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