Jim McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee). (Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. McGOVERN. I yield the gentleman 30 additional seconds.

Mr. McGOVERN. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege now to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland, the Democratic whip, Mr. Hoyer. (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the rule for the defense authorization bill is a structured rule. Over 300 amendments were submitted to the Rules Committee, and 172 were made in order. This was a very difficult task, made even more difficult because the majority scheduled only 2 days for debate on amendments to this 850- page bill. But I would like to add a special word of appreciation for the Rules Committee staff, both majority and minority, who worked tirelessly for long hours to prepare this bill and its amendments for debate. I think most of my colleagues do not have the appreciation for what the staff and even the members of the Rules Committee have to go through, but I think they should appreciate their work even more after this rule that is being brought before the floor today. I am pleased that one of the amendments included in this rule is my amendment on the war in Afghanistan. This is a bipartisan amendment which will be debated and voted on later today. It is cosponsored by Walter Jones of North Carolina and Ranking Member Adam Smith of Washington, along with Representatives Lee and Garamendi of California. A very similar amendment was not allowed debate last year; and I want to particularly thank Chairman Sessions, members of the Rules Committee, my good friend, Mr. Nugent, and the Republican leadership of the House for allowing a debate on the war to occur this year. It is the right thing to do; and I appreciate that they take seriously the responsibilities of the House to debate issues of war and peace and to sending and keeping our servicemen and -women in harm's way. However, I'm a little disappointed that the debate will only last for 10 minutes. That's the amount of time designated for this amendment. Ten minutes is not really enough time for a genuine debate on the war in Afghanistan and what might next be required of our troops, and how much staying in Afghanistan will cost us. Afghanistan has turned into the longest war in American history--over 12 years so far. And heaven only knows, Mr. Speaker, it has cost us dearly in both blood and treasure. Those costs will haunt us for decades to come, as so many of our veterans have returned wounded in body, mind, and soul: 2,235 American military personnel have been killed in Afghanistan, and even more will be sacrificed before our troops come home. Over 17,000 have been wounded. It's estimated that over 30,000 Afghan civilians have been killed since 2001; 349 of our veterans committed suicide last year, more than the 310 servicemen and -women who were killed in theater in Afghanistan. Since 2001, including the money in this bill, we have spent $778 billion for Operation Enduring Freedom, nearly all of that in Afghanistan. Right now, as we speak on the floor of this House, we're spending over $7 billion each month in Afghanistan. Every hour costs us nearly $10 million. And all this time we have helped support a corrupt Karzai government, a government that gets billions of dollars each year and billions more under the table. Surely this war and the possible extended deployment of our brave troops for an indefinite period of time are worth a little bit more time than has been given for debate. But, Mr. Speaker, Members will have the opportunity to debate and vote later today on ensuring the President completes his timeline to transfer all combat military and security operations to Afghan control by the end of 2014, at which time U.S. involvement in combat operations is to end; and to express that should the President determine to extend the deployment of U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014, then the United States Congress should specifically vote to authorize that mission. I would urge all of my colleagues--Democrats and Republicans--to join us in supporting this very, very important amendment. Again, I do want to express my appreciation to my colleagues on the Rules Committee for making it in order. While I am pleased that my amendment was made in order under the rule, several other amendments on very serious military security issues were excluded from debate. I would just like to mention a couple of them. In a bipartisan fashion, Members of Congress have expressed their shock and outrage over the epidemic of rape and sexual abuse and assault in all branches of our military and at all ranks and military institutions. It is unacceptable, and it is intolerable. While H.R. 1960 has many provisions that address aspects of this crisis, there were several amendments that were not allowed, in particular, amendments dealing with military sexual assault offered by Representatives Speier and Gabbard. These amendments were serious efforts to advance this debate and to let Members of this House as a whole decide whether more needs to be done to prevent and reduce the level of military sexual assault, to prosecute and to bring to justice the perpetrators of sexual abuse, and to hold accountable the military chain of command and institutions that have allowed, facilitated, or tolerated this abuse. They should have not been excluded from this rule, and they deserve our most serious attention. So because these and some other important issues fail to be included in the rule, I reluctantly urge my colleagues to oppose this rule. Again, I thank my colleague, Mr. Nugent, for his courtesies and for his kind words about my amendment, and I will now reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. O'Rourke).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mr. McGOVERN. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 10 seconds.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining?

Mr. McGOVERN. I am happy to yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire from my friend how many more speakers he has on his side?

Mr. McGOVERN. Okay. Then I will yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to urge that we defeat the previous question. And if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to make this an open rule so that Members have the opportunity to offer any amendment allowed under the rules of the House. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include for the Record the text of the amendment in the Record along with extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, this morning, I, along with many of my colleagues and scores of antihunger advocates, began the SNAP challenge. I will live off of the average SNAP benefit of $4.50 per day. That's $31.50 for 7 days. The SNAP challenge is not a new fad diet. It's not a weight loss scheme to get ready for the summer. Rather, it's a way of raising awareness not only how important this program is in combating hunger in America, but also about how inadequate the benefit truly is. Being on SNAP is not easy. To qualify, you have to have an income under 130 percent of poverty. That's under $25,000 for a family of three. Let me repeat that. A family of three has to earn less than $25,000 to qualify for SNAP. And the average benefit is only $4.50 a day. That's not much to live off of. Mr. Speaker, we all know that rent is high, utilities are high, transportation costs are high, and food prices are high. Yet the SNAP benefit is still so inadequate that it typically doesn't even last an entire month. In fact, the average SNAP benefit typically lasts just 21 days out of the month, leaving a family or individual 9 or 10 days without support. Yesterday, I experienced firsthand how difficult it is to shop on a fixed budget that must be stretched for a fixed amount of time. I'm fortunate enough that I don't have to count every penny when I shop. But with $31.50 for the week, I didn't have the luxury to buy very many fresh fruits and vegetables, let alone organic ones. It took me a lot longer to shop because I had to make sure that I didn't go over my budget. And I know that my meals will be smaller than they normally are. Now, don't get me wrong when I talk about my shopping experience and my participation in the SNAP challenge. For me, this challenge will be over in a week. Going into this, I know that I only have to endure this for 7 days. But for millions of hardworking Americans who don't earn enough to make ends meet, they could be on food assistance for a lot longer. This is not about me and it's not about my colleagues. It's about the program. It's about SNAP and the fact that SNAP works. More than 47 million Americans rely on this program to help put food on their tables. They're not looking for a handout; they're looking for a hand up. Americans are proud and they are industrious. We like to do things on our own, but we don't turn our backs on people in need. That's one of the things that makes America great. We take care of our own, and that's what SNAP does. It's a way of helping our own--our brothers and our sisters, our children and our seniors, our friends and neighbors, even strangers--and it does so by helping those who simply don't earn enough to make ends meet. Those of us taking the SNAP challenge are using our positions here to raise awareness of the program. We're using our positions as Members of Congress to tell the American people that SNAP works. We're here to tell our House colleagues not to cut this important program. This SNAP challenge, starting today and lasting through next Wednesday, will likely coincide with floor consideration of the farm bill. That bill includes $20.5 billion worth of cuts to SNAP, cuts that will kick 2 million people off of SNAP altogether and 210,000 kids off the free school meal program. And those cuts, if enacted, will come on top of the looming across-the-board SNAP cuts that will happen in November. That cut will result in a family of four receiving $25 less each month for food. Now, I believe we can end hunger now if we just find the will to do so. I believe we need White House leadership to do so. I continue to call for a White House conference on food and nutrition to address hunger and nutrition issues in this country. But I also believe this House must do the right thing. This House hasn't held one single hearing about hunger in America or about the SNAP program. Opponents of SNAP talk about the program being full of fraud, waste, and abuse. It is not true. It is simply not true. Less than 2 percent of ineligible people are actually on SNAP. And for all their bluster, these opponents have never once talked about how to strengthen the program. That's because they don't care about the program. They just want to cut it. They want to eliminate it. I'm taking this challenge to make a difference. I'm going to blog, I'm going to tweet, and I'm going to talk about my experiences to show that SNAP works, and I will do everything I can to push back and to fight these cuts. Reducing the ability of poor people to buy food is a rotten thing to do. If we can't restore the SNAP cuts, then I will do everything I can to defeat this farm bill because Americans deserve better. Join me in this fight. Let's end hunger now.

Mr. McGOVERN

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Chairman, the war in Afghanistan has gone on for more than 12 years, the longest war in American history. 2,235 U.S. military personnel have been killed, over 17,000 have been wounded, and more will fall before our troops finally come home. The human and financial costs are staggering; $778 billion on Operation Enduring Freedom, nearly all of that in Afghanistan, $7.2 billion each and every month. The President has announced and is implementing a timetable to wind down U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. He's carrying it out. This amendment requires the President to stick to his timetable, accelerate it if he can. And depending on your point of view, this amendment puts the wind at the President's back, or holds his feet to the fire, to fulfill the promises he made to our brave troops, their families, and the American people. More importantly, it expresses that should U.S. troops be asked to remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014, then Congress needs to take its constitutional responsibility seriously and hold a specific vote to authorize that mission and troop presence. The future and fate of tens of thousands of uniformed men and women deserve a vote. I ask all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes'' on the McGovern-Jones-Smith-Lee-Garamendi amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, at this time, it's my pleasure to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones), a cosponsor.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, I'm privileged to now yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Smith.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, how much time remains?

Mr. McGOVERN. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, I will close. I yield myself the remaining time. Mr. Chairman, hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of U.S.-NATO allies and Afghan lives have been lost. It is time to end the war in Afghanistan, bring our troops home, and take seriously our duty as a Congress to specifically authorize any mission and troop presence beyond 2014. We are not bystanders in this war. We are responsible for sending thousands and thousands of men and women over into Afghanistan. The least we can do is take seriously our duty as a Congress and authorize any mission and troop presence beyond 2014. Members of Congress ought to go on record as to where they stand on this. We owe it to our troops, and we owe it to their families and the American people. I urge my colleagues to support the McGovern-Jones- Smith amendment on Afghanistan and send a signal to the administration and to others that we take our responsibility in this matter very seriously. We will have a vote if this war goes beyond what the President has stated. With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.