U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives
Rep. Jd Vance criticizes Biden’s policies for driving inflation—grocery, housing, and electricity costs surged—while praising Minahan’s 33-year Air Force career in cybersecurity and warning of foreign threats. Tylease Alli’s H.R. 951 fast-tracks six bills, like the SPEED Act, to cut permitting delays (e.g., Micron’s semiconductor project) and protect livestock from wolves, despite Democratic claims of regulatory overreach. Alli also slams Biden’s UAC program, where 465,000 unvetted children were released, with 85% lacking legal status, while Scanlon counters with 22 million facing $1,000/month healthcare hikes and accuses Republicans of culture wars, corruption (e.g., Hernandez’s pardon), and ignoring IRA’s clean energy progress amid record-high electricity prices and 391 mass shootings in 2025. The debate reveals stark divides over economic solutions, national security, and governance accountability. [Automatically generated summary]
Everyone, including the guests in the gallery, are allowed to participate.
unidentified
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
The chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle.
For what purposes the gentleman from South Carolina seek recognition?
As we approach Christmas and families around the world gather to celebrate, it's important that we reflect on those not free to worship.
Christmas is a time of joy, faith, and community, but under totalitarian dictatorships, it's a reminder that repression and fear exist.
Across the globe, dictators impose crushing communist and totalitarian systems that deny basic freedoms, including the freedom of religion.
Christmas celebrations are banned or subverted by War Kamil Putin and the Chinese Communist Party to worship the state.
America was founded that faith should be freely practiced, not state-subverted.
We honor the spirit of Christmas and the values of America.
Merry Christmas to all countries.
In conclusion, God bless our troops as the global war on terrorism continues.
Trump is instituting peace through strength, revealing war criminal Putin lies insulting and mocking Trump as the New York Post editorialized, quote, Putin sent Witkoff and Jared Kushmer packing with yet more aerial assaults on Ukrainian civilians.
I've been directed by the Senate to inform the House that the Senate has passed S-550, an act to provide for the equitable settlement of certain Indian land disputes regarding land in Illinois and for other purposes, in which the concurrence of the House is requested.
For what purpose, the gentleman from Arkansas seek recognition.
Without objection, gentlemen, recognized for one minute.
I rise today to honor Lieutenant General Kenneth A. Minahan, United States Air Force, a transformative leader in American intelligence who passed away last month.
General Minahan spent 33 years in uniform advancing the security of our nation.
Rising through the ranks, he ultimately led all U.S. Air Force intelligence efforts as Deputy Chief Intelligence and subsequently holding key joint force positions commanding both the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.
He guided the intelligence community through its most consequential transition from the Cold War to the information age and pushed America to prepare for a world where data, networks, and information would define the next battlefield.
A visionary of what we now know as cyberspace, he recognized the power and risk associated with this warfighting domain.
He warned the nation about foreign intrusion into our military networks, championed real-time integrated intelligence operations, and built foundations of the cyber and signals enterprise we depend on today.
His leadership created the structures, culture, and historical stewardship that still guide America's intelligence ideals.
General Minahan was a man dedicated to his intelligence tradecraft, his commander-in-chief, his nation, and his family.
His service to the country was strengthened by the steadfast devotion of his wife Barbara, who raised their family through every military deployment and every move, who supported military spouses and children across Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps with grace and compassion.
A son of Texans and a proud airman, General Minahan leaves a legacy of military and intelligence professionals to carry his guide on into the future of a strong and secure U.S. national security enterprise.
On behalf of the House Intelligence Committee and a grateful nation, we thank and honor Lieutenant General Ken Minahan for a lifetime of extraordinary service.
I yield back.
unidentified
For what purpose, the gentleman from North Carolina, seek recognition?
Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous acceptance of those house in one minute.
Without objection, gentlemen, is recognized for one minute.
Resolve that at any time after adoption of this resolution, the Speaker may, pursuant to Clause 2B of Rule 18, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for consideration of the bill, H.R. 4776, to amend the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to clarify ambiguous provisions and facilitate a more efficient, effective, and timely environmental review process.
The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with.
All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived.
General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour.
Equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on natural resources or their respective designees.
After general debate, the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Natural Resources now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the Committee of the Whole.
The bill as amended shall be considered as the original bill for purpose of further amendment under the five-minute rule and shall be considered as read.
All points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived.
No further amendment to the bill as amended shall be in order except those printed in the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution.
Each such further amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report, equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.
All points of order against such further amendments are waived.
At the conclusion of consideration of the bill for amendment, the committee shall rise and report the bill as amended to the House with such further amendments as may have been adopted.
The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit.
Section two, upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill H.R. 1366 to provide for the location of multiple hard rock mining mill sites to establish the abandoned Harp Rock Mine Fund and for other purposes.
All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Natural Resources now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted.
The bill as amended shall be considered as read.
All points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived.
The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one.
One hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on natural resources or their respective designees and two one motion to recommit.
Section three upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill H.R. 845 to require the Secretary of the Interior to reissue regulations removing the gray wolf from the list of endangered and threatened wildlife under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Natural Resources now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted.
The bill as amended shall be considered as read.
All points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived.
The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one.
One hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on natural resources or their respective designees and two one motion to recommit.
Section four upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill HR 3616 to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to review regulations that may affect the reliable operation of the bulk power system.
All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Energy and Commerce now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted.
The bill as amended shall be considered as read.
All points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived.
The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one.
One hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce or their respective designees and two one motion to recommit.
Section five.
Upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill HR 3632 to amend the Federal Power Act to adjust the requirements for orders, rules and regulations relating to furnishing adequate service, to require owners or operators of generating facilities to provide notice of planned retirements of certain electric generating units, and for the purposes.
All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived.
The bill shall be considered as read.
All points of order against provisions of the bill are waived.
The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion, except one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee ON Energy AND Commerce or their respective designees, and two one motion to recommit section six.
Upon adoption of this resolution, it shall be in order to consider in the house the bill Hr 4371 to amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to enhance efforts to combat the trafficking of children.
All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived.
The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the committee on the Judiciary, now printed in the bill, shall be considered as adopted.
The bill as amended shall be considered as read.
All points of order against provisions in the bill as amended are waived.
The previous question shall be considered as order on the bill as amended and on any further amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion, except one, one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees, and two.
unidentified
One motion to recommit Gentleman from New York is recognized for one hour.
For the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the distinguished gentlelady from Pennsylvania, Ms. Scanlon, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Last night, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 951, providing for consideration of six measures.
The rule provides for H.R. 4776, the Speed Act, to be considered under a structured rule, making in order six amendments.
Additionally, it provides one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources or their respective designees, and it provides for one motion to recommit.
Further, H.R. 1366, the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act, and H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, will be considered under closed rules with one hour of debate, each equally divided and controlled by the Chair and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Natural Resources or their respective designees, and provides each with one motion to recommit.
Additionally, H.R. 3616, the Reliable Power Act, and H.R. 3632, the Power Plant Reliability Act of 2025, will each be considered under closed rules with one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and ranking minority member of the Energy and Commerce Committee or their respective designees with one motion to recommit.
Finally, H.R. 4371, the Kayla Hamilton Act, will be considered under a closed rule with one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees and provides one motion to recommit.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of the underlying legislation.
The rule before us gives this House an opportunity to finally begin undoing the damage caused by years of reckless regulatory overreach and economic mismanagement driven by Democrats' failed policies.
Joe Biden may no longer be in the White House, but American families are still paying the price for his administration's failures.
Under President Biden, this country experienced the worst inflation spike in 40 years, and we're still paying the price.
Groceries cost more, housing costs more, transportation costs more, and working families were left wondering how much further their paychecks could stretch.
And that pressure didn't stop there.
Under Democratic leadership, electricity prices surged by more than 20 percent in many parts of the country, including my own in New York.
Families opened their utility bills and asked a simple question, why is this getting so expensive so quickly?
And the answer is clear.
Democrats chose ideology over affordability.
They chose mandates over reliability.
And they chose Washington control over simple, plain common sense.
Mr. Speaker, the rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4776, the Speed Act.
And for years, Democrats have taken the well-intentioned National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, and twisted it far beyond its original purpose.
NEPA was meant to be a common sense safeguard for our environment, not a tool to block projects indefinitely.
But that's exactly how it's being abused today.
NEPA is now one of the most litigated statutes in federal law, not because projects fail environmental standards, but because a small group of activist organizations exploit the process itself.
They file endless lawsuits to stall infrastructure, energy, and conservation projects for years and years, sometimes decades, with little regard to the real-world consequences for workers and families and communities in progress.
And those consequences are real.
Projects get shelves.
Costs skyrocket.
Jobs disappear.
And families pay more for energy, housing, and basic infrastructure.
We see this broken system clearly in upstate New York.
Take Micron, a company in a project too big to fail.
This historic investment to bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States is critical for our country, for our national security, and for the upstate economy.
This project means thousands of good paying jobs in a stronger domestic supply chain.
Yet, despite meeting some of the most stringent environmental review requirements in the country under New York law, Micron is still being forced through duplicative federal reviews that reach the very same conclusions as the state reviews.
As a result, Micron is the only semiconductor project in the country held up pending a full environmental impact statement, not because of environmental risk, but because of bureaucratic delay and regulatory duplication.
This is not environmental protection.
This is regulatory paralysis, and it's costing us jobs and a brighter economic future.
Time and again, Democrats defend this broken system because it gives Washington more control and activist groups more leverage.
But because of this process, the result is gridlock.
Nothing gets built, nothing gets fixed, and nothing gets cheaper.
The SPEEDE Act restores balance.
It reins in duplicative reviews.
It requires a federal government to make timely decisions and stops endless delay from becoming the official policy of the government.
If Democrats are serious about infrastructure, clean energy, and environmental progress, they should support fixing the permitting system that they help break.
They should have no problem supporting things like the SPEED Act.
Mr. Speaker, the rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 3632, the Power Plant Reliability Act.
Years of Democratic energy policy have put our electric grid under real significant strain, and Americans are feeling the consequences in real time.
Demand is rising rapidly.
Manufacturing growth and electrification are pushing this system harder and harder every single year.
And at the same time, Democrats are forcing reliable baseload generation offline without a serious plan to replace it.
Instead of coordinating policy, they regulate in silos.
Instead of planning for reliability, they react after the fact.
The Power Plant Reliability Act forces accountability.
It ensures regulators cannot quietly retire critical power plants without fully understanding the reliability consequences on our nation.
Americans don't need a white paper to understand what happens when reliability is ignored.
They see it when the power goes out.
They feel it when their energy bills spike.
And they pay the price when Washington refuses to plan for real-world demand.
Keeping the lights on should not be controversial.
This should be something we should be able to get 435 votes on.
But Democrats chose politics over reliability, and the families in this country are the ones paying the price right now.
Premature plant retirements are only part of the problem.
The rule further provides for consideration of H.R. 3616, the Reliable Power Act.
The bill addresses another uncomfortable truth that Democrats don't want to admit.
Federal agencies are finalizing regulations that directly threaten grid stability without fully accounting for the consequences.
And that's just purely reckless.
The Reliable Power Act, it requires a long-term reliability assessment that ensures that when serious risks are identified, regulators cannot simply ignore them and press ahead anyway.
Quite simply, this legislation is about ending once and for all the implementation of asinine regulations that only harm our grid's reliability.
Reliable electricity underpins everything.
Public safety, economic growth, hospitals, schools, national security.
Republicans are treating that responsibility seriously, and that's why we're bringing this legislation forward today.
Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are not.
And, Mr. Speaker, the rule also provides for consideration of H.R. 1366, the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act.
Democrats talk endlessly about supply chains and national security, but their policies undermine both.
Domestic mining projects are stalled not because they fail environmental standards, but because Democrats have once again allowed endless litigation and regulatory ambiguity to choke them off.
That means fewer American jobs.
It means greater dependence on foreign adversaries that are getting rich in the process.
And it means higher costs across our economy.
If Democrats want secure supply chains and fewer imports from hostile foreign powers, this is exactly the kind of bill that they should support.
Mr. Speaker, the rule also includes consideration of H.R. 845, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act.
It's impossible to deny that the recovery of the gray wolf is a success story.
Population goals were met years and years ago, yet Democrats refuse to trust the science and acknowledge clear success of saving the gray wolf population in this country.
And why?
Because it would mean betraying the radical environmental groups that want to see laws like the Endangered Species Acts weaponized rather than work as intended to save these animals.
Instead of bowing to their base and ignoring the science, Democrats have kept the future of gray wolf management trapped in endless litigation, leaving farmers and ranchers to deal with the real consequences that they face on their ranches and farms every single day.
What are those consequences?
Livestock are attacked.
Livelihoods across rural America are threatened, all to satisfy the whims of a radical left activist base who thinks their food comes from the grocery store and their energy comes from a socket in the wall when you plug something in.
The Pet and Livestock Protection Act puts an end to this endless litigation and weaponization of the ESA.
It recognizes science, acknowledges success, and restores balance, something our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem unwilling to do.
Mr. Speaker, and finally, the rule provides for consideration of H.R. 4371, the Kayla Hamilton Act.
The bill exists because of a tragic failure.
One of my Democratic colleagues who supported the last administration for four long years of open borders would rather continue to ignore.
As the first Trump administration recognized the unaccompanied alien children program has been exploited by criminals, including gang members, who come to this country as wolves in sheep's clothing.
These individuals use the UAC system not for protection, but to recruit and traffic new members and to wreak havoc on American communities.
Under the Biden administration, open border, no consequences policies, policies my Democratic colleagues wholeheartedly supported, that exploitation exploded.
During the Biden years, approximately 465,000 unaccompanied alien children were released to unvetted sponsors.
The program lacked basic safeguards to prevent illegal aliens from serving as sponsors.
According to Health and Human Services, roughly 85% of UAC sponsors lack lawful immigration status.
Thanks to the Biden administration's own policies supported by Democrats for four years, countless smugglers, cartels, and bad actors profited from nothing less than the exploitation of children and human trafficking.
Instead of tightening safeguards as encounters surged, Democrats chose to roll back background checks and sponsor reviews, moving children out of law enforcement custody faster, regardless of risk.
The consequences to innocent children harmed from years of this horrific policy choice have yet to fully be reckoned with and will certainly haunt generations of innocent victims for years to come.
What we do know is that in May of 2024, the Biden administration had lost track of more than 320,000 unaccompanied alien children, placing them at heightened risk of sex trafficking, forced labor, and abuse.
Mr. Speaker, this is not compassion.
This is pure negligence.
Picking up the pieces from the wreckage of the Biden-Harris immigration policies, the Trump administration has committed to locating these children into saving lives, something that eluded Democrats for four long years.
So far, more than 22,600 unaccompanied children have been located.
Over 400 sponsors have been arrested.
And tragically, 27 minors have been found dead.
Victims of murder, victims of suicide, victims of drug overdose.
Those are not statistics.
Those are lives that are forever lost to tragedy.
The Kayla Hamilton Act restores basic safeguards.
It requires background checks.
It seeks criminal records from home countries.
And it puts public safety first.
I urge my colleagues to support this rule.
I urge my colleagues to support the underlying legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
While Americans are going into the holiday season struggling with rising prices and the high cost of living, with just days left before health insurance premiums are set to skyrocket for 22 million Americans,
while the president is leading the country to war with Venezuela, and yet another mass shooting has claimed the lives of young Americans, Republicans are using the final legislative days of 2025 to prioritize six unserious make-work bills.
They're using precious floor time and resources to put forward messaging bills with no chance of passing.
Bills that have nothing to do with the reality that most Americans are living and the problems that they want Congress to solve.
But that is what this country has come to expect from House Republicans who've used their control of the House as a vehicle for PR stunts and to pick the pockets of working people in order to line the pockets of the wealthy and the well-connected.
Under Republican control of the House, the Senate and the White House, 2025 has been a year of chaos, controversy and corruption, in which every day brings a new self-inflicted crisis.
While most of this chaos has originated from the White House, Congressional Republicans are no less responsible for they've aided and abetted this administration's agenda at every turn.
How humiliating that in recent weeks, staff at the White House have openly mocked the subservience of House Republicans.
From day one of this term, Republicans in Washington have made clear they're here to serve their donors, to serve billionaires in big business, and not the American public.
They spent the first half of the year ramming through their partisan big ugly bill, which gave permanent, budget-busting tax cuts to the rich, while canceling Medicaid and SNAP for millions of Americans.
They continually prioritize big business and culture wars in legislation like the bills before us in today's rule, a series of bills that put their thumb on the scale for the oil and gas industry at the expense of Americans' health and the stewardship of the environment.
And Republicans are deliberately choosing to raise Americans' health care costs because they refuse to extend the ACA tax credits.
Americans everywhere are pleading with Congress to lower the cost of living as families struggle to afford housing, health care, child care, and even groceries.
Trump campaigned on a promise that he would lower prices on day one.
But once in office, he's put tariffs on almost every good coming into the U.S., directly raising the prices for nearly everything we buy.
Whether it's food at the grocery store, home appliances, a new car, Trump's trade wars and tariffs have made everything more expensive.
And these trade wars have undermined key portions of our economy.
The tariffs have already cost us nearly 50,000 manufacturing jobs, and our tourism industry is suffering greatly.
Making matters worse, Congress could end the tariffs today.
The House could vote today on any number of Senate-passed resolutions that would end the Trump tariffs.
But Speaker Johnson has blocked every one of those bills.
House Republicans have now voted on four separate occasions to block legislation that would end the Trump tariffs.
They've repeatedly doubled down on that decision to keep your prices high.
But it's not just the tariffs.
Just last week, House Republicans blocked bipartisan legislation that could have become law, that would have built new homes all over America, lowered rents, and made mortgages more affordable.
And with health care, Americans are seeing the biggest increase in health insurance costs in 15 years.
Yet the Republican majority is actively opposing extension of the ACA tax credits that lower premiums for 22 million Americans.
While Republicans fail to act on affordability, they're also conspicuously silent on the near-daily corruption emanating from this White House.
Trump has pardoned hundreds of criminals convicted of serious offenses, including drug traffickers, money launderers, and fraudsters, depriving Americans of justice and restitution and enabling at least some of those pardoned to commit further crimes.
In many of these pardons, they've come at a price.
Trump pardoned Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted of trafficking 400 tons of cocaine into the United States.
And ostensibly, this pardon will influence a presidential election in Honduras.
Trump pardoned the CEO of Binance after he made a $2 billion investment in the president's campaign.
World Liberty Financial and nearly a dozen well-connected individuals, many of them donors to the president's campaign or investors in his companies, have also received pardons.
Trump's also shown a curious leniency to major criminals.
He pardoned Russ Ulbrick, who ran one of the biggest drug trafficking and money laundering operations on the deep web.
And the president dropped criminal charges against multiple MS-13 gang leaders in order to help cover up a corruption scandal for his ally, the Salvadorian President Bukule.
He's directed federal prosecutors and law enforcement officers to drop investigations of serious crimes, including drug and human trafficking, in order to focus on immigration enforcement, letting countless criminals off the hook.
Of course, we can't forget the years-long cover-up of the Epstein files.
On the campaign trail, Trump and his allies swore they would release the Epstein files, but once in office, they've blocked their release for 11 months.
Ultimately, it's taken an act of Congress to force the President to release those files.
The deadline to release the Epstein files is this Friday, but we still haven't seen a single document from the White House or the Department of Justice.
Again, all this begs the question: what exactly is this White House trying to hide?
All this time, while Trump is pardoning drug traffickers and dropping charges against gang members and violent insurrectionists who assaulted cops, Congressional Republicans have been silent.
And if you ask Speaker Johnson about it, as the press has, he'll tell you he has no idea what you're talking about.
Republicans are silent as Trump and his White House cause crisis after crisis.
Trump and Hagseth are leading us into another forever war in Venezuela.
The President has called for the execution of Democratic members of Congress.
The administration has withheld FEMA funding for disaster victims, but gave a $40 billion bailout to Argentinian hedge funds.
Administration officials are wasting taxpayer dollars to fly around the country for personal business and photo ops.
ICE and Border Patrol have detained more than 170 American citizens, including nearly 20 children.
And that total is growing by the day.
The national debt is over $2 trillion higher in just this year alone.
It's all so insulting to you, to me, to every American to see this flagrant corruption and shameful mismanagement on a daily basis.
House Republicans seem to have priorities so completely at odds with the needs of the American people that they've ignored all year the kitchen table issues that American families struggle with every single day.
Instead, they've spent their time in Washington, when they've actually come to Washington, working on industry handouts, gold-plated ballrooms, and stirring up division with insane culture wars.
You deserve better.
America deserves better.
We deserve a functioning Congress that actually works for the American people, not just the wealthy and well-connected.
Mr. Speaker, I think we're now approaching about year nine of Democrats suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.
No matter what is before this House, no matter what the rule before us today actually contains, my colleagues across the aisle find a way to make this about President Trump.
Not the substance of the legislation, not the issues before the American people, not the suffering that the last four years have brought on them.
Not the cost-facing families, not the failures of their own record.
It's just about Trump to them.
And while they're fixated on that, the American people have paid the price.
In 2022, while Democrats were consumed by their latest Trump obsession, families were being crushed by the worst inflation spikes in 40 years after trillions upon trillions in Democratic spending overheated the economy.
Groceries, gas, rent, they all skyrocketed.
You didn't hear a peep on the other side of the aisle.
Democrats didn't fix it.
They didn't even acknowledge it, and then they doubled down on it and made it worse.
In 2024, with a border wide open and millions of illegal aliens pouring into our communities across the country, Democrats once again ignored the top concerns of American families.
Instead of securing the border or addressing affordability, they doubled down on the same tired narrative, claiming that President Trump was a threat to democracy.
And you hear more of it today.
And the voters rejected it.
And they lost the Electoral College, and they lost the popular vote.
They lost every swing state on the table.
And since then, Democrats haven't learned a thing.
They've spent their time defending wasteful programs, failed policies, bureaucratic overreach, all while opposing every serious effort by President Trump and House Republicans to clean up the mess that they left behind.
And yet here we are today, hearing the same hysterics.
The American people have tuned it out.
They know what actually matters.
Trying to lower costs, keeping communities safe, securing reliable energy, and restoring accountability in Washington.
And that's exactly what the bills under this rule are about.
While Democrats rehash old grievances and relive the same political fixation for the ninth year in a row, Republicans are focused on delivering results for working families.
And after four years of economic mismanagement under Democratic leadership, Democrats are suddenly pretending to care about trade and tariffs in the American economy.
And it's quite a performance.
And the American people, they see right through it.
For four years, Democrats told families not to believe their own eyes as inflation hit 40-year highs as their grocery bills exploded and their energy costs soared.
They brushed off concerns from workers and manufacturers who were watching their jobs disappear overseas while Washington signed one bad trade deal after another.
They told Americans that surrendering leverage was smart trade policy, even as foreign countries flooded our markets and shut their own doors for American producers.
Now, President Trump's back in office and trying to write the ship and delivering results.
And Democrats are scrambling to rewrite history.
Under President Trump's America First Trade Agenda, the trade deficit has narrowed to its smallest level since the mid-2020 year, down more than 35% over last year alone.
Exports are up 6% year over year, reaching their second highest level on record.
And inflation-adjusted exports of consumer goods are the largest ever.
The trade deficit with China has narrowed to its second smallest since 2009.
And in the third quarter of 2025, real exports grew 4.1% annual rate while imports fell 5%, adding roughly one full percentage point to real GDP growth.
In November alone, the trade deficit was cut by more than half compared to last year, driven by rising tariff revenues as President Trump secured better terms for American workers, farmers, and manufacturers.
And this didn't happen by accident.
For decades, weak trade policies allowed foreign governments to exploit American openness while protecting their own industries.
President Trump ended that arrangement by using tariffs as leverage.
He forced countries to come to the table, and they have, and they are continuing to.
Since announcing his trade agenda in April, President Trump has secured new and improved trade deals with major partners covering more than half of the global GDP, spanning Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
And at the same time, companies are responding by committing trillions of dollars in new investment, bringing jobs back here home, rebuilding supply chains, and putting American workers first again.
Shouldn't that be what we're working on here?
I could go on and on, Mr. Speaker, but today's debate is not about relitigating trade policy or listening to Democrats pretend to suddenly discover economic responsibility.
Today we're focused on the six bills under this rule, bills that reflect the same common sense approach that President Trump has applied to trade, strengthening domestic production, lowering costs, restoring reliability, and undoing the damage of the Biden years.
That is the work before us today, and I reserve the balance of my time.
I think the point, thank you, Mr. Chair, but I think the point we are trying to make is that this should be about economic policy, that the Republican leadership's refusal to address the Trump tariffs and the damage they've inflicted upon our economy and upon American families' pocketbooks should be the topic before the House instead of these makeweight bills that are never going to become law.
Look, at the start of 2025, the Republicans knew there were two big tax provisions due to expire at the end of this year, now within the next 10 days.
One of them was the 27 Trump tax cuts, which overwhelmingly went to the wealthiest Americans.
And the second was the ACA tax credits that help millions of Americans afford health insurance.
This has been known to everybody all year.
Now, our Republican colleagues made the choice in their big ugly bill, which they spent so much time and energy on this summer, to extend the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy.
And they have also made the intentional choice to let the ACA tax credits expire.
In doing so, they are causing the premiums for 22 million Americans to skyrocket.
It is likely that millions of Americans will lose their health coverage this year due to our Republican colleagues' failure, refusal, in fact, to address that issue.
So, when we hear our Republican colleagues talk up their health care bill that they're trying to bring to the floor this week, know that their legislation will not renew the ACA tax credits.
It will not lower premiums.
It will not lower costs.
80% of the bill is simply new paperwork requirements for pharmacy benefit managers.
And the parts of the bill that do involve health care costs are horrible.
They basically want to sell Americans junk insurance policies.
And people know about these.
These are the policies that have low sticker costs, but terrible coverage when you need it.
So we really just have been imploring our colleagues to come to the table, to try to do what the American people need them to do so that Americans have health coverage when they need it.
And we have not seen them be willing to do that.
That's why we have a discharge petition sitting there at the desk.
We just need four Republicans to join all of the Democrats in the House to force a vote to extend the ACA tax credits, and we would invite them to do so.
And with that, Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of H.R. 6074, which would extend the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits for three years through 2028.
Mr. Speaker, for months, Democrats have sounded the alarm about the expiring enhanced premiums, urging the Republican majority to join us in extending these premiums before the end of the year so that all of our constituents can get the health care coverage they deserve.
Millions of Americans have already received notices from their health plans that their premiums are going to skyrocket starting January 1st of 2026, just a few days from now, in some cases by over $1,000 a month.
The median income in my district is about $80,000 for a family of four.
They can't afford an additional $12,000 a year for health insurance.
But there are only three legislative days left to fix this problem before the health insurance costs of over 20 million Americans rise.
But this Republican majority has ignored and blocked any effort to extend those credits.
The majority even told their own moderates they won't get a vote on the floor to extend them.
So I'm happy to give them that vote right now.
We can defeat the previous question.
We can consider a bill that would extend the ACA enhanced premium tax credits for three years.
There's no more time to waste.
The deadlines are all passed.
We have to act now for the American people.
So, Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the record, along with any extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield four minutes to the gentleman from California, Mr. Min.
unidentified
The gentleman from California is recognized for four minutes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Representative.
It was with interest that I heard the remarks of my colleague from New York.
I just wanted to correct a few things.
As someone who just won one of those swing seats that was in play last year, I would say that it was not a mandate, but you all did win Congress.
You did win the presidency.
And I think that Republicans last year rightly focused on inflation, the cost of living, and the economy as key issues that Americans are facing.
Now, I represent a very wealthy district.
Median income in my district is about $130,000.
But even in my district right now, people are suffering.
When I go visit my food banks, the usage right now is at record highs.
And this is directly related to the policies that were in the One Big Beautiful Bill, as is Orwellianly named by our Republican colleagues.
The tariffs and the OBBB in combination have caused costs to skyrocket.
And inflation right now is as high as it's ever been, as high as it ever was under Biden.
They're seeing their electric costs go up because of the giveaways to utilities, the crackdown on renewable energies, very cheap forms of energy in places like California.
They're seeing their grocery prices go up because of the tariffs.
They are set to see their health insurance costs go massively up.
When I go out there and I talk to my families, it's not like they have one budget for utilities and one budget for food and one budget for health insurance.
They have a budget, and they are struggling right now to pay for things.
And they are now going to see in the state of California, in my district, their health insurance costs, if they're purchasing it on an exchange, between 50% to 200% or more, as was announced by Cover California just last month.
That is a cost that people just can't afford, no matter how much you're making.
I know the billionaires do pretty well under this presidency, under this Republican-controlled Congress, but regular people, even people who are making a good amount of money, are struggling to get by right now to pay those bills.
And we have talked to too many people right now.
I have talked to too many people in my district that are making that hard decision.
Many of them we know will drop their health insurance because they just can't afford to pay it.
And they need food.
They need to keep the lights on.
They need to pay gas to get to work.
So they're going to drop off of health insurance.
And that means that we'll have more families that are one catastrophic illness or injury away from bankruptcy, something that is far too common.
And you can multiply that by millions and millions of households across this country right now because millions of households are facing that same dilemma.
And so I urge my Republican colleagues right now to ignore what your president's doing.
He's focused on the ballroom.
He's focused on building out our golf courses here in D.C., according to yesterday's news.
He's focused on foreign affairs, giving money to Argentina, blowing up boats off the coast of Venezuela.
What he is not focused on, and what I'd urge my Republican colleagues to start focusing on, is the cost of things right now.
And we have a way to do that, a bipartisan initiative.
We'd love it to be bipartisan, if you all would join us in just giving a clean three-year extension of the ACA tax credits.
This is something that would give immediate relief to millions of families out there that are seeking to lower their costs.
Now, I know we have this vote coming up on this package of health care bills.
Would I say very complicated stuff, lots of random proposals in there, clearly an attack on women's reproductive rights and access to contraception.
That's a key part of what these health care bills will do.
What they do not do in any way, shape, or form is address the fact that people are going to pay thousands of dollars, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars more for their health insurance because of Republican policies.
And so you have a chance right now to do right by the American people to try to rectify the wrongs that your policies have created.
And this has nothing to do with Trump, has nothing to do with Biden.
It has to do with an opportunity right now to get some bipartisan legislation passed.
And this is going to save lives.
We are literally talking about people in your district, in my district, and Madeleine Dean's district, I'm Mary Gay Scandalin's district, I'm sorry.
We have a chance to really help save lives right now.
Even in districts like mine, again, a wealthy district, I've talked to many people right now who are set to lose their health insurance, set to lose their health care.
And whether they have kids with cancer, whether they have autistic children, they are struggling right now.
So we have a chance to show the American people that we can rise above partisan politics and do what's right.
I think there's broad consensus on both sides of the aisle that extending the ACA tax credits is good policy.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to open up the text of the rule before today and for good measure the underlying legislation as well and hit control F on the words Affordable Care Act.
They will quickly see that despite their fixation on making everything about the topic, nowhere in this rule or the underlying legislation is the Affordable Care Act, ACA subsidies or marketplace coverage mentioned.
But the policies that they are working and hopefully there will be further bipartisan discussions about were set to expire by their own hand at the end of a five-year window because it was COVID emergency spending.
And I don't think I have to, I'm breaking any news here, but COVID's over.
And that is something that Democrats don't seem to want to ever end is an unlimited spigot of public money devoted to an issue.
We have to get to the core reasons why health insurance for all, not just those that are on Affordable Care Act plans, but for people in private insurance, all the public expenditures through our Medicare and our Medicaid programs.
Why is health care an explosive cost year over year?
And that is going to take bipartisanship in working together and putting some of these petty fights aside.
Because even if we extended these credits for three years as they would like, it doesn't solve the problem for the millions upon millions and tens of millions of Americans that are on private pay insurance.
We have to really get serious about affordability and health insurance affordability in the cost of delivering our health care in this country.
Their remedy to this problem is putting a band-aid on a bullet hole.
And it is a expiration that is by their own hand and own design because it was designed for COVID era emergency spending.
As a reminder, the measures in this rule are straightforward and common sense.
Strengthening energy reliability and tackling affordability in this area.
Streamlining permitting so that infrastructure can actually get built.
Restoring certainty to domestic supply chains and trusting science over ideology and wildlife management and advancing public safety measures that protect our communities.
These bills are about lowering costs and keeping the lights on and restoring accountability.
That is the agenda before us in this rule today.
That is an important agenda to the American people and the affordability issues that stand before us in our future prosperity.
You know, Democrats want to lecture us about being serious on energy, but the American people remember exactly what four years of Democratic energy policy delivered.
Under President Biden, Democrats drove up costs, weakened our electrical grid, and forced the premature retirement of reliable baseload power.
They flooded the market with mandates and subsidies picked by Washington, not by engineers, and then acted surprised when electricity prices spiked and grid operators started warning about blackouts.
And when those prices spiked, the price of everything spiked because increased electricity and energy costs drive up the price of all goods and services.
Families paid more.
Reliability got worse.
And Democrats told Americans that somehow it was all worth it.
Now that President Trump's back in office and reversing that damage, Democrats suddenly claim that these bills are partisan, not because they're extreme, but because they expose how reckless the last administration was.
President Trump and House Republicans are doing what Democrats refuse to do.
Streamlining permitting so that projects can actually get built, restoring common sense to environmental review, and prioritizing dispatchable power sources that actually keep the lights on and the heat on in this country.
The truth is Democrats don't have a serious answer to rising energy demand, grid reliability or affordability.
Their answer is just, you know, throw up a few more windmills and all will be well with the world.
We can shutter every other power plant that has proven baseline power and the windmills and the solar panels will solve all the problems.
Their solution is always the same.
More mandates, more subsidies, more regulation.
And hope that the grid holds together by wishes and dreams, not by science and practicality.
Republicans are offering something different.
Policies grounded in reliability and affordability in domestic American production.
So American families aren't left paying more while China builds coal plant after coal plant month after month and laughs all the way to the bank.
And Mr. Speaker, that's exactly what this rule advances.
The energy bills before us are common sense measures to strengthen reliability, streamline approvals and support American jobs, as well as ensure that American families have access to affordable American power, not slogans, not lectures, not dreams and wishful thinking.
So if my colleagues across the aisle are truly serious about lowering costs and securing Americans' energy future, they should stop posturing and support this rule because Americans don't need more talking points.
And I completely agree with my colleague from New York that Congress needs to get serious about affordability, both of everyday products and services, but also health insurance.
And that's why we've offered the amendments that we have and why we have been urging our colleagues across the aisle for months to address this issue.
However, as we focus in the bill today, which does not, or in the rule today, which does not address affordability, there are a number of issues dealing with electricity prices.
American households right now are paying record high electricity prices, prices that have been rising and most analysts are predicting will continue to rise more in 2026.
There's only one real way to lower electricity prices.
That's to build more energy in the United States.
Democrats did this, made serious efforts towards this when we passed the Inflation Reduction Act.
We provided a forward-looking mix of financial incentives to build more power from all sources, but especially from wind and solar.
Those measures have been embraced by the American people and they've been embraced by our energy industries.
However, while our Republican colleagues say they want to lower electricity bills, they have actively torpedoed these efforts to build more domestic energy.
President Trump and Congressional Republicans have rescinded nearly all of the investment incentives from the IRA, and as a result, we're seeing domestic power generation decreasing, household electricity costs rising, and thousands of good-paying jobs being effectively canceled.
At the same time, the Big Beautiful bill gave huge handouts to the oil and gas industry, handouts that won't increase energy production, but will simply pad the profits of Chevron and Exxon.
This is the Republican energy agenda.
Higher prices for you, the consumer, and higher profits for the oil and gas industry.
It's an incentive that we see continued in some of the bills under consideration in this rule today, which will require that coal-generating electricity plants stay online even when they have outlived their usefulness and their profitability, meaning, once again, consumer costs go up, but the coal industry gets the benefit.
Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the aisle wants to paint these bills as giveaways, which is wild considering what Democrats themselves have already done.
Democrats passed the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, the most poorly named bill in the history of the Congress, because it did nothing but skyrocket inflation.
And everyone's got the proof of that in their weekly grocery bill, in their utility costs.
It happened on their watch.
They dumped massive new spending onto an overheated economy and helped drive the worst inflation in 40 years.
And that's just fact.
That's not disputable.
And despite the title, it didn't reduce any inflation, not even close.
What it did was create a massive subsidy pipeline for green energy companies, all tied to the People's Republic of China.
Chinese firms ultimately answerable to the Chinese Communist Party rushed in to take advantage of all these credits and the programs that Democrats set up.
Apparently, that part has slipped their memory.
When House Republicans tried to add basic guardrails to stop those subsidies from flowing overseas to China, Democrats objected.
Not quietly.
They objected loudly.
So when Democrats are throwing around the word giveaway, it's fair to wonder whether they've forgotten their own record or they're just hoping that everyone else is focused on something else.
Democrats are perfectly willing to outsource Americans' energy future, our national security, to foreign adversaries to pursue their agenda.
Republicans are doing the opposite.
We're strengthening domestic production.
We're securing supply chains here at home in the United States and reducing our dependence on China.
And that brings us back to the rule before us today.
The six bills in this rule are focusing on restoring reliability, supporting domestic production, streamlining permitting so that projects can actually move forward and lower the costs for American taxpayers.
That is the work before the House today, and I reserve the balance of my time.
I would just inquire whether my colleague is prepared to close.
Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we've heard some well-intentioned debate from our Republican colleague today, but the fact remains that this week is being wasted on messaging bills that will not become law.
All year, Republicans have failed to act on affordability.
They failed to bring down housing costs, to control inflation at the grocery store, or to lower electricity bills.
They were elected to office to tackle these problems, but for an entire year, they've sat on their hands, opting for press conferences and tweets instead of legislation and dealmaking.
Earlier this year, Republicans ended health care coverage for 15 million Americans with their big ugly bill.
All this year, Republicans have blocked each and every effort to renew the ACA tax credits.
Now, health insurance costs are at a 15-year high, and premiums are set to skyrocket for 22 million people.
In my district and in most of America, electricity prices are through the roof.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has bent over backwards for AI companies, cut billions of dollars in energy investments, and canceled major clean energy projects.
And in Congress, Republicans' energy agenda continues to boost oil and gas profits, but does nothing to actually lower your bills.
This past weekend, America witnessed yet another mass shooting that took the lives of two and critically injured nine more.
This year has seen 391 mass shootings.
We've lost nearly 14,000 people to senseless gun violence.
No matter how many times we see the same tragic story play out on the news, our Republican colleagues keep their head in the sand and refuse to bring forward or endorse common sense gun safety legislation, which the majority of Americans and law enforcement leaders support.
This term, Republicans, have turned Congress into a rubber stamp for executive action.
It is a major abdication of our constitutional responsibilities, and it has done irreparable damage to this institution.
It is my sincere hope that 2026 brings new opportunities for bipartisan action on these pressing issues.
The American people deserve better than a president who governs by tweet and a speaker who has neutered Congress's role in our constitutional order.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote no on the PQN rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.
I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.
The rule before us reflects a clear choice.
After years of regulatory overreach, misplaced priorities, and Washington knows best policymaking.
This House is taking steps to restore balance, accountability, and common sense.
The legislation considered under this rule addresses real problems Americans are facing: higher energy costs, delayed infrastructure, weakened supply chains, threats to grid reliability, and failures that put public safety at risk.
These bills do not eliminate environmental protections or public input.
They simply require the federal government to act responsibly, plan for real-world consequences, and stop using endless processes as an excuse for inaction.
Republicans are focused on getting things built, keeping the lights on for Americans, keeping the heat on, protecting communities, and strengthening America's economic and national security.
That is what the American people expect, and that is what this rule and the underlying legislation advances.
I strongly support the rule before us today, and with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time and I move the previous question on this resolution.
unidentified
Question is on ordering the previous question on the resolution.
Yays and naysayer requested those fake those favoring a vote by the yays and nays will rise.
Suspicion number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20.
Further proceedings on this question will be postponed.
Pursuant to clause 12A of Rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess, subject to the call of the chair.
On this Tuesday, December 16th, the U.S. House is considering a number of bills, including legislation implementing stricter background checks for unaccompanied migrant children entering the U.S. Another measure allows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to block the closure of older aging power plants.
Now, also this week, the House is taking up the Republicans' health care bill that seeks to lower costs ahead of the expiration of enhanced health care subsidies at the end of the year.
That proposal is scheduled to be debated on the floor tomorrow.
Watch live coverage of the U.S. House when lawmakers return here on C-SPAN.
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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.
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Classified Hearing Details00:00:27
unidentified
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefed Senate lawmakers on the recent U.S. military strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
Coming up, we'll show you remarks by Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth, followed by a reaction from senators.
All right, thank you guys.
Obviously, we had a classified hearing, so the details of which we can't discuss.