October 1, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 171 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session
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DEMOCRATS ARE FIGHTING FOR ALL AMERICANS; Congressional Record Vol. 166, No. 171
(House of Representatives - October 01, 2020)
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[Pages H5121-H5122] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] DEMOCRATS ARE FIGHTING FOR ALL AMERICANS (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.) Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, since the beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have fought for the people. From lowering healthcare costs to raising wages by rebuilding America, to cleaning up corruption and strengthening democracy, House Democrats have passed major legislation and shown the American people what our priorities are. At the same time, sadly, Republicans have also made clear what their priorities are, priorities the American people, in my view, do not share, for example, and particularly, on healthcare. For years, Madam Speaker, President Trump and Republicans have been telling the American people that they have a plan that is better than the Affordable Care Act which will cover more Americans. As a matter of fact, the President said he would cover everybody at a lower cost and higher quality. Not a single Member of this House can rise and say, ``I know what the President's bill is,'' because they have never seen it after 3 years and 8 months. But after years with no plan being put forward, it is clear exactly what their plan really is: Eliminate the Affordable Care Act and offer nothing in return. They continue to tell the American people, ``You are on your own.'' They tried to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act more than 65 times in Congress and failed. Now they are trying to overturn the law in court, and they are attempting to ram a Supreme Court nominee through in order to do what they failed to do through the legislative process, of course, after saying that we ought not to consider a Supreme Court nominee in an election year because we ought to let the people speak. In fact, the people spoke in 2016 and voted for Hillary Clinton by over a 3 million disparity. Republicans didn't care. They wanted to know what the electoral college said. And, of course, that is our Constitution, but it is not the people speaking. The fight over this nominee is very much about the ability of Americans to access quality, affordable healthcare. When Democrats came into the majority, we took immediate action, Madam Speaker, to defend the Affordable Care Act in court and stand up for its protections for more than 130 million Americans with preexisting conditions. What can we expect if Republicans succeed in ending the Affordable Care Act? Free preventative screenings and services, gone. The guarantee of coverage for those with preexisting conditions without higher premiums, gone. The ability to get covered under your parents' plans if you are younger than 26, gone. The ban on lifetime and annual limits of coverage, gone. That is what we are defending for the people and what we will continue to protect. Madam Speaker, we also took real action to lower prescription drug costs with the passage of H.R. 3 and other legislation--not a gimmick like President Trump's meaningless executive orders or his illegal coupon cards that endanger the future of Medicare, but real action to benefit those who need more affordable prescription drugs. And when an unprecedented, deadly pandemic swept across the globe and on to our shores, House Democrats led the way with swift action, enacting four bipartisan laws and passing a fifth bill, the Heroes Act, 4\1/2\ months ago. No action in the United States Senate for 3\1/2\ months, and then a lame effort, which was not supported by Republicans in the Senate and certainly no Democrats in the Senate. President Trump and the Republican Senate, however, have blocked the Heroes Act so necessary for those on unemployment, so necessary for those who are trying to feed their families, so necessary for family support, so necessary for small businesses, so necessary for hospital workers and those who are administering testing, and so necessary for the States and localities that are hiring police, firefighters, sanitation workers--the critical personnel necessary to help confront this virus. Where Democrats have said we are in this together, President Trump has said it is what it is. Let me say to the American people: What it is does not have to be. House Democrats have shown that there is a better way to lead and a more responsible way to govern in this crisis. Democrats have also been fighting to make our economy work, Madam Speaker, for the people while Republicans fight to make our economy work for the wealthy. That is why they are fighting about the tax provision that they put into the CARES Act, which we think ought to be deleted because it is for the wealthy, not for those who are struggling. In 2017, President Trump and Republicans enacted an unpaid-for $1.5 trillion tax cut where 83 percent, more than 8 out of 10 Americans who got relief in that tax act were some of the wealthiest people in America, the top 1 percent. That bill also raised taxes on 86 million middle-class households. In contrast, Madam Speaker, House Democrats have used our majority to benefit working families and grow our economy. We voted to raise the minimum wage and ensure equal pay for equal work for women. It lies unattended in the United States Senate. Senator McConnell will not bring it up. We invested in new infrastructure and clean energy innovation that drives growth of new, high-paying American jobs. It sits untended in the United States Senate. {time} 1115 House Democrats have been working to make government more transparent and accountable to the people. Our majority moved swiftly, Madam Speaker, to pass the strongest and most comprehensive government reform legislation in decades, the For the People Act. That bill will hold government officials more accountable, increase transparency and ethical standards, and increase voter protections while instituting national redistricting reforms. Where is it? In the Senate left untended, unconsidered by the United States Senate, because it is on McConnell's desk and he will not move it. While this President and Republicans continue to make it harder for Americans to vote, and sow confusion and uncertainty about balloting, House Democrats passed H.R. 4 to restore the John Lewis Act, to restore the protections in the Voting Rights Act that so many fought for, demonstrated for, and died for. But unfortunately, too many in this country are trying to make it more difficult, not easier, to cast that central facet of being a citizen in a democracy, the right to vote. [[Page H5122]] That is one of the 340 bipartisan bills that are languishing on Senator McConnell's desk. He will not call them up before the Senate for a vote, muzzling democracy. That is 340 important bipartisan bills blocked, stalled, or ignored. Madam Speaker, let's not forget that we began our majority in the middle of a damaging and irresponsible government shutdown, the longest shutdown that I have experienced in the 40 years I have been here. We moved swiftly to end that shutdown and prioritize the passage of funding bills last year and this year before the end of July in order to prevent another shutdown of our government. So last year we passed 8 of the 10 appropriation bills by June 26. This year, we passed 8 of those 10, notwithstanding COVID, by July 26. The Senate has not passed out of committee a single appropriation bill, not one, Madam Speaker. What have they been doing? Judge after judge after judge after judge. That is what they are doing, to serve their ideological agenda, hoping that they can control through the courts that which they cannot control in the democratic process. We have shown, Madam Speaker, what it means to govern for the people, and over the next few weeks, Americans will have a chance to choose the direction our country follows in the years ahead. They know that Republicans have failed them: no healthcare bill, no infrastructure bill that the President talked about in the campaign, ``I am going to invest in infrastructure.'' No bill has been presented by the President to do that, no healthcare bill. They know that our Republican colleagues have failed them through their inaction and irresponsibility. And they know, Madam Speaker, that Democrats have offered a serious agenda of leadership, have demonstrated the capacity to govern responsibly, and have shown ourselves always to be for the people. Madam Speaker, today we will be considering a bill. We are in negotiations. I hope those negotiations work. Frankly, Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin reached four bipartisan deals. Mr. Meadows was not chief of staff, of course, at that point in time. Let us hope that we can reach a bipartisan deal. We were supposed to consider our Heroes 2 bill, our offer, our proffer, our statement of what we think is necessary to uplift the American people, to let them know they are not on their own, we are with them, we are together. We will consider that bill today if there is not an agreement. I hope there is an agreement. I hope we have a bipartisan piece of legislation that we can pass in the near future, because the American people need it, and that is what we have done in the past. Let's hope we can do it today. ____________________
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