Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 115 CONGRESS, SECOND 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 115 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 164 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2018 No. 10 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was service in many instances. The employ- mands that would not be acceptable to called to order by the Speaker pro tem- ees are sent home. They are off the the broad House and probably aren’t pore (Mr. VALADAO). payroll temporarily. But what has al- even acceptable to most Republicans. f ways happened is that we always end Let’s bring the best approaches for- up paying them because it is not their ward. DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO fault, and, as a result, the taxpayer It is pretty simple. Allow the House TEMPORE loses twice. They lose the services, and to vote on the Graham-Durbin pro- The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- they end up having to pay, essentially, posal. I understand there is one from fore the House the following commu- public employees to take a forced vaca- our friend Mr. GOODLATTE, Congress- nication from the Speaker: tion. man MCCAUL. Bring them forward. WASHINGTON, DC. Now, the current controversy is There are legislative processes— January 17, 2018. largely about the fate of almost 700,000 queen of the Hill, king of the Hill— I hereby appoint the Honorable DAVID G. undocumented young people who were where you can have multiple votes on VALADAO to act as Speaker pro tempore on brought here as children. This issues that are related, and at the end this day. shouldn’t be a matter of major debate. there is one that is left standing that PAUL D. RYAN, We can take care of the immigration represents the majority. Speaker of the House of Representatives. issues if we allow the process to work. I would suggest that there is no rea- f Remember a couple years ago the son to play games with the integrity of MORNING-HOUR DEBATE Senate passed a bipartisan immigra- government services, play games with tion reform bill—not perfect, maybe a our employees, and play games with The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- C-plus on the scale, but it would have providing key services to the public; ant to the order of the House of Janu- fixed the problem in the short and in- and, most importantly, stop using al- ary 8, 2018, the Chair will now recog- termediate term. Unfortunately, the most 700,000 young people and millions nize Members from lists submitted by House leadership never allowed us to of their family members, their employ- the majority and minority leaders for vote on it, probably because they knew ers, and their fellow workers as pawns. morning-hour debate. it would pass. Let’s bring the proposals forward, The Chair will alternate recognition Now we are facing anxiety again. We allow an up-or-down vote, and resolve between the parties. All time shall be have had people arguing about what this rather than threaten the possi- equally allocated between the parties, vulgarity the President used or who is bility of wasting money, wasting serv- and in no event shall debate continue acting in good faith, but the fact is ices, and further frustrating the Amer- beyond 11:50 a.m. Each Member, other that we have a proposal from Senator ican public. They deserve better. This than the majority and minority leaders DURBIN and Senator GRAHAM, a bipar- is a simple resolution that was in our and the minority whip, shall be limited tisan proposal, that met the broad out- capacity this week. to 5 minutes. lines that the President earlier talked f f about that looks as though it will pass the Senate, and we have a strong possi- COMMEMORATING NATIONAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN bility of passing here in the House. SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Now, there is some controversy. Peo- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from ple are suggesting Democrats want to Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Oregon (Mr. BLUMENAUER) for 5 min- shut the government down. Absolutely North Carolina (Ms. FOXX) for 5 min- utes. not. My Republican friends are in com- utes. Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, plete control of the House and the Sen- Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, each year here we are again, facing the possi- ate and the White House, and they can, we commemorate National School bility of a government shutdown. It is as they did recently with the short- Choice Week to celebrate a family’s one of the most foolish acts possible. term extension, pass it themselves. But right to select the best school for their What we have seen in the past when if they want to work with us, they children. This year we are starting the this occurs where there are some peo- ought to include us in this effort. celebration on January 21. ple who decide they want to force the I would suggest that we stop gov- Americans like to have options, and government to shut down. erning behind closed doors and having when it comes to options in postsec- It only hurts our employees, and it the majority party cater to a small ondary education, there are more op- hurts the public, having a denial of handful of people who are making de- portunities than ever. School choice is 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. H415 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jan 18, 2018 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A17JA7.000 H17JAPT1 H416 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE January 17, 2018 also about bringing those options to that much time and thought? ‘‘Unfor- is among the most notable and selfless America’s children in elementary and tunate.’’ The Speaker said the Presi- acts throughout history. Our military secondary schools. dent’s comments were unfortunate and men and women have shown uncompro- One of the best examples of options is unhelpful. mising honor, dedication to duty, and the expansion of school choice. In the Look, it is unfortunate when you genuine love of country. expansion of school choice is the walk outside and step in a puddle of This evening, Members of Congress growth of charter schools. Over the water. This was more like walking into will have an opportunity to meet the last 12 years, public charter school en- a global-sized pile of S. 23rd Secretary of the Army, the Honor- rollment has tripled, and America now We are not on the staff of the White able Mark T. Esper. Secretary Esper is has 3 million students attending these House. We are a coequal branch of gov- a 1986 graduate of the U.S. Military schools. ernment, and it is about time we acted Academy at West Point. He served on Along with the growing demand for like it. Saying nothing, or basically Active Duty for more than 10 years be- charter schools, homeschooling and nothing, is unacceptable. We need to fore transitioning into the Reserve, private school choice programs are in- put our country before our political achieving the rank of lieutenant colo- creasing. There are 2.3 million students party. nel. being homeschooled, and enrollment in Calling other countries, and even a Secretary Esper’s service included private school choice programs has in- continent, names like s---holes or s--- deployment with the 101st Airborne Di- creased more than 100 percent. houses puts our servicemembers and vision during Operation Desert Storm. Making school choice available to our Americans overseas at greater risk. For his valor during that operation, he more families should be a priority for Weak words or silence makes Congress was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. all of us. It is clear that parents are complicit with the President’s racist Proudly, the Secretary is a Pennsyl- looking for options, and we want op- rhetoric. vania native. He graduated from Laurel portunity for them to be open to every- And, by the way, people outside the Highlands High School in Uniontown, one. beltway just think Congress is full of Pennsylvania, in 1982. Secretary Esper S. Everyone else had the proper re- later earned a master’s degree in public HONORING CRYSTAL WINEBARGER sponse to the President’s comments, administration from Harvard and a Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, today I rise that they were pure BS. doctorate from George Washington to wish Crystal Winebarger of the Fifth The SPEAKER pro tempore. Mem- University. District a very peaceful and happy re- bers are reminded to refrain from en- I am looking forward to meeting the tirement. For the last 16 years, Ms. gaging in personalities toward the Secretary tonight thanks to the recep- Winebarger selflessly served as the President. tion hosted by the House Army Caucus. Hunger and Health Coalition director f In addition to the Secretary, we will of operations located in Watauga Coun- be joined by General Mark Milley, the ty, North Carolina. The Hunger and HONORING BOB DOLE 39th Chief of Staff of the Army. The Health Coalition’s mission is to lift up The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Army senior leaders and members of the community by providing resources Chair recognizes the gentleman from the Army staff will also attend. such as food, medications, and heat in Pennsylvania (Mr.