Floor Speeches

Appearing on the House floor with an alligator doll in hand, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) on Friday called on President Obama to get serious about immigration reform.

"You said the other day in Texas that Republicans wouldn't be satisfied unless you built a moat with alligators," Walsh said. "You know what, Mr. President? A moat might not be a bad idea, and I wonder how many of these alligators it would take to secure the border.

Rep. Rich Nugent (R-Fla.) on Thursday night said the invitation of a rapper to a White House poetry event on Wednesday is a "slap in the face" to police officers because that rapper, known as Common, "vocally supports a convicted cop killer and her escape from jail."

Nugent dismissed White House arguments that this one song does not represent the "sum total" of Common's work.

"Mr. Speaker, I'm sure I don't care," Nugent said. "It's not the point. The point is that you've got thousands of women in law enforcement that put their lives on the line every day for this great nation, just like our troops. And the president invited to the White House [someone who] supports and glorifies a convicted killer of a police officer, a man who volunteered to protect his community.

House Republicans and Democrats were in the rare position of complimenting one another Thursday over the bipartisan work done on an intelligence authorization bill for the rest of FY 2011.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was full of praise for House Intelligence Committee ranking member Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) for working in a bipartisan way on the bill. She said he did a "magnificent job" in keeping a bipartisan spirit while working on the bill, H.R. 754.

"I have been just so delighted," Bachmann said. "I have never served on a committee where I have seen greater bipartisanship, because we've put down our partisan swords when it comes to the safety and security of our nation."

Del. Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) on Thursday took offense to the CIA's decision to give the mission to find and kill Osama bin Laden the code name "Geronimo."

Speaking on the House floor, Faleomavaega said this name might incorrectly imply that Geronimo was a terrorist and "a murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children" like bin Laden.

"On the contrary, Geronimo was one of the greatest American Indian warriors who fought against some of the most vicious, cruelest and inhumane treatment and policies instituted by our federal government against this poor nation," he said. "The president and CIA Director Panetta owe him an apology."

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) on Thursday warned that House members could soon call for the "removal" of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) if it continues to pursue its lawsuit against Boeing for its 2009 decision to open a new factory in South Carolina. The NLRB believes Boeing wants to open a factory to produce the Dreamliner aircraft in South Carolina as a way to retaliate against striking workers in Washington.

"If the NLRB doesn't change the course quickly, I know there will be many in this body, including myself, who will call for the panel's removal altogether," Duncan said on the House floor.

Rep. Dan Lungren objected to the "demonization" of those who disagree with the president on immigration.

Alaska Republican Don Young on Wednesday charged that members of the Massachusetts delegation never vote to produce domestic energy other than "green" energy, and said this position does nothing to help reduce energy costs for drivers in Massachusetts.

"In Massachusetts alone, not one time has any one of your members in the Congress ever voted to produce energy, other than wind power and solar power," Young said. "That doesn't drive your constituents' automobiles. That doesn't drive your trucks that deliver your products to the restaurants and the hospitals. That doesn't drive that train that people ride to try to get automobiles off the road. It doesn't drive the ships that bring the products to your shores.

House Democrats on Wednesday continued what is likely to be an unsuccessful push to raise taxes on oil companies in the context of Republican bills aimed at making it easier for companies to drill for oil offshore of the United States.

The Democratic effort highlights what has been a running disconnect between the two parties since Republicans began calling up energy bills last week. Republicans argue that the three bills they are pursuing would help encourage drilling for oil and gas, which they say would signal the market in the short term that the U.S. is aggressively looking for its own energy supplies, and in turn help lower gasoline prices.

California Democrat Lynn Woolsey said on Wednesday that the Obama administration's plan to withdraw just 10,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year falls well short of the more significant withdrawal that Obama promised.

Woolsey cited press reports that said the U.S. military is considering taking 5,000 troops out of Afghanistan by July, and another 5,000 by the end of the year.

"That's not even close to an adequate response to the demands of the moment," Woolsey said on the House floor. "It's not the bold move that was suggested when the July 1, 2011 drawdown date was first announced. Ten thousand fewer troops by the end of the year doesn't even get us to pre-surge levels."

Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) dedicated an hour of floor time late Tuesday evening to lay out a case for why he believes President Obama's restrictions on energy production are responsible for high gas prices around the nation.

"We need to ask ourselves, why have the prices of gas gone up?"  Carter said. "It seems to me that part of the answer is that we have an administration that is hostile to this industry."