objection. mr. sessions: i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: i rise in support of the rule and underlying resolution. it provides for the 1529. ration of h.r. this will extend government funding until march 23, 2018, while simultaneously funding the department of defense for a full year this ill en-- this will ensure our nation's defense, pay for our proud service men an women who will no longer be in jeopardy for ongoing decisions of funding for long-term spending caps. mr. speaker, we just have come off of rules committee where we had a hearing for several hours where we detailed not only the parts of this bill but also the agreement and disagreement about -- as between the two parties.

i want you to know i'm pleased to report today, rules committee favorably reported out this bill and we will be talking about the substance of that today. i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from new york is ecognized. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. i wasn't quite ready but i thank my friend for yielding me the customary 30 minutes and yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. slaughter: i'm sorry i can't support this continuing resolution today. the great government of the united states of america that's been called the last, best hope of man cannot be funded in traunches of maybe two weeks to three weeks. this is the fifth continuing resolution that we have done since the 30th of september. that's an atrossfi. i don't think of any, any

legislative body anywhere, totally unable to do its job. and as sorry as i am to say it, because of my great respect and affection for my fellow members, i don't believe this majority is capable of governing. we are two days before the shutdown of the government of the united states, before it closes for business. late last night, about 2:00 in the morning was it? 10:00 p.m., that's better than i thought, late last night they finally released the details of this short-term spending bill. we'll be back here, as soon as this one expires, doing yet another one. we are five months into the fiscal year. and this is the majority's fifth continuing resolution. we are virtually in the same position today as we were on september 8, december 7, december 21, january 18, and when this chamber passed the prior continuing resolution.

the majority isn't learning from any of this. they just keep repeating those mistakes. like the bill before it, this proposal was written by and for the majority. let me repeat. the democrats had virtually no say in this. and once again it ignores millions of priorities and we all agree need to be addressed. providing adecisional disaster relief after a storm season that saw historic wildfires, hurricanes, mudslides, three rail wrecks in two weeks. with fatalities. certainly proving to us if we didn't know it already, that our neglect of railroads, bridges and infrastructure of the united states is a mess. but saving america's endangered pensions is also a priority. extending additional health access for our veterans certainly is. not just priority but an

obligation. but what's included here is woefully inadequate. the bill pays for extending community health centers, which is very important to me, let me hasten to add, by eviscerating funding for one of the most important parts of the affordable care act that keeps people well. the prevention fund. the fund focuses on it expands access to vaccines and reduesing the lead poisoning. while we are facing the worst flu epidemic. i have heard a lot of talk about prioritizing the national defense. we don't take a back seat on our side to anybody who loves and respects the people who defend us, who every day, through an

all-volunteer military who stand on the libe -- line for us. this bill does not raise the sequester level of spending caps for nondefense. that is a shame and also the budget control act. mr. speaker, one-third of the nondefense domestic budget that we are trying to get parity for goes to national security, part of our defense, to our veterans, to homeland security, the state department, the justice department and counterterrorism initiatives. refusing to equally raise the defense and nondefense caps is irresponsible. the secretary of defense, general mattis, has said, no enemy, no enemy is more harmful than unpredictable funding from congress. but it isn't just defense that hasn't had dependable funding.

not a single agency goes from one week to another, whether they will be funded and we have cut down on almost they can do, including travel, to places where they need to be. it's pretty awful. but we have had the warnings and here we are today with the fifth short-term continuing resolution. now the majority has 238 seats in the chamber but only holds 51 seats in the senate. you have the ability to draft a partisan agenda and routinely do. and we just saw that spectacle coming from the intelligence committee in the house when a memo written by the majority and one was acted on and put out for the public, but we are waiting and hoping the one for the minority will be found -- given the approval by the president of the united states.

in this bill to get 60 votes in the senate and becoming law, you have to involve the democrats. you don't have enough over there. 51 is not 60. this is simple math. minority leader in the senate has said this proposal is a nonstarter. he added that moving forward with this plan would quote jeopardize the positive discussions going on right now about the budget, immigration, disaster aid and more, end quote. so we know standing here today we are wasting our time. e should bring an end to the continuing resolutions and the my way or the highway approach to governing. speaker ryan said, only a fully functioning house can really truly do the people's business. if there was ever a time for us to step up, this would be that

time, end quote. mr. speaker, the american people and the world have watched for months as the greatest democracy ever devised has been defined by disfunction. if ever there was one, this is the time for the majority to step up. i'm very much concerned, mr. speaker, that we are reaching the tipping point that the dysfunction and chaos is not with the actions of the stock market in the last three days, but our inability to know whether we are going to keep the lights on, has cost us dearly and respect from the rest of the world. just a few minutes ago, that the president of the united states thought a government shutdown would be a good idea. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. sessions: i appreciate my

colleague for being here so we may move forward on this important funding for the government. mr. speaker, from time to time, there are members of congress who distinguish themselves in ways that draw not only attention upon an organization more than just themselves, but also distinction and our next speaker is a gentleman who served for 14 years in the united states air force and he holds the record for the fastest nonstop flight ever in the world in one of the united states air force planes that is called a b-1 bomber and this gentleman served with distinction and honor and here to speak about the importance of funding our united states military. i yield to the gentleman from from farmington, utah, the gentleman from utah, mr. stewart, for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. stewart: thank you for those kind words and chairman sessions

is a hero of mine and why i hold him in such high regard. one of the reasons is he understands a couple of very important things. and i think the first thing he understands is that the primary responsibility of the federal government is to keep americans safe in a chaotic world. the second thing he understands is nothing more important. and it is i rise in strong support to fund our military. our inability to constantly fund our federal government has real consequences. but it has no greater consequence than it has for our military members. nothing impacts our military with more devastating effects than the lack of a sustained predictable funding. we need to do what is right for the men and women in uniform charged with defending our country, including, i might add, members of my own family who are

deployed even as we speak. the uncertainty of funding creates problems from large acquisitions to the smallest repair part. and we need to have logistical support and access to sufficient types. i have spoken with military members as recently as the last few weeks who told me about their funding and their training being canceled because of the threat of government shutdowns. it has implications for their safety and well-being. in a letter to congress last september, secretary mattis warned of the consequences. funding through a c.r. cannot be reprogrammed. impacts are being felt and recruiting is curtailed. the bottom line is this, governing by crisis has had an enormous impact and time to do what is right and fully fund our country's defense.

funding of the department of defense will boost our national defense and give a much needed pay raise to our troops and increased in end strength for the active duty guard and reserve. let me end by this, a personal observation. these wings that i proudly wear are my father's. he was an air force pilot in world war ii and had five sons that served in the military. i was one of them as chairman sessions indicated. as i indicated as well, i have members in my own family who are deployed now or willedly in the next year. these young and women put their lives on the line to serve and protect our country. for heaven's sake, let's do the right the right thing and i support this underlying legislation and the rule. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from new york is recognized.

ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, president trump said to reporters earlier today if congress can't reach a deal on immigration, quote, i would love to see a shutdown if we can't get this stuff taken care of. if we have to shut it down because the democrats don't want safety, let's shut it down, end quote. and we are the people that were acuesed last week because we didn't show great enthusiasm for his speech, that we were treasonous. it's pretty frightening to me what is going on here and i can't avoid talking about. i said earlier in the rules committee, i think we are reaching a tipping poirnt and i honestly do believe it. this isn't the first time that president trump encouraged a shutdown. the last one we had was 16 days and took $24 billion out of this

economy. this is remarkable and i think pretty sad. the president keeps injecting uncertainty into already what is a chaotic process from the majority. no one in this chamber is against seist. we are asking them to take action on the bipartisan priorities that have languished while they pass tax cuts for millionaires. in 2016, during an interview with cbs "this morning," president trump said, quote, i'm the king of debt. i'm great with debt. nobody knows the debt better than me, end quote. well, mr. speaker, according to this article from the "washington post" from february 3, and i quote, u.s. treasury expects to borrow $955 billion this fiscal year. it's the highest amount of borrowing in six years and a big mp from the $519 billion the

federal government board last year. he is definitely the king of debt. i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record the article from the "washington post" entitled "u.s. government is set to borrow $1 trillion jump."ar and 84% and we did hear at the state of the union that we will be asking or $1.5 trillion for infrastructure. and given the $1.5 trillion that we have already started borrowing for to give top 1% a tax cut that would be permanent, i'm not sure anybody will finance that request. and frankly, taking on that amount of debt would mean that almost everything else we do in the country would take a back seat or even further behind and back. so with that, i ask unanimous consent to insert into the

record the article from today's "washington post" he entitled "u.s. government is set to borrow a trillion this year, an 84% jump from last year." and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, i would like to acknowledge also that the gentleman, mr. stewart, his service to the united states air force in this country, but i had the opportunity to speak with -- talk with a security officer from pearl harbor. and the lieutenant essentially told me, we are out in the middle of the pacific faced with danger every day and we represent the greatest nation in the history of the world. please do us a favor and recognize that we need the

funding to continue what is an aggressive race against us. and he is a lieutenant in the navy, a security officer, who sees firsthand the attack all sorts of ways at pearl harbor that happen every day. and i want to thank the lieutenant and other members of the united states navy and united states military for their service. i would like to yield five minutes to the distinguished the gentleman from from texas, dr. burgess from the rules committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. burgess: mr. speaker, we are here today considering a continuing resolution that will provide dollars for the federal government and our national defense. and it also finally accomplishes re-authorization of funding for several important health care programs. these extensions are long overdue and i urge members to support this legislation so that

our nation's doctors, other health care providers will have stability to continue their normal operations. the house passed many of these provisions last november. that's when we passed the championing healthy kids act. however, since house passage, the legislation has been stalled without action in the senate. now fortunately, the children's health insurance program was re-authorized in the last continuing resolution. seems like a long time ago, but was three weeks ago. however, we did not complete the public health or medicare extenders. the continuing resolution we are debating today includes funding for other important health care programs such as community health centers, the national health service corps, the teacher medical education, all of which expired at the end of september. the continuing resolution provides a two-year extension of funding for federally qualified health centers.

one in 13 individuals nationwide relies upon a community health center to receive necessary health care services. the community health care center fund plays an important role in supplementing the services that the federally qualified health services are able to deliver by providing care to all americans regardless of their income or their ability to pay. the legislation we are considering also includes a two-year extension of other important public health programs including funding for the national health service corps. the family to family information centers, the personal responsibility education program, the spetion diabetes program for type one diabetes and the special diabetes program for american indians. the package also delays the $5 billion in cuts to many hospitals in many of our districts across the country from the affordable care act

mandated medicaid disproportionate share hospital reductions for the fiscal years 2018 and 2019. i'm certain that other members have i'm sure other members have heard from their hospitals, as have i, hospitals whose ability to remain open and provide care could be jeopardized by cuts in these payments this delay bus does not fix a problem that obamacare created for safety net hospitals that provided care to citizens of our country who most need this case. the committee is committed to continuing to work on this, but this two-year extension is important. the bill also includes important medicare extenders, extension of ambulance services will allow responders in urban, rural, and super rural areas another five year of certainty in receiving add-on payments.

similarly, home health providers will receive a five-year extension of their rural add-on payments and certain low-volume hospitals will continue to receive payment adjustment for an additional two years. this health extenders package permanently repeals a provision in the balanced budget act of 1997. this provision sought to cap medicare covered outpatient therapy services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speesh language pathology. the cap was never fully put into effect but repealing the therapy caps will allow for certainty and stability for medicare beneficiaries an providers of these services. many of us have heard about the importance of repealing the cap. one of my priorities has been to improve the value of our electronic health records for doctors and for patients. electronic health records have

promised to streamline the sharing of data amongst patients and their doctors, but they have not yet fully lived up to this promise. adoption of electronic health records is growing but the meaningful use program has established in the health information technology for economic and clinical health act has burdened provide wers stringent requirements. in an effort to reduce that burden this bill we are considering today removes the mandate that the secretary of health and human services make the meaningful use standards more stringent over time. i believe we have squeezed all the blood we can out of this turnip and it's time to let our doctors be doctors this will permit the department to evaluate in other ways. lastly this package contains important provisions that aim to improve care for individuals suffering from chronic diseases. the senate has already passed

these provisions in their chronic act, one of the most important pieces -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. sessions: i yield the gentleman two minutes. mr. burgess: i thank the chairman of the rules committee. one of the most important pieces of this package is the ex-tex of medical practice demonstration program which allows participating high-need medicare beneficiaries who have multiple chronic conditions to receive medicare coverage for home-based primary care this program is currently in its fifth year and has been found to save medicare dollars. but medicare needs more time to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the program. this health extenders package has responsible offsets. one of these would allow for medicare reimbursement of outpatient physical therapy or occupational therapy services to be provided by a therapy assistant. these providers are reimbursed

at 85% of the physician rate and therapy assistance must have a state license and a -- and abide by medicare supervision requirements. additionally lottery winnings an other lump sum income of over $80,000 would count toward income eligibility under medicaid's modified adjusted gross income rules. in certain cases, individuals could remain eligible if being ineligible would lead to undue hardship. financial similar to the championing healthy kids act this modifies the level of funding. by law this fund is required to relieve $.5 billion in annual appropriation which is must be used for prevention, wellness and public health initiatives administered by the department of health and human services. if congress does not direct the funds toward specific efforts, the secretary of health an human

services as the authority to spend the dollars however he or she deems fit. while we are redirecting these taxpayer dollar the overarching pump of the fund is still there to improve the health and wellness of americans through existing mechanisms and community health centers will do just that. with this spending offset, we are using the prevention of public health fund for what it is intended, informsing in america's wealthy. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves this egentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: if we defeat the pleeves question, i will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up h r. 3440, the dream act. this bipartisan, bicameral legislation would help hundreds of thousands of young people who are american in every way except on paper. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the record along with extraneous material

immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. the speaker pro tempore: weather. ms. slaughter: to discuss our proposal, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from california, mrs. napolitano. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for three minutes. mrs. napolitano: dreamers embody our american dreams, values and everything we hold dear. they are proud service members, teachers, students, first responders and entrepreneurs. the daca program allowed many of them to build a life here and make positive, significant contributions to the u.s. economy and their communs. daca recipients, in fact, earn higher wages and will contribute an estimated $460 billion to the u.s. g.d.p. over the next decade. it is no wonder employers and corporate america are demanding a solution. the economic keys for passing the dream act -- case for passing the dream act is strong. it's not just the right thing to

do for our economy, it's the right thing to do period. h.r. 3440, the dream act, builds on these great successes and honors our history and our heritage as we are a proud nation of imgrans from all over the world. poll after poll reflects overwhelming support for allowing the dreamers to remain permanently in the united states. nearly eight out of 10 voters including almost three quarters of trump voters agree on these. only 14% believe they should be forced to leave. the faith community is also imploring congress to do the right thing, compassionate and just. just this morning i met with the archdiocese of less who said this is about human dignity and how we treat people. they understand the weight of our inaction and indecisiveness. anxiety and hopelessness continue to grow as the president dithers. we are now less than one month away from the end of the sick-month delay period set by

president trump to fix the mess he created no more delaying. no more inaction. dreamers kept their promise to the only nation they though and they love. our government must honor its commitment to protect them an their families. mr. speaker, this is a 20th time we have asked for a vote on the clean dream act. we're asking -- all we're asking for is a vote. give us a vote so we can give young immigrants, their families, their employers, their teachers, their co-workers and friends some certainty and peace of mind. i ask my colleagues to vote against the previous question so that we can immediately bring dreamers and the dream act to the floor and finally do what is right for our young people and our country. sir, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you very much. it's amazing how the president by honing the message and focusing his ideas

on congress has brought this entire issue to the forefront. last year, the president said, i am calling on congress to please resolve this issue with the daca people who are in this country. i am asking congress to please do this by next march. now he's being treated instead of like a firefighter, he's being treated like an arsonist. he's not he's the person who has the ability and the desire to lead congress on a bipartisan basis. lots of meetings down at the white house. for months now that's been happening with the date of march . what happens? somebody gets frustrated and they want not what we agreed to do in march, they want it in january. actually, december. rather than attempting to work

with the president who i believe forthrightly has held lots of meetings. so mr. speaker, what i would say to you is, it's a moving target. there's never something that this president can do that will satisfy our colleagues on the other side. if it's not daca, it's going to be the caps issue. if it's not the caps issue, it'll be the military issue. if it's not the mill tear issue, it's going to be children's health insurance program. mr. speaker, we're addressing those. we're trying to bring those issues professionally on a bipartisan basis. just a week ago, 10 days ago, we respectfully did not include year-long funding for the united states military. what did we hear back over and over and other from the other body? well, i would have voted for this bill but the funding for the military is not in there for

a one-year basis for the remainder of the year. so that's what we've done. we're trying to bring forth deas of agreement that say, we need to find a deal. we need to come to an agreement. we recognize this is not the last funding agreement for the year. but we -- what we're trying to do is to avoid a government shutdown. and the way you do that is by voting yes. that's what we're asking people to do today. that's why we had dr. burgess, why we had major chris stewart, united states congressman from utah, and that's also why we have the gentleman from waterford township, michigan, here, a member of the republican leadership, a bright, young, thoughtful, articulate man. i would yield four minutes to the gentleman, congressman mitchell.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. mitchell: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, mr. sessions. i think everyone can agree here that continuing resolutions, c.r.'s, are bad policy. for the smokes in the -- folks in the gallery, it's simple. c.r. is whether we keep the lights on or not. whether you can figure out your taxes and call the i.r.s. it's whether or not we function. it's going to be our fifth c.r. shame on all of us. and i do mean all of us. however, people on the other side of the aisle talk about all their legislative ageneral cathay want put in a package and pass or they're going to vote against keeping the lights on. think about that. if we don't get daca, we're shutting the lights off. if we don't get this, we're shutting the lights off. that's what happened in the senate the last shutdown. if we don't get full year funding for the military, we're shutting the lights off. funding if chirp or we're shutting the lights off. didn't work out very well, did

it? our fundamental responsibility is to keep the lights on. there's nothing in this bill that's objectionable. they've all passed. this bill supports full-year funding for the department of appropriations. this isn't the first time we passed an appropriations bill for the department of defense, we passed it three times and sent it to the senate to die a cruel and horrible death. why? not because this was noted by my colleague that we can't get 51 votes. we can't get 60 votes. where do those votes come from? on the other side of the aisle, who will do ig in to get their ageneral character including putting our military at risk, people die when they make the decisions they have. the funding is fully consistent ith the ndaa, something with a bipartisan vet. it provides a 2.4% increase to me men and women in our military who put their lives on the line for our nation, well-deserved.

something we also voted and supported for. the bill provides extensions for popular health programs, both sides of the aisle support it. a two-year extension to community health centers. in michigan, qualified health centers serve 350,000 individuals. there are 11 helicopter centers located in my congressional district. they need the funding. that's why i support it. and all of your districts, you ave community health centers. you argue unless we get daca, we won't fund the military and won't fund the health centers. and people are receiving home care. again, it was a bipartisan vote. but now we don't want to support it. well, i believe we shouldn't continue to have short-term spending bills. they are offensive to me.

they truly are. we passed in september in this house all 12 appropriations bills and sent them to the senate. my suggestion to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, rather than lecture us about math, i suggest you make a phone call to your colleagues in the senate and tell them do their job. bring up the appropriation bills. if you don't like them, amend them, go to conference rather than obstruct the functioning of our government. the most fundamental responsibility is to keep the lights on and to defend this nation. if we aren't doing that, what are we doing? so i suggest we pass this bill here and send it to the senate and i may suggest that someone on the other side make a phone call and see how schumer shutdown part two goes down. their choice. the speaker pro tempore: members

are reminded to refrain from making comments to our guests in the gallery and direct remarks to the chair. the gentlelady from new york is recognized. ms. slaughter: i yield myself 30 seconds to say that i would not come to the floor if i were in the majority and lecture the minority when the majority runs the house, the senate and the white house and accuses us of shouting down the house. we don't have enough votes in the first place, that's why we are the minority. i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, distinguished ranking member of ways and means subcommittee on tax policy, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. doggett: it was all only a dream, a dream that speaker ryan would permit this house to work its will and have a vote to

secure the future of our dreamers. america dreamers. that trump one day condemns as illegal and then says he loves and then goes off on some racist rant. congress, in fact, has been hijacked by 28% of the members who sit here. applying the rule that the only thing this house can vote on is whatever a majority of the majority want us to vote on and blocking everything else is what creates the problem that we face today. a minority of this house can say we will not ever get the vote on the dreamers or any number of other issues under the procedures that are being applied here. and even if 72% of this body wants to seek a bipartisan resolution of a matter, we cannot do it under the rules that are being applied. so what has happened since the trump shutdown three weeks ago? what has been done to secure the

future of our dreamers? what has been done to fulfill the promise that was made for action on our dreamers? absolutely nothing. zero. zilch, nothing to resolve this problem and not even a prospect of action here in the house. last week i met with dreamers in texas, a county prosecutor who enforces our local and state laws, a teacher, a nurse, students, powerful emotional stories that they tell and their employers who are uncertain about their ability to continue to provide the services that they provide. just as congress has been jacked by a few republican extremists, these dreamers have been hijacked and the only question is, what's the price to solve their problem, our problem? and that price grows by the day.

he ransom goes up a little bit higher amidst amongst all of the anti-immigrant hysteria. it is not difficult to resolve this issue. it could have been resolved before trum issued his ill -begotten proclamation. and i represent san antonio, texas, i find it particularly obnoxious the attempt to pit the security of our dreamers against the security of our country. that they are putting their lives on the line. what could be more harmful for taxpayers and the future of our country to continue to budget week by week, month by month, of course i'm impressed by the number of republicans who get up and tell us we hate these

continuing resolution, well if they hate them. we are on number five. ms. slaughter: i yield another minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one additional minute. mr. doggett: what we have is an incredible amount of bummling and no fiscal responsibility doing this week by week and month by month. and turning the lights out, well the only person who has called or a government shutdown was donald trump and reiterated his call this afternoon for a government shutdown. i think he and the republicans, the ability to block votes here in the house by a minority, 28%, almost a fourth of the people who are here to block a vote is what led to the last trump shutdown. and by casting our vote no today, it is not only about the dreamers, but it is the only way

that who don't have a majority can say this fiscal mismanagement has to stop. we are tired of taxpayers being charged with services that the government proper cures. fulfill the dream, fulfill responsibility for the taxpayers and vote against this resolution. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain in engaging in personalities against the president. the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: a year or so ago, i received a phone call from dr. shelly hall from university of texas and dr. rick snyder from medical center in dallas, which are hospitals. and they spoke with me about a change in the law some year and some ago that would change infusion therapy. what is infusion therapy?

it involves administering medication through a needle when a patient's condition is so severe that it cannot be treated by oral medications, meaning through this needle or the opportunity for a catheter. and what happened was there was a change in the law that did not fully fund this effort. and home infusion means instead of having to receive this in the hospital, which is more expensive, they would be able to do this at home and the doctor would manage that as a result of the change in law and funding levels that stopped patients being able to do this at home. i want to congratulate, kevin brady, the chairman of the ways and means committee for working with these doctors and myself on this insistence that we go and review this, an opportunity for

more effective health care and cost effective from a perspective, not only the patient, but also to make sure the physicians would stay involved in the health of their patients' lives. and i think dr. hall and dr. snyder, both from dallas, texas, for working with me to make sure that this change happened today. his is one of the pages of the changes that we are making today to go in and offer some corrections and update and extend the privileges that we have in this country to have the greatist health care system in the world and i thank chairman brady for his work and his staff to make sure this was involved in this change today. i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentlewoman from texas. ms. slaughter: i yield three minutes to the the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from texas is recognized for three minutes. ms. jackson lee: i associate myself and i think it is important for my colleagues and the american people to know that this body, this government, this congress is controlled by one party, presidency, the house and the senate. just a few minutes ago, the president of the united states called for a shutdown. i'm shocked. i'm not calling for anything but relief. i'm delighted that the gentleman from dallas was able to craft a support system for infusion therapy but it goes to show you who controls this place. i don't know what democrat could get any additions to this c.r. it's not an appropriation or authorization bill. i'm on the floor what my colleagues have been asking for but the republican house isn't

producing it. we have not been able to produce a disaster supplemental bill that is going to respond to the needs of those who are still suffering. harris county covers 1,778 square miles, it can sit in philadelphia with room still to spare. 41,000 square miles of land impacted by hurricane harvey that covered an area larger than connecticut, massachusetts, new hampshire, rhode island and vermont combined. this is not -- this is to show you the depth of devastation. it dropped 2100 trillion gallons of water mostly in houston, 58.88 inches fell and at the peak, september 1, one-third of houston was underwater. hurricane harvey recovery goes

unknown. republicans controlling every phase of government. houston faces a long road to recovery. they have a long road. long road to recovery, senior citizens suffering. suffering from health conditions and you can see. here is the basic point. there is no reason why republicans joining with democrats cannot one have an $81 billion supplemental that goes up. it is not enough, but it is the administration that has cut into our very life by giving us a skinny disaster supplemental. i'm looking for the senate to plus it up. in this bill, if you want to know why we are voting no, where is the disaster emergency supplemental money that is needed? i left my office with six members of local officials in my office. congresswoman, they were telling me about the depression of so many in texas who do not have the resources. they don't have the housing

money, the infrastructure money has not come. mold is there. they have bad health. and these are examples of their situation. this is what rescues look like. this is, of course, what the water looked like and this gentleman was walking through heavy water. ms. slaughter: i yield to the gentlelady two more minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. jackson lee: this is a house that is evidenced by those impacted by the hurricane. this is the house of someone who is still waiting for that house to be rebuilt. the city council wanting to be responsive and i thank them, has lifted the permitting to allow trailers. our people are begging for trailers. most people don't beg for trailers. we are begging for trailers in urban houston because people have nowhere to live. this is a disgrace. i'm not making this person, but we flooded on august 27. it is now, today, february the

6. there's no reason why this republican administration has hot been able to work and to all these additional adenied umhs in this c.r. should have been done in a bipartisan. we support infusion therapy and federally funded health clinics, we support chip but you are taking money away from other things. this is not the way to do spending or provide for national security, not the way to provide for the environmental agency, the department of state, department of justice, law enforcement, we aren't doing any of that. and now there are 140,000 dreamers in my state, some of them are impacted by hurricane harvey. and let me make mention of virgin islands, puerto rico, florida and louisiana. they are likewise suffering. if you want to know what the nos

are about, those who are in charge aren't doing anything. dreamers sought to rescue many who were stranded in houston and we lost a dreamer who traveled all the way from dallas to provide rescue help and he died. he died, he died because he loved this country and he died because he loved his neighbors and yet we cannot get that fixed or help our neighbors get the dollars that they need. you want to know a no vote, because it is long overdue for our sfrends to do the real work that needs to be done and do supplemental funding and do it right. . . mr. hensarling: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i appreciate the gentlewoman's advocacy because in many respects, i feel the same way. but i would -- mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. i appreciate the gentlewoman's advocacy because in many respects i feel the same way. but i would remind the house,

that we passed the spending bill on october 12 of last year. the house of representatives, through the leadership of not only speaker ryan but also the gentleman from new jersey, chairman frelinghuysen, were tasked with the duty of making sure that we would take feedback from states, from cities. and came up with a figure of $81 billion. that is not in any way -- not living up to our responsibility, mr. speaker. we're the ones that did this. this whole body. it is stuck in the united states senate. and the president of the united states and this administration have not been authorized to spend more than what has been appropriated. i would yield to the gentlewoman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. jackson lee: the gentleman, we have worked together and i

appreciate -- mr. sessions: and continue to right now. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i think the important point is that this has to be a collective effort of the administration and the bodies of the house and the senate. and the only point that i would make is, the administration has not sent forward -- yes, the $81 billion. but we are not moving it in the senate. the administration has not been engaged actively to say that they want to help the people that rim pacted. and they have a skinny impact or skinny impression of what we need, of $81 billion for all the disaster area, and of course, mr. sessions, my good friend, you understand that a $1 trillion tax cut does not help us in getting the increases -- mr. sessions: i would claim back my time. the gentlewoman is going to switch subjects. i would tell the gentlewoman that the house respectfully, before we got to any tax cut bill, made sure that we did our

constitutional responsible thing and that is to make sure that we measured three times, came up with the $81 billion, and i think it's, in my opinion, something that the united states senate needs to solve. i would also add i don't know what the democratic party is doing over there to push this issue. and i think it needs to be an important attribute. but we're waiting for the senate, mr. speaker. and for us to blame both houses i think is not fair to the leadership that paul ryan has provided, to the leadership that rodney frelinghuysen has contributed to this effort. and most of all, mr. speaker, the people who voted for the bill in the house. they did the responsible action and i think that if we're going

to do anything, we need to look to the united states senate, which is constitutionally required. president trump, vice president pence not only visited the ravaged areas, but tried to provide the leadership. but it's up to constitutional provisions of the united states senate and that is where the problem lies. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from new york voids. -- is recognized. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, may i inquire of my colleague if he has any further speakers? mr. sessions: i would thank the gentlewoman for asking. i do not have additional speakers. i would choose to close. absolute slaught all right. i'm prepare -- ms. slaughter: all right. i'm prepared to close as well. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i heard the majority speak with great urgency about the need to passing the -- pass the continuing resolution. but where was this urgency from the majority for the last five months of this fiscal year? so consumed with providing tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations that they ignored

virtually everything else. this was a bill that was sold as the middle class tax cut. but 83% of the tax cuts go to the wealthiest 1%. and for corporations, the tax breaks are permanent. or individuals, they are sunsetted. speaker ryan over the weekend promoted the fact that the secretary in pennsylvania received an extra $1.50 a week under the tax scam. that's $78 a year for her. you can see what the middle class actually got. with you ir-- but compare that with the wealthy. one analysis found that the koch brothers and their corporate empire could save between $1 billion and $1.4 billion combined in income taxes every year for the rest -- the result -- for the result of the tax law. remember, this is a permanent cut. it was a bill written for the rich to help the rich. it spends money we don't have

while adding $1.5 trillion to the deficit. that's such a staggering amount that the congressional budget office said last week that because of this tax bill, our government now is expect expected to run out of money sooner than anticipated. the deadline to erase the debt ceiling has now been moved from early april to mid march. only during the second world war was our debt as a percentage of gross domestic product higher than it is today. i hope we can forever end the myth that the majority is the party of fiscal discipline. the situation we are in today is a direct result of the majority prioritizing the wealthy over doing the most basic functions of keeping the government running. and now after ignoring democrats, as this bill was drafted, they expect us to fall in line and support a flawed proposal.

it's not how it works. if you want our support, you need to work with us. and democrats have been clear. we cannot afford to keep kicking the can down the road. it is past time for a long-term bill that addresses urgent national priorities. i urge a no vote on the previous question, on the rule and the bill. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from texas is recognized to close. mr. sessions: mr. speaker, thank you very much. what time remains? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas has 4 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. sessions: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i want to thank the gentlewoman, my dear friend from rochester, new york, not only for her working together, but for her long hours that are a requirement of being on the rules committee. for her leadership, not only of her team, but each of the individuals that represents not only her team, but really members of congress and the collegial activity that she brings to the table.

and i want to thank the gentlewoman very much. mr. speaker, we have an obligation to ensure our nation's service men and women are adequately trained for missions and to support this great nation. we've talked about several members of the military today. my son is at pearl harbor also, and is on duty as we speak today. and proud of his service to the united states navy. there are proud parents all over the country. patriots, veterans, people who deeply believe in our military. we have to get this funding done. that's what we're doing here today. this rule and the underlying legislation provides funding for the federal government and fully funds our nation's military. but i will tell you that the discussions we've had here today are similar to what we had at the rules committee. the gentlewoman gave us credit.

the republican party is the party of fiscal responsibility. but also i would say to you, we're trying to do the right thing across the board, not just what we do today. but what we're faced with is similar to a changing viewpoint about how someone justifies a no vote. a no vote that they know means that while they're for something, they can't vote for it because of an issue. and just an hour ago at the rules committee, we had a democratic member who came and wanted more money for a specific project. and i asked that member, how much money were we going to spend in the budget this year? they didn't know. i said, how much do you want to add to that? well, i don't know. and it's a continuing drumbeat that we as republicans are

puzzled by. and that is, why do we fund the government fully for the entire year? let's know how much we've agreed to and then let's make a determination, if we're not meeting the needs. mr. speaker, this congress must ask the tough questions. but this congress must be up to tough decision making also. i was sent to congress to make tough decisions, not just popular decisions. and so i think i would recalculate each of us today and say, the bill that we have on the floor today and the rule are designed to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. and we would ask that all members really look deep within them and let's end this mess that we're in. let's fund this effort.

and let's look to march 23 where we can finalize what we have done. i urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation. and i yield back the balance of my time. and i move >> this is a 15 minute portion of today's briefing. >> on the president's shandong province -- shutodown comments.