Jim McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman from Oklahoma working with us. We have spent many hours up in the Rules Committee and on the floor, and I know he is committed to trying to get this issue right. Amendment Offered by Mr. McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the amendment and on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, 50 years have passed since the historic Stonewall riots in New York City which brought us one step closer to full equality for all Americans. But as we wrap up Pride Month and celebrate all we have accomplished over the last five decades, I want to take this time to raise the issue of hunger in the LGBTQ community. A study by the Williams Institute at UCLA found that more than one in four LGBTQ adults did not have enough money to buy food for themselves or their families in the past year. That is an alarming number. It is more than double the national food insecurity rate. The average SNAP benefit only provides about $1.40 per person per meal. That only covers a fraction of an individual's meals. While many households go to food pantries to fill the SNAP gap, some of these food banks and pantries are affiliated with groups that may not accept people for who they are. That is because discrimination due to sexual orientation and gender identity is everywhere. In more than half of the country, there are no explicit Statewide laws that protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in employment, housing, and public accommodations. This type of discrimination has real consequences. LGBTQ Americans are much more likely to end up homeless, particularly as kids and teens, and are more likely to live in a food desert where they have trouble purchasing nutritious food nearby. As if this weren't bad enough, these numbers are even more devastating across racial demographics. For example, in the LGBTQ community, a staggering 42 percent of African Americans, 33 percent of Hispanics, and 32 percent of Native Americans reported being food insecure. That is unconscionable, and it is unacceptable. Mr. Speaker, this is not some abstract problem. These are our friends, these are our family members, our neighbors, our classmates, and our coworkers. We should be uplifting and supporting them, but the numbers don't lie. Our country is facing a full-blown hunger crisis and the LGBTQ community--and, in particular, communities of color within of it--are bearing the brunt of that crisis. We cannot allow their stories to be erased or muted. We must work together to address interconnected issues like housing and hunger by gathering more data on how to specifically respond to these problems. We must increase outreach to these communities so that everyone who qualifies for hunger assistance programs can access benefits. Sadly, instead of working to solve this problem, this President and his administration have tried to roll back the clock on equality. Whether it is blocking questions related to sexual orientation or pushing half-baked rule changes to enact a definition of gender, which would essentially erase people from our official population counts, they are working overtime to threaten the rights of Americans. But we are working overtime to stop them. Last month the House passed the Equality Act which aims to extend civil rights protections to all Americans, regardless of gender identity and sexual orientation. Passing this bill into law would play a key role in addressing hunger in the LGBTQ community. I am proud that the House has taken action, and I urge the Senate to do the same. This is Pride Month. As we celebrate the progress that our country has made, let us also remember all of the work we have to do to end hunger now.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 460 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to my good friend, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members be given 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, on Monday night, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 460. It provides for consideration of H.R. 3351 under a structured rule that makes 46 amendments in order, with 1 hour of general debate controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. It also provides for consideration of H.R. 2722 under a closed rule with 1 hour of general debate provided, controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on House Administration. It also provides same-day authority through the legislative day of Thursday, June 27, 2019, relating to appropriations measures. Madam Speaker, this underlying package of bills is proof that this Democratic majority is committed to getting its work done both for routine matters like appropriations and emergency priorities facing our Nation. Take the first measure, H.R. 3351, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. This builds on our efforts to fund the government for fiscal year 2020 in a timely way. Instead of hollowing out important investments like past Republican majorities have done, this Democratic majority is investing in our future. This legislation not only ensures both the executive and judicial branches can continue to operate for the American people, there is also language here to protect consumers from dangerous products and help small businesses thrive, especially in distressed communities. Most notably, Madam Speaker, this bill provides hundreds of millions in grants to strengthen the integrity of our election system. This is especially important since, if left to his own devices, I don't think our President would even acknowledge that there is a crisis of confidence in our elections following Russia's meddling in 2016, let alone act so it never happens again. He seems content to welcome future interference rather than prevent it, so it is especially important that this Congress takes the lead to protect our democracy. That is why we are also moving here to consider H.R. 2722, the Securing America's Federal Elections Act. The Mueller report made clear that Russia waged an all-out attack on our elections. Putin put his thumb on the scale for President Trump, and intelligence officials have made clear that he and others are trying to attack us again in the next election. I want to repeat that, Madam Speaker, in case the President happens to be watching. Our very democracy is under attack. No troops have been sent into combat. No guns have been fired, but a foreign adversary is turning the internet and the ballot box into battlefields with the integrity of the vote at stake. It is beyond me why this President has not acted as if this is a national emergency. Instead, he said the other day that he thinks he would take campaign dirt about an opponent from a foreign government. You can't make this stuff up, Madam Speaker. That is like leaving the front door wide open when you know there is a burglar in town. He is not preventing future acts, he is encouraging them. Before my friends on the other side chalk this up to a slip of the tongue, let me remind them that his own former communications director, Hope Hicks, testified recently that she believes he is serious about accepting information from a foreign source. This President may not be stepping up to secure our elections, but this Democratic majority is. This bill would enact things like verified paper ballots, cybersecurity upgrades, and State grants to secure voting systems. This majority passed H.R. 1 in the opening months of this Congress. That package includes reforms to fix our democracy. But under Leader McConnell, the Senate did with it what it seems to do best: nothing. He refused to even bring H.R. 1 up for a vote. Now, I don't know why Leader McConnell is ignoring the warnings from our intelligence officials or why he seems content with weaknesses in our election systems. Maybe he is unwilling to ever break from Donald Trump on anything, even something this important, which really is quite sad. But I hope this time he will try something radical for the Senate: have a vote. Bring this bill up so the American people can see whose side you are on. Lastly, Madam Speaker, this bill also gives us flexibility to deal with an emergency of a different kind--the one this President is creating on our southern border. President Trump's policies have led to children sleeping on concrete floors, dirty and hungry with no access to soap or even a toothbrush, sometimes left to be cared for by children just a few years older than they are. It is hard to believe that this is happening in the United States of America today. This House will act, and I hope the Senate does the same thing. I encourage all my colleagues to vote for this rule and the underlying legislation, so we can do our jobs and act on these important issues. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank the gentleman for his comments, and I would like to say for the record that when it comes to this piece of legislation, the Financial Services appropriations bill, Democrats actually did much better than the Republicans did when they were in charge. In fact, we made more amendments in order. We made more minority amendments in order than the Republicans did when they were in charge. In fact, there is a 57 percent increase, in terms of minority amendments being made in order compared to what they did. Let me also point out for the record that my Republican friends, I think, tend to be a little redundant in the amendments that they offer. For example, I think they submitted three amendments on the wall. We make one amendment. Do we have to debate the wall three different times? On spending reductions, four amendments were submitted. We make two in order, which is probably two too many. We should have made one in order. The bottom line is, there is a habit of just offering the same old, same old, again and again and again. Quite frankly, the minority will get its opportunity to debate these issues but not over and over and over again. Let's also get to the substance here. The gentleman said these are two unrelated bills. Well, I disagree. The Financial Services appropriations bill actually funds the Election Assistance Commission, and the other bill we are considering, the SAFE Act, authorizes the Election Assistance Commission at the same amount that is in the appropriations bill. They are very much intertwined. Let me also say, I expect that, before the day is out, we will do a supplemental emergency bill to deal with the crisis that this President has created at the border. Let me also be clear that what we want to make sure is that, when we provide the funding, this cruel treatment of children at the border comes to an end. This administration's deliberate policy of separating children from their parents, of allowing children, almost infants, to sleep on cold floors, to be denied basic necessities like soap and toothpaste and toothbrushes, I mean, it is child abuse. It is unconscionable, so we want to demand that this administration stop it. This is the United States of America. I think the American people are horrified at the inhumanity that they are reading about that is occurring to these little children at our border. It is unbelievable. I never thought that we would ever be on the House floor talking about how children who have fled some of the worst conditions imaginable are being so mistreated at the border. So, yes, we will have a supplemental appropriations bill to deal with it, but we are going to demand that the cruel policies of this administration stop and stop now. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch).

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Vermont.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I always enjoy listening to my Republican colleagues debate on the floor. And I always love listening to the gentleman from Illinois when he is on the House floor. But I can't help but think of the fact that the Russians attacked our elections in 2016. The 2 years after that, the House was controlled by Republicans. The Senate was controlled by Republicans. Donald Trump, a Republican, was in the White House. They had a unified government; the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. And all of our intelligence agencies said that Russia interfered in our elections; they attacked our democracy; not only the Obama administration's intelligence officials, but the Trump administration's intelligence officials. And what did my Republican friends do in the aftermath of this attack on our democracy by a foreign adversary? Nothing. Nothing. We hear all these great ideas, but while they had a unified government, while they were in control of everything, they did nothing. In fact, I recall sitting here on the House floor and listening to Republican after Republican after Republican basically say that this was much ado about nothing; in fact, trying to deny that Russia attacked our elections. Now the evidence is so overwhelming you can't deny it anymore. But yet, they had this opportunity. And now they say we all want to protect our elections. Well, 2 years prior to this, I don't know where you were, but you weren't working trying to protect our elections. People were working, instead, to try to cover up for what a foreign adversary did to our elections. So here we are, coming forward with a bill that we believe will provide security for our elections so that people believe that the elections have integrity, they believe the results. And we are told well, we disagree with you, and we have better ideas; on and on and on. Bottom line is we are acting. My friends had 2 years to act. They did nothing. Our Democratic majority went through regular order on this. The Committee on House Administration held three hearings on election security. In case anyone forgot, they were on February 14, May 8, and May 21. In addition to those hearings, the Subcommittee on Elections conducted field hearings in six States, while the Committees on Oversight, Homeland Security, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held hearings on the subject. So experts testified. People offered their viewpoints. And after all of that, the House Administration Committee marked up this bill last Friday, on June 21, and here we are on the House floor. So, I mean, give me a break. I get it. Some of my Republicans friends may be ``Johnny-come-latelies'' when it comes to the issue of election security. We welcome you on board, because our elections are important, and we need to protect them from interference from foreign adversaries like Russia. But you had 2 years of unified government in which my friends did nothing, nothing. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the gentleman was talking about appropriations that were approved in the last Congress. A lot of the ideas that we are talking about here today, including some of the ideas that Mr. Davis raised, are authorizations, and so they can't be taken care of in an appropriations bill, and that is why we are doing a separate bill in addition to the appropriations bill. The gentleman talks about the $300 million that were approved under the previous leadership. Well, we are asking for $600 million. We are doubling that because we know how serious it is. And just forgive us if we are a little bit concerned, because we have a President who continues not to acknowledge that the Russians interfered in our election. He continues to refer it to as a Russian hoax. He took Vladimir Putin's word for it rather than the word of our intelligence agencies. So when we express concern about our election process and about the lack of attention given to this, we are responding to what the President of the United States, Donald Trump, says on a weekly, if not daily basis. The fact of the matter is Russia interfered in our election. Everybody knows that. The only person who is in denial is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. So we need to respond, and we need to respond appropriately. Madam Speaker, I say this to my friend again, that we expect, hopefully today, to bring up a supplemental appropriations bill to be able to deal with what I would call the Donald Trump-created crisis on the border. And, by the way, as we provide funding, which I believe we will do to deal with some of the issues on the border, let us be clear: there is absolutely no excuse at all for how this administration has allowed children to be treated in such an inhumane fashion under our custody, children being denied soap, children being denied toothpaste or toothbrushes, children so young and separated from any adult who are being cared for by children only a couple of years older. I mean, everybody should be horrified by that. There is no excuse, none at all, for that to be happening. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin).

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman trying to articulate the best he can all that the Republicans did on this issue when they were in the majority, but I will be very honest with him: I am unimpressed, and so are the American people. The bottom line is my friends had unified government, Republican control of the House, Senate, and the White House for 2 years, and basically they did nothing. The President, the leader of their party, routinely and continues to do so today, refers to Russian interference in our election as a Russian hoax. The leader of our country says that it is a hoax. So I understand why there was inaction for the previous 2 years, but that ends because Democrats, Republicans, Independents, people of all political persuasions deserve to have an election system that has some integrity. I look forward to passing this bill, and I am urging the Senate to do the same. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I urge, obviously, support for this rule and the underlying bills that will be debated. As we are sitting here debating, we just got some news that Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection Agency John Sanders has submitted his resignation. I guess the public pressure is so great that it is untenable for him to continue in that position, and I am sure the President will replace him with somebody else. The problem is the President keeps on replacing individuals with people who continue to enforce policies that are cruel, policies that separate children from their parents at the border, and policies that treat children worse than animals in our custody, but I thought it would be interesting for my colleagues to note this breaking news. Madam Speaker, it is true that we have an ambitious agenda before us this week, and we believe in doing our job and holding the administration accountable. We aren't going to leave the threat of another shutdown for another day. Maybe that is what my Republican friends did when they were in charge, but that is how we ended up in one shutdown after another. And, yes, we wish we had an agreement on the caps, but it is not for lack of trying. We have been trying to negotiate with the Senate since we took control of the House of Representatives. We have been trying to negotiate with the President since we took control of the House of Representatives. But every time we sit down with the President, he has a temper tantrum or he behaves in an erratic way and leaves the room. We can't wait, so we are going to lead, and hopefully they will follow. And we are not going to ignore the threats posed by Russia and others to our elections. The President wants to cozy up to Putin instead of defending this Nation, but this majority doesn't believe in prioritizing the egos of dictators. We believe in accountability and restoring the integrity of the vote. My friend says, well, this isn't going anywhere. Well, look, we are happy to negotiate with Republicans in the Senate, but where is their bill? Basically, the Republicans in the Senate are following the lead of the Republicans in the House and the previous Congress in doing nothing. We don't believe in doing nothing. We think our elections are important, that they are worth defending, so we are acting. These are serious matters, Madam Speaker, and this is why we were sent here, and this is what we intend to tackle. I urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the previous question. I urge them to vote ``yes'' on the rule and the underlying legislation.

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

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. When the Committee of the Whole rose on Monday, June 24, 2019, amendment No. 244 printed in House Report 116-119 offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman) had been disposed of. Announcement by the Acting Chair

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 462 and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, today, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 462, providing for consideration of H.R. 3401 under a closed rule. One hour of general debate has been provided, controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. Mr. Speaker, I have fought for human rights my entire career. As co- chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, I have seen troubling conditions abroad, but never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would see such inhumane conditions here at home, all because of the President's cruel and failed immigration policies. We have children today at border facilities forced to sleep on concrete floors, with the lights kept on 24 hours a day. They are not being given soap, diapers, or even a toothbrush. Lice combs are being shared. Bottles aren't able to be washed. In some cases, children are being supervised by other kids not much older than themselves. This is happening in America today because of the choices made by President Trump. It is horrific. This is child abuse, plain and simple. In a document obtained by ABC News, one physician who visited recently described the conditions there by saying: ``The conditions within which they are held could be compared to torture facilities.'' Torture facilities, Mr. Speaker, at the behest of this administration. This should sicken every single American. This administration seems to relish this and use the lives of these children as political theater. The President even had the audacity to claim, ``We're doing a fantastic job under the circumstances.'' Are you kidding me? Lives are being torn apart. There were some children who we know will never be reunited with their families, who are being locked in cages and forced to endure inhumane and unspeakable conditions. There is a special place in hell for those who are ripping children from the arms of their mothers, putting them in cages without even a blanket, arguing that they shouldn't even get basic necessities like a toothbrush. If your heart doesn't break, if you don't want to do everything you can to end this, then you should really take a hard look in the mirror. This majority doesn't agree with the President's policies. We will not turn a blind eye to this humanitarian catastrophe. This bill delivers billions to provide necessities like food, water, and blankets, and it will also fund things like legal assistance and support services for unaccompanied children and refugees. There are also strict limits here on influx shelters. It protects sponsors from DHS immigration enforcement based on information collected by HHS during the vetting process. It creates strong oversight by Congress, including to protect unaccompanied children. This legislation also reverses the administration's senseless decision to block the humanitarian funding that Congress has already appropriated for the Northern Triangle countries. At the same time, we do not provide a single penny for the President's failed mass-detention policy. There are humane alternatives here instead because we are not going to help this President continue this cruelty. Mr. Speaker, this is not a perfect measure, but this isn't a big immigration bill. This is an appropriations bill. I want to recognize the extraordinary leadership of Chairwoman Lowey, Chairwoman DeLauro, and Chairwoman Roybal-Allard. They have been dedicated to getting this done. The updated language submitted today will enhance protections for the rights and for the dignity of migrants even further. It wasn't too long ago that President Reagan said America was best represented as ``the shining city upon a hill.'' It should sicken all of us that this administration apparently believes this country is, instead, best represented by separated children living in filth in a cage down by the border. I urge all my colleagues to vote for this bill and the underlying legislation so we can honor our values and show the real humanity of the American people. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, at this moment, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me provide a little bit of a news flash for my Republican friends. The Senate bill has a hold on it by a Republican from the home State of the Senate Majority Leader, and I saw a news report today that the chairman of the Appropriations Committee in the Senate, Mr. Shelby, was asked by a reporter: Do you have assurance that the President would sign the bill that the Senate produced? Mr. Shelby replied that he did not. So this is moving, and I would urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Texas an additional 1 minute.