Rick Allen

Mr. ALLEN

Mr. ALLEN. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act. I think on both sides all we talk about is creating jobs. For 6 years, this project has been studied. We hear that over and over again. Every environmental report has been favorable. In fact, the President's own State Department says that the construction of this pipeline will create tens of thousands of jobs. At a time when millions of Americans are struggling, this is a project that is ready to go. As we said, we have pipeline stacked up and ready to put in the ground. The Keystone pipeline is not just important to growing our economy. This project is critical to securing North American energy independence and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Congress has taken action with bipartisan support, and finally we will put this priority on the President's desk. I urge the President to listen to the American people who support this project and reconsider his threat to veto this critical legislation.

Mr. ALLEN

Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Alabama for yielding. Mr. Speaker, individuals, families, and businesses alike--in Georgia and across the Nation--agree that ObamaCare is wrong for Americans. Across my district, hardworking Georgians trying to make ends meet have told me their health care premiums have skyrocketed under this law. Many have learned the plan they liked and were promised they could keep have been canceled, and they have been denied care and access to their doctors. In addition to hurting America's families, ObamaCare's costly mandates burden small businesses, the bedrock of job creation and entrepreneurship, and have real consequences for their employees facing lower hours and wages. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the law will lower the number of full-time equivalent workers by 2.5 million. The President's own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also found that an estimated two-thirds of small businesses will see their health care premiums go up under ObamaCare. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 596.

Mr. ALLEN

Mr. ALLEN. I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this combined rule and the underlying bills. Specifically, I came to the floor to speak in support of H.R. 240, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2015. First, I applaud House leadership for bringing up this clean legislation in a timely fashion and allowing the full House of Representatives the opportunity to work the will of the body, which is, in fact, the will of the American people. The amendments approved in this rule are vital to protecting the constitutionally mandated separation of powers between Congress and the executive branch, while keeping the Department of Homeland Security funded through fiscal year 2015. I would like to remind my colleagues who are opposed to this bill, just last week, Members of the House read on this floor the Constitution of the United States, myself included, and renewed our commitment to defending the principles in our Nation's founding document. In that Constitution, article I gave all legislative powers and authority to Congress and established the framework of our legislative process. The President's executive action on immigration threatens this separation of powers, ignores our Constitution, disregards the right of the American people to have a voice in important legislation through their elected representatives. Americans sent a clear message on November 4. They did not want the President to act alone on immigration. Now, this bill and the accompanying amendments are sending a strong message that Congress will not stand by as the President attempts to rewrite our Nation's laws.

Mr. ALLEN

Mr. ALLEN. ``. . . to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water; ``To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; . . .''