mr. cicilline, reminded me of mr. welch's letter. did you want to speak to that at all? mr. cicilline: i just wanted to reinforce what leader pelosi said. that we have over 170 of our colleagues who communicated to the white house the five priorities that we thought were important to be included in the continuing resolution. this parity between defense and nondefense spending. responding to the opioid crisis in our country. making sure we fund the children's health insurance program. take care of the dreamers. and be sure that we ensure our veterans have the resources they need. as the leader says, these are not controversial. this wasn't sort of a wish list of every democratic wish. these are all bipartisan issues which enjoy bipartisan support. and all we've asked the republicans is to engage with us, include these issues so we can work together and so far they have been unwilling to do that. there are over 170 of us who joined in that communication. ms. pelosi: having said, that i think we could come to an agreement, as mr. hoyer said. i think agreement is in reach -- reac

mr. cicilline: in light of that, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 4872, the end the shutdown act of 2018, -- may i firn. a continuing resolution through tuesday that would immediately reopen o the government while negotiations continue on a budget agreement that adheres to parity, re-authorizes the children's health insurance program and other critical health care programs. addresses dreamers, and providing assistance to americans impacted by natural disasters. i'm asking for unanimous consent to bring this bill up to reopen the government. if all the claims my republican colleagues i'm asking for made about openi the government, here's the chance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is no longer recognized. under clines consistently issued by successor speakers as recorded in section 956 of the house rules and manual, the chair is constrained not to entertain request unless it's been cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leaderships. the ruling to decide, the gentleman is no longer recogn

mr. cicilline, reminded me of mr. welch's letter. did you want to speak to that at all? mr. cicilline: i just wanted to reinforce what leader pelosi said. that we have over 170 of our colleagues who communicated to the white house the five priorities that we thought were important to be included in the continuing resolution. this parity between defense and nondefense spending. responding to the opioid crisis in our country. making sure we fund the children's health insurance program. take care of the dreamers. and be sure that we ensure our veterans have the resources they need. as the leader says, these are not controversial. this wasn't sort of a wish list of every democratic wish. these are all bipartisan issues which enjoy bipartisan support. and all we've asked the republicans is to engage with us, include these issues so we can work together and so far they have been unwilling to do that. there are over 170 of us who joined in that communication. ms. pelosi: having said that, i think we could come to an agreement, as mr. hoyer said. i think agreement is in reach -- . th

mr. cicilline, reminded me of mr. welch's letter. did you want to speak to that at all? mr. cicilline: i just wanted to reinforce what leader pelosi said. that we have over 170 of our colleagues who communicated to the white house the five priorities that we thought were important to be included in the continuing resolution. this parity between defense and nondefense spending. responding to the opioid crisis in our country. making sure we fund the children's health insurance program. take care of the dreamers. and be sure that we ensure our veterans have the resources they need. as the leader says, these are not controversial. this wasn't sort of a wish list of every democratic wish. these are all bipartisan issues which enjoy bipartisan support. and all we've asked the republicans is to engage with us, include these issues so we can work together and so far they have been unwilling to do that. there are over 170 of us who joined in that communication. ms. pelosi: having said that, i think we could come to an agreement, as mr. hoyer said. i think agreement is in reach. they j

mr. cicilline, reminded me of mr. welch's -- mr. welsh's letter, did you want to speak to that at all? mr. cicilline: we have over 107 of our colleagues that communicated with the white ouse, the parity between defense and nondefense spend, responding to the opioid crisis in our country, making sure we fund the children's health insurance program, take care of the dreamers, be sure we ensure that they have the resources they need. these are not controversial. this is a bit of a wish -- this isn't a democratic wish list, these are bipartisan issues that enjoy bipartisan support. all we've asked of the republicans is to engage with us and include these issues and so far they've been unwilling to do that there were 170 of us who joined in that communication. ms. pelosi: having said that, i think we could come to agreement, as mr. hoyer said, i think agreement is in reach, they have to make the decision. questions? yes, ma'am. reporter: chuck shumer is meeting one-on-one with president trump. what do you think of the signal this sends about making the deal? ms. pelosi: we'll see when they

mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to this bill. supporters of this bill have called it reform. this is not reform. it's a massive expansion of the government's ability to deprive the lives of innocent people. if you need proof, look at the bill's section 702 which is supposed to offer spying on foreign adversaries but has embolden some law enforcement to collect and read private communications of american citizens without a warrant. instead of curbing these practices, s. 139 would codify and expand some of the most abusive surveillance practices in recent years including about collection and back door searches. there is no one more important responsibility that we have than keeping the american people safe, but we have to do it in a way that's consistent with our values and our constitution. this bill undermines our values of privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. i urge my colleagues to oppose s. 139 and to support the amash-lofgren amendment which allows intelligence agencies to do their jobs without undermi

mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to this bill. supporters of this bill have called it reform. this is not reform. it's a massive expansion of the government's ability to deprive the lives of innocent people. if you need proof, look at the bill's section 702 which is supposed to offer spying on foreign adversaries but has embolden some law enforcement to collect and read private communications of american citizens without a warrant. instead of curbing these practices, s. 139 would codify and expand some of the most abusive surveillance practices in recent years including about collection and back door searches. there is no one more important responsibility that we have than keeping the american people safe, but we have to do it in a way that's consistent with our values and our constitution. this bill undermines our values of privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. i urge my colleagues to oppose s. 139 and to support the amash-lofgren amendment which allows intelligence agencies to do their jobs without undermi

mr. cicilline: in light of that, mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to bring up h.r. 4872, the end the shutdown act of 2018, -- may i firn. a continuing resolution through tuesday that would immediately reopen o the government while negotiations continue on a budget agreement that adheres to parity, re-authorizes the children's health insurance program and other critical health care programs. addresses dreamers, and providing assistance to americans impacted by natural disasters. i'm asking for unanimous consent to bring this bill up to reopen the government. if all the claims my republican colleagues i'm asking for made about openi the government, here's the chance. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is no longer recognized. under clines consistently issued by successor speakers as recorded in section 956 of the house rules and manual, the chair is constrained not to entertain request unless it's been cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leaderships. the ruling to decide, the gentleman is no longer recogn

mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, i rise in opposition to this bill. supporters of this bill have called it reform. this is not reform. it's a massive expansion of the government's ability to deprive the lives of innocent people. if you need proof, look at the bill's section 702 which is supposed to offer spying on foreign adversaries but has embolden some law enforcement to collect and read private communications of american citizens without a warrant. instead of curbing these practices, s. 139 would codify and expand some of the most abusive surveillance practices in recent years including about collection and back door searches. there is no one more important responsibility that we have than keeping the american people safe, but we have to do it in a way that's consistent with our values and our constitution. this bill undermines our values of privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. i urge my colleagues to oppose s. 139 and to support the amash-lofgren amendment which allows intelligence agencies to do their jobs without undermi

mr. cicilline, reminded me of mr. welch's letter. did you want to speak to that at all? mr. cicilline: i just wanted to reinforce what leader pelosi said. that we have over 170 of our colleagues who communicated to the white house the five priorities that we thought were important to be included in the continuing resolution. this parity between defense and nondefense spending. responding to the opioid crisis in our country. making sure we fund the children's health insurance program. take care of the dreamers. and be sure that we ensure our veterans have the resources they need. as the leader says, these are not controversial. this wasn't sort of a wish list of every democratic wish. these are all bipartisan issues which enjoy bipartisan support. and all we've asked the republicans is to engage with us, include these issues so we can work together and so far they have been unwilling to do that. there are over 1706 us who joined in that communication -- 170 of us who joined in that communication. ms. pelosi: havingaid,hat i think we could come to an agreement, as mr. hoyer sai

mr. cicilline comblfrpbl and democrats insist that this solution address the urgent issues facing the american people. those we represent. and that means long-term funding for the children's health insurance program, funding for communities fighting the deadly opioid epidemic, funding for the v.a. choice programs for our heroic veterans get the care they need and deserve. passing the dream act. and providing additional disaster recovery funds for puerto rico, the u.s. virgin islands, texas, florida and california. i urge my republican colleagues to be sure that these issues are addressed in the continuing resolution. work with the democrats, let's get this done for the american people. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. paulsen: mr. speaker, january is national slavery and human trafficking prevention month. with as many as 25 million people ebb slaved worldwide, human track -- enslaved worldwide, human trafficking is one of the most important h

mr. cicilline: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. cicilline: the children's health insurance program has been a huge success. in just a few weeks, funding for this program will run out in my state of rhode island. this is a program that's provided health insurance to nine million children from working families in this country. 27,000 children and pregnant women in my home state of rhode island. it's always been a bipartisan issue. this program has been a huge success. it brought the rate of unemployed children down from almost 14% when the program began to 4.5% today. and why haven't we re-authorized this program yet hat insures the health and well-being? the congress passed the $1.5 trillion tax cut, unpaid for, but we can't manage to find money to re-authorize the children's health insurance program? i urge the republican leadership in this chamber to bring a clean re-authorization bill to the floor so we can re-authorize this effective and important progr