Pete Sessions

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from the First District of Georgia, Pooler, Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, that is a very sad way to explain what we are doing here today. The gentleman knows that these 11 bills have all been heard, most of them voted on the floor, overwhelming majorities, if not----

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Gainesville, Georgia, Congressman Collins, a member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, but I would like to ask how much time remains on both sides.

Mr. SESSIONS. I will reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. SESSIONS. I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, we are here because the law requires that the House of Representatives pass funding bills. Today we are here because we are going to fund Homeland Security, and that we are. We are going to fund Homeland Security because every single member of this Republican Conference, and I believe every single Member of this House, understands how important Homeland Security funding is to protect this country and our citizens. But we also need to understand that the President of the United States last year, and perhaps the year before, took actions which we disagreed with, which I believe embarrassed this country, which I believe we were unprepared to fulfill the responsibilities, and that is directly related to issues of executive orders and ideas that he had about illegal immigration. Mr. Speaker, we are here because we feel passionately about the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States. It is the President of the United States who we believe has gone well past not only his constitutional authority, but the authority that I believe is vested in him: well and faithfully executing the laws of the country, which is his oath of office. So we have gathered together, united in support of this rule and the underlying legislation. We are also going to follow the Constitution and pass it here today and tomorrow with the bill and send it to the United States Senate and let them deal with it. Thank goodness we have Republican control in the Senate; otherwise, it might not even be heard with the other 360 pieces of legislation that the former head of the Senate decided not to take up in that body to debate or to have a vote on. So we stand today prepared to fight the President's unwise and unconstitutional executive amnesty plan. It is time for this House to fight, I believe, for what is a constitutional issue, and we are going to politely do this. There was no screaming and yelling on our side. We have great resolve. We have an understanding about what is in the best interest of the United States. So I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a remarkable individual from Dallas, Texas for his induction into the National Football Federation's Leadership Hall of Fame last night January 8, 2015. I would like to thank Chairman Archie Manning, Troy Aikman, Tom and Laura Leppert, and Roger Staubach for recognizing Dr. Kenneth Cooper for his dedication to health and fitness and his continued leadership in the North Texas community as a whole. Throughout Dr. Cooper's career he has continued to revolutionize health and fitness and has proven to be a leading pioneer in preventative medicine. Known as the ``Father of Aerobics'' he has motivated thousands of people in Texas and across the United States to exercise in pursuit of good health and overall well-being. I want to express my heartiest congratulations to Dr. Cooper on this outstanding accomplishment and sincerely thank him for his immense contribution to the Dallas community.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a remarkable individual from Dallas, Texas, to recognize him for his introduction into the National Football Foundation's Leadership Hall of Fame last night, January 8, 2015. I would like to thank Chairman Archie Manning, football player Troy Aikman, Mayor Tom and Laura Leppert, and football player Roger Staubach for recognizing Dr. Kenneth Cooper for his dedication to health and fitness and his continuing leadership to health care for all. Throughout Dr. Cooper's career in the United States Air Force and in a medical career in Dallas, Texas, he has continued to revitalize health care and fitness. He is also the father of preventative medicine and known as the father of aerobics, trying to make sure that the American people and the world understand how important fitness is to our life and our health. I want to express my hearty congratulations to Dr. Cooper on receiving this outstanding award on behalf of the National Football Foundation, and I hope the American people and, today, the United States Congress will do so as well.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 3(b)(2) of House Resolution 5, 114th Congress, and section 4(c)(5)(B) of House Resolution 567, 113th Congress, I hereby submit the following regulations regarding the conduct of depositions by committee and select committee staff for printing in the Congressional Record: 1. Notice for the taking of depositions shall specify the date, time, and place of examination (if other than within the committee offices). Depositions shall be taken under oath administered by a member or a person otherwise authorized to administer oaths. 2. Consultation with the ranking minority member shall include three business days' notice before any deposition is taken. All members of the committee shall also receive three-business days notice that a deposition has been scheduled. 3. Witnesses may be accompanied at a deposition by counsel to advise them of their rights. No one may be present at depositions except members, committee staff designated by the chair or ranking minority member, an official reporter, the witness, and the witness's counsel. Observers or counsel for other persons, or for agencies under investigation, may not attend. 4. At least one member of the committee shall be present at each deposition taken by the committee, unless the witness to be deposed agrees in writing to waive this requirement. 5. A deposition shall be conducted by any member or staff attorney designated by the chair or ranking minority member. When depositions are conducted by committee staff attorneys, there shall be no more than two committee staff attorneys permitted to question a witness per round. One of the committee staff attorneys shall be designated by the chair and the other by the ranking minority member. Other committee staff members designated by the chair or ranking minority member may attend, but may not pose questions to the witness. 6. Questions in the deposition shall be propounded in rounds, alternating between the majority and minority. A single round shall not exceed 60 minutes per side, unless the members or staff attorneys conducting the deposition agree to a different length of questioning. In each round, a member or committee staff attorney designated by the chair shall ask questions first, and the member or committee staff attorney designated by the ranking minority member shall ask questions second. 7. Any objection made during a deposition must be stated concisely and in a non-argumentative and non-suggestive manner. The witness may refuse to answer a question only to preserve a privilege. When the witness has objected and refused to answer a question to preserve a privilege, the chair of the committee may rule on any such objection after the deposition has adjourned. If the chair overrules any such objection and thereby orders a witness to answer any question to which a privilege objection was lodged, such ruling shall be filed with the clerk of the committee and shall be provided to the members and the witness no less than three days before the reconvened deposition. If a member of the committee appeals in writing the ruling of the chair, the appeal shall be preserved for committee consideration. A deponent who refuses to answer a question after being directed to answer by the chair in writing may be subject to sanction, except that no sanctions may be imposed if the ruling of the chair is reversed on appeal. 8. Committee staff shall ensure that the testimony is either transcribed or electronically recorded or both. If a witness's testimony is transcribed, the witness or the witness's counsel shall be afforded an opportunity to review a copy. No later than five days thereafter, the witness may submit suggested changes to the chair. Committee staff may make any typographical and technical changes. Substantive changes, modifications, clarifications, or amendments to the deposition transcript submitted by the witness must be accompanied by a letter signed by the witness requesting the changes and a statement of the witness's reasons for each proposed change. Any substantive changes, modifications, clarifications, or amendments shall be included as an appendix to the transcript conditioned upon the witness signing the transcript. 9. The individual administering the oath, if other than a member, shall certify on the transcript that the witness was duly sworn. The transcriber shall certify that the transcript is a true record of the testimony, and the transcript shall be filed, together with any electronic recording, with the clerk of the committee in Washington, DC. Depositions shall be considered to have been taken in Washington, DC, as well as the location actually taken once filed there with the clerk of the committee for the committee's use. The chair and the ranking minority member shall be provided with a copy of the transcripts of the deposition at the same time. 10. The chair and ranking minority member shall consult regarding the release of depositions. If either objects in writing to a proposed release of a deposition or a portion thereof, the matter shall be promptly referred to the committee for resolution. 11. A witness shall not be required to testify unless the witness has been provided with a copy of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives and these procedures.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam Speaker, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the majority leader. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from Rochester, New York (Ms. Slaughter). 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 have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

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

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the majority leader. Mr. Speaker, I insert for the Record a section-by-section analysis of the resolution as well as a July 21, 2014, memorandum prepared by the Office of the Parliamentarian for the Over-Criminalization Task Force of the Committee on the Judiciary. H. Res. 5 Adopting Rules for the 114th Congress Section-by-Section Analysis Section 1. Resolved Clause. This section provides that the Rules of the 113th Congress are the Rules of the 114th Congress, except with the amendments contained in section 2 of the resolution and orders contained in sections 3, 4, and 5. Section 2. Changes to the Standing Rules. Disclosure of Foreign Payments to Witnesses. Subsection (a)(1) requires, to the greatest extent practicable, nongovernmental witnesses to disclose payments or contracts to the witness or an organization they represent originating from foreign governments received in the current and preceding two calendar years, to the extent that such information is relevant to the subject matter of, and the witness' representational capacity at, that hearing. While failure to comply fully with this requirement would not give rise to a point of order against the witness testifying, it could result in an objection to including the witness's written testimony in the hearing record in the absence of such disclosure. Jurisdictional Changes. Subsection (a)(2) adds language to the Committee on the Judiciary's jurisdictional statement with respect to the criminalization of conduct. The Committee on the Judiciary's jurisdiction over criminal penalties and criminal law enforcement would remain unchanged. That is, the committee would maintain its existing jurisdiction over measures that create or repeal a crime, and over measures that alter criminal penalties with regard to crimes already existing in law. The rules change is intended to cover measures that alter the elements of a crime so as to criminalize new conduct and, in so doing, trigger an existing criminal penalty. This rules change is not intended to cover measures that merely supply the regulatory framework or address the regulatory underpinnings of the overall enforcement scheme. Past measures proposing merely to adjust the elements of such a crime--as opposed to adjusting the penalty for commission of the crime--have been out of the jurisdictional reach of the Committee on the Judiciary. Even though such measures have left the criminal penalty unchanged, they have nonetheless subjected new conduct to that criminal penalty. In other words, new conduct was criminalized. If the relatively rare practice of criminalizing new conduct within the framework of existing penalties is left unchecked, it calls into question the efficacy of the Committee on the Judiciary's jurisdictional statement in providing a comprehensive look at criminal penalties and criminal law enforcement. Hence, a rule X statement of ``criminalization'' is the most appropriate way to address this circumstance. The jurisdiction of other committees over the elements of a crime--particularly in the context of a regulatory scheme and outside of title 18, United States Code--would remain the same, except that it potentially would be shared with the Committee on the Judiciary in some instances. In that respect, it is similar to the criminalization of new conduct accompanied by a new criminal penalty; this change is to ensure that it is the act of criminalizing conduct, and not just the penalties themselves, that gives rise to a jurisdictional interest by the Committee on the Judiciary. This rules change is not intended to alter existing jurisdiction over any enforcement scheme that falls outside of the ambit of criminal law enforcement. Rather, it is to confirm that the creation of a new crime subject to criminal law enforcement is what gives rise to the Committee on the Judiciary's interest, and not merely the establishment or modification of the penalty. For instance, the change is intended to address a situation analogous to H.R. 2492 of the 112th Congress, which addressed attendance at animal fighting events through amendments to the Animal Welfare Act--compiled in title 7 of the United States Code--and to title 18. That measure was referred to both the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on the Judiciary. Portions of that measure were later included in H.R. 2642 of the 113th Congress and addressed a type of animal fighting to be covered by the Animal Welfare Act, but did not amend the existing criminal penalty in the Animal Welfare Act and did not touch title 18. As a result, the Committee on the Judiciary did not receive a referral of that measure. Committees with jurisdiction over a regulatory statute will continue to exercise that jurisdiction, and the interest of the Committee on the Judiciary will extend to the creation of a new crime without a change to an existing penalty only to the same extent it would to creation of a new crime with an accompanying penalty prior to the 114th Congress. The subsection adds language to the Committee on Appropriations' jurisdictional statement with respect to certain loan obligations and new loan guarantees with a textual reference to section 504(b) of the Congressional Budget Act. Clarifying the Jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration. Subsection (a)(3) clarifies the Committee on House Administration's jurisdiction over the Chief Administrative Officer. Committee Activity Reports. Subsection (a)(4) reduces the frequency of committee activity reports from two times per Congress to one time per Congress. Dissenting Views. Subsection (a)(5) codifies current practice by updating the rule regarding supplemental, minority, or additional views to include ``dissenting'' views. Consolidating Requirements for Written Rules. Subsection (a)(6) requires committees to include in their written rules pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule XI certain audio and visual coverage rules described in clause 4(f) of rule XI and formerly required by such clause. Conforming Committee and House Broadcasting Standards. Subsection (a)(7) conforms the language in clause 4(b) of rule XI with clause 2(c) of rule V to ensure consistent application of broadcasting standards. Eliminating the Point of Order Against Considering Appropriations Measures without Printed Hearings. Subsection (a)(8) eliminates the point of order against the consideration of appropriations measures without printed hearings. This information is largely available through archived broadcasts, testimony, and other documents available on the Appropriations Committee's website and the public hearings themselves. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Subsection (a)(9) increases the size of the committee to 22 members, with not more than 13 from the same party. Committee on Ethics. Subsection (a)(10) prohibits the Committee on Ethics from taking action that would deny a person any rights or protections provided under the Constitution of the United States of America. Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group. Subsection (b) updates the authorization for the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group to conform to current practice and codifies a separate order of the 113th Congress. Cost Estimates for Major Legislation to Incorporate Macroeconomic Scoring. Subsection (c) requires the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, to the extent practicable, to incorporate the macroeconomic effects of ``major legislation'' into the official cost estimates used for enforcing the budget resolution and other rules of the House. The subsection requires, to the extent practicable, a qualitative assessment of the long-term budgetary and macroeconomic effects of ``major legislation'', which is defined to cover legislation that causes a gross budgetary effect in any fiscal year covered by the budget resolution that is equal to or greater than 0.25 percent of the projected GDP for that year. This subsection also allows the chair of the Committee on the Budget, or in the case of revenue legislation the House member serving as the Chair or Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Taxation, to designate ``major legislation'' for purposes of this rule. This subsection also repeals the existing provision in clause 3(h)(2) of rule XIII that requires a macroeconomic impact analysis of revenue legislation, which is superseded by the new rule. Providing for Reconvening Authority for the House of Representatives. Subsection (d) allows the Speaker, after consultation with the Minority Leader, to reconvene the House during an adjournment of three days or less, at a time other than previously appointed. This codifies separate orders from the 112th and 113th Congresses. Providing Conference Committees with Time to Reach Agreement. Subsection (e) modifies clause 7(c)(1) of rule XXII by providing conference committees 45 calendar days and 25 legislative days after the formation of a conference to reach agreements before additional motions to instruct managers may be offered. Contents of Committee Reports Showing Changes to Existing Law. Subsection (f) requires that a Ramseyer print to show the entire text of amended or repealed sections of a statute along with the proposed changes. Mandatory Ethics Training for New Members. Subsection (g) requires that new Members of the House, in addition to employees, complete ethics training. Technical and Conforming Changes. Subsection (h)(1) conforms the standing rules to reflect the name in statute of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). Subsection (h)(2) updates an outdated statutory citation and removes a reference inadvertently left in place at the start of the 113th Congress, which is no longer necessary due to the enactment of the STOCK Act. Section 3. Separate Orders. Independent Payment Advisory Board. Subsection (a) eliminates provisions contained in the Affordable Care Act that limit the ability of the House to determine the method of consideration for a recommendation from the Independent Payment Advisory Board or to repeal the provision in its entirety. Staff Deposition Authority for Certain Committees. Subsection (b) provides the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Financial Services, Science, Space, and Technology, and Ways and Means deposition authority to be conducted by a member or committee counsel during the first session of the 114th Congress. Depositions taken under this authority shall be subject to regulations issued by the chair of the Committee on Rules and printed in the Congressional Record. Providing for Transparency with Respect to Memorials Submitted Pursuant to Article V of the Constitution of the United States. Subsection (c) clarifies the procedures of the House upon receipt of Article V memorials from the States by directing the Clerk to make each memorial, designated by the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary, electronically available and organized by State of origin and year of receipt. In carrying out section 3(c) of House Resolution 5, it is expected that the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary will be solely charged with determining whether a memorial purports to be an application of the legislature of a state calling for a constitutional convention. The Clerk's role will be entirely administrative. The chair of the Committee on the Judiciary will only designate memorials from state legislatures (and not petitions from individuals or other parties) as it is only state legislatures that are contemplated under Article V of the Constitution. In submitting the memorials to the Clerk, the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary will include a transmission letter with each memorial indicating it has been designated under section 3(c) of House Resolution 5. The Clerk will make publicly available the memorial and the transmission letter from the chair. Ancillary documentation from the state or other parties is not expected to be publicized. The chair of the Committee on the Judiciary is also permitted to designate memorials from earlier Congresses to be made publicly available under the same procedure. Spending Reduction Amendments in Appropriations Bills. Subsection (d) carries forward the prohibition from the 112th and 113th Congresses against consideration of a general appropriation bill that does not include a ``spending reduction'' account, the contents of which is a recitation of the amount by which, through the amendment process, the House has reduced spending in other portions of the bill and indicated that such savings should be counted towards spending reduction. It provides that other amendments that propose to increase spending in accounts in a general appropriations bill must include an offset of equal or greater value. Budget Matters. Subsection (e)(1) provides that titles III, IV, and VI, of House Concurrent Resolution 25 (113th Congress), as well as the allocations, aggregates, and appropriate levels contained in the chair of the Committee on the Budget's statement submitted in the Congressional Record on April 29, 2014, as adjusted, will continue to have force and effect until a budget resolution for fiscal year 2015 is adopted. This subsection also provides that the chair of the Committee on the Budget may revise allocations, aggregates, and appropriate levels for measures maintaining the Highway Trust Fund, provided such a measure does not increase the deficit over the 11-year window and revise allocations, aggregates, and appropriate levels to take into account updated CBO baselines. Subsection (e)(2) carries forward from the 113th Congress the requirement that prevents the Committee of the Whole from rising to report a bill to the House that exceeds an applicable allocation of new budget authority under section 302(b) (Appropriations subcommittee allocations) as estimated by the Budget Committee and creates a point of order. Continuing Litigation Authorities. Subsection (1) addresses continuing litigation in which the House is a party. Paragraph (1) authorizes the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, through the House Office of General Counsel, to continue litigation to enforce a subpoena against the Attorney General related to the ``Fast and Furious'' investigation. This lawsuit was authorized by H. Res. 706 (112th Congress). It also authorizes the chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (when elected) to take certain actions necessary to continue the litigation. Paragraph (2) authorizes the House to act as the successor in interest with respect to ongoing civil actions regarding the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit was authorized by H. Res. 676 (113th Congress). The subsection also carries forward the authorities provided by H. Res. 676 (113th Congress) to remain in effect in the 114th Congress. Paragraph (3) authorizes Michael W. Sheehy to provide testimony in an ongoing criminal action in accordance with authorizations from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 112th and 113th Congresses. Duplication of Federal Programs. Subsection (g) carries forward from the 113th Congress the authorization of a committee chair to request that the Government Accountability Office perform a duplication analysis of any bill or joint resolution referred to that committee. The subsection also requires committee reports to include a statement on whether any provision of the measure establishes or reauthorizes a program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another Federal program. This order has been modified to allow for a statement that no program is being established or reauthorized for purposes of complying with the order. Estimates of Direct Spending. Subsection (h) carries forward from the 113th Congress the prohibition of consideration of a concurrent resolution on the budget, or any proposed amendment to or conference report thereon, unless it includes specified information and estimates related to direct spending, including means-tested direct spending and nonmeans-tested direct spending. The subsection also requires the chair of the Committee on the Budget to publish a description in the Congressional Record of covered programs Disclosure of Directed Rulemakings. Subsection (i) carries forward from the 113th Congress the requirement that committee reports on bills or joint resolutions are to include an estimate of the number of directed rule makings required by the measure. The subsection defines ``directed rule making'' to include those rule makings specifically directed to be completed by a provision in the legislation, but does not include a grant of discretionary rule making authority. Subcommittees. Subsection (j) waives clause 5(d) of rule X to allow the Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Affairs up to seven subcommittees and the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Agriculture up to six subcommittees. Other than the inclusion of the Committee on Agriculture, this is similar to provisions carried in the rules package during the last several Congresses. Exercise Facilities for Former Members. Subsection (k) continues the prohibition on access to any exercise facility that is made available exclusively to Members, former Members, officers, and former officers of the House and their spouses to any former member, former officer, or spouse who is a lobbyist registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. Numbering of Bills. Subsection (1) reserves the first 10 numbers for bills (H.R. 1 through H.R. 10) for assignment by the Speaker and the second 10 numbers (H.R. 11 through H.R. 20) for assignment by the Minority Leader. Inclusion of U.S. Code Citations. Subsection (m) adds, to the maximum extent practicable, a requirement for parallel citations for amendatory instructions to Public Laws and Statutes at Large that are not classified in the U.S. Code. Broadening Availability of Legislative Documents in Machine Readable Formats. Subsection (n) instructs the appropriate officers and committees to continue to advance government transparency by taking further steps to publish documents of the House in machine-readable formats. Temporary Designation. Subsection (o) designates a temporary location for documents to be made publicly available pending the official designation by the Committee on House Administration under clause 3 of rule XXIX. Congressional Member Organization Transparency Reform. Subsection (p) allows participating Members to enter into agreements with eligible Congressional Member Organizations for the purpose of payment of salaries and expenses. The subsection requires the Committee on House Administration to promulgate regulations, consistent with current law, to carry out this subsection. Social Security Solvency. Subsection (q) creates a point of order against legislation that would reduce the actuarial balance of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, but provides an exemption to the point of order if a measure improves the overall financial health of the combined Social Security Trust Funds. This subsection would protect the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund from diversion of its funds to finance a broken Disability Insurance system. Section 4. Committees, Commissions, and House Offices. Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi. Subsection (a) carries forward the select committee as authorized by H. Res. 567 (113th Congress) as it existed at the end of the 113th Congress. Additionally, the subsection provides the select committee authority to adopt a rule or motion allowing for a ten-minute rule for the questioning of witnesses. House Democracy Partnership. Subsection (b) reauthorizes the House Democracy Assistance Commission, now known as the House Democracy Partnership. Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Subsection (c) reauthorizes the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Office of Congressional Ethics. Subsection (d) reauthorizes the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) for the 114th Congress and clarifies that term limits do not apply to members of the OCE. The subsection reaffirms that a person subject to a review by the Office of Congressional Ethics has a right to be represented by counsel, and establishes that invoking such right is not to be held as a presumption of guilt. The subsection also prohibits the Office of Congressional Ethics from taking action that would deny a person any rights or protections provided under the Constitution of the United States of America. Section 5. Additional Order of Business. Reading of the Constitution. This section allows the Speaker to recognize Members for the reading of the Constitution on any legislative day through January 16, 2015.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I, too, want to welcome the gentlewoman from Rochester, New York, the ranking member of the Rules Committee, as we begin another session in this new year. I am delighted to know that the Rules Committee will be ready and available to handle the pieces of legislation that the gentlewoman spoke of in terms of helping the American people to understand what Congress' role is in working with the President to help with policies that will get this country back to work. Mr. Speaker, just a year ago, we recognized as we came back to Washington that we were at a GDP growth of a negative GDP. We had to fight out of these terrible, terrible tax increases and the things that are occurring to our economy. The American people found new footing this year because it was the Republican majority who gave new meaning and life to ``we are going to make this place, meaning Washington, D.C., and government, smaller and make things bigger and better for people back home.'' We have now lived through what has become a reality with Republican policies on energy, for a competitive marketplace for there to be alternative fuels that are available that have dominated the marketplaces and put other countries on their heels and have given an advantage to American drivers who are here, families who are trying to make a go of it. The price of gasoline at the pump has dropped. We still have much to do. As we know of the first year that President Obama was in office, food prices began doubling, energy prices began doubling. Republicans now are giving the American people a sense that we can manage our country better, so that they cannot only have a job and keep a job, but that they can take care of their families. We are going to aim this year on a lot of things; but today, we are here for the rules package that will enable the opportunities for all of our Members to know what the rules are and to become engaged. Four years ago, Mr. Speaker, we pledged to the American people that Speaker Boehner, through the rules of this House and our package that we would have, would allow Members from both sides of the aisle to engage in robust debate under an open process. I am proud to announce that in following through with that promise, which is what we have done, we now have a new, larger group of Republicans because of the hard work we have done and have sold to the American people about effectively managing their affairs in Washington, D.C. Republicans have put forth all sorts of reforms, not just in the House of Representatives--more transparency, more opportunities for debate--but the opportunity for the American people to see that what we are trying to do is to give the American people a chance to debate and to vote and to move forward legislative ideas, not just about jobs and not just about a better economy and not just about more freedom and not just about trying to take care of energy, but also to protect the men and women who protect this country. The 114th Congress is going to present also an opportunity, I think, for all of us to up our game, to work together. The House and the Senate because they are in Republican control-- instead of things being roadblocked and set aside and stacked up--over 300 bills, Mr. Speaker, this past term on which we are waiting for Senatorial action--can work together to enact legislation. We can talk with the American people. We can fashion transparency in bills for accountability, something that the American people want and need. It also represents an opportunity for us to jump-start our economy. We are here to serve people back home. We are here to make things better for people back home, not to give away our country, but to make it stronger, a chance to empower people in their communities to make their own decisions and, hopefully, reap the rewards that come from that. Many times, it is not just about the creation of a job, but really of sustaining these families who are trying to work and make things happen and make more decisions about themselves and their futures. To begin that process today, as we open the House for the 114th Congress, we have a rules package. As we begin, I want to say let's not forget why we are here. We are here because those from our individual congressional districts sent us here--mine, the 32nd Congressional District of Texas, sent me here to accomplish things on their behalf-- to make life better for them, to create better opportunities for people today, and a better America in the future, so that we are able to extend our lead among other nations with, I believe, American ingenuity and opportunity--American exceptionalism, as we say it in Dallas, Texas, Mr. Speaker, American exceptional power. Whether it is leading in the United States military or providing leadership for freedom, that is what we are best at, and we have this privilege by serving in this body. We must also be held accountable, I believe, to the Constitution. We have, all of us today, raised our hands to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. It doesn't mean certain parts of that Constitution; it means the Constitution. By our being here today, we are, once again, reaffirming that in this rules package--the support to the Constitution, that basis of power, that is so important in that we understand the House, the Senate, the Presidency but, most of all, the power that lies with people, the rules package helps us to achieve these goals. H. Res. 5 is a continuation of the House Republicans' efforts to streamline processes, to increase transparency, and to improve accountability. Specifically, it preserves the important reforms that were made in the previous two Congresses. It also adds a few perfecting amendments and orders to help further advance our twin goal of transparency and openness for all of the Members of this body. I would like to take a few minutes, if I can, to highlight some of the key parts of this rules package, Mr. Speaker. First, it builds upon the fiscal restraint imposed upon the Federal Government by House Republicans in the last two Congresses. We have seen in the last 4 years that the American economy is able to grow when the government shrinks and when less taxpayer money is used to support the government, more freedom and opportunity. We should have a smaller government and a larger free enterprise system. That is a goal. ``Limited government'' means unlimited opportunity for people back home. In 2011, the Federal Government was spending 24 percent of our GDP, and the economy was suffering. Thanks to the leadership of House Republicans, the Federal Government's spending is now down. In fact, the Federal Government now spends 19.9 percent of our GDP, which is nearly 5 percent less than just 4 years ago. This has come through fiscal restraint. This has come through making sure that we spoke to the American people about government that was getting too big, costing too much money, and had too much power. The American people understood that because the government was getting in the way, not playing its role of making life better for people but, rather, getting in the way and making onerous decisions on our economy, on people's jobs, and, perhaps worst of all, on stifling families and the American Dream. In turn, we are finally now seeing, as a result of these 5 years in which we have held government spending--it has decreased from 24 percent of GDP to 19.9 percent--an economic growth rate that the American people, I think, want and deserve. Are we where we want to be? Absolutely not. What is the approximate level? We need a GDP growth of 4 percent. We need a GDP growth not just in Dallas, Texas, but all over this country where we have people who in their homes, in their cities, and in their regions are able to take care of themselves, to sustain their economies, and to take care of their infrastructures in a responsible way. This Congress, Republicans are going to provide for fiscal discipline that restrains spending and gets the government out of the way. Getting government out of the way means you take money away from it which does one of two things: it leaves more money back home for people, or it simply gives people more opportunity to invest in the marketplace to grow jobs. This rules package will ensure that Congress has the necessary budget enforcement tools in place to continue our work that will help create jobs and grow the economy. We have a brandnew Budget chairman. He is one of the finest members of the Republican Conference, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Price). Mr. Price has been not only a professional at his job as a physician where he healed people, but he came to Washington to do the same for us. His ascension to be the chairman of the Budget Committee will offer this country and, I believe, more specifically, this body a reevaluation of the important attributes of having a good economy through better budgeting and ways that we can restrain the Federal Government from unwanted and unnecessary spending to that which is done for the American people that makes sense. Tom Price will become a household name, and he will earn the accolades that he will get from his chairmanship. Second, the rules package includes a commonsense requirement for Congress when we consider legislation that will have a larger impact on our economy. In short, the House is going to require the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation to provide nonpartisan macroeconomic analyses for legislation that costs .25 percent of projected GDP. What does this mean? This means that, now, we are going to be able to recognize on percentage basis points how close is the impact of our decisions that we make and to project them out to where we are able to actually know what the impact will be of the legislation that we pass in order to create more jobs. It is meant to err on the side of people and the free enterprise system, as opposed to stymieing what would end up going to them and erring on the side of growing this government. This means that the House will take time to analyze how legislation that we consider will really impact the American economy to where we can project what it will be as a result of including billions of dollars back into the economy for economic growth and development on the side of the free enterprise system. This is going to allow us to measure the impact of legislation, it is going to help us to use some commonsense projections on how our ideas are going to help the bottom line. Gosh knows we have been through 4 years where we saw high taxes, high spending, Big Government that caused America to fall not only in relative power to the rest of the world, but it placed on the American people disillusionment, unemployment, high taxation, people who could not pay their bills, a loss of their own identity within their own systems. Unemployment up to 23 million people unemployed and underemployed; we have now turned that corner. We will continue to turn that corner and extrapolate out how we want to get to all sectors of our economy to have a better shot at jobs in their hometown, in their region, and ones that they can keep, not have and then lose again. It is these current opportunities that lie right before us, and the gentleman from Georgia and the gentleman, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Ryan, are perfectly suited for selling to this body and the American people why we believe that we have got to look at and change the way we authorize bills. So under one method, which would be called static scoring, which is what we have, we assume that major legislation does not change economic behavior. They just plug a new number in, and then we assume nothing really happens. But in fact we know when you raise taxes, you lower the opportunity for people not only to create more economic benefit, but you take that incentive away. Our friends, the Democrats, would leave you to believe that taxation is a zero sum game, that when rates go up, revenues always come that way, and aren't we for making sure that we balance our budget? Well, let me tell you what? It didn't work that way. We were spending hundreds of billions of dollars more. Instead of an economy that was working, we were paying unemployment compensation--people not to be employed, people to be at home, a terrible cost not only to humanity but also to our Treasury. We need people to go to work, and encouraging them to do this through our Tax Code means that people can have the dignity of work, the opportunity to make their life better, and perhaps more importantly, a chance for America to grow its GDP. We have examples over and over that we have seen about how taxation legislation affects behavior, and certainly in my home State of Texas, I remember in the 1980s and the early 1990s, when revenue was at a premium for the Democrats who ran our House and Senate in Texas, and of course they wanted to raise more revenue, and they were always looking for ways to raise revenue. I remember them looking when I was just out of high school at personalized license plates, and they looked at how much money came in for personalized license plates. I want to say it was $30 for the plates. They needed more revenue, so they just doubled that amount of money that it would cost, knowing they would get twice as much revenue. But it didn't work that way, Mr. Speaker. Not surprisingly, fewer Texans bought more license plates. But to the Democrats, it was a simple matter under static scoring of just saying they wanted more money, and they were going to increase the rates. It doesn't happen that way because the American people or citizens understand they would no longer buy something at a different rate. The same thing is true of tax rates, Mr. Speaker. We have the exact same problem, where people who are working and working hard, when you take away their money, there is less money that they can put into the economy to grow another job, to give somebody a chance at a new job. These are the things we are going to be looking at, how we can maximize through the effort of Dr. Price, through the effort of Paul Ryan, the Ways and Means Committee, the Budget Committee to bring the leading edge ideas instead of saying, no, it is really a zero sum game. If you want to do something, you have to really raise taxes; you can't give money back to people because, oh my gosh, the Federal Government would be in trouble. Well, we are not. It would change from unemployment compensation to people working, and Republicans believe in work. We believe in empowering communities and people standing a chance to go from unemployment and welfare to a chance to have a job. We are going to get this done. Let me be clear. Republicans are not arguing that tax cuts always pay for themselves. They don't. But instead we are acknowledging that when it is done right, when you study what you are doing, you can make an effort to have a tax cut to grow the economy. I believe Republicans understand that the American economy and Americans are better off when they keep more of their paychecks. Lastly, this rules package defends the House's constitutional role in our system of checks and balances by providing for continuation of legal actions against the executive branch. It will allow the House to pursue its lawsuits and to enforce subpoenas, for instance, in the Fast and Furious investigation, where we have seen guns that were sold by the United States Government and put into hands of very dangerous people all around our world, including in Mexico and other places, only to find they come back and appear where they were involved in murders in the United States. It is a lawless action that was taken by our Department of Justice. It is wrong, and we are going to continue pursuing this. So it means that we are going to look at those things that this Federal Government is doing that we believe are unconstitutional and should change also. We also believe in a lawsuit against the executive branch regarding the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In short, this package makes it perfectly clear that our constitutional order still matters, and it is Congress' job to write the law and for the President to faithfully execute it. We are not going to stand by and watch this President go and write laws and to execute them down the block. We are going to make sure we do it the way the Constitution spoke about. Certainly we know that IPAB, which is a part of the President's package, where he has this group of people that have unlimited power to make decisions over health care, over people as opposed to a physician, we are going to limit that authority. We believe we are within the right in doing this because the American people want and need a health care system that works, not one that we cannot afford and we cannot find a doctor, and where the government and a bureaucrat make decisions as opposed to a physician and a patient. Regardless of what one thinks about ObamaCare, all Members of Congress should be united to preserve and protect the role of the House of Representatives and our ability to make the laws on behalf of people and work with the President in that. Finally, the package is going to allow the Speaker to recognize Members for the reading of the Constitution on any legislative day through January 16, 2015. I believe it is vital. We saw this several years ago, Mr. Speaker, where we came down to the floor of the House and took turns at reading the Constitution. It is a vital part of our history. It is important that we understand it serves this great Nation that separates us from so many other countries, the rule of law and constitutional guidance. This rules package that I have outlined will better enable the House to perform our duties. It will help us with our obligations, our integrity, and transparency and accountability, and it is going to help us to make sure that we work well together with each other. Our friends, whether they are Republicans or Democrats, elected Members of this body, I am very proud to say that this resolution represents so many great things. I think it is a balanced package, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, there they go again, more tax increases, bigger government, the Democrat party. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Overall, this package demonstrates Republicans' commitment to an open process from Members on both sides of the aisle on the issues of the day that need to be debated, on legislation that will make a difference in the lives of the American people. We have heard from the Republican chairman of the Budget Committee and the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee. I believe this is a great package.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam Speaker, I offer a privileged concurrent resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.