they have done it before. host: the house is coming in next. morning speeches, legislative business. we will see you tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. december 5, 2019. i hereby appoint the honorable henry cuellar to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2019, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leader leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between parties. at all time shall be equally allocated between the parties and in no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. each member other than the majority and minority leaders and minority whip shall be limited to five minutes.

the chair recognizes the honorable gentleman from texas, mr. green, for five minutes. thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, and still i rise. with my pneumonic notes. and still i rise, mr. speaker, i rise because i love my country and because i love my country i do not rise with any schaudenfoider. i take no pleasure in what this house is about to do. i'm not gleeful. i rise because i believe that we must do what dr. king called to our attention when he said that on some issues you must do that which is neither safe, nor

politic, nor popular. you do it because conscience tells you it's the right thing to do. i rise to announce that i believe that we are about to do the right thing. and i know that we are doing the right thing for a multipolicity of reasons, one of which is -- multiplicity of reasons, one of which is you cannot allow a chief executive officer to send a letter of absolute detractable defiance indicating there will be no level of cooperation with the lawful, constitutional body that is investigating actions. actions taken by the president. you cannot allow this kind of recals transto exist because if you do there are no rails. we cannot allow a president to move through the land without guardrails. he has to know that there are

boundaries. so i rise to say today that this house is moving in a historic direction. that when it is written across the pages of time that this house took the action that i believe it will take, i think we will all find that it was the right thing to do. i rise also to say this, the constitution allows a president to be impeached more than once. if we impeach now, or some time in the near future, for one issue, that we dearly should, then we find later that the president has other issues that merit impeachment, we can impeach again. there is no limit on the number of times. i don't think you do it needlessly. every time i call it to the attention of this house there was purpose and reason behind it, and i believe that we can do it more than once, if it becomes necessary.

i think the senate ought to act. i think the senate ought to convict. but if the senate does not convict, it does not mean that the house is now hamstrung and cannot move forward again with impeachment. of country and heart, and i rise understanding that dr. king was imminently correct. there are times when we must do that which is neither safe nor politic nor popular. we do it because it's the right thing to do. i rise because i believe we are embarking upon the right course for this house and for our history. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from north carolina, ms. foxx, for five minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, while still more work needs to be done to

confront our nation's challenges with opioids, i'm pleased to report that my home state of north carolina is working to stem the tide and has witnessed a drop in opioid overdoses. in my district, surrey count -- surry county and health care professionals, first responders and addiction counselors deserve recognition as contributing to the county, witnessing a drop of over 75% in open road-related emergency room visits within the last year. -- opioid-related emergency room visits within the last year. this comes as we implement one of the most significant bills that congress passed last year, the comprehensive support for patients and communities act. i helped introduce that legislation with bipartisan colleagues and i'm glad to report that the bill is achieving its goal in stemming the tide of addiction by

improving prevention and public health efforts. enhancing treatment and recovery programs, and providing communities more tools in their fight. again, mr. speaker, more work needs to be done to confront our nation's challenges with opioids, but congress laid the groundwork for this work to be done at this state and local level with the passage of support for patients and communities act. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the virgin islands, ms. plaskett, for five minutes. ms. plaskett: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. plaskett: thank you. mr. speaker, i wanted to spend my five minutes to tell a story. a history story from the virgin islands. this month and for the next six months in the virgin islands we

commemorate a historic fight for freedom and autonomy. on a small 20-square mile island of st. john, one of the earliest and longs lasting slave rebelons began on november 23, 1733. this rebellion was preceded by uncomparable conditions that slaves were living in on the identifyland of st. john and the virgin islands. conditions were devastating. the life expectancy of slaves in the virgin islands never went above the age of 30 years old. and this rebellion was caused by a drought and plague of insects that placed 1,000 people of st. john at risk of starvation. this caused an unprecedented amount of slaves to run away, what we call on the island, marooning. living in the bush. this led to the vicious and inhumane slave code of 1733, the new rules threatened amputation, breaking on the

wheel, burning alive, and other brutal punishment for those who ran away. this then led to 150 slaves all of whom were part of the tribe from ghana to begin an uprising. they hoped to turn st. john into a controlled state. on the evening of november 23, fort aves entered the with bundles of wood. soldiers eded to kill n the it island. the governor under pressure sent troops, sent soldiers to st. john who were then also destroyed. the next tense week saw guerrilla style warfare between troops and the rebels. afraid that they would spread to the nearby island of tort

olla, they were quickly dispatched. again, john maddux, a privateer, made a deal with the danish officials to aid the quelling st. john. he, too, was not successful. william, an owner of a plantation who is in disrepute with the danes made -- attempted to lure slaves on to a ship, the owners of the -- organizers of the rebellion and told them that they would give them food and support if he would come on the ship. they did not fall for the trickery and he also was dispatched. john maddux and others. it wasn't until the spanish armada anti-french came that this rebellion was able to be quelled in 1734. almost six months later. with it many were jailed, some were sent to st. croix to work to death with what they decided to give to them. and many also decided not to go

back into slavery and jumped off of a cliff on the island to their death. but to freedom. this, 150th on the island of st. john where some of the first african-american people in the americas to have a sense of freedom as a volatile and short-lived as it might have been. it is important to acknowledge, however, for the majority of enslaved people on the island of st. john, st. thomas, and st. croix neither outcome would lead to freedom. the enslaved people on the island and the rest of the danish west indies would ultimately wait another 104 years for a next rebellion for their freedom to come. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. hompson, for five minutes. mr. thompson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, recently i had the pleasure of traveling back to pennsylvania's 15th congressional district to celebrate the careers of three

dedicated public servants in centre county. last month centre county treasurer and the controller served their last day at the center counttry courthouse and began their much deserved retirements. rick began his term as treasurer in january of 2000. has worked diligently over the past two decades overseeing every penny received and disbursed by centre county, including hunting permits and fishing licenses, as well as overseeing bids for county contracts. chuck has spent 15 years in public service in center cort county having worked as a deputy controller for under four years before being elected as county controller. he's exhibited fantastic leadership that includes overseeing the county ledger, seeing the budget is adhered to and completing the audit and more. this week clerk of course

deborah will be serving her last day at the white house as well. she began her career in 1976 as the department clerk and quickly rose to the ranks of deputy perfontary. she was elected to her current position in 1999 and served in the county government ever since. mr. speaker, together these individuals were given -- have given more than 90 years of service to centre county, and they worked hard to make centre county a better place to live. i'd like to congratulate rich and chuck and deborah on their retirements and wish them all the best in their new life chapter. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina, mr. cunningham, for five minutes. mr. cunningham: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to honor the life of long time summerville high school football coach, hall of famer, john mckissic, who passed away on thanksgiving

day. coach was the greatest high school football coach our country has ever seen. in fact, he held the record for the most wins of any football coach anywhere at any single level. over the course of his 62-year career, he led the green wave to 10 state championships and 621 wins. coach was a mentor and a father figure to thousands of student athletes. in total, he coached over 5,000 young men throughout his career. i had the honor of attending his funeral earlier this week and i got to meet several of his former players. many in their 50's, 60's, 70's, and even 80's. they told me about the incredible impact he had on their lives. he famously told his players that it's not about the x's and o's, it's about the jims and

joes. he called his players his boys. he treated them like family because they were. and that feeling was mutual. it is impossible to imagine high school football or summerville without him. but his amazing legacy will live on forever. may god bless his family, his friends, and former players, and the entire summerville community. thank you for everything, coach. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from south carolina, mr. norman, for five minutes. mr. norman: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the heroic actions by members of the newberry fire department. on march 1, 2019, the alpha shift comprised of captain andrew moss, lieutenant brian beck, senior engineer benning begin dukes, firefighter richard dornan, and volunteer

firefighter barry brown were working a wreck on the third street when they received an urgent call of a hit-and-run incident on lewis rich road. they responded to the call and found the victim of the hit-and-run completely unresponsive. the firefighters immediately performed c.p.r. on the victim, as a result of these actions the person gained a pulse and began breathing. . t resulted in a life being saved. and in the words of the late british prime minister, winston following. said the there are times when doing one's best is not good enough. required.o what is the brave firefighters of new -- newbury's fire department did what was required as a result, a life was saved. i yield back. the peaker pro tempore: chair recognizes the gentlewoman

from ohio, ms. fudge, for five minutes. fudge: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, today i rise to congratulate being feldman for executive director of the cuyahoga library. tenure at the -- she egan her tenure at the ohio library, later serving as deputy director. executive was named director of the cuyahoga library where she oversaw one of the country's busiest public libraries for 16 years. s. feldman's leadership was instrumental to strengthening the libraries across cuyahoga ensuring they were prepared to engage and serve the throughout the 21st century. uring her time as executive director, she had a capital

for the nt program library and navigated the without reducing hours or service. rom 2015 to 2016, ms. feldman also served as the president of the american library testament to her imports not only to northeast nation. to the entire we thank you, ms. feldman, for your enduring leadership, gags to and dead engaging and empowering -- engaging and empowering the cuyahoga community. y congratulations to her successor, tracy, the new the tive director to cuyahoga library. continue to will advance cuyahoga county public library's mission of being at of community life where reading, life-long learning, and civic engagement thrive. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman texas, mr. conaway, for five minutes. mr. conaway: thank you, mr. speaker. nation's motto of in god we trust is inscribed in the wall above our heads. the word trust is typically defined as to have confidence, someone or pe in something. in this case, it's obviously trust in god. confidence, our faith, our hope in god requires we know something about god. by knowledge is gained reading and studying the inspired word of god which is, bible.se, the god revealed himself in the pages of the bible and to trust means we also trust his teachings as revealed in the bible. a ng those teachings is prescription for the way we should lead our lives, the way and ould treat each others rely on his god and his teachings to in fact trust in him. a n adams wrote that only moral and religious people can self-govern. in my opinion, the morals in are laids referring to out in god's teachings, both in

he old testament and new testament of the bible. almost every day we hear someone sk for god's blessing on our nation. the next time you hear for our ne to ask god to bless ask is it need to about our nation that is blessable? 61 million lling of babies in the last 50 years? the ranker that permeates discourse? his causes me to fear that we are on the verge of being an unblessable nation. the nation people, of israel, would stray so far he would eachings subject them to awful events and terrible circumstances to cause them to turn their hearts back them. i believe that we are on that same destructive path. we must ask ourselves, what to turn our nation's heart back to god? there is no legislative fix for this problem. a blessable nation must start in part of each and

to return to s, the moral high ground that allowed our nation to prosper blessings, we need to have a moral code to live by. judeo christian word. is my personal savior. i try to live by him every day. on others.ed we must live this by truth, not engs.e we can start by claiming god's promise to the nation of israel second chronicle 7:14 who areys, if my people called by my name will ufsher themselves, pray, seek my face, their wicked ways -- emphasis on wicked ways -- then i'llhear them from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. each of us individually and our whole has never needed that promise more than we need it today. mr. speaker, we should renew in ur hearts every day our nation's motto, in god we trust.

and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman lawrence, gan, mrs. for five minutes. more than 200 years ago, the delegates of the constitutional convention philadelphia to help chart a path forward for the united states nt of america. framers iberation, the established a system of overnment with three equal branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial. of checks the system and balances to ensure no single power.had too much after years of control by a framers ower, our understood the importance of no -governance and ensuring monarch could once again rule over our country. more than 200 years since

the ratification of our constitution, our democracy faces a constitutional crisis framers never could have imagined. office of the president of the states, the most powerful yielded in the world immense influence with the inectation to use that power a principled manner. approachthat principal has since vanished as the oval est consumes office in the pursuit of that self-interest. compromised t has our national security by ithholding critical military assistance to ukraine. military assistance approved by congress, the legislative branch, to provide assistance to their sovereignty and aggression.ian that same system of checks and

alances described in the constitution over 200 years ago attack.nder the president, as well as an ers of congress, we take oath of office when stepping our this amazing place of republic to be leaders in our preserve, protect, to and defend the constitution of as long as we es hold this office. s part of that oath, it's my constitutional duty to protect the constitution from all our own even within government. this june, i announced my upport for the house of representatives to begin an inquiry, and the six months since then, with new etailed revealed weekly and daily, my support for the house impeachment inquiry has never stronger.

the fact that this president has eopardized our national security to effect an election, not e is above the law, even the president. on tuesday, the house permanently select committee on to approve a oted comprehensive report outlining regarding ukraine and the obstruction of justice. the wo weeks last month, american people heard various the accounts hare of the president and things that in our pening government. as an african-american, i stand today, mr. chair, and i'm to sensitive to any action vote.s my right to my history as an african-american in this country alert.me to be very furthermore, the report's

concerted effort of deny ite house to subpoenas for documents, the right the supreme court has affirmed the congressional process. during the constitutional noted ion, it has been that madison rose and asked his two questions, should above justice? shall that man be above it who can commit the most extensive injustice? with great power comes great responsibility. that responsibility has been ignored and has demonstrated in our office of the president that the self-interest and not that which is the interest of the american people. speaker congress will be tasked for making a decision alter the ikely

course of history. however, taking evidence into this is not a difficult decision. when history looks back, i'll be of the members of congress served and oath, who oted to protect, preserve, and defend the constitution of the united states. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky, mr. comer, for five minutes. rise mer: mr. speaker, i today in special recognition for friends, lynn and ole from kentucky for their outstanding contributions to their local community and beyond. marks their retirement and i want to congratulate them both for many decades of success. and sam met while attending

veterinary school at auburn university. 1984 and bought he trigg county veterinary clinic. while practicing veterinary edicine, they also managed 160-acre farm they called riverview west. and quickly attle rose to prominence among the cattle industry. exhibiting cattle became passions for lynn and sam influence in heir the agriculture community. rom 1986 to 1991, lynn served as kentucky junior association advi i was many of her mentes. was active in many organizations over the years, to f.h.a. to -h the kentucky veterinary medical association. sam served on the farm bureau directors and the trigg county health department board. provided the sam

veterinaryith honest medicine until 2019. their clinic sold in february began a hard-earned and much-deserved retirement. in the words of those who know best, the colefields are staples in the community and areas.ded countless can tell how they cared for their pets and beginning to end. the colefields let no obstacle providing m from topnot topnotch medical care whether in hours of the morning or in the cold rains, the hand.elds lent a i want to congratulate dr. lynn nd sam colefield for their career and retirement. thank you for being exceptional leaders in the first congressional district of kentucky. i rise to , today recognize the work of the kentucky magistrate and commissioner's association

headquartered in frankfurt, kentucky. the association provided over 500 new pairs of shoes to schools. the shoes were delivered to my school, and my former hofrp kinsville -- elementary.le their actions make me proud to epresent one of its six congressional districts. i want to particularly thank kmcs, members of the rom the monroe county fiscal court. jamie, ricky, ricky graves, mark, in addition to county mitchell paige. i also want to thank my good friend, j.c. young, executive of the kentucky magistrate's and commissioner's ssociation for spear heading the effort. no child should worry they might leave the house without adequate ootwear and because of the actions of the kentucky

magistrate's and commissioner's ssociation, monroe county's most vulnerable are better off only a an they were short few weeks ago. once again, i want to thank the choosing monroe county they have. sacrifice re applauded.a i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from indiana, mr. pence, for five minutes. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. pence: thank you, mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate the new palestine high school football team for winning the indiana high school class a football state championship. this marks the second year in a row the dragons have gone undefeated. i applaud coach kyle ralph who his as an 88-4 record in

seventh season tenure. i also congratulate the whole team for their hard work and this fantastic accomplishment. congratulations to all the dragon nation. mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate the eastern hancock high school cheerleading squad for winning the indiana cheer division d state championship. after placing fourth at the semistate competition, the royals returned to the state competition for a victorious first place win. the royal cheerleading squad has displayed dedication, hard work, and shear talent. they have made the sixth district very proud. thank you. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize community high

school's agriculture teacher and f.f.a. advisor greg schneider. greg was recently awarded the honorary american f.f.a. degree through his commitment to the advancement of ag education. the degree recognizes those who have gone beyond valuable daily contributions to make a positive difference in the lives of their students. congratulations to greg who has inspired confidence in a new generation of farmers. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the shelbyville central school special education coordinator, chris baker, for winning a prestigious education award. chris' work has earned her the 2019 early career special education administrator award. baker won the award for her

dedication to autism education and assistive technology at earlywood kearnl services. -- educational services. thank you for the work you have done to those in need and congratulations for this honor. mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate analytical engineering of columbus and the may family for receiving the gold hire veterans medallion award from the u.s. department of labor. this marks the second year in a row that analytical engineering inc, has earned this esteemed award. they were one of only 12 companies in indiana to win this ahard by hiring and retaining veterans. as a beirut veteran myself, i appreciate companies like analytical engineering for taking care of those who served our country.

mr. speaker, i rise today to urge my democratic colleagues to stop playing political games and send the ndaa to president trump's desk. the ndaa has been a bipartisan piece of legislation that we as congress have passed for 58 straight years. the ndaa is esection for our men and women -- essential for our men and women in uniform and national defense strategy. now in the final hour, house democrats want to wedge partisan policies into this bill. as democrats continue to divide congress over nondefense issues, they playwright into the hands of our enemies. i ask my colleagues to stop indulging in this political theet earn pass the ndaa. mr. speaker, i yield back the alance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house

in recess until noon toda host: speaker pelosi is coming up. pelosi: where the founders began in 1776. in the course of human