Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 112 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 112 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 157 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2011 No. 174 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was The health care debate revealed the achieve with surgical reapportionment called to order by the Speaker pro tem- deepest of divisions and some of the what they couldn’t do honestly at the pore (Mr. WEST). most inflammatory language and ac- ballot box. As we approach the 50th an- f tion in history. The budget battles of niversary of the landmark Baker vs. the 112th Congress, especially the arti- Carr Supreme Court case that required DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO ficial crisis surrounding meeting our one person/one vote, it’s time to revisit TEMPORE debt ceiling obligations, extend and that process. The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- amplify that trend. I would propose that we would estab- fore the House the following commu- Experts across the political spectrum lish a national commission, composed nication from the Speaker: agree that part of this divisiveness of ex-Presidents, retired Federal jus- arises from the very nature of congres- tices, previous congressional leaders, WASHINGTON, DC, housed in an independent, professional November 15, 2011. sional districts. Both parties have de- I hereby appoint the Honorable ALLEN B. veloped into an art form the ability to agency, not unlike what Iowa has done WEST to act as Speaker pro tempore on this manipulate redistricting: packing in successfully for decades. These distin- day. partisans of a single party, punishing guished and independent experts would JOHN A. BOEHNER, opponents and protecting incumbents. establish uniform criteria and congres- Speaker of the House of Representatives. Just look at the maps published in sional district lines for each State to f ‘‘Roll Call’’ this week, the ‘‘Top 5 respect the communities of interest— the ethnic, cultural and historic bound- MORNING-HOUR DEBATE Ugliest Districts: Partisan Gerry- mandering 101.’’ Sadly, it’s practiced aries—rather than just partisan affili- ation. Indeed, we may even consider The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- by both political parties. We should all competitiveness to be a positive out- ant to the order of the House of Janu- be concerned when politicians have come. It would then be approved by ary 5, 2011, the Chair will now recog- more influence picking their voters Congress with an up-or-down vote like nize Members from lists submitted by than voters have picking their politi- the majority and minority leaders for we do with base closings. We may even cians. fix the outrage that denies American morning-hour debate. Now, some progress has been made to citizens of the District of Columbia, The Chair will alternate recognition insulate the redistricting process by between the parties, with each party our Nation’s capital, voting representa- creating a few independent commis- tion. Congress should enact these pro- limited to 1 hour and each Member sions and some guidelines, but the other than the majority and minority posals now while the abuse of the proc- problems persist. Look at what has ess is clear in everyone’s minds—well leaders and the minority whip limited happened in Florida to try and cir- to 5 minutes each, but in no event shall before the next Census in 2020. cumvent those reforms and, more re- The ebb and flow of our history has debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. cently, the actions of Arizona Governor shown that highly political gerry- f Brewer firing the independent head of mandering can backfire, that political the supposedly independent commis- A NATIONAL REDISTRICTING tides can change. Nobody knows which sion. The process remains woefully in- COMMISSION party is going to be in charge 10 years adequate, highly politicized and sub- from now. Having a system that guar- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ject to what normal people would re- antees fairness will guard against the Chair recognizes the gentleman from gard as political abuse. For many poli- destructive and highly partisan maneu- Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- ticians, the temptation to place par- vering that we see now. utes. tisan objectives above the public inter- Americans deserve better. Mr. BLUMENAUER. Americans are est is just too tempting. In the last When citizens are treated fairly and understandably frustrated by the polit- decade, we saw the culmination of this all politicians play by the same rules, ical process. Attention has appro- trend in 2003 when Texas conducted a government works better. Meaningful priately been directed to the perversion hyper-partisan, mid-decade, second re- political reform is seldom easy. It of Senate rules that slow the Senate’s apportionment process. takes time to educate the public and legislative process to a crawl with very Americans deserve better. policymakers and to refine the con- real consequences for the ability of the Congressional representation should cepts. I am hopeful there will be care- Federal Government to function. not be a political blood sport that pro- ful consideration of this proposal as a Concern has also been expressed tects incumbents, disenfranchises le- way to make the House of Representa- about the House of Representatives. gitimate interests and allows people to tives fair, more representative and b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H7581 . VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:46 Nov 16, 2011 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A15NO7.000 H15NOPT1 pwalker on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with HOUSE H7582 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE November 15, 2011 more effective for this century. Given than trucks; it’s safer than bringing it me in this report is that the top 1 per- the challenges we face, America de- in on ships from overseas; and it’s safer cent of income earners have seen their serves no less. than barges, because pipelines have a average real after-tax household in- f history of being the most environ- come grow by 275 percent. Middle-in- mentally safe, as they should be safe. come Americans saw an increase of 40 THE KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE— In fact, the new pipelines that are de- percent over the same period of time. PAGE II veloped are taking newer technology. This report illuminates a sad fact: In- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The They put a machine in the pipeline— come inequality in our country is Chair recognizes the gentleman from it’s called a pig machine—which goes growing at a staggering pace. The re- Texas (Mr. POE) for 5 minutes. through the pipeline with the crude oil port is pointing out what many of my Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the and looks for dense or even small leaks constituents tell me as I travel around folks I represent down in southeast which would automatically shut the my district from Cumberland to Paw- Texas are concerned about many pipeline down. Nobody wants a leak in tucket to Newport, from community things; but two things they are con- a pipeline—the people who build it or dinners and talking to business owners: cerned about probably the most are the people who live in that area—but This economy is not working for the jobs and energy, because, you see, in the administration has decided, pri- majority of middle class families. In southeast Texas, that’s still the energy marily the State Department has de- fact, the hardworking middle class of capital of the United States. I probably cided, not to make a decision until our country is being hollowed out, a represent more refineries than any 2013. middle class made up of people that are Member of Congress. just trying to provide a good life for b 1010 There is an answer to jobs and en- themselves and their families. My real ergy, and it’s called the Trans-Canada The Prime Minister of Canada is very fear is that if we let that happen, we’ll pipeline, commonly called the Key- disappointed that the United States never get it back. stone XL pipeline. will not be a partner in this crude oil Those here in Washington need to re- The plan is for our allies in Canada development. But there is a country member that our job is to help people to ship crude oil from Alberta, Canada, that will take that Canadian crude oil, and to strengthen the middle class of through a pipeline all the way from Al- and it’s China. So we may not see the this country. The way back to pros- berta, Canada, down to Port Arthur, pipeline built from Alberta to Port Ar- perity is not to ignore the problem; it’s Texas. Most Americans have never thur, Texas; but we may see that pipe- through investing in workforce retrain- heard of Port Arthur, Texas, but it sits line built from Alberta to their west ing, infrastructure, housing, and edu- on the gulf coast, really close to the coast where they could pipe that crude cation for tomorrow. We can’t wait any Louisiana-Texas border. It is part of oil off to their west coast and sell it longer. Now is the time to act. We need that energy development going all the and put it on tankers going to our bud- to work together in a bipartisan way to way back to Spindletop days in 1901— dies, the Chinese, who are eager to get our economy and our country mov- the energy capital of the world.