mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. doggett: thank you. last september president trump took our dreamers, those incredible young people who are contributing so much to america, he took them hostage. and then this month, he added to the hostages by ordering that babies literally be yanked out of their mom's arms. today with his republican enablers, he's basically saying, give me my $25 billion wall ransom and give it to me paid and full but i am not promising to release the hostages. today's bill is wrong for dreamers, it's wrong for taxpayers, it's wrong for those families that have been torn apart by this government-sanctioned child abuse. how great that with his latest u-turn today the president is dispatching his wife, a mother herself, to the texas border. i just happen to feel that the kids that are tied up in those cages, they don't want to see a mother. they want to see their mother. and tonight they will cry themselves to sleep again because the self-described stable genius didn't bother to include anything in hi

mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for 3 1/2 minutes. mr. doggett: yes, america does have a fire when it comes to opioid crises. what we're getting this week and next, instead of experienced professional firefighters with a plan to put out that fire, we're being offered a collection of garden hoses. it won't get the job done. if words, if speeches, if the president's tweets could resolve this problem, we could be here today celebrating a victory, but instead we have a piecemeal program around the edges of the crises. and you only have to look at the president's tweets and his near meaningless declaration of the health care emergency at how he's handling the problem to know how serious these republicans are about it. i think the president views this as just another one in a series of political reality television shows that he is producing daily. because instead of turning to a a firefighter, to a scientist, to a drug policy expert, he's turned over the leadership of his entire opioid crisis effort to a political consultant and double talk expe

mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. mr. doggett: thank you. last september president trump took our dreamers, those incredible young people who are contributing so much to america, he took them hostage. and then this month, he added to the hostages by ordering that babies literally be yanked out of their mom's arms. today with his republican enablers, he's basically sing, give me my $25 billion wall ransom and give it to me paid and full but i am not promising to release the hostages. today's bill is wrong for dreamers, it's wrong for taxpayers, it's wrong for those famils that have been torn apart by this government-sanctioned child abuse. how great that with his latest u-turn today the president is dispatching his wife, a mother herself, to the texas border. i just happen to feel that the kids that are tied up in those cages, they don't want to see a mother. they want to see their mother. and tonight they will cry themselves to sleep again because the self-described stable genius didn't bother to include anything in his ex

mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. speaker, this congress once provided a check on excessive executive power. but today in this house it's all lap dog and no watchdog. even terrified toddlers torn away from their mother's embrace are not beyond the limit of this congress. and until very recently, limitations amendments like those i authored to -- offered to this bill to protect taxpayers from having funds misused were routinely approved for debate. no more. just as trump undermines our democracy, so, too, these house republicans refusing to permit even the pretense of a fair debate on key national issues. having enabled trump's separation of children from their parents often with their silence, republicans have blocked amendments that i and 41 of our colleagues sponsored to prevent our military bases from being converted into internment camps for children and some cases their families. our military bases have an important mission, ensure our national security, to ensure utmost readiness for our troops who may be called