Louise Slaughter

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I think the previous speaker made a very important statement, that we should treat all Americans alike. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Roybal-Allard).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Barragan).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to respond to my friend. I appreciate the information that the gentleman just gave us. We have been told the community health service will be in trouble from day one. Mr. Speaker, I inquire of the gentleman whether he has the same kind of information about them?

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, I appreciate that because millions of people use the community health services, and the children, we cannot let them go unattended. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Judy Chu).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the District of Columbia (Ms. Norton).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds to say to the previous speaker that my understanding is the fallback provision on flood insurance came to the Federal Government because the private insurers didn't want to do it. If we can get them to take it over, I think everybody would be relieved. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Torres).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gallego).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I thank the chairman for giving me that answer, and I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, this is our 44th closed rule for this session of Congress which prevents Members from offering amendments to the floor. This has put this Congress well on its way to becoming the most closed Congress in modern history. Democrats have been routinely unable to do the job we were elected to do and amend bills to represent the concerns of the people of the United States which we are both privileged and obligated to serve. Despite his promises, Speaker Ryan has shown a complete disregard for regular order since assuming the gavel. Bills routinely come before the Rules Committee that haven't even been considered by the relevant committees. The majority even moved a healthcare repeal bill through this Chamber earlier this year without a score from the nonpartisan experts at the Congressional Budget Office. This measure would impact one-sixth of our Nation's economy and tens of millions of people if it became law. This is no way to run the people's House. The public expects more, and it is high time that we heed those calls. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question, the rule, and the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Ms. SLAUGHTER

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

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to acknowledge all the communities facing the impacts of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. There are also two other hurricanes, Jose and Katia, gaining strength right now in the Atlantic. This is the first time since 2010 that there have been three active hurricanes at one time in the Atlantic basin. Our rising waters and warming seas are contributing to the historic storms we are seeing now. We also can't forget the falling permafrost in Alaska. It was called permafrost, obviously, because it was going to be permanent. Scientists estimate this could drive up the Earth's temperature by as much as 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit. If this isn't enough to make clear the perils of climate change, I don't know what it will take. Mr. Speaker, I am relieved that a bipartisan compromise has been reached on some of the most important and urgent matters that we face. The bill includes a short-term extension of the debt ceiling, a continuing resolution to fund the government, and provides the first installment of aid to those communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey. I was glad to see this deal pass the Senate overwhelmingly on Thursday by a vote of 80-17. It is a testament to what we can do when we work together even during these especially partisan times. The agreement may have been a surprise, but it was a welcome one. We can now step back from the cliff, get to work on the many other priorities we face this month, including passing the Dream Act and reauthorizing the FAA, which is critical; the Children's Health Insurance Program, also critical; and the Perkins Loan program. Many low-income students in college depend on Perkins to get a good education. So this compromise will get us through to December 8, and that means we will find ourselves back here in the same situation a few months from now. I hope that once again we can put the country before ideology and prevent the self-inflicted wound that would come from playing chicken with our economy. Today's bipartisan spirit is something our country can use a lot more of. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 3440, the Dream Act. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would help thousands of young people who are Americans in every way except on paper. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Kihuen) to discuss our proposal.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of my colleague if he has further speakers.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I yield myself such time as I may consume. First, I want to say that I appreciate the Members from Texas who have made it so clear what they are personally going through, and their constituents. Surely, every one of us in this room understands that we are called upon to do the greater good today, and we will certainly rise to that occasion. Mr. Speaker, I am going to say something I wish I got the chance to say more often, and that is that I do support the underlying bill that we are considering today with all my heart. I know it has been a busy week, but our constituents and the people, our fellow Americans, are suffering and afraid. One thing I noticed about the children in Texas in the boats going to the shelters and every place, their stoicism. I didn't see a single one of them shed a tear. In fact, I am a little worried about that. Little people whose lives were absolutely uprooted and who had to go to a strange place, leaving everything that they had behind--think about that. We are obligated here, those of us who serve in this House, to meet the need that we know exists today and will for some time to come. So let's end with a strong, bipartisan vote on this bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER

Ms. SLAUGHTER. I yield to the gentleman from Georgia.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 3440, the Dream Act, this bipartisan, bicameral legislation. We have thousands of young people who are Americans in every way except on paper. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank the gentleman from Georgia, my good friend, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. Mr. Speaker, what is happening with the appropriations bills is unprecedented. After passing four appropriations bills earlier this year, we are now considering the remaining eight appropriations bills this week in 2 days. That means that we are debating the funding for roughly two-thirds of discretionary Federal spending bills in just over 4 days. Has any Member here really had the time to read all 1,035 pages of these eight bills? Better yet, has anyone had time to read nearly all the thousand amendments and determine what the impact of each one would be? This is the appropriations process we are talking about; the process that used to take us days and weeks and was perfectly open so that all Members of the House were able to propose amendments on the floor. These are the bills that fund programs that impact the life of every American every single day. But we are not giving them any serious consideration they deserve, and the minority has been virtually, literally, I would say, shut out of the process altogether. When the majority took control of Congress and the White House, they promised regular order. They have not only broken that promise, they have shattered it and stomped on it. Speaker Ryan is the only speaker in the history of tracking statistics to never have had a truly open rule. An open rule would allow any Member to offer an amendment that complies with the standing rules of the House and the Budget Act. Not a single one. A bad process, I believe, will lead to a bad product, and these bills are no exception. They are full of provisions that would do real harm to millions of Americans. Inside these bills, the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, passed in the wake of the biggest recession since the Great Depression, would be tattered. The biggest banks still in control of the people who got us in trouble in the first place would be allowed to run roughshod over the economy again, paving the way for another Great Recession or worse. Try as we could to find out what would be the substitute for Dodd- Frank to prevent them from doing that again, there is no answer they would be able to do it. Under Dodd-Frank, we have had a record-setting streak of more than 80 consecutive months of private sector job growth. Mr. Speaker, this growth didn't come despite this law; it came because of it. There is also language here that would ramp up the majority's assault on women's health; provisions that would zero out funding for Title X, the Nation's only Federal program devoted to family planning. More than 4 million women depend on it for access to contraception. The bills would also eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, which serves 2.5 million women and men every year. It is relied on not just for contraception, but for services like breast cancer screenings, wellness visits, and STI testing. The bills would be truly destructive if they ever became law. They don't appear to have the necessary votes to pass the Senate, since there are not 60 Senators willing to vote for this legislation, and that would make one wonder why are we even going through this charade, because we have only 9 legislative days left in the month of September. During those 9 days, we need to raise the debt ceiling to pay the bills we have already incurred, to fund the government for the following year, to reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program; the Perkins Loan Program, which many low-income students rely on for their college education; and, very importantly, the Federal Aviation Administration. All of those expire on September 30. We also need to address the National Flood Insurance Program, which, on its current course, faces a shortfall of more than $25 billion. And that will expire at the end of this month. We all know the horror of going through Hurricane Harvey, and now Irma, and with two more, as I understand it, starting their aim at us in the Atlantic. If we are going to do all of this, we have to get back to the orderly and thoughtful process. Congress can't wait for a disaster to always be at its doorstep before acting. We need to abandon legislation by chaos or emergency, which we often do for something that we could have done by scheduling. Two-thirds of the discretionary spending bills considered in a single week is absurd and irresponsible, and I would doubt has ever taken place before in the House of Representatives. It is time we took control of the House and got back to regular order, which we talk about all the time, but hardly anybody remembers. We hope for a better day, and we hope for it soon. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Carbajal) to discuss our proposal.

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Rosen).

Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a distinguished member of the Appropriations Committee.