Ring this blic hlt vid19 is tthree times in theormal cle, oneerso thoronavirld kick off a snballffect that to leadsp 59,000 new iections. Think abouthat and think about the way wepeteere. Members travelrom theirme spoto nveneaoronirus hot on after mth after mon. Mcgovern w e cod symptomatic, carers nonetheless. Coeningongrs must notur tech nolling has changed considerably over the last 231 years. There are now toolles available that make temporary Committee Proceedings and remote voting on the house floor possible. Not offense, just temporarily during this emergency. Now some on the other side seem to think that temporarily embracing technology during this pandemic is a radical idea. Well, let me say this loud and clear to my colleagues, mr. Speaker. If anyone tells you that you would be giving away your vote with remote voting by approximately, this is just a lie, plain and simple. It is just not true. What would be radical is if this hoes did nothing, if we made members decide between spreading a deadly virus or legislating for the American People. That is a false choice. We can and we should do both. At least 16 states, 10 countries, and the European Parliament have all iment policemened some form of remote procedures to safely conduct official proceedings during this pandemic. With this resolution, this house can finally join them. Now let me repeat. We are not suggesting permanent changes. One believes we do our best work in person and side by side more as long as this pandemic continues. Mr. Speaker, this is the type of adapting that this house has always done. Our founders did not vote by lectronic device, but we do. Constituents decades ago couldnt watch more proceedings live on cspan or listen to them on the radio, but ours can. Changes were made to our quorum requirement time and time ain, including after the september 11 attacks. I could go on and on. Adapting in action in this institution is in its d. N. A. There are always those quick to pro championship that any means would be ending the house as we know it. But you know what, mr. Speaker . The sky did not fall, and the house continues its work. So i dont say this to make light of what we are doing here today. What we are doing is serious. Its a big deal. But my state of massachusetts has one of the oldest legislators in the country. But even they changed their rules to allow for remote voting. Ou can respect tradition without blinding yourself to making temporary changes when necessary. And today is one of those times. This resolution comes after careful study, months of talks, feedback from constitutional experience and conversations among a Bipartisan Task force. This resolution has been strengthened by this delib itf process, and it contains many provisions suggested by my republican friend it is now time to act. Some communities have turned the corner with this virus. I hope that continues. Medical experts tell us, however, that a second wave this fall could be even more damaging than what we are seeing now. So as we hope for the best, we must prepare for the worst. Anything less would be a derelection of our responsibility. So i urge all of my colleagues to join with us in supporting this resolution. Lets adapt the way this institution as always done, and lets make sure that we can continue legislating during this pandemic no matter what the future may bring. I reserve the balance of my time. The eakepro tempore the gentlen from massachusts rerves. Cole is recognized. Cole k yovery much, mr. Spea i want to thanky good frien the chaie geleman from ssachusetts,r. Mover wevrkedong and hard together and tried to coeratively. Number of this in here we hav worked on together. Inhe end we wee unle to reach angree. Mr. Spker,ere bk here t consider theolion coequential change to les he house of reentatives my time cossnd possibly the most consequential ruleshange sinc e esblhment of theoder mmittee em in the legislate Organization Act of day,peaker the majory is prong for the firste voting on thr of the hoexy th cnge ao allws for adoption of aotal remote ificatioof single embe of congress. Second, it wllow for committe to perform remote above all else, mr. Speaker, republicans believe that any change to centuries old rivals the house should only be done in a i beg your pardon way that achieves consensus. Unfortunately, theo proposed rule changes do not meet that goal. While i have no doubt of the chairmans good intentions, i believe these changes will fundamentally alter the nature of the institution and not for the better. As such i simply cannot support them. Though this rece davis lution is intended to deal with only Public Health emergency, we must never forget that the temporary changes we make today become the precedent we follow tomorrow. I am deeply concerned that shifting to remote activity both in the form of approximately voting and the form of Remote Committee work will fundamentally change the way the house operates and will remove the collegial environment we enjoy when we meet in person, get to know one another and use our knowledge of each sledge soler as a person to move towards bipartisan consensus. I fear that would be lost in remote activity. I am also deeply concerned that these changes will not pass constitutional muster. Why would we risk exposing important legislation to obvious cushional flaws . It does not make sense to me. Most of all i am concerned we are moving forward with these changes on a partisan basis. Any change that is this consequential should only be done after we leech bipartisan agreement no matter how difficult it may be to achieve. I think a bipartisan agreement is possible on much of what my friend is trying to accomplish, mr. Speak, but todays resolution is simply not it. I have a modest suggestion to my friends. Lets take appropriate precautions and go back to work. That is what the executive branch is doing. That is what the United States senate is doing. That is what millions of americans do each and every day. We should be no different. The house should be the same. I urge my colleagues to reject the rules changes and go back to the drawing boar board to act in a bipartisan manner. With that i urge opposition to the resolution and i reserve the balance of my time. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. I ask for unanimous consent to submit for the record a letter from the dean of Berkeley School of law who wrote the book on constitutional law discussing his view that the remote voting process we are considering today would be constitutional. In the letter the dean states the constitution bestows on each house of Congress Broad discretion to determine the rules for its own proceedings. This is expansive and would include the ability to adopt a rule for approximately voting. Nothing in the constitution states otherwise. Accepted. I would say to my friend that the white house isnt operating business as usual. My understanding is the Vice President has been sequestered from the president. In addition to that, everybody in the white house is being tested multiple times before they can even get near the president. A lot of the work is being done by video conference. At this time i would like to yield two minutes to the gentlemen from california, mr. Peters. The gentleman is recognize the. I rise today in sort of h. R. 69 to authorize remote voting. Governors and mayors across the nation have ordered americans to stay home, to work from home and avoid travel. Until we have adequate testing or a vaccine to protect ours and prevent our Health Care System from being overwhelmed, the best we can do here is follow that advice. We in Congress Must do what we have asked of our constituents and what others have orderd from them. Some argue that because we are asking our front line heroes to show up at work, we lawmakers should be rekwlired to convene here in district of columbia. But that argument misses the point and dishonors our front line workers, particularly the Health Care Workers who are begging people to stay home to avoid nonessential travel in order to slow the spread of this deadly disease. They ask others to stay home so that some day they can go home. We in congress are not First Responders or front like Health Care Workers, although responders are certainly counting on us to provide them the resources they need. But we can hold our meetings and conduct our communications electronically. Because of the space limb talladegas created by the need for social distancing, working remotely is probably the only way that all of our committees can function at the same time. I dont want to give up the opportunity to work with my colleagues in person. Our interactions are to product griffin, but in the face of this once in a lifetime global pandemic, we need to overcome our default things. Remote voting is not cowardice, it is leadership. Lets show by our action that we ourselves take this thought seriously. Wane to thank the leadership of mr. Mcgsovern and all the other folks who have worked on this, including my friend, mr. Colele, and i urge the support of this resolution. Yield back. The gentleman from oklahoma, mr. Cole is recognized. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield two minutes to my good friend, the distinguished Ranking Member of the House Armed Services committee from texas, mr. Thornberry. The gentleman from texas is recognized. I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, those of us on the Armed Services committee are privileged to work around with and for the people in the service. Every one of them is a volunteer and expects reasonable precautions with their health, safety and well being, but every than them knows there is some risk that goes with it. They carry out their duties admirably. What a contrast to what we are seeing with this resolution. I think one of the proudest times i have had in this house over the last 25 years has been on 9 11 and the days thereafter. That very evening members gathered on the steps of the capital and in the toews that have we went right pack to work and passed the legislation that was needed to deal with the terrorist threat. We were not even intimidated when many of our offices were attacked by anthrax in the days thereafter. It was not just about showing resolution to the terrorists. It was about showing to the done that we could come together and get our work done. What a contrast to what we are seeing with this resolution. Through the silva war, 1918 flu, world war ii, 9 11, throughout our history. There has never been approximately voting on this floor. Members accepted the risk and carried out their duties to the best of their ability. It was not about technology. It was about trust and integrity. Were our predecessors so much braver than we are . Were they more ignorant of the risk or care less with their own safety. Was there sense of the object responsibility to the American People greater than hours . None of this makes sense. But what makes the least sense of all, mr. Speaker is that any member of either party would support a resolution that llows any of us to vacate even temporarily the trust placed in us by voters that under mine the very foundation of this representative temperature charissa. Our history is better than that. The voters deserve better than that. To me, mr. Speaker, it is sad, rather despicable and one of the dark he is days in this institution. I yield back. The time is expired. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Let me say to the gentleman who just spoke. I am not intimidated, and i am not afraid. None of us are here. This isnt about that. This is about doing what is sensible, what is in the Public Health interest. This is not about us. It is about the people you all come in contact with. Those who walk around and dont wear masks, somehow has a display of how unafraid they may be. Ybe carriers who are asymptomic spreading this dozen. Is is a Public Health crisis somebody carrying this disease can spread it in a very aggressive way. Please, spare me the self righteous spyglass nation over this. We are supposed to follow the medical advice. We are supposed to practice social distancing. And yet the rules committee, which is the samuelest knee in congress, and we took up the whole committee. We have 21 Standing Committees and i dont know how many subcommittees. Where does the Armed ServicesCommittee Meet . Where does the Transportation Committee pete . Maybe on the house more one at a time . If we are going to follow the medical advice, we should not paralyze this institution. I yield to a member. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized for a minute and a half. Mr. Gottheime speaker. I rise today as congress adapts this pandemic so that we can represent our constituents and shape legislation during this do so safely in line with c. D. C. Guidelines. His resolution includes Remote Committee participation and proxy voting, which are essential reforms during this to giving the y American Public the and transparency they deserve. Im hoping remote floor debate and voting are next and this paves the way. It Supreme Court is doing and so can we. State legislators, including of new and in my state jersey, legislators around the world are doing it. And its timehere we step up. Theres nothing extreme about adapting is way and during an emergency. Just like all americans have. Chairman rateful to mcgovern, my good friend, a true institutionalist. And representative lofgren who has worked with us in the roblem solvers caucus with democrats and republicans as we continue making strides to a truly remote system. Debate and work is key for my district in north jersey, hich is at the epicenter of this crisis. Bill includes the salt deduction. It helps Small Businesses that for workers meet, uninsured for every single and community so they can support teachers, cops, e. M. S. Firefighters. But it starts with making sure our system is built so we can do does todays proposal just that. We should all support this legislation to defend this institution, to protect it, and ensure accountability and transparency and this institution lives on forever in he greatest country in the world. I know well get through this together if we put country ahead party. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. Is gentleman from oklahoma recognized. Mr. Cole thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield one minute to my good riend, distinguished member from minnesota, mr. Hagedorn. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. Hagedorn thank you. I believe this is a bad idea for his institution and a terrible example for the nation. I recommend a no vote. As our nation t opens up and people go back to responsibly to their jobs, the house is making a move to shut down, for all intents and purposes. Know, tens of millions of americans throughout this have ak, this pandemic, been out delivering and producing our energy, our food, with, of course, people in hospitals, policing our neighborhoods. Jobs e been doing their and we should be doing our jobs in person moving forward. Publicght question why a of Congress Like myself who is dealing with stage 4 cancer, mayo g treatment at the clinic, why i would be one working intravel and this chamber, and working in our because its a bad idea. Ere setting a terrible example. Personally, though, i can tell you this. This is the job i signed up for. This is the job i asked the southern minnesota to do. And this is the job that i want to do. Honor to serve them. I think we should do it in person, working committee in and do our jobs and we can do it safely and responsibly. Vote. Mmend a no thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts recognized. Mr. Mcgovern thank you, mr. Speaker. The gentleman should be happy to we that under the proposal have, you can come here anytime he wants. He can be in his committee. E can be on this floor and debate. But the bottom line for those who are in circumstances where hat is impossible, it provides an opportunity for them to participate as well. With that i would now yield two inutes to the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. Stevens. The speaker pro tempore the entlewoman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Stevens i rise today to discuss the activity of the space, and e, echnology committee as we work toward extraordinary circumstances to deliver to the American People. The Science Committee, under the chairwoman johnson and Ranking Member lucas, has been holding briefings on topics as infrastructure, energy development, through the technologies available to us over the worldwide web. Been bipartisan. One important focus has been our manufacturing role in retooling production lines to needede medical supplies to respond to the Ongoing Health crisis. His has been of particular importance for the subcommittee of research and technology of with i chair, along Ranking Member baird. How do we open platforms and technologies for industrial collaboration to olve big problems and streamline our supply chain to et the medical supplies to those who need them now . The Science Committee will ontinue to do the work it has always done, to meet the needs of the American People, to manufacturing, innovation forward. Urge my colleagues to support this fabulous resolution, that will enable us to continue to do and trying er great circumstances. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield back. The peaker pro tempore gentlewoman from michigan yields back. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes distinguished republican Ranking Member of the Budget Committee and a fellow member of the appropriations committee, my friend, mr. Womack from arkansas. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from arkansas is recognized. Womack. Mr. Womack thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from time. Ma for yielding born from the people, the work integral part an of our nation. It . S judging from the legislation im s before us right now, not so sure, but tracing back to the civil war, the great world war ii, 9 11, houses others, the business has never ceased, even times in our t country, and it should not cease today. Working safely, bringing back members to the has , Speaker Pelosi decided to pursue proxy voting. Work. Rs are back at our military is on point right now defending our country in all world. Of the doctors, nurses, grocery workers, Truck Drivers, delivery personnel, theyre showing up every day. Are not shirking from their duty. Houldnt the house lead by example . New house procedures might very change necessary but any to the centuries old rules that could fundamentally alter this never be doneould without bipartisan support. That. re not seeing this proposal runs counter to he constitution and it marginalizes in my strong opinion, mr. Speaker, the lawmaking process. E need transparency, accountability, not procedures the further centralize decisionmaking of our country into the hands of a select few. Must get back to regular not the path s is back to regular order. Yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from arkansas yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts recognized. Mr. Mcgovern im happy to provide the gentleman who just spoke with kind of the history f the house of representatives as to how voting rules have changed repeatedly but this idea were talking about here today, just like to the United States senate. A hearingey just held in their Health Committee where and people were present some were remote. The chair and Ranking Member were remote. Administration witnesses were brought in through Video Conferencing. Do it. Ate can maybe my friends are refrayed technology are afraid of the technology. Get you the help to get you comfortable. Ts ok for the United States senate. Why is it not ok for the house of representatives . I yield one minute to the entleman from california, mr. Mcnerney. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized for a minute and a half. One minute. One minute. Mr. Mcnerney mr. Speaker, i rise in support of h. R. H. Res. 965. More than 1. 45 million confirmed covid19 86,000 nd more than related deaths in the United States, and these numbers continue to increase. In congress is to provide help and leadership in this crisis. That we continue serving our constituents, but requiring members of congress to travel back and forth to washington to vote and participate in official business in person during this pandemic uts the health of our constituents and ourselves at greater risk. Ll this traveling by so many members of congress will worsen the crisis we are working to mitigate. Dont agree with the rule changes, i urge you to reconsider. Care about the health of your constituents, if you care about the health of yourself, colleagues, and your staff, and if you really want to itigate this crisis, then support the temporary rule vote 965. Ote yes on h. Res. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california yields back. Massachusettsfrom reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma, mr. Cole, is recognized. R. Cole thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I yield one minute to my very good friend from the great state california, mr. Mcclintock. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Mcclintock thank you, mr. Speaker. Word congress literally means the act of coming together meeting. The constitution calls for to attend, to assemble, and to meet. Congress is a deliberate tiff very delib s re a tiff body deliberative body, we meet through formal the edings and through countless informal conversations that are the unique product of meeting. Gether and fulfilling that duty, congress has met throughout every war and come before has us. We expect grocery clerks to show p at 4 00 in the morning to restock the shelves, but the house of representatives is in . G to phone it each of us is the proxy for our constituents. Expect us to speak and vote or them and answer to them and not hand off that trust to someone entirely unaccountable too se were too lazy or scared to show up for work. Good god, what are we doing to our country . Search the gentleman from california yields. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. Gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern its obvious the gentleman who just spoke didnt read the bill. Nobody is asking anybody to hand off their ability to cast a vote here. Theres no discretion involved. If he reads the bill hell figure that out. I also ask unanimous consent to submit to the record a may 5 opinion piece published in the hill from a constitutional law professor from the university of virginia and former clerk to the late Supreme Court justice antonin scalia. In his piece the professor says, the more general point if legislators are monitoring proceedings in Congress Online and vote remotely they are in attendance and could be present for quoryoms. What is good for the president and Supreme Court must be good for congress. I ask that be put in the record. At this point i yield to the gentleman from tennessee, mr. Cohen. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from tennessee is recognized, mr. Cohen. Mr. Cohen thank you. I have been listening to the debate and i have been amazed at what i have heard from the other side. They say the military goes into battle, ready to go. They dont let these things bother them. The military doesnt have a great majority of their members who are 65 years of age and older. And when they do have members that are 65 years of age and older, and they have morbidity systems, past incidents that make them more likely to get a disease, they dont send them into battle, they take care of them. They dont put them out there in harms way. Some people talked about the senate. Lamar alexander came up and got exposed to coronavirus from a staff member. He had to go back. Rand paul came up, got exposed, took a test, still swam in the senate pool and exposed everybody over there to covid. And came back positive. So its not about the senate. This makes good sense. One of our best epidemiologies said the best place you could find to get the coronavirus is indoors in an enclosed room and a lot f people of talk. Thats the the definition of congress. Washington is a hot spot. Its under a stayathome order. Are you not supposed to meet in groups of more than 10 people. We are more than 10. And if they expand it well be up to the level of 50 which is the next level. We are just protecting our members and protecting their loved ones and their constituents. This is a good law, it gives me a chance to vote. We have members who are going through chemotherapy now. The great john lewis is going through chemotherapy. That means he cannot come up here and vote. That should not be the facts. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield one minute to my very good friend from the great state of arkansas, mr. Hill. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for one minute. Mr. Hill i thank the speaker. I rise in opposition to this rule change. Rather than taking time to implement a bipartisan plan to safely open this house and our work on the hill as suggested by the republican leader, the House Majority is taking the lazy way out. The u. S. Constitution and 200 years of precedent require a physical press to establish a quorom, who protect all members rights and the rights of the americans who vote for these members. If we pass this rule change today and make attendance optional, we are taking away the fundamental nature of our government of elected members of the house representing our citizens. Since the First Congress through it all, bad roads, bad weather, invasion and the burning of this very capitol, civil war and depression, members have assembled to do the peoples business. Our founders intended that legislating be hard but fair. Our founders compelled the peoples representatives to assemble, to collaborate, to find a way forward. This rule will only make it harder to find that consensus during these times. I urge all my colleagues to reject this unnecessary change to house rules and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, let me remind my colleagues what the minority leader did suggest. That is that all of us get preferential treatment in terms of testing. We all be tested regularly when we come back here like they do in the white house. This even though our constituents cant get tested, even though our hospital workers and those who work in homeless shelters and food pantry, they cant get tested, our First Responders cant get tested, the minority leader suggested that, you know, you are all so special here that you should move to the front of the line. Well, i dont know what people in your districts think, but my constituents think thats tone deaf. That it we dont deserve preferential treatment. And that is what he suggested. I now yield three minutes to the gentleman from maryland, the distinguished member of the rules committee, mr. Raskin. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from maryland is recognized. Mr. Raskin thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Chairman, i want to salute you for your determination to keep American Government going through this period. Thats what this resolution is about. The continuity of congress and continuity of government. We are here to keep the Great American experience rsparmente and democratic selfgovernment alive experiment and democratic selfgovernment alive. The preamble says we the people in order to form a more perfect union, provide for the commonsense, promote the general welfare, and preserve to ourselves and prosperity, the blessing of liberty, do hereby ordain and establish the constitution of the United States. The very next sentence, vests all legislative power in us. In article 1. In the congress and gives us the right to determine the ules of our own proceedings. Thats what the Supreme Court calls a political question. It cannot be secondguessed by the senate. It cannot be secondguessed by the president. It cannot be secondguessed even by the Supreme Court. Its up to us what our rules of proceeding are going to be. And e watched the debate one can only regard with amazement the faux outrage by our colleagues who display great res. Vires of selfrighteousness. Its amazing to me because the same members have been operating for many years for term after term under the current rule, first adopted by a republican majority house, which allows two members to form a working quorum. I repeat, the current rule which this body has ratified repeatedly, was adopted by a republican majority allowing two members to constitute a working quorom. How can anyone who has accept that state of affairs when it would have on yezz i, there is no pandemic and plague let loose on the land with 86,000 people dead and tens of millions unemployed to do something about, they did nothing about it. Now they want to suddenly turn on the proposal necessary to guarantee the continuity of the u. S. Government in which the numerical quorom majority rule is scrupulously observed through the wellknown and well accepted approximate will i system this. Rule preserves the vote and the voice of each and every member of the house. Unlike the two member quorom rule, which was put into place by a republican majority, our rule is based on effectuating the will and vote of every member, the proxies must be cast in strict accordance with the will of the member. With no discretion and no room for judgment. Mr. Speaker, i expect to be a proxy because i live about a halfhour away from here. I will cast the proxy vote exactly as given to me. And if i were to decide i know bert than the person im voting for, that should be the subject of ethical proceedings. Im nothing more than a letter carrier. This is what the Congress Needs to do. The American People expect nothing less from us. Lets keep the government of the United States in business. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. Gentleman from oklahoma, mr. Cole, is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I yield one minute to my great friend and distinguished member from texas, mr. Gohmert. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. Mr. Gohmert thank you, mr. Speaker. Let me just read from the constitution, thank you very much. Article 1, section 5, each house shall be the judge of the election returns and qualifications of its own members and a majority of each shall constitute a quorom. You cant pass a bill on this floor with proxies and have it upheld unless you change the constitution and this doesnt do it. Some here say that if it saves one life its worth it. How about the millions of americans who laid down their lives not for wishywashy maybe we should be afraid, we might get something and died, they didnt do that in the spanish flu days, in the civil war, now we are going to do it . Come on. There were people that died saying things like live free or die. And now we are going to amend the constitution with a house rule . Thats ridiculous. If youre going to destroy 40 million lives and livelihoods, at least have the courage to come here and do it in person. You didnt let the member from georgia do it years ago. You denied that. And i felt like you were right. We got to preserve the constitution not abuse it with house rule. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. Members are reminded any comments shall be referred to the chair. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern oh, my goodness, mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent to submit to the record a letter from deborah pearlstein, constitutional law professor from Cardoza School of law. In her letter which i strongly recommend to my colleagues, she says, i believe adopting procedures to allow for remote voting under these extraordinary circumstances is not only flaul but essential to the maintenance of our constitutional democracy. The constitution contains no specific requirement of physical presence for members to vote. What the constitution does instead as the courts have repeatedly recognized is leave it up to each oust of congress to determine the rules of its proceedings. The gentleman refers to the spanish flu. Let me just say, that is not an example of something we want to aspire to. The congress basically paralyzed. Couldnt even get together to pass a bill to provide more doctors to rural areas where people were dying. They couldnt even do that. And as a result of congress inaction, more people died in that pandemic. So, please, lets get real here. Mr. Speaker, at this point id like to yield one minute to the gentleman from rhode island, mr. Langevin. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlemans request is granted. The gentleman is recognized. Mr. Langevin thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of this resolution and commend chairman mcgovern for overseeing this deliberative and well thought out process. The proposed changes to the house rules are absolutely necessary to ensure that members of congress can continue our vital legislative and oversight functions while protecting Public Health. I strongly believe that we need a more comprehensive, full econgress capability to be developed, conducting congressional business in the future only in times of emergency if we are unable to meet in washington, d. C. However, i also believe that they are very real, Cyber Security concerns that must be addressed before such a system would go live. In the meantime, this resolution appropriately allows for inperson proxy voting during the duration of this Public Health emergency and holds open the possibility of remote voting if a secure system can be developed and verified for full house floor proceedings. In the meantime, this step cannot be end of our conversations on continuity of congress. We do need a framework that will account for remote congressional operations and the possibility in the event of death or incapacitation of a significant number of elected representatives. This is the 21st century. We should be able to do this in the future. I look forward to continuing to work with chairman mcgovern to address this issue going forward. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you very much, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, i yield one minute to my very good friend from the great state of tennessee, mr. Rose. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Rose thank you, mr. Speaker. Today i am standing up for those who have stood up for this nation throughout the current crisis. Nurses, doctors, farmers, Truck Drivers, food service workers, distribute shun and supply chain workers. The millions of americans who cant stay home and expect our country to survive. Havent we learned our lesson about outsourcing . Apparently not. Now some of the members of this house want to outsource their vote as well. I will be voting no on this resolution and i would encourage those ready to hand over their vote to someone else to just go ahead and hand over their seat to someone else. With unemployment the way it is, i would bet that there are more than a few people back home in your district who would gladly accept your 174,000 a year job and find a way to get to washington and push a button. I will vote no. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern i ask unanimous consent to insert in the record letters of statement of support of h. Res. 965 from chairman pallone, representive trahan, representative thompson, and representative peters. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans request will be covered by general leave. Mr. Mcgovern im glad the gentleman who previously spoke said he wants to stand up for nurses, doctors, and teefsers. He has a chance to do that in the next bill well talk about. There is money in there to provide them more assistance in terms of testing and treatment and tracing and more money for p. P. E. But i my guess is the gentleman will vote no on that. The same people out here who are talking about being brave and standing up with our First Responders are the same people whose leader has said that his proposal is to prioritize members of Congress Ahead of all of our constituents in terms of testing so we can operate here. My constituents who are on the rontlines, the doctors, the nurses, the First Responders, deserve to be tested first house. Anybody in this i yield to ms. Tra has. Trahan. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from massachusetts is recognized for one minute. Trahan nearly 1. 5 million americans have contracted tragically, more than 85,000 people died. We asked Small Business owners in our districts to close up shop and stay home for to slowto do their part the spread of the virus. Workplaces are innovating and iguring out how to operate while keeping pace with commonsense Public Health guidelines. Has an m, congress obligation to do the same. This moment requires us to loea example, to show in the face of a highly Infectious Disease getan still do business and our constituents the muchneeded relief they desperately need conducting proper oversight. So that this change remotely. Onduct votes this is the stwefrt. We have an this is the 21st century. We have an opportunity to show at our can use the tools disposal to continue congressional operations at full capacity while also practicing preach. This is common sense, and id urge my colleagues to support as well. Ge thank you and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from massachusetts yields back. He gentleman from massachusetts, mr. Mcgovern, reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I yield one minute to my very good friend from the great state of texas, mr. Roy. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Roy thank you, mr. Speaker. From oklahoma. Nd just asked my colleagues here, we doing . We have 40 million americans out 40 million. Roaching we have Serious Problems we have were going to pass a bill tonight thats a clear political bill filled with from my promises colleagues on the other side of the aisle that has no chance of eing passed in the current form. Why are we not doing the job of this body . We have no debate. From maryland, mr. Raskin, we Work Together to constitution. He says we have this rule in here for a quorum can be two people. I agree thats a problem. Whos in charge of this body. We shouldnt operate that way. The American People want us to our job and debate and work. Look, the constitution is pretty what constitutes a quorum. Ou can trot out various words from some professors around the quorum means presence. We should be here debating. It matters we look each other in the eye. T matters that were here talking to each other. When there are 40 million americans without jobs while we in congress and dont do ours . Were not doing our job. Truckers carry food products, while people go to grocery stores, while first job, why do their arent we doing ours . I would say the constitution ontemplates our physically being here, looking each other in the eye to do our job. If we want to have debates about Committee Work being virtual, ok. Voting, ctual act of our solemn duty to represent hundreds of thousands of people us to do eir trust in our job, were supposed to be here. Were supposed to work with each other. Ive got a bipartisan bill right now that would help solve the flexibilitye p. P. E. Act. With my friend dean phillips minnesota. Lets offer amendments. Lets actually have a debate in this body. Its supposed to be the peoples house. The peoples house. Its our job, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Roy this is not constitutional. Mr. Peaker pro tempore cole reserves. Mr. Mcgovern two hours of debate on how to help our constituents, i have a feeling to vote no. Hes going to vote no to help our teachers, First Responders. States, e no to help cities, towns. Thats unfortunate but were going to move forward. I ask unanimous consent to into the record from epresentatives kildee, perlmutter, sanchez, representati epresentative langevin, customer, cardenas and representative pocan. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans request will be general leave. Mr. Mcgovern i now yield two inutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Lee, two minutes. For lee we cannot do and cannot do and how many times can i say it, we cannot stand and do nothing. The constitution has no that prohibits this body from doing something and to a catastrophe of not being able to govern this nation. This year during the heinous tragedy of 9 11, continuity had a committee and put in provision the rules under Republican Leadership of what would quorum. Te a but let me say this, my friends. O one is telling you not to be present. But what it does say is we are prepared, we will not panic. Prepared in case a catastrophic resurgence of in the fall as the scientists have said. Going to o proxy is dominate this floor. A proxy is directed by the they must specifically on each vote tell you what to do. Specific. Ctions are at the same time, no member is prohibited, as i said, from to this floor. Eleanor roosevelt said one thing make eve profoundly, we our own history. That is what we are doing. Were making our history so we serve the American Public. Do you think Truck Drivers and us to esponders want collapse and not pass a bill that will provide for them so not be furloughed and fired . They want us to do our job. Payne said time will try mens souls. This is a constitutional process. For us to proceed and overn this nation without an interruption. We have seen members who are positive. It can happen to a predominant number of members. How then will we respond . With the respond exact idea that has been promoted and put forward in this resolution. Let me also acknowledge the fact hat 36 million have filed for unemployment. 85,000 have died. Rojected 134,000 that have died. That is why we have done prison dollars, thats why we put the so we dont have people seeking to eat and id like to add this to the record, chairman, city staring down gaps. Illion budget funding. Ocal and state and the speaker pro tempore the gentlewomans time has expired. Ms. Jackson lee we need to do his resolution and pass the heroes legislation now. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewomans time has expired. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. Oklahoma is from recognized. Mr. Cole thank you very much, mr. Speaker. Yield one minute to my very good friend, former rules committee member, great dan state offrom the great washington. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Hou mr. Newhouse article 1, section 5 of the constitution states can constitute a quorum in order to do business house. Peoples as a rm to former former member of the house rules committee, i have a deep toreciation and a commitment the precedents and procedures of this hallowed body, but under democratic proxy voting 22 me before us today, only House Democrats would need to be present in this chamber to pass and every single bill moving forward. This is a forced consolidation select few a insiders. And it simply does not reflect our constitution, our history, and our nation. My fourth uents of washington washingtons fourth Congressional District did not vote for their simply defer to to a proxy and shirk the duties serving as a u. S. Representative. Mr. Speaker, the American People urge a no e, and i vote on this terribly illadvised and unconstitutional resolution. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oklahoma tts from reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert in the record an april 14 a. P. News wisconsin tled assembly oks virus bill in congress. Al i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record a may 6 globe article entitled for the first time in 100 years ass lawmakers will vote remotely. And i ask unanimous consent to april 1 article entitled Kentucky House dramat limits inperson vote due to coronavirus. Reserve the i balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you very much, speaker. I yield one minute to my very good friend from great state of grothman. Mr. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Grothman very wrong with voting. First of all, one of the problems we have in this though we all n represent 700,000 people, this ill there are some congressmen who are a great deal more powerful than others. And this bill will greatly ncrease the power of leadership. Right now, people running to each other in the halls, talk to other in the cloakroom, question parts of the bill, and ometimes question leaderships narrative. This bill says everybodys going to be back at home, which power oftrengthens the leadership because people arent around to question the bill. Lessens it bipartisanship. When were gone, we do have Conference Calls with other i find i but talk to democrats much more when were in this building. By taking people out of this building, you will decrease you make proxyas voting the norm. Inally, youre penalizing the press. The press should we should all be available to the press so they get a variety of perspectives. We will work our way down to the and e where its a speaker a few other democrats around and the press arent going to be able to talk to us all. Press. An insult to the thank you very much. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. Massachusettsfrom is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert into 22, ecord an april Washington Post article zoom. Arliament breaking 700 years of tradition. I also ask unanimous consent to the record a march 6 politico article entitled corona era European Parliament, evoting. Er and and i reserve my time. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Reserves. Man the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I yield two minutes to my good the distinguished Ranking Member and former chairman of the energy and oregon. , mr. Walden of the speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized, mr. Walden. Mr. Walden thank you, mr. Speaker. Friend from oklahoma, the current republican leader of the rules committee. We are in unprecedented times unprecedented times do call for unprecedented actions. Smash ag these times to wrecking ball in the foundation of democratic lawmaking by remote, vernment more more isolated from the people, by dramatically centralizing few more power with those at the top in the majority while giving the raines of the ouse reins of the house to fewer than 25 members who show returns otes by proxy to boss politics. This is not to say theres never room for improvement the way the house conducts its business, mr. Speaker. 10 years ago i led the transition for House Republicans looked at ways we can modernize congress, improve its operations. Not tothese were matters be taken lightly. We needed an inclusive bipartisan approach. Care to solicit inputs from democrats input from democrats and republicans alike. Up a suggestion box. What we did was good work. Were relatively small but the process is robust. Regular order, accountability, for the most part, bipartisanship, these are words energy and the commerce committee, republicans and democrats. As the republican leader of the energy and commerce committee, what this proposal means for the committees. How do we preserve the rights of all members from top to bottom s we zoom through hearings and markups . How do we presume integrity . The if someone makes mistake like accidentally muting themselves . Er and havent we experienced the of Video Conferencing . These are say that improved by changes. This further dehumanizes our processes. All know social media has become a cancer on civility. Members will cing not improve our relationships. Think what gets worked out the en members here on floor or in the committees. We need more bipartisan dialogue less. S country, not so i urge my democratic colleagues to withdraw this with us to work preserve the great democratic traditions of the house that ill work in this challenging time. And i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern i have been inserting various articles into the record showing other states and other parliaments and congresses across the world doing operating remotely. To prove a point that it can be done. I dont know whether my republican friends are just intimidated by technology. Listening to some of them i think they think bifocals are a radical idea. The bottom line is we can do this. The United States senate had a remote hearing. And it worked out just fine. The bottom line is that we are in the middle of a Health Care Health crisis, pandemic. And we need to make sure that we can continue to do our work in a safe and orderly way. If i was cynical i would think the reason why my republican friends are against this is to make sure we dont do anything. I get t you may not like the fact we are trying to address the needs and concerns of the American People. But we are going to do this and i hope we get a bipartisan vote on this. With that id like to yield one minute to our distinguished majority leader, mr. Hoyer. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from maryland is recognized. Mr. Hoyer i thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, i want to remind s today of president lincolns words to congress. He said this, the dogmas of quiet past are inadequate for he stormy present. The occasion, he continued, is piled high with difficulty. And we must rise to the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. So said president Abraham Lincoln. So it is today. This occasion is piled high with difficulty. But we must rise to the occasion. Our challenges are piled high and the this house must rise to meet them. We find ourselves in new and unprecedented circumstances. So, mr. Speaker, we must think anew and act anew. The house has a duty to the American People to do its job. Even, even in a crisis like this one that nobody on this floor has ever experienced. Ver. The house has a duty to the American People to do its job, especially, especially in a crisis like this. Let me say at the outset, mr. Speaker, that there is no substitute, i want my colleagues to hear me on this, there is no substitute for personal interaction of members in a Committee Room or house floor. I share that view. Mr. Mccarthy shares that view. Ms. Pelosi shares that view. Mr. Mcconnell shares that view. But when that is not possible because it poses a mortal of our he 000plus fell citizens fellow citizens have died because they contracted covid19. It poses a mortal danger to the ealth of members, staff, press, and the public. Therefore we must provide an alternative way to do the peoples business. Let me say that we had a Bipartisan Task force. The first Task Force Meeting rodney davis a. Republican from illinois, said, we want the congress to be able to work. My colleague said that cynically we could observe that perhaps for those of you who may not be able to garner a majority from what we pass, perhaps you dont want us to work. I hope thats not the case. I know the administration does not want us to do oversight. But that is our responsibility. This resolution will enable the house to conduct its work in full without risking the health and safety of americans in communities across the country from which members come and to which they will return. It allows committees to use Remote Technology to conduct hearings and mark up legislation. Technology already in use, lready in use safely and effectively by millions of americans. Including the Supreme Court. Nine people who have decided they ought to be separated and are therefore doing what has never been done in history. Its not a revolution. They are using technology to do the same thing they could do in the Hearing Chamber of the United StatesSupreme Court. Eriod. The United States senate, as my colleagues, so many have observed, held a virtual hearing. The chairman was not there. He was quarantined. The witness was not there. Actually there are multiple witnesses. They were quarantined. There were, as mr. Mccarthy has suggested, members in the hearing room. So it is what mr. Mccarthy refers to as a hybrid hearing. This rule provides for that. It also permits the use of proxy voting on the house floor. And takes steps toward adopting remote voting once a platform has been deemed secure. I had hoped the democrats and publicans could move forward with such changes on a bipartisan basis. I absolutely reject any theory that the character of the house is being changed by this rule. Absolutely reject it. My friend is shaking his head. No, it is. Nothing changes. The same people vote. The same issues will be considered. The same witnesses will be heard the same Committee Rules will be followed. The only thing that changes is the technology that is available to us. By the way, when that board is lit up, there were some people thought that was a radical change. I ought to be able to stand on the floor and say aye or nay. When cspan was introduced, oh, my, how radically that would hange the house. I reject. I say again, that this is any kind of radical change. What it is is the use of technology to accommodate the crisis we confront. We had many productive discussions through our party task force. I want to thank mr. Cole, mr. Davis, i want to thank minority leader mccarthy, i want to congratulate jim mcgovern, chairman of the rules committee, for his fairness and attentiveness to everybodys position. We didnt reach agreement, im sorry we didnt reach agreement, but tea wee took a lot of the ideas that our friends on the republican side of the aisle suggested. There were good suggestions. And we incorporated them in what we are doing. We are included in this resolution such as retiring any Software Platform be approved by the chief administrative officer. Some technology that is not accepted or approved to work would be used. The chief administrator officer and allowing committees to hold hybrid hearings, which i just referred to, and both reform in person participation simultaneously. However, mr. Speaker, we were unable to reach a consensus on adopting 21st century tools. 21st century tools that would allow the house to meet its Constitutional Responsibilities during this emergency which is why democrats are bringing this resolution to the floor today. I hope, however, with this resolution now on the floor that republicans will join us in voting for it and urge and i urge them to do so. If, in fact, you want the congress to be able to act and and se exercise our responsibility, youll vote for this rule. To do what we have historically done, held hearings, voted on bills, brought them to the floor, had amendments, and pass them. The only difference being that some people, maybe many people, who will be doing so as Technology Enables us to do, virtually. We know that remote technologies work because the committees have already been using them to hold meetings through those forums and engage in discussions about legislation. Many state legislators, mr. Speaker, and foreign parliaments have adopted these technologies successfully. One of them is kentucky. For what its worth. The washington metro area is still experiencing a high rate of infections. Which is not yet peeked. So our peaked, our doctor on whom we rely for some our health needs says the best practice would not be to come together in one room whether it be a Committee Room or the floor of the house, but would be to have people have the opportunity to vote remote will i. That is why the capital physician has cautioned us. At the same time, more than half of those employed here, staff or support workers, commute to the capitol complex on Public Transit and they are concerned. We have an obligation to protect them and their families as well. This change, let me repeat this, this change is not permanent. This is to meet a temporary catastrophe that confronts our country which we have not seen the like of for over a century. It will not advantage or disadvantage either party. Theres no partisan advantage in this rule. None, zero. Zip. It does not fundamentally alter the nature of the house or how it operates. Let me repeat that. It does not fundamentally alter the nature of the house or how it operates. There is no dangerous precedent. Only a commonsense solution to an unprecedented crisis that demand our ingenuity and adaptibility as an institution. I said it didnt happen for more than a century. 2018 1918, the spanish flu. They passed many, many pieces of legislation with two or three people on this floor. Perhaps you think thats better than the 432 others by technology saying i vote aye, i vote na y6789. Nay. This is how to paraphrase lincoln to think anew and act anew. Thats all we are doing. We need to have a system in place not only to deal with the current crisis, but future emergencies, including the possibility that another surge of covid19 is going to happen this fall. If we fail to act now as we fail to act after 9 11, if we fail to act now, we may be in a lot of trouble come september. Without the capacity to join us all together in this chamber. But still the capacity to join us all together in participating, pursuant to the rules of this house, even though we do so virtually. This resolution isnt just about adopting Remote Working tools for the house, its about ensuring that the house of representatives, the peoples house, conducts its constitutional duties of policymaking, oversight effectively and safely. It is about making sure that our system of checks and balances, hear me, im not sure the executive department is shedding any tears we are not here. Its about making sure that our system of checks and balances remains fully in place by keeping the house functioning to the full extent of its abilities, even as i said, it does so virtually. Frankly when i Say Something to people on some of this technology, whether its zoom, face time, teams, webex, any other technology of that type, very frankly when im looking at tom cole on that as we did a couple times, i see him on the screen. I know its tom cole. And when tom cole says something, i know that that is what tom cole is saying. Theres no secrecy here. Theres no mirrors. Smoke and mirrors. There is no advantage to either party by this. Thats why i do not understand that this isnt a bipartisan piece of legislation enabling this body to work in an effective way. Albeit virtually. Mr. Speaker, i want to thank chairwoman lofgren and the House Administration committee and chairman mcgovern of the rules committee for their tireless efforts on this resolution. I want to thank all the members who have been patient while we negotiated with republicans through the Bipartisan Task force. Hoping to produce a resolution that was bipartisan in its authorship. Having said that, there is a very fundamental difference, i understand that. Mr. Cole at the hearing offered a scholars opinion that would be unconstitutional to do this. Mr. Mcgovern offered another scholar that it was fully constitutional to do this. If thats the fundamental difference i understand. Its not because it radically changes the way this house works or radically changes the votes of the majority or the minority. Or radically in any other way change this is house of representatives to a body that is not representative. This resolution remains bipartisan in its ideas and i hope it will be bipartisan in its adoption. Once it is passed, i would ask my colleagues to familiarize themselves with its new proxy voting requirements and adhere strictly to them. That will allow the Clerks Office more effectively to fulfill its role of recording and counting members voteses with utmost accuracy. Again, mr. Speaker, i urge all my colleagues to join me and many others in supporting this resolution permitting the house to do its work safely and in compliance with social and physical distancing practices, urged by all of our medical personnel. I thank you and i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from maryland yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I have been extraordinarily restrained in this debate i was a because i have a lot of speakers that need time to express their feelings. Sometimes when the other side repeatedly says things that are either out of context or deserve a rebuttal, youve got to respond. So to my good friends on the other side, who cited the Senate Committee, they know in negotiation we said wed be happy to do exactly that. We just want markups to be in person. So please dont use the Senate Committee as if we were somehow opposed to that second my friend said were intimidated by technology. Were not intimidated by technology. Heavens. You know. We respect tradition and we think theres a better way to do. This as my friends know we moved toward them in the course of that discussion. Finally my friend my very good friend, the chairman, said this is a plot to do nothing. Weve passed four bipartisan pieces of legislation working together, weve done a lot in the last few weeks. To suggest wed deliberately sabotage operation of the house simply because we disagree with you is wrong and quite frankly, doing nothing is bringing a bill to the floor, which youre getting ready to do, h. R. 1600, that you know the senate wont pick up and you know the senate wont sign. The president wont sign. We know working together we can coa lot. All we ask is that we return to that. With that i yield to my very good friend, the ranking republican member on the Homeland Security committee, the gentleman from alabama, mr. Rogers. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Rogers thank you, mr. Speaker. I thank my good friend from oklahoma. I rise in strong opposition to h. Res. 965. This blatant partisan move to fundamentally alter the way the house and committees operate completely undermines the rights of the minority and over 200 years of precedent. As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security committee im particularly concerned how this resolutionover rides the rules of our committee. T the beginning of our congress, our committee negotiated rule twhess majority that protected minority rights. Now those rules are being replaced with rules we only saw hours ago. I dont understand why Speaker Pelosi doesnt trust her chairmen and chairwomen to negotiate in this pandemic but apparently she doesnt trust them. One of the things that concerns me most about this resolution is that nothing guarantees that republican members are going to properly be notified and able to fully participate in Virtual Committee hearings that may sound petty to you but unfortunately on my committee its already the reality. For the last two weeks, Homeland Security democrats have been Holding Virtual hearings without notifying republican members. To make matters worse they restricted participation to only a handful of their members. I fear this resolution will only further empower the misconduct on my committee and cause it to spread to others. Worst of all, is being done for the shortterm benefit of the majority. And not the American People. Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to insert into the record a letter from all Ranking Members opposing this resolution. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Rogers many of my constituents show up to work every day, from frosery store clerks, nurses, doctors, policemen, First Responders. If the house had the resolve and courage to do the same we wouldnt need this partisan resolution. This is disgraceful. I urge all members to vote no and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern mr. Speaker, let me ask unanimous consent to insert into the record a may 13 letter from a current resident scholar at the American Institute in support of our plan here. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Mcgovern in response to the gentleman who just spoke i dont know what hes talking about. Theres nothing in this package that were presenting that would undermine minority rights. Im happy tourge him have his staff contact ours. What hes talking about has nothing to do with what were discussing here today. I reserve think time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman sfr oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole i yield one minute to my very good friend, the distinguished member from illinois, mr. Boston. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman veck mr. Bost. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Bost the American People are sacrificing on the frontlines, its been discussed about Truck Drivers and nurses and all that. I was going to go on that but ive listened to things being said. I come from the state of illinois where over a long period of time, about 35 years, we have seen small moves that sounded so good at the time giving all their power to the speaker. All their power given away which is not what our Founding Fathers said. Mr. Speaker, the sponsor of this bill has said on several occasions he would like to insert this statement into the record and this article into the record. That does not change the fact of article 1, section 5 that is so clear. That this is unconstitutional. And i hope for the sake of the people they represent, the people that each one of us represent, that the members will stand against this proposed rule. A rule that gives more power to one person instead of the individuals that we have here that was originally set up. Mr. Speaker, as i direct my comments toward you and the chair, i would like to say this. If you believe that i as a member a going to give up by proxy the ability to represent my 720,000 people that it will not happen. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern the gentleman doesnt have to give anything up. Can i inquire of mr. Cole how many more speakers he has . I think im prepared to close. Mr. Cole i still have a number of speakers. Mr. Mcgovern all right. I will reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. Mr. Mcgovern can i ask how much time we have, mr. Speaker . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts has one and a half minutes. The gentleman from oklahoma has 8 1 2 minutes. Mr. Mcgovern you want to give us any . Mr. Cole we would need a different debate for that to happen. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole i yield one minute to the distinguished member from ohio, mr. Lattasm the speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Latta i thank my friend for yielding. I rise in opposition to h. Res. 965 which is a flagrant disregard to the constitution and house tradition. Proxy voting has previously been deliberated in this body. A 1970 amendment was offered to ban all forms of proxy voting in committee. It argued Committee Members should be present in person, to listen, debate, discuss and vote. Proxy voting tends to add to the cloud of suspicion hanging over congress. Use of proxy voting on important bills gives up a members voice and adds to the appearance of secrecy. In 1974 an amendment was offered to entirely ban proxy voted, it was adopted by this house but later overturned by the democrats caucus. A c. R. S. Report gave the opponents view to proxy vote big stating it contributes to the domination of committee chairs, contributes to senteeism, and detracts from what is necessary to enact clear legislation. He who forgets the past is condemned to repeat it. Learn from our past and vote no. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. Mr. Mcgovern reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole i yield one minute to my very good friend they are distinguished member from california, mr. Lamalfa. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Lamalfa i thank my colleague from oklahoma. Our founders used to ride days on horsebook, wagons, through unkind conditions to d. C. To do their job for all of us at the time. Us, we only have to brave t. S. A. Lines and occasionally a delayed flight. You know, the constitution here did not catch the virus. Why are we voting on a measure to suspend it . These rules have been in place since 1789. Mr. Speaker, our constituents elected us to come to congress and do our job and be their voice in washington, d. C. This would only mute their voice. This has led to shady, fraudulent outcomes. Members should not have to be here to be possibly coerced by certain other members to how their votes should be shaped. They need to be able to show up. Not that hard, really, at the end of the day. We have a higher calling to come here and do our job an be present. To have these interactions. To have these conversations. Especially when were talking about possibly 3 trillion of new spending thats going to be debt for the grandkids that we are so trying to be helpful to in our future generations. I urge no on this. We need to stop and think of what were doing. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expire. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I yield one minute to my very good friend, the distinguished gentleman from arkansas, mr. Westerman. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Westerman mr. Speaker, why is it not too big of a Health Concern to call us back from all across the country to voten a useless messaging bill that will wither on the vine outside this chamber, but it is too much to ask to come back and hold Committee Hearings . Proxy voting shouldnt happen. Not now, not ever. If members of congress are unwilling to do their job, they should step down and let someone else do it. If politicizing a crisis werent enough, the speaker is weakening the core foundations of cry of congress. Already House Democrats have demonstrated their expertise at crafting partisan bills behind closed doors and on the Natural Resources committee they have been holding partisan virtual hearings disguised as round tables with no republican input. I will concede to my colleagues across the aisle that proxy voting will keep the process moving. The wrong process, the wrong direction, and for all the wrong reasons. So im not only concerned about how we will be voting, im also concerned about what we will be voting on. It is the plan now for a handful of members to come back to d. C. Every other week to vote on yet another messaging bill from the speaker . This is wrong and none of us should stand for it. Republicans are ready to get back to real work. Speaker pelosi, please quit playing games with the ruleses and let us do our job. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expire. The gentleman from oklahoma reserves. The gentleman from massachusetts reserves. The gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. Mr. Cole thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I yield one and a half minutes to my very good friend, the distinguished member from alabama, mr. Byrne. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Byrne thank you, mr. Speaker. I was listening to the majority leader talk about a state thament Abraham Lincoln made. He made it in his annual report to congress, december 1, 1862. In this message he proposed one of the dumbest ideas thats ever been put forth in this congress and that was instead of free and enslaved people in this country we would round freeing enslaved people in this couldnty ry we would round them up and send them back to africa. He talks about the tired dog in as of the past. The constitution is not dogma. This is the fundamental law of this country. Remember in december 1, 1862, this congress was in this room, 50 miles away, 10 days later, a fierce, awful battle took place in fredericksburg, 18,000 casualties. If it hadnt been winter, the Confederate Army could have take then building. Yet they continued to meet here. Through pandemics. Yellow fever. Malaier yasm this was the hottest spot in the country for typhoid fever for over 15 years. Congress still met in this room. Millions millions of americans go to work every day doing their jobs and they expect us to do the same. Concerted this ill rule we should all get to washington, do our jobs and take and has unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house, the Supreme Court, and Public Policy events on the president ial primaries through the impeachment process. Now, the federal response to the coronavirus. You can watch all of cspans Public Affairs programming on television, online, or listen on our free radio app and be part of the National Conversation through cspans daily Washington Journal Program or through our social media feeds. Americaseated by Cable Television companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Cspans washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. This morning, we will look at how the coronavirus is affecting students, school districts, and universities with the American Enterprise institute on how k12 schools across the country can prepare to return for the fall and then, the National Association president on the future of the u. S. Education and the coronavirus recent polling on issues surrounding distancelearning. Also, the ceo of the American CollegeHealth Association looks at what colleges and universities can do to reopen while keeping staff and students safe. And the senior Vice President of government and outlook affairs for the American Council on education on the effect coronavirus is having on colleges and universities and the future of higher education. Be sure to watch cspans washington journal, live at 10 00 eastern this morning. Join the discussion. Next, new York Governor Andrew Cuomo gives an update on the states response to the coronavirus pandemic. He announced the regions in new york that are entering phase one of the reopening today and the guidelines businesses must follow. Gov. Cuomo good morning. Happy friday. Dont worry, it is friday. Ill have the weekend off. No, you wont. Thats right. Lets see where we are today. Total number of hospitalizations, down. Just the way we like to see it, rolling averages down, the way we like to see it,