| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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Congresswoman Grajalva's Welcome
00:10:21
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|
unidentified
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Are already telling me that they're making that choice between having health insurance or having a house to live in. | |
| And they're going to choose the house. | ||
| So that's going to raise prices, not just for the 22 million that are on the Affordable Care Act tax credits, but on all Americans. | ||
| Do you think the Senate Democrats need a new leader? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, I dare you to, but that's not in my hands. | |
| That's up to them. | ||
| Congresswoman, when are you contemplating heading into the January 30th stopgap deadline that's in this bill? | ||
| Do you think Democrats will be able to get concessions on health care before then, or do you think another shutdown is possible? | ||
| I really don't know. | ||
| I think it depends on these vulnerable House Republicans who are not going to be able to go back to their constituents without telling them that they've done something on health care. | ||
| And so, but I've seen some ridiculous things coming out from the Senate already, some of the Senate Republicans, about abortion restrictions. | ||
| We're going to leave this. | ||
| Take you live now to the House. | ||
| The chair lays before the House the communication. | ||
| The Honorable the Speaker, House of Representatives, sir. | ||
| I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the Certificate of Election received from the Honorable Adrienne Fontes, Arizona Secretary of State. | ||
| indicating that the special election held on September 23rd, 2025, the Honorable Adelita Grajalva was duly elected representative in Congress for the 7th Congressional District, state of Arizona. | ||
| Signed sincerely, Kevin F. McCumber, clerk. | ||
| Will Representative-elect Grijalva and members of the Arizona delegation present themselves in the well? | ||
| And all members will rise. | ||
| And the Representative-elect will raise her right hand. | ||
| Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter. | ||
| So help you, God. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I do. | |
| Congratulations. | ||
| You're now a member of the 119th Congress. | ||
| Without objection, the gentleman from Arizona is recognized for one minute. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| It is my pleasure to rise today to congratulate our newest colleague and fellow Arizonan on her swearing in as a representative of Arizona's 7th congressional district, Congresswoman Adelita Grajalva. | ||
| Congresswoman Grajalva has concentrated her career on issues associated in advocating for students and supporting families. | ||
| As she follows her late father's footsteps, and boy, those are some footsteps, especially with those bolo ties. | ||
| Wow. | ||
| I have no doubt she will bring to the halls of Congress the same energy that has defined her years of public service. | ||
| As Dean of the Arizona Congressional Delegation, I wish to congratulate Congressman Grajalva and welcome her to the United States House of Representatives. | ||
| I now yield to my friend from Arizona, Mr. Stanton. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, thank you and thank you to Congressman Gosar, the new Dean of Arizona's state delegation. | ||
| It has been a minute since we've all been together on the House floor. | ||
| Looking for cobwebs around here. | ||
| As dean, Congressman Gosar replaces the late Congressman Raul Grijalva, one of the most impactful leaders in Arizona history. | ||
| And now with great pride, I rise today to do something we have waited 50 long days to do. | ||
| Exactly 49 days too long. | ||
| And that is to introduce our colleague from Arizona, Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva. | ||
| Since September 23rd, the people of Arizona have been waiting for this day, and the excuses for the delay have changed seemingly daily. | ||
| First, they said they need an election certificate, though one isn't required. | ||
| Then they wanted to make sure there was enough pomp and circumstance. | ||
| Then we were informed about a non-existent Pelosi precedent. | ||
| At one point, the Speaker went on television and said, Bless her heart. | ||
| She is representative-elect. | ||
| She doesn't know how it works around here. | ||
| Bless his heart, because here's how it should work. | ||
| Let's call it the Adelita-Grajalva precedent. | ||
| When the American people vote, this chamber respects their will and seats them immediately. | ||
| Politics should never come into play. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Congresswoman Grijalva is a native Tucsonan, the granddaughter of a bracero who came here from Mexico, the youngest woman ever elected to the Tucson Unified School Board. | ||
| serving 20 years, then a Pima County supervisor fighting for working families, affordable housing, early child education. | ||
| She brings that same fight to Congress. | ||
| The people of Arizona's 7th District placed their trust in her, and today that trust is rewarded. | ||
| And her first act of Congress will be a powerful one. | ||
| She will be the 218th and final signature on the discharge petition to force the Trump administration to release the upstream files, delivering long overdue justice and accountability for hundreds of victims abused by rich and powerful men. | ||
| She is a smart, principled fighter through and through, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| It is my honor to welcome and introduce to this chamber Congresswoman Adelita Grohlva. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Muchas gracias. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
| Thank you to my colleague and friend, Congressman Stanton, for that kind introduction and to the entire Democratic delegation from Arizona and the delegation that stood here with me that has supported me throughout this process. | ||
| I rise today the proud granddaughter of a bracero, a hardworking Mexican immigrant who came to this country for a better life, and I stand as the proud daughter of a U.S. Congressman, A man who spent his entire life fighting for justice, equity, and dignity for the most vulnerable. | ||
| From working as a vaquero to serving in Congress in just a single generation, that is the promise of this country. | ||
| That is the America I want to raise my three beautiful children in, Adelina, Raúl, and Joaquin. | ||
| Stand up. | ||
| Stand up, baby. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Look at them. | |
| They, along with my amazing husband, Sol, and my wonderful mama, Ramona, are here with me today. | ||
|
unidentified
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Muchas gracias por so a pollo tu y tuamor. | |
| And thank you to La Gente of Southern Arizona for making history, electing me the first Latina, the first Chicana from Arizona to ever go to Congress. | ||
| Este momento es histórico para nuestra comunidad. | ||
| Es uno nor se la primera Latinas en representadar risón en el congreso y leso eseguro que aun que estoy la primera, no sera la ultima. | ||
| And while we celebrate this moment today, our American promise is under serious threat. | ||
| Basic freedoms are under attack. | ||
| Health care premiums are skyrocketing. | ||
| Babies are being ripped away from their parents by mass agents. | ||
| We can and must do better. | ||
|
50 Days of Abuses
00:02:45
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| What is most concerning is not what this administration has done, but what the majority in this body has failed to do. | ||
| Hold Trump accountable as a co-equal branch of government that we are. | ||
| It has been 50 days since the people of Arizona's 7th Congressional District elected me to represent them. | ||
| 50 days that over 800,000 Arizonans have been left without access to the basic services that every constituent deserves. | ||
| This is an abuse of power. | ||
| One individual should not be able to unilaterally obstruct the swearing-in of a duly elected member of Congress for political reasons. | ||
| Democracy only works when everyone has a voice. | ||
| This includes the millions of people across the country who have experienced violence and exploitation, including Liz Stein and Jessica Michaels, both survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. | ||
| They are here in the gallery with us this evening. | ||
| Thank you for being here. | ||
| Just this morning, House Democrats released more emails showing that Trump knew more about Epstein's abuses than he previously acknowledged. | ||
| It's past time for Congress to restore its role as a check and balance on this administration and fight for we, the American people. | ||
| We need to fight for our immigrant communities and veterans. | ||
| We need to stand up for our public schools, children, and educators. | ||
| We need to respect tribal sovereignty in our environment. | ||
| We need to stand up for LGBTQ plus rights because that's what the American people expect us to do. | ||
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Justice Cannot Wait
00:15:21
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| Fight for them. | ||
| That is why I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files. | ||
| Justice cannot wait another day. | ||
| Adelante migente muchas gracias. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Under Clause 5 of Rule 20, the chair announces to the House that in light of the administration of the oath of the gentleman from Arizona, the whole number of the House is now 433. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And the House gaveling in after about two months since their last votes, expecting votes this evening on reopening the federal government. | |
| First order of business here on the floor. | ||
| Just a few moments ago, Arizona Democratic Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grahalva was sworn in by House Speaker Mike Johnson and then immediately signed the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files. | ||
| to debate the rule now to move forward on the government funding. | ||
| And the House gabbling in on day 43 of the government shutdown, which could be at an end soon as the House prepares a series of votes this afternoon and evening toward funding the government through January 30th. | ||
| House Speaker Mike Johnson also swearing in Arizona's new representative, Adelita Grahalva, who won a special election about two months ago. | ||
| We have her ceremonial swearing-in going on right now. | ||
| You can watch that live over on C-SPAN 2. | ||
| Following this, members are expected to debate rules to take up that government funding here on the House floor. | ||
| And here on the House floor, expecting a vote on debate rules and also debate on those rules, considering the government funding bill, if approved, it would continue the sequence of events needed to eventually reopen the government. | ||
| which has been shuttered for a record-breaking 43 days. | ||
| Also, just a short time ago, saw the swearing in here on the House floor of a new Congresswoman, Adelita Grahalva, who took the seat of her late father. | ||
| And right immediately after, signing a discharge petition to release the Jeffrey Epstein files and the investigations that have been accomplished by the federal government. | ||
| House will be in order. | ||
| Colleagues, members, please remove your conversations from the floor, clear the aisle, so that proceedings in the House may continue. | ||
| For my purposes, the gentlemen from Tennessee rise. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 4405 and ask for its immediate consideration in the House. | ||
| Under guidelines consistently issued by successive Speakers, as recorded in Section 956 of the House rules and manual, the Chair is constrained not to entertain the request unless it has been cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leaderships. | ||
| What purpose do gentlemen from Tennessee seek recognition? | ||
| Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| We Republicans are requesting this unanimous consent. | ||
| Our Democrats objecting to this request. | ||
| Chair reminds a gentleman from Tennessee that as indicated by section 956 of the House Rules and Manual, it is not a proper parliamentary inquiry to ask the chair to indicate which side of the aisle has failed under the Speaker's guidelines to clear a unanimous consent request, As was stated. | ||
| This is a gentle lady from Minnesota seek recognition. | ||
| Mr. Speaker by the direction of the committee on rules I call up House Resolution 873 and ask for its immediate consideration. | ||
| The clerk will report the resolution. | ||
| House calendar number 46, House Resolution 873, resolved that upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order to take from the Speaker's table the bill H.R. 5371, making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026 and for other purposes with the Senate amendment thereto, and to consider in the House, without intervention of any point of order, | ||
| a motion offered by the Chair of the Committee on Appropriations or his designee that the House concur in the Senate amendment. | ||
|
One Hour Debate Rule
00:02:24
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| The Senate amendment and the motion shall be considered as read. | ||
| The motion shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Minority Member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees. | ||
| The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the motion to its adoption without intervening motion. | ||
| House will be in order. | ||
| General Lady from Minnesota is recognized for one hour. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the ranking member from Massachusetts, Mr. McGovern, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, last night, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule providing for the consideration of the motion to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Extensions Act of 2026. | ||
| And I am happy to say that it will end the government shutdown. | ||
| The rule provides one hour of debate on the motion equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking member of the Committee on Appropriation or their designees. | ||
| I rise in support of this rule and the underlying legislation. | ||
| This bill delivers on our commitment to the American people by finally reopening the government. | ||
| It delivers on the promises that we have made to our veterans, to our farmers, to our taxpayers. | ||
| And let's be honest, this government shutdown was completely avoidable. | ||
| On September 19th, House Republicans passed a continuing resolution that funded critical services and would have given us time to negotiate long-term solutions. | ||
|
Jumpstart Appropriations Bill
00:03:25
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| It was a yes vote to keep the government open to pay our troops, aircraft, air traffic controllers, and federal employees. | ||
| Every Democrat but one voted no. | ||
| Every Democrat but one voted to shut the government down. | ||
| This is not opinion. | ||
| This is not messaging like Democrats keep trying to spin it. | ||
| It is a fact that anyone can check the record. | ||
| Democrats voted against a non-partisan, clean CR free of poison pills and would have continued, that would have continued Biden-level funding and kept the government open for negotiations. | ||
| Democrats chose politics over people. | ||
| They refused to support a common sense measure, and American families paid the price. | ||
| This bill restores stability to our national nutritional programs, which were put under unnecessary strain during the shutdown. | ||
| It will fund WIC and SNAP, ensuring that low-income mothers and their babies have access to healthy and nutritious foods. | ||
| These programs should not have been used as a bargaining chip during the shutdown. | ||
| Republicans are stepping up to protect Americans and ensure these programs remain stable and funded. | ||
| That is what responsible governance looks like. | ||
| There are three appropriations bills included in this CR put here to jumpstart our appropriations process. | ||
| H.R. 5371 delivers for rural America. | ||
| It provides funding for the Farm Service Agency to support our nation's farmers and ranchers. | ||
| It invests in rural development programs, including funding affordable rental housing assistance for low-income families and seniors in rural communities. | ||
| These investments strengthen our local economies and ensure that rural communities are not left behind. | ||
| For our troops, this bill demonstrates our dedication to veteran medical care, including funding for mental health, telehealth services, homelessness programs, caregiver programs, opioid misuse prevention and treatment, medical research, health care tailored to our female veterans, rural health care initiatives, and construction for new VA hospitals and veteran cemeteries. | ||
| We're also funding veteran disability programs, education benefits, and employment training. | ||
| Funds will be invested in military family housing projects to support those that support our troops and in projects to improve quality of life for our service members, including hospitals and schools. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, H.R. 5371 is what governing with a purpose looks like. | ||
| If Democrats had joined us in September to pass a common sense continuing resolution, we could have avoided this Democrat shutdown altogether. | ||
| But they chose reckless posturing over responsibility. | ||
| Now Republicans are stepping up to restore stability and reopen the government for the people. | ||
| I stand in support of this bill and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5371 and stay focused on what matters, serving the American people. | ||
|
Democrats' Audacity Questioned
00:04:32
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| With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve. | ||
| Gentlelady reserves her time. | ||
| The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the gentlelady from Minnesota for yielding me the customary time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| It's great to see you all, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| We've been looking for you guys everywhere. | ||
| Where the hell have you been? | ||
| Imagine my shock when I found out that you guys went home. | ||
| Eight weeks of taxpayer-funded, paid vacation for Republicans. | ||
| And why did Republicans do it? | ||
| They did it because Democrats had the audacity to ask them to try to lower people's health care costs. | ||
| And while they sat on their couch for eight weeks, we were working. | ||
| We listened to people who told us their health insurance premiums are doubling and tripling. | ||
| We heard from people who don't understand why you guys moved at the speed of light to give tax breaks to billionaires, but you won't lift a damn finger to extend the tax credits that help ensure people's health insurance premiums don't skyrocket. | ||
| This CR, this dirty CR, which does nothing to solve the health care crisis, is one of the most immoral, unethical, evil things that I have ever seen happen in all my time in Congress. | ||
| But it's just part of a larger pattern of indifference from Republicans that we have seen time after time after time. | ||
| When the billionaire class needed another tax cut, When they wanted to funnel money to the people who write their campaign checks, boy, did Republicans deliver. | ||
| They rammed through their awful, big, ugly bill in a nanosecond. | ||
| What the hell is wrong with them? | ||
| While regular people are struggling to pay bills, Donald Trump's net worth has gone up by $3 billion since he became president. | ||
| People's health insurance premiums are doubling and tripling. | ||
| But Republicans say there is no affordability crisis, even as their tariffs are costing people an extra $1,200 per year. | ||
| Regular people can't afford the rent, and Republicans are letting Trump gild his bathroom and build a ballroom to host the rich and powerful elites who own the GOP. | ||
| These guys are bailing out Argentina, Argentina. | ||
| They're giving $40 billion to an entirely different country rather than helping the 42 million Americans who can't afford to put food on the table. | ||
| And here's the clincher, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Buried in this CR is a corrupt kickback for eight Republican senators. | ||
| A million-dollar payday funded by taxpayers taken straight from the Treasury and deposited directly into their pockets. | ||
| What the hell is wrong with this place? | ||
| They promised to put America first. | ||
| The only thing you guys put first is yourselves. | ||
| Yourselves and the rich and powerful people who pull your strings behind the scenes. | ||
| These people don't care. | ||
| They don't have to call the insurance company because their claim was denied. | ||
| They don't buy their own groceries. | ||
| If you have a private jet, an offshore bank account, and an invite to Mar-a-Lago, go ahead and support your Republican representative. | ||
| But if you're a regular person who feels like you're getting screwed over, if you are fed up with the status quo here in Washington that only works for those at the top, this majority is not fighting for you, but we are. | ||
| Democrats are on your side, and we will fight with you every step of the way against the corruption, the lies, and the BS coming out of this administration. | ||
| And we won't back this so-called deal. | ||
| It's not a real solution, and it is certainly not a clean CR. | ||
| This CR leaves families twisting in the wind with zero guarantee there will ever, ever be a vote to extend tax credits to help everyday people pay for their health care. | ||
|
Democrats Agree: Tucked In Corrupt Giveaway
00:15:27
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| I urge my colleagues to vote no on this rule and no on the underlying legislation, and I reserve my time. | ||
| Gentlemen's time is reserved. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And there is so much to unpack and to object to in the ranking member's opening statement, but I just want to come in on one of the issues. | ||
| And I find the statement that Republicans were on vacation laughable. | ||
| The idea that Republicans were on vacation during the shutdown, it's just simply false. | ||
| It's false. | ||
| Many of us were in Washington or we were in our districts meeting with constituents, advancing local priorities, and staying fully engaged with our constituents and our work. | ||
| Our dedication to serving the American people didn't pause during the shutdown. | ||
| Whether in D.C. or back at home, which for the record I was in both places and many, many of my Republican colleagues were too, we were doing the work we were elected to do. | ||
| And the real story here is not about the absence. | ||
| It is about the commitment. | ||
| And for Republicans, we never wavered. | ||
| If the Democrats cared so much about working, they would not have shut the government down. | ||
| And with that, I would like to yield four minutes to the gentlewoman from North Carolina, the esteemed chairwoman of the House on Rules. | ||
| Gentlelady from North Carolina, Ms. Fox, is recognized for four minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, psychologists have a word for the things the Democrats accuse us of, projection. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I sure hope you did not watch all seven hours of the Democrat group therapy session last night in the Rules Committee. | ||
| But if you did, you saw what a clown show it was. | ||
| It was a crisp 40 degrees outside when we adjourned at around 1.30 a.m. this morning. | ||
| But with the amount of hot air being spewed by Democrats in the committee room for seven straight hours, you would have thought we were in the dead of summer. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, at this point, I don't think Democrats really agree on anything. | ||
| Last night and into the early hours of this morning, they showed everyone that they couldn't even agree on what they're angry about. | ||
| They went off on so many tangents that it would have been a miracle if they arrived at a single coherent thought at any point during our meeting. | ||
| The American people will see the exact same thing play out from them during this debate and during general debate on the floor later today. | ||
| Apparently, the only thing Democrats can agree on is that the government needs to stay shut down and that the American people need to suffer even more than they have already made them suffer. | ||
| We heard from Democrats repeatedly about the millions of people they believe are going to be affected when their own temporary COVID credits sunset at the end of this year. | ||
| Their own temporary COVID credits. | ||
| Did we hear anything about the millions of Americans who got walloped by Democrats when they shut the government down? | ||
| Did we hear an apology from Democrats to the American people for deliberately misleading them over 40 days? | ||
| Did we hear an admission that the only reason they shut down the government is to cover up for a catastrophic policy failure that they concocted and set an end date on? | ||
| No, we didn't hear one of those things. | ||
| Not one. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I'm not surprised. | ||
| This is the kind of behavior that Americans have come to expect from Democrats. | ||
| Has anyone ever noticed how Democrats have developed such a visceral reaction when confronted about their abdication of responsibility? | ||
| They shut the government down, and the moment you call attention to their own actions, all they do is obfuscate and start shrieking about unrelated things. | ||
| Scientists should study this at length and try to come up with a cure. | ||
| It's a serious affliction as was evidenced numerous times over in our Rules Committee meeting. | ||
| It's well past time to reopen the government and end the Democrat-concocted nightmare that Americans have been living through for over 40 straight days. | ||
| The CR before us will end that nightmare. | ||
| It will get this legislative body and the entire nation moving once more. | ||
| Democrats should grow a spine and accept responsibility for their own failures. | ||
| I urge a yes vote on the rule and I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Reserve. | |
| Gentlelady from Minnesota reserves her time remaining. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, you've got to love these Republicans. | ||
| The gentlelady from Minnesota says they weren't on vacation. | ||
| I want to remind her, you haven't voted for eight weeks. | ||
| And most people define vacation as you don't have to show up to work and you get paid. | ||
| That's exactly what Republicans did. | ||
| They didn't show up to work and they got paid. | ||
| It was a paid vacation. | ||
| I now yield one minute to the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Johnson. | ||
| Gentlelady from Texas is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
| I rise today in strong opposition to this bill. | ||
| I'm a hell no on any legislation that strips health care away from millions of Texans. | ||
| In my district, nearly 100,000 of my constituents rely on the Affordable Care Act's tax credits to pay for their coverage. | ||
| Without these life-saving credits, many of them will go without health care at all. | ||
| Every day during this shutdown, my office has heard from thousands of families across my district saying, for the love of God, save my health care. | ||
| And tucked away in this brill is a brazen payoff. | ||
| Millions of taxpayer Donald's dollars funneled to the benefit of a handful of senators while families are struggling to afford groceries and health care. | ||
| We are being asked to sign off on a deal that lines the pockets of the very people who wrote it. | ||
| That is an insult to every hardworking taxpayer who expects honesty from their government. | ||
| The contrast could not be clearer. | ||
| Republicans are operating in the currency of cruelty and corruption while Democrats are fighting with courage and compassion. | ||
| The American people deserve better, and I will never stop fighting to protect the basic necessities every family needs to survive. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to the gentleman from Georgia. | ||
| Gentleman from Georgia is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And, you know, the American farmer needs this bill to pass. | ||
| The American soldier needs this bill to pass. | ||
| Our air traffic controllers need this bill to pass. | ||
| The men and women who protect us here in this capital and all federal law enforcement need this bill to pass. | ||
| I'm one of those who represents a lot of federal employees, and they've been without a check for a long time, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| This is very simple. | ||
| Very simple. | ||
| It's way past time to open the government up. | ||
| There are going to be a lot of excuses about coulda, shoulda, woulda, and you need to take this provision or that provision out, or they're going to vote to keep the government shut down. | ||
| Well, let me tell you something. | ||
| The vote today, it is straight up or straight down. | ||
| You vote to open the government up today, or you vote to keep it closed. | ||
| That's all there is to it. | ||
| Now, as for the provision that's been mentioned a few times about the Senate language, I have introduced a piece of legislation already to repeal the Senate language, and I'm hopeful that we'll have a vote on that as soon as we get back. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Reserve. | |
| Gentlelady from Minnesota continues to reserve her time. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I love these guys. | ||
| I mean, they're all introducing legislation to repeal provisions in a bill that they're going to vote yes on. | ||
| I mean, figure that out. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the previous question is the House Democrats' last attempt to make a change to this rule before it gets voted on. | ||
| And I want to use this opportunity to talk about a last-minute provision that was slipped into the CR in the Senate. | ||
| It's an outrageous giveaway to pad the pockets of eight Republican senators. | ||
| And it's one of the most corrupt things I've seen in my life. | ||
| So if the House defeats the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to consider as adopted an amendment to the continuing resolution offered by Representative Subra Magnon which would strike the corrupt giveaway out of the text of this bill so it does not make it into law. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this is a massive payday for Republicans. | ||
| It would allow eight of their senators to shovel millions, millions of dollars into their own wallets. | ||
| I'm talking cash money, not for their states, not for their constituents. | ||
| No, no, for their own personal bank accounts. | ||
| Why should a United States senator or any party get a special right that nobody else has? | ||
| No state legislator, no governor, no judge, no citizen in the entire country has this right, but we are creating it for a handful of Republican senators. | ||
| It is immoral. | ||
| I'd say it's unconstitutional. | ||
| It is wrong. | ||
| And it's probably the most brazen theft and plunder of public resources ever proposed in the United States Congress. | ||
| And it was tucked into this legislation. | ||
| And I want to speak directly to Republicans who say they can't vote with us because it will delay the reopening of the government. | ||
| First off, that's exactly what these corrupt senators were hoping you'd say. | ||
| Second, we absolutely can send this back to the Senate. | ||
| They can quickly strip it and send the bill to the president. | ||
| They finish this package in less than two days. | ||
| This is one small thing that needs to be deleted. | ||
| It's easy, and it can be done very fast. | ||
| But, and please spare me the excuses that we'll get this done next week with a new bill. | ||
| Once this is law, once this is law, that's it. | ||
| It is signed into law forever. | ||
| It will never change. | ||
| It is permanent, and you voted for it. | ||
| And Republicans you all know that. | ||
| So don't say you're going to pass some new bill next week to address this. | ||
| That's just an excuse to do nothing that will fix it. | ||
| Republicans moved at the speed of light to give tax breaks to billionaires, and the least they can do is give the same urgency to stop this shamelessly corrupt fleecing of the American people. | ||
| Now, I get it. | ||
| Trump is suing the U.S. government for $230 million. | ||
| And I guess these senators want in on the action. | ||
| They want their own payday. | ||
| But I've never seen this level of grift, shameless corruption and theft of public money in my entire life, ever. | ||
| So, Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the record along with extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question and to discuss our proposal. | ||
| I yield a minute to the gentleman from Virginia, Mr. Subra Magnion. | ||
| Without objection on the UC request, the chair will remind the gentleman from Massachusetts and others to please refrain from engaging in personalities toward members of the Senate. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Thank you, Ranking Member McGovern. | ||
| I mean, you know what people hate more than seeing their costs go up? | ||
| It's seeing their costs go up while corrupt politicians line their pockets with taxpayer money. | ||
| That's what they really hate. | ||
| But that's what this bill does. | ||
| Republican senators slipped into this bill a legal pathway for them to personally receive millions of dollars in taxpayer money for being investigated after January 6th. | ||
| And the other side talks about fiscal responsibility and says there's no money, no money for health care, but somehow there's taxpayer money for Republican senators. | ||
| This is an ethics violation. | ||
| This is a breach of trust, and it calls into question the very legitimacy of this institution. | ||
| So I put forward an amendment to reject this corruption, but committee Republicans voted it down last night. | ||
| And they said they knew it was corrupt, but that there was nothing that could be done and that the system didn't work. | ||
| Well, you are the system. | ||
| And House Republicans promised to vote on this next week as a standalone bill, but there's no guarantee that the Senate will act. | ||
| In fact, they probably won't act, right? | ||
| So you have the power to join us in writing this wrong today. | ||
| So let's take out this ridiculous kickback. | ||
| Otherwise, a vote for this bill is a vote for corruption. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentleman yields back. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And I never said, Mr. Speaker, that this bill was perfect. | ||
| And not everyone agrees with the provision. | ||
| And our colleague from Georgia had just mentioned and is already addressing it. | ||
| But what we do agree on is that it is critically important to get the government open. | ||
| And that's why we are here today. | ||
| Getting our federal employees paid, getting our troops paid, getting SNAP back on track, getting our airports back to full capacity. | ||
| Once this happens, we can tackle the issues and get back to really doing the things for the American people, not using their suffering as leverage, like the Democrat Whip Clark is willing to do. | ||
| Democrats have spent weeks performing political theater by refusing to open government and continue to perform that political theater. | ||
| But we need to prioritize the reopening of the government and stop the suffering that the Democrats want to use as leverage. | ||
| And with that, I yield two minutes to the gentleman from New York. | ||
| The gentleman from New York is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this rule and ending this shutdown chaos. | ||
| For more than 40 days, the American people have endured a painful and entirely avoidable government shutdown, not because of policy differences, but because Senate Democrats and Chuck Schumer chose politics over people. | ||
| And while Washington stalled, hardworking Americans paid the price. | ||
| Our air traffic controllers went without pay. | ||
| A system stretched thinner by the day, putting new strain on that system that put millions of lives at risk. | ||
| Americans depend on them to keep our skies safe. | ||
| And families who rely on snap and wick, parents just trying to feed their kids, were left wondering how they'd make it through another week. | ||
| And at the same time, our border agents and our Coast Guard members continued to serve this country as their own families went without pay. | ||
| And through it all, while everyday Americans carried the weight of the shutdown, Senate Democrats had chance after chance to end it. | ||
| But instead, they chose to prolong the pain. | ||
| That is not leadership. | ||
|
40 Days of Hypocrisy
00:00:54
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||
| That's hypocrisy. | ||
| It was never about budgets or priorities. | ||
| It was about power. | ||
| It's not about turning government on. | ||
| For them, it's about turning government into performance, where the people paying the highest price are the ones furthest from Washington. | ||
| For more than 40 days, families were used as political pawns and props while those responsible stood in front of cameras pretending to solve the crisis that they created. | ||
| I actually saw a member from my home state stand at a food bank, decry the fact that nutritional assistance was in question, then swear up and down that they would vote against ending this shutdown. | ||
|
Unanimous Consent Requests
00:03:47
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||
| That is the epitome of hypocrisy, and the American people deserve better than that. | ||
| House Republicans did our job. | ||
| We passed a clean continuing resolution weeks ago, the same kind of straightforward measure that should have been agreed to immediately to keep this government open. | ||
| But Senate Democrats blocked that 14 times, prolonging this shutdown just to score points to their woke, angry mob. | ||
| This measure before us today is the same bipartisan framework they could have passed 40 days ago. | ||
| The only thing that has changed is the political calendar. | ||
| So, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the rule, stand with the American people, the families of veterans and public servants who have carried the burden of this shutdown, and let's reopen our government and let's get this country moving again. | ||
| And I yield back, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from ABC News entitled, Inflation Climbs to the Highest Level Since January, Beef Prices Soar. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I request unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from the Washington Post entitled, From Groceries to Gas, Americans Say They're Spending More Under Trump. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from the New Republic entitled, No, You're Wrong, Trump Spirals When Pressed on Rising Food Prices. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from the New Republic entitled, Trump Admits He Doesn't Care About Affordability as Economy Plunges. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from MSNBC entitled, Not a Big Issue, Republicans Shrug as Consumers Confront Healthcare Sticker Shot. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an opinion article published in MSNBC entitled, Trump's Argentina Bailout Once Again Puts America Last. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from PBS entitled, Trump Administration Working on Doubling Argentina Financing to $40 Billion Dollars. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from Forbes entitled, Presidency Boosts Trump's Net Worth by $3 billion in a year. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from People.com entitled, Donald Trump Hosts Great Gatsby-themed Halloween Party as 42 Million Americans Brace for SNAP benefits to expire. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from the New York Times entitled, Trump's Latest White House Makeover to Lincoln Bathroom in Marble and Gold. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| I ask unanimous consent to insert into the record an article from the nation entitled, The Bill to End the Shutdown is Full of Giveaways to Republicans. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 15 seconds. | ||
| Gentleman is recognized for 15 seconds. | ||
| I'm sorry that the gentlelady thinks that trying to stop people's health care premiums from doubling and tripling and quadrupling is political theater, but we don't. | ||
| And I don't have time to address all the BS coming from my colleagues across the chamber, but it's clear that this Republican leadership is not only failing to deliver on their promises, they're selling out at the expense of the basic needs of the American people. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| Time is reserved. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to the gentleman from Texas. | ||
| Gentleman from Texas, Mr. Royce, recognized for two minutes. | ||
| I thank the gentleman from Arkansas. | ||
| I thank the gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
|
Searching For A Cause
00:15:30
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| And here we are on September 19th. | ||
| House Republicans passed legislation which would have funded government through November 20th. | ||
| Here we are on November 12th, and we are basically where we would have been had we just passed the bill that we passed in September. | ||
| And what did we get for all of that? | ||
| What happened over all these days? | ||
| Well, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle were searching for a reason for voters to support them next November. | ||
| They were searching for a cause. | ||
| And we know this because there was intervening elections and a lot of rhetoric, but no result. | ||
| We're here right now with Democrats having joined senators to send a bill over here to fund government through the end of January with three appropriations bills, which we work through regular order, that keeps spending relatively flat, advances the priorities the American people sent us here to advance, to back up the president who is securing the border, which he was sent to Washington to do, to restore our military to focusing on defending this nation rather than advancing woke priorities, which the American people sent him here to do. | ||
| For us to continue to work to grow and to build this economy after four years of being wrecked with reckless spending, but also abhorrent policies, the American people are now saying, what on earth were Democrats doing? | ||
| And my Democrat colleagues' response is health care, because it's the only default position they have is the default to health care. | ||
| And the fact is, it's because they broke the system so badly that they are now coming and asking us to have the Treasury print money to then give out in order to enrich insurance companies with massive subsidies. | ||
| That's the actual fact. | ||
| And the American people understand this. | ||
| And they recognize that they don't want insurance companies to be enriched, but they want to be able to go get the doctor of their choice. | ||
| The American people understand this, and so do we. | ||
| And we're here to open the government, and we're here to stand up for doctors and patients instead of insurance companies and big regulators. | ||
| I support this legislation. | ||
| I know my Republican colleagues do. | ||
| The question really is, will Democrats, or will they wish to perpetuate the shutting down of government to enrich insurance companies? | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Well, a couple things, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I don't think we want to be lectured by somebody who over the years has been the king of government shutdowns and who worked for a United States Senator that pushed for a government shutdown and to object to the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| But by the way, I just want to make it clear to everybody, this is a Republican shutdown. | ||
| They control the White House, they control the House, they control the Senate. | ||
| This government shut down because they don't want to negotiate. | ||
| It's their way of the highway. | ||
| This is a Republican shutdown. | ||
| They own it. | ||
| I now yield one and a half minutes to the gentleman from Maryland, the distinguished ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Raskin. | ||
| Gentleman from Maryland is recognized for one and a half minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. McGovern. | ||
| This bill, which they now call imperfect, contains the single most corrupt provision for legislative self-dealing that anyone in this chamber today has ever voted on. | ||
| It is such an egregiously corrupt act of legislator self-enrichment and plunder of the taxpayer that not only did every single House Democrat oppose it in the Rules Committee last night, but multiple Republicans were denouncing it. | ||
| That is, before they were summoned into a side room and instructed to vote for it, which they all proceeded to do. | ||
| Now they're telling us, vote for it today, and they'll repeal it maybe next week or maybe the week after that or maybe before Christmas, they'll repeal it. | ||
| I've got a solution for you. | ||
| If you don't like this corrupt provision, don't vote for it today. | ||
| That will work. | ||
| This is a great bill. | ||
| A great bill, that is, if you think eight Republican U.S. senators should have a right to collect at least $1 million in a jackpot bonanza payoff from the taxpayers simply because they were subject to the exact same rules all other Americans were subject to and are subject to now. | ||
| And they don't propose to change those rules for anybody else, not for more than 300 million Americans, not for the members of the House of Representatives, not for governors and mayors, but for themselves, they want to deal themselves a special legal privilege. | ||
| In this Republican class war, a great Gatsby economy where President Trump has made more than $3 billion since he reoccupied the White House, the federal building which he has proceeded to demolish in large part, where millions of Americans face losing their health care and their SNAP benefits, this provision is an affront to our taxpayers, to the rule of law, to everyone who believes, could I ask for 15 seconds more? | ||
| I yield a little bit of 15 seconds. | ||
| It is an affront to everyone who believes that we in public office must be the servants of the people, not the masters of the people who get special legal rights and privileges and multi-million dollar payoffs. | ||
| People who think that they have a right to better treatment than everybody else, like Ghelane Maxwell in their prison camp where she gets room service, puppy time, and special gym privileges. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| She reserves her time. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| I yield one minute to the gentleman from Oregon, Ms. Bonamici. | ||
| Gentlelady is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise today in opposition to this continuing resolution. | ||
| I will not support a bill that will continue the Republicans' assault on Americans and their pocketbooks. | ||
| At a time when Oregonians and Americans are already struggling with rising costs, this bill locks in devastating cuts to health care and drives up the cost, in many cases significantly. | ||
| The assault on health care and the Republican shutdown more broadly, they're further proof that the first 10 months of this Trump administration have been chaotic, harmful, and completely out of touch with the needs of the American people. | ||
| Donald Trump held an extravagant Great Gatsby party at Mar-a-Lago the night before SNAP benefits expired, while the administration and Republicans continue to ignore the needs of working families. | ||
| That's not governing. | ||
| They've abandoned their responsibility to bring down costs and grow the economy. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, this bill was already bad, but now they added this corrupt, get-rich-quick scheme to give hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to Trump-aligned senators. | ||
| That is outrageous. | ||
| Oregonians and Americans deserve better. | ||
| My colleagues should listen to their constituents, vote no, and come back to the table and join us in the work to make health care affordable and accessible to all. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| With 14 and one-half minutes remaining. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina. | ||
| Gentleman from North Carolina is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we are in the process of ending the longest government shutdown in our nation's history and to affirm that this Congress will get back to leading America into her next golden age. | ||
| Over 40 days, that is how long the government has been closed. | ||
| For over 40 days, Democrats here in this body and in the Senate have chosen chaos over our country. | ||
| They chose to shut the government down because politics demanded it, not policy. | ||
| The elites who dominate their party's decision-making are the ones least impacted by its decisions. | ||
| Were the far-left activists and Democrats here in this body the ones not getting paychecks? | ||
| No, Mr. Speaker, that was the air traffic controllers, our troops, and our Capitol police officers. | ||
| When these same people passed Obamacare, were they the ones impacted by the law, or was it the middle-class teacher in North Carolina who could no longer keep their doctor? | ||
| We all know the answer to that, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And across the nation, federal workers are working two and three jobs just to stay afloat. | ||
| Also, Democrats could champion illegal aliens who exploit our compassion as they poison our communities with deadly fentanyl. | ||
| That is not governing. | ||
| That was extortion of the American taxpayer. | ||
| But that ends today. | ||
| Today, we are in the process of finally reopening the government, returning to the business of the people, and further implementing the mandate our constituents sent us here to deliver on. | ||
| Democrats chose to have a month of political theater, but political shows don't do one thing to help make the cost of everyday items more affordable. | ||
| It is time to govern and to focus on making America more affordable for the middle class. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I urge a yes vote on this rule, and with that, I'll yield back. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we're getting lectured on governance by a guy who is just coming off an eight-week paid vacation. | ||
| Give me a break. | ||
| At this time, I'd like to yield one and a half minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey, the next governor of New Jersey, Ms. Cheryl. | ||
| The gentlelady from New Jersey is recognized for one and one half minutes. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to a rule for a bill that does nothing to protect over 450,000 New Jersey who will see their health care premiums skyrocket. | ||
| I took my first oath to the Constitution when I was 18 and went to the Naval Academy. | ||
| It's an oath to serve, to run toward the fight. | ||
| And so I ran for Congress after I saw Washington Republicans attacking the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| I promised I would take on the status quo. | ||
| I would fight the big fights, because that's what people expect of their leaders. | ||
| That's what people deserve from their leaders. | ||
| And I'm proud of the wins that I've delivered as your representative for New Jersey's 11th district, capping the cost of insulin and prescription drugs for seniors, funding the Gateway Tunnel, the PACT Act for veterans, flood mitigation projects, delivering for Pikatinny Arsenal. | ||
| You have trusted me, New Jersey, and last week you placed your trust in me again, electing me your 57th governor. | ||
| So I ran on a similar promise to take on anyone and stop at nothing to lower cost and build opportunity for everyone. | ||
| This will be my last speech in this chamber. | ||
| I intend to submit my resignation next week and turn to protecting all of New Jersey. | ||
| So my parting message to Jersey is thank you. | ||
| To my staff, thank you for your dedication to serving the 11th District of New Jersey. | ||
| To my colleagues, do not let this body become a ceremonial red stamp from an administration that takes food away from children and rips away health care. | ||
| 30 seconds. | ||
| Gentleladies, given another 30 seconds that rips health care away from people and takes food away from children. | ||
| To the country, stand strong. | ||
| As we say in the Navy, don't give up the ship. | ||
| Thank you, and I yield back. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. Magaziner. | ||
| Gentleman from Rhode Island, recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, House Republicans are back from their 54-day taxpayer-funded vacation. | ||
| But don't get me wrong, they do know how to work hard. | ||
| When billionaires wanted tax breaks, they moved mountains to make it happen. | ||
| When Argentina needed a $40 billion bailout to help Trump's buddy, they moved quickly to make it happen at the White House. | ||
| But when working people need help, when millions of Americans are seeing their health insurance costs double and triple, and Americans all across this country are feeling like they're going to have to go without health insurance for the first time in their lives because they can't afford it anymore and have to make that terrible decision about which of their family members they're going to cut off of their insurance, House Republicans are nowhere to be found. | ||
| When Donald Trump's stupid tariffs are raising the price of groceries, the cost of coffee is up 40% over the last year. | ||
| House Republicans are silent. | ||
| When working people need help, they are absent. | ||
| Shameful. | ||
| So they will work when billionaires need tax cuts, when Argentina needs a bailout, but when working people need relief, they go on a tax-funded taxpayer-funded vacation. | ||
| Shameful, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Vote no on this budget. | ||
| Do not cut the health care of the American people, and I yield back. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield one minute to the gentleman from New York. | ||
| Gentlemen from New York is recognized for one minute. | ||
| The reason we know this is a Democratic shutdown is because of how angry they are that we're about to reopen the government. | ||
| Period. | ||
| That's all you need to know. | ||
| In 2023, Jerry Nadler said shutdown is really an extremist policy designed to appeal to an extremist base and hold the whole country hostage. | ||
| That is exactly what the Democrats have done over the last 43 days. | ||
| They have held the American people hostage, trying to extract insane things like free health care for illegal immigrants. | ||
| If they were serious about tackling the health care affordability crisis in this country, then they would address the fundamental problem with Obamacare. | ||
| Since Obamacare took effect, health care premiums have risen by 96% and on the open market by 114%. | ||
| When I asked Leader Jeffries to sign on to the one-year extension of the premium tax credit, he refused. | ||
| He stuttered, he stammered, he couldn't answer a single question. | ||
| Because this shutdown was never about health care. | ||
| It was always about appeasing a far-left radical base. | ||
| Chuck Schumer said, every day gets better for us. | ||
| Catherine Clark said, of course, people will suffer. | ||
| We want to use this as leverage. | ||
| It is an embarrassment to this country. | ||
| You should all be ashamed of yourselves for inflicting this pain on the American people, taking away food stamps from 42 million Americans, defunding WIC, not paying our troops, our federal employees, our air traffic controllers. | ||
| It's a disgrace, and you should all hang your heads in shame. | ||
| Vote yes to pass the bill and reopen the government. | ||
|
Democrats Fight for Affordable Care
00:15:24
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||
| Let me remind my colleagues. | ||
| I fully recognize that there's a lot of pent-up anxiety and emotions have been elevated somewhat. | ||
| But please, in the interest of the decorum of this House, to direct your comments to the chair and do not engage in personalities toward the Senate, toward the President, and others. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts, with 14 and one-half minutes remaining. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, let me just say the gentleman from New York sounds as extreme as his voting record. | ||
| And I'd like to say to the gentleman who just spoke, by supporting this bill, he's betraying 7,000 constituents in his district who rely on the ACA to afford their health care. | ||
| Boy, I'm glad he's not my representative. | ||
| At this time, I'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from New York, Mr. Kennedy. | ||
| The gentleman from New York is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as the representative of Western New York, where so many people in my community, like others across the country, are already struggling to afford health care, I urge my colleagues to reject this disgraceful bill. | ||
| As an occupational therapist, I know exactly who these cuts will hurt. | ||
| I've heard from so many who are desperate for a lifeline, like Iris, a mom in Buffalo who's worried about how she'll keep her kids' health insurance. | ||
| Or Andy, a nursing home resident in Tonawanda who relies on Medicaid to get the services he needs. | ||
| Or the kids at Bournhava, a special needs school where I provided therapy, who depend on early intervention services. | ||
| Donald Trump and congressional Republicans began their assault on the people of our country in the big ugly bill. | ||
| This bill further devastates health care and leaves millions of Americans to pray they don't get sick. | ||
| Shame on anyone who goes along with it. | ||
| This country deserves better. | ||
| I'll be voting no, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Reserves. | |
| Reserves. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, some big news and breaking news in the last hour. | ||
| I'm proud to say that our newest colleague, Representative Adelita Grahalva, just became the 218th signature on the Massey Cana discharge petition to compel the release of the Epstein files. | ||
| And to all my Republican colleagues who refused to sign on, time is up. | ||
| You need to figure out where you stand on this because you're about to go on record. | ||
| Is your loyalty to Trump more important than going after pedophiles? | ||
| Because make no mistake, these files will come out. | ||
| It is no longer a question of if, only when, and whether the White House chooses to stand with the survivors or throw them under the bus. | ||
| And at this time, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to yield one minute to the gentlewoman from Oregon, Ms. Dexter. | ||
| The gentlelady from Oregon is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise today in strong opposition to this rule and the underlying bill. | ||
| As a physician who spent 20 years saving lives, I did not come to Congress to let health care be decimated by Congress. | ||
| I came to fight for my constituents who deserve to be able to see a doctor they trust, afford their medication, and keep their families healthy. | ||
| If House Republicans let the ACA tax credits expire, they are complicit in forcing Oregonians to make impossible choices, like whether to keep their insurance or put food on the table. | ||
| As a physician, I know what comes next. | ||
| People go without. | ||
| They go uninsured, they delay care, and they skip refills. | ||
| They get sicker, and sometimes they end up in medical debt that is devastating. | ||
| The cost of living is already too damn high. | ||
| Republicans are committed to cutting your care. | ||
| They patently rejected amendments to protect Americans, ignoring millions of American families who are desperate for relief. | ||
| I will be an absolute no on the rule and the underlying bill, and I refuse to give up on ensuring affordable health care for all. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to say just really quickly, you know, the ranking member mentioned the discharge petition, and he's very proud that it has 218 signatures. | ||
| But not that long ago, today, we had a UC that would have moved that along, would have moved that resolution along over to the Senate, and I believe the Democrats objected to it. | ||
| So it seems more like a political stunt than it does that they actually wanted to have that resolution moved along, because if they had not objected, it would have gone on its way and they would have accomplished what they wanted to do. | ||
| So I don't see their real desire to have the resolution passed. | ||
| I see it more of, like I said, a political stunt. | ||
| And it certainly is actually a mood point given that oversight is already releasing many of those files. | ||
| As a matter of fact, I believe they've done tens of thousands of them, but I believe this morning they did another 20,000 files. | ||
| So they are being released, and this all seems for naught. | ||
| But with that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield one minute to the gentleman from California. | ||
| Gentleman from California is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Jimmy Phala offered Democrats this pro tip. | ||
| If you're going to call it the Republican shutdown, you're not supposed to get mad that it's ending. | ||
| Anyone who remembers their schoolhouse rock knows that once the House originates an appropriation, the Senate must either amend it or pass it. | ||
| Now the House did its job on September the 19th with a simple appropriation that made no policy changes. | ||
| It merely kept the government operating at current levels while we finished debating priorities. | ||
| Democrats deliberately blocked the Senate from acting, demanding $1.5 trillion of new spending as a ransom. | ||
| Finally, thank God, eight of them put country ahead of party and voted to end this madness. | ||
| Now, hearing the bitter recriminations from our leftist colleagues, it seems unlikely we'll see much bipartisanship today. | ||
| But with or without them, we will reopen the government tonight and get back to addressing the challenges that confront our country. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts, with 11 minutes remaining on his side, nine minutes on the majority side. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I'm surprised that the gentlelady brought up the UC request, but I'm glad she did, because I want the record to be clear. | ||
| I didn't hear any objection on the floor. | ||
| The Republican chair basically ruled it as an improper UC request. | ||
| And so that is why it didn't move forward. | ||
| But I do know this, because I'm on the Rules Committee, and I do know the gentlelady time and time and time and time again voted against releasing the Epstein files. | ||
| And I know my Republican friends are hoping that they don't have to go on record because they don't want to get Trump upset at them. | ||
| But the bottom line is every single Republican will go on record, and you will have to make clear whether you're on the side of a pedophile or whether you're on side of the victims. | ||
| The gentleman from Massachusetts is reminded to direct his comments to the chair, please. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| You may continue. | ||
| You now yield one minute to the gentlewoman from Washington, Ms. Jayapal. | ||
| Gentlelady from Washington is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this bill that allows health insurance premiums for 22 million American families to skyrocket and raises health care costs for everyone. | ||
| Trump and his Republican cult of followers in Congress have unleashed shameful crisis of cruelty and corruption on the American people. | ||
| First, they slashed Medicaid by a trillion dollars, kicked 15 million Americans off of health care, set up the playboard for rural hospitals to shutter, all so that you could give $7 trillion in permanent tax breaks to their billionaire buddies. | ||
| Then they refused to negotiate with Democrats to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits so that 22 million Americans wouldn't have to choose between health care and rent. | ||
| And when we refused to go along with that, they caused this 45-day Republican shutdown, illegally refused to pay SNAP benefits for the hungry, and illegally canceled flights, throwing the country into chaos. | ||
| Trump and Republicans want to make you poorer and sicker, while Trump builds his gilded ballrooms, protects pedophiles, pardons those who buy his meme coins, and lets Americans starve. | ||
| Shame on you. | ||
| I'm a hell no on this bill. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee. | ||
| Gentleman from Tennessee is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose the Senate's provision that allows senators to make financial gain off illegal government surveillance. | ||
| Three things can be true at once, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The first truth is this, the shutdown has to end. | ||
| The American people and countless Tennesseans I represent are suffering and experiencing real pain. | ||
| This record-breaking Schumer Democratic shutdown was completely avoidable, and it was completely carried out for political purposes. | ||
| The second truth is that the last administration, led by Joe Biden and his autopen, unfairly surveilled conservatives and conservative members of Congress. | ||
| That included sitting United States senators. | ||
| Yet, Mr. Speaker, the third thing I would note is that the American taxpayer has suffered enough because of the last administration. | ||
| No one in this body should support allowing senators to sue and collect from taxpayers because the FBI went rogue under President Biden. | ||
| But don't get me wrong, the overreach is more than troubling. | ||
| It's unfathomable that the Department of Justice was weaponized in this way. | ||
| I fully support holding those radical agents accountable and the ongoing investigations into their misdeeds. | ||
| Yet no elected official should profit from the political calculation of left-wing bureaucrats and judges. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the folks I represent are still reeling from historic Bidenflation, the effects of the border crisis, and the regulatory agenda of the last administration. | ||
| It is shameful to ask them to shoulder the burden of paying U.S. senators a half a million dollars or more for those misdeeds. | ||
| With that, I yield back, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Okay, Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green. | ||
| Gentleman from Texas is recognized for one minute. | ||
| And still I rise, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise to call to my colleagues' attention that they are no longer claiming that this is a clean CR. | ||
| The truth is that it is a dirty, filthy, stealthy CR that has been contaminated with millions of dollars for people who have not earned it, but rather who want to take it from the taxpayers of this country because they have concluded somehow that they have been harmed when no harm has been proven or brought to our attention. | ||
| I believe that health care for all is important because we in the Congress have the best health care in the world. | ||
| Yet people with the best health care in the world do not see fit for persons who need it, who are among the least, the last, and the lost, to acquire health care, something that they have. | ||
| Health care is becoming wealth care for too many people in this country. | ||
| We need to extend the subsidies. | ||
| We need to make sure that everybody who can get to a doctor gets care. | ||
| This is not a poor country. | ||
| I refuse to take a poison pill and have you tell me that I'll regurgitate it next week. | ||
| The poison pills. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota, reserves. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Inquire how many more speakers? | ||
| The gentlelady hasn't seem to have very many. | ||
| I believe we have one more, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| All right. | ||
| We have several. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentleman from New York, Mr. Casio-Cortez. | ||
| Gentlelady from New York is recognized for one minute. | ||
|
unidentified
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It is great. | |
| It is great that Democrats have a line of people who are willing to fight for working-class Americans from coast to coast in this country, because God forbid that we have a member of the Republican caucus who stands up and actually wants to extend the Affordable Care Act so that people with cancer, insulin, and issues across all sorts of health care issues across this country have their health insurance protected and extended throughout 2026. | ||
| It is unconscionable that what we are debating right now is legislation that will give eight members of the United States Senate over a million dollars apiece. | ||
| And we are robbing people of their food assistance and of their health care to pay for it. | ||
| How is this even on the floor? | ||
| How can we, as members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, vote to enrich ourselves by stealing from the American people? | ||
| That is what this legislation does. | ||
| In fact, Senator Graham just went before the press earlier today saying he was going to seek well over a million dollars from the American people from this. | ||
| We cannot support it and we cannot stand for it. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| The only time is expired. | ||
| The young lady from Minnesota. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And I just wanted to point out to some of my colleagues that, you know, the Democrat government shutdown stopped the SNAP benefits. | ||
| So if they were very concerned about those, about making sure that people had their nutritional assistance, they wouldn't have shut down the government because that is what caused it. | ||
| And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentleman from Texas. | ||
| Gentleman is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| It was great to hear from the new leader of the Democrat Party, Mrs. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. | ||
| Unfortunately, we didn't also get to hear from their other leader, Mr. Zoron Mondani. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I'm going to be proud this evening to vote to reopen the federal government. | ||
| House will be in order. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, for 40 days, the Democrats shut our government down to pursue unrealistic policy proposals that they know the American people do not want. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the American people do not want health care for illegal aliens. | ||
|
Government Shutdown Nightmare Over
00:13:07
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| They do not want our tax dollars funding left-wing media outlets, and they do not want to drive up our debt $1.5 trillion as part of a short-term continuing resolution. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the last 40 days have been nothing but pure political nihilism, and I'm glad that this nightmare is over so that we can get back to work on behalf of the American people. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| You did not condemn them, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| We have three minutes. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| Gentleman reserves his time. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
|
unidentified
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Reserve. | |
| Reserves. | ||
| Who seeks time? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, let me first of all just say to the gentlelady, this is Republican shutdown. | ||
| It didn't need to happen. | ||
| All you need to do is extend the ACA tax credit so that people wouldn't get screwed on their health insurance bills. | ||
| But I also point out to her that the President of the United States illegally withheld SNAP benefits. | ||
| And two federal judges, basically two court orders, backed us up on that. | ||
| And he's the first president ever in history to actually shut off food benefits to people during a shutdown. | ||
| Shame on him. | ||
| I now yield one minute to the gentleman from California, Mr. Connor. | ||
| The gentleman from California is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, our country is at a moral crossroads. | ||
| Just today, it comes out that billionaires are worth $8 trillion, more than 50% of Americans combined. | ||
| And what does the president do? | ||
| He decides he doesn't have the money for the American people. | ||
| He's going to starve the American people to give $40 billion to the corrupt libertarian leader in Argentina. | ||
| $9 billion would have fed the American people. | ||
| How is that America first? | ||
| And then he says, I don't care about the Texas cab driver who's paying $2,600 now per month in health insurance as opposed to $44 because I don't want to save the 20 million Americans who are going to face high premium increases. | ||
| How is that America first? | ||
| We need national health insurance in this country. | ||
| We need to tax billionaires in this country. | ||
| We need to fund SNAP in this country, and we need to stop funding Argentina and corrupt foreign leaders. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And I just wanted to address for just a second the health care issue that the Democrats continue to bring up and act like this had anything to do with everyone in the country's premiums because we are talking about the COVID-era Affordable Care Acts COVID-era subsidies. | ||
| So this is not what is affecting other people's premiums other than those folks that qualify for those COVID-era premium subsidies. | ||
| That's it. | ||
| They continue to make it sound like this is responsible for every kind of increase that people are seeing. | ||
| And so the Affordable Care Act's original subsidies will remain in place. | ||
| So that's the original subsidies, ensuring that millions still qualify for the income-based tax credits and capping out-of-pocket costs relative to income. | ||
| It's the COVID era. | ||
| I can't say that enough. | ||
| It is the COVID era subsidies that are in question here. | ||
| Premium income and premium increases are actually driven by multiple factors, including medical inflation, provider consolidation, and rising drug costs. | ||
| But to actually reduce premiums, that's what we must address. | ||
| And we must have comprehensive discussions about that, not just political theater and sound bites. | ||
| We have to actually sit down and have those discussions. | ||
| And that's what getting the government back open will do. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
| Gentlelady reserves her time. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the ACA polls at 65%. | ||
| Donald Trump is at 37%. | ||
| I now yield one minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts, Ms. Presley. | ||
| Gentlelady from Massachusetts is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of every elder who can't afford their prescription, every parent who went to work hungry so their child could eat. | ||
| In the United States of America, there is no lack of resource, only a deficit of empathy, political will, and courage. | ||
| At its best, government is a backstop, a compassionate steward of the public good. | ||
| At its best, government catches people when they stumble in a moment of hardship. | ||
| At its best, government does right by the people, all the people. | ||
| Struggle does not discriminate, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Hardship is not a character flaw. | ||
| It has zero to do with work ethic. | ||
| Every single person is one diagnosis, one layoff away from hardship. | ||
| Life can change at an instant. | ||
| What we are bearing witness to is not only a lack of political courage, but it is a fundamental betrayal of the people, incompetence and indifference to the suffering of our constituents and our neighbors, the shame and the sham of it all. | ||
| Any member of Congress who would vote to deny a child a meal or medication, it is child abuse and neglect. | ||
| I ought to file a 51A on you for that. | ||
| Every person in this chamber, every person in our country has lost a loved one to cancer, and yet you would vote to deny people life-saving cancer treatment and research. | ||
| Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House, and with a majority, you have chosen to enact harm to make people hungrier, poorer, sicker, and less safe. | ||
| The shame and the sham of it all. | ||
| You, the people, deserve better. | ||
| We, the people, deserve better. | ||
| And I won't stop fighting until you get it. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Speaker, I'm prepared to close. | |
| Gentlelady is prepared to close. | ||
| She has four minutes remaining. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| I'm not. | ||
| So I'd like to yield one minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Pocan. | ||
| Gentleman from Wisconsin is recognized for one minute. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| Yes, the federal government will officially reopen with the House vote today, but here's what won't happen. | ||
| We won't protect the 22 million people paying more for the Affordable Care Act or the 15 million people losing their health care outright due to Republican actions and the big ugly law. | ||
| Nor will we stop the health care rate increases for everyone in this country. | ||
| And we won't be restoring food assistance today for millions of Americans who benefit from SNAP because House Republicans voted to cut the number one program that keeps kids and seniors out of poverty by over $180 billion. | ||
| Nor will we be able to roll back the tax cuts for billionaires and your GOP donors that you funded by gutting those health care and food programs. | ||
| But I sure hope you're tanned and rested after your eight-week paid vacation because you're going to need it. | ||
| Democrats are going to continue fighting every single day for people's health care and food benefits, and we're going to be on you day after day until we get it done. | ||
| Vote no. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Gentleman yields back his time. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota. | ||
| I'm prepared to close, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| I'm not quite yet, so I yield one minute to the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Oszewski. | ||
| Gentleman from Maryland is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this funding deal is why Americans have lost faith in Congress. | ||
| It does absolutely nothing to address the crushing costs of health care and what amounts to a massive tax hike on working families. | ||
| It does absolutely nothing to stop President Trump from canceling the very funding we would provide, something he's already done again and again. | ||
| But here's what it does. | ||
| It allows senators to write themselves and only themselves million-dollar checks because their phone records were legally subpoenaed. | ||
| Checks paid for by American taxpayers. | ||
| It's corruption at a whole new level. | ||
| With bribery and insider trading, someone breaks the law. | ||
| Here, Congress is writing a law that protects and funds corruption. | ||
| It's brazen and disgusting in an effort to legalize corruption. | ||
| And anyone who votes for this CR is complicit in that corruption. | ||
| If government still belongs to the people and not the powerful, we must reject the self-serving scam. | ||
| I yield. | ||
| Gentleman yields back his time. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota is still prepared to close. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts with two and one half minutes remaining. | ||
| So I'll close, Mr. Speaker, for our side. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I don't have enough time to rebut all the absurd claims made by the other side. | ||
| Suddenly, they all have an opinion on health care. | ||
| They had a decade to come up with a plan and they came up with nothing. | ||
| But I'm glad they finally acknowledged that this is a dirty CR that shovels millions of dollars into the pockets of Republican politicians. | ||
| They hate this bill so much that they're all going to vote for it. | ||
| They say that we shut the government down. | ||
| Really? | ||
| The last time I checked, Republicans are in charge around here. | ||
| We heard for months about their mandate. | ||
| They control the House, the Senate, and the White House. | ||
| They have a duty to keep the government open, and they failed. | ||
| They did not have the votes. | ||
| They refused to negotiate with us because we wanted to help regular people instead of billionaires. | ||
| And now they want to blame us for the consequences of their own actions. | ||
| What the hell is wrong with them? | ||
| Give me a frigging break. | ||
| America is the richest country in the history of the world. | ||
| We are blessed with an abundance of so much. | ||
| This should not be an affordability crisis. | ||
| Every single person in this country should be able to have a good job, a living wage, affordable food and health care, and have a shot at a better future. | ||
| That's what I'm fighting for. | ||
| That's what we're fighting for. | ||
| That's how I want to make America great. | ||
| That's the democratic vision for what this country could be. | ||
| And from a moral perspective, from a set of values, we believe it is immoral to have a system that gives so much to just a few billionaires while depriving so many of the basic things they need to live a good life. | ||
| And it is clear to me after this debate that Republicans do not share those same values. | ||
| And I'm going to fight like hell. | ||
| We are going to fight like hell because I believe in America. | ||
| We believe in America. | ||
| And we believe that the hopes and the dreams of the American people will prevail. | ||
| And with that, I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman yields back his time. | ||
| Gentlelady from Minnesota with four minutes remaining to close. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And as we wrap up this debate, I want to take a moment to cut through the noise from our colleagues. | ||
| The noise from our colleagues on the left. | ||
| Instead of focusing on the legislation before us, they're resorting to fear tactics and tossing out false claims about what this shutdown is really about. | ||
| The CR would have kept the government open to continue and finish the appropriations process. | ||
| And yet, the Democrats refused and instead chose to shut down the government. | ||
| And you know, my colleague mentions values. | ||
| Democrats claim that our values are different. | ||
| And Democrat Wick Clark said, of course, there will be families that are going to suffer. | ||
| But it is one of the few leverage times we have. | ||
| So if that's the values they're talking about, I don't share those values. | ||
| I won't make American people, the American people, suffer, whether it be their snap payments, whether it be keeping air traffic controllers paid, whether it's paying our troops. | ||
| Making the American people suffer is not the values that I share. | ||
| And for the record, Republicans did not cause this shutdown. | ||
| And we've not been on vacation. | ||
| I've been splitting my time between DC and the district, as I mentioned before, meeting with constituents in both, meeting with federal agencies, hosting a teletown hall. | ||
| And I know how hard my Republican colleagues have been working for their constituents and the American people. | ||
| It was the Democrats who shut down the government when they refused to support a clean CR that would have kept the lights on and protected critical services. | ||
| And now it's the Democrats who continue to shift to the blame. | ||
| Now, getting back to the issue at hand, let's talk about what this bill actually does. | ||
| H.R. 5371 restores the funding for Snap and WIC. | ||
| It reimburses the contingency reserves to make sure that programs remain stable and reliable. | ||
| Actually, President Trump moved $300 million of tariff revenue to fund WIC during the shutdown. | ||
| Republicans are the ones protecting food security and not playing games with it. | ||
|
A Yes Vote Means
00:03:02
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| This bill also delivers for our farmers and ranchers and for rural development and invests in the community that feed this country and keep the economy strong. | ||
| It supports our troops and federal workers. | ||
| It ensures our service members and their families have the support they need, and it honors the promises we have made to those who have served. | ||
| And yes, it reopens the government, restores stability, and resumes regular order. | ||
| So let's be honest about what a yes vote means. | ||
| A yes vote is a vote for veterans care. | ||
| A yes vote is a vote for Snap and WIC. | ||
| A yes vote is a vote for $700,000 of fire engine in Ranking Member McGovern's district and $1 million for the Navajo Nation Community Development Division in Representative Ledger Fernandez district. | ||
| A yes vote is for farmers. | ||
| A yes vote is for troops, for our troops and for federal workers. | ||
| And yes, it is for reopening the government. | ||
| And a no vote? | ||
| Well, that's a vote against all of that, including the development of a wastewater treatment facility in Mr. Nagoos' district and $1.5 million in watershed conservation in Representative Clark's district. | ||
| It's a vote against federal workers. | ||
| It's a vote against health care. | ||
| It's a vote against feeding hungry children. | ||
| And it's a vote against common sense. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield back the balance of my time and I move the previous question. | ||
| Question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| Opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. | ||
| Gentleman from Massachusetts. | ||
| Hearing aid, I think. | ||
| I asked for the A's and A's. | ||
| The Asian A's are requested. | ||
| Those favoring a vote by the Asian A's will rise. | ||
| Sufficient number having risen, the Asian A's are ordered. | ||
| Members will record their votes by electronic device. | ||
| Pursuant to clause 9 of Rule 20, the chair will reduce to five minutes, the minimum time for any electronic vote on the question of adoption of the resolution. | ||
| This is a 15-minute vote. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And members holding the first vote in the House in nearly two months. | |
| This is a procedural vote. | ||
| If approved, it starts a sequence of votes needed to eventually reopen the government, which has been shut down for a record 43 days. | ||
| After this, expect the House to vote on the official debate rules. | ||
| And if agreed to, members will have about an hour of debate on funding the bill, setting up a final vote later this evening. | ||
| The measure provides funding for two and a half months until January 30th. | ||
| It was passed by the Senate on Monday after seven Democrats and one independent senator broke with their party, which was holding out over expiring health care subsidies. | ||
|
Continue Support for ACA Tax Credits
00:15:19
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|
unidentified
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If passed by the House and signed by President Trump along with the government funding, the measure will also fund the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Department, the FDA, military construction, and the operations of Congress through September 30th. | |
| Also, federal employees laid off during the shutdown will be rehired, and essential furloughed worker and furloughed workers would receive back pay dating to October 1st when the shutdown began. | ||
| The measure also guarantees a vote would be held by mid-December on a bill to extend expiring health care tax credits. | ||
| We also heard from Congressman John Rose of Tennessee on the floor a short time ago. | ||
| He discussed a provision in the Senate bill to reopen the government that would allow senators whose phones had been searched by DOJ officials in relation to the January 6 riots to sue the government over those searches. | ||
| News outlets reported House Speaker Mike Johnson was unaware of the provision, but that he would be introducing standalone legislation to repeal it next week. | ||
| We also heard from House Democrats today. | ||
| They held a press conference on the steps at the Capitol and will show their remarks as members vote here on the floor. | ||
| Good afternoon. | ||
| Good afternoon. | ||
| It's a high honor and a distinct privilege to be joined today by Whip Catherine Clark, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, members of House Democratic Leadership, and the House Democratic Caucus. | ||
| House Democrats are here on the Capitol steps to reiterate our strong opposition to this spending bill because it fails to address the Republican health care crisis and it fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. | ||
| House Democrats will continue to support our men and women in uniform. | ||
| We will continue to support hardworking federal employees. | ||
| We will continue to support our law enforcement personnel. | ||
| House Democrats will continue to support our air traffic controllers. | ||
| We will continue to support our TSA agents. | ||
| We will continue to support our civil servants who have been under attack since day one of the Trump administration. | ||
| But we cannot support the Republican effort to gut the health care of the American people. | ||
| Today House Democrats will introduce legislation to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years to make sure that tens of millions of Americans don't experience dramatically increased premiums. | ||
| co-pays, and deductibles. | ||
| We believe that working class Americans, middle-class Americans, and everyday Americans deserve the same level of certainty that Republicans always provide to the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. | ||
| The same level of certainty. | ||
| And so we're calling upon our Republican colleagues to join us and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. | ||
| And we will be working hard today, tomorrow, and throughout the balance of this year to make sure that those Affordable Care Act tax credits are extended. | ||
| Now, Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. | ||
| They own the mess that has been created in the United States of America. | ||
| They own it. | ||
| In a few hours, we will convene on the House floor. | ||
| And our message to the American people is no matter what happens on the floor later on today, our promise to you remains the same. | ||
| House Democrats will continue to fight to make your life more affordable. | ||
| House Democrats will continue the fight to address the Republican health care crisis. | ||
| And House Democrats will fight to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. | ||
| This fight is not over. | ||
| We're just getting started. | ||
| We're just getting started. | ||
| Now, among the many outrageous things that has been said during the Trump Republican shutdown or done during the Trump Republican shutdown, the longest shutdown in American history, is that Donald Trump made the stunning claim that in his mind, he holds two titles, that he has two positions. | ||
| Donald Trump says that he's both the president and the speaker of the House. | ||
| That's what Donald Trump said in the midst of him shutting down the government. | ||
| And what we've seen from compliant, sycophantic Republicans, corrupt House Republicans, is they continue to go along to get along. | ||
| They don't function like a separate and co-equal branch of government. | ||
| From the very beginning of this presidency and all the way through this Trump shutdown, Republicans in the House have continued to act like a wholly owned subsidiary of the corrupt Trump cartel. | ||
| That may be the House Republican position. | ||
| For damn sure, it ain't the House Democratic position. | ||
| Because we know, and what we say to the American people, is that we don't work for Donald Trump. | ||
| We don't work for JD Vance. | ||
| We don't work for your billionaire donors. | ||
| We work for the American people. | ||
| And that's what this fight by House Democrats, joined by our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol, has been all about. | ||
| We work for the American people as we stand on the Capitol steps, ready to continue this battle on the House floor, a battle that we waged week after week after week, and that will continue regardless of the outcome. | ||
| We say to the American people that we know you deserve better. | ||
| You deserve much better than the chaos, the cruelty, and the corruption that you've seen. | ||
| And so as House Democrats, we're going to continue this fight to lower the high cost of living in a country where America is far too expensive, far too many people struggling to live paycheck to paycheck can't thrive and can barely survive. | ||
| That should not be the case in the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world. | ||
| And so as Democrats, we're committed to addressing this affordability crisis. | ||
| That's what this fight has been all about. | ||
| And we'll continue to work hard to lower the high cost of living. | ||
| We'll continue the fight to fix our broken health care system. | ||
| And we'll continue to fight to stand up for Medicaid. | ||
| We'll continue to fight to stand up for Medicare. | ||
| We'll continue the fight to stand up for the Affordable Care Act and an extension of the tax credits. | ||
| We'll continue to fight for your hospitals. | ||
| We'll continue to fight for your nursing homes. | ||
| We'll continue to fight for your community-based health clinics. | ||
| And we'll continue to fight for the principle that in this great country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, health care can't simply be a privilege available only to the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. | ||
| Health care must be a right available to every single American. | ||
| And that's the fight that House Democrats will continue to wage for the American people. | ||
| It's now my great honor to yield to the freshman leadership representative, someone who's gotten off to a great start, helping to lead the freshman class, the first term members during this turbulent and tumultuous period here in the United States Congress and for the country. | ||
| From the great state of California, the Honorable Luz Rivas. | ||
| Thank you, Leader Jeffries, Rip Clark, and Chair Aguilar for your leadership. | ||
| House Democrats are back in Washington, D.C., ready to vote once again to protect health care for working families across the country. | ||
| Recently, I spoke with Speaker Johnson directly in the Capitol and hand-delivered stories from my and my fellow freshman colleagues, constituents who have been impacted by the Republican shutdown. | ||
| This includes the story of Stephen Heller, a constituent from Van Euys, which is in my district. | ||
| Stephen and his wife are independent contractors who have to pay for their own health insurance. | ||
| Because Republicans let the ACA tax credits expire, Stephen and his wife are facing a monthly health care premium increase of $1,000 per month in 2026. | ||
| This will bring their monthly total to nearly $2,100 per month and nearly $25,000 for the year just in health insurance. | ||
| That is, in Stephen's own words, a terrible financial blow and an enormous financial burden. | ||
| Constituents across the country like Stephen and his wife cannot afford Republicans' deal. | ||
| I will vote no and continue to fight with House Democrats to protect the ACA subsidies that Stephen and millions of Americans rely on. | ||
| House Democrats will continue our fight to protect health care, lower the cost of living, and keep the American dream attainable for all. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| And next, I'd like to introduce my amazing colleague from Michigan, Congresswoman McDonald Rivet. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you very much. | |
| I come from mid-Michigan, the part of the country where workers actually invented the American dream: to work hard enough to pay your bills, put a little bit away, and take your kids on vacation every once in a while. | ||
| But the dream is further and further out of reach. | ||
| In my district, 70% of our jobs pay less than $60,000 a year. | ||
| So, this health care crisis that Republicans have created, a trillion-dollar in Medicaid cuts, and gunning the ACA in order to pay for the tax break for the ultra-wealthy, is making things so much harder. | ||
| So, let me give you an example. | ||
| A couple in my district, they actually go to my church, called and told me they're in their 60s and they rely on the ACA tax credits to pay their insurance premiums. | ||
| But now, because the Republicans have failed to extend these credits, their insurance premiums are going to jump by $11,000 next year. | ||
| An impossible sum for people on the edge of retirement. | ||
| Health insurance already consumes 72% of their retirement income. | ||
| Let me say that again: 72% of their retirement income and is about to go up another $11,000. | ||
| That means they're facing devastating choices between doctor's visits and paying the mortgage, between cancer screenings and putting food on the table, between prescription drugs and heating their home, or even, frankly, to get insurance at all. | ||
| They told me, and this is a direct quote, they are strongly considering going without coverage and taking their chances rather than continuing to pay the premium. | ||
| Because here's the reality: they actually can't pay that premium. | ||
| I came to Congress, we all came to Congress to help people like them. | ||
| Lower cost, better care, more jobs. | ||
| One easy critical step is simply passing to extend the ACA credits. | ||
| It is time we pass it before they pay the cost. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| It is my pleasure to introduce my colleague from California, Representative Tron. | ||
| Good afternoon. | ||
| I am Congressman Derek Tren, and I proudly represent Orange and LA counties in California's 45th district. | ||
| Today, I want to share the story of Peter and Esther. | ||
| Peter and Esther are retired and living in Orange County, California. | ||
| They're on a limited income, and their health insurance costs are overwhelming. | ||
| They pay over $18,000 every year just in health care premiums. | ||
| And next year, their costs are going up to over $21,000. | ||
| When you're retired and living on a fixed income, that kind of cost increase can be devastating. | ||
| Peter has been trying to get his wife Esther on Medicaid so she can get the care she deserves without going bankrupt. | ||
| But he keeps hitting roadblocks. | ||
| The red tape, long lines, and staffing shortages preventing Esther from even being considered for Medicaid coverage is harmful to our country. | ||
| And instead of joining us to fix this crisis, the Republican majority has demanded more cuts, causing more pain and suffering for the American people. | ||
| I am here today for people like Peter and Esther. | ||
| They deserve better than this. | ||
| Every American deserves better than this. | ||
| While we're fighting for health care, Republicans are fighting for tax cuts for the billionaires. | ||
| I'll keep fighting to make sure people like Peter and Esther can afford the care that they deserve. | ||
| And I hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will join us. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
| It is with great privilege that I introduce and yield time to Congresswoman Sarah McBride from the great state of Delaware. | ||
| Thank you so much, Representative. | ||
| Thank you so much, Leader Jeffries, Whip Clark, and Chair Aguilar for bringing us together today. | ||
| We stand here today, 42 days into a government shutdown and 54 days since the House last met, because Republicans have presented the American people with a false choice between reopening government and addressing this health care crisis. | ||
|
God Bless Alabama's Health Care Fight
00:10:44
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| There is simply no reason why we can't do both. | ||
| The only thing that has been standing in our way is Republican cruelty. | ||
| Republicans have played a game of chicken with food assistance, travel safety, and federal paychecks, all because they will stop at nothing to cut your health care. | ||
| The only thing that congressional Republicans are more loyal to than Donald Trump is to cutting the health care of the American people. | ||
| Let's be clear. | ||
| This health care crisis is a choice by congressional Republicans and Donald Trump, who have inserted a $1 trillion bomb into the American health care system. | ||
| And it is starting to go off. | ||
| Millions right now are facing skyrocketing premiums. | ||
| The largest cut to Medicaid in American history is on the horizon. | ||
| Rural hospitals will close. | ||
| Doctors' offices will shutter. | ||
| Donald Trump loves to own things and slap his name on them. | ||
| Well, he now owns the American health care system. | ||
| It is Trump care. | ||
| Millions losing coverage, that's Trump care. | ||
| Americans paying more for insurance, that's Trump care. | ||
| Everyone having to drive longer and take more time off work, that is Trump care. | ||
| Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have raided your health care and used that money as a piggy bank to reward their donors with massive tax breaks. | ||
| Cruelty is the currency of his corruption because Donald Trump only cares about himself, his ballroom, and his billionaire buddies. | ||
| And he certainly doesn't care about you. | ||
| House Democrats are here for everyone, whether they voted for us in the last election or not. | ||
| I'm here on behalf of all of my constituents, including a family of four in Middletown who will see their premiums skyrocket by $10,000 next year. | ||
| That's why we are all voting against this budget. | ||
| And it's why we will not stop until every single American can get the health care that they need to live and thrive in America. | ||
| Thank you all very much. | ||
| And it is now my pleasure to introduce my friend from the great state of Alabama, Representative Shamari Figures. | ||
| Thank you You know, House Democrats just spent the better part of the last 40-plus days fighting to keep health care affordable for millions of Americans, while our House Republican colleagues were on a taxpayer-funded vacation. | ||
| During this shutdown, the realities hit home for a lot of people. | ||
| Mothers had to worry about how they would take care of their children, their babies without wake. | ||
| Families stood in pantry lines. | ||
| Families are still standing in food pantry lines. | ||
| In the month of November, the month of Thanksgiving, because SNAP benefits were expired and this administration chose to use them as pawns in this game. | ||
| Capitol police officers, members of the military, my staff, all of our staff, and millions of other federal workers had to deal with the uncertainty and the stresses of missing paychecks. | ||
| And for what, in the end, what were Republicans willing to give in the end? | ||
| Nothing more than a handshake deal to take a future vote on extending the health care subsidies. | ||
| When we all know that that future vote is the equivalent of asking two wolves and a chicken to vote on what's for dinner, it is dead on arrival. | ||
| It is dead on arrival. | ||
| Now, I can speak to you as someone from a different perspective. | ||
| A lot of us represent districts where we can talk about what could happen or what may happen. | ||
| Let me tell you about what my district looks like in the state of Alabama. | ||
| And it doesn't look too dissimilar from my fellow colleague from Alabama, Congresswoman Terry Sewell's district. | ||
| I got about 50,000 people in my district who are slated to see their health care premiums on average nearly double. | ||
| And this is in a district where the individual median income is just north of $32,000. | ||
| I have 13 counties in my district. | ||
| 10 of them either do not have a hospital because it has recently closed, or their hospital is on literal life support and they have to go to a county commission or a city council every single month to make payroll. | ||
| And the largest hospital in Montgomery, Alabama, the nation's, the state's capital, is in the midst of a bankruptcy and also facing risk of closure. | ||
| And this all in a state that has the third lowest life expectancy in the United States of America. | ||
| So health care for us is not a talking point. | ||
| Health care for us is, protecting health care for us is a requisite. | ||
| It's a requirement. | ||
| It's something we have to do. | ||
| And if you ask us if the shutdown was worth it, I say, hell yes, it was worth it. | ||
| Because fighting to maintain health care for American people, there's nothing more pure than that. | ||
| There's no more, no more important role that we have here as members of Congress than to ensure the health care of the American people. | ||
| And so while the failure of Republicans to do anything to protect health care is truly disappointing, I want the world to know that my Democratic colleagues here in the House, they can ride with me in any battle I face in my life. | ||
| They stood with us under the leadership of Hakeem Jeffries to make sure that we kept this front and center. | ||
| And I look forward to remaining committed to this fight for all of Alabama and for all of America. | ||
| With that, turn it back over to our leader, future Speaker Jeffries. | ||
| I want to thank all of our distinguished colleagues who spoke so powerfully and eloquently about the nature of this fight that we continue to wage on behalf of the American people. | ||
| And these are first-term members of Congress. | ||
| But they recognize that as Democrats, we stand on the shoulders of many who, decade after decade, century into century, have always fought to make life better for everyday Americans and to protect the health care and enhance the health care of the American people. | ||
| That's the continuing and enduring legacy of the Democratic Party. | ||
| FDR fought for it. | ||
| Truman fought for it. | ||
| JFK fought for it. | ||
| LBJ fought for it. | ||
| Carter fought for it. | ||
| Clinton fought for it. | ||
| Barack Obama fought for it. | ||
| Biden fought for it. | ||
| And no one fought harder in the House of Representatives than our Speaker, Amerita, Nancy Delessandro Pelosi. | ||
|
unidentified
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That's in the DNA of the Democratic Party. | |
| From FDR to Nancy Pelosi to these first-term members. | ||
| And so our promise to the American people is that we are in this fight until we win this fight for all of you. | ||
| Cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save health care. | ||
| God bless you. | ||
| God bless the United States of America. | ||
|
unidentified
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And just a handful of votes left here after nearly 43 days, record-breaking days, of Congress as poised to reopen the federal government. | |
| The Senate passing the government funding bill 60 to 40 on Monday. | ||
| Seven Democrats and one independent senator who caucuses with Democrats broke with the party to support the bill. | ||
| If passed by the House, 216, the nays are 213. | ||
| The previous question is ordered. | ||
| Question is on the adoption of the resolution. | ||
| Those in favor say aye. | ||
| Those opposed, no. | ||
| Penya chair, the ayes have it. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as for recorded vote, recorded vote is requested. | ||
| Those favoring a recorded vote will rise. | ||
| Sufficient number having risen, a recorded vote is ordered. | ||
| Members will record their votes by electronic device. | ||
| This is a five-minute vote. | ||
|
unidentified
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And again, a 43rd day of the government shutdown. | |
| Possible end in sight as the House takes up this series of votes toward passing a short-term funding measure. | ||
| A vote here on the debate rules. | ||
| And if agreed to, there will be about an hour of debate before a final vote on funding later this evening. | ||
| Also, today, the swearing-in of Arizona Congresswoman Adelita Grajalva. | ||
| She was voted to the seat held by her late father, and she was the last remaining vote needed to complete a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein files investigation. | ||
| We'll take a look now at some of her remarks during her swearing in. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
Proud Daughter of Justice
00:05:42
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| Thank you so much. | ||
| Thank you to my colleague and friend, Congressman Stanton, for that kind introduction and to the entire Democratic delegation from Arizona and the delegation that stood here with me that has supported me throughout this process. | ||
| I rise today the proud granddaughter of a bracero, a hardworking Mexican immigrant who came to this country for a better life, and I stand as the proud daughter of a U.S. Congressman, A man who spent his entire life fighting for justice, equity, and dignity for the most vulnerable. | ||
| From working as a vaquero to serving in Congress in just a single generation, that is the promise of this country. | ||
| That is the America I want to raise my three beautiful children in, Adelina, Raul, and Joaquin. | ||
| Stand up. | ||
| Stand up, baby. | ||
|
unidentified
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Look at them. | |
| They, along with my amazing husband, Sol, and my wonderful Mama Ramona, are here with me today. | ||
|
unidentified
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Muchas gracias porso apoyotu y tuamor. | |
| And thank you to La Gente of Southern Arizona for making history, electing me the first Latina, the first Chicana from Arizona to ever go to Congress. | ||
| Este momento es histórico para nuestra comunidad. | ||
| Es uno nor se la primera Latinas en representada risón el congreso y leso eseguro que aun que estoy la primera, no sera la ultima. | ||
| And while we celebrate this moment today, our American promise is under serious threat. | ||
| Basic freedoms are under attack. | ||
| Health care premiums are skyrocketing. | ||
| Babies are being ripped away from their parents by mass agents. | ||
| We can and must do better. | ||
| What is most concerning is not what this administration has done, but what the majority in this body has failed to do. | ||
| Hold Trump accountable as a co-equal branch of government that we are. | ||
| It has been 50 days since the people of Arizona's 7th Congressional District elected me to represent them. | ||
| 50 days that over 800,000 Arizonans have been left without access to the basic services that every constituent deserves. | ||
| This is an abuse of power. | ||
| One individual should not be able to unilaterally obstruct the swearing-in of a duly elected member of Congress for political reasons. | ||
| Democracy only works when everyone has a voice. | ||
| This includes the millions of people across the country who have experienced violence and exploitation, including Liz Stein and Jessica Michaels, both survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. | ||
| They are here in the gallery with us this evening. | ||
| Thank you for being here. | ||
| Just this morning, House Democrats released more emails showing that Trump knew more about Epstein's abuses than he previously acknowledged. | ||
| It's past time for Congress to restore its role as a check and balance on this administration and fight for we, the American people. | ||
| We need to fight for our immigrant communities and veterans. | ||
| We need to stand up for our public schools, children, and educators. | ||
| We need to respect tribal sovereignty and our environment. | ||
| We need to stand up for LGBTQ plus rights because that's what the American people expect us to do. | ||
| Fight for them. | ||
| That is why I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files. | ||
|
Order and Motion
00:09:34
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| The resolution is adopted. | ||
| Without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. | ||
| The House would come to order. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentlelady from Washington seek recognition? | ||
|
unidentified
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Mr. Speaker, just one. | |
| The House will be in order. | ||
|
unidentified
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Mr. Speaker, I guess I can. | |
| For what purpose does the gentlelady from Washington seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2A1 of Rule 9, I seek recognition to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House. | ||
| The form of the resolution is as follows: Whereas on October 27, 2025, Representative Chewy Garcia filed nominating petitions to be on the Democratic primary ballot in March 2026. | ||
| Whereas on November 5th, 2025, on the last day of filing, Representative Garcia's Chief of Staff, Patty Garcia, submitted her own paperwork to enter the Democratic primary. | ||
| Whereas on November 6th, after the filing deadline, Representative Garcia confirmed that he would not be seeking another term in 2026 and would be withdrawing his nominating petitions. | ||
| Whereas Representative Garcia's chief of staff was the only Democrat who filed to run in the primary at the direction of Representative Garcia, undermining the process of a free and fair election. | ||
| Whereas Representative Garcia's actions are beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the Constitution. | ||
| Now, therefore, be it resolved that the House of Representatives disapproves of the behavior of the representative from Illinois, Mr. Garcia. | ||
| Under Rule 9, a resolution offered from the floor by a member other than the majority leader or the minority leader as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate precedence only at a time designated by the chair within two legislative days after the legislation resolution is properly noticed. | ||
| Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the gentlelady from Washington will appear in the record at this point. | ||
| The chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution constitutes a question of privilege. | ||
| That determination will be made at a time designated for consideration of the resolution. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
| Members are instructed to clear the well the house will be in order and members will clear the well For what purpose does the gentleman from Illinois seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House resolution. | ||
| I'm sorry. | ||
|
unidentified
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I don't know what you talked about. | |
| I think you recognize someone else. | ||
| I'm not sure. | ||
| Will the gentleman repeat his request at a microphone? | ||
| Will the gentleman find the microphone and repeat his request? | ||
|
unidentified
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask unanimous consent to address the body. | |
| The will? | ||
| I recognize for that purpose. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | |
| I'd like to say I'd like to thank the Honorable The House will be in order. | ||
| The well will be cleared. | ||
| All members will clear the well. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Oklahoma seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 873, I formed the public. | ||
| The bill H.R. 5371, the continuing appropriations, agriculture, legislative branch, military construction, and veterans affairs and extensions act 2026 with the Senate amendment thereto, and I have a motion at the desk. | ||
| The clerk will report the title of the bill, designate the Senate amendment, and designate the motion. | ||
| H.R. 5371, an act making continuing appropriations and extensions for fiscal year 2026 and for other purposes. | ||
|
unidentified
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Senate amendment. | |
| Mr. Cole of Oklahoma moves that the House concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 5371. | ||
| Pursuant to House Resolution 873, the motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Cole, and the gentlelady from Connecticut, Ms. DeLauro, each will control 30 minutes. | ||
| The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I asked unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration. | ||
| Without objection, so ordered. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
| All members are instructed to take their conversations outside. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| I rise today in support of the continuing appropriations agriculture legislative branch, military construction and veterans affairs and extension act of 2026. | ||
| History reminds us, Mr. Speaker, that shutdowns never change the outcome. | ||
| The only cost is paid by the American people. | ||
| Over the last 43 days, the facts did not shift. | ||
| The votes required did not shift. | ||
|
Pain Inflicted On Americans
00:15:35
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| The path forward did not change. | ||
| The only thing that did move was the level of pain Democrats inflicted on the nation. | ||
| For six long weeks, Americans have paid the price for a shutdown they neither caused nor deserved. | ||
| The pain has been all too real for far too many Americans, including families struggling without paychecks, seniors on the brink of hunger and food assistance lapsed, airports in chaos, the communities bracing as programs that they rely on were stalled or stopped altogether. | ||
| And with yesterday being Veterans Day, we especially reflect on the impact of this shutdown on those who served our nation, past and present. | ||
| Our military families were left wondering if they would be paid. | ||
| Thanks to President Trump, they were. | ||
| Yet this is not how the greatest nation in the world should function. | ||
| Today, that changes. | ||
| The legislation before us reopens the government, restores critical services, and puts an end to the needless hardship Democrats have inflicted on the country. | ||
| This bill supports our troops. | ||
| It pays federal workers. | ||
| It fully funds SNAP benefits until September 30th of next year. | ||
| It compensates our air traffic controllers right before a busy holiday season. | ||
| In fact, it takes a holistic approach in ensuring federal services and programs are operational. | ||
| In the simplest terms, we're putting the government back to work for our people. | ||
| The bill is fundamentally the same responsible approach House Republicans offered on September 19th, but with an important addition, three full-year appropriations bills for FY26. | ||
| These bipartisan, bicameral, full-year appropriations bills cover the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs legislative branch and agriculture, rural development, and food and drug administration divisions. | ||
| Once passed, we will have full-year funding in place for many of our most crucial programs. | ||
| Military construction needs will be met for a full year, as will medical programs for our nation's veterans. | ||
| The legislative branch will be properly resourced, including critical funding enhancements for the Capitol Police and for member security. | ||
| And agriculture, food, and nutrition programs like WIC and SNAP will be fully funded to help vulnerable people in need. | ||
| Importantly, this legislation delivers member-driven community project funding in both the military construction and agricultural division, which will direct resources back into the hands of the communities we represent. | ||
| This was a top priority for the Appropriations Committee, and we achieved it while holding overall spending levels in check. | ||
| It's responsible appropriations progress like this that causes me to reflect on an important message to our friends in the Democratic leadership. | ||
| My sincere apologies to minority leaders Jeffries and Schumer, but after today, you will no longer get to hold the government hostage, and you will not get to force a rushed, pork-filled Christmas omnibus at the end of the year. | ||
| Republicans have actively restored a responsible line-by-line process. | ||
| Over the next few months, we will continue this work and efforts through regular order. | ||
| Article I advancement is an accomplishment that every member of this chamber can be proud of, regardless of party. | ||
| Yet some still need to decide what they stand for today. | ||
| So to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, do you want the leverage or do you want to legislate? | ||
| Do you treat Americans as collateral damage or as constituents? | ||
| And do you answer to your caucus or your country? | ||
| For Republicans, the answer has been clear for the last 43 days. | ||
| We have, and we will continue to put Americans first. | ||
| Democrats can join us. | ||
| They have an opportunity to make the responsible choice to reopen our government and pass three official full-year appropriations bills. | ||
| Eight Senate Democrats saw reason and did exactly that. | ||
| I hope House Democrats do the same. | ||
| True courage is taking responsible action for the nation even when politics makes it inconvenient. | ||
| Let's reopen the government and get back to work. | ||
| With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma Reserves, the gentlelady from Connecticut, is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The House is not in order. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| House will be in order. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield myself seven minutes. | ||
| The gentlelady is recognized. | ||
| I rise in opposition to this bill that does nothing, not one thing, to address the Republican health care crisis amid a cost of living crisis. | ||
| More than 20 million Americans will have to pay double, even triple their monthly insurance premiums in just a matter of weeks. | ||
| And this bill leaves families without even a glimmer of hope that their costs might go down. | ||
| Energy prices are up. | ||
| Grocery prices are up. | ||
| Housing costs are up. | ||
| When two-thirds of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck, you can understand why the most important issue on their minds is affordability. | ||
| What does President Trump say? | ||
| And I quote, affordability is a con job, end quote. | ||
| How out of touch can you be? | ||
| Mr. President, start to listen to the American people, not your millionaire billionaire friends. | ||
| President Trump and my Republican colleagues refused to address this issue. | ||
| They continue to avoid it. | ||
| They were so intent on avoiding it that they shut down the government instead of dealing with it. | ||
| Speaker Johnson has indicated that he will not deal with it. | ||
| He has shown no interest in holding a vote on extending the health care subsidies, which would prevent monthly costs from soaring. | ||
| Republicans have tried to say they will deal with this problem their own way, but they have no plan. | ||
| They are trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as they have been trying to do unsuccessfully for 15 years. | ||
| However, they are poised to succeed, which is why it is so important for this continuing resolution to fail. | ||
| President Trump and Republicans, their plan is to drive up prices for everybody, compounding the cost of living crisis. | ||
| More than 2 million Americans are expected to lose their health insurance next year because it has simply become too expensive. | ||
| There are more than 50 pages of health care provisions in this bill. | ||
| Not one of them stops costs from skyrocketing at the beginning of next year. | ||
| Not one of them offers relief to American families being squeezed tighter and tighter by the Republican crisis. | ||
| There is one group of people, however, who will receive some relief thanks to this bill. | ||
| United States senators who may have participated in an insurrection. | ||
| Snuck into this bill at the 11th hour by Senate Republicans is a provision to pay out at least $1 million each to eight United States senators implicated in the January 6th insurrection. | ||
| Understand, this is a corrupt precedent. | ||
| This is where members can profit from their own votes. | ||
| It's the fleecing of the American people, which they get and understand. | ||
| At the same time, this bill excludes a provision that will order a plaque to be hung that honors the police officers who put their lives on the line to defend our democracy from that same insurrection. | ||
| What a contrast. | ||
| It is yet another instance of this administration's shameless corruption that is financially ruining American families. | ||
| While there is $230 million for the President to pay himself from the Department of Justice, $8 million for some of his closest Senate allies, $200 million for a pair of private jets for the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, $40 billion to Argentina, the American people are left with nothing but higher costs. | ||
| This bill also fails to fully cover the Toxic Exposure Fund, which was created to support veterans exposed to burn pits and Agent Orange. | ||
| We made a promise to stand by the men and women who served our country in uniform. | ||
| This bill does not live up to that promise. | ||
| You know, Republicans need to stop taking photographs with veterans and then vote against their health care. | ||
| Those who lead in the appropriations process here believe in the constitutional power of the purse. | ||
| And over the past month, President Trump has been firing federal workers en masse. | ||
| And when his administration has failed there, they have made life so miserable for federal workers that they had no choice but to leave. | ||
| Federal workers should be, and I quote, traumatically affected. | ||
| Those are the words of the Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vogt. | ||
| An unelected bureaucrat, the federal workforce has dwindled by 200,000 since January, jeopardizing the public services that so many people rely on. | ||
| Spare us your false concern. | ||
| And since January, this administration has been stealing from our communities, withholding as much as $410 billion in funding approved by Democrats and Republicans, House, Senate signed into law, and they are illegally blocking authorized funds from being distributed. | ||
| Even now, as we debate this bill, the Trump administration is arguing to the Supreme Court that they should be allowed to withhold food stamp funding that Congress lawfully approved. | ||
| They were ordered by three separate courts to distribute food assistance and are still fighting to withhold it. | ||
| It is not connected to opening this government. | ||
| They have the money. | ||
| They have it now for food stamps. | ||
| They just refuse to use it. | ||
| Imagine using food as a political weapon, unspeakable and immoral. | ||
| It seems like their only plan is to strip children of food assistance while kicking their parents off their health insurance. | ||
| They have demonstrated that that is who they are. | ||
| These are their true colors. | ||
| You cannot expect Democrats to go along with any bipartisan funding deal if that agreement can be undone with a party-line vote. | ||
| Congress, Congress must assert its authority over the power of the purse. | ||
| I encourage my colleagues to vote no, and I reserve the balance of my time. | ||
| The gentlelady reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to our distinguished majority leader, the gentleman from Louisiana, Mr. Scalese. | ||
| The gentleman from Louisiana is recognized for one minute. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank my friend, the chairman of the appropriations, Mr. Cole from Oklahoma, for not only yielding, but for bringing this important bill to the floor. | ||
| Our appropriators worked tirelessly to negotiate a multi-bill package that is part of this bill to reopen the government. | ||
| And we never should have been here, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| We tried as Republicans over a month ago to prevent a government shutdown. | ||
| We had a vote here on the House floor. | ||
| 99% of Republicans voted to keep the government open, and 99% of Democrats voted to shut it down. | ||
| And then that bill went over to the Senate, and we watched for 42 days, where time and time again, Democrats, just to appease their most radical base, continued to vote in unison to shut the government down. | ||
| And during that shutdown, we saw millions of families experience pain, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Pain and suffering that Democrats themselves acknowledged that they imposed on the American people. | ||
| But they said over and over again, we have quote after quote from Democrats during the shutdown, that they needed to impose the suffering to get leverage, Mr. Speaker, to use the American people as pawns to get leverage for what? | ||
| For what? | ||
| They ultimately filed an alternative bill, a trillion and a half dollar mad spending spree that included things like $200 billion of taxpayer funding for illegals to get taxpayer benefits while they gutted the $50 billion rural health care fund that we put in place in the Working Families Tax Cut. | ||
| So, Mr. Speaker, anybody who comes up here and says they care about health care, they were also advocating to gut the $50 billion rural health care fund to provide $200 billion in taxpayer-funded health care benefits for illegals. | ||
| It's insanity. | ||
| And if you really want to look at where this all began, as some on the other side, Democrats want to talk about a health care crisis. | ||
| The health care law of the land is what many refer to as Obamacare. | ||
| But let's remember the original name that Democrats gave that bill when they created it. | ||
| They called it the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| The Affordable Care Act. | ||
| Only Democrats voted for it. | ||
| Republicans knew it was going to be anything but affordable. | ||
| It was going to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship. | ||
| And unfortunately, it's done that. | ||
| But if you want to talk about affordable and maybe the only other bill that's more laughable in its name is the Inflation Reduction Act. | ||
| Yeah, that's another product brought to you by Democrat-only Votes. | ||
| The Inflation Reduction Act, which ushered in the inflation under Joe Biden that we're still trying to shake today. | ||
| But the Affordable Care Act, Mr. Speaker, since it started, Americans have seen over 80% increases in their health care costs because of a Democrat-created bill that they want to now blame on Republicans. | ||
|
Democrats' Temporary Bailout
00:15:45
|
||
| I understand why they would want to try to now pawn that off on somebody else. | ||
| But then if you look over time, during COVID, they created a temporary relief fund, not to individuals, Mr. Speaker, but to insurance companies. | ||
| Democrats created a temporary, they called it temporary in the law, temporary COVID relief tax credit to insurance companies to bail out big insurance companies who were seeing record profits, and that's now what they want Republicans to renew. | ||
| A insurance company bailout that Democrats created to be temporary. | ||
| They set it up to expire. | ||
| And now they're saying that the world's going to end if that insurance company bailout doesn't get renewed. | ||
| While at the same time, when we as Republicans worked to actually lower premiums for families, they fought it every step of the way. | ||
| That's right. | ||
| We had a bill that we passed through this House just a few months ago in the Working Families Tax Credit. | ||
| Part of that bill was called the cost share reduction. | ||
| It was scored by the CBO to lower premiums for families by over 12%. | ||
| And what happened? | ||
| It gets over. | ||
| And by the way, every Democrat voted against that too, because they've never cared about lowering premiums. | ||
| Then that bill gets over to the Senate. | ||
| Senate Democrats worked overtime to get that provision removed. | ||
| And if you go look at Senate Democrat Budget Committee website, they still brag that they removed that provision that would have lowered premiums for families. | ||
| So, absolutely, Republicans have worked and will continue, by the way, to work to lower premiums for families. | ||
| But make no mistake, the high premiums that everybody faces today are a result of the inaptly named Affordable Care Act and the many failures associated with it. | ||
| But this bill today is about ending the misery Democrats created on families that is just about funding the government, not about solving other problems that we should be working to solve, but about getting the government back open while not holding the American people hostage. | ||
| And that, Mr. Speaker, is what has disgusted the American people most during this shutdown. | ||
| That should have never happened, but it's that it has caused real suffering for American families. | ||
| Our men and women in uniform that had to wonder whether or not they're going to get paid. | ||
| Air traffic controllers who already had a highly stressful job and then had to show up for work without getting paid. | ||
| Multiple paychecks missed. | ||
| Now you're seeing because a lot of those air traffic controllers have to go work jobs as Uber drivers. | ||
| They aren't even being able to show up for work because they still have bills due, their rents due. | ||
| They're trying to put food on their table, and Democrats want to vote no tonight to keep denying them food. | ||
| The 42 million SNAP recipients, those people that are low-income that need those food benefits, if you vote no today, you are voting to deny those 42 million low-income families basic food needs. | ||
| Don't talk about how much you care about low-income people and vote no tonight to deny them food, basic services, basic things that American families need who shouldn't be part of the leverage Democrats want to show their radical base that they're fighting Donald Trump because they're upset with the results of the election from November. | ||
| It is time to end this madness, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Let's get this government back open. | ||
| Let's go negotiate our differences, which are many. | ||
| But let's do it while not continuing to hold the American people hostage. | ||
| I urge my Democrat colleagues who have voted relentlessly to shut this government down and impose this suffering on the American people to stop. | ||
| Stop imposing the suffering. | ||
| Let's open the government. | ||
| Let's get back to the work of the American people. | ||
| I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
| The gentleman from Louisiana yields back. | ||
| This is the gentleman from Oklahoma Reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Chair. | |
| I do, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The gentleman in reserves, the gentlelady from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| I remind the majority leader that a 60-year-old couple earning $82,800 per year, annual premiums will rise by over $17,000, a 255% increase. | ||
| It now gives me great pleasure to yield three minutes to the gentleman from Georgia, the distinguished ranking member of the Agricultural and Rural Development Subcommittee, Mr. Bishop. | ||
| The gentleman from Georgia is recognized for three minutes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Ranking Member DeLaure. | |
| As Ranking Member of the Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA Subcommittee, I rise to oppose this bill. | ||
| Though it does represent, for the most part, solid bipartisan work to provide investments in agriculture in rural America, I am disappointed that the rest of it falls far short of the needs of most Americans. | ||
| Health care providers and patients are frustrated and frightened by the imminent skyrocketing of health care costs caused by the loss of the ACA tax credits and cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and life-saving biomedical research. | ||
| My constituent, Angela Holmes, is unable to walk without debilitating pain. | ||
| She's worried that without tax credits, she won't be able to afford health insurance to complete the multiple back surgeries she needs. | ||
| For many Georgians, health care is a matter of life and death. | ||
| Our Republican colleagues could have corrected this in the Rules Committee, but they rejected an amendment last night that would have lowered health premium costs. | ||
| To me, that's unconscionable. | ||
| So are the administration's actions during the shutdown. | ||
| As a Christian, I'm outraged that USDA used the shutdown to illegally withhold SNAP from 42 million Americans. | ||
| USDA had the chance to do the right thing and use designated contingency funds, but rejected it. | ||
| And when ordered to do so by the courts, they fought all the way to the Supreme Court to keep hungry families from receiving food. | ||
| America produces the highest quality, safest, most abundable, most affordable, and abundant food, fiber, and medicine anywhere in the world. | ||
| To that end, this bill provides many welcome investments. | ||
| It fully funds Snap and Wick, replenishes the Snap and Wick contingency funds, and fully funds cash value vouchers for fruits and vegetables for women and children. | ||
| It also helps rural America by providing $1 billion in single-family direct home loans, $120 million over the House level, and funding water and wastewater programs at $446 million, both issues that Democrats tried to address in full committee. | ||
| The bill provides $1.8 billion for the Agriculture Research Service, $1.6 billion for NIFA, protecting farmers, small businesses, and families against President Trump's budget request to eliminate land-grant university research and extension activities across the country. | ||
| I'm pleased to see that the bill language requires USDA to notify Congress before canceling grants over a million dollars. | ||
| The agricultural portion of this bill does make positive steps in the right direction. | ||
| The bill discards many of the harmful policy riders in the House bill, yet it does not go far enough to negate House language, falsely questioning the safety of Mifflin Fiston and encouraging FDA to explore liability protections for certain infant formula manufacturers over which the agency has absolutely no jurisdiction. | ||
| And while the overall funding package may reopen the government for a month or two, this bill does not address the breach of trust this administration has demonstrated since January. | ||
| They failed to follow the law, and we cannot trust that they will even execute this bill if we vote on it today. | ||
| The gentleman's time has expired. | ||
|
unidentified
|
15 seconds. | |
| 15 seconds. | ||
| The gentleman is recognized for an additional 15 seconds. | ||
|
unidentified
|
They fail to follow the law, and we can't trust that they'll execute the law. | |
| They cut SNAP by 20% in the big ugly bill this summer to smallly funded federal programs, fired federal workers, and illegally ignored court orders. | ||
| This bill fails to address the health care crisis, and bipartisan outrage has erupted over language in the bill to pay millions of dollars of tax time for a handful of senators whose phone records were subject to the January 6th investigation. | ||
| It's a bad bill. | ||
| Opposed? | ||
| The gentleman's time has expired. | ||
| The gentleman yields back. | ||
| Does the gentlelady from Connecticut reserve? | ||
| The gentlelady reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I recognize my yield two minutes to my very good friend, distinguished gentleman from Texas, and distinguished chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Carter. | ||
| The gentleman from Texas is recognized for two minutes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank my longtime friend, colleague, and the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Cole, for yielding me the time. | |
| I rise in support of H.R. 5371 and look forward to reopening the government. | ||
| The shutdown has gone on long enough, and it's time to end it. | ||
| Yesterday was Veterans Day, and it's a timely reminder of the commitment our Armed Forces personnel have made and the responsibility that we have to take care of those who serve our nation. | ||
| Military Construction and Veteran Affairs component of the legislation meets that goal. | ||
| The legislation includes $133.3 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, including $113 billion.8 for discretionary funding for the VA medical care. | ||
| It includes critical funding for Medicare, Medicare, medical health services, telehealth services, veterans homelessness programs, medical research programs and rural health initiatives. | ||
| It invests in information technology, including robust investments in VA electronic health record modernization. | ||
| Fully funds all mandatory veterans' benefits, including veterans' disability compensation programs, education benefits, and vocational rehabilitation and employment training. | ||
| Nearly $20 billion for the Department of Defense military construction programs. | ||
| This amount funds nearly 300 projects and military bases around the world. | ||
| I yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| The gentleman has an additional 15 seconds. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It includes $3 billion to improve and maintain housing for service members, provides requested resources for the American battle monuments, armed forces retirement home, and operations of Arlington Cemetery. | |
| I want to thank Mr. Cole for his endless work to get this to this point. | ||
| I promise my colleagues to join me in supporting the bill, and I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman yields back to the gentleman from Oklahoma Reserve. | ||
| The gentleman reserves, the gentlelady from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida, the distinguished ranking member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee, Ms. Wasserman Schultz. | ||
| The gentlelady from Florida is recognized for three minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. | ||
| I rise to oppose this slush fund for senators bill that will force health care costs to explode for millions of Americans. | ||
| In fact, this legislation guarantees only two things. | ||
| Republican senators suspected of helping Trump try to steal an election will get a whole lot richer, and life will get more expensive for everyone else. | ||
| That's because this bill adds rocket fuel to Republicans' larger assault on Americans' access to quality, affordable health care. | ||
| Remember, Mr. Speaker, Republicans already slashed $1 trillion for Medicaid, $500 billion for Medicare, and let Trump steal billions in medical research. | ||
| But with this bill, Republicans dump massive health care price hikes on struggling Americans. | ||
| Millions will be priced out of any coverage at all, which will drive coverage costs up and health services down for all of us. | ||
| It's a health budget nightmare for America's families and a slush fund lottery win for eight Republican senators. | ||
| Because the one thing that we can all agree on, unless you're Jeffrey Epstein's best friend in the White House, is that the cost of living is out of control. | ||
| Rent, home insurance, and electric bills are all soaring. | ||
| The cost of beef, coffee, and vegetables just keep climbing. | ||
| People are really struggling to get by. | ||
| Yet Donald Trump continues to block SNAP benefits to 42 million struggling seniors, patients, and veterans. | ||
| How anyone could swipe food from the plates of nearly 20 million children like that is simply disgusting. | ||
| But that same moral bankruptcy is embedded in this bill. | ||
| This bill unleashes huge health insurance hikes on 200,000 people, 203,000 people in my district alone, and 82,000 people will lose coverage altogether due to the impact of the big, ugly law and soaring ACA prices. | ||
| Worse, this bill also renegs on our commitment to veterans. | ||
| As the ranking member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, I take our promises to veterans personally and seriously. | ||
| Just this summer, I secured bipartisan support for my amendment to restore $51.7 billion in advance funding for the Toxic Exposures Fund. | ||
| This is funding, mind you, that President Trump sought in his budget. | ||
| Yet as Republicans slipped a slush fund for senators into this bill, they gutted a critical funding protection for veterans. | ||
| Just so we're all clear, average Americans will see their kitchen table budget blow up from the health coverage price hikes, and veterans will see their future health care funding for toxic exposures put in jeopardy. | ||
| Also, billionaires can keep getting huge tax breaks. | ||
| It's hard to pick between the worst moral outrages behind this bill. | ||
| Was it covering up for Epstein's best friend for nearly two months just so Republicans could vacation and avoid negotiating a better health care plan for our struggling families? | ||
| Or is it a slush fund that personally enriches Republican senators and will haunt everyone who votes for this bill? | ||
| Well, House Democrats will oppose this partisan spending bill that guts America's health care, and we'll keep fighting to extend health care tax credits. | ||
| Donald Trump and Republicans broke their promise to lower costs, and this bill certainly cements that betrayal. | ||
| But Democrats will stand by our promise to lower costs, and we'll make sure every American knows Republicans are responsible for this devastating health care crisis. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentlelady yields back. | ||
| The gentlelady from Connecticut reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
|
One Vote, Many Voices
00:12:19
|
||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to my very good friend, distinguished chairman of the Agriculture Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriation, Dr. Harris of Maryland. | ||
| The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Senate amendment to H.R. 5371, which will finally put an end to the Democrat-led government shutdown. | ||
| Millions of Americans have suffered because they refuse to reopen the government, harming those who depend on SNAP benefits, federal workers, border patrol agents, and our troops who are uncertain about their next paycheck. | ||
| This legislation extends government funding to the end of January 2026, thereby blocking attempts to force a budget-busting omnibus at the last minute before Christmas. | ||
| It also includes the FY 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration Appropriations Act. | ||
| Republicans have effectively locked in disciplined, flat spending levels while supporting the Trump administration's policy priorities. | ||
| The Agriculture Bill provides $26.65 billion in discretionary spending, which is level with the current amounts, while also including community project funding. | ||
| This bill provides critical funding support to America's farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. | ||
| It ensures both USDA and FDA can safeguard our nation's food and drug supply and fully funds nutrition programs, including SNAP and WIC. | ||
| Additionally, the bill closes the hemp loophole that has resulted in the spread of unregulated, intoxicating, hemp-derived products that are being sold online and in gas stations and corner stores across the country. | ||
| Many of these products are accessible and attractive to children, resulting in thousands of calls to U.S. poison control centers, with more than 30 percent involving children aged five years and younger. | ||
| This provision is supported by 39 states' attorney general and over 81 national and state public health, medical, law enforcement, and other organizations. | ||
| It's beyond disappointing that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will soon be voting to continue the chaos and uncertainty of a government shutdown. | ||
| But this is what responsible Republican government looks like. | ||
| We stared down the Radical Democrats' outrageous budget-busting demands and held the line for hardworking American taxpayers. | ||
| I want to thank Appropriations Chairman Cole for his leadership and strongly encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. | ||
| Mr. Chair, I yield back time. | ||
| The gentleman from Maryland yields back. | ||
| Does the gentleman from Oklahoma reserve? | ||
|
unidentified
|
I do. | |
| The gentleman reserves. | ||
| The gentlelady from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield three minutes to the gentleman from New York, the distinguished ranking member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, Mr. Espayat. | ||
| The gentleman from New York is recognized for three minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise today in strong opposition to the Senate's amendment to H.R. 5371, because once again, the Senate has put other interests ahead of those of the American people. | ||
| Today's backroom deal does nothing to stop 20 million Americans that will see their health care premiums double or triple. | ||
| And it does absolutely nothing to stop provisions in the reconciliation package that will strip 50 million people of the Medicaid coverage. | ||
| These cuts will have a resounding impact for individuals and the health care industry and economy as a whole. | ||
| Safety net hospitals like Montefiore in my district and federally funded clinics like Borinke in East Harlem face having to eliminate services or completely close. | ||
| Families, seniors, and children who go to these clinics in hospitals cannot afford to lose health care coverage. | ||
| On top of that, Mr. Speaker, the legislative branch bill, which was done unilaterally, not with the consultation of both sides, it was done on its own. | ||
| In the Senate, in the dark, in cahoots with a bunch of people, includes a provision that will line the pockets of eight senators that we know of by allowing them to sue the government for millions of dollars if the Department of Justice subpoenas their phone records or seeks a lawful non-disclosure order. | ||
| While families in my district are stretching every single dollar just to pay for food and rent, senators want a personal payout if law enforcement dares to hold them accountable. | ||
| At every turn of this shutdown and fight for health care access, Republicans and the Trump administration have tried to inflict suffering as much as possible. | ||
| For weeks, the administration held food stamps hostage. | ||
| And even when some states comply with a court ruling to release full benefits, the president demanded that they be clawed back. | ||
| Even when governors stepped up and said, we don't want people to go hungry, they ran to court, Mr. Speaker, to take $6.20 away from poor people. | ||
| Who does that? | ||
| Explain that to me. | ||
| Who takes $6.20 away from a single mom or a hungry senior? | ||
| That's the state of America today. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Unbelievable. | |
| And here we are to vote on this. | ||
| I will be casting my vote as a no. | ||
| In fact, it will be a hell no tonight. | ||
| The gentleman from New York Yields Bank, the gentlelady from Connecticut Reserves, the gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to my very good friend, the distinguished gentlelady from Michigan and chairman of the House Republican Conference, Ms. McLean. | ||
| The gentlelady from Michigan is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| And God, I love the compassion and the passion on the other side of the aisle. | ||
| You know, we worried about taking money out of families. | ||
| Well, you know what? | ||
| Y'all can do the right thing and vote yes. | ||
| If not, you're the ones that are taking money from needy families, not us, because yes means yes, we want to feed the families. | ||
| We want to have SNAP programs. | ||
| No means we don't fund those programs. | ||
| See how simple that is? | ||
| But keep on with the rhetoric. | ||
| I mean, it's cute, but the American people don't buy it. | ||
| So, I mean, listen, for the past 40 days, Democrats have inflicted needless pain on hardworking Americans. | ||
| They stranded millions of travelers. | ||
| They denied food assistance for hungry families. | ||
| And how did they do that? | ||
| When you vote no to continue funding, that means you deny food stamps for hungry families. | ||
| No means no, you don't want to pay them. | ||
| Yes, like the Republicans vote, that means yes, we do want to pay them. | ||
| So, you know, they left our troops wondering when they'd get their next paycheck. | ||
| And for what, Mr. Speaker? | ||
| To use the American people as leverage. | ||
| No, take my word for it. | ||
| Take theirs. | ||
| Leverage for more wasteful Washington spending. | ||
| Spending that no one other than the radical left ever wanted. | ||
| And to remind the American people they wanted $1.5 trillion of their hard-earned tax dollars. | ||
| But what did they get in return? | ||
| They got nothing. | ||
| They got nothing because Republicans refused to waste the American people's money. | ||
| Not a dime for their radical climate change. | ||
| Not a dollar for tax-funded benefits for illegals, and not one single concession to their radical far-left base. | ||
| Millions of Americans whose lives were upended by the Democratic shutdown will remember this. | ||
| Yield the gentlelady an additional 30 seconds. | ||
| The gentlelady is recognized for an additional 30 seconds. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| The American people will remember who held them hostage for petty political reasons and who fought to put America first. | ||
| So now that this shameful charade is over, House Republicans will continue our work on behalf of the American people. | ||
| We will restore regular order to the appropriations process. | ||
| We will continue to fulfill the mandate of the American people, and we will keep delivering results for American people because that's what we're here to do for, not to play politics. | ||
| So with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| The gentlelady from Michigan yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma Reserves, before we move on, members are advised to direct their comments to the chair and not to engage in personalities. | ||
| The gentlelady from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I have the greatest honor really to yield time, two minutes' time, to the gentlewoman from California, the distinguished Speaker Emerida, Ms. Pelosi, and I might add, probably the epitome of the best speaker that this nation has ever had, in addition to which millions of Americans have health care coverage of the Affordable Care Act because of Speaker Pelosi. | ||
| And she's also Italian-American. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I yield. | |
| And the grandmother. | ||
| The gentlelady from California is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, Madam Chair, once and future chair of the Appropriations Committee, and thank her for her leadership and her kind words. | ||
| I take heed, Mr. Speaker, of your comment to address my remarks to you and not to your colleagues. | ||
| So I can say to you, and perhaps you can tell them, either they don't know what they're talking about or they don't care about meeting the needs of the American people. | ||
| Did any one of them vote to eliminate a need for a pre-existing condition in health care? | ||
| Not one of them. | ||
| Did any one of them vote to say if your children get to be 26 until they're 26 years old, they have access to your policy? | ||
| Not one of them. | ||
| Did any of them vote to eliminate, bring a woman as being a pre-existing medical condition? | ||
| Not one of them. | ||
| The list goes on and on. | ||
| Do any one of them vote for the Affordable Care Act, which, Mr. Speaker, you can tell them was paid for, was paid for. | ||
| And then later, when we decided that we could extend the tax credits further so more people could have more access to care, did anyone vote for that? | ||
| No. | ||
| So all they have done is try to eliminate access to health care in our country. | ||
| The public is catching on to them. | ||
| You might tell them if a woman is born with a child that has a heart condition, she's out of luck with what they are proposing. | ||
| If a father gets a stroke, forget about it. | ||
| If you have a sibling with a disability, they don't care. | ||
| And if your wife has breast cancer, you've got big bills to pay because they want to take away, take away health care, whether it's Medicaid to tens of millions of people, half a trillion dollars for Medicare for seniors and people with disabilities, millions of dollars added to the cost for families for access to the Affordable Care Act. | ||
| The list goes on and on. | ||
| Either they don't know or they don't care. | ||
| I'll say one more thing. | ||
| As a grandmother and mother, how about the President of the United States on Halloween night having a Halloween party party and saying to the Supreme Court, please don't make me feed the children or the poor people in our country. | ||
| Going to the Supreme Court for that, that means cruelty is not even comes close to the word that is needed for that kind of behavior. | ||
|
Schumer's Strong Opposition
00:15:44
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||
| The worst president for children America has ever seen. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentlelady from California yields back. | ||
| The gentlelady from Connecticut Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to my very good friend, distinguished gentleman from West Virginia and member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee of the Committee of Appropriations, Mr. Moore. | ||
| The gentleman from West Virginia is recognized for two minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I rise today to support the Senate amendment to H.R. 5371, which includes full funding for the legislative branch. | ||
| I'm honored to serve as the vice chairman of the legislative branch subcommittee, and I'm grateful to Chairman Valadeo for his leadership on that committee. | ||
| It has been a long road to bring this bill to the floor, a road that was made significantly longer by totally unnecessary Schumer shutdown that we've been living in. | ||
| The bill before us not only reopens the entire government, but ensures that the House and its supporting agencies remain working for the American people. | ||
| The bill invests in safety and security. | ||
| It increases funding for the Capitol Police, provides support for security programs through the House Sergeant-at-Arms, and is tough on foreign adversaries, including language I wrote, preventing the purchase of technology tied to the Chinese Communist Party. | ||
| I want to thank Chairman Cole for his leadership and Ranking Member Espayat and our subcommittee members and their staff and our staff and their work. | ||
| And I urge my colleagues to vote yes. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman from West Virginia yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma Reserves. | ||
| The gentlelady from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio, the distinguished ranking member of the Energy and Water Subcommittee, Ms. Kaptur. | ||
| The gentlelady from Ohio is recognized for one minute. | ||
| I thank the ranking member for yielding, Congresswoman Doloro. | ||
| Congress today should vote for affordable health insurance for Americans and reduce its rising costs. | ||
| Instead, in the dead of night, eight Senate Republicans slipped into this bill a payola for themselves, literally raking millions of dollars to themselves. | ||
| This payola is called corruption. | ||
| Corruption. | ||
| Millions of taxpayer dollars now are slated for Senators Graham, Haggerty, Hawley, Sullivan, Tuberville, Johnson, Loomis, and Blackburn. | ||
| Each is teed up to personally rake in a million, a minimum of a half a million, up to $1.5 million. | ||
| Meanwhile, the American people need more affordable health insurance, but these senators, with their House allies, are lining their own pockets. | ||
| I say no more tax breaks to billionaires and no payoffs to U.S. senators. | ||
| This is what happens when power serves itself instead of the people. | ||
| This isn't leadership. | ||
| It's corruption disguised as legislation. | ||
| Will the gentle yield me 10 seconds? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman's time has expired. | |
| Let's cleanse America of disgusting corruption. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Power corrupts. | |
| Absolute power corrupts. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Absolutely. | |
| I yield. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from Connecticut Reserves. | |
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to my very good friend, distinguished member from Washington and distinguished member of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Newhouse. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Cole, for yielding the time. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, over 40 days after the Senate Democrats shut down the federal government, we are finally reopening. | ||
| The result of the shutdown has been thousands of employee furloughs, major disruptions to our air travel, service members going without pay, delayed food assistance for low-income individuals and families, and much, much more. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, the responsibility of funding the federal government is one that I take very seriously, especially in light of our nation's debt surpassing $38 trillion. | ||
| The performative tactics that we have watched over the last seven weeks have truly been a disservice to Americans. | ||
| And my friends across the aisle should never have put leverage or politics over those people that they represent. | ||
| But the most important thing right now is that we get back to work, making sure the federal government can provide the essential services that people depend on, and that Congress can continue working to pass full-year funding legislation providing responsible federal spending and fund those essential services. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, we are making significant progress with the inclusion of these three appropriation bills, but our work is far from over. | ||
| I encourage all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this deal, vote to end this unnecessary shutdown, and help us get back to the business of hardworking Americans across this country. | ||
| Thank you, and I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman yields. | |
| Gentlemen from Oklahoma Reserves, the gentleman from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentlewoman from Minnesota, the distinguished ranking member of the Defense Subcommittee, Ms. McCollum. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, Donald Trump and Republicans control the entire government. | ||
| For 42 days, Republicans shut it down. | ||
| Why? | ||
| Because they refuse to extend tax credits to help millions of Americans afford their health care. | ||
| And if that wasn't bad enough, President Trump even withheld food assistance during the shutdown. | ||
| Hunger should never be used as a weapon. | ||
| The CR continues the Republican health care crisis. | ||
| The Speaker's already said he won't hold a vote to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits to reduce health care costs for Americans. | ||
| So now my constituents are going to have to choose between heating their homes, feeding their families, or taking their children to the doctor. | ||
| It's a terrible deal for the American people. | ||
| Americans deserve an open and transparent government that works for them. | ||
| They deserve access to affordable health care, nutritious food for their families. | ||
| And that's what Democrats are fighting for. | ||
| I wish the President and the Republicans would join us in this fight and share our priorities. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I yield back. | |
| The gentleman from Connecticut Reserves, the gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield one minute to my very good friend, gentleman from Missouri and member of the Appropriations Committee, Mr. Alford. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Well, thank you, Chairman Cole, for your leadership. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, in the words of Yogi Berra, this seems like deja vu all over again. | ||
| 59 days ago, I stood at this very elector debating the ranking member and a friend of mine over the continuing resolution to keep our government open. | ||
| On September 19th, we did our work in this body, but Senate Democrats chose to hold America hostage with the Schumer shutdown. | ||
| Democrats in Congress, including the minority whip, shamefully admitted they were using the misery they inflicted on the American people as leverage, as leverage to achieve their leftist wishlists of demands, slowly twisting the heads of the American people in a vice. | ||
| Tonight, I'm relieved to say the misery of the Schumer shutdown is on our doorstep. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this package proves that when Republicans stay united and put America first, we can govern with strength, compassion, and common sense. | ||
| Tonight, Mr. Speaker, tonight, we will reopen the government and liberate the Schumer hostages. | ||
| And with that, I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields. | |
| The gentleman from Oklahoma Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentlewoman from California, a member of the Appropriations Committee, Mrs. Torres. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition of this deeply flawed bill because the American people deserve better. | ||
| Since Trump returned to office, Republicans have created an affordability nightmare, a mass transfer of hard-earned taxpayers' dollars to billionaires. | ||
| In my district alone, more than 350,000 people are facing skyrocketing health care costs or cuts to critical services. | ||
| Republicans shut down the government instead of finding bipartisan solutions to keep care affordable and took a seven-week paid hiatus during doubling health care costs for working families, cutting off food assistance right before Thanksgiving, and letting Trump spend his holidays pardoning insurrectionists, enriching billionaires, cozing up to dictators, and building himself a new ballroom, | ||
| all while taking food away from families in need. | ||
| And now Senate Republicans want to reward themselves with a taxpayer-funded handout. | ||
| Shameful, shameful, shameful. | ||
| House Republicans should be here doing their jobs, not making life harder for working families. | ||
| I urge a no vote. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Members are advised to direct their comments to the chair and not to engage in personalities toward the president. | |
| The gentleman from Connecticut Reserves, the gentleman from Oklahoma, is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to my very good friend, distinguished gentleman from Texas, and chairman of the House Budget Committee, Mr. Arrington. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Mr. Speaker, the Democrats rejecting a clean CR, shutting the government down, creating all the havoc, the pain and suffering for our fellow Americans is so obviously disingenuous. | ||
| They never vote against clean CRs. | ||
| Never. | ||
| For four years under Biden, you all didn't reject one clean CR. | ||
| Chuck Schumer in 44 years never rejected a clean CR. | ||
| So Mr. Speaker, what's it about? | ||
| They say policy. | ||
| They put forward a proposal, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| They said it's about health care, health care for illegals. | ||
| They repeal work requirements for able-bodied adults. | ||
| That's an 80-20 issue in this country. | ||
| They put forward a spending bill of $1.5 trillion. | ||
| That's twice the discretionary budget. | ||
| Mr. Chairman, they'd be spending more money than we've ever spent outside of COVID. | ||
| That's their counterproposal. | ||
| It's not only disingenuous, it's unserious. | ||
| So what's it about? | ||
| It's about politics. | ||
| It's about resisting and fighting and undermining Donald Trump. | ||
| But here's the deal: they're not fighting and resisting Donald Trump. | ||
| They're undermining the will of the American people that gave Trump the presidency. | ||
| Yield the gentleman an additional 15 seconds. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| They undermined the will of the people who overwhelmingly elected President Trump and gave him the mandate of the America First Agenda. | ||
| So you're not resisting us. | ||
| You're posturing and placating the radical left. | ||
| And you are holding back what the American people wanted. | ||
| And that was a new direction for this country. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Members are reminded to please direct their comments only to the chair. | |
| The gentleman from Oklahoma Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentleman from New Jersey, the distinguished ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Palau. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I want my colleagues to understand that when the Affordable Care Act was adopted, it was adopted for middle-class people who could not afford health insurance. | ||
| They had no other option. | ||
| They had nowhere to go. | ||
| You just would end up without health insurance. | ||
| I have constituents coming to me now crying because their insurance is going from $500 a month to $1,500 a month. | ||
| That's an increase of $1,000 a month. | ||
| Who could afford that? | ||
| No one in the middle class. | ||
| At the end of 2024 last year, during a Democratic administration, the number of insured Americans was at a record high of about 95 percent. | ||
| Democrats worked for that. | ||
| Then Trump comes in, the Republicans in with their big, ugly bill, and they make cuts to Medicaid, cuts to hospitals and nursing homes, and no funding to extend the ACA tax credits. | ||
| So what's going to happen? | ||
| More and more people have no health insurance. | ||
| That's the bottom line. | ||
| They will not have health insurance. | ||
| And the Republicans don't seem to care. | ||
| But I want you to know that the Democrats care and will continue to fight for you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields. | |
| The gentleman from Connecticut Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the distinguished gentleman from Guam, my very good friend, Mr. Moyland. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you, my friend from Oklahoma. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, Guam is home to 3,372 federal employees, more than 43,000 SNAP recipients, and over 9,000 WIC recipients, and more than 20,000 veterans, all of whom have been impacted by this shutdown. | ||
| If we continue to put politics over our country, my constituents will continue to suffer. | ||
| Simply put, this gets us back on track, ensures funding for those who need it is in place, and turns the lights back on. | ||
| This bill ensures that families receive the assistance they need, veterans have access to care, and our island is reimbursed for the sacrifice we made to keep federal programs running during this difficult time. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to support this bill and to deliver for American people. | ||
| The time for deliberation is when the government is open and people have the assistance they need. | ||
| Our reserve. | ||
| The gentleman yields. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts, the distinguished ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Neal. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank the gentlelady. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, the destruction that is taking place in America's health care system during these 10 months is unbelievable. | ||
| They've eviscerated the National Institutes of Health. | ||
| They've cut back on the Centers for Disease Control, billions of dollars for Medicaid for a tax cut for the wealthy. | ||
| Where do you see what's coming to America's hospitals after the next election? | ||
| It's so contrived they waited until after the election to implement it. | ||
| 24 million people are likely to lose health insurance if we don't implement these tax credits as suggested. | ||
| The emergency room is going to be back in full force now because this is where people will go for their health care. | ||
| All of this is taking place to justify a tax cut for people at the very top. | ||
| And here's the real kicker. | ||
| Our Republican colleagues of fiscal probity borrowed the money for the tax cuts. | ||
| In 2017, it's $2.4 trillion. | ||
| In the last tax bill, almost $4 trillion is borrowed for a tax cut for wealthy people. | ||
| Whatever happened to the fiscal soundness that the Republican Party used to lecture everybody on. | ||
|
Government Back Open
00:14:28
|
||
|
unidentified
|
And I yield back the balance of my gentleman yields. | |
| The gentleman from Connecticut Reserves, the gentleman from Oklahoma, is recognized. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to my very good friend, the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Muser. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| I thank Chairman Cole for his leadership. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, if this were a library, we would have the fiction side over there and the non-fiction side over here. | ||
| The only thing that's not fiction, however, is their consistent criticism of the health care system known as Obamacare that they created. | ||
| That's what this fight seems to be about. | ||
| And that's the one end of things that is truthful. | ||
| Today, Mr. Speaker, after six weeks of no pain, or excuse me, lots of pain and no gain, they're going to vote again to keep the government closed. | ||
| They're going to vote again. | ||
| They're whipping their votes so they would not be paying federal workers, they won't be funding essential programs like SNAP, and undo the chaos at our airports. | ||
| Okay, I spent the last 43 days in my district talking with these groups, talking with SNAP, talking about Head Start, seeing their pain, realizing it, understanding it. | ||
| Some of my colleagues did the same, but shockingly, they're still going to vote to keep the government closed and keep this funding from being delivered. | ||
| It's time to fix the damage the Democrats have caused. | ||
| With this vote tonight, Republicans will restore SNAP payments. | ||
| We'll get TSA and air traffic control. | ||
| I'll yield the gentleman additional 15 seconds. | ||
| And you know what, Mr. Thank you, Chairman. | ||
| And you know what, Mr. Speaker? | ||
| Yesterday was Veterans Day. | ||
| Veterans didn't fight for the red. | ||
| They didn't fight for the blue. | ||
| They fought for the red, white, and blue. | ||
| Maybe tonight we can follow their example. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields. | |
| The gentleman from Oklahoma Reserves, the gentlewoman from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentlewoman from Washington, Ms. Delbene. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentlewoman is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| This bill fails to address the fundamental needs of families across our country. | ||
| Americans have made it crystal clear that affordability is their number one concern. | ||
| President Trump and Republicans promised to lower costs on day one, and that's been one big broken promise. | ||
| Health care premiums are skyrocketing because Republicans refuse to extend the ACA tax credits, causing health care costs to go up for everyone. | ||
| Over 4 million people will be forced off their coverage next year because it's too expensive. | ||
| This is on top of soaring prices for food, energy, and housing. | ||
| It's unacceptable for the wealthiest nation in the world. | ||
| Republicans who say they support affordable health care should be standing up for their constituents rather than following in line behind President Trump. | ||
| I'm going to keep fighting for affordable health care and lower costs. | ||
| The American people deserve better. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentlewoman yields. | ||
| The gentleman from Connecticut Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield 90 seconds to my very good friend, the distinguished gentleman from Texas, Mr. Gooden. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| Throughout this sham and shame of a shutdown, we've heard so many lies from the Democrats. | ||
| And over the last 45 days, and especially the last 45 minutes, I've heard them say this is an evil bill. | ||
| Republicans don't care about the disabled. | ||
| Trump is the worst president in history for children. | ||
| They've said that Republicans are to blame for the fentanyl crisis. | ||
| Republicans shouldn't take photos with veterans. | ||
| January 6th, of course, they mentioned that. | ||
| Republicans are corrupt, and they've said that Republicans are starving kids. | ||
| What they haven't said is the one thing that this bill does, which is open up the government. | ||
| Not one Democrat is getting up here saying this bill opens the government. | ||
| So let me remind them and my colleagues and the American people: this bill opens the government tonight. | ||
| And the American people have Republicans to thank for ending this shutdown and opening the government. | ||
| I urge a yes vote. | ||
| I am proud to vote yes. | ||
| And I am so disappointed in my Democratic colleagues because, for the life of me, throughout my time in the House, I've heard them talk about how wonderful it is to keep the government open and that a shutdown is so bad and can never happen. | ||
| And tonight they won't even admit that this bill opens the government and this is what we need for this country tonight. | ||
| So I urge a yes vote and I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields. | |
| The gentleman from Oklahoma Reserves, the gentlewoman from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield one minute to the gentlewoman from California, Ms. Barragon. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I oppose the Republican spending bill that makes health care more expensive for hardworking Americans. | ||
| While Republicans were on their seven-week-plus vacation, all our constituents were receiving notices of premium increases. | ||
| A constituent of mine, a lifelong educator, has been told that her premiums will jump from $383 to nearly $1,000. | ||
| Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans can find money for a fancy ballroom. | ||
| They can give tax breaks to billionaires. | ||
| And they even included millions of dollars in cash payouts in this bill for eight Republican senators. | ||
| If anyone else in government gave themselves millions in taxpayer money, they would go to prison. | ||
| But for Americans trying to afford health care, not one dollar in tax credits. | ||
| House Democrats are united against this corrupt bill and will keep fighting to protect America's health care. | ||
| I urge my colleagues to reject this bill. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| The gentleman yields. | ||
| The gentleman from Connecticut Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I yield myself such time as I may consume. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, it's been an interesting debate. | ||
| Frankly, as a couple of my colleagues have suggested, a lot of the rhetoric on the other side hasn't had much to do with the legislation in front of us. | ||
| My friends chose all on their own to shut the government down 43 days ago. | ||
| During that time, soldiers have had to worry about getting paid. | ||
| The only reason they were paid is the President of the United States managed to pull a rabbit out of the house twice, or we've had military families completely unpaid. | ||
| We have our air traffic controllers, most of us flew here today or yesterday or in recent days. | ||
| They're keeping the skies as safe as they can, but they haven't gotten paid. | ||
| We're in this Capitol building. | ||
| We're under the protection of the Capitol Police. | ||
| They do a splendid job. | ||
| They keep doing their job. | ||
| They haven't been paid. | ||
| We have people that are in desperate need of some of the services that this government has promised to give them, SNAP and WIC, that's at risk unless we pass this legislation tonight. | ||
| So we can have all these debates about all these other issues. | ||
| As a matter of fact, my friend the Speaker, his counterpart in the United States Senate, the majority leader, and the president said, when you open the government, we'll be happy to talk to you about some of these issues. | ||
| But you're not going to shut down the government, punish the American people, put people's lives at risk, and think we're going to sit down and negotiate with you under those circumstances. | ||
| That is not going to happen. | ||
| We told you 43 days ago from bitter experience government shutdowns don't work. | ||
| They never achieve the objective that you announced. | ||
| And guess what? | ||
| You haven't achieved that objective yet, and you're not going to. | ||
| We did the same thing twice, so I'm not saying that we've got clean hands over here. | ||
| You guys did it on DACA, didn't work here, not going to work here. | ||
| Only people that have suffered have been the American people, the people that were all here to serve. | ||
| So let's keep the focus on getting the government back open. | ||
| I would also add, and I appreciate this very much, there have been robust discussions back and forth, and we have three appropriations bills attached to this. | ||
| There are appropriations bills that do important things. | ||
| The Ag Bill will make sure that people that rely on WIC and SNAP don't have to worry about another government shutdown between now and September 30th of next year. | ||
| The Ledge Branch bill will make sure that the Capitol Police and everybody else that staff that allow this chamber to function don't have to worry about not getting paid until September 30th of next year. | ||
| And obviously, military construction and more importantly, veterans rely on benefits, commitments we have made. | ||
| Passage of this bill makes sure that those commitments will be fulfilled between now and September 30th next year. | ||
| And we buy the time to sit down and rationally and responsibly negotiate other appropriations bills that we can bring, I hope, in a bipartisan basis to this floor to keep the government open. | ||
| So I would just ask my friends to reflect on that. | ||
| I hope some of you feel the weight of that decision. | ||
| I know you do. | ||
| And I hope you can vote to keep the government open. | ||
| There's no excuse to shut it down. | ||
| United States Senate operated to keep it open in a bipartisan fashion. | ||
| Now, it took them a long time to do it, but they got there. | ||
| Let's not follow that example. | ||
| Let's follow that when they finally got the job done, they sent us a product. | ||
| It's not a perfect product. | ||
| It's got some things in it I don't like. | ||
| But frankly, if we kept the government open, we would have never been in this situation in the first place. | ||
| So I would just ask my friends to remember their constituents. | ||
| I know they think about them. | ||
| I know they're serious about the points they make. | ||
| Reopen the government, raise your issues. | ||
| Let's see if we can come to negotiated settlement. | ||
| But let's not punish the American people. | ||
| A no vote on this, again, means soldiers and military families don't get paid. | ||
| A no vote means that people in need of snap and wick might not get it. | ||
| A no vote means the people that allow us to come here and debate and work won't get paid either. | ||
| I can go down the list of horrors. | ||
| It's pretty simple. | ||
| This is a vote about two things. | ||
| Opening the government of the United States, which you willfully tried to shut down, fortunately did not succeed in that in this chamber, but some of your colleagues using arcane Senate rules did manage to do it, but finally came to their census. | ||
| You ought to pay attention to those people. | ||
| They said, enough is enough. | ||
| Let's reopen the government. | ||
| I would urge my colleagues to do that today, and I hope it's done in a bipartisan way. | ||
| With that, I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman reserves and members are reminded to direct their remarks only to the chair. | |
| The gentlewoman from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I yield three minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts, the distinguished Democratic whip, Ms. Clark. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentlewoman is recognized. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Donald Trump said the cost of living crisis is fake news, a con job by the Democrats. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, 60% of Americans can't afford a basic quality of life. | ||
| 45% have had to skip a doctor's appointment or a prescription because they can't afford it. | ||
| 41% are living with medical debt. | ||
| The American people are simply not making it. | ||
| Not only is that crisis real, it is a crisis that Republicans promised to solve. | ||
| Voters believe them. | ||
| And now, after a 54-day hiatus, what are Republicans doing? | ||
| They're voting to raise the cost of living. | ||
| They're voting to make it even harder to get by. | ||
| Not by some marginal amount. | ||
| They are doubling, tripling, and quadrupling monthly premiums. | ||
| And what's the defense? | ||
| They are looking people in the eye and flat-out gaslighting them. | ||
| Costs aren't up. | ||
| Costs are down. | ||
| Trump says, I don't want to hear about the affordability. | ||
| Well, get used to hearing about it. | ||
| You're going to hear about it a lot because people are feeling it every single day. | ||
| People can't make rent. | ||
| They can't afford their prescriptions. | ||
| They can't afford to take their kid to a doctor. | ||
| They can't find child care. | ||
| And when they find it, they can't afford that either. | ||
| Grocery and utility bills are spiking. | ||
| This is the crisis of our time. | ||
| And it's about to get exonentially worse because the GOPs craven allegiance to billionaires over working people. | ||
| The cost of living crisis is not fake news. | ||
| It's not a perception issue. | ||
| It is daily life for the people that we all represent. | ||
| So let's do something about it. | ||
| Let's reject this budget. | ||
| Let's stop the health care cuts. | ||
| Let's stop the premium hikes. | ||
| Let's stop the hospital closures. | ||
| And let's stop the billionaire giveaways. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentlewoman yields. | |
| The gentleman from Connecticut Reserves. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| I reserve. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman reserves. | |
| The gentlewoman from Connecticut is recognized. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, this bill fails to prevent health care costs from skyrocketing. | ||
| It fails to address the crisis of affordability. | ||
| It fails to keep our promise to veterans. | ||
| It provides a million-dollar jackpot to eight senators. | ||
| It fails to protect Congress's power of the purse. | ||
| I encourage my colleagues to vote no, and I have the honor of yielding one minute to the gentleman from New York, our distinguished Democratic leader, Mr. Hakeem Jeffries. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman is recognized. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the distinguished gentlelady, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, for yielding and for her steadfast leadership on behalf of working families, hardworking American taxpayers in the great state of Connecticut and all across America. | ||
|
Republican Health Care Crisis
00:10:24
|
||
| Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this woefully inadequate spending bill that fails to decisively address the Republican health care crisis and fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for tens of millions of Americans. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, before I say anything further, let me say to our men and women in uniform, to our active duty troops, to our hardworking federal employees, to our civil servants, to our TSA agents, to our Capitol Police, to our staff here in the House of Representatives, to our air traffic controllers. | ||
| Thank you for your service. | ||
| Thank you for your sacrifice. | ||
| Thank you for the work that you do on behalf of the American people each and every day. | ||
| And it's our promise to all of you that we will continue to work hard to make sure that you are treated with the dignity and respect that you deserve. | ||
| In a year in which the Trump administration has gone after hardworking federal employees relentlessly, including firing more than 200,000 federal employees prior to the start of the Trump Republican shutdown. | ||
| Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the presidency. | ||
| Donald Trump and Republicans made the decision to shut the government down. | ||
| The longest shutdown in American history would rather do that than provide health care that's affordable to working class Americans, middle-class Americans, and hardworking American taxpayers. | ||
| All across the country, I'm certain that there are people in America asking the question, where do we go from here? | ||
| House Democrats have a simple answer. | ||
| We will continue to fight to lower the high cost of living. | ||
| House Democrats will continue to fight to address the health care crisis that Republicans have created. | ||
| And House Democrats will continue to fight to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for tens of millions of Americans. | ||
| This fight is not over. | ||
| We're just getting started. | ||
| We'll fight today. | ||
| We'll fight tomorrow. | ||
| We'll fight this week. | ||
| We'll fight next week. | ||
| We'll fight this month. | ||
| We'll fight next month. | ||
| We'll fight until we win this battle for the American people. | ||
| That's our commitment as House Democrats. | ||
| And there's only two ways that this fight will end. | ||
| Only two ways, Mr. Speaker, that this fight will end. | ||
| Either Republicans finally decide to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits this year, or the American people will throw Republicans out of their jobs next year and in the speakership of Donald J. Trump once and for all. | ||
| That's how this fight ends. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, during this painful Trump-Republican shutdown, what we've seen is two different philosophies in terms of how to govern for the American people. | ||
| The Democratic Party philosophy is clear. | ||
| We are ready, willing, and able to find bipartisan common ground anytime, any place to enact spending agreements that actually make life better for the American people. | ||
| But in order to do that, we need to have partners on the other side of the aisle who are actually willing to find a bipartisan path forward. | ||
| But what we've seen from Republicans from the very beginning of this presidency is a my way or the highway approach. | ||
| That's been the Republican philosophy. | ||
| Jam your extremism down the throats of the American people. | ||
| That's what we've seen from day one of this presidency. | ||
| That's the reason why the government has been shut down by Republicans and Donald Trump for the longest period of time in American history. | ||
| What have we seen from Donald Trump and Republicans during this shutdown? | ||
| A consistent unwillingness to actually find common ground in order to make life better for the American people. | ||
| Donald Trump, during this shutdown, found the time to play golf week after week after week. | ||
| Donald Trump found the time to pardon serial fraudsters like George Santos and Rudolph Giuliani. | ||
| Donald Trump found the time to meet with the Chinese Communist Party. | ||
| Donald Trump found the time to destroy the East Wing of the White House. | ||
| Donald Trump found the time to extort $230 million from the Department of Justice so he could line his pockets. | ||
| Donald Trump found the time to bail out Argentina with $40 billion. | ||
| Donald Trump found the time to rip away SNAP benefits from 42 million Americans. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, these extremists are not like us. | ||
| They're not like us. | ||
| They have zero interest in fighting hard to make life better for the American people. | ||
| Their philosophy, my way or the highway, our response, get lost. | ||
| We're going to continue to fight hard on behalf of the American people. | ||
| In the midst of a health care crisis and a cost of living crisis that is very real, despite what Donald Trump, the leader of the Republican Party, has to say, he claims there is no affordability crisis in the United States of America. | ||
| But why would anyone believe anything that Donald Trump or Republicans have to say on this issue? | ||
| Because throughout 2024, before the election, Republicans in the House and in the Senate and Donald Trump on the campaign trail spent all of their time saying that costs were going to go down on day one. | ||
| But costs haven't gone down, Republicans haven't done a damn thing to lower the high cost of living. | ||
| Costs haven't gone down in this country, costs have gone up. | ||
| Inflation is on the way up. | ||
| Housing costs out of control. | ||
| Grocery costs out of control. | ||
| Electricity bills out of control. | ||
| Health care costs skyrocketing out of control. | ||
| And in the midst of this affordability crisis, seeing this, Democrats said we've got to fight to make sure that we extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits so that tens of millions of people, working class folks, middle class folks, | ||
| people in rural America, working class America, small town America, the heartland of America, black and brown communities all throughout America, don't experience premium increases that in some cases will go up by $1,000 or $2,000 per year. | ||
| In many cases, month after month after month, $1,000 or $2,000 per month, tens of thousands of dollars per year. | ||
| Unacceptable in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world. | ||
| And this is in the midst of a Republican health care crisis. | ||
| Republicans enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripped health insurance away from 14 million Americans. | ||
| As a result of Republican policies, hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers are closing all across America, including in rural parts of this great country of ours. | ||
| And now because of Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans are at risk of being unable to afford to go see a doctor when they need one. | ||
| In this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, it can't be the case that health care is simply a privilege for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, that's the Republican perspective. | ||
| We believe as Democrats that health care has to be a right and a right that's affordable and available to every single American in the United States. | ||
| That's what this fight is all about. | ||
| And that's what the fight will continue to be about as we move forward. | ||
| Many of my Republican colleagues have suggested that they want to deal with the health care affordability issue, that they want to address the Republican health care crisis that's devastating people all across this country. | ||
| Well, we have an opportunity for you to do so. | ||
| There's a discharge petition connected to legislation that House Democrats have introduced to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years because we believe that working class Americans, middle-class Americans, and everyday Americans deserve the same level of certainty that Republicans always provide to the wealthy, the well-off, and their well-connected donors. | ||
| Working class Americans deserve that level of certainty. | ||
| So join us in extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits. | ||
| It's not too late. | ||
| We're in the midst of open enrollment, but the tax credits expire on December 31st. | ||
| And we will stay on this issue until we get this issue resolved for everyday Americans. | ||
|
Serving with Legends
00:03:50
|
||
| Mr. Speaker, as I close, you know, I've had the opportunity, as many of us do, to serve in the United States Congress with legendary figures too numerous to mention. | ||
| Legendary members, of course, Speaker Emerita, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, the great Jim Clyburn, Maxine Waters, Elijah Cummings, Charlie Wrangel, our own Marcy Captor, the longest-serving woman in the history of the United States House of Representatives. | ||
| We've all had the opportunity to serve with legendary members, John Dingell, too numerous to mention. | ||
| But one can't call that role without calling the name of the great John Lewis. | ||
| I had the distinct honor of serving with John Lewis for several terms. | ||
| Many of us here in the House of Representatives did. | ||
| I'll never forget, on my first day in the Congress, I had the opportunity to meet John Lewis for the first time in person. | ||
| And he called me over to see him on the House floor, and he just asked me a simple question. | ||
| He said, are you the new guy? | ||
| And I said, yes, sir, Mr. Lewis, I am. | ||
| And he said, well, with colleagues now, you don't have to call me Mr. Lewis. | ||
| You can call me John. | ||
| I said, yes, sir, Mr. Lewis, I understand. | ||
| And then he said, to me, you're from Brooklyn, right? | ||
| Now, Mr. Speaker, I got to be honest, I was tempted to say, Brooklyn is always in the House. | ||
| But instead, since my mother raised me with some sense, Lenita Jeffries, I said, yes, sir. | ||
| I'm from Brooklyn. | ||
| And then he said something to me that I've never forgotten. | ||
| He said, well, I hear some positive things about you from your predecessor. | ||
| But Washington, D.C., young man, can be a rough place. | ||
| So I don't want you to get into any trouble unless it's good trouble. | ||
| And I just wanted to stop by on the House floor to make sure it was clear to the American people that the spirit of John Lewis lives amongst House Democrats, and we will continue to get into good trouble to make their life better. | ||
| That's our commitment to every single American all across this country from this day and for every day moving forward. | ||
| And it was John Lewis who said to us that ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. | ||
| Ours is the struggle of a lifetime and maybe even many lifetimes. | ||
| And each one of us in every generation must do our part. | ||
| Mr. Lewis, we love you. | ||
| We were blessed by our opportunity to serve with you. | ||
| And House Democrats are here to do our part. | ||
| We're in this fight until we win this fight for the American people. | ||
|
Government Republicans Yield Time
00:04:19
|
||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields. | |
| Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. | ||
| The gentlewoman from Connecticut has 30 seconds remaining and is recognized. | ||
| Mr. I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from Connecticut yields. | |
| The gentleman from Oklahoma is recognized. | ||
| Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| It's my distinct pleasure to yield the balance of our time to the distinguished Speaker of the House, my very good friend and a man, a person I admire greatly. | ||
|
unidentified
|
One minute. | |
| One minute. | ||
| I'm actually just going to hold you to one minute, Mr. Speaker. | ||
| My good friend, the gentleman from Louisiana, Speaker Mike Johnson. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman from Louisiana is recognized. | |
| I want to thank my friend, Chairman Cole, who's done an extraordinary job in this process. | ||
| And Mr. Speaker, we all know why we're here. | ||
| House Democrats voted to shut the government down. | ||
| It was 54 days ago when we had that vote, September 19th. | ||
| And since that time, Senate Democrats have voted 14 times to close the government. | ||
| Republicans voted a collective 15 times to open the government for the people, and the Democrats voted that many times to close it. | ||
| And then they admitted, many of them, and we could name them here, but I'm not going to take the time, they admitted that they were using the American people as leverage in this political game. | ||
| They knew that it would cause pain, and they did it anyway. | ||
| The whole exercise was pointless. | ||
| It was wrong, and it was cruel. | ||
| In mere moments, I want you to watch the board. | ||
| They're going to do it again. | ||
| I'm going to guess for you that most of our Democrat colleagues are going to vote again to close the government, again to take food out of the mouths of families that need it, again to deny pay to federal employees, again to stall flights and cancel airlines and do all the rest that they've done. | ||
| But we are not going to let them succeed in that gambit. | ||
| And that's right. | ||
| While the Democrats keep voting to shut their government down, Republicans are going to vote to open it back up. | ||
| And with that, we're going to get the American government running again and working for the people as they deserve. | ||
| I'm going to close with this. | ||
| You know, as Speaker, you have the ability to talk as long as you want, but I'm not going to do that tonight. | ||
| We're not going to waste any more time of the people. | ||
| I'm just going to say this. | ||
| I think that everybody needs to remember this one simple thing. | ||
| From the very beginning of this whole ordeal, on the Republican side, we operated in good faith. | ||
| We offered a clean, nonpartisan CR. | ||
| We were honest and transparent with the American people from the very beginning. | ||
| And every single day of the shutdown, we went out and looked right into the camera with a press conference and told the American people the simple truth. | ||
| We have done for the people what has been right and just and truthful. | ||
| And in the end, that is what God honors always. | ||
| Don't forget it. | ||
| We need to get this government open as soon as possible, and I'm going to yield back the remainder of my time so we can do that. | ||
| The American people demand it and deserve it. | ||
| My friends, let's get this done. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| The gentleman yields. | ||
| The gentleman from Oklahoma has three minutes remaining and is recognized. | ||
| I yield back the balance of my time. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman yields. | |
| All time for debate has expired. | ||
| Pursuant to House Resolution 873, the previous question is ordered. | ||
| The question is on the motion by the gentleman from Oklahoma, Mr. Cole. | ||
| All those in favor say aye. | ||
| All those opposed say no. | ||
| In the opinion of the chairs, the ayes have it. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Connecticut? | ||
|
Congress Poised to Reopen
00:16:24
|
||
| Mr. Speaker, I request the yays and nays. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The yays and nays are requested. | |
| Those favoring a vote by the yeas and nays will rise. | ||
| A sufficient number having risen, the yeas and nays are ordered. | ||
| Members will record their votes by electronic device. | ||
| This is a 15-minute vote. | ||
| And after nearly 43 days, Congress is poised to reopen the federal government. | ||
| The Senate passed the government funding bill 60 to 40 on Monday. | ||
| One independent senator and seven Democrats broke with the party to support the bill. | ||
| If passed by the House and signed by President Trump, the bill would fund the government through January 30th next year. | ||
| It also funds the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Departments, the FDA, military construction projects, and the operations of Congress through September 30th. | ||
| Federal employees laid off during the shutdown will also be rehired, and both essential and furloughed federal workers would receive back pay dating to October 1st, the day of the shutdown. | ||
| The shutdown began. | ||
| A vote was also guaranteed to be held by mid-December on a bill to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits. | ||
| And the final vote underway now to fund the federal government through January 30th to end the shutdown. | ||
| Off-the-floor news outlets have been reporting for months about the use of a so-called discharge petition that members can use to force the House Speaker to bring up legislation. | ||
| And one has been circulating to force a vote to release government files on the Jeffrey Epstein pedophilia investigation. | ||
| Today, Arizona Democrat Adelita Grajalvo was sworn in, and she immediately provided the 218th signature needed for that petition. | ||
| That's enough to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files. | ||
| Emily Brooks with the Hill posting on X that Speaker Johnson says he'll bring the Epstein bill up for a vote next week. | ||
| In a statement, he wrote: As soon as the discharge petition received the 218th signature, we brought it up on unanimous consent, and that would get it through the process immediately. | ||
| There would normally be a waiting period of seven legislative days before members could use discharge petitions to force a vote. | ||
| And the final vote underway now to fund the federal government through January 30th to end this shutdown. | ||
| Also, along with the Epstein files discharge petition, a second discharge petition was submitted today by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to force a vote on keeping the COVID-era health care subsidies that were set to expire at the end of the year. | ||
| The subsidies have been the sticking point in the negotiations to fund the government until several Senate Democrats broke with their party to move forward with government funding without extending those subsidies. | ||
| And a final vote underway now to fund the federal government through January 30th to end the shutdown after nearly 43 days. | ||
| The Senate passed the government funding bill 60 to 40 on Monday. | ||
| One independent senator and seven Democrats broke with the party to support the bill. | ||
| Also on Capitol Hill, as part of the Senate bill to reopen the government, a provision was agreed to to allow senators whose phones had been searched by Justice Department officials in relation to the January 6th investigation to sue the government. | ||
| Tennessee Republican John Rose objected and posted this earlier today. | ||
| I just introduced a bill to repeal the Senate's last-minute provision that would allow senators to sue American taxpayers over Biden DOJ investigations past or future. | ||
| Two wrongs don't make a right. | ||
| It was reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson was unaware of the provision in the Senate pass bill and released a statement saying House Republicans are introducing standalone legislation to repeal this provision that was included by the Senate in the government funding bill. | ||
| We're putting the legislation on the fast track suspension calendar in the House for next week. | ||
| The final vote underway now to fund the federal government. | ||
| And we'll let you know on our program Washington Journal tomorrow morning. | ||
| We're going to be taking your calls and discussing the political impact of the shutdown with the co-founder and president of Real Clear Politics. | ||
| And we'll also hear from Maryland Democratic Congressman Johnny Olszewski. | ||
| We'll discuss the vote to reopen the government and all that starting at 7 a.m. Eastern Time on Washington Journal. | ||
| And keeping an eye here on the vote count for the 218 votes needed to pass and Congress about to end the federal government shutdown. | ||
| Two votes, though, here from Democrats, Maine's Jared Golden and Adam Gray of California, voting in favor of the government funding. | ||
| The Senate passing the government funding bill 60 to 40 on Monday, one independent senator and seven Democrats broke with the party to support the bill. | ||
| And if passed by the House here and signed by President Trump, it will fund the government through January 30th next year. | ||
| It also funds other departments through September 30th. | ||
| include the Veterans Affairs Department, the FDA and agriculture, military construction projects, and the operations of Congress. | ||
| Voting now on funding the federal government through January 30th, the White House saying President Trump will sign the measure in the Oval Office this evening. | ||
| We'll bring you live coverage of the signing. | ||
| If the House is out here on C-SPAN, federal employees who were laid off during the shutdown will be rehired according to this measure, and both essential and furloughed federal workers would receive back pay dating to October 1st, which is the day the shutdown began. | ||
|
Kentucky's Thomas Massey Votes
00:02:10
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||
|
unidentified
|
And the final vote underway to end the government shutdown. | |
| Third Democrat, Marie Glusenkamp-Perez of Washington, also voting in favor, along with Maine's Jared Golden and Adam Gray of California. | ||
| And a | ||
| Republican voting against the funding measure. | ||
| Kentucky's Thomas Massey up on the voting board here. | ||
| Off the floor, news outlets reporting for months about the use of a so-called discharge petition to force the House Speaker to bring up legislation to release the Epstein files. | ||
| And that also was sponsored by Kentucky's Thomas Massey here on the floor about to have enough votes in order to say that they have enough to pass the government funding measure this evening, voting through January 30th to end the federal government shutdown. | ||
|
222 Yea Vote Shutdown End
00:06:21
|
||
|
unidentified
|
And here on the House floor, enough votes in the yay column to pass the government funding to end the shutdown. | |
| The White House saying President Trump will sign the measure in the Oval Office tonight. | ||
| If the House is gaveled out, we'll bring you live coverage here on C-SPAN. | ||
| On this vote, the yeas are 222, the nays are 209. | ||
| The bill is passed. | ||
| The motion is adopted. | ||
| Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. | ||
| The chair lays before the house a communication. | ||
| The honorable speaker, House of Representatives, sir, I respectfully request to be relieved from assignments to the House Armed Services Committee and the House Select Committee on Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, effective immediately. | ||
| It has been an honor and privilege to serve on these committees on behalf of my constituents and the American people. | ||
| Signed sincerely, Mikey Sherrill, member of Congress. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the resignation is accepted. | |
| The House will be in order. | ||
| The House will be in order. | ||
| For what purpose does the gentleman from Kentucky seek recognition? | ||
| Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration. | ||
| The clerk will report the resolution. | ||
| House Resolution 874. | ||
| Resolved that the House has heard with profound sorrow of the death of the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, a former Vice President of the United States of America. | ||
| Resolved that the clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. | ||
| Resolve that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn as a further mark of respect to the memory of the deceased. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. | |
| Pursuant to Clause 13 of Rule 1 and House Resolution 874, the House stands adjourned until 9 a.m. tomorrow as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late Honorable Richard B. Chaney. | ||
| And with that, the House ends the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, nearly 43 days. | ||
| The bill to reopen the government provides funds through January 30th, 2026. | ||
| It also puts aside money for the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Departments, the FDA, military construction projects, and the operations of Congress through September 30th, 2026. | ||
|
Bridging the Divide
00:03:11
|
||
|
unidentified
|
And federal employees laid off during the shutdown will be rehired. | |
| Both essential and furloughed federal workers will receive back pay dating to October 1st, which is the day the shutdown began. | ||
| The Senate passed the government funding bill 60 to 40 on Monday. | ||
| Seven Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats broke with their party to support the bill. | ||
| It now goes to President Trump to be signed into law. | ||
| Also, today, Arizona Democratic Congresswoman-elect Adelisha Grahova was sworn in by House Speaker Mike Johnson. | ||
| She won a special election two months ago to replace her late father. | ||
| She immediately signed a discharge petition calling for the release of the Epstein files, becoming the 218th member to do so and forcing a vote. | ||
| Speaker Johnson has not indicated when that will happen. | ||
| Watch live coverage of the House here on C-SPAN when members return. | ||
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal, our live forum inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy from Washington and across the country. | ||
| Coming up Thursday morning, the co-founder and president of Real Clear Politics, Tom Bevin, will talk about the political impact of the government shutdown. | ||
| And Maryland Democratic Congressman Johnny Olszewski discusses the House vote to reopen the government. | ||
| Then Ankush Kondori, senior writer at Politico magazine, talks about President Trump's use of pardons, the House's effort to release the Epstein files, and the president's legal efforts against James Comey, Tish James, and others. | ||
| C-SPAN's Washington Journal. | ||
| Join in the conversation live at 7 Eastern Thursday morning on C-SPAN. | ||
| C-SPAN now, our free mobile app, or online at c-SPAN.org. | ||
| Friday on C-SPAN's Ceasefire. | ||
| At a moment of deep division in Washington, former Alabama Democratic Senator Doug Jones and former Ohio Republican Congressman Steve Stivers come together for a bipartisan dialogue on the shutdown and top issues facing the country. | ||
| They join host Dasha Burns. | ||
| Bridging the Divide in American Politics. | ||
| Watch Ceasefire Friday at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on C-SPAN. | ||
| C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered. | ||
| We're funded by these television companies and more, including Buckeye Broadband. | ||
| Buckeye Broadband supports C-SPAN as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. | ||
|
Government Shutdown Debacle
00:06:01
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|
unidentified
|
As noted, the House today voted to end the record-breaking 43-day government shutdown. | |
| Next, the debate that preceded the final vote. | ||
| First, members agreeing to the rules, followed by general debate in its entirety. | ||
| We stood together to get the job done. | ||
| Absolutely no question in anybody's mind now that the Democrats were responsible for this. | ||
| What happened? | ||
| Millions of American families went without food on their table. | ||
| You had millions of Americans stranded in airports, their flights canceled and delayed. | ||
| You had troops and federal employees wondering where their next paycheck would come from. | ||
| The Democrats openly admitted, they openly admitted, many of them said it in their own words, that they used the American people as leverage in this political game. | ||
| They knew that it would cause that pain to the people, and they did it anyway. | ||
| They did it for their own selfish purposes, their political purposes, and it was a game they played with real people's lives. | ||
| It's something that is very difficult to forgive. | ||
| I want to say that all this was utterly pointless and foolish. | ||
| This outcome was totally foreseeable. | ||
| I said that this would be the outcome when all this began back in mid-September. | ||
| They did it anyway. | ||
| Democrats admitted that they used the people as leverage, and they got nothing for their selfish political stunt here. | ||
| They didn't achieve anything with this at all. | ||
| And anyone who studied history would know that shutdowns never yield any positive result. | ||
| It just hurts people. | ||
| I said on the House floor a little while ago that we did all this in good faith. | ||
| From the very beginning, I was insistent about this. | ||
| Our leadership team was. | ||
| The Republicans did the right thing. | ||
| We had a nonpartisan continuing resolution. | ||
| We didn't have any Republican priorities on it at all. | ||
| We just said, in good faith, let's keep the lights on. | ||
| Let's keep this going for another seven weeks so that the Congress can do its work, so they can get back to the regular appropriations process, the way that it is supposed to be done for the people. | ||
| So that we're good stewards with their money that hasn't been done here in a long time. | ||
| And we said we want to get back to that. | ||
| Now, I'm pleased that tonight on the CR, we had three appropriations bills that we've now will send over to the President's desk in just a short amount of time tonight to get signed into law. | ||
| That's an innovation, too. | ||
| As you all know, it's been years since Congress actually did separate appropriations bills. | ||
| I'm proud of that achievement, but I'm really sad that it took us so long to get here. | ||
| It was so much pain that had to be endured to get to this point. | ||
| Voters are going to remember which political party played games with their lives. | ||
| They're going to remember that they did this for their own selfish purposes so that they could look tough to the radical elements of their base, and real people suffered because of that game. | ||
| So now that we've got the lights back on, we've got the government reopened, the president will sign that triumphantly tonight. | ||
| And Republicans will get right back to the work that we promised the American people that we will do. | ||
| We're going to deliver for the American people, as we have been doing. | ||
| I'll leave you with this thought. | ||
| There's a split screen in America right now. | ||
| There's a split screen. | ||
| On one side of the screen, you have President Trump and the Republican majorities in the Congress and the Senate and the House doing the work for the American people. | ||
| Look what we've achieved in the first 10 months of this year. | ||
| You can make an argument that it's the most productive season for a new Congress and a new presidency, a new administration, at least in the modern era, maybe of all time. | ||
| Just in this short amount of months, we got the border secured. | ||
| We fulfilled that promise. | ||
| We are working on the crime crisis around the country. | ||
| We have new trade agreements. | ||
| We have a return to American energy dominance. | ||
| We have cut taxes, the largest tax cut in U.S. history in a literal sense. | ||
| We're cutting regulations. | ||
| We're ending fraud, waste, and abuse out of government. | ||
| We're shoring up the safety net programs like Medicaid so that it's there for the people that desperately need it and it is not being abused by illegal aliens and by young able-bodied men who are not eligible to receive that. | ||
| We are doing all this good work. | ||
| The president, meanwhile, is using his authority to change the world, literally. | ||
| He has ended eight wars around the globe. | ||
| All of this is happening on the Republican side and so much more. | ||
| That's on one side of the screen, and on the other is the Democrat Party. | ||
| And what have they done? | ||
| What do they have to show for the last 10 months of government here? | ||
| They shut the government down. | ||
| They voted 15 times to close the government and exact that pain on everyone. | ||
| We can never forget that. | ||
| They haven't achieved anything beyond that, except pushing ICE officers around and really spurring on political violence. | ||
| So I want to say that there's a reason the Democrats are in disarray right now. | ||
| There's a reason they don't have an identified leader of their party. | ||
| There's a reason that their favorability, even amongst those in their own party, is at lowest of all time. | ||
| They don't have a platform, a principle they can defend. | ||
| They don't have a leader, except for Mamdani, who's the new mayor of New York City and leading the party into Marxism and socialism. | ||
| I think everybody should consider that split screen. | ||
| I think you should look at it truthfully and honestly and objectively. | ||
| And I think you can evaluate for yourself which party is working for the people. | ||
| We're anxious to get that done, to work on health care and affordability and all the issues, to continue doing what we've done. | ||
| And we look forward to rolling that out for you in the next several days. | ||
| A few questions, yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You said earlier that you would repeal that FBI provision that's in the bill right now. | |
| Do you have assurances from Leader Thune that he will bring it up in the Senate? | ||
| Well, I did call Leader Thune this morning. | ||
| I want to say that he's a principled leader. | ||
| I've enjoyed working with him. | ||
| We've had a great working relationship and a good friendship. | ||
| He's a trustworthy, honest broker. | ||
| And that's why I was so surprised when we found out about that provision. | ||
|
Why Transparency Lags
00:07:44
|
||
| It was put in our Clean CR at the last moment. | ||
| I'm just be honest. | ||
| I'm very transparent with you all. | ||
| I was very angry about it. | ||
| I was. | ||
| And a lot of my members called me and said, did you know about it? | ||
| We had no idea. | ||
| That was dropped in at the last minute. | ||
| And I did not appreciate that, nor did most of the House members. | ||
| Many of them are very angry about that. | ||
| So we will be bringing that up. | ||
| We'll probably pass it on suspension early next week, and we'll send it over to the Senate. | ||
| I had a conversation with Leader Thune early this morning about it. | ||
| I think he regretted the way it was done, and we had an honest conversation about that. | ||
| I didn't ask him for any commitment at that time because I had a lot on my plate today, and I've been busy ever since that conversation we had earlier this morning. | ||
| But I'm going to speak as truthfully to him as I am to all of you and tell you that I think that was way out of line. | ||
| I don't think that was a smart thing to do. | ||
| I don't think it was the right thing to do, and the House is going to reverse it. | ||
| We're going to repeal that, and I'm going to expect our colleagues in the Senate to do the same thing. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Speaker, you say that you're for full transparency. | |
| So why not just urge all your Republicans to vote for this massive Connolly bill on the Epstein files next week? | ||
| Put on all the files. | ||
| Let the American public judge fund themselves what they do. | ||
| Thank you for asking the question. | ||
| We have been for maximum transparency of the Epstein files from the very beginning. | ||
| What I was opposed to is the reckless disregard that was used in drafting the discharge petition. | ||
| And we've been over this many times, but it was not drafted in such a way that it would adequately protect innocent victims. | ||
| We have a responsibility to do that. | ||
| There's as many as 1,000 women, by some estimates, of people who have been victimized because of the sex trafficking and Epstein and all these horrendous heinous crimes. | ||
| And we can't have them subjected to any further harm. | ||
| So we wanted to make sure that those names were properly redacted out of the files. | ||
| But the discharge petition is not only reckless, it is also a totally moot point. | ||
| The Oversight Committee has been working, as you all know, around the clock, working on this. | ||
| And you have some of the toughest members of Congress on the Republican and Democrat side who are working in bipartisan fashion to go through and release those files. | ||
| As we stand here tonight, I think we're up to over 50,000 pages of records that are out in the open. | ||
| You can go online tonight if you're at home and go through it yourself. | ||
| And the Epstein estate files, thus far, has been the biggest tranche of important information. | ||
| We found that outside of the scope of the discharge petition because it was never even anticipated or included in the discharge. | ||
| The oversight committee, well, let me finish. | ||
| Let me finish. | ||
| The oversight committee has been digging into that, and some of the most valuable information was in the estate files. | ||
| It includes Jeffrey Epstein's own personal logs, his travel logs, his financial ledgers, his daily calendar. | ||
| All this is now out in the public, and more is to come. | ||
| Chairman Comer of the Oversight Committee has done an extraordinary job. | ||
| You have, again, some of the most notable members in Congress working on that around the clock, and they will continue to have full disclosure. | ||
| I want to say this tonight, and I think this is a shame to a lot of the Hill Press Corps. | ||
| I'm not going to name any of you by name, but I haven't seen many stories written yet about the fact that we put the discharge up for unanimous consent on the floor tonight. | ||
| The Republicans, I, the Speaker, and the Republicans, asked for unanimous consent to just go ahead and pass the discharge, because I think it's a moot point. | ||
| The Democrats objected to the unanimous consent. | ||
| Nobody's written a story about that. | ||
| That's stunning to me. | ||
| How can you miss that? | ||
| If it was about transparency, if it was about full disclosure, there's two questions you should ask every Democrat in the House and Senate. | ||
| Why didn't you bring this up during the four years of the Biden administration when the Biden DOJ had all these records the entire time? | ||
| Nobody ever said a word about it. | ||
| They didn't care. | ||
| Now it's the biggest thing in the world. | ||
| It didn't matter at all when Joe Biden had the files. | ||
| And secondly, if they're for transparency and they really want all this to be out and there's such this urgency, then why did they vote down the unanimous consent to pass the discharge petition tonight? | ||
| I can't answer that question, but they should. | ||
| And every one of you should ask them about it. | ||
| Yes? | ||
|
unidentified
|
There are several members of your own conference that support at least a one-year extension of ACA subsidies. | |
| Others have alternative plans. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Now that you're beyond this and this January 30th deadline looms, are you willing to put any one of those measures potentially on the floor? | |
| I've been asked a hundred times whether I'll commit to putting any ACA extension on the floor. | ||
| What I have said from the very beginning, and we were consistent about this, and you all know from day one, the first order of business was to get the government open and working for the people again. | ||
| It's the most basic responsibility, and we finally got that done tonight. | ||
| And I said as soon as the government was open, we would turn our attention to health care and all the other issues that are out there. | ||
| We are willing to work and have always been willing to work in good faith with anybody in this building who wants to bring down the cost of health care. | ||
| The Unaffordable Care Act, the ACA, did exactly the opposite of what they promised it. | ||
| When the Democrats passed their health care law back in 2010, you all remember the average American would have their premiums reduced by $2,500. | ||
| They swore to you, and that was not true. | ||
| And I think the people that drew it up knew it was not true in the very beginning. | ||
| It was a lie. | ||
| The people that were the architects of Obamacare, of the ACA, wanted single-payer. | ||
| They designed a system that they knew they had to know, because they're really intelligent folks, was going to implode on itself. | ||
| They knew that it was not sustainable. | ||
| And what has happened since that time, and we're going to be going through this in great detail next week. | ||
| Get ready. | ||
| We're going to take you through a timeline of who destroyed American health care. | ||
| And I'll give you a hint. | ||
| It didn't have anything to do with the Republican Party. | ||
| It was the Democrats. | ||
| They're the ones that gave you the Unaffordable Care Act. | ||
| They're the ones that have been trying to subsidize it and prop it up and add to it ever since. | ||
| We're the ones that have been trying to fix it. | ||
| The Republican Party has. | ||
| What has happened since the Democrats wrecked American health care is that your premiums have gone up by some cases 60%, in some cases more. | ||
| And it's going to go up further. | ||
| So their solution is right now they want to subsidize it further. | ||
| They want to subsidize insurance companies. | ||
| They want the COVID era extension that was created by the Democrats themselves. | ||
| They created the subsidy. | ||
| They are the ones that put the expiration date of December 31 of 2025 on that. | ||
| They knew it wasn't going to be permanent because it was a boondoggle. | ||
| And now they're trying to claim it's Republicans' fault. | ||
| The Democrats created it. | ||
| The Democrats broke it. | ||
| The Democrats are driving your cost up. | ||
| Who are you going to trust to fix health care? | ||
| It's the Republican Party. | ||
| Because we have volumes of ideas on how to do this, on how to fix it, on how to drive costs down and how to increase access to care and quality of care. | ||
| And you're going to see all that vigorous debate. | ||
| So the answer to your question is: am I going to guarantee a vote on ACA unreformed COVID-era subsidies that is just a boondoggle to insurance companies and robs the taxpayer? | ||
| We got a lot of work to do on that. | ||
| The Republicans would demand a lot of reforms before anything like that was ever possible. | ||
| And we have to go through that deliberative process. | ||
| We have 435, well, currently 433 members of the House of Representatives. | ||
| There's a lot of opinions in this building and on our side, certainly a lot of opinions on how to fix health care and make it more affordable. | ||
| I have to allow that process to play out. | ||
| I'll leave you with this. | ||
| The biggest objection that I had to Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who are playing political games with people's lives when they shut the government down, was Chuck Schumer came out and said the quiet part out loud. | ||
| I don't even think he realized he has no self-awareness. | ||
| But he came and cried to all of you that I would not agree to go into a back room and make a four corners agreement on these issues. | ||
| That just he and I and Hakeem Jeffries and Leader Thun would go in a room and make this decision for the entire population of America and block out all of our colleagues as if they had no voice in it. | ||
| That is why Washington is broken. | ||
| That's why Congress hasn't worked well for people. | ||
| That's why they don't have a lot of faith in what goes on here. | ||
| And I'm committed to trying to restore that faith. | ||
| And one way we do that is we get back to regular order and we allow all the duly elected members of this body to have their voices heard. | ||