Donald M. Payne: “Let me first thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands, who has demonstrated great leadership in leading these CBC…”

“Let me first thank the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands, who has demonstrated great leadership in leading these CBC Special Order hours. It is not an easy task, but she has done remarkable work in terms of finding topics that are important to our communities and our Nation. As the gentlewoman stated, Mr. Speaker, this month we marked 6 months of the Trump Presidency and 6 months of congressional Republican inaction. Republicans made promise after promise to the American people. The President called himself the ultimate dealmaker. I wonder if we are witnessing the first Manchurian President. Instead of the promise of jobs, infrastructure, and a new and improved healthcare plan, we get chaos and seemingly never-ending controversies. Where is the Republican agenda? Where are their accomplishments? Where are all those wins? Let's take a look at the numbers. President Trump has a job approval rating of 36 percent, the lowest of any President ever at this point in their Presidency. Republicans can point to zero legislative accomplishments. The President has no plan to lower healthcare costs, no jobs bills, no infrastructure bills, no tax reform, and no clean budget. These simply are the facts. Instead of doing what is right for the American people, it appears that Republicans are more occupied with taking away healthcare from millions of our constituents to give tax cuts to the wealthy, or defending the administration's most recent controversy.…”