Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, a moment of silence is not enough.

I did not respond to the invitation of the gentleman from Texas to come and stand here. I lost a young woman at Great Mills High School in my district. I visited with her parents, I went to her funeral, and I grieved with our community, but coming to this well and spending but a moment for the thousands who have lost their lives is not enough. We need to act.

The Governor of Texas thinks we ought to do something. The Governor of Florida thought we should do something, and he did something.

We should bring to this floor legislation to try to stem this violence. We will have disagreements as to what that may be, but a moment of silence is not enough.

Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I included in the Record remarks by Nile Burch. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence.

March for Our Lives' Remarks

(By Nile Burch)

Hello and good morning! My name is Nile Birch and I am from

Morristown High School.

I would like to begin by thanking Ms. Bosrock for this

incredible opportunity. I appreciate all of her support and

help in making this possible. I am so proud to be

representing my African-American and social activism club,

Melanin Minds, at the march today. Melanin Minds consists of

a group of united and ethnically diverse individuals

dedicated towards raising awareness within our communities.

Encouraging change is exactly what our club is about, and I

am honored to speak to everyone today about the issue of gun

violence on behalf of our president, Bella Simon. So why

should I take such a vested interest in this issue?

I can understand how it is a Constitutional right for

people to own guns. But, as we've all come to realize, there

is a lot of gray area in that. Nevertheless, that area should

never include questioning public safety. If people choose to

own guns, that is their prerogative, but in no way shape or

form should their interest threaten the lives of anyone or

anything else. Yet, the trouble I think we all experience is

that the current laws we haveare nowhere strict enough to

make people feel at ease. Then again, there is a fine line

between feeling `at ease' and feeling `safe.' We do not need

politicians to acknowledge what happened in past and recent

school shootings. We need them to look at Columbine, Sandy

Hook, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and countless others as an

incentive to want to prevent more shootings from ever

happening again. In simpler terms, we need to emphasize that

it's okay to recognize what happened in the past as long as

we use those events to carve out a pathway towards our

future! To truly understand what it feels like to be safe, we

must first realize what it is like to live in fear. As an

African-American male, living in fear means wearing a hoodie

and being scared to walk to the store for some skittles or an

Arizona Iced Tea, or wanting to sell CDs. What I am saying is

that having this angst festering inside of me every day is my

reality, but it does not have to be yours too.

School shootings? Children in school. A place where

students go to learn, make friends, and find themselves as

human beings. A place parents can drop their kids and feel

safe in knowing that their precious children are protected at

all costs. It isn't true. It doesn't exist. And that, my

friends, is the sad reality of today. Why we are here. Why we

care. We must stand together so that every single one of us

can feel safe. You guys might be wondering `what does he mean

by starting to make a difference, how can I, a high school

student, have any influence?' Let me tell you guys a brief

story to make it clearer.

I remember being on the playground and looking up at those

tall monkey bars towering above the field. They seemed so big

and tall, like something incredible. Of course, to any seven-

year-old, climbing it seems a feat worth trying. But, no

matter how hard I tried it was still physically impossible

for my short arms to reach the highest bar. I tell this story

because on this day, March 24, 2018, our end goal may seem

impossible to reach. It may seem so idealistic that we doubt

seeing such immense change within the course of our lifetime.

However, I am confident that meeting our goal can become a

reality by taking the right steps to get there. I didn't

finish my childhood story. As I started to climb the bars, I

had multiple encounters with failure and defeat by slipping

off of the handlebars. Enacting change to the issue of gun

violence is no different. We have and will continue to

encounter obstacles that will try to prevent us from

succeeding. In order to overcome these difficulties, it is

imperative that we lobby Congress to change the gun laws to

ensure that only those who are able to handle the

responsibility of owning a gun can do so. It is also

paramount that organizations such as the NRA accept the

consequences of prioritizing profit over life. I remain

optimistic that we'll be able to do this because, despite

having fallen multiple times on the wood chips, I persevered

and, yes, eventually reached the top. The feeling at the top

of those monkey bars was one I'll never forget. For a brief

moment in time I felt like the king of the world with nothing

to stop me. I made my way down, and yes, fell again, but this

time it was worth it. I have no doubt that this movement will

feel the same way when we make strides. The obstacles will

never truly go away, but we will enact laws, start protests

and incite conversations that will make these obstacles

irrelevant.

Piece by piece we will inspire other students to gain the

courage to stand up for what they believe in. Piece by piece

we will show youth that they have a voice and that it does

matter. And piece by piece we will once again feel safe

enough to walk our school hallways without feeling as if that

is the last day we'll walk at all.

Contact our congressmen! These men are in the government

speaking for and representing you. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen,

Rep. Leonard Lance, Sen. Cory Booker, and Sen. Robert

Menendez all need to hear from you about how we feel about

gun violence. If we want to save lives, it begins with

speaking with our powerful elected officials. You've already

climbed your first bar just by being here today. Hopefully

you've been listening, and hopefully you take the next step

to putting an end to gun violence! I am so impressed with the

numbers here today and I want you guys to keep fighting, and

keep climbing, because eventually, we willreach the top,

together! Thank you and have a good day!

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, am I not correct that you called for the yeas and nays and that you interrupted the vote while it was in progress? From a parliamentary perspective, is that the power of the Speaker to interrupt a rollcall vote for the purposes of declaring that the vote has been postponed?

Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I include in the Record remarks by Mia Paone. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence.

March for Our Lives' Remarks by Mia Paone

Hello marchers! My name is Mia Paone, and I am a sophomore

at Chatham High School. I am not old enough to vote yet, but

I am old enough to speak out against gun violence. I will not

be silent.

I am taking a stand to change our gun laws, and I need all

of you to join me. Silence is not neutrality. Silence will

lead to more deaths from school shootings and other gun

violence. I am here to speak for those silenced too soon.

For the young kids at Sandy Hook. For the concert goers in

Las Vegas. For the students from Parkland, the same age as

me. I don't want to live in a world where we have to find

hiding spots and ways to block the door in our classrooms. In

my school, a week after the Parkland Shooting, a power outage

occurred. Many of my friends and other students feared the

worst; that we were next, because these tragedies have sadly

become too routine. Why have no laws been passed to make us

safer? Why is it easier to get a gun than it is to get a

driver's license? Too many of us are silent.

It is time for us to stand up. It is time for us to speak

out. If we want a change in laws, we need to change our

actions. Write letters to Members of Congress. Participate in

school walkouts and . . . walk in marches! Run for Congress

or local office. If you are too young to run, volunteer for a

candidate who is running. Register 18-year-olds to vote, and

encourage registered voters to show up on Election Day.

The youngest generation of eligible voters has the lowest

voter turnout. We live in a democracy. Our senators and

representatives should be responsive to our opinions. If they

are not, it's our job to elect candidates who are. If they do

not listen, vote them out!

Our generation's voter turnout must increase if we want

leaders who will take action to reduce gun violence and gun

deaths. And if you are like me, not yet old enough to vote

but want to impact change, have faith. Just because we're in

high school doesn't mean we can't make a difference.

Two weeks ago, on the day of the walkout, my history class

was learning about the Civil Rights movements of the 1960's.

Many of those events were organized by high school and

college students. If they could do it, why can't we? It is

our job as the upcoming generation of voters, leaders, and

activists to make clear that when we believe something needs

to be changed, we will not be silent.

We will not stand down. We will stand up, stand together,

and we will not stop speaking out until our voices are heard.

Mr. Speaker, 1 year ago, my community was shaken by the murder of Second Lieutenant Richard ``Richie'' Collins III, a young African American stabbed to death while waiting for a bus on the campus of the University of Maryland.

He was a student at Bowie State University just days from graduation. Richie was in College Park visiting friends to celebrate his recent commission as an officer in the United States Army.

He was a young man of great promise, very talented and driven to success. He was popular on campus and helped create Bowie State University's first lacrosse team. He was an avid player of golf, soccer, and baseball. Richie loved deep conversations about life, politics, and philosophy.

The individual on trial for his murder has been charged with a hate crime.

Mr. Speaker, we must do more to combat the spread of hatred by spreading tolerance and respect instead, and we must never forget those, like Richie Collins, whose lives were cut short by hatred and prejudice.

I again offer my condolences, as I have, to Richie's parents, Richard and Dawn, his family, his friends to mark this somber anniversary. We ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolled for us.

Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I include in the Record remarks by Isabella Bosrock. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence.

March for our Lives Remarks

(By Isabella Bosrock)

My name is Isabella Bosrock, and I am a senior at West

Morris Mendham High School. Today you will be hearing from

seven incredible high school students from across the

district who are here today to say `enough is enough' and

`never again' to senseless gun violence. Before we begin, I

would like to take a moment and thank Mr. Steny Hoyer, a U.S.

Representative for Maryland's Fifth Congressional District

and the Minority Whip of the House for being here today.

On March 20, a mere four days ago, a seventeen year old boy

named Austin Wyatt Rollins walked into Great Mills High

School with his dad's hand gun and shot two students, one of

which was an ex-girlfriend. Reports say he did this because

of a recent break up with the girl he shot. The student

resource officer on duty, Blaine Gaskill managed with great

bravely to shoot and kill the gunman, avoiding the loss of

many more lives.

While this event is incredibly upsetting it is not unlike

many things that have happened in the country is the years

since Columbine. It is horrible that as adolescents we have

become used to the idea that gun violence is a method of

dealing with our problems. This pattern of gun violence has

been perpetuated by adult lawmakers who refuse to do anything

about the bloodshed in their schools.

I bring this up today because Mr. Hoyer is the

representative of the district where Great Mills High School

is located, yet he is still here at our march today. Let's

all thank him for being here today. I also bring this up

because I think that it is so important that we make sure we

acknowledge every instance of senseless gun violence that

occurs within this country. While Parkland was able to get

mass media attention, hashtags on social media and `thoughts

and prayers' from everyone around the world, there are so

many acts of violence that occur in the U.S. every single day

that go completely unnoticed.

Often times we give them attention for a couple of days,

maybe a week, then we forget, and other times we fail to

acknowledge them at all. In fact there have been eighteen

instances of a gun firing at schools in the U.S. since the

beginning of 2018, which averages out to about three per

week.

This cannot be our reality. However many people do not know

this because they never gain the same attention as events

like Parkland. These other shootings often resulted in no

bloodshed or a few injured. But this doesn't mean that they

are any less catastrophic because every single life of those

students will be forever changed. Each and every day they

walk into the school that almost cost them their lives, and

they are forced to face their worst fears. The lives of the

students in the eighteen schools will never ever be the same.

It is so easy for us to watch these catastrophic events

unravel on the news for a week, donate money to the cause,

post a hashtag on social media, then move on with our lives.

But it is so important in our crazy, ever changing lives to

never forget.

We have to make sure that we not only remember to hold the

lives of those lost in our hearts, but to make sure that we

are holding the people who are accountable, responsible for

the lives of innocent people murdered.

It is up to us to change the future, but these changes will

only come by reflecting on the past and acknowledging what

happened. Forgetting will not do anything but make us

complacent and allow more of these massacres to happen.

That being said, I encourage every single one of you today

to go out and read about the other school shootings that you

may have missed and hold those victims in your memory so that

we can use those losses to fuel the fire of change.

Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. Because they were too long to insert into the Record together, I am submitting them individually. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence.

March For Our Lives' Remarks by Caitlyn Dempsey

``Hi. My name is Caitlyn Dempsey, I am a senior at

Randolph, NJ. A few weeks ago, in a dark room as my class

cowered in the comer, we were taught how to avoid getting

sprayed with bullets if a shooter were to break a window. We

were given tips on throwing projectiles at the perpetrator. I

was in calculus. I should've been learning derivatives and

integrals.

Kids debate if they should jump out a window and risk death

or broken bones or stay in the classroom if they were

accosted by a shooter.

Teachers have to decide if they should throw themselves in

front of students.

Teachers consider what it would mean for them if they had

to be trained to use firearms.

This is what it's like to be educated in America.

We are being prepared for war.

Because at the base of it, that is what our society is

doing. Our children, from kindergarten to high school are

battle ready.

And we should angry about that. This is our future. Our

lives are on the line. These teachers, the people we look up

to and trust, their lives are on the line.

I challenge you to consider how afraid we are. This is not

a joke, a ploy, a means to get something done. This is a

real, tangible fear that we feel every single day. We talk

about it at lunch. In class. On the bus.

This is what it's like to be educated in America. And

there's something wrong with that.

As a result, this talented, passionate group of young

adults and I have become a force to be reckoned with.

However, the assertion that this is a recent movement is

incorrect. We have been begging for this since Sandy Hook.

Since Columbine. We're done begging. We demand that our

legislators take action to create more comprehensive gun

legislation. We assert that it is time for our elected

officials to be held accountable for their constituents.

A good friend of mine recently reminded me that we have

been learning that actions speak louder than words since

Kindergarten. So we walked out. So we've written our

congressmen. So we planned this March.

Now that is what it should be like to be educated in

America. Kids standing up for what they believe in, creating

a better future for themselves and the next generation.

I urge students who feel like they have been wronged to

stand up, and speak out. Your voice has been silenced but

enough is enough.

Thank you so much.''

Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. Because they were too long to insert into the Record together, I am submitting them individually. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence.

`March for Our Lives' Remarks

(By Bella Bhimani)

Hi, everyone. Before I begin, I would first like to thank

everyone for coming today to support such an important cause.

The overwhelming support we've received has made all the

difference. And to everyone who donated, whether it be your

time, money or even knitting hats, I cannot thank you enough.

I would also like to thank both the mayor and the Morristown

Police Department for all the help they have provided and

doing everything possible to make this march happen. We also

have four sponsors, Blue Wave NJ, Moms Demand Action, NJ-ll

for Change, and League of Women Voters. These organizations

are all truly amazing and have done so much for us. Lastly I

would just like to say how grateful I am for the incredible

group of students that we have. These students have worked so

hard and without them none of this would have been possible.

One of the questions I've been asked a lot is ``what makes

this shooting so different?'' I can't speak for everyone

else, but I know at least for me, when the last major school

shooting happened, (Sandy Hook) I had only just turned

eleven. It's not that I didn't care, because I was obviously

upset, but I knew that as a fifth grader I didn't have the

power to do anything. Because we live in a world where we are

taught growing up that ``the

adults will handle it''. We expect that the president and all

of our legislators will do their job and when there is a

problem they will actually do something about it. However as

we have grown up we've realized that that is not the case. If

we want change to happen we have to make it happen ourselves.

One of my favorite Gandhi quotes is `Be the change you wish

to see in the world.' And that is why I am up here today. We

are the ones affected and we are the only ones willing to fix

this.

But before I go any further I want to address the

preconceived notion that we are trying to take away all guns.

This is not the case. All we want is to make the world safer,

which is something I think everyone can agree. We believe

this can be accomplished through stricter gun regulations. We

are asking for stricter background checks, raising the age

limit of purchase and, while not everyone may agree, I am

certainly in favor of a ban on assault rifles, which are

truly weapons of war.

Going off of that another question that I am frequently

asked is, what am I actually trying to accomplish with this

march. With that comes the constant criticism that this march

isn't going to suddenly make change happen. And to some

extent they're not wrong. This is not something that will

happen overnight and is a fight that is going to take time.

Every fight has to start somewhere and this is only the

beginning. So to answer the question what I want is to keep

this conversation going. To get Congress to begin discussing

passing stricter gun laws and to show the world that we won't

stop.

That being said, I would like everyone to take a second to

turn to the people around you and introduce yourselves. Get

to know each other, because we are ultimately all one

community, and we are here for the same reason: to put an end

to gun violence. And this change is only going to happen if

we are united.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy) for the purpose of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for the week to come.

(Mr. McCARTHY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the information and for the bonus of a little longer-term view of what we might be considering on the floor of the House.

One of the things I didn't hear on that, and perhaps I asked the majority leader about this before, is whether the majority is expecting to offer on the floor or consider a budget resolution this year.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend.

Mr. Speaker, although it was not on this list, I wonder if we might expect a budget resolution to be offered at some point in time in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. Of course, April 15 is the day set forth. Many times we did not meet April 15. Clearly, last year we didn't meet April 15 by many, many months, but I appreciate the gentleman's answers.

Let me say that I will be joining Sunday night at the National Law Enforcement Memorial here in Washington, D.C., the ceremony to honor those who have given their life in service to our country as law enforcement officers. We ought to pause not just next week, but every week, to recognize the extraordinary service given to us by what I call our domestic defenders, both our police and firefighter personnel, and emergency medical response teams.

It is appropriate that we say thank you. They obviously have a very, very tough job. They get a lot of flack from time to time, but without them, we could not maintain the system of order that we have in this country that allows democracy to proceed. So I want all of us to join, not just next week, but next week particularly, to recognize. We will have, of course, a ceremony on the west front of the Capitol.

We just had a ceremony the other day, which the Capitol Police conducted, remembering the loss of life that we experienced here in this Capitol to Officer Chestnut and Detective Gibson in defending the Capitol and those who reside therein and who visit this Capitol.

Mr. Speaker, on the farm bill and on rescissions, the farm bill, as I understand it, again, I think pursuant to what the Speaker said after we passed the tax bill in which we gave 83 percent of $1.5 trillion to the wealthiest in America, the farm bill is now trying to fill that $1.8 trillion hole that was constructed by the tax bill by reducing benefits to those most in need in this country.

I would not so much ask a question of the majority leader, Mr. Speaker, but simply to observe that I would hope we would not try to fill that very, very deep hole that we have dug by passing that tax bill by taking it from those who are most in need.

I notice that, as well as the farm bill, the rescission bill was referred to by the leader as coming to the floor as well, and that seeks to cut a very substantial amount from the contingency fund for child health insurance.

The majority leader will make the point, well, that is money that is not necessarily expected to be spent. In fact, he wrote to CBO asking them a question. The CBO said they didn't think any children would be dropped off because if the contingency is not realized, no children will be dropped off. If, however, the contingency is, and there are no contingency funds available to do that, then, in fact, children will be at risk, unless we pass additional legislation.

I think it is unfortunate the majority is pursuing a policy now, both on the farm bill and on the rescission bill, that seeks to undermine the safety and security of those who are nutritionally underserved in this country.

It is amazing, in the richest country on the face of the Earth, we have people--one out of five children is going, Mr. Speaker, to bed at night hungry. We ought to be moving in the other direction.

This bill has, historically, been a very bipartisan bill. Mr. Lucas and Mr. Peterson, in the last reauthorization, brought a bipartisan bill to the floor. Very frankly, it was turned into a partisan bill on the floor, Mr. Speaker, when an amendment was offered and voted on by much of the leadership on the majority side, which would have cut $40 billion from food stamps for those who are hungry Americans among us.

This is less than that, but I understand that the Heritage Action, Club for Growth, and Americans for Prosperity are opposed to the bill because it is not a deep enough cut, either in farm programs or in nutritional programs.

I would say, Mr. Speaker, that we hope that these will not be policies that we will pursue as a House of Representatives, or as a Congress, and, very frankly, we think the farm bill has little chance of passing the Senate. I would say zero, but that perhaps is a little bit too strong, but certainly little--so that we will be spinning our wheels to send an ideological message to constituencies, I suppose, that want to undercut the ability to ensure that people have food that are hungry in our country.

As to the rescission bill that the majority leader mentioned, Mr. Speaker, rescissions are pretty common. Rescissions are common and mostly done by the Congress of the United States, and we do it annually. In almost every appropriation bill that we pass, or omnibus that we pass, not so much CRs, but they have been present in CRs as well, that we have rescissions.

The Congress has also gotten, as the majority leader will point out, rescission requests from the executive department. Largely, those have been not agreed to by the Congress. Only in one instance has one President had even a majority of his requests acceded to, and that was President Clinton.

But the fact of the matter is, for the most part, rescissions have been pursued by the Congress of the United States, appropriately so, doing its job. And, of course, President Bush asked for no rescissions. President Reagan asked for a lot of rescissions, but President Bush asked for no rescissions--I refer to the second President Bush--nor did President Obama, notwithstanding when the Republicans were largely in charge of the Congress of the United States. And we exercised our judgment and did, in fact, do rescissions in the appropriations process.

Now, we have not had a budget. It is the middle of May. It is a month after the budget was to come forward. Our side does not see a budget moving, but perhaps the majority leader is correct, the committee is considering that, and that would be another place where the Congress could take initiatives and a decision to rescind various amounts of spending.

Last week, Mr. Speaker, I said if there was spending that was neither necessary nor had been authorized over long periods of time, then I would have no objection, personally, to that rescission, and would think that we could initiate that action. But I would hope that, in both of these instances, we would not take actions which would adversely affect those who are challenged in America, either because of health reasons or nutritional reasons.

I would secondly say, and lastly--the majority leader, I am sure, wants to make some comments--60 percent of the budget that we passed, which our Republican friends apparently think

was too much, was defense. Not a single red cent is included in the President's rescission from the defense side of the budget, only the nondefense discretionary funding, the people part of the budget.

Now, I am a strong supporter of national security, Mr. Speaker, and I have been for the 37 years that I have been in this House. But I do not delude myself that every bit of money that has been appropriated-- trillions of dollars over the last 4, 5, or 6 years--has either been spent or is not subject to, perhaps, the Congress saying, well, we put that money on the table but it hasn't been spent.

But apparently the President can't find a single red cent for that, but he can find places where we can undermine research for innovation, Children's Health Insurance Program.

I understand the leader is going to say that CBO says not a single child will be dropped. That may be true; but if we drop the contingency fund, which has been available and has been used year after year, either directly for health insurance or for related programs for children, then we will be at risk of hurting people whom I don't think anybody in this body wants to hurt. So I would hope that, before those bills are brought to the floor, we would keep those matters in consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California.

2000, as I recall, when Mr. Clinton was President.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments. He mentioned a number of facts.

Economically, I think all of us can be happy that unemployment is down. The gentleman then mentioned that there are less unemployment requests being made.

Is the gentleman aware that, in 2016, we created 400,000 more jobs than we created in 2017? Is the gentleman aware of that fact? That is a fact.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I presume the answer is the gentleman did not know that there were 400,000 more jobs created in 2016 than were created in 2017. I didn't get the answer to that question, Mr. Speaker.

Let me ask, however, if the gentleman is convinced that there is not a single nickel that can be rescinded from the Defense Department budgets over the last 10 years, trillions of dollars of money, and that only the nondefense side of the budget is subject to rescissions, Mr. Speaker, is the gentleman of the opinion that there are no sums available from the defense budget to try to fill the $1.8 trillion hole created by the tax bill?

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend.

Mr. Speaker, of course the answer to that question is yes.

Mr. Speaker, as I have explained to the majority leader, the Congress has rescinded billions of dollars through the years, and I have voted for rescissions that have been sent down by Presidents of the United States and there may well be rescissions that are sent down that I could support.

I do not intend to support rescissions, Mr. Speaker, that I view as undermining children's health. I know what the majority leader says: nobody is going to be hurt.

Now, interestingly enough, in that answer, he does not answer my question except we all want a strong defense. Nobody on this floor has longer supported Israel's right to be safe and defended than I have.

The issue is I asked the majority leader this does not include a single red cent of rescissions from the trillions of dollars to the Defense Department, not because I want to undermine the Defense Department any more than he says he wants to undermine children's health, but this is not about rescissions, per se. What it is about is the flack that the majority party is getting, that the President is getting from the Club for Growth, from Heritage Action, from Americans for Prosperity, saying: Your budget was too big. The omnibus was too big. We don't like it. Show some fiscal discipline.

So in an effort to show fiscal discipline, who do they go after? The Children's Health Insurance Program.

He can say it all he wants, but he well knows, and the appropriators will tell him, Mr. Speaker, that that money has been used on an ongoing basis by the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee and by the Appropriations Committee to backfill in places where there were clearly shortages on services to children and families.

The gentleman may want to say whether or not he believes--because outlays are not affected, he says--that, in fact, this rescission will lower the nondefense discretionary baseline in 2019. That is what I think the real purpose is, Mr. Speaker, and that is why the majority leader has not answered the question about whether there is a single cent to save the taxpayer money--we all want to save the taxpayer money--out of the Defense Department side of the budget or whether that is simply sacrosanct and not worthy of oversight by the Congress or by the President.

That was my question. It was not answered, and I regret that.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly will yield to my friend.

Mr. Speaker, is the majority leader aware of the fact, when he says that the rescission was cut or the CHIP was cut, is the gentleman aware of where that money went when it was cut, or--I would say it in a different way--reprogrammed to other items in the omnibus or in the Labor-Health bill in previous appropriations? Is the gentleman aware of the difference between the cut and the reprogramming of money for a different objective related to the appropriation that was included?

I yield to my friend.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman has not answered either one of my questions, A, whether there was a single red cent available in the Defense Department for rescission, because that money has been laying there 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years. Is there a single red cent there? B, he did not answer the question whether or not this rescission will adversely impact the discretionary baseline for the 2019 budget.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I did yield to the gentleman about the single red cent, because all of this deals on the nondefense side of the budget, which is, by the way, the smallest part of the budget.

The gentleman keeps saying we need to make sure we do these cuts. He wasn't as concerned, apparently, about balancing our budget when he cut $1.8 trillion, $1.5 trillion--$1.8 trillion when you include the interest. I know they say it is going to pay for itself. I have been here a long time. They have said that before. It never has paid for itself.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman will not answer those two questions: Is there not a single red cent in the Defense budget; are they looking at the Defense budget to see whether or not we put money on the table that is either no longer necessary or has not been used for a significant period of time--that seems to be his rationale--or, secondly, whether or not it is going to have an adverse effect on the budget deal that was reached in terms of where the nondefense discretionary spending base will be for the 2019 budget.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend.

Is the gentleman aware that there are $95 billion of unobligated funds in the Department of Defense?

I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the majority leader--he wants to do these rescissions. Congress usually does these. They do them in the appropriations process, and that is fine. Presidents have also done that.

My question to him was: If you want to see rescissions, and--as he has quoted me over, and over, and over again--funds that are not necessary, not needed, not going to be spent, obviously, we will consider rescissions for those.

However, what I have asked the gentleman is, you make the assessment. Very frankly, the first time we make a rescission suggestion on defense, he will stand up, or others on his side will stand up, and say: See, they are against defense.

I am strongly for our national security, and I always have been. But I think it is perverse in the farm bill to look at people who need nutritional help. This CHIP program, if there is $500 million as he claims, and he is probably accurate--I don't want to assess the gentleman's saying something inaccurate--but clearly, these funds have been used for other issues almost annually by the Appropriations Committee. Mr. Cole would say that. Mrs. Lowey would say that.

I would expect, Mr. Speaker, for both the President and the majority to propose where those $95 billion in unobligated funds might also add to his desire to make sure that taxpayers get some money back that is not being used.

I yield to my friend and then we will conclude.

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman has mentioned numerous times that I voted against some of the bills that were offered on this floor, and he is right. He tries to make it as if I voted against the CHIP program. He knows that is not an honest representation, Mr. Speaker, any more than the chairman of the Armed Services Committee voting against one of those bills with me being against defense.

I was against it, frankly, because the Speaker and the majority leader made a representation in September that we are going to solve a problem we have yet to solve. And I am sorry about that. I think it is wrong not to have solved it, and we were told we were going to have a solution to it.

But the fact of the matter is, what I am saying is, the Republicans talked and talked mightily about deficit reduction and giving money back to the taxpayer. But if you break their bank, the money is going to be taken from our children.

And so they passed a massive, $1.5 trillion tax bill, massive, and then they come here with nickel-and-dime programs and say they are going to give money back to the taxpayer.

I am for giving money back to the taxpayer. I am not for doing it by creating additional debt for their children and their grandchildren. I think that is not only an intellectually bankrupt policy, but an immoral policy. But we are not going to resolve it today. I understand that.

I yield to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, this administration will have the largest deficit increase of any administration in history. They haven't been here very long, so that is a prediction I make, and I am absolutely positive I am correct.

They are now trying to bring that down, as I have said, by going after investments on the domestic side of the budget, both in the farm bill and in the rescission package. There are clearly rescissions that are justified and that the Appropriations Committee and administrations have made on a regular basis. When administrations have made them, almost invariably, the majority of the rescissions requested by the administrations--Democrat or Republican--have been rejected by the Congress of the United States.

But I am hopeful, as the majority leader says, that we can reach bipartisan agreement on rescissions that, in fact, make sense. I would also hope we could reach some bipartisan agreement on solving issues that confront this country.

The farm bill is a perfect example where it historically has been a bipartisan bill, Mr. Speaker. It is a partisan bill this year, as they made it the last time when Chairman Lucas reported out a bipartisan bill and pleaded with his party not to make it a partisan bill. They made it a partisan bill and, of course, it failed in the Senate. It wasn't even brought up in the Senate. The Senate did its own bill.

So I would hope that the words of the majority leader about wanting to work in a bipartisan fashion will be realized with respect to all of these issues, including rescissions. And I would hope that we could perhaps have some rational policies to try to stem the extraordinary deficits that will inevitably be caused, as they have been in the past, by a tax cut bill that gave 83 percent of its benefits to the wealthiest in our Nation.

Without further ado, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on March 24, I was in Morristown, New Jersey, with former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mikie Sherrill, where we attended the March for Our Lives.

The March for Our Lives was organized by students around the country to speak out against gun violence and call for action in Congress to strengthen our gun laws. This march came just days after a deadly shooting at Great Mills High School in St. Mary's County in my district, and it came in the wake of horrific incidents of mass gun violence at a school in Parkland, Florida, and at places of worship, entertainment, and even public streets across the country.

Congress can and should act. Nine in ten Americans, 90 percent of our fellow citizens, believe we ought to do so. We have the ability right now to strengthen background checks and ban the kinds of assault weapons that make our communities unsafe.

Law enforcement wants us to get this done. So do parents and so do teachers. In Morristown, we heard directly from students, nine of whom spoke at the march that Ms. Sherrill and I attended. I was moved by their words.

Because they are too long to insert here together, Mr. Speaker, I will be submitting these students' speeches individually into the Congressional Record in the coming days. But today, let me just share with you some excerpts from each of them that capture the spirit of the march and the fears and hopes of these young Americans.

One student, Bella Bhimani, summed it up very well, and she said this: ``All we want is to make the world safer, which is something, I think, everyone can agree on.'' Would that that were true, Mr. Speaker.

Another, Caitlyn Dempsey, said this: ``We have been learning that actions speak louder than words since kindergarten. So we walked out. So we've written our Congressmen. So we planned this march.'' They took action.

Senior Isabella Bosrock from West Morris Mendham High School lamented: ``It is horrible that as adolescents we have become used to the idea that gun violence is a method of dealing with our problems.''

Another student, Mia Paone, a sophomore at Chatham High School, declared: ``I am not old enough to vote yet, but I am old enough to speak out against gun violence.'' She concluded: ``I will not be silent.''

Nile Burch, a student at Morristown High School, shared his hope that: ``Piece by piece, we will inspire other students to gain the courage to stand up for what they believe in.'' What a lesson for all of us.

Luna Aguilar declared: `` . . . we, the youth, the future of our country, are deciding--right here, right now--that our lives are worth more than the right to own an assault weapon.''

One of the students, Benjamin Douglas, spoke about how he rides with Team 26, a group of cyclists who ride in memory of the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School where so many children and teachers lost their lives. They stop along the way to raise awareness of gun violence.

He said this: ``We must continue to organize these events and never stop making noise until''--until--``until our Representatives get it.''

Raniya Madhi, a junior at Ridge High School, spoke about how many students now live in fear. How tragic. She told us this: ``Most of us are just teenagers. We should be worrying about doing well on our AP tests and finals at the end of the year, not about being shot by someone who can enter our school.'' What parent is not terrified at that possibility?

Finally, Danilo Lopez, a junior at Dover High School, chose, instead of delivering remarks, simply to read aloud the names of the victims of the recent Parkland, Florida, shooting. When he concluded, he expressed what we are all feeling, by saying: ``Let us hope and pray that they are in a better place--and we will always remember.''

Let me suggest, Mr. Speaker, remembering is not enough. Action is required. We stand on this floor and have a moment of silence for those we lost. We are sad for them, for their families, and, yes, for our country.

A moment of silence is not enough. Action is required to ensure that future moments of silence will not be necessary. The nine student speakers in Morristown, Mr. Speaker, like those across the country that day, gave voice to the millions who are scared but determined to see things change.

These speeches represent but a snapshot of what Americans heard on March 24 at the nationwide March for Our Lives. I hope my colleagues will read what these extraordinarily poised and thoughtful students had to say, and I hope we can listen to their fears and their hopes and come together to take action.

That is what they want us to do. That is our responsibility. That is what we ought to do.

Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, does, in fact, the Speaker of the House have the right to remove the Chaplain?

Mr. Speaker, is it correct that the Chaplain is elected by the whole House to be the Chaplain of the House of Representatives?

Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry.

Are we in the position where the House will be unable to speak to the issue of removing the official, i.e. the Chaplain, elected by the whole House?

Mr. Speaker, this week, Democrats are highlighting our ``Better Deal'' that we are offering the American people.

One area where this Republican Congress has given the American people a bad deal is healthcare. Because of their repeated attempts to repeal and undermine the Affordable Care Act, uncertainty has plagued our health insurance markets, leading insurers to flee and premiums to go up.

Republicans included in their tax law a provision that will take coverage away from 13 million people and hike premiums by more than 10 percent annually.

The Trump administration is also making every effort, Mr. Speaker, to unravel vital consumer protections through rulemaking. Now many who were finally protected under the Affordable Care Act will again be vulnerable to discrimination and to higher costs for comprehensive coverage.

That is the Republican approach, unfortunately, to healthcare: higher costs, lower coverage, and, yes, an age tax, and a return to the days when insurers could deny coverage based upon preexisting conditions.

Democrats are offering a better deal: stabilizing markets, bringing down premiums, making prescription drugs more affordable, and protecting Medicare and Medicaid, which are the Republicans' next targets.

Mr. Speaker, when Americans pay their taxes, as millions did yesterday, they expect, rightfully, that their tax dollars will be used to benefit the many, not just the few; however, that has not been this Republican Congress' approach.

The tax law Republicans enacted does little to help the middle class working families and gives 83 percent to approximately 10 million people, of the benefits, and to 300 million people 17 percent.

According to the independent, nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the Republican tax law will give the richest Americans an average tax cut of $33,000, while those who are struggling the most will get maybe $40.

Their tax law is also a breathtaking exercise in its fiscal irresponsibility, handing our children and our grandchildren a $1.8 trillion bill they will have to pay.

Thanks to the Republican tax law, the CBO now projects a $1 trillion debt every year for the next 10 years. Somebody is going to have to pay that bill, and it is our children and our grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, the American taxpayers deserve a system that is fair and promotes fiscal sustainability. The new Republican tax law does the opposite.