Jared Polis

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the rule and the underlying bills, the so-called American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act--it is H.R. 2--and the Jobs for America, so-called, Act, H.R. 4. Don't let the titles of these bills fool you. H.R. 2 and H.R. 4 won't create any new jobs but would continue to degrade the quality of life and health of the American people. These bills put more money in the pockets of big industry, corporate welfare, undermine the efficiency of our regulatory activities, and continue to fail to provide opportunities for the middle class, while they continue to enrich international conglomerates and corporations. Not only are these bills bad, but I should add, Mr. Speaker, the House has already voted on all of these bills that are already included in H.R. 2 and H.R. 4 this session--just another waste of taxpayer time and money here debating and voting on bills that have already been passed. Just as the Republicans have chosen to repeal the Affordable Care Act 53 times, so too we are passing many of these bills for the second time here today if that is the decision the House chooses to make. Now, I think it is clear, all of us here know, that these bills will not become law, that the Senate did not take them up after the House passed them. There is no indication or reason to believe that in this new configuration and being lumped together in new and more sinister ways that the Senate will react any more positively. Sadly, it is quite clear that the majority here in the House are either unable or unwilling to bring forth fresh ideas to jump-start the middle class. These bills instead are bound to political pandering, rewarding of campaign donors and large corporations in advance of elections, instead of taking advantage of our precious few remaining days of session to address the real problems facing our Nation. I am also dismayed that both of these bills are being reviewed under a closed rule here today. It was fairly recently here on the floor of the House that we celebrated the diamond jubilee of closed rules, 75 closed rules from the Republican Party. H.R. 2 and H.R. 4 are the 76th and 77th closed rules this Congress. Just before this Chamber breaks for a 6-week-long recess, the majority has shut down the process of regular order and not allowed Republicans or Democrats to offer our amendments to improve these bills. Even though they are not bringing new legislation before us today, we should at least allow--at least allow--Democrats and Republicans to offer their ideas to make these bills better. What is the point in passing the exact same bills without even giving Members of this body the ability to make them better? I offered two amendments in this bill, which I will speak about later, but, unfortunately, neither was made in order. Other Members of this body also offered great ideas to help improve this legislation, but none were allowed. Instead, we have a restricted rule which has shut out debate from Members on both sides of the aisle. If we can defeat this rule, we can move forward with an open process, encouraging and allowing amendments from both sides of the aisle. We don't have the precious time left for political posturing. While we were talking here now, I got a text on my phone that votes are, in fact, canceled for tomorrow. I am not sure if my colleague is yet aware of that or if the Speaker is yet aware of that, but this, in fact, may be the last day that we are in session before the election. And yet instead of dealing with immigration reform, there is a bill to pass of more than two-thirds. Instead of protecting LGBT Americans from being fired from their job just because of who they love or who they are, here we are today bringing forward bills that have already passed in different configurations, that would hurt the quality of life for American families, that would hurt the environment and hurt the health of the American people. This compilation of bills in H.R. 2 is really an oil and gas industry wish list. Now, of course all of us support responsible energy development on Federal lands and private lands, make sure we balance production with our quality of life and our health. This bill, however, would prioritize development over all other uses of land and all other values that we hold as a country. This bill would also reduce important protections that we have in favor of speculative energy exploration and development. Now is not the time to pass a massive corporate giveaway bill to the oil and gas industry, an industry that is already very profitable. They don't need more taxpayer subsidies just to add to their bottom line, especially not at the expense of our health, our environment, and the enjoyment of our public lands and our quality of life. While there are many problematic provisions in the bill, several are particularly concerning. One provision in the bill would streamline pipeline approvals, so would even allow for the automatic approval of natural gas pipeline projects without any impact studies or opportunities for public comment. This bill would also discourage environmental analysis, undermine agency decisions like curbing carbon pollution, and yet another provision would prevent the Federal Government from overseeing fracking activities on Federal lands, an issue near and dear to the hearts of my constituents in the State of Colorado. It is particularly egregious that given that this bill has a wish list from the oil and gas industry, that somehow, for those of us who support an all-of-the-above energy approach, it left out the wind energy production tax credit. The wind production tax credit is a solution that has allowed for rapid scaling of wind power over the past couple of decades. So why would we be doubling down with taxpayer subsidies for the oil and gas industry at the same time we are not even renewing the one important subsidy that wind energy has? Now, I offered two different solutions for this, and I was hoping either one of them would have been a constructive way to approach this on the floor of the House. I offered an amendment with Mr. Perlmutter to simply extend the wind production tax credit for the next 2 years. Now, that would create jobs, encourage private investment, and allow wind energy to compete on a level playing field with the heavily subsidized oil and gas industry. I also offered another solution--and I am certainly willing to support either--and that solution would be to eliminate the over $40 billion in taxpayer subsidies to the oil and gas industry. If we had gone that route, again, at least wind and solar energy would be able to compete on a level playing field because we would stop doling out our precious taxpayer dollars as subsidies to the legacy interests in the oil and gas industry. That too was not allowed to even be debated, not for 10 minutes, not for 1 minute. Instead, apparently having Friday off was more important than allowing Democratic and Republican Members of this body to present their ideas on how to make a bad bill better. H.R. 4, the Jobs for America Act, is a group of 15 bills that have also been previously passed by the House. Many of them serve to attack our processes we have in place to keep American consumers safe. The bill empowers polluters, bogs down agencies that are charged with protecting the public health. None of them have become law, having already been passed, and I think all my colleagues here know that none of them will become law in this new and more sinister configuration. Now, I would love to see a balanced tax extender package that lowers the Federal deficit, strengthens our economy, can actually pass the Senate and be signed into law, but I think we all know that is not the bill before us today. H.R. 4 would actually add to the deficit by making tax cuts for many special interests permanent. A $574 billion deficit-busting bill on our last day of session, what a great lead-in to the general election for the Republicans to present a massive, Big Government spending, $574 billion subsidy bill for our consideration. I think the American people understand the contrast and the different approaches that are in play this year. Now, an amendment I offered with Mr. Blumenauer, which I mentioned earlier, would have offset some of that cost by eliminating the oil and gas industry subsidies to the tune of $40 billion. Now, the bill still would have cost $534 billion, but it would have cost $40 billion less if we had eliminated the oil and gas subsidies. But, again, apparently having a Friday off is more important to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than having a full and open debate of the merits or lack of merits of the proposal I advanced with Mr. Blumenauer. In summary, I oppose the closed rule in addition to the underlying bills. Now, we could have shown the American people that Congress could end on a positive note, that we could come together and address our broken immigration system, that we could come together to address our deficit; but instead, we are providing yet another example of why Congress continues to have record low approval ratings: rehashed, repackaged, partisan bills costing taxpayers $574 billion, enriching the special interests in corporations, and then going on vacation. And people wonder why the American people aren't thrilled with the United States Congress. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Boulder, Colorado's own Naropa University, in celebration of its 40th anniversary. Naropa University is this nation's leader in contemplative education and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. 40 years ago, a Tibetan-born Buddhist leader named Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who as a young man led hundreds of Tibetans on foot from a besieged homeland, assembled a collection of students and guest faculty for the first summer session in Boulder at what is now called Naropa University. Trungpa's vision was to create a university that would combine contemplative studies with traditional Western scholastic and artistic disciplines. The first classes at Naropa University (then called the Naropa Institute) were held in a summer session in a vacated bus garage, now the site of the Alfalfa's supermarket. The organizers expected around three hundred people to show up. Instead, more than 1,300 students flocked to Boulder, and in the process, transformed Boulder into an energetic center of learning, culture, and the performing arts. As the leader in contemplative education, an approach to learning and teaching that integrates Eastern wisdom studies with traditional Western scholarship, Naropa has always been a magnet for great minds, intellectual curiosity, and those who search for greater meaning. Indeed, Naropa is renowned for its ability to attract spiritual leaders, such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, political and business leaders, and global thought leaders. And through Naropa's vaunted Summer Writing Program, generations of writers, performers, and activists have come of age and worked side-by-side with some of our nation's greatest poets, authors, and performers. Naropa is now firmly embedded in the cultural, academic, and economic fabric of Boulder. Each year, 1000 undergraduate and graduate students seek degrees that will enable them to transform the world around them. Programs in counseling psychology, performing arts, art therapy, writing and poetics, early childhood and K-12 education, environmental leadership, peace studies, religious studies and pastoral counseling and traditional eastern arts are training a new generation of leaders. Thousands of Naropa alumni are changing the world for the better through work in nonprofits, small business and social enterprise start- ups, therapy, counseling, teaching and writing. They studied with a distinguished faculty who are nationally and internationally recognized for their scholarship and contemplative teaching techniques. And finally, Naropa was recently named both a ``College of Distinction'' and one of the ``8 Greenest Colleges'' in the United States. Naropa University is truly a Colorado treasure. I'm so proud to join my fellow Boulderites, as well as the thousands of Naropa alumni around the world, in congratulating Naropa University on its 40th Anniversary.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and defeat the previous question. Vote ``no'' on the underlying bills. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Instead of focusing on rolling back protections for the benefits of millions of Americans for the 53rd time, this House should get back to the work of focusing on real problems, like the need to overhaul our broken immigration system and replace it with one that works for our country. Instead of solving immigration problems that are facing our Nation, the House continues to vote on bills that take our country backwards. Before we left for recess 5 weeks ago, the House voted to deny DREAMers the ability to stay here, and they subjected them to deportation proceedings. This body's continued failure to act on comprehensive immigration reform means that the President must act instead. For more than a year, I have come to the House floor to decry the fact that the House Republicans have failed to move any immigration reform bills to the floor this entire Congress--or any bills to secure our border, any bills to provide provisional work permits, any bills to require workplace authentication. Not a single one has been brought to the floor of the House. I am deeply disappointed that the President has put off taking action on this bill until after the November elections, but the President will have no alternative if this Congress continues to fail to act. Sadly, over the next 2 months, the current administration will continue to deport tens of thousands of hardworking mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers because of the lack of courage of this body to act and because the President continues to refuse to act with the authority that is already granted to him by the nature of his office. I am hopeful that the President's failure to act right now means he will go big and bold tomorrow, but the truth is the President can't do it all alone. He needs Congress. If we are serious about securing the border, it will take an appropriation--it will take resources--from this body to secure the border. I am confident the President will do whatever he can with the money and resources he has to do it, but if this body is serious, we need to require the President to secure the border and make sure the President has the resources to do that. I am hopeful the President will use his powers to reform our antiquated visa program, which restricts an employer's ability to hire key talent and only provides an additional incentive for companies to move overseas so that they can hire the people they need. These are issues that the President can and should address now, not just when it is politically convenient. Unite families, make America more competitive, and challenge Congress to get immigration reform done. Of course, any relief the President provides would be just a temporary fix. Only this body can find a permanent solution by rewriting our immigration laws to restore the rule of law with regard to the 11 million people who are here illegally, to reform our visa and green card systems going forward, to secure our borders, to ensure workplace enforcement, and to make sure that we can facilitate legal commerce between Mexico and the United States. But once again, rather than addressing the issue that came up the most of any issue in my 10 town halls--immigration reform--we are faced with the 53rd repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the 75th closed rule--the diamond jubilee of closed rules--that doesn't allow Democrats or Republicans to offer a single amendment to this bill. Amendments that are germane, that improve the Affordable Care Act, that have bipartisan consensus support are not even allowed to be brought forward and are not even discussed for 10 minutes on the floor of this House of Representatives. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the Record, along with the extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

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

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gene Green) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request. (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Maryland (Ms. Edwards).

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire if the gentleman has any remaining speakers. We are prepared to close.

Mr. POLIS. I yield the gentleman from Tennessee an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Yarmuth).

Mr. POLIS. I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Maryland.

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch) certainly convinced me. I hope he convinced you as well that, rather than repealing the Affordable Care Act for the 53rd time, let's take this body back from the special interests and return it to the people of this country. And his motion will do that if we defeat the previous question. Mr. Speaker, to discuss the other proposal if we defeat the previous question, I am proud to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin). (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up two pieces of legislation. The first is the Stop Corporate Inversions Act of 2014, and the second is a constitutional amendment to address the issues surrounding Citizens United. To discuss our proposal, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch).

Mr. POLIS. I am happy to yield an additional 45 seconds to the gentleman from Connecticut.

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

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I am hearing quotes given about what people promised when and what is happening now, and yet under this very rule that we are considering, I fail to see how it is consistent with promises that our current Speaker has made. On January 5, 2011, our current Speaker, promised: You will always have the right to a robust debate and open process that allows you to represent your constituents, to make your case, offer alternatives, and to be heard. Furthermore, to my friends in the minority, I offer a commitment: openness. And yet how ironic is it that this very rule is the 75th closed rule of the 113th Congress? Now, what does a closed rule mean? A closed rule means that even if Democrats or Republicans have great ideas about how to improve or amend a bill, they are not even allowed to be discussed or voted upon on the floor of the House. A closed rule means the only say that I or my friends get as Members of Congress is to say ``yes'' or ``no.'' We don't get to improve upon the idea. We don't get to make it work better for our country. We don't get to offer changes that will reduce costs to taxpayers or improve the efficiency of the bill. We had a commitment from this current Speaker to have an open process, and yet here we have before us the 75th closed rule. This is the diamond jubilee of closed rules that we are celebrating here on the floor of the House today with this 75th closed rule that doesn't allow my Democratic or Republican colleagues to bring forth simple, commonsense ideas to improve the bill before us and make it work for our country. In addition to the diamond jubilee of closed rules, we also have the 53rd attempted repeal of ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act. Now, we get that. Our friends on the other side want to repeal the Affordable Care Act. We have heard that. This is the 53rd time we have heard that. Whenever our colleagues on the other side are serious about rolling up their sleeves and working in a bipartisan way to improve the Affordable Care Act, to make it work better for our country, to increase competition, to reduce costs, we are happy to have that discussion. I myself am the sponsor of several bills to change the Affordable Care Act, as are many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but instead of having that discussion, we are having the 53rd vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act under the 75th closed rule of the current Congress. I think the American people are learning no longer to be surprised by these kinds of maneuvers. We wonder why the approval of rating Congress is at a record low of 12 percent. There was a commitment from our Speaker to allow us to represent our constituents, to allow us to make our case, to allow us to offer alternatives. We are going to do that under the previous question. We are going to do that under the motion to recommit. But in terms of actually being able to amend this bill, the process has been closed, not only from my fellow Democrats, but from the many fine Republicans who have ideas to make this bill better and make health care more affordable. This Congress deserves better, and I know that we can do better. I know that under this rule, my colleague, Mr. Burgess, managed to have his amendment included. They use a self-executed amendment in the rule. That means that by passing this rule there is a special amendment that actually becomes part of the bill. We don't even have the opportunity to debate the merits of that amendment, whatever they are, but any other ideas from Democrats or Republicans are closed down for the 75th time. They are not even able to bring them forward. My colleagues have a lot of ideas for improving the Affordable Care Act. I am the sponsor of a number of bills. Rather than bringing forth the 53rd repeal of the Affordable Care Act, let's move forward. The country is ready to go. Let's make sure that Americans that have used the health care marketplace to enroll in affordable, high-quality health care are able to continue doing so. Let's make sure we improve the Affordable Care Act rather than end it. Instead of rolling back protections that benefit millions of Americans, let's get back to work on the issues that matter, like reducing costs in health care, like fixing our broken immigration, like raising the minimum wage and making sure that we can get our economy going with an infrastructure investment. For instance, on immigration reform alone, this body's failure to act continues to cost taxpayers money every day. There is a bill that passed the Senate with more than a two-thirds majority. That is not easy to do over there. If that bill were simply allowed to come to a vote in the open process that the Speaker promised and allow us to vote for our constituents, I think it would pass. We have a bipartisan bill in the House called H.R. 15. It is a version of the Senate bill. We can bring that bill forward under a rule. Let's do it. It will pass tomorrow and address our broken immigration system and save taxpayers over $200 billion over 10 years, create hundreds of thousands of jobs for Americans, secure our borders, and make sure that the rule of law in our country is restored. The longer we put that off, the worse that issue becomes and the harder it will be to address. Again, while this bill is an anniversary of sorts--the diamond jubilee of closed bills and the 53rd attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act--it doesn't offer anything new to the American people, and it doesn't allow Democrats or Republicans who have thoughtful ideas for improving the Affordable Care Act to bring them forward at all to be discussed on their merits or voted on here in this body. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 125th birthday of the city of Lafayette Colorado, one of the historical gems of the Rocky Mountain Front Range. Lafayette is set in a dramatic location at the area that the plains meet the Rocky Mountains. Before the land was settled, the Cheyenne and Arapahoe nations roamed the plains. After migrating from the east coast, frontier woman Mary Miller raised her six children on the land and cultivated one of the most successful farms in Colorado. In 1888 Mary platted a 150 acre two site and named it Lafayette, after her late husband. The town had agricultural and ranching success which continues to shape its landscape and culture. In 1889 the town was officially incorporated into Colorado. After the first mine shaft was dug in 1887, Lafayette grew to a thriving mining town. The community survived on the coal mining industry for the century to come. The last mine in Lafayette closed in 1956 and the town became a successful commercial and small industrial community nestled between Denver and Boulder. Lafayette is known for their commitment to local art, respect of the environment, and historical preservation in their city. I congratulate the people of Lafayette for 125 years of community and prosperity and look eagerly forward to the future of this beautiful city.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I will further yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland.

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

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. In our last week--on our last day--before this House adjourns for a 5-week recess, we have an opportunity with Mr. Garcia's previous question in that, if we can defeat the previous question, we can actually address these issues with a bipartisan bill, H.R. 15, comprehensive immigration reform, nearly identical to the Senate bill. I am confident that, if this body passes that bill, Senate Majority Leader Reid will promptly act on it and send it to the President's desk so that we not only can address this border crisis but can prevent future border crises from arising by securing our border and restoring the rule of law to our Nation. The American people expect this body to act in a way that is consistent with our values. We have that opportunity today. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question to bring up H.R. 15, the House's bipartisan immigration reform bill.

Mr. POLIS. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. POLIS

Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.