Kevin McCarthy

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4 minutes. Mr. Speaker, for 3 days, the Nation has watched as tens of thousands of Federal employees were forced to stay home; as our men and women in uniform went without pay; as opioid treatment centers got cut off; and as parents faced the harrowing prospect that their children would lose their health insurance. The American people never wanted this to happen. Republicans in Congress did not want this to happen. We did everything in our power to make sure this didn't happen. The House passed a clean bill. A bipartisan majority in the Senate voted to pass that clean bill, but Senate Democrats shut it down. We were told this was about immigration, but Republicans already said we would sit at the table. We already were at the table every single day before this shutdown, negotiating in good faith. Despite this political drama, I remain eager to get back to the table and put this all behind us. So I must ask: What was gained here at the expense of the American people? What was gained at the expense of our Nation's reputation as a great and deliberative Republic? Every policy in the House's original bill, the Senate passed today. Every single policy is the same. If the Senate had passed this same bill on Friday, all this disgraceful political theater would have never happened. Now, as it always should have been, our government will open, our troops will be paid, and our children will have health insurance. But that is not enough. We cannot continue to repeat the same mistakes again. As my father used to tell me, it is not your mistakes that define you; it is what you learned from them. So let's commit to each other and to the American public that we will not continue to fund our government through these short-term CRs. Let's commit that we will pass through both Houses every appropriations bill with full funding for our troops, full funding for our defense, and full funding for every service our government owes to its people. We all know this shutdown was an embarrassment. It didn't need to happen. It should have never happened, and it will not happen again. That, Mr. Speaker, is the government that the people want, the government that the people need, and the government that the American people deserve. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of today, I call up the bill (H.R. 195) to amend title 44, United States Code, to restrict the distribution of free printed copies of the Federal Register to Members of Congress and other officers and employees of the United States, and for other purposes, with the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment thereto, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan), the Speaker of the House. (Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the Nation finds itself in a grave situation. Our government has shut down. Military men and women in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and around the world are still risking their lives for our country and are not being paid. Opioid treatment centers have had their funds cut off. Children in States across America will start losing their health insurance. How did we get to this place? The Nation assumes there must be a good reason. The House passed a bill--a clean government funding bill with no strings attached and no gimmicks because States are running out of money. We even included funding for a bipartisan extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program for 6 years without any offsets that our Democratic colleagues have objected to in the past, the longest that CHIP has ever been reauthorized for. So we passed that bill and it went to the Senate. We all know the rules, but, Mr. Speaker, at times it sounds like some people need a little greater knowledge of how the system works. It is incorrect to claim otherwise. Republicans may have majorities in both houses, but it takes 60 votes in the Senate to move legislation. That means the Senate needs Democrat votes to keep our government funded, but Senate Democrats said no, just as more than 90 percent of those on the other side of the aisle in this House did as well. Senate Democrats shut this government down. This is a Schumer shutdown. Once upon a time, Chuck Schumer called shutting the government down a ``politics of idiocy.'' Senator Feinstein even said: ``Shutting down the government is a very serious thing.'' You know what she said? She said: ``People die. Accidents happen. You don't know. Necessary functions can cease.'' So how did they change their minds? Why did they do it? I would like to know, because nobody knows. It wasn't the bill. The funding bill is clean. It wasn't CHIP. The children's health insurance legislation we passed came straight from the bipartisan deal in the Senate. They say it is about immigration, about DACA. They are shutting down the government, cutting off funds for our troops, cutting off funds to opioid treatment centers, and cutting off health insurance for American children over immigration, over something that has nothing to do with this funding bill or with putting the American people first. So I think that it is only reasonable that we ask: What exactly are their demands? Why are they holding our government, our troops, and American children hostage? Why would you hold it hostage over DACA if the President brought the House, the Senate, the Republicans, the Democrats together? I was in that meeting. Do you know who else was in that meeting? The American public, because the President allowed the media to be there. Do you know what happened at the end of that meeting? Based upon the President's leadership, he brought us together and we all decided we would focus just on four ideas--DACA, border security, chain migration, and the lottery--because we wanted to solve the problem, but we didn't want to have to come back to it a few years from now. We took the President's lead. Do you know what? Every day we have been having those meetings. Do you know how I know? Because I am in those meetings and they are in my office. Just a day before we shut down, the quote from those on the other side of the aisle and even in the Senate was: This is the most productive meeting we have had. So why shut it down now? Why even shut down the meetings by shutting down the government? If they want something different than a bipartisan deal, if they want to force one-sided immigration policy through Congress that the American public doesn't want, then they should have the courage to say it straight, have the courage to say that they are shutting down our government to make the illegal immigration situation in this country worse instead of making the hard choices to fix it. Mr. Speaker, the American people don't want to see temper tantrums. They don't want to see anyone stomping their feet demanding they get their way. That is not just an embarrassment, it has profound consequences for good people across this country. Now, this House stands ready to pass another clean spending bill. And, yes, Mr. Speaker, if this side of the aisle has to do it alone, like we have done it in the past, we will. We stand ready to keep our government open and pay our troops with no strings attached, but we will not negotiate a bad deal for America, especially not when Senate Democrats are holding our government hostage. This is too important. History is watching. History will not be kind to those who put themselves above the American people.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Madam Speaker, I move to lay the resolution on the table.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I am hoping he is asking this question so he will return and start voting for this. But in the past, that has been what we have done, the last two, and I don't see any change in what we are moving forward with now.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. As the gentleman knows, we have been in discussions to try to get a budget agreement. We have hopes we can get that done this time. If we are able to get that budget agreement, we will need some time for the appropriators to do their work, so we would have a continuing resolution.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, no votes are expected in the House. On Tuesday, the House will meet at noon for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10 a.m. for morning hour and noon for legislative business. On Friday, the House will meet at 9 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes of the week are expected no later than 3 p.m. Mr. Speaker, the House will consider a number of suspensions next week, a complete list of which will be announced by close of business tomorrow. In addition, the House will consider two measures from the Financial Services Committee: first, H.R. 2954, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act, sponsored by Representative Tom Emmer. This bill would provide targeted regulatory relief to our local community banks and credit unions; second, H.R. 3326, the World Bank Accountability Act, sponsored by Representative Andy Barr. Mr. Speaker, next week, our Nation's Capital will also welcome tens of thousands of Americans to Washington for the annual March for Life. In conjunction, the House will vote on H.R. 4712, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, sponsored by Representative Marsha Blackburn. This bill simply states that doctors must provide medical care to any child born alive after a failed abortion. Finally, Mr. Speaker, additional legislative items are expected, including legislation to address government funding and other expiring priorities. I will be sure to inform all Members as soon as any additional items are added to our schedule. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the negotiations have been progressing further, as they have for the last month or so. I believe, as we both know, in the need of this funding for our military. I believe that the military should not be held hostage for any other issue. So I believe we can get to a solution here, and I am hopeful that those who have been negotiating can find common ground in the next day or two so that we can move forward.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the order of the House of January 3, 2017, providing for morning-hour debate be extended for the remainder of the 115th Congress, except that House Resolution 679 shall supplant House Resolution 9.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me and for his work. Mr. Speaker, it is only 4 days until Christmas. I look forward to going home and being with my family. I know every single Member in this body looks forward to that, too. I count my blessings that my family is safe and that I have a community and home to head back to. There are people in this country who don't have that. Their homes were destroyed by wind, flood, and fires. Their communities were torn apart by hurricanes and flames. Mr. Speaker, I had the somber privilege of traveling to these places. I went to Texas and spent time with Members from both sides of the aisle, seeing the flooded homes and streets filled with water. We visited NRG Stadium to meet the people forced to evacuate their homes. I stood with Representatives like Sheila Jackson Lee, Al Green, Randy Weber, and Brian Babin. These folks don't often agree on much in politics. But you know what we did that day? We all promised to help the people of Texas. I flew to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, and I would like to thank Delegate Stacey Plaskett and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon for welcoming us and opening the eyes of the Nation to what was happening. In the Virgin Islands, we visited a hospital. The storm left half of it unusable. No dialysis machines. They had to come to the mainland. Nurses and doctors were working, doing the best they could to help people in the most difficult of circumstances. In Puerto Rico, we were the first congressional delegation to visit the interior after the storm. We were with Members like Jeff Denham, Anthony Brown, and Norma Torres. We met people without power for weeks, low on food, low on medicine. We saw schools and homes destroyed and completely washed away. We then went to Florida to see the other towns hit by Hurricane Irma, places that face storms year after year. I returned to my home State of California with Congressmen Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman during the worst wildfire season our State has ever seen. We saw the fires rage up north, where it destroyed entire communities. Forty-six people have lost their lives in the fires in California this year. You could see the devastation, block after block. Ash heaps of homes and trees, standing like barren pillars. I met with firefighters down south, still battling what may become the largest wildfire in California's history. As it looks right now, they will still be standing on the front lines of those fires come Christmas day. Every single place I went, Democrats and Republicans stood together. We saw the devastation together. We spoke to the suffering that the people were having together, and together we made a promise that we would return here to Washington and work hand-in-hand to help them as soon as possible. That is why you heard Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, on September 26, say that he would ``work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure Congress provides all funding necessary to ensure that all Americans affected by these storms can recover and rebuild.'' That is why he said on November 2 that he believes ``we can work together in a bipartisan way to ensure that the affected areas receive the resources they need from Congress.'' That is why I appreciated joining him in an op-ed piece that was in The Washington Post on November 8, where we wrote: ``We are determined to ensure that there is strong bipartisan support for the next supplemental emergency funding package so that affected areas, such as those we visited, have the resources they need.'' Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke similarly. She signed a letter with Members across California saying to President Trump that: We look forward to working with you to ensure that all Americans who have been severely impacted by recent natural disasters across the United States receive the Federal support they need and deserve. She told the Appropriations Committee that: Congress has an urgent responsibility to the California families, whose lives have been upended by disastrous wildfires. I couldn't agree more with these statements. In the past few weeks and months, we did--we worked together. We analyzed the damage. We studied the requests from Governors and legislators. We even made significant reforms to respond to disaster in the most effective and responsible way possible. The legislation today is the result. It provides funding for every single State and territory affected by natural disasters. I remind all my friends from California that this legislation accommodates exactly what our entire delegation requested. In all this work, we did it together in a bipartisan way; the way the American people expect this body to work. Now, I know it is the habit of this town to play politics. Mr. Speaker, I do want to tell my friends on the other side: If they feel like they have to, play politics on tax cuts. Call it whatever you want to call it. Play politics on all the other legislation that comes to this floor. But if I can request one thing: Please don't do it here. Don't play politics on a vote to give aid to the people of Texas; to the people of Puerto Rico; to the people of the Virgin Islands; to the people of Florida, and to the people of California, who are still fighting the fires. Don't play politics on a bill that you are going to hope to maybe stop another. That would be the worst of any politics I have seen played here. Mr. Speaker, I beg my friends on the other side: Please don't do what they did 2 weeks ago when they whipped against the funding bill to shut the government down. If they don't like tax cuts, I understand; vot against them. If they don't want to vote for the funding of the government and they want to shut it down, fine, take that vote. But here and now, right before Christmas, don't vote against aid for Americans who just lost everything. They don't understand the politics in it. Don't vote against aid we promised to deliver. Don't vote against aid we worked so hard together to put on this floor. Washington, D.C., can be far from our homes. We may all be dreaming of being home with our kids, eating Christmas dinner, opening presents, and enjoying time with our family and friends; but what we do here and now has consequences. What we do here and now will either give tens of thousands of people something to hope for this Christmas, or take that hope away. We can deliver that hope if those who stood with me on the flood plains of Texas and on the burnt hills of California keep the promise they made. We can deliver that hope if those who worked with us for so long continue to work with us today. People need our help. Vote to give them the help they need, the help we all promised.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise for the purpose of making a scheduling announcement. Mr. Speaker, Members are advised that these are the last votes expected in the House for the day, the week, the month, and the year. Now, I want to thank all of the Members for their service to our Nation. I want to wish you and your families a blessed holiday and a very Merry Christmas, and I look forward to working with all of you in 2018.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I want to thank the gentleman. Today, we will take a vote that every Member on this floor will remember. The country will remember. Then next year, when people check their checks and realize they have more money, they are going to remember who voted for status quo and who voted to make America's comeback. I want to thank the chairman, Kevin Brady, for that work. Now, Mr. Speaker, a month ago, when the House passed an earlier version of this bill, I said that, for all the jobless, for everyone who hasn't gotten a raise in years, for the parents, for the small- business owners, and for anyone who ever dreamed of being that entrepreneur and a small-business owner, we heard you. This bill is the start of their comeback, and when they win, well, that is the start of America's comeback. Our country has faced some tough times. I don't have to tell you about that. And for too long, year after year, more and more Americans gave up hope. They were out of work. Or maybe they had a job, but they could not see past the next month or even the next week. They watched factories and businesses close up shop and move out, even moving out of the country. Nobody wants to see their communities hollow out. Nobody wants to feel like they live in a nation in decline. That is not who Americans are. Frankly, Mr. Speaker, we are not a country that gives up on hope. This legislation and the Republican Party's entire economic plan, they are giving people hope. You can see it in the stock market. For every American who vests their retirement in a 401(k), 84 times it has set a new record since last year's election alone. You can see it in companies like Broadcom. You know, Broadcom was a company created in America, but they are not domiciled here today. They moved to Singapore simply over our Tax Code. So for those who want the status quo and want to keep Broadcom in another country, go ahead and vote ``no.'' For those who believe in the hope of this country, even greater, looking at this bill, Broadcom said they are coming back to America. Mr. Speaker, you know what that means? $20 billion in revenue in just a year. That means $3 billion every year invested in R&D; $6 billion every year invested in manufacturing. Those are jobs we all dream about, and the action of this bill is making it happen. You can see it in the faces of families who learn that next year thousands of dollars that they earn won't go straight to Washington; it will actually stay right at home. And this is all in an environment of disinformation and fear-mongering. I mean, I have seen what has been said, and, to me, it is absurd. Mr. Speaker, Leader Pelosi said that this bill was, and I quote, ``Armageddon'' and ``the end of the world.'' Now, Mr. Speaker, I listened a great deal to what my counterpart on the other side, the minority leader, has said, and I have read when The Washington Post analyzed what she had said. Now, when you say something that could be a little off and don't have all the information, they have this rating for you. She has had a rating on this. She did not get one Pinocchio. She did not even get two. She didn't even get the extreme of three. She got the most Pinocchios you can say when it is totally false, four, for her conversation about this bill. Mr. Speaker, in such times when the other side will say anything to win their political game, I recommend that folks actually look at the bill: doubling the standard deduction; lowering rates; simplifying the Code so you don't spend weeks, you spend minutes; doubling the child tax credit; ending the individual mandate; lowering taxes on small businesses to the lowest it has been in 40 years; creating incentives for business to invest and hire. That is not a recipe for Armageddon. That is hope for a nation to come back. The American people see through all this rhetoric, and they are going to feel it next year when they check their paychecks and they see they keep more money because of the vote today. They are going to feel it next year and the years after and when they get that raise they have been waiting for. They are going to feel it more and more as companies announce coming back home. They are bringing jobs right back to the USA. They are going to feel it when we start looking to the future not with fear, but with hope. I won't accept the status quo. But there will be some in this body who will vote for the status quo. I won't accept failure. Now, I do not believe anybody in this body was elected to preside over America's decline. I recently was overseas, and I was sitting at a dinner table with some elected leaders from other countries, some Americans who were working in other countries, and I asked them: What is the impression of what is happening in America today? I thought the reports I would get would be a little different. Do you know what they said to me? They said: America is back. You are now tackling big items again. Not only are you going to lead your own country, but you will help, again, lead the world. They were fearful of the competition of rising America one more time. So don't vote for the status quo. Vote for a tax cut. Vote for reform. Don't vote because some leader whipped you and intimidated you. Vote for your constituents. Vote for your country, and vote to raise the paychecks of America.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I understand what his words said. I also watched his actions. I also watched what he did last week to get Members to vote to keep it open because things did change. There was not compromise even though the bill was a compromise because there was no poison pill in it. If we are going to carry everything ourselves, maybe we should put something in it. It was a compromise, but, unfortunately, you changed on the other side. You decided now is the time to shut the government down, try to blame somebody else. The American people will see through that, and I will guarantee you that 62,000 people who work for the Federal Government in the Maryland Fifth District will not take that as an answer.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding. The gentleman is correct about compromise, but there is a real big difference between compromise and obstruction, to obstruct, when you talked about the Senate. It takes 60 votes to even get on to a bill. I know as well as my friend that you can utilize the Senate and the leadership of the House to stop something if you want to. I will tell my friend that I am disappointed. What will you say to the 62,000? What will you say to the 62,000 Federal employees who live in your district? What will you say to them about every quote you made in the past that you should not play games with funding and shutting down the government? You may think you can make that statement here. Your leader may think that she can say that only the President was talking about a shutdown. The President never whipped one vote to shut it down. He whipped it to stay open. History won't be kind. Yes, we will come to a conclusion next week.

Mr. McCARTHY. I came to the gentleman. I was under the impression. A Member came to me and said that. Maybe that is not true. Maybe that is not what Mr. Pallone wants. But I came to you and said: Let's get together and work this out. I don't want to make CHIP partisan in any shape or form. We met, and we tried to work. You came back to me and said: You have to go alone. I said: That is not how I want to do it. So what we did was we took everything we heard from the hearings. In good faith, the chairman of that committee, Greg Walden, stopped a markup because you requested--not you, but your ranking member. They weren't prepared. They wanted more time. So we want to do everything in our power; but, at the end of the day, you couldn't be there. Twice, your side of the aisle voted against CHIP. You can't argue against it now. You voted against it. When you talk about appropriations, I am very proud of what we did on appropriations. We haven't been able to do that in quite some time. But there were, in those first four bills--every single one of those 12 bills went through subcommittee and full committee. There were 126 amendments on the first four and 342 on the second.

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. No. That is why I want you to join with me and get the Senate to move, because, as the gentleman knows, you don't control the Senate when you have 51 or 52 Members. Do you know what happens? It takes 60. Now, I don't firmly believe in that, but that is the way they play it over in the Senate. That is why, when you don't have a cap agreement, that you need all four leaders to go to the White House. But when the two won't show up, the best thing to do is, is you don't show up, then don't complain I don't have an agreement. The best way to complain is get all 12 bills off this floor with a simple majority. If that is good enough for America inside Congress, it should be good enough on the Senate side. But, unfortunately, that is not the case. So your side is able to hold it up, and I'm ashamed of that as well.

Mr. McCARTHY. No. No. No.

Mr. McCARTHY. I don't even know if it is in print. I want the bills to come through committee because that is where the expertise is; that is where the open public process is; that is where amendments get to be offered, won or lost. More bills in a first Congress since George H.W. Bush have gone through committee. Now, let's measure how many bills have gotten off this floor. Does the gentleman realize that more bills have been passed out of this Congress than any Congress in the first term of a President in modern history back to George H.W. Bush? And we did it by going through a transparent, open process; exactly what we pledged we would do in that book. So, yes, I am glad you read it and I am glad you took the words, and I would love to show you the graphs. But let's walk back to this: government funding is important. Let's talk about it. Here are the facts: By mid-July, all 12 appropriations bills passed both subcommittee and full committee. That was July. On July 27, we passed the four appropriations bills off the House floor, which provided for critical national security. Now, my friend and nearly all of the Democrats voted ``no.'' On September 14, we passed the remaining eight appropriations bills off this floor. Now, my friend and nearly all of the Democrats voted ``no.'' But the most disappointing vote, as I mentioned, was last week on December 7 to fund the government. My friend and the Democrats all voted ``no.'' When I was young and I didn't always get my way, I would go to my parents and I would complain. But it is really odd that we got to this floor in a different nature, that someone would complain about something not getting done and never vote for anything. Mr. Speaker, I like my friend. I want my friend, who, for decades, has talked about not playing games with the funding of government. I don't know where you have gone, but I want you to come back. I think America needs you back. I think that leadership will be important for both sides. And I will tell you, I would have been disappointed in you if I watched you applaud if you were successful in shutting down the government. Because I know that is not the man you are. I know that is not the person and the principles of what you stand for. All of those votes that you said this side of the aisle didn't vote for, I stood and voted for those because leadership is different. We do take votes that are tougher than others. We do have to put politics aside, and we do have to look out for the best of this country. It may not be the mood of the politics on TV that maybe wants to fight more, or throw another motion on the floor to impeach, but there is a time that we should rise above. I think going into the end of this year, we should think anew and act anew. I think America should not see a bad Christmas because one side of the aisle wanted to shut it down, and not for any other reason than they voted ``no'' on all of the bills that would have kept it open. If you had a cause, if you had a desire, and if you had a big desire, you would have shown up to the meeting to actually get the answer. We could have a cap agreement. We could be done with it. We could make sure our men and women get the raises they deserve. We could make sure that those in battle theater have every opportunity so they are able to carry out their mission that we asked them to do in the safest manner possible. That is what I want to see.

Mr. McCARTHY

Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns on Friday, December 15, 2017, it adjourn to meet on Monday, December 18, 2017, when it shall convene at noon for morning- hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.