something as you have done your -- mr. speaker ryan: as tempting as it is to comment on the senate, waints to give them a space to get their job done. we had a promise to keep and we kept it in the house. like forward to seeing the senate do the same. reporter: can i follow-up. would the house stay in session through august -- speaker ryan: if the senate gives us a health care bill. we'll stay and finish the bill. reporter: senator grassley is sending a letter to don jr., donald trump jr. asking him to testify about his meeting. should the president's son testify -- speaker ryan: any witness who has been asked to testify before congress should testify. reporter: in public? speaker ryan: anybody who is asked to testify to the senate should do that. reporter: a bill to re-authorize the f.a.a. to come to the floor as soon as next week. there's been changes to it from the effort last year, to remove air traffic control operations from f.a.a. you didn't bring it to the floor last year. what's changed this year? speaker ryan: i'll defer the specific questions to chairman shuster, but this bill h

the gentleman from florida, mr. dunn, for five minutes. mr. nn: thank you, speaker. rise today to wish mr. ryan zimms, american students at arnold high school for their upcoming advanced placement exams. i was impressed by their articulate questions understanding our system of government. of course, understanding our system of government means understanding the u.s. constitution. it's the greatest gift left to us by the founders and it has stood the test of time. the success of the constitution is due to its carefully designed system of checks and balances. by separating the powers of government into separate but equal branches and guaranteeing individual rights, the constitution has been, as james madison suggested, the guardian of true liberty. mr. speaker, please join me in wishing these bright young students good luck on their a.p. exam and in their college applications. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. sherman, for five minutes. mr. sherman: i ask unanimous consent to a

the 75th dam. rsary of indian rock thank you, mr. speaker. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from washington seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one inute. >> ryan black was the kid in washington with boundless potential, always striving to do more. he excelled in the classroom, get this both on the wrestling mat and at state chess tournaments, go figure. when he grew up he took his potential to the united states army where staff sergeant brian black conquered ranger school and special forces selection. sergeant black was not just a warrior and a protector, he was a healer. as a green beret in the elet third group he served as a medic, always encouraging and caring for those about him. mr. heck: and on october 4, sergeant black was killed in niger. our hearts ache for his wife, michelle, and for his sons, and for his parents. their son, husband, father, friend, and patriot will be remembered. precious few among us dedicate our god-given ability to protection of our country, but as sergeant black's father, hank, so eloquently said, some people could, would, should. others do. and brian did. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman f

. [applause] pelosi: oh, there they are. [laughter] speaker ryan: oh, wisconsin. wisconsin.: got it. mr. speaker, god bless them, god bless you, god bless wisconsin. god bless the members of this house. god bless the united states of america. this is the people's house, this is the people's gavel. in the people's name it is my privilege to hand the gavel to the speaker of the house, paul ryan. [applause] speaker ryan: thank you. thank you very much. [applause] i'll be relatively brief. leader.o thank madam you know, i've stood in this spot more than a few times. and yet today it feels completely different. part of it has to do with all the new faces in the house. you look at all the proud spouses, the beaming parents, children at their best. if not impossible to resist the rush of enthusiasm. there's no sense of foreboding today. there's only a sense of potential. kind of reminds you no matter how long you've been here, you still haven't seen it all. and so to all our new members, i want to say simply, "thank you, congratulations, and welcome." [applause] ryan: to my own priest, father paul, tha

somebody callers this morning. yaya from chicago. caller: mr. king, president trump and speaker ryan are all on video clearly stating they will "lower premiums and more deductibles." yet the plan presented by the gop specifically allows insurance carriers to charge uninsured individuals 30% more in premiums. how does charging someone 30% more on a premium lower their premium? taxes insurance executives' wages above $500,000. how is not taxing an insurance executive ceo's $9 million salary lower premiums and deductibles? this does not make any sense. as soon as president trump realizes the gop will fail to deliver his promises he will turn on you, just like you turn on you in the primary. his supporters do not like the gop. that's why they left our party. you are playing with orange fire and you will get burned. host: thank you. guest: on the 30% penalty, and the republican plan they illuminate the individual mandate, which is in obamacare, that requires mandates of individuals by health insurance. the provision they wrote in to bill is if you don't maintain continuous coverage, when you

] >> thank you, mr. speaker. i think a speak for all of us when i say thank you for bringing some of that janesville whether to us. [laughter] speaker ryan: it is going to be 19 below zero. this isn't cold. inches of snow0 on sunday. >> packers weather. i appreciate the chance. it is hard for me to start a conversation like this without talking about jack kemp. i wrote about him, you worked for him. his name is up there, as you noted. if he were here today, still preaching the optimistic, happy, big tent brand of conservatism that he liked to talk about, what would he be pleased about and displeased about in terms of where we are right now? speaker ryan: i remember we would have conservative meetings about fighting poverty and he -- and you could sit everyone around one table at his office. it wasike, six people. this is exciting just to see this effort. i think he wou be really excited. if jac herk wereor if his son were on time -- [laughter] remind him i said that. he would be excited that the call the battle of ideas has really matured to the point where we have so many more people engaged in this fight. my mentor, in addition to jack kem

be a man of the house, and i want to thank speaker ryan for giving me an office at that end of the building, too. [applause] mr. pence: now i know how difficult it is to organize these get-togethers, so i also want to thank our conference chair and the congressional institute. let's hear it for them. [applause] mr. pence: oh and john thuman, senator john thurman. thank you, senator. thank you, as well as senator thune, doing a great job as conference chair. couldn't have picked a better place or a more important time in the life of the nation together in this on camera retreat. pennsylvania played pivotal role as you just heard him say, in sending president donald trump and me to the white house and keeping a republican majority in the congress. that is no small feat, it has been a decade since our party has held both the chambers of congress and the white house, and before that, it had been about 80 years since our party had the opportunity to lead the nation. so we owe pennsylvania a debt of gratitude and thanks. [applause] mr. pence: for their hospitality and their support just a few short months ago, but we also

afternoon, house speaker paul ryan talked to reporters about the issue. reporter: did the attorney general mislead the committee regarding his contact with the russians and should he recuse himself? mr. ryan: i would refer to his senate judiciary committee, i checked the transcript of all that, so i can't speak to what the judiciary transcript is, i haven't checked that. should he recuse himself? i think he answered that question this morning which is if he himself is a subject of an investigation, of course he would. but if he's not, i don't see any purpose or reason for doing this. let's take a step back for a second here. number one, we know that russia tried to meddle in the election. why do we know this? because we in congress and the intelligence community did an investigation after the election was discovered russia was trying to meddle in the election. this is something we all well know. here's another thing. we have seen no evidence from any of these ongoing investigations that anybody in the trump campaign or the trump team was involved in any of this. we have been presen

. before his announcement, house speaker pall ryan held a briefing with reporters as well where he talked about the attorney general he said he doesn't think he should resign but added that mr. sessions should only have to recuse himself if the investigation involves him directly. here are the house speaker's comments. reporter: did the attorney general mislead the committee and should he recuse himself. mr. ryan: i would refer to his senate judiciary committee, i checked the transcript, i can't speak to what the judiciary transcript is, i haven't checked that. should he recuse himself? i think he answered that question this morning which is if he himself is a subject of an investigation of course he would. but if he's not, i don't see any purpose or reason for doing this. let's take a step back for a second here.

hope more members of both parties will join us. all we're asking for is a debate. mr. speaker, the week before the fourth of july i handed a letter to speaker ryan asking for a debate which i ask unanimous consent to submit hat letter now for the record. i said that if he doesn't read my letter, at least read the comments from the 31st commandant of the united states marine corps. my friend and unofficial advisor, general chuck crew lack and i quote him, this is what i wanted paul ryan to read and hope he did. no one has ever conquered afghanistan and many have tried. we will join the list of nations that have tried and failed. how prophetic is that, mr. speaker, that we will continue to go down this road and see this country spend and waste lives for absolutely nothing known as afghanistan. i yield back the balance of my time. e speaker pro tempore: without objection, the chair recognizes the gentleman from kansas, mr. marshall, for five minutes. mr. marshall: mr. speaker, this saturday my staff and i finished our 34th town hall in the home of one of america's greatest citizens, my mentor, my hero, bob dole. at every location we go most $20 e ask me a

a few words. congratulations on a job well done. [applause] speaker ryan: thank you. first, thank you mr. president. thank you for your leadership. [applause] speaker ryan: there are too many people today who played such an important role in helping us get to this part, but i want to thank a few people in particular. chairman gregk walden, kevin brady, diane black, pete sessions and the members of their committees for all the hard work they put into getting us to this point. [applause] thankr ryan: i want to all the other members who contributed to making this the best bill possible. it really was a collaborative consensus driven effort. i also want to thank the team here at the white house. i want to think tom price. i want to thank mick mulvaney, and i want to thank reince priebus. we could not have done this without you gentlemen. you guys are the best. [applause] speaker ryan: of course, this would not have been possible if it were not for these two gentlemen behind me. this is the fourth president i have served with. i have never, ever seen any kind of engagement like this. pence andthank mike

budgets under speaker ryan and chairman price. budgets which ransack their investment jobs education and for hard-working families. budgets thought the hand hand massive tax breaks to the rich by stealing from food stamps and slashing medicaid. all of this to give a tax break to the wealthiest people in our country. the national budget is a statement of our national values. it's important we reflect that and how we allocate our resources. this budget fails to recognize that education is the greatest investment we can make and people reaching their aspirations in keeping america number one. he also fails to recognize that nothing brings more to the treasury than the education of the american people. early childhood, k-12, higher education, lifetime learning. nothing brings more money to reduce the deficit. it's a false economy. it's one of the dumbest budget moves, with stiff competition mind you, but one of the dumbest budget moves they can make. president trump's budget shows he does not value the future of our seniors, children and our working families and it should be rejected. thank

. oh, wisconsin. got it. mr. speaker, god bless them, god bless you, god bless wisconsin. god bless the members of this house. god bless the united states of america. this is the people's house, this is the people's gavel. in the people's name it is my privilege to hand the gavel to the speaker of the house, paul ryan. the speaker: thank you very much. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. i'll be relatively brief. i want to thank madam leader. you know, i stood in this spot very, very many times. today, though, feels a whole lot different. part of it has to do with all the new faces in the house. you look at all the proud spouses, these beaming children, at their best. people's parents. it's hard if not impossible, to resist this rush of substance abuse yasm. there's no sense of foreboding in this house today. there's only the sense of potential. it kind of reminds you that no matter how long you've been here, you haven't seen it all. so i just want to say, to our new members, and to their families, thank you, ongratulations, and welcome. to my own priest, father pa

you very much, everybody. reporter: do you have confidence in your whip? mr. ryan: i do. >> nancy pelosi and ranking democrats also spoke to reporters following the speaker's decision to pull the america -- the republican health care replacement bill. this is about 25 minutes. >> thank you. >> thank you. ms. pelosi: thank you. good afternoon. i'm very happy to be here with the house democratic leadership. the unity of our house democratic members has an important message for the country that we are very proud of the affordable care act. yesterday, as you know, was the seventh anniversary of the president signing the bill. the american people expressed their support for it. that message became very clear to our colleagues on the republican side of the aisle. today is a great day for our country, a victory. what happened on the floor is a victory for the american people. for our seniors, people with disabilities, our children, veterans. it is not just about the 24 million people who now won't be off health insurance, it is about the 155 million people who receive their benefits in the workplace who will not be assaulted by some of the provisions the republicans put i

>> mr. speaker, the president of the united states. [applause] [cheers] donald trump: thank you very much. paul ryan: members of congress, i have the highest privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the united states. [applause] donald trump: thank you very much. mr. speaker, mr. vice president, members of congress, the first lady of the united states. [applause] donald trump: and citizens of america, tonight, as we were -- as we mark the celebration of black history month, we are reminded of our nation's path towards civil rights and the work that still remains to be done. recent threats -- [applause] donald trump: recent threats targeting jewish community centers and vandalism of jewish cemeteries as well as last week's shooting in kansas city remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms. [applause] donald trump: each american generation passes the torch of truth, liberty, and justice in on broken chain all the weight -- unbroken chain all the way down to the president. th

resources go to the top 1% in america. mr. speaker, -- the speaker, speaker ryan, spoke about on family or the average making $59,000 a year. he mentioned that that family will get under the house bill, again i haven't seen the conference report, get family making $1,182 per year in a tax cut. what the speaker did not mention is that the family in the top 1% will get a tax cut f $1,198 per week. per week, mr. speaker. in other words, 52 times what the struggling american will get. what the american that speaker ryan said may not be able to come up with $500 if they have a crisis with a refrigerator or their heating unit, something of that nature, or their car breaks down. mr. speaker, we on this side of the aisle do not believe that relief for resses the struggling working men and women of this country. in all er, it's clear of the polling that the average working american shares that view. they believe correctly that this is a tax cut for the rich and a few sprinkles all of the polling that the average working american shares that to the middle class. i'm sure the leader will have somethi

. i really appreciate that. also, i would like to tell you to be leery of speaker ryan. i think he is just waiting for a backlash of people turning against mr. trump if something goes wrong. i think he's just waiting to step up to the plate and kind of take over. guest: very interesting point, because he didn't really support him during the campaign and then came around in the end when it looked like the president was going to win. i think in the end the american people are pretty savvy and one of the things that they'll see is it's speaker ryan who is driving the train on this bill that doesn't really fulfill the promises of repealing obamacare. and perhaps you're right that he is waiting for president trump to stumble and then wants to step up to the plate. but i've seen a lot of politicians who plan that way and then give away their principles. people like governor kasich who was a real conservative when he was the budget chair but became a moderate, more liberal governor in ohio, took on obamacare, expanded the medicaid, and then people in the primaries said, wait a second. you're not the guy that we want because you didn't keep your promises

ohio, mr. ryan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for one minute. mr. ryan: i thank the gentleman. i want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership on this. this clearly is a big issue pressing the country. and i just wanted to rise in support of what's happening here today, of taking a firmer stance on russia, iran, and north korea. trying to stabilize the pins la. trying to take -- peninsula. trying to take care of the funding that's coming out of iran to all of these terrorist groups across the country. and across the world. and just say that what's happening with these sanctions here, in the targeting of russian gas pipelines, their number one export, i think, is entirely appropriate. the nortstream 2 which carries gas from russia through the balance tacks to germany, and i know -- baltics to germany, and know germany isn't happy about it, but this is something we have to do. we have to address this issue in a comprehensive way. we must continue to focus on how we get our gas here in the united states, our natural gas to europe, t

. speaker. i thank my friend for yielding me this time. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the ryan-mcconnell tax scam bill. this bill should be named the republican donor class relief act. because that's what it is. and several my republican colleagues and many in the media have admitted as much. this tax scam represents -- it will test a set of priorities, revealing deep depravity of american values. one of the first principles of our judeo-christian value system is grounded in what we do for the least of these. from the outset, this bill violates that principle by lowering the marginal tax rates on the wealthiest among us by 2.6 appointments while raising those rates on the least among us by two points. this tax scam bill adds insult to that act by doubling the estate tax exemption from 11 -- $11 million to $22 million. republicans add further insult to injury by lowering the tax rates for corporations by 14 points, while raising tax rates on 86 million middle income families. it makes the tax cuts for corporations permanent and the miniscule individual cuts temporary. while also kicking 1

american people. it is a promise that has been kept today. [applause] speaker ryan: something this big, generational, so profound could not have been done without exquisite presidential leadership. mr. president, thank you for getting us over the finish line. thank you for getting us where we are. [applause] speaker ryan: i just want to quickly say a thanks. this has been such a team effort. i want to thank gary cohn and steve mnuchin from the economic team for what they did to get up here. [applause] speaker ryan: i want to thank my partner mitch mcconnell in the senate and i want to thank these two chairman, orrin hatch and kevin brady. thank you for your leadership on this. [applause] speaker ryan: it is really simple. the message to the hard-working taxpayers of america is your tax relief is on its way. that is what is happening here. the message to the families in america who have been struggling paycheck to paycheck, your tax rates are going down and your paychecks are going up. this is the kind of relief that americans deserve. this is the kind of tax reform and tax cuts that get our economy growing to reach its potential. this gets us better wages, bigger paychecks, a simpler tax syst

you, mr. speaker. i thank my friend for yielding me this time. mr. speaker, i rise in strong opposition to the ryan-mcconnell tax scam bill. this bill should be named the republican donor class relief act. because that's what it is. and several my republican colleagues and many in the media have admitted as much. this tax scam represents -- it will test a set of priorities, revealing deep depravity of american values. one of the first principles of our judeo-christian value system is grounded in what we do for the least of these. from the outset, this bill violates that principle by lowering the marginal tax rates on the wealthiest among us by 2.6 appointments while raising those rates on the least among us by two points. this tax scam bill adds insult to that act by doubling the estate tax exemption from 11 -- $11 million to $22 million. republicans add further insult to injury by lowering the tax rates for corporations by 14 points, while raising tax rates on 86 million middle income families. it makes the tax cuts for corporations permanent and the miniscule individual cuts temporary. while also kicking 1

forward by the speaker of the house, paul ryan, and by the person, the person that president-elect trump has nominated to be his secretary of h.h.s., tom price, i encourage every american to look at their plan because they want to voucherize medicare and they want to save the medicare system money by raising the prices and the risks on every medicare beneficiary. that is the result of that plan. so, the affordable care act benefits 30 million people directly, and we need to make sure we don't put them in harm. but it also benefits all these other people in the system. the people on the employer-provided health plans who have seen historically low premium increases and seniors on medicare. rural hospitals will be particularly hard-hit by repealing the affordable care act. so the proposed republican action is going to think the those 30 million americans, including my neighbors in silver sprifnlgt it's also going to hit those tens of millions of other americans who may not realize the extent to which they're benefiting from the affordable care act. yet our republican colleagues have not pu

. c-span2 has live coverage. speaker ryan said last night the current bill wouldn't likely not pass the u.s. house. mr. johnson, i wonder why in the world my colles on the other side of the aisle didn't have the courage or wisdom to ask this question off the -- >> you can continue to watch the hearing on c-span2 and prime time tonight on the c-span networks. live now to the u.s. house. members about to gavel n the speaker: the house will be n order. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain today, dr. reverend andrew chain fromy from springfield, missouri. the chaplain: let us pray. god, you are never far, but the busyness of each day makes you feel distant. inner barricades block your

the american people know exactly how much he's going to benefit from this tax plan. mr. speaker, as the vice chair of the house budget committee, i saw firsthand how republicans rammed through a budget bill that paved the way for the massive ryan-mcconnell tax giveaway to the wealthy. frankly, as a new member, i find it an affront to the legislative process, an affront to families across the united states in red and blue states alike, that we did not have hearings on that budget, that we are not going to have hearings on this tax plan, a complete rewrite of the u.s. economy that is going to be pushed through apparently in two weeks or less. we still have no score on this because we just saw the details of a tax plan today. and so the republicans have made this habit of relying on fake logic and faulty assumptions and they did it with health care and the budget and it's safe to assume that that is what we're looking at here. these cuts do not pay for themselves. and despite the claims that this tax plan is really going to help middle class americans, the reality is that it's going hurt millions of american families, just to fast track tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and large corporations. and if the republicans are so opposed to

is about the health care bill, trump trump thought it was congress' fault. called on house speaker paul ryan to step down. after that he targeted conservative republicans in the house freedom caucus that opposed the bill. when you go to amber phillips' column, she says mr. trump came into this job knowing zilch about the way washington worked. why else would he promised to get obamacare repealed, a bill," in theax first 100 days. if not decades. the president has shown little desire to learn. next on our democrats line, go ahead iris. caller: i am concerned about the government shutdown. for myself and millions of seniors. if we lose our social security, which is small, i can see our landlords taking us out on the street is a lot of them are like , "we want our money now." we won't be able to afford food or anything. n't taxt time they did us, but this time i feel they will be aggressive. personally, i think his attitude "why will belike, done" or else. he is too aggressive. too aggressive. he wants what he wants regardless of the consequences for anyone else. that is extremely fri

. >> [applause] speaker ryan: thank you. first, thank you mr. president. thank you for your leadership. >> [applause] there are too many people tuning in getting us to this part. i would like to thank the members of their committees for all of the hard work they have put in to this point. >> [applause] speaker ryan: i want to thank all of the of their members who made this the best deal possible. it was a collaborative consensus driven effort. i want to thank the team at the white house. i want to thank tom price, mick mulvaney, and reince priebus. we could not have done this without you gentlemen. you guys are the best. >> [applause] speaker ryan: of course this would not have been possible if it weren't for these two gentlemen behind the. this is the fourth presidency i have served with. i have never seen engagement like this. i want to thank mike pence and donald trump for their personal involvement in working to get us to where we are. thank you gentlemen. >> [applause] today was a big day, but just one step in this process. an important step. we still have a lot of work

purchase and use their health insurance. mr. speaker, 11 months ago speaker ryan released the better way plan to save the nation's health care system and bring relief to the american people. this plan, which served as the blueprint for the american health care act, laid out policies to stabilize the markets damaged by the affordable care act, repeal the burdensome affordable care act taxes and mandates that have hindered innovation and limited access to care. so let's take a look at what the american health care act does. first and foremost, the american health care act provides immediate relief to the state insurance markets. as republicans we know that one-size-fits-all works for no one and certainly did not work for the individual markets. the states should have the flexibility to support their insurance markets and ensure that plans can continue to provide options for coverage. to do this we relax two of the more egregious market regulations that were imposed -- imposed under the affordable care act. the mandate pleemums cannot vary for younger and older americans by more than three

the things mr. trump has done such as terminating mr. .omey, may have been legal house speaker paul ryan and mitch mcconnell can no longer duck these issues in an effort to focus on the gop agenda. the russia-comey fiasco is now the country's agenda. mr. trump, if his denials are true, should welcome an independent inquiry. linda on our independent line in little falls, minnesota. caller: i agree fully with the last two. they stole my thunder, just about every word practically i was going to say, the last two calls. ,ne thing i could add is everybody in the whole united states had better get on their knees and start praying. that is the only thing that is going to help this nation. host: herald in tacoma, washington, republican line. caller: am i on? host: you are on, go ahead. caller: i think it is the russians playing us. they have very intelligent people, but they are too close to the situation. at, basicallyook they are saying who is telling this? who is telling that? that is playing into the russians' game of all of us saying, what is going on? we are just getting worse and wor

do it now. 34 of my republican colleagues have already spoken up and urged speaker ryan to help these young people. the majority of this house is ready to do the right thing. mr. speaker, here sour chance to do just that. if we defeat the previous question, i will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up h.r. 3440, the dream act. the bipartisan, bicameral legislation that has the support of the majority of this house and would pass if it were brought up for a vote. mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the record along with extraneous material prior to the vote on the previous question. with that, i yield three minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. doggett. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. doggett: thank you. i'm all in favor of keeping our government open. the difference that i have with my republican colleagues, i want to keep it open for everyone. you know, here at christmas, we think of the children first. but the children are not put first in this underlying bill. the children's health insurance program is barely left on life support. there are children out there right now, some

ryan. vice president biden: mr. vice president biden: mr. speaker, members of congress, pursuant to the constitutional laws of the united states, the senate and the house of representatives are meeting in joint session to verify the certificates and count the votes of the electors of the several states for president and vice president of the united states. certificates and count the votes of the electors of the several states for president and vice president of the united states. after the ascertainment has been had, the certificates are authentic and correct in form, the tellers will count and make a list of the votes cast by the electors in the several states. the tellers on the part of the two houses will take their place at the clerk's desk. the tellers will dispense with reading formal portions of the certificates. after ascertaining the certificates are regular in form and authentic, the tellers will announce the votes cast by the electors from each state beginning with the state of alabama. >> mr. speaker, the certificate of the electoral vote of the alabama of alabama seems

remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. tonko: i rise in opposition to the ryan-mcconnell tax plan that puts the needs ahead of the american people. this tears away protections with student loans and americans who choose to adopt children and strips support and even those whose homes have burned down. this plan, americans will see their taxes go up and millions more will face tax increases in the future. all this is done while giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires and increasing the deficit and pus the economic future in deep jeopardy. this is not the type of tax relief that we need to deserve. put the noods of the american eople first and oppose the ryan-mcconnell tax plan. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. > i rise today to congratulate representative jackson lee for ill be r winning the world series. first worldon their series title. sh

the programs? you mentioned medicare. already in the budget that passed this house with mr. ryan as speaker was a $500 billion 700uction to medicare and a $ billion or $00 billion reduction to medicaid. 60% of which go to the elderly in nursing homes. that's what they have in mind. secondly, they'll talk about a trillion dollar infrastructure. no way. the money is gone. there will be no infrastructure program no roads new york trains new york buses. no levees. no repair. mr. tonko: and mr. garamendi, i would point out, tinkering with the public utility bonds, that public utility financing that will be devastated by this bill, adds to the further woes for building our investments in infrastructure of all kinds. mr. garamendi: and you might add education to that. so what do you do? student loans, of which $1.4 trillion and nearly $1 trillion of that is owned by the federal government. these students are paying interest to the federal government and to add to that we're going to deny them the ability to deduct the student interest -- the loan interest that they're paying. this is just really hypoc

new secretary of treasury and the senate leadership and mcconnell and speaker ryan and ms. pelosi, all of you together, and said to you, what would your recommendations as how we finally and effectively address the debt before it gets worse? mr. boehner: well, we have spent more than we have brought in as a country for 50 of the last 65 years. i will say this again in case you thought i said it wrong. we have spent more than what we brought in for 60 of the last 65 years. you can't do it at home, in your business, and the government cannot do it either. the president and i were on the verge of the grand bargain in july of 2011. we stood in the oval office, the president and i and eric cantor shook hands on a debt reduction deal that was over $5 trillion the first 10 years. over 25 years, it might have been in the $20 trillion to $25 trillion range. because of the changes we're talking about. frankly, my greatest disappointment my years in politics was when that deal fell apart. but you have got big drivers of the debt. baby boomers are retiring at record rates. they are living longer than anybody ever expected we would live. taking up more social security, more medicare, more medicaid. those programs are not sustainable in their curr

to benefit from this tax plan. mr. speaker, as the vice chair of the house budget committee, i saw firsthand how republicans rammed through a budget bill that paved the way for the massive ryan-mcconnell tax giveaway to the wealthy. frankly, as a new member, i find it an affront to the legislative process, an affront to families across the united states in red and blue states alike, that we did not have hearings on that budget, that we are not going to have hearings on this tax plan, a complete rewrite of the u.s. economy that is going to be pushed through apparently in two weeks or less. we still have no score on this because we just saw the details of a tax plan today. and so the republicans have made this habit of relying on fake logic and faulty assumptions and they did it with health care and the budget and it's safe to assume that that is what we're looking at here. these cuts do not pay for themselves. and despite the claims that this tax plan is really going to help middle class americans, the reality is that it's going hurt millions of american families, just to fast track tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires and large corporations. and if the republicans are so opposed to

minutes. mr. aguilar: thank you, mr. speaker. earlier this year we watched president donald trump and speaker paul ryan ram their health care bill through the house of representatives before it even had a cost analysis. it didn't take long for us to learn why. it will strip over 20 million americans of affordable health care. it will drive up premiums and out-of-pocket expenses for older americans by as much as 25%. it will allow insurance companies to discriminate against pregnant women, children, and seniors. . this is so donald trump can give a tax break to his healthy friends this will literally be a death sentence to many americans. house republicans had years -- let me say that again -- had years to come up with ways to make health care more affordable, but instead, they would rather pull the plug out from millions of families who put their health care in the hands of the insurance companies. since the affordable care act was signed into law, nearly 40,000 of my constituents have enrolled in cover california, and nearly 200,000 in san bernardino county, our residents have been added to medical, follo

little in common with what speaker ryan described to us yesterday. and not what they wrote the bill to do. mr. beyer: i have paid payroll for two weeks and invested in plant and equipment. i voted no to realize that without our people, our employees, we have nothing. i would be enthusiastic with a tax bill that put more money in their pockets. we have 381 hard-working men and women, but not a single one will benefit. but everyone will be affected by the medical insurance rates which this bill will drive up. everybody will be at risk with their tax rates to expire. our children and grandchildren will suffer as they continue to balloon the federal debt. this is the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of our country. this is a very sad day for the country i love. the speaker pro tempore: please take your conversations off the floor. members will take their conversations off the floor. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? without objection, joorked for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the loovebs of two navajo de talkers, george b. willie senior who

doors without any input from rank and file members of congress of the american people. mr. speaker, that is not regular order. that is unconscionable. that disrespects this house. and today we -- when asked by a reporter about this record breaking closed process, speaker ryan responded -- and let me quote him again. this is today. absolutely, we have an open process, end quote. really? let's review his record this congress. zero open rules. zero. 49 completely closed rules. open process, open process my foot, mr. speaker. i guess in the age of donald trump words simply don't matter anymore. black is white. up is down. open is closed. and politicians can say whatever they think sounds good and they think they can get away it, facts be damned. if speaker ryan was serious about a fair and open process, he would not turn this house into a rubber stamp of donald trump. he would let us be the independent voice to people of our districts elected us to be. he would not routinely shut out the voices of democrats and republicans. he would let this house actually debate the serious legislation and issues that come before us. with one closed rule after another on each bill that comes to the floor, speaker ryan has completely shut out both democrats and rank and file republicans

gentlewoman from tennessee. mrs. black: thank you, mr. speaker. it really is my privilege now to yield one minute to the distinguished man from wisconsin, the speaker of the house, paul ryan. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. he speaker: thank you. i haven't said anything yet. first off, there are a few people i'd like to thank. i'd like to thank the committee chairs, i'd like to thank chairman walden, chairman brady, chairwoman black, chairman sessions. i want to thank the members of those committees, energy and commerce, ways and means, budget and rules. i want to thank all the members who made constructive contributions throughout this entire deliberative bottom-up organic process. i want to thank the president of the united states for his teadfast leadership. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order the speaker: he called on congress to act and today we take the next step to repeal and replace obamacare. i want to thank vice president pence, secretary price, director mulvaney and all their teams. my colleagues, there is a fundamental and urgent choice at the heart of this debate. we can continue with the status quo under obamac

before he votes to repeal it. mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from connecticut is recognized for one minute. . mr. courtney: last night speaker ryan told people obamacare is trumbling. i would like to share just a tiny fraction of the emails my office has received in the last few days to demonstrate that the opposite is true. peter, 63-year-old farmer from ellington, connecticut, a.c.a. has allowed me and my wife access to quality health care. if this law is repealed either i sell off my land and livestock or go without insurance. becky, a 41-year-old small business owner and single mom. before a.c.a. hadn't seen a doctor in four years. now she and her kids have a plan for $315 a month. 53-year-old freelance designer past two years he and his wife have been covered by an affordable plan. the same message from michelle, a registered nurse with health issues. sue, her husband has cancer. barbara, 59-year-old registered nurse with chronic condition. all are watching this destructive process with an -- with outrage. for these people the thing that is crumbling is their confidence in congress to do the right thing and stop this rush to repe

because of speaker ryan. contributionss and transfers from his political apparatus to the rnc. why do you think donors -- what is driving donors to continue opening up their wallets to republicans and how do you ensure that that keeps up through the rest of this campaign season? mr. stivers: i think it is the republican agenda. we put up an agenda of american renewal that paul ryan port really hard on and it is driving people to support us. i see huge excitement among us, when they come out to vote, or when they send us a check, or decide to run for office. there is lots of kinds of enthusiasm. while democrats make a lot of hay about their enthusiasm, but enthusiasm, great too. turns out our enthusiasm has been higher than theirs, and you cannot deny it because we have won the special elections and raised more money. mr. bland: in terms of some of these incumbents who are facing tough races for the first time, or have an in these situations before going in every two years , and knowing for the election cycle they will face a tough race, how do you feel they are dealing with the intense pr

president. on march 29, 2016 mr. trump said and i quote you know speaker ryan, ryan is the republican speaker in the house. he wants to knock medicare waygo down and frankly you are going to lose the election if you were going to do that. i am not going to cut it and i'm not going to do all of the things they want to do. but they want to really cut it and they want to cut it substantially. the republicans are not going to do that and what mr. trump said was exactly right. this is the day. they want to cut social security they want to cut medicare, they want to cut medicaid. mr. trump was right and millions of people voted for him on the belief that he would keep his word. it seems to me mr. trump right now has got to do one of two things. number one, if all that he was talking about was campaign rhetoric than what he was up -- obliged to do now is to tell the american people i was lying. "i said i would not support cuts to social security and medicare but it was a campaign ruse. it's ruse. they just said what came to my mind to get votes." and if that's what he c believes l

particular, confront us with, as did harvey and irma in texas and florida, but mr. speaker, i notice the dream act is not a part of next week's schedule. the leader and i discussed the dream act, along with speaker ryan. i know that the president has said if we pass the dream act, he's said publicly he would sign the dream act. he is obviously concerned with security at the borders. we share that concern about security at the borders. ut this is an item that now is one sixth of the time that was available has one, we have five months left to go. and i will tell the majority leader, i am very hopeful that, i know the majority leader and the speaker formed some task forces to look at this issue, but i am very hopeful, mr. speaker, and i ask the majority leader to perhaps comment on this that before the end of this work period, there are 1914 days -- there are another 1614 days left after this week in the work period, that we might be table bring the dream act to the floor. a discharge petition has been filed. i would hope that the discharge petition was not necessary for either the rule or for the dream act itself, a discharge petition on the dream act itself will be mature as of october 5. i expect a dis