I just returned from the United Nations where there is a special session on the drug problems. This is a serious and complex issue, but the war on drugs, where we have spent over $1 trillion, has been an abject failure. Drugs are still…

It is painful to listen to some of the rhetoric here on the floor that suggests that, somehow, the use of resources by the IRS is not dealing with customer service. The gentleman admitted that, under Republican leadership, they have worked…

Why shouldn't we have the same rule apply to the 10,000 employees of the House of Representatives?

I am going to give all of my colleagues an opportunity to step up and to cosponsor legislation that would extend to Congress the same degree of scrutiny as they want to have for the IRS. Even though the IRS problem is much smaller than…

If I have more time later, I would be happy to be involved in a colloquy with you on this.

Let me rephrase my question: Does assisting the 7.3 million people who get tax credits under the Affordable Care Act qualify in your definition of taxpayer assistance?

Who are the 7.3 million people who get the tax credit under the Affordable Care Act? Does helping them fall within your definition of taxpayer assistance?

In reclaiming my time, I am asking the gentleman: What would be the impact on the 7.3 million people who are claiming the tax credit under the Affordable Care Act, which you have not yet repealed and which still is the law of the land…

As we struggle to deal with the epidemic of opioid addiction and thousands of deaths from overdose, it is ironic that later this afternoon I will be part of a debate at the Brookings Institution about whether or not marijuana should…

This week in 2 days is April 15, the day that our income taxes are due. We have seen that day difficult enough under the best of circumstances, be made even more difficult, purposely, for millions of Americans. My Republican friends have…

I thank Mr. Murphy. I appreciate his courtesy in permitting me to speak with him this evening. The Sun is setting on our Nation's Capitol. Many of our colleagues have returned to Washington, D.C. They are at dinner, they are with their…

It is dangerous to them; it is dangerous to society; and it is heartbreaking for their families. I have appreciated our conversations on that, going back and forth, and what you have tried to do to be able to make sure that the balance is…

If the gentleman would yield, I just want to say that one of the areas that is most contentious deals with when people, like the gentleman that you have pictured behind you, are going to be compelled to have treatment. You have been open…

Had I been present for the vote on the Democratic Motion to Recommit H.R. 2745, which would add protections for consumers by ensuring that the underlying bill would not apply to mergers that would unreasonably increase the costs of…

The tortured Presidential nominating process continues with generalities and insults, but maybe we could avert our eyes and attention for a moment and consider some real challenges that we face closer at hand. The backdrop in the…

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And it will be fun to engage in this conversation, and I appreciate your starting it because the testimony here today, I think, was very useful.

I voted against H.R. 4557, the Blocking Regulatory Interference from Closing Kilns Act of 2016, yet another bill in a series of Republican attempts to block EPA's ability to effectively regulate pollution in a way that protects our health…

Today a bipartisan group of several dozen Members from both sides of the aisle led by Adam Kinzinger and me were going to be sending a letter to Secretary Kerry, and I am pleased to say we don't have to send it. The origin of the request…

Every day we are reminded by current events of how essential water and sanitation are to our very existence, whether it is Flint, Michigan, droughts in California, or the challenges of safe drinking water and sanitation for underdeveloped…

I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this bill. Madam Chair, I, too, am a passionate advocate of public spaces, of outdoor recreation, and I understand the importance of protecting some of our Nation's most…

There are, in fact, alternatives if what you want to do is kill animals with guns. We don't need to do lead-based ammunition, which ends up in the environment. It ends up not just in what you are killing. It doesn't go away. It persists…

In the weeks ahead, we will be dealing with the budget resolution and we will be dealing with defense authorization and appropriations. Already we have seen the administration unveil a budget that is not only unrealistic, but actually…

I appreciate your courtesy in permitting me to join you this evening, and I appreciate the conversation that we have had. Dr. McDermott's experience in the 1960s and 1970s really touched me. I started in my political career when I was much…

Last night Frontline on PBS had a compelling documentary on the opioid and heroin epidemic. We are now seeing politicians diving in. Governors across the country are sounding the alarm. It is being featured by Presidential candidates in…

From the moment I arrived in Congress, I have been working to rebuild and renew America. Our great country, sadly, is falling apart as it falls behind the rest of the world. The American Society of Civil Engineers rates our infrastructure…