Liz Cheney

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank very much my colleague from Washington particularly for calling me ``young.'' I appreciate that always. Mr. Speaker, I have enjoyed listening to the colloquy taking place among my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. We see this repeatedly now day in and day out as we work hard in the majority to continue the progress that we have made so far in this Congress, really record-breaking progress of passing legislation, putting bills on the President's desk, having those bills signed into law. Mr. Speaker, I believe we are now at the point where we have presented more bills to the President and had more bills signed than in any Congress in the first term of any Presidency since Harry Truman. It is a record we are very proud of over here. It is clear that as we continue to put commonsense reform legislation forward that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle would sometimes like to distract and talk about other things. In terms of the healthcare conversation that is going on and the talk of unintended consequences, I would just point out, Mr. Speaker, that we now know the consequences of ObamaCare. We have had to live under ObamaCare now for many years. We are in a situation where the system is absolutely failing the people of this country, and we have an obligation as a body, an obligation we take seriously here in the House, to make sure that we do what is right for the people of this country, that we provide them relief, that we provide them the kind of healthcare reform that is going to lower their costs, that is going to provide better access to care and put people back in charge. We have tried the Democrats' way now for the last 7 years and fundamentally seen that the government cannot mandate effectively what people need. It doesn't have the consequences that many on the other side of the aisle thought it would, and the consequences have been devastating. Mr. Speaker, the same is true in terms of the challenge that we are here dealing with today with these two bills. As my colleague from Washington (Mr. Newhouse) so eloquently put it, those of us across the West--and Mr. Polis knows this well, too--have had to live under this situation of absolutely devastating forest fires, forest fires that have been caused in too many instances by mismanagement by the Forest Service, mismanagement by the Federal Government. These bills--and in particular, H.R. 1873, which is a bill that I am honored to cosponsor with Representative LaMalfa--will begin to impose the kind of commonsense reforms that we need so that our power grid is no longer threatened by mismanagement of our Federal Forest Service, of our Federal forestlands. On our federally managed forest in Wyoming, when we have overgrowth around a power line, it is a direct risk to the people, the property, and the power grid, as well as to the wildlife that those on the other side of the aisle claim to care so much about. Our local leaders understand this. Our local leaders are in the very best position to do something about this and to do it quickly. That is why we put in place these provisions in these bills that will allow the local utilities, allow local officials, to make the kinds of decisions that have to be made quickly. H.R. 1873 will allow our utilities to submit their own management facility inspection plans, their own operation and maintenance plans, and it will also ensure that our Federal land managers have consistent and accountable policies to reduce hazards in electricity rights-of- way, including they, themselves, will be held accountable for managing the land. The bill does adjust the liability framework for these rights-of-way to ensure that the utilities and the Federal Government have the incentive to respond quickly and effectively to these hazards. Nobody in Wyoming or in any other State ought to feel that they have to go without affordable, reliable power, ought to feel that the power grid is threatened simply because the Federal Government fails to do its job. We have simply seen that too much. Our local co-ops are willing and able to step up to the plate. Solving this problem is crucial to those who live in Wyoming, where bark beetle-killed trees and poorly managed overgrowth of Federal forests pose true threats to the safety and health of our communities and to our power reliability. Mr. Speaker, that is why H.R. 1873 is supported by the Wyoming Rural Electric Association, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Black Hills Energy, the Edison Electric Institute, the American Public Power Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Western Governors Association, and many others who care so much about our lands out West. Wyoming supports this bill. Wyoming utility co-ops know best how to manage the provision of electricity and how to handle these rights-of- way and also how to provide healthy and sustainable forest management as they do so. Mr. Speaker, I request immediate passage of this bill. It is hugely important that we get back on track, that we stop the kind of mismanagement from Washington that has been so damaging for so many years, and I urge my colleagues in Congress to act quickly on its passage.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 310.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I welcome the opportunity to share the floor today with the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), my good friend from the Rules Committee. I just would point out that, as a Congress, as a body, we have actually passed more pieces of legislation, gotten them on the President's desk, and gotten them signed at this point in Congress than at any time since President Truman was in office. So it may be that my colleague is not in agreement with many of the things that we have done, but, Mr. Speaker, we have actually been working very hard to begin the process of recovery from 8 years of rules and regulations that have really strangled the people of this Nation. We have passed, as the gentleman noted, healthcare reform out of this body. We repealed ObamaCare, and every single day we get more and more indication about the failures of that healthcare plan, with insurance companies pulling out of markets and leaving citizens all across this Nation unable to get access to affordable care. The Republican plan will change that. We are also in the process and will, tomorrow, be voting to repeal the Dodd-Frank legislation, which has had a devastating effect on our community banks all across this country and on our communities, and moving away from the really misguided approach of the last 8 years that centralized power here in Washington, D.C. One thing that didn't happen in the last 8 years though was the security of the border. And far too often we saw laws that weren't enforced. We saw people turning the other way for sanctuary cities, for example, and the failure on the part of the last administration to do what was necessary to make sure that we could know who is coming into this country and that we had the resources necessary to secure our border. So I am very proud to be here today, to be able to debate this rule, to be able to debate the underlying legislation, which is sadly needed, so that we can get those resources we need. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford).

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 374, which provides a structured rule for consideration of H.R. 2213, the Anti-Border Corruption Reauthorization Act, and makes in order one amendment. H.R. 2213 is a commonsense, bipartisan bill, introduced by Ms. McSally from Arizona, that will help ensure we have sufficient Border Patrol agents to secure our border. At this point in time, where we are facing tremendous challenges overseas, where we are facing tremendous national security challenges, our Customs and Border Protection is understaffed and unable to meet the congressionally mandated staffing levels for Customs officers and Border Patrol agents. With these ever-increasing threats to our national security, it is vital that we ensure CBP can quickly hire capable and trustworthy individuals to secure our border. Currently, prospective officers and Border Patrol agents are required to undergo a background check that includes passing a polygraph test. This process has been very long and has drastically delayed the CBP's ability to hire officers and Border Patrol agents. H.R. 2213 simply provides a limited, voluntary exemption to the pre- employment polygraph requirement for State and local law enforcement officers that are in good standing and who have already passed a State and local law enforcement polygraph test, for Federal law enforcement officers who are in good standing, and members of the armed services or veterans who have received or who are eligible to receive an honorable discharge and have held a security clearance and undergone a thorough background check in the past 5 years. Mr. Speaker, this exemption is very narrow and only applies to men and women that we already trust to protect and defend us at home or abroad: men and women who have already been through relevant security background checks. The CBP would not be required to use this waiver authority; and, if there is anything in any applicant's history that warrants further investigation, the CBP Commissioner is fully authorized and encouraged to use a polygraph test to resolve any outstanding questions. Mr. Speaker, for years, the CBP has struggled to recruit and vet potential employees. There is no more urgent need that we have right now than securing our border and making sure we have the resources there to be able to do that job. H.R. 2213 is a commonsense approach that will help address this issue and ensure the CBP has the men and women it needs to keep our borders and our Nation secure. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the rule to allow for consideration of H.R. 2213, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 374 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Florida for his participation in this debate today. I think it is important for the record to be clear and to be accurate, Mr. Speaker. This House of Representatives, in the time that we have been in session, has been the most productive House during the first 100 days of a Presidency in 30 years. I am sure that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle may not want to agree to that. They may not want to acknowledge that because Speaker Pelosi held the record previously when she was Speaker, but I am very proud of that, that we have done a tremendous amount for the American people in the time that we have been in session. We have overturned 14 Obama regulations in this Congress alone, which has had a tremendous impact on our constituents. We have already taken steps that will save them $3.7 billion in regulatory costs, 4.2 million hours in paperwork. Mr. Speaker, when I think about the communities across my home State of Wyoming, this relief could not have come soon enough. We are in a position today where we have faced strangling regulation out of Washington, D.C., for the last 8 years, regulation that was truly intended in too many instances to drive businesses out of business, to drive our community banks out of business, and to create a situation where Washington, D.C., was creating one-size-fits-all policies. But those days are over. This is a new day, and we take very seriously our obligations to put country ahead of party. With respect to Russia, Mr. Speaker, as my colleague is well aware, there are multiple investigations underway in the Congress. We on the Republican side--I think this is a bipartisan issue--take very seriously the sanctity of our electoral process and will make sure that we get to the bottom of it. We have got to ensure that we recognize and understand the extent to which Russian hacking was going on--frankly, not just in the United States, but around the world--and make sure that we do everything necessary to stand up against both Russian hacking, to stand up against the kind of Russian attacks that we are seeing on electoral processes in Europe, and, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that we secure ourselves. At the end of the day, that is what this debate is about here this afternoon. We have got to make sure that we all recognize in this body that there is nothing more important than the security of our Nation. Frankly, Mr. Speaker, we are at a crisis moment. We are at a crisis because, for the last 8 years, our military has been strangled. For the last 8 years, our borders weren't secure. We have had threats growing around the world. We have seen the rise of ISIS. We have seen the rise of al-Qaida--the expansion of al-Qaida around the world into many more countries than it ever existed before. We have seen the Iranians make steady progress towards obtaining a nuclear weapon under what is the most misguided treaty agreement ever entered into by any American President: the Iranian nuclear agreement. We have seen Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. We have seen Russian aggression in Europe. Mr. Speaker, we have seen North Korea attempting, on a near weekly basis it sometimes seems, to make sure that it has perfected and acquired ballistic missile technology, while they also work to make sure that they are able to put a nuclear warhead on those ballistic missiles. Mr. Speaker, we are living in a very dangerous world. We are living in a world in which America's ability to defend and protect itself is under threat in a way that it has not been certainly since the end of the Cold War, and maybe even since World War II. Defending and protecting this Nation, Mr. Speaker, will require, both, that we provide the resources our military needs to defend us so that we can, Mr. Speaker, get out from underneath the policies of the last 8 years, but it also will require that we secure our border. This bill today on the floor will provide the relief necessary for the CBP to do what is necessary to keep us safe. We have no greater responsibility than providing for our security. I would remind the gentleman from Florida that this bill passed out of the Homeland Security Committee on a voice vote, on a bipartisan basis, with sponsors from both sides of the aisle. It is crucially important that we take this step to provide the relief--and not mandatory relief, but the relief--that the CBP can use if it needs. Mr. Speaker, as we discuss the range of accomplishments that we have had that I am very proud of in this Congress and the accomplishments still to come, I think that we have to also recognize that nothing is more important than the security of the Nation. This bill goes to the heart of that, to making sure that the CBP can do its job. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of both the rule and H.R. 2213.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Alabama.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Byrne).

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Wyoming State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, which will hold its one hundred and second annual conference on May 18-21st in Casper, Wyoming. Members will attend from across Wyoming and host Daughters of the Republic President General Ann Turner Dillon as the keynote speaker. As part of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, the Wyoming State Society is a non-profit, non-political, women's volunteer organization that is dedicated to preserving American history and promoting patriotism. The Wyoming State Society, Daughters of the Revolution, is comprised of women who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. These women invest many hours serving their local communities by supporting active duty military personnel, promoting historic preservation, working with school children, and welcoming new American citizens at naturalization ceremonies. I am grateful for Daughters of the Revolution members' commitment to preserving our national heritage. Each chapter in the State Society has a unique connection to the local community and its history. The Fort Caspar Chapter, NSDAR, where this year's conference will be held, is named in honor of Lieutenant Caspar Collins, who sacrificed his life trying to rescue a wagon train that was headed for the local fort. The Fort Caspar Chapter has been dedicated to veteran services, genealogy, community services, and historic preservation since its founding in 1914. It is my honor to acknowledge this and the many contributions the women of the Daughters of the Revolution have made throughout history, and continue to make today.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 230.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Barb Lutz. Barb has spent her entire adult life faithfully serving our military as a Federal civil service employee, primarily at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, as well as in Europe. Barb has held numerous positions at the base and is currently the executive assistant to the commander of the 20th Air Force and Task Force 214 at F.E. Warren. She is responsible for providing the commander and vice commander with executive support, as well as serving as protocol specialist for the headquarters staff. After a distinguished 43-year career, Barb is retiring this week. When Barb's current and former coworkers at F.E. Warren reached out to me about recognizing her, General Cotton best summed up how her colleagues feel about her when he said: ``We all know Barb is a national treasure.'' I want to thank Barb for all she has done for Wyoming and for the country over her 43-year career, and I wish Barb and her family the best in retirement.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of charges and allegations being made about what this bill would do, and the reality, Mr. Speaker, is we are living today in the world that they have created on the other side of this aisle. We are living today in a world with skyrocketing costs, plummeting choices, and broken promises across the board. When you talk about the situation with respect to women in particular, when you talk about what is going to happen with maternity care and with child care, Mr. Speaker, there is a fundamental difference between what they believe on that side of the aisle and what we believe over here. What we believe over here is that every American--every individual, and in that, we Republicans include women--we think women ought to have the right to make their own choices and their own decisions about care. We know that the kinds of insurance--the so-called insurance--that has been provided under ObamaCare means that women have been denied access to things like maternity care. When you can only get a policy with a $6,000 deductible, that is not care and that is not insurance. This bill today is fundamental to being able to keep our promises to the American people, to being able to ensure that we have returned authority, we have returned power, and, yes, resources into the hands of individuals so people in Wyoming--in my home State--and all across this country can make their own healthcare decisions and no longer be forced to purchase things they don't want, don't need, and can't use to get coverage.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Colorado and my colleague from Maryland for their support of this bill. Mr. Speaker, I introduced H.R. 648 so that we could begin the work necessary to increase the active storage capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir. As a headwater State, Wyoming takes care of its water, and we know that water is our most important natural resource. Water uses currently at this dam span the gamut from irrigation, domestic, industrial, municipal, fish and wildlife, and recreation. Power generation is a secondary purpose at the dam, and current uses also include industrial capacity for our trona miners, fertilizer producers, and fulfillment of a range of energy needs. Mr. Speaker, this bill would simply authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into a cooperative agreement with the State of Wyoming so that we could begin the process to study, design, and construct increased capacity for the reservoir. This is a process, Mr. Speaker, that has been held up previously by onerous NEPA requirements, and we need to move quickly so that we can begin to increase this capacity. Currently the reservoir has 265,000 acre-feet to accommodate water as active capacity. This legislation would potentially add an additional 80,000 acre-feet of existing reservoir space. This bill would provide an affordable and efficient way to add more usable storage in the Colorado River Basin and would accomplish these goals without contemplating the construction of a new dam. The bill has the support of the Wyoming Water Development Office and the Wyoming Water Development Commission, which develops our State's water resources for conservation, storage, distribution, recreation, and other public interests. Our Governor Matt Mead included this concept in the 2015 Wyoming water strategy. Mr. Speaker, this bill will empower Wyoming to better utilize our water allocation and improve our water storage, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a dear friend and former Member of this House, John Wold, of Casper, Wyoming, who passed away on February 19. Congressman Wold was a member of the Greatest Generation serving as a naval engineer during World War II. He also served Wyoming in our State legislature and as our Member of Congress. He was a leader and pioneer in the energy field, and he made numerous contributions, along with his incomparable wife, Jane, to our civic life and as a philanthropist. I knew John my whole life. The friendship between our families goes back even farther. John was the oldest living former Member of Congress, and I was honored to receive his advice and counsel over the years. I will never forget attending his 100th birthday this past summer in Casper and seeing the joy it brought him to be surrounded by so many of his wonderful children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We will miss him, but the impact Congressman Wold had on our State and our Nation and the legacy of leadership and honor he leaves behind will continue to be an inspiration for generations to come.

Ms. CHENEY

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. We on this side of the aisle are more than happy to talk about health care. We are more than happy to talk about the really crucial work that is underway to rescue our healthcare system from the collapse and the train wreck of ObamaCare, which my colleague's party put into place in the dark of night with no reading of the bill. We are thrilled actually that our bill is 120 pages and that it is readable and that it is available online right now. So when he leaves the floor, Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts can go read the bill. It is also not surprising that our colleagues do not want to talk about our national defense because the record of the last 8 years, the record of the last President is unparalleled in American history. The mess that we are having to clean up with respect to our healthcare system is matched perhaps only--and maybe even exceeded--by the damage that was done to our military and to our national security under the last administration. We think, on this side of the aisle, that it is crucially important that we do our job when the time is now to debate, discuss, and vote on this bill and address this topic. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Taylor).

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would say that not knowing what they are talking about is something with which our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are quite familiar. Accounts of public input really bear little relationship to what actually happened when ObamaCare itself was drafted in the dark of night. Imagine what it must be like if you are tuning in to this conversation and this discussion thinking that the U.S. House of Representatives is taking up the rule to debate, discuss, and pass our FY17 Defense Appropriations. Instead, what we are hearing is a list of when bills were posted online--a list--which, as I said, bears little reality to what actually happened when ObamaCare was passed. Now, those are hugely important issues. I am incredibly proud of the job we are doing as Republicans in this body to help save a collapsing healthcare system. Mr. Speaker, I think there is no higher duty and obligation we have than to ensure that our military is second to none. No matter what kind of a job we do, as important as that is to repeal and replace ObamaCare, if we fail to address this fundamental issue and fail to provide the resources our military needs, nothing else we do in this body matters. I believe, frankly, that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle owe our men and women in uniform, they owe the policymakers at the Pentagon, they owe those people who are serving this Nation the respect of talking about the resources they need to do their job and focusing on the true issue before us today. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Lamborn).

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. What is incomprehensible to me is that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem so fundamentally confused about what the actual issue before us today is. The issue before us today is whether or not this House is going to undertake its fundamental, most important, most sacred obligation under our Constitution and provide for the defense of this Nation. Now, they can choose to dedicate their time to another very important topic. It is a hugely important topic and one that we will have many days to debate and discuss on this floor. Unlike under the previous leadership, Speaker Pelosi, our leadership, Speaker Ryan, has not told us we have to pass the bill before we know what is in it. Today, the issue before us in this House is whether or not we are going to provide for the defense of this Nation. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz).

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), the vice chairman of the Rules Committee.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 174, which provides a closed rule for consideration of H.R. 1301, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2017. I would like to thank, in particular, Chairman Frelinghuysen, Chairman Granger, and Ranking Member Visclosky for their hard and dedicated work on this bill. Mr. Speaker, we have no higher obligation as elected representatives of the people of this great Republic than ensuring for the security and defense of our Nation. We are gathered here at a tremendous time of action and achievement across an array of crucial policy areas, regulatory relief for the citizens and businesses of our Nation, restoration of authority to our States and local communities, tax reform, ObamaCare repeal and replacement, and the list goes on. President Trump is doing what he promised during his campaign, and it is an honor to serve the people of Wyoming at this historic moment. But, Mr. Speaker, it is no exaggeration to say that if we fail to provide the resources our military needs to defend our Nation, if we fail to do what is necessary to ensure America's Armed Forces remain superior to all others in the world, if we fail to provide the support our men and women in uniform need to recover from 8 years of devastating policies, nothing else we are doing in this body will matter. Mr. Speaker, the need is urgent. As we meet today to debate the 2017 Defense appropriation, our Nation faces a more complex and grave threat environment than we have faced at anytime since World War II, and possibly, Mr. Speaker, more than at anytime in our history. For 8 years, our adversaries' strength has grown, while our relative capabilities have stagnated and, in some instances, declined. North Korea continues its ballistic missile launches as it threatens our allies and interests. The Iranian nuclear agreement has bought time for Iran to continue to advance its nuclear weapons program, as it reaps the windfall of at least $1 trillion of U.S. taxpayer funds provided to it by the Obama administration. Iran continues to threaten U.S. naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, support terrorism across the Middle East, and test ballistic missiles despite its U.N. obligations. China is rapidly building up its military, and it is targeting, in particular, technologies to try to level the playing field with our capabilities. It continues to threaten freedom of navigation and trade in the South China Sea, and to conduct cyber operations against the United States. Russia has invaded Ukraine, threatens Eastern Europe and the Baltics, is violating INF Treaty obligations, and openly threatening the use of nuclear weapons. Al-Qaida today exists in more counties than ever before, and ISIS continues to recruit and hold territory as it plans and launches attacks against the West. Most of the actors I just mentioned are also responsible for cyber attacks against the United States. Against this backdrop, Mr. Speaker, the U.S. military is vastly under-resourced. At a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing, the vice chief of staff of the Army told members that of the 58 brigade combat teams, only three are ready to ``fight tonight.'' The vice chief of naval operations, Admiral William Moran, recently testified that more than half of all Navy aircraft are grounded due to maintenance issues and an inability to acquire the necessary parts. Our nuclear force is aging, even as our adversaries continue to make advancements in their own nuclear forces and capabilities. Our Air Force is the oldest, smallest, and least ready it has ever been. These stories and shortfalls, Mr. Speaker, exist across nearly every aspect of our military. America's fighting men and women are the greatest fighting force and the greatest force for good our world has ever known. They deserve the resources to do their job. We have prevailed over great challenges in the past, from our unlikely and miraculous founding, through our Civil War, two world wars, the Cold War, and the early years of the war on terror. We must, Mr. Speaker, marshal our forces to do so again. To prevail, Congress-- this Congress--must do its job. That job begins with passing this 2017 Defense Appropriations bill. Then, Mr. Speaker, we must repeal the Budget Control Act and end sequestration. There is a rational and responsible way for us to undertake defense budgeting. The process in place today is neither. The last time our military was able to assess the threats we face and then recommend the necessary funding levels to defeat those threats was fiscal year 2011, over 6 years ago. We must return to this standard budgeting process. In describing the effects of sequestration several years ago, our current Defense Secretary put it this way: ``No foe in the field can wreak such havoc on our security as mindless sequestration is achieving today.'' We must end this practice with all speed. This should not be a partisan issue, Mr. Speaker. It has not been in our past. Since World War II, every American President, Republican and Democrat alike, has understood the importance of American military superiority of ensuring a world in which America and our allies set the rules. Threatened by the Nazis and the Japanese, Franklin Roosevelt and George C. Marshall knew America had to be the ``arsenal of democracy.'' At the beginning of the Cold War, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy roused the Nation to defeat freedom and liberty against communism. John F. Kennedy knew America had to be ``the watchmen on the walls of freedom.'' In the 1980s, President Reagan oversaw the defense buildup we are still benefiting from today. He knew that ``war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, it is when they are weak that tyrants are tempted.'' And in the aftermath of 9/11, it was George Bush and Dick Cheney who kept us safe, who knew we could not win this war on defense, who understood we had to have a military strong and capable enough to deny terrorists the safe havens from which they plot and plan and launch attacks against our fellow citizens. Mr. Speaker, now it is our turn. Across the globe, our adversaries challenge us, from China to North Korea, to Iran, to Russia; across the Middle East, in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Thirty-four years ago, Ronald Reagan described our duty at another time, against another enemy, this way: It is up to us in our time to choose, and choose wisely, between the hard but necessary task of preserving peace and freedom, and the temptation to ignore our duty and blindly hope for the best while the enemies of freedom grow stronger day by day. Mr. Speaker, we can no longer ignore our duty while our enemies grow stronger. We must take the first step today to begin rebuilding our military. H.R. 1301 is that first step. It increases defense spending, provides a full pay raise for our servicemen and -women, and begins to address our readiness shortfalls. This bill provides funds based on our military's priorities for fiscal year 2017 and gets us off the cycle of continuing resolutions, which are doing real damage to our readiness and capacity. Therefore, I urge support for the rule to allow for consideration of H.R. 1301, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. CHENEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.