Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to not speak about Alabama winning the national championship.

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are here is because Republicans care more about the extremely wealthy than they do about average American citizens. They got together and passed a tax scam bill that gave 86 percent of the moneys to the top 1 percent in our society.

They gave crumbs to the middle class that will expire, unlike the corporate cuts they gave that will not expire. And then they come up with a children's healthcare plan as a bargaining chip to get what is not a clean CR through, but a CR where they took funds that will help the ACA continue and take those down for 2 years so the ACA is further crippled.

To hear the Republicans talk about their care for healthcare is laughable. They were never for Medicaid or Medicare or the Affordable Care Act. They are not for a permanent children's healthcare plan. They are not for community health centers, where 40 percent of those CHIP children get their healthcare.

If they wanted to bring the government back and get us open, they would offer us the medical extenders like Mr. Pallone talked about. This is unfortunate. We should get past this and we should stop our mantra that the Republicans have learned.

Mr. Speaker, this moment in time in this previously respected and hallowed Hall is being diminished in the same manner in which the White House has recently been diminished. President Trump recently had a meeting and he referred to the Roosevelt Room, where he had a meeting with Cabinet members and other Senators, as ``the studio.'' The studio, as if this is all theater, ``Theatre of the Absurd.''

Now, the President has a history in entertainment, and he may be trying to get a lifetime Oscar for the most farcical display or appearance of an executive since Governor Lepetomane of Mel Brooks fame.

But this House should not follow in those footsteps and make this Congress a studio for a show being presented for the right-to-life people who are marching on this anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

This bill violates regular order, which we were supposed to be implementing. There was no hearing in the subcommittee, there was no hearing in the committee, and there have been no amendments allowed. This is irregular. This is not regular order.

This is a theater, a show put on and produced by Trent Franks, who left this House under disgrace, and continued by this Republican administration while this government possibly could go into shutdown. Yet we are acting like this is not the situation. We have a bill that will go nowhere in the Senate, that is unnecessary, and that violates the principles of federalism because most of the principles herein are reserved to the States and are unnecessary and are an impediment to a woman's health, in many cases making the Members of Congress doctors and superimposing their magical medical knowledge over that of physicians who are attending the pregnant woman and the child.

It is already against the law to murder a child. If the child is born, it is a child, and to not use the duty of care that a doctor has would be murder. That is State law, but it is already the law. To require it to be taken immediately to a hospital could endanger the child. It should be a decision by the doctor.

This is the theater of the absurd. We should not be in this House making it into a studio like President Trump has made the White House into a studio. We should be going through regular order and considering bills that have a chance to protect the American people and women.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the longtime host of Chicago Public Media's ``The Week in Review'' for 40 years of helping to keep the Windy City well informed. Joel Weisman conceived the longest-running series in the history of WTTW over coffee at the Palmer House with colleague John Callaway and William J. McCarter, the then-president and CEO of WTTW. The Emmy Award-winning program has welcomed a rotating four-person panel from print, broadcast and digital news media to discuss politics and other news relevant to Chicago each Friday since. Mr. Weisman's last stint as host will be on Friday, January 19, for an hour-long special with special guests and highlights from the past four decades. Mr. Weisman, a lawyer and lifelong Chicagoan, began his journalism career at the City News Bureau after graduating from the University of Illinois. He has also worked for The Gary Post-Tribune; The Chicago American; as a reporter, columnist and metropolitan editor for The Chicago Sun-Times; and as Midwest correspondent for The Washington Post. He is also the father of my legislative director, Matt Weisman. I want to wish him all the best as he retires from ``The Week in Review.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Safer Streets Act which creates a new grant program that focuses on violent crime in our local communities. Reducing violent crime should be a priority for the federal government.

In my district 228 people were killed in 2016. The deadliest year in two decades. In

2017, 200 people were killed. That is 200 people too many. Cities like Memphis were able to reduce violent crimes by hiring more police and providing programs to help children in the city. It is important that local governments that are trying to reduce violent crimes get federal assistance.

That is why I am introducing the Safer Streets Act. This bill would create a new grant program that would provide grants to units of local government that have crime rates significantly above the national rate. Units of local governments with crime rates four times the national rate would get 50 percent of the funds, units of local governments with crime rates three times the national rate would get 20 percent of the funds, and units of local governments with crime rates two times the national rate would get 10 percent of the funds. This bill also creates an emergency fund for units of local governments that have spikes of violent crimes.

I urge my colleagues to pass this important legislation and support our local communities as they work to reduce violent crime.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the fiercely independent progressive think tank co-founder Professor Marcus G. Raskin and to pay my respects to his family, especially to my colleague, Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin. Mr. Raskin died December 24 at 83. As a founder of the Institute for Policy Studies in 1963, Mr. Raskin was at the forefront shaping important policy proposals for more than five decades as the intellectual force against ``the national security state,'' a term he coined. Mr. Raskin was instrumental in galvanizing the anti-Vietnam War movement and in seeing the Pentagon Papers were published. He was indicted in 1968 as one of the ``Boston Five''--including William Sloane Coffin and Dr. Benjamin Spock--for conspiracy to aid resistance to the draft, and was acquitted. Later, practicing what he called ``passionate scholarship''--pairing ideas with action--he was instrumental in organizing the IPS campaign that ultimately persuaded 350 cities across the country to vote on resolutions opposing the Iraq War. A graduate of the University of Chicago and its law school, Mr. Raskin joined the Kennedy administration in early 1961 as an aide to National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy. Along with Richard J. Barnet, he founded the Institute for Policy Studies as a national vehicle for promoting progressive policies for the left-leaning elements of the Democratic Party. IPS became the model for policy think tanks in Washington and remained independent by refusing to take government grants. The author or editor of 20 books, Mr. Raskin was a leading force in progressive social causes, including the anti-nuclear arms debate, civil rights, women's rights, the environment and consumer affairs. In 1977, IPS was asked by 56 members of Congress, led by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, to analyze the federal budget, leading to the 1980 publication of The Federal Budget and Social Reconstruction. After the 9/11 attacks, he wrote three books forging a new approach to threats, including, with Robert Spero, The Four Freedoms Under Siege: The Clear and Present Danger from Our National Security State (2006). In 2012, he co-edited Warfare Welfare: The Not-So-Hidden Coasts of America's War Economy. I want to express my condolences to Mr. Raskin's family. The country was strengthened and enlightened my Marcus Raskin's persuasive ideas. As an American citizen who took an active role shaping public policy, he will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, today the Republicans showed their values.

They showed their values in the tax bill that gave 83 percent of the dollars to the upper 1 percent of the economic strata in this country.

They showed their values in giving real estate developers special tax breaks, like President Trump and others, and gave people who are extremely wealthy the opportunity to will more money to their children or whoever they choose than they can today, an $11 million break.

It has been sad sitting on the Judiciary Committee and watching the Republicans be aiders and abetters of the President in trying to demean the reputation of one of the finest Americans and public servants I have ever had the opportunity to know, Bob Mueller, and probably with the intention of firing him, something that should wake Republicans up to the fact that our country is in jeopardy.

We shouldn't be doing things that help the Russians get away with efforts to change our elections and interfere with our country's values. America first, Russia last. Protect Bob Mueller.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that I may hereafter be considered as the first sponsor of H.R. 3771, a bill originally introduced by Representative Conyers of Michigan, for the purposes of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings pursuant to clause 7 of rule XII.

Mr. Speaker, I am a little late and I don't know exactly what has been discussed. I serve on the Judiciary Committee with the gentleman, and what we have seen in the Judiciary Committee is scary.

I am honored to be a Member of the United States Congress. I am honored to be an American citizen. I see a threat to the independence of the United States Congress in upholding its oath and looking out for the best interests of its people and to our country.

I have Republican friends, as the gentleman does, on the other side of the aisle, and I know that they, in representing their constituents, are not fond of the totalitarian Russian Government and philosophy that threatens NATO countries like Lithuania, and Estonia, and Latvia, and Ukraine, and Georgia, with the power of the Russian military.

They do not like democracy. They do not like America, and they do not like what we represent. They don't like freedom of the press. They don't like freedom of religion. They don't like freedoms of elections. They don't have really free elections. They say they do, but they kill their opponents or they put them in jail on trumped-up charges, and they count the votes. There is nothing good about Russia in regards of democracy, and even within their constitution after they formed a country after the Soviet Union fell apart.

Our Republican colleagues are like sheep, following the President in attacking the FBI; in attacking the Justice Department; in attacking heroic Americans who have risked their lives in the FBI, and heroic Americans like Robert Mueller, who served in Vietnam and risked his life and was wounded there, I believe. And they threaten them and talk to them as if they are complicit with the Clinton campaign and trying to do something to harm President Trump.

Mr. Mueller is a Republican, appointed first by a Republican, Bush, and then later by a Democrat, Obama. He is as fine a human being as I have come in contact with in my 11 years in Congress, and maybe as fine a human being as I have come in contact with in my 68 years on Earth.

Mr. Rosenstein said glowing things about him yesterday and how heroic he is and how strong he is, how dedicated he is, how patriotic he is, and how honest he is.

For the Republicans to be trying to take this man down and to take down others who serve in the FBI, the only reason they are doing this is because they are finding information in their charge that implicates the President of the United States in activities that are questionable as far as his oath of office and border on treason. Because of that, they attack the FBI, which is the top layer or the cream of the crop of law enforcement.

And the President goes out and talks about our wonderful first responders, but the top of the line he is against because they question him.

That is when your country no longer exists, when it is all about the leader, not about institutions, and not about other individuals who are doing their jobs in a proper manner.

FBI Director Wray said nothing but good things about Robert Mueller. I think Robert Mueller's job is in jeopardy from this President, who likes to fire people, which is what he did on television, and he still thinks he is on television. It is a big performance art. It is all about performance art, and the star is Donald Trump. He acts and he is the show; and the show goes on, and there is nothing else.

To fire Mueller is part of the show, to question what he has done in arresting Manafort and Gates, guilty pleas, I think, from one of the gentlemen he arrested--was it Papadopoulos?--and then a guilty plea from Flynn. They don't plead guilty unless they are guilty.

Mueller is doing his job. He is trying to protect America. I think he is the man of the year and will be the man of the year next year. He is the one person between us and a kleptocracy and group of oligarchs, but kleptocrats who are using their positions in government to benefit themselves financially and to build up their wealth.

This tax bill we are talking about is part of the same thing. It is oligarchs. No inheritance tax, meaning they get hundreds of millions of dollars--hundreds of millions of dollars--and the President goes and says to a middle class family earning $75,000: You will have $2,000 that you can spend any way you want, or you can even save it.

$2,000 is tip change at Orange Julius to those people, the big money, hundreds of millions and hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars as the inheritance tax being repealed and the AMT being repealed and other changes.

And then they said: Oh, well, we only reduced the tax on the wealthiest from 39 percent to 37 because they weren't going to get to deduct as much of their State and local taxes, and it was going to hurt them more.

Well, there are people who aren't in the top bracket who aren't going to get to reduce their State and local taxes, and they gave them nada. They gave all of it to the wealthiest.

And that is what this is about. This is about the wealthiest people taking this country over and an oligarchy, and Trump is representative of them. It is about him. It is not about institutions. It is not about the Constitution. It is not about people. It is not about the First Amendment.

So many of the people who support him are good, hardworking, decent American people who don't want to be in bed with Russia and don't want to give up our democracy and don't want to give up our free elections to hacking and to internet social media games, and that is what we have had.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for having this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, I have a bill I took over for Mr. Conyers with Mr. Walter Jones, a Republican, that says you can't fire Mr. Mueller without cause and gives a redress in court. Sheila Jackson Lee has another. We have to be aware and alert. And if this happens, the people have to let their Representatives know, and particularly the Republican Representatives know, that they won't stand for it and they won't have another Saturday Night Massacre, because Rosenstein said Mr. Mueller has done nothing to be fired. He probably would not fire him, which means Rosenstein will be fired, and that is the end of the rule of law, and that is what makes us different from other countries, makes us different from dictators and autocrats.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay a special tribute and recognize the career of hall of fame magazine editor Graydon Carter. Graydon Carter is one of the great journalists of our time and retires today after 25 years as editor of Vanity Fair. He co-founded Spy Magazine which he also edited, as well as The New York Observer. And at Vanity Fair, he gave writers like Michael Lewis and Dominick Dunne a venue, and Christopher Hitchens, one of the great journalists of our time. Graydon said about Christopher Hitchens upon his passing that he was ``a wit, a charmer and a troublemaker and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from--dare I say it?--God.'' I'm sure Hitch would have said the same about Graydon. From the beginning of Spy Magazine and through the days of The New York Observer and Vanity Fair, he pointed out the shortcomings of Donald Trump. And he gave him the appellation ``short-fingered vulgarian.'' For that and much more, Graydon Carter will be remembered--a great journalist, a great human being, a great raconteur, and a friend. Graydon Carter will also be remembered for publishing such great writers as David Halberstam, Walter Isaacson, David Kamp, Nicholas Lemann, Jeffrey E. Stern and William Langewiesche, and for printing the brilliant photographic images of such artists as Annie Leibovitz, Mark Selinger and Jonas Freedwall Karlson. With a showman's charisma, he brought glamor and politics together, throwing some of the best-remembered parties in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, including hosting the annual White House Correspondents Association Vanity Fair after-party, the most sought-after invitation in D.C. A gourmet, his signature restaurants The Waverly Inn in the West Village and Monkey Bar on the Upper East Side are destinations in good taste. Graydon Carter was also the producer of documentaries including ``Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson'' and ``The Kid Stays in the Picture,'' about legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans and was a regular at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Print journalism is tough and Graydon Carter will also be remembered for his successful navigation through the current age of media disruption. I wish him all the best in retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Stop Underrides Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill I introduced earlier today along with my colleague on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Rep. DeSaulnier from California, and in the Senate, Senators Gillibrand and Rubio, to prevent deadly truck underride crashes.

An underride crash is when a car slides under the body of a large truck, such as a semi-trailer, during an accident. In these instances, the safety features of passenger vehicles are not able to prevent passenger compartment intrusion and often result in severe or fatal injuries even at low speeds.

Too many lives have been lost or forever altered by these preventable crashes and the time has come for Congress to act.

The Stop Underrides Act does just that--lays out a path to bring an end to these terrible and all too often fatal accidents by requiring all large truck trailers to have front, side, and rear underride guards.

These guards, if installed would have likely prevented the death of Michael Higginbotham, who was killed in an underride crash in Memphis and whose parents, Randy and Laurie Higginbotham, have inspired me to take action on this long overdue issue.

It's simple. This legislation will save lives, it's the right thing to do, and that is the bottom line.

This is common sense legislation and I urge my colleagues to support the passage of the Stop Underrides Act.

Mr. Speaker, today I recognize the career of Hall of Fame Magazine Editor Graydon Carter.

Graydon Carter is one of the great journalists of our time. He retires today after 25 years as the editor at Vanity Fair. He cofounded and was editor of Spy magazine, as well as the New York Observer. At Vanity Fair, he gave a venue to writers like Michael Lewis; Dominick Dunne; and Christopher Hitchens, one of the great journalists of our time.

Upon Christopher Hitchens' passing, Graydon said he was a wit, a charmer, and a troublemaker; and to those who knew him well, he was a gift from--dare I say it--God.

From his beginnings at Spy magazine and through his days at the New York Observer and Vanity Fair, he pointed out the shortcomings of Donald Trump. He gave him the epithet: short-fingered vulgarian.

For that and much more, Graydon Carter will be remembered as a great journalist, a great human being, a great raconteur, and a great friend.

Mr. Speaker, firstly, the NRA put a bulletin out to urge people to vote for this. They said: ``We must ensure that antigun jurisdictions do not harass travelers.''

Mr. Speaker, that is the purpose of this bill from the NRA, that nine antigun jurisdictions, State legislatures that have restrictive gun laws, cannot harass travelers, cannot see that their State has the same laws that their citizens have from people out of State.

When my friends on the other side talk about being concerned about the Second Amendment and dedicating their lives to it and seeing that irresponsible people don't get guns, when we tried to bring a no fly, no buy law, they weren't for it. They talked about due process.

But have they brought a due process bill to the floor for people who are on the no-fly list?

No.

People who are on Social Security who can't manage their own affairs, they passed a law that said they should get guns when they couldn't before. That is not in keeping with what they are saying.

This bill violates States' rights, puts guns in the hands of people that States don't want them to have. There are seven States that don't allow people under 21, unless they are in the military, to have a gun permit. This Federal law would override those seven States.

Mr. Speaker, this is a bad law. It is the NRA's law. We should have had amendments considered in committee, but we didn't because the NRA didn't want them.

Mr. Speaker, today, in Federal district court in Washington, Michael Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI, a felony. It is a strong indication that he is cooperating with the Mueller investigation concerning Russia and its involvement with President Trump and his team and the election of the President of the United States.

We are facing a crisis in our country with our Constitution, our form of government, and the rule of law. I have filed a bill to amend the Constitution to not allow pardons of people from any President's campaign team or family. I am also the sponsor of a bill that says you can't fire a special counsel without cause. The special counsel would have the right to seek redress in court.

We must be ready to protect Bob Mueller and the integrity of the rule of law in this country, for I foresee this President firing him, as Nixon did in the Saturday Night Massacre.

We are repeating the horrors of Watergate and the shredding of our Constitution, common sense, and decency.

Mr. Speaker, Franklin Roosevelt was a great President of the United States. He said once: ``The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.'' That is still true today for people who follow morality and Judeo-Christian thought.

Yesterday in Missouri, the President said that the tax bill, which is in the Senate now--and unfortunately passed this House--would not benefit him at all. He said: Believe me, it won't benefit me.

You can't believe that. It benefits the billionaires, the millionaires, and the wealthy, and that is what it is about. The disparity in wealth in this country is growing and growing, and we can't continue to have that. The middle class needs major tax relief, and the wealthy don't. We could draw a bill to do that, and we could do it together.

Our country is in danger. We need more help in the inner cities to fight crime. We need help all over to fight against natural disasters. People all over our country need help.

As Paul Simon said: A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, and John McCain, save America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the accomplishments of Memphis Central High School Marching Band that, on November 5, 2017, won the 2017 National High School High Stepping Marching Championship.

High Stepping Nationals was founded on the principles of promoting academic excellence through music education and the performing arts. The Memphis Central High School Warriors exemplify these laudable goals. Despite having to buy their uniforms from another school and having their instruments handed down from musicians before them, the Warriors' talent and dedication shines through.

Because of the Central High School Warriors' devotion to music and the arts they practiced for several hours nearly every day to before the competition. Under the leadership of Band Director Ollie Liddell, the Central High School Warriors' commitment is remarkable. The Warriors competed against more than a dozen other finalists from across the country to win the National Championship.

Memphis Central High School was one of the first high schools in Memphis, TN, built in 1909. Shortly after, Memphis High School was renamed Central High School. One of Central's most notable assets is the diversity of its student body which derives from representation of various ideas, talents, and cultural influences and which provides the fertile environment for educationally challenging and enriching experiences.

Congratulations to the Central High School Warriors for their commitment, hard work and perseverance in winning the National High School High Stepping Marching Championship and to Director Liddell and Principal Gregory McCullough for their commendable leadership.