Mark Pocan

Mr. POCAN

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. The proposed revisions that this amendment seeks to block to OMB Circular A-4 include updates that consider the social cost of carbon and other climate-related factors in regulatory impact analyses. This change recognizes the urgency of addressing climate change and aligns Federal agencies with efforts to mitigate its impacts. I strongly oppose this amendment, and I urge a ``no'' vote. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment. Treasury's Climate Hub was created to leverage the Department's finance and financial mitigation efforts to confront the growing threat of climate change. In just over 2 years, the hub has been instrumental in the implementation of the tremendously successful Inflation Reduction Act. The hub also contributed to successful negotiations that led to a substantial public-private climate finance commitment with South Africa and Indonesia. This amendment would impede the Treasury's climate policy strategy as our Nation faces growing climate threats. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Womack).

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Arkansas.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I stand with the bipartisan statesmen who have argued against this amendment. I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, the amendment doesn't do anything. It simply says funds in the bill can't be used to prevent voluntary disclosures. The administration is already doing this. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, the amendment does nothing, and we oppose it. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. This amendment would fully block any rulemaking that the Office of Management and Budget's, Office of Information Regulatory Affairs determines to be significant. Each year that division can review anywhere from 300 to 700 rules. There is no available data to determine how many of these reviews result in a significant determination. However, roughly, 100 rules each year clear the higher economically significant threshold. This amendment would block any work on the roughly 100 economically significant rules the government promulgates annually and likely blocks countless others that result in a significant determination. This amendment would grind government to a halt and interrupt vital work to improve the lives of Americans across a range of policy areas. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, you heard from our Democratic leader. Democrats strongly oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. POCAN. To my distinguished colleague from Arkansas (Mr. Womack): I so appreciate your promptness that we run on your subcommittee, I was just giving you the promptness through this process. So that is why I was allowing you to use the time you had. I just want to explain that so you realize why I was sitting back. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. The White House Gender Policy Council is vital in advancing gender equity and equality. It helps ensure that all individuals, regardless of their gender, have equal opportunities and rights. The council takes a holistic approach to addressing gender issues and looking at areas such as economic security, healthcare, education, and violence prevention. This comprehensive strategy allows for a more effective response to gender-related challenges leading to better outcomes for individuals and communities. By establishing a dedicated council at the highest levels of government, the White House sends a clear message about the importance of gender equity and inclusion. The White House Gender Policy Council is important for advancing gender, equity, and equality. Mr. Chairman, I strongly oppose this amendment, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries).

Mr. POCAN

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I am in disbelief over the ridiculously low spending levels proposed by the Republicans in the Agriculture appropriations bill. They slashed funding to 2001 levels, funding from over 20 years ago. That is a 41 percent cut, $10 billion, to the people that feed America, our farmers. I don't see how any Member of Congress who represents rural America can show this much disrespect to their constituents. Certainly no Member from Wisconsin. Here are a few examples of what the bill does: It zeroes out the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives completely, from $25 million to nothing. That is assistance for new and growing dairy businesses that want to get products like milk and specialty cheeses to market. If you are an economically distressed farmer, of which, unfortunately, there are plenty, this strips assistance for 104,000 farm loan borrowers. If you are a farmer who uses the Farm Service Agency for things like loans or disaster relief, this bill cuts FSA in addition to conservation programs like EQUIP that help farmers improve their operations and output. If you get energy assistance as a farmer, good luck with that. The REAP fund will be cut by over $500 million, making your energy costs go up in rural America. If you farm and supply food through international food programs, you are really out of luck because they cut it by $1.2 billion, a 69 percent cut. With this level of cuts, I would assume this was a satire, a ``Saturday Night Live'' episode, but it is just another Tuesday night in the U.S. Congress where farmers apparently aren't valued by the House Republican majority. No one who claims to support rural America could write or vote for an agricultural funding bill this bad. No one. I, for one, won't be supporting this kind of disrespect to the farmers in my district.

Mr. POCAN

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, as of today, Congress has less than 3 weeks to reach an agreement on government funding before the September 30 deadline. If we cannot complete this fundamental task, the one thing we have to do as Members of Congress, we risk shutting down the government, an outcome that would have devastating consequences for the American economy, American families, and our national security. I wish I could stand here and talk about all the great bipartisan work that the House Appropriations Committee has been doing and reassure you that we are on track to fund the government on time, but unfortunately that is far from reality. This year, House Republicans have abandoned bipartisanship and instead chose to draft some of the most extreme partisan and harmful legislation that I have ever seen. Their bills would enact devastating cuts that would jeopardize our children's education and futures, weaken our rural communities, increase costs for families, and leave our country less safe by directly cutting funds for necessary law enforcement. On top of this, they have packed these bills to the brim with extreme policy riders that have no chance of becoming law, including abortion bans and extremist discriminatory policy. We often say that your budget is a reflection of your values, and these shameful funding bills show that the House Republicans are lacking many. It doesn't have to be this way. Over in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans have put together bipartisan funding bills, all of which have passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. House Republicans, however, are on an island of their own, seeking to jam their rightwing ideology down the throats of the American people or else subject them to a shutdown that will have devastating consequences. This would be the height of irresponsibility. It has become clear that the House Republicans do not have a plan. Faux impeachment is just a distraction. They do not have a strategy, and the chaos and confusion will come at a cost of a government shutdown that the American people cannot afford. Republicans in the House need to do the right thing: Come to the table with Democrats and both parties in the Senate and let's fund the government. It is not rocket science. It is just basic governance. Wisconsin Shouldn't Impeach Justice Protasiewicz

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about what is happening in my home State of Wisconsin. There are calls from the gerrymandered State assembly to impeach the newest State supreme court justice before they have even heard a case. Justice Janet Protasiewicz was elected overwhelmingly. She defeated her opponent by more than 200,000 votes. She won by 11 points. In a purple State like Wisconsin, that is a landslide. However, because she mentioned that Wisconsin's extremely gerrymandered State legislative and congressional districts might be a problem, the current State assembly is threatening to use their impeachment powers before she even has a chance to hear a case. The State assembly is trying to overturn the will of the voters because they don't like who won the election. Using this logic, if the legislature doesn't like the possible outcomes of any election or cases before the court, it can conceivably threaten impeachment without actual cause and undermine the separation of powers of government. The legislature does not trump the judiciary. They are co-equal branches of government. Under the Republicans' absurd logic, they could threaten impeachment over their gerrymandered maps or keeping Wisconsin's 1849 abortion law or even potentially over giving themselves a pay increase even if they thought the court would find it unconstitutional. There is a standard for impeachment. It is for wrongdoing in office, not for disagreeing with the legislature. The fact that Justice Protasiewicz has not heard a single case makes this even more ridiculous. Now the Republicans in Wisconsin are maybe changing their tune. They likely realize this impeachment farce might be a bad idea, but that is not stopping them from coming up with new bad ideas to stay in power. Now they claim they want an independent commission, a Trojan horse, to distract as a way to stay in power, an idea that they previously dismissed. If the Republicans don't like the so-called fair maps that come out of this commission, they can still draw their own maps under this Trojan horse plan. It only requires a simple majority, which when you have gerrymandered maps, you certainly have. This is wrong. It does not represent Wisconsin's values and, frankly, it is un-American.

Mr. POCAN

Mr. POCAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Rhode Island, David Cicilline, for his great work in Congress. He has been an LGBTQ+ leader, he has been a progressive champion, he has been a Judiciary Committee leader, and he has been a mentor to many of us in Congress, including myself. I am going to really miss having him and his wisdom in Congress. I think a lot of people are going to miss him across the country. If you care about gun violence, you are going to miss David Cicilline. He was the author of the assault weapon ban, so important as we have shooting after shooting after shooting with an AR-15. His bill would help address that in this country. He always goes above and beyond. Every time in this Chamber when there is a moment of silence and no moment of action around gun violence, it is so disheartening for everyone around the country, but that day that has been talked about when he was one of the organizers sitting down and taking over this Chamber to have a moment of action is one of the few times, in fact, the only time that I saw that in my 10\1/2\ years in Congress. If you care about progressive values, you are going to miss David Cicilline. He was a progressive caucus leader. As chair of the DPCC, he led in articulating our values for Democrats, and he did an amazing job in doing that. If you care about democracy, you are going to miss David Cicilline. Being an impeachment manager is a huge undertaking. You have, trust me, all kinds of people around the country who disagree with you saying all sorts of interesting things. David did an amazing job in standing up for this country and for everyone who cares about our democracy in that role. If you care about consumer issues, you are going to miss David Cicilline. As the chair of that subcommittee on the Judiciary Committee dealing with antitrust and tech issues, he was fighting on behalf of consumers so that we could have more affordable cost of goods, so you didn't just have a few monopolies running everything. If you care about equality and LGBTQI+ rights, I guarantee you are going to miss David Cicilline. He was the chair of our Equality Caucus for a very long time, and he was the lead author of the equality bill. Most importantly, David has been a role model for LGBTQ youth across the country. It is not easy still, even in 2023, to be out and gay, especially in this body with people who still are attacking trans kids as a last gasp against equality. David has been our leader and a senior member of the Equality Caucus, and we so respect all of the work that he has done. I am going to miss his positive leadership style, I am going to miss his commonsense vision, but, most importantly, I am going to miss his friendship. David Cicilline has been a great mentor to many of us. We know he is going to do great back in Rhode Island, and I, too, am going to get to Clementine's.