E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 116 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 165 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 No. 151 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was ed to political office at the State level. prices have been soft, and those pro- called to order by the Speaker pro tem- I had the great privilege of working ducers aren’t sure that the market is pore (Mr. CUELLAR). with Jan during my time in the North accurately applying margin to our f Carolina General Assembly over those feeders and to our ranchers. 21 years. I had the great privilege of Following the Holcomb fire, the mar- DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO working with Jan during my time ket experienced extreme volatility. TEMPORE throughout Congress, as well. The producers that I know, smart and The SPEAKER pro tempore laid be- There is no way to qualify the impact savvy professionals, are telling me that fore the House the following commu- that Jan had on the State of North what happened in that aftermath did nication from the Speaker: Carolina, but I know that, because of real damage to the viability of their WASHINGTON, DC, Jan, more women have held office in businesses and to their way of life. September 19, 2019. the State and more women are con- That is why I was grateful to see I hereby appoint the Honorable HENRY tinuing to run. USDA, under the Packers and Stock- CUELLAR to act as Speaker pro tempore on Thanks to Jan, laws have been passed yards Act, open up an investigation this day. to improve the lives of women, fami- into the cattle market. An investiga- NANCY PELOSI, Speaker of the House of Representatives. lies, and children, and North Carolina tion like that does not happen every is a better place to live for everyone. day, and it has folks in South Dakota f My thoughts and prayers will con- anxiously awaiting the results. I know MORNING-HOUR DEBATE tinue to be with Jan’s family, her that I am. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- friends, and my entire North Carolina What I have seen so far, what I have ant to the order of the House of Janu- community. I thank Jan Allen for her heard so far from USDA, gives me a ary 3, 2019, the Chair will now recog- work, and may the Lord continue to good feeling that they are conducting nize Members from lists submitted by bless her and her family. this investigation for real, that they the majority and minority leaders for f are working hard to gather and analyze the pertinent data. They want to get to morning-hour debate. CATTLE COUNTRY NEEDS USDA’S The Chair will alternate recognition the bottom of this. They want to deter- MARKET INVESTIGATION between the parties. All time shall be mine to what extent, if any, there were equally allocated between the parties, The SPEAKER pro tempore. The unfair trade practices or market ma- and in no event shall debate continue Chair recognizes the gentleman from nipulation. beyond 11:50 a.m. Each Member, other South Dakota (Mr. JOHNSON) for 5 min- That kind of a determination, Mr. than the majority and minority leaders utes. Speaker, won’t be easy. It will require and the minority whip, shall be limited Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. real effort, real persistence, a real will- to 5 minutes. Speaker, this is a town where inves- ingness to dig deep. tigations can last for years, and some- f As I said at the beginning, there are times, they cost millions. There are two types of investigations in this HONORING JAN ALLEN other investigations that are insignifi- town, those that are for show and those The SPEAKER pro tempore. The cant, little things. They are just meant that are for real. It looks like USDA is Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from to check a box so we can move onto the conducting this investigation for real, North Carolina (Ms. ADAMS) for 5 min- next task. and thank goodness for that, because utes. Yes, I think we all know that, in our cow-calf folks deserve that, our Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise D.C., there are two types of investiga- feeders deserve that, and, Mr. Speaker, today to honor the life of the late Jan tions, investigations that are for show our country deserves that. Allen, an extraordinary North Caro- and investigations that are for real. f linian and a personal friend. Well, in cattle country, we need an in- Jan was a trailblazer who worked vestigation for real. ELIMINATE FORCED ARBITRATION tirelessly to level the playing field for Times have been tough, really tough The SPEAKER pro tempore. The women in politics in North Carolina, for cattle producers, especially the last Chair recognizes the gentleman from and she did a tremendous job at her couple of years. The producers that I South Carolina (Mr. CUNNINGHAM) for 5 work. know, they don’t ask for guarantees or minutes. Twenty-two years ago, she founded handouts. All that they want is a fair Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I Lillian’s List to get more women elect- chance to earn a living. Unfortunately, rise today in support of H.R. 1423, the 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. H7777 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A19SE7.000 H19SEPT1 SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with HOUSE H7778 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE September 19, 2019 FAIR Act, which would eliminate Some of this hits home so much, and its own conscience in a flow of collec- forced arbitration clauses in employ- it has so much to do with America, tive indignation, and by joining it, you ment, consumer, and civil rights cases, that I thought it was important I ad- make yourself safe,’’ which is one of restoring the rights of consumers, dress this here this morning. the reasons we see an epidemic of vir- workers, and small businesses to go to He says: ‘‘In every period of history, tue signaling here in this Congress, Mr. court. therefore, there have been opinions and Speaker. This is about respecting the Seventh customs that are dangerous to question ‘‘The spirit of the mob has entered Amendment, the constitutional right . but our situation in Western de- not only the language of public debate to a trial by jury, the right of every mocracies today is a novel one. but also the sources of information and single American to get their day in The old customs have been torn asun- the institutions of decisionmaking. court. der by a culture of repudiation, which Censorship begins in the media them- This is also about public account- encourages people to shape their lives selves.’’ ability. This is about ending the ability according to an ‘identity’ of their Cyberspace is censored and is con- of bad corporate actors to shield their own.’’ trolled by about four major companies. wrongdoing and patterns of violation Socialization no longer means what George Orwell predicted this, but I from public scrutiny. it used to mean. It means now becom- think it has eclipsed even his magnifi- Let me be perfectly clear: Forced ar- ing who you are without regard to the cent imagination and the reality that bitration clauses, which are often bur- framework that existed in the civiliza- we are dealing with today. ied in the fine print in confusing legal tion and the culture prior. ‘‘The pun- ‘‘Murray gives riveting examples of jargon, put the interests of powerful ishments for saying, thinking, or im- the way in which’’—I will use this ex- corporations over American workers plying the wrong thing . are real, ample—‘‘whiteness has become a moral and consumers. serious, and largely impossible to de- fault in the eyes of identity warriors This impacts every single one of us. flect.’’ on the American campus.’’ They now Every person in this room at some That means that ‘‘the archive of your openly ‘‘condemn people for the color point has unknowingly ceded their crimes is stored in cyberspace, and of their skin,’’ provided that it is rights away when entering into a con- however much you may have confessed white. The art of taking offense, tract to buy a new car, to start a new to them and sworn to change, they will ‘‘whole sections of the university cur- job, or sign up for a new credit card. pursue you for the rest of your life, riculum are devoted to explaining to This is hurting real Americans, from just as long as someone has an interest students that words, arguments, com- the elderly people who are mistreated in drawing attention to them. And parisons, even questions,’’ rhetorical or in nursing homes, or employees work- when the mob turns on you, it is with not, ‘‘are ‘offensive,’ regardless of the ing overtime but not getting paid, to a pitiless intensity that bears no rela- servicemembers who are fired or not intention with which they are used,’’ tion to the objective seriousness of rehired after returning from Active or, actually, the language, the precise your fault. A word out of place, a hasty Duty. Very few of them are actually definition of the language.