One of my pleasures in public service is the opportunity to work with some extraordinarily motivated and talented staff. Nowhere in my career has it been more evident than here on Capitol Hill. The joy of working with smart, dedicated…

I come to the floor this morning barely able to talk. But not having much of a voice is common in Portland, Oregon, these days, as fans shouted themselves hoarse after the Portland Timbers' stunning victory over the Columbus Crew on…

I am inclined to yield 5 more minutes to my friend from Wisconsin because I strongly, strongly agree with the framework that he advanced. I have come to this floor repeatedly with a simple suggestion that we index the gas tax and move…

I have long championed the concept that trade done right requires strong environmental protections as well as enforcement of those commitments. Many of our most serious environmental challenges, from climate change to deforestation to…

The eyes of the world are on Paris as it recovers from one tragedy and when 150 world leaders gather to prevent another. They meet to secure a global agreement on climate change. Reliance on fossil fuels, especially coal, and wasteful…

My Republican friends, unlike the French who had the vision and courage not to scapegoat desperate Syrian refugees fleeing the barbarians that attacked them in Paris, this is a foolish attempt to thwart ISIS terrorists who won't wait 2…

Chuck Rosenberg, the acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, recently called the notion of smoking medical marijuana a joke. What is a joke is the job Rosenberg is doing as acting DEA administrator. He is an example of…

We are all horrified by the barbaric attacks in Paris designed to slaughter innocent people and inspire terror. We stand with the French people and are all committed to redoubling our efforts to ensure we keep Americans safe and intensify…

I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, my friend from Georgia suggests that this is very complex and difficult and that we have wrapped ourselves around the axle, and we can't do this in the Rules Committee or in the Transportation and…

I could not disagree more with my friend from Oklahoma City. First of all, the streetcar is a highly developed mechanism that 30 communities across the country are involved with right now, and they all invest their own money, including…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 326, line 10, strike ``13 percent'' and insert ``11 percent''. Page 326, beginning line 18, strike…

I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak and for his raising this issue. Madam Chairman, it is important that we have a balanced transportation system, and there are already problems in terms of being able to promote…

I appreciate my colleague's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this. Mr. Chairman, I do appreciate what the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is doing. I feel a bit empty in no longer being on the committee. That is why I try…

In the meantime, I appreciate what has been done, the manner in which it has been approached, and the effort to try and bring people together. Historically, infrastructure was something that was bipartisan in nature, that made people feel…

I appreciate the work that has been done in this underlying legislation to put more national priority dealing with nonmotorized safety. This new program gives States funding for Vision-Zero-type activities that are on the forefront of what…

I started last week in Dallas, Texas, working with people across the country, but especially from Texas, dealing with transportation needs and their requirements for balanced transportation by pedestrians, streetcar, and especially light…

I appreciate what the committee has done putting this new program in. I think it is important. I look forward to its success. Since it is a competitive grant program, allowing most States to be eligible doesn't take that away. The other…

I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy and his hard work over the years on the budget. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to stand today to support this agreement. It allows us to limp along. There is no shutdown for now. We avoid the damage of…

We are in the process of wrapping up a budget agreement that is welcome since it protects against default on the national debt and prevents draconian cuts for disability payments and unfairness in Medicare premiums for our senior citizens…

For the first time in over a dozen years, an unusual legislative procedure--a discharge petition--has been successfully mounted in the House. This is an extraordinary effort to allow the House to work its will--a mechanism that was part of…

Today, I will vote against H.R. 3762, the Restoring American's Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act. This legislation is not a serious effort at deficit reduction. Rather it is an assault on the American public by gutting the Affordable…

Today, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will consider a surface transportation reauthorization. Unfortunately, calling it a ``reauthorization'' doesn't make it so. This legislation calls for a 6-year period of…

There are simple, commonsense solutions, by the way, that are supported by the U.S. Chamber and the AFL-CIO, truckers and AAA, business, government, to be able to get the country moving again, to repair crumbling infrastructure, and not…

Thank you. Madam Speaker, I am listening to my friend from Louisiana rewrite history. It is not the President who is threatening to default on the national debt. It is the Republican Congress that is refusing to do what was granted to…

Today, I will vote against H.R. 10, which would continue a flawed program that pursues a partisan ideology at the expense of a child's quality education. This bill would reauthorize Washington, D.C.'s private school voucher program, the…