| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
| Have a discussion about anchored around some of the things that our Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, have said during this entire process. | ||
| Correspondence that has been written by Republicans as it relates to this one big ugly bill. | ||
| Correspondence that I'm struggling to understand now because it appears that almost every single House Republican is prepared to recklessly rubber stamp Donald Trump's extreme agenda and sign off on this one big. | ||
| ugly bill. | ||
| So I'm going to go through some of the correspondence momentarily that maybe at some point our Republican colleagues can help us figure out. | ||
| But I want to enter into the record one last story from a farmer. | ||
| Can we respect the farmers in the United States of America? | ||
| Can we respect her? | ||
| We began this country as an agrarian economy. | ||
| We should respect the farmers in this country as I'm telling their stories. | ||
| On the eve of our 249th birthday, can we respect the farmers in this country who we're working hard to defend? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Susie is from Missouri. | |
| In the district, Mr. Speaker, represented by Ways and Means Chairman, our colleague Jason Smith. | ||
| She writes to us, she says that Susie and her husband, they moved back to her family farm over two decades ago where they raised their children, including a son with complex medical needs who relies on Medicaid for essential therapies and care. | ||
| Over the years, Susie has seen firsthand how Medicaid has been a lifeline for families like hers, especially in rural communities. | ||
| Proud mother and daughter of hardworking Missourians, Susie apparently has voted for both Democrats and Republicans, and her husband is a registered Republican. | ||
| But as farmers, they both believe that access to health care should never be a partisan issue. | ||
| We agree. | ||
| Thank you, Susie. | ||
| Access to health care in the United States of America should never be a partisan issue. | ||
| It should never be considered a privilege just for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. | ||
| It is a right that should be available to every single American, and that is what we are fighting hard right now to defend here in the United States of America and to push back against this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| As I mentioned earlier, In the time that I have remaining, I certainly want to share the story of some of our veterans. | ||
| Share a few stories of some of our small business owners who will also be under assault as part of this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| And share the stories of hardworking and law-abiding immigrant families who also will be targeted by this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| But I did want to take a little time at this moment to enter into the record some of the statements that have been made, | ||
| Mr. Speaker, by our Republican colleagues that I just don't understand. | ||
| I mean, I am flummoxed by some of these statements. | ||
| I've always wanted to use that word, y'all. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Minimum will suspend. | |
| House will be in order. | ||
| Please take your conversations outside the chamber. | ||
| Please take your conversations outside the chamber. | ||
| Gentlemen's recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I was hoping to seek some clarification at some point after I'm able to yield the floor. | ||
| But I'm still here to take my sweet time on behalf of the American people. | ||
| Because it was totally unacceptable that you would try to jam this bill, Mr. Speaker, down the throats of the American people with 15 minutes allocated for a debate that would hurt everyday Americans allocated to the committees of jurisdiction. | ||
| 15 minutes. | ||
| And so now I'm here with my House Democratic colleagues, four hours in, taking our sweet time. | ||
| On behalf of the American people. | ||
| And I'm flammable. | ||
| Maybe it's flummoxed. | ||
| As I mentioned, Mr. Speaker, I always wanted to use that word. | ||
| I can't spell it, but I know what it means. | ||
| I'm confused by many of these statements. | ||
| So I'm trying to enter them into the record and then perhaps at some point get some clarification. | ||
| Talking about Medicaid cuts, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. | ||
| Vice President said these cuts are immaterial. | ||
| Are you kidding me? | ||
| Immaterial? | ||
| I'm perplexed. | ||
| I'm astonished. | ||
| I'm confused that someone who sits in the second highest office in the land would say that Medicaid cuts, a trillion dollars or so of Medicaid cuts that are in Donald Trump's one big ugly bill are immaterial. | ||
| I'm confused, Mr. Speaker, by the statement that was made by the former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who, | ||
| when talking about the Medicaid cuts, that millions of Americans have been reaching out to us, pouring into us their heartfelt concerns at the devastating impact that these Medicaid cuts will have on their health, their safety, and their well-being. | ||
| I'm confused, Mr. Speaker, by the statement that Mitch McConnell made. | ||
| He said, people will get over it. | ||
| No, Mitch, the American people will not get over it, but they will get even next November. | ||
| That's what's going to happen because of these cuts being unleashed on the American people. | ||
| I'm confused, perplexed, astonished, flummoxed by some of these statements. | ||
| This woman is a beauty in the great state of Iowa. | ||
| Senator Joni Ernst, she showed up at a town hall meeting in Iowa first. | ||
| First of all, I'll give her credit for showing up at a town hall meeting because House Republicans were instructed not to show up at town hall meetings. | ||
| So she shows up, Mr. Speaker, at a town hall meeting, is questioned about the fact that health care in America, that the Medicaid is a question of life or death. | ||
| And when asked by one of her constituents about the concern that was had the fact that people will die as a result of the devastating cuts to Medicaid and health care that are in Donald Trump's one big ugly bill, | ||
| Senator Ernst says, we're all going to die anyway. | ||
| Yes, Joni, the American people understand that at some point, all of us will transition. | ||
| But the American people do not deserve to die as a result of the Republican cruelty that is in this legislation. | ||
| Do not deserve to die as a result of the cruelty that is embedded, Mr. Speaker, in this legislation, ending Medicaid as we know it, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. | ||
| And as a result of this all-out assault on health care in America. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, there are 220 Republicans who I serve with in this Congress. | ||
| And I wish I had time to go through the impact in all 220 districts. | ||
| Actually, since I have unlimited time, maybe I do. | ||
| But, Mr. Speaker, I figured that, you know, I'll start in my home state of New York. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, in New York's first congressional district, represented by our colleague, Congressman Nick Lilota, approximately 50,000 New Yorkers will lose their health care. | ||
| In New York's 24th Congressional District, Mr. Speaker, represented by our colleague, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney. | ||
| Over 30,000 New Yorkers will lose their health care. | ||
| In parts of western New York and upstate district, New York 23, currently represented by Congressman Nick Langworthy, approximately 35,000 New Yorkers will lose their health care as a result of Trump's one big ugly bill. | ||
| In New York 17, currently represented by Congressman Mike Lawler, more than 30,000 New Yorkers will lose their health care. | ||
| In New York 21, the North Country, represented by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. | ||
| Welcome back to Congress. | ||
| I'm sorry it did not work out for you. | ||
| That's a lesson that should be learned by all those who pledge fealty to the wannabe king. | ||
| but I digress. | ||
| New York's 21st Congressional District, currently represented by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, approximately 44,000 New Yorkers will lose their health care. | ||
| In Long Island, Suffolk County, part of Long Island, currently represented in Nassau County by two amazing colleagues, Tom Swasey and Laura Gillen. | ||
| But in Suffolk County, New York's second congressional district, currently represented by Congressman Andrew Garberino, 48,000 New Yorkers will lose their health care in Suffolk County, in New York's second congressional district, as a result of Trump's one big, ugly bill. | ||
| And in the 11th congressional district, a district that includes all of Staten Island, a district, Mr. Speaker, currently represented by Congresswoman Nicole Maliatakis, | ||
| more than 50,000 New Yorkers will lose their health care as a result of Donald Trump's one big ugly bill on Staten Island and in New York's 11th congressional district. | ||
| don't think the Wu-Tang Clan would approve of that. | ||
| It's incredible to me. | ||
| In district after district after district, Mr. Speaker, represented by my Republican colleagues, so many Americans will stand to lose their health care as a result of Donald Trump's one big ugly bill. | ||
| Now, this is not just a Democratic perspective. | ||
| We stand by that perspective. | ||
| We'll continue to articulate that view and forcefully defend the health care of the American people, but it's not just a Democratic perspective. | ||
| And so I thought that it was important that we enter into the record some of the words, Mr. Speaker, of members of the House Republican Conference who wrote directly to you, | ||
| Mr. Speaker, in their own words, talking about the challenges of this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| February 19th of this year, in a letter written to the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the subject line was protecting American communities in the budget reconciliation process. | ||
| For all of the American people who may be watching the floor of the House of Representatives right now, that's the process that we're in. | ||
| It's one big ugly bill. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Republicans chose to go down this road because Republicans are uninterested in actually trying to find bipartisan solutions to solving problems on behalf of the American people. | ||
| And so we're in this budget reconciliation process that can avoid the filibuster in the United States Senate. | ||
| And Republicans, Mr. Speaker, have been uninterested in trying to actually find bipartisan common ground. | ||
| We're the party of common sense. | ||
| Let's be clear about that. | ||
| I'm going to be spending some time on the road talking about what common sense really is all about. | ||
| Common sense certainly is not taking health care away from the American people. | ||
| And so, in this letter on February 19th, and I got a lot of statements that have been entered into the record, but I figured we'd start with this one. | ||
| February 19th, Dear Speaker Johnson, as members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference, that's different than the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. | ||
| The Congressional Hispanic Caucus right now is fighting hard on behalf of the health care of the American people. | ||
| On the Democratic side, that's the call that the real CHC. | ||
| The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is fighting hard on behalf of the American people. | ||
| But this is a letter as members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, these are Republicans here in the House of Representatives and those who represent sizable Hispanic populations. | ||
| We are writing to express our concerns regarding possible funding decisions stemming from the House Budget Resolutions Committee instructions advanced on February 13, 2025. | ||
| Those budget instructions, by the way, were what set this whole toxic process in motion that has resulted in this moment that we find ourselves in right now on the floor of the House of Representatives, connected to this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| And in this letter, it says that while we fully support efforts to rein in wasteful spending and deliver on President Trump's agenda, let me park right there parenthetically for a moment. | ||
| Nothing in this bill is about waste, fraud, and abuse. | ||
| Nothing is doing anything meaningful about waste, fraud, and abuse. | ||
| The letter continues, it is imperative that we do not slash programs that support American communities across our nation. | ||
| It then goes on to say that the House budget resolution proposed $880 billion and cuts to programs under the jurisdiction of the House Committee ON Energy AND Commerce, | ||
| with Medicaid expected to bear the brunt of these reductions. | ||
| Their words, not our words. | ||
| Nearly 30% of Medicaid enrollees are Hispanic Americans, and for many families across the country, Medicaid is their only access to health care. | ||
| Slashing Medicaid would have serious consequences, particularly in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities where hospitals and nursing homes are already struggling to keep their doors open. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, these are members of the House Republican Conference warning about the devastating impacts of this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| It goes on to say that the House Committee on Education and the Workforce has been tasked with cutting $330 billion where federal aid for higher education such as Pell Grants may be a target for reductions. | ||
| Once again, let me park right there parenthetically to make the observation. | ||
| This bill also assaults higher education in the United States of America. | ||
| That's a disgrace. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, members of the House Republican Conference predicted that that would occur. | ||
| Their words, not our words. | ||
| House Committee on Education and the Workforce has been tasked with cutting $330 billion, where federal aid for higher education, such as Pell Grants, may be a target for reductions. | ||
| Hispanic students make up a significant share of Pell Grant recipients, many of whom are first-generation college students, striving for a better future for themselves, their families, and our nation. | ||
| If we are serious about empowering the next generation and strengthening our workforce, we must facilitate and not undermine opportunities that help students succeed. | ||
| Finally, the House Committee on Agriculture has been directed to cut $230 billion. | ||
| And then, Mr. Speaker, our Republican colleagues go on to write, while we fully support efforts to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse, by the way, that's all fake, we support a federal government that's effective, that's efficient, that's equitable, that eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse. | ||
| That's not what this bill is all about. | ||
| But it goes on to say, while we fully support efforts to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse, we must ensure that assistance programs such as SNAP remain protected. | ||
| I mean, I'm just confused. | ||
| Remain protected as nearly 22% of Hispanic families rely on this critical program as a temporary safety net during difficult times. | ||
| And then this letter concludes, written to you, Mr. Speaker, by the Congressional Hispanic Conference. | ||
| Hispanic Americans are the future of the Republican Party. | ||
| I'll reserve judgment on that statement. | ||
| As House Democrats, we're going to fight for every single community in the United States of America, including the Hispanic community. | ||
| Every single community. | ||
| We want every single community to experience the good life, to afford to be able to live the good life. | ||
| That's what we want for every single community. | ||
| Good paying job, good housing, good health care, good education for your children, and a good retirement. | ||
| That's what we want for every community. | ||
| But the Congressional Hispanic Conference, they write in closing to you, Mr. Speaker, that these Hispanic Americans are closely watching to see if we will govern in a way that honors their values and delivers results. | ||
| Just to make sure that appropriate authorship is conferred, I'm going to enter the names of the signatories to this extraordinary letter. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Tony Gonzalez, Nicole Maliatakis, Monica De La Cruz, David Valladale, | ||
| who represents more Medicaid recipients than any other member of Congress, Juan Siscomani, Rob Bresnahan, what a beauty, James Moylan, Kimberlyn King Hines. | ||
| They all signed this letter. | ||
| And the question that many Americans have to ask right now is that after signing a letter indicating your commitment, Mr. Speaker, to protecting Medicaid and SNAP and access to affordable higher education through Pell Grants, how is it possible that, Mr. Speaker, | ||
| some of our Republican colleagues will turn around and devastate Medicaid, devastate supplemental nutritional assistance, and devastate the ability of Hispanic communities to achieve the type of upward mobility in part through higher education that is talked about in this letter. | ||
| That letter was written in February. | ||
| And then we go to March. | ||
| Can I talk about it? | ||
| I mentioned, Mr. Speaker, I'm here to take my sweet time on behalf of the American people. | ||
| And so on March 9th, there's a letter that's written to Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| By my count, 21 Republicans signed this letter. | ||
| And it's about the importance of the clean energy economy in the United States of America. | ||
| I would assume based on this letter that all of the signatories to this particular piece of correspondence are now horrified by the attack on clean energy, on clean energy jobs, and the clean energy economy in this one big ugly bill. | ||
| But we'll see shortly because everyone is going to have to go on record. | ||
| But in this particular letter, written on March 9th, Mr. Speaker, 21 members of the House Republican Conference write to Chairman Jason Smith. | ||
| Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits, many of which have enjoyed broad support in Congress to make major investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure for traditional and renewable energy sources alike. | ||
| Both our constituencies and the energy industry alike remain concerned about disruptive changes to our nation's energy tax structure. | ||
| With all this in mind, the letter continues toward the end. | ||
| We request that any proposed changes to the tax code be conducted in a targeted and pragmatic fashion that promotes conference priorities without undoing current and future private sector investments, | ||
| which will continue to increase domestic manufacturing, promote energy innovation, and keep utility costs down. | ||
| I mean, the language that was chosen there is pretty interesting, but the translation is protect the clean energy economy. | ||
| That's what this letter was all about. | ||
| Written by, by my count, 21 House Republicans. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Andrew R. Garberino, Jennifer Kiggins, Juan Siscamani, Gabe Evans, David Valadeo. | ||
| What a prolific writer. | ||
| Mark Amadai, Michael Lawler, Young Kim, Don Bacon, Vince Fong, Jeff Hurd, Tom H. Cain Jr., Nick Lallota. | ||
| John James Ryan McKenzie, Rob Resnahan, Marionette J. Miller-Meeks, Earl L. Buddy Carter, Dan Newhouse, Eric Harshin, and David P. Joyce, all writing in support of a clean energy economy. | ||
| We as House Democrats, we support, we know that there's an all-of-above approach that is underway right now, but we support wind and solar energy, renewable energy, because renewable energy is cheaper energy. | ||
| And cheaper energy means reducing the high cost of living for everyday Americans. | ||
| That's what we as House Democrats support. | ||
| And yet, I'm perplexed because this letter was written, but the one big, ugly bill represents an extraordinary and unprecedented assault on clean energy and cheaper energy in the United States of America. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask the question: what are those 21 Republicans going to do when it comes to voting for this one big ugly bill? | ||
| And then we've got another letter in April. | ||
| So we've got a February letter, a March letter, an April letter. | ||
| Quite elegant with these letters. | ||
| April 14th, 2025, this is correspondence written by 13 House Republicans, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Written to you and Steve Scalise, Majority Leader, written to Tom Emmer, the majority whip, and written to Brent Guthrie, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. | ||
| It says, as members of Congress who helped deliver a Republican majority, many of us representing districts with high rates of constituents who depend on Medicaid, we would like to reiterate our strong support for this program. | ||
| By the way, a program that the one big ugly bill now will cut and devastate gut, Mr. Speaker, by almost a trillion dollars. | ||
| In this letter, 13 Republicans say we would like to reiterate our strong support for this program that ensures our constituents have reliable health care. | ||
| Balancing the federal budget must not come at the expense of those who depend on these benefits for their health and economic security. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, that's their words, not our words. | ||
| And then this bill makes an extraordinary declaration. | ||
| I think it's important for us to understand who led this bill. | ||
| David Valladale. | ||
| These are just facts, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Publicly issued letters. | ||
| David Valladale, Don Bacon, Jeff Van Drew, Rob Bresnahan. | ||
| Juan Siscomani, Jen Kiggins, Young Kim, the usual suspects, Robert J. Whitman, Nicole Maliatakis, Nick Lalota, Andrew R. Garberino, Jeff Hurd, and Michael V. Lawler. | ||
| By my count, 13 members. | ||
| And in some of the relevant portions of this letter, it says to strengthen Medicaid, we urge you to prioritize care for our nation's most vulnerable populations. | ||
| Our constituents are asking for changes to the health care system that will strengthen the health care workforce, offer low-income working-class families expanded opportunities to save for medical expenses, support rural and underserved communities, | ||
| and help new mothers. | ||
| And in the second paragraph of this letter, letter dated April 14th, 2025, Mr. Speaker, these 13 members of the House Republican Conference make this extraordinary representation. | ||
| It says, however, we cannot and will not support a final reconciliation bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations. | ||
| This bill represents the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. | ||
| It will devastate vulnerable populations all across America. | ||
| And so the reality is all 212 House Democrats are going to stand up and protect the health care of the American people. | ||
| We're going to protect the Medicaid of the American people against this assault on vulnerable communities. | ||
| And I'm looking forward to all 13 of you joining us to protect the health care of the American people that you represent. | ||
| That's the promise, Mr. Speaker, that your Republican colleague made in this April letter. | ||
| What's changed? | ||
| We're looking forward to all 13 Republicans in this letter joining us to protect the Medicaid Of the American people. | ||
| And, you know, this salt issue is also an interesting one. | ||
| Statement was issued on May 8th from my colleagues in the New York delegation, Elise Stefanik, Andrew Garberino, Nick Lalota, Mike Lawler, just facts right now. | ||
| Big talk about standing up to protect the state and local tax deduction. | ||
| And what's interesting, let's make sure we set the record straight here as to what happened to the state and local tax deduction, | ||
| which impacts millions of hardworking American taxpayers all across the country, including in the districts represented by the individuals that I just named. | ||
| The state and local tax deduction was decimated, Mr. Speaker, by Donald Trump, House Republicans, and Senate Republicans in 2017, in connection with the GOP tax scam that callously and unnecessarily imposed a $10,000 cap. | ||
| wiping away thousands of dollars a year for hardworking American taxpayers. | ||
| Republicans did that. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, let's set the record straight. | ||
| And so, Mr. Speaker, there are people in this chamber claiming to be saviors, saving what from the devastation that Republicans have wrought by decimating the state and local tax deduction. | ||
| And you know what's interesting about this is that people who are against this claim that the state and local tax deduction is subsidizing states in certain places to the detriment of others. | ||
| But every single state that suffered from the Republican effort, Mr. Speaker, under Donald Trump's presidency in 2017 to decimate the state and local tax deduction, every single state is a donor state, sends more money to the federal government than we ever get back in return. | ||
| A donor state. | ||
| Some people in this town running around misrepresenting the facts. | ||
| We're okay to be a donor state, but don't lie to the American people about the reality of the state and local tax deduction. | ||
| And then you have this extraordinary statement on May 8th, big talk. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Big talk. | |
| No action. | ||
| I guess in Texas they say all hat, no cattle. | ||
| And so that brings us to this letter that was written. | ||
| Prolific writers. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, in the House Republican Conference on June 6th, this actually, this is, I mean, I'm really confused. | ||
| By this combination of this particular letter, followed by an interesting statement that was made after the Senate passed Donald Trump's one big ugly bill by Lisa Murkowski. | ||
| And maybe somebody, Mr. Speaker, can help me reconcile these statements. | ||
| Because all of us in the House and in the Senate were independently elected to stand up on behalf of our constituents in the chambers that we serve in. | ||
| I'm going to get back to that point momentarily. | ||
| So in the House, we passed this one big ugly bill initially in late May that devastated Medicaid, devastated nutritional assistance, devastated the clean energy economy that actually is benefiting red state after red state after red state in the United States of America. | ||
| And so members of the House Republican Conference wrote to Majority Leader Thun and Chairman Crapo. | ||
| This is after passing a bill in the House of Representatives that devastated the clean energy tax cuts that they are talking about in this letter on June 6th. | ||
| It says. | ||
| As members of the House Republican Conference, we write to express our continued support for common sense energy policy and to urge the Senate to substantively and strategically improve clean energy. | ||
| tax credit provisions included in the House passed reconciliation bill. | ||
| I mean, what is happening right now? | ||
| Maybe I don't understand the legislative process. | ||
| So in this letter, it goes on to say, in relationship to a bill that every single signatory signed and voted for. | ||
| Our position has always been that the energy tax code should be modernized in a way that promotes fiscal responsibility and business certainty. | ||
| Fully realizing that balance requires improvements to the House passed version of H.R. 1. | ||
| We believe that the Senate now has a critical opportunity to restore common sense and deliver a truly pro-energy growth final bill that protects taxpayers while also unleashing the potential of U.S. energy producers, manufacturers, and workers. | ||
| In other words, every single one of these signatories, Jen Kiggins, Brian Fitzpatrick, Juan Siscamani, Nicola Loda, Mike Lawler, Andrew Garberino, Don Bacon, Mark Amady, Gabe Evans, Young Kim, David Valadeo, Rob President, | ||
| and Thomas H. Kane, Jr., every single one of these signatories voted for a House bill that undermined the clean energy economy, noted that it would hurt their own constituents, voted for the bill anyway, and then begged the Senate to make a difference. | ||
| That's not how we should be legislating in the United States House of Representatives. | ||
| That's not how you legislate. | ||
| Particularly when every single House Democrat voted against the bill. | ||
| It left the House limp out of the House by a single vote. | ||
| So every single signatory on this letter could have stopped the bill that you yourself, Mr. Speaker, indicated the signatories of this letter damaged the very thing they claim to be fighting for. | ||
| I'm confused. | ||
|
unidentified
|
They don't want the topic. | |
| Perplexed. | ||
| Flummoxed. | ||
| At what the heck is going on? | ||
| Extraordinary. | ||
| I mean, I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of correspondence. | ||
| I only had to just pick out the ones that were most extraordinary to make sure that they were entered into the record. | ||
| The most recent one on the subject of Medicaid was written on June 24th. | ||
| It was directed to the Honorable John Thune, Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Honorable Mike Johnson. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. | ||
| I think it had, by my count, 16 members. | ||
| No surprise, y'all. | ||
| It was authored by David Valadeo. | ||
| I mean, these letters can make up a book, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| David Valladeau, Juan Siscamani, Rob Brestenhan, Mr. Speaker, these are just facts. | ||
| Chuck Edwards, Young Kim, Andrew Garberino, Mike Lawler, Jen Kiggins, the gang is all here again. | ||
| Jeff Van Drew, Don Bacon, Dan Newhouse, Zach Nunn, Robert J. Whitman, Nicole Maliatakis, Marionette J. Miller-Meeks, and Jeff Herbert. | ||
| 16 members, Mr. Speaker, of the House Republican Conference. | ||
| In a letter written to you, Mr. Speaker, and the Honorable John Thune, Majority Leader of the United States Senate on June 24th, and here's the most extraordinary statement that was written in this letter. | ||
| In the second to last paragraph, I think we call that the penultimate paragraph. | ||
| In the second to last paragraph, it says, protecting Medicaid is essential for the vulnerable constituents we were elected to represent. | ||
| Therefore, we cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage or jeopardizes the stability of our hospitals and providers. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, 16 members of the House Republican Conference who just a few days ago made clear on the record that they will not support devastating cuts to Medicaid. | ||
| 16 members. | ||
| All we need, Mr. Speaker, are four Republicans from this group to join us and we can stop these devastating cuts to Medicaid. | ||
| Join us. | ||
| We welcome you with open arms into the warm embrace of members of Congress who are here to protect the health care of the American people. | ||
| Just for y'all, we welcome you with open arms into the warm embrace of members of Congress determined to protect the health care Of the American people. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All we need are four. | |
| And so many of y'all are on record. | ||
| So as I conclude this section of this particular presentation and we still got some ground to cover. | ||
| We're going to continue as House Democrats to take our sweet time on behalf of the American people because the issues are too significant to ever walk away from. | ||
| I just want to turn to a statement that was issued by Senator Lisa Murkowski. | ||
| I want to give some love to the other side of the Capitol. | ||
| And again, Mr. Speaker, these are just the words that were issued. | ||
| I'm not even trying to characterize the words. | ||
| But the American people need to hear these words from the people that were sent to Congress to protect their interests. | ||
| Senator Lisa Murkowski says this was one of the hardest votes I have taken during my time in the Senate. | ||
| Let me just editorialize there briefly. | ||
| This should not be a hard vote, Senator Murkowski. | ||
| This should be a hell-no vote on behalf of the people you were sent to Washington to represent. | ||
| It's a hell-no vote for us because we're standing up on behalf of the American people. | ||
| It should be a hell-no vote. | ||
| But Mr. Speaker, these are the words. | ||
| Senator Murkowski says this was one of the hardest votes I have taken during my time in the Senate. | ||
| And then she keeps it real. | ||
| As far as I can tell, she says, but let's not kid ourselves. | ||
| This has been an awful process. | ||
| Speaker, those are the words of a Republican senator, not us. | ||
| This has been an awful process, a frantic rush to meet an artificial deadline that has tested every limit of this institution. | ||
| While we have worked to improve the present bill for Alaska, it is not good enough for the rest of our nation. | ||
| And we all know it. | ||
| Yes, Senator McCowski, we all know this one big, ugly bill will devastate everyday Americans across this country. | ||
| And yet, in the concluding paragraph, This comes after Senator Murkowski voted for this bill, the deciding vote in the United States Senate says, My sincere hope is that this is not the final product. | ||
| This bill needs more work across chambers and is not ready for the president's desk. | ||
| We need to work together to get this right. | ||
| So let me get this straight. | ||
| I think the number was 16 House Republicans, Mr. Speaker, vote for a bill they know will hurt the communities, Mr. Speaker, that they represent, | ||
| vote for the bill anyway, when any one of them could have stopped this bill from ever leaving the House of Representatives and then write a letter to the senators in the other side of the Capitol saying, fix this bill. | ||
| When any single one of them could have stopped the bill dead in his tracks. | ||
| And then Senator Murkowski in her chamber turns out to be the deciding vote for a bill that she says, Mr. Speaker, is not good enough for the rest of the nation and we all know it, votes for it anyway, and then begs the House to fix the bill. | ||
| That is not how the people's business should be done in the United States Congress. | ||
| We have a responsibility to stand up for what is right and stand up for what is right in the chamber that we serve in. | ||
| That's what we should all be doing. | ||
| And so our House Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, have one last opportunity to join us as Democrats. | ||
| Every single Democrat who's going to stand up and protect the health care of the American people. | ||
| Stand up and protect the nutritional assistance of the American people. | ||
| Stand up and protect our farmers. | ||
| Stand up and protect our veterans. | ||
| Stand up and protect the clean energy economy. | ||
| Stand up to protect our public schools. | ||
| Every single one of my House Republican colleagues have the opportunity now in this chamber, not the other chamber, in this chamber, to join us as Democrats and stand up for what is right. | ||
| The eyes of America are watching. | ||
| Started this process, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| 3.28 in the morning, this debate Took to the House floor maybe an hour and a half after that. | ||
| And we still have a lot to say. | ||
| On behalf of the American people. | ||
| Tell us about the airflow. | ||
| For such a time as this, every single one of us have an opportunity to stand up for what is right here in the United States of America. | ||
| I want to speak for just a few moments about some of the people who've been targeted in a callous way by this administration. | ||
| Some of the stories that need to be told on behalf of the American people. | ||
| I mentioned, of course, Mr. Speaker, throughout this process, we have been thankful for the stories shared by everyday Americans who went to bed last night fearing the worst and have woken up this morning horrified. | ||
| By Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill that will hurt everyday Americans and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks that will serve to devastate the social safety net and explode our nation's | ||
|
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debt. | |
| debt. | ||
| And so I want to tell a few stories on behalf of our nation's veterans who've also written to us to share their concerns with this one big ugly bill. | ||
| Victoria from Arizona wrote to us, Mr. Speaker, said, my husband and I are patriots. | ||
| We are both Army veterans who were disabled as a result of our service. | ||
| We have five children and run a small electrical contracting business. | ||
| We live on a fixed income and like most families have struggled with rising costs. | ||
| One of our sons is adopted. | ||
| He is a wonderful, loving seven-year-old who has autism and ADHD. | ||
| Qualifies for Medicaid because he was adopted and it has been the saving grace for his health and well-being. | ||
| Medicaid is the reason we were able to get his formal diagnosis of his autism and ADHD. | ||
| It also covers his regular doctor's visits and dental care. | ||
| We use Medicaid to access in-home therapy For him, and it was a huge help. | ||
| Slashing Medicaid will have especially dire consequences for rural communities like ours, forcing hospitals to close. | ||
| Health resources are already slim in our area. | ||
| And then this Army veteran writes: President Trump is causing enormous stress and hardship for families like mine. | ||
| He and his billionaire friends don't need more tax breaks. | ||
| It's outrageous. | ||
| The last thing we should even be considering is cutting Medicaid. | ||
| These programs are lifelines. | ||
| We agree with you, Victoria. | ||
| She lives in Arizona's 6th congressional district. | ||
| District, Mr. Speaker, currently represented by Congressman Juan Tiscamani. | ||
| Troy, another veteran, lives in California, Mr. Speaker, lives in a district currently represented by Jay Obernante. | ||
| That's California's 23rd congressional district, I believe. | ||
| Writes to us and says, I was in the U.S. Army and went to Kosovo in 2001, Iraq in 2003, and 2005. | ||
| I depend on the VA as I am too disabled to work. | ||
| I depend on VA health care. | ||
| My children are now on Medicaid. | ||
| I have worked from when I was 14 years old to 42. | ||
| I am suffering from long COVID. | ||
| And until I can return to work, I need help from the American people. | ||
| I have had your backs. | ||
| Time for you to cover my back, writes Troy. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I need NIH's help. | ||
| Now is the time to stand up for all Americans. | ||
| Stop the assault on the VA, NIH, Medicaid, and the rest of Americans. | ||
| We agree with you, Troy. | ||
| It's time to stop the assault on the American people. | ||
| Stop the assault that is represented in this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| Christy, another veteran, wrote to us and says, I was drafted in 1970. | ||
| My choice was incarceration or militarization. | ||
| So I enlisted in the Navy and became a Navy courseman serving on the USS Long Beach CGN 9 and her Marine detachment where I was assigned to the 3rd Marines 1st Medical Battalion. | ||
| I was blessed. | ||
| I lived through two tours giving medical care to my shipmates. | ||
| Every other day I was assigned to flight ops to transfer or pick up the wounded and dead Marines from shore to ships waiting offshore about eight miles. | ||
| I hated the smells of war. | ||
| This veteran writes. | ||
| Death and misery were my constant companions. | ||
| The war left me unsettled, mentally and morally corrupt. | ||
| For 50 years I have suffered with my PTSD, which went undiagnosed for years. | ||
| After 12 years of VA therapy and working hard for my soul to be repaired, I find myself living alone and isolating from others. | ||
| And I am one of the lucky ones thanks to the care I have received from the VA. | ||
| Veterans pouring out their heart and their souls, sharing their anxiety with all of us, urging this Congress to do something to stand up on behalf of the veterans who are going to be hurt by this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| devastated by this one big ugly bill. | ||
| We also heard Mr. Speaker from Timothy, who I believe may have written to us from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. | ||
| He says, my name is Timothy, and for the past five years, I have worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. | ||
| In field, policy and management are... | ||
| the Department of Housing and Urban Development that was once led so ably by our former colleague, Congresswoman Marsha Fudge, and now has been taken in a very different direction. | ||
| Timothy writes, And in this role, I've educated the community about HUD's programs such as FHA loans and housing counseling that allow people to purchase homes, affordable rental housing that help people pay their rent, and homeless services that help people find shelter and leave the streets. | ||
| I have worked with internal data that focused on improving our programs. | ||
| Most recently, I worked with a team that hired people from housing authorities and Job Corps with the goal of providing people a career and a way off government assistance. | ||
| Those incredible people, along with myself, have been fired by Elon Musk's Doge my entire professional career. | ||
| I have taken jobs that I considered bigger than me. | ||
| I served in the military, both enlisted and as an officer, I deployed and am now a disabled vet with a rating of 90%. | ||
| After the military, I focused on giving back and challenging myself in a way while continuing a job that was bigger than myself. | ||
| So I joined the Peace Corps. | ||
| Served in Ukraine for years working as a youth development volunteer. | ||
| Now, as a HUD employee, I'm being fired by an unelected official and being called lazy by my president. | ||
| I want to know why Elon Musk has this power and authority and why our elected officials are not doing more to stop it. | ||
| I have served this country and the government my entire life because I love my country. | ||
| Why is this happening? | ||
| Tim writes to us. | ||
| That is such an important question, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Why is this happening in the United States of America? | ||
| Why are we living in a country where this administration has launched an all-out assault on veterans in the United States of America? | ||
| Firing veterans like Tim in the United States of America. | ||
| Jeopardizing services from the VA earned benefits that these veterans are entitled to because of their extraordinary service. | ||
| Men and women in uniform who serve this country, Mr. Speaker, benefits that they've earned and now find themselves in the legislative line of fire from their own government, | ||
| their own country, and stand to be hurt in such an extraordinary way By this extreme Republican budget, this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| We're here on the House floor, Mr. Speaker, to say to Tim and every single veteran who put on the uniform, every single man and woman who served this country, we will not abandon you in your hour of need. | ||
| We're going to stand up for every single veteran in this great country and make sure that the veterans of the United States of America are treated with the dignity and respect that you deserve. | ||
| That is our promise to each and every veteran in the United States of America, and that's why, Mr. Speaker, we stand in strong opposition to Donald Trump's one big ugly bill. | ||
| An all-out assault here in the United States of America, an extraordinary assault. | ||
| An assault on the economy, an assault on our veterans, an assault on farm country, an assault on health care, an assault on nutritional assistance. | ||
| And of course, this one big, ugly bill and the Trump administration, I wish it was not so. | ||
| Because at the beginning of this Congress, Mr. Speaker, I stood right where you stand right now and said in my first remarks to this Congress and the American people that as Democrats, we were prepared to find common ground on any issue to make a difference in the lives of the American people we all represent. | ||
| But then, Mr. Speaker, beginning on January 20th, a flood of extremism, the likes of which have never before been seen in the United States of America, has been unleashed on the American people. | ||
| An all-out assault on the American way of life. | ||
| An assault on small businesses that is underway here in the United States of America. | ||
| We should all recognize that small businesses represent the heart and soul of the American economy. | ||
| And if we're going to stand up for any group of people here in the United States of America, in addition to our veterans, our men and women in uniform, and I'm proud that I stand here as the son of someone who once wore the uniform. | ||
| My father, he's in heaven right now. | ||
| Marlon Jeffries grew up in Newark. | ||
| His nickname was Pudding. | ||
| One of my regrets is that I never got to ask him, how did he get the nickname pudding? | ||
| But he left Newark as a high school graduate and put the uniform on, enlisted in the Air Force, and served in Germany during the Cold War. | ||
| We have to stand up for our veterans, stand up for small businesses. | ||
| And we've heard a lot throughout this process about concerns from small business entrepreneurs here in the United States of America. | ||
| I've heard from Mercedes, lives in the great state of Colorado. | ||
| Mercedes writes, my husband and I are the owners of a small business. | ||
| Without the ACA, my family would not be able to afford health insurance. | ||
| My daughter also receives free dental coverage as a result of the ACA. | ||
| I still have major issues with our health care system, but at least we have health insurance. | ||
| My mother, who is retired, also receives benefits from Medicaid in addition to her Medicare. | ||
| She would not be able to afford health insurance or dental insurance due to the fact she lives on a fixed income. | ||
| Any cuts to these programs would be detrimental to our health and welfare as a family. | ||
| I want to thank Mercedes for reaching out and sharing her story because it helps to put to bed the lie that's been told, Mr. Speaker, by some people in this town that the people, the everyday Americans who are participating in, | ||
| have access to programs like the Affordable Care Act, are unworthy, aren't hardworking American taxpayers. | ||
| They are hardworking American taxpayers. | ||
| A group of people that real leaders in this country beginning in modern American history as I illustrated earlier from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt all the way through. | ||
| Our most recent president, who we served with in the last Congress, have recognized that we have a sacred obligation to stand up for everyday Americans who are struggling right now, | ||
| including our small business Entrepreneurs, the heart and soul of the American economy, who right now are dealing with such economic uncertainty because of the erratic, | ||
| reckless, and dangerous Trump tariffs that have unleashed so much chaos and uncertainty, raising costs for small business owners all across the country, undermining their ability to fully achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. | ||
| This is not who we should be in the United States of America. | ||
| Small business owners under assault by this administration and is a target on the back of many of these small business owners as a result of this one big ugly bill. | ||
| Janice wrote to us, she's from the great state of Michigan, the heartland of our country. | ||
| So thankful to all the members of the Michigan delegation and what they represent. | ||
| Janice, however, she resides, Mr. Speaker, in the 7th congressional district, represented by Congressman Tom Barrett, says that small business owner, | ||
| mother, ACA recipient in Michigan, who recently spoke about how Trump's tariffs would potentially force her to close her business, which has given her family a livelihood for a decade and helped put two children through college. | ||
| I just don't understand why Trump thinks putting tariffs will help American businesses. | ||
| It's not, she writes, it's going to decimate us. | ||
| People like us will be hit the hardest. | ||
| But then Janice shows the great resolve of the American people, the great spirit of resilience of the American people, the refusal to run away from difficult circumstances. | ||
| Janice writes, people like us will be hit the hardest. | ||
| But Janice then writes, I refuse to call it quits. | ||
| I won't give in to him. | ||
| Janice, neither will House Democrats. | ||
| Not now, not ever. | ||
| We will never give in to this type of extremism as being unleashed on the American people. | ||
| We will continue to stand up for you. | ||
| One last small business owner that I'd like to mention so many who've written to us, whose stories I want to be able to share, but let me perhaps go back to the big apple, the great state of New York. | ||
| But let me also say to the American people, one of the ways in which we've received all of these stories, and we urge you to continue to share these stories from all across the land. | ||
| You can share your story with us at Democraticleader.house.gov backslash share your story. | ||
| DemocraticLeader.house.gov backslash share your story. | ||
| We want to hear from the American people as to how we can best represent your interest on this day and on all days moving forward, because your stories are powerful. | ||
| Your stories will continue to give us the resolve to fight for an America that's fair and just an America where every single person can afford to live the good life. | ||
| Good paying job, good housing, good health care, good retirement, and of course a good education for your children. | ||
| That's not too much to ask in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. | ||
| Work hard, play by the rules, and every single American should be able to afford to live the good life. | ||
| But we know that in this country, far too many people are living paycheck to paycheck. | ||
| Far too many small business entrepreneurs living paycheck to paycheck and justifiably expect better from this government. | ||
| We should be working hard in a bipartisan way to make their life better, not unleashing shock, awe, and pain on the American people. | ||
| That's what this one big, ugly bill will do. | ||
| Devastate everyday Americans. | ||
| Linda writes to us, a small business owner. | ||
| I believe she's from the North Country, lives in New York's 21st congressional district, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Linda is a flour farmer and flour importer in upstate New York. | ||
| Small business has been impacted by Trump's tariffs on products being imported from Western Europe, the Netherlands, I believe. | ||
| The economic strain and uncertainty imposed by the tariffs on small business owners operating on slim margins has caused Linda and her customers to incur additional expenses. | ||
| Linda tells us, Mr. Speaker, everything was going really well until the tariffs. | ||
| And now she worries the business will go bankrupt and be forced to close if the tariffs stay in place. | ||
| How is it that we're living in America where President Trump, Mr. Speaker, and House Republicans promised to address the high cost of living in the United States, promised to lower costs on day one. | ||
| But costs aren't going down, they're going up. | ||
| And as a result of these Trump tariffs, are now at risk of experiencing thousands of dollars per year in additional costs. | ||
| And there is nothing in this one big, ugly bill that is going to meaningfully make the lives of everyday Americans, of hardworking American taxpayers, of working class folks, of middle-class folks, of all those Americans who aspire to be part of the middle class, of the poor and the sick and the afflicted. | ||
| Nothing in Donald Trump's one big ugly bill that will meaningfully make their life more affordable. | ||
| An all-out assault on the economy. | ||
| We're dealing with an all-out assault on health care, on Medicaid, on the Affordable Care Act, on the Children's Health Insurance Program. | ||
| All-out assault on the care, Mr. Speaker, being provided by Planned Parenthood, the medical care being provided by Planned Parenthood that is jeopardized in this very bill. | ||
| All-out assault on hungry children, on hungry veterans, and on hungry seniors, millions of people who will lose their nutritional assistance, will go hungry. | ||
| Food is being ripped out of their mouths by this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, that so many of my Republican colleagues seem prepared to support, notwithstanding their prior statements on the record to the contrary. | ||
| All-out assault on veterans. | ||
| An all-out assault represented in this bill on small business owners and entrepreneurs who are the heart and soul of our economy. | ||
| And this bill also represents an all-out assault on law-abiding immigrant families. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, we are going to tell their stories as well. | ||
| We're going to tell their stories. | ||
| We're going to tell their stories. | ||
| Because what's happening in this country, an all-out assault on law-abiding immigrant families, is unconscionable, unacceptable, and it's un-American. | ||
| Because this is a country that should continue to pride itself as a nation anchored in the rule of law and at the same time, a nation anchored in our journey as one of immigrants from all over the world. | ||
| And we should never abandon that journey. | ||
| We're approaching the 249th birthday of this great country, this exceptional country. | ||
| And I believe, and we can go directly, if necessary, Mr. Speaker, to the words that were initially issued by Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence. | ||
| And he went through a whole series of indictments against the king that America, 13 colonies, which became the 13 states, were working hard to break free from. | ||
| I mentioned earlier the Declaration of Independence and of course some of the aspirational aspects of it. | ||
| There are really two parts as I can tell. | ||
| I'm not a constitutional scholar. | ||
| I'm thankful for the constitutional scholars that serve in this Congress. | ||
| No one more constitutional and more scholarly than my friend and colleague, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Jamie Raskin, who continues to lead the charge standing up for the Constitution here in the United States of America. | ||
| But as I read the Declaration of Independence, there seem to be two parts to it. | ||
| There's the aspirational part, Mr. Speaker, of the Declaration of Independence. | ||
| Of course, we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. | ||
| We understand that now in a more enlightened way, all men, all women, all children, all of God's children created equally. | ||
| That they are entitled to certain unalienable rights. | ||
| That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. | ||
| And so we spent a little time talking about what that could look like, our commitment to bringing about the American dream, the good life for every single person in this country, everybody. | ||
|
unidentified
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Work hard, play by the rules. | |
| You should be able to afford the good life in the United States of America. | ||
| That's what we're going to continue to work on. | ||
| Bring the American dream to life, consistent with that aspirational part of the Declaration of Independence, the life, the liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. | ||
| But then, as far as I can tell, there was also a second interesting part of the Declaration. | ||
| It was the indictment against the king. | ||
| And I commend everyone in this chamber, all of the American people who may be observing the proceedings in the House of Representatives, particularly as we approach July 4th, to read that Declaration of Independence. | ||
| Perhaps I may even enter it into the record later on today. | ||
| Because we're here, Mr. Speaker, to take our sweet time on behalf of the American people to make sure as best I can, as best we can, | ||
| to cover all of the things that as Democrats, we're fighting hard to defend during this extraordinary moment of assault directed at the American people as a result of this one big, | ||
| ugly bill that will hurt everyday Americans in order to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks and then exploding the deficit and the debt in ways that will jeopardize the future of our children. | ||
| and our grandchildren. | ||
| But the aspirational part of the Declaration of Independence, of course, that is often famously quoted. | ||
| But then if you read other parts of the Declaration of Independence, extraordinarily written document, it lists, it reads like an indictment against the extremism of the king. | ||
| It reads like an indictment against the kings. | ||
| I think of King George, it reads like an indictment against King George's flood the zone strategy. | ||
| It reads like an indictment against King George's shock and all strategy. | ||
| It reads like an indictment against what I think may have been called Project 1775, which is what brought us to Project 1776. | ||
| And you look at this indictment, and one of the things it alludes to, it talks about is the notion of the king's effort to stop the assimilation of people from other parts of the world into the United States of America. | ||
| So we understand that from the very beginning of this great country, there was a recognition, of course, of the importance of immigration to the success and vitality of the United States of America. | ||
| And let me be clear, Mr. Speaker, so there's no misrepresentation. | ||
| As House Democrats, we understand the importance, the urgency of securing the border. | ||
| We believe that our immigration system is broken and that it should be fixed in a comprehensive and bipartisan way. | ||
| So many leaders in that effort, so many big ideas were willing to partner in a bipartisan way. | ||
| Pramilla Jayapal, Linda Sanchez, Adriano Espayat, Tom Swansea, so many others. | ||
| Veronica Escobar, we want to partner to fix our broken immigration system in a bipartisan and comprehensive way. | ||
|
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Secure our border. | |
| But we're also going to make sure we stand up for our nation's heritage, a nation of immigrants, which continues to this very day. | ||
| It's an important part of American exceptionalism. | ||
| And as far as I can tell, in my reading of the original document, the writings of the founders of this great country, the framers of the Constitution, they recognized it from the very beginning. | ||
| They weren't perfect. | ||
| We didn't have a perfect start. | ||
| But of course, as the preamble to the United States Constitution set forth, we the people, in order to form a more perfect union, Mr. Speaker, we've been set on this magical course, our march toward a more perfect union. | ||
| And the immigration journey has always been an important part of the American journey. | ||
| That's why it's heartbreaking to see some of the things that are happening in the country right now. | ||
| The targeting in such an extraordinary way of law-abiding immigrant families, including American citizens. | ||
| How can this be in the United States of America? | ||
| Some people might suggest that we should stay away from these stories. | ||
| No, I'm going to lean into this part of the American journey because we support our heritage as a nation of immigrants. | ||
| And we're going to stand up for DREAMers, stand up for farm workers, stand up for law-abiding immigrant families all across this country. | ||
| U.S. citizen children have been deported, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Is this who we've become in the United States of America? | ||
| How can this be? | ||
| This is extraordinary. | ||
| Two-year-old American named Manu Borges Santos was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in September of 2022. | ||
| In February, she was taken into custody in Florida alongside her mother and father, both of whom were undocumented. | ||
| And as a result of this situation, two-year-old Manu was deported to Brazil. | ||
| Because of the Trump administration, Manu, a U.S. citizen, only two years old, is now effectively stateless. | ||
| Manu is not a citizen, a resident of Brazil. | ||
| It's a two-year-old girl, an American citizen, removed from her homeland, but can't get legal status in her parents' ancestral home. | ||
| And as a result of her inability to get citizenship down in South America, because she's an American citizen, she has no right to routine pediatric checkups, even though Brazil has a public health system, cannot easily enroll in daycare, | ||
| and finds herself in an untenable situation. | ||
| I think we are better than this. | ||
| We've got to find a better way because I thought this administration promised, Mr. Speaker, to target violent felons, not two-year-old American citizens. | ||
| That's unacceptable, as far as I can tell, in the United States of America. | ||
| Target violent felons all you want. | ||
| We support that. | ||
| They should be deported. | ||
| But why are resources being spent targeting two-year-old American children? | ||
| That's not American. | ||
| And I don't believe the American people support that. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, that's not what this country should be all about. | ||
| Manu wasn't the only one, the only American citizen who's been targeted by the deportation machine, a deportation machine that will be unleashed on steroids by this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| We know that, in fact, is the case. | ||
| That's not hyperbole. | ||
| It's not a hypothetical. | ||
| It's not hype. | ||
| JD Vance told us the other day, don't worry about the cuts to Medicaid. | ||
| Don't worry about the fact that this is the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. | ||
| Don't worry about the fact that millions of Americans, more than 17 million Americans, will lose their health care and many more will experience higher premiums, co-pays, and deductibles whose life will measurably get worse as a result of this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| Vice President JD Vance said, don't worry about that because it's all about the deportation machine that's not targeting violent felons. | ||
| Apparently, much of what has been unleashed on the American people targeting American citizens, like a two-year-old American girl with the initials VML, who was deported alongside her mother and sister to Honduras without any meaningful due process. | ||
| VML was taken into custody by ICE on April 22nd. | ||
| April 22nd happens to be the birthday of my mom. | ||
| I love you, Miss Lenita Jeffries, if you're watching right now. | ||
| I love you. | ||
| My younger brother and I, we thank you for what you did, for your sacrifice in raising us to try to be the best citizens that we can be. | ||
| VML was taken into custody by ICE on April 22nd while attending a routine check-in at a New Orleans immigration office with her mother. | ||
| VML's undocumented mother had no criminal history. | ||
| And had she been allowed due process, they could have contested the removal. | ||
| Instead, this two-year-old American citizen was never given a chance to exercise her rights by the Trump administration. | ||
| That is not who we are. | ||
| We are better than this in the United States of America. | ||
| Carlos Carrie Lopez Alvarado, A U.S. citizen arrested while she was nine months pregnant, | ||
| masked men wearing Border Patrol uniforms, followed by a white truck into a building's private parking in the city of Hawthorne. | ||
| In that truck was Carrie's partner, Brian, when she tried asking questions about who the agents were and what authority they had to arrest her partner. | ||
| She was arrested. | ||
| And Carrie, an American citizen, recounted that they started grabbing me from both sides. | ||
| And I ducked down to sort of shield my stomach because I was afraid. | ||
| An American citizen afraid that they were going to hurt me. | ||
| She told them her due date. | ||
| She was nine months pregnant. | ||
| Apparently these CBP officers responded, okay. | ||
| Your baby is going to be born here, but you're from Mexico, right? | ||
| They were wrong. | ||
| They were detaining an American citizen. | ||
| This is what has been unleashed on the American people. | ||
| One last story that I feel compelled to share on this issue. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I still got some ground to cover. | ||
|
unidentified
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Take your time. | |
| Take your time. | ||
| It's where we have to be. | ||
| On a few other issues of importance to the American people, but one last story that I think needs to be shared, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| In connection with this issue, this received some attention, some notoriety. | ||
| Americans were horrified. | ||
| Should be horrified. | ||
| All of us should be horrified. | ||
| I'll never forget the journey that we were originally on. | ||
| Set forth, spoken to by the founders of this country. | ||
| E pluribus unum, out of many, one. | ||
| How can we forget that at this moment in time? | ||
| One last story in this area that I feel compelled to share, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Story of Narciso Barranco, 48-year-old, undocumented landscaper, who has been in the United States since the 1990s It has no criminal record. | ||
| Here's the thing that got me about this story. | ||
| It caused me to ask the question about this particular moment, the type of deportation machine that has been unleashed on the American people. | ||
| Narciso, this landscaper, raised three American sons, all of whom became Marines, two of whom are currently, Mr. Speaker, on active duty, active duty Marines. | ||
| His sons, juggling their military assignments, have been trying to deal with the costs and the paperwork required to adjust their father's immigration status through parole in place, | ||
| a program which allows undocumented members of military families to apply for a green card. | ||
| But these men in uniform, juggling their military assignments, had not gotten there yet. | ||
| So after three decades living, working, and raising a family of patriots in the United States, Narciso was violently arrested while he was mowing the grass at an IHOP restaurant. | ||
| We don't have to speculate as to whether this was true or not. | ||
| In a video captured of the incident, you see he was sprayed with pepper gas. | ||
| He was detained on the ground. | ||
| He was not resisting. | ||
| And he was hit repeatedly in the head by masked federal agents while he was on the ground. | ||
| Let me park right there parenthetically for a moment. | ||
| Seems to me that every other law enforcement professional in the United States of America has to disclose their identity in a way that is identifiable. | ||
| These masks need to come down. | ||
| They need to come down. | ||
| They need to come down. | ||
| These agents should just be held to the same set of standards as every other law enforcement officer in the United States of America. | ||
| And if you don't understand the righteousness of that position, just study the case of Narciso. | ||
| His oldest son, a Marine veteran, said in an interview, what we weren't prepared for and didn't prep him for was these guys attacking him. | ||
| We never expected anything like that. | ||
| We expected these guys to act professionally and up to the standards of the United States government. | ||
| Are masked, armed federal agents who beat people on the ground really the standards the United States government should be standing by? | ||
| Are these the types of actions, Mr. Speaker, that House Republicans endorse and support? | ||
| This is not the way that anyone in the United States of America should be treated, particularly the father of three patriotic Marines. | ||
| No one should be treated this way, but certainly not the father of three patriotic Marines in the United States of America. | ||
| It's outrageous. | ||
| It's out of control. | ||
| And it's completely and totally unacceptable. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Tom. | |
| Unacceptable. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Scott. | |
| Unacceptable here in the United States of America. | ||
| We are better than this. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Better than this. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I've talked about the aspirational vision that we have for a country where everybody can afford to live the good life and work hard, | ||
| play by the rules, experience the American dream, live the good life, good paying job, good housing, good health care, good education for their children, and a good retirement. | ||
| That's not too much to ask in the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, a great country, an exceptional country, as Abraham Lincoln once observed in a speech in the chamber of the House of Representatives. | ||
| America, the last best hope of earth. | ||
| Spent a little time talking about the type of things, the type of America that we should be working hard in a bipartisan way to bring about, and spent some time critiquing this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| And it's not like Republicans, Mr. Speaker, weren't given every opportunity to try to address the concerns that we have raised. | ||
| I'm thankful for my colleagues and all of the committees of jurisdiction who worked hard pulling all-nighters, offering amendments to try to improve this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| We've actually introduced throughout this process, Mr. Speaker, hundreds of amendments. | ||
| Just yesterday before the Rules Committee, hundreds of amendments. | ||
| And before that, in late May, when the initial bill was being debated In a marathon session before the Rules Committee, | ||
| more than 125 or so Democrats offering more than 500 different amendments to improve this bill, to stand up for the American people, doing so over and over and over again throughout this process. | ||
| And so, Mr. Speaker, I think it's important for the American people to understand what exactly House Republicans have rejected. | ||
| What changes have House Republicans rejected to this one big, ugly bill? | ||
| We repeatedly tried to offer an amendment, both in rules and on the House floor, on behalf of the American people. | ||
| to strike every single provision that would cause the largest cuts to health care and food assistance in history, | ||
| which will result in 17 million people or more losing health coverage and jeopardizing nutritional benefits for about 42 million Americans who might otherwise go hungry. | ||
| Republicans voted down that amendment. | ||
| I believe it was Representative Amelia Sykes had an amendment to strike the Medicaid cuts in the bill to prevent millions of people from losing their health insurance and to stop hospitals and nursing homes from shutting their doors. | ||
| Republicans voted down that amendment. | ||
| Representative Judy Chu had an amendment, striking cuts to the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| Cuts that are in this one big, ugly bill that will cause millions of everyday Americans to lose their health insurance or experience having their costs go up. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, you know that Republicans voted down that amendment. | ||
| Representative Lauren Underwood from the great state of Illinois had an amendment. | ||
| And I wish I could go through all of the amendments that have been introduced, but I'm going to highlight as many as I can. | ||
| Representative Lauren Underwood had an amendment to ensure that people who get their insurance through the ACA, Obamacare, will not see their premiums increase. | ||
| So I mentioned earlier that as a result of this one big ugly bill, Mr. Speaker, premiums, co-pays, and deductibles are going to go up for millions of Americans. | ||
| Many will lose coverage. | ||
| And so this amendment was introduced to ensure that people who get their insurance through the ACA will not see their premiums increased this year, which is expected to cause 5 million people to lose coverage. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Republicans voted down that amendment. | ||
| Representative Kelly Morrison had an amendment that strikes the defunding of Planned Parenthood. | ||
| which provides access to life-saving cancer screenings and reproductive health care. | ||
| Now, last year, Republicans, Mr. Speaker, promised that reproductive health care, reproductive freedom, was a state issue. | ||
| President Trump promised that reproductive health care, reproductive freedom was a state issue. | ||
| And yet in this bill, there's a backdoor attack on reproductive freedom by targeting health care, preventative health care that Planned Parenthood provides to millions of people all across this country. | ||
| Representative Kelly Morrison had an amendment that strikes the defunding of Planned Parenthood, which provides access to life-saving cancer screenings along with reproductive health care. | ||
| Republicans voted that down. | ||
| Let me pause there parenthetically just to make one observation on this issue of reproductive freedom. | ||
| What we're seeing right now in the House of Representatives, Mr. Speaker, Republicans unleashing a march toward a nationwide abortion ban. | ||
| That's what's going on right now. | ||
| What does this provision have to do with making life more affordable for everyday Americans? | ||
| Nothing. | ||
| This is all part of a right-wing ideological extreme effort to undermine reproductive freedom in the United States of America. | ||
| Let me make something clear, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| House Democrats believe in a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions, a decision that should be between a woman, her family, her faith, and her doctors. | ||
| That's it, period. | ||
| Full stop. | ||
| And we will continue to fight for reproductive freedom in the United States of America. | ||
| And we will not rest, Mr. Speaker, until the Women's Health Protection Act becomes the law of the land here in the United States of America. | ||
| Big difference between us and them. | ||
| difference. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Representative Johanna Hayes introduced an amendment to strike all provisions that would cut food assistance for children, seniors. | ||
| and veterans. | ||
| Republicans voted that down. | ||
| How cruel. | ||
| How cruel. | ||
| Representative Chantel Brown had an amendment to strike burdensome red tape requirements that threaten nutritional assistance for millions of Americans and their families. | ||
| Republicans voted that down. | ||
| I mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, this notion that Republicans are trying to spin to the American people that the attack on nutritional assistance, | ||
| imposing these paperwork requirements, or as Frank Pallone would say, red tape requirements, that that's all about waste, fraud, and abuse. | ||
| I think common sense suggests to us it has nothing to do with waste, fraud, and abuse. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I made clear earlier that as House Democrats, we believe that as custodians of taxpayer dollars, we need to make sure that we are spending that money efficiently, effectively, and equitably. | ||
| And that we are committed to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse wherever it may be found. | ||
| And one of the things that's interesting about this bill, this appears to be part of the deal that was negotiated by the senator from Alaska, is that the states, | ||
| apparently, that have the highest error rates with respect to supplemental nutritional assistance are... | ||
| shielded from the initial impact of the nutritional assistance cuts. | ||
| Let's think about that for a moment. | ||
| How can it be that Republicans, Mr. Speaker, are claiming that this bill has anything to do with waste, fraud, and abuse? | ||
| And yet the states with the highest error rate, as Republicans during the Rules Committee, acknowledged under questioning from Jim McGovern and Mary Gay Scanlon and Jonah Goose and Teresa Ledger Fernandez, acknowledged that the states with the highest error rates actually shielded from the initial impact of the cuts to supplemental nutritional assistance. | ||
| Angie Craig pointed this out. | ||
| It exposes, in my view, the lie being told, Mr. Speaker, by some in this town that this effort, This one big ugly bill is somehow about combating waste, fraud, and abuse. | ||
| One of the reasons why we know common sense dictates that this one big ugly bill has nothing to do with meaningfully going after waste, fraud, | ||
| abuse, is that on average, SNAP beneficiaries receive $6 per day to try to help them not go hungry, | ||
| to try to make sure that veterans and children and seniors don't go hungry. | ||
| go hungry. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I think it's important for the American people of the process. | ||
| That's what SNAP on average provides: $6 per day. | ||
| At the same time, Elon Musk, his federal contracts, as we understand it, amount to $8 million per day. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, if Republicans were really serious about targeting waste, fraud, and abuse in the United States of America, start there. | ||
| $8 million per day. | ||
| Start right there. | ||
| Don't take it. | ||
| Don't rip it from the mouths of children, seniors, or veterans. | ||
| If Republicans were really serious about targeting waste, fraud, and abuse, start right there with Elon Musk. | ||
| And we'll join you. | ||
| We'll welcome you into the warm embrace of the House Democratic caucus to target waste, fraud, and abuse. | ||
| Start right there. | ||
| You can start right there, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Start right there. | ||
| Ranking members Jim McGovern and Bobby Scott had an amendment, Mr. Speaker, | ||
| to prohibit the bill from going into effect unless cuts to Medicaid and SNAP would not result in fewer families being eligible for free school meals. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, Republicans voted down that amendment. | ||
| We can't find a way to stand up for school meals, for school breakfasts, for school lunch. | ||
| That's just cruel. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Cruel. | |
| It is callous. | ||
| It's a corrupt perversion of this process targeting, as this one big, ugly bill does, school children, hungry school children in the United States of America. | ||
| Speaker-Representative Mike Thompson had an amendment that would have ensured Americans would not see their energy costs go up and to protect the millions of good-paying jobs that this bill will eliminate, because this one big ugly bill puts a target on the backs of the clean energy. | ||
| economy, on clean energy jobs, which result in cheaper energy and lower costs for the American people. | ||
| We were told by President Donald Trump when he was on a campaign trail costs would go down on day one. | ||
| He was going to focus, we were told, on lowering the high cost of living in the United States of America. | ||
| That's not what this bill does. | ||
| And we know it because 21 House Republicans made that clear in a letter that I cited earlier that's now part of this public record. | ||
| Representative Mike Thompson, supported by others, had an amendment. | ||
| All of these amendments co-sponsored by members all across the gorgeous mosaic of the House Democratic Caucus. | ||
| We're proud of the fact that we look like we represent in the most intimate way possible, consistent with John Adams' original vision of the House of Representatives that the House should be a portrait of the American people. | ||
| That's what we represent. | ||
| We're proud of that fact. | ||
| The gorgeous mosaic of the American people. | ||
| That's what we're all about. | ||
| In the most intimate way possible. | ||
| That's why we love the House. | ||
| And what the House is supposed to represent. | ||
| The best of the House, not what we're seeing on the floor right now. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Republicans voted down the amendment introduced by Representative Mike Thompson that was designed to ensure that Americans would not see their energy costs go up. | ||
| It was also designed to protect the good-paying American jobs that were part of both the bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act, the Infrastructure and Jobs Act, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act. | ||
| And so this amendment was designed to lift up the principle of actually trying to create good-paying union jobs that actually allow people to provide a comfortable living in the United States of America. | ||
| Amongst this all-out assault that we are witnessing in the United States is an all-out assault on organized labor, An assault on collective bargaining, an assault on the freedom to negotiate. | ||
| What's the difference, Mr. Speaker, between us and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle? | ||
| I think one of the things that is a clear difference, Mr. Speaker, is that we believe we recognize that in connection with this journey, work hard, play by the rules, imagine and dare to dream the ability to live the good life, to experience the American dream. | ||
| An American dream that when you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for your family. | ||
| Educate your children. | ||
| Purchase a home. | ||
| Have access to high-quality health care. | ||
| Go on vacation every now and then. | ||
| And then one day retire with grace and dignity. | ||
| That's the American dream. | ||
| That's the ability to afford access to good life. | ||
| And we believe as House Democrats that no single force in the United States of America has done more to bring the American dream to life than organized labor, and we will continue to stand up for organized labor today, tomorrow, and always. | ||
| Not undermine good-paying union jobs. | ||
| That's what this bill, this one big ugly bill, does in the United States of America. | ||
| We're going to stand up. | ||
| Stand up. | ||
| Stand up for organized labor. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is personal to me. | |
| My parents, Marlon Jeffries, Lenita Jeffries, they raised us, my younger brother, Hassan and I, they raised us in a working-class union household. | ||
| I'm thankful for that. | ||
| We were raised in central Brooklyn. | ||
| Now, my mom grew up in Connecticut. | ||
| And I mentioned, that must be Johanna Hayes. | ||
| I don't see Rosa DeLauro on my sight line, but we're so thankful for all of the members of the Connecticut delegation. | ||
| I'm an unofficial six member of the Connecticut delegation. | ||
| My mom raised in Bristol, Connecticut. | ||
| She went to Bristol High School. | ||
| Thankful for my mom. | ||
| And my dad, I mentioned earlier, he grew up in Newark. | ||
| That must be LaMonica McIver. | ||
| I grew up in Brick City. | ||
| I mentioned earlier he had a nickname pudding. | ||
| I failed to ask him, but I'm going to see if my mom can unlike the key to that nickname for me. | ||
| My mom grew up in Bristol, Connecticut. | ||
| And my father grew up in Newark. | ||
| And I mentioned earlier that he then went off to serve this country in uniform as an Air Force member served in Germany during the Cold War. | ||
| I think about that a lot. | ||
| I didn't get to talk too much about it. | ||
| I wish I would have had the opportunity to talk a little bit more with my dad about that. | ||
| It's an extraordinary thing in the United States of America that someone could grow up in inner-city Newark and then have the ability, in part, | ||
| thanks to President Harry Truman, to serve with people of all races to defend this great country. | ||
| I wish I would have had the opportunity to talk to my dad a little bit more about his experience in Germany because the one thing that I've been able to take away from that experience was that he came back having fallen in love with Heinekens and Becks. | ||
| but he came back after serving this country Mr. Speaker, in uniform, as so many men and women do right now in uniform, and let me make clear, | ||
| we're so thankful, we're so appreciative of the courage of the men and women in uniform who serve in the United States military, and we will always stand behind you. | ||
| We thank you for your service, your patriotism, your courage, your heroism, and your sacrifice. | ||
| Lifting up the freedom that is America. | ||
| You are not suckers, you are heroes. | ||
| You're not suckers, you're heroes. | ||
| We're thankful for your service. | ||
| The men and women. | ||
| No better hype person than Fredrika Wilson. | ||
| So my dad, as I mentioned, grew up in Newark, my mom, in Bristol, Connecticut. | ||
| So they meet at Central State University. | ||
| Proud to note a historically black college and university that has given so much historically backed colleges and universities to the United States of America, and we will always stand behind you. | ||
| Always stand behind you. | ||
| We will always stand behind you. | ||
| I wouldn't be here right now without a historically black college and university. | ||
| I'll never run away from that. | ||
| I will never run away from that. | ||
| And we're proud of the fact we can check the record, proud of the fact that over the last few years, prior to this administration, historic investment in Hispanic serving institutions, in historically black colleges and universities, in higher education. | ||
| That's part of who I am right now. | ||
| I don't know if I'll have time to tell the story of my grandmother. | ||
| I got so many stories. | ||
| I feel like I'm in a hip-hop studio right now But they all relate to what makes us. | ||
| Every single one of us, every single Democrat, have a story to tell. | ||
| A story to tell. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Brooklyn will get that. | |
| Every single one of us have a story to tell that leads us to this moment. | ||
| It's the reason why we're fighting hard against this incredible and unprecedented assault on the American way of life and an assault on organized labor. | ||
| So my parents, they meet at Central State University. | ||
| And dad would tell us, my younger brother and I, that it was love at first sight. | ||
| But apparently my mom said, not so fast. | ||
| But it worked out. | ||
| I'm thankful for that. | ||
| They met at Central State University. | ||
| And so of course I mentioned that mom from Connecticut, father from New Jersey. | ||
| Why was it that we grew up in New York City? | ||
| Apparently they compromised and moved to Brooklyn. | ||
| And so I'm raised in Brooklyn, New York, working-class neighborhood in the middle of the crack cocaine epidemic, dangerous times in New York City, | ||
| in a union household, proud that I grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church, still a member of the Cornerstone Baptist Church. | ||
| Grew up in this union household. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, I land on that moment, and every single one of us, as House Democrats, have a similar story to tell about why, in our heart, in our soul, | ||
| in our essence, in our experience, we're so horrified by the attacks on organized labor because we understand the importance of what organized labor has meant to the American journey. | ||
| My mom and dad were both public servants throughout their entire lives. | ||
| My mom worked for 45 years, DC 37, for the city of New York. | ||
| My dad worked for 30 years. | ||
| He was a member of the Public Employees Foundation. | ||
| He was a substance abuse social worker dealing with addiction during the heroin explosion of the 1970s, the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. | ||
| But they got married in 1967 and they were newlyweds. | ||
| And many people familiar with the history of the labor movement, particularly in New York City, know that in 1967, the Social Service Employees Union, which they both belonged to at the time, famously went on strike for better pay, better health care, better working conditions, | ||
| and most importantly, better service to the clients that they served. | ||
| And I've thought about that fact. | ||
| They were newlyweds a few months in, and they had to make a decision, when the Social Service Employees Union went out on strike, whether they would cross the picket line because it was unclear perhaps, | ||
| how they would pay for food and rent and clothing as newlyweds in a new city. | ||
| Or, Mr. Speaker, were they going to stand in solidarity with their union brothers and sisters? | ||
| I'm so thankful, Mr. Speaker, when I learned that my parents made that decision To stand on that picket line for as long as it took in solidarity with their union brothers and sisters. | ||
| That's part of our DNA. | ||
| That's part of why we fight so hard. | ||
| We can all trace a similar story. | ||
| An inheritance from our parents and our grandparents. | ||
| All of us have that kind of story to tell. | ||
| Why am I so thankful that my parents made what I believe was a tough personal decision but of course the right decision. | ||
| It's because what that union membership actually meant to my journey and my younger brother's journey. | ||
| 1973, my younger brother was born with a serious heart condition. | ||
| He's okay right now. | ||
| He's doing well. | ||
| Right now, he continues to say on social media that he's our mother's favorite son. | ||
| Let me say from the House floor, no, you are not. | ||
| I think she favors both of us. | ||
| A younger brother in 1973, he's born with a serious heart condition. | ||
| He's okay right now. | ||
| He's born with a serious heart condition. | ||
| I'm thankful that it was that union-negotiated health care that got our family through that difficult moment. | ||
| That's why we do what we do. | ||
| Our own personal experience. | ||
| And then in the early 80s, my parents, modest living. | ||
| Neither of them, even at the tail end of decades-long careers, ever made more than $50,000. | ||
| Modest living. | ||
| But in the early 80s, in Crown Heights, rough neighborhood, central Brooklyn, they bought their first and only home. | ||
| They were able to buy that home, the home that my younger brother Hassan and I were raised in because of that union-negotiated salary and pay off the mortgage down to zero because of that union-negotiated salary. | ||
|
unidentified
|
This is personal to us. | |
| Our own journey. | ||
| And lastly, as it relates to this part of my journey, why we all fight for what we fight for. | ||
| Why we stood behind Mike Thompson's amendment to protect good-paying union jobs. | ||
| I went to college. | ||
| went to Binghamton University when I when I first got here I was surprised to learn actually that I was the first graduate of Binghamton University ever elected to the United States Congress. | ||
| I was shocked to learn that. | ||
| But not the last. | ||
| Because Vinman and Mannion have now joined us. | ||
| And so we tripled the size of the Binghamton University delegation. | ||
| It's part of the reason why we stand up for higher education and public education. | ||
| That's our own experience. | ||
| So, I graduate from Binghamton University. | ||
| My younger brother graduated from Morehouse University. | ||
| I think that was Hank Johnson. | ||
| Sanford Bishop graduated from Morehouse. | ||
| I graduated from Binghamton University. | ||
| Somehow, we managed to graduate from college without owing anything. | ||
| And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how. | ||
| Because as I mentioned, my mom, my dad, they just earned a modest living all throughout their careers. | ||
| So one day I had a conversation with my mom and I was trying to figure it out. | ||
| How did you pull that off? | ||
| She said, well, I wanted to make sure my two sons could have a clean start to life. | ||
| So I borrowed against my union negotiated pension to make sure my two sons could get free and clear of loans and get a higher education as part of our effort to experience the American dream. | ||
| And so we all say, we all say to our brothers and sisters in organized labor, you don't ever have to worry about whether House Democrats are going to stand up for you because you've always been there for us. | ||
| You've always been there for us. | ||
| You've always been there for us. | ||
| That's our personal story. | ||
| And every single one of us, every single one of us, we do this work because we've lived a life of opportunity that this great country has provided to us. | ||
| And we're deeply troubled, saddened, disgusted that this great institution, this House of Representatives, Mr. Speaker, Republicans are trying to jam this one big ugly bill down the throats of the American people. | ||
| A bill that hurts everyday Americans in order to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks. | ||
| Shame on this institution if that bill ever passes. | ||
| And so we say to the American people, we've been working hard to try to get this bill into a better situation, introducing amendment after amendment after amendment. | ||
| Representative Judy Chu. | ||
| The chair emeritus of KPAC. | ||
| One of our extraordinary leaders, my good friend Grace Meng, she now chairs KPAC. | ||
| But Representative Judy True, she had an amendment that no one earning more than $10 million per year receives a tax cut to prevent this reverse Robin Hood and the ballooning of the debt by $4 trillion. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, you know, Republicans voted down that amendment. | ||
| We support as Democrats providing tax relief to everyday Americans. | ||
| We're willing to work in a bipartisan way to deal with that issue under the leadership of Richie Neal. | ||
| But Republicans decided, Mr. Speaker, as you know, to go down this partisan road, play partisan games, try to jam this extreme budget down the throats of the American people. | ||
| And so amendment after amendment after amendment introduced by House Democrats in good faith, exercising common sense to try to improve this bill. | ||
| Representative Jimmy Gomez, the chair of the Dads Caucus here in the United States House of Representatives, he had an amendment to ensure that people who make a billion dollars a year don't get a tax break paid for by cutting Americans' health care and food assistance. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, you know, Republicans voted that down. | ||
| My good friend and classmate, Representative Susan Delbene, she had an amendment that would have made the child tax credit fully refundable. | ||
| Susan Del Bene, a great champion of the child tax credit. | ||
| Let me also shout out a person that I believe is the mother of the enhanced and expanded child tax credit as well. | ||
| The top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Rosa DeLauro. | ||
| We're thankful for your leadership, Rosa. | ||
| Fighting hard on behalf of the American people, Susan DelBene, a great champion of the child tax credit. | ||
| She had an amendment, Mr. Speaker, to make the child tax credit fully refundable, covering the 17 million children who are being left behind by the big, ugly bill and increase the child tax credit for families. | ||
| Because what Republicans are doing, Mr. Speaker, as you know, in this particular bill, not enhancing and expanding the child tax credit, you are undermining the child tax credit. | ||
| And Representative Susan Delbene, my classmate, along with Catherine Clark and others, the class of 2012. | ||
| We used to be the new kids on the block, now we're just the OGs. | ||
| Susan DelBene, she introduces this amendment. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, as you know, Republicans voted it down. | ||
| Representative Laura Gillen had an amendment that dealt with this issue a little bit earlier. | ||
| The new and permanent cap on state and local tax deduction. | ||
| Representative Laura Gillen had an amendment to strike the new and permanent cap on salt, which is something that members of the House Republican Conference, Mr. Speaker, as you know, claim was a line in the sand for them, specifically from New York, and said that they support what Republicans voted down. | ||
| That amendment from Representative Laura Gillen. | ||
| Representative Mary Gay Scanlon from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one of the great members of the class of 2018, a great class. | ||
| She had an amendment that would protect infants, babies, American citizens born in this country from the unconstitutional and un-American Trump executive order to end birthright citizenship. | ||
| Republicans voted that down. | ||
| Let me make something clear. | ||
| No matter what it takes, we want to make sure as House Democrats we stand up for the principle that every single child born in the United States of America pursuant to the 14th Amendment is an American citizen. | ||
| We will never let anyone take that away. | ||
| Not now. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Not ever. | |
| Not now. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Not ever. | |
| Not now. | ||
|
unidentified
|
ever. | |
| I thank Mary Gay Scanlon. | ||
| I'm appreciative of my big brother, Congressman Greg Meeks, my big brother in the United States Congress. | ||
| We're a family as House Democrats committed to working hard, standing up on behalf of the American people. | ||
| It's an honor of a lifetime to be part of this family. | ||
| To stand on the shoulders of Nancy Pelosi and Stenny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn. | ||
| It's an honor to be part of this family. | ||
| Fight hard on behalf of the American people. | ||
| Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, I've got to repeat this, had an amendment, Mr. Speaker, to protect infants, children, babies against the unconstitutional and un-American Trump executive order to end birthright citizenship. | ||
| Republicans voted that down. | ||
| Representative Pramila Jayapald had an amendment to prevent ICE from deporting U.S. citizens. | ||
| United States citizens, Mr. Speaker, that are being deported by the Trump administration. | ||
| I documented some of that earlier today. | ||
| We're happy to provide more examples. | ||
| In fact, I'm happy to debate my colleague, Speaker Mike Johnson, on any of these issues anytime right here on the floor of the House of Representatives. | ||
| I sent you that invitation. | ||
| I sent you that invitation. | ||
| I sent you that invitation months ago. | ||
| I'm still waiting to get a response. | ||
| We're not running from the American people. | ||
| We're ready to debate any of these issues anytime, any place. | ||
| Particularly right here on the floor of the House of Representatives. | ||
| Representative for Milajiapold, she had an amendment, Mr. Speaker, to prevent ICE from deporting U.S. citizens. | ||
| Republicans voted that down. | ||
| Ranking Member Jim McGovern. | ||
| And this issue is personal to him. | ||
| I mentioned earlier we do this work because we're informed by our own personal experiences. | ||
| It's not about glory. | ||
| It's not about profit. | ||
| It's about improving the lives of the American people that we're privileged to represent. | ||
| Jim McGovern His wife, Lisa, is dealing with immense pain, immense personal tragedy. | ||
| But fighting so hard on behalf of the American people, he had an amendment to restore the critical NIH research funding withheld by Donald Trump and Elon Musk to cure diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer, | ||
| including pediatric cancer, childhood cancer. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, you know Republicans voted that down. | ||
| Hundreds of amendments introduced by Democrats to try to deal with the cruelty and the callousness of Donald Trump's one big ugly bill. | ||
| Many amendments were offered by Democrats and Republicans chose not to make these amendments in order. | ||
| In other words, just ignored them, dismissed their importance. | ||
| Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz Gottheimer offered an amendment that adds a new requirement that the Secretary of HHS certify in writing that the reductions and rescissions made by this act will not affect cancer survivors currently on Medicaid or Medicare. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, Republicans dismissed that amendment. | ||
| Representative Houlihan and Representative Ramirez offered an amendment, Mr. Speaker, that exempts individuals with disabilities from having to prove eligibility for Medicaid every six months. | ||
| That's a burdensome red tape requirement designed to throw people off of Medicaid who are eligible. | ||
| That amendment was dismissed. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, by House Republicans, Representative Sarah McBride, the distinguished gentle lady from the great state of Delaware, | ||
| the distinguished gentle lady from the great state of Delaware. | ||
| She offered an amendment that requires the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, to certify provisions in this bill to make sure that those provisions will not reduce access to care or increase the cost of care for seniors who are duly eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, Republicans dismissed that amendment. | ||
| Representative Rob Menendez offered an amendment that the health provisions will not take effect if it would lead to an increase in mortality rates due to reduced access to hospital services. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, House Republicans dismissed that amendment. | ||
| Representative Val Hoyle introduced an amendment that strikes changes to provider taxes and preserves states' ability to use or increase provider taxes to fund Medicaid and protect hospital funding. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, you know that despite Representative Hoyle offering this amendment, Republicans dismissed it. | ||
| Rural hospitals will close as a result of Donald Trump's one big ugly bill. | ||
| They will close. | ||
| Susan Collins acknowledged that fact. | ||
| But House Republicans are here jamming a bill down the throats of the American people that will close hospitals in rural America, in urban America, in small-town America, in the heartland of America, and apparently, Mr. Speaker, couldn't care less. | ||
| Let me be clear. | ||
| We're going to stand up for those communities that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have abandoned. | ||
| We're going to stand up for rural America, urban America, small-town America, the heartland of America. | ||
| Appalachia, we're going to stand up for all of America, whether we represent you or not. | ||
| Representative Nanette Barragan, one of our co-chairs of steering and policy, along with Robin Kelly and DWS. | ||
| she offered an amendment increasing the hospital stabilization fund that they had to include in this one big ugly bill. | ||
| This amendment was designed to protect hospitals from closing and expand eligibility for safety net hospitals that we know exist all across America in every corner in this country. | ||
| Safety net hospitals that serve a large number of low-income patients, including those with Medicaid. | ||
| And yet, Mr. Speaker, as you know, House Republicans dismissed this amendment. | ||
| Amendment after amendment after amendment that Democrats have introduced to try to relieve the pain that is being visited upon the American people by this one big ugly bill, voted down by Republicans or dismissed out of hand. | ||
| Representative Costa introduced an amendment to protect those on the low-income heating and energy assistance program who are also targeted by this one big ugly bill as part of an effort to ensure that all households on SNAP can continue to qualify. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, Republicans dismissed that amendment out of hand, ignored it, did not see fit to take it up. | ||
| Representative Jill Takuda from the great state of Hawaii, she introduced an amendment trying to prevent the nutrition title of this bill from taking effect against USDA can determine that the provisions of this one big ugly bill would not result in material economic harm to farmers, ranchers, and producers. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, Republicans dismissed that amendment out of hand. | ||
| Representative Lloyd Doggett had an amendment to extend tax cuts for the 98% of the American people who make $400,000 or less per year. | ||
| Had that amendment been taken up and passed, it would have cut the cost of this one big, ugly bill by approximately 50%. | ||
| And we would have been standing up for those everyday Americans who are now going to be hurt by other provisions in this GOP tax scam, this disgusting abomination. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as you know, that amendment dismissed out of hand by the House Republican majority. | ||
| Representative Seth Magazina from the great state of Rhode Island. | ||
| He's only in his second term. | ||
| Somehow he's the dean of the delegation. | ||
| Along with my good friend Gabe Amo, Seth Magazina, he had an amendment to provide a tax cut for the middle class, paid for by increasing taxes on the wealthiest here in this country. | ||
| Taxes in a tax rate that had previously been at 39% lowered by the original GOP tax scam in 2017. | ||
| He had this amendment to provide a tax cut for middle-class Americans. | ||
| Instead, Republicans are spending a trillion dollars on massive tax breaks for the wealthiest amongst us. | ||
| And that amendment was dismissed out of hand. | ||
| Representative Stephen Horsford, who also came in the class of 2012, He had an amendment to make no tax on tips, | ||
| which we support, but we support no tax on tips becoming a permanent part of the law, and that's not what this one big, ugly bill does. | ||
| Tax breaks for billionaires permanent, tax breaks for everybody else expire. | ||
| That's not the way to stand up for everyday Americans. | ||
| That's extraordinary. | ||
| Representative Stephen Horsford's amendments to make no tax on tips permanent and to close loopholes that are in this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| Dismissed. | ||
| Out of hand. | ||
| Amendments introduced by Ranking Member Huffman, Andrea Salinas, Dave Men, Emily Randall, and others, protecting public lands. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Dismissed. | |
| Out of hand. | ||
| Amendments on energy introduced by members like Louis Rivas. | ||
| Dismissed. | ||
| Out of hand. | ||
| And I think I'll end this portion of my presentation. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Take your time. | |
| Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I said this portion of my presentation. | ||
| said this portion of my presentation still got a little more Time. | ||
| Donald Trump's deadline may be Independence Day. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That ain't my deadline. | |
| You know why? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we don't work for Donald Trump. | ||
| We work for the American people. | ||
| That's why we're right here now on the floor of the House of Representatives standing up for the American people. | ||
| For everyday Americans, for hardworking American taxpayers fighting hard to make sure that we can live in a country where every American can afford to live the good life. | ||
| And as I mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, part of being able to afford to live the good life, part of part of those five things that I talked about, which shouldn't be hard to agree upon, work hard, play by the rules, and then being able to be part of a country. | ||
| Imagine a country where when you work hard and play by the rules, you can afford to obtain the American dream, to experience the good life, good paying job, good housing, good health care, a good education for your children, and then a good retirement. | ||
| So we had a series of amendments, Mr. Speaker, introduced on the subject of education. | ||
| Let me say something about the Department of Education and every agency, every department can of course be improved in terms of its efficiency. | ||
| But the Department of Education does important work, particularly as it relates to the most vulnerable children amongst us. | ||
| And as part of this unprecedented assault on the American way of life, President Donald Trump issued this executive order, effectively trying to abolish the Department of Education. | ||
| I know there are people all across the country as I travel throughout America concerned about this. | ||
| Let me make something clear. | ||
| The Department of Education was established by an act of the United States Congress. | ||
| It cannot be abolished by anyone pretending to be a wannabe king. | ||
| Not anyone. | ||
| It's us, the United States Congress. | ||
| So we introduced, Mr. Speaker, a series of amendments related to this commitment, this recognition of the importance of education as part of accessing the American dream. | ||
| Ranking Member Bobby Scott is also battling some issues. | ||
| Life hits all, but made sure to make his way here to the House of Representatives. | ||
| It's part of his commitment to stand up for the education of our children and others. | ||
| He had an amendment, Mr. Speaker, that strikes all of the extreme parts of the Committee on the Education and Workforce elements of this bill that make it harder for students to access high-quality education, | ||
| jeopardizes child nutrition programs, and threatens financial student aid, all of which is being done recklessly, Mr. Speaker, by this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| And as you know, Republicans chose to ignore this amendment, dismiss it out of hand. | ||
| Representative Sarah Elfrith introduced an amendment to try to increase the amount that hard-working teachers and educators are able to deduct on qualified out-of-pocket classroom expenses. | ||
| And that amendment was dismissed out of hand. | ||
| Tax breaks for billionaires, Mr. Speaker, but Republicans have decided hardworking educators can't get an enhanced tax benefit for their out-of-pocket expenses. | ||
| That's wrong. | ||
| And as House Democrats, we will continue to stand behind the educators of the United States of America, the teachers in the United States of America, those to whom we entrust our most precious asset, our children. | ||
| And House Republicans, Mr. Speaker, aren't standing up for educators, for the teachers of America. | ||
| This is extraordinary. | ||
| But we're going to continue to stand with our teachers and stand with our public schools all across the United States of America. | ||
| That's what House Democrats are going to continue to do. | ||
| Representative Val Hoyle had an amendment to increase Pell Grant funding, Pell Grant awards that are severely undermined in Donald Trump's one big ugly bill. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, it's extraordinary to me that this reckless Republican budget manages to go after blue-collar jobs, | ||
| organized labor, hardworking American taxpayers who don't shower before going to work but shower after work. | ||
| That Donald Trump's one big ugly bill goes after blue-collar, good-paying, prevailing wage jobs here in the United States of America, and then also goes after access to higher education. | ||
| Representative Val Hoyle had an amendment, Mr. Speaker, increasing Pell Grant awards that are severely undermined in this bill. | ||
| House Republicans chose to ignore this amendment, dismiss it out of hand. | ||
| This is another one of those areas where our commitment to experiencing the American dream, whatever path you choose, | ||
| whether that's through career and technical education, as has been the case by many members in their experience or their family experience, Don Norcross, one of our leaders in this regard, Debbie Dingell, others, Mark Pocan, part of the Labor Caucus, leaders in this regard. | ||
| Mark Pocan, part of the trades movement. | ||
| Don Norcross, part of the trades movement. | ||
| Debbie Dingle so close to the UAW and the trades. | ||
| It's one of those areas where we also are informed by our personal experiences, why we find what is taking place, Mr. Speaker, in this one big, ugly bill so disgusting, these attacks by Republicans on the ability of all Americans to achieve the American dream, | ||
| to be part of imagining an America where everyone who works hard and plays by the rules can live the good life. | ||
| Higher education is not the entire solution, but it certainly is part of it. | ||
| This was taught to me by my grandma Nano. | ||
| She never had a formal four-year education, but perhaps she was the wisest woman I've ever known. | ||
| And she was determined to make sure that her two grandsons had the ability as best she could to obtain an education that might ultimately, for us, coming out of this working-class neighborhood, Crown Heights, in central Brooklyn, spending a lot of time in Bedford-Stuyvesant, | ||
| where she lived on the corner of Putnam and Lewis, right down the block from the Cornerstone Baptist Church. | ||
| She was determined to make sure that her two grandsons had the best opportunity, and in her view, in Grandma Nano's view, that meant access to education. | ||
| And so when we were young, she said to my younger brother and I, I'll never forget this conversation. | ||
| We were in her home in Bedstead. | ||
| She said that the two of you are going to go to elementary school and then you'll graduate, go to middle school and graduate, high school and graduate, college and graduate. | ||
| And then she dreamed about us going to graduate school, get a law degree, a PhD, a medical degree, an MBA, some form of advanced education. | ||
| We were like, Grandma, we're going to be in school our entire lives. | ||
| And she was so committed to that journey that every single time we graduated, this is a woman of modest means. | ||
| She gave my younger brother and I, whoever was the graduate, $500 in cash. | ||
| I still don't know where Nano got that money from. | ||
| I know it came by her, honestly. | ||
| She saved for it, but it was designed to help incentivize her grandchildren to keep going through all of the obstacles. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, I made the mistake one day of telling that story, this $500 incentive in front of my two sons. | ||
| And they said, Dad, you've been short-changing us our entire lives. | ||
| Access to education is a part of the journey for many of us. | ||
| Shocking to me that this one aspect, not the only aspect, this one aspect that Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, | ||
| once articulated, the father of the University of Virginia, Ben Franklin, the father of the University of Pennsylvania, others, | ||
| saw an important role for enlightened education as just one path that we as House Democrats are trying to protect, while also making sure that every single hardworking American can get the type of career and technical education if they choose that path to experience the American dream. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as I perhaps approach the end of this particular journey. | ||
| Let me just reiterate that as House Democrats, we maintain from the very beginning of this Congress. | ||
| We acknowledged the election of President Donald Trump, offered to work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle whenever and wherever possible in order to make life better for the American people to stand up for the things that matter, | ||
| not as Democrats, Independents, or Republicans, but as Americans. | ||
| But the route, Mr. Speaker, that has been taken by House Republicans is to go it alone and to try to jam this one big ugly bill filled with extreme right-wing policy priorities down the | ||
|
unidentified
|
throat. | |
| throats of the American people. | ||
| That's why in good conscience we can't stand here, Mr. Speaker, and support this effort, this one big, | ||
| ugly bill that hurts everyday Americans and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks. | ||
| America is too expensive. | ||
| Housing costs are too high. | ||
| Grocery costs are too high. | ||
| Child care costs are too high. | ||
| Energy costs are too high. | ||
| Insurance costs are too high. | ||
| America is too expensive. | ||
| President Trump and House Republicans promised to lower costs on day one, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| But costs aren't going down. | ||
| They are going up. | ||
| The policies unleashed by the Trump administration have been so chaotic, so all over the place, so much uncertainty has been created that the economy is being run off track and nothing has been done to lower the high cost of living. | ||
| In fact, not a single thing in Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill will meaningfully make life more affordable for everyday Americans. | ||
| And that's just one of several reasons why House Democrats are a hell no on this legislation. | ||
| We were a hell no last week, a hell no this week, a hell no yesterday, a hell no today, and we'll continue to be a hell no on this effort to hurt the American people. | ||
| And I know for the record, Mom, hell is in the Bible. | ||
| The American people are understandably frustrated by the high cost of living. | ||
| Yes, they're frustrated by the unprecedented assault on the American way of life, on our democracy, on the rule of law, on due process, on health care, on Social Security, | ||
| on nutritional assistance, but it's my sincere hope that we can find a path forward to actually address for the American people some of the underlying sources of their frustration. | ||
| The fact that people, far too many people, you've heard the stories, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And that's just a fraction of the stories that have been shared with us, members of the United States House of Representatives. | ||
| Just a fraction of the stories That I've been able, on behalf of House Democrats, to enter into the record. | ||
| They're frustrated by a lot of the things that have gone on in this country since January 20th. | ||
| I'm frustrated by a lot of what has gone on, disgusted by a lot of what has gone on, Mr. Speaker, in this country since January 20th. | ||
| We are better than this. | ||
| But it's also important: one of the things that I hope, Mr. Speaker, will be able to address at some point is the source of the underlying frustration. | ||
| It's a frustration in the comments, in the eloquent words of all of those presidential leaders that I mentioned earlier today: this frustration, this economic frustration. | ||
| FDR talked about it. | ||
| Truman talked about it. | ||
| Kennedy talked about it. | ||
| Johnson talked about it. | ||
| Carter talked about it. | ||
| Clinton talked about it. | ||
| President Obama talked about it. | ||
| President Biden talked about it. | ||
| It's a consistent strand. | ||
| And while progress has been made in the United States of America, we've come a long way on behalf of working-class Americans. | ||
| There is still a way to go to ensure that in this great country, hard-working American taxpayers don't simply work hard and play by the rules just to survive, barely paycheck to paycheck, but are able to actually thrive. | ||
| That's the America that we should all commit to work hard towards bringing about good paying jobs, good housing, good health care, good education for your children, and a good retirement. | ||
| A fair shot at achieving the American League. | ||
| A good retirement, let me reiterate it for the record. | ||
| That means, Mr. Speaker, that people in this town need to keep their hands off the Social Security and the Medicare of the American people. | ||
| Keep your hands off Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, all of the things. | ||
| hands off. | ||
| And one of the many reasons why we strongly oppose Donald Trump's one big ugly bill is because it will result in the largest cut to Medicare. | ||
| sets in motion the largest cut to Medicare, More than $500 billion by some estimations in American history. | ||
| The American people understandably frustrated, not for years but for decades, that far too many have dealt with a situation where the system is not building an economy that works for hardworking American taxpayers, | ||
| for everyday Americans, for working class Americans, for everyone who aspires to be part of the middle class. | ||
| It's our sincere hope that we can get to a place one day, perhaps in a bipartisan way, not connected to this extreme and reckless, dangerous, partisan bill, this one big, ugly bill that will hurt everyday Americans in order to reward billionaires, | ||
| that we actually can get to the work of lifting up everyday Americans because the debt has been stacked against you for far too long. | ||
| And that's not the America that the American people deserve. | ||
| And part of the challenge, part of the problem, part of the issue as to why we find ourselves, everyday Americans, in this situation, It's because of the dominance of special interests in this town. | ||
| And this one big, ugly bill represents a massive giveaway to special interests in this country. | ||
| And we reject special interests because our job here in the United States of America, Mr. Speaker, is to protect the public interest at all times. | ||
| Today, tomorrow, always, and forever. | ||
| Extraordinary to me, Mr. Speaker, that you got folks in this town talking about draining the swamp. | ||
| Guess what? | ||
|
unidentified
|
You are the swamp, you are the swamp, you are the swamp. | |
| We've never seen anything like this. | ||
| The type of corruption that has been unleashed on the American people and has poisoned Mr. Speaker this bill. | ||
| See, you're consulting the parliamentarian, I think. | ||
| I said, people in this town, I'm thankful that my grandmother saw fit to have her grandson educated. | ||
| We've never seen a level, Mr. Speaker, of this type of corruption. | ||
| unleashed on the American people that has made its way into this one big ugly bill. | ||
| Extraordinary levels of corruption in this town unleashed on the American people. | ||
| Corruption on steroids would be an understatement. | ||
| In terms of what the American people are now being subjected to. | ||
| So one of the things we look forward to changing in this town, I want to make this commitment, House Democrats. | ||
| We are committed to making sure that we end corruption once and for all in the United States of America in corruption in Congress, in corruption at the Supreme Court, and in corruption with the administration. | ||
| That's part of our agenda. | ||
| An anti-corruption agenda. | ||
| That's what the American people deserve. | ||
| That's what we as House Democrats are committed to bringing about. | ||
| The exact opposite, Mr. Speaker, of what we see in this bill. | ||
| We're going to present to the American people an anti-corruption agenda the likes of which have never been seen. | ||
| Because it's too much. | ||
| Fundamentally, it undermines the ability of government to deliver for everyday Americans. | ||
| You see that politics at the end of the day is about the management of public money. | ||
| That's why we need everyday Americans to participate in your democracy. | ||
| Because politics, at the end of the day, is about the management of public money. | ||
| It's about how taxpayer dollars are going to be managed. | ||
| And what's extraordinary about this one big, ugly bill is that what we see, Mr. Speaker, is the management of public money, all of it being done in this highly partisan way, is not designed to serve the best interest of the American people. | ||
| It's being managed, Mr. Speaker, in this GOP tax scam, this disgusting abomination, this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| The management of taxpayer money being misused and abused to hurt everyday Americans In order to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks. | ||
| That's a dereliction of duty. | ||
| Mismanagement of public money. | ||
| It's an abuse of the privilege that all of us as members of the United States Congress have. | ||
| And so, one of our promises to the American people as we look toward the future: we will always be stewards of your money to make sure that we are allocating taxpayer dollars in a way designed to lift up the American people, not tear the American people down. | ||
| That's the type of Congress that the American people deserve: the public interest over special interest, the public interest over special interest, the public interest over special interest. | ||
| That's one of our promises to the American people. | ||
| And we're going to work hard to earn your trust as we move forward and look toward the future. | ||
| I mentioned earlier in my remarks that I wanted to talk a little bit about faith. | ||
| I grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church. | ||
| Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. | ||
| We walk by faith, not by sight. | ||
| Just have faith the size of a mustard tea. | ||
| You can move mountains. | ||
| We come this far by faith. | ||
| Can't leave this floor, Mr. Speaker, without talking a little bit about faith. | ||
| And I use faith in the broader sense of the word. | ||
| Proud of what we are in this country: Jewish faith, Muslim faith, Hindu faith, Buddhist faith, Christian faith. | ||
| All faith. | ||
| That's the interesting thing. | ||
| This rush to jam this reckless bill down the throats of the American people, all of it somehow connected to our 249th birthday that we're going to celebrate tomorrow, July 4th. | ||
| A journey launched by the Declaration of Independence. | ||
| And ultimately, this principle embedded in the First Amendment around the importance of faith, but also at the same time, the importance of separating church and state. | ||
| It's all in the First Amendment as interpreted by the Supreme Court. | ||
| Don't have time, I think, to really deeply go into it, but you've got the Establishment Clause and you've got the Free Exercise Clause. | ||
| Framers of this country recognize the importance of faith, our journey of religion. | ||
| I'm proud of my Christian faith. | ||
| But I also recognize the importance of the plurality of all of us, men and women of faith, different religions. | ||
| And also of the fact that here in America we embrace the religious and the secular. | ||
| The religious and the secular. | ||
| But on this question of faith, I alluded to it a little earlier. | ||
| It seems to me that the Gospels that the New Testament, I preach it. | ||
| You know, there's some interesting parts of the Old Testament. | ||
| I'm tempted to tell the story of King Nebuchadnezzar. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, a lot of parallels to what's going on right now. | ||
| But I'm going to focus at this moment on the New Testament prescription, the Gospels. | ||
| I think it was mentioned earlier by one of my colleagues, I think Don Bayer mentioned it earlier. | ||
| Matthew the 25th, chapter verses 35 and 40. | ||
| I think it's important that at this time, in this moment, in this debate, before I leave the floor of the House of Representatives, that this scripture be entered into the congressional record. | ||
| For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. | ||
| I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. | ||
| I was a stranger and you invited me in. | ||
| A stranger. | ||
| And you invited me in. | ||
| E poribus unum out of many one. | ||
| I needed clothes and you clothed me. | ||
| I was sick. | ||
| I had medical problems. | ||
| Maybe I needed Medicare or Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act or the Children's Health Insurance Program or Planned Parenthood. | ||
| I was sick and you looked after me. | ||
| I was in prison and you came to visit me. | ||
| We have a right as members of Congress to visit people who are detained. | ||
| It's not just in law. | ||
| It's right here in Matthew. | ||
| Then the righteous will answer him, Lord. | ||
| When did we see you hungry and feed you? | ||
| Or thirsty and give you something to drink. | ||
| When did we see you a stranger and invite you in? | ||
| Or kneading clothes and clothe you? | ||
| When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? | ||
| Come on. | ||
| And of course, the reply from Jesus, truly, I tell you, whatever you did, whatever you did, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. | ||
| That's what we should be doing here in the United States House of Representatives. | ||
| Our job is to stand up for the poor, the sick, and the afflicted, the least, the lost, and the left behind, everyday American. | ||
| That's what Matthew teaches us. | ||
| And that's not what's happening in this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| That's not consistent with what my faith teaches me. | ||
| I'm not down with this situation. | ||
| I'm not down with this situation. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We're right with you. | |
| Well, you got some folks in this town. | ||
| They go to church. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Take the time. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I said some folks in this town, they go to church. | ||
| And I'm not questioning anybody's faith. | ||
| I'm just making an observation. | ||
| Got some folks in this town. | ||
| They go to church and they pray on Sunday. | ||
| P-R-A-Y. | ||
| And then they come to Congress and pray P-R-E-Y on the American people. | ||
| I'm not down with that kind of faith. | ||
| That ain't my faith. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That's not our faith. | |
| That's not the faith that comes out of the gospel. | ||
| I can't find that kind of faith in Matthew 25 and 35. | ||
| I can't find that kind of faith. | ||
| But I do see something else. | ||
| Can I talk about it for a moment? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Talk about it. | |
| Take your time. | ||
| Take the tea time. | ||
| Take the time. | ||
| I do see something else, kind of what I'm seeing connected to this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| I don't know if this was an inspiration to this extraordinary assault on the American people, this corrupt piece of legislation. | ||
| But when I look over my Bible, and this is going to come from John, it's not going to come from 2 Corinthians, although the Apostle Paul has a lot to say about that. | ||
| And, Mr. Speaker, I said 2 Corinthians, not 2 Corinthians. | ||
| I don't know who I'm talking about, but if you're going to sell the Bible, you should know the Bible. | ||
| Trying to figure out, because it's not in Matthew 25, 35 to 40, but I did see something in John. | ||
| John 10 and 10. | ||
| This frightens me in this moment that we're living in. | ||
| It says the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. | ||
| It's incredible to me that we're here dealing with a piece of legislation, literally that steals money from everyday Americans, | ||
| from hardworking American taxpayers, steals money from Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, | ||
| Supplemental Nutritional Assistance steals money from Pell Grants, from the education of our children, from energy assistance programs. | ||
| Thief comes only to steal and kill. | ||
| I don't say this lightly, Mr. Speaker, but we stand behind this point. | ||
| That when you try to take health care away, what this bill does, taking health care away from everyday Americans, more than 17 million, this unprecedented assault on Medicaid, on the Affordable Care Act, on Medicare, on children's health insurance. | ||
| What you effectively are doing, hurting everyday Americans, hurting children, hurting women, hurting older American seniors, | ||
| people with disabilities, nursing homes will close, hospitals will shut down, community-based health clinics unable to operate. | ||
| We're actually here debating legislation, Mr. Speaker, that will result in tens of thousands of everyday Americans losing their lives because of the inability to get health care that they now have and is being ripped away from them. | ||
| John 10 and 10, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. | ||
| All-out assault on the American people. | ||
| All-out assault on health care, the economy, social Security Medicare Medicaid, nutritional assistance veterans farmers, law-abiding immigrant families, small business owners all the things that we've spent some time on this House floor talking about that this bill is trying to destroy, | ||
| destroy the American way of life. | ||
| Can't find anything in the Bible, in the New Testament, certainly not in Matthew 25 and 35, Matthew 25, the 35th chapter and all the way through the 40th verse. | ||
| But but somehow I happened upon John 10 and 10 and thinking about this one big ugly bill. | ||
| The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. | ||
| But America is a resilient nation. | ||
| we're an exceptional nation we're a strong nation We've been through turbulence, trials and tribulations, and we always somehow have found a way to make it through because of the resilience, Mr. Speaker, of the American people. | ||
| So, whatever happens today, as it relates to this one big ugly bill if, if my Republican colleagues decide that once again, Mr. Speaker, you're simply going to make the decision to serve as a reckless rubber stamp of President Trump's extreme agenda. | ||
| I still have faith in the United States of America still have faith in the United States of America I still have faith in the United States Of America. | ||
| We will not let anyone in this town destroy what America represents. | ||
| Not now, not ever. | ||
| Not going to be easy, we recognize that. | ||
| But we've got faith in the resilience of the American people. | ||
| As I get ready to close shortly in. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Take your time. | |
| Come on. | ||
| Take your time. | ||
| Take your time. | ||
| Tell them, tell them. | ||
| Take your time. | ||
| Well, let me say it one more time. | ||
| Our Republican colleagues tried to jam this reckless, extreme bill. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, down the throats of the American people had the nerve to start this debate at 3.28 a.m. in the middle of the night. | ||
| But we made clear that we're going to expose all of the things that are being done to harm the American people. | ||
| not in the dark of night, but in the light of day. | ||
| This little light of mine, we're going to let it shine on behalf of the American people. | ||
| Incredible to me that Republicans would try to jam this one big, ugly bill down the throats of the American people in the dead of night. | ||
| And then, to add insult to injury, Mr. Speaker, allocate 15 minutes. | ||
| 15 minutes to each side on the committees of jurisdiction. | ||
| 15 minutes to the Ways and Means Committee on each side. | ||
| 15 minutes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Take your time. | |
| Take your time. | ||
| To the Budget Committee. | ||
| That's extraordinary. | ||
| But I'm thankful. | ||
| I'm appreciative of all of my colleagues who stand behind me. | ||
| Thankful to all of my colleagues for their commitment, their courage, their conviction. | ||
| Standing up on behalf of the American people to deliver hopefully what is a message of concern but also a message of hope. | ||
| That's why we've got to fight a lot of battles on behalf of the American people. | ||
| It's not over. | ||
| Fighting a lot of battles on behalf of the American people. | ||
| This is just one of them. | ||
| But we wanted to make sure that the American people had an opportunity to fully and more completely understand in the light of day just how damaging this one big ugly bill will be to the American people. | ||
| And I plead with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I really plead with my colleagues Inspired by some of the framers of the Constitution, the great scholars, the great thinkers conceived of this incredible journey that we've been on in the United States of America, | ||
| creating separate and co-equal branches of government, recognizing that in this country, part of the gift that we were given by the framers of the United States Constitution, no kings, no dictators, no monarchs, | ||
| separate and co-equal branches of government. | ||
| This is the Article I branch of government. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, James Madison, he once made the observation and his view in one of the Federalist papers that at its best, Congress should function as a rival to the executive branch. | ||
| That was James Madison. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And here we are. | |
| Article 1 branch of government, the House and the Senate. | ||
| We're not here to bend the knee to any wannabe king. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we're not here to bend the knee to any wannabe king. | ||
| We're here to be a rival to the executive branch in the best spirits of the House of Representatives to push back against an out-of-control executive branch. | ||
| That's the framers' vision. | ||
| I said that's the framers' vision. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The framers' vision. | |
| And so as we prepare to take this consequential vote, Mr. Speaker, I just urge many of my colleagues in government. | ||
| My colleagues on the other side of the aisle. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we don't work for President Trump. | ||
| We don't work for JD Vance. | ||
|
unidentified
|
No. | |
| That's right. | ||
| We don't work for Elon Musk. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as all of us prepare to cast this vote, I hope my Republican colleagues will come to the conclusion that we work for the American people. | ||
| We work for the American people. | ||
| We don't work for any president. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We work with American presidents. | |
| We work for the American people. | ||
| So it's my hope that as you evaluate this bill, all of the harm that is being unleashed on the American people, ripping health care away from more than 17 million Americans, effectively ending Medicaid. | ||
| As we know, it's shutting down hospitals, including in rural America, and districts, Mr. Speaker, that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle represent. | ||
| Nursing homes closing. | ||
| One in four nursing homes, Mr. Speaker, will close as a result of the attack on Medicaid and Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this is extraordinary. | ||
| This assault on everyday Americans, assault on children, veterans, seniors, people with disabilities. | ||
| It's incredible to me. | ||
| All of this in this one big, ugly bill. | ||
| Ripping food away from children, literally, ripping food out of the mouths of hungry children, hungry veterans, and hungry seniors. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, that's not America. | ||
| We're better than that. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we're better than that. | ||
| Ripping food out of the mouths of vulnerable Americans. | ||
| That's extraordinary that that's what we're doing. | ||
| Extraordinary. | ||
| And all of this is being done? | ||
| This unprecedented assault on everyday Americans is being unleashed on the American people. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, on the most vulnerable amongst us, all of this is being done to provide massive tax breaks to billionaire donors. | ||
| Shame on this institution if this bill passes. | ||
| That's not America. | ||
| We're better than this. | ||
| We are better. | ||
| We are better, we are better than this. | ||
| I think that as we prepare to vote on this one big, ugly bill, tough time for people in the United States of America. | ||
| Extraordinary extremism unleashed on the American people. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle promised to address the high cost of living. | ||
| Nothing in this bill will meaningfully lower the high cost of living in the United States of America. | ||
| Nothing. | ||
| It's incredible to me. | ||
| All of the promises that were made by some people in this town at the top priority was going to be to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America. | ||
| And then, all of last year, ran away from Project 2025. | ||
| Acted like it didn't exist. | ||
| And then, Mr. Speaker, people come to town, they're in the majority now, and every single part of the extremism that we've seen unleashed on the American people is connected to Project 2025. | ||
| Every single part. | ||
| But here's why, here's why, here's why I still got hope, optimism. | ||
| I referenced this earlier. | ||
| Today, as we prepare to experience the 249th birthday of the United States of America, take it back to that original document. | ||
| Declaration of Independence, 1776. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, it had the aspirational part. | ||
| We hold these truths to be self-evident. | ||
| That all men are created equal. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Come on now. | |
| Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. | ||
| That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. | ||
| That's the aspirational part of the Declaration of Independence. | ||
| And as House Democrats, we're committed, no matter what it takes, to bring that about. | ||
| Imagine an America where everyone who works hard and plays by the rules can live the good life, afford to live the good life. | ||
| Good paying jobs. | ||
| Good housing. | ||
| Good health care. | ||
| Good education for your children. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And a good retirement. | |
| That's what House Democrats are fighting for. | ||
| That's the aspirational part of the Declaration of Independence to bring that to life, the pursuit of happiness. | ||
| That's the aspirational part. | ||
| But then when you look at that Declaration of Independence, the second part of it, it reads like an indictment against an out-of-control king. | ||
| Reads like an indictment against an out-of-control king. | ||
| I commend all Americans, perhaps sometime tomorrow, I'm going to do this myself, read that document in its entirety. | ||
| And why was that indictment issued? | ||
| I think it was because the framers of this great country were fed up with Project 1775. | ||
| And so they implemented Project 1776. | ||
| So I know that there are people concerned with what's happening in America, but understand what our journey teaches us is that after Project 2025 comes Project 2026. | ||
| And you will have an opportunity to end this national nightmare as part of Project 2026. | ||
| I love the framers. | ||
| They gave us a blueprint for what should give us hope in this moment. | ||
| I think that I want to close by referencing someone. | ||
| Someone who we all serve with. | ||
| I want to stand on the shoulders if it's okay on some of our civil rights heroes and foot soldiers. | ||
| Those whose character, whose conviction, whose courage should give the American people hope at a moment of great despair, Many of us had the great honor of serving with Congressman John Lewis. | ||
| The great honor, Mr. Speaker, to serve with Congressman John Lewis. | ||
| And I came across something that John Lewis said in June of 2028 that hopefully, no matter what the outcome of this vote will give people some hope. | ||
| Great John Lewis said, do not get lost in a sea of despair. | ||
| Be hopeful. | ||
| Be optimistic. | ||
| Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year. | ||
| It is the struggle of a lifetime. | ||
| That's our struggle. | ||
| No matter what, Mr. Speaker, you decide to do today. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That's our struggle. | |
| Standing on the shoulders of John Lewis. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That's our struggle. | |
| Never ever be afraid to make some noise and get into good trouble. | ||
| Good trouble. | ||
| Good trouble. | ||
| Necessary trouble. | ||
| Standing on the shoulders of giants. | ||
| John Lewis would often talk to us about his admiration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. | ||
| Dr. King, who would refer to John Lewis as the boy from Troy. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The boy from Troy. | |
| Now what's interesting to me, that civil rights movement, we can learn a lot from it, started December of 1955. | ||
| And Rosa Parks sat down on that bus so that all of us could have the courage to stand up. | ||
| Wasn't an easy struggle. | ||
| All the odds were stacked against these civil rights heroes and foot soldiers. | ||
| And during the early days of the movement, a difficult part of the movement, Dr. King, after they've been targeted, arrested, beaten, harassed by the authorities, he traveled to Brooklyn, New York and spoke at the Concord Baptist Church. | ||
| I think it was in March of 1956. | ||
| And he said to a group of people of every race, every religion, every life experience, the Concord Baptist Church in Bedford-Suyveson said to them, no matter what the odds, we've got to press on. | ||
| Dr. King said that if you can't fly, run. | ||
| If you can't run, walk. | ||
| If you can't walk, crawl. | ||
| But at all times, press on. | ||
| Press on. | ||
| And keep pressing. | ||
| And so as I take my seat, I just want to say to the American people that no matter what the outcome is on this singular day, we're going to press on. | ||
| We're going to press on. | ||
| We're going to press on. | ||
| We're going to press on for our children. | ||
| Press on for our seniors. | ||
| Press on for our veterans. | ||
| Press on for our unions. | ||
| Press on for our farmers. | ||
| Press on for our dreamers. | ||
| Press on for working class Americans. | ||
| Press on for the middle class. | ||
| Press on for all who aspire to be part of the middle class. | ||
| Press on for the poor. | ||
| Press on for the sick. | ||
| Press on for the afflicted. | ||
| Press on for the least. | ||
| Press on for the lost. | ||
| Press on for the left behind. | ||
| Press on for the rule of law. | ||
| Press on for the American way of life. | ||
| Press on for democracy. | ||
| We're going to press on until victory is won. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yield back. | |
| I can't. | ||
| I can't believe. | ||
| I can't. | ||
| I can't. | ||
| And from Massachusetts Speaker I think it's fair to say the leader has done his part. | ||
| I have no further speakers. | ||
| I yield back our time. | ||
| For one minute, you have two minutes remaining. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, could we have order? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The house will be in order. | |
| The house will be in order, please. | ||
| The House will be in order, please. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Gentleman from Missouri is recognized. | ||
| For one minute, you have two minutes remaining. | ||
| Wow, Mr. Speaker, we have stood in this chamber for over eight hours listening to a lot of words, a lot of comments, a lot of inaccurate statements. | ||
| and where I come from. | ||
| Could we have an order? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The House will be in order. | |
| The House will be in order. | ||
| The House will be in order, please. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Gentleman from Missouri is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I come from the show me state, and what we just heard can be defined in one word. | ||
| A bunch of hogwash is what we've heard for eight hours on that side of the building. | ||
| I'll tell you, for the eight hours, Mr. Could we have an order? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm going to suspend. | |
| The House will be in order. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| He's recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the eight hours of hogwash that we just heard will not change the outcome that you will see very shortly when we deliver historic tax relief for working families, small business owners, and farmers. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to our great Speaker of the House, Mr. Mike Johnson. | ||
| I thank the gentleman from Missouri. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| You know, Ronald Reagan said one time that no speech should be longer than 20 minutes. | ||
| and unlike the Democrat leader, I'm going to honor my colleague's time and be a little more brief than that, all right? | ||
| I just want to say something that many of us learned when we were children. | ||
| were taught, you know, it takes a lot longer to build a lie than to tell the simple truth. | ||
| My friends and colleagues on both sides of the aisle, we've waited long enough. | ||
| Some of us have literally been up for days now. | ||
| But this day, this day, is a hugely important one in the history of our nation. | ||
| We have a big job to finish, and that's why we're here on the week of July 4th, just days before, just a day before now, America's birthday. | ||
| It was on that fateful day, as a Democrat leader acknowledged, that our founders pledged their lives and their sacred honor to this grand experiment in self-governance that we are now here to steward. | ||
| It's an experiment that falls to us to guard and to protect it. | ||
| We take that very seriously on this side of the aisle. | ||
| In just a few moments, we will remind the world why the American experiment still endures today and why its best days are still ahead of us. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, with one big, beautiful bill, we are going to make this country stronger, safer, and more prosperous than ever before. | ||
| And every American is going to benefit from that. | ||
| Today, we are laying a key cornerstone of America's new golden age. | ||
| Now, listen, we have a few words of gratitude first. | ||
| Scripture has been cited a lot this morning, I think mostly out of context. | ||
| But what I will say, one thing that we know about Scripture is that we're supposed to give honor where honor is due, and that's what we do on this side of the aisle. | ||
| I want to thank every single member of the House Republican Conference for pouring their time and their heart and their expertise and experience into this process. | ||
| I want to thank all of our amazing staff members, all of them. | ||
| Their dedication, their endless hours, their hard work made this all possible. | ||
| I want to thank the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, who have basically lived with us now for the last few weeks. | ||
| Their patience and persistence and their professionalism is greatly appreciated. | ||
| Our country's incredible cabinet secretaries have been involved as well. | ||
| They've assisted us in countless ways throughout this process. | ||
| Our vice president, JD Vance, helped us navigate so many dire straits along the last several weeks through the House and the Senate. | ||
| And, of course, our bold, visionary, fearless President Donald J. Trump. | ||
| President Trump is the creator and the champion of the America First agenda. | ||
| We will deliver upon that today. | ||
| We come a long way. | ||
| We come a long way. | ||
| We began this process really about 15 months ago. | ||
| We had a sense and we believed that we would have unified government. | ||
| We would have this moment where the Republican Party would be given control of the White House and the Senate and the House. | ||
| And we determined to ourselves that we would not waste that historic opportunity. | ||
| We've had spirited debates. | ||
| We've had months of deliberation and now we are finally ready to fulfill our promise to the American people. | ||
| That's what we are doing today. | ||
| Now, look, before I respond to the allegations from across the chamber, I just want to take us back to a day that most of us will remember so very fondly for the rest of our lives. | ||
| And that's November 5th of 2024. | ||
| That was Election Day, a fateful one for America. | ||
| The reason that was so important, the reason it was such a turn in history, is because the American people spoke with unmistakable clarity. | ||
| We sensed it as we were all out campaigning. | ||
| We saw that there would be a demographic shift in America. | ||
| And that is exactly what the election yielded. | ||
| We, in our party, had a record number of black and African American voters come to the Republican Party. | ||
| We had a record number of Hispanic and Latino voters come to the Republican Party, a record number of Jewish voters and union workers and suburban women and urban voters. | ||
| They came out in record numbers to join the Republican Party in the America First agenda with President Trump. | ||
| That election was decisive. | ||
| It was a bellwether. | ||
| It was a time for choosing. | ||
| And I tell you what, the American people chose overwhelmingly. | ||
| They chose the Republican Party. | ||
| And the reason they did that, the reason they did that, they didn't come hesitantly. | ||
| They came with hopeful anticipation. | ||
| You know why? | ||
| Because this is not your father's Democratic Party, okay? | ||
| They went so far, full speed, to the far left. | ||
| And their radical, woke, progressive agenda, that nonsense that they tried to push on the people, was rejected by the people. | ||
| These new voters came to us. | ||
| They had enough of the Biden-Harris madness and all the things they were trying to hoist upon the American people that they just don't believe in their hearts. | ||
| And they were hopeful. | ||
| They came to us with hope. | ||
| They wanted us to restore common sense and accountability, and we promised to them that we would do just that. | ||
| Those new demographics came to the Republican Party because of open borders wreaking havoc on their communities. | ||
| They came because of weakness at home that fueled instability abroad. | ||
| And because trillions in reckless spending put the price of gas and groceries further out of the reach for hardworking Americans, it wasn't right. | ||
| President Trump and our Republican majority in Congress are fixing all of that right now. | ||
| President Trump said this week, we're the hottest country in the world again. | ||
| My friends, that is an objective truth. | ||
| Hey, listen, how about all the wins for the president and this party? | ||
| Here's just a sample from the last two weeks. | ||
| The headline today will be, The One Big Beautiful Bill Passes the Congress, okay? | ||
| You've got to hold your applause. | ||
| There's too many wins. | ||
| Are you tired of winning yet? | ||
|
unidentified
|
No! | |
| Fourth jobs report in a row exceeds expectations. | ||
| A sample of the headlines. | ||
| Lowest monthly border encounters in U.S. history. | ||
| We closed the border. | ||
| Last couple of days, a new trade deal with Vietnam and all the countries around the world lining up for that. | ||
| UPINN agrees to ban biological men from women's sports, and they ought to give a personal apology to every female athlete impacted by that nonsense. | ||
| Gas prices are at a four-year low, my friends. | ||
| The Air Force and Space Force both hit their 2025 recruiting goals three months early. | ||
| Israel is agreeing to a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas. | ||
| Successful strike on Iranian nuclear sites. | ||
| Nuclear sites handles that problem. | ||
| That's exactly right. | ||
| Strength is back. | ||
| America's back. | ||
| It's resulted now in a ceasefire deal between Iran and Israel. | ||
| The NATO countries are increasing their defense spending, not just 2%, 5% of GDP, okay? | ||
| The president got in charge and got a Rwanda-Congo peace deal. | ||
| The Supreme Court ended nationwide injunctions. | ||
| How about that? | ||
| That conservative majority on the Supreme Court also allows third-country deportations. | ||
| We've had a record high stock market and we're signing a China trade deal. | ||
| That's just the last two weeks. | ||
| the last two weeks. | ||
| So many simple truths to share and so little time to do it because I want everybody to have a break here. | ||
| But I just want to say this. | ||
| It's really nice to hear my Democrat colleagues suddenly take an interest in working Americans again. | ||
| Did you pick up on that theme today? | ||
| Let's be clear. | ||
| Working Americans stopped trusting Democrats a long time ago. | ||
| That is a fact. | ||
| They're looking to this side of the chamber. | ||
| They're looking to the Republican Party and our principles to deliver the relief and the reform that they have long demanded and they most certainly deserve. | ||
| This big, beautiful bill fulfills all the promises in the American First Agenda. | ||
| It is the People's Bill. | ||
| It is made for and shaped by the most diverse coalition of American voters in American history. | ||
| Today, we are making the dream of a government that puts the American people first, a reality. | ||
| A reality. | ||
| I would need this entire notebook to tell you all the great things in the Big Beautiful Bill. | ||
| It is aptly named, but I'll just tell you a couple of the highlights. | ||
| Record tax cuts for hard-working Americans. | ||
| Historic savings at the same time to end reckless spending. | ||
| We got energy dominance coming back to power our future. | ||
| We have a secure border to protect American families. | ||
| We have a strong military to restore peace through strength. | ||
| And we have a government that is now accountable and responsive to the people once again. | ||
| That's what we're delivering. | ||
| For everyday Americans, this means real positive change that they can feel, and they will feel much more when this bill is done. | ||
| Families back home will have real relief, an average of $10,000 in their pockets, thanks to the largest working and middle-class tax cut in the history of this great nation. | ||
| That's what we're doing today. | ||
| You got hardworking Americans like our waiters and our bellhops and our hairstylists. | ||
| They're going to keep 100% of their tips and overtime pay. | ||
| That is money they earned. | ||
| It does not belong to the government. | ||
| belongs to them, and they deserve to keep it. | ||
| Small businesses that want to build and expand new factories, you know what they could do now? | ||
| They can write off 100% of their investment. | ||
| That will have us a lot in our building. | ||
| Young families who want to buy a home will be able to, thanks to historic savings that will put our country on a stronger financial footing. | ||
| Pregnant women, children, seniors, single mothers, the disabled, and the low-income Americans among us receiving Medicaid and SNAP will have the peace of mind of knowing that we've made these safety nets stronger with our reforms. | ||
| See, when Republicans are in charge, we bring common sense. | ||
| We're going to make sure that Americans who do need and deserve those critical programs won't have to compete against people who can work but choose not to do so. | ||
| That's not right. | ||
| This bill is going to put fairness back in the system. | ||
| We are returning to common sense. | ||
| We're returning to what is good and decent that people know in their hearts, and that's why they support it. | ||
| More Americans will be working, volunteering, and serving their communities because modest, common sense work requirements will restore dignity and purpose to those on taxpayer-funded benefits. | ||
| The bill will also mean that safer streets are available in every zip code around the country because our border will remain fully and totally secure. | ||
| The Republican Party stands for law and order, and this is the side that stands with law enforcement, the brave men and women who are on the front line. | ||
| The idea that those who put their own lives on the line to protect us would be assaulted for doing their jobs is unconscionable. | ||
| Law enforcement. | ||
| I know you agree. | ||
| I know, amen. | ||
| Law enforcement will have the help of a border wall now that's 100% complete. | ||
| Our immigration enforcement officers will get a boost from more manpower and resources and detention space so that detained illegal aliens are not released back into the streets like they were for the last four years. | ||
| And our homeland can rest soundly again under the protection of President Trump's Golden Dome. | ||
| That's what we're investing in. | ||
| Look, any of these individual achievements would be historic victories for a Republican Congress or any Congress. | ||
| And today we're delivering on all of them in one big, beautiful bill. | ||
| That's what Americans can count on when we pass this legislation, and that's exactly what Democrats will vote to oppose today. | ||
| That's a fact. | ||
| We didn't write this bill for the Democratic Party or the elites or the media. | ||
| This bill is for hard-working Americans, and they deserve it. | ||
| I'm going to just say this as plainly as I can. | ||
| This is a simple truth. | ||
| If you're for a secure border, safer communities, and a strong military, this bill is for you. | ||
| If you're for common sense fiscal responsibility and reducing the deficit, this bill is for you. | ||
| If you're for fair and lower taxes, bigger paychecks, affordable gas and groceries, and restoring dignity to hard work, this is the bill for you. | ||
| It makes no difference whether our colleagues across the chamber speak for 25 minutes or 25 hours. | ||
| They can't change the truth. | ||
| And today was about performance for some of them. | ||
| But today for us is about results. | ||
| Results that improve the lives of Americans, regardless of their race, religion, color, or creed. | ||
| does not matter. | ||
| I tell you what, Ronald Reagan used to remind us you can always trust the American people, and we do trust the American people, and they can discern the difference. | ||
| What they saw on display here today is that Democrats deliver performances and Republicans deliver results. | ||
| Today, my friends, we are ready now. | ||
| We are going to deliver what we were sent here to do, and every American will benefit from it. | ||
| In 1793, just steps from where we stand today, President George Washington laid the first cornerstone of the United States Capitol. | ||
| Over 50 years later, on July 4th, again, members of this body gathered once again to lay a second cornerstone. | ||
| Once more on July 4th, at the height of the Cold War, Congress laid a third cornerstone. | ||
| And this week, with this vote today, on our nation's birthday being tomorrow, we lay a fourth. | ||
| With this bill, we can vote as stewards of that great legacy that we have inherited in this extraordinary nation that we are blessed to live in. | ||
| We can lay another sturdy foundation for the future of this country, a future where working Americans can feel relief, where government can finally start living within its means again, and where the United States is safer, stronger, and more prosperous than ever before. | ||
| That's right. | ||
| Now, I'm going to say this as they mock America and mock everything and mock the bill. | ||
| We'll see how the people feel about that. | ||
| So listen, seriously, as friends and colleagues, really, across the aisle, what we celebrate tomorrow is the nation's birthday. | ||
| Let's put the politics aside for a minute and let's reflect on our blessings. | ||
| No kidding, really. | ||
| Tomorrow is the 249th birthday of our nation. | ||
| That's right. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I mean this sincerely. | |
| I thank my colleagues for standing. | ||
| We all should be united in that. | ||
| We are. | ||
| We are. | ||
| We have squabbles, we have partisan debates and all of this, but at the end of the day, we're all Americans, man. | ||
| And we've got to believe that. | ||
| We've got to know it. | ||
| We've got to recognize that we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. | ||
| is not even close. | ||
| My friends and colleagues, we are so blessed. | ||
| We should not take it for granted. | ||
| We live in the most free, the most successful, the most powerful, the most benevolent nation that has ever been on the face of the earth. | ||
| And there's a reason for that. | ||
| The reason that we are the greatest nation is because we were built on the ultimate foundation. | ||
| And the bold declaration that my friend Hakeem Jeffries articulated earlier is true. | ||
| We unite under that. | ||
| The bold declaration that we do hold these truths to be self-evident. | ||
| What is a self-evident truth? | ||
| It's something that's obvious. | ||
| We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. | ||
| It does not say born equal. | ||
| It says created equal. | ||
| And that it is our creator. | ||
| Yes. | ||
| It is our creator that gives us our rights. | ||
| See, the powerful thing about that is we're the first nation in the history of the world that acknowledged that our rights do not derive from government. | ||
| They come from God himself. | ||
| You see those words up there, that motto? | ||
| It says, in God we trust, right above the speaker's rostrum. | ||
| You know, a previous Congress put that there in the early 60s in the height of the Cold War. | ||
| There's a little visitor's guide that people get when you do tours late at night. | ||
| You've probably seen your constituents and visitors and friends get the guide. | ||
| If you turn, I think it's about to page 21. | ||
| It explains why that's there. | ||
| And it says, Congress voted to put that there as a rebuke to the Soviets' worldview at the height of the Cold War. | ||
| Why? | ||
| Because communism, socialism find their root in Marxism. | ||
| And Marxism begins with the belief that there is no God. | ||
| It's wrong. | ||
| And this Congress made us stand those many years ago, and we should do it again. | ||
| We're different. | ||
| We're distinct. | ||
| We're exceptional because we acknowledge that right there, our motto. | ||
| It doesn't say in government we trust. | ||
| It says in God we trust. | ||
| And we better remember that. | ||
| He has blessed us with this grand experiment in self-governance now for almost two and a half centuries. | ||
| And by God's grace, we are working hard, and we are delivering on our promise to make America great again. | ||
| This is without a doubt the most important vote of this Congress. | ||
| And I think this may be the most important vote that any of us take in our entire lifetimes. | ||
| And everybody better remember it, however you vote today. | ||
| My friends, the President of the United States is waiting with his pen. | ||
| The American people are waiting for this relief. | ||
| We've heard enough talk. | ||
| It's time for action. | ||
| Let's finish the job for him. | ||
| vote yes on the bill. | ||
| With that, I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields an all time for debate has expired pursuant to House resolution 566 the previous question is ordered. | |
| The question is on the motion by the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Arrington. | ||
| All those in favor say aye. | ||
| Aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| The ayes have it. | ||
| The motion is agreed to. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Massachusetts seek recognition? | ||
| Let's go to it. | ||
| Vote is requested. | ||
| Those favoring a recorded vote will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. | ||
| Members will record their votes by electronic device. | ||
| This will be a 15-minute vote. | ||
| And with that, 29 hours of debate on H.R. 1. | ||
| The so-called Big Beautiful Bill is finished, and the voting is happening. | ||
| Mike Johnson probably would not be bringing it up for a vote if he didn't think he had the votes. | ||
| It's predicted that there may be two Republicans who vote against it. | ||
| He has a margin of about four in the House given the vacancies that are there. | ||
| Well, again, it's been 29 hours, eight hours and 44 minutes of that taken up in a record-setting speech by Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who laid out his vision for the Democratic Party, touching on most of the major issues that are being debated today, along with a lot of history. | ||
| But we want to get your reaction to the debate that has happened over the last 29 hours and the bill itself, its policy priorities, et cetera. | ||
| 202 is the area code for all of our numbers. | ||
| 748-8,000 for Democrats, 748-8,001 for Republicans, 748-8,002 for Independents. | ||
| We will obviously watch the vote and keep you apprised. | ||
| And you can see how many the number to look for is the Republican line and the nays. | ||
| If that goes above two or three, it gets more interesting then, but that is the one number that you should really keep an eye on. | ||
| I believe there are three vacancies currently in the House. | ||
| I think the whole House is at 432. | ||
| It's 435 seats. | ||
| So I believe there are three vacancies at this point. | ||
| So just keep an eye on the Republican line, the nay line, that's the one. | ||
| Well, this is Mike Johnson, 617th day as Speaker of the House in this Congress and the past Congress. | ||
| And he has often brought some major legislation over the finish line when it's unexpected. | ||
| So we'll see if this bill passes as well. | ||
| President Trump has said that he will on July 4th have a signing ceremony at the White House. | ||
| So that will be live, obviously, on C-SPAN as well when that comes up. | ||
| But now it's time to hear your voices. | ||
| Joe in Rockville Center, New York, Democrat. | ||
| Joe, good afternoon. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Joe, you with us? | |
| Joe, we're going to move on to Charles in Claremont, North Carolina, Independent. | ||
| Charles, you're on C-SPAN right now. | ||
| What do you want to talk about? | ||
| What's on your mind? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I've really enjoyed your coverage for the last couple days, and I commend you on keeping America informed. | |
| I used to be a Democrat. | ||
| Now I'm Independent. | ||
| And I've side mostly with the Republican Party. | ||
| I'm excited. | ||
| And all I can say is for America that if those Democrats are this set against this bill, it must be the right thing for the country. | ||
| So, Charles, why did you switch allegiances, do you think? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Because the party left us a long time ago. | |
| I was born in 1957. | ||
| My father and my grandfather were Democrats. | ||
| I became a Democrat. | ||
| But I can tell you one thing. | ||
| I have been ashamed of what they've done to weaken our country. | ||
| And I hear nobody talk about the tremendous debt we're leaving our children and grandchildren. | ||
| They don't seem to be concerned about it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And somewhere along the line, we're going to have to pay the piper. | |
| Charles in Claremont, North Carolina, thank you so much. | ||
| Hakeem Jeffries set a record for a House floor speech, eight hours and 44 minutes. | ||
| That beat Kevin McCarthy, who did eight hours and 32 minutes in 2021. | ||
| And prior to that, Nancy Pelosi in 2018 did eight hours and some change. | ||
| Now, this isn't the only record that was set over the debate on the so-called Big Beautiful bill. | ||
| The Senate, in their voterama all weekend, if you were watching on C-SPAN 2, that was a record-breaking period of voting that they had as well. | ||
| Paul Kane from the Washington Post tweets out that a key difference in a House magic minute. | ||
| Now, that's what Hakeem Jeffries took. | ||
| As a leader, he could speak for unlimited time. | ||
| But the difference between the House and the Senate filibuster, in the House, only the top three leaders get the privilege of limitless speaking. | ||
| And during a filibuster in the Senate, the senators can yield for questions. | ||
| That's why a filibuster might go 24, 32, 48 hours, because they can yield for questions. | ||
| Those questions could go on for a couple of hours, giving the filibustering senator a break. | ||
| Richard, Canton, Georgia, Republican line. | ||
| Richard, they're voting on the big, beautiful bill. | ||
| What do you think? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I hope that it carries through. | |
| I hope that all the Republicans will do what they ought to do and vote for it. | ||
| I don't understand the one thing you can say about Democrats. | ||
| I mean, there's one sheet, one leader that'll lead them right into the fire pit and they'll follow him all the way in. | ||
| Republicans at least have enough gumption to fight each other once in a while. | ||
| Democrats don't do that. | ||
| The other thing is, Hakeem Jeffries, I mean, if he's talking, he's lying. | ||
| And I'm so fed up with that. | ||
| They're such hypocrites. | ||
| He sits there and talks about how, oh, we didn't have time to look at this bill. | ||
| The House passed this bill back in May. | ||
| They've been talking about it for months. | ||
| I think he must have forgotten. | ||
| It seems to me Nancy Pelosi put a 3,000-plus page bill about Obamacare in front of them and gave them four hours to look at it and then vote because she said you had to pass the bill to see it, to find out what's in it. | ||
| That is not the way government ought to be run. | ||
| Hey, Richard, were you watching, Richard? | ||
| Were you watching the Senate debate this weekend, this past weekend on C-SPAN 2? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I watched some of it, not all of it. | |
| I did get to see it all the time, they read the entire bill on the floor. | ||
| Democratic leader Charles Schumer asked for it to be read. | ||
| And so it was read on the Senate floor. | ||
| I found that pretty interesting. | ||
| And, you know, can tune in and listen for 10 minutes to hear the language in a bill. | ||
| So what do you think about reading all bills on the floors? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, why? | |
| Senator Schumer left. | ||
| He wasn't even there to hear it. | ||
| It was just a delaying ploy by the Democrats. | ||
| I mean, the Republicans didn't ask them to read Pelosi's bill. | ||
| Why, you know, can you imagine they'd still be reading it? | ||
| That's Richard in Canton, Georgia. | ||
| Again, when you're looking at that vote count, those are House of Representative graphics that they put up. | ||
| Those are the official vote counts. | ||
| Keep an eye on the Republican line, the nay vote. | ||
| And you can see the far line, NV not voted yet, not voting. | ||
| So there's 27 Republicans left, 11 Democrats, if my eyes are correct. | ||
| So the Republicans have the majority. | ||
| If that nay vote stays at one, it will pass. | ||
| And it looks like it's Tom Massey out of Kentucky who is that one nay vote so far. | ||
| Chip Roy from Texas, Republican, often, you know, critical of spending measures, has voted yes. | ||
| Some of the votes that we should watch out for include Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Scott Perry of Virginia. | ||
| They are potential no votes. | ||
| So keep an eye on that nay line. | ||
| David Baldwin, Missouri, Democrat. | ||
| David, good afternoon to you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good afternoon to you. | |
| And what a wonderful presentation that C-SPAN does for these debates. | ||
| One thing that I'm astonished by is the perception of the bill coming out of the Republican side. | ||
| If they listened to the bill being read, and I do agree with bills as substantial as this to be read so that John Q. Public can hear what it actually says in the bill. | ||
| Now, if they were paying attention, they will note that you cannot cut that much money out of these programs and have them still be viable. | ||
| Now, I work in the health care industry, or I just retired from the health care industry. | ||
| And the hospital that's been open since 1974 has just announced that they are closing. | ||
| Now, this is not a rural hospital. | ||
| This is a suburban hospital here in St. Louis that has served the public since 1974. | ||
| Says that this bill is, let's put it the way they said it. | ||
| They would not be a viable hospital based on the reimbursements that they would receive from the government. | ||
| David, what's the name of the hospital? | ||
|
unidentified
|
St. Luke's DePair Hospital. | |
| Thank you, sir, for calling in with that. | ||
| Greg is in Bellevue, Nebraska, Independent Line. | ||
| Greg, you with us? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm with you. | |
| Please go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm watching these people scrutinize these bills. | |
| And I just look back at the so many Democratic bills that have been put on, like the other caller said, where Pelosi says, well, you need to vote on the bill to see what's in it. | ||
| And they blindly do it. | ||
| And now they're scrutinizing this bill. | ||
| At least, even if it is overspending, Trump wants to spend on America. | ||
| And that's a lot better than what the Dems bankrupt our country on. | ||
| That's what I have to say. | ||
| That's Greg in Nebraska Independent line. | ||
| Only one nay vote on the Republican side so far, and that is Tom Massey. | ||
| Scott Perry, who represents the Harrisburg area of Pennsylvania, has voted yes. | ||
| And Don Bacon, Omaha, Nebraska, retiring after this Congress, has also voted yes on the bill. | ||
| So the magic number here is for the Republican or the yay votes to get over 213 because the Democrats have 212 in their caucus. | ||
| So once the Republicans get over 213, the so-called big beautiful bill will pass. | ||
| Next call is Lisa in Fort Myers, Florida, Democrats line. | ||
| Lisa, good afternoon to you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| You're on the airport. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I just wanted to say, yes, I just wanted to say that I think that the Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for taking so much away health care, things that people who are really desperate, who've depended on this system and paid in their whole lives, they should just be ashamed of themselves. | |
| And Jesus says that whatever you do to the least of these, that you do to me. | ||
| Lisa, how much did you watch any of Hakeem Jeffery's eight-hour and 44-minute speech? | ||
| We'll never know because she hung up. | ||
| Ralph, Othello, Washington, Independent Line. | ||
| Hi, Ralph. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi. | |
| What do you want to talk about? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I'm talking about both the Senate and the rest of the, I thought we are the United States of America, but it sounds like between the Democrats and the Republicans, we're the divided states of the United States of America. | |
| And I just am tired of all the baloney that's going on back and forth. | ||
| What do our kids coming up in school think about what this country's like? | ||
| I think the Democrats and the Republicans should be ashamed of themselves how they're acting. | ||
| That's all I have to say, sir. | ||
| Thank you for taking my call. | ||
| Jake Sherman is reporting that on the House floor there are a couple of White House aides, James Braid and James Blair, are out there. | ||
| Again, if the bill passes, the president is planning a signing ceremony tomorrow. | ||
| Now, we've also gotten word that there might be an event this afternoon with Speaker Johnson. | ||
| We will carry that live, of course, as well. | ||
| Another vote that the Republicans were, somebody who has voted against the Republican majority in the past is Victoria Sparks. | ||
| She represents central Indiana, Republican, and she has voted yes on this bill. | ||
| Now there are, looks like two no votes on the Republican side. | ||
| So we'll try to figure out, along with Tom Massey, who that other nay vote is. | ||
| Steve is in Arlington, Texas, Republican lines. | ||
| Steve, good afternoon. | ||
| What'd you think of the debate? | ||
| What do you think about what you've read about H.R. 1, the big, beautiful bill? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, good afternoon. | |
| Thank you for taking my call. | ||
| I really do appreciate it. | ||
| Number one, I've heard some callers talking about the Democratic Party. | ||
| Well, the Democratic Party hadn't done anything for this country, first of all, except spin, spin, spin. | ||
| And so they really don't have much to say or to what they've done in the past. | ||
| But I am a Republican, and I do not believe that we should be going into debt to this level. | ||
| We are sacrificing the young people's future here in America by doing that. | ||
| I do believe we need to be fiscally responsible, and I do not believe this bill is that. | ||
| There are many parts of the bill that are done well, but spinning and putting us in that level of debt is unacceptable. | ||
| It just, we're sacrificing our future. | ||
| Thank you, sir, for calling in. | ||
| Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a suburban, ex-urban area of Philadelphia, a Republican, has also voted no. | ||
| So two people from different points of view, I think, in the Republican Party, Tom Massey, Kentucky, Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania, have both voted no. | ||
| And the Republicans are over the 212 mark, and this bill will pass. | ||
| This bill has passed. | ||
| Only two people have not voted, and we don't know who they are, but we're going to figure that out. | ||
| Andy Harris, who is chair of the House Freedom Caucus, Republican, Maryland, has voted yes as well. | ||
| So the bill has passed, and we'll try to figure out who those two not voted are on the Republican side. | ||
| All Democrats voted no, 212, two Republicans so far. | ||
| So those two non-votes could make this a tie vote. | ||
| So Republicans need one more yes vote to get this passed. | ||
| Della Mechanicsburg, PA, Democrat. | ||
| Hi, Della. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello. | |
| Thank you for taking my call. | ||
| I dislike, generally, speaking in generalities, but I'm going to paint the Republicans with a broad stroke. | ||
| They seem to all be cruel and uncaring of the average American. | ||
| This bill is for the rich. | ||
| They are taking so much away from the average American. | ||
| I don't know how, and I don't know how they can invoke Jesus in all of their speeches. | ||
| I disagree with everything that Johnson said. | ||
| I didn't hear all of Kareem Jeffery's speech, but Hakeem, I'm sorry, speech, but I heard all of Johnson's, and I disagree with everything he said. | ||
| Many of your other callers talked about history and that the Democrats have not done anything. | ||
| They forget that everything that they are cutting out was started by a Democrat. | ||
| Social Security, Medicare, and all of those so-called social programs, people are enjoying Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and so forth. | ||
| A lot of that was started decades and decades ago by Democrats. | ||
| Clinton balanced the budget, if I remember my history correctly. | ||
| So let's not lean so heavily on history if you're not going to remember all of it conveniently. | ||
| This bill is not beautiful. | ||
| It is awful. | ||
| And I'm kind of looking forward to MAGA discovering that their programs have been slashed and cut by this bill. | ||
| I am now retired, and I am going, I am now an activist. | ||
| Thanks to the Republicans, I am an activist. | ||
| I'm going to be out there, and I'm going to be working to make sure that Scott Kerry of Pennsylvania does not serve one more term. | ||
| That's Della in Mechanicsburg, PA, on our Democrats line. | ||
| Now, again, that Republican line, 217 for, two against, and two one no vote. | ||
| Oh, they got it. | ||
| They passed it. | ||
| It was being reported that Ralph Norman, South Carolina, who often votes against the majority of his party on bills like this, hadn't voted yet, nor had John James. | ||
| He is out of Michigan. | ||
| He represents a northern Detroit, ex-urban, suburban district as well. | ||
| And he had not voted as well. | ||
| But it looks like everybody there has voted. | ||
| John James has now voted yes. | ||
| So it is 217. | ||
| The bill will pass because the Democrats will not have enough to oppose that at 217. | ||
| So Ralph Norman is the only non-vote so far. | ||
| And where he goes, you know, it will not affect the outcome of the bill at this point. | ||
| Rich in Banning, California, Democrat. | ||
| Rich, what do you think about H.R. 1, the so-called big, beautiful bill passing? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, the nomenclature was indirect, was incorrect. | |
| It was the big, ugly bill. | ||
| And I'm sure that President Trump is going to go down to Mar-a-Lago and state, once again, I've made you all richer. | ||
| They've made it even worse. | ||
| They made what used to be temporary cuts for the upper class, for the 1% of Americans, to be permanent, while all of the others are temporary and can be adjusted. | ||
| There's so much in here to go to be against. | ||
| You know, one, for, you know, cutting Medicaid from states who provide temporary care or temporary help to immigrants, that the federal government will cut their benefits, even though none of the money is being used by the states to cover those health care costs. | ||
| They will cut Medicaid to the states. | ||
| That's one of the things in the bill. | ||
| There's so much, lowering the age of dependency from 18 to 7 for SNAP benefits or for Medicaid, again, under Medicaid. | ||
| Making people report, you know, twice, making the reporting requirements twice a year instead of once a year for the eligibility for these things. | ||
| It just is sad. | ||
| That's Rich in Banning, California, still waiting on Ralph Norman to vote, Republican of South Carolina. | ||
| Now, remember, this is the Senate bill. | ||
| The House passed its bill last week. | ||
| The Senate then passed its bill, and then the House had to agree to the changes in the Senate bill. | ||
| So this is basically the Senate bill. | ||
| And some of the changes that were made by the Senate include, well, this is what's in the bill as is. | ||
| $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. | ||
| Existing tax rates and brackets are now permanent. | ||
| State and local tax deduction quadruples to $40,000 for the next five years. | ||
| There's $350 billion in the bill for border and national security. | ||
| There are deeper cuts to Medicaid in the Senate bill than there were in the House, the original House bill. | ||
| And there are some restrictions on food stamps. | ||
| There is no tax on tips up to a certain amount. | ||
| I believe it's $25,000. | ||
| And there's a rollback of clean energy tax credits. | ||
| There's a higher debt ceiling. | ||
| The debt ceiling is going to be hit, I believe, in August. | ||
| And according to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill would increase the deficit by $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years. | ||
| Linda, Hanover, Pennsylvania, Republican line. | ||
| Hi, Linda. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hi. | |
| Go ahead, Paul. | ||
| Okay, I would just like to say that in the last four years under Biden, I didn't hear any of these Democrats talk about how bad it was letting millions of illegal immigrants cross their border, putting them on Medicaid, giving them checks, housing them, all the expenses connected with that. | ||
| And yet, Trump is trying to rectify this. | ||
| It's got to be saving money somewhere because we can't keep giving money that we don't have. | ||
| And that's exactly what the Democrats have done the last four years. | ||
| None of them spoke up and said Biden was doing wrong. | ||
| None of them said we can't afford an open border. | ||
| None of them said anything about the illegal immigrants receiving Medicaid and housing and medical. | ||
| And they were going to the hospitals and the hospitals were even speaking out that they couldn't cover it. | ||
| So, you know, Jakeen Jeffries, I listened to him. | ||
| I honestly sat and listened to him. | ||
| And it was lie upon lie upon lie. | ||
| Okay, Linda, we're going to leave it there. | ||
| The House will be gaveling out here in just a second. | ||
| You can see that Ralph Norman did vote yes. | ||
| The yeas are 218, the nays are 214. | ||
| The motion is adopted. | ||
| Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The chair lays before the house a communication. | |
| The honorable speaker, House OF Representatives. | ||
| Sir, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2H of rule 2 of the rules of the U.S. House OF Representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the Senate on June 27, 2025 at 3, 36 P.M. | ||
| That the Senate passed Senate 98, Senate 257 that the Senate agreed to relative to the death of Frederick W. Smith. | ||
| Senate Resolution 308 appointments. | ||
| Board of visitors of the U.S. Military Academy. | ||
| Signed sincerely, Kevin F. McCumber. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Clerk, do what I have to do to clause 13 of rule one. | |
| The house stands adjourned until 10 a.m. | ||
| On Monday, July 7 2025 and with that the House is in recess. | ||
| Both the House and the Senate were supposed to be in recess beginning the Saturday or so for the entire holiday week, but both ended up being in session to pass the big, beautiful bill, which they did 218 to 214 to Republicans against Tom Massey, Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati adjacent area, and Brian Fitzpatrick, | ||
| ex-urban suburban Philadelphia area, both from different points of view, both voted against it for different reasons, but it passes 218 to 214. | ||
| The president has said he will have a signing ceremony on Friday, on July 4th, and obviously C-SPAN will bring that to you live. | ||
| The president is also planning to be in Iowa tomorrow night to kick off the America 250 celebration over the next 18 months and there's he's going to be at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and there'll be fireworks and speakers and all that and that will be live on C-SPAN. | ||
| That is actually tonight and I apologize for that. | ||
| That is it's Thursday today. | ||
| He, he will be in Iowa tonight for that. | ||
| That will be live on C-SPAN. | ||
| And then, of course, on July 4th, lots of lots of America 250 programming going on on our networks and any live events, like the president signing the big beautiful bill. | ||
| That will too, be live. | ||
| Now I want to show you this scene in the speaker's lobby. | ||
| This is this is what's happening right now and speaker Johnson is holding a little celebration presser and he'll be speaking shortly and we'll be going to that as soon as he starts Talking. | ||
| Tommy, Columbus, Ohio, Democrats. | ||
| Tommy, what do you think? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I think that it's an embarrassment to the American people, and I'm so grateful to hear Hakeem Jeffries really speak the truth about so many Republicans that were asking for this to not occur. | |
| But they still went ahead and they passed it against their own constituents. | ||
| I personally know people who are disabled, elderly, and have severe medical problems that are losing their benefits. | ||
| And the problem is that many of these benefits, it won't expire immediately. | ||
| No, they want to make sure that they can stretch it out as long as they can. | ||
| But eventually, everybody in this country is going to understand this is a big, ugly bill and that is not in the best interest of the American people, and that the wealthiest are going to have permanent cuts, and the poor are taking the brunt of this. | ||
| And that is just basic math. | ||
| And I'm embarrassed to know that children in schools won't get lunch and breakfast, that hungry people will not get benefits as they begged in all of their requests to this absolute unresponsive House of Representatives, and of course the Senate as well. | ||
| And I am proud to be a Democrat because unlike people saying about the border, the Democrats attempted to do border funding as soon as President Biden was in office. | ||
| That was not even responded by because they wouldn't hold that vote. | ||
| So then when they did have a bipartisan agreement by Langford and the Senate, they were told you cannot put that on the floor because if you do, Trump won't have anything to run on. | ||
| It is so disgusting and just disappointing that this is feud to take advantage of the American people to project fear when all we want to do is work together across the aisle. | ||
| Hey, Tommy, what did you think of Hakeem Jeffries' eight-hour, 44-minute record-setting House floor speech where he laid out what could be called his agenda for the Democratic Party? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I'm very proud of that. | |
| I'm so proud I listened to every word and I did not hear any mistruths. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm a policy nerd. | |
| I'm a retired professor. | ||
| And I was proud to have the truth laid out there. | ||
| Tommy, did you teach at Ohio State and what did you teach? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I did not. | |
| I actually taught in Nebraska, in Omaha, Nebraska, in higher education. | ||
| I taught counseling and worked with schools to better prepare children for their social-emotional learning skills as well as their learning goals. | ||
| And when I see this misrepresentation of public education, of higher education cuts, of all of these complete mistruths, I'm so grateful to be a Democrat, and I will continue and become more of an activist. | ||
| All right, that's Tommy in Columbus, Ohio. | ||
| We're waiting on Speaker Johnson to join some of his colleagues in a victory lap in the speaker's lobby. | ||
| Anthony, Las Vegas, Independent. | ||
| Anthony, good afternoon to you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, sir. | |
| Hi, thank you so much for letting me speak here. | ||
| As an American, I'm in my 70s, senior citizen, devote a lot of my time to senior citizen activism and such. | ||
| I'm really torn here because I think we all want what's best for the country, but I can't believe that so many people who are going to lose benefits as it's been described, millions. | ||
| I think that's where I was a little confused on the whole thing because based on what side you're on, X amount of people are going to lose benefits. | ||
| It's only going to be waste, fraud, whatever. | ||
| But on the other side, as the lady who just called in, very, very eloquent, I thought, says that many more people maybe are going to lose benefits, people who really need it. | ||
| Another gentleman said they're going to close hospitals. | ||
| If the only reason to do that is to give multi-billionaires tax cuts, what's happened to America? | ||
| I don't want to get on the soapbox per se, but what's happened to America that the ultra-rich can control everything? | ||
| And I'm not saying, and again, sir, respectfully speaking, there is waste and abuse. | ||
| But when older disabled people, as the lady before just very eloquently said, are going to lose benefits. | ||
| I'm an American. | ||
| I feel like I've been stabbed in the heart on that aspect of it. | ||
| And, you know, being a senior advocate, too, many of my years in California where the laws were good, you know, in Nevada now. | ||
| But the point is, the average person, we all feel like more of the stuff's being taken from us. | ||
| More to some benefits are taken. | ||
| All right, Anthony, we're going to leave it there. | ||
| Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris tells reporters they got significant agreements with the administration overnight on executive actions, both inside and outside of the bill, that will make America great again. | ||
| That's what's being reported by Nicholas Wu. | ||
| And we'll see in the coming weeks whether or not President Trump does have some executive actions that were palatable to the Freedom Caucus. | ||
| Andy Harris represents the far eastern shore of Maryland. | ||
| He's the only Republican in the Maryland delegation. | ||
| And he is chair of the current Freedom Caucus. | ||
| Interesting tidbit. | ||
| Hakeem Jeffries sets a House floor record, eight minutes and 44 hours and 44 minutes. | ||
| I will get that right at one point. | ||
| And Corey Booker, Democrat, New Jersey senator, holds the filibuster record. | ||
| So currently, the two records in the Senate and the House are held by current members. | ||
| Speaker Johnson. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah. | |
| You all can see over me? | ||
| Yes. | ||
| Okay. |