Rob Woodall

Mr. WOODALL

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

Mr. WOODALL

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California for yielding me the time. We finished up in the Rules Committee, I think, before 10 p.m. last night. I was optimistic that we finished up that early. It is not the Members you need to worry about, Mr. Speaker. It is the staff of the Rules Committee you need to worry about, because they had hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of amendments submitted that they were going through all weekend long, trying to sort out what are those amendments that could be made in order, what are those amendments that would need waivers of the rules, what are those amendments that could be considered on the floor and not be repetitive. It is an amazing burden on the staff to have to go through all those amendments, Mr. Speaker, and it is an unnecessary burden. You weren't here at the time, Mr. Speaker, but I am looking right down here below me at the gentleman from Kentucky. He used to be the chairman of the Appropriations Committee and was the chairman of the Appropriations Committee the last time we came to the House floor under regular order, as my friend from California suggests, and we allowed every Member of this institution--everyone who had been elected by their constituents back home, everyone who has a voting card--to come and offer any idea that they had to improve upon the underlying bill. I don't take issue with much of what my friend from California said about many of the good things in this bill. There are many good things in this bill. But what I love about the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Speaker, different from the Rules Committee, is they come to the House year after year and say we have done an amazing job working together in a bipartisan way in the Appropriations Committee, but the other Members of the House who don't serve on that committee, if they have some expertise that they think can improve the bill, bring it on. Bring it on. Let's go down to that House floor. Let's have that festival of democracy. Let's test those ideas, and let's send the best product that we can to the President's desk. My friend from California says that this is a good bill and that it should absolutely be signed by the President. She could be right. I would probably disagree with her, Mr. Speaker, but she could be right. The fact of the matter is, the law of the land, as it exists today, won't let us implement this bill. This bill spends above those caps, the statutory spending caps passed by the Congress and signed by the President. This bill cannot become law at these levels. If it were to, we would have an automatic sequester that brings the levels down. That is a terrible way to govern. We have learned that lesson over the past 10 years together. Mr. Speaker, I wish I didn't have to point to the gentleman from Kentucky and say remember the days when everybody's voice mattered in this institution. Remember those days. That day should be today. It is not an easy pathway to get back to. I remember when we were trying to do open rules on the Republican side. My Democratic colleagues would come to the floor and offer amendments that they knew would pass with a minority of Republican votes and a lot of Democratic votes. Then they would vote in favor of that amendment to change the bill, but they would vote against the final bill, knowing it would not be able to pass without their support. That is a great strategy, and it has been used by both sides, if my colleagues want to be in the business of making a point. It is an awful strategy if my colleagues want to be in the business of making a difference. If Members came to this institution to govern instead of to get the next sound bite, that is a terrible path to be on. Mr. Speaker, if Members went through those hundreds of amendments the way that the Rules Committee staff went through them over the weekend, they would see good idea after good idea after good idea that has been turned away before it could be considered on the floor of this House. I don't know whether those amendments would have passed or failed. I know some of them would have passed; I know some of them would have failed. There was a time in this institution when we let the votes decide, when we let the membership decide. Mr. Speaker, we have changed those rules. It is now 13 men and women who sit on the Rules Committee who decide. I value my friend from California's suggestion that we get back to regular order, and I know it is not an easy path to follow. This bill is the most open we have had so far this year, and yet, it still denies Member after Member, on both sides of the aisle, an opportunity to have their constituents' voices heard. Mr. Speaker, we can do better. If we speak with one voice in this body and reject this rule, we will do better. All it takes is the courage of our convictions to do that. I hope my Members will stand with me in aspiring to do better today than we did yesterday and better still tomorrow. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber), a colleague of mine on the bipartisan Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer), a gentleman who offered a germane amendment that was rejected.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Spano).

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I would just like to ask my friend if she would like to change her last statement.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague well, and I thoroughly enjoy working with her on the Rules Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I am reserving the right to object.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from California. I do not object.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, while we have many champions of life in this institution on both sides of the aisle, none is stronger than the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith). Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), a tireless fighter for life.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds just to remind the Chamber that we tried to offer an amendment last night in committee that would have addressed this funding. The Rules Committee rejected the consideration by the whole House of a measure that would provide what we all agree is urgently needed funding. We are seeing some of that passion here at this moment. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko), one of my colleagues on the Rules Committee, for the purpose of a unanimous consent request.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds to say when we had this conversation in the Rules Committee yesterday--again, my friend from California is on the Appropriations Committee--and she said we talked about bringing forward an emergency funding bill that is more comprehensive. We are working on expediting that. I would say to my friend, agreeing to one of these unanimous consent requests would be the absolute fastest way to expedite that if she would like to reconsider her position.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson).

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of a unanimous consent request, I yield to my neighbor from the great State of Georgia (Mr. Hice).

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I yield for the purpose of a unanimous consent request to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cline).

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of a unanimous consent request, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

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