Rep. Gutiérrez: The Nation Pays the Price for a Do-Nothing Congress

Rep. Gutiérrez: The Nation Pays the Cost of A Do-Nothing Congress

“I will faithfully uphold and defend the principles of the do-nothing Congress and pledge allegiance to the do-nothingness for which it stands”

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-IL) spoke on the House floor (at approximately 10:00 a.m. ET) to offer his congratulations to the new Speaker of the House Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and to the Republicans and to House Republicans who are “lucky to have him.”  But Rep. Gutiérrez said he was sad that the new Speaker had to promise not to address immigration reform as a condition of being elected. Standing on the floor off the House before a sign reading “Stop Doing Nothing,” the Illinois Congressman said:

Maybe those on the other side of the aisle will come up with a new oath of office for leadership positions.  Raise your right hand and repeat after me: ‘I swear that I will not let anything happen on my watch; That I will faithfully uphold and defend the principles of the do-nothing Congress, and pledge allegiance to the do-nothingness for which it stands; That I will ignore all cries for help, no matter how loud from the American people…And that party unity is more important than the United States of America, so help me Tea Party.

Rep. Gutierrez said the problem the Republican Party consistently has is that their base forces them to take positions that are unpopular with the American people, and that it goes well beyond immigration.  On funding for women’s health and Planned Parenthood, marriage equality, voting rights, equal pay and the environment, Republicans are forced to do nothing because they cannot win if the majority rules.

Rep. Gutierrez said there is a cost to do-nothingness:

It’s the cost of deported immigrants and businesses that cannot hire people legally.  Of women who are denied life-saving health screenings; of honoring families as first class citizens no matter who heads them; of a cleaner planet and safer neighborhoods.

He concluded saying there is a political cost to the Republicans of their oath of do-nothingness, but that he is optimistic that eventually, a majority of the majority would “let the majority rule in the people’s House.”

A video of the Congressman’s floor speech is here: https://cs.pn/1RvvdEi

The text, as prepared for delivery, is below.

Rep. Gutiérrez represents the Fourth District of Illinois, is a Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, is a Member of the Judiciary Committee and the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, and is the Co-Chair of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.  He was one of the main subjects in the FRONTLINE PBS documentary “Immigration Battle,” that aired on Tuesday, October 20 and can be streamed online.

Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez

Remarks November 4, 2015

I would like to congratulate the House of Representatives, the Republican Conference, and my friend Paul Ryan for his election to be Speaker of the House.

Those on the other side of the aisle are lucky to have him.

It is sad that he had to promise Members of his Conference– in writing –to not address a national issue on behalf of the American people.

He had to swear that he would not allow a vote on immigration reform as long as President Obama is President Obama.

The new Speaker had to promise to put party unity ahead of national public policy in order to be elected Speaker.

One of my colleagues from Alabama who is vehement in his opposition to immigration came to the floor last week to read Speaker Ryan’s pledge into the Congressional Record.

So the Congress that did nothing on immigration reform for the last two years will do nothing for the remainder of the President’s term.

It is really stunning.  You must promise to do nothing in order to be Speaker of the Do-Nothing House.

Maybe those on the other side of the aisle will come up with a new oath of office for leadership positions.

Raise your right hand and repeat after me…

I swear that I will not let anything happen on my watch.

That I will faithfully uphold and defend the principles of the do-nothing Congress, and pledge allegiance to the do-nothingness for which it stands,

That I will ignore all cries for help, no matter how loud from the American people…

That I will not let public policy get in the way of party politics…

And that party unity is more important than the United States of America, so help me Tea Party.

Why would one faction within the Republican Party demand a promise from the new Speaker that he not bring any immigration legislation to the floor?

Because the opponents of immigration and immigration reform would lose.

They must demand from the Speaker that the majority not rule in the House of Representatives because the opponents of immigration know they are in the minority.

This is a telling moment for the Republican Party and it is not confined to immigration. 

The majority of the country supports Planned Parenthood continuing to provide basic health services and contraception to women, but playing to a smaller segment of their base, Republicans threatened to close down the government in order to block its funding.

They want the minority to rule and they want the tail to wag the dog.

On the environment, in the wake of decades of scientific evidence that human beings have helped to cause climate change, what is the Republican response?

Do nothing!  It’s a liberal hoax.  We can buy another beach house farther inland when the beach is, well, farther inland.

Members on the other side of the aisle celebrate the antics of a county clerk who refuses to follow the law and do her job, which includes issuing marriage licenses to two men or two women who want to spend their lives together.

Maybe House Republicans think they are standing on principle, but the majority of the country has been fighting against exclusion, second class treatment, and bigotry for decades. 

The rest of us have embraced equality.  We support voting rights, the same pay for the same work, and police in communities that protect and serve, not just stop and frisk.

Here in the Congress, as we saw last week with the discharge petition to preserve the Export-Import Bank, sometimes the majority can break the gridlock of this minority and take action.

As we saw last week on the bipartisan budget and debt ceiling vote, sometimes Republican leaders take action for the good of the country despite the calls from the do-nothing caucus to do nothing.

On all of these matters, do-nothingness comes with a cost.

It’s the cost of deported immigrants and businesses that cannot hire people legally.  Of women who are denied life-saving health screenings, of honoring families as first class citizens no matter who heads them; of a cleaner planet and safer neighborhoods.

But there is a political cost as well.

A colleague from South Carolina summed it up in the documentary “Immigration Battle” on PBS Frontline, which I also appeared in.

Addressing a group of Republican voters in his district, Congressman Mick Mulvaney says, and I quote. 

At some point, we’re gonna have to figure out that if you take the entire African-American community and write them off, take the entire Hispanic community and write them off, take the entire Libertarian community and write them off, take the entire gay community and write them off, what’s left? About 38 percent of the country.

He concludes by saying: “You cannot win with 38 percent of the country.”

And he is right.

We know from the environment, from the fight for marriage equality, the fight for civil rights and the fight to modernize our immigration system that taking no action is precisely the problem.

I think the new Speaker understands this and someday, I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle agree with him and let the majority rule in the people’s House.

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