| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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Live Debate on Voting Measures
00:02:18
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| You just said that if you're going to prosecute people, you need to prosecute them for the same crimes. | ||
| So, if you're going to prosecute them for trespass, go ahead and prosecute them for trespass. | ||
| Go ahead and prosecute them for destroying property. | ||
| But don't treat them. | ||
| Don't try to send them to jail for 5, 10, 15, 20 years when you've got people in New York and California and Minnesota and Chicago and Washington, D.C. We'll take you live now to the U.S. House to begin debate on four bills. | ||
|
unidentified
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Three of them would repeal laws in the District of Columbia, including one that would bar non-citizens from voting. | |
| The other measure is the Senate-passed legislation permanently classifying fentanyl with the highest penalties and control. | ||
| The House | ||
| will be in order. | ||
| Their prayer will be offered by Chaplain Kibbin. | ||
| Would you pray with me? | ||
| Holy God, in this simple act of prayer, help us to realize that we unleash a power far greater than we can possibly imagine. | ||
| You alone have the authority to move mountains, bringing every hill low and lifting up every valley. | ||
| It is you who levels uneven ground and smooths the rough paths. | ||
| Such power is too wonderful for us to conceive, and yet you listen carefully to our feeble voices. | ||
| Your might is unfathomable, and yet you give us access to it, that we can wield it when we but ask. | ||
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Temper Our Desire
00:08:20
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| Temper our desire to use this privilege for our personal gain, but enlighten us to the needs of those who are powerless over their present circumstance. | ||
| Guide us to discern in response to local and global challenges how and when to act, and direct us in the use of the wealth of resources you have made available to us to steward. | ||
| Humbled before you and honored to serve you, may we yield ourselves to you, that you would use us as instruments of your powerful love and abounding mercy. | ||
| In the strength of your name, we pray. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| The chair has examined the journal of last day's proceedings and announces to the House the approval thereof, pursuant to clause one of Rule One. | ||
| The journal stands approved. | ||
| The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. McGovern. | ||
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unidentified
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I pledge allegiance to the flag to 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 chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. | ||
| For what purposes does the gentlewoman from North Carolina seek recognition? | ||
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unidentified
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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| I ask for animals consent to address the House for one minute. | ||
| Without objection, a gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend the Rockingham County Government and Kevin Berger, Chairman of the Rockingham County Commissioners Board, in planning and implementing the planning and implementation of the Rockingham County Veterans Treatment Corps. | ||
| In October of last year, the Rockingham County government received a $900,000 grant to help fund this novel endeavor. | ||
| It was one out of five counties within the United States to receive this level of funding for such programs. | ||
| This money will go on to make a real difference in the lives of veterans by offering evidence-based treatment for substance abuse and mental health. | ||
| The process of obtaining this grant was very competitive, and I'm immensely pleased that Rockingham County had this opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of our nation's heroes. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Massachusetts seek recognition? | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to address the House for one minute, revise, and extend my remarks. | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, last December, Democrats and Republicans negotiated a bipartisan deal to extend the law replacing stolen SNAP benefits for an additional four years. | ||
| At the 11th hour, Speaker Johnson and Republicans reneged on that deal, blocking reimbursement of stolen SNAP benefits. | ||
| Since that time, thieves have stolen $10 million from 20,000 families in Massachusetts alone, leaving them with decimated food budgets and nowhere to turn through no fault of their own. | ||
| Now, some Republicans in Congress seem to be just discovering this problem after being shamed by their constituents. | ||
| They're rolling out new bills to reimburse benefits. | ||
| I want to ask my Republican colleagues, where were you in December when the law expired? | ||
| Republicans tanked the bipartisan deal to continue benefit replacement. | ||
| We don't need more gratuitous bills from Republicans who just voted to cut SNAP by $300 billion. | ||
| We need them to step up and tell Speaker Johnson to schedule a vote on benefit replacement this week. | ||
| Hungry families can't wait another six months for relief. | ||
| And unlike so many of my Republican colleagues, they don't get invited to fancy dinners at Mar-a-Lago or billionaire-hosted fundraisers. | ||
| Let's get serious and protect families from theft and end hunger now. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from South Carolina seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to address the House for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| War Criminal Putin, the Chinese Communist Party, and the illegitimate Georgian Dream Party are betraying the people of Georgia. | ||
| The Chinese Communist Party aids Putin with mass murder in Ukraine. | ||
| According to Media Center Ukraine, the Russian-occupied Ukraine is being illegally mined for granted using Chinese equipment. | ||
| In April, Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky said Chinese representatives are engaged in production of weapons in Russia. | ||
| Additionally, a Georgian port on the Black Sea awarded to Georgian European American companies was terminated and given to Chinese companies. | ||
| The Georgian Drain is colluding with the CCP. | ||
| In conclusion, God bless our troops as the global war on terrorism continues. | ||
| Trump is reinstituting existing laws to protect American families with peace through strength, revealing war criminal Putin lies, insulting Trump, and mocking Trump with increasing mass murder of civilians of Ukraine with world record illegal drone attacks. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from California seek recognition? | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to address the House for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise today to recognize the life and service of Gwen Watson, who worked to uplift vulnerable populations throughout her life in my community in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the state of California. | ||
| Gwen began her career as a teacher in Louisiana, working with high school students seeking vocational services. | ||
| She later moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she served Contra Costa County's homeless population through the St. Vincent dePaul Hope Conference and the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa. | ||
| Gwen also served as the president of the League of Women Voters Diablo Valley, overseeing the You Don't Need a Home Vote project. | ||
| In addition, in that position on the League of Women Voters, she facilitated candidates' forums. | ||
| I remember many years ago when I first ran for the Concord City Council, Gwen was there doing her civic best with the League of Women Voters. | ||
| Sadly, Gwen passed away in May. | ||
| She will be remembered for her advocacy and her commitment to service. | ||
| She was an inspiration to all of us who knew her and called her a friend. | ||
| Please join me in honoring Gwen Watson for her invaluable contributions to her community and to her country. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from the single greatest state in the entire union, from Utah, seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask you then the sentence to address the House for one minute to revise and extend my remarks. | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman from the greatest state in the Union, Utah, is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise today in recognition of our nation's aviation professionals and their need for mental health support. | ||
| Scientific studies of aviation professionals reveal that many are hesitant to seek mental health treatment due to fears of professional consequences. | ||
| For example, pilots often speak about their careers with deep passion, and the prospect of losing their wings is seen as one of the worst possible outcomes. | ||
| As a result, many choose not to self-report mental health concerns, fearing they might be grounded or face stigma within the industry. | ||
| As a physician, I understand how deeply mental and physical health are connected. | ||
| When a profession so crucial to our daily lives faces this challenge, I believe it is time we take a second look and see how we can aid in combating this. | ||
| Destigmatizing mental health treatment for FAA employees and pilots is essential to fostering a culture of safety, trust, and well-being in aviation. | ||
| Encouraging open dialogue and providing confidential, non-punitive access to mental health support helps ensure pilots receive the care they need without fear of professional repercussions. | ||
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Shall Be Considered As Read
00:06:22
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| We cannot allow these essential professionals to suffer in silence. | ||
| Instead, let's create a system that supports their well-being and keeps our skies safe. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentlewoman from Indiana seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, by the direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 489 and ask for its immediate consideration. | ||
| The clerk will report the resolution. | ||
| House Calendar No. 32, House Resolution 489. | ||
| Resolved that upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill, H.R. 884, to prohibit individuals who are not citizens of the United States from voting in elections in the District of Columbia and to repeal the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022. | ||
| All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. | ||
| The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, now printed in the bill, shall be considered as adopted. | ||
| The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. | ||
| All points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived. | ||
| The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one. | ||
| One hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on oversight and government reform or the respective designees and two, one motion to recommit. | ||
| Section two, upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill, H.R. 2056, to require the District of Columbia to comply with federal immigration laws. | ||
| All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. | ||
| The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform now printed in the bill, modified by the amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, shall be considered as adopted. | ||
| The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. | ||
| All points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived. | ||
| The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one. | ||
| One hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on oversight and government reform or their respective designees, and two, one motion to recommit. | ||
| Section three, upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill, H.R. 2096, to restore the rights to negotiate matters pertaining to the discipline of law enforcement officers of the District of Columbia through collective bargaining to restore the statute of limitations for bringing disciplinary cases against members or civilian employees of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and for other purposes. | ||
| All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. | ||
| The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted. | ||
| The bill as amended shall be considered as read. | ||
| All points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived. | ||
| The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one. | ||
| One hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on oversight and government reform or their respective designees and two one motion to recommit. | ||
| Section four upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill Senate 331 to amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to the scheduling of fentanyl-related substances and for other purposes. | ||
| All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. | ||
| The bill shall be considered as read. | ||
| All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. | ||
| The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one. | ||
| One hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce or their respective designees and two one motion to commit the gentleman from Indiana is recognized for one hour. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield myself the customary 30 minutes. | ||
| I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. McGovern, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| During consideration of this resolution, all time is yielded for the purpose of debate only. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of the underlying legislation. | ||
| Last night, the Rules Committee met and produced a rule, H. Res 489, providing for the House's consideration of several pieces of legislation. | ||
| This provides for closed rules S 331, H.R. 884, H.R. 2056, and H.R. 2096. | ||
| The rule provides one hour of debate, equally divided, for the chair and ranking member for this, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, or their respective designees, for consideration of S-331. | ||
| The rule additionally provides for an hour of debate each for H.R. 884, H.R. 2056, and H.R. 2096, equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform or their respective designees. | ||
| Starting with the S-331, the HALT Fentanyl Act, important legislation the House considered back in February when 98 Democrats supported it. | ||
| This bill would permanently classify all fentanyl-related substances as illegal and give our law enforcement officers more tools to combat the crisis. | ||
| The bill also ensures medical professionals can research fentanyl-related substances so we can better understand their effects on human health. | ||
| In 2023, more than 100,000 people nationwide, including 2,190 from my home state of Indiana, died from a drug overdose. | ||
| National numbers from the same year indicate that approximately 75,000 people died an overdose death related to synthetic opioids. | ||
|
Illegal Immigrant Voting Rights
00:03:57
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| Fentanyl deaths account for as much as 77 percent of adolescent overdose deaths, and it is a leading cause of death in the 18 to 49-year-old age bracket. | ||
| We cannot stand by and do nothing while this scourge exists. | ||
| The bottom line is this overwhelmingly bipartisan bill is necessary to assist our law enforcement officers in combating fentanyl. | ||
| Now, transitioning to the issue of free and fair elections and H.R. 884. | ||
| In 2022, Washington, D.C. enacted a dangerous law, the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act, D.C. Act 24-640, which allows non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, foreign agents, and diplomats, to vote in local elections. | ||
| We should not allow foreign entities hostile to the United States to vote in our elections, period. | ||
| We should not allow illegal immigrants to vote in our elections. | ||
| This is a direct assault on the value of American citizenship and it undermines the voices of lawful voters. | ||
| Worse, it's part of a broader effort by the left to chip away at Congress's constitutional authority over our nation's capital. | ||
| The Constitution is clear. | ||
| Congress has the power to legislate in all cases whatsoever concerning Washington, D.C. | ||
| And under the Home Rule Act, we have the duty to review and reject laws that threaten the integrity of our elections and our constitutional system. | ||
| Even Mayor Bowser withheld her signature from those actions, and I want to thank her for that. | ||
| Of all places, we must not let the nation's capital become a model for illegal voting. | ||
| Additionally, this rule provides for H.R. 2096, the Protecting Our Nation's Capital Emergency Act. | ||
| In 2023, the D.C. Council passed the so-called Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act, a bill that singles out the Metropolitan Police Department, making it the only union in the district stripped of its ability to collectively bargain on disciplinary matters. | ||
| H.R. 2096 puts an end to this anti-police policy and restores fairness to the bargaining process for D.C.'s law enforcement officers. | ||
| Finally, this rule also includes H.R. 2056, the District of Columbia Federal Immigration Compliance Act, which simply ensures that D.C. follows federal immigration law, because no city, especially not our capital, should get a free pass to ignore the laws of the land. | ||
| In 2019, D.C. Mayor Bowser approved the Sanctuary Values Amendment Act of 2019, which, according to the Mayor's office, limits the district's cooperation with federal immigration agencies, including by complying with detainer requests for immigration and customs enforcement absent a judicial warrant or order issued by a federal judge, or by providing to federal immigration agencies information about when or where someone will be released. | ||
| This is ludicrous. | ||
| In other words, D.C. will make it harder for ICE to detain dangerous criminals and otherwise impede their ability to do their jobs. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, you can't make this stuff up. | ||
| While my colleagues continue to double down on their America last policies, House Republicans are charging forward and standing up for hardworking families and vulnerable Americans. | ||
| The legislation before us is common sense, pro-law enforcement, and necessary. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the consideration of these important pieces of legislation and urge the passage of this rule. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
| Gentlewoman Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
|
Cheap Distraction Tactics
00:15:17
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| Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the gentlelady from Indiana for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the bills in this rule today are nothing more than a cheap distraction. | ||
| Another smokescreen from Host Republicans desperate to desperate to change the subject. | ||
| And I get why. | ||
| After all, it was just two weeks ago that nearly every single Republican in this chamber voted for what may be the most shameful piece of legislation this body has produced in years, the GOP tax scam. | ||
| Now, it's bad enough that it gives massive tax breaks to billionaires and wealthy donors, but it does that by literally taking food out of the mouths of hungry seniors and children and ripping health care away for more than 16 million Americans. | ||
| In case this wasn't clear, Republicans are gutting Medicaid and even targeting Medicare, programs millions of families depend on, not because they have to, but because they want to. | ||
| Now, I know my friends across the aisle hate to hear us say the truth out loud. | ||
| It makes them uncomfortable because they know what they are doing is wrong. | ||
| But that's just the cold, hard truth, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And in the process, they're adding trillions to the very national debt they love to complain about when it's politically convenient. | ||
| That's also the cold, hard truth. | ||
| Numbers don't lie. | ||
| Look at the Congressional Budget Office analysis. | ||
| Republicans' math does not add up. | ||
| Again, this adds trillions to the debt. | ||
| And now, because the backlash has been swift and deserved, Republicans are scrambling to do everything they can to sweep it under the rug and change the narrative. | ||
| And that's what these bills are about. | ||
| Political misdirection, not meaningful solutions. | ||
| Now, let's be clear. | ||
| Three of the bills this week meddle in D.C.'s local governance. | ||
| Not because there's some urgent crisis, but because Republicans want to score cheap political points and take power away from a local government they weren't elected to make decisions for. | ||
| In fact, Republicans referred to the District of Columbia as, quote, property in last night's Rules Committee hearing. | ||
| Property. | ||
| I mean, who talks like that? | ||
| I mean, I thought I was watching Gone with the Wind. | ||
| This is so incredibly offensive. | ||
| The people who live in D.C. are not your property. | ||
| Their land is not your property. | ||
| Their money is not yours. | ||
| So keep your hands off it and keep your hands off them. | ||
| Republicans, Mr. Speaker, are on a power trip. | ||
| These bills either chase problems that don't exist or duplicate efforts already underway. | ||
| That is not legislating. | ||
| That's performative politics. | ||
| And here's the real kicker. | ||
| If my Republican colleagues were serious about public safety in D.C., as they claim, then the first thing they do is restore the $1 billion in cities' funding they slashed earlier this year. | ||
| Now, I want to be clear. | ||
| This is not federal money. | ||
| We are literally talking about the city being able to spend their own money that D.C. residents have paid in taxes for the district. | ||
| That money, taken from D.C.'s budget and paid by D.C. taxpayers, goes towards supporting public safety, social services, and critical infrastructure that residents and tourists alike rely on. | ||
| Now, the Senate already passed the fix. | ||
| The bill is ready for us to vote on. | ||
| And even Donald Trump says he supports it. | ||
| I can't believe it, but he says he supports it. | ||
| So why is it that House Republicans here in the Congress are dragging their feet? | ||
| I thought they did everything Trump directed them to do, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Why on this are they willing to stand strong against Trump, but when it comes to taking away health care and food assistance from their constituents, suddenly they have no backbone. | ||
| They go along with Trump on that. | ||
| Give me a damn break. | ||
| The fourth bill this week makes formatting changes to the HALT Fentanyl Act, a bill that we've debated before. | ||
| Now, let me be very clear. | ||
| The fentanyl crisis is real and it is deadly, and it demands serious action. | ||
| But that action must be more than slogans and symbolism. | ||
| You can't say you're serious about fighting fentany while slashing funding for mental health services, addiction treatment, and Medicaid. | ||
| That's hypocrisy, and that's dangerous. | ||
| But this is the Republican playbook. | ||
| You pay lip service to real problems, undercut the solutions that actually work, and shovel more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. | ||
| Rinse and repeat. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve a hell of a lot better. | ||
| They deserve better than a party taking away their health care in the middle of the night. | ||
| America's hardworking moms and dads, who may work multiple jobs but still not make enough to afford groceries under this administration, deserve to know that they can rely on SNAP during rocky times so that their seven and eight-year-old kids have something to eat. | ||
| Seniors deserve to have full fridges and access to health care that they're paid into so they can live out their remaining years with dignity. | ||
| And if they're paying their fair share in taxes, they deserve for billionaires and hedge fund managers and people who can afford to dump millions into political campaigns to pay their fair share too. | ||
| People are tired of all these giveaways to multi-billionaires, while hardworking middle-class families, while those struggling to get in the middle class, get screwed over. | ||
| What we saw from Republicans in the last week of May, Mr. Speaker, is reprehensible. | ||
| It is not what the American people deserve. | ||
| We must do better, and I reserve my time. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I've said this again and again. | ||
| The rhetoric from our Democrat colleagues on the One Big Beautiful bill is just not true. | ||
| In fact, we're preserving benefits for those who need it most by preventing people who are illegal and ineligible from accessing Medicaid. | ||
| We're also ensuring that able-bodied adults have a mandatory work requirement of just less than 20 hours per week. | ||
| It includes the ability for participating in education, in job search, in community engagement, can all count toward that work requirement. | ||
| What we are trying to do in the One Big Beautiful bill is ensuring that limited resources are protected for pregnant women, for children, for seniors, for individuals with disabilities. | ||
| That's the truth. | ||
| And with reference to the CBO, the CBO has been wrong again and again and again. | ||
| It's on record being wrong by more than $1 trillion. | ||
| We cannot count on the CBO's score alone as a measure for how well or what savings this bill will have or not have. | ||
| In fact, the Democrat-led CBO has overestimated the cost of Trump's tax cuts. | ||
| It has underestimated the cost of the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| And it has underestimated the impact of the inflation or overestimated the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act. | ||
| I would like to note something about this being political misdirection, as my colleague noted. | ||
| He said this is not an urgent crisis. | ||
| While my colleagues may want to take a look at the lawlessness that's happening in California, that is not a crisis. | ||
| I think it is, and it is certainly something we don't want to see in our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., which is exactly the type of thing that we are trying to prevent by passing this legislation. | ||
| I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
| Gentlewoman Reserves, gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Okay, Mr. Speaker, I hate to be the one to have to inform the gentlelady of this fact, but the head of CBO, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a registered Republican. | ||
| So, you know, okay. | ||
| So now we're being told by the Republicans that we can't trust the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to give us correct numbers on how much things are going to cost or how much the tax cuts are going to cost. | ||
| Who do we rely on for that? | ||
| I mean, Elon Musk, well, maybe not anymore because Elon and Trump were fighting. | ||
| But the bottom line is CBO has been kind of the gold standard that both parties have pointed to on various debates on budgetary bills over the years. | ||
| And I should also point out, because I think I want it to be very, very clear, there's no federal funding in Medicaid that goes to provide support for undocumented immigrants. | ||
| CBO also states that. | ||
| So that little red herring out there is just, again, to distract. | ||
| That's just not truthful. | ||
| That's not truthful. | ||
| And I think everybody in this chamber knows that. | ||
| So enough of that. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I'm going to, if we defeat the previous question, I'm going to offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 2753, the Hands-Off Medicaid and SNAP Act, which would block the Republican budget from cutting Medicaid or SNAP benefits and kicking people off of these life-saving programs. | ||
| Three weeks ago, three weeks ago, House Republicans jammed through their multi-trillion dollar budget scam by a one-vote margin. | ||
| Now, some Republicans didn't even know what was in the bill, and they rushed it through so fast that we are reportedly going to have to revote on it later this week to fix all the errors in the bill. | ||
| So while we stand here debating three bills to micromanage the affairs of the District of Columbia, which has its own mayor and has its own city council, who are perfectly capable of representing their constituents, | ||
| Republicans are moving forward with more tax breaks for billionaires and corporations, while lower-income Americans are made worse off through the largest cuts to health care and food assistance in our nation's history and our nation's history. | ||
| We live in the richest country in the history of the world. | ||
| I will inform the gentlelady and those in this chamber that we have 46 million people in the United States of America who are hungry or food insecure. | ||
| We should all be ashamed of that. | ||
| And rather than trying to address that problem, by the way, which is a costly problem, the Republicans instead chose to cut $300 billion out of the SNAP program. | ||
| And they also have cut funding out of a whole range of other nutritional benefit programs as well. | ||
| So before they have a chance to vote again on their big bill later this week, I urge my Republican colleagues to correct their mistakes and to vote to protect health care. | ||
| Protect health care. | ||
| Don't throw American citizens off of health care. | ||
| Protect their health care and protect SNAP for millions of Americans. | ||
| This is not about undocumented immigrants. | ||
| Stop that nonsense. | ||
| This is about American citizens. | ||
| And stop these cuts by voting to bring up the Hands-Off Medicaid and SNAP Act. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question. | ||
|
unidentified
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Without objection. | |
| And to discuss our proposal, Mr. Speaker, I yield one and a half minutes to the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Simons. | ||
| Gentlewoman is recognized. | ||
| Thank you so much, Mr. McGovern. | ||
| And thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me this one and a half minutes to speak. | ||
| As a new member of Congress, I was under the understanding that our job here is to lift up the voices of those in this country that hold our nation together with their own hands. | ||
| To the working parents who will absolutely go hungry and who will come home to empty refrigerators when their SNAP benefits are cut under the majority's big, cruel bill. | ||
| To those who cannot sleep at night because their child has a rare form of cancer and are worried about Medicaid not covering, and you say it won't affect her. | ||
| But today, if you want to go to the children's hospital here in Washington, D.C., and sit with the mother who is praying over her dying child who had to quit her job and who now qualifies for Medicaid expansion, who, under your bill, she will be cut, tell her you will not harm her. | ||
| Unfortunately, this is the America that the majority wants to create. | ||
| The majority has sent a bill to the Senate understanding that, Mr. Speaker, this bill is not a piece of legislation. | ||
| It is a piece of forgetting. | ||
| It is forgetting who we are. | ||
| It is forgetting who we owe. | ||
| The big, cruel bill breaks the basic covenant of government. | ||
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unidentified
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That covenant that the government will see the people who suffer the most and hold additional one minute to the gentle lady. | |
| So I will say, thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| So I will say it is without apology. | ||
| When you write legislation that cuts into the flesh of the working poor, you cannot call it policy. | ||
| When you cut into the flesh of working-class Americans, you don't call it policy. | ||
| You call it what it is, cruelty. | ||
| When you kick 16 million people off of health care, you don't call it policy. | ||
| You call it heartless. | ||
| And I urge my colleagues today to vote no on the previous question. | ||
| And thank you, Mr. McGovern. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentlewoman yields. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| Gentleman Reserves. | ||
| Gentlewoman from Indiana is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| One of the things that my colleague mentioned was the people who are food insecure. | ||
| I'd just like to note that something that we should be ashamed of is the inflation or inflationary policies of the Biden administration that drove up food costs, leading to more people being food insecure. | ||
|
Debate Blocked on Critical Amendments
00:15:23
|
||
| I'm glad to hear that my colleague on the other side of the aisle is interested in preserving health care for those who need it most. | ||
| I hope that that means he'll vote for HR1. | ||
| One of the things that we heard just in the last few minutes is that children with cancer and the mother of a child with cancer will be not covered. | ||
| That's just not true. | ||
| This bill, the bill, the One Big Beautiful bill, protects benefits for those children. | ||
| Democrats are fighting to protect health care for 1.4 million illegal immigrants. | ||
| They're fighting to protect health care in fraud and abuse and billions of dollars to fraud and waste and abuse. | ||
| The number that they keep referencing just keeps going up. | ||
| It's been $13.7 million, $14 million, now it's $16 million. | ||
| That's just not true. | ||
| Even the New York Times said that the numbers that the Democrats have been saying about people who will quote unquote lose their health care is not true. | ||
| If you are illegal, if you are ineligible, if you are able-bodied and could work, those are the people that this bill will target. | ||
| Finally, I just want to say that once again, taking it back to the issues at hand, we're here to do the important work of safeguarding our elections in the United States, supporting the police, ensuring that local jurisdictions aren't obstructing immigration enforcement. | ||
| Similar bills on these topics have gained support from some Democrats. | ||
| Instead of trying to belittle these issues or endlessly debate HR1 at every possible turn, they can stop and reflect about their opposition to these common sense bills, bills supported by the agenda that voters backed months ago. | ||
| Democrats just can't seem to help themselves. | ||
| President Trump's multifaceted approach to immigration enforcement is working. | ||
| Illegal border crossings are down 95 percent. | ||
| Daily border encounters are down by 93 percent. | ||
| Gotaways are down by 99 percent. | ||
| Fentanyl flows are down 54 percent. | ||
| 2,000 ICERS every day recently to finally cleaning up the open border policy of the Biden administration. | ||
| And yes, they were open border policies. | ||
| So, Mr. Speaker, I hope that our colleagues will support the underlying rule and the bills that we have considered before us today because we need to secure our elections and stand up for our police and the rule of law. | ||
| And I reserve. | ||
| Gentlewoman reserves, the gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| So, Mr. Speaker, let me respond to the gentlelady when she wants to know why the numbers keep on going up in terms of the number of uninsured is because the Republicans continuously changed their bill and made it worse. | ||
| That's why you made it worse. | ||
| The bill that we voted on throws more people off of health care. | ||
| Boy, that's something to be proud of. | ||
| And there's no denying the fact that your big, ugly bill cuts SNAP by $300 billion. | ||
| $300 billion. | ||
| You cut SNAP. | ||
| This is a benefit that, on average, is about $2 per person per meal. | ||
| And they cut it. | ||
| $300 billion. | ||
| And they want us to believe, like, oh, there'll be no adverse impacts. | ||
| Everything will just be beautiful. | ||
| Really? | ||
| I mean, come on. | ||
| $300 billion out of the SNAP program. | ||
| And that's going to impact senior citizens. | ||
| It's going to impact veterans. | ||
| It's going to impact children. | ||
| And let me tell you, that savings that you're going to garner from the $300 billion cut that you're using to offset the cost of tax cuts for billionaires, that is going to be very, very costly because hungry kids don't learn when they go to school. | ||
| Senior citizens who take their medication on an empty stomach end up in an emergency room. | ||
| People who don't have access to decent nutrition end up with chronic illnesses that last a lifetime. | ||
| Workers who are hungry are less productive in the workforce. | ||
| I mean, that is what my friends are doing. | ||
| So don't give me this garbage about undocumented immigrants. | ||
| CBO made it clear that there's no Medicaid funding going to undocumented immigrants in this country. | ||
| I mean, it is clear. | ||
| That's a smokescreen so that people don't focus in on how their big, ugly bill is going to hurt regular people in this country. | ||
| It really is astounding to me. | ||
| I mean, I thought we all came here, no matter what our politics might be, to help people. | ||
| They're pushing forward a bill that's going to hurt people. | ||
| It's going to hurt almost everybody in this country, except if you are well-off and well-connected. | ||
| If you're a billionaire, if you're a big donor, if you hang out in Mar-a-Lago, you're doing fine. | ||
| But everybody else, and you know, and the other thing that Republicans are doing is cutting medical research, cutting NIH. | ||
| I mean, you want to talk about life-saving investments? | ||
| Let's find a cure to cancer. | ||
| Let's find a cure to diabetes. | ||
| Let's find a cure to Alzheimer's. | ||
| And instead, you're cutting that research. | ||
| But, Mr. Speaker, I want to just take a couple of minutes here to talk about something else, because this is a rules debate. | ||
| And this is something that I find particularly annoying at this moment. | ||
| I want to take a moment to talk about the process. | ||
| Perhaps the only noteworthy thing the Republican majority achieved last Congress was shattering their own record for the most closed Congress ever. | ||
| Not something I think you want to be known for. | ||
| And to be clear, they made history for running the most closed anti-debate Congress we've ever seen. | ||
| In total, Republicans issued 115 totally closed rules, meaning 115 times where the House could not debate a single amendment on the House floor. | ||
| Republicans basically told us, nope, no debate, no amendments, no input to make these bills better. | ||
| Just do whatever we tell you to do. | ||
| This wasn't an accident. | ||
| It was the whole game plan, a legislative lockdown that delivered the most unproductive, dysfunctional Congress in modern American history. | ||
| And did they learn anything from it? | ||
| No, not a thing. | ||
| This Congress, they've taken that broken model and somehow made it worse. | ||
| As of last night, as of last night, they've racked up over 50 closed rules in just five months. | ||
| More than 90 percent of the bills they bring up. | ||
| No amendments, no discussion, no democracy, just take it or leave it. | ||
| And at this rate, Republicans are on track to issue over 200 closed rules this Congress. | ||
| I mean, what are we even doing here? | ||
| In just five months, we've seen Republican leadership block over 800 amendments, amendments that our colleagues, Democratic and Republicans alike, have submitted to make bills better. | ||
| Only 14 amendments were selected by Republican leadership to be debated across just four bills. | ||
| That's a 98% rejection rate. | ||
| They blocked 98 out of every 100 ideas they received. | ||
| And what does this look like in practice? | ||
| A complete destruction of the deliberative process. | ||
| It means Republicans have blocked, get this, debate on amendments that would protect SNAP and Medicaid for millions of Americans, and debate on amendments to protect access to the ballot box, the foundation of our democracy. | ||
| They even blocked debate on bipartisan amendments which would provide a permanent pay fix for federal wildland firefighters and allow grants to help with fentanyl prevention and education efforts. | ||
| No wonder why nobody likes Congress. | ||
| The issues that are important to the American people are not even allowed to be debated. | ||
| And as we see here today, Republicans are okay with debating trivial issues passionately, but important ones not at all. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, when I chaired this committee back when we gave a damn, we welcomed ideas. | ||
| We let the House work the way it's supposed to work. | ||
| In our first five months, Democrats allowed over 25 percent of all amendments, more than 200 thoughtful proposals, to be debated. | ||
| But here's the kicker: we gave Republicans more chances to debate their ideas than their own leaders do. | ||
| In five months, only six of the 220 Republicans, over 97 percent of Republicans in this chamber, have had an amendment made in order. | ||
| That's not by mistake. | ||
| That's a design flaw, a big one. | ||
| So I don't understand how my Republican colleagues, some of which were so excited about having a bigger, better open process, can say with a straight face that this is what they wanted. | ||
| They have no voice in improving legislation. | ||
| Amendments that we offered last night were blocked. | ||
| At this point, in the 117th Congress, Mr. Speaker, under Democratic governance, over half of all bipartisan amendments were made in order. | ||
| This Congress, we have yet to see a single bipartisan amendment make it to the House floor this year. | ||
| Not even one. | ||
| Not even one. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this Republican leadership seemed to have forgotten that this institution is a Democratic legislative assembly. | ||
| Instead, they are running like a wannabe authoritarian dictatorship. | ||
| I know that Donald Trump speaks admiringly of Vladimir Putin all the time, but this place is becoming like Russia. | ||
| Come on. | ||
| I mean, have some respect for the House of Representatives. | ||
| Let's open this place up a little bit more, because this process right now is a disgrace, and the American people deserve so much better than this. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman from Massachusetts Reserves, the gentlelady from Indiana, is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, fear-mongering is not a solution to the problems that we face today. | ||
| And if we're not going to find savings across all agencies by rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, we are not going to safeguard these programs for the future. | ||
| Unfortunately, my colleagues are against rooting out even waste, fraud, and abuse. | ||
| They are, by doing so, are not protecting the very programs they claim that they are fighting to protect. | ||
| And again, with the CBO, according to the White House press secretary, there hasn't been a single staffer in the entire Congressional Budget Office that has contributed to a Republican since the year 2000. | ||
| But guess what? | ||
| Many of the staffers within the CBO have contributed to Democrat candidates and politicians in every single cycle since. | ||
| So unfortunately, it's not an institution in our country that is bipartisan. | ||
| It has become partisan and political, which is why conservatives and Republicans on our side are skeptical of the CBO and what they report. | ||
| And my colleague referred to closed measures. | ||
| So I just want to note that it's true there have been 53 closed measures, but the number needs context. | ||
| Twelve were in the rules package, which passed two weeks before the 119th Rules Committee even organized to begin meeting. | ||
| An additional 21 measures were either CRAs or received no amendments, making them closed by definition. | ||
| So only 17 measures have been closed by discretion of the committee. | ||
| So, Mr. Speaker, again, I'd like to make the emphasis what it should be today, which is on safeguarding our elections and supporting local law enforcement and trying to eliminate the deadly scourge of fentanyl across the United States. | ||
| And I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Lady Reserves, gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | |
| Wow. | ||
| Defending this process, I just want to repeat: when I was chairman, I made one out of every four amendments in order. | ||
| My Republican friends are making one out of every 50 amendments in order, and zero, zero bipartisan amendments, zero bipartisan amendments. | ||
| And I, again, I don't quite know. | ||
| Well, I guess I do know. | ||
| I mean, again, the way the Republican leadership is operating here is that, again, we don't debate serious proposals on the House floor. | ||
| They don't want to have votes. | ||
| They don't want to have debates. | ||
| They just want to bring things to the floor under a closed process and tell people to take it or leave it. | ||
| And then they do this other thing of sneaking things in the rules so we can't even have a vote up or down on major changes. | ||
| But that's not the way this place is supposed to run. | ||
| And in terms of, again, the Congressional Budget Office, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a registered Republican. | ||
| And if we're not going to rely on the Congressional Budget Office for analyses, who do we supposed to rely on? | ||
| What, Stephen Miller? | ||
| I mean, like, I mean, like, oh, who? | ||
| I mean, I, I mean, I'm just, I'm trying to figure out who, who, we're supposed to take your word for it? | ||
| Or just take the president's word for it? | ||
| I mean, this is a guy who doesn't read anything. | ||
| He says he watches everything on TV. | ||
| So I don't even understand this new position of the Republican Party is that there's no such thing as objective analysis unless it always agrees with them. | ||
| Well, that's just not the way it is. | ||
| And in terms of fearmongering, your big, ugly bill that you passed a couple of weeks ago is going to throw millions of people off of health care. | ||
| It's going to throw millions of people to lose their SNAP benefits, their nutritional benefits. | ||
| And the reason why is because you're making major cuts. | ||
| It has nothing to do with undocumented immigrants. | ||
| You can say that all you want. | ||
| And the gentlelady knows that Medicare does not provide health care for undocumented immigrants. | ||
| She knows that. | ||
| Republicans know that. | ||
| They keep on repeating it anyway because they don't want people to focus in on the reality. | ||
| But I think the American people are beginning to see through all of this. | ||
| And again, they don't like what they see. | ||
| And with that, I reserve my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlemen, Reserves, speakers are reminded to direct their comments to the chair. | |
| The gentlelady from Indiana is recognized. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlelady, reserves. | |
| Gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that it's not just CBO saying that your big, ugly bill costs trillions of dollars. | ||
|
Trillion Dollar Debate
00:06:32
|
||
| It is the Joint Committee on Taxation Budget, the Joint Committee on Taxation, Budget Lab at Yale, Penn, Wharton, budget model, and the right-leaning Tax Foundation. | ||
| All of them, all of them, say that your big, ugly bill is going to cost trillions, add trillions to the deficit, to explode the deficit, add to the debt. | ||
| And that is, I mean, it's just everybody. | ||
| The only people that are saying that this is not going to explode the deficit are my Republican friends here in the House. | ||
| And I think they think if they keep on saying that it's not going to cost anything, then people will believe that. | ||
| Well, that's just not the case. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman from Massachusetts Reserves, the gentlelady from Indiana is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, many of the entities that my colleague on the other side of the aisle mentioned do not account for growth. | ||
| And the growth measure is significant in reducing the deficit. | ||
| And I believe that under President Trump's One Big Beautiful bill, we will have record amounts of growth. | ||
| Our version of the bill only accounts for about 2.6 percent of growth. | ||
| Some of these agencies are accounting for only 1.8 percent growth, counting toward the calculations in this bill. | ||
| So if we're not accounting for robust growth, which I think we will get, then we will have an unclear picture, which is why I'm leaning into OMB's Director, OMB, Director Russva's vote's announcement or assessment of the bill. | ||
| And I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlelady Reserves, gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I hate to tell the gentlelady this, but every one of the organizations that I mentioned actually does account for growth. | ||
| I have the charts here. | ||
| I'm happy to share them with you. | ||
| I mean, from the Tax Foundation to the Penn Wharton budget model, to Budget Lab at Yale, to the Joint Committee on Taxation. | ||
| Here's the graph. | ||
| I'm happy to share that with you so you can see. | ||
| And if your leadership is telling you that they don't, then they're not being honest with you about the extent of this. | ||
| And Mr. Massey, a member of the Republican Party, has also talked about how your big, ugly bill is going to add trillions to the deficit in the debt. | ||
| With that, I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman, Reserves, the gentlelady from Indiana is recognized. | |
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentlelady, Reserves, gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | |
| Could I ask the gentlelady how many more speakers does she have on her side? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm prepared to close. | |
| Okay. | ||
| Then I will yield myself to remaining time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| How much time do I have left, Mr. Speaker? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman has six and a half minutes. | |
| Mr. Speaker, the truth is that these bills are nothing more than window dressing to cover up a truly grotesque set of priorities. | ||
| Let's not forget, Republicans just voted to rip health care away from 16 million people, not undocumented immigrants, but 16 million American citizens. | ||
| They voted to deny food assistance to children, to seniors, and to veterans. | ||
| They are set to explode the deficit by trillions, trillions, just to reward their wealthy donors. | ||
| And now, with even their own members having second thoughts and regrets about that vote, as the New York Times reported last week, they're desperate to change the conversation. | ||
| But these bills, these distractions, they won't work because the American people are paying attention. | ||
| They see what's happening. | ||
| They see the cruelty behind these choices, and they're not fooled. | ||
| This isn't about policy. | ||
| This is about morality, about what kind of country we want to be, about whether we stand with working families or with billionaires, whether we choose compassion or cruelty. | ||
| Now, I know Democrats will keep fighting. | ||
| We'll keep speaking truth to power, and we'll make damn sure that the public knows exactly who's responsible when services disappear, when costs go up as a result of these crazy tariffs, and when families are left behind. | ||
| I would urge my colleagues to reject these bills, to reject the politics of distraction, and start doing the hard work the American people sent us here to do. | ||
| People want us to fight for them. | ||
| They want us to be focused on their priorities, on making their lives better, not on the priorities of the Elon Musk wing of the Republican Party, the billionaire class. | ||
| They want us to focus in on what matters to them. | ||
| And prices are going up, and life is hard, and life is challenging. | ||
| And rather than dealing with bills that might make their life better, we're dealing with this stuff, with this stuff. | ||
| This is crazy. | ||
| The American people want us to rise to the occasion, to be about something more than just politics as usual. | ||
| This is about people's lives. | ||
| And I'll tell you, we owe the American people much better than this Congress is delivering. | ||
| And really, it is shameful that week after week after week we come up with these distractions that mean nothing in people's lives. | ||
| And even worse, we passed this big, ugly bill that we did two weeks ago that's going to hurt my constituents and the gentlelady's constituents as well. | ||
| There's no denying that people will lose their food benefits and they will lose their health care benefits in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. | ||
| It is grotesque. | ||
| And with that, Mr. Speaker, I urge a no vote on the previous question. | ||
| I urge a no vote on the rule. | ||
| And if the rule passes, I urge no votes on all these damn bills. | ||
| And with that, I yield back my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman yields back. | |
| The gentlelady from Indiana is recognized to close. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have? | ||
|
unidentified
|
17 and a half minutes. | |
| Wonderful. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentlelady is recognized. | |
|
Largest Tax Cut Ever
00:05:12
|
||
| So I've got just a couple of things I'd like to note in my closing, and this is reasons why the One Big Beautiful bill is the best chance in a generation to pass critical reforms that the American people voted for. | ||
| It delivers tax relief, the largest tax cut in American history, meaning an extra $5,000 in Americans' pockets with double-digit percent decrease to their tax bills. | ||
| It makes the Trump tax cuts permanent, preventing the largest tax increase ever. | ||
| It raises Americans' take-home pay by as much as $13,300 and wages by as much as $11,600. | ||
| It reverses the spending curse plaguing Washington, D.C. | ||
| The bill delivers the largest deficit reduction in nearly 30 years, with $1.6 trillion in mandatory savings, the largest single reduction in mandatory spending in our country's history. | ||
| It delivers no tax on tips and no tax on overtime. | ||
| It provides historic tax relief for seniors. | ||
| It finishes President Trump's border wall. | ||
| It boosts Border Patrol and ICE agents on the front line with the largest border security investment in history. | ||
| It increases the child tax credit to $2,500 per family. | ||
| It protects Medicaid for Americans who truly need it. | ||
| It implements popular work requirements for able-bodied Americans receiving taxpayer-funded benefits. | ||
| It eliminates hundreds of billions of dollars in green new scam tax credits. | ||
| It reverses electric vehicle mandates that let radical climate activists set the standards in American energy. | ||
| It ends Biden's war on American energy. | ||
| It streamlines onerous permitting processes so America can get building again. | ||
| It refills the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to safeguard America's energy security. | ||
| It repeals and rescinds every green corporate welfare subsidy. | ||
| It stops illegal immigrants from receiving tax credits and tax remittances sent to foreign countries. | ||
| It supports small businesses by increasing the Section 199A deduction to 23 percent. | ||
| It incentivizes Maid in America. | ||
| It creates new Trump savings accounts for newborns. | ||
| It expands access to child care for hardworking families. | ||
| It provides historic increases in funding for the U.S. Coast Guard. | ||
| It supports building new factories to grow domestic business operations. | ||
| It helps American farmers, producers and ranchers compete and sell products in foreign markets. | ||
| It holds woke elitist universities accountable by increasing the endowment tax on large universities. | ||
| It protects hardworking taxpayers by canceling Biden's illegal and unfair student loan bailouts. | ||
| It ends taxpayer-funded gender transition procedures. | ||
| It's a once-in-a-generation chance to revolutionize our nation's defense capabilities and protect the homeland against new threats by funding President Trump's Golden Dome. | ||
| It enhances the capacity of America's naval fleet. | ||
| It modernizes air traffic control. | ||
| It strengthens SNAP benefits. | ||
| It implements critical program integrity and cost containment provisions in Medicaid to strengthen it for future generations. | ||
| It safeguards the Second Amendment by removing tax and registration requirements for firearm silencers and eliminating silencers from the National Firearms Act. | ||
| It provides critical disaster recovery funding to farmers, producers, and ranchers. | ||
| It provides funding to rebuild America's military. | ||
| It expands health savings accounts to give Americans greater choice and flexibility in how to spend their money. | ||
| It gives $10,000 bonuses annually over the next four years to Border Patrol and ICE agents on the front lines. | ||
| It incentivizes scholarships that empower American families and students to choose the education that best fits their needs. | ||
| It repeals Democrats' insane attack on the gig economy. | ||
| It reforms and streamlines the federal student loan program to drive down tuition costs and simplify repayment plans. | ||
| It strengthens accountability for students and taxpayers on federal student loans. | ||
| It implements critical reforms to Pell Grants to make sure they prioritize students who truly need financial assistance while promoting completion. | ||
| It increases timber sales on federal lands. | ||
| It authorizes the sale of expanded spectrum megahertz to strengthen rural broadband and secure America's technological dominance in AI and other emerging technology. | ||
| It creates permanent fees that illegal immigrants must pay for their applications so American taxpayers aren't saddled with covering these costs. | ||
| It protects family farmers. | ||
| It ends abusive financing practices in Medicaid by freezing provider taxes and prohibiting new provider taxes. | ||
| It reins in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and it rolls back harmful Biden-era regulations that increase costs and administrative burdens with limited flexibility for states. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, but we're not here today to talk about the One Big Beautiful bill. | ||
| We're here today to talk about the many provisions that are important to the safety and security of the United States. | ||
| We're talking about a rule that includes provisions to secure American elections, to protect and support our police, and to target the deadly scourge of fentanyl across the United States. | ||
| So, despite what my colleagues on the left may say, they say this is a distraction, we say it's necessary and that we can multitask by doing these things and the One Big Beautiful bill. | ||
|
Yea and Nay Votes
00:02:19
|
||
| The American people understand the importance of immigration enforcement and the need to provide law enforcement with the tools necessary to stop the deadly flow of fentanyl. | ||
| It's why 77 million Americans voted to end the Biden-Harris administration's reckless handling of the border and their disregard for the rule of law. | ||
| Today's measures crack down on fentanyl, safeguard our elections, and back the blue. | ||
| It's about law, order, and protecting the American people. | ||
| I look forward to moving these bills out of the House this week, and I ask my colleagues to join me in voting yes on the previous question and yes on the rule. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and move the previous question on the resolution. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. | |
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts, I ask for the yeas and nays. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman has moved, has requested the yeas and nays. | |
| Those favoring a vote by yeas and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. | ||
| Pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on the question will be postponed. | ||
| Pursuant to clause 12A of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess, subject to the call of the chair. | ||
| Today, the house is beginning debate on four bills. | ||
| Three of them would repeal laws in the District of Columbia, including one that would bar non-citizens from voting. | ||
| Members also considering Senate passed legislation permanently classifying fentanyl with the highest penalties and control. | ||
| Still expected this week a vote on cutting $9.4 billion in funding for foreign aid and public broadcasting. | ||
| Live coverage when the House returns here on C-SPAN. | ||
| Democracy. | ||
| It isn't just an idea. | ||
| It's a process. | ||
|
C-SPAN: Giving Democracy Unfiltered
00:00:23
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|
unidentified
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A process shaped by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few with guarding its basic principles. | |
| It's where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation's course is charted. | ||
| Democracy in real time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is your government at work. | |
| This is C-SPAN, giving you your democracy unfiltered. | ||