Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, over the past 50 years, income inequality has exploded in our country.

For decades, trickle-down economics has guided our country's fiscal policy, selling the American people a bill of goods about how cutting taxes for big business and the wealthy would eventually benefit society at large.

Most Americans have experienced this policy failure firsthand. They have watched the rich and powerful accumulate wealth while the middle class shrinks and families struggle to stay afloat. Study after study has shown that instead of promoting jobs or growth, tax cuts for the rich have increased inequality.

It is time to reject the failed theory of trickle-down economics and finally give everyday Americans a fair shot.

The Build Back Better Act will provide one of the biggest middle- class tax cuts in history and invest in the American people to build a stronger, more inclusive economy.

The best part? It is paid for by making those at the top finally pay their fair share.

The system has been rigged against most Americans for far too long. We have a chance to fix it now. Let's get it done.

Madam Speaker, this weekend, I ran into a constituent whose story is a model for what we plan to deliver for more Americans through the Build Back Better Act.

I met a mom in Media, from a solid middle-class family, and she was so excited to share the news about her son's new job. After completing the new maritime career development program at Delaware Community College, he attended a job fair and landed one of the new jobs at the Philadelphia shipyard, where he will be making $27 an hour and receiving full benefits.

The Build Back Better Act will expand these kinds of opportunities and make them available to more Americans. It will expand job training programs and lower the cost of higher education by funding 2 years of tuition-free community college and increasing the value of Pell Grants.

Using our Nation's network of community colleges as the pipeline, this bill will help connect more Americans to good paying jobs.

The policies in the Build Back Better Act are urgently needed, they will strengthen our economy, and they are popular. It is time to deal working people back in.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and its underlying legislation. Specifically, I want to highlight H.R. 3755, the Women's Health Protection Act.

The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg just a year ago removed the last major impediment to an all-out assault by conservative extremists on the freedom of American women to make their own reproductive choices. With the culmination of a decades-long campaign to pack the Supreme Court with far-right abortion foes, championed by The Federalist Society and Mitch McConnell, we have seen a tidal wave of legislation and court cases designed to overturn the constitutional protections outlined in Roe v. Wade.

Those efforts have included S.B. 8, the Texas bill outlawing abortion after 6 weeks and offering a bounty to vigilantes who seek to enforce that ban; the Supreme Court's refusal to block implementation of the Texas law; and the Court's scheduling of a December argument in a case that seeks to overturn Roe v. Wade. They all demonstrate a clear and present threat to women's reproductive rights in this country.

The decision to have, or not to have, a child is deeply personal and may profoundly impact a woman's mental, physical, and financial health and, in some instances, her very life. Women should have the freedom to make personal healthcare decisions with those they love and the doctors they trust, free from undue State interference and invasion of the woman's privacy.

With increasing attacks on women's reproductive freedom, we are once again seeing the urgent need for Federal legislation to codify Roe v. Wade. To ensure that Roe's protections remain, we must absolutely pass the Women's Health Protection Act and protect a woman's freedom to choose a safe and legal abortion, no matter where she lives.

Madam Speaker, in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what type of government our founders had created with the U.S. Constitution, and his response was: ``A republic, if you can keep it.''

Why? Because representative democracy is not for the lazy or the faint of heart. American democracy relies upon an informed, engaged citizenry. We require immigrants to pass a difficult test when they become citizens, but we currently require little to ensure that our children are prepared for that role.

I have been a proponent of civics education for my entire life, and it is more important than ever to help our schools provide high quality civic education. Our young people need to understand how government works; how they can effectively advocate for themselves and their communities; and how to navigate the masses of disinformation found online.

Last Friday, on Constitution Day, I introduced a bipartisan bill with Representative Meijer, the Teaching Engaged Citizenship Act, to promote high-quality, evidence-based civic education and service learning programs in K-12 public schools.

Our Constitution has a rich, complicated history. If we want to keep it, we need to teach it.

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

H.R. 4, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, is essential to ensuring that every American voter has equal access to the ballot box, and the freedom to make his or her voice heard.

Ever since the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby v. Holder opened the door, we have seen State legislatures pass hundreds of laws to restrict voter access while claiming, falsely, to protect our elections from voter fraud that doesn't even exist.

Now, the unjustified attacks on the 2020 election results by the former President and his supporters have produced a wave of anti- democratic bills. But it doesn't have to be this way. In Shelby, the Supreme Court invited Congress to amend the Voting Rights Act to address its concerns.

For 8 years, our Republican colleagues refused the Court's invitation to reinvigorate the Voting Rights Act, while extremist politicians worked overtime to close polling locations, limit voting hours, purge voter rolls, and erect barriers to the ballot box.

We can't continue down this path if we want America to remain a functional democracy. Congress needs to do its job. I urge all of my colleagues and all Americans to support this bill.

I would also like to speak briefly about the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act, which today's vote will move forward. Together, they are the key to helping Americans and American businesses succeed in the 21st century.

Our country is facing multiple, interconnected crises: the COVID pandemic, a deeply unequal economy, long-neglected infrastructure needs, underfunded public services that often fail to serve those most in need, and climate disasters that are impacting our communities more often.

The Build Back Better agenda is simple: make major investments in physical infrastructure and working families to create a fairer, more productive, and sustainable economy.

We need the bipartisan infrastructure deal to enable America to compete in the 21st century, but we also need the Build Back Better Act to create jobs and lower costs and taxes for working families. These bills have the power to improve the lives of millions of Americans.

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

Madam Speaker, since the founding of our country, our quest for a more perfect union has featured measures to expand, not contract, the right to vote.

In 1965, activists, including a young John Lewis, put their lives on the line to pass the original Voting Rights Act.

For decades, that law enjoyed broad bipartisan support, but in recent years, State legislatures have passed hundreds of laws to restrict voter access.

In 2020, our system held. It held because voters turned out in overwhelming numbers. It held because election officials did their jobs faithfully, regardless of party. It held because brave officers of the U.S. Capitol and Metro Police defended our Constitution.

But let's be clear, the assault on voting rights continues, inspired by corrupt and cynical efforts to hold power at all costs. We must do our job to protect and reinforce our democratic system against these new threats because it won't hold indefinitely.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Americans to hold the line to protect and defend our democracy. I urge swift passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by the House and the Senate.

Madam Speaker, the Build Back Better agenda is simple, it tackles the biggest challenges facing working families by investing in what Americans need, from physical infrastructure to education and child care.

The feedback from my constituents has been clear, they need a hard infrastructure bill, but we can't stop there. Pennsylvania has more than 3,000 bridges and 7,500 miles of highway in poor condition. The infrastructure bill includes $11 billion for our highways and the largest bridge investment since we built the interstate highway system. It will provide good jobs and lower costs to businesses.

But we can't stop with roads and bridges if we want America to succeed in the 21st century. Most Pennsylvanians can't afford quality child care. The budget resolution would provide access to safe, reliable, high-quality care. We need to rebuild our public schools and construct affordable housing. We need to lower prescription drug costs and expand Medicare to include dental, hearing, and vision.

Each of these investments will help working families and allow everyone, not just the rich, to participate in the 21st century economy.

Madam Speaker, I look forward to passing this historic legislation.

Madam Speaker, my community in southeastern Pennsylvania was deeply impacted by the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001.

Members of our community were among the flight crews and passengers

on the hijacked planes, others worked at the World Trade Center or Pentagon that day and were killed or had to flee for their lives. Airplanes headed to Philadelphia were diverted to Canada, and the high- rise offices were evacuated with bomb threats. Located between New York, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, our area keenly felt like the geographic center of the three airplane attacks.

I am proud to cosponsor H.R. 2278, which authorizes the National Park Service to designate the September 11 National Memorial Trail route linking the Memorial and Museum in New York to the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County. The 9/11 Memorial Trail will allow us all not to just engage with the tragedy of that terrorist attack, but also to heal from it.

In Pennsylvania's Fifth District, the Memorial Trail will link parts of the Schuylkill River Trail, Kingsessing, the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, and move on through Delaware County.

This bill passed the House with great bipartisan support, and I urge the Senate to take it up before the 20th anniversary of September 11.

Mr. Speaker, House Democrats have shown up every day during the 117th Congress with one goal in mind: helping the American people.

This week, we have been considering critical funding legislation, which gives us a chance to invest boldly in American families and America's future.

With the funding bills put forth by House Democrats, we are investing in: job training, apprenticeship programs, and worker protection.

Research, infrastructure, and technologies of the future.

Childcare, education, healthcare, and housing.

The bills we are considering would authorize 10 critical community projects in my district, providing more than $8.4 million in Federal funding to address some of the most pressing needs in our region, economic development, climate resilience, treatment for opioid use disorder, and expanding mental health resources.

House Democrats have made our priorities clear: American jobs, opportunities, and working families.

Budgets reflect values, and I am proud to see my community's values reflected in the fiscal year 2022 funding bills.

We cannot go wrong by investing in America.

Mr. Speaker, I was walking from the House Administration Committee hearing room with my colleagues when I missed the vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 234.

Stated against:

Madam Speaker, I rise today to share with you some of the important projects we have nominated as part of the community project funding process, 10 projects that will bring more than $8.4 million in critical funding to my district and which have now been included in the House Appropriations Committee's fiscal year 2022 funding bill.

It is my honor to represent the residents of PA-05 in Congress, and I am thrilled to have secured funding for these projects that were submitted by nonprofit and government agencies in our region and that met the rigorous funding criteria laid out by Congress.

The projects our office nominated for inclusion address some of the most pressing needs in our region: economic development, climate resilience, treatment for opioid use disorder, and expanding mental health resources.

Each of these projects will also help deliver on House Democrats' and President Biden's promise to build back better, to set the table for success for the American people, now and in the future.

Today, I would like to shine the spotlight on two projects I am particularly proud of.

The Delaware County Mobile Crisis teams project will provide an alternative response for emergency calls involving people suffering from mental illness. For too long, our mental health system has been woefully underfunded. As a result, all too frequently, people living with mental illness or cognitive disabilities have ended up in our criminal justice system, often with fatal consequences. We can do better.

Around the country, communities have begun to address this dearth of mental health resources and overreliance on the criminal justice system by developing programs to provide alternatives to and diversion from arrest, abuse, and incarceration.

At the Federal level, I am proud to have introduced the Mental Health Justice Act, which would make it easier for State and local governments to develop these programs and send trained mental health professionals instead of police when someone calls 911 because an individual is experiencing a mental health crisis.

At the local level, I am proud to support Delaware County's application to fund just such a project in this year's appropriations bill, a project to address the mental and behavioral health challenges of residents who might otherwise find themselves in the criminal justice system.

The county proposal will create mobile crisis teams stationed with the county's Emergency Services Department. These teams will be dispatched in conjunction with law enforcement in response to requests for help for persons known or suspected to be suffering from mental illness with the goal of diverting them from the criminal justice system into treatment with access to prioritized admission and to properly address their underlying needs.

This program is a collaboration among Delaware County's human services, health adviser, district attorney, and public defender. I commend these county leaders for looking forward, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact mobile crisis teams can have on our community.

Another project that I was proud to secure funding for in the fiscal year `22 appropriations bill is for the restoration and reopening of the historic Lansdowne Theater.

The 1927 Lansdowne Theater is an Art Deco gem that will be rehabilitated into a regional concert hall and spur investment in the surrounding community. The $1.5 million in Federal funding we have secured in the appropriations bill will be the final dollars for this $15 million project so that it can immediately start the restoration needed to bring this community treasure back to life.

We anticipate the project will create 51 jobs to operate the theater and 100 permanent jobs in businesses nearby, in addition to over 100 jobs for the trades during construction. Once completed, the theater will breathe new economic life into the community and attract more arts and culture to PA-5.

It will create opportunities for enhanced educational programs for area students through internships and access to different genres of music.

This transformational investment is integral to a broader plan to create an anchor in the community to restore, enhance, and spur economic activity in this part of the Baltimore Pike commercial district.

The community project funding program is a win for the American people. It gives our communities the opportunity to make their case directly to Congress for funding to make bold, progressive investments that are exactly what our community and communities across the country need to recover and rebuild.

This is what keeping a promise looks like. I look forward to continuing to fight for the people with these new investments.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the rule under consideration today.

Well before coming to Congress, I provided legal services for Iraqis and Afghans who had put their lives at risk as drivers, translators, and contractors to help our military abroad. They needed help to obtain the Special Immigrant Visas they were promised in return.

From that experience, I know firsthand that the process is rigorous and time-consuming. Even before the pandemic, it could take years for these critical allies to receive the special visas they were promised. During that time, they and their families faced continual threats of injury and death. Many died, had to go into hiding, or had their relatives killed because they had assisted U.S. forces.

As the U.S. leaves Afghanistan after almost two decades of unending war, we need to streamline the SIV process so that we can make good on America's promise to our Afghan allies who risked their lives to protect our troops.

The ALLIES Act would ensure that the U.S. keeps its promise to protect those allies who worked with U.S. troops in Afghanistan. We must pass this bill quickly so that no one is left behind.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to state my support for the other two bills in today's rule.

My region knows just how pervasive and dangerous the PFAS chemicals are. Pennsylvania has multiple PFAS-contaminated sites, and my district is downstream from a couple of them.

Uncontaminated drinking water should not be a debatable topic. For the health and safety our families, friends, and neighborhoods, we need to properly regulate and remediate PFAS chemicals, and this bill would do just that.

Finally, we need to pass the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act to restore the ability of the FTC to protect consumers by forcing bad actors to return funds to consumers who have been defrauded, in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that took away that power from the

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the important work being done by our former First Lady, Michelle Obama, through her Pass the Love campaign.

In collaboration with the Partnership for a Healthier America, Mrs. Obama has been on a mission to distribute one million healthy meals to families in need.

Last week, we learned that Philadelphia, part of my district, has been selected as the next city for this campaign.

Pass the Love will work with Philabundance--a local leader in hunger alleviation--to deliver healthy meal kits to 5,000 families. Over the course of 4 weeks, they will provide 240,000 meals to families experiencing food insecurity.

Children in Philadelphia and across America are hungry.

Creative initiatives like this one from the former First Lady should be lauded for what they do, but they cannot solve this systemic issue on their own.

Our country has every resource required to eradicate hunger. We can and must make the decision to end hunger in America now.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share how the INVEST in America Act, which we just passed, will benefit residents of my district, as well as communities across the country.

Year after year, the U.S. Congress has failed to muster the political will to properly fund American infrastructure. State and local authorities don't have enough money to meet basic maintenance needs, much less to make investments in modernization, expansion, or other improvements.

Thankfully, the INVEST in America Act can change that. It provides $715 billion to repair and improve our Nation's infrastructure, create good-paying jobs, and lay the foundation for robust economic growth in the 21st century.

I am proud to say that this package includes almost $21 million for projects to help communities in my district, small businesses, commuters, and residents. These projects include the redesign of dangerous rail crossings, upgrades to commuter transit stations, bike lanes, and safety improvements to areas like the Cobbs Creek Parkway, which is the site of hundreds of accidents--many of them fatal.

We have more work to do to get an infrastructure package to President Biden's desk and signed into law, but passing the INVEST in America Act is an important step towards that goal.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 504 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), 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, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 504, providing for consideration of H.R. 2662, the IG Independence and Empowerment Act, under a structured rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, makes in order six amendments, provides for en bloc authority, and provides one motion to recommit.

The rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 3005 under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House Administration and provides one motion to recommit.

The rule further provides for consideration of H.R. 3684, the INVEST in America Act. The rule provides 90 minutes of general debate with 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. It combines the Rules Committee prints for the surface transportation and clean water provisions of the bill, self-executes a manager's amendment from Chairman DeFazio, and provides one motion to recommit.

The rule additionally provides for consideration of H. Res. 503, Establishing the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, under a closed rule. The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Rules.

Finally, the rule provides the majority leader or his designee the ability to en bloc requested rollcall votes on suspension bills considered on June 28 or 29, and this authority lasts through July 1.

Mr. Speaker, we are here today to consider a rule for four measures that address some of the most fundamental issues upon which Congress may act as we continually strive to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for all of us and our descendants.

In passing these three bills and in creating a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. House of Representatives is putting forward real solutions to repair our physical infrastructure, protect our systems of accountability, acknowledge our relationship with the past, and establish a shared understanding and plan to address the deep wounds inflicted upon this building, those who serve and protect here, our government, and our democratic Republic by the attack on the Capitol on January 6.

Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank the Members and committees that worked on the bills we consider here today, in particular, the Herculean efforts by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Oversight and Reform Committee, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Majority Whip Clyburn, and Majority Leader Hoyer for their leadership to remove symbols of hate from the Capitol Building.

Mr. Speaker, no one can deny that our Nation's infrastructure is in a shameful state of disrepair. For decades, we have heard a lot of talk about infrastructure while efforts to build and maintain the networks and systems on which we all rely have been grossly underfunded. Whether it be roads and bridges or ports and rail lines, year after year, we fail to muster the political will to properly fund infrastructure, and the consequences are increasingly dire.

My district, Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional District, is home to Philadelphia's airport, port, rail yard, and, as a key part of the Northeast Corridor, dozens of miles of interstate highways and passenger rail lines, as well as regional commuter and light rail lines that link Philadelphia and its suburbs.

True to its position, PA-05 sits as a transportation keystone to a vast interstate and international economic network. The problems facing my district's transportation infrastructure are not that different from those of other regions. Our infrastructure is

aging and, in some cases, beyond usable lifespan. It is heavily used, and State and local authorities don't have enough money to meet maintenance needs, much less to make investments in modernization, expansion, or other improvements. Anyone who travels our roadways knows that axle-bending, tire-rattling potholes are the norm.

Nationwide, the situation is no better: aging and inadequate electrical grids, shamefully deficient water infrastructure, 47,000 structurally deficient bridges. You can go to any congressional district and find a litany of projects in desperate need of funding.

We have heard lip service about infrastructure week for so long that it has become a sick national joke. We must act now.

While the U.S. has sat on its hands, our allies and adversaries around the world have forged ahead with advancements in transportation networks, from high-speed rail that puts ours to shame to building up broadband and 5G networks.

China spends 8 percent of its GDP on infrastructure. Our European partners spend 5 percent of their GDP on infrastructure. Here in the United States, we spend a meager 2.4 percent.

We are falling behind the rest of the world and, in doing so, failing to promote the general welfare of our citizens.

That is why I am proud to support this rule to pass the INVEST in America Act. This bill will provide over $715 billion over the next 5 years to repair and improve our Nation's infrastructure. It will create good-paying jobs and lay the foundation for robust economic growth in the 21st century.

It will make record investments in roads, transit, and rails, allowing State departments of transportation to address maintenance backlogs and make forward-thinking investments in road safety, climate mitigation and resiliency, and low-income and underserved communities in our cities, suburbs, and rural areas.

It will help build out our Nation's EV infrastructure and help Americans shift to the next generation of clean energy vehicles. It will assist transit agencies in expanding service areas and adopting zero-emission vehicles, and it gives States funding to help prepare for the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

This package also includes over $160 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. Right now in the United States, there are millions of Americans who don't have access to clean drinking water or who aren't connected to a wastewater network. There is no excuse for that. The water provisions include much-needed funding to fully replace lead pipes throughout the country and strengthen water standards so the EPA can better address PFAS contamination.

These issues are vitally important to my district and others in southeastern Pennsylvania and across the country. I commend the Energy and Commerce Committee for crafting this comprehensive water infrastructure package.

Lastly, I want to state my strong support for the Member designated projects included in the INVEST in America Act. I thank Chairman DeFazio for giving my colleagues and I, on both sides of the aisle, the opportunity to secure dedicated funding for important local projects in our districts and for instituting strong safeguards in this funding to prevent fraud and abuse.

The Member designated projects process allowed us to work with our State and local transit agencies and local governments to highlight high-impact transportation projects in need of funding.

I am proud that $20 million for seven great projects in my district have been included in this bill, including redesign of dangerous rail crossings and upgrades to commuter stations, and perhaps most significantly, this bill includes a project I submitted with my Pennsylvania colleague (Mr. Evans), to redesign Cobbs Creek Parkway, one of the most dangerous corridors in our region and the site of hundreds of crashes and multiple fatalities year after year. The redesign will make Cobbs Creek Parkway safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.

Voting against this bill to invest in America is voting against jobs; it is voting against economic growth; it is voting against safety; and it is voting against making sure people have clean drinking water. Now is the time to tackle these issues, and so I urge all my colleagues to support this measure.

Mr. Speaker, also included in this bill is the IG Independence and Empowerment Act, a bill from the House Oversight and Reform Committee to overhaul and reform the legal powers and protections of our inspectors general.

Inspectors general are a vital part of our Federal institutions, ensuring that taxpayers and officials have an independent source of oversight and information to ensure government employees, from the interns to the President, are following the law and properly administering their duties.

For our government to function and be free of waste and corruption, to protect against fraud and impropriety, we need inspectors general who are empowered to act and who are protected from arbitrary, capricious, or personal attacks. But we saw, over the past 4 years, that there were critical flaws in the law that govern our inspector general programs. We saw that it was possible for an administration to undermine the independence of the inspectors general through unprecedented firings and denial of access to information.

A little over a year ago, the former President fired five Cabinet inspectors general over 6 weeks, with the announcements often coming on Friday nights when the Nation's attention was elsewhere.

The inspector general for Health and Human Services was fired for reporting accurately on the Nation's dire shortage of lifesaving PPE during the beginning of the pandemic. The State Department inspector general was fired for investigating then-Secretary Pompeo's use of government staff to run personal errands. And the Department of Transportation inspector general was fired for investigating suspicious grant awards to Kentucky, the State represented by the former Secretary's husband and the then-Senate majority leader. In other words, these inspectors general were fired for doing their jobs.

The IG Independence and Empowerment Act will enact needed reforms to protect IGs from political firings, give them increased powers and resources to investigate waste and corruption, and increase accountability and transparency for the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. I strongly support the IG Independence and Empowerment Act and call on my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, the last bill in today's rule is long overdue. The bill would replace the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in the Old Supreme Court Chamber in the Capitol with a bust of Thurgood Marshall and would remove the statues of individuals who voluntarily served in the Confederate States of America from display in the Capitol.

In Philadelphia, we have a street named after Chief Justice Taney and we have a Little League World Series Champion baseball team named after that street.

In 2020, following conversations about race and inclusiveness in America, the Taney Dragons Little League team decided to rename itself the Philadelphia Dragons saying that they cannot ignore the very real feelings that the name ``Taney'' engenders among members of our community, and that the new name will be inclusive, nondivisive, and also speak to our league's geography.

I say we follow the lead of our children on this issue. If they can do it, so can we. As we seek to form that more perfect Union and secure the blessings of liberty for all, we cannot accept the presence in this Capitol Building of Confederate icons, including the bust of the author of the Dred Scott decision or those who fought to protect slavery and wage war against the United States. Symbols of the Confederacy deserve to be in textbooks and museums, not venerated in the Capitol.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, this rule provides for the creation of a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol Building where we stand. I am, and I think most of the public is, disappointed that the Senate failed to join in the establishment of a bipartisan commission to establish once and for all the facts about what happened on that day.

We had a bipartisan bill. Chairman Thompson and Ranking Member Katko of Homeland Security, through good-faith negotiations, were able to craft bipartisan legislation to create a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection. Our Republican colleagues got everything they wanted in that bill, and yet, their leadership withdrew its support at the last moment and couldn't take yes for an answer.

Since our colleagues refused to approve a bipartisan commission, the House must move ahead with an investigation of the January 6 events and a select committee is our final avenue. We must investigate the causes and events that led to that attack. It is my sincere hope that the committee can dive into the facts and produce a cohesive narrative around January 6 and the events that preceded it and make recommendations that will prevent such horrors from ever being repeated again.

The January 6 attack on our Capitol was a crime, a crime against our government and a crime against the men and women who serve here, whether it was elected officials, congressional staff, or law enforcement. Period. It was an ugly, violent crime and crimes need to be investigated. Thousands participated and over 800 illegally entered the building.

Roughly 500 so far have been criminally charged by law enforcement. Some have pled guilty. But the fact-finding is not yet done. We need to know how organized they were and what their level of coordination was.

Despite the claims of some in this Chamber, we now know that many of these rioters were armed, which means that every single one of us and all of our staffs were in very real danger. Some of the rioters came to abduct the Vice President and the Speaker of the House and put them on trial. Some planned to take this building over and hold it until January 20 in an attempt to stave off President Biden's inauguration. Some just wanted to destroy things, and they did.

That, too, the intention of the rioters, needs to be probed. Some think Donald Trump incited this riot; some think he did not. New and wild claims have surfaced about who instigated the violence. Let's investigate that, too. Let's investigate everything connected to this horrible event honestly, unflinchingly, objectively, and without passion or prejudice, but let us not leave this crime unexamined.

If we are to come together as a Nation to unite behind our shared constitutional values, to ensure domestic tranquility and secure the blessings of democracy and liberty, we must do so from a shared understanding of reality.

Mr. Speaker, I hope that every member of this Chamber can find it in themselves to vote for this rule when it is considered on the floor. Our country cannot afford to wait longer on infrastructure. If we continue with business as usual, our infrastructure deficit will continue to grow. Our roads and bridges will continue to deteriorate, and our national economy will be less vibrant and competitive as a result.

We need to pass the INVEST in America Act. Full stop. We also need to pass the IG Independence and Empowerment Act, and we need to remove racist icons from the Capitol. These repairs and reforms cannot wait, and so I hope that Congress can find the political will to expeditiously pass the bills considered under the rule today.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, this bill is really straightforward. It increases money for surface transportation. It focuses on hard infrastructure. We need to fix the basics and then we can improve and expand them. This bill does include money specifically directed to our rural areas, and the crack about urban yuppies is kind of crazy.

We know that in Pennsylvania, which both the gentleman and I represent, we know that we have businesses in western Pennsylvania that are losing money because of the state of our roadways. If you build a turbine in western Pennsylvania, in order to get it to the port in eastern Pennsylvania right now, those companies have to take an 800- mile detour because our roadways cannot support that turbine. So it is impacting their businesses.

It is increasing energy costs. It is wasting time. But these kinds of things affect businesses across our entire Commonwealth and across our entire country. So these are much-needed, overdue by decades, bipartisan neglect. This bill addresses some of those issues.

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

Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman from Pennsylvania have further speakers?

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

Mr. Speaker, does the gentleman have additional speakers?

Mr. Speaker, I think I have one more speaker.

I am finding the argument a little bit hard to follow for my colleagues across the aisle because, as I understand it, it was a bad thing to shut down businesses in the U.S. to protect people when there was a virus rampant here. But we have to shut down the border because there is a virus rampant here. It is just a little hard to follow the logic sometimes.

If the gentleman is prepared to close, then I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the lively debate today. I understand that there are some who have concerns with the rule and its underlying legislation, but these bills are vitally important to our country, and I am confident they would greatly benefit all of us.

We should be able to support robust infrastructure spending that meets our Nation's current needs. We should all support a vigorous corps of inspectors general who can weed out fraud, waste, and corruption in the Federal Government. We should all support removing symbols of hate from the Capitol. These should be easy bills for us all to get behind.

Lastly, I strongly support the creation of a select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection and debunk the absurd theories and falsehoods that have infected our collective understanding of that day. While some of our colleagues may continue their denial, those of us in this Chamber who are committed to transparency and accountability and the well-being of the Nation can no longer afford to be held back by the sensitivities of those who put their fealty to the former President over their duty or obligation to the country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote for the rule and the previous question.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Reschenthaler is as follows:

Amendment to House Resolution 504

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 9 Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the

House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the

bill (H.R. 471) to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human

Services from lessening the stringency of, and to prohibit

the Secretary of Homeland Security from ceasing or lessening

implementation of, the COVID-19 border health provisions

through the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other

purposes. All points of order against consideration of the

bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All

points of order against provisions in the bill are waived.

The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the

bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without

intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally

divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority

member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and (2) one

motion to recommit.

Sec. 10. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the

consideration of H.R. 471.

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