Rob Woodall

Mr. WOODALL

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. WOODALL

Mr. WOODALL. Amendment XXVII: ``No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.''

Mr. WOODALL

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

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, when you asked me to clarify the number of the resolution, I am reminded of my mother when she used to ask me if I wanted to take out the trash. She was not asking me if I wanted to take out the trash. She was suggesting, very politely, that it was my responsibility to get out of my chair and get out there and take out that trash. I think about all of the folks that invest themselves in our success here. When you give me a chance to clarify, candidly, I am a little surprised that I need to because I am surrounded by a team of excellence. I should have just spoken it right back to you. We have two bills today, Mr. Speaker, that are the result of a whole lot of mothers, a whole lot of staffers, and a whole lot of constituents asking the Members of Congress if they would like to take out the trash, telling folks that they have responsibilities that need to be handled and they need to be handled now. It is two bills that this rule makes in order for consideration today, Mr. Speaker. It is S. 612, which is the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act. That is what they call it on the Senate side. On our side, it is the Water Resources Development Act, the WRDA bill, a bill that authorizes projects one by one, considered by the U.S. House of Representatives, not led by the agencies, but led by the people's House, and directed to the agencies for accomplishment. The second bill is H.R. 2028. It is the continuing resolution bill for FY 2017 funding, Mr. Speaker. I don't need to tell you--you know the Appropriations Committee well--but this year, for the first time since the people of the Seventh District of Georgia entrusted me with a voting card, we passed an appropriations bill on time. We did it for our veterans. It was signed by the President of the United States before the end of the fiscal year. We took a step at getting back towards regular order a commitment we have all made to one another, and a commitment that this funding bill will bring to fruition. It is not what any of us would have wanted on day one, it is not the way any of us believed that we could have completed this process had we had more time, but it is the proper way to make sure that certainty, rather than uncertainty, governs this land. I have got my colleague from the Rules Committee and the Appropriations Committee, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) here with me, Mr. Speaker, so I won't belabor that side of the issue. But what I do want to talk about is something I know well, and that is the WRDA bill. The WRDA bill, Mr. Speaker, this Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, came out of the Transportation Committee on which I have the great privilege of serving. The Transportation Committee, Mr. Speaker, is one of those rare committees that you don't read about on CNN's Web site, you don't see it on FOX News, or MSNBC. On the Transportation Committee, we get together--Republicans and Democrats--and we talk it out. We talk it out because it turns out that if what you are interested in, as citizens of Florida and the Everglades and Port Everglades and the restoration of those marvelous natural resources down there, that is not just a Florida issue, that is an American issue. If you are interested, as my friends from South Carolina are, in dredging the port in Charleston and making that a world class shipping opportunity, that is not just a South Carolina issue, that is an American issue. If you are like my friends all across this country, Mr. Speaker, from New Hampshire to California, to Texas, to Colorado, you have projects that are vitally important not just to your constituency, but to the economy of the United States of America; and that is what we do on the Transportation Committee. The Transportation Committee is a success if we can help you get to work a little bit faster. We are a success if we can get your kids to that soccer game just a little bit faster. But we are committed to moving freight, goods, and services produced by American hands with American labor to their destinations not just across this land, but across this planet. That is what the WRDA bill, controlling those ports and waterways through which so much commerce moves, controls. Mr. Speaker, I talked about regular order a little bit earlier. I have to brag, if I can here, at what may be our last day together. When the chairman of the Transportation Committee, Bill Shuster from the great State of Pennsylvania, took over the Transportation Committee, he said: These projects are so important. This bipartisan commitment to the American economy is so important. I am not going to let it get delayed. Now, I confess that we are here on the last day, perhaps, of our time together. It looked for awhile like we might not be able to move this through; but our chairman, through the power of persuasion, fought day in and day out not for 1 year, but for 2 years, to ensure that we could build on the success, which was the WRDA bill in 2014, and bring yet another WRDA bill in 2016. I will say to my friends: If you did not get everything you wanted, I promise you, as our friend, Kevin McCarthy, from California likes to say, You needed everything you got. Even if you didn't get everything that you needed, we are going to do this again. That is what is so great about regular order here, Mr. Speaker. When there is only one train leaving the station, we can't work together on issues. We have got to jam it all in there and we have got to pack everything in because we have only got one chance to serve the people who elected us. When we get back to regular order, when we know there is another bill coming tomorrow and another bill coming the next day, and another bill coming the next day, it gives us an opportunity to achieve these things one small step at a time. If your constituents are like mine, Mr. Speaker, they didn't send me here to yank the pendulum back and forth from left to right. They sent me here to make a little bit of progress one day at a time. The WRDA bill exemplifies the very best of us in that way. It represents small steps in almost every jurisdiction in this institution to grow the American economy, to serve our constituents back home, to make sure that the American taxpayer is getting a dollar's worth of value out of a dollar's worth of their tax dollar. If you can't tell, Mr. Speaker, I am tremendously proud of this work that has gone into this bill. My great hope is that my colleagues will support this rule so that we can move on to support that underlying legislation later on this morning. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole), a member both of the Rules Committee and a subcommittee chairman on the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank my friend from California for her comments. She is absolutely right. I talked so much about the economics of WRDA, and she talked about the truly lifesaving aspects of WRDA. We are talking about flood control in so many of these projects. She mentioned the West Sacramento projects in California. Just going through California alone, Mr. Speaker, the American River Common Features project, the San Diego County storm risk reduction project, the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline project, the Los Angeles River project are all being worked through and approved. These projects are not just going to put people to work. These projects are going to make people safer. I thank my colleague for recognizing that and for helping to celebrate that with me. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the kind words my friend from Florida just had to say about the WRDA bill. Twenty years was her testimony. Twenty years the folks in south Florida have been waiting for a solution. We came to that in a bipartisan way, bicameral way. If we support this rule, we are going to make that the law of the land. Before I spend a little more time bragging about the content of the bill, Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you that these things don't happen by accident. On the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure alone, we have got a whole team of folks, again, who have been working for not days, not weeks, not even months, but years on this final project. Our staff director on the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Matt Sturges, tireless in this effort; the subcommittee staff director, Geoff Bowman; Collin McCune on the committee, working with every single member to make sure no balls get dropped, that we don't miss a single opportunity to make a difference. You look at all the work that goes on behind the scenes, Mr. Speaker, and it culminates right here in just this 1 hour of debate. We have talked about what went on in California. We have talked about what goes on in Florida; in Texas, years waiting for the Brazos Island Harbor project, Mr. Speaker, years waiting for the Upper Trinity River project, the Houston Ship Channel. Thanks to WRDA, all of these projects are going to happen. Projects in Alaska, New Hampshire, Maine, Louisiana, North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas, Washington all inside this bill, all the result of individual members working together to make those a reality. With the passage of this bill, Mr. Speaker, we are going to get back to a regular order process, exerting our constituents' control over executive branch agencies as it relates to water projects. We are going to get back in the habit of doing the annual work of coming together, looking at what the national infrastructure priorities are of America, and getting about that business, prioritizing those projects, focusing on those projects, getting the red tape out of the way, making sure we are delivering for folks back home. It has been a long time coming. Mr. Speaker, I am not going to slow it down any longer. I ask all of my colleagues to support this rule so that we can consider the underlying bills, and I ask all of my colleagues to cast an enthusiastic ``yes'' vote for those underlying bills.

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

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

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter), 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. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 949 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I say to my friend from New York that I do not have any speakers remaining, and I am prepared to close after she does. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am quoting from The Washington Post. It says, ``The United Mine Workers of America's retirement and health-care funds currently support about 120,000 former miners and their families nationwide, but the account balances have rapidly declined as some coal companies shed dues-paying workers and others filed for bankruptcy protection.'' Mr. Speaker, this isn't unique to coal country. The promises are unique to coal country, but bankruptcy is not unique to coal country. What is unique about the bankruptcy in coal country is that institutions like this helped to drive it along. Mr. Speaker, what you haven't heard in this absolutely heartbreaking tale is the government's complicity through shedding of dues-paying workers and driving companies into bankruptcy, that the coal coming out of the ground in America today is being brought out of the ground by companies that are being forced into bankruptcy today. But that this continuing resolution, while a partial fix, is a 100 percent fix for the duration of the continuing resolution. My friend from Pennsylvania (Mr. Cartwright) is my friend, and what he says when he is talking passionately about the lives and what we can do to make a difference in the lives of retired miners, he says with 100 percent heartfelt sincerity, and I am grateful to him for it. And my friend from West Virginia (Mr. McKinley), whose legislation is the subject of this motion, believes in these people, believes in work, believes in commitment to promises like no one else in this institution, and I am proud to call him a friend as well. Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no question in my mind that we have a shared commitment, shared values, and we will find a shared solution. I am reminded that the last time I found myself in this situation a friend of mine from Michigan was standing right over there at that podium. He too had a motion: if we defeated the previous question, he would offer to help the people of Flint. And I stood here at this microphone and said to my friend that he had a shared concern, that he had a concern that was on the hearts of all of us in this institution, and that we would come back and address his concern, though the forum was not this one today. With no sense of irony at all, Mr. Speaker, I tell you that this underlying bill has those dollars for Flint in it today, that the authorization for those projects are in the underlying bill today. So I say to my friend from Pennsylvania, as I said to my friend from Michigan, this is absolutely a shared concern. I am frustrated about how we got here, and I believe we are going to disagree about where blame lies in how we got here. How we fix it, however, is not dependent on who is to blame for getting here. How we fix it is dependent on our shared commitment to getting it done. This is not the bill for that long-term fix. We have not had those long-term conversations, Mr. Speaker, but we do have a 100 percent commitment for the duration of the continuing resolution to make sure those healthcare benefits continue. And I am proud that we, in a bipartisan, bicameral way, found those dollars to do that right thing. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOODALL

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule I, I demand a vote on agreeing to the Speaker's approval of the Journal.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. WOODALL

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, November 18, 2016 marks the inaugural event of Gwinnett County's Red, Blue and You celebration. This event honors the brave men and women in our community who have chosen to dedicate their lives to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of others around them. I stand here today, Mr. Speaker, with the great honor of recognizing these heroic men and women who put their lives in harm's way to keep our communities, families, visitors, and businesses safe. Each day, Gwinnett's finest put on their uniforms with pride, kiss their loved ones goodbye and head to work not knowing what the day has in store for them. These dedicated public servants, Mr. Speaker, are the first on the scene when duty calls, and they must make quick decisions in difficult situations and oftentimes with limited information. That, Mr. Speaker, requires true leadership and genuine zeal to serve others. The history of our nation, and communities alike, reveals the importance of first responders and their ever-enduring role to serve and protect. These courageous and selfless men and women work tirelessly and honorably to enforce and uphold the law to ensure that all of Gwinnett's citizens are protected. Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that these fine men and women of Gwinnett who proudly wear red and blue are defined by more than their uniform and badge. To many folks in Gwinnett, Mr. Speaker, these individuals are not nameless or another face in the crowd. They are moms and dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. Put simply, they are loved ones. With that, Mr. Speaker, I send my sincere appreciation to all of the courageous first responders in Gwinnett County for enforcing our laws and keeping our families, friends, and neighbors out of harm's way.

Mr. WOODALL

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I was just with a group for lunch, and I was talking about all of the amazing things that we are able to do in here together. It really is amazing. I think back on what has become known as the Bush tax cuts. You may remember, Mr. Speaker, we had President Bush; he had a Republican Senate; he had a Republican House; and he was trying to provide tax relief for the American people. But because of the way the rules work around here and it takes a lot of votes to get work done, he was not able to make that tax policy permanent. He didn't have enough votes. Republicans were running the entire show, but he couldn't get enough agreement on tax relief for Americans to make that tax policy permanent. You, me, Mr. McGovern, and President Obama, we got together and we made that tax policy permanent for 99 percent of Americans. We did together what Republicans couldn't do alone. My friends from the other side of the aisle often talk about infrastructure and how important it is to America, and they are right every single time they do it, Mr. Speaker. But when they passed a trillion-dollar stimulus bill that I opposed with every fiber of my being, we didn't see infrastructure grow in this country; we saw dollars get squandered. They controlled the White House, the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate. They controlled every single branch of government, and they were not able to succeed at creating the kind of infrastructure improvements that every American knows that we need. But you know who did, Mr. Speaker? You, me, Mr. McGovern with President Obama in this divided Congress and divided government, we got together and passed the longest surface transportation funding bill this country has seen since the 1990s. We did that together. I could go down the list: education, water resources, taxes, regulation. The list goes on and on and on of things, when we sat down and when we talked to one another, we were able to get passed. You may remember, Mr. Speaker, we were down here yesterday on the House floor. We were talking about the situation in Flint. We were talking about amendments that were not made in order. And word came down that the only reason they weren't made in order is because we are just a bunch of racists here in the House of Representatives. The only reason that they weren't made in order was because Republicans have no conscience, is what we heard from the other side of the aisle. I will ask anyone in this Chamber: Who thinks that gets us closer to a solution? Who thinks it does? It pushes us further apart not just as an institution here, but as a Nation of citizens who care about one another. So what happened after that, Mr. Speaker? We went back to the drawing board together. We worked together, and we are back here today together with an amendment to address the situation in Flint. How? Not with a nongermane amendment, as it was yesterday. Not with an amendment that tries to deal with another committee's jurisdiction, as it did yesterday. But with an amendment that is squarely within the jurisdiction of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on which I serve and from which this bill comes today. I know it is an election year, and I know that as much as constituents say they don't like negative ads, they show up and vote based on them every single time. So I know that it would be easy for my colleagues to conclude that the best thing to do running up to an election is to come down here to the House floor and denigrate absolutely everyone who doesn't agree with them. It is not that we have policy disagreements, Mr. Speaker; it is that you must be a scoundrel, they would say. It is not that we have policy disagreements; it is that you must not have a conscience, they will say. It is not that we have policy disagreements; it is that you don't care. It makes me sad because, as I said yesterday, Mr. Speaker, I know the Members of this body on a personal level, and I know every single one of them cares. We are down here today doing something that matters, and I don't know why folks aren't taking a victory lap for our successes together. I don't know why they want to continue to tear at the fabric that makes this Nation great. Caring about each other is what we do. It is a legitimate disagreement about how to care. My friend from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) just talked about student loans. I have this conversation with every single high school class I visit with, Mr. Speaker: How do we love you best from Washington, D.C.? Do we give you all the money you can possibly borrow so you can go anywhere in the country you want to go to get that bachelor's degree with which you may not be able to find a job and you now have a mortgage-sized debt? Or do we not lend you that money? Do we create work-study programs? Do we create co-op programs? Do we put you to work in contact with employers so that when you leave school, you have no debt and real skills and real experience? It is a fair disagreement. Some folks may think you love people more by giving them all the free money they can handle and the mortgage debt that goes with it. Other folks think you love folks by giving them real-world experience, real-world skills, and a real employer to talk to. I don't think that you hate children if you make that wrong decision. I think that we are having a discussion about how to love on those children. Mr. Speaker, what we are down here doing today is not about stepping on low-income Americans. We could have a better debate about this issue if that wasn't what folks would come down and perpetuate. It is undeniable--and every single Member of this institution has seen it back home. It is undeniable that real working families are showing up on our doorstep, saying: Congressman, there is a problem; I need you to fix it. The administration just moved forward and doubled--doubled--the wage for which you now qualify for overtime. Now, in my part of the world-- we are not New York City; we are not Los Angeles, California; we are not San Francisco. $45,000 a year in my part of the world is what a manager makes. It is what a manager is going to make--a manager. What the Department of Labor has said is: You know what? Overtime-- which is what is paid to workers, not management. Salary is paid to management; hourly pay to workers. What the Department of Labor has said is: You know what? We are going to have a one-size-fits-all solution because, clearly, people living in small town Georgia should be regulated by the same rules as people living in downtown New York City. Surely, if we are going to fight poverty, what works in downtown New York City is the exact same thing we are going to need in small town Georgia. Mr. Speaker, you know that is nonsense. It is not true in your area; it is not true in my friend from Massachusetts' area; and it is certainly not true in my hometown. My friends will come to the floor and tell you it is because Republicans just don't like working people. This bill exempts three categories of people and three categories only: educational institutions, small businesses, and nonprofits. The Boys & Girls Clubs of America are headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. They wrote to the Department of Labor when the Department of Labor released this regulation. They said they opposed it. They said the regulation in its current form was going to undermine their ability to serve young people. They are not alone. Mr. Speaker, those concerns are real, and if my friends on the other side of the aisle would sit down and talk to us about them, I know that they care about these issues like I care about these issues. We can all work to change what that limit is, but we don't have to throw families out of jobs. As a result, we don't have to punish small-business owners trying to make it work. As a result, we don't have to punish nonprofits who have one goal and one goal only, and that is to make a difference in people's lives. As a result, I don't believe, when I disagree with my colleagues on the House floor, it is because they are bad people. I think they are good people with bad ideas. If we can sit and talk together, a group of good people around the table with differing ideas, I know that we can come to a conclusion, which is what we have done with the second bill in this rule, Mr. Speaker, the WRDA bill. My friend from Massachusetts mentioned a terrible habit of closed rules. There were 44 amendments made available to this bill, Mr. Speaker--44. That is a bill that passed unanimously with unlimited debate and unlimited amendments coming out of committee. We made 44 more amendments in order on this House floor. I am constantly amazed at the improvements that come from right here, colleagues who may not be on the committee who don't have an opportunity to make a difference. They bring an amendment to the Committee on Rules, we come together and we make it in order. We bring it to the House floor. It makes a difference. Mr. Speaker, the WRDA bill is going to affect something in every single district we have in this Chamber--every single district--whether it is direct, as it will be in the Port of Savannah or the Port of Charleston; whether it is indirect, as it will be for all the inland ports in the country; whether it is indirect because of all the job growth that happens around the country as a result. Ninety-nine percent of all of the imports and exports coming through this country, moving through our ports system, we did that together. I sat through those long committee hearings, Mr. Speaker. I don't remember anyone being called a scoundrel. I don't remember anyone being accused of not having a conscience. I don't remember anyone being called a racist. And I distinctly remember the bill coming out of committee on a voice vote, unanimous support. Mr. Speaker, the American people will believe us if we tell them how incapable we are; the American people will believe us if we tell them how broken self-government is; and the American people will believe us if we tell them that nobody else has anything to bring to the table except their Member of Congress. But those things will not be true. We are not just moving a bill to protect nonprofits and educational institutions and small business, Mr. Speaker. We are not just moving a bill that is going to do more to protect inland waterways and the economy than what we have seen in previous years, Mr. Speaker; we put together a package that I believe is going to start the logs rolling for all of the other priorities that we have in this Chamber. But we can't get to them unless we pass this rule. This rule came out of the Committee on Rules last night about 11:30, Mr. Speaker. The Committee on Rules was working late on your behalf last night. They say nothing good happens after midnight. That is why we finished up at 11:30. We have got a good rule for you. It is worthy of the support of this Chamber. I ask all of my friends to support the rule, to support the underlying legislation, and to allow us to continue to be about the business of the American people.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I would tell my friend from Massachusetts that I do not have any further speakers remaining, and I am prepared to close when he is. I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Washington (Mr. Newhouse), a member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I told you yesterday that I would be back down here today with part 2 of the Water Resources Development Act bill. This structured rule in House Resolution 897 provides for further consideration of H.R. 5303. This rule today will make an additional 19 amendments in order. As you will recall, Mr. Speaker, yesterday we gathered here and passed a rule that made 25 amendments in order to this legislation. To put that in perspective, this was a bill that passed unanimously out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which I serve; and the Rules Committee gathered, and in its wisdom has now made 44 additional adjustments and improvements in order that have been recommended by Members of this Chamber. This rule also provides, Mr. Speaker, for closed consideration of H.R. 6094, the Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act. That is a bill that requires a 6-month delay in the effective date of the Department of Labor's new overtime rules. It moves the current effective date of December 1, 2016, out to June 1, 2017. Mr. Speaker, I know you have heard about this issue from your constituents, as every Member in this Chamber has. The Department of Labor, in its wisdom, sought to raise the maximum wage at which overtime rules would apply, and effectively doubled that wage rate. That is all going to go into effect on December 1. Mr. Speaker, I don't believe there is a single Member of this Chamber that doesn't believe those numbers should be adjusted, but to double them overnight with virtually no warning to the small business community, the education community, or the nonprofit community is not the right way to govern. This is going to impact not just the hardworking Americans who run these institutions, it is going to impact the hardworking Americans who are dependent on these jobs and are currently doing the heavy lifting that feeds the Nation's economic engine. Delaying this rule for 6 months to give us an opportunity to either come together as a body and make changes or to allow small businesses and nonprofits and educational institutions to begin to adjust is just the right thing to do. You will hear more about that, Mr. Speaker, from one of my colleagues on the Rules Committee, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), who doesn't just serve on the Rules Committee, she also serves on the Education and the Workforce Committee that has jurisdiction. Mr. Speaker, again, if we pass this rule, we will have an opportunity to not just complete work on the WRDA bill with the 19 additional amendments, but also to move forward to protect small businesses, educational institutions, and nonprofits. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx), the vice chair of the Rules Committee and a member of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

Mr. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), 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. WOODALL. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 897 and ask for its immediate consideration.

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