disastrous outcome where they lost 40 congressional seats in no small measure because of their misguided approach to health care. so we hope, as senator murray noted particularly in the holiday season that the president and republicans in congress start looking to the american people and for pete's ake empa thiesing with the american people rather than looking this. senator manchin, you took a difficult question. we have the leadership of senator murray. man man being a former -- senator: being a former governor, i want those people to know you are paying any way. we had people going to the emergency room.

they knew they couldn't be turned away. >> we take you live now to the floor of the u.s. house. with respect to concurring in the senate amendment to h.r. 1222 by the yeas and nays. con could -- concurring in the senate amendment to h.r. 6615 by the yeas and nays. passing s. 2076 by the yeas and nays. passing s. 2278 by the yeas and nays. passing h.r. 7327 de novo. passing h.r. 7279, de novo. concurring in the senate mendment to h.r. 6227 de novo. passing h.r. 6652 de novo. passing s. 1520 de novo. and passing s. 3530 de novo. and agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal if

ordered. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden, to suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 1222 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1222. an act to amend public health service act, to coordinate federal congenital heart disease research effort, and to approve public education and i wariness of -- and awareness of congenital heart disease and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house agree. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or

commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 355, the nays are 7.

2/3 being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended. the senate amendment is agreed to and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden, to suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 6615 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 6615, an act to re-authorize the traumatic brain injury program, senate amendments. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-fint vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 352, the nays are six. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the senate amendment is agreed to and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden, to suspend the rules and pass s. 2076 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 2076. an act to amend public health service act to authorize the extension of activities related to alzheimer's disease, cognitive decline and brain health under the alzheimer's disease and healthy aging program and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 361, the nays are three. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from oregon, mr. walden, to suspend the rules and pass s. 2278 on which yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: senate 2278. an act to amend the public health service act, to provide grants to improve health care in rural areas. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 357 and the nays are 4. 2/3 being in the after five, the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid n the table.

the ununfinished is passing h.r. 3257. the clerk: h.r. a bill to require the secretary of homeland security to establish a security vulnerability disclosure policy and boupty program for the department of homeland security and title 41 united states code to provide for flight change security and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question i is will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. for what purpose does -- >> i seek recognition. i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. a sufficient number having arisen, members will record their votes by electronic device. members this will be a ive-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or

commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: this vote, the yeas are 352. the rules are suspended and the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the question is on suspending the rules on which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: h.r. 7279 a bill to amend the water control act to promote green infrastructure and for our purposes. will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. those in favor say aye. >> i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: those in favor of a recorded vote. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 351, the nays are 10 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed and, without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is the question on suspending the rules and concurring with the senate amendment to h.r. 2627 -- 6227 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: h.r. 6227. an act to provide for a coordinated federal program to accelerate quantum research and development for the economic and national security of the united states. senate amendment. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and concur on the senate amendment. those in favor say aye.

those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. the gentleman from kentucky. >> mr. speaker, i request a record vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is requesting a recorded vote. a recorded vote is requested. a sufficient number having arisen -- those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a record vote is ordered. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 348, the nays are 11. 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended and the senate amendment is agreed to. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the unfinished business is the question suspending the rules and passing h.r. 6652 which the clerk will report by title. 6652. rk: h.r. a bill to direct the secretary of the interior to convey certain facilities, casements

and rights of way to the kennewick irrigation district and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill as amended. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. >> mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. >> i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman requests a recorded vote. a recorded vote is requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 359 and the nays are one. the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to

reconsider is laid upon the table. the unfinished business is passing s. 1520. the clerk: senate 1520 to suspend recreational and management and for other purposes. will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? >> i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. nooh [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 350. the nays are 11. the ruse are suspended and

without objection, the unfinished business is suspending the rules which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: an act to re-authorize the museum and library services act. the speaker pro tempore: will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. >> i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from kentucky is asking for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a a a sufficient number having arisen, recorded vote isrd ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 327 and the nays are 28 -

the speaker pro tempore: the yeas are 331, the nays are 28. the bill is passed and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant to clause 8, rule 20, the question is on agreeing to the speaker's journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the i.c.e. have it. the journal stands approved.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house a communication. clip the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir. pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on december 19, 2018, at 5:42 p.m., that the senate passed senate 3247, signed, sincerely, karen l. haas.

the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will be in order. the house will be in order. members please take your conversations outside. he house will come to order. the chair is prepared to entertain one-minute requests. for the purpose -- the gentleman from new york -- if you were does the gentleman from new york eek recognition? >> mr. speaker, this evening i say good-bye to the house of representatives after 20 years of service. thank you to the people of

queens, to the bronx, it's been an honor, the honor of my life, to be the voice of many people from new york city. mr. crowley: as the son and grandson of immigrants from ireland, as the son of a new york city cop, as a husband and father, i can only hope i have made my family proud my family is everything to me. they taught me to pursue fairness, justice, to use my power, to use my size, use my voice for good, and to give back. i hope i've done that. and i hope my colleagues will keep working together to do the ame. we all have

different bkeds but we're all united by our shared dreams for this great land. i believe in the best of america. its people and its public service. again, thank you to my family for their love and support you've always shown to me. my mom was unable to be here tonight, to my brother sean, my cysters, my brother's wife maureen and their boy, my sister's children are here as well and their families. i appreciate the indulgence of the speaker, just one more brief moment my children colin, kinsey and liam, i won't say their age,

and of course my wife casey who is with us as well. thank you, casey. to my staff, the greatest staff a person could ever have, all of you have made this such a great journey from the darkest days of my life on 9/11 to the passage of the affordable care act. a very special moment for me. to be a part of this amazing ride. i just say thank you all very much. god bless you all. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition?

>> i'd like to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: will the

the speaker pro tempore: will the house come to order please. the house will come to order please. the gentleman from arkansas is ecognized. the house will come to order, lease. the gentleman from arkansas. would members please take their conversations outside the chamber.

>> mr. speaker, i rise today to encourage all of us to stay committed to reforming the federal budget and appropriations process. here we are operating under a continuing resolution and scrambling to adopt another. our third of fiscal year 2019 alone. despite good work being done to fund five of the 12 bills, after 2 1/2 months and two continuing resolutions our work remains unfinished. mr. womack: mr. speaker, the power of the purse is the most important constitutional responsibility granted to congress. yet we have regularly and repeatedly ceded our duty to fulfill this essential role. it's unacceptable and it's clear that the federal budget and appropriations process is broken. the american people deserve better. as you know, the joint select committee on budget and appropriations process reform

laid the groundwork for bipartisan, bisamrall reform this past year. our proposal began taking steps in the right direction to improve the process while our efforts were -- the process. while our efforts were unsuccessful, where we stand today highlight house desperately our work was sneeded. mr. speaker, it is now more necessary than ever. i will continue to champion budget process reform and the ideas put forth by the joint select committee next year. today i send a dear colleague letter which i ask unanimous consent to submit into the record outlining our year of work and i encourage all members to review it and join me in this essential effort. e owe the american people this process. let's fix this. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the me of the -- the gentleman's

insertion will be included. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, it is with profound sadness that i rise today and many of my colleagues who have helped organize this, particularly my colleague, congressman rutherford, pay ibute to the servicemens who tragically perished on december 5 during a training exercise off the coast of japan. mr. hastings: if my colleagues that are here will join me it ould be appreciated. colonel kevin herman of newborn, north carolina. jor james m. brosey of

staatsburg, new york. captain jamaal rizalard of miramar, florida a kid that was raised in my district whose mother i have spoken with. staff sergeant maximal flores of surprise, arizona. corporal daniel baker of tremont, illinois. and corporal william ross of hendersonville, tennessee. these decorated marines served our nation with distinction. listed their achievements does little to pay adequate tribute to their bravery, their courage, and their dedication to our country. on behalf of my colleagues, i express our heart felt condolences to the families of these honorable service members, their friends, and their colleagues in the united states marine corps. our nation grieves with you and we pray that you find comfort

during these extremely difficult times. mr. speaker, i request that the house of representatives observe a moment of silence in memory of these american heroes. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, the founders

entrusted the pow over the purse to the congress because it is the most effective and powerful check and balance in our constitution. and it is vitally important that this congress work to pass these appropriations bills in their full detail. we cannot continue to operate under a continuing resolution which just allows the executive branch to run unchecked, these bills have been carefully negotiated, these bills allow the public to see how our hard-earned tax dollars are being spent and these bills allow the congress to have some real authority over the executive branch. in the 18 years it's been my privilege to represent the people of west houston an chair the subcommittee on appropriations, i was able to work together with my colleagues to put together the largest hurricane recovery package in the history of the country, working together to make sure our laws are enforced, to make sure the department of justice is following the law, enforcing the law, these things can be done through the pow othey have purse, through the responsibility we have as members of congress, as appropriators. it's essential we pass

appropriations bills and do so in a bipartisan way. i've always worked closely with my colleagues throughout the state of texas, throughout the country, regardless of party because we're doing it for the good of the country. as mr. crowley said, as you could detect in mr. crowley's remarks, we work arm in arm together as patriots. let's pass these appropriations bills when we come back in february when the c.r. runs out. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, a message from the senate. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been asked to inform the house that the senate has passed the bill in which the condition curns of the house houst is requested. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> ask nammings consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my

remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one inute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor new jersey city university professor yamiko ogawa. mr. payne: professor ogawa is a registered play therapist, she's providing play therapy for immigrant children who are in the process of applying for asylum. their play therapy program is currently being implemented at the newark office of a nonprofit called kids in need of defense. since 2014, united states has welcomed more than 240,000 unaccompanied minors who are seeking protection. many of theme have suffered from violence and child abuse. some of them are escaping persistent trauma, including human trafficking and gang

violence. professor ogawa's play therapy has already helped some of these children cope with this draw masm i'm proud of professor ogawa's thoughtful leadership and the amazing support of new jersey city university. it only takes an idea to change the world. i am proud to represent njcu in congress and i ask my colleagues to join me in honoring this wonderful initiative and with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south scoorl seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. without objection. mr. wilson: i'm dedicated to the work of jonathan grable as a foreign policy fellow in the office of the 2nd district.

he has a distinguished career for more than 16 years and developed the national defense authorization act and deployed to germany, and kuwait. he was the first. a leader on foreign policy issues he developed legislation. he served as intelligence beaver for two secretaries of energy. he was an intelligence analyst with the addition at d.o.e. their service will be appreciated for being members of the wilson team. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and our sympathy to -- diane wellsie and her children. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> permission to address the

house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. tonko: i rise to congratulate a composer, educator and music innovator, professor evan mack, a musical america. his first opera was at the center in may of 2011, impressive achievement for a first-time come poser. he has a grand opera based on william kennedy opera that and ed a deborah boist co-wrote one of the first opera for twitter. a five-act in the span of 1:40. e serves on the faculty at skidmore college.

professor evan mack on behalf of your fans, congratulations on being named the 2018 professional of the year by music america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> permission to drows address the house the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i rise today to concxds con deprat you late the high school football team for winning the championship and the mandarin for winning the florida state aa. now has won two straight titles while mandarin captured their first ever and this marks the first time that two public schools have won the state championship in the same season. football is a big part of

florida culture and kids grow up of winning the championships. and they are trying to be successful on the field and in the classroom. i concxds con deprat late them for bringing hardware to northeast florida where it be longs and i look forward to more championships to come. and concxds con grat you lation to these two high schools on a victory. these players will remember for the rest of their lives. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> address the house for one minute and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for one minute. >> it was a fitting end to an outstanding season to my high school football team. mr. rothfus: led by their head

coach fought their way to a resounding victory. he 35-0 win against the middle town high school which is the third. the football team has been a contender for state football titles. a power house offense outscored by more than 700 points. w.p.i.o. am won the championships and the third coach in history to win a state championship in his first year. congratulations to the high school to the coaching staff and the team for your scrout standing achievement. you made western pennsylvania proud. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? >> request unanimous consent to

address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise today in support of my legislation, the forever g.i. bill housing payment fulfillment act which will hold the department of veteran affairs accountable to pay student veterans the jational housing benefits they have earned. this legislation introduced in response to the v.a.'s failure to reply requires the v.a. to correct all delayed payments and underpayments no later than january 1, 2020. the forever g.i. bill provides benefits to thousands of kentucky reservists and veterans as they pursue higher education. they deserve better. this legislation will remedy this undue hardship placed on

veteran students and place oversight and accountability to make sure payments are made in a timely manner. i urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation to provide relief and certainty to our nation's veterans and i look forward to its swaft passage. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from arizona seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> could i ask the members of the arizona delegation. mr. speaker, i and the rest of the delegation want to take a minute to honor the life of max flores. he was killed during a mid air collision involving a marine refueling in a fighter jet off the coast of japan.

he wanted to be a marine and did not waste a moment. after his graduation from valley vista high school, he enlisted in the marines and pursued the field. even as he lived in distant locations such as japan where he most recently served with marine refueler squadron 152 at marine air corps station. as americans, we are uncondition neal bound. staff sergeant gave his life to keep our country safe. his service symbolizes. it represents the freedom he fought for and for that, i'm eternally grateful. we can never repay the debt to

sergeant flores but we will remember him and how he led his life in the service of others, his family and loved ones are in our prayers as they grieve during this trying time and arizona is forever grateful for staff sergeant flores' service and dedication to our country. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. tenney: i rise to recognize robert and donna force. who are deeply committed to carrying on the tradition of family farming. is a member of the rescue wing. 1986 they purchased 96 acres of

land and would spend the next 26 years building their farm. all totalled by 2010, the family expanded to 120 acres. the family viewed the farm as their retreat. they cleared the land to build a barn and planted new trees. sadly in 2014, the force -- they were forced off their land. the coin failed to cooperate with them and instead putting their lovely farm up for sail and auction. his wife is suffering through medical problems through this and up until today. the family believes this is part of a larger plan. auctioning land to the highest bidder. they have continued to save their farm. for more information to save the

forest farm check out facebook and thank the forest family. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from louisiana seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise today to honor the brave firefighters, police fficers and first responders who ran into harm's way to the devastating at first baptist church on december 10, 2018. the city fire department responded to a fire alarm. the second alarm went out at 5:50 a.m. during their efforts, there were total of 50 fiferinge units working to contain the fire and

preserve the church. its steep will has been a landmark. my wife and wellly were meafed there 20 years ago. we are so depateful there was no loss of life and for the many extraordinary firefighters who battled the playses that day. we commend them for their efforts and thank them for their service and sacrifice. i know they will recover. the bible teaches that provides character and hope we believe that to our core. the mission will continue in earnest and its best days are truly ahead. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from puerto rico seek recognition? miss gonzalez-colon: permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. miss gonzalez-colon: mr.

speaker, health care infrastructure in puerto rico remains dangerously unstable. most medicare beneficiaries with part a and part b coming receive their care through local advantage care plans. $511. was $595 and now the national average was $787 dollars and now $826. that is a negative impact for puerto rico. that means that the next year, the average medicare advantage rate for puerto rico is even 25% below the other territories and 4 % below the national rate. and this is the reason why physicians and medical providers are leaving the island. that is the why we filed h.r. 6809 and this would disparity

and i ask my colleagues to support this bill. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and stepped my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, during the holiday season, many people step up to help their neighbors in need. americans are generous with their time and energy through monetary donations and food pan tries play an important role in communities across america. in 2017, 15 million households in the united states were food nsecure, which means they lack aforwardable food. while this number has decreased. that is why as chairman as the nutrition subcommittee on the

agricultural committee i advocated for more dollars. tfb, the emergency food assistance program. it is the cornerstone of our food banks. we increased food banks. we are meeting the means for the working poor and those who have fallen on hard types. we must work towards the goal of ending hunger in america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i rise to honor the life, service, and spirit of my friend, freddie simpson. she was known and admired in

central washington and dedicated her time to improving her community and lending a helping hand to whomever was in need. she was a dear friend of mine and i will miss her very much. mr. nusshouse: freddie's engagement in politics was inspiring to everyone around her. she served as a mentor to young people and urged them to get involved at local, state and national levels. she represented washington state with infectious enthusiasm and deep integrity. she traveled across our great state and the entire country, leaving a positive impression on everyone she met. so today i reflect on my own joyful memories with freddie and i find peace in knowing she is at rest and reunited with god. my prayers go out for her husband bruce, her son kaine, and all her loved ones and i urge my colleagues to join me in celebrating her wonderful life.

freddie, we will miss you. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: are there further requests for one-minute speeches? for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i send to the desk two privilege red ports from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the titles. the clerk: report to akmpny house resolution 1180, resolution providing for the consideration of the senate amendment to the bill h.r. 88 to modify the boundary of the shiloh national military park located in tennessee and mississippi to establish parkers crossroads battlefield as an affiliated area of the national park system and for other purposes and providing for proceedings during the period from december 24, 2018, through january 3, 2019.

report to accompany house resolution 1181. resolution waiving a requirement of clause 6-a of rule 13 with respect to consideration of certain resolutions reported from the committee on rules and providing for consideration of motions to suspend the rules. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourn today it adjourn to meet at 9:00 a.m. omorrow. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. the chair lays before the house the following personal requests. the clerk: leave of absence

requested for ms. rosen of nevada for today and the balance of the week. >> without objection the request is granted. the speaker pro tempore: -- the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the request is granted. the chair lays fer be before the house the following. clip an act to amend title 5 united states code to clarify the sources of the authority regarding certain regulations and other criteria applicable under wounded warriors federal leave. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2017, the gentleman from florida, mr. curbelo is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. curbelo: thank you, mr. speaker. my colleagues, politics is the art of what is possible. what is achieveable. not the measure of our differences.

we come to this chamber, we should, to seek common ground, to solve problem, to address challenges. that's what i have done over the course of the last four years. work with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to improve quality of life in our country and our communities and to show the american public that this institution is capable of responding to its concerns and its aspirations. in congress, progress is measured in small units. the way our founding fathers intended. on climate and the environment we broke the ice, bringing republicans and democrats together in the climate solutions caucus. the first meaningful bipartisan dialogue and collaboration on this subject in a generation. we also filed land mark legislation to make massive investments in american infrastructure while reducing carbon emissions and creating clean energy jobs. climate change and transportation infrastructure.

twin challenges threatening the future of my home, miami-dade county. the market choice act would make it more likely that our children and grandchildren can live out their years in our paradise, an area marked and blessed with countless natural treasures. on immigration, we forced the house to process and debate comprehensive reform for the first time in nearly a decade while for many using this subject and the many victims of a broken immigration system for political gain is the preference, ours was a solution that would secure the border. reform our asylum laws to prevent abuse. keep families together. and secure a future for two million american dreamers. the young immigrants who went to school with our own children and today are contributing to our economy and to our communities. while the forces of obstruction and cowardice prevailed, this

institution grew from the debate and dividends will be reaped in the future. i have no doubt. this issue is also a special one for miami-dade and south florida. it's personal for us. we are a community of immigrants. we believe immigration should be legal and orderly. and we know immigrants made america great and will continue making it greater still. guns and -- gun, another issue that deeply divides our country. we proposed solutions modeled after what was achieved in florida in the wake of the tragic massacre at florida's marjorie stoneman douglas high school. it is possible to protect gun rights for law-abiding citizens while keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of those who seek to harm others or themselves. we are reforming our criminal justice system in order to truly give people a second chance. we secured funding for everglades restoration if water quality improvements in the

florida key, for important infrastructure projects in south florida. we honored our fwripets guaranteeing them the resources they need and granting them the raises they've earned. we also invested in american children, making it easier for immigrant students to learn english and protecting the accountability framework that put all students at the center of the public education system. and we delivered historic tax relief for florida workers and famries while making american businesses more competitive. in our hemisphere i have advocated for the oppressed people of cuba, venezuela, and nicaragua and encouraged the administration to forge strong relationships with leaders committed to human right the rule of law and economic growth and prosperity in countries like brazil, columbia -- colombia, ar general tee narc coast rah rika, panama and others. in the middle east i have worked to support and bolster the critical u.s.-israel alliance while holding the terrorist mue

la regime in iran accountable for its countless transgressions. further east, i have advocated japan ser relations with and taiwan in the face of hostilities. and i have always put my country above any partisan or personal interest my goal has been to serb with decency and sincerity. to do what was right even if people got upset. to focus on ideas instead of petty politics. to speak in truth instead of talking points. to be both direct and decor russ. i have learned much from this institution, it never changed me. i have served to the fullest every day and i now begin a new chapter in my life overflowing with gratitude for this wonderful opportunity to serve,

for the many colleagues i have come to know, for my team, for my family, my god, and for the community that trusted this child of political refugees with the privilege of representing it here in the congress of the united states. -- of the united states of america. mr. speaker, i'd now like to yield to my colleague from illinois, mr. davis. mr. davis: mr. speaker, thank you and thank you to my friend from florida. i know he's probably worried about what i might say in his final speech here on the floor tonight but i've got to tell you about a friend i met just shortly after going to a meeting across the street where i had the honor of becoming a mentor to a candidate who wanted to run for congress. and his name was carlos curbelo. i knew we were going to get along well when i called him the

first time on the phone and he said, why are you my mentor? i said because you have key west in the district you are running in. i'd like to come visit you. he took my first jeck well and we hit it off and became very close friends. imagine my glee when on election night in 2014, my men tee became a new -- my mentee became a newly elected member of congress. to see him walk into this institution, to see him immediately become not just a friend to me and to many others, but a legislator and one of the best legislators i have ever had the opportunity to serve with. it's bittersweet for me to stand here tonight and wish him the best in his next endeavors. i know he will have plenty of opportunities to spend a great deal of time with his wife and their two lovely young daughters and one of the most beautiful -- in one of the most beautiful places in the world in miami-dade. i got a feeling this isn't going to be the last of my friend mr.

curbelo. and this speech may be the last one you deliver as a member of this institution, but whether it is you come back here, or whatever your next step is, my friend, you know that it's not only me who will be standing there right behind you but so many of the colleagues and friends you have met along the way and have meant so much to you. thank you for being a great friend, thank you for being a member of the wolf pack and i will always know you as my good friend chuck curbelo. i yield back. mr. curbelo: i thank the gentleman from illinois who indeed is a wonderful friend. sometimes his jokes aren't as good but his advice has been very good here since i started running for the house for the first time in 2013. the people of southern illinois are blessed to be represented by mr. davis. he has a wonderful family, he's a great friend, and i am -- even

though i'm moving on, i'm happy to know that people like rodney davis will remain part of this institution, working for his community and for our wonderful country. i'd like to yield to my colleague from pennsylvania, another wonderful friend, we've shared many great experiences together, we have worked hard on the issues that are important to our communities, to our districts, mr. ryan costello. mr. costello: thank you. i too want to thank carlos for your service to this country, your constituents, you've been an exemplar of what it means to be a gentleman, somebody who comes in to work here every day in the halls of congress, serving the people, doing your best, giving it 110%. what i would like to do if i could is just thank those residents in my congressional district, residing in chester county, pennsylvania, montgomery

county, pennsylvania, burks county and lebanon county pennsylvania for the opportunity to serve you here in congress for two terms. this was always admittedly a dream of mine and it's something that i took great pride in doing. it's been a very humbling experience in some respects, it's been a rewarding experience, in other respects it's been challenging and frustrating at times. but when you are someone who put yours name on a sign and gets elected to this institution, you carry with yourself a certain humbleness and a certain sense of purpose that every single one of the 434 members that i've served with, probably more since there's been resignations and re-elections, but everyone who i've served with in this institution takes their job very, very seriously and i just hope the american people realize that even as we have differences here we have a lot more that binds us together as americans and everyone is here trying to

do their very best. i'd also like to briefly thank y parents, chery and tony, i would like to thank my parents, to my wife christine, to my children, ryan and caroline, to the many great members of my staff who have just done an absolutely wonderful job. i think one thing that every single member of congress can agree to is that the staff is underappreciated, undercompensated, but without them, this institution would not run and we wouldn't be able to be as effective. i like to recognize sean -- my iefs of staff, my district director and if i start naming all the other staff persons, i would forget one.

i'm grateful for their service to pennsylvania's 6th congressional district, to this country, to myself and for all those i have served with from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being a friend and being an advocate for this country and your constituents. this is a very special institution and been a real privilege to serve in it. god pleas each and every one of you and god bless each and every one of you. mr. curbelo: i thank mr. costello for his kind word and his great service to our country. the people of philadelphia's suburbs have been pleased to have been represented over the last four years by thoughtful, honest deesept man, someone who i worked with on issues like the environment, like imdepration,

the controversial issues, the issues where legislators are required to take risks if they are going to have a positive impact. and my final message is just extreme gratitude to this wonderful institution, to my community for this privilege, this opportunity, to my parents, when they arrived this country to be free and work and contribute. i don't think they could have imagined that their son would have been able to seve in this fine institution, only in this wonderful country can we tell stories like that, do these miracles happen. i thank my wife and two daughters. my daughters, because public service is difficult, especially on young families and my wife

and my daughters have sacrificed a lot. we have done it with the support of our family, my in-laws, my parents and to all my colleagues, i wish you all the best. i will be rooting the best. try to strengthen this country and do the right thing every day and serve with a servant's heart. mr. speaker, i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from from north carolina, mr. meadows, for 30 minutes. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker and i rise today to encourage my colleagues to stay in the fight to make sure that we help this president deliver on a promise that he made years ago. i'm sad that tonight we are here here and on a back drop of a potential shutdown but what it is more is the function of the fact that we have not done our job like we should have done already. the president, many, many months ago said he would not sign another funding bill unless we gave him wall funding. what did this house do? it passed the bill to fund the department of defense and passed a short-term c.r. and said we are going to have that fight

after the mid-terms. mr. speaker, it is after the mid-terms and we are here with a number of my colleagues to say we are ready to fight on behalf of all the freedom-loving americans to make sure we have secure borders and that never again do we have to worry about terrorists and drug traffickers coming across our southern borders. i have a number of my colleagues that want to speak on this to encourage the american people. so i recognize the gentleman from arizona, mr. biggs, for two minutes. mr. biggs: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm grateful that my colleagues are standing up for the crisis to solve the crisis on the border. securing the united states and the american people, this border is a fundamental constitutional responsibility of the federal

depoft. we have members who are still unwilling to ensure we know who enters the united states and wars.ing to enforce our previous support for border walls. they didn't disagree with border disagreeth security. and don't want president trump to get a win. what they want is open borders. in 2006, some of the democrats still in the senate voted for the secure fence act. for now, republicans still control congress. rumors that they are negotiating an agreement. we are kicking the fight down the road. when are we going to stand up and fight, if not now? our coalition of members have drafted an amendment to deliver on our promise to make the

increase the number of immigration judges and provide $5 billion in. many of the headlines focused on those who come here illegally. i urge you to remember the ranchers and residents living he border who are impacted and smuggling because of our lack of will. our border control agents who risk their lives every day. i urge my colleagues in the house and our leadership to think what is best for america. is it the status quo or standing up to fight for the security and sovereignty our nation. we must stand up. i urge to support. i'm willing to stay here to make sure that happens. i yield pack.

mr. meadows: i recognize another gentleman from arizona, mr. gosar. today is deadlier than the vietnam war. the study found that it cost more than 1.7 million years of life. ose are and we move into the christmas season and worth thinking about american families . we have done a great deal in congress from beefing up grants to fixing the pain medication guidelines totaling cracking down. but we have not address the immigration issue. provides dreamland" the most definitive accounts and

details how mexicans pioneered a new model, decentralized and flooded our towns and cities with plaque tar heroin. a pourous border was the lynch opinion of that model. it allowed traffickers by police o re-enter the country and illegal labor. two, it allowed drug dealers imagining status in their towns by poise oining our people. insecure border allows massive amounts of drugs. make no mistake we are under chemical attack. the few deprains of salt could be lethal. and it could kill 26 million. securing the border is a matter of life and death, we have to

build a wall. this amendment will ensure that the president has the legal authority. give it back to the president and the american people and put the wall money in the funding bill. it is not going to happen under nancy pelosi. this is the bill and the body. and the american people can't afford any more delays. mr. meadows: the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. perry, for two minutes. mr. perry: thank you, mr. chairman and mr. speaker. we are here to talk about the promise we made to the american people and as the proud son of immigrants, migrate-grandmother escaped the child bride situation and just enough you skills to make it through. d we are a compassionate country who supports legal

immigration. and the one chance we have left to solve that border security is a bipartisan issue and not just about a wall or a fence, it's about stopping things like illegal immigration and human trafficking, seeing little girls sold into sex slavery is not a compassionate thing. is about the did he fer declining. and the average high school dropout makes 25 thourds and it has increased the amount of people through illegal imdepration. who is standing up for the working poor who were born in this country and abuse of. he people of pennsylvania paid $1.3 billion in taxes for education, incarceration and

senior citizens struggling to pay their taxes risk losing their homes. and there is the rise of the opioids crisis, 750% since the beginning of the year. i talked to my d.a.'s, that is e death a day due to the overdoses and potential for terrorism where our border patrol says they seize 10 terrorists a day. mr. speaker, regardless of those reasons, there is one more that is the most important and that is we made a promise to the american people to secure the border. nancy pelosi will not do this and the american people are counting on us to do what we do. and i'm advocating on the

funding package on the c.r. and have to say no. i yield. mr. meadows: i recognize the gentleman from ohio, mr. jordan. mr. jordan: everyone knows the old line. fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. we have to need a new one. fool the american people four times, shame on congress. remember what we did. in the omnibus and we are going to do it in september. then we get to september. wait a minute. we are not going to put it on this bill. and then december 7, wait a minute. we are not going to keep our promise and not put the funding border wall but do it on december 21. now they are talking about kicking to february 8.

you have got to be february 8. when nancy pelosi is speaker. we are supposed to believe we are going to build the security border wall. no way. four different times we promised something and then kicked the can down the road. september, march, december 7. you know when we should have done it? last week, last week, when the president of the united states stood in the oval office and told nancy, this is fine. this is nine. transparency is a good thing. let's do what we said and build a security you will what. instead of taking a six-day weekend. we should have passed it last week. i'm sick of the games. more importantly, the american people are sick of the games.

so let's just do, just like congressman perry said. we make this job, way, way too difficult. what you told the voters you were going to do, go do that. mr. speaker, tomorrow the freedom caucus, we have an amendment that says $5 mill of billion for the wall, fix the problem. common sense, basic amendment that everyone in this country needs to be done. and we didn't do it the four times before and now is the time to do it. let's do it this week. i appreciate the chairman's leadership and i appreciate his special order. we know what we got to do, let's just do it. . >> mr. speaker, i couldn't agree more. it's time that we fulfill the promises that the president made many months ago. and someone who has been key in that, who knows this problem better than most because he

represents a district in new mexico, the gentleman from new mexico, mr. pearce. pearce pearce i thank the gentleman for yielding -- mr. pearce: i thank the gentleman for yielding and thank the speaker. i do represent the second district of new mexico. that's the part of new mexico that lies on the border with mexico. make no mistake about it, this issue is one that is important to the entire nation. we're talking about a single subject and that is securing the border. that's all the discussion is about. the rest of the spending in the bill, maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong. but that's not part of the discussion. the discussion is, are we going to secure the border or not? the gentleman from ohio had it exactly right. that the president sat there and said, we are going to take this in front of the american people. he said, i'll take responsibility for it and we are going to have that discussion. but now then the speaker of this house has said we're not going to have the discussion. we came here as members of

congress to make important decisions. sometimes very weighty decisions. sometimes very hard decisions. frankly, this decision is not that hard. secure the border. that's it. that's all we're asking for from this institution and from our friends in the senate. but somehow we're finding that that's too hard an ask. the american people don't think it's too hard an ask. and it's not that it's a racial question, the second district of new mexico is 52% hispanic. 60% overall minority. they agree, no matter how they feel on immigration, no matter how they feel on amnesty, they agree that the border must be secure. they agree that we must know who's coming here and why they're coming here. as we watch the people gathered, there are concerns about exactly who makes up this group.

a secure border allows us to answer those questions. an open border does not allow us to know those questions. so i'm here tonight to stand with my friends in the freedom caucus to say to the speaker, to say to the leads that are we simply need to take this question up. we have the amendment. it's fairly straightforward. very simple. i support the amendment. i support the question. will we secure the border? the answer should be yes. i thank the gentleman again. i would yield back my time. mr. meadows: i thank the gentleman from new mexico. i recognize the gentleman from georgia, mr. hice. i thank my friend from north carolina. mr. speaker, -- mr. hice: i thank my friend from north carolina. mr. speaker, we know him that gration continues to be one of the most pressing issues we're -- that immigration continues to be one of the most pressing issues we're facing in our country today. the question of illegal immigration is not going away. in fact, it's growing, it's getting worse, it's getting more complex with each passing day. and congress has repeatedly failed to take any action whatsoever. and we have the opportunity now

in this spending bill to finally deliver results for the american people. again, something that we have not done over and over and over again. the department of homeland security reported that roughly, on an average, 2,000 illegal aliens are crossing our southern border every day. and now we learn from border patrol that in recent months there's been an increase of 90% attempted illegal individuals crossing our borders compared to this time last year. the border crisis is for real. it's time for us to act. the president has requested $5 billion. that's really not a whole lot of money compared to $1.3 trillion that we spend in discretionary spending every year. and look, the wall is not the whole answer. but it is the first step. because walls work. wherever there have been walls put in place, there's been a

great result produced. for example, a 92% drop in illegal traffic in san diego since a wall was there. 95% decrease in el paso. 90% decrease in tucson. walls work. look, there's other things we need to do. some practical steps. from closing the asylum loopholes and stopping chain migration, making e-verify mandatory. there's other things. but i hear right now the voice of millions of americans from my district and across the country, as we have all heard the chant, build the wall. build the wall. build the wall. and we're standing here tonight as a voice for millions of americans who feel like they've lost their voice in washington. and we are saying, it's time right now, build the wall. let's do it. i thank the gentleman and i yield back. mr. meadows: i thank the gentleman. i recognize the gentleman from south carolina, mr. norman, for two minutes. mr. norman: mr. speaker, i rise in support of this special order. you know, i walked in this

chamber tonight and i thought, this brings a new meaning to major in the minor. we've got something that is as important to this -- to the sovereignty of this country in securing our borders. and here we are at the last hour saying we're going to get out of here before friday, on something this important. you know, i was in line, getting some work done, and the president came on and he was saying, he challenged speaker pelosi, he challenged the senator. and he said, you know, bring the fight on. we're going to stay here. we're going to fund the wall. we're going to get the $5 billion. now we hear talk that maybe we won't. we're going to pass a continuing resolution for two months. i'm sick of it. obody can fund your business month by month by month. here we are advocating our constitutional obligations to

make this country sovereign. as has been said by mr. meadows and mr. jordan, drugs, all the things that come into this country, i am for immigration, but it's legal immigration. and we need to sit up here as long as it takes, if it's the next six months, sit up here until we get it. if we think we're going to get it when the gavel passes on january 3, it's not going to happen. i support what we're doing. now is the time for us to have a backbone finally. and support this country and make sovereign borders a law. fund it. you know, $5 billion, how did the previous administration get $153 billion to give to a rogue country? we can't come up with $5 billion ? it's sad to say the least. i support what we're doing. i support -- hopefully we can get this thing done. and sit up here. it's time to fight, mr. speaker. i yield back. mr. meadows: mr. speaker, may i inquire as to how much time we ave remaining?

the speaker pro tempore: 13 minutes. mr. meadows: thank you, mr. speaker. i recognize the gentleman from virginia, my good friend, mr. riffith. mr. griffith: thank you, mr. speaker. i will attempt to keep myself in check on the time. everybody knows we have to secure our border. and when we talk about building a wall, we're not just talking about bricks and mortar. we're talking about securing our borders with all devices available to us. whether that be drones, smart fences like they have in israel, where they protect 17 miles of their border with a fence that if something hits it they send people out to find out what's going on. we have to use all the tools in the tool box. and the $5 billion is just the start on what we need to do to protect all of our borders. but it's an important start. you know, we've heard about the drug crisis. and all of our districts are affected by it. a lot of people say in the

mountains of southwest virginia, why are you so concerned about this illegal immigration? let me tell you why. the mexican drug cartels are bringing meth into my district. they use it as a distribution area. they're the main supplier of that drug. and now that we've gotten opioids a little bit under control and we're starting to get that where it should be, the mexican cartels are our biggest problem, in the mountains of southwest virginia. it's important that we secure our borders, build the wall, protect the american people, protect our borders, protect our laws. i yield back. mr. meadows: i thank the gentleman. i recognize the gentleman from north carolina, my good friend, mr. budd. mr. budd: thank you, mr. chairman. i appreciate you yielding. we know our immigration system is broken and desperately in need of reform. no sovereign country in the world is scrutinized the way america is, just for simply wanting to secure our borders. for decades the united states

has taken in millions of immigrants. in fact, that number is about a million per year. and that's something we're going to continue to do. immigrants historically have been a major asset to the growth and the prosperity of our country. however, the issue before america is not legal immigration, but illegal immigration. it's interesting to me that throughout the years, democrats have supported, secure -- supported securing our borders. in 2006 the secure fence act was signed into law by president bush, authorizing 700 miles of border fence and $50 billion in total maintenance. that's a far stretch from the small $5 billion in comparison that president trump is asking for today. we should remember that the secure fence act passed through ngress with bold and broad democrat support. so in 2013, we should also remember that senator schumer himself sponsored a bill that

invested $46 billion in border security improvements. that add 700 miles of border fencing -- added 700 miles of border fencing. that's more than what president trump is currently asking for. what changed, mr. speaker, between now and then? simply politics. politics is the only thing that's changed. but to me, securing our country's borders and making sure people feel safe should be above politics. our mr. issa: agents and border patrol -- our i.c.e. agents and border patrol need the resources to do their job. it's hard to plug a leak when you're working with the wrong tools and the solution is simply to shut the water off at the source. in closing, i propose these questions to my friends across the aisle. if now is not the time to secure our border, then when is? if not today, then when? and where do we go from here? if we can't come together to solve a problem that both republicans and democrats know exist, i worry that our tribal political environment will hold the security of american citizens hostage for years to

come. i urge my democrat colleagues to turn back the clock and remember a time when putting the country first was more important than putting the party first. i thank the chairman for his friendship, for his time, and i yield back. mr. meadows: i thank the gentleman. i recognize the gentleman from alabama, mr. palmer, for a minute and a half. palm palm -- mr. palmer: thank you, mr. speaker. today i call on the body to fulfill its duty to protect the american people. our colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to claim that strengthening border security is preventing families from immigrating to the u.s. in reality, it's about protecting the american people by stopping the flow of dangerous individuals across the southern border. the department of homeland security secretary has confirmed that isis has produced written materials that encourage isis followers to cross our southwest border, given the loopholes that they are also aware of. and that on average her department now blocks 10 known

orment ised terrorists a day known or un g -- known terrorists a day from traveling into the united states. thanks to a fortunate tip in coordination between u.s. and panamanian law enforcement, individuals were stopped. this should be alarming to every american. especially concerning the dangerous individuals we may have missed and will continue to miss due to our lack of robust border security. i'm proud of the job our border patrol and law enforcement officers are doing to protect their country, and i urge my colleagues to do our duteduthy to protect the american people -- our duty to protect the american people from dangerous individuals, by taking border security seriously and fully funding the president's proposal for border security. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. mr. meadows: i thank the gentleman. i recognize the gentleman from texas, mr. cloud. mr. cloud: mr. speaker, tonight i speak to the humanitarian and

criminal crisis at our southern border. this crisis has been permitted to exist because of congress' failure to act. for over 30 years the american people have been promised results that they've -- but they've received empty promises. we know from history that our southern border wall works. this is not a new concept. where we've implemented a wall, we've seen great success in curbing illicit activity. our nation is a generous nation, one of the most diverse in the world. and our generosity is being taken advantage of by illegal cartels across our southern border. these cartels have created a humanitarian and criminal crisis that abuses the rule of law and costs innocent lives. cartels recruit and send migrants across our border, makes thousands of dollars a person in a strategy to tax our human resources and distract from our enforcement against drug trafficking. as representative of the 27th district of texas, the southern part of my district is just two hours from the border. i know the good men and women who serve on our southern border and they always prioritize life. cartels know this and take advantage of it.

failure to complete a southern border wall and loopholes in our asylum laws have created a magnet for illegal immigration. around 80% of asylum cases that go to a hearing are rejected by the judge as illegitimate. d.h.s. spokesman pointed out earlier this year that smugglers and traffickers understand our broken immigration laws better than most. the catch and release process, whereby migrants come into the country and are issued a day to appear in court, often years away, are released into the terior and it's driving this humanitarian crisis. isis reports that the number of migrants, including many women and children seeking entry, has increesd dramatically in recent years -- increased dramatically in recent years. they often find themselves at risk for assault, rape, kidnappings and robbery. tonight, mr. speaker, we're here advocating for the end to the humanitarian and criminal crisis on our southern border caused by congress' failure to act. this means ending the status

quo, funding border security and closing the loopholes in our broken asylum system. thank you. i yield back. >> may i inquire how much time i have left? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has three minutes. >> i yield a minute and a half to the the gentleman from texas. >> securing our border is a phrase we hear often in d.c. funding the wall is necessary and now sour chance to do it. many sections of our border cannot be secured without a wall and congress must act tone sure that it is built but bad policies like catch and release must be addressed by congress as well. take the recent quotes and actions from many migrants in he caravans.

these migrants were demanding entrance and job, waving foreign flags while burning ours. cursing our government and our president. and vowing that our laws mean nothing to them. are these people who share our aleengses? should we not demand a lawful immigration system so that we cab determine who we let in? it's not a secure border -- is not a secure board aeroprerequisite for that? there lubmenlts for illegally crossing our border. i co-sponsored the zero tolerance for illegal entry act. this would encourage asylum seekers to do so at legal points of entry. this should be a component of reform. this week in a story we've seen over and over, agents arrested people at border crossings with hundreds of pounds of meth. we made a promise to our constituents to build this wall. we must prioritize the interests

of the american people and i'm lling to fithe for this and hope that my colleagues are as well. i want to thank you for your leadership, mr. chairman. i yield. >> mr. speaker, as i close out this particular special order, i think it's appropriate for us to remind the american people that there is a bad case of potomac fever up here in washington, d.c. they forget what they promed the american people and yet what they must do is not forget this time. mr. president, we're going to back you up if you veto this -- back you up. if you veto this bill, we'll be there, more importantly the american people will be there. they'll be there to support you. let's build the wall and make sure we do our job in congress. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2017, the chair recognizes the gentleman from virginia, mr. garrett, for 30 minutes.

mr. garrett: thank you, mr. speaker. someone please wake me up, i hink i'm having a nightmare. what if i told you that in the middle east now there's a place where christians and muslims, arabs and kurds and assyrians all azidis, women and men, sit together at the same table as the result of the beginnings where mocratic process tolerance and pluralism is a we've seen nd where

safety, security, and prosperity emerge from the ashes of one of the most horrific conflicts of the modern age? what if i told you that what if i told you a foreign state actor spent $10 million a month to our reckoning to influence thought in washington, d.c. alone to tell lies about this fledgeling, tolerant democracy in the middle east? what if i told you the very iranian regime that took the lives of american women and men the battlefield in iraq was celebrating right now, along with vladimir putin and bashar al-assad and turkey's knee yow ottoman fascist everyday wan?

i can tell you -- erdogan? i can tell you all those things because they're true. someone please wake me up, i think i'm having a nightmare. i just spent my thanksgiving and two weeks of my life a lot of money, a lot of time, away from with brave o meet multiple ning like the first continental congress have the recognition of exactly no foreign governments as a legitimate emerging government, who are different from you and me only by virtue of the happenstance of fay -- happenstance of fate that they would be born somewhere as opposed to another place. who have quite literally shed the life blood of their children on battlefields that most

americans have never heard from, mimbaj,in and darsur to to rablus. people who fought and bled and died in homes that their in the had inhabited jaze; era provings, who were the toich president trump's spear in rooting out the combat components of a radical war painful ideology embodied dideash or isis. and -- embodied by deash or isis and today without warning we said, good luck. the syrian democratic council is not a kurdish experiment in north and eastern syria. it's an experiment that was largely started by kurds, yes, but it's an experiment that includes men and women from across the ethnic and religious diversity of the region.

what we read about in any publication that comes out of turkey which has about the worst press freedom on the planet is how the p.k.k. has been engaged in terrorist activity against turkey and anyone affiliated by the -- with the p.k.k. is somehow a terrorist. folks, this is not true. i met with everyone from chief executives down to city councils and when you go to the area where the city down -- where the bulge of the population is arab, the city council is arab. when you go to jazeera the leadership is kurdish and christian, it's male and female. and this chamber that we stand in, in this venerated body, exists not only because of the blood and sweat and tears of innumerable americans not only in the revolution, throughout our history but also because foreigners were willing to stand up in support of an idea. that was freedom and

self-determination. lafayette. von steuben. german, polish, french. and yet again we betray those who have shed their blood to advance american policy. don't make the commitment to begin with. it's one thing to learn that the united states has equivocated on its policy and people died. it's another thing to learn that the united states is equivocating on policy and people with whom you've broken bread are about to die. i told them when i was there, i'm here on my own time, i do not formulate american policy, i happen to be a member of congress but by god i will stand up and be heard so that you might have the right that was bequeeted -- bequeathed to you not by a political administration anywhere but by god to live free of fear. to sleep soundly in your ancestral home.

20 worship or not worship as you hoose. eunissa, the name of the town where by happenstance the syrian government has put some functions of its government. it translates to the eyes of christ. you can't make this up. in my entire life, i have been i ud of the one in 26 luck had to slip from the womb, the son of tom and lois garrett in the commonwealth of virginia, born in georgia, in the greatest country on the face of the planet. but how many times must we muck up the end game? the blood letting in cambodia

and laos. the purges in iraq after 1991. the betrayal of the kurds in 1985. e ignoring of vindictive revenge killings in 2004. the encouragement and then withdrawal in 2017. ironically, mr. speaker, the russians are far more loyal riends than the americans are. i just -- it's beyond me. somebody wake me up, i'm having a nightmare. and to say that isis is defeated is that was our sole mission at the very least to exhibit a complete lack of understanding of what's going on on the

ground. stood on the frontlines near jarablus by a building that was shot up that day by the free syrian army who we funded at a military postmanned by people of various ethnicities. and the free syrian army did this while the turkish military watched. iranians seek to build a land bridge to the mediterranean. his billion la is a wholly owned subsidiary and is the only terrorist organization i know of that's taken human life on every single inhabited continue tent. australia, europe, africa, south america, north america, we're just opening up the door. 87 people were killed in car sur province within 24 hours on

either side of the time i visited. this wasn't a long time ago. this was thanksgiving. this fight is long from over. frankly if i'm an isis recruiter, the idea to suggest that look the americans are leaving will only strengthen their position. so let me make this metaphor, mr. speaker. we have a patient, that patient is syria. it's stricken with four cancers. there's the regime in russia. there's turkey. there's iran. and there's isis. we have just eradicated the bulk of one cancer, dropped the scalpel, left the surgery room, declared that the patient is ealed. candidly, the people in northeast syria would be far better off if we'd have never come to help. because the brave women and men who stood up to lead a democratic movement have identified themselves for ex-perm nation.

i sad down with the military council with an individual who my understanding was attacked with an i.e.d. the next day and we've declared victory. this was two week, three weeks ago. so let me be clear and let me counter some prop began dafment when the only people celebrating this decision are turkey, iran, and russia, it might be a bad ecision. and when you hear that the syrian democratic council and the forces in north and eastern syria are kurds, that defies the reality on the ground. the reality that i saw. and the people with whom i spoke. the definition of insanity, mr. speaker, is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result. let me tell you what i know so that a month from now i can say, see, i told you sew, and maybe, maybe i'll have -- i told you so, and maybe, maybe i'll have

hat. because four million plus or minus people in turkey won't have their homes. turkey is going into that area. they've been telling fuss months we have to get the kurds out of there. the kurds aren't controling that area. the democratic forces which includes some kurds are in that area, but they're out. this is like post-world war ii japan or germany saying you need to get the african-american sole juries -- soldiers out of behr rain. it's ray racist on its face, and nobody in the decision making scheme decided to figure out the truth. the turks are going in. what will that look like? we know what happened in afrin. they p fly the turkish flag over the courthouses. they changed the street signs.

to honor ottoman sultans. i can show you video, mr. speaker, of a paramilitary police force raising their right hands in a hitleresque absolute -- salute shouting long live erdogan in turkish. this is on syrian soil. the children are educated in a different language and the hospital in akron which used to have a sign outside in kurdish and arabic now has a sign in turkish. they said when turkey came in and rooted out isis we looked through field glasses the next tai and lo and behold the same people that were there the day before in isis uniformed were there in uniforms sanctioned by turkey. by the way, ejust learned we're ing to spend -- or sell $3.5 million of patriot missile batteries to turkey to go along with the fighters they can use

o bomb iraq. this is insanity. this is insanity. i'm not anti-this administration. i'm not anti- this president. i'm anti-foolish policy that will cost human lives, that will be perpetuated and exacerbated by foolish foreign policy which preceded it. i'm not suggesting we attack anybody. i'm suggesting we don't turn and walk away. people who depended upon us and took us at our word are going to die. and we're worried about what we get for christmas. mean, i don't have words. so, mr. speaker, i don't know what more i can do.

but i will not stop. with great power comes great responsibility. contrary to what some people might say we live in a great nation. ur policy sucks. and to walk away from commitments that we made because it's politically convenient is beyond shameful. this matters. this matters. iran is giddy. erdogan is giddy. the russians have pumped us to .se the jargon of the day nd the band played on. i don't know. i don't know. i don't know. somebody wake me up. 'm having a nightmare.

i mean, i represent the citizens of the fifth district of virginia. and i love them. i love my district. but i value human life. and i believe that if we make commitments, we should keep them. and if human life is lost because we can't keep our word, we need to take a long, hard look at exactly who we are. mr. speaker, with that, i would yield my time, the balance of my time, to the gentleman from exas, mr. gohmert. mr. gohmert: i just want to applaud my friend as he efforts on behalf of -- friend's efforts on behalf of people that have counted on us. the two weeks you spent over there have been invaluable to the people that were counting on us. some of that time was spent with a dear friend. but at this time i would like to

recognize, yield, to my friend, glenn grothman, congressman grothman, for such time as he may use. mr. grothman: i'll just take main of your time. just to follow up on what congressman garrett just said. it seems to me in my lifetime, while i'm not an expert on foreign affairs, there have been good things the united states has done and bad things. but the worst things are when people who are counting on us, people that we kind of set up d relied on us, we decide to leave them to whatever will happen. i think in particular, much bigger thing is when we stop funding stopped people in vietnam. obviously during the obama administration, leaving iraq, left all sorts of people who were our friends. created a huge vacuum. i'm just very afraid today and i encourage president trump to

reconsider the decision to withdraw what troops we do have in the syrian area. because we have a lot of allies who felt they could count on the united states who i'm afraid now other left to whatever forces in the region, who are , t friendly to western values left to whatever they want to do with them. i hope that is being taken into account right now. i give the remainder of my time ack to representative gohmert. mr. garrett: mr. speaker, i would yield such time as he may desire to the gentleman from maine, mr. poliquin. mr. poliquin: thank you, mr. garrett, very much. thank you, mr. speaker, for this opportunity to address the house. mr. speaker, it is the responsibility of the united

states house of representatives, this body, and also the united states senate, to protect our families. there is nothing more important as dictated by the united states constitution than to protect our families. mr. speaker, we have one heck of a problem on our southwest border with mexico. in california, new mexico and arizona. we have a very dangerous and a very unhealthy situation just on the other side of the fence. in particular now with mexico. now, i'm asking the president tonight, if he is watching, mr. president, please publicly ask the house republicans, while we are still in the majority, please, mr. president, ask us to pass a real strong border -- border security and immigration bill. we did this several months ago. goodlatte-mccaul 1 as they

called it got 193 votes, mr. president. it had everything that you want. your four pillars and a heck of a lot more. why in the world do we want to negotiate for peanuts when you an have the whole ball of wax? goodlatte 1, goodlatte-mccaul 1 has $25 billion, mr. speaker. $25 billion for border security, including the wall where necessary. $25 billion. not $5 billion of the $25 billion over five years. -- not $5 billion. $25 billion over five years. it reins in chain migration and reforms the asylum process. it is more than the president wants. this will happen, mr. speaker, only if the president of the united states publicly asks house republicans to pass this bill or something really close

to it. the votes are there. mr. president, over the past two weeks i have talked to every single member of the republican conference. 235 members of the house, i've spoken to every single one, except about five or six. we have the votes to do this. it is not too late, but it's getting late. and i'll tell you, after the democrats take control of this body, they have told us what they will bring or try to bring to your desk. it will not be what you want. it will not be what america wants. it will be some form of open borders, sanctuary cities and amnesty. there is no better deal. there is no longer an opportunity to hold out for a better deal. we have the votes to pass

goodlatte-mccaul 1 or something really close to it. but i ask the president, he must publicly ask the house to do it. that will give all of our members or enough of our members the support they need to vote for it, and it will cause leadership to act. again, why would we want to negotiate for peanuts when we can get the whole ball of wax? thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate it very much. thank you, mr. garrett, very much, for yielding time. i yield back. mr. garrett: mr. speaker, i would yield such time as he may desire that i have remaining to the gentleman from texas, mr. gohmert. mr. gohmert: thank you. mr. speaker, how much time does remain? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has eight minutes. mr. gohmert: all right. thank you. i just want to thank my friend, tom garrett. i mean, on his way out and he cares so deeply about this

country and this country's allies, that he would put his life at risk and go and spend time with another american hero, in fact, dave yubanks is a hero and he's someone who has dedicated his life as a driftian, as an american -- as a christian, as an american to trying to make the lives of others in the world better. and i thank my friend, congressman garrett, for that time. we shouldn't turn our back on our friends. sometimes it seems that mr. erdogan is not our friend. but we certainly have had a tremendous amount of friendship and lives lost in the kurdish community, standing up for us, ith us, in defense of freedom. that's important. i also want to address the issue

of the wall on our southern border. it appears clear, since we lost over 70,000 american lives last year, that's more than all of the precious american lives we lost in the whole time of the vietnam war, and we lost those n one year from drugs. most of that coming across our southern border in the form of opiates, others, including fentanyl. coming from mexico. so, yeah, if you want to see another 70,000 americans die again next year, let's -- you don't want a wall, let's not build a wall. if you would like to have illegal aliens continue pouring into this country, in hopes that

you have that they'll be able to vote illegally, you don't want a wall. even though you supported one in the past. you don't want one now. because you may get those votes. if you can stop a wall from being built. if you want mexico to remain as a country with so much incredible potential, whose people are suffering, and keep the people of certain america suffering at the hands of the drug cartels, you don't want a wall. because if we build a wall where we need it, you build a fence where we need it, you totally secure the border, what happens? the money by the tens of billions pouring in to the drug cartels south of the border dries up. that means the corruption in mexico and south of there dry up. that means mexico with its incredible national resources,

the natural resources of that nation are incredible. its location for commerce is even better than the united states. it sits between two continents, it sits between two oceans. its potential is unlimited. but what limits it is the corruption from the drug cartels that america is continuing to fund. so you want that to continue, yeah, you don't want a wall. our elected leaders in the house and the senate, the republican elected leaders in the house and senate, we're not in favor of a wall or total border security. in the last election, in 2016. and it was unfortunate. the president knew and heard the voice of the american people and

he echoed it. but that's why back in september of this year at our conference, and know it wasn't popular and people didn't like me saying it, but i had to make clear, it was clear to me. if we don't get money for a wall, then the people, the voters that put president trump in the white house will not come out in the same numbers and we will not likely remain in the majority. said it two weeks in a row. and the response was to cancel that last week of votes before the election. we didn't fund the wall. we said, oh, let's wait until december. my comment then was, this will be my 14th december in congress and i have lived through 13 where we were told, we'll fight in december, and we have to fight in december. now is the time -- i know people want to go home of the i want to go home -- home.

i want to go home. but this is a our chance to protect america for our future. let's help the president keep our promise. let's help him keep our promise. i know the speaker and the majority leader were not big on this two years ago. but most of america heard commercials from our majority leader saying, help kevin mccarthy and president trump build the wall. well, now we need americans to help remind our republican leaders, to help our president build the wall like we said. if that doesn't happen, i don't think the senate can count on being back in the majority, they won't be. it's that serious. i've heard the feeling in the senate among republican, let's don't do reconciliation so we'd only have to pass the money for a wall with 50, 51 votes. let's do -- we don't want to do

that. if you don't do that, get money passed for the wall, you're not coming back in the majority. maybe enjoy the minority. get used toyota. that's where you're heading in two years. it doesn't have to be that way. we can still have the white house in 2020. we can still have a majority in the senate in 2020. we can get the majority back in the house in 2020. but if we drop the ball on this biggest campaign promise, we're not going to have the majority in either house or the white house and that, to quote my friend from houston, my fellow former judge, that's the way it is. i yield back. mr. garrett: mr. speaker, very quickly back to syria, if anyone tells you this is turks vs. rds, they should tell sheikh

anbar who fights alongside arabs and kurds. this is not a kurdish experiment. it's a human experiment. it's an experiment in democracy. we made a commitment, we should keep our word. mr. speaker, if anyone is watch, i hope they'll contact their political leaders and ask them to stop the sale of patriot missiles and f-35's to the aggressive turks and i hope they'll know the iranian military, the iranian military is on the ground in syria right now everywhere in the form of the irgc except the place that we're about to abandon. mr. speaker, i thank you. i thank the men and women across the world who stand up for the basic idea that all people are endowed by their creators with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman yield. mr. gare wet sp -- mr. garrett: i yield and entertain a motion -- or make a

motion. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess subject to the call of through february 8. report this evening have said some senators have objected to the vote because we authorize in the land and conservation fund was left out of that package. worked onshould be tonight in the senate and could come to the floor of the house

as early as tomorrow. >> when the new congress takes office in january, it will have the youngest, most diverse freshman class in recent history. new congress, new leaders. watch it live on c-span, starting january 3. >> the federal reserve announced short-termaise interest rates by another .25%. pathials signaled a milder of rate increases over the next year. we will have that press conference with jerome powell in 45 minutes. right now, paul ryan gives his farewell speech, delivered at the library of congress. he was introduced by his friend and colleague, trey gowdy, of south carolina. owdy: thank you. paul ryan has been a fight presidential candidate, chairman of the budget