Hakeem Jeffries

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. Thank you for those very thoughtful observations. Perhaps I will end by talking for a moment or so about the progress that we have made under a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus who was a Senator from Illinois and here in the Capitol for a few years before he was elected to be the 44th President of the United States of America. We are proud that he came through the CBC on his way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Upon his election, there was the view that perhaps we were entering into a phase of a post-racial society. I think we understand that that was probably irrationally optimistic of those who made that observation because of the long history that we detailed here of what the African American journey has been in America. But I find it interesting that so many people, to this day, refuse to give this President credit for the progress that has been made under his watch over the last 8 years. There have been more than 75 or so consecutive months of private sector job creation under this President. More than 14 million private sector jobs have been created under this President. Parenthetically, I make the observation that, under the 8 years of George Bush, the country lost 650,000 jobs. But we are going to talk about a sluggish recovery. We lost 650,000 jobs under supply-side economic policies of George W. Bush. We have gained more than 14 million jobs under progressive policies of Barack Obama. The deficit has been reduced by over $500 million. When the President came in, the stock market was at 6,000; now it is over 18,000. Of course, more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans now have health coverage under the Presidency of Barack Obama. So he came in with a lot of promises, and I am proud that there has been tremendous progress that has been made for the United States of America as a whole, and certainly for African American communities. As the President himself observed, the problems that we have to confront in America won't be resolved by one President during one term or even during an entire tenure, because we are on this long, necessary, and majestic march toward a more perfect Union. The hope is that, each time a President steps up and Congress is there to represent the will of the people, working on behalf of our constituents, we can make meaningful progress on dealing with the economic and social justice issues of the day. Fundamentally, that is what the Congressional Black Caucus is all about. That was the vision that was put forth by those 13 Founders: speaking truth to power, representing the interests of the African American communities they were elected to serve--and everyone else-- regardless of race, who is entitled to the fiercest possible representation in this democracy. So it is with great pride that Representative Beatty and I stand here today, as members of the Congressional Black Caucus, standing on the shoulders of those 13 founding members, under the current leadership of Representative G.K. Butterfield from North Carolina, representing this continuum of the African American journey, both here in Congress and in this great country; confident that, despite the obstacles that will consistently be erected that, as we have demonstrated over time during 45 years, we will make progress, we will translate promise into action, and we will continue the journey of perfecting a more perfect union in the United States of America. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, on June 12, the worse mass shooting in the history of this great Republic took place in Orlando, Florida. It was an egregious act of terror, a vicious hate crime directed at the LGBT community, and an attack on our democracy. In times like this, the American people deserve real congressional leadership. The American people deserve legislation to prevent suspected terrorists on the no-fly list from being able to purchase weapons of war that are not used to hunt deer, but are used to hunt human beings, such as the 49 individuals who were viciously killed in Orlando, Florida. Instead, House Republicans brought us a brief moment of silence and then got back to business as usual. It is a shameless, shameful dereliction of duty, but it is what we have come to expect from this reckless Republican majority--and the American people deserve better.

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend, the distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio, and our phenomenal anchor for this CBC Special Order hour today and throughout the second session of the 114th Congress. It has been an honor and a privilege to work closely with her. She has done such a phenomenal job, not just on behalf of the people she represents in the great city of Columbus, Ohio, but all throughout the Nation in her various roles, and certainly in her leadership in the Congressional Black Caucus. It is with a heavy heart that I stand on the floor of the House of Representatives today and, with great sadness, acknowledge the pain and the suffering and extend my condolences to those who have suffered this great tragedy in Orlando, Florida, the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States of America. It is a complicated shooting. We understand that it most likely is an act of terror, a hate crime of unspeakable proportions. There are indications that the shooter may have some degree of mental illness and a history of domestic abuse. The shooter appeared to have been, in some measure, on the FBI's radar. But you can add all those things up and there is still something that is missing that we here in Congress have the capacity to deal with, and that is the fact that one individual was able to purchase a weapon of mass destruction--which should be reserved for war, not the hunting of human beings in this great democratic Republic--and inflict death on 49 individuals and maim in ways that are inhumane to more than 50 others. Martin Luther King, Jr., once said: ``In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.'' During the 114th Congress, there have been more than 100 mass shootings. We often come to the floor of the House of Representatives and the Speaker or one of his designees stands at the rostrum and asks us, as Members of the House, to stand in a moment of silence. And then we go on with business as usual, having done nothing about the tremendous gun violence problem that we have in America. The rest of the world is looking around and saying: What are they doing in the United States of America? Five percent of the world's population, 50 percent of the world's guns. It is estimated that there are more than 300 million guns circulating throughout this great land. The FBI and local law enforcement can't tell you where the overwhelming majority of them are because of legislative silence and malpractice. This is an issue, of course, that has great impact on the African American community. Homicides are the leading cause of death through guns of younger African American men. So we in the CBC view it as a public health crisis certainly for our community. I think it is one that all Americans should view as a health crisis for the entire country. But the thing that is also troubling--and we will have time to deal with this tragedy--is hopefully we will be able to take some commonsense steps in the right direction, including making sure that individuals who are on the terrorist watch list can't purchase weapons of mass destruction. How complicated is that to do? But the thing that is striking for many of us in the African American community is that, when you look at some of the leading causes of death--heart disease being number one, and then, of course, diabetes and childhood obesity being problematic, certain forms of cancer, HIV/ AIDS infection--many of these illnesses, these ailments that plague the neighborhoods that I represent in central Brooklyn, in Bedford- Stuyvesant, in East New York, in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, in Canarsie, and in the west end of Coney Island, are preventable, preventable by better exercise, preventable by dealing with some of the environmental racism that many low-income communities of color have been subjected to, resulting in incredibly high rates of asthma and other forms of respiratory illness, preventable by better diet. Senator Booker recently said to many of us--and this has stuck with me--that more African Americans in the United States of America die as a result of drive-throughs, not drive-bys. That is because the diet, the access to healthy food, is limited. The food deserts within which many African Americans, particularly at the lowest socioeconomic level, are forced to reside in are scandalous. So we in the Congressional Black Caucus believe that we have to deal with these issues in a more meaningful, comprehensive fashion. I am thankful that back at home in the west end of Coney Island, Coney Island Cathedral, one of the most important religious institutions in Brooklyn, is actively engaged in a public health campaign to deal with diabetes and heart disease and many of the other ailments that result from a poor diet that exists, a lack of access to healthy food in the Black community. It is a campaign that we want to take across the Nation. We are thankful for the work that has been done by the Congressional Black Caucus and by President Obama through his leadership of the Affordable Care Act. We now know that over 20 million previously uninsured Americans now have access to quality, affordable health care--disproportionately African American. That is a positive step in the right direction. But instead of trying to dismantle this monumental step forward, as House Republicans have attempted to do more than 60 times over the last few years, they have a clinical obsession with a law that has been declared constitutional-- not once, but twice--by the United States Supreme Court. Let's figure out ways to come together as a nation, despite our racial, religious, and ethnic differences, to deal with the disparities that exist in the African American community and beyond. And let us come together as a Congress and as a nation to deal with the scourge of hate, in its most recent form, directed at the LGBT community down in Orlando in such a horrific and invidious fashion. We are better than this. We can do much better here in the United States Congress. The Congressional Black Caucus is here to lead the way on issues, worked in partnership hand in hand with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, if they are just willing to meet us some of the way, to deal with the issues of health disparities in the African American community and deal with the scourge of gun violence that takes our young boys and girls in shocking numbers and also impacts people all across the country. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman for her leadership and for once again yielding to me and anchoring this Special Order in such a phenomenal way.

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman. The right to vote is fundamental to the integrity of our democracy, and, as Lyndon Baines Johnson said from this very Chamber shortly before the Voting Rights Act was passed into law a few months later, ``We shall overcome.'' Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, it is once again an honor and a privilege to stand on the floor of the House of Representatives to help anchor the Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order hour, this hour of power, where, for the next 60 minutes, members of the Congressional Black Caucus have the opportunity to speak directly to the American people on an issue of great significance. Today's Special Order hour topic is Democracy in Crisis: The Reckless, Republican Assault on the Right to Vote in America. It is with great dismay that many of us come to the House floor today to speak to an issue of significance to the American people and our democracy. There is nothing more sacred to the integrity of the democratic process than the right to vote. There are people throughout the years who died trying to secure the ability to participate in the franchise to help execute upon that great American promise of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, to vote for those individuals who would represent them at the city, State or Federal level, regardless of race or religion, ethnicity, immigration status. While we undeniably have made tremendous progress in America, clearly there has been an effort by some, unfortunately, led, in part, by people on the other side of the aisle, to stop something so fundamentally American as the unfettered right to participate in our democracy by voting. Today we are going to explore some of the history connected to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, widely regarded as one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever enacted by this august body. Of course, we know that, in 2013, in the Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Supreme Court effectively gutted section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, widely known as the preclearance provision, in a manner that has adversely impacted the ability of voting rights advocates and others to protect the ability of people to participate without obstacle or obstruction. It is my honor, as one of the anchors of the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order, to join in that responsibility with my coanchor, who, from the moment which she arrived in the Congress, has been a tremendous force for the district that she represents, a voice for the voiceless, someone who is both fierce in her beliefs, but willing to reach out to others across the aisle in order to get things done on behalf of the American people. It is now my honor and my privilege to yield to my distinguished colleague from Ohio, Representative Joyce Beatty.

Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman for making several extremely important observations about the urgency of restoring the Voting Rights Act, of Congress voting up or down. All we are asking for is for Members of this House to act on bipartisan legislation that has been introduced in this Congress that would respond to the Supreme Court's decision, adopt a new coverage formula, and allow us to move forward in advance of this consequential Presidential election with a system that we can all be confident in will fairly allow everyone who wants to vote the opportunity to vote. Mr. Speaker, it is now my honor and my privilege to yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, someone who had a distinguished record prior to his service in the House as a jurist on the bench as a civil rights lawyer in North Carolina and has continued his fight here on the floor of the House of Representatives for the last 10 years on behalf of fairness, justice, and equality, particularly in his capacity as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Isn't it a fact that the case as it relates to that particular ID law in Texas, that individuals are able to vote if they have a gun license identification card, but are not able to vote under that draconian Texas law with a college ID?

Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank my good friend for his leadership on this very important issue and for the steps that he has taken both here in Congress, with the initiation of the Voting Rights Caucus, as well as down in Texas as the lead plaintiff in the Veasey v. Abbott lawsuit to challenge the voter ID requirements--the draconian requirements--that have been imposed by the State of Texas. It should shock the conscience of every American that a State would impose a restriction that allows licensed gun owners to vote who disproportionately happen to be of a certain demographic--white male-- but would deny the legitimacy of IDs that the State of Texas itself issues. Texas A&M, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Houston, and other institutions are all public universities, and these individuals--these students--pay tuition to go to these public universities, and, in response, they are issued identification vehicles, identification cards, but the State of Texas has seen fit to say that that is not valid in order to vote. I think that one example--and we have heard several others--basically exposes the fact that the movement to impose voter identification requirements is fraud in itself. It is a sham. The whole argument behind it is that: We are trying to protect the integrity of the voting system. But here is the problem: you are protecting the integrity of the voting system by imposing a solution in search of a problem because none of these individuals in any of these States has been able to produce a scintilla of evidence of fraud. In fact, there are studies that have shown that there have been over a billion instances of Americans exercising their right to vote without any evidence of misrepresentation--over a billion times. The number of instances of questionable voting is less than 50; yet, in State after State, we see voter identification laws being imposed on the people. It is not designed to protect the integrity of anything. It is designed to protect certain individuals and maintain their power in the face of troubling demographic changes that are occurring in America. Let's call it like it is. Let me ask the Chair how much time we have remaining in this Special Order.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Alabama, my good friend, Terri Sewell, for a very compelling, comprehensive, and complete analysis of the situation that we find ourselves in in the practical consequences of the Supreme Court's decision. And the fact that there are people all across this country, in Alabama, and in other parts of this great Republic, who are determined to elevate themselves by suppressing the ability of others to participate in the Democratic process, that is a shame, it is a stain on our democracy, and it is time for this Congress to act. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey), my classmate and good friend, who himself has been championing the issue of fair redistricting, who has personally been impacted in terms of his capacity as a representative, to make sure that lines are fairly drawn, and most recently has announced the formulation of the Voting Rights Caucus here in the Congress. He has been a tremendous leader in this area. A great Member of the House of Representatives.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, let me now yield to someone who has been a tremendous champion from the great State of Texas in representing her people in Houston and is a phenomenal member of the Judiciary Committee, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Isn't it the case that a disproportionately high number of those DMV offices that the State of Alabama just happened to decide to close were in predominantly African American parts of the State of Alabama?

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus for his eloquent words and for explaining the practical realities of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the coverage formula and effectively invalidate section 5 and the implications that that has had on people all across the country, in North Carolina and beyond. I also note that the Voting Rights Act in section 5 and the coverage formula in section 4, upon passage in 1965, didn't just impact States in the South. There are five counties in New York City that constitute the Big Apple, and three of those counties in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, were covered by section 5. We recognize that there had been challenges all across the country with respect to the right to vote, and many of us, even beyond the South, have now lost that critical protection. That is why it is time for Congress to act. I thank the chairman for his continued leadership. It is now my honor to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Alabama (Ms. Sewell). She has been a tremendous proponent of the right to vote. We were all in awe of her leadership last year when we were down in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and are thankful for all that she continues to do to uphold that great American tradition that sprang forth from that small city down in Alabama where the distinguished gentlewoman hails from. She currently is a sponsor--the lead sponsor-- of the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would fix the problem that the Supreme Court created. It is now my honor to yield to Representative Terri Sewell.

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Ohio, my good friend, the distinguished and dynamic anchor for tonight's Special Order, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, for yielding and for her continued leadership and for leading the discussion on the House floor today as it relates the urgency of this Congress and America dealing with the school-to-prison pipeline mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex that so many of my colleagues have explained and exposed here on the House floor today. A few years ago I had a conversation that has always stuck with me in the area of criminal justice when I was speaking to a formally incarcerated individual who spent several years behind bars incarcerated in a New York State penitentiary. He has turned his life around and he is now an advocate for criminal justice reform. He said to me on his final day, after being imprisoned for years in upstate New York, that he had a conversation with a high-ranking corrections officer, a supervisor who he had gotten to know and thought he had befriended to some degree during his time of incarceration. On that last day, he said to this young African American incarcerated individual who was on his way out, he said: I just want to thank you. This gentleman was a little perplexed. He wasn't sure what he was talking about. He said: I just want to thank you for helping me to get my boat; and beyond that, I want to thank your son, who is going to help my son get his boat as well. That conversation has really haunted me because, in such a powerful and profound way, what it captures is the essence of what the prison industrial complex represents, which is this decision that was made in so many parts of the United States of America, certainly in New York, by Democrats and Republicans. When the automobile factories and the steel mills, the manufacturing plants began to close in the 1970s and in the 1980s, devastating parts of the upstate economy, a decision was made in place of those factory jobs to build prisons in their place as a means of economic development for depressed upstate communities. But here is the problem. If you build it, someone has got to fill those prisons. In order to fill those prisons, several things have developed which we are in the process of trying to dismantle right now: the school-to-prison pipeline and the criminalization of young people, particularly in communities of color, where they basically are not given a chance from the very beginning. As a result of being channeled unjustly, often, into the criminal justice system at an early age, they essentially become economic commodities for those who have come to rely on prisons to replace the factory and manufacturing jobs that have left the United States of America. That has been a big problem in New York. It is a problem in other parts of the country. It is a shame here in the United States of America that we have gone from a place where, when the war on drugs began in 1971--President Nixon declared drug abuse public enemy number one--there were less than 350,000 people incarcerated in America. Even when the crime bill that is being heavily debated in the public domain right now was passed in 1994, at the height of the concern about crime here in the United States of America, the incarcerated population was still under 900,000 people. But we have gone from less than 350,000 in 1971 to under 900,000 in 1994 to more than 2.2 million in 2016. The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's incarcerated individuals. We incarcerate more people than any other country in the world, and it is shameful. The school-to-prison pipeline is a large part of that dynamic, along with the failed war on drugs. So we are going to have to deal with this situation in a meaningful way. The statistics clearly show that, if you suspend a young person, that individual--often a Black or Latino boy--is less likely to graduate and complete school and more likely to become entangled in the criminal justice system because we have applied an overly punitive approach to discipline, particularly in the inner city. Now, in this Chamber, I have seen surprising levels of compassion as it relates to dealing with the heroin and opioid crisis that is sweeping across America right now, and I am glad that folks have decided to take a different approach than the approach that was taken in the 1980s with the crack cocaine epidemic that was sweeping across communities that those of us in the Congressional Black Caucus represent. I welcome this newfound compassion. I just hope that you would extend it now not just to the manner in which we deal with the heroin crisis-- that is important--but let's extend it to the overcriminalization that is taking place as relates to young people across America, particularly in Black and Brown communities. I am glad that we have become enlightened as it relates to moving away from punishment and toward prevention and intervention related to the heroin and opioid crisis. Let's also become enlightened in terms of dealing with breaking the school-to-prison pipeline. We will have more to say as we move forward with this discussion, but I know there are other Members who would like to contribute to this hour of power that Representative Joyce Beatty has brought to the House floor in connection with the CBC Special Order.

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding, as well as for his tremendous leadership, and Chairman Goodlatte, Congressman Collins, Congressman Nadler, as well as the Protect Trade Secrets Coalition, for their tremendous work in getting us to this point where we are on the verge of passing this very important piece of legislation. Whether it is the original recipe created by Colonel Sanders in connection with Kentucky Fried Chicken or whether it is the special sauce made famous by the iconic Big Mac of McDonald's or whether it is Corning's glass that is so frequently used and found in many of our smartphones all across the country, trade secrets are as American as baseball and apple pie. Unfortunately, we have found ourselves, over the last few years, in a situation where trade secret theft has become a significant problem, by some accounts costing us in excess of $300 billion per year and more than 2 million jobs annually. Traditionally, trade secret theft has been dealt with on the civil side as a matter of State law. But because of the increasing nature of the problem and the fact that it is both multistate and multinational in nature, the State law domain has become inadequate, which brings us to this piece of legislation that would create a Federal civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation, giving our companies and stakeholders access to a uniform body of law that can deal with trade secret theft in a more appropriate fashion. That is why this piece of legislation is so significant in this climate and why I am so thankful for the leadership of all those who have brought us to this point. I urge everyone to support this bill.

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the National Collegiate Honors Council and their commitment to collegiate honors education. Since their inception, the National Collegiate Honors Council has been dedicated to excellence in education in diverse subject and curriculum areas. They serve over 800 colleges and universities and over 325,000 students across the country. I also want to recognize the Kingsborough Community College, in Southern Brooklyn, for their outstanding dedication to academic enrichment and achievement. Kingsborough Community College serves about 14,000 full and part-time students each year in a wide array of liberal arts and career education courses. Kingsborough Community College provides its students with a high level of education through its associate degree programs that prepare students to transfer to senior colleges or enter directly into a professional career. Kingsborough Community College offers qualifying students the opportunity to challenge themselves in the Honors Program with rigorous coursework, the ability to study with other gifted students and benefit from increased contact with top faculty. Characterized by smaller classes, individual research projects, internships, study-travel opportunities and community service, Kingsborough Community College Honors program enhances their students' global awareness and cultivates America's future leaders. Having produced notable alumni that include Sid Rosenberg, the accomplished sports radio personality, Jeff Koinange, Emmy award winning journalist and Andrew Weyman, Director of shows such as the Big Bang Theory and The King of Queens, Kingsborough Community College continues to educate the global leaders of tomorrow.

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, when House Republicans came to power, they promised to effectively govern on behalf of the American people. But instead, over the last 5 years, House Republicans have majored in obstruction, minored in dysfunction, and pursued a degree in legislative malpractice. House Republicans are responsible for painful sequestration cuts, responsible for a 16-day government shutdown that cost the American people $24 billion in lost economic productivity, responsible for constantly undermining the full faith and credit of the United States of America, and are now responsible for the failure to deliver an on- time budget. The American people have had enough. It is time to invest in transportation and infrastructure, invest in education and job training, invest in technology and innovation, and abandon the reckless efforts of House Republicans to obstruct any progress on behalf of the American people. Let's get back to doing their business.

Mr. JEFFRIES

Mr. JEFFRIES. Would the gentleman indulge one question? It was mentioned during that very thorough presentation of what is contained in the CBC budget the 10-20-30 program, and of course 10-20- 30, an initiative that has been championed by the CBC through the leadership of Representative Jim Clyburn, would put forth a formula where 10 percent of the funding allocation would go to counties where 20 percent of the population has been living below the poverty line for 30 or more years. Is that correct?

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Plaskett. She raised several important points. She noted that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to embrace this notion of trickle-down economics, which is sort of the foundation of many of the slash-and- burn cuts that are contained in at least a budget document that has been passed in prior years and the document that was put forth by the Committee on the Budget this year, this belief that if you lower the tax rate for millionaires and billionaires, that it will result in some residual benefit to the American people. But there is an irony in the embrace even of that term, ``trickle-down economics.'' With the leadership of Representative Bobby Scott and others, the CBC has consistently put forth a budget designed to open the floodgates of prosperity for working class Americans and middle class folks all throughout this country, but what the Republicans want to do is trickle-down economics. The only thing that you get with that philosophy, you may get a trickle, but you are guaranteed to stay down. We are thankful that Representative Scott for so many years has consistently put forth through his leadership a budget from the Congressional Black Caucus designed to be both fiscally responsible and consistent with our ideals as a country that looks out for the least of those amongst us. Let me now yield to the distinguished representative from the Commonwealth of Virginia, Mr. Bobby Scott.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the thoughtful observations of the gentlewoman from Texas. I think we want to bring Representative Stacy Plaskett into this conversation in terms of the stunning inability to present a budget. As Representative Jackson Lee said, what else is there to do in terms of satisfying the extreme elements of your party? Privatize Social Security and throw older people out of their homes across the country? What else can you do? We are going to explore some of these draconian cuts that were in a budget that apparently is not extreme enough. I yield to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett), my good friend and colleague by way of Brooklyn, New York, I point out. We are so thankful for her presence here in the Congress. It is my honor now to yield to her.

Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank Congresswoman Beatty for a very thorough presentation and for pointing out that the Speaker, himself, and the Republican majority have indicated that they should be judged based on their capacity to complete the basics of their job responsibilities, which include the passage of a budget resolution. In fact, it was then- Congressman Ryan who, in 2012, stated that failing to enact a budget has serious consequences for American families. There are at least three current health crises that we are trying to deal with in America and throughout the world, but Republicans have abdicated their responsibility: the Zika virus, the Flint water crisis, and the opioid addiction that is ravaging communities in the inner cities, in suburban America, and all throughout the rural parts of this country; yet House Republicans have failed not just to put forth a budget that would provide a roadmap to deal with these issues, but they have chosen to simply ignore these crises in a manner that represents such a stunning departure of what responsible Members of Congress should be doing at this particular point in time. I am thankful that we have been joined by the distinguished gentlewoman from the great Lone Star State, who has always been thoughtful and eloquent on issues of importance not just to her district, which is anchored in Houston, Texas, but through her membership and leadership on the Homeland Security Committee as well as on the House Judiciary Committee. She has been so thoughtful and effective on a great many issues in the context of our safety, of our well-being, of criminal justice reform, of course, and of the protection of civil liberties--all issues that are fundamental to our democracy in the same way that a budgetary roadmap is fundamental to our democracy. Let me yield to Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas. She raises several important points. One of the things that has struck me during my time here in Congress is that, under Republican reign, we have consistently seen government by crisis on one issue after the next. From the group of people that spend so much time messaging the point to the American people that they believe in fiscal responsibility, where is the fiscal responsibility in failing to put forth a budget consistent with the law that you supported? The other thing that amazes me--and the gentlewoman from Texas raised the point about the Supreme Court case that was argued earlier today on the immigration executive order issued by the President--I sit on the Judiciary Committee along with the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee and we hear almost every week about how lawless this President allegedly has been in terms of his time in office. Now, it is interesting to consistently hear the lectures about how lawless this President has allegedly been from people who believe that President Barack Obama exceeded his authority on January 20, 2009, the moment that he took the oath of office because there are folks who still cannot believe that this man is the President and leader of the free world. So I never buy that lawlessness argument. This is a group now that supports essentially undermining the Constitution over in the other house of this Congress. The President has done his job in putting forth the Supreme Court nominee, who is clearly qualified not according to Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, but according to Orrin Hatch himself, one of the leading Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, amongst others. The lawlessness is not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It is taking place right here in the United States Congress under the leadership of House and Senate Republicans.

Mr. JEFFRIES. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.

Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank you for laying that out. And I think history can be judged by objective observers as it relates to fiscal responsibility. But a few facts that perhaps some in the Chamber may have had amnesia about, but maybe it bears going through. Sequestration and painful budget cuts as it relates to the extreme agenda of some here in the Congress have been brought to us in a manner that has cost us both jobs and the ability to experience accelerated financial growth. We saw in the aftermath of a severe economic shock the approach that was taken by our friends over in Europe of extreme austerity did not bear financial fruit. It was the stimulus package that was put forth-- with not a single vote from anyone on the other side of the aisle--that was actually the financially responsible approach taken to help deal with the train wreck that President Obama inherited and to get the economy back on track. But, of course, the objective from the very beginning--not my words, but the words of the Senate majority leader on the other side of the Capitol--was to make the President a one-term President. I just don't even understand the philosophy of a President who takes office, inherits the worst economy since the Great Depression, and the number one agenda is to make sure that he is a one-term President. But that was an unsuccessful political endeavor. He gets a second term. The first thing that some of my good friends on the other side of the aisle decide to do, as we approach the end of the fiscal year in 2013, was to shut down the government for 16 days. It cost us $24 billion in lost economic productivity. That is not hyperbole. Those are facts. And what was it all for? Because there is this obsession--perhaps clinical in nature--with the Affordable Care Act. This is why we voted more than 50 times to destroy it, defeat it, delay it, and do everything possible to stop it. What could be possibly wrong with making sure that preexisting conditions don't prevent someone here in the greatest country in the history of the world from being able to get adequate medical care? What is wrong with more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans actually having health care? Yet, in the budget that apparently is not extreme enough, we would take away the Affordable Care Act. So these are just some of the facts. I wish we had some more time to explore it. That is not hyperbole. Historians will judge this Presidency and this Congress. I, of course, am of the belief that many will conclude that this is a Congress that has majored in obstruction, minored in dysfunction, and done everything possible to pursue a degree in legislative malpractice to the detriment of the American people. And I am hopeful that we can just get back on track and try to find common ground to do the business of the American people, which is why each and every one of us was sent here to the people's House. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JEFFRIES. I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas.