momentarily here on c-span. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, proceedings will resume on motions to suspend the rules previously postponed. votes will be taken in the following order. h.r. 452 by the yeas and nays and h.r. 3243 by the yeas and nays. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from montana, mr. gianforte, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 452 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 452, a bill to designate the facility of the united states postal service located at 324 west st. louis street in pacific, missouri, as the specialist jeffrey l. white jr. post office. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned 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 zero. 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. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from oklahoma, mr. russell, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 3243 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union calendar number 249. amend 3, a bill to title 40, united states code, to eliminate the sunset of certain provisions relating to information technology, to amend the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2015 to extend the sunset relating to the federal data center consolidation initiative, and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned 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 0, 2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous cob sent that provision of the resolution shall apply to concurrent resolution 81 not earlier than november 2, 2017, but on the same terms it would on october 13, 2017. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the house will be in order. members will please remove conversations from the house floor. he house will be in order. the house will be in order. members, please remove your conversation from the house floor. the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute peeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? he house will be in order. without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to tombs countye of a nate f. dustin michael wright was one of three u.s. army green beret soldiers killed in the line of duty last week. the u.s. africa command says dustin was part of the team assisting and advising local forces in southwest niger at the time of the ambush. 2007 fwradgetwiven watt, dustin joined the army soon after graduation, following in the footsteps of his parents and his brother. is family remembers 2007 fwrad- the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. take conversations off the floor. the gentleman may continue. mr. allen: his family remembers ster who beloved joke was always taking -- making people laugh. i'm so proud to see the toombs county coming together to paint the town red, white, and in honor of dustin's life. he was truly a hometown hero and we'll remember him often. greater love has in one than this, than to lay down his life for his friends. dustin sacrificed his life for his brothers and sisters in service to this great country. i'll never forget our freedom fighter from tooms county. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman s recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mr. speaker, i rise to recognize mast charter school, an incredible institution in my district that was just named a 2017 blue ribbon school of excellence by the department of education. mass is a ground breaking educational community -- mast is a ground breaking igsal community that emphasizes technology drin hands on learning. mr. boyle: they're preparing the next generation of visionary leaders who will change the future in ways we can only imagine. blue ribbon charter schools are marked by the highest levels of academic excellence and closing achievement gaps across student populations. elite institutions are a gold standard of instruction, inclusion, and innovative. one of ter school was only one of only 3,042 across the couldn't troy earn this honor this year. i want to congratulate the teachers and students on their remarkable and well desembd achievement. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise tonight to honor my for a lifetimeus of service to the south florida community and the cause of liberty in my native homeland of cuba. like my family and me and so many others in my congressional district, he was forced to flee castro's brutal tyranny he embraced his new life here in the united states and became involved in numerous civic and community affairs while working to rester freedom and democracy in cuba. in 1976, he secured accreditation for the christian democratic movement of cuba to speak before the u.n. human rights commission in geneva. for decades, he's been involved in a number of human rights advocacy organizations, denouncing the systematic repression brought on the cuban people by the evil castro regime. he founded the center for human rights in miami, he's a dedicated husband a proud father of eight children, grandfather of 11 grandchildren, jesus is a shining example to us all. thank you, jesus for your service to our community and to my native cuba. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman rom new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, each year millions of americans visit wildlife refuges throughout the country. they generate over $2 bhl in economic activity and create 35,000 jobs. this wouldn't be possible would help from dedicated and hardworking volunteers. that is why we have introduced h.r. 3979, bipartisan legislation that re-authorizes the national wildlife refuge system volunteer community partnership and education program. mr. jeffries: this program ensures public access to refuges for exploring, hunting, fishing, studying wildlife. refuges have a tremendous impact even in brooklyn where fish and wildlife service staff and volunteers work with local public schools to cultivate the next generation of conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts through hands on learning. as carmen wheeler a second grade student in brooklyn, recently wrote to me, i think we should keep the wildlife refuges safe even if they are far away because they will always keep our world healthier. we're with you, carmen. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina 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, mr. speaker. today i rise to announce the introduction of the universal charitable giving act. many americans believe that people, not the government, offer the best solutions to solve the ailments that face our society. strong families, strong churches, strong communities. these are the foundations of our nation. by supporting charities we can make our communities and our country a better place for americans from all walks of life. giving to charity is crucial for economic prosperity, happiness, and the success of our people. but for too long, only the most wealthy have been incentivized to give to the causes they believe in. the universal charitable giving act incentivizes giving for low and middle income tax players -- taxpayers. it would allow everyone deduct giving regardless of itemizing standards. mr. walker: our goal is to increase support for all charities. my colleagues to support the great work of our faith-base and charitable organizations by supporting this bill. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island 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. mr. cicilline: earlier this week, the fourth round of nafta renegotiations will begin. president trump will have an opportunity to deliver on his promise to get a better deal for american workers. i hope he does. our current trade deals are rigged in favor of the largest corporations in this country and against working people. in my home state of rhode island we lost 41,000 manufacturing jobs since in a ta and the w.t.o. took effect. the folks who kept their jobs have seen their paychecks get smaller and smaller. rhode islanders know that most importantly that we need a trade deal that's fair. they know the trade deal we have now helps corporations but they're killing american jobs. and helping corporations outsource jobs at the expense of working people. so this week i'm asking president trump to demand a new nafta agreement that has strong labor and environmental protections, that ends foreign tribunals allowing corporations to sue the u.s. government and force tax payers to pay the bill. better buy american requirements. strong rules of origin on manufactured goods. and provisions that bring down the cost of prescription drugs. these are commonsense provisions that will empower american working families and they should be included in any agreement. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas 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. could : for years, linda not bring herself to speak about her past turmoil and nightmares. linda is finally telling about her tortured life. when she was 16, two could t neighborhood boys drugged and sexually assaulted her. they set up online advertisement to sell her and other girls. when one of the other girls tried to escape, they tied her to a chair and beat her up tremendously. they mixed drugs neighborhood boys drugged and i to maintain control over the girls. it was years before linda finally escaped her turmoil. the day the rape -- today the rape and torture haunt linda but she works every day to become a survivor. i recently introduced the abolish human trafficking act that provides grants to ensure victims like linda get help and services such as legal aid, job training, things they deserve from us. this will help trafficking victims put their broken lives back together. trafficking is a scourge and we need to send a message to every that our kids are not for sale. that's just the way it is. i'll yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from washington seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jayapal: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong opposition to the cruel immigration proposal unveiled by the white house this week. this proposal goes beyond some of the worst immigration bills. it demands billions more for border security, tightens asylum standards, cuts off legal immigration and implements a faulty points-based system, undercutting our core values as a country and destroying our economy and our future. mr. speaker, 2/3 of all immigrants to the united states are women and children, and these policies will disproportionately hurt them. a points-based system eliminates family-based immigration and it's insulting to the valuable contributions of women, especially. nearly 70% of all women immigrants with legal status obtained it through the family system, and many are stuck in visa backlogs waiting years and even decades to reunite with families. immigration has never been about immigration. it has always been about who we are as a country and what we're willing to stand up for. i believe the majority of my republican colleagues want to pass the dream act, and i ask them to join us in rejecting these anti-immigrant poison instead unify our country. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from new york seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize eremy rich, the principal at baring road elementary school for his stellar record of service, professionalism, mr. rich was named new york's 2017 national distinguished principal by the national association of elementary school principals. ms. tenney: in 2013, mr. rich became the principal of barringer road elementary. he has arrived promptly at 6:30 a.m. each morning, bringing a positive attitude and inspirational words to each morning announcement. he served as principal at the now closed remington elementary school where he was integral in cilitating the mowhawk and and ilan school district merger. he served as principal, dean of students and an english teacher. mr. rich's commitment to his role is unparalleled. both teachers and parents alike describe mr. rich as comforting, helpful and passionate. one teacher described him as a superstar principal and a fantastic human being. mr. richard's record exemplifies his clear dedication to public education, his students and our community. please join me to congratulate this well-respected educator and beloved member of the 22nd district. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: let me first of all, mr. speaker, say what the world is coming to and how much our friends, our neighbors in america have had to go through. the most recent tragedy and massacre in las vegas and now the horrendous, unspeakable tragedy by fires in california. i offer my sympathy to my friends, mike and jared, congresspersons in california, and we look forward to working with them and offer our sympathy for those who are lost, those who are missing. i think it is important as we have these natural disasters that we really attentively work on the pain that people are suffering. that is on the back side of the puerto rican -- puerto rico where there is no power and we don't know the assessment of loss of life. there's no housing. from florida to the u.s. virgin islands where people are still waiting for relief and the attention is not at the peak that it should. and then in my own community, we are in desperate need of housing. we have senior citizens after hurricane harvey being dismissed and out of their homes, and finally, mr. speaker, we are looking for new disaster supplemental food program. we have the ok from the u.s. department of agriculture. we have the state of texas ready to work with us, but we must make sure that our local officials realize this is a disaster and an emergency, and they move forward quickly to serve the people -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. ms. jackson lee: who are in hungry and in need. harris county, you need to move faster to use the federal funds that we now have. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for approximately one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise to honor the life and legacy of gainesville's native son, mr. tom petty. thomas petty was born on october 20, 1950, and over a career that spanned five decades, collected 28 top 10 hits. the most of all-time. but his contribution cannot be measured in hits or awards. he wrote america's soundtrack. tom petty's story sounds familiar. he grew up in a small town, struggled, persisted and then succeeded. a true american dream story. but it's not what he did, it's how he did it that strikes us. it's the honesty, wit, sentimentality that made his music special. every hit tom petty crafted became an anthem. each song a score to the memorable moments of our life. american life would be much diminished without his work. jefferson and madison wrote our system. twain wrote our story that described early american folk lohr. petty wrote our songs. the song book of america is bigger and brighter because of him. rest in peace as you continue unning down a dream. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house the following personal request. the clerk: leave of absence requested for mr. marino of pennsylvania for today and the balance of the week. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request s granted. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2017, the gentleman from north carolina, mr. walker, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. walker: thank you, mr. speaker. we are here today because almost 11 months ago the american people voted to give republicans control of unified government. they were tired of being crushed by rising health care costs due to obamacare. they wanted america's economy to prosper again. they wanted a secure border. during the months that follow, congress worked with president trump to sign over 50 bills into law. on top of that, the house passed over 270 laws that now sit in the senate awaiting action. despite this legislation, there is a unified voice that's loud and clear arriving daily from our base saying, get something done. the reason for that call is because americans continue to be crushed by government policies, something that's very evident. these are the same policies that drove them to vote for us in the first place. americans are scarred by the broken promises of the former administration. they could not keep their doctor even though they were told by the former president they could. the premiums did not go down $2,500. their exchanges did not work. obamacare resulted in fewer options that increased costs for many americans. out-of-pocket costs continue to soar with deductibles topping $6,000 in 2017. some states like arizona faced premium increases of 116%. oklahoma, 69%. tennessee faced a 63% increase. 1/3 of counties have only one insurer offering coverage on the exchange. some entire states like wyoming, right below me, south carolina, oklahoma and alaska only have one insurer. think about that. this trend has predicted to worsen with half of american counties only having one insurer in 2018. as we come to almost eight years with the a.c.a. or obamacare, we run risk of thinking that it is normal. our health care system was not perfect before. we are not making that case, but obamacare made what was already bad even worse. we cannot think of these stats as mere numbers. americans are really suffering under this law. just because senate majority leader mcconnell gave up on repealing obamacare in the senate does not mean americans will give congress and republicans a pass. we cannot and we must not give up on this important promise. the burden of obamacare is only made worse by the lackluster growth of the economy in recent years. during the obama administration years, the economy fell to grow even worse at the historic goal of 3% a year, something we just saw in our last quarter. americans are as industryous and innovative as ever. americans' work ethic is not the problem. it's the antiquated tax system that's been bogged down by lobbyists. and since our last major rewrite of the tax code 31 years ago, the same year that "top gun" was number one in the box office, 1986, our tax code has added over 35,000 pages. think about that. 35,000 pages. that's about three changes per day. each page is another carveout or loophole for the well-connected leaving the rest of the economy behind. our companies are at a disadvantage internationally as our tax rate stands at 35%. the highest as we know now in the industrialized world. families continue to be punished with a marriage penalty. our tax code should be a competitive advantage for our companies competing with the world. it should encourage innovators to push the boundaries and find success. the call to get something done that we hear loud and clear from americans is also coupled with a call to make sure we are doing our best to secure the border. perhaps there's no more vocal call in the past year than to build that wall. in 2016, the united states saw a surge in illegal border crossings with 46,000 illegals apprehended in that october alone. this is both a fiscal and a security issue. border security is more than just the border, though. visa overstays are responsible for up to 40% of illegal immigration. we need a solution. we need action to problem if we are to truly secure the border. to add to these problems, more than 100 sanctuary jurisdictions have enacted policies which restrict cooperation with i.c.e., allowing potentially dangerous illegally immigrant criminals to remain in our country. i am confident that the american people would deliver their final grade on republicans over the next three months simply based on the three issues, the three promises i am speaking about today. number one, continue to work and replace obamacare. number two, reform the tax code. number three, securing the border. repeal, reform, secure. repeal, reform, secure. we need to fulfill these promises in the next three months. the urgency and the time is now. as i said before, the status quo on these policies are literally crushing americans, and this is why they elected republicans. in fact, since 1913, when republicans expanded or when the house expanded to 387 members -- from 387 members to 435, this is the only time in history when back-to-back congresses the americans have elected 240 more republicans and it's time we did our job. we need to keep our promises to the american people. i am pleased to be joined by members of the republican study committee today to talk about the importance of keeping these promises. that's why it's my privilege to introduce one of our newer members from kansas, representative ron ms. esty:. i yield three minutes to the gentleman from kansas, representative estes. mr. estes: thank you, mr. speaker. after a decade of inadequate growth across america, there's now a growing optimism that our economy is about to be set free again. consumer confident in the economy is the highest it's been since 2000. why? i believe this is because the american people expect us to reform our broken tax code and they're excited about it. our outdated and overly complex tax code has held our economy down for the past decade. it's time we fix this and empower working families in america. real tax reform will be the best way to help america climb up the economic ladder. a stronger economy will bring higher wages and better jobs. the goal is to make our federal code simple and to make it fair. the tax code, as it is, only benefits the rich and well-connected who can hire an army of lawyers to protect their interests. this is why republicans are looking to enact real reform for all americans. the argument against tax reform is this -- the plan is just a tax cut for the rich. the reality is this tax reform framework is focused on helping middle-class families. the tax system is laid out by republicans that allows low and middle-income workers to keep more of their hard-earned paychecks in order to save for their children's college or for the retirement or any other things that they want. i implore my colleagues across the aisle to do what is right and help to fix our antiquated tax code. thank you and i yield back the remainder of my time. mr. walker: thank you, representative estes. perhaps no one has more experience than the former chair of the immigration committee who has spent years working on these issues. it's my privilege to yield three minutes to the chairman, chairman goodlatte. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. walker, i appreciate you organizing this hour of special order remarks and your leadership on these three important issues. mr. speaker, i rise to discuss the importance of bolstering enforcement of existing immigration law and securing the border. interior enforcement and border security are vital to enhancing public safety, keeping the door open to law-abiding immigrants, protecting our borders and restoring the rule of law. under president obama, interior enforcement deteriorating dramatically as his administration refused to enforce immigration laws, rewrote the law through executive action, and implemented policies that enabled millions of unlawful and criminal aliens to remain in the united states free from any possibility of removal. the obama administration's policies had and continue to have disturbing consequences this erule of law was undermined as hundreds of thousands of central american unakochnied minors arrived at the southwest border during the obama years and were released into the u.s. and too many americans were killed or seriously harmed at the hands of aliens who joined gangs or committed crimes. fortunately the trump administration has begun to reverse the obama administration's policies and is enforcing the law as written by congress. president trump is issuing executive orders to implement strong border security measures. of justice and department of justice and department of homeland security are already executing these. arrests at the border dropped dramatically at the ghoifpk trump administration due in part to the enforcement of the law and the message that the u.s. no longer tolerates illegal immigration. however illegal border crossings are rising again, despite the best effort os they have trump administration, demonstrating the president should be granted additional, long-needed legislative tools. the committee has been hard at work to improve our nation's imgrigs laws and approved bills that are crucial to enable our country to gain control of our immigration system. the davis-oliver act is the keystone of our interior enforcement efforts and is named after placer county detective michael davis jr. and sacramento county deputy sheriff danny oliver two california law enforcement officers murdered by an unlawful immigrant in 2014. the bill improves enforcement of our nation's immigration laws to enhance public safety. specifically it provides tools to crack down on dangerous sanctuary city policies and contains much-needed changes to protect american communities from ahn lawful immigrants who commit crimes in the united states or ar gang members. the davis-oliver act enhances national security by improving our nation's first line of defense, the visa issuance process that provides thor rogue screening of foreign nationals seeking to enter the united states in order to help prevent terrorists from entering our country. the bill also ensures the rule of law and removes the ability of any president to unilaterally shut down immigration enforcement by granting states and localities the authority to voluntarily assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law and to enforce their own immigration laws consistent with federal practices. the house judiciary committee approved several bills to reform the asylum and refugee programs to curtail rampant fraud while ensuring our nation continues to be a safe haven for those persecuted around the world. the surge of central american unaccompanied alien minors and family units seeking to enter the u.s. illegally at our southern border put a strain on manpower and resources. it also exposed loopholes in our nation's immigration laws that are being exploited by smugglers and others seeking to game the system. the asylum reform and border protection act makes a number of improvements to our nation's laws to prept fraud and abuse in the system and ensure that asylum is reserved for those truly fleeing persecution in their home country. further, the protection of children act makes sure that unaccompanied alien minors who make the didges journey to the united states are swiftly and safely returned home. for those who stay with a sponsor in the united states while awaiting their immigration hear, the bill provides for great transparency and safety to these minors to ensure that they are not inadvertently delivered into the hands of criminals or abusers and the refugee program, integ i refugee program integrity restoration act curbs fraud and strengthens public safety and national security and provides state and local governments the power to decide if refugees are to be resettled in their communities and gives congress, not the president, the authority to set refugee ceiling for each year. the house judiciary committee plans to bring up a bill that protects jobs for citizens and legal workers. the legal work refugee ceiling requires all u.s. employers to check the work eligibility of future hires through the tried and tested e-verify system. e-verify quickly confirms 99% of work eligible employees and takes less than future hires th use. over 740,000 american employers current hily -- currently use e-verify and 83% of america's employers support a mandatory electronic verification system. while many aspects of our system need to be improved including our guest worker program for american agriculture, we must strengthen the enforcement of our immigration laws. immigration enforcement is crucial to maintain our sovereignty, to protect national security and to restore the rule of law. i call on congress to take up the immigration enforcement bills soon. i thank the chairman and yield back. mr. walker: thank you, chairman goodlatte. appreciate those powerful words. it's my privilege to introduce a colleague to provide three -- yield flee minute, one of our sharpest, most intellectual florida, from representative ron desantis. mr. desantis: i thank the gentleman. if you were trying do to do damage to the united states and wanted to design a tax code that hindered economic growth that diverted a lot of productive energy, that basically kept america from reaching its economic potential, you probably couldn't do much worse than design the code that we have. it's enormously complex, 70,000 plus pages, i as an individual confess there's no way i can do my own taxes and i think that's true for millions and millions of americans. and so there's a frustration with that. but it also costs mass i amounts of money and diverted energy. we're talking hundreds of billions of dollars that get diverted to complying with the tax code and that is not optimal for economic growth. it repels capital and incentivizes companies to relocate overseas and take jobs overseas. you see companies reincorporating in ireland or canada. that's because we have the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world. we're almost trying to send businesses overseas. it doesn't allow middle class families to keep enough of the money they earn. if you look over the past decade or so, family income really hasn't risen by that much but yet the cost of living has gone up. so by taking more and more from taxes, it makes it harder for middle class families to make ends meet. reforming the tax code, doing a nice big tax cut, i think is long overdue. it would be a boon to our economy. you would have a simple system, no more 70,000 pages, fill out your taxes on a postcard. that not only is more economically efficient, it gives people a lot of peace of mind to know they can do their taxes themselves. it's going to incentivize us to bring all the trillions of dollars in overseas profit and bring it back to the united states. so that we can invest it here through our companies and create more jobs here. it will make our american businesses more competitive. our business tax system is outdated, it's uncompetitive. this i think will change a lot of that by having a competitive business tax rate and i think that that will mean more economic growth. so i think all of that is pretty obvious to most people who look at this in a fair way. the question for us now is, we have to produce this bill. we've been talking about tax reform for a long time this year. i think that's great. but it's time right now for us to produce this bill, debate it here in the house, and pass it and send it over to the united states senate. nd i am not encouraged when, given the urgency of this, we're goingen a recess next week, the house is not going to be here. you're not going to have a house bill marked up in the ways and means committee or unveiled to the public. members are not going to be debating that. and i think it's time that we do that and i think there should be a sense of urgency with that. so we've got to get our job done. i think the bill should have been passed by now. let's get it done. send it to the senate. i don't think you would probably have very -- i don't t is going to be a big question for them. can you get anything done in the u.s. senate? this is something that we know we need to do, it'll be good for our economy, all the republicans have said our tax code is a disaster. so if we send them a good bill, this is going to be a major test. can you apply the majority that the voters gave us, can you honor your promises and do something good for taxpayers? i hope the answer is yes, but i think this body, we've got to be focusing on, let's put the senate to the test, let's draft, debate, and pass a strong, bold, tax cut and tax reform. with that i yield back the balance of my time. mr. walker: thank you, representative desantis. always appreciate the contribution you make to the house and to the american people. i could not agree more. and for those that may be listening of watching you may have seen in the last few months a heightened energy or an urgency when it comes to calling out our partners in the senate to begin to move and begin to act not just on things like repealing the health care or ba macare but also moving, getting ready to move, hopefully on tax reform. i know there's been some agreement on the framework but as this, the details continue to be more and more clear, we hope our colleagues on the senate are ready to move quickly and swiftly for the american people. now it's also my privethroge introduce a brand new member, came in from a special election for the -- to replace the o.m.b. director mick mulvaney when he took a position with president trump's administration. mr. ralph norman has gotten up to speed really quickly, he's a huge asset to the republican study committee and to the house republicans as a whole. it's my privilege to yield three minutes to the gentleman from south carolina, representative ralph norman. mr. norman: thank you, congressman walker. i rise today to support the republican study committee's three promises in three months pledge to repeal obamacare, secure the border, and enact comprehensive tax reform. i applaud r.s.c. chairman mark walker for his leadership on congressman, and on this initiative. on the promise to repeal and secure, the house has begun to deliver by passing the american health care act and providing c $1.6 billion in border wall funding. tonight i want to focus on the third promise. passing comprehensive tax reform. our nation's tax code affects every family, business, and worker and is a key driver behind america's economic competitiveness. congress has not passed comprehensive tax reform since 1986. that's 31 years. the average cost of a new house hen in the united states was $89,430. for a new ford 150 pickup truck the average price was $8,350. mr. speaker, it's been way too long before we've taken comprehensive tax reform into consideration. since then, the number of pages in the i.r.s. code has increased by nearly 50,000 pages. 50,000 pages. and the corporate tax break is at 35%, the highest in the industrialized world. ireland's, to give you an example is 12%. this is unexcuseable. congress took an important step forward last week through passing a budget resolution and now it's time for the senate to do their job on the budget. so that we can deliver comprehensive tax reform for the american people. mr. speaker, our tax reform plan is both pro-family and pro-worker. the typical american family will receive a $4,000 pay raise under our plan and will turbocharge the economy through enabling gross domestic product growth to reach 3.% minimum for the next five years. mr. speaker, i look forward to working with the house leadership, chairman brady, and all of the congress -- congressional members to pass this fair and simple tax reform package. to make this country a great as it can be. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. walker: thank you, representative norman. as you see, three promises, three months. october, november, december. three promises, three months. repeal, reform, and secure. that is the promise from the republican study committee making up 157 members, 17 of the 20 chairmen. now is it in our ability to make sure this gets through the senate and gets pass bd into law by the president? we can't promise all that but we're doing our job to get these pieces of legislation through regular order to the house far vote to fulfill the promises most of us ran over over -- ran on over the last several elections. it is my privilege tonight to introduce our house maybe define that as you would need if we need a house veterinarian, but the great representative from central florida, who does fine work in the house, dr. ted yoho. i yield three minutes. mr. mr. yoho: i rise today in support of the three promises, three-month initiative that you outlined here. i think it's so important we follow through with this. i want to start with tax reform. we can just say, why do we need tax reform? i think it's self-evident. our tax code, as you heard, is the most burdensome in the world. it stiffles economic growth, entrepreneurship and it creates noncompliance. and so we need to simplify it and we told the american people we were going to do that if we get in charge. and i think the repeal of -- acare -- and some people the affordable care act, it has disrupted our economy and i think it's not affordable. i know our premiums went up $11,000 since i came to congress. in fact, our policy got cancelled when i came to congress because of obamacare. i think the third part of that, we promised the american people we would repeal this in its entirety and fix health care so that people have access to health care, it's affordable and it's quality care is the part that gets left out. and then i want to touch on border security. this is something we have all run on, and this is something that any nation needs a secure border. a sovereign nation has to have a secure border, and they have to have control over their border. however, due to the failures of politicians past and present, the u.s. southern border in particular remains porous. i applaud president trump for releasing a set of principles which i fully endorse, and his priorities that are focused on making our borders more secure. president trump's consistent message, calling for better enforcement of our immigration laws and improving border security, is one of the main reasons he won the presidency. president trump is sticking to his campaign promises, which is refreshing to see in washington, d.c., these days. a town where too many times there is an aversion to making tough decisions in fear of how that will be viewed in the next election. so it is refreshing to see president trump do what he said he was going to do. protecting our borders, ending sanctuary cities and facilitating state and local cooperation and immigration enforcement are commonsense ideas that will protect national security, promote public safety and deter future illegal immigration. we are hard at work on solving these problems of illegal immigration in the house. just three real quick facts. from november, 2013, to july, 2014, officials apprehended 143 individuals listed on the u.s. terror watch list, trying to cross the mexico border and enter the u.s. illegally. so many times i hear people say this is not true, this does not happen, but we know better. illegal immigration -- illegal immigrants were convicted and sentenced about 13% of the crimes in the united states. and then lastly, border security should also focus on maritime domain. our coast guard, a hardworking branch of our military service, have set a new record of cocaine seizures at sea for the second consecutive year. seizing more than 455,000 unds of cocaine in 2017 that was destined for the homeland. i recognize the necessity of border security today and i yield back and thank you. mr. walker: thank you, representative yoho. we appreciate your work in the united states house. one of the most accomplished men, sometimes a person we refer to as governor around here, when it comes to political minds is the gentleman from south carolina, representative mark sanford. week in, week out, very diligent, great leader in this house and it's my privilege to yield to representative mark sanford. mr. sanford: i thank the gentleman for doing so and make two quick points on the importance of tax reform. one i would refer to an editorial that appeared in yesterday's "wall street journal" and what it talked about was the nexus between deficits and tax reform. that oddly enough if you look at the numbers here of late and if you look at the 2017 c.b.o. report, what it shows is that in fact deficits are creeping up again. last year's number was $668 billion. and what they point to in this editorial was a good part of the reason as to why deficits ve escalated because -- is because of anemic economic growth. the recovery has not come in compared to past recoveries and as a consequence deficits have exploded. if you care about deficits, and i do, and i know the gentleman from north carolina does and i know other members of the r.s.c. do, if you care about deficits you have to do something about tax reform. this was the essence of the editorial. the other point i would make is this, in a capitalistic society capital matters. it's in essence a mathematic formula. savings drives investment which drives productivity gain which ultimately impacts standard of living or wages, which we talk about. they are only two ways of increasing or improving human productivity. one is with gray matter. you can build a better mousetrap because you have been well educated and you can think of something differently. the other is with physical capital. i mean, one person with a bulldozer can move a lot more dirt than one person with a shovel. and yet what we oftentimes forget in the debate on tax reform is how important it is that we encourage and in essence compliment the efforts of those that are out there risking on a daily basis. and so with that in mind, it's important that we have tax reform that includes people that are actually, again, building businesses. think about this. the top 25% of the earners out there pay 90% of the taxes. the top 10% pay 60% of the taxes. now, let's define that for a second. if you are in the top 25%, that begins at $77,000 -- if you are in the 10% you are at $133,000. tell me this, when i talk to a truck driver and a school teacher at home, their combined income could be around $100,000. are they rich? i would say no. but are they out there making the kinds of risks that are necessary to the building of capital that was exactly what "the wall street journal" talked about, if we want to do something about deficits and if we want to do something about capital formation, so necessary to raising wages, we've got to do something about this equation. it's important that those earners and those small business people not be left out as is the case right now, and that's yet another reason as to why tax reform is so important this year. with that i would yield back. mr. walker: thank you, representative sanford. appreciate your good words and your experience and your knowledge. speaking of congress as a whole, it's well past time to make sure that tax reform, tax relief gets across to the american people. a lot of times we talk about classes, the truth is it's probably terminology to talk about income levels, lower and middle, higher income levels. one of the reasons we're pushing forward the charitable giving act, something that impacts both the lower and middle-income levels. we think it's something that needs to be connected to tax reform to make sure those folks that come from background of teachers and truck drivers, as we just heard about, but also other areas of middle-class and maybe lower income levels, something they have a way where they're able to make sure that every dollar, every sacrifice they give back to a charitable organization, whether it's a local church, united way, to make sure every dollar is counted. this is something that's been going on way too long. as we know there are 75,000 pages right now of i.r.s. tax code regulations. if the i.r.s. wants to come after a private citizen, private citizen doesn't have much of a resource, the ability to fight back, whether it's legal, extended wealth, this is a machine that's been building and the bureaucracy has been growing well past time. it's time to neuter the i.r.s. and make sure -- one of the ways we can do that is reducing it from seven tax brackets down to three. it was erroneously shared by somebody across the aisle recently that we are driving up the lowest bracket from 10% to 12%. the truth is this. we are condensing it right now to three tax brackets. 35%, 25% and 12%. doubling the standard deduction from $12,000 to $24,000. this is something we are looking forward to doing to benefit the american people. we talk much in these halls about bipartisan support or bipartisan this. when did it become an issue? when did it become a problem? when did it become a point of contention to allow the american people to keep more of the money from their hard work that they put in day in, day out, week in and week out? that is something that we must do, something that should not even be a place of argument or a place of debate when it comes back allowing these folks to continue. for some we can get past the tax credit language. we can move on beyond the charitable deductions, all the different political or accounting words. what about just the family of four that needs another car, that needs to be able to afford a car payment, get a mom and dad back and forth to work or maybe a teenage in the house? we've done that twice. had more claims than we probably should but we get it. also maybe it's a few more times out to eat or to the movies. the things that make you want to get up every day and continue to pursue the american dream. but not only from the individual side of this is certainly very important, but what about this corporate tax rate, this business rate that we talk constantly about that has become almost washington jargon talking points? since the 1940's, our corporate business rate has climbed to the highest in the industrialized world. why is that? why will we make it tougher on our manufacturers and our companies to have a higher tax rate? what incentive is it to stay here? we can track company after company. i come from the state of north carolina where textiles and furniture used to be two of our top three job providers. a lot of those companies, you'll find in vietnam or other places that corporate tax rate that literally has gone out the roof. why wouldn't we want to reduce that business rate? why wouldn't we want to incentivize companies to begin to bring those jobs back to the united states? i think it's crucial and i think something that all of us should have the energy and the ability to be able to get behind and really push forward. we've been promises this for how long? since 1986? i was a junior in high school. 31 years this has been on the docket, and the moment is now for us to deliver. if it's not now, if reagan used to say, then when, how? what should we be doing if it's not fulfilling the very promise we made to the american people and that is we are going to provide genuine -- not some kind of phony legislation, not some kind of show vote, but genuine tax reform and tax relief for the american people? now, you may hear sometimes, hey, this is the republican plan is only for the most wealthy. let's look at the numbers. let's put a little math equation up if we could please. let's say the most wealthy if you are talking about somebody that makes $1 million, ok. let's say we reduce their taxes by 1%. my math that i am doing in my mind, that comes to about $10,000. ok. let's say if you go to that middle-income family, two parents working as hard as they can, they bring in about $50,000 a year annually. yet, their tax break, their tax benefit is 10%. math tells me that's $5,000 compared to the $10,000. so you may hear the spin from time to time. well, the wealthier are getting a higher tax break. the wealthier are getting a higher tax break. when it comes to dollar for dollar, the impact it is for lower income families is drastic. i tell you this, every time i turn around, each time a member goes back and forth to his district it is hearing the same message -- get something done. and tax reform is one of those areas where specifically we're being compelled, we're being urged, we're being called. my fellow members in the house, please hear those urgent voices right now. even if you want to move past the tax relief and the humanitarian component, is it not politically strategic for us to do what we have promised to do on behalf of the american people? as i said in my opening, i am confident that the american people would deliver the final grade over the next three months. the 115th congress, what kind of grade will we have over the next three months if we do not deliver on these three promises? i'm hoping that the urgency is resonating. repealing and replacing, continuing to fight for the repeal and replace obamacare. to make sure we're continuing to reform and do everything that we can to reform the tax code. and finally, the promise that we have been making year after year is to make sure that we are protecting the american people by securing our border. i understand that each of these items is a major legislative item in its own right, and to be frank, we should have been delivering on it throughout the year. it's october, the 10th month of the year. high past time. we only have such a busy agenda this late in the game because we haven't delivered on our promises. i do want to thank my colleagues, the r.s.c., republican study committee members for joining us this evening and i would ask the american people to continue to support and continue to urge their members of congress to deliver on these promises. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2017, the , mr. who from arizona, haller and is designated as a member of the minority leader.

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