Pete Sessions

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule, and I believe the entire country understands why we have the underlying legislation that we have before us today. The rule provides for consideration of the Senate amendment to the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 601, the Hurricane Supplemental, Debt Limit, Continuing Appropriations, and Flood Insurance Package. Mr. Speaker, what this means is that the United States Congress, the House of Representatives, first acted in response to the hurricane that hit Texas and Louisiana and caused flooding across the United States. We then passed that directly to the United States Senate, in working with the President of the United States and the administration, and the Senate has provided back the necessary agreement that they passed. That is why we are here today. We are here today because this great Nation is finding itself in a desperate plight of fighting with, for, and against Mother Nature, in an effort to provide the citizens of the United States of America with the assurances that, at a time when FEMA is engaged in over 30 different efforts across the country, the United States Congress is nimble enough and able enough to see the need of the people of the United States and to respond appropriately. It is a private-public partnership that takes place not just with the Federal Government, but it is a government-to-government relationship that takes place also with the United States FEMA organization representing the administration and the American people of the States in which those people reside. I must tell you that I have been impressed with not only the actions that the Federal Government has taken, but I am proud each morning that I stand up and see FEMA and its representatives discussing, preparing, and providing the American people with the necessary information, the cause and the backup to be prepared for what lies ahead. This legislation directly addresses the critical responses that are needed by this Nation and meets the funding obligations of the Nation. My fellow Texans, several of whom will be speaking this morning on the rule, are men who were directly in the face of the storm; and the people whom they represent and the people who have confidence in them are asking them for the necessary proper help that the United States Government would wish to give. These men and women of the Texas delegation have seen this problem together, and they are addressing it as a team. We come together not just as Republican and Democrat, men and women, but we come together as a nation. And quite honestly, Mr. Speaker, Texans are overwhelmed with the response that we have seen not just from our colleagues, but the wishes, hopes, and prayers of this Nation, those who have come to Texas and are helping us out. We now turn our thoughts and ideas and prayers to others who are in harm's way. We are well aware that it has come across our territories, it is entering the United States soon, perhaps as early as this morning, and we have done our work here today and will get that work done as we finalize the vote. We appreciate and respect and thank the Nation for its support. Please know that this legislation provides us, today, essential emergency disaster relief for those areas devastated by storms. A $15.25 billion emergency supplemental package is contained within this legislation. What we intend to do is to provide this and make it available to the States, where our elected officials will be administering the things that will make them available, along with FEMA, to the American people and to the people who were affected. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I received a call from a gentleman, George P. Bush, who is our land commissioner in Texas. Commissioner Bush asked me to not only thank the United States Congress, but also the American people. He asked me, along with Governor Greg Abbott from the State of Texas, to thank the American people for standing with us. We may have been in harm's way, we may have seen over 50 inches of rain, we may have tens of thousands of people who are still in harm's way, but we are not too proud to say thank you, thank you to this great Nation for hearing our call, seeing our need, and, today, providing the necessary resources to help us rebuild our lives. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, over the next few speakers, you will have an opportunity to hear from members of the Texas delegation who were not only in harm's way, but who represent many brave people who have responded to the call of others. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Corpus Christi, Texas (Mr. Farenthold).

Mr. SESSIONS. Yes, I appreciate the gentlewoman engaging me. I had understood that I had several other speakers, so what I would say to the gentlewoman is, if she would like to move on, I have none that I see right now. As we know, our Conference is in a meeting, so I would allow the gentlewoman to move forward. I will do the same.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to publicly thank the Democratic members of the Rules Committee. The gentlewoman, Mrs. Slaughter, has recognized from the first moment when we came back the genuine desire and need for us to work together. Her entire team, including the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), and the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis) and their staff, has worked diligently to ensure that this piece of legislation would become ready for Members of Congress to vote on it. I would like to thank my staff and also our members, our members of the Rules Committee who spent a great deal of time this week. Mr. Speaker, we are public servants and we are expected to do what we are doing. But it should also be noted that my colleague went out of her way to ensure that the discussion, the debate, and the delivery of this package is done. Mr. Speaker, last night I received information from Dr. Shelley Hall and Dr. Rick Snyder from Dallas, Texas, speaking most directly about the people who they have come in contact with as volunteers from the Dallas County Medical Society at the convention center in Dallas, Texas. As people have filled our city from outside these storm areas, I hope that they have met also Texans who cared about them. We have a history of this because we had to do this 12 or 13 years ago with Katrina, as we took people, young babies, little babies, who were flown in to Dallas and other areas in Texas; Fort Worth, Texas, opening up its doors; Austin, Texas; San Antonio, Texas. This is an effort that is more than just a State's effort, however, today. This is the Nation. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Texas delegation, I want to thank Members of Congress, and, in particular, Ms. Slaughter and her team, for expeditiously providing this information of us working together. Lastly, we will hand this to Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, from the Appropriations Committee, and Nita Lowey, who is that ranking member. I have seen all four of us work together on an important effort. Mr. Speaker, for that reason, I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying measure to provide FEMA with this emergency downpayment, as the agency is running out of funds and bracing for Irma's impact, and perhaps two other storms that may be headed to the United States of America or our territories. We are one Nation under God. I give thanks for that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman for yielding me this time, and I rise to applaud him for the hard work and the responsible actions that the chairman has taken, not only to ensure this piece of legislation is prepared, but bettered and ready to go back to the Senate. I think we have a forceful sanctions bill that is before the House today, and one that targets not only Iran and Russia, but also the North Korean regime. As you know, the bill that was passed by the Senate risked giving Russian energy firms a competitive advantage across the globe by inadvertently denying American companies access to neutral third-party energy markets where there would simply be a small or de minimis Russian presence. The bill before us today prevents Russia from being able to weaponize these sanctions against U.S. energy firms. I want to thank Chairman Royce for his hard work on this issue. I also want to ensure that we have an understanding of the definition of the word ``controlling'' in section 223(d) of H.R. 3364. For purposes of clarification and legislative intent, the term ``controlling'' means the power to direct, determine, or resolve fundamental, operational, and financial decisions of an oil project through the ownership of a majority of the voting interests of the oil project. Mr. Speaker, I would ask the gentleman, the young chairman, if he agrees with that definition.

Mr. SESSIONS. I yield to the gentleman from California.

Mr. SESSIONS. I want to thank the gentleman for not only this clarification, but making sure that we are most specific in what we are undertaking. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to note that the Shah Deniz Pipeline and the Southern Gas Corridor projects will continue to be able to bring gas from the Caspian Sea, which is a huge find, to our European allies, reducing their dependency on Russian energy.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman, and I would thank him for his time on this colloquy.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, the Rules Committee issued announcements outlining the amendment process for three measures that likely will be before the Rules Committee next week. An amendment deadline has been set for Tuesday, July 18, at 10 a.m., for H.R. 218, the King Cove Road Land Exchange Act; H.R. 2910, the Promoting Interagency Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Pipelines Act; and H.R. 2883, the Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act. The text of these measures is available on the Rules Committee website. Feel free to contact me or a member of the Rules Committee if Members have any questions.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, in 2009, I was proud to co-sponsor with my then-House colleague the Honorable Tammy Baldwin the successfully passed H. Res. 366, which designated 2010 through 2020 as ``The Decade of Vision.'' Accompanied by the Senate's successfully passed companion legislation S. Res. 209, these resolutions recognized the challenges to the vision health of our nation's citizens as the population ages and the incidence of chronic diseases--such as diabetes--grows, causing eye disease and visual impairment. In the spirit of those resolutions, I am pleased to recognize July as Dry Eye Awareness Month. Dry eye, a growing global problem that affects more than 30 million people in the United States alone, occurs when the eye does not produce tears properly or they are not of the correct consistency and evaporate too quickly. It can range from discomfort to a painful chronic and progressive condition that leads to blurred vision or even vision loss. Dry eye impacts our nation's healthcare policy, as it is one of the most frequent causes of patient visits to eye care providers. Although past research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its National Eye Institute (NEI) on the causes of and treatments for the condition has identified age, sex, and gender as factors, it has now discovered ethnic and racial differences, and that dry eye impacts younger patients. This ``equal opportunity'' disease can have many causes, including environmental exposure; side-effects from medications; eye surgery; eye lid disorders; immune system diseases such as Sjogren's syndrome, lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis; contact lens wear; cosmetic use; aesthetic procedures; and an increasingly common cause--staring at computer or video screens for too long without blinking. Many are calling dry eye the ``Disease of the Millennials'' due to its increased incidence in that population. Dry eye has also been a major issue for our brave soldiers who were engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Veterans Administration reports that upwards of 70 percent of Traumatic Brain Injury-exposed veterans have dry eye symptoms. During the 2017 Dry Eye Awareness Month, the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society's Dry Eye Workshop II (TFOS DEWS II) Report will be published in The Ocular Surface Journal, updating the definition of dry eye and addressing its greater impact on vision health--the first such re-examination since 2007. Report highlights will be presented at a July 12 Congressional Briefing, accompanied by a ``Test Your Tears'' Screening and presentation of research posters. The vision community and its coalition partners are uniting to recognize this growing threat to vision health, and I stand in support of these awareness and educational efforts.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, this morning the Rules Committee issued announcements outlining the amendment processes for two measures that will likely be before the Rules Committee next week. An amendment deadline has been set for Monday, July 17, at 10 a.m., for H.R. 806, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017; and Monday, July 17, at noon, for H.R. 2997, the 21st Century AIRR Act. The text of these measures is presently available on the Rules Committee website. Feel free to contact me or my staff if we may provide any additional information.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation. I want to thank the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Walden from Hood River, Oregon, as well as the Health Subcommittee chairman, Michael Burgess from Lewisville, Texas. I appreciate Dr. Burgess for yielding me time on this bill that is mine, that I presented several years ago, Mr. Speaker, that we are finally getting a chance to support today. I wish to express my full support for H.R. 1492, the Medical Controlled Substances Transportation Act of 2017. This legislation represents commonsense reforms that will ensure certainty and regulatory clarity, while recognizing the needs of doctors, patients, and law enforcement alike. I hope Members on both sides recognize the need for not only this legislation, but will be in support. Currently, physicians and other DEA-licensed medical practitioners are barred from transporting controlled substances from one practice setting to another. This is particularly strenuous on physicians who travel for their jobs. For example, team physicians at both the college and professional level have been particularly affected by the lack of clarity in the current law. Physicians who travel with teams to away games carefully practiced transporting medicines--and they have done so for decades--in a manner that they believed to be in compliance with DEA regulations. Recently, however, there has been uncertainty surrounding this issue, as a number of teams have found themselves being challenged by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Those physicians who had, for years, been in compliance, or felt like they were in compliance, were unable to provide players with proper medical care after many injuries while they were at an away game. H.R. 1492 will allow physicians to obtain a separate mobile registration with the DEA for the ability to transport these very specific substances for medically relevant reasons directly related to the care of patients between practice settings. This registration allows for physician transport, up to 72 hours, while maintaining updated records of transport and the administration of these controlled substances. Such allowances would ensure that physicians whose practices are inherently dynamic have the necessary provisions to provide care to their patients regardless of the setting. I would like to thank the Drug Enforcement Administration for working with me and my office for the last 5 years on this important issue. I would also like to thank Dr. Dan Cooper, who is the lead physician for the Dallas Cowboys. I would like to thank the gentleman who owns the Dallas Cowboys, Mr. Jerry Jones, for standing up on behalf of professional teams and their players to ensure that we work together for a commonsense answer. I want to thank the gentleman, Dr. Burgess, for yielding me the time.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), a distinguished Member of this body.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished young gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin).

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), my dear friend, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule and the underlying legislation. This rule provides for consideration of H.R. 3004, also known as Kate's Law. It should be instructive, also, Mr. Speaker, to recognize that H.R. 3004 had a companion bill that we debated on the rule yesterday--not voted on, we will vote on these today--that was a companion bill to this that is a very important bill. These are both effective law enforcement tools that need to be made available not only to protect the people of the United States, but, in particular, people who live in many of the jurisdictions that are being denied that support by effective law enforcement because of political policies that are being instructed by city councils and mayors across the country. Mr. Speaker, on July 1, 2015, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez shot and killed Kate Steinle at Pier 14 in San Francisco, California, while she was walking with her father. Mr. Lopez-Sanchez claims that he does not fully recall the murder, as he took strong sleeping pills prior to the incident. Mr. Speaker, this senseless and cowardly murder should never have happened. Mr. Lopez-Sanchez is and was an unlawful criminal alien who had previously been deported five times from the United States of America. He had numerous felony convictions in the United States of America, including for the possession of heroin and the manufacturing of narcotics in the United States of America. Despite his lengthy history of criminal acts dating back to 1991, Mr. Sanchez was able to illegally reenter the United States again and again and again with minimal consequences, showcasing serious fault lines in one of our systems of deterrence: our border. For years, the lack of immigration enforcement and the spread of dangerous sanctuary policies have failed the American people and cost lives. The death of innocent Americans, such as Kate, Sarah Root, Grant Roanebeck, and too many others across this country, is simply unacceptable. Mr. Speaker, that is why we are here today. The American people have had enough. And I believe Congress has heard from the people, and we have heard enough and had enough. The bottom line is we now have a President, Donald J. Trump, who not only heard this same story as he went around the country running for President, but had a different answer, because I assure you, the major candidates running for President on the Republican and Democratic ticket heard this same content. One person stepped up to the plate. He is now our President: Donald J. Trump. The American people are sick and tired of turning on their TVs or radios or newspapers and seeing yet another senseless murder committed by a previously deported criminal alien. Their deaths are especially devastating since I believe they could have been prevented if our immigration laws had been carefully enforced or we had, really, what I call the national deterrent: the will to stop these senseless acts. Kate's Law gets close to doing just that. The underlying legislation that the House will be able to vote on in this rule and in the legislation today enhances the current maximum sentences for illegal reentry. The bill raises the maximum sentence for criminal aliens who reenter the United States to between 10 and 25 years in Federal prison, depending upon the criminal's history. For all those who are attempting to politicize this legislation--and, yes, they are--I would encourage them to read the bill. Mr. Speaker, I have that bill in front of me as we speak, and it is really not too much of a lift. It is half of a page and four other pages. Members of Congress do have time to read the bill. Members of Congress do have time to understand why we are here today. And it is more than just that is just the way it is. It is, in fact, a reality that has become all too known by every single American, and especially moms and dads, moms and dads and uncles and grandparents who hurt when our children are hurt. So regardless of your position on general immigration reform, I would hope that you would join us today, join us today in agreeing that we should do everything we can to discourage murderers and criminal aliens. Disagreeing one way or another on immigration policy is not what this is about. This is about where even there is the slightest potential that there could be citizens who would be harmed, we need a second look, a second opportunity, and a chance to address the issue. The American people, I believe, need and deserve stronger deterrence of those who have come here illegally and have already proven that they are willing to break our Nation's most serious laws. These are not huddled masses yearning to be free or families attempting to come here for a better life. These are bad people, and we call them criminals. They have violated the criminal conduct code here in the United States of America. They are people who we know are capable of terrible crimes, who, via their own criminal actions, have made sure that they have taken away the right that others had and, in doing so, have harmed the lives of our citizens. The American people spoke clearly in November. President Donald J. Trump understood that. This is a criminal matter; this is not a politics issue; and the time of letting the worst criminals back in our country over and over and over again must stop. The process begins again today. Mr. Speaker, that is just the way it is, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 415 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the majority leader.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I have several more speakers.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. King), one of the leading voices in Congress, not only on this issue, but also issues of great importance and it's Americanism: that our country is a great country, and that we live in the greatest country in the world. There isn't one time that I am not around this gentleman that he does not speak about American exceptionalism, the rule of law, and the important attributes of our country that make us world leaders.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), a gentleman who my party prays for on a daily basis.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the dialogue today with the gentlewoman, my friend, from New York, the ranking member of the committee, not only for her professional conduct today, but also for her day-to-day service to the Rules Committee as both she and I work through these difficult issues that face our great Nation. Mr. Speaker, what we are doing here today has a lot to do with two bills that were taken out of a larger immigration bill. Yesterday, we heard a debate on H.R. 3003, and today, on H.R. 3004. They are, in sense, companion bills. Balancing acts is what I would refer to them as, acts about addressing two very specific problems that are in our country that are very interrelated. These are law enforcement bills. Make no mistake about it. These are not political. These are law enforcement bills. These are law enforcement bills that are designed to make sure that we effectively codify into Federal law the viewpoint that cities cannot harbor criminals, rapists, murderers, or people who are robbing and killing people as they choose--multiple times--and cities turning a blind eye to not even recognize requests from other cities that might want these people, but also from the Federal Government. The second bill that we have got is one that says that what we are going to do is not only not fund these cities that are sanctuary cities, but we are going to deal more effectively with these criminals in the system. That is Kate's Law. Both of these bills, H.R. 3004 and H.R. 3003, effectively balance each other because, as Members of Congress, we hear from people back home, many times, not just families from people who are impacted, but really citizens who are worried about our country dividing itself on this issue of criminals. Make no mistake about it, these are criminals. Make no mistake about it, this is a law enforcement bill. Make no mistake about it, the United States Congress needs to ensure that our cities and States follow the laws, the Federal laws that we know have been, not only cleared by Congress, but signed by the President of the United States. They will be subject to review by the courts. We will be very pleased to take that review also. Because, in fact, what we are doing is protecting American citizens. We are answering the call. And I would say, we are also making sure that we support the President of the United States, President Trump, who spoke very clearly on these issues, not only during the campaign, but he was elected therein. I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation.