mr. hoyer: the gentleman yield? mr. scalise: i yield. mr. hoyer: we do know by the fact that the president has abused his power and the gentleman does not want to speak about that. the facts were testified to in the committee. the gentleman, like the president, seeks to distract -- i reject out of hand that either mr. schiff or the committee spied on anybody. did they pursue discovery so they could get the facts and the truth? they did. i don't know -- i'm not a member of the committee, not a member of the intelligence committee and i'm not privy to all the information that may be available, but i reject again out of hand that either the chairman or the committee spied on people. now, the gentleman has been a member of this body for some period of time and i'm sure he watched what went on in benghazi, thousands and thousands and thousands of pages received by subpoenas. cooperated by the administration, the obama administration, or mr. burton who was chairman of the government oversight committee. thousands and thousands and thousands of page

mr. hoyer: i thank the yielding. for mr. speaker, my friend many things that fact.o basis in believes if he says enough imes that people will believe them. to that extent, i think he mirrors the president of the nited states who does the same thing. first of all, the rules have followed. the evidence that has been adduced is overwhelming and not been controe -- controvoted. john bolten, when talking about this deal, which we believe was power, said that his was the equivalent of a drug deal. bolton.ohn my friend has talked for many mueller ut how the nothing.s -- found irst, let me read from the mueller report, something that an article but the inly informs us as to intent and the feelings of the states.t of the united the mueller report said this, quote, our investigation found acts by the president exerting capable of undo influence over law enforcement investigations, interference ian obstructing on -- investigations. the incidents were often carried ut through one-on-one meetings in which the president sought to outside

mr. hoyer: he said he was in my position of not having a lot of information, yet he makes conclusions and assertions and accusations that are not based in fact. he continues the process argument that the republicans have made over and over and over and over again. why? because they do not want to address the facts of this case, because they do not believe correctly that the facts are on their side. so that i would hope we could move on. we'll see whether there are any facts to sustain what the republican whip has asserted. i believe there are not. but i'm not going to continue to argue process here. there will be a time in the relatively near future when we will argue substance, the constitution, the laws of this country and our oath of office to protect and defend the constitution of our country, our national security and the integrity of our elections of the i yield. mr. scalise: we are beyond the process arguments because we are into the details and the facts have been clear that the preside

mr. hoyer: the gentleman yield? mr. scalise: i yield. mr. hoyer: we do know by the fact that the president has abused his power and the gentleman does not want to speak about that. the facts were testified to in the committee. the gentleman, like the president, seeks to distract -- i reject out of hand that either mr. schiff or the committee spied on anybody. did they pursue discovery so they could get the facts and the truth? they did. i don't know -- i'm not a member of the committee, not a member of the intelligence committee and i'm not privy to all the information that may be available, but i reject again out of hand that either the chairman or the committee spied on people. now, the gentleman has been a member of this body for some period of time and i'm sure he watched what went on in benghazi, thousands and thousands and thousands of pages received by subpoenas. cooperated by the administration, the obama administration, or mr. burton who was chairman of the government oversight committee. thousands and thousands and thousands of page

mr. hoyer: that is accurate. mr. scalise: let's keep in mind, president obama, it took to get to the bottom of the fast and furious scandal and we still didn't get information we wanted. six years president obama fought in the courts. mr. hoyer: did you think that was wrong? mr. scalise: was that impeachable? of course we didn't try to impeach the president. sure, president, i'm including george washington, had differences with congress. we have multiple branches of government. so the legislative branch has powers. when we exercise those powers in executive branch, the executive branch also has have a portunity to discussion. first of all, to see if we can agreement. and, again, you go back to the clinton impeachment, the nixon impeachment, both sides reached agreement. your majority never tried to go reach an agreement with the get access on how to to whatever you wanted to get access to. process?fair allowing the president have his ounsel in the room to ask questions. that was denied. it did happen in nixon. it did

mr. hoyer: the answer is, i hope so. as the gentleman probably know, we have made some proposals back. mr. neal has talked to representatives of the mexican government about this, and representatives of the canadian government about the enforcement issue which has been somewhat the holdup. as the gentleman knows, both the speaker and i voted for nafta. we believe that what is being worked on now is an improvement to nafta. but it's only an improvement if you can enforce its provisions. as the gentleman knows, over the last two decades plus, there's been no successful enforcement action issued under the present nafta. when the speaker and i voted for nafta, we voted for it on the theory that it could be enforced and there's a sidebar agreement. unfortunately, as the gentleman also knows, the sidebar agreement did not lead to effective enforcement. as a result, i know that enforcement is being discussed by mr. lighthizer and i want to say we perceive mr. lighthizer as representing the administration and negotiating in good

mr. hoyer: because we have an electoral college. but none of these are reasons to pursue what chairman schiff has called a wrenching process for the nation. thatct, democrats rejected process emphatically in three specific votes. in december of 2017 democrats overwhelmingly voted against pursuing articles of impeachment. including the speaker and myself. we did so again in 2018 with over 60% of the democrats rejecting pursuing articles of impeachment. and again just months ago in july of 2019, 60% of the democrats said no to pursuing articles of impeachment. just days before the infamous july 25 telephone call. we did the same with 60% of democrats voting not to proceed. credible witnesses, many of whom were appointed to office by president trump, have corroborated the details. and timeline of his abuse of presidential power. which forms the basis of the first article of impeachment in this resolution. -- i will not recount all of the witnesses or abuses that have occurred. i congratulate my colleagues and mr. nadler and his committ

mr. hoyer: thank you very much, michigan. -- mr. chairman. i want to thank the ranking member. for his service and the chairman for his service. i also want to thank the staff. been an extraordinarily arduous, sleep-depriving, and angst-creating process, i know, to get this bill from this floor , to the senate floor and through conference so i congratulate the staff. we are blessed as a country and as a congress to have extraordinarily qualified people who could frankly make very significant more in the private sector, stick with us, and with our country. their patriotism and their talent is an extraordinary benefit to us all. madam speaker, i want to thank chairman smith and the democratic members, the majority staff in the armed services committee as well as the ranking member and the minority staff. they have been working very hard on this legislation. the conference report before us represents a compromise. no one ought to think that is a pejorative. it is what we do. and it means in compromising you do not get everything you want. obviously, many of the things we pass on t

mr. hoyer: because we have an electoral college. but none of these are reasons to pursue what chairman schiff has called a wrenching process for the nation. thatct, democrats rejected process emphatically in three specific votes. in december of 2017 democrats overwhelmingly voted against pursuing articles of impeachment. including the speaker and myself. we did so again in 2018 with over 60% of the democrats rejecting pursuing articles of impeachment. and again just months ago in july of 2019, 60% of the democrats said no to pursuing articles of impeachment. just days before the infamous july 25 telephone call. we did the same with 60% of democrats voting not to proceed. credible witnesses, many of whom were appointed to office by president trump, have corroborated the details. and timeline of his abuse of presidential power. which forms the basis of the first article of impeachment in this resolution. -- i will not recount all of the witnesses or abuses that have occurred. i congratulate my colleagues and mr. nadler and his committ

mr. hoyer: this vote today, madam speaker, is a reminder was even while the house working on a serious matter regarding the president's abuses of ity for office, we are still working hard to deliver on our promises the american people to focus on economic opportunity. nd in this instance, we are working together. the usmca agreement before us is vast improvement over the first version shown to us by team.ent trump and his we

mr. hoyer: i rise in strong support of -- i yield myself such time as i -- i yield myself one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hoyer: with this legislation, democrats are fulfilling our pledge to the american people in passing legislation that will bring down prescription drug costs for the people, for the people. that is one of the three central pillars for for the people agenda. we are delivering for the people. this legislation named in memory of my dear friend and our colleague elijah cummings who fought so hard to lower the cost of prescription drugs and give medicare the power to negotiate directly with drug companies ich will help bring drug prices down. as we do now, madam speaker, for our veterans. it will make the lower drug prices available for americans with private insurance, not just medicare, but private insurance and create a new out of pocket limit of $2,000, a cap on out of pocket expenses for prescription drugs for those on medicare part d. according to the

mr. hoyer: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, there are few alliances as critical to america's national security, to global stability, and to our nation's values as the u.s.-israel relationship. israel and america share common values and together are committed to the principles of democracy and individual freedom. the united states will always stand by our ally, israel. period. let me be clear, military assistance to u.s.-israel, relationships, is critical to america's national security. it is an investment in our security as well as israel's. that is why i'm opposed to imposing conditions on that assistance. since even before its independence in 1948, israel has sought to achieve a secure peace with its neighbors on the basis of the principle of self-determination for both the jewish people and the palestinian people. the jewish people deserve to live in peace and security in their ancestral homeland. and palestinians deserve the opportunity to chart their own future of peace and opportunity in a land of their own. that

pleasure to recognise the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader of the house of representatives, mr hoyer recognised. my colleagues... the gentleman will suspend. the house will come to order. the gentleman is recognised. mannum speaker, i have had the honour of serving in this house for over 38 years. i have served during six presidencies. i have been here three moments of tremendous progress and terrible tragedy. i have seen periods of rank partisanship and patriotic bipartisanship. i have seen patriotic bipartisanship. i have seen our patriotic bipartisanship. i have seen our 2—party system work, and i've seen it break down. never in all my years of serving in this great institution that i love, and the people of my district, did i ever expect to encounter such an obvious wrongdoing by a president of the united states. nor did i expect to witness such a craven rationalisation of presidential actions which have put our national security at risk, undermined the integrity of our elections, and defied the constitutional authority of the congress to conduct oversight. we have heard from rep

mr. hoyer: madam chair, i have a motion at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: mr. hoyer of maryland moves to lay the resolution on the table. the speaker pro tempore: the question's on the motion to table. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the ayes have t the gentleman from california. mr. mccarthy: i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 226. the nays are 191. the motion is n

mr. hoyer: i apologize for a little bit of lateness here. on monday, madam speaker, the house will meet at 12:00 p.m. for morning hour debate, 2:00 p.m.

pleasure to recognize the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader of the house of representatives, mr. hoyer for one minute. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> number two democrat in the house, steny hoyer. >> the gentleman will suspend. the house will come to order. gentleman's recognized. >> madam speaker, i have had the honor of serving in this house for over 38 years. i've served during six presidencies. i've been here through moments of tremendous progress and terrible tragedy. i've seen periods of rank partis partisanship and patriotic bipartisanship. i've seen our two-party system work. and i've seen it break down. nev never, in all my years of serving in this great institution that i love, and the people of my district, did i ever expect to encounter such an obvious wrongdoing by a president of the united states. nor did i expect to witness such a craven rationalization of presidential actions, which have put our national security at risk, undermine the integrity of our elections and defined the constitutional authority of the congress to conduct oversight. we've heard from republics

pleasure to recognize the gentleman from mare lan, the majority leader of the house of representatives mr. hoyer. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> my colleagues. the gentleman will suspend. the house will come to order. the gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, i have had the honor of serving in this house for over 38 years. i've served during six presidencies. i've been here through moments of tremendous progress and terrible tragedy. i've seen periods of rank partisanship and patriotic bipartisanship. i've seen our two-party system work, and i've seen it break down. never, in all my years of serving in this great institution that i love and the people of my district did i ever expect to encounter such an obvious wrongdoing by a president of the united states. nor did i expect to witness such a craven rationalization of presidential actions that should put our national security at risk, undermine the integrity of our elections and defined the constitutional authority of the congress to conduct oversight. we've heard from republicans that this impeachment really has to do with policy diff

pleasure to recognize the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader of the house of representatives, mr. hoyer, for one minute. >> gentleman is recognized. >> my colleagues -- >> the gentleman will suspend. >> the house will come to order. gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, i have had the honor of serving in this house for over 38 years. i've served during six presidencies. i've been here through moments of tremendous progress and terrible tragedy. i have seen periods of rank partisanship and patriotic bipartisanship. i've seen our two-party system work. and i've seen it break down. never in all my years of serving in this great institution that i love and the people of my district did i ever expect to encounter such an obvious wrongdoing by a president of the united states. nor did i expect to witness such a craven rationalization of presidential actions that should put our national security at risk, undermine the integrity of our elections and defied the constitutional authority of the congress to conduct oversight. we've heard from republicans that this impeachment really has to do

mr. hoyer: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and insert remarks extraneous material on h.r. 5430. withoutker pro tempore: objection, so ordered. hoyer: madam speaker -- madam speaker, i yield myself one minute. the peaker pro tempore: gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: this vote today, madam speaker, is a reminder was even while the house working on a serious matter regarding the president's abuses of ity for office, we are still working hard to deliver on our promises the american people to focus on economic opportunity. nd in this instance, we are working together. the usmca agreement before us is vast improvement over the first version shown to us by team.ent trump and his we worked together. that now includes critically mportant changes offered by democratic members in order to ensure that its enforcement stronger, that a protects american workers, and -- that it protects american workers and lowers health co

mr. hoyer. the speaker pro tempore: the majority leader is recognized for one minute. mr. hoyer: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: i want to rise, madam speaker, and thank chairwoman lowey and ranking member granger for the hard work that they've done and all of their staff. the staff, i know, has been working around the clock on both sides of the aisle. i want to congratulate the staff director for the extraordinary work and leadership she's shown to get us to this objective. and i rise in strong support of this legislation. oth of these packages, which will fund all 12 bills before the end of the calendar year, unfortunately not by the end of fiscal year, i would have been very happy to get this done by the end of the fiscal year, and we did our work in a teamly fashion -- in a timely fashion. but unfortunately the senate did not pass any of its bills prior to the end of the fiscal year. therefore it was impossible to get that

mr. hoyer: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hoyer: madam speaker, following the vote on the passage of h.r. 5430, members are advised that there will be no more votes in the house until january 7. i want to wish all members of this house, their staffs and all the employees of this institution on whom we rely so much and who do so much for us and for our country a happy holiday season with your family and loved ones and with your neighbors. may god bless our country. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the vote on passage of h.r. 5430 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5430, a bill to implement the agreement between the united states of america, the united mexican state and canada, attached as an annex to the protocol replacing the north american free trade agreement. the speaker pro tempore:

pleasure to recognize the gentleman from maryland, the majority leader of the house of representatives, mr. hoyerne minute. >> the gentleman is recognized. >> my colleagues. [gavel] >> the gentleman will suspend. the house will come to order. the gentleman is recognized. >> madam speaker, i have had the honor of serving in this house for over 38 years. i have served during six presidents. presidencies. i have been here through moments of tremendous progress and terrible tragedy. i have seen periods of rank partisanship and patriotic bipartisan. i have seen our two party system work. and i have seen it break down. never, in all my years of serving in this great institution that i love, and the people of my district did i ever expect to encounter such an obvious wrongdoing by a president of the united states. [boos] nor did i expect to witness such a craven rationalization of presidential actions put our national security at risk, undermine the integrity of our elections, and defied the constitutional authority of the congress to conduct oversight. we have heard from republicans that this impeachme

mr. hoyer: this vote today, madam speaker, is a reminder was even while the house working on a serious matter regarding the president's abuses of ity for office, we are still working hard to deliver on our promises the american people to focus on economic opportunity. nd in this instance, we are working together. the usmca agreement before us is vast improvement over the first version shown to us by team.ent trump and his we worked together. that now includes critically mportant changes offered by democratic members in order to ensure that its enforcement stronger, that a protects american workers, and -- that it protects american workers and lowers health costs prescription costs. this will remove the uncertainty created by the tariff policies pursued by the president. i am glad that our house democratic working group was new provisions to ensure that america's trading uphold the rights of orkers to unionize and bargain collectively. i am glad this agreement includes strong, rapid response tha

hoyer. >> he's wrong, as i said. this has been a long, thoughtful, careful process from a number of different entities, including mr. mueller. >> one of the things we've heard from democrats over the last three months this process has been going on is that you continue to do the work for the american people. you continue to pass other legislation. well, there is an issue where the clock is ticking and that's on usmca, nafta. the revision over nafta. the trade deal. and as of now, the house has not voted on it. hasn't taken direct action on it. senator portman in the senate on the republican side says taken as a whole, it looks more like an agreement that would have been negotiated under the obama administration. there are some aspects that democrats have been calling for, for decades. so why -- >> the chamber of commerce, and we agree. what the chamber has said is an agreement that's not enforceable is not worth the paper it's written on. we believe that the agreement that has been drafted, usmca, is an improvement, but it's only an improve fmt you can enforce it if the provisions that make it better than be enforce

hoyer. i would like to recognize my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from virginia, mr. conley to give his opening statement. >> i thank the chair and congratulations on your first hearing i believe as chairman. >> yes, it is. >> but especially congratulations on the signal victory. without your assistance and your tenacity, this would not have happened. and as you said, the job isn't complete, but this is a huge step forward. congratulations, chairwoman maloney. in september our subcommittee held the first hearing as the chairwoman first indicated to even discuss paid family leave for federal employees. the first hearing took ten years. again, it was due to the persistence of chairwoman maloney that we were able to have this hearing. i was honored to work with her to insure that a provision providing 12 weeks of paid parental leave to our talented federal workforce remained in the defensive authorization act and it seems we were successful. but the victory lap is somewhat circumscribed because there's still more work to do as the chairwoman just indicated. while we've s