January 4, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 2 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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ADOPTING THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE 116TH CONGRESS; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 2
(House of Representatives - January 04, 2019)
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[Pages H220-H224] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] ADOPTING THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE 116TH CONGRESS The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution 5, proceedings will now resume on the resolution (H. Res. 6) adopting the Rules of the House of Representatives for the One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, and for other purposes. The Clerk read the title of the resolution. The SPEAKER pro tempore. When proceedings were postponed on Thursday, January 3, 2019, the portion of the divided question comprising title I had been disposed of. Pursuant to section 2 of House Resolution 5, the portion of the divided question comprising title II is now debatable for 1 hour. The gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings) and the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Cole) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Florida. Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 6, Title II--Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Title II establishes a bipartisan Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress to investigate, study, make findings, hold public hearings, and develop recommendations to modernize and improve the way Congress operates. This institution has a responsibility to the people--to our constituents--and to this country to build a Congress that works for everyone, not just those at the top. This is not something that will happen on its own. It is going to take hard work, but it is worthwhile work. This is not the first time Congress, as an institution, has wrestled with how to be more effective and efficient. Three times in the 20th century--in 1945, in 1965, and again in 1992 when Ms. Lofgren and I came to Congress--we established joint committees to examine various aspects of the legislative process in an effort to improve efficiency and promote transparency. Madam Speaker, today we are at a similar crossroads. Last Congress, we witnessed the Republicans lead the most closed Congress in the history of our country. Republicans blocked everything from immigration reform and infrastructure to gun safety and lowering prescription drug costs. Last November, many of the American people demanded a new direction. Part of that new direction includes making the House of Representatives an institution that debates big ideas. [[Page H221]] We are at a moment where the challenges we face as a country are so great--everything from the opioid epidemic that is devastating communities across the country to the immense economic and human cost the world will incur as a result of climate change--that we must come together as a body in a deliberate and transparent way. {time} 0915 The select committee will provide a venue for Members to consult outside experts, academics, and this institution's own Members in an effort to analyze, debate, and adopt those ideas that will help us improve how we do the people's business. This select committee, along with the bipartisan rules package that passed on the House floor yesterday, is proof that we stand ready, willing, and able to protect not only this institution's prerogative but the interests of the American people. With public trust in Congress at historic lows, House Democrats are taking transformational steps that will modernize Congress, restore regular order, and bring integrity back to this institution. This comprehensive and deliberate approach will undoubtedly improve the overall function of this great institution that we all have the privilege and honor to serve in. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise as the designee of the Republican leader, and I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), my good friend, for yielding me 30 minutes. For the third time in 2 days, Madam Speaker, my good friends from the Democratic side of the aisle and I are here to debate part of the Democratic rules package for the House of Representatives. Unlike the first two times, I find myself in agreement with what the Democrats are proposing today. We are here today on title II of the rules package, which establishes a Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. While I think improvements can be made to what my friends are proposing, I am pleased to say I think that this proposal is an excellent idea. I know my good friend also mentioned the last Congress, and I want to take just a second to defend that Congress. Frankly, it was the last Congress that gave us the first tax modernization overhaul and tax reduction in 31 years. It was the last Congress that began the opioid initiative that we worked on in a very bipartisan way. It was the last Congress that did more deregulation than any Congress in American history. It was the last Congress, working with my friends on the other side, that did historic work in human trafficking. It was the last Congress that also did historic work, again, in a very bipartisan way, with my friends on the veterans' issues. Finally, it was the last Congress that began rebuilding the American military after 8 years of neglect. We will see if this Congress has a record that matches that in the next 2 years. Having said that, as my friend laid out, the proposed select committee would be charged with investigating, studying, and making recommendations for modernizing Congress, including improvements to rules; to procedures, including the schedule and the calendar; to staff recruitment, diversity, and retention; and to technology. I am especially pleased that this select committee will be equally divided between Democrats and Republicans and that the makeup of the committee will include two members of each part from the Rules Committee, the House Administration Committee, and two freshmen. Most importantly, the select committee is required to produce a report with their recommendations by a two-thirds supermajority by the end of Congress. Those are all excellent proposals by my friends, and I wholeheartedly endorse them. Madam Speaker, there is a lot to like in this proposal. I think we can all agree, no matter which party you belong to, that Congress needs to be modernized and its processes improved. I am especially happy that my friends have done so in a way that is bipartisan and, hopefully, will be above politics. The proposal isn't quite perfect, of course. Personally, I would have preferred to have seen the House take up this responsibility in coordination with our colleagues in the Senate. I am sure the bulk of my conference and probably the bulk of my friend's conference would probably tell you that, if any body in Congress needs improvement, it is undoubtedly the one on the other side of the Capitol rotunda. On that, we can have a bipartisan agreement within this Chamber. Of course, Congress works best when the House and the Senate work together, and that includes the need to improve processes and modernize Congress as an institution, as a whole. The majority would have done better to have found a way to work with the Senate on developing a joint committee made up of Members from both houses of Congress that would be charged with making improvements to the House, the Senate, and to Congress, as a whole. That aside, this is certainly a very good and serious proposal, and I look forward, with a great deal of optimism, as the select committee does its work this Congress. Madam Speaker, I urge support of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), chairman of the Rules Committee and my good friend. Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Hastings), for yielding to me and for his leadership on the Rules Committee. I am looking forward to working with him as a member of the majority in this Congress. Madam Speaker, we started an important conversation about how to improve this House as the rules package was developed. Members on both sides of the aisle brought forward ideas. Many of them were included in the final package. But these rules shouldn't be the end of the dialogue. They should be only a start. I know that there are many Members who will have even more good ideas in the coming weeks and months, and this Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is a unique opportunity to continue the conversation. It is a truly bipartisan way to consider ideas on how to promote a more modern and efficient Congress and procedures to develop the next generation of leaders, increase staff diversity, and improve technology and innovation. It is also a way for this Congress to hold ourselves accountable, to ensure our work to reform this House is delivering on behalf of the American people. I especially thank Representatives Kilmer, Lipinski, and Sarbanes, as well as the New Democrat Coalition, for this idea. It is a step that this House can take, and it is a step that this House, quite frankly, should take. Madam Speaker, finally, I just want to say, as the gentleman from Oklahoma pointed out, this select committee is truly bipartisan, and the ideas that come out of this select committee will be truly bipartisan. We can improve the way this House is run. We can improve the way we do things here. I think the American people are hoping we will move in that direction, and I think we have an opportunity to do that. I say to the gentleman from Oklahoma, I really appreciate his tone and his support for this initiative. We all talk about new beginnings and about ways to make things better, and I think we are off to a good start. For that, I thank the gentleman from Florida. Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I echo my friend's comments, to some degree. First, I thank him personally, and I thank his fellow members on the Democratic Rules Committee, for presenting this proposal. It is a genuinely excellent and bipartisan effort, and it suggests that the language we heard about trying to change the way in which we operate was very sincere and well motivated. It is much appreciated on our side of the aisle. While we certainly had our differences yesterday, I appreciate the way, frankly, that was handled by both sides. I am pleased that we are ending this on a point of agreement and a bipartisan commitment to actually improve the nature of our institution. [[Page H222]] Again, I expect this committee to actually produce really substantive proposals. I don't know yet, obviously, who the members on either side will be, but I know the leadership on both sides takes this very seriously. I think there is a genuine commitment to try to open up the process a little bit to make it, if you will, more Member-friendly, whether you are Members in the majority or the minority, and that is to be commended on the part of my friend. Again, this is a good start, as my friend Mr. McGovern said, and I look forward to playing my part in participating as we make progress in this direction. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer), my friend, a member of the Appropriations Committee. Mr. KILMER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of title II of this resolution to establish a new Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, and I start by thanking Chairman McGovern and the Speaker for their collaboration over the past several months as they formed this plan. Let me say something that the American people know to be true, and that is that this House is a fixer-upper. Every time the American people feel like they don't have a say and nothing gets done, or every time a bill is written behind closed doors and passed without debate, the American people lose their faith in the ideal that formed this body, the idea that they have the ability to shape the outcome of what happens here. It is time to rebuild this institution so it lives up to the motto that serves as this Nation's motto that hangs in this room: E pluribus unum, out of many, one. Now, every 20 years or so, there has been an effort to reform and modernize this House. There has been an acknowledgment that like any other functional organization, it is worth diagnosing what is working and what isn't, and determining how to have it perform better. This committee that is established with today's vote will empower Members to help Congress to work better and to be more responsive to the American people, a Congress that will lead to the advancement of shared goals between the parties, and a reform system that allows the 435 people lucky enough to work here to have meaningful outcomes to show for their work, to produce solutions. Look, we are on the cusp of a new era. We need to rise to the challenge by modernizing this legislative body so that we can fulfill the priorities of the Nation that elected each one of us to represent them. I truly believe that this select committee will help us chart a better course, one where consensus is not only sought but actually achieved, where we can finally make progress on our Nation's greatest challenges by developing proposals with broad bipartisan support and allowing them to move through regular order, looking at key issues like the use of technology, looking at how to cultivate leadership, and looking at operational changes to this body. I believe that modernizing this institution is the key to settling our diverse country's most pressing challenges and restoring the public's faith in Congress. Again, I commend Chairman McGovern and the Speaker for leading the way forward by establishing this committee. I also take a moment to thank some of the folks behind the scenes who have worked really hard to bring this plan to fruition, people like Don Sisson and the Rules Committee Democratic staff, and Jamie Fleet and the House Administration Committee Democratic staff, who spent countless hours working to bring us to today. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution so that this committee and Congress can finally get to work. Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I have an additional speaker on the way, I hope, but, right now, I don't have anything additional to add personally. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time. Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes), my good friend and a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Mr. SARBANES. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise up in support of the rules package being put forward by the Democratic majority. In particular, I applaud the decision to establish a Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, and I thank Chairman McGovern, Speaker Pelosi, and all those who made this a priority. We know that the best motives of Members on both sides of the aisle are too often frustrated by dysfunction in the legislative process, which then makes it difficult for us to deliver on the promises that we give to our constituents and to the Nation. Diminishing congressional resources and, at times, overly centralized decisionmaking have empowered outside interests in the legislative process, and those are interests who don't always have the public interest in mind. Of course, we know that modern-day campaigning demands are running Members ragged. We are increasingly unable to study the material and build the relationships necessary for a healthy legislative institution. We have a responsibility to the people to build a Congress that serves the people well. This is not something that is going to be easy, and it is not something that is going to happen until we make it happen. It will take work, but it is work that needs to be done. The challenges we face as an institution are not entirely new, as my colleague, Congressman Kilmer, just said. For much of modern congressional history, Congress has continuously wrestled with how to be more effective as the first branch of government. In the past, when the challenges grew, we have come together as a body to explore reforms to our rules and to institutional design, congressional capacity, and the matter of resources. {time} 0930 In 1945, in 1965, and again in 1992, Congress convened Joint Committees to study the functioning of Congress and to propose comprehensive, expert-guided reforms. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired. Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. Mr. SARBANES. Such a moment is before us again. It will be a challenge. After all, Congress is complicated and messy by design. Modernizing its operation is no simple task, but that is exactly the role that the proposed Select Committee can play. It can create a space for Members of Congress from across the ideological spectrum, representing different parts of the country, different world views and different backgrounds, to come together to work through the challenges and think through the remedies. It will be a place for experts, historians, and academics to present their views and help us wrestle with how to self-improve; and it will signal to the American people that we are earnest in our efforts to make Congress work better. I strongly support the rules package before us, and I look forward to the work of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time. Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the resolution, and I yield the control of the remainder of my time to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren), the distinguished chairwoman of the Committee on House Administration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California will control the remaining time. Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the creation of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, and I encourage all of the House to do the same. There is precedent for Select Committees like this one. During 1973, in the 93rd Congress, the House created the Select Committee on Committees. And although the Select Committee's mission was to study the structure and operation of House committees, it ultimately made several recommendations [[Page H223]] to improve House-wide administrative and technology functions. Among the improvements and modernization steps, the Select Committee suggested that the House form a Commission on Information and Facilities, tasked with responding to the growing number of issues Congress faced, but with limited access to information and analysis. The Commission also tackled the problem of growing staff needed to support an increased workload, but with limited physical space to accommodate them. The result was an installation of a system of 30 computer terminals for Members of Congress and committees of legislative research. Now, this seems trivial now, especially when information is in our pockets, in our iPhones, but at the time it was revolutionary for the Congress to be able to get this information on its computers. This is just one example of how a Select Committee made Congress work better. Following the Select Committee came the election of the Class of 1974. Fueled by the Watergate scandal, the new Members did much to change the Congress. They decentralized power. They invigorated our oversight responsibilities. They began a conversation that would change how we do business forever. For example, televising the floor proceedings; the 1976 Government in the Sunshine Act. The process they started opened up our democracy to the American people and created a lasting record for history. This Select Committee has a broad mandate to study how our Congress has changed and is changing. That begins with our changing workforce. We need to invest in our workforce, and that is why the proposal we passed in the rules package yesterday to create the Office of Diversity and Inclusion was so important. This Select Committee will be tasked with studying how we can better recruit, retain, and compensate our staff. We also must be responsible stewards of public money, and this Select Committee will help us minimize waste and maximize value in how we operate the House. Now, as has been mentioned, one of the virtues of the Select Committee is its composition. It will be composed of members of the House Administration Committee who have firsthand experience with the details of House administration. There will be members of the Rules Committee, experts in process and procedures who know what works and what doesn't when it comes to an efficient legislative process, and the Select Committee will feature Members in their first term who bring a new perspective and great energy to the House. Shortly after her election, my home State colleague from California, Representative Katie Porter said: ``Congress wasn't built for Members like me.'' And unfortunately, I think Katie is right. But we can change that, and we will change that. We can give the people's House back to the people. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, my additional speaker has not yet arrived, so I am prepared to close whenever my good friend is. Ms. LOFGREN. Well, I do have an additional speaker. I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski). Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. LIPINSKI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of title II of H. Res. 6, which creates a Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Before I was elected to Congress, I was a political science professor. I studied and taught American Government, and my specialty was Congress. Whenever I was teaching a class on Congress, I would start by showing the old Schoolhouse Rock video ``I'm Just a Bill.'' In this video, Bill taught how a bill becomes a law. It was a great way of introducing, not just kids watching Saturday morning cartoons, but also teaching college students how a bill goes through the process in Congress to become a law. This was a 3-minute video from 40 years ago. Unfortunately, if the song was updated today, it would need to be much longer than 3 minutes, with the addition of many more verses that explained how difficult it is for a bill to become a law. Over the years, Congress has become increasingly dysfunctional. When I taught American Government, I would always point out that the Constitution established Congress in Article I, before the executive and judicial branches, because the drafters understood the critical importance of Congress leading in our representative democracy. Congressional dysfunction increasingly turns more power, however, over to the President and to the courts, which takes power away from the American people. So Congress needs reform so it can function as it was intended and return this power to the American people. Since 2016, I have introduced legislation with my friend and colleague, Mr. LaHood, to establish a Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress so we could have a mechanism to study and enact reform proposals to improve the operations of the House and Senate. I advocated for this committee because we need a forum for the holistic examination of the rules and procedures essential to effective legislating. We need to hold up a magnifying glass to Congress and to push for comprehensive reforms to make the institution more efficient, effective, and accountable to all Americans. We need to find new ways to empower all Members to participate in the legislative process, debate ideas, advance their ideas, and get laws enacted. As Ms. Lofgren talked about, through the history of Congress, we have had these committees that have brought important changes to the way that this body operates. With the start of this new 116th Congress, I am happy to see that this call for reform has been heeded with the inclusion in the resolution creating a Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. While the Select Committee does not contain all the elements of the legislation we had introduced, notably, it doesn't include Senate reform; this is an important step forward that we can achieve today, immediately, through House rules. The Select Committee will be able to make recommendations on a wide range of issues affecting work in Congress, including procedural reform, leadership development, staff recruitment and retention, technology, innovation, and administration. And the committee gives both parties an equal say in the process of developing the package of reforms. I am grateful to my party's leadership, especially Speaker Pelosi and incoming Rules Committee Chairman McGovern, for making this a part of the House rules package for the 116th Congress. Madam Speaker, I look forward to continuing to work to restore public trust in this institution by making Congress more transparent and effective. And by doing this, we will return power to the American people, and we can have lawmaking just as explained by Bill in his Schoolhouse Rock video, with power going to the people through their representatives in the House. I ask my colleagues to support this resolution. Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I again want to advise my friend I am prepared to close whenever she is. Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close. Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. In closing, while I normally would stand here and be in opposition to what my good friends, Mr. Hastings, Mr. McGovern and Ms. Lofgren would be proposing, in this case I fully support the measure that they are bringing before us. The proposed Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is a serious, well-intentioned proposal to create a bipartisan committee to produce a bipartisan product aimed at improving the way Congress functions now and into the future. And while this idea could have been improved if it incorporated the Senate and insured that both houses were working together on improving the overall institution, it is still, nonetheless, a very worthy endeavor. I, for one, thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and I think that this is an issue that they could and should support in a bipartisan fashion. Frankly, I want to thank my friends; having been on the losing side of every vote yesterday, it will be nice to be on the winning side today. [[Page H224]] So, Madam Speaker, I want to urge a ``yes'' vote on the underlying measure, and I yield back the balance of my time. Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Congress is a creature of precedent, but we must never be captive to the old ways. The House, the people's body, must continually update and renew itself to meet the challenges facing the Nation and to respond to the needs of a new generation of representatives. This Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is a way this Congress can identify and address the challenges of tomorrow, and will assist us in boldly meeting these challenges. The Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress is a way to deal with problems facing this body right now, today. The Select Committee is a way to make sure that my colleague, Katie Porter, works in a Congress built for her and all our new Members. It is long past time to chart a path forward and to address the problems we must face. I look forward to working with all the members of the Select Committee and congressional stakeholders in transforming the House for the better on a bipartisan basis. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 5, the previous question is ordered on the portion of the divided question comprising title II. The question is on that portion of the divided question. The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it. Mr. COLE. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. ____________________
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