LEGISLATIVE DAY OF APRIL 22, 2026
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Floor U.S. House of Representatives
Follow its sittingsTracey Mann
Mister speaker, I rise today to recognize a meaningful milestone in my hometown of Salina, Kansas, the twenty fifth anniversary of the Salina Pregnancy Service Center. For twenty five years, this organization has served women, families, and unborn children across our community with compassion, conviction, and care. As someone who's pro life and who believes that life begins at conception, I'm grateful for organizations like PSC that put those beliefs into action every day. The Slyden Pregnancy Service Center provides life affirming medical care, education and counseling. They walk alongside mothers with compassion, offering real support that meets both physical and emotional needs.
Just as important, they offer hope and guidance rooted in faith, reminding every person who walks through their doors that they are not alone. Their mission is clear. They offer the love of Christ to those facing a pregnancy decision while helping promote decisions that strengthen Kansas families. Congratulations on 25 of service. I look forward to seeing your continued impact in the years ahead.
Thank you, mister speaker. I yield back.
Speaker 1
Gentlemen, that yields back. For what purpose, gentlemen from New York City Commission?
Frank Pallone
Mister speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks.
Speaker 7
Thank you, mister speaker. Mister speaker, I rise today to share the work being done by premier athletes and the We Love Sports Foundation led by New Rochelle native Lawrence Posey. Lawrence is a former athlete and passionate community leader who understands the impact when you gather communities around the love of sports. I have fond memories from my childhood of playing baseball and football with the other kids in the block after the street lights came on and before my parents called me in the house. These moments taught me valuable lessons of teamwork, time management, and responsibility.
And today, these kids play games on the same streets and on the fields as I once did, learning the same valuable lessons. I commend Lawrence and We Love Sports and Premier Athletes for making it possible for every child to have the opportunity to succeed and have fun, and as kids should, on and off the field. Thank you, mister speaker, and I yield back.
Speaker 1
Gentleman yields back for what purpose of gentleman, Texas seek recognition.
Asking now that you consent to address the house for one minute
Speaker 8
Mister speaker, I rise today to recognize Steely Lumber Company, a local Texas sawmill, which is celebrating their one hundred and thirtieth anniversary next month. Across 6,000 acres in Walker County, Kelvin Steely and his family didn't just build a business, they built a legacy. Every inch of it is rooted in hard work, producing 100% Southern Pines used for decking, housing, and construction. With the help of their 125 amazing employees, Steely Lumber now makes six times more lumber than they did in the nineteen nineties. Steely Lumber also prides itself on creating a long term benefit from the land for profitability, wildlife, and conservation.
These efforts have allowed them to grow not only in lumber production but also in related businesses that reduce waste. Mister Speaker, for one hundred and thirty years, Steely Lumber Company has made our community proud. Through generations of grit, integrity, and hard work, they've set the standard for what it means to build something that lasts. On behalf of the 8th Congressional District, I congratulate them on their legacy and success, and I thank them for all they have done for our fellow Texans. Thank you, and I yield back.
Speaker 1
Gentleman yields back. For what purpose, the gentleman from Pennsylvania seek recognition. Remarks. Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.
Tracey Mann
Mister speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life and memory of an incredible young man in Western Pennsylvania, Arjun Kapoor, who sadly passed away at the young age of 17. Arjun was passionate about his love of country and wanted to make our country better. He had a lot of ideas about how to do that, and he acted on those. He was an intern with my team and was part of congressman Jamie Raskin's democracy Summer Program. In just seventeen years, he did a lot.
Christopher Deluzio
He attended Swickley Academy and competed in mock trial, model UN and EU, and he founded the Swickley Law Review. He worked hard, and he was an avid archer. He rode horses. He played guitar. He painted.
He traveled the world with his family. He planned to attend George Washington University this fall on a presidential scholarship, no doubt well earned. Arjun's life was cut far too short, and yet still he made a lasting impact on so many, including me. He'll be dearly missed by his family, his parents, Bobby and Jane, his brother Dylan, and so many others in Western Pennsylvania and beyond. And Arjuna would want all of us to keep up the fight to make this country of ours the shining city on the hill that he dreamed it could be.
Thank you, mister speaker. I yield back.
Speaker 1
Gentleman yields back. For what purpose, the gentleman from Minnesota seek recognition. Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.
Speaker 7
Mister speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Tom Moe, a distinguished University of Minnesota student athlete, administrator, and community leader whose contributions left a lasting impact on generations of Minnesotans. Tom Moe is a standout multi sport athlete for the U, excelling in both football and baseball. Following his time as a student athlete, mister Moe built a successful career in law and business, becoming a managing partner at Dorsey and Whitney, where he helped grow the firm into one of the largest in the nation. He later returned to The U to serve as director of the men's athletic department, where he emphasized academic excellence and helped guide the successful merger of the men's and women's programs. His lifelong dedication to the U extended through his family, with his children and grandchildren continuing his legacy as student athletes.
Kelly Morrison
Throughout his life, Tom Moe exemplified leadership integrity and a deep commitment to his community. He will be remembered both for his accomplishments and for the lasting impact he made on the University of Minnesota and the many lives he touched. On behalf of the people of Minnesota, I extend my deepest condolences to the Moe family and express our gratitude for Tom Moe's extraordinary life and legacy. Thank you, mister speaker. I yield back.
Speaker 1
The gentlewoman yields back. Proceedings will resume on the questions previously postponed. Votes will be taken in the following order, ordering the previous question on house resolution eleven eighty nine and adoption of the house resolution eleven eighty nine if ordered. The first electronic vote will be conducted as a fifteen minute vote. Pursuant to clause nine of rule 20, remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five minute votes.
Pursuant to clause eight of rule 20, the unfinished business is the vote on ordering the previous question on house resolution eleven eighty nine on which the yeas and nays are ordered. The clerk will report the title of the resolution.
Speaker 2
House calendar number 72, house resolution eleven eighty nine. Resolution providing for consideration of the bill h r forty six ninety to amend the energy conservation and production act to repeal certain federal building energy efficiency performance standards and for other purposes providing for consideration of the resolution, House Resolution eleven eighty two, expressing support for rural communities across The United States as stewards of the environment, major suppliers of United States energy resources, critical providers of food production and manufacturing capacity, and drivers of national economic stability and recognizing the work of the House of Representatives in the one hundred and nineteenth Congress in support of those vital communities providing for consideration of the bill HR eighteen ninety seven to amend the endangered species act of 1973 to optimize conservation through resource prioritization, incentivize wildlife conservation on private lands, provide for greater incentives to recover listed species, create greater transparency and accountability in recovering listed species, streamline the permitting process, eliminate barriers to conservation and restore congressional intent, and providing for consideration of the bill HR fifty five eighty seven to amend the geothermal steam act of 1970 to waive the requirements for a federal drilling permit for certain activities to exempt certain activities from the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and for other purposes.
Brett Guthrie
The question is ordering the previous question. Members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a fifteen minute vote. On this vote, the yeas are one eighty, the nays are one seventy nine. The previous question is ordered.
Speaker 1
The question is on the adoption of the resolution. Those for those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. Any chair opinion of the chair, the ayes have it.
Speaker 1
A recorded vote is requested. Those favoring a recorded vote will rise as sufficient number have risen and according and the recorded vote is ordered, members will record their votes by electronic device. This is a five minute vote. On this vote, the yeas are two eleven and the nays are two zero six. The resolution is adopted.
Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. Pursuant to clause 12 a of rule one, the chair declares a house in recess subject to the call of the chair.
Raul Ruiz
The house will be in order. Under clause five d of rule 20, the chair announces to the house that in light of the passing of the gentleman from Georgia, mister David Scott, the whole number of the house is four thirty. For what purpose does the gentleman from Kentucky seek recognition?
Brett Guthrie
Madam speaker, pursuant to house resolution one one eight nine, I call up house resolution one one eight two and ask for its immediate consideration in the house.
Speaker 2
House resolution eleven eighty two, resolution expressing support for rural communities across The United States as stewards of the environment, major suppliers of United States energy resources, critical providers of food production and manufacturing capacity and drivers of national economic stability, and recognizing the work of the House of Representatives in the one hundred and nineteenth Congress in support of those vital communities.
Melanie Stansbury
Pursuant to House resolution one one eight nine, the resolution is considered red. The resolution shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided in control by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce or their respective designees. The gentleman from Kentucky, mister Guthrie, and the gentleman from New Jersey, mister Polone. Each will control thirty minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky, mister Guthrie.
Brett Guthrie
Madam speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and to insert extraneous material on house resolution one one eight two.
Brett Guthrie
Thank you, madam, madam speaker. But before I, begin my remarks, I just I didn't hear until you just announced that Davis Scott had passed. And what a what a wonderful man from the great state of Georgia. The the resolution is from a a new friend from Georgia. David was always either he was married to Hank Aaron's sister or Hank Aaron was married to his sister.
I can't remember. But he and Hank Aaron were brother in laws. And I told him one time that my son loved collecting baseballs, and of course, one of the most valuable ones you could ever have is Hank Aaron's, and he brought one to me one day. And so, I didn't know him that well, but he was one of those kind of guys you mentioned something like that to you. He would remember it and make sure he took care of you.
And he will be he's a gentleman and he'll be missed. But also, while I have the floor and I'll get into my remarks, David McKinley, who was a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, a very valuable member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, very serious. He was an engineer. He acted like an engineer and he was a great engineer, but a great person with a great heart and he passed away last week. I think his services are this coming Monday and I think that it's a you know, we we get to serve as some really wonderful people and none more than David McKinley and to the level that I knew mister Scott, he was a wonderful man too.
So thank you, madam speaker, for that indulgence. So, just so good. I'm pleased to be here today to discuss, resolution demonstrating the work House of Republicans continue to do to improve all the lives of the American people, especially those who live in rural parts of our great nation. We're to discuss h resolution one one eight two to cut through the noise that democrats continue to make in opposition to president and to congressional republicans. It seems that no matter how reasonable or even how by even how bipartisan a poly has been in the past, democrats choose partisan politics over the American people.
Take for example, our work in congress along with the administration to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in government health programs. Energy and commerce Republicans have prioritized restoring program integrity in our government health programs throughout this entire congress, starting with h r one by ensuring critical safety net programs can continue to serve their intended purpose of protecting our most vulnerable Americans to now launching a nationwide investigation into Medicaid programs across the country. It is disheartening that Democrats refuse to come to the table to safeguard pregnant women, their children, low income seniors, and individuals with disabilities. Republicans will continue advancing policies that protect important federal programs. We are here today primarily to highlight the many ways in which House Republicans are unleashing unleashing growth in the economy following years of heavy handed government intervention under the Biden Harris administration.
We are creating the right environment for individual Americans to set their own course and achieve their own dreams. For example, we've enacted legislation to lease domestic energy production such as reversing Department of Energy's restrictions on LNG exports and requiring the federal energy comm regulatory commission approval of grid planning policies to preserve reliability to keep the lights on for American families and businesses. We have worked to ensure that rural manufacturers are not unfairly penalized for emissions they did not create and we're and we passed common sense reforms of the Clean Air Act permitting and permitting and permitting relief for broadband deployment. House Republicans have worked to enhance health care quality and access to the working family tax cuts and lower health premiums for all. We bolstered health resources for rural communities through the rural health fund, rural health transformation program, and and the most significant investment of its kind in history.
We also enacted the support act and HALT FINO act which provide crucial resources to rural communities devastated by the opioid crisis. House Republicans have worked hard and continue to work hard this congress to accelerate economic growth and opportunity for the American people. Thank you, and I will reserve the balance of my time.
Raul Ruiz
The gentleman from Kentucky Reserves, the gentleman from New Jersey is recognized.
Frank Pallone
Thank you, madam speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Frank Pallone
Thank you. I wanted to also express my sympathy to the family of David Scott. David was someone that I talked to a lot, who I considered a friend, was always supportive of me, and in his position as the, as the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, was always looking out for farm interests for not only farmers in his district, but around the country. And he worked, of course, on the farm bill so many times over the years. And there were even times when I was working with him on some agriculture issues because we although I don't have farms or I don't have many farms, we have Rutgers and the Cooperative Extension Service in my district, and there were many issues that came before the committee that I worked with him on.
So I will definitely miss him and sorry about his passing. But, madam speaker, I wanted to talk about this bill today because I think that it's very unfortunate that this resolution is coming to the floor. Prices are soaring for the American people. Trump's reckless war of choice continues in Iran, and Republicans are spending valuable time here on the House floor bringing up an undeserved resolution to essentially pat themselves on the back and to pretend that they have supported rural communities when in fact they have not. Trump and Republicans promised they would lower costs on day one, but Americans are over $5,000 poorer today because of their policies.
That's per person. And yet, rather than doing something to actually address the affordability crisis, they're making it worse. House Republicans are bringing up a resolution that does nothing. It's just commemorative. It's not going to make life better for one American living in rural America.
Instead, it's a pathetic attempt, in my opinion, for Republicans to show that they care about rural America when their actions show the exact opposite. So thanks to Trump's reckless war in Iran, diesel prices are now over $5 per gallon, drastically increasing cost for farmers across the country. The war has also caused fertilizer prices to skyrocket, leaving 70% of American farmers unable to pay for all their fertilizer needs. Republicans promised to bring a bill to the floor that would allow a higher blend of ethanol and gasoline, known as e 15, to be sold year round, but they haven't. Year round, e 15 would greatly benefit corn farmers in rural America while also saving drivers money.
But Republicans have also done nothing to address the massive amount of energy being consumed by data centers that are rapidly expanding in rural areas, driving up energy costs. So turning to health, Republicans have created a health care affordability crisis that is disproportionately impacting rural Americans. Republicans' big ugly bill cut Americans' health care by more than a trillion dollars, the largest cut in our nation's history, which will result in 15,000,000 people losing their health coverage. But these deep cuts are hurting rural Americans the most. Rural clinics are already being forced to close their doors.
Hospitals in rural communities are shutting down maternity care units and laying off health care workers. Another 300 rural hospitals are likely to shutter, closing down altogether or reducing services, and this is driving massive increases in uncompensated care. The big ugly bill made unprecedented cuts to federal Medicaid spending. This will have a disproportionate impact on children and disabled people in rural areas who are more likely to rely on Medicaid. Republicans will claim that a temporary $50,000,000,000 slush fund representing just 5% of the $1,000,000,000,000 cut to health care will somehow overcome the long term suffering of rural providers and communities that rely heavily on Medicaid, but this is false.
The slush fund is temporary while the cuts are permanent, and it can be used for an array of purposes other than paying payments to struggle rural health providers. The $1,000,000,000,000 in health care cuts will compound over time, devastating the health care safety net in rural communities far into the future. Republicans have also refused to extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits, driving up health care premiums for rural Americans. Rural residents' premiums are increasing by an astonishing 107%, and rural Americans are facing thousands of dollars in additional out of pocket costs. As rural Americans lose their health care coverage and watch the doctor's offices and hospitals shut down critical services, congressional Republicans are doing absolutely nothing to fix the problem that they created.
And despite the false words in this resolution, house republicans have done nothing meaningful to expand internet access for rural America. In the last fifteen months, republicans rescinded billions of dollars from public broadcasting stations that serve rural areas with programming and emergency alerts. They've withheld broadband investment from rural and tribal communities. They sabotaged the Bead program with inferior broadband technologies to save money, and so supposedly to save money, it doesn't really. And they topped it all off with the fact that House Republicans cheered as the Trump administration tore WiFi out of rural school buses, and it's clear that rural Americans are not being served by Republicans.
They're frankly being ripped off. So this resolution also pats Republicans on the back for supposedly bolstering manufacturing capacity in rural communities. But the reality is that Republican policies are harming the manufacturing sector. Manufacturers are reeling from the uncertainty of Trump's chaotic tariff strategy. These tariffs have raised costs for manufacturers and could reduce manufacturing investments in The US by $490,000,000,000 in the next five years.
So, mister speaker, if Republicans really want to show rural Americans they cared about them, they would roll up their sleeves and actually put together bills, not meaningless commemorative resolutions, that would actually make a difference. But this Republican majority is simply not capable of that. So I urge my colleagues as to oppose this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time, mister speaker.
Brett Guthrie
Gentleman reserves. Gentleman from Kentucky is recognized.
Thank you, mister speaker. I will now yield as much time as he may consume to the newest member of the Republican conference. I think it was the newest member of the house for just a couple of days. But, becoming a good friend, so when I'm getting to know better, mister Fuller from Georgia. I yield him as much time as he may consume.
Gentleman's recognized.
Clay Fuller
Thank you, mister speaker, and thank you, chairman Guthrie. First off, to my Democratic colleagues, I just wanna express my condolences for the passing of representative David Scott. He was a great man and an example of what a statement statesman should be in this body. And I'm sending my condolences to his his family, your party, and the Georgia delegation as well. I rise, and I wanna explain this resolution to not only this body, but my Democrat colleagues.
In 2013, when I was 31 years old and I was stationed here at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington DC, I was diagnosed with cancer. I went through a thirteen hour surgery and two weeks in the ICU room. I'm a kid that grew up in Appalachia, and I made a prayer to God with my wife, Kate, that if God gave me more time to be on this planet, I was gonna leave active duty, return home to the Appalachian communities that I grew up with grew up in, and fight for them each and every day. That was a promise that I made in 2013. And sir, this resolution is a fulfillment of that promise that I made in an ICU room so many years ago because I've dedicated my career to fighting for these communities.
Now I've heard from our Democrat colleagues and in the previous statement that that they kinda joked about this resolution. But I stand before you because I want to celebrate these communities because the Democrat party who was founded by Thomas Jefferson now has forgotten this part of America. And what we have seen under president Trump's leadership and speaker Johnson's leadership is that this forgotten America, rural America, Appalachian America is forgotten no more with this leadership. And that's exactly what this resolution does to celebrate those communities that have been long forgotten by your your party. So I rise today to celebrate everything that Republican leadership has done in this body to lift up those communities that have been long forgotten.
And I wanna make sure that those communities that sent me here to represent them, that was the promise that I made to Georgia 14. That's the promise that I made to Appalachia as a whole. That's And the promise that I made to rural communities that I will be a warrior for them in this body. And anytime there's a chance for me to celebrate the positive work that we're doing in this this body, and if there's a chance for me to celebrate those communities, I'm gonna take that opportunity. And I appreciate Republican leadership for allowing me to bring forth this resolution, basically, in less than a week of me being here.
Speaker 9
And it is a incredible honor for me to hopefully pass legislation in this body celebrating those those communities that your party has forgotten. So I rise today to fulfill not only a promise that I made so many years ago in an ICU room at Walter Reed to fight for rural fight against rural poverty, to fight for Appalachian communities and rural communities, but I also wanna raise awareness on the great work that the Republican leadership here has done under Speaker Johnson's leadership and President Trump's leadership, one of the main things that I wanna highlight, President Trump using those tariffs that were just mentioned is making sure that he's bringing manufacturing back to communities that have been hollowed out by thirty to forty years of policies that have been put in place by the Democrats. Finally, manufacturing, good manufacturing jobs are coming back to districts just like mine. So this is a f excuse me. This is a fulfillment that I've made to God in a hospital room, and I celebrate these communities.
Clay Fuller
And rural and Appalachian communities need to know that they will always have a warrior in Clay Fuller here in this body. Mister speaker, I yield back my time.
Brett Guthrie
Gentleman yields. I reserve. Gentleman reserves. Gentleman from New Jersey is recognized.
Frank Pallone
Mister speaker, I yield now seven minutes to doctor Ruiz who is from California and a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Raul Ruiz
Thank you, mister speaker. I rise today to represent and speak up for the people in California's 25th Congressional District, home to farm workers, laborers, and families in the Coachella Imperial and San Jacinto Valleys who wake up each morning breathing some of the most polluted air in The United States, communities where childhood asthma rates range from twenty to thirty five percent. We have the highest asthma hospitalization rate in the whole state of California. Communities where particulate matter concentrations regularly reach 10 times the federal limit. Communities where Medicaid is not a talking point, it is what stands between a sick child and the treatment that they need.
Today, we are voting on HRAS eleven eighty two. And I wanna be direct with my colleagues about what this resolution actually is because the title alone does not tell the story. This resolution is titled, quote, expressing support for rural communities. But when you read the actual text, when you look at the specific provision it celebrates, you find something very, very different, very heartbreaking. You see, this resolution is a political message.
That's
Raul Ruiz
it is. A self congratulatory shield built to cover up the harm Republicans have created in rural America. Let me go through what this resolution actually says. The resolution celebrates, and I quote, legislation to reform processes under the Clean Air Act for establishing and implementing air quality standards, unquote. So that quote, rural areas that experience wildfires or foreign sources of pollution are not disadvantaged, unquote.
What they are actually celebrating is weakening the national ambient air quality standards, the science based thresholds that determine how much pollution is safe to breathe. The Fences Act, which Republicans passed just last week, and this resolution applauds, would strip EPA of its authority to sanction states that fail to reduce air pollution and hand a free pass to the worst polluters with no accountability, no incentive to clean up, and no recourse for rural communities living downwind. In my district, which is also rural America, dust from unpaved roads, farms, off road vehicles, the expanding exposed lake bed of the Salton Sea, diesel emissions, ozone, agricultural smoke, and contaminants like hydrogen sulfide combine into a toxic mix that threatens the health of more than half a million people living in rural America. And this resolution wants us to applaud making it easier for that to get worse. The resolution celebrates legislation to quote, provide rural Americans with choice in the vehicles they purchase and drive by eliminating costly and impracticable electric vehicle mandates, unquote.
What they are celebrating is the termination of the clean vehicle tax credit, the $7,500 credit that made electric vehicles accessible to working families. Families in my district where temperatures routinely exceed a 110 degrees are now priced out of cleaner vehicles locked into higher fuel costs and breathing dirtier tailpipe emissions. That is not choice. That is a trap. The resolution celebrates legislation to quote, remove restrictions on exporting US liquefied natural gas which will increase economic and employment opportunities for rural rural communities, unquote.
What they are celebrating is prioritizing LNG exports over the energy cost and needs of the American families they claim to support in rural America. Because when we export more gas, there's less domestically. When there's less domestically, domestic prices rise, making it more expensive for rural America. Rural families pay more to heat and cool their homes. This is not energy independence.
This is energy exportation at the public's rural America's expense. The resolution celebrates legislation to quote, reduce the cost of home and commercial appliances by rolling back burdensome Biden Harris regulations, unquote. What they're actually celebrating is rolling back energy efficiency standards, meaning families will pay more on their utility bills. Month after month, year after year, as if costs aren't up in rural America already. In a desert region back home where air conditioning is not a luxury but a survival necessity, that is a direct hit to household budgets that are already stretched.
And through the one big beautiful bill better known as the big ugly law, the centerpiece of everything this resolution is celebrating, Republicans cut nearly $1,000,000,000,000 from Medicaid and a 120,000,000,000 from snap, the most in history, and this will disproportionately hurt rural Americans. This that bill put over 300 rural hospitals at risk to close. Will leave 15,000,000 people uninsured, many of them in rural America. Raised average household energy bills by up to a 102 annually and even in California 670. Gutted the national environmental policy acts community review process so that local rural community members voices are shut down.
Phased out clean energy tax credits from the inflation reduction act raising energy costs for families in rural America. Added an estimated $3,000,000,000,000 to the national debt. Accelerated the projected insolvency of social security and Medicare by one year. Mister speaker, I'm a physician. I have taken care of patients in my district.
I know what it means when a family cannot get to a hospital because the closest one has closed. I know what it means when a child's asthma goes untreated because their family lost Medicaid. I know what it means when a farm worker spends the day in the field breathing air that exceeds federal safety limits and then goes home to a house.
Raul Ruiz
Yeah. And then goes home to a house where they cannot afford the utility bill because their appliances are less efficient and their gas costs more and their child suffers from asthma. You see this resolution does not reopen a single closed rural hospital. It does not put food on a single rural kitchen table. It does not clean the air a child breathes in rural America.
It does not restore the Medicaid coverage it took for millions of Americans. It does not undo the harm of nearly a trillion dollars in cuts to programs that rural families, the very people this resolution so called claims to champion depend on to survive. What this resolution does is ask this chamber to applaud the way things are going to hurt rural America, to put a bow on it, to call it support. Mister speaker, this is not support. This is a cover up.
And for the families I represent who are already carrying more than their fair share of pollution, poverty, and neglect, this resolution is an insult dressed up as a tribute. If my colleagues truly support rural communities, they will repeal those cuts. If they truly support clean air, they will stop celebrating legislation that weakens the standards that protect it. If they truly support working families, they will stop handing corporations exemptions while families pay the price. Vote no on this do nothing messaging bill h res eleven eighty two.
I yield back.
Brett Guthrie
Gentleman yields. Gentleman reserves. The chair will receive a message.
Christopher Deluzio
I've been directed by the senate to inform the house that the senate has passed s twenty one thirty two, an act to amend title 18, United States code, to prevent and mitigate the potential for conflicts of interest following government service and for other purposes in which the concurrence of the house is requested.
Brett Guthrie
Gentleman from Kentucky is recognized.
Thank you, mister speaker. I'm trying to answer everything that that was just brought up. It would be difficult to do because I'm trying to figure out exactly how to attack things that just weren't really accurate. But I would say one, I guess it would be accurate that we want to give people choices in choosing their appliance. Would they rather would they rather pay hundreds of dollars more today and save over forty six years, I think is one estimate they would pay for let's say lower their lower their bills.
So somebody could say, well, I wanna pay a few $100 more today and say pennies every month over the next forty six years I get my payback. I think Americans should be able to make that choice. The other is in in Medicaid if you're it affects you, if you're illegal, if you're ineligible, and if you're able to work. And it's one that there are states that cover people that are not here at a legal presence. The other one is we wanna require that you check the roles more than once a year and verify from people come on the roles of Medicaid.
It seems like we passed the bill now that we found the Medicaid at least. We're looking at a dozen states already, but just what we found in Minneapolis alone. So mister speaker, it is we we stand behind this this bill. We did these great things for rural communities. The other is the rural transformation fund.
That money goes directly to rural hospitals. And so it it does make a difference. I can read quotes from different peoples from different states saying how it's gonna and Blue States is how it's gonna transform their rural health system. But I I'm I'm I reserve. I'm prepared to close, mister.
I'm prepared to close.
Gentleman reserves. Gentleman from New Jersey is recognized.
Frank Pallone
I have additional speaker. Mister speaker, I would yield seven minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico, miss Stansbury.
Clay Fuller
Thank you, mister speaker. I wanna just take a moment as our colleagues did across the aisle to recognize ranking member David Scott and his family from Georgia. It is a sad day, and certainly ranking member Scott has proudly served this institution for a great many years, and particularly on the agriculture committee, has helped so many Americans. And so I wanna take a moment to just thank him, his family, and his community for his service to our great nation. Now, mister speaker, for me, his passing also brings to light the fundamental hypocrisy that I see embedded in this resolution today.
Melanie Stansbury
Now, I was actually quite shocked, disgusted, angry when I read this resolution because I am a daughter of rural America. I was born and raised in rural New Mexico, born in Farmington, New Mexico. I am the daughter of a machine operator who was one of the first women heavy equipment operators who built a coal fired power plant in rural America, which your resolution is celebrating. I grew up working with my hands, digging trenches and busting tables in rural communities in New Mexico. And so to read a resolution that is filled with celebrations, rebrands, and an attempt to try to repackage a bunch of corporate giveaways and tax breaks for billionaires as some sort of celebratory resolution for rural America and the hard working people who get up every day, work their jobs, and can barely make ends meet, is not only a joke, it's an insult to hardworking Americans in every community across this country.
So let me just say this. Even though this resolution is trying to rebrand your big ugly bill and give it a new name, even though this resolution is trying to self congratulate you on a bunch of corporate giveaways like gutting environmental programs and public consumer safety programs, so the corporations can save and make more money on the backs of the American people. Let me just say this, you don't have a branding problem, you have a policy problem. Because the policies that you are putting forward don't actually help working people in America. And so any attempt here today to try to package it in a different way for the American people is basically just that, an exercise to try to make what you have already shoved down the American people's throats somehow seem more appealing.
Now, I wanna just say how completely out of touch with rural America this resolution is. It celebrates rebranding a bill that cut health care for millions of Americans. It is attempting to celebrate a bill that took food out of the mouths of millions of American children. It is literally celebrating legislation to put oil and gas pipelines and LNG terminals in rural America. It is celebrating gutting clean air protections and repackaging that is a gift to rural America.
You're welcome. You can't breathe clean air anymore according to our colleagues across the aisle. That is what is actually in this resolution, a list of the litany of bills that our colleagues across the aisle have spent the last several months passing, including their utility bills, showerheads. Y'all spent precious floor time for an entire week to pass high pressure showerheads for rich people's bathrooms. Congratulations.
You have the majority in the house, the senate, and the white house, and this is what you're celebrating. It is so out of touch with real people. Real people who are struggling to put food on the table and a roof over their head. Real farmers who are facing diesel prices right now and a lack of access to fertilizer that they are wondering how they are going to plant their fields and how they're going to break even and pay back their bank loans at the end of this season. Congratulations, your president did that by going to war in an unauthorized war in The Middle East.
You don't have a branding problem, you have a policy problem. You all have used your time in the majority to pass legislation that gives permanent tax breaks to the richest Americans and our lowest earning Americans actually saw a tax increase. And you're coming to the floor trying to celebrate this legislation and rebrand what you passed previously? It's outrageous. So let me tell you the things that we're doing for rural America in my district.
We're passing earmarks to build fire stations with emergency services. We're building hospitals. We're building behavioral health clinics to help people with the opium crisis, the opioid crisis. We're building rural housing. We're building water pipelines.
We passed the first free child care policy in the country and are using federal resources to build day cares and elementary schools across New Mexico. We're investing in tribal communities, and we are delivering millions of dollars to our communities every single day. Because that is what rural Americans are asking for. They are not asking you to pat yourselves on the back for giving tax breaks to Wall Street billionaires. So I'm happy to give you a round of applause if you would like that.
But I am not voting for this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to vote no. I yield back.
Speaker 9
Gentleman from New Jersey reserves. The gentleman from Kentucky is recognized.
Speaker 8
As I may consume, I I I have to say I'm very proud of the two speakers that preceded me on the democratic side because they do represent rural districts, I think they do understand why this commemorative pat on the back that we're voting on today is really not deserved and and simply not accurate. You know, I said at the rules committee that my mother used to use a phrase that said that self praise stinks. And frankly, regardless of what's in the resolution, the idea of bringing a resolution to the floor, which has no impact whatsoever but just says how wonderful we are, I think is kind of absurd in itself. The the very idea that we should waste time on the floor on what I would call commemorative resolutions that have no substantive impact whatsoever, but just say how wonderful we are. Whether you're saying the Republicans are wonderful, or the Democrats are wonderful, or all of us are wonderful, makes absolutely no sense to me because it's just self praise, and frankly, that does stink.
Frank Pallone
But that's all this is. There's nothing in here that's gonna make a difference either way. It's just an effort by the Republicans to say we've done all these wonderful things for rural America, when in fact they haven't. And if they really wanted to do something, they wouldn't bring commemorative resolutions to the floor. They would actually try to pass some legislation that actually addresses the concerns right now of Americans living in rural America.
So for all those reasons, I would urge my colleagues to vote no, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Speaker 9
The representative from New Jersey yields back the balance of his time. The representative from Kentucky is recognized.
Brett Guthrie
Thank you, mister speaker. In closing, I urge my colleagues to vote yes on house amendment resolution one one eight two, and I yield back.
Speaker 9
The representative yields back. All time for debate has expired. Pursuant to house resolution eleven eighty nine, the previous question is ordered on the resolution and the preamble. The question is on adoption of the resolution. Those in favor, aye.
Aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The resolution
Speaker 2
The yeas and nays are requested. Those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. Sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. Pursuant to clause eight of rule 20, further proceedings on this question will be postponed. For what purpose does the representative from Kentucky, mister Guthrie, seek recognition?
Brett Guthrie
Alright. Mister speaker, pursuant to house resolution one one eight nine, I'll call up HR four six nine zero and ask for its immediate consideration in the house.
Brett Guthrie
Union calendar number four thirteen, h r forty six ninety, a bill to amend the energy conservation and production act to repeal certain federal building energy efficiency performance standards and for other purposes.
Speaker 9
Pursuant to house resolution eleven eighty nine, the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on energy and commerce printed in the bill is adopted and the bill as amended is considered read. The bill as amended shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking member of the committee on energy and commerce or their respective designees. The representative from Kentucky, mister Guthrie, and the representative from New Jersey, mister Pelone, each will control thirty minutes. The chair recognizes the representative from Kentucky, mister Guthrie.
Brett Guthrie
Mister speaker, I ask ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation to insert extraneous material on h r four six nine zero.
Brett Guthrie
Thank you, mister speaker. I rise in support of h r four six nine zero, the Reliable Federal Infrastructure Act. Today's debate serves as a reminder that policy decisions carry long lasting implications. We're here today to reverse current law which requires the federal government to phase out fossil fuels in new and renovated buildings by 2030. This one size fits all electrification mandate for new and renovated federal buildings jeopardizes the reliability and security of our nation's critical federal infrastructure.
Winter Storm Fern's impact across The US in January made it clear, reliable and affordable fossil fuels provide consistent power, wind and solar do not. While coal and natural gas significantly increased our output to meet demand during the winter storm fern, in New England burning trash produced more electricity than wind and solar combined. The federal government and the United States military require uninterrupted reliable electricity. Anything less compromises our national security and this issue is timelier than ever. While the deadlines in section four three three to wind down the use of fossil fuels have not been enforced thus far, future administrations could weaponize the law to favor special interests who stand to gain billions in taxpayer funds to retrofit federal infrastructure.
The legislation before us today to repeal section four three three brings federal billing policy back to reality and I urge my colleagues to join me in voting yes on h r four six nine zero, the Reliable Federal Infrastructure Act. And I reserve my time.
Speaker 9
The representative from Kentucky reserves. The representative from New Jersey is recognized.
Frank Pallone
Thank you, mister speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
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