H4338 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE June 12, 2015 outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his stand- currently serve, many of whom come other agreements into it. Since the ing in any way, nor will we proceed with from no privilege, to be able to hold TAA did not pass, then it can’t, appar- force against him, or send others to do so, onto that opportunity. ently, go directly to conference unless except by the lawful judgment of his equals To do that, Mr. Speaker, we have to we pass an amendment to allow it to go or by the law of the land. hold on to freedom. We are the freest to conference or find some other way Let me repeat those last few words, country in the world, and that, the rule to effectuate a conference on agree- Mr. Speaker, ‘‘the law of the land.’’ In of law, and our capitalistic system are ment. Mr. Speaker, I can only surmise those words, we see the idea that the those things that make us such a great that, since the Speaker, himself, law does not come from any individual country. moved to reconsider, then there is person or government. To quote Daniel I want to express again my apprecia- something afoot in order to keep it Hannan, who wrote a wonderful essay tion to those rebel barons and to all from dying, as it should have, since on the 800th anniversary of Magna the people who came after them who both the TPA and the TAA did not Carta for The Wall Street Journal last kept the idea of Magna Carta alive to pass. month: ‘‘It is immanent in the land the time when we could develop our The TPA, I read it. It has got some itself, the common inheritance of the Constitution and Bill of Rights and to good aspects to it, but it is not, in and people living there.’’ the present time when we fight so hard of itself, free trade. As a judge in a dis- Mr. Speaker, the language may sound to maintain those principles. trict court—our highest level trial a little stilted, and folks may think, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance court in Texas—so many times, I would be the fact finder without a jury. So goodness, that doesn’t sound like some- of my time. thing we would say today, but it is so often, you would sit and listen to the important for us to understand the di- f evidence, and you would wonder why rect link between Magna Carta and the CONGRATULATING ROBERTA someone would take the action he did. Revolution that occurred in this coun- GIANFORTONI There has got to be some motivating factor. You consider all of the possi- try in 1776. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under Although Magna Carta failed to re- bilities. the Speaker’s announced policy of Jan- We had a very rare visit from Presi- solve the conflict between King John uary 6, 2015, the gentleman from Cali- and his barons, it was reissued several dent Obama to the Capitol, trying to fornia (Mr. RUIZ) is recognized for 60 push people to vote for the TPA—this times after his death. Again, Magna minutes as the designee of the minor- Carta’s legacy is particularly evident trade agreement—and the TAA. It was ity leader. great to see him come out to the Con- in the documents that form the basis of Mr. RUIZ. Mr. Speaker, today, it is our government, the U.S. Constitution gressional Baseball Game last night. It my honor to recognize and congratu- is not something he does regularly. So, and the Bill of Rights. late Roberta Gianfortoni, assistant At the National Archives, visitors to Mr. Speaker, I am left to wonder. I dean for professional education at the Washington have the opportunity to mean, we have not seen this President Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public view one of four surviving originals of push this hard on very many bills over Health, as she retires after 26 years of 1 the 1297 Magna Carta alongside the re- the last 6 ⁄2 years, and I am left won- service. markable documents it inspired. When dering: Why would President Obama Assistant Dean Gianfortoni has been visitors come here to the House, I often push so hard to pass this trade agree- an inspirational leader and adviser in point out to them on the walls the pro- ment structure that allows him to ne- the School of Public Health for more files of the ancient lawgivers. Pope In- gotiate so many deals with so many than 4,000 graduates, including myself. nocent III is one of those ancient law- different countries? Her guidance and mentorship during One possibility is he did it because he givers shown here in the House. my time at Harvard opened my eyes to knew that Speaker BOEHNER was push- Again, we can see directly, in many new issues and innovative solutions, ing to pass it, and it is possible that he cases, how our Constitution and our inspiring me to think outside the box really wanted to make Speaker BOEH- Bill of Rights are derived from Magna to address our public health challenges. NER and MITCH MCCONNELL, the leader Carta and also from the Bible, that we The students she mentored have gone down in the Senate, look good. That is can see those direct connections. on to become doctors, professors, na- a possibility. I don’t think it is terribly Today, I would like to acknowledge tional and international leaders, and probable. In weighing all of the evi- the debt of gratitude we owe to those advocates all working to improve pub- dence, it would seem to me that it is rebel barons with grievances against lic health conditions right here at far more probable that the TPA will their King, and I am reminded that we home and across the globe. Her con- give this President far more power to must always be attentive to the free- tributions to our Nation’s public fundamentally transform America in dom we have inherited. health will last for generations. his remaining year and a half or so as Ronald Reagan said famously: I cherish my time and the lessons I President. That is what it appears to Freedom is not in our genes. It is only a learned from Assistant Dean be to me. generation away from being lost. It is some- Now, one of our Republicans speak- thing we have to cherish. Gianfortoni. After 26 years of service, I congratulate her on her retirement. ing, whom I have tremendous respect Also, Mr. Speaker, with freedom Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance and admiration for, commented that comes opportunity and responsibility, of my time. we are not a nation that sits on the and I want to say how grateful I am for sidelines. I agree that that used to be f the opportunity I have had to serve in true, but we have basically sat on the the House of Representatives along b 1445 sidelines as Christians and Jews are with my colleagues. being persecuted and killed around the I often tell, particularly school- THE POWER OF TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY world in greater numbers than ever be- children, when I talk to them about fore. We have sat on the sidelines in Ni- this country and the radical idea that The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under geria as precious little African girls it represents, that I am a person who the Speaker’s announced policy of Jan- are kidnapped and brutally, sexually grew up in a house with no electricity uary 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the assaulted day after day, month after and no running water, extraordinarily gentleman from Texas (Mr. GOHMERT) month. poor, and with parents with no privi- for 30 minutes. Then we see an article. According to lege, no exalted status in our country. Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, it the article, actually, this administra- As I said, with the freedom that we seems so often in this body we tend not tion communicated to Nigeria that, if have comes opportunity. We on our to learn from mistakes. We passed a they will change their laws to provide side of the aisle—and I know many of bill—I guess part of a bill—that the for same-sex marriage and possibly for my colleagues, or most of my col- Senate sent, referred to as the TPA, abortions to be paid for, then the leagues, on the other side of the aisle— but it is all about a trade agreement United States would not continue to want to see that opportunity that has that will provide a structure in which sit on the sidelines, that we would ac- been made available to those of us who the President can negotiate and dock tually help them stop radical Islamists. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Jun 13, 2015 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00094 Fmt 0636 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\K12JN7.061 H12JNPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with HOUSE June 12, 2015 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H4339 Of course, they didn’t use the term this document before we put it on a think things can get better, and that is ‘‘radical Islamists,’’ but that is what path to approval. why we are here. I know you and I have they are. They would stop them, the The other reason I voted ‘‘no’’ today worked so many times together, and radical Islamists, from continuing to was the implication of ceding our au- that is why we are here.