Jim McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN

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

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a proud servant of the people and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Ms. Gina Wironen. Gina has been an integral part of the Leominster School District for over four decades as an educator and administrator. In her 43-year career in education, Gina has held many prominent roles within the Leominster School District including serving as the Assistant Principal of Saint Leo School and Principal of Samoset Middle School. Most recently, Gina worked as the Director of Community Engagement and Media Relations for the entire school district. Throughout her distinguished career, Gina has consistently been recognized for her exemplary service to our district, including: the Learning for Life Leadership Award, Teacher of the Year--Leominster Rotary Award, and most recently, the M.W.C.C. Lifetime Achievement Award. Because of Gina' s leadership and advocacy, Leominster has become one of the most active and collaborative districts that participates in the United Way Youth Venture program. This service-oriented educational experience works with children and young adults to create ventures using their passions to support the community. Due to Gina's efforts, over 74 service teams have made an impact within the district since the program's inception in 2002. Gina has continually worked to expand the program within Leominster and all of Central Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, this alone would be an impressive list of achievements that deserves our respect and gratitude. But since 2013, Gina has successfully advocated in support of the development of two new innovation schools in Leominster, and secured funding for a new athletic facility for the local high school. Gina understands that education does not just happen in schools. She has worked with the entire community to enhance what is happening in the classroom. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the United States Congress and the people of Massachusetts, I would like to thank and recognize Gina for her work in the Leominster School District to improve the Massachusetts education system. Her tireless efforts have forever changed Leominster for the better.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I just saw a report that most minimum wage workers need 2\1/2\ full-time jobs to afford a one-bedroom apartment. Many of us can't imagine deciding between paying rent and buying food, but that is exactly the choice that far too many Americans face. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, helps by providing a small benefit so families don't go hungry. But the farm bill that the House Republicans have passed cuts SNAP by $23 billion. Let's remember, most people on SNAP who can work, do work. Let's also remember that real farmers rely on the farm bill. The longer Republicans try to use it for entitlement reform, the longer we hurt those farmers. The American people made their priorities clear at the ballot box: They want to create opportunity and possibility for all our families. Here is a radical idea: Let's listen to them. Let's follow the lead of Senate Republicans and Democrats who worked together on a farm bill that helps farmers and maintains SNAP. And let's end hunger now.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, when my Republican friends want to dedicate the next 3 days to talking about gray wolves, people are being murdered every single hour in Yemen. The Saudi-led effort even bombed a school bus filled with innocent children. So it seems to me that there could be no more important time for debate in the House on ending U.S. military support for this war. I just don't know what the Republican majority is afraid of. Privileged resolutions--I want my colleagues to understand this--by Members of this House, have always been allowed to be debated on this House floor, under Republican and Democrat majorities alike until now; until today. I don't know what the Republican majority is afraid of. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I thank the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, we are here today considering our first rule following a long district work period. During that time, we had a big national debate about the direction of our country. According to exit polling, the top issue for voters was healthcare and, in particular, protecting coverage from preexisting conditions. But that is not what the bill before us addresses. Nor does it involve immigration, another top issue for voters, or strengthening the economy or combating gun violence. All of these are what our constituents just said was important to them. But instead of doing anything on any of that, we are here today considering a bill to undermine endangered species protections. Are you kidding me? And get this: Also, last night in the Rules Committee, the majority placed a provision in the rule that would remove the privileged status of Representative Khanna's War Powers Resolution, H. Con. Res. 138. This resolution states that Congress never authorized the United States' support of Saudi-led forces in Yemen and would direct the President of the United States to end his support. This measure is a privileged resolution under the terms of the War Powers Resolution, which provides that resolutions concerning the involvement of the U.S. military in armed conflict have a direct path to the floor to be debated and to be voted on. The rules provide this privileged status because such questions are among the most important that the people's House can debate. Such privileged resolutions or a negotiated substitute have come before the House under Republican and Democratic majorities. Yet, with this rule before us today, Republicans have taken the unprecedented step of striking this privilege, preventing us from doing our constitutional duty and foreclosing the only available mechanism to compel an up or down vote in Congress regarding our military involvement in the Yemen war. As of this morning, this bill, introduced by Congressman Khanna, has over 80 bipartisan cosponsors, including Democratic Whip Hoyer and Ranking Members Smith, Lowey, Engel, and myself. The U.S.-Saudi military campaign in Yemen has triggered the world's worst humanitarian crisis, prompting the late Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi to call for an end to the war. Published just weeks before his murder, Khashoggi's Washington Post column was headlined, ``Saudi Arabia's crown prince must restore dignity to his country by ending Yemen's cruel war.'' It is unconscionable for Republican leadership to take this unprecedented action to strip Members of their right to bring such measures to the floor for debate. Mr. Speaker, what is the majority afraid of? We should be debating this. Instead, the Republican majority continues to turn a deaf ear to this and many other issues. We are 11 days away from our government running out of funding. Five appropriations bills have been signed into law so far. They have funded 75 percent of the government, but there is more work that we need to do. We should be continuing that momentum and getting the job done, keeping the lights on, not wasting time considering a bill to attack an endangered species. Or how about reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program that expires at the end of this month or putting a comprehensive reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act on the House floor that is set to expire December 7, not to mention the need to reauthorize the farm bill that expired back on October 1. Our country's farmers are depending upon this Congress to put into place a new bill that provides them with certainty, especially in light of the trade war that President Trump has started; yet the majority has, instead, prioritized a bill that completely ignores all the important issues that we face in this country. The American people have clearly had enough. They demanded a new direction and a new Congress that actually addresses what they care most about, and they demanded an end to this closed process. This rule marks the 102nd closed rule of this Congress. Now, let me repeat that: the 102nd closed rule. Mr. Speaker, that is a staggering number. Now, I am not suggesting that every rule needs to be an open one or that there is never a time for a closed rule, but there is never a time for more than 100 closed rules. There is no justification for that at all. Since the election, I heard my friends on the other side of the aisle express a hope that the next Congress is a more accommodating one. That is ironic since the Republicans have voted in lockstep for one closed rule after another, after another, after another. But to them, I ask: Why wait? A Democratic majority will certainly be better than the current one. But Republicans don't have to wait until January. They could demand a more open process here today by voting against this closed rule. This is your chance to prove that your newfound calls for openness are above more than politics. Vote against this record-breaking closed rule. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Washington State, my good friend, Mr. Newhouse, seemed to imply that it would be an inconvenience for us to have the House consider a measure on Yemen, and I am a little bit puzzled by that. The reason why Representative Khanna took the step is because, for months, while this terrible carnage has unfolded in Yemen, this House has done nothing. We just learned that the Saudi Government was directly involved in the killing of a Washington Post journalist and, again, nothing-- nothing at all. The Republicans took the unprecedented step of basically derailing this privileged resolution. It is unprecedented. Over 100,000 Yemeni children have already perished because of war- triggered hunger and disease over the past 2 years. Why is the Republican leadership stripping us of the right to debate? According to the U.N., 14 million people in Yemen--half the population--face an imminent and catastrophic famine not seen in 100 years if this war is not ended. Why is the Republican leadership stripping our right to debate? I don't understand what they are afraid of. It is not like they have a lot to do. We are going to be talking about gray wolves today, and we are not voting on this until Friday. They have nothing going on. Certainly, we should have time to debate this important humanitarian issue. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Pocan).

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

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Courtney).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me begin by reminding my colleagues what the Republicans are proposing here, it is that the next 3 days be dedicated to the gray wolf. We are not debating healthcare, we are not debating the economy, or jobs, or keeping the government running, but it is to this. They bring it to us under a rule that is completely closed, so there are no amendments to be made in order, and the rule is even worse because it basically undercuts the privilege resolution introduced by Mr. Khanna so we could debate this horrific war going on in Yemen. It takes my breath away at the lengths that this majority goes through to basically deny Members of Congress the right to be able to talk about important issues. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Khanna), who is the author of the privileged resolution on Yemen.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Welch).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Vermont an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, undermining endangered species protections isn't a national emergency. We shouldn't be prioritizing it today. Not only is this rule a closed one, as you have heard from our side over and over and over again, Republicans took the unprecedented step of removing the privileged status of a resolution that would have given us the chance to debate the United States' support of the war in Yemen. We should be voting on this. People are dying every minute in Yemen. Our silence and our inaction mean that we are complicit. I have always believed that if the United States stands for anything, then we need to stand out loud and foursquare for human rights. There was a time when the issue of human rights was a bipartisan concern. But it is clear that this administration doesn't give a damn about human rights. But that doesn't mean that this institution should follow suit. Human rights ought to be the centerpiece of our foreign policy. There are innocent people being killed every single day. Children were riding to school in buses where the buses have been bombed, where these children have died, have been murdered, and all my Republican friends can say is: Oh, you can take care of that after January when you are in charge. We are just going to spend the next 3 days dedicated to the issue of gray wolves. Really? There is so much real work in front of us, including our most basic responsibility of funding this government and reauthorizing programs like the National Flood Insurance Program, the Violence Against Women Act, and the farm bill. I could go on and on and on. Education costs are skyrocketing. Americans are afraid coverage for their preexisting conditions will be ripped away by this administration and its allies in Congress because you have tried to do it dozens and dozens and dozens of times. How about doing something about that? It was interesting, during the campaign, my Republican colleagues were rushing to every microphone they could find to say that they somehow supported covering preexisting conditions. Let me remind everybody, and especially my Republican colleagues, that that was a Democratic idea that you opposed. This was the worst election for Republican Presidents since Watergate. Maybe that is why Republicans are trying to rewrite history. But here is another politically popular idea Republicans should follow: bringing an end to the most closed Congress in history. Let's let some sunlight in. Don't wait until January. Start today by voting against this closed rule and demand action on things that our constituents actually care about. Just one final note, again, on this unprecedented move of basically denying us the right to debate this war in Yemen: I agree with what Mr. Khanna said. History is going to look back on our inaction not only on the war in Yemen, but on our inaction dealing with the brutality of the Saudi regime. I would have thought that when we came back that one of the first items up on the agenda would be holding the Saudi Government accountable. Instead, we got nothing. Not only we get nothing, you take the unprecedented step of denying a Member of this House the right that he has under the privileges of this House to debate this issue of war. This is so wrong. This is damaging to the institution, and it shows a callous disregard for what is happening in Yemen. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, do the right thing and vote against this rule. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, October 14, the Vatican officially canonized Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated on March 24, 1980, on the eve of El Salvador's 12-year civil war. In a ceremony presided over by Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, Romero will become a saint alongside Pope Paul VI, Italian priests Francesco Spinelli and Vincenzo Romano, German nun Maria Caterina Kasper, and Spanish nun Nazaria Ignazia. The canonizations will take place at the Vatican during the 2018 Synod of Bishops, a meeting of bishops from around the world that this year will address the topic of young people, who were much beloved by Archbishop Romero. In attendance will be many Salvadorans and Latin Americans, including a delegation from the United States who are current beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), an immigration status, which President Trump has stripped from over 260,000 Salvadorans currently residing legally in the United States because it's simply too dangerous for them to return home. In May 2015, I had the privilege of attending the beatification of Romero in San Salvador. Surrounded by many high religious and government officials, especially from Latin America, I was most moved by the hundreds of thousands of ordinary Salvadorans, many who had traveled for days from rural areas to attend this special mass. While they likely would have preferred to see him canonized in his home country, they can only be overjoyed that the name and message of ``Saint Romero of the Americas'' will now be shared with the world. As a Catholic, I am proud of my Church for finally recognizing this man of God who lived his faith. As a politician, I continue to be inspired by Romero's example--his total commitment to the poor and his unwavering commitment to the dignity of every human being. Romero was shot through the heart by a sniper while celebrating mass in the chapel of the Hospital of Divine Providence, a church-run hospital in San Salvador specializing in cancer and care of the terminally ill, which still operates today and maintains as a shrine the humble dwelling where Romero resided on their grounds. He was murdered the day after he called on the Salvadoran military to stop killing innocent civilians at the beginning of El Salvador's civil war. The U.N. Truth Commission, created as part of the negotiations that ended that war, determined that Roberto D'Aubuisson, a former army major and founder of the right-wing ARENA political party, coordinated a death squad and ordered the assassination. Romero's calls to end the violence afflicting his nation and his solidarity with El Salvador's poor appealed to me as a college student in the late 1970s. I still remember learning about his murder and believing that this terrible crime would result in the termination of U.S. aid to a government and military that persecuted social justice activists and had no respect for human rights. Sadly, it did not. The U.S. continued to finance the Salvadoran armed forces for the next decade. While Congress expressed concern about human rights issues, it wasn't until Congressman Joe Moakley courageously offered and Congress passed an amendment in 1990 to cut aid that the blank check stopped. And that was after the deaths of nearly 80,000 civilians, the murder of human rights defenders, labor leaders, nuns and then six Jesuit priests and two women in 1989. I traveled to El Salvador many times during the 1980s and saw firsthand the brutality of the Salvadoran government and military supported by my government. I felt ashamed. Reagan and Bush Administration officials routinely turned a blind eye to torture, disappearances and murder. They characterized anyone who questioned the human rights record of the Salvadoran government as an ally of the Faribundo Marti National Liberation Army (FMLN)--the armed opposition. They belittled and tried to discredit those--like Romero and the Jesuits--who dared to speak the truth. For Romero, the truth about El Salvador came later in his life, as he rose in the Church hierarchy. In the mid-1970s, he served as bishop of the rural diocese of Santiago de Maria, where the gap between coffee plantation and other landowners and campesinos was obvious. He saw for himself the suffering and cruel repression of the poor, which affected him deeply and triggered a process of reflection and change. This process culminated in the 1977 assassination of his close friend, Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande, who embraced liberation theology, which puts the poor and the oppressed first and prioritizes the concrete defense of their rights. After Grande's murder, Romero said, ``When I look at Rutilio lying dead I thought, 'If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I, too, have to walk the same path.' '' Indeed, Romero believed ``those committed to the poor must share the same fate as the poor.'' Romero became a voice for those who had no voice; he preached that everyone was important. He embodied hope for the millions of people in El Salvador who were forgotten and the targets of repression. In his diaries, he wrote: ``Between the powerful and the wealthy, and the poor and vulnerable, who should a pastor side with? I have no doubts. A pastor should stay with his people.'' To his dying day, Archbishop Romero called on us to unite in love for the poor, the marginalized and the forgotten. The ceremony this weekend will finally recognize him as a saint. It offers all of us an opportunity not only to reflect on Romero's life, but also to commit ourselves to policies aimed at peace, human rights, alleviating poverty and promoting non-violence in El Salvador and around the world. The sad fact is that El Salvador and the international community have largely failed in transforming Romero's words into action. We continue to witness thousands of young children and families fleeing Central American countries as a result of violence and extreme poverty. Even in the United States, the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow and justice on too many occasions fails to work for those who are most disadvantaged. Hundreds of millions around the world are hungry-- even though hunger is a solvable problem; and war and violence too often seem to be the first choice to deal with conflicts. I am hopeful that the power of Romero's message can inspire new activism on behalf of the marginalized and the poor and a better understanding of their plight and struggles--in El Salvador, the United States and around the world. Romero reminded us, ``There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.'' With his canonization, we have an opportunity to renew our commitment and honor his legacy by giving a voice to the persecuted, the poor and neglected in every nation. Now is the time to stand on the right side of history and help those who need it most.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague from Texas, tax cuts for the rich and big corporations aren't going to protect this country from another attack by the Russians on our elections and on democracy. But here is the deal: You can do both. You can debate your tax scam 2.0 for the rich, and if you vote to defeat the previous question, we can also vote to protect the Mueller investigation. So we can do both, and I hope my colleagues will vote to defeat the previous question. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Torres), a distinguished member of the House Rules Committee.

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from California an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from New York an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, to discuss his proposal.

Mr. McGOVERN. Feeding America is the preeminent organization that feeds hungry families in this country. We have a hunger problem in this country. Nothing in this bill today or the bill that the Republicans passed previously does anything to help those people. So yes, we want the economy to work well, but for everybody. Not just the rich, but we want it to work well for those in the middle and those struggling to get in the middle. We don't want to embrace a tax scam package where 83 percent of the benefits go to the top 1 percent. They may be good contributors, but that doesn't represent the majority of America. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up Ranking Member Nadler's bill, the Special Counsel Independence Act. This vital legislation will allow the people's House to demonstrate that we as a body are capable of putting America's interests over partisan politics. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the reason why we are offering this procedural motion is because the Republicans run this House like Putin. We are shut out of everything. So this is our only opportunity to try to get some important business done. The Republicans can spend every day trying to pass more tax cuts for their wealthy friends and big corporations, but maybe--just maybe--we can do something useful like protecting our democracy. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Intelligence.