Jim McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the democratic whip.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Oklahoma for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this martial law rule. The martial law authority created under this rule would last through September 5. In other words, the House Republicans can call us back on a whim, just to consider any kind of bill they call a border or immigration bill. So much for their 3-day rule. I wonder how much notice they have to give Speaker Cruz before they call us back? Let's just take a moment to remember how we got here. The Republican leadership put together a partisan, inadequate, and unacceptable emergency supplemental bill that allegedly dealt with the humanitarian crisis at the southern border. That bill was mean-spirited and cruel, but it wasn't mean-spirited and cruel enough to satisfy the far-right wing of the Republican Conference. So the leadership tried to add another mean-spirited, cruel bill to block any further help for young immigrants under the DACA program, a program that has helped thousands of young people who have grown up in America come out of the shadows so they can go to school or hold a job without fear of being deported. But that wasn't mean-spirited and cruel enough for their base, so they pulled the whole package from the floor yesterday. So last night, we had yet another meeting in the Rules Committee, and that is when they came up with this rule, but not a solution. That is right, Mr. Speaker. They still don't know what they are going to do. But I have an idea. They are going to make their cruel, mean-spirited immigration bill even worse, and that may not be enough to placate the far right who simply don't like immigrants. Mr. Speaker, let's be honest. The far-right wing of the Republican base will never, ever be satisfied. And the martial-law authority created under this rule would last through September 5, so if the Republicans can somehow come up with even more mean-spirited bills, if they can figure out a way to act even more cruelly, they can bring us back again and again and again to vote. Now, in case any Americans are still watching, they could be forgiven for being a little confused about what happened this week. On Wednesday, House Republicans voted to waste millions of taxpayer dollars to sue the President for what they claim is excessive executive action. But on Thursday, this is what Speaker Boehner said about the border crisis: There are numerous steps the President can and should be taking right now, without the need for congressional action, to secure our borders. So which is it, Mr. Speaker? Is President Obama doing too much or not enough? I have got whiplash. It would be easier to take the Republicans seriously if they would just settle on one set of partisan talking points. Finally, Mr. Speaker, let me say a few words about the crisis at our border. There are nearly 50 million refugees around the world, 50 million people fleeing violence, brutality, oppression, famine, disease--50 million. But when 50,000 minors, one-tenth of 1 percent of the total number, arrive at our border, my Republican friends have a collective hissy fit. Is this really the face of America that we want the rest of the world to see? The United States of America, a nation of immigrants, do we really want the rest of the world to see us like this, petty and mean and small? I hope not. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I will try again. At this time, I would like to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Maryland (Ms. Edwards).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman referred to a bill that the Republicans are working on. We haven't seen such a bill. Does this rule give us any indication of what bill they are talking about?

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Lujaan). Mr. BEN RAY LUJAAN of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I will answer my friend's question that was just asked as he was speaking. What is happening on the floor is Republicans are trying to weaken human trafficking laws. That is what is happening. Over the last few days, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have jumped through linguistic and logical hoops to say that the most humane way to deal with these children is to deport them quickly without due process to discourage other children from making the dangerous journey. There is no question that the journey is dangerous. Children are killed, robbed, raped, and maimed along the way, but the children know the risks. They are not ignorant to those risks. Why? Because back in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, children are being raped, killed, and robbed every day. It is a fact. Read the news. Deporting children without process to these conditions or locking them into their home countries and preventing them from fleeing to find safety is not humane. It would be, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said, like sending them back into a burning building. We can do better than this. Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Loretta Sanchez.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the time remaining?

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velaazquez).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire from the gentleman from Oklahoma whether he has any additional speakers or if he would like to give us some of his time?

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Brownley) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Serrano) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Farr) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Ben Ray Lujaan) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request. Mr. BEN RAY LUJAAN of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 15, a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill to properly address the humanitarian crisis at the border.