Rob Woodall

Mr. WOODALL

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

Mr. WOODALL

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Massachusetts for yielding, but that is probably where our agreement is going to end today. We are not here because democracy is under siege. We are here because the Democratic House leadership is underperforming. We haven't gotten appropriations bills negotiated to the White House. We haven't gotten transportation bills negotiated to the White House. We haven't gotten water infrastructure bills negotiated to the White House. I can go on and on and on. And we are here today with yet another bill that there is absolutely no effort to negotiate and send to the White House. Madam Speaker, you are going to hear more about Donald Trump today than you are going to hear about the Postal Service today, and that is because we are not here about the Postal Service. We are here for another round of attacks on President Trump. I get it. Folks don't like President Trump on this side of the aisle. I get it. Folks have concerns about President Trump's rhetoric on all sides of the aisle. But the Postal Service has $10 billion. I asked the question yesterday, Madam Speaker: For the $25 billion bailout package we are here about today, how much of that money are we going to spend this year? How much do we need to protect the election infrastructure my friend from Massachusetts just described? I couldn't get an answer. Folks didn't know an answer. Conveniently, we are going to have the Postmaster General called before the House for a hearing for these answers in about 48 hours. About 2 days after we have passed this bill, we are going to get all the answers about why this bill may or may not be necessary. What my friend from Massachusetts said--I have gotten pessimistic, in light of our 6-hour Rules Committee hearing yesterday. I actually agree with my friend from Massachusetts on much more. He is right that we owe a thank-you to our men and women of the Postal Service for the work that they are doing. The previous Postmaster General came to Congress in the spring, worried that mail volume was going to collapse and the Postal Service was going to enter a period of financial instability. The truth, Madam Speaker, is just the opposite. Postal office deliveries have exploded. Folks are doing e-commerce like never before. Our men and women of the Postal Service are working harder than ever before, delivering more packages today than they were 6 months ago. And we owe them a big, big thank-you for their work during these times. My friend from Massachusetts is right: It is a lifeline for so many families. Madam Speaker, it is an election year. Who believes that serving their constituents comes from denying veterans access to prescription drugs? Nobody. If that is what this was about, we would have gotten together, Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, Congress and the White House, and we would be moving legislation in a cooperative way. We heard from the ranking Republican yesterday on the committee. He wasn't consulted in these conversations. He wasn't brought in to these conversations. There are no Republican amendments here. There is no conversation going on with the Senate. This is another wasteful partisan exercise in a time when--my friend from Massachusetts is absolutely right--there are real crises that need to be addressed. I had hoped when we were called back on a Saturday, Madam Speaker, it would have been to address one of those crises. But the truth is, it is just the punctuation mark at the end of the Democratic National Convention week. And to the leadership's credit, they scheduled it so that it wouldn't interfere with the Republican National Convention next week. How convenient that our scheduling was dictated by two political conventions, because that is the only reason that we are here today, Madam Speaker: politics. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot), the ranking member of the Small Business Committee that has made such a difference for so many Americans, in support of the previous question and legislation that we could bring to the floor that would make a difference to the American people.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, though this bill is going nowhere, if we defeat the previous question this morning, I will offer an amendment to take up three bills that are partnership bills that can go through the Senate to the President's desk and make a real difference for the American people, dealing with important issues like healthcare, like relief for folks suffering from the COVID economic crisis, and our law enforcement reform activities. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Ordinarily, I am concerned that I only have 30 minutes for Rule Committee debate, but the lunacy that we are hearing down here today makes me glad that we are going to be done with this in 30 minutes. Madam Speaker, you know when Elijah Cummings chaired the committee and Mark Meadows was the ranking member, now President Trump's chief of staff, we came together to do Postal Service reforms because we all know the Postal Service needs to be reformed. We all know this. We could do it today, if it was about Postal Service reform, if it was about Postal Service improvement, but it is not. What is the solution today? Throw more money at a problem. We don't trust the Postmaster General, the other side says. We don't trust the President, the other side says. So what is the solution to the manufactured crisis? Give $25 billion to the Postmaster General and the President of the United States. In response to my assertion that this House is a do-nothing Congress because it fails to negotiate with the Senate and the White House, my friend from Massachusetts lists half a dozen bills that this House passed unilaterally with no effort to negotiate with the Senate or negotiate with the White House. Madam Speaker, if what we want to do is come and talk, we have a wonderful Chamber in which to do it. If what we want to do is come in and get something done, it can only get done together. This is yet another example of the House leadership's failure to operate in a partnership fashion. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), one of the greatest negotiators in the House, a gentleman who has a long history of bipartisanship, and thus, legislative success, the ranking member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) to speak on one of those provisions.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), a member of the Rules Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I say to my friend from Pennsylvania, I want to solve every single one of those problems that she just laid out. Those are absolutely bipartisan concerns. This bill solves none of them. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko), another member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Womack), the ranking member of one of the committees that is near and dear to my heart, the ranking member of the Budget Committee, a good friend, and a member of the freshman class of 2010.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, again, if we defeat the previous question, we will bring much-needed legislation to the floor. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber), a rising star here in the Republican Conference, to talk about that.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I would like to share with my friend, the chairman, that I have no further speakers remaining, and I am prepared to close when he is.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I don't know how many more times I will be on the House floor between now and the end of the year. It is a great honor I have to serve with the chairman of the Rules Committee, Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts. I think all the time about all the things we could do together; and, candidly, we have done a lot of great things together. This body, when it acts together, does amazing things. But an unfortunate thing has happened in politics these days, Madam Speaker. We talk more about the bills that we pass than the changes that we make. My friend from Massachusetts has talked time and time again about a unilaterally drafted bill passed by this House in the spring that purports to address families in need, but that included no Republican input, no partnership, had a veto message from the President, and had no chance of getting through the Senate. We are here on exactly that same exercise today with this manufactured Postal Service bill. The Postal Service has the money that it needs. I will just tell my friends that President Trump won the mail-in vote in the great State of Georgia. That year I won the mail-in vote 2-1. There is absolutely no effort at voter suppression here. As my friend from Connecticut pointed out earlier, that is illegal. That is off the table. We are talking about, Is there enough money to fund the Postal Service or not? My friend from Massachusetts references a supervisor's report from the spring when they thought mail delivery was going to go down in volume. In fact, it has gone up in volume. Revenues are higher than they expected. If the Postal Service faces a revenue shortfall, I commit to my colleagues we will be there together arm in arm to make that happen. But today, when the Postal Service is sitting on $15 billion in cash and an unused $10 billion line of credit, a blank check of another $25 billion does not solve any of the challenges that you and I know exist or solve any of the problems that all of our constituents have. Madam Speaker, the frustration you hear from my colleagues on this side of the aisle is that we are back in an emergency session working on language that is going nowhere, that will help no one. We can pound on our chests all we like about all the wonderful things that we think--unilaterally by themselves, without any bipartisan input-- Democrats crafted and put in this bill. But we all know from year upon year upon year of painful experience, the only things that get done in this town get done together. In a divided government you cannot bully your way to success, Madam Speaker, you have to partner your way to success. I know my friend from Massachusetts believes that. That is the kind of leadership style he brings to the committee on which I have the honor of serving. I understand my friends have a job to do today. They need to pass this bill. They are going to do it. It is not going to go anywhere, but they are going to do it. Madam Speaker, defeat the previous question with me today. Let's move PPP extension, let's move vaccine funding, let's move law enforcement reform, and let's do the political exercise that you brought us here to do. But let's do these things that matter as well. Madam Speaker, I urge defeat of the previous question, and if not that, defeat of the rule. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. WOODALL

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I very much appreciate the time tonight to honor one of Georgia's favorite sons. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Barragan).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Washington State (Mr. Heck).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Ms. Kendra S. Horn).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady), the former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, the committee on which John Lewis did so much of his important work for the great State of Georgia.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, at this time, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cooper).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), a cardinal on the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moulton).

Mr. WOODALL. Madam Speaker, I would inquire how much time remains.