Steny Hoyer

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, normally at this time the majority leader and I do a colloquy. We do a colloquy to discuss the schedule for the week to come. My suspicion is they don't know what the schedule is for the week to come because they were going to offer two immigration bills to undermine the proposal that so many have made to have four alternatives on DACA available for the people's House to speak for the people. We are noting today 6 years since President Obama put into place protection for DACA protectees. Mr. Speaker, 86 percent of the American people support doing just that, and the President asked this House to act. Mr. Aguilar and Mr. Hurd in a bipartisan way--everybody says to the public: Yes, we want to work in a bipartisan way--well, the majority had the opportunity to do it, and they have retreated from that responsibility and that assertion. I lament the fact that we have not acted as the President asked us to on protecting DACA. They are Americans in everything but paper.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, it is warm in here. Mr. Speaker, there is joy in the Washington Capital Region today. When I get up in the morning every day and I read the front page of the Washington Post, I say: Oh, my goodness. Today, I read the front page of the Washington Post. ``At last, Capitals,'' with Alex Ovechkin holding the Stanley Cup high, celebrates. Mr. Speaker, I was in the Maryland State Senate in 1973, and one of the great citizens of our region, Abe Pollin, said to us, to me, and to others: We want to build an arena in Prince George's County. It was called the Capital Center. And in 1974, Abe Pollin brought hockey to the Washington Metropolitan area. Abe Pollin died not too long ago. Before he died, he sold the Caps to Ted Leonsis. Abe Pollin and Ted Leonsis are ecstatic today. Forty-four years, and now we are the national champions. Mr. Speaker, I rise with great joy and excitement to celebrate the tremendous victory last night by the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup finals. The Caps had an extraordinary season and brought home a victory for the national capital region; its first major sports championship since 1992. When team captain Alex Ovechkin raised the Stanley Cup over his head last night, he did so on behalf of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Caps fans across our region, including, of course, my district. That moment came after a 4-3 victory over an extraordinary team, the Vegas Golden Knights, who, in their first season as an expansion team in the National Hockey League, became the first team to come to the finals in that status. They had a magnificent season and their own exciting path to the finals during their inaugural season. As the celebrations continue from last night into today and over the coming days, I want to offer my congratulations to the players, coaches, managerial staff, and my thanks to all the fans who made the Caps' victory possible. I hope my colleagues, dare I say even the ones from Nevada, will join me in congratulating them as well. Alex Ovechkin was chosen as the most valuable player, having scored 15 goals in the playoffs. Mr. Speaker, I want to say one last thing. My father was born in Denmark. Lars Eller, a member of the Washington Capitals, was born and lives in Denmark, scored the winning goal. The colors of the Danish flag, as some of you may know, are red and white. How appropriate. How wonderful. How grateful we are for the vision of Abe Pollin and the sponsorship of Ted Leonsis.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purpose of inquiring of the majority leader the schedule for the week to come. I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the majority leader. (Mr. McCARTHY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for the information he has given us, and I certainly thank him for his comments at the close of his initial statement on the colloquy. We are all ecstatic, as I am sure the gentleman can understand, that after 44 years--and I might say I was an initial season ticket holder to the Washington Capitals, who started their career at the Capital Center in Prince George's County under the ownership and tutelage of Abe Pollin, an extraordinary member of our community who died, and then now under Ted Leonsis' leadership, and, of course, Alex Ovechkin's extraordinary accomplishments of his own, being named the most valuable player. And I might say, as I know the gentleman would join me in saying, the Las Vegas team had an extraordinary accomplishment themselves, being the first expansion team ever to make it to the finals in the National Championship. So, it was a wonderful night for those of us who live in the Washington National Capital area, and we thank the gentleman for his observation. Let me say as well, that we share the gentleman's happiness that the economy is doing well. It is doing well. What he did not observe, but we are happy about, is that President Obama, under his leadership, took this economy from the worst economy that the gentleman and I have experienced in our lifetimes to one of the best. Now, it was not the best, because the best economy was under Bill Clinton in the late 1990s in terms of almost every indication. But it is certainly positive information, as the gentleman has pointed out, of where the economy is now. So we all welcome that. We are hopeful, of course, that we will build on that. The gentleman mentions there are over 6 million jobs available. One of the challenges, as the gentleman knows, is that we don't have the skill sets matching the jobs, and that is why they are vacant. That is why they are unable to fill them. We need to, I think, focus on that. We need to focus on investing in our infrastructure. But as was mentioned on the floor yesterday in terms of a couple of the bills Tim Ryan, in particular, mentioned, there are still 4 in 10 adults who can't pay a $400 bill if it came present. So we have work to do, and hopefully we can do that together. But it certainly is good news that unemployment is down and the economy is moving along, continuing in the path that, from our perspective, was set by President Obama, and that President Trump, unlike President Obama, inherited a thriving, robust, growing economy. So I am pleased that we have gone to that place. Now, I know the gentleman indicated that a number of opioid-related bills will be on the floor next week. I talked to the chairman of the committee yesterday, the gentleman from Oregon, and most of those are bipartisan bills. I hope all of them will end up, as they come to the floor, as bipartisan bills. The addiction crisis, of course, requires that we invest in a comprehensive, long-term approach to expanding access to substance abuse treatment. I hope we can tackle this issue in a meaningful and bipartisan way. But I do want to address a number of other upcoming items for this work period, starting with the farm bill. As the gentleman knows, last month, the farm bill failed on the House floor, and we have until June 22 to reconsider. My question is: Does the gentleman expect that we will see a farm bill on the floor by June 22? I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. I would only say, I appreciate his comments. But, Mr. Speaker, I have heard them a long time, many, many times: We are going to solve this issue. Mr. Ryan came to the floor and said: We are going to solve this issue. You vote for this caps bill, and we will get an immigration bill on the floor that will solve this issue. That was some 2\1/2\ months ago. It is not solved yet, Mr. Speaker. I hope the leader does, in fact, bring a bill to the floor quickly. In fact, the suggestion that had been made by many Members of his party and mine to bring four options to the floor seems absolutely consistent with the Speaker's pledge to take the tough issues head-on; and that is, bring the Democratic bill that is cosponsored by one of the senior Republicans, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, to the floor; bring the Goodlatte bill, which has been reported out of the Republican Judiciary Committee, to the floor; bring a bill cosponsored by Mr. Hurd and Mr. Aguilar to the floor. Then what we provide, Mr. Leader, is that the Speaker can bring a bill to the floor of his choosing. What could be fairer than that to let the people's House speak on this critically important issue? So I would hope the gentleman would facilitate that coming to the floor. Lastly, Mr. Speaker, let me say that this is the most closed Congress in history. He talks about coming to his office, and I have. We have worked constructively and positively together, and I have great respect for the majority leader. I know he is very close to President Trump, and he has talked about his working with President Trump to move forward. Let us hope that the talks with Korea bear fruit. We have had a lot of talks with the Koreans. They have made a lot of pledges, and they haven't followed them. We will see what happens. We are hoping for the best. In coming to your office, we have had some discussions. We have had discussions about DACA. But, very frankly, when we come to this floor, this is the most closed Congress, Mr. Leader, in recent history, if not history. We have had 85 closed rules. Zero, not a single open rule have we considered. Over 2,000 germane amendments have been blocked by the Rules Committee. Mr. Speaker, that is amendments that are in order, and they have been blocked. In fact, 194 Republicans--Republicans--have been refused the opportunity to move forward on their amendments. Now, I know that the leader's schedule is such that we can conclude this debate. I have other things to say. But I am hopeful that, frankly, whatever we bring to the floor, bring it on a rule that provides for full consideration, bring it that reflects facing the tough issues, bring it so the House can work its will on these bills, including the farm bill, including an immigration bill that protects the Dreamers, and including other legislation so critical to this country. Let the House work its will through the amendatory process. Mr. Speaker, unless the gentleman wants to say something, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his observation. He talks about work. We are requiring those to work to work in order to get government benefits. What is controversial about that? Democrats support work. We want to see people working. We oppose, however, your SNAP proposal because it is antiwork. You are taking a work requirement that is working and replacing it with one that won't work. This is not about putting people to work. It is about pretending that you care about work as cover for taking assistance away from struggling families. As a result of this bill, there will be fewer working--I know the majority leader wants to hear this particular piece of information. As a result of this bill as it is currently written, there will be fewer working SNAP beneficiaries, not more, and millions more people going hungry. That is the working poor who are getting nutritional assistance for themselves and their families. There will be less of them under your bill. I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is ecstatic about recent statistics. I think that he has, of course, warrant to be. Let me read to the gentleman statistics over a 68-year period where Democrats have had the Presidency and Republicans have had the Presidency on and off. The gentleman's words are almost exactly the same words I heard in 2001 and 2003 when we were told and the country was told, if we adopted those tax bills that the gentleman is so very proud of--which is plunging our country $1.8 trillion into additional debt, which he and his party wrung their hands about so repeatedly--and that the CBO says is a result of what I believe to be the most fiscally irresponsible Congress in which I have served. Let me repeat that. I have served in 18 Congresses. I believe this past Congress to be, this Congress that we are in, the most fiscally irresponsible Congress in which I have served. Yes, we have a philosophical difference. You gave 83 percent of your tax revenues to the richest people in America. CBO says that; I don't say that. And 17 percent to all the rest; i.e., some 300 million-plus Americans. Yes, we have a philosophical difference. We would have suggested that the mix be a little fairer to those in the middle and the bottom of the economic growth. But, no, you chose to give your benefits to the wealthiest in America. Not surprising. It is trickle-down economics one more time. In 2001 and 2003, what happened? You did the tax cuts. And what happened 6 years later? The country was plunged into the deepest recession you, Mr. Majority Leader, or me have ever experienced in our life. As a matter of fact, you have to be over 90 years of age to have experienced a deeper recession than was brought on by the Bush economic policies in the last decade, a depth of recession which the Obama policies brought us out of faster than any other nation in the world. Those are the statistics. Faster than any other nation. The stock market--we are all about the stock market. The stock market went up almost 300 percent under Barack Obama. Now, when you get to 300 percent, we will about how well you have done. We will see what your trade policies that the President is imposing on the country do to employers and to employees and to consumers. We will see. But let me tell you what has happened over the last 68 years under Democratic Presidents and under Republican Presidents. The gentleman wants to know about history. Under Republican Presidents over the 36 years that your party enjoyed control of the Presidency, the GDP grew by an average of 2.5 percent. Under Democrats for 32 years, by 4.1 percent. Now, what did that 1.6 percent difference mean? What it meant was, under Republican Presidents over the last 68 years, 35 million jobs were created. The gentleman talks about jobs. Under Democratic Presidents--4 less years, 32 years--there were 64.960 million jobs created. Now, I hope, unlike your past performance, that the job growth continues, that the stock market increase continues, but that has not been the history. We will see. So I hope that when you deal with the farm bill, notwithstanding your statistics, that you bring a bipartisan bill. Very frankly, the farm bill has historically been a farm bill. But what you did was passed a tax bill giving the rich 83 percent of its benefits. And in the farm bill you were taking nutritional assistance away from families and children. That is why you couldn't pass it, among other reasons. It was not bipartisan, as it was two Congresses ago when we reauthorized this. You tried to cut the SNAP program by $40 billion. The gentleman well knows the Senate is not pursuing your policies either on the Republican side or the Democratic side. You are missing a lot of good information. The fact of the matter is, you know your farm bill is not going to pass the Senate. Mr. Leader, on the farm bill I would urge you to come together with us. I don't know that there is a more bipartisan member of this Congress than Collin Peterson, the ranking Democratic on the Agriculture Committee. Very frankly, the chairman was not interested in a bipartisan bill. I don't know whether it was by direction or his own view. But let us come to a bipartisan agreement on this farm bill and pass it over to the Senate so that you can do something, not just talk about how you are reducing nutritional assistance to people that rely on it for their food every day. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I hear the words of the majority leader. He and his party, without exception, opposed President Obama's programs. Without exception. We became the majority in 2007, and we worked with President Bush on a number of things, including a very substantiation environmental bill signed by President Bush, and other bills as well. He mentions about the rescission package. Mr. Speaker, if you will recall, when we had this debate some weeks ago, he said everything in this rescission bill is what we don't need. Guess what, Mr. Speaker? Ebola money was rescinded in that bill some weeks ago, but not in this bill. He changed it because, very frankly, Mr. Speaker, they found out, oops, we need the Ebola money. So they took it out of this bill. We think you need the CHIP money. We think we need the CHIP money to make sure that if there is a happening or an occurrence that occurs, the CHIP money is needed either directly or indirectly to make sure that children, in fact, are taken care of. Who has said that? Mr. Tom Cole has said that. We have used that money effectively and appropriately. So, Mr. Speaker, it is hard to believe that if the Ebola money--which I was assured was not needed--that cut was restored by our Republican friends, Mr. Speaker, because they found out, yes, it is needed. Now, in terms of wasting time, 65 votes over the last Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act--65--with a full and unquestioned knowledge that none of those votes would result in something happening for our country in the United States Senate. They weren't going to vote for that. They knew that. So we spent a lot of time on that. Let me also say: The gentleman says let's get about our business. Let me ask the gentleman: Does he expect a bill on the DACA protectees, the Dreamers, to come on the floor next week? Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, first, let me say I heard the gentleman from Georgia's argument that this money wasn't needed. I heard that argument a month ago; Ebola money was not needed. Guess what? Ebola money was needed. I rise in opposition to this rescission bill, Mr. Speaker, which I think is a sham, period. It is a shameless attempt by the majority to gloss over the tremendous deficits that have been incurred by its tax law. Republicans are hoping they can fool the American people with a pretense of phony fiscal responsibility, but the American people can see right through it. They can see more than $1 trillion a year in deficits for the next decade and a future for our children and grandchildren mired in debt. And for what? To give tax breaks to the wealthiest while raising taxes on many in the middle class. We have before us, Mr. Speaker, a bill that the majority hopes will make it appear fiscally responsible. But the CBO says it would just save over $1 billion. Now, that is a lot of money, but guess what? In the next bill, without any committee hearing, the majority has added $1 billion. So they have already spent their savings of outlays of $1 billion. The CBO says that it would save just over that amount, compared to the $1.8 trillion deficits that Republicans incurred with their tax laws. I wonder if the majority intends to bring another 1,800 bills to this floor just like this one, because that is what it would take to make up for the tax bill they passed without a single hearing and without any citizens having the opportunity to testify. In fact, this bill rescinds less funding than Republicans just added, as I just said, to their Military Construction bill without a single vote being cast in the full Appropriations Committee, Mr. Speaker. But this bill is also dangerous and irresponsible for another reason. It is based on the glib assertion that these funds will never be used and no one will be hurt if they are taken away. But we have already seen that to be a false promise. The previous package, as I just said, cut funding to combat Ebola. I was told by the majority leader that we don't need those funds, which Republicans, however, now admit is very necessary to protect public health. The same goes for children's health, I would suggest to you. Just because we haven't used these funds yet does not mean they won't be needed. It is a contingency to make sure that children aren't left out in the cold. Oppose this rescission package.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Chair, I thank the ranking member, Mrs. Lowey, for yielding. I rise twice today in sadness. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, albeit on leave, I have great respect for this committee, but I rise to express my concern with this minibus legislation. Republicans brought it to the floor through a closed process and without an agreement on funding levels. Doing so, of course, shuts down debate, limits opportunity for Members to amend an appropriations bill, and sets the House up once again to shortchange important domestic priorities like healthcare and education. And let me say to my friends on the majority side, who regularly and strongly and somewhat sanctimoniously attacked putting bills together, not considering them one at a time, and have now repaired to this `bus system, they are putting America under the bus. And they are putting regular order under the bus. And they are putting the ability to consider bills under the bus. This minibus includes problematic cuts to funding for renewable energy programs, changes to gun safety rules, and a weakening of environmental protections. So if you are for MILCON and you are for the Leg bill, you ought to vote for the stuff you don't like. That is what this process does to all of us. I am also particularly concerned with the title funding the legislative branch. Most people won't talk about this, but, yes, I am known as a person of this institution, and I am proud of it. I am also proud that I have fought for Members for over two decades as a leader. As many of my colleagues are aware but few Americans might be, the people's Representatives have been asked to do more and more each year with fewer and fewer resources. The Members' Representational Allowance exists in order to ensure that Members and their staff can serve their districts and constituents in the most effective and responsible way possible. For example, my office--and all of yours--uses its resources to help veterans navigate the VA system, help seniors collect their Social Security benefits, and to advocate for our district's critical military and civilian installations. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, the MRA is often considered the low-hanging fruit of discretionary cuts, a political messaging freebie that has no constituency to advocate on its behalf.

Mr. HOYER. As result, the MRA today has shrunk to 85 percent of what it was 8 years ago. Meanwhile, the population of the United States has grown by an estimated 19 million people. Less service for our people. That is why I wrote the Appropriations Committee and asked the MRA be funded at least at 2010 levels, 8 years ago. I am disappointed that was not done. At the same time--and, Members, hear this, because most of you won't say it because you are afraid that somehow your constituents will make you pay the price--we have once again frozen the cost-of-living adjustment as the costs go up in Washington, D.C. I don't ask for a raise for Members, but I do ask that they be kept at the same level. We ought to stop all this hair-shirting in this body and treat Members with the respect that they deserve. Mr. Chair, I will vote against this bill. I will vote against this bill because it is bad process and bad product and lets the American people down.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I include in the Record remarks by Danilo Lopez. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence. March for Our Lives' Remarks by Danilo Lopez Hello, my name is Danilo Lopez, and I am a junior at Dover High School. I would now like to read a list of those who lost their lives in the terrible shooting in Parkland, Florida, February 14, 2018: Alyssa Alhadeff; Scott Beigel; Martin Duque Anguiano; Nicholas Dworet; Aaron Feis; Jaime Guttenberg; Chris Hixon; Luke Hoyer; Cara Loughran; Gina Montalto; Joaquin Oliver; Alaina Petty; Meadow Pollack; Helena Ramsay; Alex Schachter; Carmen Schentrup; and Peter Wang. Let us hope and pray that they are in a better place, and we will always remember. To honor the victims, I would now like us to all have a moment of silence.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I include in the Record remarks by Raniya Madhi. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence. March for Our Lives (By Raniya Madhi) Hi everyone, my name is Raniya Mahdi, and I'm a junior at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and I'm participating in this march to honor the lives lost at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where we lost seventeen of our school companions and teachers to yet another mass shooting in this country. Today is March 24. Millions of people are marching for their lives across the country to demand change so that no student, teacher, or parent has to fear for their or their loved ones life while they are receiving an education at school. When I heard about this shooting, I had mixed emotions. I was shocked, shocked, that we had to lose seventeen more innocent kids to another senseless killing, and yet some of us haven't even addressed this issue that is killing our kids day after day. I was upset, upset to think about how their families must be feeling, that they will never get to kiss their kids goodbye ever again. They will never ever be able to see their loved ones, maybe in another world, but not this one. This world, this country, has made it impossible for us to be able to feel safe in our own schools. We should never have to think about the possibility of being shot by someone who can easily break through our defenseless walls and enter our school like an ordinary person, until they whip out their AR-15 and start firing at students and staff without a care in the world. The ones who we lost should not have been taken away. Why did they need to suffer because of the inaction and stagnance of our congressmen? I thought to myself: These innocent kids came to school, on Valentine's Day, like any normal school day, yet they did not live to see their families and friends the next day. This is horrifying to me, that countless school shootings like this have happened over the years, but no change. Picture this: A nineteen-year-old walks into a liquor store and lawfully be denied any sort of alcohol. Now picture how is it that a nineteen-year-old cannot legally buy a beer but can legally buy an AR-15 assault rifle at this age? And how can our country allow a person to take the lives of fourteen fellow students and three teachers? We have to unite as one and urge our congressmen to take action. This is why we are participating in this peaceful protest, to pressure our congressmen, senators, representatives and the President to make changes to the existing laws. Ban bump stocks! Ban assault rifles! Increase background checks! We deserve to feel safe in our schools! We may just be students, but this kind of revolution has never happened before, where us kids are taking the reins. Look around you. Look at how many empowered students there are standing up here and around you. This is what determination and unity looks like. With these two things, we can be the generation that ends gun violence. Most of us here are just teenagers. We should be worrying about doing well on our AP tests and finals in the end of the year, not about being shot by someone who can enter our schools. There have been eighteen school shootings this year alone, and we are only in March. This country's problem is that we do not learn from our mistakes. In Australia, there was a mass shooting in 1996, when a gunman killed thirty-five people in Port Arthur. Only weeks after the tragedy, Australia banned all rapid-fire guns and offered to buy the remaining weapons that some individuals possessed. Since that day, there has not been a single mass shooting. Not one in the past twenty-two years. Whereas America? After Columbine, Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, Orlando, Vegas and endless others, this country remains numb to any shootings of any kind, no matter how extreme the death tolls are, this country has made it seem like those who died and those who are living aren't even worth putting any sort of restrictions on the weapon that brutally ended their lives and a weapon that could potentially end ours if we do not do something about it. America needs to wake up and address the major problems here: gun violence and school security. We cannot let more innocent lives be taken away. Again, we may not be able to pass legislation, but we have a voice and we are strong and will continue to use it until something is done. Let's unite as one and support the brave survivors in Parkland that are speaking out for their rights and let's stand together and fight through this hell of an uphill battle. This is not the end of our fight, it's only the beginning.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I include in the Record remarks by Benjamin Douglas. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence. March For Our Lives Remarks by Benjamin Douglas Mass shootings have been becoming a more and more common part of our society for years now. By the time I became aware of this, many ordinary people had already begun to work toward change. One such person was a close friend of mine who took part in and introduced me to the Sandy Hook Ride on Washington also known as Team 26. Team 26 is an organization of twenty- six cyclists and activists who every year, ride together from Newtown, CT, to Washington, DC, in order to honor the twenty- six lives lost in the Newtown School Shooting, raise awareness of gun violence, and the ever-growing need for common sense gun legislation. His participation in this ride and my discovery of it opened my eyes to many things regarding the topic of gun violence. Firstly, it got me thinking about my own town's vulnerability to this ever growing issue. I had grown up believing that my town was immune to the epidemic of gun violence. But with my new outlook on the conflict, I found that it has become increasingly difficult, almost impossible to still confidently say this. I realized that no town in our country is more or less likely to experience these types of tragedies. Also, I thought about how gun violence and other forms of mass violence had affected my childhood. Seemingly endless lock-down drills, news stories of `another shooting,' and hearing my peers discuss what they would do if they were ever in a scenario such as a school shooting. I knew that no one should need to worry about their safety or think about how they would react in public places during an avoidable tragedy like this. I felt strongly about this and wanted to make a difference. Through watching the men and women who rode their bikes from Newtown, CT, to Washington, DC, stop along the way to hold rallies, call people to action, and spread hope wherever they went, I saw ways I too could make a difference. The following year, I rode with Team 26, and I witnessed the rallies at which many of the family members and friends of people who had lost their lives to gun violence spoke about their experience. During our rally in Trenton, we heard members of Mothers Demand Action speak about the loss of their sons and daughters, we learned exactly how it felt to have someone you love so dearly taken from you forever due to a strangers ease of access to a firearm. Here, in Morristown, we met and rode with a mother whose life was turned upside down by a man who discharged a firearm in a mall, seriously hurting her, and killing her fifteen- year-old daughter! Listening to these people speak helped me discover the real reason I was there. I was riding with Team 26 to be a messenger. We were listening to these people speak first-hand about when their loved ones were taken by another person with a gun and how it felt and affected their lives. We took these peoples' experiences and stories to the elected officials in the states we visited and in our nation's capital to educate them on what is really going on in their country. It is so easy to be unaware of how often shootings occur as most shootings go unreported and therefore are quickly forgotten by those not involved. But for the friends and family whose friend, child, or sibling had been taken from them, any of these occurrences are life changing. We ride to ensure that no life gets forgotten. We ride to educate our lawmakers about gun violence beyond the statistics, to show them not only the numbers, but who those numbers represent and the heartbreak and sorrow they live with. We ride to encourage these lawmakers to begin making change. To urge their peers to stand up with them against gun violence. To vote for common sense gun laws such as mandatory background checks, banning assault rifles and bump-stocks, and helping to make mental healthcare more accessible and accepted nationwide. Team 26 shares many of its goals with the hundreds of other organizations and groups who are currently battling the nationwide epidemic of gun violence now more than ever. We all must now come together as one group and refuse to be silenced. We must continue to organize these events and never stop making noise until our representatives get it. Until they understand that gun violence is not a problem that is going to fix itself and that the citizens they represent are relying on them to become part of the solution. In order to convince our representatives that the voice of many is more powerful than ever, we must never give up and become an active part of our society. You can do this in countless numbers of ways. If you are seventeen or older, make sure you are registered to vote. If you are eighteen or older, make sure that you do vote. No matter what your age is, you can get involved and make your voice heard. In fact, you already have by attending this event and hopefully attending more in the future to show that we will never go away. Unfortunately, it is unlikely this will be the end. But we must all make a continuous effort to keep the pressure on and to fight for what is right. Without the power of the people, this conflict will never have a solution. So we must press on, ride on, never give up, and pledge to being the generation that will create the place where this will never happen again.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Titus, and I thank the chairman for bringing the bill to the floor. I rise in strong support. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor every year that I have the opportunity to introduce this resolution and to support it on the floor. I just heard the remarks of the gentlewoman from Nevada. I thank her very much for her support, and I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his remarks. This is the 77th year our region's Soap Box Derby will be a fun and educational event that brings families together. It will be held on Saturday, June 16, as I am sure has already been said, and you will see soap box racers from ages 8 to 17 compete in three divisions: stock, super stock, and masters. The winner from each one of these divisions, Mr. Speaker, will go on to compete at the national All-American Soap Box Derby, held each year in Akron, Ohio. I was very proud of last year's winners from Maryland's Fifth District, 11-year-olds Ian Jameson in the stock class and Ryan Jameson in super stock. These twin brothers are from Hollywood, Maryland, the county in which I live, which is the most southern county in our State. They worked hard on their soap box racers, as did all the other young people who participated. Ian Jameson went on to win fourth place at the All-American Soap Box Derby in Akron. Maryland's Fifth District has been home to several Greater Washington Soap Box Derby champions in recent years, including the winners from 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Is there any doubt in any Member's mind why I am so supportive of the Soap Box Derby? We do very well in the derby. Our racers even won national championships in 2007 and 2008. I feel confident that the Fifth District racers will continue to shine this year. Soap box derbies have been called the greatest amateur racing event in the world. They have a long tradition in our country, and many Americans carry fond memories of building soap box racers with their parents or other relatives when they were young. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in strong support of this All- American activity that will happen right here on the Nation's Capitol Hill.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I am constrained to say that the gentlewoman mentioned the progrowth administration. We had some 98 months of growth following the worst recession she and I have experienced in our lifetimes under the policies of the Bush administration. Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, the Congress enacted, over the opposition of our friends in the Republican Party, mostly, the Dodd-Frank reforms to safeguard our economy and safeguard consumers. When we passed Dodd-Frank in 2010, no one believed it was perfect. No legislation is ever perfect. There is nothing wrong with evaluating Dodd-Frank 8 years after it was enacted to determine what is working well and where we might improve. Many Democrats, myself included, support providing regulatory relief to community banks, and we ought to do that in a bipartisan fashion-- not just a few bipartisan participants, but in a bipartisan fashion. I have talked to the ranking member. She has indicated that that is something that she supports as well. However, the bill on the floor today goes much further and would weaken the rules that Dodd-Frank put in place. It would undermine the regulatory framework for all banks. This would roll back parts of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, stress tests for large banks, and bank capital requirements. It would also, as has been noted, raise the threshold for the automatic designation of systemically important financial institutions from $50 billion to $250 billion. The changes that are proposed risk making our Nation's financial system vulnerable to another crisis that would require yet another taxpayer bailout.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, because of that and because I would like to see a truly bipartisan bill supported overwhelmingly on both sides of the aisle to make sure that our community banks are not impacted in a way that was never intended nor should it be intended by the Congress, I therefore urge opposition to this particular piece of legislation, and I thank Ranking Member Waters for her hard work in making its consequences clear.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I include in the Record remarks by Luna Aguilar. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence. March For Our Lives Remarks by Luna Aguilar Every month, every week, every day we hear about a hate- filled person, usually a white-supremacist man, getting a gun to kill others without mercy. We are here today because the shooting at Stoneman Douglas high school in Florida hurts all of us, and we will not take this anymore! The students who were murdered in Florida, and many more who are killed by gun violence throughout our country, had dreams to fulfill in the rest of their lives. They were robbed of their dreams because our country allows nineteen- year-olds to legally own weapons of destruction, and we let one man kill seventeen innocent lives. Teachers and faculty at schools across the country have given up their lives to protect their students from mass murderers, and now that is their legacy. But they should not have to be mourned as martyrs. They should be remembered as teachers, heroes who educated the future generation. We, as a nation, have decided that we value gun ownership without adequate background checks, without limits, more than the lives of our youth. But we, the youth, the future of our country, are deciding, right here, right now, that our lives are worth more than the right to own an assault weapon. This same outrage should have pushed a change of policy on guns after Columbine, Sandy Hook, Orlando, and Las Vegas. This outrage should have supported the victims of excessive police force in Ferguson. Stephon Clark was shot twenty times in his grandmother's yard while unarmed just two days ago. Are we speaking up for him too? This outrage should be heard in response to the deaths of immigrants at the hands of border patrol agents. African Americans, Latinos, immigrants, members of the LGBTQIA community are all subject to gun violence in our neighborhoods, and we must speak up for them too. This will not be an exclusive fight. We are targeted because of the color of our skin, because of our religion, because of who we are. Undocumented immigrants already fear having their families torn apart by ICE, and they also fear of dying at the hands of an extremist. Marginalized women also fear for their lives. We will not live in fear any longer! We must not succumb to fear and make our schools into prison-like settings. We cannot arm our teachers. We cannot fill our schools with officers that feed the school to prison pipeline! More guns and more oppression is not the answer. I am trained in Alternatives to Violence. This is an international program that started right here in New York state prisons to address violence in a compassionate way. In our youth program with Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center, we learn nonviolent communication and restorative justice. If we taught this in our schools, and in our communities, we would increase the level of safety for everyone. If we had more social workers in our schools, we would be healthier, safer. We should invest our resources into the well-being of students so no one ever feels the need to hurt others. We need social workers, not police. Why are we as a nation so violent, so hateful? Restorative justice is proven to work, and we are more than capable of implementing this into our school systems. Other countries have one occurrence of gun violence, and they act on it immediately. Thoughts and prayers are welcome in these devastating times, but they must be followed by action, legislation, and prevention measures. Why has our government refused to act? AR-15s should not be in the hands of any civilian in this country. Congress needs to ban these machines that serve no other purpose than to kill as many individuals as possible within a matter of seconds. Our nation must raise the age of owning a gun to twenty-one. Thorough background checks that bar individuals with a violent history, particularly those with domestic violence histories, must be part of the process of owning a gun. We must enforce red-flag laws, laws that allow for the removal of weapons from people who have been flagged for past violence. I've been to marches to support undocumented immigrants. I participated in the vigil for Heather Heyer, who was murdered during the Charlottesville protests. I've been to the Women's March to fight against sexism and to stand up with my fellow sisters of all backgrounds. I stand here today denouncing gun violence because marching and demanding change works! We are a youth-led movement and we will not stop until we succeed in keeping guns out of the hands of murderers. I am only sixteen, and I am already tired of standing up for what is right while legislators sit and do nothing! When will it be enough? Why must I continue to scream at Congress and at our society to prove that I matter? Why are legislators responding to the gun lobby instead of us? What will it take for us to see each other as human beings that are worth more than property or profits? This march is just the beginning of long-overdue conversations, and of work too long left undone. We must continue to fight, and to fight for everyone. We must speak out. Say it with me so that our legislators in our towns, in Trenton, and in Washington, DC, hear our call: I'm going to say: shatter the silence. And you respond with: stop the violence. Shatter the silence. Stop the violence. Shatter the silence.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, a moment of silence is not enough. I did not respond to the invitation of the gentleman from Texas to come and stand here. I lost a young woman at Great Mills High School in my district. I visited with her parents, I went to her funeral, and I grieved with our community, but coming to this well and spending but a moment for the thousands who have lost their lives is not enough. We need to act. The Governor of Texas thinks we ought to do something. The Governor of Florida thought we should do something, and he did something. We should bring to this floor legislation to try to stem this violence. We will have disagreements as to what that may be, but a moment of silence is not enough.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, am I not correct that you called for the yeas and nays and that you interrupted the vote while it was in progress? From a parliamentary perspective, is that the power of the Speaker to interrupt a rollcall vote for the purposes of declaring that the vote has been postponed?

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I included in the Record remarks by Nile Burch. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence. March for Our Lives' Remarks (By Nile Burch) Hello and good morning! My name is Nile Birch and I am from Morristown High School. I would like to begin by thanking Ms. Bosrock for this incredible opportunity. I appreciate all of her support and help in making this possible. I am so proud to be representing my African-American and social activism club, Melanin Minds, at the march today. Melanin Minds consists of a group of united and ethnically diverse individuals dedicated towards raising awareness within our communities. Encouraging change is exactly what our club is about, and I am honored to speak to everyone today about the issue of gun violence on behalf of our president, Bella Simon. So why should I take such a vested interest in this issue? I can understand how it is a Constitutional right for people to own guns. But, as we've all come to realize, there is a lot of gray area in that. Nevertheless, that area should never include questioning public safety. If people choose to own guns, that is their prerogative, but in no way shape or form should their interest threaten the lives of anyone or anything else. Yet, the trouble I think we all experience is that the current laws we haveare nowhere strict enough to make people feel at ease. Then again, there is a fine line between feeling `at ease' and feeling `safe.' We do not need politicians to acknowledge what happened in past and recent school shootings. We need them to look at Columbine, Sandy Hook, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and countless others as an incentive to want to prevent more shootings from ever happening again. In simpler terms, we need to emphasize that it's okay to recognize what happened in the past as long as we use those events to carve out a pathway towards our future! To truly understand what it feels like to be safe, we must first realize what it is like to live in fear. As an African-American male, living in fear means wearing a hoodie and being scared to walk to the store for some skittles or an Arizona Iced Tea, or wanting to sell CDs. What I am saying is that having this angst festering inside of me every day is my reality, but it does not have to be yours too. School shootings? Children in school. A place where students go to learn, make friends, and find themselves as human beings. A place parents can drop their kids and feel safe in knowing that their precious children are protected at all costs. It isn't true. It doesn't exist. And that, my friends, is the sad reality of today. Why we are here. Why we care. We must stand together so that every single one of us can feel safe. You guys might be wondering `what does he mean by starting to make a difference, how can I, a high school student, have any influence?' Let me tell you guys a brief story to make it clearer. I remember being on the playground and looking up at those tall monkey bars towering above the field. They seemed so big and tall, like something incredible. Of course, to any seven- year-old, climbing it seems a feat worth trying. But, no matter how hard I tried it was still physically impossible for my short arms to reach the highest bar. I tell this story because on this day, March 24, 2018, our end goal may seem impossible to reach. It may seem so idealistic that we doubt seeing such immense change within the course of our lifetime. However, I am confident that meeting our goal can become a reality by taking the right steps to get there. I didn't finish my childhood story. As I started to climb the bars, I had multiple encounters with failure and defeat by slipping off of the handlebars. Enacting change to the issue of gun violence is no different. We have and will continue to encounter obstacles that will try to prevent us from succeeding. In order to overcome these difficulties, it is imperative that we lobby Congress to change the gun laws to ensure that only those who are able to handle the responsibility of owning a gun can do so. It is also paramount that organizations such as the NRA accept the consequences of prioritizing profit over life. I remain optimistic that we'll be able to do this because, despite having fallen multiple times on the wood chips, I persevered and, yes, eventually reached the top. The feeling at the top of those monkey bars was one I'll never forget. For a brief moment in time I felt like the king of the world with nothing to stop me. I made my way down, and yes, fell again, but this time it was worth it. I have no doubt that this movement will feel the same way when we make strides. The obstacles will never truly go away, but we will enact laws, start protests and incite conversations that will make these obstacles irrelevant. Piece by piece we will inspire other students to gain the courage to stand up for what they believe in. Piece by piece we will show youth that they have a voice and that it does matter. And piece by piece we will once again feel safe enough to walk our school hallways without feeling as if that is the last day we'll walk at all. Contact our congressmen! These men are in the government speaking for and representing you. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, Rep. Leonard Lance, Sen. Cory Booker, and Sen. Robert Menendez all need to hear from you about how we feel about gun violence. If we want to save lives, it begins with speaking with our powerful elected officials. You've already climbed your first bar just by being here today. Hopefully you've been listening, and hopefully you take the next step to putting an end to gun violence! I am so impressed with the numbers here today and I want you guys to keep fighting, and keep climbing, because eventually, we willreach the top, together! Thank you and have a good day!

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. HOYER

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I came to the Floor and spoke about the March For Our Lives on March 24 and the nine extraordinarily poised students in Morristown, New Jersey, who spoke at the rally there, which I attended. I include in the Record remarks by Mia Paone. I hope my colleagues will read them and internalize the sense of fear in which our nation's students are living every day--and our responsibility as Members of Congress to do something to address this crisis of gun violence. March for Our Lives' Remarks by Mia Paone Hello marchers! My name is Mia Paone, and I am a sophomore at Chatham High School. I am not old enough to vote yet, but I am old enough to speak out against gun violence. I will not be silent. I am taking a stand to change our gun laws, and I need all of you to join me. Silence is not neutrality. Silence will lead to more deaths from school shootings and other gun violence. I am here to speak for those silenced too soon. For the young kids at Sandy Hook. For the concert goers in Las Vegas. For the students from Parkland, the same age as me. I don't want to live in a world where we have to find hiding spots and ways to block the door in our classrooms. In my school, a week after the Parkland Shooting, a power outage occurred. Many of my friends and other students feared the worst; that we were next, because these tragedies have sadly become too routine. Why have no laws been passed to make us safer? Why is it easier to get a gun than it is to get a driver's license? Too many of us are silent. It is time for us to stand up. It is time for us to speak out. If we want a change in laws, we need to change our actions. Write letters to Members of Congress. Participate in school walkouts and . . . walk in marches! Run for Congress or local office. If you are too young to run, volunteer for a candidate who is running. Register 18-year-olds to vote, and encourage registered voters to show up on Election Day. The youngest generation of eligible voters has the lowest voter turnout. We live in a democracy. Our senators and representatives should be responsive to our opinions. If they are not, it's our job to elect candidates who are. If they do not listen, vote them out! Our generation's voter turnout must increase if we want leaders who will take action to reduce gun violence and gun deaths. And if you are like me, not yet old enough to vote but want to impact change, have faith. Just because we're in high school doesn't mean we can't make a difference. Two weeks ago, on the day of the walkout, my history class was learning about the Civil Rights movements of the 1960's. Many of those events were organized by high school and college students. If they could do it, why can't we? It is our job as the upcoming generation of voters, leaders, and activists to make clear that when we believe something needs to be changed, we will not be silent. We will not stand down. We will stand up, stand together, and we will not stop speaking out until our voices are heard.