Transcripts For CSPAN U.S. House Of Representatives 20180117

Cspan 2. And a full meeting in the rules committee and another tomorrow beginning at 10 30, that will be on cspan3. Waiting for the house to gavel back in. Several votes here on cspan. We are expecting the house to gavel back in shortly. Votes next. Resumehe and takthe ha. E chair the commite of the whe houson the state of the union for furtr consideration of h. R. 3326 h the clerk will report by title. Trk a ill to to increae countabilityombat Management Effectivenessthe orld bank. Thair when the commite ofhe wholeose earlier today,mendment number 3 printed in part a of house repo11518 byhe geneman from ntuckymr. Barr, had een disposed thchair pursut to clause 6, rule 18,he unfind is request formendment numb 2 and by the gentlemanrom virgin, mr. Clly on whic further prdings were poponed a the yeas pvail voic vote. The clerk amendment number 2 printed in hoe 115518 fered by mr. Connolly of virginia. The air those in support of the requet for a recordevote willise. A sufficient nuer havg ar, a rded vo is dered. Members ll record thr votes by electron devhis is a 15minue. [captioning madssibley the tional captioninstitute, inc icoopation th the United States house of reprentatives. Anuse of t closedcaptioned covege of the house proceengr potical or mmercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of presentative] e a on vote t the nays are zero. He amendment is apte the qeson is on e ameed. Substu, asin th thos favosay aye. Those opposed,o. He ayes ha i amendmen is adod. Accordingly und the rulehe committee rises. E speak ptempor m chan. The chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the Union Reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill h. R. 3326 and pursuant to House Resolution 693 reports the bill back to the house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. Under the rule the previous question is ordered. Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment reported from the committee of the whole . If not, the question is on adoption of the Committee Amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended. Those will favor will say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. He amendment is agreed to. The purpose does question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. Third reading. The clerk a bill to increase accountability, combat corruption, and strengthen Management Effectiveness at the orld bank. The speaker pro tempore the question is on passage of the bill. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. Ms. Waters request the yeas and nays. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition . Ms. Waters recorded vote is requested. The speaker pro tempore a recorded vote is requested. Those favoring a recorded vote will rise. A sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. Members will record their votes y electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, this fiveminute vote on passage of the bill will be followed by fiveminute votes on suspending the rules and passing h. R. 4279 and agreeing to the speakers approval of the journal, if ordered. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] h u. S. House of reprtative] the speaker pro tempore the yeas are 236 the speaker pro tempore the yeas are 237, the nays are 184. The bill is passed. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The Unfinished Business is the vote on the motion of the the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. Duffy, to suspend the rules and pass h. R. 4749. The clerk will report the title of the bill. The clerk h. R. 4279 a bill to direct the securities and Exchange Commission to enable closed companies and proxy rules that are available to other issuers of securities. The speaker pro tempore will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 418. The nays are two. 2 3 having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the Unfinished Business is the question on agreeing to the speakers approval of the journal which the chair will put de novo. The question is on agreeing to the speakers approval of the journal. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it and the journal i request the yeas and nays. The speaker pro tempore the yeas and nays are requested. Those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. A sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore on this vote the yeas are 225. The nays are 185. And one vote is present. The journal stands approved. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. Would members please take their conversations off the floor . The house will be in order. Would members please take their conversations off the floor . The speaker pro tempore the chair will now entertain requests for oneminute speeches. For what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania eek recognition . Mr. Thompson to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. Please would members please take their conversations off the floor . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Thompson thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to congratulate mayor bruno carnavali after more than 50 years of service to the community. The mayor first served as a Council Person for 18 years. Then as Civil Service chairperson for the Police Department for four years and most recently as mayor beginning in 1988. It was in 1966 when bruno ran for office with the goal of finding a solution to continual flooding problems near oak street. He stuck around long after that goal was achieved. The mayor grew up in johnsonburg but has had connections to empour yum since spending childhood summers working on his grandfathers farm. After High School Graduation he moved to emporium before joining the navy in world war ii. He returned to sylvainia and became a senior electrical designer, master electrician. The mayor has been active with the american legion, lions club, Cameron County Election Committee and active member of st. Marks church. I wish him the best in his welldeserved retirement and thank him for his service. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, eight years ago a devastating earthquake in haiti killed hundreds of thousands of people. Still today, our neighbors are suffering from the remnants of that disaster. But instead of extending American Hospitality to haitians, the president cursed them out, laying bare his bare racist intentions to destroy fundamental ideas of our immigration policy. Mr. Speaker, the American Dream must remain open to anyone from anywhere who wants to come here for any reason, especially if theyre seeking refuge from disease, famine, and oppression, just as generations have come here in our history. The Diversity Visa Program does just that. It helps people, particularly the African Diaspora achieve the American Dream. We must protect the Diversity Visa Program and not sacrifice ourselves to the false promise of an America First nationalism. Mr. Speaker, we are a nation of inclusion. We are a nation of open arms freedom for all people, not just norwegians. The president may speak for the altright but he does not speak for america. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. For what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to talk about the benefits that Many Americans across the country are already seeing from the tax cuts and jobs act. After hearing leaders of the Democratic Party call 1,000 crumbs, i wanted to make sure my colleagues on the other side of the aisle understood that our tax reform and relief plan is more than just crumbs to over two million americans. Mr. Palazzo immediately following the passage of the tax cuts and jobs act we saw an outpouring of businesses offering bonuses to employees and some even increasing their wages. This money was instantly invested back into american workers. I. D. A. Like to see one of my colleagues eye add like to see one of my colleagues from the other side of the aisle come to mississippi and tell people hat 1,000 is only crumbs. I will highlight mississippi businesses that are benefiting from our new tax code. Mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island seek recognition seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Cissna mr. Speaker, this friday the federal government runs out of money. We owe the American People a longterm solution to keep the government open. Mr. Cicilline comblfrpbl and democrats insist that this solution address the urgent issues facing the American People. Those we represent. And that means longterm funding for the Childrens Health insurance program, funding for communities fighting the deadly opioid epidemic, funding for the v. A. Choice programs for our heroic veterans get the care they need and deserve. Passing the dream act. And providing additional Disaster Recovery funds for puerto rico, the u. S. Virgin islands, texas, florida and california. I urge my republican colleagues to be sure that these issues are addressed in the continuing resolution. Work with the democrats, lets get this done for the American People. With that, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Paulsen mr. Speaker, january is National Slavery and Human Trafficking prevention month. With as many as 25 Million People ebb slaved worldwide, human track enslaved worldwide, Human Trafficking is one of the most important human rights issues of our time. Here in the United States there are an estimated 100,000 minors that are at risk of being trafficked and we have taken positive, bipartisan action on a number of bills, 18 this past year, mr. Speaker, to combat trafficking, to fight child abuse, and exploitation. To support and protect victims and to strengthen law enforcements ability to go after the traffickers. While we can be proud of the progress weve made, clearly there is more that needs to be done. Including cracking down on the demand side of the equation and holding websites accountable for advertising sex with juveniles. Mr. Speaker, i will continue to make this effort a priority and work with law enforcement, Victims Service groups and other stake holders to end trafficking Human Trafficking and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan seek recognition . Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Mrs. Lawrence mr. Speaker, i rise today to urge congress to move quickly on finding a legislative solution for dreamers before january 19. With every passing day that congress delays action from now, approximately 122 people will lose their daca protection. We cannot forget about the consequences that daca termination will have on women and their families. R. Speaker, 53 of active Daca Recipients are women. As a vice chair of the democratic womens working group, im here to say we need to represent all women and their families. All women just want a Better Future for themselves and their children. Without safety from deportation, families will be torn apart. Many dreamers now have children of their own. Congress, its time for us to act. And im standing here today speaking for women in this country. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition . Ms. Tenney i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Tenney mr. Speaker, i rise today to celebrate the utica comets of the american hockey league. The team that has been selected to host the 2018 ahl allstar game sunday, january 28, through monday, january 29, at the bank center at our own home city, the utica memorial auditorium. Central new york has a strong hockey tradition from the ahl comets and the devils to the classic powerhouse teams of the past. The legendary clinton comets. Many other collegiate hockey teams hail from our region. The Hamilton College continental, my own home alma mater team of the colgate raiders, and the Utica College pioneers. Fans are passionate for hockey in the Mohawk Valley and the southern tier, which the ahl recognized by rewarding the comets with this 2015 allstar game. The success of this event was in large part due to the comets organization, including former National Hockey league goalie, rob esche, the amazing comets fans and Greater Community whose hospitality showcased the enthusiasm and warmth in our region. Our entire community is thrilled that the ahl has awarded the 2018 allstar game to the utica comets and it is my hope that fans across the United States and canada will come to utica to see great hockey and to enjoy the great spirit of our community. I yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition . Mr. Carter i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Carter mr. Speaker, i rise today to remember the life of mr. Stanley john kazarowski who passed away on december 23 at the age of 78. He dedicated much of his life to Public Service in our nations judicial system. Orblingly from new jersey, mr. Kazarowski graduated from seaton Hall Law School before being hired as the assistant prosecutor for union county, new jersey. As assistant prosecutor, he tried his first murder trial at the age of 25. After a number of years with the Prosecutors Office in new jersey, he moved with his family to georgias first Congressional District, specifically to skitaway island. Here he continued his dedication to Public Service by serving on chat am county board of elections. Hes survived by his wife, carol, of 30 years, along with a number of children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Mr. Kazarowski will be missed. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from kansas seek recognition . I seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Yoder mr. Speaker, i rise today to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of lewisberg, kansas. Today lewisberg kicks off a celebration at lewisberg city hall. Though i cannot thereby, im honored to join in the celebration of this community i have the privilege of representing in congress. Congratulations to the mayor, city manager and all the Community Leaders who have come together to recognize the 150th anniversary. Founded in 1868, lewisberg is a town of wonderful history, great people, outstanding public schools, booming businesses, and beautiful parks and lakes. Lewisberg is home to a number of Small Businesses who have contributed to its success and growth. One of my favorite stops each fall is at the lewisberg mill. We have a great time watching the girls choose pumpkins, enjoy doughnuts and take in all the fun fall activities. Im proud to represent lewisberg resident joe of pop and joes gourmet kettle corn started in 2005. As a young man with down syndrome and autism, joe has testified before congress as a Small Business leader and i had the pleasure of meeting him on capitol hill. Mr. Speaker, these Small Businesses are just examples of what makes lewisberg great. Congratulations to lewisberg and i look forward to another great 150 years. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Lamalfa you know, mr. Speaker, we heard last week about 1,000 being crumbs. That the tax cuts and jobs act doesnt really mean anything for normal American People. Well, where i come from, this means a lot to people. 100 bills, 50 bills. This adding up to 1,000. Thats real money to real people. Maybe not in San Francisco. But in my district and a lot of places in this country. The tax cuts and jobs act is working. These dollars are coming home. I just read today where apples going to repatriate billions of dollars and pay 38 billion of new taxes because they see a fair tax rate and they want to come back and reinvest in america once again. 38 billion to the economy that may not have come back home, because now we have a tax rate that is friendly to the people that provide jobs and make the economy happen in this country. Mr. Speaker, you know, i dont know anybody that would step over 1 instead of stop and pick it up. So these arent crumbs on the ground. These are things that make america strong again, our economy go again, not just merely crumbs that elitists in San Francisco or coastal counties in california think doesnt mean anything. Were on the right track with this. Americans, the tax cuts and jobs act, will mean more for you and your pocketbook, lower taxes for you and more job economies for you. Mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore are there any further requests for oneminutes . The chair lays before the house the following personal requests. The clerk leave of absence requested for mr. Poe of texas for tuesday, january 16 and for today. And mr. Vila of texas for today vela of texas for today. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the requests are granted. Under the speakers announced the of january 3, 2017, gentleman from texas, mr. Castro, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority party. Mr. Castro thank you, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Castro thank you. Mr. Speaker, id like to speak tonight on the issue of the daca program. In 2012 president obama issued an executive order or action to allow 800,000 young people known as daca kids to remain in the United States. These are young immigrants who were brought here at an early age by their parents. People who had no choice in whether to come to the United States. But for many, this is the only home and only nation theyve ever known. These young people now face the threat of deportation if congress does not act as soon as possible and certainly by march , 800,000 young people would become subject to deportation. Already theres been a cost to congress inaction. Every day 122 of these folks become subject to deportation. We all understand in this body the lock hift long history of immigration to the United States and the incredible contributions that immigrants from around the world have made to our nation. People from germany, ireland, people from latin america, africa and asia. Literally every corner of the globe, people who have come here lending their talents, their energy, their croo creativity and their passion their creativity and their passion to making sure the United States remains the greatest nation on earth. That is the case with the daca kids. And today im joined by several of my colleagues who are going share some stories about Daca Recipients, their lives and the contributions theyre making in our American Communities and in american life. But before i yield to my first colleague, i want to run through for a minute the requirements for somebody to be a daca recipient. Because this has sometimes been obviously a very passionate, sometimes heated debate about what should happen with the Daca Recipients. Whether we should whether the congress should even commit itself to coming up with a daca solution. And whether its people making comments on television or sometimes comments you read online, its clear that theres a lot of misinformation out there, sometimes willful misinformation, about who these people are. And so i want to read real quickly the requirements for somebody to be a daca recipient. First, they were under the age of 31 as of june 15, 2012. Second, they came to the United States before reaching their 16th birthday. Third, they have continuously resided in the United States since june 15, 2007. Up to the present time. Next, they were physically present in the United States on june 15, 2012, and at the time of making the request for consideration of deferred action with uscis. Fifth, had no lawful status on june 15, 2012. Sixth, are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a completion certificate from high school have obtained a General Education Development or g. E. D. Certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the coast guard or armed forces of the United States, and have not been convicted of a felony, serious misdemeanor or three other zpheerns and do not pose a threat to Public Safety. This addresses two of the common questions or criticisms that you hear about the daca program, which first the idea that some of these folks are criminals. It makes very clear in these requirements that that cannot be the case. And then second, this idea that hey, these folks, if they wanted to, they could have just become citizens. Again number five was had no lawful status on june 15 20, 12. When the program commenced. So these are energetic, hardworking folks we can be very proud of, who are making significant contributions to American Society and Congress Must act and we should act this week to come up with a daca solution to make sure that no more of these kids are subject to deportation. That their lives are no longer left in the balance. That their futures are secure. These are folks who are in college, who have graduated and gone into different fields, different professions, teachers, you know, many other different professions that are represented by the ka da by the daca students now. Congress must act to make sure that that that they can stay in the country. With that, mr. Speaker, id like to yield some time, id like to ield actually to congresswoman bargain from california. Congresswoman barragan from california. Ms. Barragan the daca issue is personal for me. My district is 70 latino and i have an estimated 8,000 Daca Recipients. I have a cousin who a recipient of daca. Its heart breaking to hear the stories of recipient whors living in uncertainty, who are living in fear and who tell you firsthand of the sense of urgency they feel. Its the sense of urgency that frankly i dont feel is happening here in congress. I will talk to my colleagues across the aisle and they will tell me, i support a solution, i want to to something to help Daca Recipients, but we cant get a vote. The leadership will not give us a vote on the dream act. They wont give us a vote on any legislation that involves daca. Just today we had white house chief of staff kelly come in to meet with members of the hispanic caucus to talk about this issue. We continue to hear the president is committed to finding a fix. Yet hes using Daca Recipients as a political pawn. A political pawn to get a wall that he said mexico would pay for. Frankly as a member of Homeland Security i know that putting money into a wall is not the best use of our dollars. This issue is urgent. Its real. These are peoples lives. They are doctors, they are nurses, they are teachers. In my very district i have a daca recipient who was my guest for the state of the union last year. Somebody who is now teaching our children. Somebody who is giving back to our community. Daca recipients are good folks. Theyre our neighbors, theyre our friends, our family members. And there is overwhelming support on a bipartisan basis to give them the protections that they need and deserve. Members of our military who are serving are also Daca Recipients. I urge us all to come together, to find a solution, so that we can deliver on providing the protection that Daca Recipients so urgently need and so urgently want and stop making this a political football so we can also move on to other issues. With that, i yield back. Thank you, conditioningwoman. Mr. Castro before i move on to my next colleague, congresswoman barragan talked about the dreamers in her district, i have the main san antonio district, we have our fair share of Daca Recipients in san antonio. I want to read you real quick the story of one of them, lisa. Lisa is a first generation american who immigrated to the United States from canada in october, 1996, at the age of 6. She learned she had unknowingly overstayed her visa on december 19 20, 10, just a day after the dream act stalled in the senate. When she received in the mail a notice to appear in Immigration Court which is the first step in deportation proceedings. She went to elementary, middle, and high school in san antonio. During that time she was a girl scout, logged more than 700 hours of hours of Community Service in her high school years, and spearheaded a fundraiser that raised 10,000 to help pay for the bone Marrow Transplant of a young leukemia patient she had never met in 2008 she graduated from a San Antonio High School with sue ma m laude honors with summa cum laude honors. She worked in the house of representatives with my predecessor, charlie gonzalez, before heading to northwestern university. She was sitting at her College Graduation ceremony on the day president obama announce head daca program, june 15, 2012. Her work permit has enabled her to take out a mortgage, buy a car, get a job, pay taxes, renew her drivers license and repay six figures, about 114,000 of Student Loans used to fund her northwestern degree. Today, lisa is a Communications Associate at a nonprofit. And as a reporter, lisas work has been published in the washington post, huffington post, san Antonio Express news, Boulder Daily Camera and several every places. Her story is just one story of the incredible folks who are part of the daca program that are contributing to the greatness of our nation. Id like to yield right now to congresswoman norma torres of california. Mrs. Torres thank you, mr. Speaker, we have waited too long to protect the dreamers. This is unacceptable to me and to the vast majority of americans. My republican colleagues say we have until march to fix this issue. But that is simply not true. 16,287 dreamers have lost their protection since september. For those dreamers, the deadline has already passed. This is not a partisan issue. I would like to remind my colleagues that the dream act is a bipartisan bill. Unfortunately, the Republican Leadership and the white house have not acted in good faith. They have politicized this issue. They have backed themselves to the wall. They are holding the fate of dreamers hostage. They say they want to help dreamers, but then they say they will only help dreamers in exchange for border security, demanding that we give up on our commitment to keeping families together, ending the Diversity Visa Program, knowing that these are poison pills. If republicans truly want to help dreamers, democrats stand ready. If republicans want to compromise on a comprehensive Immigration Reform bill, we are ready to do that too. We can talk about all of the changes to our immigration system that republicans want. At the same time that we talk about how we bring 11 Million People, undocumented people, out of the shadows. And on a pathway to citizenship. But the issue of dreamers and comprehensive Immigration Reform should simply be kept separate. Show some leadership. President trump says he wants a bill of love. So do i. And so my and so do my colleagues. With that, i yield back. Mr. Castro thank you, congresswoman. The congresswoman was talking about the support for daca. And its true that surveys consistently show that the American People support the daca kids at about 3 or so. That is incredible, overwhelming majority support for this program. And she mentioned the possible tradeoff, weve been in this debate about, you know, theres been an argument that we should pass a clean dream act, for example, which is a daca fix, and whether it should be paired with anything else, right, like if were going to pass a daca bill, what is the price to pay for that . Thats the common debate. What is the what does is the president or what is the majority going to demand for that . But as congresswoman torres mentioned, i would just point out that that 83 support among the American People is not 83 only if you build a wall. The American People dont say, we support the daca kids but only if you build a wall across the United States of america. They say, we support the daca kids and we want to make sure those kids can stay and continue to hi in the United States of america. With that, id like to bring up congressman costa of california. Mr. Costa i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time. I rise today to stand with the dreamers, both those living throughout the great San Joaquin Valley i have the opportunity to represent i have the honor and privilege to represent, as well as those across the United States. We in the valley, as we like to say, and throughout our nation, are, let us remember, a nation of immigrants. Past, and present. Sooned we know the integral role both historically and today that immigrants have played throughout the great history of our nation. In determines of the development of our economy, and our communities. The contributions that have been made is the story of america. Our dreamers, these young immigrants, also make immense contributions and their story is a part of americas story. Its estimated that roughly 685,000 of our nations workers are dreamers with protections through the deferred action childhood arrival or daca program that if we in fact remove them as some are maybe suggesting, that it would impact over 460 billion to our nations economy, to our g. D. P. Think about that. In my home state of california, overestimated that thrfers 193,000 dreamers that are currently legal that are working and contributing with these daca protections. And that removing them from the work force in california would cost an estimated 11. 6 billion to the g. D. P. Of california. Does this make any sense . No. But the dreamers also serve in our military. Protecting our nation. Both at home and abroad, in harms way. Theyre our friends. Theyre our neighbors. They are decons in our local churches and many of them are students, hoping to contribute o the betterment of america. They too want to be part and they are in fact of the American Dream. In my district alone we have over 600 dreamers at the university of california at merced and more than that at my alma mater, fresno state. Fresno state university. But these dreamers are young men and women. Theyre not just numbers. These are people. They are people with many of whom we have trusted to be a part of our country, to uphold its word. When they basically enroll to be part of the daca program. Just today, i spoke with two dreamers in my office. One of them is a remarkable young person currently getting her ph. D. In physics. Shes 27 years old at the university of california merced, focusing her research on solar energy. Just think about this. Helping america with the next generation of our energy development. Bowe she hopes to work in research when she gets her ph. D. Now her future is uncertain. She came here when she was 3 years old. Her daca pr texts expire in less than a year. Another daca recipient i spoke to today is student body president at my alma mater, pedro, hes earned his masters degree in Public Policy and urban affairs and is contributing to the economy of our valley and to our state. His daca protections expire within months. Third about that. Think of the gravity of these two students. Less than a year, they dont know if theyre going to be here. This is their country as far as theyre concerned. Our dreamers have shared stories, time and time again, of uncertainty and fear thats gripping their families and our communities. And as a and as theyre forced to wait and see if the only home theyve ever known, or will the country keep its word when they enrolled in the daca program . And create the protections that allow him to stay here and ultimately become citizens. This is the question. That is what we are trying to achieve. So i stand here today to say to my colleagues, as members of the congress, we all take an oath every two years. We swear to protect it and defend the constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic. And to promote, guess what, promote the general will for the good of our country. Thats what this is all about. Promoting the most positive things that can be a part of our country. These dreamers are art of are a part of that. So this has to be a part of our permanent solution. 86 of the people in this country support providing legal designation for these dreamers. And its imperative that we do the right thing. This is america. And i will continue to work with my colleagues on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other members of the congress on a bipartisan fashion to ensure that we do the right thing. This is the american way. But more than just protecting these young people, America Needs a stable, just and commonsense immigration policy. Lets face it. Our immigration systems broken. Ill continue to work on a bipartisan basis for comprehensive Immigration Reform. More broadly. So that we dont end up back right where we are here today. Ckering in a partisan, piecemeal and often contradictory fashion that does nothing to fix our broken immigration system. We must, we must improve the dialogue and the debate and this problems very solveable. It really is. Lets get past the political posturing. Lets fix daca and provide the support for our dreamers and lets move on and the second phase, as the president has suggested, and lets work on the other elements. Were for border security. Its important. We all support border security. And lets do the other things that are part of fixing this broken immigration system. I thank the gentleman from texas and i yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Castro thank you, congressman costa. You made very several you made several very important points. One of them is the economic benefits of the dreamer population. The daca population. On their communities. And how not only for california and your district, but for so many other parts of the country, where do you have Daca Recipients, it would be a real economic blow to deport these folks, to uproot them from the communities and simply get them out of here. It would be an economic blow to the economies of those cities and towns and states. And of course to our nation. And then the second thing i thought was very important is really the human element. That right now, as you can imagine, these 800,000 young people are watching the united ates congress, everybody who loves them realizes that their futures hang in the balance. And theyre living in fear. And incredible anxiety. Wondering whether theyre going to be allowed to stay in what is, for most of them, the only place theyve ever known as home. It would be like deciding that you and i are going to go live in egypt or live in uruguay or anywhere else. We simply have no connection to those places as home. That is what these young people are facing. If this congress refuses to act. Thats what theyre facing now. If the gentleman will yield. You are absolutely correct. Thats why this debate is so important and thats why we must come together. Not just on behalf of bo and pedro, as i cited their examples, but for the 800,000plus dreamers across this country and their families. Mr. Costello this is just good mr. Costa this is just good common sense. Its the right thing to do and its what we must do to move our nation on a positive track. I thank you for all your hard work and im honored to be a part of this debate. Mr. Castro thank you for being a champion on this issue. Now id like to invite to come up congressman soto. Congressman from the wonderful state of florida. Welcome, congressman. Society society thank you, congressman cass mr. Soto thank you, congressman cass trofmente and thank you for your great leadership on castro. And thank you for your great leadership on this issue. You know, i want to take a moment to talk about the story of mariana castro. Possibly a Long Distance relative. Mr. Castro probably no relation, but, yeah. Mr. Soto mariana is going to be interning for us this year and is an ambitious Young Dreamer from florida. In 2005 she left limba, peru, at the age of 10, with her mother. Leaving her father and brothers behind for a safer life. She was in the high school program. Not until the 10th grade did she realize that regardless of her excellent grades, involved in hundreds of hours of Community Service, that her undocumented status would be a hurdle to pursuing higher education. A few months before graduation, daca, deferred action for childhood arrivals, was a miracle. She would now be able to provide her family, provide for her family, drive, and no longer live in the shadows. Mariana enrolled in the university of florida but faced severe Financial Difficulties due to her stat us. As stat us. As her only status. As her only way to higher education, she temporarily paused her education and fought for equity in the state of florida. I had the honor of having a role in that, having been in the Florida Senate at the time, when we passed instate tuition along with a bill that i had that admitted dreamers into the florida bar. This would spark her passion for social justice. Throughout her time at u. F. , she utilized her voice to speak for immigrant rights. And human rights, by taking several leadership positions with the only studentled immigrant Advocacy Organization at u. F. She has helped start programs that provide training for professional staff, under student affairs, about relevant immigration laws that affect students as well. Shes raised thousands of dollars for the out of the shadows, a scholarship specifically for undocumented students in florida, that she oversaw for three years. She spent a semester working for the Florida Senate and has also worked as a know your rights trainer for the florida immigrant coalition. Where she was able to educate the immigrant community about their rights in the United States through a mobile consulate. Due to her status, shes unable to qualify for loans and only qualifies to be eligible for a very limited amount of scholarships. Mariana has been paying her education out of pocket, working 20 to 30 hours during school and 50plus hours during school breaks. Her only close relative in the states, her mother, has been undergoing difficult medical procedures including treatment for human papilloma virus, and most recently, severe glaucoma. Making her unable to support her daughter. After graduation she hopes to attend law school to continue her fight for immigrant families across the nation. But if the daca program doesnt exist, if dreamers arent given their rights, then shell never be able to practice law under florida law. Im proud to announce that mariana will be completing a congressional internship in my ffice this semester. In florida we have 92,000 individuals who would be eligible for daca. 92,000 dreamers. And i have met so many of them. Theyre ambitious. Theyre attending college. Theyre starting Small Businesses. They are joining our military. They are the very best of what this nation has to offer. And the struggles have shaped them. Their obstacles have made them better for it, sharper, hungrier. We need to encourage these new American Dreamers, much like so many generations before them, in fact, the generations of ancestors, so many who occupy the seats in this chamber, and the time for action is now. We want to have a clean dream act. And that is our priority. But at the very least, rather than talk about shutdowns, lets talk about solutions. Theres a bill in the senate, its not perfect, there are things in there that i really dont like at all. And i know a lot of the members dont like. In the graham bill, along with senator durbin. But its a compromise. And its a start. I challenge for them to put it on the floor. Have a vote and send it over to the house. And then speaker ryan, i challenge you to put this bill, whatever comes over for the senate, on the floor from the senate, on the floor. Lets put together amendments. Lets take the very best of our debate, of our ideas, in this august chamber, and lets put forward a product that deals with dreamers, that deals with t. P. S. , that deals with border security. And let us put it on the desk of the president. Let us dare the president not to sign something that could be the embodiment of a generational opportunity to resolve so many issues that are so important to both parties. Let us not talk about shutdowns. Let us talk about solutions. And im honored to be here today with you, congressman castro, to do just that. Mr. Castro congressman soto, thank you for your wonderful words and youve brought up also a few important things that i think we need to remember. The first is, you know this issue of dreamers or undocumented immigrants is often in the american debate reduced to the idea that all of these folks are mexican or from mexico. When in fact, its actually a very Diverse Group of folks who are in the category of dreamers. Or who are part of the daca program. And so, you know, can you describe the community that you represent around orlando and some of the different groups that are represented in the daca program . Mr. Soto certainly. And thank the gentleman for yielding and giving me that opportunity. Florida has every color in the rainbow, every religion, every background. Where you have mickey mouse, you tend to have a lot of folks from around the world be familiar with orlando. So we have haitians who are dreamers. We have pruvee ans who are dreamers peruvians who are dreamers. We have folks from vietnam and laos who are dreamers. We have folks from every continent other than antarctica. And i want to make this point that the law make all the difference in these statuses. Im a puerto rican. My father was born on the island. So therefore hes a citizen by a statute. We have a large puerto rican population where most of my constituents who are from the island are only citizens because of an act passed over 100 years ago. We also have a huge amount of cuban americans. Because of wet foot, dry foot, because they were escaping tyranny, they are zenls. So a law makes citizens. So a law makes all the difference. And we know that for a fact and we live it every day in florida and thats what these kids need. The law needs to be on their side because its the right thing to do. A law makes all the difference in these families stories and these kids opportunities and i thank you again for giving me that opportunity. Mr. Castro thats right. There are people of european dissent descent, of asian desent, certainly of latin american descent, of african descent, who are part of the daca program. And so im glad that you went through the variety and the diversity of the people in your area who are part of this program. Now, bear in mind, my grandmother was from mexico. My grandmother came here around 1922 as a 6yearold orphan. And i remember a few years back, this professional geneologists for a publication looked at my familys history because we had never formally looked it up. But she found the documents of when my grandmother came to the country and i remember there was a box in the form that said purpose, in order, the purpose for why she was coming. And it said, to live. I mean, thats how easy it was back then, around 1922, to come to the United States, to live in this nation. Obviously has become much tougher since then. But it just speaks to the wonderful incredible diversity of people that have come here from different places around the world. And then congressman soto, mentioned one other important thing which is the Historical Context by which we find ourselves in this place. Theres this intensive debate going on right now and an incredible push to do a daca fix by the end of the week, hopefully, and a lot of people, i think, who may not have followed the volleying and the back and forth for a while are wondering, why is this such a crisis now . We know the immediate answer which is, if we get to march 5, theres 800,000 of these young people who will be deportable, subject to deportation, who were part of the daca program. Already 122, every day that passes, 122 more become deportable. But there was an opportunity a few years ago to deal not only with this part of the immigration issue, but to achieve what is called comprehensive Immigration Reform and by comprehensive that means you are dealing not just with one part of immigration but you are dealing with all the different issues associated with immigration. So it was daca, but it was also issues with visas, like tech visas and agricultural workers, it was dealing with the parents of the dreamers, for example. And that bill that passed thought Senate Passed through the senate with 68 votes, a wide majority of the senate in 2014, came over to the house and based on public reports and what members of congress stated their support would be for or against that bill, there was a majority, over 218 members, again, based on public reports, we never took the vote but based on public reports who said they basically would have supportard bill like that but at the time, Speaker Boehner refused to put that bill on the floor for a vote because of something called the hastert rule. The hastert vule an informal rule that says the speaker of the house wont put a piece of legislation on the floor for a vet unless that piece of legislation already has the support of a majority of the majority. At that time, the piece of legislation, even though it probably had 225 230 supporters in the congress, a clear majority to pass, didnt have over 50 support from the republican conference which represented the majority party. Now my last point on this, i know you know that know this, but when a speaker governs with the hastert rule, oftentimes the will of the majority is ignored in this house of representatives. But it also does something very insidious. It allows about 25 of this body to control 100 of the legislation that comes through here. And so thank you for bringing up the history and context because this congress and this country missed an Incredible Opportunity in 2014 to deal not wonl the daca issue but also with the many other issues associated with immigration. So thank you, congressman soto. Mr. Soto thank you, congressman castro. Mr. Castro now id like to invite up congressman correa, a wonderful new member from california. Welcome. Mr. Correa thank you to my olleague from texas. Im from california, the sixth largest economy in the world my home county, orange county, there was a if it was a country today it would be the second largest economy in the world. My district, exploding with jobs, unemployment at record low, we have biotech, high tech, tourism, home to disneyland, the angels, we also have recycling, manufacturing, you name it, its there. Its about americans working hard, former immigrants, now americans, also working hard, and new immigrants like daca students dark ka members of my community, also Holding Hands with all of us, working hard to enrich our communities, our neighborhoods, our county, our state, and our nation. Oday, Daca Recipients, model immigrants, nobody in this body would debate the fact that we want immigrants who come to work hard, follow the laws, pay taxes, learn english and study hard. Those are model citizens that any nation in the world would want and we have them here in this country. A few weeks ago, my daughter came home, 17 years old from high school. Two of her best friends came with her. They said, we want help. Mr. Congressman. Youre a congressman we can wavent some help. I said, whats the issue . They said, were both daca students, were afraid, were concerned, we want to go to college work dont know whats going to happen. Didnt have any answers for those two young ladies. But really, the answer i gave them was the same answer i give all the daca individual students i meet in my district which is, let me fight the fight for you in washington, d. C. What youve got to do is continue to study hard, continue to follow the law, and dont give up praying. Im convinced that in this body, im convinced theres enough people here in this body to vote for daca student, vote to change the laws. Why . Because its the right thing to do. This is a country of immigrants. And nobody, again, can debate the fact that these are good immigrants. These are good, hardworking folks that want a shot, want they dont want a fwift, but they want the opportunity to earn american citizenship. These folks have taken an oath, a pledge of allegiance to our flag and our country, to defend it against foreign and local enemies. These folks are americans in the true sense of the word. Ladies and gentlemen lets give them a shot a true shot, at being americans. Sir, i yield. Mr. Castro thank you, congressman correa. Youre right. The daca kids are going to school our kids. Are going to college with our kids. In our workplaces. There are people who are contributing and whose futures hang in the balance. Depending on what this congress does or does not do. Mr. Correa id like to say, they serve in the military, police officers, teachers, doctors, nurses, they are part of our fabric. Mr. Castro youre right and part of a long legacy of immigrants to this country. The United States has this paradoxical history when it comes to immigration. Were proudly a nation of immigrants, but each wave of immigrants has also faced its own bouts with discrimination. When the germans came here in the 1800s, they were said by some to be too dirty to be considered american. The irish were greeted in cities like boston and new york with igns that read, nina, no irish need apply, for jobs that were available. The chinese were excluded from our country for decades. During world war ii and the frenzy that ensued, japanese americans, but also Italian Americans and german americans, were interned, including in my home state of texas. But in every generation, americans have also stood up and changed course and become more welcoming for each of those groups. And i believe that in this generation in this time, this is part of that shift. For congress to finally address this issue head on and fully welcome these daca kids as americans. And pass legislation to do that. Thank you, congressman correa. For your words. Now id like to invite a congressman from the other side of the country, the wonderful freshman verbing, a congressman. Thank you so much for having us here tonight. Based upon what you were just talking about, congressman, ill talk about my father first. Im a first generation american. My father was brought to the United States by his mother when he was 4 years old. His father was here working, he had joined the u. S. Army in world war i, got his citizenship because of that. He was the first one in the neighborhood to go to college. World zi he fought in war ii and got the three oak leaf clusters. He went to harvard on the g. I. Bill. An italian immigrant going to harvard on the g. I. Bill in the 1940s. He was discriminated against as an Italian American at the time , he couldnt get a job at a big law firm. So he went back to our home tub of glen cove, long island, teamed up with another italian guy to start a practice and ended up running for city court judge. He became the yingest judge in the history of new york state at 28 years ole my father lived the Great American success story. He was a man who would proudly say what a country, all the time he died two weeks before my election in 2016. As i went through his papers, i saw his yearbook from st. Dominics high school, when he was 18 years old. They asked all the students, they said, whats your goal in life . Most people would talk about, i want to become a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer or i want to do some sort of exotic travel. My father wrote, quote, my goal is to be a real american. Now i sad heen i had seen that as a kid, i thought, i cant believe how patriotic my father was. But my father died in the middle of a president ial campaign, i realized he was 18 years old in 1939 and muse leaney had teamed up with hitler. An i and Italian Americans here in the United States of america were viewed as fascists or mafioso and that discrimination was right. But the geed people of this country and people in this body and people like my father held on to the basic fundamental concepts of what makes america work. What makes America Great. Are these basic, fundamental ideas. When dealing with the question of daca and immigration, we have to look at some basic fundamental american concepts. Lets first remember that all immigrant, documented or undocumented, are human beings and are entitled to be treated with respect and dignity. The most fundamental concept of america is all men are created equal. Not all men and women with a green card are created equal. Not all men who are citizens are created equal but all human beings are created equal and should be treated with human respect and dignity. And im concerned that the rhetoric that were facing right now, that the negativity were facing right now, that the uncertainty were facing right now, that the outright assault were facing in some cases right now, is causing so much anxiety in our country and its diminishing our status as a beacon of hope to the world. Thats the great thing about america. Thats what makes America Great. Were a beacon of hope to the world. And that beacon is being diminished by the rhetoric and by our failure to address this immigration crisis. This is not a new phenomenon. This started in the 1980s when death squads and civil wars and abject poverty forced people to flee from el salvador over the border into the United States in the tens of thousands. And starting with president reagan through president bush and president clinton and on, we havent enforced our borders for this entire time. Now 11 Million People in this country are suffering with this uncertainty because we failed to enforce our borders. Im all for securing our borders. But lets return to being a beacon of hope to the rest of the world and lets stop the suffering and the anxiety as we push people underground and we treat them as nonhuman beings. Entitled to human respect and human dignity. I believe that this is the greatest country on earth. And i believe that my dad knew that. And he also knew that a central part of being the greatest country on earth is being that beacon of hope to so many people. That said to the tired and poor, yearning to breathe free, come to our shores. If we really want to make America Great again, we have to reclaim that mantle of being hat beacon of hope and i agree with all the wise comments that have been made by my colleagues here today that the votes do exist in this house to resolve this issue. If we could get a bill put on the floor. Theres so many groups so Many Democrats so many republicans, meeting throughout this town on a regular basis to try and find a compromise to solve this problem. Democrats and republicans. But because theres nothing on the floor, we cant get the votes presented in a public way. If it was put on the floor, it would pass. We would have daca. We would have the dream act. We would have solutions to border security. We need to recognize that were all in this together. We need to rise up to the challenge to be the beacon of hope we once were and still should be to the world. So thank you, mr. Castro. Im very grateful for giving me the opportunity to speak. Mr. Castro thank you, congressman, thank you for sharing your dads story, his lifes story and what this country meant to him and the importance of coming up with a solution, a fix, as soon as possible. Thank you for that. Mr. Suozzi i want to bring up one thing i forgot to mention, i was the young mayor mayor of the city of glen cove in 1994 and we had day workers from central and south america gathering on the street corners, seeking work, it was the community was divided. One group, this was 1994, think how long ago this is now, one group say, get those people out of here. Other people say, these poor guys are trying to live the American Dream the same as your family did. I ended up setting up the first day worker Gathering Spot anywhere on the east coast of the United States of america in 1994, one of the first things i did as mayor, and those same guys that were gathering on the street corners back in the 1990s that we ended up bringing indoors, if you didnt get hireded for a day, you could learn a skill, learn to speak english, learn about the cultural norms of our community, we said if you play by the rules, well help you. Break the rules, youll get in trouble. Those same guys that were on the street corners have their own businesses, own their own homes and their children go to school with my children. And thats the American Dream. We have so much potential in this country if we could unleash it, for people who want to work six days a week and go to church on sunday, if only we could remove this anxiety and this threat that were pushing people underground and forcing them into and underground economy and underground communities. If only we could lift this back up again we could accomplish so much. Mr. Castro thank you for reminding us that something that is often lost in this conversation and debate, which is the fundamental humanity of the people that were talking about. Whether they have a green card, whether theyre documented or undocumented. The fact that were talking about the lives of human beings, too often thats lost in what is sometimes a contentious debate. Susesuse youre a kid going to school mr. Souzzi youre a kid going to school, youre worried about taking tests. Youre working every day, youre worried about your job. You are worried you dont have enough money to pay your bills. The normal concerns of life. Heap on top of that a National Debate that is treating you as a pariah and creating such anxiety to rip families apart. Think about how challenging that must be for those individuals, those families that are facing that type of threat. Mr. Castro theres no question that for a lot of them, as you talk to them, you can see what a soulcrushing experience it is and i think as your dad wrote in his yearbook, i think many of these kids have the same feelings. They want to be fully accepted as real americans. Which they, you know, obviously fema part of this country obvious feel part of this country, feel like its home, but are not sure whether america accepts them. Mr. Souzzi thank you for your leadership, congressman. Mr. Castro thank you. In just and just to make some Closing Remarks before i yield back the time, congress has to take action now. We cant wait any longer for another 122 dreamers every day, Daca Recipients, to become subject to deportation. And certainly cant get to march, where 800,000 of the kids, daca kids, will lose their futures in america. And become subject to deportation. And the issue of immigration and border security, all of these things are among the thornyist issues in american life. No matter where you go in the country. But we are a nation of immigrants. And this is one way that we will gauge the soul of this congress and of this nation. And determine whether were going to continue to live up to the nation that weve strived to be. Which is a nation of immigrants, of people from different countries, who have made such an incredible, beautiful, strong and powerful nation, have crafted that nation together. And i would just remind those who are against the daca kids, who would argue for inaction, who argue that they should get the hell out of here, that this country has been blessed throughout the generations that people from every corner on earth have wanted to come to the United States of america. 50 years ago, if you asked somebody who was living in europe or asia or latin america or anywhere else around the world where on earth they would want to go if they were going leave their home country, the answer 50 years ago was very clearly the United States of america. And there is a scarier day in this country than the day when everybody wants to come here. Thats the day when nobody wants to come here. The challenge for all of us as legislators and basically as americans is to make sure that when you ask that same question of somebody 50 years from now, who is living abroad, where on earth they would want to go if they were going to leave their home country, that they still feel comfortable believing its the United States of america. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Under the speakers announced policy of january 3, 2017, the gentleman from new jersey, mr. Smith, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. Mr. Smith thank you very much, mr. Speaker. It is my privilege and honor, as we approach the march for life on friday, to remember the Infamous Supreme Court decision that has resulted in the loss of some 60 million unborn babies and tens of millions of women who have been harmed. 60 million have been killed. A number that equates with the entire population of england. As a result of that very misguided and sad and tragic decision. But it is my honor as we open up this special order to yield to congresswoman Jackie Walorski from indiana. A distinguished member of this body who serves on the ways and means committee. Mrs. Walorski thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Chairman, i rise today to celebrate life. To stand for the idea that every human life is a gift from god. And to join my colleagues in renewing our commitment to defend the inherent dignity of every person born or unborn. This week well vote on the bornalive abortion survivors protection act, which says that a baby born after a failed abortion attempt should be given the same medical care as a baby born any other way. The same day hundreds of thousands of our fellow americans will march on the Nations Capital to celebrate the sanctity of life. Those who march for life come from every corner of the nation, to be voices for the voiceless. And to defend the most vulnerable among us. Such compassion, their dedication to this worthy cause, gives us hope that through service and action we can forest ar culture of life. Mr. Speaker foster a culture of life. Mr. Speaker, each and every life is precious. Thats why we must continue to be tire nls our work to defend the sanctity of life and tireless in our work to defend the sanctity of life and the unborn. I yield back. Mr. Smith i thank the gentlelady. Id like to now yield to the gentleman from north carolina, who is the author of the no abortion funds act, a bill that would close loopholes in the tax code that allow abortion providers to finance new clinics and facilities with local bonds that are exempt from federal taxes. Robert pittinger served on the Financial Services committee. I yield. Mr. Pittenger thank you. Mr. Speaker, i rise to spoke on behalf of our nations greatest tragedy. I would like to say, chairman smith, thank you so much for your leadership over the past 35 years. You have been unrelenting in your commitment and support of life. And i have the deepest respect for you. Day marks roe v. Wades 45th anniversary. Since that decision, over 60 million precious, innocent, unborn babies have been intentionally killed by abortions in the United States. In light of the anniversary and the march for life event, i would like to share the words of the late Mother Teresa. I quote, i feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion. Because it is a war against the child. A direct killing of the innocent child. Murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can killeen her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another . How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion . As always, we must persuade her with love. We must remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. , so the mother who is think so, the mother who is thinking of abortion should be helpful to love. That is, to give until it hurts. Her plans or her free time. To respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. Mother teresa goes on to say, by abortion, the mother does not learn to love but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion, Mother Teresa says, is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is what the great destroyer of love and peace is about, is abortion. End of quote. The work of this body, mr. Chairman, must be to correct this tragedy, to protect the lives of those who cannot speak for themselves. We hope and pray for those who stand in darkness on this grievous loss of life and who have been advocates of abortion. Who would know the mind of god regarding these 60 million precious souls, that life may have been given to them by god, the cure of cancer or of alzheimers or parkinsons or many other diseases. God is merciful but we must recognize our own responsibility and affect for our own actions. This week we have the opportunity to outlaw the diabolical practice of killing babies who survived an abortion. Something incredibly barbaric. By passing the bornalive abortion survivers protection act. I also survivors protection act. I also urge my colleagues to join me in the no abortion bonds act legislation i introduced to block planned parenthood and other abortion providers from using taxexempt taxpayerbacked bonds to football their abortion clinics to finance their abortion clinics. Our ises is great cause, ours is a great cause, greater thauns. It is a battle greater than us. It is a battle for the soul of this nation. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back. Mr. Smith thank you, mr. Pittinger. We do have several physicians that serve in this country, who are very, very prolife and very eloquent in their defense of life. Id like to introduce or yield o congressman andy harris, who is associated obviously with johns hopkins, a gentleman from maryland. Mr. Harris thank you very much and thank you, mr. Smith, for giving me the opportunity to serve as the cochair of the prolife caucus and to speak briefly today on the anniversary of the roe v. Wade decision. Mr. Speaker, for the last hour, those of you who listened, and there are a lot of people watching who listened, there was a discussion about the humanity of individuals, the humanity of people here in america, and how we need to deal with it. How we need to respect it. How we need to take that humanity into consideration. And we will. That had to do with the dreamers. It was about daca. But for this hour were going to talk about a million human beings a year who lose their life through abortion in the United States. One million human beings per year. Why do i emphasize human beings . Because the science on this is very clear. These are human beings. From the moment of conception, their genetic makeup is unique from every other human being in the world, and uniquely human. So how can we not consider those one million human beings a year who lose their life to abortion, not the greatest human rights challenge that faces us here in the United States . When we have the march for life in two days, were going to see many people from thely lenial generation, many from the millennial generation, many young people who i think realize, because theyve grown up and they learn in their science class that these in fact are one million human beings every year who lose their life in the United States. They realize the science is clear. Theyre human beings. They deserve the protection of this congress. So i hope because were going to deal with the issues that they talked about last hour. And then the congress should turn its attention to ending that human rights abuse for those one million human beings every year, lose their life to elective abortion right here in the United States. And i want to thank the gentleman from new jersey for his leadership over the decades on this issue. The struggle is not over. This human rights issue is not over. But hopefully, thank god, one day it will be. And i yield back. Mr. Smith i thank dr. Harrison for his very eloquent harris for his very eloquent remarks and reminding us that this is one of the greatest human rights struggle on earth. Id like to now yield to Virginia Foxx from north carolina, the chairwoman of the education and work force committee. Ms. Foxx, chairwoman foxx, has been a lifelong leader on the issue of life and of course in leadership and now as a full committee chairman. Thank you for what you do on behalf of the unborn and their mothers each and every day. Yield. Ms. Foxx i join my colleagues and thank you tonight for the fantastic leadership that you have given to this issue for so many years. Mr. Speaker, today, i rise to affirm the dignity of the sfimented 59 million children whose lives have been terminated by abortion in the United States since 1973. This friday, tens of thousands of americans will bear witness to the value of the unborn at the 5th annual march for life, nited in opposition to the lifedegrading Supreme Court decision roe versus wade. The right to life is first among he inalienable rights of our nations declaration of independence. It is imperative to safeguard life and liberty and pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, as evidenced by values ade, our Society Happiness at the expense of expense of human life. However, amid this culture of death, the Prolife Movement fights for life with love. And this years march for life theme love saves lives and am bodies the Prolife Movement. Look no further than the Pregnancy Centers he dedicated to serving new mothers. There are many in my district and im very, very proud of them. These Pregnancy Centers empower omen with lifeaffirming options and offer prenatal care and ultrasounds and babe supplies and assistance to help the material needs of pregnant women. Many offer information about the beautiful option of adoption and provide referrals to connect birth mothers. The babies cared for are loved before they are even born and the women are offered the love and support they need. These clinics recognize life as a precious gift and embrace ahive affirming option. We live in a society that misstates choice for liberty but the beauty of lick in a free country, we can use our liberty for love. On friday, we will speak for the unborn. But the Prolife Movement is more than just words, it is love and action every day. Affirming the value of life at all stages, no matter the difficulties it presents, striving to love daily is not easy, yet it is the greatest exercise of our freedom. And there is no life unworthy of that love. Thank you, mr. Speaker, i yield back. Mr. Smith i thank the chairwoman for very moving words. I would like to yield to congressman tim welcome back, the gentleman from from michigan. Mr. Walberg i thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, this past sunday, i stood at the side of a casket of a beloved long time friend who had just turned 95 years of age, five days before. And up until her most dying day was vibrant, touching lives of people, changing lives and making an impact in the world. Im rejoicing today because of two brand new lives that have been born. One to a staff member and another to a former staff member of mine. Brand new babies with an opportunity to be dreamers in this world. Who knows what their limbs will be. But isnt this what this is all about. Life that has lived has impact and then goes on. And new lives to follow, ultimately to have impact, have deems and make a difference and truly accomplish the divine plan that is the sanctity of life. Is week, we are oak the 45th anniversary of roe v. Wade and 44th march for life. People like us, congressman smith like you, for the past 35plus years that you have been leading this challenge here. 35 years ago that i left my dream job of pastor of a local church to speak for life in the halls of the state legislature nd end taxpayerfunded abortion. We have laws that say it isnt lawful. Speaking for life, speaking for the defenseless, speaking for those who would desire to dream who would be found in a world that they can change. How did we get in this situation especially when we have in that declaration of independence, that statement, the statement hat we hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights, among them, the right to life. The right to life. Liberty. And the pursuit of happiness. John adams, our second president , said our constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government. May we double our efforts to be that moral people that stand on the things that are timeless that were designed by our creator god. Let me end with this. One f our good friends and night gave me a poem that meant a lot to him. S i read that poem, it chake changed me as well. Last eve i passed a black smiths door and i heard the chime and i saw upon the floor, old hammers worn with beating years of time. How many andvilles have you had these, to wear and batter hammers sow. And then with twinkling eyes he said, it hammers out ks you know and so i thought, the andville called the masters word, beat on and though the heard, the andvilles unharmed and the hammers gone. Mr. Speaker, i believe the truth of the miracle and blessing of life will prevail and the right to life will be protected for anvils and e find so will the truth of god. It willry main. Let us never give up. I thank you for this opportunity. And i give back. Mr. Smith i yield to jim banks, servings on the arm services. He is championing the patients patients for stem cell will do know harm. Banks banks i thank the gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Speaker, our nation was founded on the universal principal that all people have the godgiven right to life and gender, egardless of race or age. E have fought closer to this ideal. There is still so much more work to do. The Supreme Court made a tragic decision in roe v. Wade and since then more than 60 million innocent lives have been lost. Ever single one of those lives was important and unique. As we reflect of those lives lost, we celebrate that our culture is recognizing the value of human life. Recent poll found that an whalming majority want substantial limits on abortion. Another poll found that 61 of americans opposed using tax dollars to Fund Abortions in the nited states while will 83 ap owesed to subsidizing abortions. Pa passed ahe house bill. This would prohibit any attempt n an unborn child of who is 20 weeks or older and 63 of americans supported a 20week abortion ban and im hopeful that our colleagues will pass this bill later this month. E must work to ensure that tax pair dollars dont support planned parent hood. Life is a precious and sacred gift worth fighting for and tonight, i urge my colleagues to stand for human rights and equal justice for standing for our the unborn. Lets make the cause of life the cause of our time. Thank you, mr. Speaker, i yield back. Mr. Smith i would like to yield to mike kelly, the gentleman. Rom pennsylvania, 3rd district mr. Kelly i thank you, mr. Speaker. The interesting part of our speech is talking about the protection act. The born alive abortion survivors. This is a commonsense bill. Thate case of an abortion, will resulted in a child being born alive any Health Practitioner must preserve the life of a child. And transported and admitted to a hop. Nd the Judiciary Committee has heard testimony from women who have survived. But i think what is more chilling than anything, the biggest offed ender of life, freedom and that is our history that we have to pass a law that protects children who survive an attempted abortion. These are children that are born alive. It is incredible that we have to have that discussion in the peoples house, especially in the United States of america. Oure have we become of what moral constitution has to be . It is unpleesk we have to come here and defend those lives. It has been said that 90 of life is showing up, because when you show up, people know you care. On friday, hundreds of thousands of americans from all over our country will come to washington, d. C. , on the march of life. They have done it for 45 years. For 45 years. Their passion has never diminished. They have made the trip to washington zs so our political leaders understand the sanctity of life. It is incredible that we have to go through this process. United states is only one of seven countries in the world that allow abortion after five months. I wish i was using the term 20 weeks. Five months. Five months. Who is included in that group, north korea, vietnam and china. What a Wonderful Group to be part of. I thank the gentleman because you have fought this fight for so long. And i think, thinking of the last 45 years, the number of people who have come here and marched for life and what we are trying to get to. There are 60 million abortions, 60 million little boys and little girls who never got so live. But through the efforts of the Prolife Movement, what we can count are the numbers of expectant mothers who were going to have an abortion, but through the efforts of chris smith thought and what it was they were going to do. We dont have those numbers but they have to be off the charts. For those folks who did go through an abortion, it is time to know there is mercy, and there is room in our hearts to embrace them and get them through that difficult period. Mr. Smith, i cant tell you how important this piece is and it is just so chilling. A law that allows children who are born alive in an attempted abortion has to be protected by the peoples house. Where in our hearts as human beings do we not understand the basic, the basic moral obligations and rights that we have . I just it is so hard to come here year after year and do this. But that for 45 years, for 45 years they have showed up in droves. Millions and millions of americans talking about life and protecting life. We have another chance this friday for all of us to show up and for all of us to be there. And i will tell you, 90 of life is showing up because people know you care. Thank you so much for showing up for 45 years. We do know you care. And we do know your compassion and your dedication to life. I thank you so much. And i yield back. Mr. Smith i remind everyone, this is a total team effort. One of the beauties of the Prolife Movement, and ive been in it for 45 years, is that it is filled with incredibly compassionate, selfless people, who would do anything to help the weakest and the most vulnerable. So thank you for your leadership. Id like now yield to evan jenkins, the gentleman from west virginia. Distinguished gentleman who serves on the Appropriations Committee where so many of these battles are engaged. I yield to my friend. Mr. Jenkins thank you so much. Mr. Speaker, thank you. Congressman kelly, what inspiring words. Thank you, congressman smith, for your incredible leadership. I am so proud, so proud to stand with my colleagues today to support the right to life. I commend all of those who will be coming to our Nations Capital this week, including from my home state of west virginia, to let their leaders, us, know that we are a country that values life and human decency. Each and every life is a precious gift from god. It is our responsibility to stand up for the unborn who were made in gods own image. They have no voice. We must be their voice. Im proud to join my colleagues in using our voices to protect life and to stand up for the unborn. I am proudly prolife. As we near the anniversary of roe v. Wade, we grieve for the lost lives. We pledge to protect the babies yet to be born. No taxpayer should be forced to pay for abortions. Thats why i have consistently supported legislation to repeal obamacare and to deFund Planned Parenthood. I was also proud to cosponsor be a cosponsor of the recently passed paincapable unborn Child Protection act. Which would stop lateterm abortions and ther to the rouse pain that comes torturous pain that cuments as a result of this dispick comes as a result of this practice. And the bornalive abortion survivers protection act. This legislation survivors protect act protection act. This legislation ensures babies are given the appropriate medical care to live and are treated as human beings. Mr. Speaker, every life, born and unborn, is precious. And i am proud to stand here with my colleagues to reaffirm our values that life is a gift from god and every baby deserves life. I yield back. Mr. Smith thank you so much for that very eloquent statement and remarks. Id like to now yield to general jack bergman. Retired threestar general of the marine corps. He serves on the veterans fares budget and Affairs Budget and Natural Resources committee. The gentleman from michigan. Mr. Bergman thank you, mr. Speaker, and thank you, congressman smith. Im proud to be amongst my colleagues this evening. I rise today on behalf of the constituents of the First District of michigan. Who are, i repeat, are the voice for those who have no voice. 2018 marks the 45th anniversary of the infamous roe v. Wade decision. Since that day, as you have heard several of my colleagues say, almost 60 million abortions have occurred in our country. Our United States. This today, this time frame, is an appropriate time for us to plan a path and forward for the Prolife Movement. The most important question we must ask ourselves is why . Why do we stand for life . Why is this cause so important to us . Why do we fight for not only all of our citizens, but for the unborn . For me, my why is simple. Every life, every life has immense value. Regardless of wealth, stature or fame. Whether you were born in rural Northern Michigan or in a large city, we all were put here on this earth for a purpose. To fulfill gods purpose. As the father of two wonderful daughters and eight beautiful grandchildren, i know firsthand he joy, love and inspiration that every single life brings. Life is precious. And should never be taken for granted. As a nation we must offer hope to those who have no hope. We must remind others of the hope offered by an adoptive family. And together continue together as the voice for those who have no voice. To gather as the voice for those who have no voice. We must and will continue to fight for those who have no voice. Mr. Speaker, i yield back. Mr. Smith thank you very much. Id like to now yield to mr. Hice, worth noting that hes part of a team back home that be has now been ranked number eight by the americans united for life in what they call the life list because of the legislation and the policies that have come forward in georgia to protect life. He was a pastor before coming to congress and has been a leader for religious liberty as well in the house. Mr. Hice thank you so much, chris. What an honor it is to be here with you and thank you for leading and managing not only the calls but this special order this evening. Its amazing to me that here we come yet get again on the anniversary of yet another roe v. Wade. 45 years, some 6 to million children 60 million children who have combon. And along with that, another an who have gone. And along with, that another anniversary of the march for life. Taking place now itself for over 40 years. Im thrilled that this weekend there will be students and teachers and nuns and pastors and priests and families from all across this great country, marching in the streets, from the right here in washington, d. C. , at the National Mall, to the Supreme Court and all across various streets across this country. Standing up for life. What a powerful thing that is. When we talk about life, its not an issue between republicans or democrats. This is an issue protecting 10 fingers and 10 toes. Its about protecting a precious heartbeat. And, yes, weve been able in this chamber to support and pass some significant legislation like the no taxpayer funding for abortion. Thats a great thing. There should be no taxpayer funds going towards abortion. We have passed the paincapable bill. Another great bill. Im hopeful and i wear this little la pell lapel, the feet print in a heart beat. Im hopeful we will be able to vote on and pass the heart beat bill. Weve all heard that abortion stops a beating heart. Its time now that a beating heart stops abortion. That if a heart beat can be detected, that a baby will be protected. Im hopeful well be able to get that on the floor here. And for each of us to have an opportunity to vote for that. Im pleased as well that we made the make america secure and prosperous appropriations act. It defubbleded planned parenthood. Something many of us have been funding for years, for decades. And in particular, ever since the horror of seeing the videos of planned parenthood selling baby parts, its time that we finally accomplish that. I just am so grateful for my colleagues here tonight. Taking a stand for life. Taking a stand for what is the greatest first most important right of all, the right given by almighty god, the right that president reagan said himself, without which no other right has any meaning. So i thank my colleagues for being here tonight, for taking a stand. Theres obviously more work to be done. The people of america gave us a United Government in this past election. Sent us here to stand for the platform that we ran on. That includes saving life. So i want to encourage each of us to stay in the fight, each one watching to stay in the fight. Weve come a long way. More to go. And with gods grace, well see it happen. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity. Mr. Smith thank you very much. Id like to now yield to mr. Grothman from wisconsins sixth. A member of the house budget committee, education and work force committee, and oversight in government reform. Mr. Grothman thank you for yielding. And thank you for your work on the prolife caucus. Only 52 years ago abortion was illegal in this country. Just as it was largely illegal throughout our countrys history. Illegal for before ultrasounds which made it so clear to everybody what was in the womb. Illegal when medical care was a fraction of what it is today. Illegal when families lived without electricity or running water. Despite these hardship, the public knew abortion should be illegal. How have we responded to our material blessings . How have we responded to these abortions . By saying that we cannot afford these children. Id like to thank donald trump for reinstating the mexico city policy. Id like to thank him for allowing states to not Fund Planned Parenthood with their title 10 funds. Id like to thank him for defunding the United Nations population fund. Id like to thank the march for life people for coming up here this year and reminding americans about this important cause. But i hope that the american citizens stop and think. If abortion could be illegal, only 52 years ago in this country, before we had ultrasounds, right, when people if abortion could be illegal in the 1800s, with, you know, minimal medical care, when people were living, you know, six or seven people in a room and a house without air conditioning and without heat, how these people could keep abortion illegal and how we respond to our blessings by saying we have to have one of the most liberal abortion laws in the country. I yield back to the gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Smith thank you so much. Id like to now yield to garrett graves from louisiana, the chairman of the Water Resources nd environment subcommittee. Mr. Graves thank you, mr. Speaker. I want to thank the gentleman, mr. Smith, for his leadership in this effort. For so many decades. Mr. Speaker, we spend millions of dollars every year in this nation in fact, in some cases billions of dollars, providing health care for americans. Feeding americans. President ghani housing for americans. Feeding providing houses for americans. We do, that mr. Speaker, because we value lives. We value these lives. So we spend billions and billions of dollars ensuring that there are opportunities for these folks. Ensuring that were protecting these lives. Were doing everything we can to provide a pathway to prosperity, to make sure that these people are healed from their allison ments, to make sure that they have their aliments, to make sure they have shelter and food. Mr. Speaker, under law, if someone causes a fetus to die, thats a crime in this country. Thats a crime. They can be charged for the murder of the mother, they can be charged for the murder of fee tulls. Yet but theres one fetus. Yet but theres one exception in the law. And thats abortion. I dont understand how in this country we can on the one hand say that these lives are so valuable and were going to spend all these resources on health care and on many other issues and peoples lives because they have so much value to us as americans. I dont understand how we can charge someone criminally if a fetus is killed through some type of negligent action or some type of crime, i dont understand how we do that. Yet we provide an exemption or an exception for an abortion. A life is a life is a life is a life. And its either it this month, as we have the 45th anniversary of roe v. Wade, 45th anniversary, amazing to think about it, 45 years, i think its important we reflect upon those constituents we have met, all of those americans that are the product of a changed mind, the constituents who told me their mother or father changed their mind and telling me about the contributions they have made to our community cap the contributions to this community. All lives have value. This congress, we pass the paincapable unborn Child Protection act. We passed the conscious protect act. And as other members noticed, we survirus ing on the protection act which ensures if a child you are vifes an abortion, that they would be given appropriate medical care, to ensure they have a chance, because lives have value. Mr. Speaker, as we move forward, i want to continue working with folks on both sides of the aisle as i hear people say, they are the voice for the voiceless and voice for those who are vulnerable population. This is a vulnerable population and we need to be representing and fighting for. I will be continueing to work with people on both sides of the aisle to protect ap the born and unborn because this isnt founded in our economy, our jobs, it is founded in our people. And i think so many other policies that we pursue here in this congress represent that and this is the one anomaly that we have to continue to fix. Because a life has value. And we need to continue fighting for the most vulnerable in our society so they have the opportunity to have the same experiences as other americans, i yield back. Mr. Smith i thank the gentleman. I yield to the gentleman from texas, peter has pushed for transparency and led a landmark ffort and recently led a brief supporting his states right not hood. Und planned parent mr. Olson mr. Speaker, i want to thank my dear friend and the leading fighter for all lives as the chairman of the prolife caucus, chairman chris smith. You have saved millions of lives frrl every consistent on gods earth and it is a true honor to fight for life. One of americas darkest days is rapidly aapproaching. Judges 2, 197 , seven were the i will partial Supreme Court came up, came up with the constitutional right to kill the unborn. And roe versus wade, these activists created a constitutional shadow of the 14th amendment to make abortion legal. 1973, at decision in americas world values have declined and have atact our decency. S high point where the personnel drinking large glasses of wine and talking about selling baby parts. But america is starting to rebuild her moral fiber. We now have a strong prolife president in donald trump. And President Trump has appointed a Supreme Court justice, Justice Gorsuch who will apply the law. He knows that the word has no business beingal Supreme Court decision and more and more states are choosing to save lives instead of take lives of the innocent. A few days, these americans prolife americans will come to their capitol to show the world that we respect all human life at the right to life this week. I hope all the activists who want to kill their babies leave their helmets at home. Or oppose two quotes from twore people. , she is one is norma the roe in roe versus wade. She died in texas in my district last february. D she made this strong concession, and i quote, i felt ushed of the truth of this realization. I had to face up the awful reality. About this wasnt period. It was about children being killed in the mothers wombs. Ll those years, i was wrong. Signed affidavits. I was wrong. Working the abortion clinic. I was wrong. No more the first trimester, second trimester and third trimester stuff. The point is, it was wrong. T is so clear, painful hly clear, end quote. My final quote is from mother tearesa and says it all about the fight for life. Signaid, its a poverty to chair child that you may live as you wish. Reject poverty and choose life. I yield back. Mr. Smith thank you very much, mr. Olson, for those very strong comments and i feel the same way about your great leadership. D i yield to andy biggs from arizona 5. Mr. Biggs mr. Speaker, thank you and thank you for yielding time to me and leadership on this issue. H. R. 4712. I was a young man in high school when the roe versus weighed decision came down. It reig nighted the moment. My mother and future mother in law began working on this. Seeing their example, my wife, my family protected many. We worked for prolife causes, internationally and in the state legislature and the state legislature we passed dozens of prolife bills and since 2009, arizona has promoted the protection of unborn babies. Arizona was maimed the top prolife state in the union. Even so, arizona is not without problems. I dedicate my support to h. R. A to a mother who faked serious illness. She sursifed the abortion but she wasnt given any medical attention. Doctors, nurses and presumably her mother led her live go away after one hour and 18 minutes after the abortion was performed. Her life passed. Is bill is for others that should be alive today. A baby with nol name survived an abortion. 911 in the phoenix area received a call indicating that a postabortion baby was breathing but the clinic did no more than provide oxygen. The baby died before the arrival at the hospital. I dedicate this bill to the unnamed babies of abortion. Mr. Speaker, if a baby survives an abortion, it is not an abortion, it is a birth. It is inhumane to allow babies to simply die from negligent and detention. 4712 the passage of h. R. And i urge leadership to bring the heartbeat procks act of 2017 sponsored by 170 members of this body to the floor for a vote as well. I thank you, mr. Smith. I yield back. Mr. Smith i would like to kansas. Member of just ranked number five as the state. Ro i would like to thank you for hosting this special order on the 5th ambssi of roe versus wade. Each and every life is precious, a unique gift with unique values. 16 weeks old, a babys body is formally formed and a babe can make facial expressions. I have been blessed with three children. And as a father, im excited to see what impact they will have on the world. They will contribute to society and bring a unique prospective. As we approach the anniversary of roe v. Wade, there are individuals in the country today. 0 Million People starting if families or going to medical schools. Their fate was determined before they had a chance to show the world talents. Im thankful to the volunteers to ensure that we are becoming a society. For many years, we have been involved with the people of kansas. Hundreds of these volunteers are coming here to this week coming for the march of life. And thats five months, i think we are seeing an incredible prolife generation and see what kind of impact they will have on our world. Mr. Smith i yield toll Keith Rothfus from pennsylvania, a prolife leader who has been educating members of our congress. He serves on the Financial Services committee and great leader in protecting the unborn. Mr. Rothfus i thank my friend. His past monday, our country observed Martin Luther king day. While reflecting on his legacy, i recalled, when i first read the letter of the birmingham jail, there are two types of laws, just and unjust. He was asked what is the difference. Just lawaw scares and un s out of harmony and put it in terms of st. Thomas and a human law in human law and natural law. It is one of the reasons i ran for congress is the goddepiffen right to life. This friday marks the 45th anniversary of one of the most somber history. Associate justice called this an exercise in raw judicial power. As the wiped out the laws of all 50 states. And echo the words of dr. Kings at the lincoln memorial, they stamped the note of the right of declaration with gin sufficient funds. Restore erve, let us e independence right to life and i again commend congressman smith for his tirleless advocacy in defending the defenseless. Mr. Smith and i now yield to the gentleman. I rise to stand with my colleague, stand with those who will be marching in two days to remove this scourge this stain, on american history. Mr. Abraham our louisiana delegation, as youve heard, we have a strong presence here. We have a strong presence from louisiana that will march on friday of very young people that get what abortion is. Our great whip leader Steve Scalise would be here too, were he not recoverering from a surgery. We wish him the best. Mr. Speaker, as a christian, i know that life is a precious gift and i believe that life begins at conception. To physician, my oath is protect all lives, including that unborn child. And certainly, as an american, i think abortion violate ours Constitutional Rights of that inalienable right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Mr. Speaker, youve heard tonight that over 60 million babies have been born aborted. Think what they could have become, mothers, fathers, sisters, brother, nieces, nephews, vital partings of our community. As you heard , my great friend garrett graves listed some of the bills we have had this congress. Well continue to do this. Mr. Speaker, we dont have to continue to put up with this stain on american history. We can do better. We know how to do it an we must end this practice as soon as possible and prevent this horror from continuing. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back. Mr. Smith were getting close to the end, mr. Johnson, i yield to you as much time as you may consume. Mr. Johnson i want to thank the gentleman from new jersey and all our colleagues here tonight for standing for the sanctity of human life. Was born on january 30, 1972, 357 days before roe v. Wade became the law of the land. Before i came to congress, i defended real jus freedom and the sanctity of human life. We often stated very simply what aye said in this chamber many times, this is part of the very foundation of our republic. It was the british philosopher, g. K. Chesterton who said america is the only nation founded on a the , its outlined in declaration of independence. We hold these truths that all men are create ed call,er that endowed by their createor with certain inalienable rights, the right to life, liberty, and the pursue sut purr suste happiness. They understood because were made in the image of a holy god, every Single Person has inestimable digny and value and its not realed related to our race, sose yo economic value, where we went to school, how talented we are or how much we can contribute to society. Our value sin hernt because it is given to us by god. Its for all these wrens fight for the sanctity of every human right, we cherish our children as a heritage of the lord as the scripture says, and we defend the defenseless. It is our solemn obligation before the lord and i pray we continue to defend it. I yield back. Mr. Smith i yield to rodney davis. Mr. Davis thank you to my good friend, chris smith, one of the reat prolife defenders. I want to commemorate the 4th anniversary of roe v. Wade. Ery year, people come to washington, d. C. And march from the mall to the Supreme Court. For me, it means having renewed hope and faith of the nations young people as i see hundreds, many from parishes like mine, come to our nations capitol to stand capital to stand for human life. I want to recognize the groups from illinois who are traveling to participate in this weeks march for life event, including the 250 young people and chaperons from my diocese, springfield, illinois. Twin of a daughter and twin boy, i want to thank them and i yield back. Mr. Smith i yield to lloyd tucker. Mr. Tucker thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank you, chairman chris smith, for leading the prolife caucus and for organizing this evenings special order. This friday, our constituents from all across the country will arrive on the National Mall for the 45th annual march for life. Last years march for life was one of the first events i participated in here in washington after i took office in january of last year. Hundreds of my constituents had marched down the National Mall, had the opportunity to meet with them afterwards and hear from them about their hope for the Prolife Movement. They had just come back from hearing the Vice President speak , and speak about life he had spoken about life is winning here in america. And i quote from him , he said, ive long believed that a society can be judged by how we care for its most vulnerable, the aged, the infirm, the disabled, and the unborn. Since that day, mr. Speaker, im proud to say that this chamber has taken steps to protect the lives of the unborn. Weve passed the commonsense pain capable unborn Child Protection act, banning abortion after 20 weeks. The point at which we know an unborn child can feel pain. We passed the no taxpayer funding for abortion act, ending taxpayer subsidies of abortion and codifying this Hyde Amendment governmentwide. I was happy to be part of a body that passed both of these bills and vote for and supported those measures. And this week, the house will vote on legislation the born alive abortion survivors act. Requiring medical care be given to any child who survives an attempted abortion with strict penalties for those who do not comply with the law. Now, voting against this legislation would be unconscionable. A child made in the image of our creator and born in this world simply should not need additional Legal Protection requiring medical care if theyre born alive after an attempted abortion but here we are. Were continuing our fight for the rights of the unborn and the born. Its a fight worth fighting and we arent going to stop. I look forward very much to joining my constituents on the National Mall on friday to raise your voice to raise our voices for those who cannot speak. They have our commitment to continue to work in this chamber to protect the lives of the unborn. Thank you, mr. Speaker, i yield back. Mr. Smith i thank my friend. I would like to yield briefly to glenn thompson. Mr. Thompson mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that i can submit my comments for the record and thank the chairman and what an outstanding turnout tonight. Hank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Smith best weve ever had. Thank you very much. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Under the speakers announce spoiled of january 3, 2017, the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. Schweikert, or minutes. Mr. Schweikert thank you, mr. Speaker. Tonight i wanted to do two or three things. Some of this is has been bouncing in my head since we were on this floor a few weeks ago doing the tax reform discussion debate and the number of things that were said that just sort of drives you a little crazy because the math was wrong or there was sort of make believe. And look, for those who have been, shall we say, sleepdeprived enough to stay up and watch some of my presentations which i do every you know that i say that congress is often a mathfree zone. So i thought id talk about some great things that are happening. This is important. Think about the economy right now and what was happening in the anticipation of tax reform and now that tax reform has passed. During the tax debate, the reform debate, we would hear arguments often coming from our brothers and sisters on the left talking about income inequality. A couple of weeks ago we did a presentation on the floor demonstrating that if you live in the world of the last decade where youre only growing about 1. 8 g. D. P. And that joint tax and c. B. O. , the people who are scorekeepers, are saying, for the next 30 years, youre only rowing about 1. 8 g. D. P. Growth, that crushes people. If you care about income inequality in our society, the way you solve it is growth. And theres lots and lots of data from left wing groups, right wing groups, academic group, that say growth is the greatest cure to a society thats actually started to move apart where the haves have more and the have nots have less. Turns out that occurs when you have a stagnant growth society. And its obvious. Think about the last 10 years. Think thi about the projections of going the next decade at 1. g. D. P. Growth. 10 one of the things i wanted to talk about is, if i came to you right now and said, lets just drop our partisan hats here, youre not right, not left, are you joyful that were seeing data right now today where folks with felony convictions are finding jobs at a rate that has not been seen in decades . How would you feel when you see other populations that have actually had a really rough decade finding jobs . Isnt that what we all come here and stand behind these microphones and talk about . Guess what, its happening. If you look at some of the unemployment data, populations that have actually gone the last decade in a really rough position are finding employment. And theres some amazing indicators. Earlier last year, we came here and did a series of presentations on what was happening to the Social Security Disability Trust fund. It was collapsing. About a month ago, we had a meeting with the Social Security disability actuaries. And guess what . All of a sudden we went from the trust fund is begun in about two years to, hey they added an additional four years on it. Turns out parts of our society which would have been heading toward disabilities payments and therefore leaving the labor force were finding employment that actually worked with their difficulties. This is great. These are good things. I know in this town of washington its just a partisan knife fight all the time. I understand many of our lefters and sisters on the believe rage is a way to politically communicate. And i would actually like the math and what were seeing happen in our communities and our society for the populations we both care about, good things are happening. So how do we build policy around here that keeps it going . So the chart i have here is sort of talking about what the projections were as of october, 2017. So fairly recent dayity data of what was going to happen over the next couple of decades in the amount of our society that would be in the work force. And you see these lines just crashing. And crashing. And all of a sudden, you see the little dotted lines . Thats what we were projecting in 2016. Then all of a sudden you see the solid line, its up substantially, thats the 2017. What was happening between those two years . 2016 to 2017 . That all of a sudden we start to see a substantial hopeful increase in people saying there are going to be opportunities in the labor force . It was a combination of what this body has been doing in 2017, whether it be a rational regulatory model heading toward the optimism of tax reform, you love and care about people, providing opportunities to have your income growth, the ability to save for yourself you family, your kids education, good things are happening. How do we keep it going . I want to walk through a couple of examples out there, if you follow the press and our community, came across a story just last week in one of our counties in the southern part of arizona, beautiful area, all of sudden, theres such there is a demand that our correctional fall silt is having demand to do skills training and employment for folks if it were just a year or two ago, were off e being discarded. Look for these stories. Find joy in them. Because this is what we care about. Someone may have said they may have had a bad act in their life and maybe they have a future and is is true for our lowskill populations and those who may not have graduated. We have stories about the resources they are training the skill sets for employment. Isnt this what so many of us have talked about, saying, there is a way for everyone to participate in this growing economy and have a joyous, hopeful future and economic stability . So, i want to actually take this. And some of this is an additional discussion on the debate that happened here last month and talking about revenues. And well see if this makes sense. My grandfather used to have a saying, it doesnt matter how you play the game, its who keeps score. Know, its an adjustment and it turns out, we were having these discussions about previous tax reforms and previous tax cuts and you hear things and you go back and look it up and the numbers were made up. We are going to correct that record today. But the final two boards here, we are going to set the benchmark, the goal line of what the tax reform is expected to produce, what the tax reform ould be judged by so she shouldnt have people make the math up. And judge us by what we call the baseline. The slides are talking about what we expected revenues. And this is the history going back to 1967 and you will actually see in here from here the g. D. P. S 17. 4 of came in at federal revenues. And we actually expected to move up to 18. 4 . Im sorry for this, but gives you an idea, and you will see it in the next couple of boards where we raised taxes and lowered taxes and that line of the amount of the economy that comes in in federal taxes stays n in a very, very tight band and maybe the fixation isnt on tax policye but on a because if you are going to be 18 here about that 17. 4 to g. D. P. Have a bigger economy if you believe we need the additional revenues, which we do. So on this, i want you to take a look, because this is the overall, and look at times where we had receive news and you see the dotted lines and these are the tax cuts, tax relief, if you look on every occasion, there are the twouse and look a year r so later, receive news spike up. In 2010, part of the Obama Administration and this congress, there was a tax change that actually gave back more receive news to workes and revenues actually went up. Its on the chart. You cannot pretend there hasnt been expansions during this time. So actually drilled this point down a bit more. In a lot of the debate we had here last month, we had member after member from the left come mind the microphones and say ere is no tax cut paying for itself. There are lots of tax cuts over the history. But there are a lot of them that have. Lets walk through the actual data and if you know what the baseline was, then this is what the projections of revenues before the change in policy, you cant move the goal line to sound like it is competent. Gains did the capitol cut in 2003. And a handful of members came on the mige crow phone and talked about how much money it lost. Turned out its not true. So if you actually look at the blue, thats what c. B. O. And joint tax actually calculated that the revenues were going to be before the tax changes. The 2003 was functionally with the call gains tax and the red was receive news. This isnt the debt or spending. When you look at the number, there is revenue and spending round here and this body loves toll conflate this argument. Look at the receive news as an isolated. If you hook at this thart here, you will see the red. This is Capital Gains taxes. Lots of predictions, we are going to take in a lot less revenue. D lets walk through and demonstrate what that calculation is. And as we discussed, the previous slide was a percentage of g. D. P. And on the size of the economy, there were move receive news coming in oof the Capital Gains cut. You will refer to it as the bush tax cut. They expired in 2008. But either way you try to judge it, guess what . Not only paid for itself, but it made money. And yet, we have member after member after member who will tell you it didnt. Lets look at the what the actual math was. Thank you for helping on the board. O, the prior prior to the 20032008 Capital Gains tax cut. Sorry, i know this is big numbers and going as fast as you can, we expected 138 billion in eceive news from the Capital Gains. Nd excuse me, excuse me, and then the projections were no, 13 was trillion over that time. But if you take a look at that 13 number, thats what the baseline was before the 2003 Capital Gains tax cut. At the time it was modeled, c. B. O. Joint tax came in and said guess what, go from the 1 too 12. Turns out from 2003 to 2008, when you calculated the receive news from the Capital Gains tax cuts, how much money did we lose . Billion before the projection of revenue before the tax policy changed. This is really important. When someone comes behind these mike crow phones and says there is no such thing as a tax cut paying for itself. Sure, it is. The goal line was set before the tax policy change. Thats what the projection was offer those coming years and hen the tax policy change, got , andok at the data in 2008 the rns it was higher than policy before before those tax us cuts. Just understand. This place loves to tell stories, but they dont demonstrate the actual math. Lets talk about what is going on right now. We heard predictions from everything from the end of the world to the end of the world in regards to tax reform. As you know, there is trillion and a half place holder for the tax cuts and reforms that we did in december that are now in effect. So lets lay out. This is actually what the projection was going back to june. So this is a fair and honest thing. This is what we call the baseline. The baseline is what we should be judged by. And everywhere, whether im here or another member is here, another member comes up here and says, this is what we took in. Did we ex exceed what the baseline took . But what happened to the projections, the curve, the size of the economy . Because remember, the beginning of this discussion, we talked about really neat things happening in our society. When we started to work on the actual drafting of the tax reform bill, we were living in a world that was going to grow in 1. 8 . Ld that is and some of that is a little excitement. There are a lot of things. But understand what that means in revenues and opportunity and just good things for everyone in our society. So we are going to go to the next board. So heres what im asking. If you are the left, or right or in the media, understand that the june number was that over the next 2017 palestine for functioning in the next 10 of , was 3 trillion revenue. Thats fair. Judge us on that. 10 years from now, someone will remember this and look back at say, did we take in more or ess. So thats the baseline number. And we have on the previous chart, sort of what was projected each year. If im he blessed to be here, i will come back and stand behind this microphone and look at the revenue that came in compared to what we projected months before the tax reform became real. What has taken place in the past. This is important. Because if you care about people, if you care about opportunity, we have some real difficulties coming towards us. And lots of the data and lots of the charts and in a deck aid and crisis. E hit a debt and your options are really simple, you have to do substantial reduction to the dollars that are flowing out. Because remember threequarters of this depofts money rolls out in. And another 13 or so is what you think of government. Social security, medicare, medicaid, all the things that are just formula. So economist and economist have told us you cant grow more than 1. 8 g. D. P. , you are heading toward a debt crisis. You are heading toward this armageddon so why wouldnt you stand up here, work to reform regulatory codes, the tax codes, the immigration codes, these things and maximize the things that will create growth and opportunity . I think thats just what at least on the republican side weve been doing. So the reason i put up this chart is more to lay a marker. Understand thats the number before the tax reform and i believe a lot of the anticipatory effects on the economy. Hold us by that. Now, who knows who will still be around here 10 years from now, but will revenue exceed 43 trillion . Thats the benchmark. Its not you cant say well, the debt went to this, our spending went to this, because they operate outside the revenues. Thats policy decisions made here on what to spend. Our disasters. Our god forbid, military action. But the revenue number is what we should be judged by. When you see whats happening right now in our communities, in our society, the number of organizations that are about have started to pay their employees more. The number of organizations bringing back billions of dollars to invest in our country. The research, the development, althusian of the economists out there, for those who dont get that, go look it up, who basically said the next three decades of our life are basically constrained. I hope theyre wrong. And we as a body need to continue this optimistic opportunity of coming and saying, ok, how do we get more of our brothers and cysters to actually be in the labor force . We know today we have about six million jobs going unfulfilled. Lack of skills. We also know from recent publications because of the tax reform, businesses are taking some of that resources and putting it into job training and taking populations that were being left on the sidelines and being drawn in. This is wonderful. How do you turn to others and say, should turning 65 or 67 be hitting a wall . How do we actually provide you the opportunity if you so wish so desire, to actually stay in the labor force and continue to help grow this country . Because that work, we know, is often good for the soul, the individual, but its also really good for our tax revenues and really good nor the size of the economy. Remember the bigger the economy gets, the less that cliff that wall, that debt crisis, thats about a decade and a half away, the more that gets pushed off into the future and the demographic curve that is, those of us who are baby boomers, maybe that doesnt create a debt crisis. Maybe it actually turns into an opportunity for this economy, society, to continue to grow, to be happy and healthy and prosper. This is one of those times i get behind the microphone and im actually excited about what im seeing out there in the data. I ask this body, even with partisan rancor, lets continue to adopt those policies that grow. That bring people, provide opportunities to be part of the labor force, be part of the American Dream. And by doing that, the things, the the things the left tell us they care about, income inequality, actually close. The things so many of us care about, not hitting that debt crisis, maybe get postponed, maybe never happen, there is a path here. But it has to be everything. Has to be the tax reforms we just accomplished. It has to be rationalizing our regulatory system. Were working on that. It has to be an immigration system that focuses on maximizing economic expansion. Has to be the adoption of technology. Were working on it. I think we can get there. This is just fun having a chance to get behind this microphone and actually be positive and optimistic after the last few years of where things were quite dour. And with that, i yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. Under the speakers announced policy of january 3, 2017, the chair recognizes the gentleman from florida, mr. Gaetz, for 30 minutes. Mr. Gaetz thank you, mr. Speaker. I come to the floor this evening with a heavy heart, deeply concerned about my fellow floridians and my fellow americans who have seen benefits as a consequence of medical marijuana. Throughout this great country, there have been circumstances where states have chosen to experiment and afford their citizens the opportunity to receive medical marijuana treatments. And that opportunity flourished as a consequence of a series of actions, one of which was the cole memo. The cole memo was a direction from the attorney general of the United States in the last administration not to prioritize the arrest and prosecution of people who were using medical marijuana legally under their state laws. Not to punish the doctors or prescribers or dispensing organizations that were assisting in the logistics for that care. But instead to focus our precious federal resources where they could do the most good. To stop drug trafficking, Human Trafficking, illegal and ill list activity that surrounds the drug trade. To ensure there wasnt access for minors or cartels or people that would drive a medical practice deeper into the black market. It is deeply unfortunate that attorney general Jeff Sessions has recently rescinded the cole memo. Acing into question the very annals of medicine that have help so manufacture oy my constituents and fellow americans. Im going to speak about this issue but i want to take the opportunity first to yield some time to my good friend from the state of florida who has been a leader on not only this issue but on so many of the critically important bipartisan reforms, i yield such time as he may consume to mr. Cur bell he of florida. Mr. Curbelo i thank my colleague, mr. Gaetz, for this special hour to shine a light on this issue. On the federal governments overreach and unjust treatment of legally operating businesses all across our country. Businesses that operate legally and in compliance with their states laws and regulations deserve a federal government that respects the 10th amendment of the constitution. Like my colleagues ive been disappointed that when it comes to the treatment of these Legal Marijuana businesses, the Current Administration which supposedly respects the federalist model of our government, continues to take such drastic steps to ignore states rights and the decisions of voters and state legislatures across the country. In the 2016 elections, over 70 of florida citizens voted to legalize the use of medical marijuana. The two counties that make up my own Congressional District in south florida, monroe and miamidavid, voted in favor of the measure 80. 3 and 68. 3 respectively. The voices and the votes of my constituents, mr. Speaker, matter. The 10th amendment of the constitution matters. And for those who like to call themselves constitutionalists, the entire constitution has to matter. Not just the parts that are convenient at a given time. In addition to the witch hunt opened up by the attorney generals actions last week, current federal law also prohibits these businesses from deducting the common expenses associated with running a Small Business when they file their taxes. Expenses necessary to running a business like rent, most utilities and payroll. Simply put this rule places legitimate enterprises which have been established under state law at a major competitive disadvantage for legal employers are paying exorbitantly higher effective tax rates. Thats why i introduced h. R. 1810, Small Business tax equity act last year. This bipartisan bill amends the tax code to allow legally operating marijuana businesses to utilize common Tax Deductions and credits, thus providing them with tax parity. The federal government should not be ignoring states rights and the decisions of voters and state legislatures across the country. We must work to afford all businesses selling legal products the opportunity to make appropriate deductions and contribute to our economy and create jobs. And another important point, mr. Speaker, and again, i thank my colleague for taking this time and bringing us together to talk about this issue in a bipartisan manner, the best ally that those who are operating illegally, the drug cartel the drug traffickers, who do not pay any taxes, with target children, the best ally they have are the policies that the attorney general has embraced. Because what happens, mr. Speaker is that these legally operating businesses can no longer compete. And that people turn to the black market. So hopefully, inadvertently, i hope inadvertently, the attorney general has actually done a great favor to those who operate outside the law. And is punishing those who are actually trying to control this substance, to keep it away from young people, to make sure that only those that have permission from their states, prescriptions from their doctors, can access this substance. So i i am, again so grateful to join my colleague today to call on the attorney general, on this administration, on this president , who when he campaigned said ill defer to the state, i will respect the state, and in this case, a state like florida which voted for the president also voted 71 to allow medical marijuana in our state. All the way from key west to the panhandle. Residents of florida deserve to be respected. So i will continue working with my colleagues my colleague on this side of the aisle, across the aisle, make sure that our government respects states rights, to make sure our government is on the side of those who want to operate within the law. Those who want to pay taxes. Those who want to be compliant. Not the gangs and the illegal drug traffickers who are celebrating today as a result of this dangerous policy change. I yield back to my colleague from florida, mr. Gaetz. Mr. Gaetz i thank the gentleman from florida, mr. Curbelo, for joining me this evening. Each and every point mr. Curbelo made wasnt partisan. He didnt it didnt lend itself to a conservative or liberal ideology. It just made sense. Just adhere to our constitutional principles in a way without getting the government in the way. Im particularly grateful that the movement criticizing attorney general sessions for this very poor judgment exercised is not a Republican Movement or a democrat movement. It is bipartisan. And in that bipartisan spirit, i wanted to recognize my friend, mr. Correa, from california, i want to thank the many californians who are been part of this effort going forward. I yield him such time as he may consume. Mr. Correa thank you. Im also honored to join my colleagues from across the aisle tonight to talk about attorney general sessions decision to rescind the cole memo which has guided the state of californias the state of california as well as other states in pursuing reasonable cannabis regulation. The california state senator, we relied on the cole memo to help craft californias cannabis industry regulatory framework. I personally introduced legislation to regulate medical cannabis that was sponsored by the Public Safety community of the state of california. We all relied on the cole memo. We all relied on regulating medical marijuana to make sure it was chemicalfree that it was tested, labeled, and that cannabis was kept away from our children, our neighborhoods, and our schools. I remember working on this legislation and one day i got a phone call from a republican doctor who wanted to lecture me about my bill. I assumed he was opposed to the legislation but you know what . I wanted to hear him out. O i had and during the meeting, he told me about his daughter, who from birth until the age of 10, had seizures and every time, those seizures have gotten worse and worse and the medication he had to use had gotten stronger and stronger, with terrible siled effects on his beloved daughter. And it was a d it like a miracle sm his daughter was Getting Better and he said, i want to make sure that my daughters seizures stop and i want to make sure she doesnt get high and what he wanted to do is make sure that my legislation carried language to ake sure that mel can business was tested. L what this and there are mr atients that rely on medical can arch b inch s and relies on the manufacturing. Ttorney germ sessions, doing away with the cole amendment affecttively says to the state of california, you can no longer it. And this will not be available. Say, please a say, attorney germ sessions let states do what states do best, respect the soncht and move forward. Thank you, mr. Speaker, i yield. I thank the gentleman and his words are a call to sympathesize and support parents who have children with diseases that lead to chronic seizures. Mr. Gaetz there is a desperation who have children who have these seizures. The backye can roll in of their head. Mr. Correa referenced circumstances where ar parent would reach out toll help. Nd i would yield to you how it plain and disruption in the process and want their child to be able to breathe in the absence of these symptoms. I would israel to you. Thank you, mr. Per. I want to add that thing about all the progress we have made as country how soum tates have relied on that cole memo to be lawful, lawfully abiding citizens, lawful businessmen and states have relied on that to make sure. Heir framework million time have been invested by the states to make sure we are following federal law. Nd overnight, the cole memo is depon and all this is out the door. What do we tell these citizens who want toll follow the law and pay their taxes and do what is right under the law if they are not criminals. This is not right and inconsistent with our due process and at the end of the day, these are states rights. We have given these abilities of the states to regulate this. We cannot turn our back and say, we deposit mean it. I dont believe we can return to those days when we would look up individuals or minor sources of can business. Theaptain arrest people and doctor has the ability to med indicate his daughter. I thank the gentleman for yielding back. And i wish you the best. What does the ro peel of the comb memo really mean for a atient, a doctor or dispensing organization. It could be crippling and to the ericans who rely upon it for medicine. Banks do not know whether or not their receipt of deposits operating under the color of state law would subject that nk to the op presence i have bank. F the he and dispensing organizations at want to make research and wont be able to meet payroll and fund the infrastructure. Wont be able to do the research and find out what strains of and this repeal of the cole memo is president a circumstance that you are ok where you arent ok, it erodes the framework that has allowed people to bring medicine to the doorstep. Confusing policy. Lack of clarity. In an area where it could do so much good, why wouldnt we wan the please highest standards for testing and labeling and research and introduce cannabis do n a contest that could that in the most clinical setting. Present subscribed by dock trs that have seen the remedy. Im a limited government guy. Dont understand why this he vulnerablece between people. I wanted to take a moment to recognize one of my friends, who has led in this institution in his conversations causes and i yield to the gentleman from south carolina. Mr. Sanford i applaud the way you raise this. It was jefferson who said the normal course of things was to government to gain ground. Government to gain ground and liability to yield. And you think about the significance of the 10th amendment. Those powers not delegated nor protted by the states are resevered to the states respectively. This is a gut check moment on which we pleach in the 10th amendment and with he believe in a limited federal government. One, what you are talking about tonight is about this larger question of whether states are proxies, if you will, work ir vizza for the federal government and nothing more than that. Re all decisions to be made in washington, d. C. , . This issue is not about marijuana but about local voice and local control. We have an oil drilling issue. Ot because it was our idea but every one came out in unison of prockspla om places and in the way we accept as a coastline. Question, or is there a state depoft and hole government and individual involvement that is involved in the way decisions get made . And this is a gut check vote on the notion of federalism. And the reason they didnt want a king or a queen and the congresswomen drick voice that nt with it, bass it is a one man, one voice. What i think is interesting, state level. I remember different bills kming cross my desk and they proposed tax increases and the staff would say, you have to veto that. I dont agree with it. I combrow it is a mistake but counties need to decide. This is the exact level of play. D by having this different experiments and what works and doesnt work, not from the bottom up. This is about saying the federal vernment does not decide the complexion of a local business. H. R. 1810, im a cosons sore of thinks bill, you have to whiteal local business as a local business and cant come in and preement from a federal level and decide how think are going to operate. I aplayed what you raised tonight. And your very strong stand for liberty. With that, i yield back. And its worth noting so many of the spreps is that make up the people come from local government or state legislature. Im very proud to have served in the Florida Legislature and and we have seen how states can function as the laboratories of democracy and from time to time, a state may look and say there is a simbingts where they did something right and we can aylor proposals have withstood review and experiences and try to improve. That is the great system that ur found rs promised us. Federalism isnt a notion of how government should return. We have the promise and i thank theolleague that iss states federal government. Ash why the decision do resigned flawed and deeply policies one she state level. And thats the point that i would like tore stress. I have met with hundreds of families in the state of florida and throughout the country who have seen benefits from medical marijuana. This isnt something that people are hopeful for, but actually create in quality of life until american families, why wouldnt we be for that. Champion . t he be the y we wouldnt want to give a grand parent who has seizures and help a caretaker severing from aleds imers or dimentia and improved research and growing opportunity for progress. Backward. On is a step steprum administration can forward and fulfill the promise o respect the rights of stays. We need to issue guidance and will not be prosecuted or harmed or face regulatory action if they accept the deposits. Im hopeful that the secretary has more foresight and he will provide this guidance. I ask that the president engage. I know him to be a man of a muge heart to cares about people. Throughout the family, there is a focus on care for the vubbleneble and children who have to deal with complex medical issues. I hope they find it within their hearts to take action. Let us not allow attorney a ral Jeff Sessions and in an industries that is growing jobs and key administrations. Theres broader medical Marijuana Reform that needs to happen. Theres nokes cuse to maintain marijuana on the list of schedule one drugs. Schedule one is reserved for those drugs that have no medical value. That cant help anyone. That should be subjected to the strictest scrutiny. Not even cocaine is a schedule one drug. I dont even think that some of the drugs that are doing the most harm and causing the most deaths throughout the Opioid Crisis are all schedule one drugs. But marijuana is . It is indefensible and it is indicative of a dogma, of a lie that the federal government has told to the American People for a generation. And think of the opportunity if we could come together and make some progress on this issue. Throughout the 115th congress weve had robust opportunities to debate about our discord and disagreement and to discuss issues where perhaps we wont be able to come together as republicans and democrats. But this should not be one of those issues. This isnt partisan. Its not even conservative or liberal. You just have to believe that the role of government isnt to hurt people who are trying to get better, or hurt people who are trying to help others who are trying to get better. We spend way too much time arresting people for marijuana in the first place. In the year 2015 643,000 people were arrested for marijuana. Thats one person every 49 seconds for a year. 574,000 of these arrests were for possession, not distribution or sale. 40 of all drugrelated arrests are for marijuana possession. And this is particularly discriminatory. Africanamericans are more than 2 1 2 times more likely to be arrested for possession than whites. Marijuana is a 20 billion industry in this country. If we allow attorney general sessions to have his way, well drive that 20 billion into the black markets. Into the hands of the money launderers and the cartels. And the consequence will be fewer solutions for patients. Marijuana has shown tremendous promise in the treatment of alzheimers, to slow the protein deposits on the brain. For patients with aids and h. I. V. , medical marijuana can stimulate appetite, slow muscle wasting syndrome. It can function as an antinausea medicine. As an and it can reduce peripheral neuropothy. For arthritis patients there can be a reduction in certain types of symptoms that could clear peoples airwaves suffering from debilitating arthritis. For chronic pain, weve also seen very favorable results, for the many millions of americans dealing with chronic pain who right now are greating prescriptions for opioids getting prescriptions for opioids. So many of the prescriptions written for opioids today in america, causing deaths, taking away our children, our aunts and uncles, our parents, could be avoided if we werent prescribing opioids in the first place and if we had a lower impact alternative like medical cannabis. People with cancer have been given new hope. Not only that these symptoms can be relieved through medical cannabis, but that the actual growth of tumors can be slowed. Theres really great research, it has been published by the british journal of pharmacology regarding the Antitumor Properties that medical cannabis can have. But unfortunately that research has to be done in israel. And in europe. And in other places in the world. Because in this country, we continue to maintain the indefensible policy that no research can reasonably occur on medical can bills. As a matter of fact, this very attorney general and can bills. As a matter of fact this very attorney cannabis. As a matter of fact, this attorney general and this department of justice has made it impossible to help american families. Mr. Speaker, may i inquire as to ow much time i have remaining . The speaker pro tempore one minute. Mr. Gaetz thank you, mr. Speaker. Ill conclude with this. I wasnt always a believer in medical cannabis. But i met a girl in my district who was being told by her doctors that she was going to have to saw her brain in half to stop the seizures from firing across. Today that little girl is a medical cannabis patient. Shes traded surgeries for softball games. Shes traded doctors for dancing lessons. And shes she brings hugs and hope and joy to our entire community. Its for her, its for the millions of americans benefiting from medical cannabis that i call upon this administration to stop the attorney general from harming americans through his repeal of the cole memo. With, that mr. Speaker, i thank my Bipartisan Group of colleagues who joined me this evening and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore pursuant to clause 12a of rule 1, the chair declares how its in recess subject to the call of the chair. Deadline. They need to come up with some kind of deal. What is the status . It is an impasse at the moment. Leadership is just a fourweek stopgap with funding for chit. For chip. , conservatives and defense hawks are frustrated about the prospect of stopgap. At potentiallyg asking for money on defense, be it a fouryear bill as negotiations continue around that. They have no plans to change the bill, but negotiations are fluid. In yourave a headline article today saying that paul ryan is calling for the Freedom Caucus. What is going on with that . Right, so the reason he is caught between them is that he will need one or both. The push on this defense, if it doesnt work out the Freedom Caucus essentially has three options. Plan a would be the full year of funding defense at higher levels with just the stopgap for the nondefense agencies. Plan b is defense anomalies like equipment for aircrafts other things that are maintenance needed. Change iseally chump that they are talking about adding. The third plan is not really are lookingt they at concessions for defense in exchange for votes. On the flip side, democrats are saying the cr does not go far enough to prioritize chip funding. It is a sweetener for some democrats, but not enough to get the majority of the caucus to vote for it. Crs, there is been a rush to hold back on this until republicans put out the votes. What is Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi telling her caucus to do . Well, we will find out what she is going to say tomorrow. The caucus leaders cannot of their caucus today saying that there is no specific directive to members about bucking the district, but the consensus is opposition to the cr overwhelmingly because it does not address democratic values. But therepport chip, is no Opioid Funding or solutions for dreamers, no disaster funding, the list goes on. Justey think that chip isnt far enough. One last question. I dont know if anybody can answer this. Is there a backup plan if the cr fails in either chamber . I think theuse, plan is to continue flipping the boats on this one. I think well know by tomorrow morning whether it can go forward as planned. Votes, dont have the they will basically call Conference Meeting to see what it is that will get them to the votes they need. I dont expect ryan to go to democrats because i dont see democrats yielding to him on this, so it is most likely that the republicans will have to figure it out themselves. Lyndsay mcpherson, we appreciate your help. Rollcall. Com is your website, right . That is right. Appreciate. Thanks a lot. Cspans washington journal, live every day with policy issues that impact you. Coming up on thursday morning, Pennsylvania Republican congressman mike kelly will join us to discuss the possibility of a government shutdown. New jersey democratic congresswoman Bonnie Watson coleman will talk about pilates will talk about hawaii. And, the latest Gallup Survey showing that leadership is going on that leadership has undergone a large drop. Us for to join as wengton journal, discuss President Trumps first year in office and the womens march in washington. To liverow, it is day the House Rules Committee on ways to reform the use of federal earmarks. It is member directed spending. Never said the committee will hear testimony from state and federal experts who share their opinions on your mark reform. 30at is live thursday it 10 a. M. Eastern. The navys readiness. They will speak before the Armed Services subcommittee. That is live starting at 3 30 eastern on cspan three. Listen live on the free cspan radio app. Up tonight, former Senate Majority leader bob dole received the congressional gold medal. Housewe hear from republican and Democratic Leaders on the legislative agenda. After that, efforts on funding the government and avoiding a shutdown. Later, the house rules subcommittee meets on whether to reinstate the year marks process. Former Senate Majority leader bob dole received the congressional gold medal from house and senate leaders, in recognition of the former president ial candidates service and ace soldier. This is about 90 minutes