States is able to appropriately respond to ongoing and emerging threats.

The NDAA will provide the resources to combat aggression and malign activity by Russia and China; it will strengthen our security relations with important allies in Europe and Asia; and it will continue vital modernization and acquisition programs.

The NDAA includes important policies for my district, including funding for five Block II Chinook helicopters and nine more V-22 Ospreys, all of which are manufactured in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. The 4,500 men and women who build these incredible aircraft are immensely proud that their hard work directly supports our national security and disaster relief efforts around the world, and the fiscal year 2022 NDAA is an investment in these amazing workers.

The NDAA also includes funding for the fifth of five National Security Multi-Mission Vessels which are being built at the Philadelphia shipyard, the

birthplace of the United States Navy. These are training ships for our nation's maritime academies which are needed to train the next generation of mariners as we experience growing shortages to that workforce. This program has already created hundreds of jobs in my district and throughout our region, and it will create hundreds more as work continues.

These training vessels are critical to our national commerce, our national defense, and our regional economy. This Friday, I am looking forward to attending the keel laying ceremony for the first of these vessels at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

I want to highlight, as well, the important reforms that the NDAA finally makes to the way the military handles cases of sexual assault. Thanks to years of work by advocates and members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the NDAA will remove special victims crimes from the chain of command and create an Office of the Special Victim Prosecutor within each service that is independent from the military justice system.

These reforms will ensure that allegations of sexual assault get an independent investigation with experienced criminal justice attorneys, allowing our servicemembers to seek justice without the pressures and obfuscation that keep these crimes in the shadows. While I believe that a lot more can and should be done to address sexual assault in the Armed Forces, the FY 2022 NDAA makes much-needed progress.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, today's rule will provide a process for expedited consideration in the Senate of legislation to raise the Nation's debt limit. Congressional Republicans have held the country hostage for nearly 4 months, threatening to derail our economy, and the world's economy, as part of a fiscally irresponsible political stunt.

Again, it is incredibly irresponsible for Members of Congress to support fiscal policies that require the Treasury to borrow and then to prevent the Treasury from doing so. We must raise the debt limit, and we must be responsible stewards of the full faith and credit of the United States.

It has been said multiple times but bears repeating: Raising the debt limit is necessary to allow the Treasury to pay the bills our country has already incurred. It has nothing to do with the national debt. The United States cannot default on its bills without creating a global financial crisis and inflicting serious financial harm on our country and its inhabitants.

It is grossly irresponsible for any Member of this Congress to deliberately court financial disaster by nonpayment of our debts, and particularly to do so for partisan political purposes.

I look forward to legislative action in the future to permanently lift the debt limit and to permanently remove this political football from the Halls of Congress. I am glad that both Chambers of Congress have come to an agreement on the path forward to raising the debt limit for the present so that we can end the economic anxiety caused by this arbitrary and functionally useless budget provision.

In addition to the debt limit provision, the rule includes important budgetary provisions to protect funding from Medicare and other important Federal programs as our Nation continues our robust recovery from last year's recession, and to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the distinguished chair of the Committee on Rules.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), the distinguished chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Mr. Speaker, I would just remind our colleagues we are here today to talk about a rule to bring the Protecting Our Democracy Act to the floor. That is a bill that would prevent criminal behavior by Presidents, not by illegal aliens, so I would just kind of redirect the conversation there.

We are also here to engage in the extremely important business of passing the National Defense Authorization Act and to help the Senate, since they are having difficulty on their own, to raise the debt limit. That is what we are here to discuss.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would inquire how many speakers Mr. Cole has remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, As long as I have a few minutes left, I did just want to raise an amendment I have to the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which has been made in order. This amendment would effectuate the findings of the Senate Judiciary Committee report titled ``Subverting Justice: How the Former President and His Allies Pressured DOJ to Overturn the 2020 Election.''

That report made numerous recommendations, but one of them is directly related to the Protecting Our Democracy Act. It would increase the frequency with which reports are made of contact between the White House and the Department of Justice in order to make sure that protections occur against politicization of our law enforcement arm at the behest of bad actors in the White House.

I am very, very pleased that that amendment was made in order and, as always, very grateful to the Committee on Rules for its continuing efforts to make amendments in order, which it has been doing at a much higher rate this term than last.

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

Mr. Speaker, I completely agree that protecting Medicare from cuts is a bipartisan issue, and we are happy to engage on that. Unfortunately, if there is a complaint about how this bill is coming up at this time, that is something that was pushed by Republican leadership here in the House. That is not how our leadership proposed to do it.

If my colleagues want to have a serious conversation about the Nation's fiscal policies, we encourage them to do the work with us to pass a funding bill for the current fiscal year. We are now 2 months into this fiscal year, and we still don't have a funding bill because Senate Republicans are refusing to work with the rest of Congress to negotiate a bipartisan appropriations bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. The Protecting Our Democracy Act is a necessary package of policies to address abuses of our constitutional processes that have developed over time but accelerated under the most recent administration. It has become clear that our government will not survive solely on the good behavior of good people. We need statutory guardrails to ensure compliance with norms of good behavior.

The Protecting Our Democracy Act will impose reasonable and constitutionally sound limits on Presidential power and then create enforceable penalties for Presidents who abuse the powers of their office.

I am proud of my colleagues who contributed legislation to the final bill, especially Representative Adam Schiff, who spearheaded this important effort.

The Protecting Our Democracy Act is an important continuation of the House's work for the people to protect our democratic institutions at this critical moment in time. It builds off bills like H.R. 1, H.R. 4, and the Inspector General Independence and Empowerment Act to protect our elections and make good government reforms to ensure that our government works for everyone and that the rule of law applies to everyone.

As with many of these bills and others passed by the House, I strongly urge my Senate colleagues to join us and do some legislating. Our country is facing multiple problems, and we frankly cannot afford continued inaction from the Senate on voting rights, the NDAA, the debt limit, or any of the hundreds of bills passed by the House over the past year.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote for the rule today and to support the underlying legislation.

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

Madam Speaker, for decades Congress has based economic policy on trickle-down economics, eviscerating America's middle class in the process. But today, we reject that approach. The Build Back Better Act invests in American families, not hedge funds, in ways that will benefit all of us.

I would mention two investments of particular importance to my district in Pennsylvania: Children and veterans.

This bill builds upon the American Rescue Plan that we passed in March to expand benefits for families and support for childcare. In doing so, it will reduce child poverty more and produce generational benefits to our country. The bill also makes long, overdue investments in the aging infrastructure of our Veterans Administration; including upgrading medical facilities and finally digitizing service records that are required for veterans and their families to obtain the benefits our Nation has promised to them.

With this bill, we can create real, sustained economic growth that benefits all Americans, and I am proud to support it.

Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 795 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), who is the distinguished ranking member of the Rules Committee, 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, yesterday the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 795, providing for consideration of H. Res. 789, Censuring Representative Paul Gosar, under a closed rule. The rule self-executes a manager's amendment from Chairman Deutch and provides 1 hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ethics or their respective designees.

Madam Speaker, in any other Congress, the actions of Representative Paul Gosar might be easier to dismiss. After all, every single minute of every single day, 5,000 minutes of content are uploaded onto YouTube.

So my colleagues across the aisle or the public might ask, who cares about one YouTube video post by Representative Gosar? He is just one of many Americans posting his fantasies online, even if his involve a violent scene in which he attacks and murders people that he has labeled as enemies of the American people, a colleague in Congress, and the President of the United States.

But it is just an anime video, so it is not a big deal, right?

Actually, it is a big deal. And here is why: People listen to Paul Gosar. He is an elected official; and that gives him credibility, whether justified or not. So while there are indeed 5,000 minutes of content uploaded every single minute of every single day, Mr. Gosar's video got real attention, just as he intended.

American citizens stopped what they were doing to watch something that a Member of the U.S. Congress had fashioned. He posted it on his official Congressional social media, where he has hundreds of thousands of followers, and where the video was viewed over 3 million times.

And what he posted was violence; fantasized violence. A wish made in a very specific way.

As I said, in any other decade, or any other Congress, this public endorsement of violence by a Member of Congress might have been excused as a lapse in judgment, or even possibly a bad joke.

But this Congress knows what happens when members of the radical right get stirred up by their leaders.

Just a few months ago, this Congress had to hide in safe rooms under the protection of police and soldiers, or barricade ourselves in our offices because our place of work was overwhelmed by armed citizens who wanted to hang some of us.

This Congress has seen threats against Members of Congress more than double, forcing Members to pay for additional security for their homes, offices, and families; rethink how to engage with constituents; and even wear bulletproof vests to public events.

So when a Member of this Congress fantasizes in public about beheading another Member of Congress, it is not fantasy to think that there are Americans out there who will take such a video as a call to action.

A recent poll reported that 85 percent of Americans get their news from Facebook, while only 13 percent of Americans get their news from print. Are we really to believe that during this moment in time, that among that 85 percent, there are no Americans who will see this video and indulge in fantasies of their own?

Every single day Members of this body receive death threats. I have gotten them. We all have. Our staffs and families have to deal with abusive and violent phone calls, emails, letters, and social media posts. And these threats are particularly numerous and violent for Members who are women of color.

So every day we have to deal with the threat that somewhere out there is a radicalized American who has been taught to hate us, to regard us as evil, to fantasize, and even mobilize using that same social media, to eliminate us, taught by conspiracy theorists and far-right extremists; or by a fellow Member of Congress.

That is not imagination; that is fact.

In any other context, and especially in any other workplace, someone posting a video of himself killing a coworker would not be acceptable, and an employee who did that would almost certainly be fired.

In any other context, and especially in a school, a student using school resources to post a video of himself beheading a classmate and attacking a school official would not be acceptable, and that student would face disciplinary charges, if not criminal charges, and would likely be referred for a mental health evaluation.

But for the privileges traditionally afforded to Members of Congress, in any other context, someone posting a video of himself killing a Member of Congress and attacking the President of the United States would almost certainly be reported to the Secret Service and U.S. Capitol Police.

We must condemn this celebration of political violence because, in addition to upholding the honor and integrity of the U.S. Congress, every Member of this body deserves to come to work and feel safe. That is true for any worker in any part of this country.

It is unacceptable that our colleague would have to sit across from someone who has threatened her life in such a vivid way, and it is unacceptable for this body to let that action go unpunished.

This is the House of Representatives of the United States Congress. We are all elected to be the leaders of this great country, and with that role comes immense responsibilities. People look up to us, they take our lead.

So when a Member posts a video of himself killing his colleague, that is obviously going to have an impact on the way people approach their politics.

So we cannot dismiss Representative Gosar's violent fantasies as a joke because, in this decade, in this America, someone is going to take him seriously. He is a public figure and, as we vividly saw on January 6, the words and actions of public figures can readily act as a spark to the tinder of radical extremism. And God help us all when that happens.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I would have to agree with my learned colleague that these are unusual actions, but these are also unusual times. Every time we have seen a new low in conduct from our colleagues across the aisle, we get crickets or excuses from the Republican Party. Indeed, it took 9 days before the minority leader publicly spoke about this threat; and his silence spoke volumes, both to the American people and those who were paying attention to Mr. Gosar's post.

Instead, we have heard multiple reports that our colleagues are considering punishing their colleagues who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure package. I think that speaks volumes about where their priorities lie.

We will continue to see Members emboldened by the lack of accountability engaging in evermore outrageous conduct, placing both the integrity of Congress and the safety of its Members at risk.

While Mr. Gosar has since taken down his post, he has not apologized. In fact, he said publicly on TV that he does not apologize. He has doubled down on his decision to post the video saying, the cartoon exposes the threats to America. It doesn't make a threat to anyone.

I would have to disagree with his assessment.

As to the claim that there hasn't been enough of a process, that this should have gone to the Ethics Committee; I will remind my colleagues that we heard in the Rules Committee last night that the majority requested an emergency meeting of the Ethics Committee, which the minority denied.

And this isn't a case where there are facts to discover. The actions of Representative Gosar were not hidden for an investigatory body to discover. His misconduct was paid for and produced with public resources and posted on an official public Twitter account, where it got more than 3 million views before it was taken down.

There is no dispute about whether Representative Gosar posted the reprehensible video depicting the murder of one of his colleagues on his official channels. And the Republican Conference has had 2 weeks to decide to take action and hold him accountable. Instead, they are debating whether to punish their colleagues for voting for infrastructure for the American people.

So we have said that--it actually just strikes me as odd that our colleagues would argue that this forms a harmful precedent, and that the threat of violence or murder in the future might be cause to censure and strip members of their committees. If that is the case, then sign me up because I do think that is reprehensible and deserves censure.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, like the distinguished gentleman from Oklahoma, I, too, long for the times when the norms of civilized conduct in this House were observed. When, perhaps, our colleagues across the aisle can return to those norms, then motions and resolutions like the one we are considering today will not be necessary.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the distinguished chairman of the Rules Committee.

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close if the gentleman is prepared to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a November 9 Insider article entitled: ``GOP Lawmakers Want to Punish the 13 Republicans Who Voted for Biden's Infrastructure Bill By Kicking Them Off Congressional Committees, Report Says.''

[From the Insider, Nov. 9, 2021]

GOP Lawmakers Want To Punish the 13 Republicans Who Voted for Biden's

Infrastructure Bill by Kicking Them Off Congressional Committees,

Report Says

(By Tom Porter)

Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives are

expecting a bid to punish the 13 Republicans who voted for

President Joe Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill by

stripping them of committee assignments, according to a

report.

Punchbowl News reported that some Republican lawmakers were

determined to take action against the 13, several of whom are

ranking members or senior Republicans on House committees or

subcommittees.

The report did not detail what level of support the move

might have as of Tuesday morning.

Under House rules, a party's steering committee has the

power to recommend that a lawmaker be removed from committee

assignments, which is then subject to a vote by the caucus

and the full House.

It is a punishment that has historically been reserved for

lawmakers who have been accused of crimes, or been involved

with extremism.

The support of the 13 Republicans was ultimately vital for

the infrastructure bill passing into law last week, with six

Democrats voting against it amid a monthslong dispute in the

party over a connected bill that is being stalled in the

Senate. The infrastructure bill was passed by the Senate in a

bipartisan vote in June.

The move to take action against the 13 Republicans who

supported the infrastructure bill highlights the fury of some

GOP lawmakers against party colleagues for backing Biden's

legislation.

Several hard line loyalists to former President Donald

Trump on the far right of the GOP House caucus, including

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, have been

publicly critical of the 13 lawmakers. Trump himself has also

criticized them.

``Here are the `Republicans' that just voted to help Biden

screw America,'' Greene tweeted last week, branding them

``traitors, and sharing pictures and phone numbers of them.

In an Monday CNN interview, Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan--

one of the 13 Republicans who voted for the infrastructure

bill--played a threatening message he'd received after the

vote.

``I'll tell you it's a terrible way--we have seen civility

really downslide here. I'm concerned about my staff. They are

taking these calls,'' he said.

There has long been tensions in the GOP between centrists

and Trump loyalists. In May, Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from

her leadership role in the House GOP over her criticism of

Trump and his baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

Madam Speaker, as I indicated, there are some in the Republican Conference who want to kick 13 Republicans off their committees for voting for an infrastructure bill that will benefit their constituents, but when a Member of Congress publicly celebrates a video depicting the murder of a colleague, silence.

It is disgraceful that Congress is the one place in the United States where a video calling for the murder of a Member of Congress is not universally condemned, and it is a sad thing for this institution.

Madam Speaker, we are here to address the conduct of a Member of Congress who disseminated and celebrated a video that portrays him murdering another Member of Congress and attacking the President of the United States.

The evidence speaks for itself. There is nothing more to review. Nothing to investigate. No questions to answer or facts to find.

We have all seen the video. We have heard Mr. Gosar's response, and we have seen the lack of response from the Republican Party leadership to condemn Representative Gosar's celebration of violence to make clear that such actions are unacceptable, and that political violence is unacceptable in the United States of America.

In the absence of meaningful action by his own party, it is up to Members of the House of Representatives and the country as a whole to decide whether such actions deserve consequences.

Today, we ask ourselves, is this behavior acceptable to you? Is it acceptable to the American people? The way we vote today says a lot, not only about the integrity of the Members who are entrusted with the privilege of representing this great country, but also the direction in which we are headed.

I am grateful to the few Republican colleagues who have the integrity and the guts, quite frankly, to condemn Mr. Gosar's actions. But, once again, Republican leadership lacks the courage to properly manage the actions of their conference, and so Congress must act.

Rejecting political violence should not be a partisan effort. How far has the party of Lincoln fallen that it would excuse this conduct? We must say that political violence is not acceptable in the United States of America.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the rule and underlying resolution.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life and legacy of Emlen Tunnell, who was born in Bryn Mawr almost a century ago, and became a standout football player at Radnor High School.

Last month, the U.S. Coast Guard named a Sentinel-Class Cutter for Tunnell to recognize his accomplishments as an NFL pioneer and a hero in the U.S. Coast Guard. During World War II, Mr. Tunnell received the Silver Lifesaving Medal for rescuing one shipmate from a fire during a torpedo attack and another after he fell into frigid water off Newfoundland.

After the war, Tunnell became the first Black player for the New York Giants, as well as the first Black talent scout, and first Black assistant coach in the NFL. In 1967, Tunnell became the first Black man inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

When the cutter was commissioned last month, Tunnell was described as someone who didn't set out to be a trailblazer, just a great human being who wanted to make a difference in the world.

We are so proud to honor Emlen Tunnell today.

Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Cartwright for yielding, and I thank him for outlining some of the many benefits to climate in this bill because for my adult children and so many of the college students in my district, their number one issue is finally taking meaningful action to address climate change.

But these bills do so much more than that. After more than 50 years of failed trickle-down economics and unfulfilled promises to prioritize our Nation's infrastructure, the last administration decided to punt on infrastructure and double down on giveaways to the rich by passing yet another tax cut for the ultra-wealthy. What did that get us? Widening income inequality, a shrinking middle class, crumbling roads and bridges, and increased corporate welfare.

For too long, America's economic policy has revolved around support for the rich and powerful rather than working people. With President Biden, we are ready to change that.

I am proud to be part of a Congress that is prioritizing the American people.

In partnership with the Biden administration, Democrats in Congress have set out to offer the greatest potential for American families and American small businesses to achieve prosperity and the American Dream in half a century. We need both the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Build Back Better Act to meet that potential and deliver a fairer, more balanced economy that works for all Americans.

After too many infrastructure weeks to count, Congress will soon deliver an infrastructure bill to the President's desk that creates economic opportunity for all Americans in the 21st century and beyond.

My district, Pennsylvania's Fifth, is home to Philadelphia's airport, port, and rail yard; miles and miles of interstate highways and passenger rail lines; and regional commuter and light-rail lines that link Philadelphia and its suburbs. Our infrastructure is aging, heavily used, and, in many cases, beyond its usable lifespan. Anyone who has been stuck in traffic or a pothole on the Schuylkill Expressway, the Blue Route, or I-95 knows how important an infrastructure bill is to our region.

State and local governments in Pennsylvania and across the country simply don't have enough money to meet basic maintenance needs, much less to invest in modernization, expansion, or other improvements to our national infrastructure. That is precisely why the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is so critical for my district and our national economy.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will fix our ailing roads and bridges and fund improvements to other critical infrastructure at our port and airport. These upgrades are essential to maintain our region's position as a logistics hub on the East Coast and to ensure America's competitiveness in a global economy.

America can't engage in international trade if it can't get goods in and out of the country or across the country due to crumbling infrastructure and related backlogs in processing.

The COVID pandemic brought into sharp focus how essential the internet is for Americans to work or find employment, to participate in remote learning, to access healthcare, to stay connected with friends and family, and to carry out any number of basic activities in the 21st century. Yet, millions of Americans live in areas where there is no broadband infrastructure, or they can't afford it.

Our infrastructure bill will expand broadband access for millions of Americans, including many of my constituents. In addition to investing in broadband infrastructure, the bill will also lower prices for internet service and create a permanent program to help more low-income households access the internet.

Much like the Federal Government's efforts to provide electricity to every American nearly a 100 years ago, this effort will be transformative. It will drastically improve the ability for all Americans, no matter where they live or their income level, to access services and opportunities that are essential to modern life.

Another aspect of the infrastructure bill that is important for my district is the funding it provides for climate resiliency, particularly flooding. Communities like Eastwick, and economic engines like the Philadelphia airport, are especially vulnerable to climate change. We have seen the damage done by flooding, hurricanes, and even--astonishingly, in southeastern Pennsylvania--tornadoes.

Sadly, these extreme weather events are only getting worse. Funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will make our communities safer and our infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

But fixing our Nation's physical infrastructure can only take us so far. The bipartisan infrastructure bill creates jobs that will provide new opportunities and reduce costs for many Americans, but it won't change the calculus for the working mom or dad who can't find adequate childcare for their kid. It won't improve our schools or prepare for the future, and it won't reduce the spiraling cost of prescription drugs.

All of these factors are holding back families from fully participating in our economy, and in turn, preventing them from buying homes and building wealth for retirement. Without addressing the failings of our ``human infrastructure,'' a majority of Americans-- particularly women and people of color--will continue to be held back. That is why we need universal pre-K, better access to affordable childcare, a dependable system of care for our seniors, and investments in higher education and workforce training.

The Build Back Better Act will lower the cost of things that keep families up at night, while also delivering a massive tax cut for the middle class through the expanded child tax credit and the earned income tax credit--giving the middle class more breathing room. That is what my constituents need.

Already this year, through the American Rescue Plan that we passed in March, we have seen the child tax credit benefit 126,000 children in my district alone. That is 76,000 families who got extra help for essentials like childcare, food, and diapers--much less paying for school clothes, extracurricular sports, or putting something aside for college.

By making the most significant investment in children and caregiving in generations, we are helping individual families and the country as a whole. Because people--particularly women--can get back to work when they know that their family members are cared for. And ensuring access to quality daycare and preschool sets children up for success, making them more likely to graduate, pursue higher education, hold jobs, pay taxes, and have higher earnings.

In addition to increasing the maximum for Pell grant awards, the Build Back Better Act expands opportunities for Americans to participate in job training programs that prepare them for careers in fast-growing sectors. This bill is going to help the working people in PA-05 and across the country.

It will help families like the one I met in Media--a mom who was beaming about her son's good-paying, new job at the Philadelphia shipyard, which he got after completing the Maritime Career Development Program at Delaware County Community College. It will help low-income workers in my district who work two or more jobs every day but still can't make ends meet.

It will help families that struggle to pay for the prescription drugs that keep them alive without forcing them to choose between forgoing medication or housing or heat or food. And the best part, the Build Back Better bill is paid for by making those at the top pay their fair share for a change.

Madam Speaker, 17 Noble Prize-winning economists recently wrote in support of this legislation, ``Because this agenda invests in long-term economic capacity and will enhance the ability of more Americans to participate productively in the economy, it will ease longer-term inflationary pressures.''

We have the chance to set a new path that creates real, sustained economic growth and benefits everyone, not just multimillionaires and real estate developers. It is time to get this done for the American people.

Madam Speaker, I have heard of other States that have that problem. I heard Kentucky has a bridge that is out right now that is desperately in need of repair.

Madam Speaker, for millions of Americans, a minor or decades-old criminal record can pose an insurmountable barrier to full employment, housing, and education. All too often, individuals in this situation are unable to get a fresh start because having eligible records sealed or expunged is so burdensome or expensive.

Bureaucratic delays and high legal fees perpetuate the cycle of poverty and make it more difficult for people to transition back into society successfully after being incarcerated.

That is why I was proud to join Representative David Trone and a bipartisan group of our colleagues from the House and the Senate to introduce legislation last week to help these Americans get the second chances they deserve.

The Fresh Start Act of 2021 provides Federal grants for States with record sealing or expungement procedures to help improve their automated record infrastructure.

As we rebound from a once-in-a-century pandemic and in the name of fairness and equity, we need to eliminate barriers to employment and champion opportunities for our communities to recover and thrive.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and the underlying resolution.

Mr. Speaker, there are moments in our country's history when we are presented with stark choices, choices between right and wrong. And the violence of January 6 has made it clear that we are at such a moment. January 6 was a shocking assault on our government.

On the orders of the former President, thousands of rioters destroyed public property, gravely injured police officers, terrorized lawmakers, and invaded the Capitol to halt the certification of the electoral college required by the Constitution. That day cannot be minimized or swept under the carpet because the forces that inspired that attack are still stoking the fires of chaos and conspiracy.

Congress has tasked a bipartisan select committee with investigating the January 6 attack, and that committee has outlined why it needs Steve Bannon's testimony to fully understand the events leading up to that attack.

However, when subpoenaed to testify, Mr. Bannon told the select committee to pound sand. Mr. Bannon is a private citizen; he is not above the law and cannot refuse to obey a subpoena any more than you or I or any American can. Neither Mr. Bannon nor the former President has made any credible legal arguments to shield his testimony.

Patriotism demands that anyone with knowledge of that dark day come forward, and the rule of law and our Constitution demand that everyone in this Congress support this investigation.

I am incredibly disappointed that Republican leadership and so many of their colleagues continue to oppose any attempt to investigate the January 6 attack. They opposed legislation to create a bipartisan commission. They opposed the creation of the select committee. And they are now trying to prevent the committee from carrying out its work.

This is not a time for games or delays, all of which have allowed the former President and his allies, like Mr. Bannon, to escape accountability thus far. This is a time for courage, the courage to protect our Constitution and our national integrity.

I am grateful to the members of the select committee for having the courage to put loyalty to country over partisan politics.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge all of my colleagues to support this rule.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to the urgency of passing the Freedom to Vote Act, which the Senate is considering today.

The events of the past year have exposed the fragility of our democracy, and Congress must act now to protect that most fundamental of American freedoms: the freedom to vote.

In 2020, we lived through the most challenged and scrutinized election in American history. But now, even after the result is beyond all reasonable debate, radical right-wing extremists and would-be dictators are still trying to overturn the 2020 election; stoking the flames of conspiracy, hate, and chaos in order to create a dark and twisted vision of America that these agents of chaos have embraced.

Unless Congress acts now, the radical right will keep using the big lie told by the former President and endorsed by his supporters to enact damaging voting restrictions and prevent Americans who have rejected their dark vision for our country from participating in our representative democracy.

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where I live, the majority in our

State legislature has embraced these lies and conspiracy theories about election fraud to propose a raft of new laws that would make it more difficult for eligible voters to actually vote. We have an opportunity to put an end to these anti-democratic tactics and Congress must seize it.

Today, the Senate will take a crucial vote on the Freedom to Vote Act, important legislation that is necessary to ensure that our government remains by the people and for the people, not politicians.

Similar to the For the People Act, which the House has passed both this term and last, the Freedom to Vote Act sets basic nationwide standards for how elections are conducted and ensures that the voices of everyday American voters are heard in Washington. It will work in tandem with the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore critical protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and combat racial discrimination in voting. Together, these two bills will safeguard our democracy from both current and future threats.

Ultimately, the Freedom to Vote Act is about ensuring that people, not politicians, hold the power in our government.

Let's talk for a moment about what this bill is and what it isn't. The Freedom to Vote Act would set national standards to protect the freedom to vote, end partisan redistricting, ensure sound election administration, and fix our broken campaign finance system.

These key provisions are widely supported by the American people, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. People are tired of cycles of chaos, followed by inaction, when it comes to our elections. The most basic foundational element of our democracy deserves to be treated with seriousness, urgency, and care. We cannot stand by as discriminatory voter laws, partisan gerrymandering, and dark money drowns out the voices of American voters.

As for what this bill does not do, contrary to what some of our colleagues across the aisle--and particularly Mitch McConnell--have claimed, the Freedom to Vote Act is not an unconstitutional power grab.

Our Founding Fathers may not have anticipated all the ways our country would change over the centuries and the ways in which we would need to adapt, but they were really, really good in anticipating the evil that men might do in pursuit of power, including anticipating efforts to undermine the most precious value enshrined in the Constitution, the right to a government chosen by, for, and of the people.

One of the ways the Framers did this was in Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution, which allowed States, in general, to regulate the time, place, and manner of elections to Federal offices, like Congress, but with a really important exception. The second half of that section says, ``Congress may at any time make or alter such State regulations.''

Why did the Framers do this? Because they already knew of instances in which State legislators might try to corrupt the election process in order to impact the Federal Government, even as they were drafting the Constitution. And isn't that where we are today?

We have States that are trying to make it harder for people who live in cities and people of color to vote. We have State legislatures proposing to overturn the results of the last election and future elections if the party in power in that State doesn't like the candidate that the people voted for.

We have State legislatures proposing to politicize professional election staff and procedures with bills that would allow partisan legislatures to overthrow the Presidential electors chosen by the people and substitute electors who will vote for another candidate.

That is why it is so important that Congress act to fulfill what may be its most sacred obligation under the Constitution to protect the right of the American people to chose their own representatives rather than letting elected officials manipulate that process to stay in power.

If the Senate again fails to fulfill its responsibility with the filibuster intact, then it is time for the filibuster to go.

Madam Speaker, even before the pandemic, American families struggled to cover the expense of childcare, with the cost of care for two kids consuming 20 to 30 percent of the income of most families.

Since the pandemic began, the situation has worsened dramatically. Hundreds of Pennsylvania childcare agencies, which operated on the slimmest of margins to begin with, have closed permanently, and already scarce childcare spots have become harder to find.

Since the pandemic, the lack of childcare and continuing school closures has resulted in millions of parents, mostly women, losing their jobs or being forced to leave work due to childcare obligations.

Families need investment in childcare now. Women can't be asked to bear the cost of not funding these crucial programs any longer.

The Build Back Better Act is our once-in-a-generation opportunity to meet the needs of working families.

Access to affordable childcare will strengthen the financial standing of our families, make sure that women are not left behind in our recovery, and help parents enter or reenter the workforce and generate new economic activity.

Let's get this done for the American people.