Arena, coupled with other things on reducing the cost of health care, which is different from Health Insurance costs. Pursuant to House Resolution 736 and rule 18, the chair declares the committee in the whole house for further consideration of h. R. 620. Will the gentleman from arkansas kindly resume the chair. The chair the house is in the committee of the whole house of the state of the union for further consideration of h. R. 620. The clerk to amend the disabilities and compliance providerequirements and for a notice and cure period for the commencement of a private civil action and for other purposes. The chair when the committee of the whole rose earlier, amendment number 6 offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. Poe, had been disposed of. Pursuant to clause 6, rule 18, the Unfinished Business is request for a vote on amendment number 2 by the gentleman from rhode island, mr. Langevin, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the knows prevailed. The clerk will redesignate. The clerk amendment number 2 59. Nted in house report 1159 the chair those in support of a request for a recorded vote will rise. Null, a recorded vote. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a 15minute 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 chair the yeas are 188 and the nays is 226. There being no further amendments, under the rule, the committee rises. The speaker pro tempore the chair notes a disturbance in the gallery. The sergeant of arms will remove those people responsible for the disturbance and restore order in the gallery. The speaker pro tempore the chair of the committee of the whole house reports the committee has had under consideration and pursuant to House Resolution 636 reports the bill back to the house with amendments adopted in the committee of the whole. The previous question is ordered. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. Members please take your seats. The house will be in order. Please take your seats. The house will be in order. The speaker pro tempore is a separate vote demanded . If not, the question is on adoption of the amendment. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it and the amendments are agreed to. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. Third reading. The clerk a bill to amend the america cang with disabilities act to provide for a notice and cure period before the commissioning of civil action and for other purposes. The speaker pro tempore the question is on passage of the bill. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The bill is passed. I ask for a recorded vote the speaker pro tempore the the yeas and nays are requested. Those favoring a vote will rise. A sufficient number having arisen, yeas and nays are ordered. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fiveminute vote. This fiveminute vote will be followed on 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 epresentatives. ] the speaker pro tempore the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. The house will be in order. The house will be in order. Members, please take your seats. The house will be in order. Please remove your conversation from the house floor. He house will be in order. Members will please take their seats and members please remove conversations from the house floor. Mr. Speaker, i have a point. Parliamentary inquiry he house will be in order. Members, please remove your conversation from the house floor. Members will please take their seats. The gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Thompson i have a point of parliamentary inquiry. The house isnt in order. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The house will be in order. Members, please remove your conversation from the house floor. He house will be in order. The house will be in order. The gentleman from california. Mr. Thompson a point of parliamentary quinn yiry. Can you tell us when the house will muster up the courage to take up the issue of gun violence. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is not stating a proper parliamentary inquiry. Without objection, fiveminute voting will continue. The Unfinished Business is agreeing to the speakers approval of the journal. The question is 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 stands approved. The speaker pro tempore the chair announces on behalf of the speak the joint appointment of the order of the house of anuary 3, 2017, of mr. Michael kasinski as the Inspector General for the u. S. House of representatives. The house will be in order. The house will be in order. Members, please remove your conversations from the house floor. Members will please take their seats. He house will be in order. He house will be in order. The house will be in order. He house will be in order. Members, please remove your conversations from the house floor. He house will be in order. He house will be in order. He house will be in order. The chair will now entertain requests for oneminute speeches. For what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek reck anything . Seek recognition . The house is not in order. The gentleman is correct. The gentleman will suspend. The house will be in order. Members, please remove your remove your from the conversations from the house floor. The house will be in order. The house will be in order. He house will be in order. Without objection, the gentleman from illinois is recognized for one minute. Mr. Shimkus thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to acknowledge the upcoming , the, the anniversary proclamations of estonia. Thus in the aftermath of world war i in 1918, lithuania, estonia and latvia declared their independence and marked their beginnings as new republics as modern democratic societies. The people of the balance takes have always baltics have always stood for up for their values. Theyre committed to making the Transatlantic Community an area of cooperation and partnership and prosperity. The United States is proud to be strong allies in the Baltic States and our nations stand together to defend our democracy. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. Members, please remove your conversations from the house floor. He house will be in order. For what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman from new jersey is recognized or one minute. Mr. Payne thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what will it take . What will it take for this body to final grapple with this issue . Finally grapple with this issue . Columbine wasnt enough. West virginia wasnt enough. Colorado in a Movie Theater wasnt enough. A night a night club in orlando wasnt enough. Not enough. Ot enough. Mr. Speaker, this has become a national disgrace. Of the American People say that they believe in sensible gun reform, gun laws that make sense. 95 . The Minority Party did not represent 95 of this nation. You are in that number as well. But yet and still you turn your back. On the American People. N. R. A. , the he n. R. A. Stands for no republican action. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from montana seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman from montana is recognized for one minute. Mr. Gianforte mr. Speaker, i rise today as a proud bobcat to recognize Montana State university, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary tomorrow on founders day. Montana state, a lapped grant university, in Land Grant University in my hometown, was formed in 1893. Originally the Agricultural College of the state of montana, the School Started with eight students in a small classroom in a local high school. The college quickly grew to include many other degree paths, including engineering and nursing. Two programs for which the schools particularly known. Today Montana State serves over 16,000 students each year. This years spring enrollment set a new record for the 10th year in a row. Montana state is a corner stone of the Bozeman Community and we are fortunate to have such an institution in our state. The fact is the success of my business, as well as that of many others would not have been possible without Montana State. Go cats go. And with that i yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore thank you. Thank you very much. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. I rise with a heavy heart, imagining the pain felt in parkland, florida. No parent should have to send their children to school each day wondering if they will return home. While details of the shooting in florida are still emerging, its clear this horrific act of violence was perpetrated by an individual in crisis. I lost my older sister to suicide with firearm at a young age. What i learned since is that helping to prevent people in crisis from temporarily having a gun saves lives. Today i urge my colleagues to support the gun violence restraining order act. Allowing families, family members, or Law Enforcement officials to petation judge to temporarily remove firearms from an individual in crisis. Mr. Carbajal for those two keep repeating after each mass shooting that it is too soon to discuss gun violence reform, please consider that for many families, including my own, it is far too late. We owe these families more than just our thoughts and prayers. We owe them sensible gun laws that protect our children. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Thank you. Mr. Carbajal mr. Speaker, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition . Mr. Poe i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore thank you. Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Poe madam speaker, jennifers childhood was violently chaotic. By her early 20s she was living on the streets, begging and stealing to survive. After a local gang member suspected that she may have stolen his money, her life became even more horrific and hellish. The gangster beat her mercilessly with a baseball bat until she clamsed. Then he and other gang members pistol whipped her and burned her with cigarettes. They tattooed their names all over her body. Branding her as property. For six years they held her in slavery, forced her to have sex with countless men for money. Desperate, jennifer tried to kill herself. But with a rope but when her rope broke, she resolved to escape. Luckily for jennifer, she found a shelter andway was able to rebuild her life. She covered up the traffickers names with flowers in the words and the words free yourself. We as a society owe jennifer and survivors like her to protect them and put the slave masters in the jail house where they belong. And thats just the way it is. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore thank you. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from hawaii seek recognition . Thank you. Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Gabrielle giffords thank you, madam speaker ms. Gabbard thank you, madam speaker. Over 120,000 japanese americans were incarcerated on american soil during world war ii. On the annual day of remembrance, were reminded of the brave men, women and children who lost everything. They lost their homes, their belongings, their businesses. Really keeping only what they could carry with them. But their spirits were not broken. Countless stories of bravery, courage and resilience defined an entire generation, including infantry regiment. Becoming the most highly decorated unit in army history. The anniversary of this shameful blight on our history remains a powerful reminder of the from a jillity of civil rights fragility of civil rights and the threat that bigotry continue to pose to our way of life today. We must follow in the footsteps of those japanese americans who volunteered to serve this country, even with their loved ones incarcerated on american soil. And find the light and love of the aloha spirit to stand up and fight against intolerance, bigotry and hatred. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition . Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Tenney thank you, madam speaker. I rise today to recognize ty muse, c. E. O. Of visions federal credit union, who was recently honored by the boy scouts of america as the broom county distinguished citizen of the year. Each year this award is given to an individual in the broom county community who sets a positive example for others and demonstrates concern and significant care for their community. Mr. Muse moved to broom county area five years ago and hit the ground running. Hes been honored for his commitment to helping Young Leaders throughout the region by sponsoring a free track program, donating, and working to raise awareness in financial literacy. Id like to extend my both my congratulations and my thanks to mr. Ty muse for his hard work and dedication to the broom county community and for his commitment to inspiring leaders of the future. Thank you. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition . Without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Mrs. Maloney a leader must believe in the mission of the organization he or she heads. But donald trump turned this principle on its head by appointing Mick Mulvaney to head the Consumer Financial protection bureau. Mr. Mulvaney doesnt believe in the agencys mission. To protect consumers. In fact, he once said that he doesnt, and i quote, like the fact that the cfpb even exists. End quote. When he was a member of congress, he cosponsored legislation to eliminate it. Now as director of the cfpb, he wants to zero out its budget for this year. He eviscerated the cfpbs rules against predatory payday lending, and then dropped all the lawsuits against them. He halted its investigation into equifax. As senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out, you should not put someone in charge of an agency when they want to destroy it. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewomans time has expired. Mrs. Maloney he is running it into the ground and we must stop him. Consumers will pay dearly. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewomans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition . Mr. Paulsen he was appointed to serve on the National Honey board. And will serve on a threeyear import term. The National Honey board is one of the two industry boards funded under the Agricultural Marketing service. And its purpose to expand honey and honey products. It is responsible for research and development, advertising and promotion. Greg brings important industry to the table and will assist the National Honey board of successful innovation, research and promotional work that people rely on in minnesota and across the world. Congratulations to greg. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition . Permission to address the house the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. 26 thats how much trump wants to cut the e. P. A. Budget. Massive cuts to staff, massive cuts to our health and safety, massive cuts to the e. P. A. To do its job. The day after they proposed those cuts, mr. Pruitt likes to fly first class on the taxpayers dime. Ne stretch last june, tax pair funded cost 90,000. They want to look for cuts, maybe scott shouldnt be flying first class but maybe sit next to the constituents he represents. President trump wants to cut the budget by 3 billion. We need to prioritize but doesnt look like mr. Pruitt is capable of doing it from 40,000 feet in the air the speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition . Permission to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to share a few examples of how the tax cut and jobs act is helping businesses in georgias 3rd district which is helping them to grow and reinvest in their workers. I visited custom truck and body works. This is a unique company that builds Specialty Vehicles for First Responders. Because of the tax cuts, they have hired new workers and beginning a facility expansion and told me they are looking for folks to fill positions today. This isnt the only business that is thriving because of tax reform. Another Small Business, a Small Business that has 10 employees nd provides recycling and services to clients throughout plans to use Additional Savings to buy a new truck and potentially hire new employees. For a company of 10 people, this is a huge difference. Im glad to see them thriving because of tax reform and look forward to seeing our economy to thrive. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from New Hampshire seek recognition . Permission to address the ouse for one minute. Children rely on leaders in congress for much more than thoughts and prayers but need us to take action to keep them safe. Gun violence is a horrifying epidemic, 18 School Shootings in the past 7 1 2 weeks. Its even hard to talk about this. Its difficult to argue with people who are looking at congress and wondering whether too many members in congress are too close to the n. R. A. And Congress Passed a law to prevent the c. D. C. From even studying gun violence. In difficult times, i seek thoughts and prayers from friends and clergy and family, but this is not stopping the slaughter. I agree with Police Officers across the country who said get he ar15s out of the hands. Speaker ryan needs to address gun violence or his party will go down in history as the party who blocked solutions. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition . Permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized. It is with great pride that i rise to recognize Hurley Fire DepartmentSheila Sweeney and was named the first female firefighter of the year. Her service and dedication as a firefighter, e. M. T. And Field Training officer for mobile Life Support Services is most admireable. Her inspiration came from her attendance of a first aid class, the continuation of her education and taking classes in college is a testament of the dedication she flects to her service and her community. Sheilas Selfless Service to the community while striving for personal growth is greatly appreciated and i wish her the best on continuing on her journey. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and resize and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Mcnerney this week, the president unveiled a Budget Proposal that would not only endanger the health and safety of the American People and our environment but jeopardizes the longterm viability of our systems. It ignores what we know about climate change. And cutting critical enforcement tools and Public Safety regulations and lacks the foresight to produce a forwardthinking plan that will ensure a resilient infrastructure future. It seeks to eliminate essential programs like arpae. Nationwide Infrastructure Systems like the electric grid must be updated to anticipate Severe Weather and climate conditions. We have seen the toll that natural disasters take on our electric grid. Smart planning and investment is essential to ensuring that we have the proper resources to maintain and operate these essential structures. The president has spoken on length about investing on upgrading the infrastructure, now lets see some. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Yoho madam speaker, this week commences the lunar new year, a time of thankfulness with our asian partners. Reflecting last years year of the rooster, we have enjoyed political, economic and social achievements. We continue to look to our partners in asia to promote peaceful international relations. During the year of the dog, i believe our friends will continue to embody loyalty, honesty and integrity working with us to craft beneficial international policies. N turn, the United States will encourage effective behaviors among all our asian counterparts. We have the obligation to protect the interests of the United States as well as our strong allies around the globe especially in the asiapacific region. I urge my colleagues to work towards policies that will positively shape multilateral Foreign Relations in 2018. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Huffman from the mighty red woods to the headlands and aches to the bay area to the anchingechent trees and we know our National Parks are worth protecting. Parks not only protect nature and wildlife but our history, too and they are economic engines supporting thousands of jobs. President trumps dirty budget would bulldoze through this american success story. He is proposing a 7 cut to the National Park service meaning ess maintenance and 17 cut to the department of interior erall while giving secretary zinke free reign to drill. They will hike entrance fees to working families and threatening access that drive tourists. While generatings hundreds of millions of dollars. Underfunding our parks puts our National Parks at risk. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition . Request yalk unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Americans with disabilities act has played an important roll. It is taken advantage of by dishonest attorneys who File Lawsuits against Small Businesses in order to get a quick pay day. A business pays expensive settlement fees for unintended or technical violations and vague interpretations of the a. D. A. This has risen dramatically. A. D. A. Costs have increased by 182 . This goes beyond that many years previously. This practice violates the spirit of the law and hurts Small Businesses. One example, a mini market in my district went through a renovation and put a nice ramp in the front of their business, concrete structure and had been inspected and working with the county, when they are done, someone says this is one degree off on incline. How are they supposed to deal with that when the regulators cant keep track of what they are supposed. Corrupt its corrupts attorneys. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Ms. Frankel thank you, madam speaker. You know, you send your child to school and you expect they are going to come home safely. Am so sad for the grieving families in parkland. Innocent children gone in a blink. Im thankful for the First Responders but foremost, my thoughts are with the grieving families, the students and the teachers affected by this horrific shooting. We see this carnage over and over again. Oh, yeah, we know there is no magic solution, but that doesnt mean that there are no solutions. Yeah, we need more resources for Mental Health, not tax cuts for billionaires. Nd yes, mr. President , are you listening . We need commonsense gun safety legislation not these idiotic bills that expand. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the members are reminded to please address your remarks to the chair and not the viewing audience. For what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. I do not rise today for another moment of silence for parkland, florida, for the semiautomatic weapon and hooter already silenced 17 floridians and injured countless others at Marjory Stoneham douglas high school. Instead i rise to make their voices heard. I ask for sensible gun reform. The parkland shooter likely got the semiautomatic weapon through a private sale or gun show despite Mental Health issues. The las vegas shooter used a bump stock to convert a semiautomatic matic weapon into an automatic weapon. Why is nothing happening . And in my own home in orlando, we watched an orlando shooter who was on the f. B. I. Watch list. Imagine if we passed no flyno buy and stopped that from happening. Now is the time for action. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the ntleman from nevada seek recognition . I ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, madam speaker, i rise to remember the life of duarte. Na las ttended the concert in vegas. She graduated with a degree in Business Marketing and intender with the arizona wildcats. After graduation, she worked for the Los Angeles Kings at the fan services associates. Fans and family remember her as a bright and beautiful young woman who was full of life and energy. I extend my condolences to her family and friends. Please know the city of las vegas and the state of nevada and the whole country grives for you. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, a budget reflects ones values. President trumps budget shows he values polluters and profits over people. With the ink barely dry on the republican tax scam, trumps budget proposes we pay for their corporate giveaway by gutting Public Health and environmental programs. One of the budgets largest targets is the e. P. A. Which will suffer a 25 cut. Mr. Gomez this means cuts to grants that help states like california implement the clean air and clean water act. That means cuts to superfund programs that clean up sites where toxic chemicals from factories and landfills were dumped for decades, polluting the surrounding soil, water and air. We cannot afford a dirty budget that prioritizes polluters and profits over people. I thank you and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition . To address the house for its failure to deal with gun control and message health. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Dave cowens thank you, mr. Speaker mr. Cohen thank you, mr. Speaker. This house generally jumps into action once theres been a mass shooting. By having a moment of silence. Today we didnt even have a moment of silence because the house knows that those are meaningless acts that dont have any effect on our schoolchildren who have been the victims of 18 School Mass Shootings this year. It is shameful this congress has not dealt with no fly, no buy. Youre a terrorist list, you can still buy a gun. Its a shame this Congress Passed a law that takes away from Social Security, individuals who get Social Security, the mental illinois, the ability to buy a gun. We dont even have studies on whats been happening and trying to protect schoolchildren. Its a shame. We need to afpblgt american schoolchildren are at risk. And i am ashamed of what this congress has failed to do. Take action. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition . Mr. Hoyer i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Hoyer madam speaker, we have four legislative days before those protected by daca will be at risk. The speaker has said he was going to address this issue. He has not. At this point in time. The speaker said on 9 00232010 we will advance major legislation one issue at a time. Whether he not duck the tough issues. Well take them headon. In that light, i urge the speaker to put on the floor the three bills that are spending in this house. The clean dream act. The u. S. A. Act sponsored by representatives aguilar and hurd, a bipartisan bill. And a republican bill, the securing americas future act, sponsored by representative goodlatte. Mr. Speaker, let the peoples house speak. Let them vote. Put these three bills on the floor. And let the majority rule. That is democracy. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Hoyer let democracy prevail in this house. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Hoyer i heard you, madam speaker. The speaker pro tempore the chair lays before the house the following personal request. The clerk leave of absence requested for mr. Bishop of georgia for today. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the request is granted. Under the speakers announced policy of january 3, 2017, the gentleman from arizona, mr. Gallego, is recognized for 60 mibs as the designee of the minority conscious minutes as the designee of the minority leader. Mr. Gallego thank you, mr. Speaker. In june, seven american heroes died on a dark night when a ship collided with an american destroyer, the u. S. S. Fitzgerald. Among the dead were immigrants from vietnam and the philippines, as well as the son of workers who journeyed north from guatemala. As one of the sailers who survived explained, youre crammed in with all sorts of cultures on this ship. But when you are on the fitzgerald, you are family. Just like the fitzgerald, my unit in iraq, included many men of races and religions. We were a family too and it made us stronger. Mr. Speaker, whats true of our military is also true of our country. Lots of nations have democratic institutions. Plenty of countries have good schools. And all too many, as we know, wield powerful weapons. But what makes America Great . What makes america powerful, what makes America America is that since our founding, we have thrown our doors open to the world. And we kept them open to the strivers and the dreamers from every corner of the globe. We didnt become the greatest, most powerful country in the world because we let in a Certain Group of people and then slammed the door behind them. No. Mr. Speaker, we built this country by making america the only country in the world where anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything. President reagan may have summed it up best when he explained that you can go to japan to live, but you cannot become japanese. You can go to france to live and not become a frenchman. Anyone can come to america to live and become an american. Unfortunately our current president and his friends in Congress Want to turn their backs on what made America Great. Their antiimmigrant agenda will lead to the deportation of millions and drastic cuts in Legal Immigration. The last Time Congress restricted immigration in this way was almost 100 years ago. Back then, conservatives were worried that there were too many italians and jews that were arriving on our shores. Now theyre concerned about mexicans, nigerians and chinese immigrants. The rhetoric may have shifted. The targets may have changed. But the same kind of backward, unamerican thinking that exists then. The American People are too smart for this. We dont fear people who dont speak like us. Or look like us. Or even pray the way we do. Time and time again weve rejected the racist and the nate visits of this country. Weve done it before and well do it again. Mr. Speaker, i dont have to look at the polls to tell you that there are a lot more americans like Erin Chamberlain from phoenix than like donald trump. Erin is a Restaurant Owner in phoenix. When he learned that a young prep chef named suni santana was undocumented, aaron said sunni could stay so long as he found a way to fix his undocumented status. Thankfully sunni qualified for daca. He worked hard and thrived. In fact, he did so well that aaron offered to partner with him in opening his very own new restaurant in downtown phoenix. But then, cruelly and without warning, President Trump terminated daca and stripped away sunnis status, throwing his entire life in limbo. Democrats are fighting for dreamers like sunni. And for Business Owners like aaron who believe in them. We are also fighting for veterans like miguel perez from chicago. Miguel has lived in this country since he was 8 years old. He served two tours in afghanistan and suffers from ptsd as a result of his service. Unfortunately as is too often the case with us, this led to problems with addiction. Miguel deserves our support. Instead hes facing deportation. As i speak, miguel is currently sitting in an i. C. E. Detention center in kenosha, wisconsin, which happens to be in the district of our speaker, paul ryan. Miguel isnt alone. Hundreds of immigrants have served our countrys uniform could now be deported at the behest of a president who has never served one day in service to this country. These are men and women who took an oath to protect and defend this nation. Theyve earned the right to call this country home. Theyve earned the right to call themselves americans. To deport these brave men and women after they fought under our flag dishonors the service of all of us who risked our lives for this country. We must find a way to protect dreamers and immigrant families. Including brave immigrants who served in uniform. The American People are on our side. They know that trumps fearful vision for our future is incompatible with who we are as americans. Theyre proud to live in a country that attracts the brightest minds and the hardest workers from all around the world. They understand that exclusion and hate are the exact opposite of what makes America America. This nation did not become great by kicking out immigrants who fight hard like miguel or who dream big like suney. Unlike any other country on earth, we arent defined by where we come from. It we are defined by what we believe. Donald trump may not understand that. But the American People do. And i yield back. 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 virginia, mr. Garrett, is recognized for 6 to 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. Mr. Garrett thank you. Its a somber time. To come into this chamber. As we have colleagues at the other end of the building who rmed something they call the commonsense coalition. I think a gentleman euphemism, like so many things in this town are, which might kick the can the down the road coalition. The doing the same thing again and again and again and again and expecting a different result coalition. Or the those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it coalition. The photo thats to my left, your right, if you are viewing t home, is of me at a ceremony at red hill farm in the Fifth District of virginia, where a man named Patrick Henry lived. Patrick henry is notable as an early patriot who sought to ensure the blessings of selfdetermination and liberty for our pledgeling nation, that determined that it was unjust, that they should be governed by edict from across the sea. And most notably said the words, i know not what of course others may take, but for me, give me liberty or give me death. Indeed, anyone who signed the declaration of independence understood at that time that they were literally signing their own death warrant and yet they did because it was the right thing to do and today weve generated a new into a Political Class that knows pandering and efforts to placate individuals without the interest of the mass constituency that we all unite lid serve. And that is the american unitedly serve. And that is the American People. In fact, when Patrick Henry spoke about liberty, one day in a separate speech from the back of the room, someone shouted, treason. And henry responded eloquently, if this be treason, make the most of it. What has happened to our leaders . And so that day, i spoke to a group of a couple of dozen new americans from every corner of the world. From asia and africa, the middle east and europe, south america. Who had in some instances worked decades to become americans. To earn those blessings of liberty. Gained for us by people like Patrick Henry. Like a million nameless faces who died of combat death, disease or starvation during a war to end the horrific institution of slavery. Like abraham lincoln. Like dr. Martin luther king jr. So they indeed look like america. Brown people, white people, black people, asian people. American people. And they earned it. But whats coming out of the senate now essentially throws aside the sacrifices of so many in order to score political points. It was indeed one of the greatest honors of my life to welcome those new brothers and sisters to our American Family. And yet the process through which they pained and labored does not in any way mirror the process that we would continue by kicking the can down the road under the proposed senate quoteunquote compromise. I could really literally do this all day and all week and all onth and all year. If i wanted to highlight the cases of individuals who had lost their lives because of our federal government is completely unwilling to enforce the laws that it currently has on the many of you recognize the lovely face of kate steinle enjoying a beautiful afternoon in San Francisco on peer pier 14. She worked in the medical field and recently moved in with her boyfriend. When an illegal who had been deported five times though the local government refused to turn over to federal authorities, discharged a weapon which he stole from a member of Law Enforcement and what he said was a lie, which is bad enough, and killed this lovely young woman who loved yoga and helping others. Reports indicate that among her last words was a plea to her father was to please help and she passed away because we refuse to enforce our law. Edwin jackson, linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts from the same town, atlanta georgia. He didnt have big football offers. Instead of the university of georgia or university of florida, he went to georgias Southern University but he worked and worked with an optimism that radiated from the very smile on his face and not long nearly of 1,000 people per year who die in alcoholrelated accidents that involve people in this country illegally as well as his uber driver. His greatest goal in life was to be a positive role model for young people. The individual who was detained had a blood alcohol of. 239. He had been deported twice before and tried to run from the scene and lied to Police Officers about his name. And Edwin Jackson and Jeffrey Monroe are dead because we efuse to enforce our laws. State oser, in my home of virginia in 2010 was riding in a van with two other nuns from the 33womenmon as tear where she made her home inspiring to help people. Her two dear friends injured in an accident that took her life. This nun had devoted her life to the service of others. And quite literally, you could find nothing bad that anyone could say about this woman. He driver, who took her life was ultimately charged with d. U. I. Third or subsequent offense. He had arrived illegally in this country and was only weeks away from a deportation hearing, which he was only having because of his multiple prior arrests for driving under the influence. Tragically, our unwillingness to enforce our own laws cost about 10 of the community where denise made her home and cost about 4 their life. 13 of all drunk drivers arrested in the United States are here illegaly. Is death toll of 10,000. Nearly a thousand people per ar are killed in alcoholrelated accidents involving those here illegally ownwe refuse to enforce our laws. Peter hacking was a volunteer Fire Department captain in texas one afternoon not long ago, peter stopped off highway 78 to pick up his children, which included fouryearold ellie and a son who was two when they were killed by a previously deport r ported drunk driver who received a sentence of about two years, who was here because we will not secure our border and we will not enforce our laws. Let me be clear. Those two dozen or so individuals who i had the great honor of all faiths and all creeds from around the world into welcoming our American Family like everyone watching us today, but those who are not here legally, who will not go through the processes prescribed by this very body, are a discredit to those who worked so hard and those who have sacrificed so much to make this nation the beacon of freedom that it is. And no nation of laws can perpetrate itself so long as it looks the other way as its laws are selectively enforced and not enforced. Testa trankard, virginia beach, virginia, riding with a girlfriend killed by a drunk driver here illegally. , law oliver, Michael Davis enforcement professionals from sacramento, california, murdered by a frequently deported individual who swears that he ll find a way to kill more Police Officers. Ominique dirdon killed while riding his more cycle by an llegal drunk driver. Jamiel shaw brutally shot and urdered by an illegal. Marilyn harris, who devoted here life in the United States air force, beaten, tortured, raped and murdered by an illegal who had been arrested six times in 15 months, the most recent time eight days but not reported to the authorities because the Sanctuary Community he was in did not deem it to report. I want to see an immigration system in this country legally and live in a nation that enforces the laws this body passes to protect people that we are tasked with serving, american or nativeborn, i could literally keep telling these stories for weeks and weeks and weeks. So we now find fiscal responsibility, a rally cry from individuals who dont care about that at any point in time and we have a president in the United States who is suggesting that we would build a border wall and have those who are responsible for the immigration problem pay for it. And the media that glowingly and demreefully pokes fun says how is that plan going for you . Well, i have a proposal. About 92 of foreign nationals in u. S. Federal prisons are here illegally. That is nine out of 10. 34,500 inmates in our federal prison here illegally and they are not here for ilLegal Immigration. They are here for robbery, rape and murder. The cost to incarcerate one individual annually is 32,500 but that comes out to 1. 1 billion per year. If you move away from the federal prison system and take those numbers across the state prison systems, you are looking 9. 5 billion to incarcerate illegals here. We are talking about prisons, not jails. Now the senate plan says, what we are going to do is spend 18 billion over 10 years. If we could secure the southern border and stop the inflow of illegals, we could reduce our expenditure. And in other words, you want to pay for this wall, build it. It will pay for itself. And thats in dollars and cents. But how do you quantify the lives of these people . How do you put a dollar value on a woman who served her country and was tortured, raped and murdered who was arrested six days before and should be reported to federal authorities but didnt think it was necessary in california. Quantify how do you these lives . Is there a dollar value you can put on this young mans life . How about these plalmt professionals. How about this teenaged girl from virginia beach, virginia. Father. A firefighter how about a nun who devoted her life. How about a Football Player who worked his way up from the bottom and wanted to motivate young people who faced challenges. I again inly love my brothers of all creeds and religions and origins and they need to avail themselves to benefits. Winston churchill said democracy was the worst form of government except for all the others. If we wont enforce the laws we pass, what are we . What have we become . If we dont protect Police Officers, firefighters, nuns and mothers who protect us, how can we look at ourselves. I would yield at this time to the gentleman from north arolina, mr. Budd. Mr. Budd i thank my friend from virginia, colleague for yielding and thank him for his leadership on this issue. The last time i spoke on this floor on immigration, i talked about three principles. First, americans have the right to determine who becomes citizens through laws. Two, the people who do come here should be in the best interest of american citizens. And three, that we have the right to enforce those choices. The people who do come here should be in the best interest of american citizens. Thats key. But what were doing now isnt there yet. We allow today one individual to get a green card, then he is able to sponsor his immediate family and relatives and the relatives can sponsor their relatives and those relatives of those relatives can sponsor their relatives and so on until there is no one left who even wants to come to the United States. Potentially, this could go on forever. This is called chain migration. 65 of our green cards are awarded through chain migration. 700,000 people every year getting permanent residence in our country other than they are related to someone who lives here. We have no idea if they are going to be economically successful. We have no idea whether they will contribute to our country and dont look at those characteristics for chain migration. Who the immigrant is related to not whether or not he might help america to be safer or a more prosperous country. American immigration should be in the best interest of americans. The secure americas future act ends this chain migration and stops it for everyone except for the children and spouses of immigrants. But those relatives cannot bring in additional immigrants. The secure America Future act replaces those immigrants with skilled workers, workers that can help us build a better future. Think about it this way. There are 150 Million People around the world who would say they would come to the United States if they were just given the opportunity. What a debate country. We do now that what and enter on the basis of who they are related to or let in the best engineers or doctors, nurses, teachers and businessmen and who can speak english well and know our system of government. But that can only happen if we end chain migration. The chain migration proposal becomes even more crucial when we look at the daca issue. If we allow Daca Recipients to get citizenship, they will each. 3 1 2 immigrant thats a huge incentive for future immigrants to come here illegally. The notion that you will get to bring your whole family over here is part of what led to the 20132014 border crisis when the Previous Administration was rumored to be gradgetting amnesty tens of thousands of Latin Americans sent their children north. And the immigrant processing facilities there in the southwest, we had to pass emergency appropriations just to process these individuals. Any daca fix that does not also include Additional Border security and protections against this way, migrating they could see a similar crisis. I hile have dwelt on its chain migration provisions, and there are many more worthy reforms this bill cracks down on sanctuary cities, which my colleague mentioned earlier. It includes kates law, to toughen penalties against those who are deported, come back to the United States, and commit crimes. It includes mandatory everify to crack down on businesses that break the law. It ends the diversity visa lottery, one of the most senseless federal policies that i can think of. I thank chairman goodlatte for his efforts on this. I thank representative labrador. One of our staunchest conservative leaders in the house for his leadership in crafting this bill. And i thank representative garrett for organizing this opportunity to discuss the bill. Yield back. Mr. Garrett thank you, madam speaker. Thank you, representative budd. At this time i would yield five minutes to the gentleman, my colleague from florida, mr. Yoho. Mr. Yoho id like to thank my good colleague from virginia, mr. Garrett, and everybody else thats participated in this important topic. For far too long washington has allowed our broken immigration system to fester. Since 1986, when safeguards were put in place to protect our nation from ilLegal Immigration, we saw the rule of law not followed. And its led to the situation we have today. This is not an overnight sensation thats just happened. If you look at the number one role of government, its to provide for the common defense of our nation and the security of our nation. And, madam speaker, you cannot have a secure nation if you dont have secure borders. Thats one of the reasons we lock our car doors. Thats one of the reasons we lock our house doors. Is to secure our family. The governments role is to secure their nation and the people within it. So that we can have a secure nation, the peace of mind that our families, our that our families are protected from people who shouldnt be here in the first place. We need to reform our system so that we have Legal Immigration thats not burdensome to the point where it doesnt work. And thats what washington has been well known for. We need to seek real reforms that cut down on ilLegal Immigration while protecting and bolstering the Legal Immigration system. Our nation is a nation of immigrants and Theodore Roosevelt addressed this i think very succinctly in 1907 in a speech. When he talked about our land being a land of immigrants. How weve come over from other countries from around the world. But he also went on to say and talk about the values of america. That being a land of immigrants, understand this. There is but room for one flag. It is the american flag. You need to honor. Theres room but for one language. Its english. You need to learn it. Immigration without assimulation is an invasion. And thats really what we have. An invasion. Because we dont know whos here, we dont know where they came from. And dreamers that were brought here to this country, i think were all sympathetic. They were brought here to this country at no fafflet their own and reg at no fault of their own and registered under daca. There was a program where they could have registered. They are a different class. But they can be handled in a systemic manner. Whether it starts off with probationary periods, running background checks, ensuring all fines are paid for outstanding traffic tickets or other, among other things. And i stand and im cosponsor of the goodlattelabrador bill. I think its a great start. As immigration policies or as policies up here in washington, we know they change over time. And so i think this is a good start. We need to strengthen our border. Needs to be paramount. And tighten our borders through what the custom Border Patrols tell us to do. Theres people that want to build a wall from sea to shining sea. I think we should build a wall where the experts say we need to build a wall. And do other forms of security. But the bottom line is we have to have a secure border. And its not just our southwest border. Its all of our borders. And i think every american should be concerned about this and you would think they would want this. We also should allow customs and Border Patrol to survey and make recommendations for how they think best we can increase the security of, again, not just our southern border, but, again, all the borders. Sanctuary cities who openly defy federal Immigration Law place american citizens at risk. And i would hope the people in those cities, the citizens of those cities, would rise up and hold their elected officials accountable so that its not a political platform that a party wants to promote. All you have to do is look at the many people that have been killed by people here illegally. And they rush for the protection of a sanctuary city. And these are cities, again, that are breaking the federal law. They defy federal law without consequence. Congress does have the power to hold these people accountable. These states. And again, it will be the citizens of those cities, hopefully will rise up and say enoughs enough. The got lad bill, the labradorgoodlatte bill the goodlatte bill, the labradorgoodlatte bill, the securing americas future act, i cosponsored because it lays out plan to address many of the Immigration Reform priorities. It eliminates the diversity visa, which is just a happenstance, if youre the lucky one that pulls the right number, you get the Lottery Ticket. The Lottery Ticket is coming here to america. Increases it eliminates the diversity visa to increase the number of skilled worker visas, creates a new agriculture guest worker program. And im proud because some of the recommendations we have are in that bill. And so we want to see that pass. This is one of the things that has to happen. But before we can go forward, we have to make sure that the borders are secured, that we have the rule of law enforced. And that we have a good guest worker program. It also requires employers to utilize the everify system to ensure their employees are legal legally able to work in this country. The good thing about the everify system, it also gives protection to the employer. Knowing that they went through the process that the government says they must go through and theyve hired people that the government says is ok. So it gives protection not just to our employers, but gives protections to the people here that come here, for the privilege of coming to america and working. It invests in a new security measure for our borders, gives registered Daca Recipients a renewable threeyear legal status while ensuring individuals who can cause harm are not eligible for it. Withholds grants and federal funding from sanctuary cities and gets rid of the chain migration. So this i think is a very strong bill. Think its a very good bill that accomplishes the goal. It could always be better. Its not comprehensive Immigration Reform. But its a great start. You know, working in the Agricultural Sector for 35 years of my life, as a veterinarian working on the farms, i talked to a lot of the immigrants. And a lot of the immigrants that i talked were to here illegally. And i asked them, do you want to be a citizen of the United States . They said, no. The majority of them didnt. They wanted the opportunity, the opportunity to come here, to make some money, to go back home. And i think we should accommodate that. And then if you talk to other immigrants that are here and they migrated here legally, i asked them, why did you come here, or why did your parents come here . You know what it always comes down to . They wanted opportunity and they wanted security and they wanted a better life for their family. And so our broken system does not accomplish that. And its time to fix the broken system. And this is the time to do it. And with that, i yield back and i thank the gentleman for bringing up this great topic, this passionate topic, and with your work, your help, we can accomplish this. So thank you. Mr. Garrett madam speaker, i thank the gentleman from florida, my friend and colleague , congressman yoho. 037 americans have been killed on u. S. Soil by foreignborn terrorists. 182 foreignborn terrorist, to be precise, have taken the lives of almost 3,050 americans. 63 of those 182, or greater than 1 3, came here legally on visas. To include the diversity visa scheme. In fact, our office has tried relatively diligently to calculate the actual death toll on nativeborn americans of recipients of diversity visas unsuccessfully. These are difficult data points. But just in the last few years, name has been in the american news. This jihadist, who had an admiration for terrorists, to clude the murderous, raping, intolerant thugs of isis, took the lives of eight americans and injured many important many more in a truck attack on halloween just last october. He was the recipient of a diversity lottery visa. From that, abdul rasul, uzbekistan, was also the recipient of the diversity lottery visa. He was arrested in 2015 for conspiring to, quote, kill as Many Americans as he could. He wrote, i am in the u. S. A. Now. We dont have the weapons we need. Is it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway while here . What im saying is, to get guns, to shoot obama, and then maybe get shot ourselves. Would that do . That would strike fear into the hearts of the infidels. This legal diversity visa recipient from brooklyn said, if this is not successful, maybe bomb coney island. Fortunately he was arrested before he could bring to fruition his plans to assault individuals in the very nation that had so graciously opened its doors. Its incredibly interesting to me the results that i learned when my wife and i engaged in that which is all the rage these days and looked at our d. N. A. I found out i had relatives from multiple continents. And im proud of that. But i am an american. Just like those people who stood of me that day at the home Great American patriot Patrick Henry. From africa and asia, the middle st, south america, europe, oceana. They are oceania. They are my american brothers and sisters. They did everything by the numbers. And availed themselves of a dream that we all share. Those who do not cheapen the sacrifice made by so many who have come before them. And with that, madam speaker, i would yield the balance of my time. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Under the speakers announced policy of january 3, 2017, the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. Woodall, for 30 minutes. Mr. Woodall madam speaker, i very much appreciate that. And i appreciate you being here with us on a thursday afternoon. I know that you came to congress with the same optimism that i came to congress with. And that is if only we work hard enough together, if only we commit ourselves with earnestness to one another, well be able to make a difference for folks. And i still believe that. I hope you still believe that too, after your time here. I still believe that if only we work hard enough, were going to be able to serve the American People as we promised we would. But occasionally, occasionally, i dont want to vilify the entire Fourth Estate today, madam speaker, theres not enough time to go through that today. But occasionally the Fourth Estate seems to suggest that we are failing the American People when in fact we are succeeding on their behalf. And thats what i want to talk about this afternoon. We just came through a difficult budget time, madam speaker. We came through that not because of any failures of any man or woman in this institution. I want to make that clear. This house came together as a body back in july of last year and passed every Single National security appropriations bill that was upon us. July of last year, three months before the end of the fiscal year, this body came together, did its job, to fund our men and about men and women in uniform, fund border security, fund those incredibly important National Security items that every single American Family cares about. The senate had been unable to get any of those bills passed and that brought us to just a week ago, when the president finally signed into law a funding bill for the United States government to cover the remainder of fiscal year 2018. I mentioned the house passed in july of last year all the National SecurityAppropriations Bills. In september of last year, madam speaker, the house passed all the rest of the Appropriations Bills. The entire federal government, from the perspective of the 435 men and women who serve in the house, that work was completed on time before the ender of the fiscal year. But again, the senate unable to take up any Appropriations Bills for a variety of different reasons, im not interested in assigning that blame today, im interested in figuring out what to do about it going forward, took until just a week ago for the senate to pass a bill, craft a plan and do what we call raising the caps to we could get a Funding Agreement that will take us over the next 18 months. Madam speaker, you cant see it here but i have a chart of defense spending going back over the last few years. In fact, i started the chart the year that i was running for congress for the very first time. It was 2010. I came in in that big class of freshmen, 100 of us, imagine that, 100 out of 435 members coming in for the first time together in january of 2011 and many of us came here with the desire to balance budgets. Among the many data points that get shared, madam speaker, one was shared with me when i was doing cspans washington journal this week, the host said, rob, do you think the era of fiscal conservatism is over . I thought that was i thought that was odd. I thought, i serve in a body full of men, women, both sides of the aisle, fiscal conservatives, want to make sure the American People are getting a dollars worth of value for a dollars worth of taxes, wants to make sure were not mortgaging the future of our children and our grandchildren. Why would the era of fiscal conservatism be over . Well, the suggestion was made, its because we just signed a budget deal. And that budget deal raises levels of Discretionary Spending in this country and if were raising levels of Discretionary Spending, mustnt that mean that our commitment to fiscal responsibility is over . That led me to come to the floor today, madam speaker, because what you cant see on this chart but i have displayed here are two lines. One is a red line, is oftentimes, madam speaker, folks bring charts to the floor that are only show you a part of the picture, so the ample tude is exaggerated, looks like things are worse or better than they actually are. I grounded my chart at zero. Zero dollars of spending up to 1 trillion of spend, the year i got here we were spending about 689 billion a year on defense. Well, we got together as a body, madam speaker, and ill remind you, republicans controlled the u. S. House at that time, president obama controlled the white house, harry reid controlled the United States senate. The house was in minority hands, being led by republicans, but we got together, republicans and democrats, house, senate, white house, and we crafted a budget plan forward that reduced spending. Now the plan was that we were going to reduce spending on both the defense side of the ledger and the nondefense side of the ledger and then we were going to come together and deal with the Major Health Care entitlement programs that are driving debt foreout tissue far out into the future, dealing with medicare and Social Security that are underfunded today that cannot sustain the prodges they made for generations, and sustain them long into the future. S to have a worthwhile goal. It was worthy of this body. Members came together. What you can see on the chart is the black line indicates the path we took of funding National Security. Each Year Spending less and less and less. Now mind you, nobody thought this was the right plan for how to fund National Security. This was designed to be a driver to force folks to come together and deal with those larger entitlement programs that actually are the drivers of the debt. It didnt work. It didnt work. In fact, we had an entire president ial election psych that will just went on 15 months ago, madam speaker, where you cant name the candidate who ran on either the republican or the democratic side of the aisle who made debt and deficits their priority. Who was that . Who was that leader running for the white house last time around who focused on debt and deficit as their priorities . For whatever reason, it slips from the National Stage probably because we had been successfully curbing the needle on spending. So fast forward to a week ago, madam speaker, where we raised defense spending by 100 billion. 100 billion. A year. Now if you calculate where the caps were going to go and how the sequester was going to happen you actually turn out to have about 150 billion increase. Over where folks expected us to be. Golly, madam speaker, 9 11 washington, d. C. When you raise 550 billion budget to 700 billion, that is an enormous increase. Thats why i was asked, is the era of fiscal conservatism over . I direct you to this chart. I show you this enormous increase in defense spending and i show you that we are still 00 billion a year lower than barack obama and nancy pelosi and harry reid had anticipated before i was elected to cork in 2010. All of this area between the red line and the black line, madam speaker are dollars saved for the American People. Those dollars came at a price. I reference testimony that defense secretary jim mattis, former general jim mattis, gave in the Armed Services committee and he said this. This was just a week and two days ago. I cannot overstate the impact to our troops morale from all of this uncertainty. Hes talking about these continuing resolutions that get passed. Again the house passed its bills back last july. Senate hasnt been able to pass any of its bills. We were funding the bill one shortterm time at the time creating havoc on the american military. I cannot overstate the impact on our troops morale from all this ununcertainty. The combination of rapidly changing technology, the negative impact on military readiness resulting from the longest continuing combat in our nations history and have icient funding created an overstretched and underfunded military. I dont believe theres a man or woman in this chamber who would the longest that continuous stretch of combat in our nations history. This is not an issue that divides this chamber. This is an issue that United States this chame that unites this chamber, madam speaker. Im proud we came together as republicans and democrats, the house and the senate to address hat. Ill quote from general mattis two days after that, after this body acted, after the Senate Finally acted after the president put his signature general mattis said. This i am very confident that what the congress has done and the president is going to allocate to us in the budget is what we need to bring us back to promise. N of what the congress has done and what the president will allocate will bring us back to a position of promising. I mentioned that, madam speaker, because among the many conversations we have here about military readiness, general mattis has expressed confidence that in a time of war, the congress would fund the military. In fact, he says this in that same testimony that i quoted from earlier, before the Armed Services committee. He said, i know that in a time of major war, congress will provide our military with what it needs. But money at the time of crisis fails to deter war. I know the congress will provide what we need in a time of crisis, but money in a time of crisis fails to deter that crisis. We could have avoided that conflict, had only we been properly funded. We came together with white house leadership, president said, i need 700 billion. For 2018. I need 716 for 2019. Thats what general mattis said as well. Thats what were hearing from the entire administration. Thats what we came together and gave. But the era of fiscal conservatism, madam speaker, is not over. The era of short changing our military in the hopes that we might come together on a bigger deal, the gridlock that was created by that, that gridlock is over. That uncertainty that general mattis bemoaned, that is over. But fiscal conservatism continues. Its not just on the defense side. Its easy to talk about the defense side. Because i know thats something that unites everyone in the chamber, madam speaker. But lets look at the nondefense side. Nondefense, as you know, madam speaker, is, well, Everything Else that the federal government does. Thats not an income support program, from parks to roads, to courts, from prisons to education, from investments in n. I. H. And the c. D. C. , from our involvement overseas in hunger programs and refugee programs, absolutely Everything Else the federal government does is in the nondefense discretionary side. I point you to two lines once gain, madam speaker. The red line is what they anticipated spending before i arrive the black line is what we have actually spent since i arrived. Among the many changes made in the law when the president signed the caps deal into effect last week is that we raised nondefense Discretionary Spending too. In fact, over the twoyear deal that the president signed, were talking about an additional 300 billion, billion with a b, dollars in additional spending. Well, by golly, madam speaker if you care about budgets if you care about deficits, isnt 300 billion a frighteningly large figure to increase spending in a time of alreadyexisting deficits . Of course it is. Of course it is. But let me say once again that does not mean the era of fiscal conservatism is over. We had a choice. We could continue to keep the military in that space of uncertainty that general mattis cited as being so dangerous, or we could cut the deal that we had to cut to break that cycle of uncertainty. I dont know what kind of negotiating experience you had, madam speaker, but it turns out when you walk into a negotiation and say, ive got to have what ive got to have and ill give you whatever you need in order to get it, youre not in a particularly strong fwoshting spot. Thats the position the president found himself in. He was 100 committed to our troops. He was 100 committed to National Security. He was 100 committed to that pay raise we had promised our troops but we had not funded and he said im going to do whatever it takes to get 700 billion in 2018 and 716 billion in 2019 to make sure National Security is protected and our troops are served. What that led to was an increase in nondefense Discretionary Spending, madam speaker, but still look at these lines and that delta between the top line of where we were going to go and the black line of where we have actually gone is trillions, trillions with a t, dollars worth of savings. Between the defense spending, madam speaker, which changed dramatically after that big freshman class in 2011 arrived, an nondefense spending which changed dramatically after that big class in 2011 arrived, trillions of dollars in debt has not occurred. Trillions of dollars in spending of american taxpayer dollars has not occurred. We have squeezed those budgets, the Security Budget and the nonSecurity Budget. The Defense Budget and the nonDefense Budget, we have squeezed each of those budgets to make sure we get a dollars worth of value for the american taxpayer out of every dollar that we spend and the net result of that, madam speaker that and a collection of economic outcomes that have been desirable, has led to a decrease in net interest spending, money that was not borrowed, interest that does not have to be paid, money that was not borrowed and thus it didnt drive Interest Rates up, thus Interest Rates are lower on all the other money thats already been borrowed, not just trillions of dollars in savings on spending that was foregone, madam speaker, but that was forgone, madam speaker, but trillions of dollars of savings in interest that was not paid. Why do i take the tame to come down to the floor and tell that story, madam speaker . Its because i grow weary, as i know all my colleagues do, of reading the defeatist headlines that show up on the paper day after day after day, congress failing. Ridlock prevailing. Bipartisanship dead. Cooperation extent. Its not true. What extinct. Its not true. What we have done together is worth brag being back home what we have done is worth celebrating when we are together and what we have done together is worth using as a model for thinking about what we can do together again tomorrow. It doesnt matter whether you sit on the furthest right in this chamber on the furthest left in this chamber, madam speaker. That dollar worth of taxes raised from that american citizen is a valuable thing. Its a trust. Theres a stewardship obligation to each and every one of those dollars. What do you want to use it for . Maybe you want to give it back to those american citizens. And im particularly pleased with the tax bill we passed that did exactly that. Again, passed it in the house, passed it in the senate. Moved it to the white house. Done in a bicameral way. I think the american citizen can generally spend their dollar better than we can spend it on their behalf. I know they trust themselves to spend their dollar more than they trust us to spend it on their behalf. We can take that dollar, we can put it back in an american citizens pocket. Leave it with them to begin with and never even take it. Thats what we did with the tax cuts. We could invest that dollar in National Security. We could look to see what is that additional training an airman might need, what is that additional equipment that a marine might need, what is that additional item that we could research, purchase, improve, repair, that would make a difference in the life of a man or woman who is serving this country . Can he could spend that dollar on National Security. We could spend that dollar on nondefense needs. Research and alzheimers nools. Research at our major universities. Research into that next generational transportation outcome thats going to change the way that we deal with congestion in america. There are a thousand different ways to spend each and every one of those dollars. Does not matter where you believe that dollar ought to go. Its a worthwhile purchase to make sure were using that dollar either with the american citizen in their pocket, with the d. O. D. In the pursuit of National Security, or with one of our Great Research institutions in pursuit of the next health care discovery, rather than paying it in interest to someone around the globe who lent us money in our time of need. We need to restrain those dollars today, madam speaker. So when we have a time of need in the future, well be able to access them. The era of fiscal responsibility is not behind us, it is upon us. We have an opportunity, each and every day together, to squeeze those dollars until they scream. Squeeze the value out of every nickel that comes through this institution. Weve done it together, madam speaker. This isnt an aspirational goal. This is a certain fact that we have done it together year after year after year after year. This isnt something that maybe one day if only we work hard enough we can do. This is something we have achieved year after year after year after year. Lets not stop. Lets not stop. And lets not let folks tell us that we cant get it done together. Lets not give in to that devil on the Left Shoulder that says we should go down and run each other out and talk about why the institution fails. Lets give into that angel on the right shoulder that talks about how if we put our minds together, if we commit ourselves to one another, there is genuinely no limit to what we can do together. And im not just talking about what we can do together as the body here in the United States house. Im not just talking about what we can do together as the house and the senate and a white house. Im talking about what we can do together as the American People. The strength of this institution has never been the 435 members who are in it. It has been the 300 million americans who have sent us here. The strength of this institution has never come from the members, it has come from the nation that lends us its power. I genuinely believe theres no limit to what we can do together. I am general wently disappointed in those days that we give in to that devil on the Left Shoulder that tells us that running each other out, running each other down, den grading the institution, denigrating the nation, denigrating one another is the pathway to success. But weve had enough victories together, weve come through enough challenges together, weve succeeded when they said e would fail together enough that i have great optimism. Not just about the next 10 months in this chamber, but about the next decade, the next generation, the next 100 years for this country. We dont know when the economy is going to fail us, madam speaker. We have to plan for that rainy day. Weve been doing that. Weve been doing it with spending at every single level in the government. And it has made the biggest difference in debts and deficits that i have seen in my lifetime. Lets build on that success. Lets recommit ourselves to that goal. Lets surprise the naysayers about those things that we do together. With that, madam speaker, i yield back the balance of my ime. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. Does the gentleman have a motion . Mr. Woodall mr. Speaker, i move the house the house do now adjourn. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the motion to adjourn. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Accordingly, the house stands adjourned u