are staying and working, trying to get an agreement. we hope we will have a vote on the floor in the house and a debate on the issues of the budget and immigration and have a vote and hopefully have enough votes between republicans and democrats to pass a copperheads of immigration reform with the budget and address other pressing issues of the american people are bringing to our attention on health care, education, opioid crisis. host: speaking of the floor. the house coming in now. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] et us pray. thank you god for giving us another day. please bless the members of the people's house and the men and women of the senate in these of funding for the

government. may their efforts to find a workable solution to difficult issues result in legislation that will redown to the benefit of our nation. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: mr. speaker, pursuant to clause 1, rule 1, i demand a vote on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the aye vs. it. the journal stands approved. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: mr. speaker, i object to the vote on the grounds that a quorum is not present and make a point of order a quorum is not present. the speaker: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from florida, mrs. murphy. miss fur if i: i pledge

allegiance to the flag of the united states of america -- mrs. murphy: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. lance: mr. speaker, i rise today to thank and recognize the heroism of a constituent of new jersey's seventh congressional district. this past december the port authority of new york and new jersey came under attack by a terrorist set on the destruction of american lives. one of the officers responsible for thwarting the terrorist's plot was port authority officer sean gallagher. many lives were saved that day as a direct result of the quick and decisive actions of officer gallagher.

those who know sean personally were not surprised when they learned he had played a decisive role in foiling the attack and apprehending the port authority bomber. in the aftermath of the attack, many of officer gallagher's friends and acquaintances were asked what character trathes he possessed. -- traits he possessed. a common theme emerge. a strong work ethic and strong patriotic desire to protect his community and nation. he will receive the port authority's p.b.a.'s cop of the year award this friday. i cannot think of an officer more desoiling than officer sean gallon ber and i congratulate him for his heroism. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for ne minute.

mrs. murphy: madam speaker, as a member of the class of 2000, i rise to celebrate the 325th anniversary of the college of william and mary. william and mary may be the second oldest college in america but first in the hearts of its students and alumni. the college educated many of our nation's founding fathers and continues to take pride in producing graduates who enter public service, including four current members of congress. like it has for so many others, william and mary changed my life. as a daughter of refugees from vietnam who became residents of virginia, i was the first woman in my family to attend college. i arrived on campus feeling a little alone and more than a little nervous. yet from the moment i walked through wren port could he as a freshman to the moments i rang the bell as my last class as a senior, they made me feel i was part after close knit community, a tribe, pound together by pride and tradition. i created friendships and made memories that last add

lifetime. to william and mary the institution and to those whose efforts have made it such a special place, i say thank you and happy birthday. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the ntleman from utah seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> madam speaker, i realize recognition? are more olicy topics tenuous and challenging than immigration reform. but i believe before us now is a unique window of opportunity that will allow us to solve some of these complex problems. we can make this an historic time for our country. are more tenuous and challenging than immigration as we come together to find solutions for more than 800,000 dreamers, we need to take advantage of this moment to also address additional aspects of our broken immigration system. my hope is that congress will pass a bill that provides certainty for dreamers while also bringing meaningful improvements to our visa programs for seasonal workers

and our highly skilled immigrants. along with providing resources for an enhanced border security. we know that not every special interest group will get everything they want. but i believe if we work together we can give the american people exactly what they expect. an improved immigration system that we desperately need. thank you. i yield my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. sanchez: madam speaker, i rise to recognize the tireless work of school counselors across the country and in the 38th district of california that i'm honored to represent. these public servants guide students through academic, social, and personal development. dana, a counselor at a high school in my district is exactly the type of champion that students need.

dana, a 12-year counseling veteran, has been instrumental in the development of our teacher's career technical education program. she also coordinates numerous events including a.p. student night and college fairs. thanks in part to her unwavering commitment to students, the graduation rate is nearly 99%. despite the important contributions counselors like dana make every day, counseling positions are not always protected when local budgets are cut. the average student to counselor ratio in our nation's public school is almost double the ratio recommended by the american school counselor association. students deserve to have the support of school counselors like dana. that is why i'm proud to introduce a resolution to designate this week as national school counseling week. i urge my colleagues to join me in honoring these selfless professionals. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the

gentleman from alabama seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, republicans won the house in 2010 in part posed by e danger america's four-year string of trillion dollar deficits. house republicans sliced america's deficit to posed by america's $438 billion in 2015. but then our finances took a dramatic turn for the worse. america's deficit surged to $585 billion in 2016. and $666 billion in 2017. congress is expected to soon vote on a debt junky spending bill that blows america's deficit sky-high by hundreds of billions of dollars in 2018 alone. mr. brooks: mr. speaker, there is a narrow path between adequate national security funding and avoiding a national insolvency that decimates our military and risks american lives. that path is as narrow as zion national park's angel landing

trail, one misstep left or right and you fall hundreds of feet to your death. the senate spending bill is a debt junky's dream, a nightmare, and a misstep that plunges america into disaster. it must not pass. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one inute. >> madam speaker, i come to the house floor today to speak about a husband, a father, and avid environmentalist. mr. issa: with over 55 years experience in just one profession. madam speaker, i come here to speak about and to honor the life of mike love. a founding member of the beach boys and one of the most popular music groups of all time. a group that has entertained us on the mall of the capitol more than any other band in history.

a patriotic group that speaks in lyrics that are timeless. love has spent an extraordinary 55 years and counting as the group's lead singer and one of the principal lyricists with 13 gold albums, 55 top 100 hits, and four tingles alone. he wrote himself -- singles alone. he wrote himself the lyrics to e great pop classics "good vibrations,," "california girls." the beach boys from their california roots have, in fact, been a global ambassador for california and for america. but more importantly at a time in which words are sometimes vulgar or unintelligible, that's never the case with the beach boys. they sing of the greatness of our country, of our lands, and particularly of california. so with the unprecedented success and continuation of this band under mike love's leadership, i ask that we honor

him again as a father, husband, and environmentalist, and, yes, a man who has given us the most beautiful layered music of american modern history as it continues 55 years on. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from maine seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one inute. mr. poliquin: down east maine along the canadian border is one of the most stunning beautiful parts of the world, sadly it's also one of the poorest. during the past 30 years, madam speaker, most of our paper mills in maine have closed because of high taxes, harmful regulations, unfair trade, and a declining demand for paper. however, madam speaker, the woodland pulp and tissue mill is doing quite well. 500 well-paying jobs with benefits, the largest private sector employer in washington

county in down east maine. today, madam speaker, the federal government has a chance to help. since 1836, the woodland mill has managed an upriver forest city water storage dam to make sure the river and the lake levels in the area are properly maintained. in this makes sure that the fragile and world class salmon bass fisheries are protected. but now, madam speaker, the federal energy regulation commission is demanding that the woodland mills spend $6 million on a fish ladder and other requirements in order to renew its license. but the dam already has a fish license that works fine. it does not generate any for the mill. and it cannot afford the for th and it cannot afford the $6 million price tag for these unnecessary requirements. the main legislature, madam speaker, has -- maine legislature, madam speaker, has already voted to allow maine

inland fisheries and wildlife to assume control of the dam to make sure the habitat and property owners are protected, and the mill can continue to prosper without these undo and unnecessary regulations. madam speaker, i ask today, right now, that ferc do what's right and allow the transfer of the ownership of this dam from the mill to the state of maine which solves this critically important problem in one of the poorest areas in the country. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> madam speaker, pursuant to house resolution 725, i call up h.r. 1153 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: union called number 387, h.r. 1153, a bill to amend the truth in lending act to improve upon the definitions provided for points and fees in connection with a mortgage transaction.

the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 725, the gentleman from texas, mr. hensarling, and the gentlewoman from new york, ms. velazquez, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: madam speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and submit remarks extraneous materials on the bill under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. hensarling: madam speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. hensarling: i do rise today in support of h.r. 1153, the mortgage choice act of 2017. i'd like to start out thanking my colleague, the gentleman from michigan, mr. huizenga, for his tireless leadership on this issue having ushered this very same legislation through our committee in three different congresses. the purpose of h.r. 1153 is simple. to provide much needed

regulatory, red tape relief to our community financial institutions so they can serve their customers. so they can provide them more mortgages. this is a straightforward piece of legislation, it is practical, it is necessary, and, madam speaker, it is bipartisan. . you may hear from some of our democratic colleagues that it's a bipartisan bill. we heard claims earlier this week but i do find it necessary that, no, no amendments were offered during committee markup. nor were any amendments offered at the rules committee and i remind all on the house floor, madam speaker, that the financial services committee favorably reported this bill to the house with a strong bipartisan vote of 46-13 which means almost half, almost half of the democrats on our committee supported this bill, and in the 113th congress,

madam speaker, this bill passed by voice vote. not a single objection. madam speaker, this bill would help make homeownership more affordable for working americans, will promote access for credit for low and moderate income families and first-time homebuyers and it does this while continuing to protect consumers. the mortgage choice act is needed because the cfpb wrote a flawed and problematic definition that grossly miscalculates points and fees and the result is that many mortgage loans, particularly those for low and moderate income borrowers, would not meet the standards of a qualified mortgage and thus not get made. currently cfpb rules include affiliated title charges under a 3% cap when determining whether a mortgage is a qualified mortgage but it doesn't include unaffiliated.

this does not make sense. the cfpb rules are detrimental, again, to low and moderate income borrowers and first time homebuyers since they are more likely to have smaller loan amounts and thus, therefore, more easily trigger the 3% cap. that means under the current definition many mortgage applicants will be denied homeownership opportunities simply because they do not fit into the government box or the only mortgages and the alternative available to them might be at far higher interest rates, making them unaffordable for many. in other words, the cfpb's defective definition has ended up protecting many consumers right out of their opportunity to buy a home. h.r. 1153 from the gentleman from michigan, mr. huizenga, will change the way points and fees are calculated by excluding fees paid for affiliated title charges and escrow charges for insurance

and taxes. that would, therefore, madam speaker, increase homeownership opportunities for borrowers by allowing more loans to meet the q.m. standard. let's not just listen to me, madam speaker. let's listen to our community financial institutions that we expect to help our constituents. a credit union from washington explained how this was affecting everyday americans. they wrote, quote, a member at our credit union wanted to buy down his rate on his mortgage with cash out of pocket at closing in order to lower the payments for his retirement. however, doing so would have made his total points and fees igher than allowed under the atrqm and there was no allowable way around the roblem, unquote. community banker from texas wrote in, quote, the greatest frustration our customers have

is our bank's inability to now make home loans. for years we made loans to people for the purchase of their homes. we would do about one every other week. so it was not a large volume. it was a good service. we always made these loans to keep in our loan portfolio. we never sold any home loans. but with the new requirements for home loans, it has driven us out of this kind of business. it's also taken us out of the construction lending on homes because we cannot risk the risk of a takeout commitment failing . the consumer is the loser. indeed, that is true, madam speaker. as i mentioned earlier, mr. huizenga has worked on this bill for the past two congresses. again, in the 113th congress it passed by voice vote. it passed by an overwhelming majority of 286-140 in the 114th congress. i trust third time will be the charm. i urge all of my colleagues to do what is right for our

constituents and to pass h.r. 1153, to provide open access for americans to purchase a home. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves his time. the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you very much. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. waters: thank you, madam speaker. i rise today in opposition to h.r. 1153, the so-called mortgage choice act of 2017. unfortunately, this bill is yet another attempt to undermine the strong consumer protections democrats established under the dodd-frank wall street and consumer protection act, taking us back of the days of the subprime bubble. while some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have forgotten those days, i haven't. i remember how predatory lenders targeted unsuspecting homebuyers by hiding fees and

obscuring loan costs, tricking them into exploding mortgages and locking them into loans that they really couldn't afford. millions of homebuyers were steered into high-cost subprime loans even when they qualified for prime mortgages. and lenders didn't even bother to verify whether or not borrowers had the ability to repay their mortgages. they weren't required to do that, and so they didn't. the end result was rampant fraud on a massive scale to millions of foreclosures and a tremendous loss of generational wealth, particularly for black homeowners. some of my constituents are still struggling and trying to recover from the financial devastation that occurred during this financial crisis. the last thing congress should do is to open the door to a return to these fraudulent and harmful policies, and yet that's exactly what h.r. 1153 would do. this bill seems like a technical fix to allow

affiliated title insurance and settlement services firms to be excluded from the qualified mortgage rule's 3% cap on upfront points and fees paid by borrowers. but make no mistake. there is nothing technical about this. in fact, this bill would allow title insurance companies to jack up prices on borrowers and allow lenders to receive what uld otherwise be illegal kickbacks. under this bill, lenders, including repeat offender megabanks like wells fargo would of reap huge financial profits at their customers' expense by steering them into costly title insurance policies that have no cap on fees whatsoever. prior to the enactment of dodd-frank, lenders were able to earn tremendous profits through lucrative kickbacks paid by their affiliates.

the real estate procedures act prohibits getting a fee kickback or thing of value in exchange for a referral of business related to a real estate settlement service, but this kickback prohibition that's not applied to affiliated companies of lenders, like a title insurance firm, to avail themselves of this kickback loophole some lenders have bought or created businesses to enable them to profit directly from the relationship. so dodd-frank established the responsible underwriting practice of requiring lenders to verify borrower's ability to repay when they originate a loan. dodd-frank also enabled lenders to obtain some legal protections when making residential mortgages if those loans are considered a qualified mortgage or q.m. to be considered q.m., a loan

must have terms and conditions that are understandable to borrowers and not contain predatory features considered to be unfair or deceptive. q.m. loans, for example, can't be interest-only loans, longer than 30 years, or have balloon payments. specific to the bill, we are considering today the amount of upfront points and fees on q.m. loans cannot exceed 3% of the total amount of the loan. in short, q.m. loans are supposed to be low-risk, prudently underwritten and free from the type of features associated with those predatory mortgages that trapped borrowers in loans they couldn't afford and that led to the financial crisis. the points and fees cap included under the q.m. definition includes, among other things, real estate-related fees to affiliate such as property appraisals, settlement services

and title insurance. fees paid to affiliates of the lender posed greater risks to borrowers since lenders cannot steer borrowers directly to their affiliates without open competition and higher prices charged by affiliates directly benefit the lenders. affiliate title insurance is especially problematic. the title insurance industry is notoriously opaque. due to a lack of competition and readily available information on terms and pricing, consumers do not shop around for title insurance as they might for other products and services. and megabanks like wells fargo have used title insurance to take advantage of consumers through illegal kickback schemes. the consumer bureau took an enforcement action in 2015 against wells fargo and jpmorgan chase, ordering those megabanks to pay more than $24

million in civil penalties and more than $11 million to consumers harmed by their kickback schemes with genuine title, now a defunct title company. at the time director cordray said these banks allowed their loan officers to focus on their illegal financial gain rather than on treating consumers fairly. our action today to address these practices should serve as a warning for all those in the mortgage market, quote-unquote. mr. speaker, these kickback schemes continue despite congress' effort to shut them down and would likely increase if h.r. 1153 is enacted. because h.r. 1153 would remove fees that are charged by lender's affiliate from the q.m. fee cap, the bill directly encourages lenders to once again steer borrowers to their

affiliates so they can extract even more money from them. now, supporters of the bill argue that because individual states provide adequate regulation over the title insurance industry, it is unnecessary, they say, to have additional safeguards related to affiliated title companies and the fees they charge. however, research from the national association of insurance commissioners shows that state laws do not buy themselves offer robust protection to consumers with title insurance. more than half of all states don't even collect data from title agents. some states have, quote, no particular standard, quote-unquote, for determining whether title insurance rates are adequate and even a couple, like illinois and arkansas, do not regulate title insurance rates at all. congress should be strengthening prohibitions on kickbacks, not weakening them. we should enable borrowers to

get the best price, terms, and conditions on mortgage loans instead of creating more ways for these megabanks, like wells fargo, to gouge american consumers. when congress considered the same measure last term, the obama administration issued a veto threat, stating that the bill, quote, risked eroding consumer protections and returning the mortgage market to the days of careless lending, focused on short-term profits, quote-unquote. mr. speaker, buying a home is likely the largest purchase most consumers will ever make. for this reason alone, congress should absolutely reject proposals, like h.r. 1153, that would permit residential mortgage lenders to take advantage of borrowers trying to achieve the american dream. and finally, a long list of groups, including civil rights groups, such as the naacp and

the leadership conference on civil and human rights as well as consumer groups at the national, state, and local level, like americans for financial reform, national consumer law center, and center for a responsible lending, all oppose the so-called mortgage choice act. so for all of these reasons, i strongly urge my colleagues to join me in opposing h.r. 1153, and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from california reserves. and the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. hensarling: madam speaker, i yield myself 10 seconds to say that if the ranking member would read section 8-a, she would realize everything she said was false because it prevents any fee, kickback or thing of value. second of all, what she describes as a harmful and fraudulent policy was supported by half of her democrats, including her vice ranking member, mr. kildee of michigan.

i am now pleased to yield six minutes to the gentleman from michigan, mr. huizenga, the sponsor of the legislation and the chairman of the financial services subcommittee on capital markets. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for six minutes. mr. huizenga: mr. huizenga: this is a very important issue to me and more importantly to all of our constituents across the country. the qualified mortgage ability to repay rule, as mandated by dodd-frank act, went into effect in january of 2014. this rule is right marry means for mortgage lenders to satisfy its ability to repay requirements. additionally, dodd-frank provides that it may not have points and fees in excess of 3% of the loan amount. so far so good. the currently however defind points and fees include among other charges, salaries paid to

loan officers, a loan level price adjustments, as the chairman was talking about, those are traditionally known as points, payments by lenders to cordsing banks, credit unions, and mortgage brokers and wholesale transactions, as has been discussed, fees paid to affiliated however not unaffiliated title companies, and this is the one that's most bizarre of all, amounts of insurance and taxes held in escrow. that counts as -- towards that 3%. as a result of this confusing and problematic definition, many affiliated loans, particularly those made to low and moderate income home borrowers, could not qualify as q.m.'s without that designation it's unlikely the loan would be made and if it were, it would only be available at higher rates due to the heightened liability risks. consumers would lose the ability to take advantage of the convenience and market efficiencies offered by one-stop shopping. hardworking americans realize

one-stop shopping every day. they partake in it. in west michigan with the headquarters of meyer. a great regional supermarket chain that is where families across the midwest go to buy groceries, pick up clothes for the kids, auto parts. it is a one-stop-shop that allows you to do just about everything you need for your home. someone chasing a home of the most important decision as family makes, why shouldn't they have the same ability to take advantage of that same cost-effective convenience of s of the most important decision as family makes, why shouldn't they one-stop-shopping when buying a home? i along with representative gregory meeks reintroduced h.r. 1153, bipartisan legislation to modify and clarify the way that these points and fees are calculated and help families across america to one-stop-shop. this legislation is narrowly focused to promote access to affordable mortgage credit without overturning the important consumer protections and sound underwriting required

under dodd-frank's ability to repay provisions. as the chairman pointed out, also the represents pa ovision that is are -- respa provisions of the federal law. this past the last congress as well as the 113th. i think it is important to note when we first introduced this bill in 2012, it looked substantially different, working with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle we worked together to improve the legislation. the result has been a truly bipartisan effort as every step of the way in the legislative debate. specifically, h.r. 1153 would do a couple of things. it would provide equal treatment for affiliated versus unaffiliated title fees. it doesn't change the 44 states that have a regulated title insurance cost structure. it doesn't change any of those costs that a homeowner would have. it just allows them to actually go lower rather than higher. it also clarifies the treatment escrow.ance held in

these two simple commonsense changes will promote access to affordable mortgage credit for low and moderate income families and indeed all families. especially first-time home buyers by ensuring safe and properly underwritten mortgages pass the q.m. test. whether or not you supported dodd-frank, it's clear the law is going to require some tweaks to ensure qualified borrowers aren't locked out of homeownership and the beneficial features of a qualified mortgage. the q.m. represents the safest best underwriting mortgage avateable on the market. it's the gold standard. we should want more responsible people getting q.m.'s, not fewer. quite frankly this is something we should agree on. we did last year. our bill doesn't touch any of the cfpb's strict underwriting criteria. t doesn't in any way suspend a lender's legal requirement to determine a borrower has the ability to repay that loan. the ranking member points out a real problem.

that did happen in the industry. frankly one that many of us in the industry warned of. but this does nothing that allows state regulated title insurance to be violated or any of those federal steps regarding qualified mortgage. it in no way side steps any of these respa or q.m. requirements. mr. speaker, i must admit i'm completely baffled by the ranking member's new opposition to this bill. very carefully negotiated in order to receive bipartisan support. which the ranking minority member has voted for previously. she was so supportive, she along with 11 other democrats from the committee, sent a letter dated august 1 of 2014 to the senate urging the senate to quote quickly adopt the mortgage choice act. end quofmente i would like to ask this letter be insert food the record, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. huizenga: in the letter it stated the bill would quote, improve access to credit, and quote, enhance competition among title insurance providers.

i couldn't agree more with the ranking member. she talks now of kickbacks. i'm confused as to how an affiliated title structure, ricing structure versus an ununaffiliated title is a kickback. i'm confused how an escrow, money that is ours, that's put into a holding account, to be sed later to pay off debt -- i'm curious how the kickback. wish i had time to yield to the gentlelady from hear that answer. but she's talking about megabanks and this is frankly just a red herring in this whole thing. congress has the opportunity to help more americans realize a portion of the american dream. not by some grandiose law or decree but by simply reforming a burdensome regulation. home othership is a pillar of the american life for generations. today we can affirm that pillar and reassert that homeownership. can and should be an attainable goal. i want to thank my colleague,

representative meeks, and many others who have worked so tirelessly on this to fix this flawed provision. i encourage my colleagues to vote for h.r. 1153. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. waters: thank you very much. i would like to correct my chairman. he said that respa prohibits kickbacks. while it prohibits paying kickbacks to third party title agencies, the law does not prohibit payments to affiliated title firms. and this incentivizes a title agency to be affiliated so it can gain the payment option without violating respa, including affiliated title insurance fees in the q.m. defined points and fees cap, provides important market pressure to control costs for consumers and supports access to credits. by the way, when we talk about respa, we're talking about the real estate settlement

procedures that defines all of this. so let's be clear again that while respa prohibits paying kickbacks to third party title agents, the law does not prohibit payment to affiliated title firms. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from missouri, the chairman of the financial services subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer credit, mr. luetkemeyer. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, mr. speaker and mr. chairman. i want to i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman start by thanking t gentleman from michigan. he's worked on this bill for some time and i appreciate his issues to the credit. he understands this issue being in the real estate business and real estate development business. this is something he's passionate about. i know he has seen in michigan what i have seen in missouri and around the nation. regulatory regime governing the

mortgage market is growing overly complex, becoming as a result, inaccessible for far too many borrowers. the financial institution subcommittee held earlier this year a situation where a credit union executive came in, had a huge file, about three inches thick. i asked him, can you tell me how many pages are in that file? he said, congressman we no longer measure by the page we measure by the pound. that's how out of whack our system has become with regards to trying to make home mortgage loans. these regulatory burdens associated with making home loans have forced spending institutions out of the market altogether. a number of banks in my area no longer make home loans because of these overly burdensome rules and regulations and cost vs. to be passed on to the consumers. the cpb qualified mortgage rule ad a has had -- has had many access. this act seeks to change this by increasing competition in

the mortgage and title insurance markets. this bipartisan legislation does so by clarifying and recalibrating the points and fees limitations included in the dodd-frank qualified mortgage framework. the current situation doesn't make sense. if a consumer choosing an unaffiliated provider, the transaction doesn't count towards point and fees f that consumer chooses to work with an affiliated insurance provider, it does. despite what you may hear, this arbitrary stipulation the points and fees definition doesn't protect consumers, it punishes them by limiting and in some cases eliminating mortgage and housing options pushing more and more loans farther and farther away from the q.m. status. like too many of the rules by the c.p.b., it's the consumer that loses. simply put, the goal of h.r. 1153 is to help low and middle income borrowers, and first time buyers realize the american dream. owning their own home. i want to thank the gentleman from michigan for his leadership on this issue. irge strong support for the

legislation and yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. waters: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: mr. speaker, now i am pleased to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from missouri, mrs. wagner, the chair reserves. the chair of our subcommittee o oversight and investigations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. mrs. wagner: i thank the speaker. and i thank the chairman. h.r. 1153, the mortgage choice act, provides needed clarity to the calculation of points and fees for qualified mortgages. q.m.'s. especially for those companies affiliated with real estate brokers. established under the ability to repay q.m. section of the truth in lending act, h.r. 1153 would amend the definition of points and fees and allow more loans to qualify. thus increasing choices for all

borrowers. chairman huizenga's bipartisan legislation does not create a q.m. loophole like some would argue. instead, h.r. 1153 rightly attempts to level the playing field regardless whether the lender is affiliated with a title agency or not. in addition, h.r. 1153 does not allow high cost loans to qualify as q.m.'s. by allowing loans with the same points and fees to be treated equally under the law, chairman huizenga's bill corrects one of the many flaws of the post dodd-frank era. thanks to the mortgage choice act, it will now be easier for low and moderate income americans to buy a home. i want to commend my colleague, chairman huizenga, for his bipartisan work on this issue and i urge all members to support this legislation and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

gentlewoman yields. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. waters: mr. speaker and members. for the life of me i cannot understand why my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle would be in support of anything that would cause a home buyer to have to pay more money in fees when they are taken out of mortgage -- when they are taking out a mortgage on a $400,000 mortgage, you are talking about you want to go beyond a $12,000 cap? which is 3%? why would you want to do that to a homeowner? what we're saying is under q.m., and what we worked so hard to establish, was to put a cap on all of these fees so that the homeowners, home buyers would not be paying more than 3% of that mortgage. we think that's fair. now you want to open up the floodgates so these title companies can increase the

amount that they are charging and go beyond the 3%. how much higher do you want it to go? do you want them to be able to go up to 4%, 5% with these homeowners who are paying down payments and who are trying to get into homes? why is it you want to expand beyond a 3% cap on the average hardworking home buyer in this country? i don't get it. i don't don't -- i don't understand, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: i'm now pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. rothfus, who is the vice chairman of the financial services subcommittee on financial institutions. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. rothfus: i thank the chairman for yielding. i rise today to express my support for h.r. 1153, the mortgage choice act. as a co-sponsor of the bill and vice chairman of the financial

institutions subcommittee, i strongly encourage my colleagues to support its passage. as we all know, community inancial institutions continue to close or merge an alarming rate, we saw an article the other day about 1,700 branches across the country have closed. to go through some of the towns in western pennsylvania where you see the only branch closed is striking. as we all know, community financial institutions continue to close or merge at an alarming rate. bit by bit families across america are losing access to vital financial products like home mortgages. . the q.m. rule makes it harder for americans to get a mortgage and realize the dream of homeownership. points and fees can exceed 3% which leads them as higher priced non-q.m. loans. this discourages financial institutions lending to

americans with moderate incomes and first time homebuyers. that's why. because loans aren't there. chairman huizenga's bill wisely addresses this issue, by excluding several issues of q.m. points and fees, the bill excludes charges paid for title examination or title insurance services and insurance premiums held in escrow. by excluding these items from the calculation, the bill will allow more loans to qualify as q.m., opening up more credit to potential homebuyers and it will facilitate one-stop shopping. in is good for the community financial -- this is good for the community financing institutions that many rely on for their financial products. it will help our constituents back home access the funds they need to accomplish the dream of homeownership. chairman huizenga's legislation provides smart, targeted relief from the unintended consequences of burdensome regulations.

again, we want to encourage those first-time homebuyers, the moderate income homebuyers to be able to have access to mortgages. that's why i support this bill, and i, again, urge my colleagues to vote for the mortgage choice act and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. waters: thank you very much. i did not -- i don't think i heard my colleague correctly when he said that this bill had something to do with encouraging first-time homebuyers. to do with ng do -- first-time homebuyers. as a matter of fact, if we proceed with this bill that's before us today that they are supporting, it will discourage first-time homebuyers and homebuyers in general because at they're doing is they are increasing the possibility for more points and fees that have

to be paid when we have a cap now at 3% which any reasonable person would know makes good sense. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: mr. speaker, i'm now pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from michigan, a member of the financial services committee, mr. trott. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from for three minutes. mr. trott: i rise in support of the bipartisan, commonsense mortgage choice act, sponsored by my good friend, mr. huizenga of michigan. mr. speaker, i'm proud to be a co-sponsor of this legislation which will make mortgages more affordable for low and moderate-income families. in the wake of the financial crisis, congress directed the cfpb, the consumer financial protection bureau, to create a definition for so-called qualified mortgages. they wanted to make sure consume prers not sold predatory loans and they were

not buying mortgages designed to fail. unfortunately, the bureau's rulemaking drove originators from the industry and made loans more expensive in the process. this burden will fall mostly on low and middle-income families, the very people the cfpb was created to help. the rule promulgated by the cfpb czar limits consumer options, causes consumers to pay more and does nothing to make mortgages any safer. it is this sort of illogical rulemaking that makes michiganners more frustrated what they see in washington. we need to make sure our government prosecutes fraud, predatory lending and unethical practices but should not be in the business of undermining a industry that plays such a critical role in the dream of homeownership. you know, mortgages have become more expensive, it's america's low and middle-income families that suffer the most. homeownership builds

communities, provides families with stability and hopefully creates equity for retirement. the government should be helping this dream, not creating silly, illogical obstacles. i have worked with my colleagues to refocus the bureau on the core mission of protecting consumers. i'm glad that acting director mulvaney is doing so and i'm glad we are reining in this rogue bureaucracy. this bill does not threaten consumer protections. it helps ensure consumers have choices to reduce their mortgage costs along the way. now, the ranking member opposes this bill, as she believes it will usher in a new era of fraudulent, subprime, dangerous loans, riddled with kickbacks and inflated title fees. i'm not sure how money held in escrow would ever be a kickback and her description of the title industry is completely incorrect. it is a highly regulated industry in most states and the

states she mentioned, illinois, is extremely competitive and extremely regulated. i'm not sure what bill the ranking member believes we are debating today, but the mortgage choice act will not result in any of the problems she describes. all great scare tactics, great theater, a great political sound bite, but unfortunately all fiction, all inaccurate. her flip-flop on this bill is at least at minimum very puzzling but if everything she says is correct, i certainly feel bad for all the democrats -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. hensarling: i yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds. mr. trott: i feel bad if everything she says is true for all the democrats who unanimously passed this bill in the 113th congress. mr. chairman, the american people deserve better than a partisan discussion about something that is nothing more than a technical correction of an unintended consequence. again, i thank mr. huizenga for his leadership and i encourage all my colleagues to join in

supporting this bipartisan solution and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. waters: thank you very much. mr. speaker, members, my friends on the opposite side of the aisle just dislike qualified mortgage. they dislike q.m., and a lot of the arguments you heard have nothing really to do with the bill itself but more with the fact that they have always wanted to dismantle the consumer financial protection bureau who has the responsibility of implementing q.m. and so they will talk about everything from access to credit to you name it, but it has nothing to do with the fact that they're here with a bill that's trying to open up opportunities for affiliated title companies to be able to

charge homebuyers more money than would be allowed under q.m. the fact of the matter is, we and a 3% cap on all points fees. in the legislation that we created to protect homeowners. 3%. why is it they want to open it up so that homebuyers have to pay more than 3% on all of these points and fees? as a matter of fact, i get questions all the time, particularly from first-time homebuyers, asking me, what are all these points and fees that i have to pay? do you mean to tell me that on a $400,000 loan that they're going to rip off $12,000 on points and fees or more? and so we have to explain that we've kept it to 3%, but now they want to open up the floodgates and they want to say

that these affiliated companies can charge more on points and fees as it relates to title insurance. and so i'm opposed to it, and for those who did not understand who may have voted because of the way that is oftentimes presented by the opposite side of the aisle and as a matter of fact, it is obscured in the way that they present it in talking about trying to help homeowners, trying to protect homeowners, trying to open up opportunities. it has nothing to do with any of that. this is because the title insurance people who have yielded their influence and they have come here to change the law so that they can raise those rates and charge more money and have kickbacks, etc., etc. this is what this is all about. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas.

mr. hensarling: mr. speaker, i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from ohio, mr. davidson, a hardworking member of the financial services committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. davidson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to offer my support for h.r. 1153, the mortgage choice act. this bill is another example of a rollback of the burdensome regulations of dodd-frank, and many would say unintended consequences. the 113th congress, as mr. huizenga reported out, apparently the member opposed feels her colleagues were confused in the 113th congress when they unanimously supported this very same procedure, the same change to dodd-frank. apparently all of president obama's supporters were also confused into forgetting to make the big investments they made as a reaction to the tax cuts and jobs act that's recently enacted. so confusion must be rampant, but let me clarify what this

does. it doesn't do that the member opposed accuses it of doing. frankly, the market prevails here, not price controls from washington, d.c., nor a substitute that would say a nonaffiliated company could charge -- offer the exact same product that the one-stop shop is barred from offering. so rather than have a simple procedure where a borrower could work with one lending institution, they're forced to this array that resembles the health care industry, where instead of getting one bill for one visit, you show up and get a bill from five or six different entities and it makes it more confusing. the market lets people shop and say, i can get the product from someone else. but without this change it blocks hardworking families from working with one relationship to close with their mortgage. it adds one more piece in the

web of documentation required, and it adds one more thing to negotiate in the relationship that's necessary to close on a mortgage. the q.m. rule should not stand for quiting mortgages. it should stand for qualified mortgages. the application of this has resulted in small and community banks quiting the mortgage market for certain types of loans, and this is hurting the families that the member opposed says she seeks to help. i urge all of my colleagues to unite and support this rational, limited modification that lets the market work the way the market can work for the hardworking families of america. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california. ms. waters: thank you very much. mr. speaker, try as they may, hey cannot explain to anyone why it is they want to open up

the opportunity for these affiliated companies to charge more on these title loans. as a matter of fact, again, i am going to keep reminding everyone that's listening that under dodd-frank, under the work of the consumer financial protection bureau, under the qualified mortgage rule, all of the work that was done after this country found itself in a position where we were in a recession, almost a depression because of what we had allowed to happen in this country from some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the world. we discovered that there were all kind of exotic loans, all kind of different kinds of

loans that were put together to entice consumers and homebuyers to take out these mortgages. we heard about all of them. no documentation loans where they didn't even know where the consumer, the homeowner was going to get their money from. they did not bet them. they did not know their employment history and on and on and on. and so the consumer financial protection bureau is absolutely carrying out the work of what dodd-frank was intended to do and that is to reform all of this and to make sure that consumers are treated fairly, to make sure that consumers are not ripped off, to make sure that consumers don't have a whole list of these fees and points before they can even get their down payment in

reditably and have to pay -- crediblely and have to pay more than 3% or more in these points and fees as they're trying to access a mortgage. and so this is all about keeping the cap on, keeping the cap on the 3% for all of those points and fees, and if you do what this bill is intended to do, you are saying that you're opening up the opportunity for these points and fees to be increased because of these affiliated companies that want to take the cap off. and i don't know how better to explain that. my friends on the opposite side of the aisle would charge consumers more with this bill. we on this side of the aisle are opposed to that, and we're saying it's not fair to consumers that what you need to do is let dodd-frank's reforms

work so we can protect our consumers and not have them gouged and increase the amount of money they have to pay in these points and fees. i reserve the balance of my time. -- one moment, please. i yield. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. . mr. hensarling: i'm pleased to yield three minutes to the gentleman from south carolina, mr. norman, a co-sponsor of the legislation and great friend of the committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. norman: i rise today to speak in favor of h.r. 1153, the mortgage choice act of 2017. this bipartisan legislation is essential to help low and middle income families gain access to qualified mortgages. i commend chairman hensarling and congressman huizenga for their work on shepherding this bill through the legislative process.

policymaking is complex and regulators federal do not always get it right. we need to sometimes make changes to address new issues and unintended consequence that is arise. as regulators we have seen from the past few years, the dodd-frank act -- let me add there are many of us in the real estate business and on bank boards who saw the effects of dodd-frank not allowing banks to go into the communities that need them the most. we have seen from certain provisions that fit one or both of these categories that must be changed through legislative action. one of these policies is the cfpb's qualified mortgage on q.m. rule. the certain rule is intended to lenders from legal liability and provides compliance certainty for mortgage loans that are low risk and meet certain criteria. one of those criterion recognizes -- requires a mortgage loan's total points and fees not to be in excess of

3% of the loan's value. unfortunately, the points and fees rule often depends on who is making the loan. and how title insurance is obtained, which is confusing for both the consumers and the businesses providing the services. lso as has been mentioned, insurance premiums held in escrow are considered points and fees under the q.m. rule, which is ridiculous. that's insurance premiums held in escrow like saying a parent that puts money in for a 529 savings plan for his children's education is a car payment or mortgage payment. it doesn't make sense. but it discouraging consumers from using this important financial management tool. h.r. 1153 would address these unintended consequence ns and provide clarity for borrow earns businesses. i'm also confident that the cfpb under the leader shf of economic mulvaney will ensure this clarification is

law.mented if enact food i ask my colleagues to support this commence fix so we can get the policy right and address the unintended consequences arising from the future rule. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlelady from california is recognized. ms. waters: thank you very much. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. hensarling: we're prepared to close. i continue to reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from california is recognized. i field one minute to leader pelosi. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. pelosi: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentlelady for yielding.

congratulate her on her extraordinary leadership as the ranking democrat on the financial services committee. she has been a champion for america's working families. protecting consumers, protecting the taxpayer. doing so in a very balanced way sensitive to the needs of all parties concerned. i'm so proud of her leadership and service, thank you congresswoman waters. i rise in opposition to the bad bill for hardworking americans that's on the floor today. simply named the mortgage choice act provides anything but choice. instead it raises costs on onsumers and a few alternatives. this is yet another attempt to stack the deck further against working families. mr. speaker, this debate is an utter waste of time. every decor rageous patriotic dreamers lose their status. every day the american dream slips further out of reach. as members of congress, we have a moral responsibility to act now to protect dreamers who are the pride of our nation and are american in every day but on paper. i use this occasion as opposing

this bill to speak further about social justice in america. the american people want congress to pass a dream act. 84% of americans support a path to citizenship to dreamers or permanent status. 8% on the path to citizenship. 70% of republicans back either citizenship or permanent status. he three b.'s, business, badges, our law enforcement community, bibles. pass loring congress to the dream act. earlier this month i stood with evangelical leaders to call on the speaker to bring the dream act to a vote. pass the dream for the sake of family, fairness, and respect for the spark of divinity within every person. there is nothing partisan or political about protecting dreamers. if a dream act were brought to the floor, it would pass immediately with strong bipartisan support. and i commend my republican

colleagues for their courage in speaking out on this. yet our dreamers hang in limbo with a cruel cloud of fear and uncertainty above them. the republican moral cowardest must end. members of congress are trustees of the people and of our nation. why are we here if not to protect the patriotic young people who are determined to contribute and to strengthen america? i'm going to go on as long as my leadership minute allows. i'd like to speak to the bible 2537. 10: the prabble of the good samaritan. teacher, he asks, what must i do to inherit eternal life? what is written in the law, he replied. how do you read it? jesus answered, love the lord, your god with all your heart and your soul and all your strength and with all your mind. love your neighbor as

yourself. you have answered correctly, jesus replied, do this and you will live. but he wanted to justify himself so he asked jesus, who is my neighbor? and replied jesus said, a man going down from jerusalem to jericho, when he love your neig yourself. you have answered was attacked by robbers they stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away leaving him half dead a priest happened to be going down the same road when he saw the man he passed to the other side of the road. so, too, a lee vite, when he came to the place and saw him passed on to the other side. but a samaritans as he traveled came where the man was and when he saw him he took pity on him. he went to him and bandaged his wounds, and then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. the next day he took out money and gave them to the incooper. look after him, with and when i return i'll reimburse you for any extra expense they have. which of these three do you think was the neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of

the robsers. the man who had jersey on him. jesus told him, go and do likewise. the parable of the good samaritan is one that has been used over and over again to welcome strangers. samaritans were not friends to the person that the samaritan saved. but he was a man of justice. we all know how proud we're of america as a land of opportunity, the land of the american dream. which for decades and centuries have attracted people to our shores. to make a future for -- future bert for their families. in doing so, they subscribe to the vows of our founders. new order for the ages, it says on the great seal of the united states. a new order. and that meant that every -- was predicated on the idea every generation would take responsibility to make the future better for the next.

it became known as the american dream. people flocked to our shores. bringing their determination, their hope, their courage to make the future better for their families. doing sorks as i said, they subscribed to the -- doing so, as i said, they subscribed to the values of our founders, to make the future better. that's why our country would be a new order for the ages. so how proud we're to have a statue of liberty welcoming people to our shores. lazarus ds -- in the inscribed on the statue it said not like the brazen giant of greek fame with conquering lens astride from land to lazarus inscribed on the statue it said not like land, here our sea washed sunset gates stand a mighty woman with a torch whose flame is imprisoned -- has imprisoned lightning, her name motherer exiles, from her beacon hand goes worldwide welcome, her mild eyes command.

words that are music to the ears of everyone who loves freedom. keep ancient hands your starried pup. give me your tired, poor, humble masses yearning to live free. the wretched refuge of your eeming shores send these the homeless tempest tossed to me i lift my lamp beside the golden door. with those words america has been a beacon to the world and how proud this has made us. america is great, some say, because america is good. and this manifestation of our goodness is one that is historic. in responding to the call to the statute of liberty who must by now have tears in her eyes having heard some of the debate on immigration, i want to read some of the dreamers who came to our -- who came to our

shores. maybe through land or by sea. i want to talk about lieu viss, luis, luis came to the united states when he was 5 years old and grew up in poverty. today he's an agriculture ambassador at college of the sequoias and works to help students improve their grades. working to help students improve their grades. following the repeal of daca, luis constantly worries about his ability to continue working in order to afford his education. is one of four siblings also attending college that are also daca recipients. is one of jacqueline, her daca expires this month. she was raised in the city of chicago much she's an undocumented american aspiring to earn a bachelor's degree in graphic science design. her education is her priority. ever since she was in elementary school, throughout high school she had serious doubts about her future due to

her status. but never stopped her from pursuing higher education. she went on to community college, working at a part-time job and earning a few scholarships that eventually added up to afford tuition. her mother, a single mother, would not be able to contribute to her education after high school, it was her choice and responsibility to work her way financially through college. thanks to scholarships like the illinois dream fund and the dream -- of the dream u.s. and other community scholarships, she was lucky to follow through higher education. something that most of her undocumented peers would not have the chance to do. her dreams are -- the same dreams of other undocumented americans to persevere in this great country. hector suarez, he's a daca recipient from greensboro, north carolina. he's been a recipient for daca for the past six years.

this may come to an end in january -- on january -- well, it came to an end on january 21. he is currently on track to graduate in may with a degree in philosophy and education. student body president and honor scholar at gilford college, this part of his curriculum to serve in the local community. he has served as an after school tutor at a local community center that services predominantly latino community as well as assisting in classrooms and newcomers school. his plan for after graduation for enroll in teach america since it is his only opportunity for being a teacher while being a daca recipient. once it was rescinded in december these plans for america since had to be delayed. without daca he will not have the opportunity to keep serving the community in greater ways. hector's daca expires five days before the teach for america january deadline. this is why he needs there to be a resolution as soon as possible so he can move forward with his plans of mentoring the

future leaders of america. bring this up because as you know the discussions and negotiations on the caps bill, the budget bill are making progress and perhaps soon-to-be coming to an end. on that score, so far as what i know, the budget caps agreement, which will be announced today, includes many democratic priorities, bipartisan priorities, with the disaster recovery package and dollar for dollar increases in the defense and nondefense budget. democrats have secured money to invest across america. strengthen our veterans and the n.i.h., build job creating rural infrastructure and broadband, and fund access to childcare and quality higher education. . that's something that was negotiated, our input between

leader mcconnell -- mitch mcconnell and leader chuck shumer. but mitch mcconnell -- chuck schumer. but mitch mcconnell also made a commitment to his members -- made a commitment to his members that he would bring up floor of l to the the senate in an appointed time. so why can't we have some kind of commitment on this side of the aisle that enabled the discussion to take place on a values-based place? here we asked the speaker if he would bring up the hurd-aguilar bill, which is bipartisan, would win if brought to the house, has sufficient number of republican co-sponsors. thank you for your courage to go public. but others that said they would vote for it. but we would like the speaker to bring that and any bills to

be considered. the bill with the most votes becomes prevailing -- either support what the senate has done or to reconcile what the senate has done. that is a simple request. that is a simple request that the house democrats and in a bipartisan way others have joined in asking the speaker to bring a bill to the floor, to give us that commitment. why should we in the house be treated in such a humiliating way when the republican senate leader has given that opportunity in a bipartisan way to his membership? what's wrong? there's something wrong with this picture? . that's why this morning when we took a measure of this caucus on support of the package -- well, we have to see all the

particulars of it yet, but there are good things in it -- that does nothing to even advance, even with a commitment, without having passed the legislation first to advance bipartisan legislation to protect dreamers in this house. without that commitment from speaker ryan, comparable to the commitment from leader mcconnell, this package does not have my support, nor does it have the support of a large number of members of our caucus. so then i go on to some other -- i always am reminded in all these debates about our commitment to faith. in god we trust, it says that right over the speaker's chair. in the gospel of matthew, it has been an inspiration to many on either side of the aisle in terms of what our values are and how we make choices. and when -- in the gospel of matthew, he writes, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he

will sit on his glorious thrown. all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. then the king will say to those on the right, come, you are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. -- the sheep will ask christ goes on to say, for when i was hungry you gave me something to eat. i was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. i was a stranger. i was a stranger and you invited me in. i needed clothes and you clothed me. i was sick and you looked after me. i was in prison and you came to visit me. then the righteous will answer, lord, when did i sigh you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? the lord says, when you see us -- what did you see a stranger

invite them in and clothing you -- he's asking the lord. and when did you see and in prison and i visited you? the king replied, truly whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine you did for me. that's always important. that. dy knows the least of my brett ren -- however, the king goes on to say -- say to those on the left, the goats, depart from me you are cursed in the eternal fired prepared for the devil and his angels. for when i was hungry you gave me nothing to eat. when i was thirsty you gave me nothing to drink. when i was a stranger you did not invite me in. when i needed clothes you did not clothe me. when i was in sick and in prison you did not look after me. they say, when did i see you and did not help you? they will reply, truly i tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me.

not only positive of what you did you did for me, it's what ou did not do when i was a stranger, you did not help. then, it will go into eternal punishment, the righteous will go into eternal life. so anyway, more stories about our dreamers. and why they are honoring -- why they honor the vows of our founders. why they deserve our support. we're just talking about this discreet group of people, have the command and support of the american people. one is from ponca city, oklahoma. one is working as a medical assistant and trying to pursue a career in nursing and volunteers with casa, city rescue mission and rebuilding together oklahoma city. to address issues of poverty

and homelessness in her city. with daca, was able to apply for a driver's license and work legally. however, because her application was caught up in postal delays, isela was not able to get her renewal and daca will expire january 20 -- already expired january 20. because of this she will have to take a semester off from school and she is facing disruption in her life. this is really important to note because the people -- some of the people in the white house have been saying, nobody's being deported. well, we'll see about that. but they're saying these people are protected. they're not protected. and you heard the characterization that the president's chief of staff made about some of these people, about being lazy or whatever it is. i think our discussions on the economy in a separate context we've seen how few americans would be able to rise to the

occasion immediately if they had a $500 unsuspected bill that had come their way. whether their water heater broke or whatever it is, it will be challenging. it would be disruptive to their lives. it would be hard for them to have an expendable -- immediately expendable $500. but that's what it takes to sign up to what the president -- signup that was required by the president after his september announcement. so it's not about being lazy or, yes, probably about fear, too, that mr. kelly -- general kelly mentions that. but it's about not understanding the situation of fear and of contribution, the beautiful contribution that the dreamers -- make to our country. it's ok -- isel came 7 and

attempted to adjust her status with her families, she aged out of eligibility at 21. daca able to apply for when she was 17 years old. in new mexico, dahlia immigrated to the united states from mexico. she's a licensed mental health therapist provided services to at-risk youth for those in new mexico. she's trying to open her practice to continue aiding families in her state. she recently obtained a masters degree in clinical social work and previously earned a bachelors degree in criminalology and psychology. all of these people are making such an -- wonderful contribution to our society. because they have courage and they have values and they have purpose in their lives. these stories were given to me by our colleagues as they have

taken up the cause of many of these dreamers. but it is not enough. we have no right to talk about dreamers and to tell their stories and take pride in their actions unless we are willing to take action to support them. and we have that opportunity today by asking the speaker of the house to give us a vote. what are you afraid of? give us a vote. let the house work its will. senator mcconnell -- mitch mcconnell is enabling the senate to work its why. why should the house of representatives be constrained, especially on such a values-based issue as who we are as a nation and recognizing our biblical responsibility to each other? nicole robles from houston, texas, she was born in mexico. her family immigrated to the united states when she was 6 months old and she faces

deportation. in less than 100 days her daca will expire. i'm anxious. this is now much less than 100 days. i'm anxious, she says, because i'm graduating high school in a few months and want to start college august of next year. how would i do that without my daca? there are so many barriers to higher education when you're not documented. with the dream act, undocumented students will have a sense -- see, what the dream act gives them is a documented sense of security and opportunity to go to school, to get a job, to care for their families, to continue their studies in college and university, she says. i want that security and opportunity to deserve that we need congress by the end of the year so that more people don't reach their expiration dates. now, let me say that we talked mostly about education, people working in education and social activities to help other people do their best. but many of our daca -- our dreamers have served in our

military with great courage and great patriotism to the only country that they know. and, again, using my leader's minute, i want to make sure that the record is clear about what this debate is about. it's about honoring our own commitment to the statue of liberty to the founding fathers n terms of making this is land where one generation would take responsibility to make the future better for the next. and that brings to mind another person from new mexico, albuquerque, urilia. growing up i was reminded of my immigration status every day by my mother. 20 years later i realized she did this to prepare our family for the imminent day our family would face a be deportation and that could be today because my daca has expired. daca is what allowed me to pass through the immigration checkpoints safely.

i am a survivor of slault sexual assault. with daca i was able to approach the police to report the person who assaulted me. trump has put border residents and survivors of assault in jeopardy. this is not how this country should treep immigrant youth and our families. just want to know why we are making this plea. this is a human plea to the speaker, a prayerful human plea to the speaker. it's almost 40 hours. this morning when i first met with my colleagues in our meeting at 8:00, it was exactly 40 hours until midnight tomorrow. 40 is a meaningful fraught -- a number fraught with meaning in our religious lives. 40 years, old testament, 40 years of moses and the jews in the desert. 40 years christ was in the desert himself. 40 days, the length of time of lent. and therefore 40 hours is a

catholic devotion that many of us grew up with. and we have that same 40 hours from 8:00 this morning until tomorrow night at midnight to be prayerful, to be prayerful and to show our purpose and to show why we're asking the speaker for this vote. i have great admiration for the work that is done in a bipartisan way on the budget bill. of course, it's not everything we want, but there are many good things in it. and i just can't explain to the dreamers or to my colleagues why we should be second-class members of congress in this house without a commitment from the speaker, that's mitch mcconnell, gave to the senators that there would be a vote on the floor, to let congress work its will. what are you afraid of? are you afraid the dreamer bill will pass? the work of mr. hurd and mr. aguilar working with other members to shape a bill that

would recognize concerns that the president has and others have to put a bipartisan bill there that should attract the support of the president. instead, we're hearing words that are hard to process from the white house, but nonetheless recognizing that we have to go down this path together. we all believe, as the bible tells us, there is a spark of divinity in every person, and that we must respect that spark of divinity. tomorrow will be the prayer breakfast and that's a solemn occasion in washington, d.c., and we're always thinking in terms of christ. christ became man. he brought his divinity -- his assuming humanity brought his divinity to us so that we participate in his divinity.

every one of us. we have to remember that not only does it exist in every person we encounter but it exists in us. it exists in the president of the united states and his staff and all of the people who elected him. that's a beautiful thing about it all. . that spark in each of us has to relate to other people and treat them with respect. what kind of country would we be, how would we judge other countries, if they said we have several hundred thousand people who came here as children and now we're sending them back where they came from. we would make a judgment about those countries that that was outside the circle of civilized human behavior. and yet, and yet we have something to do about that right now. want to talk to you about juan carlos from oregon. he said, i emigrated to the united states when i was 3 years old with my parents

because i needed medical treatment for cerebral palsy. i went through six surgeries and 12 years of physical therapy and walked for the first time when i was 15. growing up i did well in school but felt struck because i didn't know how to go to college. with the help of my counselor i was able to apply for private scholarships and attend a community college. i'm at western oregon university where i'm inspired to start my own group of undocumented young people like me. i'm getting my masters there and part of the college student service administration program with the dream of one day making higher education accessible to low-income and undoiment the students. -- and undocumented students. without daca i no longer have health insurance through an employer. i suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts. that's why i visited my members of congress to urge them to pass the dream act because my life and health are on the line. patricia was born in el salvador. she said i have mixed status

family. my parents have t.p.s. i have one u.s. citizen brother and two sisters and i have daca. we need the dream act now because one of my sisters' daca expires on march 6, 2018. pretty soon the rest of my sisters and i could loose our protections, too. our parents are already using their t.p.s. protections because trump terminated the program. i want the government to recognize us as part of society and know that this is our home. we contribute to our communities even without papers. my family wants to be able to stay together and feel safe to work, drive, and travel. here she says, i want to repeat this, we contribute to our without s even papers. as an italian american who grew up at a time when i did not feel any prejudice or bias or if i did i thought it was the

other person's problem, papers. as an italian american who grew up at a time when we italian americans think there are only two kinds of people, those who are italian american, those who want to be. my father's generation and grandfather's generation. great grandmother's generation it was a different story. there was a term called w.o.p. people used that as a derogatory term to italian americans. you know what it means, mr. speaker? w.o.p. means without papers. without papers. that's what these people were called. without papers. and that's all that these kids are. without papers. and every other way, strong participants in our society, in our community, and in our country. so again, just give us a chance to have a vote, mr. speaker. another day will come when we can talk about comprehensive immigration reform. we can talk about this, that, and the other thing. hurd-aguilar he bill whatever is being put

together in the senate recognizes our responsibility to protect our borders, recognizes the value of immigration to our country, hopes, dreams, aspirations, making america more american every newcomer who comes. i truly believe that. the constant reinvigoration of america. a maximum can-born individual, writes, we still don't know a lot about cancer. don't know about genetic diseases. my research at texas tech goes to the heart of that. it uses pure math mathematics to look at wull-y all don't kno genetic diseases. my these genetic diseases exist and how. so someday we can come up with cures for them. we're paragraph from that point but this is the challenge i work on. in addition to conducting research at texas tech, i taught undergraduate students as a teaching assistant. this past semester i got to

teach anatomy and one of my students was blind and had a service dog. it was a blessing, great experience to teach her anatomy. something that she got to touch and feel to learn. it taught me a lot of patience, what it's like to work alongside my american students and peers, and i'm just as much a part of their lives as they are of mine. if daca is repealed, i would be out of job immediately and i won't be able to teach my students. i won't be able to continue conducting the research i'm conducting right now. this research could help scientists understand diseases like cancer and lay down a path toward a cure. without daca i can't continue. i wanted to just say this. i think that there is a lack of understanding and we should have made it clear on the other side of the aisle and with the white house about what the president's action in september did. the president may be in good

spirits thought by giving us a march 5 deadline he was giving six us six months reprieve to dreamers, but what he was doing matters worse for thefment it was most unfortunate. most -- for them. it was most unfortunate. most unfor the -- unfor the nafment while they maintain the status of dreamer, they did not ave the protection of the daca executive order that president obama put forth. perhaps it would have been better if president trump had said, i'm giving a six-month -- congress six months to pass a bill but i'm not changing the status quo that protects the status, protects the dreamers. just on that point, president obama when he protected the dreamers and their parents, what he did was significant.

but it was not as significant at what president reagan did in the 1980's. president obama acted because congress would not act. he took action. president reagan acted after congress did act. e immigration act of 198 -- 1986. president reagan said interesting but you did not go far enough. he instituted by executive order family fairness. and in the family fairness continued under president george herber walker bush. two -- herbert walker bush. two great presidents for immigration in our country. what they did protected with their executive orders, which stood the test of court cases, with their executive orders protected a higher 3ersage -- percentage of people than what president obama did. two republican presidents, two great champions on immigration. even after congress acted they

said you didn't go far enough. president obama had to act would not act. then we come forward with president clinton following in that tradition. president george w. bush, great president on would not act. imm couldn't convince his own party to pass comprehensive immigration reform, but his statements, his values-based policy on immigrants is something to this day and his current statements are so beautiful and inspirational. about treating people with dignity and valuing their worth as we talk about immigration. so this president -- of course president obama doing what he did in terms of executive orders, protecting people, and the tradition of ronald reagan and george herbert walker bush and with the common values of george w. bush and president clinton. now we have the first republican president in modern times, the first president,

really, who is anti-immigrant. and that is just such a change from his own party. it makes it hard to see where we can have shared values. certainly one piece of that debate which would require of fact, see tion what the best path forward is, is important for us to do. but for now because of the action that the president took, it necessitates us taking action here. as the president anticipated by putting a march 5 deadline on t we'd like to do it sooner -- it. we'd like to do it sooner. this is a vehicle leaving the station. if the republicans need our support for this legislation, which has many good features, and i commend the negotiators on it and was a part of that, unless we can get the same

commitment that mitch mcconnell gave the bipartisan group of legislators in the senate we would like that same response to our bipartisan group. i want to talk about jaime. to me georgia is my home. i'm proud to be from the south and i love to give back to my community. i tell everybody i'm a latino that grew up eating tortillas and grits at the same time. in north georgia is home. for somebody to say, hey, you can't get some in-state tuition a place i consider my state was really heartbreaking. i felt out of place. right now i feel optimistic because i believe the greater part of the country understands you can't support 750,000 individuals. these are individuals who give back to their community, they are involved in their churches, they have ph.d.s, they are creating jobs, and just want to make this country a better place. when president obama announced daca to me it was a life changing experience. i felt i was finally given a decent chance to be somebody in

this country. to contribute to my state. to contribute to my community, get a job just to get back and be somebody in the greatest country on this earth. that's the patriotism of our dreamers. when daca was introduced to open the doors to many things, even doors i didn't think were imaginable to open, my name is jaime, i was born in mexico but came to this country when i was only 3 months old. as the president said, he loves the dreamers. he loves the dreamers. he loves the dreamers. these people came to this country not of their own volition, through no fault of their own. i myself thank their parents for bringing them here because they are a blessing to america, but from their standpoint through no fault of their own. why can't we be fair and give hem a break? javier came from next dough. i invest in the next generation solutions. ch

when i was working in a convenience store i had big aspirations. the moment daca was passed, it put everything in perspective and i made a conscious effort to focus on my career. i ended up pursuing a career as a software engineer. i went to school at cal state university northridge. i studied economics and biotechnology after working as a saft wear engineer in silicon valley. i moved to brooklyn, new york. i now work in a venture capital turning a small venture fund that invests in early safe life science and frontier technology start-ups. as the c.e.o., daca being repealed does not only affect me t. could affect the start-ups which i work and my ability to invest in them and their ability to continue to grow and employ workers. hundreds of workers across the country. i'm a daca recipient from mexico city, i came to the united states when i was 5.

he did not come alone. did he not. he was brought here by his parents. , many of our dreamers here they are called dreamers because they are big dreams, entrepreneurs, teachers, they are researchers in science. our military. they are making such a fabulous contribution to the future of our country. it's not just about them. this daca repeal that we're making. it's about us. who are we as a country? how do we honor the vows of our founders. the statue of liberty and her appeal to the world that has made america such a beacon of hope. the list goes on and on about many, many daca recipients. and i intend to read them all. but in addition to that i want to go back to the bible because

the -- coy have brought the bible here and just read the bible and said if we're people in god we we, trust, as we contend to be, we must, we must act upon our faith, act upon our values. people always say to me, where is hope? where should we find hope? hope is in god we trust, sitting there where it always has been right between faith and charity. . people have hope because they believe in god and the future of our -- faith in our country and themselves, their families and they have faith in the goodness, the charity of others that people, when given the chance, will do the right thing and then hopefully that will be returned to them when they need hope and can have faith in the goodness of others. i want to tell but maria from

connecticut. she said, i didn't let anything keep me sfransing academically. when high school aeneded i couldn't attend the university of my dreams. i was getting all these acceptance letters. i couldn't go to these schools because i didn't have a social security number. this is the point, my colleagues, you can't get a social security number, and therefore i wasn'tible eligible for financial aid. i couldn't pursue the dreams i had been hoping for but did i not let my undocumented status hold me back from continuing to advance academically. enrolled at gold gateway community college. graduated with 3.8 g.p.a. to then be able to attend university. graduated magna cum laude. it's surreal, she says, to work -- wake up every day and be reminded even though i have been living in america in the past 18 years, all my honors and education may not end up mattering anymore because i can't contribute to the country which i have called home for so

long. my name is maria. i was born in peru and moved to the united states when i was 5 years old. documentation after documentation of how young these children were when they came to the united states. all because their parents wanted to make the future better for them. andrea writes, my dad was a fighter pilot in the peruvian air force so i grew up with lots of military influence. in high school i joined new jersey rotc which was the junior rotc and i was there for 3 1/2 years. it gave me the taste of maybe what my dad may have lived when he was in the military. i just lost him -- i lost him when i was only 6 years old so i never got to know that part of him. i always thought in the back of my head when i graduate i'm going to join the military. when i was in my junior year i realized i couldn't enroll in the military because i was undocumented. i was sitting with a recruiter,

air force recruiter and asked, what's your social security. when i told him, well, i don't have one -- meaning social security number -- he said, what about your passport? i have a peruvian passport. you don't have to either -- you have to be u.s. resident or citizen to be able to join. that was the first time i ever experienced that big wall of being undocumented like a big stop son saying no, you can't pursue this passion of yours. i didn't live a normal life until i got daca. thanks to daca i was able to pursue my career after graduating in marketing. i was able to build my professional nit work. help people. influence people. do all these things for my family and community. if that will take away everything i accomplished, that i worked for, that i helped people will just fall apart, shake the foundation who i am person. i was brought here by my mom when i was 11 years old. she lost her dad when she was 6.

this idea of military service, daca stat the a protection served honorably in the military and we are very proud of them as we are proud of all of our men and women in the military. and i emphasize the story of hard work that these dreamers have because they are very consistent with american workers. american people are so resourceful. they're so wonderful. they so care about their families and their communities. this is not to say daca are different. it's to say they're just like us. we are very proud of the american people, of our -- the productivity of our work force, the faith of our families, the civic-mindedness and the generosity of spirit and really of resources of the american people. and by telling these stories is not to separate the daca from

them but to show how similar they are and how assimilated they are into our community. it's mutually beneficial. jose manuel santobo from texas, he said, my education was so that i could contribute to society. my last year at southern methodist university i began an engaged fellowship. i was selected slekted to be commencement speaker for my graduated class and represented 600 other students. in my speech, he said, i thaad the faculty and staff at my university. i have teachers i looked up to my whole life who provided amazing educational opportunities regardless of the papers i had or didn't have. i wanted to be able to work and i wanted to work in public service. in order to do that i would need to have daca. i would need to have work authorization in this ilcountry. -- in this country. my education wasn't for me. my education was so i could contribute to society. my education was to give back

to the community, give back to the country that has given me so much. i hope this congress and president work to find a permanent solution to find us ca recipients to give us a pathway to citizenship, in order to provide for ourselves and our families and our communities. what manuel said is he looked up to his teachers. he learned from others in our country, also demonstrating the beautiful commitment of the american people to teach, to shed light, to younger people, new comers to our country to make a valuable contribution. so in saluting, as i say, the dreamers, we are saluting the opportunity they were given by the american people to make their contribution. hopefully congress will live up to the values of the american people.

overwhelmingly support the dreamers. and see this as a separate issue, not just about the dreamers, but about who we are as a country. cesar vargas was born in mexico. holds a law degree and wants to ecome a military lawyer. he's been advocating for immigration reform through a coalition called dream action coalition. it's challenging lawmakers on their stance on immigration and highlighting the political power of voters. in his case, latino voters. kelly, just kelly from dover, new jersey, kelly is a student working toward becoming a medical assistant. she'll be done with courses in january. however, without a dake work permit she won't be able to complete an internship to get her training, get a certified driver's license. understand this, you can't have a social security card, passport, driver's license. you can't function as a person

in our society without having your status protected by the dream act. so when people tell you it's all protected, it isn't. it isn't. listen to the stories. so, as i'm talking about kelly, is a student working to become a medical assistant. however, without daca she won't be able to complete her training, get her driver's license, as i mentioned. kelly, just kelly, has lived in new jersey since she was 5 years old. she said daca has given me a chance to drive, get a work permit, buy a car, get car insurance, things that benefit the community as well. helped me not be stuck, not depend on others. kelly's daca renewal application was rejected because she forgot to fill in a date of expiration. date of expiration. when she received notice of the error she fixed it and sent the application back immediately. by then the arbitrary october deadline had passed.

what kind of -- another reason why we need to clear this up. crystal, just crystal, is a single working mom of five u.s. citizen children. she was born in the bahamas and arrived in the u.s. at 6 years old. crystal had hire fifth child only three weeks ago. she had been on unpaid leave from her retail job. now her work authorization has expired she will not be able to return to work and her ability to provide for her kids will be impeded. what? carlos of the bronx. carlos lives in the bronx and undocumented member of her family. they care for carlos' younger sister who has severe cerebral palsy. his company wants to desperately keep him on as a employee. his daca expires february.

carlos sent his carlos sent his daca renewal application on september 18, 2017. two weeks after the president's announcement. but it was not received until december 11. he sent it on september 18. it was received on october 11. in the rejection letter he was notified he failed to fill in his daca expiration date. the relevant information was included in a cover letter and other parts of the packet. carlos arrived in the u.s. when he was 2 years old. new york is the only place he can call home. the expiration date was in the package but in one of the forms. it was not added. so he lost his protection. saul from san francisco, a -- i have to mention that kelly that i mentioned is a constituent of rodney frelinghuysen. and crystal, who was here from the bahamas, is a constituent of ted deutch. carlos is from the bronx, joe

crowley. saul is from san francisco, a constituent of jackie speier. saul aspires to be a teacher, mr. speaker. daca allowed him to work in the field, education. was able to get a driver's license. saul submitted a daca renewal application september 30, well in time via usps delivery, expressed delivery. he received notification of an error which he fixed and resubmitted. however, his application was ejected as untimely. augusta from brooklyn. expire in january, already. within days of his 21st birthday he worked to go to school and his daca expired. he won't have means to pay his bills and the cost of school. what are we doing? what are we doing? without papers, and now people who are striving to have their pammers on a technicality.

a technicality. really? aren't we supposed to be enabling people to make their contribution instead of hurting them with the process? it is, again, important to note. for our viewers to note that what people are asking for is nothing special. it's asking them to honor what was there. when daca recipients were told to sign up, they submitted considerable information about their lives. they effectively outed their parents. with the commitment that there would be protection for them. we heard many good bipartisan proposals to protect the dreamers, to give consideration to parents so they would not be deported because they brought a child into the country and some

of these parents have citizen children now who are also making a contribution to our society. and so it's because people don't understand the september 5 announcement by the president was very disruptive. let's hope that it was not intentional, and i don't think it was. i have no reason to think that it was. but it did cause problems that perhaps were unforeseen and the system did not even allow for a correction in a form in a timely fashion because of dependence on when it was received to be jummed -- judged, protection for those students. in fact, over 110 a day, daca -- dreamers lose their protection. it's over -- approaching 20,000 already who are losing their protections. it will be more by the time of

march 5, which is the deadline. we are going to reach a march 5 deadline or any deadline, we have to get on a timetable to do so. one timetable we have is the opportunity today to have a commitment from the speaker not to be afraid of dreamers. thank god for them. they contribute -- we are a nation of dreamers. that's why they fit so comfortably in our society and contribute to it so beautifully. i'll tell you about augusta -- well, i told you about him. i will tare you about maryam, rick larsen's constituent. from honduras. has lived her since 11 years old. knows no other country. as a successful entrepreneur and owns three businesses. he submitted his daca renewal application. it arrived on october 2, 2017.

submitted the processing fee for $465 instead of $495. that's what it takes, $495. a lot of money. his entire case was sent back for that entire reason. with that rejection he received a green document stated, you are invited to resubmit your application package after you have corrected the reasons for rejection. place this letter on top of your application package. he fixed the processing fee, resubmitted his application with the green document on top of his application package. on october 31 he received the entire package in the mail with a rejection notice dated october 24 that stated uscis is no longer accepting daca applications. he's been a daca applicant for the last three years and is heart broken by the d.h.s.'s actions in rejecting his daca. . brittany was born