Melanie Stansbury: “I rise to say: Welcome back to the House of Representatives. This is our first full week back after the shutdown and the…”

“I rise to say: Welcome back to the House of Representatives. This is our first full week back after the shutdown and the 54 days of lockout that we experienced here in this Chamber, after a completely wasteful, avoidable, and painful shutdown that not only harmed families, workers, and our communities but cost our country billions of dollars. It did not result, ultimately, in the fight to end the attacks on our healthcare. Mr. Speaker, rather than coming back this week after our shutdown, the longest shutdown in history, to address the real issues that were at the heart of this debate--lowering healthcare costs, addressing the healthcare cliff, addressing the cost of food, and addressing the cost of housing--what are we doing here this week? We are attacking our public lands and opening them up for oil and gas drilling. This week, our colleagues across the aisle, fresh from their multiweek vacation, have come with a whole slew of special asks by special interests from the oil and gas industry. We have H.J. Res. 130, the Congressional Review Act, to reverse a resource management plan that was developed with Tribal consultation and public benefit to open the door to coal development in an area where communities have been abundantly clear that they do not want these attacks on these public lands because of the threats it poses to climate change, public health, and to their future. Why are they ignoring what these communities have already said?”