SHOWER Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it is a new year in America, but judging by the remarks of the gentlewoman from Indiana, it is the same old Republican Party. Here is where we are at on January 7, 2026. We have a Republican President who promised to put America first. Instead, in just under a year he has bailed out Argentina, bombed Venezuela, gave Qatar an air force base in Idaho, pardoned the former Honduran drug trafficking president, and cozied up to dictators all around the world.

We have a Republican majority that promised to bring down prices. Guess what. Prices are going up. Families across this country are hurting. People are losing health coverage because you guys chose deliberately, Mr. Speaker, to let the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire. Rent keeps going up. Grocery prices keep going up. Paychecks are not keeping pace.

Meanwhile, the President of the United States is openly boasting that America is now running a foreign country. His own advisers can't even answer basic questions about what the hell comes next, what the plan is, how this ends, or when the Venezuelan people can expect democracy.

We have a Speaker of the House who is the weakest and most incompetent Speaker of the House in the history of this body. I mean, honest to God, Mr. Speaker, I don't know whether that is a good thing for the country or a bad thing. On one hand, he is so incompetent he can't get anything done. On the other hand, the things he wants to get done are crazy.

Don't ask him his opinion on anything. He doesn't have one. He doesn't watch the news. I don't even think he goes outside. I don't know what keeps him so busy that he doesn't have an opinion on anything, but he certainly isn't legislating.

With all that is going on--conflict, economic strain, and real crises facing the American people--let us turn to the calendar and see what important issue that this Republican majority has us debating on the floor this week, Mr. Speaker. Do you want to know what it is? It is not housing, not food prices, not rent, not war and peace, foreign policy, or America's future, no, no, no, no. All of us are here on the floor right now at the behest of this Republican majority to debate showerheads. You can't make this stuff up.

As if that weren't bad enough, they are still trying to pass last year's appropriations bills. Let that sink in. These are bills that should have been passed months ago. That is the state of governance under this Republican majority: late, unserious, and completely detached from the lives of the people they claim to represent.

One of these appropriations bills funds the Department of Justice and Federal law enforcement. That brings us to something Republicans would rather forget, but what our country must not: Yesterday marked the 5- year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.

It has been 5 years since a violent mob, whipped into a frenzy by the lie that Trump won the election even though he lost, stormed into this building to overturn a free and fair election.

Mr. Speaker, it has been 5 years since law enforcement officers, Capitol Police, and others were beaten, crushed, stabbed, pepper sprayed and hunted down by a MAGA mob determined to overturn the election and stop the peaceful transfer of power.

They hunted Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike. I can still remember them chanting ``hang Mike Pence'' because I was here that day, Mr. Speaker, right where you are sitting right now, right in that chair. I was one of the last Members to leave the House floor, and I watched officers barricade the Chamber doors behind me here with furniture, knowing that they were outnumbered but refusing to surrender. I smelled the tear gas. I felt the chaos. I saw the mob outside of the Speaker's lobby.

The officers who were here that day saved lives. They upheld their oath to the Constitution. Many of them were hospitalized. Many were permanently injured. Some died either from injuries sustained that day or by suicide after the trauma that they endured.

Nearly 2,000 people were arrested, tried, and found guilty for their crimes that day. What did Donald Trump do? He pardoned every single one of them. He pardoned the criminals who beat officers bloody, desecrated this building, and tried to tear American democracy apart. In my book those pardons were unforgivable, unforgivable.

Do you know what he did yesterday? He put up a disgusting, disgraceful statement on the official White House website lying about what happened that day, blaming the police, blaming the police and calling everyone who was here that day innocent. There was not a single mention, not a single mention of the 140 officers who were assaulted that day with weapons like bear spray, stun guns, hockey sticks, broken pieces of furniture, and flag poles--not a single mention.

In fact, the White House even put up a statement that ``zero law enforcement officers lost their lives,'' which is

a disgusting lie. It is a disgusting lie and a disgrace to the memory of Officer Brian Sicknick who laid in honor in the rotunda of this Capitol Building after he died in the aftermath of January 6.

After all of that, after all of that, Speaker Johnson still refuses to display a plaque in the Capitol Building to honor the officers who stood up to the mob that day, a memorial he is required by law to put up. I mean, you know, here it is, Mr. Speaker. Here it is right here. That is what the Speaker refuses to put up.

This is what it looks like. It is not the real one because the real one is downstairs in storage somewhere. Speaker Johnson refuses to hang it up.

Why? Why? We all know why. We all know why. He won't hang it up because he is Donald Trump's puppet. That is all this is. If he hangs up the plaque, Trump might get mad at him. What a pathetic and shameful abdication of duty.

I am sure the gentlewoman won't address a single point I made here about January 6. I don't know whether she is afraid of the repercussions, but the bottom line is that I just want to say, for the record: Shame on Republicans for trying to cover up their complicity in what happened that day, and shame on them for wasting the people's time on showerheads while ignoring the economic, democratic, and moral crises staring this country in the face.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, let me just respond to the gentlewoman: A lot of words, a ton of words, but as I predicted, there is not a single word about the brave officers who defended this Chamber and defended every Member of Congress on January 6 who were attacked by a violent mob. I heard not a single word, not a single word.

I just also want to remind the gentlewoman, because maybe she forgot, regrettably, Republicans are in charge. They are in charge of the House, they are in charge of the Senate, and they are in charge of the White House. So they can complain about Joe Biden and they can complain about Democrats, but they are running this show.

I was really fascinated to hear the gentlewoman talk about the shutdown. Again, the Republicans are in charge of everything. They have the votes to do whatever they want to do, but when the government shut down--it was a Republican shutdown, by the way. When it shut down, they could have worked on the appropriations bills, by the way, which were already late by definition. By the time of the shutdown, they were already late. Republicans could have worked on getting the appropriations work done.

What did my Republican friends do?

They decided to go home and take a vacation. They just left. They walked away. They did not do a thing. They went on an extended vacation rather than doing the people's business.

I have to say to the gentlewoman: With all due respect, I do townhalls all the time. I don't know whether the gentlewoman does. I know a lot of Republicans do not, but when I do my townhalls, what I hear from people is about the high cost of living. I hear about the high cost of groceries. I hear about the high cost of healthcare. I hear about the high cost of housing.

Mr. Speaker, do you know what I don't hear people talk about? It is showerheads. When they talk about freedom and liberty, they don't talk about showerheads. I don't know what planet my Republican friends are living on, but I have news for them: The number one issue in America is not showerheads.

It is healthcare. It is affordability. It is housing. It is making sure that they can support their families. People look at life through their kitchen window, and they have to pay bills. They have to make sure that they make ends meet, and right now, under this Republican economy, life is too damn expensive. People can't afford basic needs.

I just gave a 1-minute speech before we got into this debate about the increase in hunger in this country.

Do you know what the Republican response to that is, Mr. Speaker, what the Trump administration is doing to combat hunger?

They are now banning the monthly report, which gives us the data on how many people are hungry in this country. No, we are not investing in programs to help combat hunger. We are not fighting for higher wages. We are not trying to lower healthcare costs. We are just going to hide the information from people so that people don't know how bad the situation is.

So, again, I appreciate all the gentlewoman's words, but, quite frankly, they ring hollow. What people want us to do is to fight to make life more affordable and more reasonable for them.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, again, the gentlewoman said nothing about January 6 or nothing about the brave men and women who protected this Chamber and all of us on that terrible, terrible day.

I have to say that I was more than amused by listening to the gentlewoman spout about how great everything is right now: The Trump economy is perfect. Everybody is doing great. Everything is wonderful. Everything is terrific.

I don't know whether the gentlewoman holds townhalls or not, but I wonder whether the voters of Indiana actually share that point of view. I have got to tell you, I don't think so because I don't think the voters in general in this country, the citizens of this country, share that view.

Every poll that I have seen, every townhall that I have been at--by the way, not only in my district but in other States--people have complained about how expensive things are. They say Trump's economy is making life more expensive, more difficult. The price of health insurance is going through the roof because this Chamber won't extend the ACA tax credits. Groceries are going up. I don't know whether the gentlewoman goes to the supermarket or not, but the price of groceries is going up.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article from Politico titled: ``Poll: Trump's own voters begin blaming him for affordability crisis.''

Mr. Speaker, I don't want to be lectured about wealthy people in this country because the Republicans have done everything they can to help those who were well off get more and those who are struggling get less.

We saw the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that included tax cuts for multimillionaires and multibillionaires, giveaways to billionaires, giveaways to Big Ag, Big Tech, Big Oil, and we see cuts to programs that help average people in this country to get by.

By the way, their big, ugly bill included a trillion dollar cut to Medicaid. They are cutting moneys for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. That is basically to help people put food on the table. By the way, increasingly, a majority of the people who are on SNAP are working families, and they are cutting that at the same time that groceries are going up. However, if you are a billionaire, don't worry about it.

We are fighting a war of oil right now because we want to make sure Big Oil, that invested so heavily in the last campaign, gets their payback. The bottom line is, when it comes to people who are well off, well connected, and have lots of money, you know, they are doing fine. Everybody else is getting screwed.

If you ask the average person on the street about what they think of Donald Trump's economy, I will tell you what they will say. They will say it sucks.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell everybody a little secret here. The Republicans are really clever, but not really as clever as they think they are. The big, beautiful bill that they passed, the one that includes tax cuts for multimillionaires and multibillionaires and the one that guts Medicaid by a trillion dollars, is incredibly unpopular. It is incredibly unpopular.

In fact, the Kaiser Family Foundation said that 64 percent of American families oppose it, and even FOX News says that 59 percent of the American people oppose it.

Why do they oppose it, and why is it so unpopular? It is because of what is contained in it. Rather than fix that--and we just heard the gentlewoman do this. Rather than fix it, they renamed the bill the Working Families Tax Cut Act. That never passed the House. That is a new title they made up.

They think all they need to do is change the title of a bill, and then the American people won't realize all the garbage that is tucked into the bill. It is like lipstick on a pig. It is ridiculous. This is insane.

The American people are hurting because of the Republican policies. The American people are hurting because they won't extend the ACA tax credits.

By the way, people will see their health insurance costs go down if the ACA tax credits are extended. The gentlewoman is all upset about it, but I will urge her to talk to some of her Republican colleagues, by the way, who have signed on to a discharge petition to force a vote on extending the ACA tax credits. We will begin that debate today and vote on it tomorrow.

It is not just Democrats. There are some Republicans who are hearing from their constituents that they are getting screwed over on their healthcare, and they want us to do something.

The bottom line is, they can change the titles of bills and all that kind of stuff, but if they don't change the substance, if they don't get Donald Trump to back off on his tariffs--which, by the way, are responsible for rising housing costs in this country--if they don't get him to change his views on that, things are going to continue to get worse. They can change the titles of bills all they want, but they are not changing the reality for millions of Americans.

It is hard to believe that in the House of Representatives, which is supposed to be a serious body, this is what we are talking about. We are changing titles of bills so that maybe the American people won't know what we are talking about.

Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I am going to offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H. Con. Res. 33, which calls for the plaque honoring the brave police officers that defended this Capitol and our democracy on January 6 to be put up in the Capitol as required by law.

Mr. Speaker, I am sick and tired of Republicans standing up and proclaiming their unwavering support for law enforcement when they won't even honor the law enforcement that saved them, that saved us and our democracy here on January 6.

Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of the January 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump. Over 140 officers were injured, an officer was killed, and others died by suicide following the trauma of that day.

Do you know how the White House marked this anniversary? They marked it by putting up an Orwellian web page, rewriting history, and claiming it is the officers who were to blame for the violence. How disgusting. How despicable. How disgraceful.

I ask my Republican colleagues: Do you really believe that crap? When you look in the eyes of the Capitol Police who guard this building, do you accuse them of being responsible for the violence of that day?

How dare the President of the United States say such a thing, and how shameful of this Republican majority to stay silent in the face of this depravity and rewriting of history.

Republicans found the time to illegally slap Donald Trump's name onto the Kennedy Center, defacing a memorial to a great President in a single day, within 24 hours, but a legally required honor for the officers who defended this democracy? It is 5 years of excuses, 5 years of delay, 5 years of cowardice and disrespect to law enforcement by Republicans.

When all is said and done, history will not look kindly on these Trump Republicans and this Republican majority, and they all know it.

At this point, let me say to my Republican friends that it is always the right time to do the decent thing, the thing the law requires, which is to hang the plaque honoring these brave men and women who put their lives on the line to defend us, to defend this building, and to defend this democracy.

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, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, again, no discussion, no comments on what happened on January 6 or about what the White House put on its web page yesterday, blaming police officers for the violence of January 6, saying that no police officer died when we know that is a lie, and no explanation as to why we are having such a difficult time hanging a plaque that, quite frankly, the law requires us to hang.

Again, the gentlewoman voted against an amendment to force the Speaker to hang the plaque. I am happy to yield to the gentlewoman if she wants to explain why she voted that way. Does she have any reaction to the White House's horrific and disgraceful statement yesterday, basically smearing the brave men and women who are in our law enforcement and the Capitol Police officers?

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield to the gentlewoman.

And nothing. And nothing. I mean, really? That is what things have come to? We can't even come together and stand in defense of the Capitol Police who defended us that day? We can't honor them? Somehow that is a no-no because Donald Trump doesn't like it. I mean, that really is shameful.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, let's be honest about what we have seen from this Republican majority. Republicans can't govern. They can't lead. They won't and don't fight for the people who sent them here.

They rush, rush, rush to the floor to redefine what a showerhead is. That is the big issue. They move at lightning speed on tax breaks for billionaires. They bend over backward to enrich Trump and his inner circle, going so far as to invade another country to grease the skids for Big Oil. It is not about democracy. It is not about human rights. It is not even about drugs. It is about Big Oil.

The priorities of Big Tech, Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Big Banks move at lightning speed. Tax cuts for the wealthy pass overnight. Corporate giveaways face no obstacles.

When it comes to protecting healthcare for millions of Americans, suddenly there is hesitation. Suddenly, there are delays. Suddenly, there is no money. Suddenly, they move in slow motion. Suddenly, we can't do anything.

It may be 2026, but it is the status quo for this Republican majority. It is a new year but the same BS for them except when it comes to what is happening in Venezuela. Then they are dragging us back to 2003.

Other than that, it is always the same funding from elite donors with phony talk about helping regular people. It is the same contempt for their own voters. It is the same recklessness abroad. It is the same incompetence at home.

Here is what Republicans always underestimate. The American people are paying attention. They are not stupid. They know when billionaires get everything and everyone else gets excuses. They know when governance is replaced by stunts, distractions, and culture war nonsense. There is always a reckoning for that kind of failure. This year will be no exception. They know all the gimmicks.

We passed this monstrosity of a bill called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The American people are horrified by what is in it. There are excessive giveaways to the wealthiest in this country. There are cutbacks in healthcare. There are cutbacks in everything that matters to working families. Every poll that is done says that it is incredibly unpopular.

What do they do? Rather than fix the problem, they come up with a counterfeit name for the bill. It is no longer the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Now it is the Working Families Tax Cut Act. I don't know what the hell that is. I don't know who came up with that idea. Maybe some pollster gave it to them, as if changing the name of what they call this big, ugly bill will make a difference.

Mr. Speaker, all I can say is that with all that is going on in this country right now, with all of the concerns that the American people have, and with people desperately pleading with this Republican President and this Republican majority in the House and Senate to do something to make their life better, we have an opportunity to maybe legislate and help people. Instead, we are talking about showerheads. I mean, really? I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I will also again remind people about the vote on the previous question. We have a chance to actually do something positive today, and that is to honor the men and women who protected us on January 6. Unfortunately, Republicans on the Rules Committee all voted ``no'' to require the Speaker again to hang the plaque.

They all voted ``no.'' Not a word has been said. There is no explanation as to why. Not a word about what happened on January 6 has been spoken on this floor by the Republicans today. I don't know how that can be. I don't know how that can be.

Mr. Speaker, I was there that day. I was in the Speaker's chair. I saw what happened. I saw what happened when I walked out to the Speaker's lobby. I saw the people who protected us being beaten by this angry mob, and not a word. We can't get the Speaker of the House to hang up this plaque. That can change with the previous question vote.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 977 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this morning, the Rules Committee met to produce a rule, H. Res. 977, providing for the House's consideration on the following three bills:

First, the rule provides for H.R. 4593, the SHOWER Act, to be considered under a closed rule. It provides 1 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 provides for one motion to recommit.

Second, the rule provides for H.R. 5184, the Affordable HOMES Act. H.R. 5184 would be considered under a closed rule. It also provides for 1 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 provides for one motion to recommit.

Third, the rule provides for H.R. 6938, Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026. H.R. 6938 would be considered under a closed rule, and it also provides 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations, or their designees, and provides for one motion to recommit.

The rule provides for separate votes on division A and divisions B and C.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of the underlying legislation. These bills reflect a simple governing philosophy: freedom of choice, fiscal responsibility, regulatory clarity, and a government that focuses on the American people, not bureaucracy.

Let me begin with the appropriations package. Beginning with H.R. 6938, the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act of 2026, these bills make targeted, disciplined investments to strengthen American energy dominance, reinforce our nuclear deterrent capabilities, support law enforcement, and expand access to critical minerals. These policy priorities are shared by President Trump, congressional Republicans, and millions of Americans. Importantly, this appropriations package ends Biden-era policies enacting a more conservative vision, all while cutting fiscal year 2026 spending by nearly $2 billion, delivering significant savings for taxpayers. Let me repeat that: Passing full year appropriations ensures we are not defaulting to Biden-era spending levels or radical priorities. It allows Congress to reset funding levels in support of the conservative policies aligned with President Trump's agenda.

The Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act of 2026 provides $78 billion in discretionary funding, including resources to stop the flow of fentanyl, and provides critical funding to support State and local law enforcement. It increases funding for the Drug Enforcement Administration to combat the fentanyl crisis, supports the Department of Justice grant programs that target opioids and child exploitation, and facilitates immigration enforcement. It protects the Second Amendment by keeping long-standing safeguards in place that prevent Federal agencies from restricting lawful firearms, ammunition, and sporting equipment without congressional approval, and decreases funding for the ATF. It also maintains pro-life Hyde protections to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to fund abortions.

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act directs $58 billion towards national security and strengthens America's energy independence. These investments are essential to restoring American leadership in nuclear energy and achieving the administration's goal of dramatically expanding nuclear capacity by mid-century. At the same time, they eliminate wasteful Biden-era offices that prioritize ideology over outcomes.

The Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides $38 billion to expand access to public lands, reverse harmful regulatory overreach, and rein in agency budgets. It increases funding for responsible onshore and offshore energy development in oil and gas, exempts farmers and ranchers from burdensome greenhouse gas emissions reporting schemes, and reduces funding for the EPA.

In addition to these wins for the American people, I am proud that my office was able to secure $8 million in community project funding for Indiana's Ninth Congressional District. This funding will support projects, including a riverbank stabilization plan for the Ohio River shoreline in Clarksville, Indiana, and support booster pump stations that are needed to increase water capacity to serve constituents in Bloomington, Monroe County, and the home of Indiana University football and students at Indiana University.

Funding in this package will also provide residents and businesses in Brown County with long, and greatly needed, sewer services and support for

the city of Madison's stormwater mitigation project to reduce flooding and improve water quality.

These investments will support critical infrastructure and local priorities that communities themselves identified, bringing improvements from shoreline protection, to water systems, to supporting economic development that will directly benefit residents across the Ninth District.

Together, these bills reflect a disciplined approach to governing by investing in community priorities, cutting unnecessary spending, and reducing good governance.

Turning next to H.R. 4593, the SHOWER Act, this is a simple bill with a simple goal: end the regulatory whiplash and return consumer choice and common sense to a basic household product. A showerhead should not require extensive regulation. Yet, under the Obama and Biden administrations, bureaucrats redefined a clear term to advance an ideological agenda creating confusion for manufacturers and frustration for consumers.

This was the status quo under the leadership of Democrats--regulate everything in our lives right down to our showerheads. It is incredible if you think about it. This may seem like a ridiculous bill to be considering by our Democrat counterparts. Believe me, it is ridiculous that their policies would require legislation to prevent this kind of government intrusion, but here we are.

The Biden administration regulated every nozzle in every American home individually, reducing water pressure and frustrating homeowners, all while increasing costs for compliance. Ending this rule will permanently save Americans billions of dollars, reduce regulatory bloat, and restore a workable standard.

The Department of Energy estimates that eliminating this rule, along with dozens of related inflationary standards, will save consumers $11 billion and will cut more than 125,000 words from the Code of Federal Regulations.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I turn to H.R. 5184, the Affordable HOMES Act, which I was proud to author with Congressman Mike Flood. This bill addresses a real problem in the housing market, one that affects our most vulnerable homebuyers. It reduces the upfront costs of buying a home, making it easier for Americans to achieve the dream of homeownership. The Affordable HOMES Act restores clarity by placing manufactured housing standards back under the Office of Housing and Urban Development where they belong and eliminating duplicative regulatory authority by the Department of Energy.

It overturns a 2022 Biden administration rule that increased manufactured housing costs, again, without regard for what consumers want or how the market actually works prioritizing energy efficiency under the Green New Deal and directly contributing to the housing affordability issues we see today.

The objective here is clarity so manufacturers can build more homes and families can afford them.

Mr. Speaker, this rule moves legislation that reflects fiscal discipline, regulatory sanity, consumer choice, and a commitment to affordability and growth. I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bills.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I am not sure if the gentleman from Massachusetts heard my opening, but this is about housing. We literally have a bill called the Affordable HOMES Act, and it addresses the cost of housing.

He also commented that we are only appropriating and considering our appropriations bills yet today, but we weren't the ones who shut down the government for 41 days, preventing us from doing our appropriations work. They did this. The Democrats shut down the government to fight for taxpayer-funded healthcare subsidies that would go to the wealthiest ObamaCare enrollees across the Nation.

Think about that, Mr. Speaker. They shut down the functioning of the government, preventing us from appropriating on the very good things that we talked about in the opening comments, meaning millionaires would be eligible to receive tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer- funded subsidies for their ObamaCare plans. This would give $350 billion in taxpayer bailouts not to the American people, but to big health insurance companies, all while they are receiving record profits.

This incentivizes bad actors to manipulate individuals to sign up for coverage through the ACA marketplace, oftentimes without people even realizing that they had been enrolled.

This is government waste, fraud, and abuse at its worst, and I am proud the House Republicans stood up against that.

The gentleman from Massachusetts also referenced the SHOWER Act that we have here today. I would just like to say that I will stand up here every day of every week to restore freedom of choice and freedom of movement back to the American people.

You have to start somewhere, Mr. Speaker, from electric vehicle mandates to prohibitions on gas stoves and heaters. Showerhead efficiency and efficiency standards in affordable homes and manufactured housing will cause the cost of homeownership to go up and void American Dream opportunities for millions of Americans, but that is business as usual with Democrats in Congress. Closing businesses and demanding quarantine is Big Brother knows best, and that is what the Democrats are best at.

House Republicans are going to fight back to restore that personal choice, all while ensuring fiscal responsibility.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleague on the other side of the aisle that House Republicans did pass a funding mechanism out of the House of Representatives to the Senate, and because of the 60-vote rule in the Senate we did need the help of Democrats in the Senate to fund the government. They held out, again, for the purpose of funding taxpayer- funded healthcare subsidies to benefit the wealthiest ObamaCare enrollees in the Nation and fat cat insurance companies.

I would also note that much of what the gentleman has been referring to, the deflection is like a magic trick. You can say words, just like he accused me of saying many words, but the facts outweigh the deflection, which is that it took much of 2025 to rid ourselves of the sleepy Joe, America last, Biden economic hangover, but Republicans in Congress and President Trump have delivered. America is now reaching new milestones under Republican leadership, turning the tide back to American greatness.

Let's just look at the economy. Quarter three GDP growth was a roaring 4.3 percent, the fastest growth in years. The deficit is being addressed. The Federal Government's cumulative deficit for fiscal year 2026 at the end of November was 19 percent lower than the same time last year. Core inflation is at 2.6 percent, the lowest we have seen in 4 years.

Rents are falling month after month, and shelter inflation is at a 4- year low. Gas prices are down to their lowest levels in 4 years. Stocks were at near highs by the end of the year, with the S&P climbing by 17 percent in 2025.

All of this occurred before the gains of the Working Families Tax Cut Act are realized, and we are just getting started.

It will take us a while to recover from the years of inflationary policies of the Biden administration, but the facts show that House Republicans under President Trump's leadership are delivering on promises to reduce costs for American families.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Ciscomani).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Let's just review some of the wins in the Working Families Tax Cut Act because taxpayers are expected to take home an additional $91 billion in refunds and keep an additional $30 billion in their paychecks from reduced withholdings.

Taxpayers are set to continue to receive support in tax years to come through a double standard deduction and lower tax rates, making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, an increase in the standard deduction by up to $1,500 per family in 2025, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, a boost to the child tax credit of $2,200 while indexing its value to inflation, expanding access to childcare and paid leave tax credit permanently, expanding the 529 savings accounts to help families choose education that best fits their needs, and expanded health savings accounts so American families can control their own healthcare. That doesn't sound like benefits to millionaires and billionaires. It sounds like benefits to hardworking American families.

Also, I note that the subsidies that the gentleman from Massachusetts so wants to support, the American people would not see a dime of that. It would go directly to insurance companies who, again, are seeing record profits.

The one thing we can do is continue to support health savings accounts, continue the Trump-era tax cuts from 2017, making them permanent, and continue to promote the tax provisions in the Working Families Tax Cut Act that received no Democratic support, by the way, that really will help American families.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Taylor).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Utah (Ms. Maloy).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Haridopolos).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this rule is very straightforward. We are here to cut burdensome red tape and regulatory overreach that leads to higher energy costs for Americans. Commonsense reforms like these are simple and long overdue.

We are also here to move an appropriations package that provides critical funding and returns us to more responsible spending levels while delivering for the American people.

One thing we have noted is that there is fraud in government programs, including in Medicaid and SNAP. Republicans have sounded the clarion call to try to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, while Democrats want to minimize it.

We have known about it for decades, even when we went after some of the waste, fraud, and abuse in ObamaCare, and guess what. After we passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the CBO stated that healthcare premiums would go down as a result of our work.

We went after Medicaid fraud, especially involving illegal immigrants. By the way, a Federal court recently ordered officials to turn over Medicaid information to ICE enforcement. If illegal immigrants weren't accessing Medicaid on Democrats' watch, as they tirelessly asserted, then why would a Federal court provide such an order?

We went after waste, fraud, and abuse through our rescissions package, and once again, Democrats refused to acknowledge that that premise ever existed.

Mr. Speaker, we are cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse. We are becoming fiscally responsible. We are putting the American family first by reducing burdensome regulations that increase costs.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to moving these bills out of the House this week. I ask my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on the previous question and ``yes'' on the rule.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The American people are struggling to make ends meet. They are feeling the pinch of the affordability crisis and bearing the brunt of rising costs at the hands of Republicans. Yet my colleagues continue to turn a blind eye to the cost-of-living crisis. In fact, President Trump has called the affordability crisis a con job and a Democratic scam.

That is how out of touch they are, Mr. Speaker. Healthcare costs are skyrocketing, and electricity bills are through the roof. Meanwhile, President Trump just illegally invaded Venezuela, and Secretary Kennedy is putting children's lives at risk by restricting access to vaccines.

There is a lot this Congress could be doing this week, but the first bill Republicans bring to the floor in 2026 is about showerheads. It is almost impossible to believe. To make matters worse, this bill will actually drive up monthly utility bills for American families.

Electricity prices are up 13 percent across the country. Eighty million Americans are struggling to pay their utility bills, and Republicans want to make that financial pain even worse. Meanwhile, grocery prices are surging, and, of course, monthly healthcare premiums are skyrocketing across the Nation, thanks to the healthcare crisis Republicans created by failing to extend the Affordable Care Act's enhanced premium tax credits. As a result of their inaction, more than 20 million Americans are now facing skyrocketing monthly healthcare premiums. In many cases, and I will say in my home State of New Jersey, Mr. Speaker, they are double or triple the cost that they paid last year.

We just heard a debate on the discharge petition a few minutes ago, and as a result of that discharge petition, and no thanks to most of the Republicans and the leadership, we are going to have an opportunity to vote on the premium tax credits. The bottom line is that that has nothing to do with the Republican leadership. This was a Democratic initiative that a few Republicans finally joined with us so that we have an opportunity to vote on it.

There isn't a single thing that the Republicans can point to about dealing with the affordability crisis that they have created. President Trump and his Republican accomplices are completely out of touch with the alarming reality millions of Americans are facing. Republicans have no plans to address affordability, and I think today proves it.

They are beginning this new Congress with a bill that changes the definition of ``showerhead'' in order to open the door for the Trump administration to increase already rising monthly utility bills and to waste our scarce water resources. This bill would actually increase costs for consumers.

In Trump's first term, he redefined ``showerheads'' to allow them to use significantly more energy and water. Showerheads with multiple nozzles could vastly exceed the current limits. For example, a showerhead with eight nozzles could use up to 20 gallons of water per minute under Trump's 2020 definition.

Think about this, Mr. Speaker: You are raising the costs. You are increasing utility bills not only for electricity but also for water. You are wasting energy, and you are wasting water.

The bottom line is that manufacturers didn't want this. They largely rejected this move by President Trump

and didn't produce showerheads that exceeded the limit that existed. That was because they knew that consumers value money-saving and water conservation showerheads that are good for both their wallets and the environment.

Energy and water conservation standards, Mr. Speaker, save consumers money. The only reason that we have these energy-efficient standards both for showerheads and for so many other things is that Congress, on a bipartisan basis, decided to establish a program where if the Department of Energy or other Departments, mostly the Department of Energy, could show that, in fact, you could save money for consumers and eliminate a lot of waste in terms of water and energy, then they would put forth these standards. These are bipartisan standards.

In 2024 alone, energy and water conservation standards slashed $576 off Americans' utility bills while cutting our energy and water consumption.

I am just trying to point out, Mr. Speaker, that Republican priorities are completely out of touch with the concerns of everyday Americans. They are out of touch with the manufacturers and out of touch with the average American.

The only Republican priority is pleasing President Trump with whatever he wants. They give in to his every wish, even if it means driving up utility bills for American families.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Castor), the ranking member of our Energy Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez), a member of our committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Frankel).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Riley).

I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury).

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have to respond to the chairman of our committee who, of course, I respect a great deal.

The Republicans have never supported the Affordable Care Act. When we passed it--and I was one of the drafters how many years ago now--I think there were none--certainly almost no Republican votes.

They were not there when we tried to expand tax credits because we knew that in order for people to be able to afford their health insurance, we would have to reauthorize the tax credits from time to time or expand them for certain incomes. They were never there.

Frankly, I don't want to go into this in any great deal or depth today, but the bottom line is that I and most Democrats believe that healthcare is a basic right and that we, as a Congress, have a responsibility to make it so that most people, if not all Americans, can have health insurance because, otherwise, they can't see a doctor. They end up in the emergency room. They get sicker, and our society suffers for it, either financially, healthwise, or whatever.

I don't really want to get into this debate about who, when, and where because the bottom line is that the Republican Party has never supported any of this. Many of them don't even believe, I think, that somehow we should be helping Americans pay for their health insurance. In any case, they have never supported the Affordable Care Act, ObamaCare. They have never supported the enhanced premium tax credits, and so talking about when you did it or didn't do it, to me, is irrelevant.

The bottom line is that the majority had the opportunity to extend it during the reconciliation bill. My colleagues did not. Republicans had the opportunity right through the end of this year to extend it before it expired, and all these double and triple costs per month for health insurance started on January 1. My Republican colleagues didn't do it and are not doing it now.

We had the debate just a half hour or 1 hour ago about the bill that is finally coming to the floor, not because of the Republicans but because every Democrat in this House signed a discharge petition and we got a handful of Republicans to sign the discharge petition, overturning the right of the Speaker to determine what bills come to the floor. So it will come to the floor tomorrow, but when I was here for the debate on the rule, there was only one Republican who got up and said that they were supportive of extending the tax credits.

I am going to see tomorrow how many Republicans come to the floor and say that they are going to extend the tax credits or vote to extend the tax credits. There will be very, very few, unfortunately, because this is not what Republicans support.

In any case, I will talk a little bit about the affordability crisis in general. Across the country, the American people are trying to find ways to afford the rising prices of groceries, electricity, and their water bills. We hear from our constituents--I do every day--that affordability is their top concern. As democratically elected Members of Congress, I think it is our job to address these concerns--not only health insurance, but electricity costs, water costs, and so many things that deal with affordability.

I see my Republican colleagues only seem to be interested in fighting the Trump administration's latest culture war on showerheads.

Mr. Speaker, I have tried not to laugh about this because I think the issue has a level of seriousness, but it is incredible that not only are they

bringing up this bill as their first bill of the new year, but the fact is that the bill does nothing to help the American people.

If the majority was doing something with showerhead bills to bring down costs, I would say ``fine,'' but that is not the case. This is only being done because President Trump has been complaining about efficiency standards for everything since his first term. I think he is completely out of touch with the realities that everyday Americans face.

The truth is simple that efficiency standards lower costs for Americans. I have said it before, but it is worth repeating: In 2024 alone, energy and water conservation standards slashed $576 off of American utility bills while cutting our energy and water consumption. Why is that a bad thing? It is a good thing.

It is totally, in my opinion, kind of dishonest for Republicans to claim that the cost of compliance with environmental regulations and efficiency standards drive up prices. They do not. It is not conservation that is driving up prices for Americans. It is Republican policies, and I would particularly point to Trump's tariffs that are driving up costs for the average American.

The Republican Party let the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credit expire without any safety net, so millions of Americans are going to lose their health insurance. Some have already decided not to sign up because they can't afford it. They are going to lose their health insurance. We will have more tomorrow and the next day and the next day. Until we pass this enhanced tax credit bill, more and more Americans will have no health insurance and the negative consequences from that.

Let's also talk about the big, ugly bill--Republicans call it the big, beautiful bill--that is projected to increase electricity prices for American families by 61 percent. Nearly 1 in 20 American households are in severe utility debt. This winter, families are forced to make the impossible choice of heating their homes or putting food on the table.

We have to address this issue, but somehow that is not enough for my Republican colleagues. They now are trying to pass partisan legislation to increase utility bills, too. That is what this bill does.

Again, all I can say is that the Republican Party's priorities are senseless, cruel, and misguided.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, Pursuant to House Resolution 977, I call up the bill (H.R. 4593) to amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to revise the definition of showerhead, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and to include extraneous material on H.R. 4593.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, under the previous administration, American consumers were subjected to Washington's constant micromanagement of appliances and equipment in their homes and businesses.

In fact, the Biden-Harris administration finalized more than 30 new or amended energy efficiency standards, totaling over $60 billion in costs and regulating nearly every appliance in Americans' homes. Part of this effort focused on complicating the definition of a showerhead by prohibiting multi-nozzle shower systems if the whole system collectively delivers more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute, instead of following the straightforward statutory definition of a showerhead.

The new, highly bureaucratic definition was an amazing 13,000 words in length and a novel interpretation. This resulted in shower systems with more than one nozzle having a lower flow rate compared to individual showerheads.

Additionally, this definition is misleading to consumers looking to buy multi-nozzled shower systems for the purpose of increasing water flow.

President Trump has taken executive action to restore the regulatory definitions and standards to the law's original intent by allowing a maximum water use of 2.5 gallons per minute for each faucet in a shower system. H.R. 4593 would codify President Trump's definition by allowing the 2.5 maximum flow rate to apply to each nozzle in the shower system.

This legislation will ensure manufacturers, like Delta Faucet in my district in Morgantown, Kentucky, are not subjected to the swing of the political pendulum with ever-changing interpretations of the law.

Further, this legislation is simple and pro-consumer choice. It is unfortunate that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are seeking more regulation for its own sake and limiting the choices of American consumers. If an individual wants low water pressure, they have a variety of options. They can purchase a single-nozzle showerhead, or they can simply turn down the faucet. It is that simple, but those choices must be left to individual Americans and not to Washington.

H.R. 4593 would bring regulatory certainty to manufacturers, performance effectiveness to a household appliance we all use, and choice to American consumers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

When the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) had his poster, he didn't actually have the poster that President Trump was referring to when he was talking about affordability.

It was a poster that showed the different States and the rising price of energy. It showed certain States and certain areas--he colored them blue and red States on his poster--and the difference in what people are paying for electric rates.

You can tie it directly to State and local governments that are making decisions to shut down generation of energy. When you overregulate--why are people paying more for appliances, dishwashers and stoves? It is because of the regulations.

Why are they paying more for showerheads? As we said, if people can have the choice, they can also turn down their water. As I said, it is just that simple.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber), my good friend, the vice chair of the Energy Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about affordability, we did pass and sign into law no tax on Social Security. It is a deduction for people who generally have incomes that are almost all Social Security. They won't pay any tax on that. We passed the no tax on tips. People working on tips income won't be paying tax on their tips.

I come from the world of manufacturing where people work hard all week hoping for overtime over the weekend so they can earn more money for their families. Now there is no tax on overtime to make things affordable for people and give them more money in their pocket to pay for things, but we also need to make them cheaper.

We worked hard on energy. We have passed bills out of committee and across the floor on permitting energy. We have energy in this country, but we have to be able to generate the electrons, and we have to be able to move the energy to where it needs to be. The problem is permitting. I am a believer in all of the above, and we need to develop an all-of-the-above energy strategy.

We have 112-gigawatts of power--a gigawatt is the city of Seattle. There are 112-gigawatts of power scheduled to go offline in the next decade because of environmental regulations, which we can do safely and securely and save our environment and produce the energy that people need.

Again, if you bring the poster that the President used, you can see States that have the highest energy prices, and it goes to their energy regulation that their State and local governments have done to themselves.

Mr. Speaker, I was in California putting gas in a rental car, and I looked over to the guy next to me and said: Do you have any idea how much people pay for gas in the rest of the country?

I paid $2.80 in Kentucky and paid over $4 in California. It is State and local governments that make these decisions, and they are bringing that to Washington, D.C. We want to make it cheaper and for our people to have more affordability.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Fry), the sponsor of this legislation and my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Rulli), my good friend and member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to answer the question of the gentlewoman.

Mr. Speaker, no, he did not ask to do this bill on the floor today. I know the President is very interested in this issue, but not on this floor today.

Mr. Speaker, what I have tried to ask and nobody has answered is: The enhanced tax credits, the COVID-era tax credits, were set to expire in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was a bill under the reconciliation process. It was solely the Democratic Party who put that in place, and the question I have always asked is: Why did they set them to expire?

They may say it was the reconciliation process. There were issues in that bill that they made permanent, but they chose to have the enhanced tax credits expire.

What happens when the enhanced tax credits expire? They are enhanced, so we go back to the basic law. The basic law we are operating under is the Affordable Care Act.

Why is the Affordable Care Act not saving people money?

I remember when this first came out. I was speaking to a Rotary Club, and a person said to me at the end that I was talking so negatively on the Affordable Care Act.

I said to him: You know, I really hope that people will keep the doctor they want to keep, have the choices they can have in healthcare, and their premiums will go down. If that happens, I will eat my words. I hope I can eat my words because there is no joy in having a bill pass and see people lose their doctors of choice, lose choice in health plans because it is consolidating, lose choices in healthcare because it is consolidating, and see their premiums skyrocketing.

Talking about how much the premiums are skyrocketing, do you know why? What is the underlying law? The underlying law is the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Speaker, I wish I could answer the question. I wish I would get an answer to the question of why did they set them to expire and why is the Affordable Care Act not working.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, my point when I talked about the Affordable Care Act is that once it was in place, I wish it had worked. I wish what was believed to be in place worked because I think people with sincere hearts were the ones who voted for it and put it in place. If we did have choice and we had more people provided--we didn't have consolidation, and we had cheaper health insurance. That is what we wanted.

I will tell you that the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee are going to be focusing on the cost of health insurance. We talked yesterday and put out that health insurance executives from the major health insurance companies, or CEOs, are going to come before our committee. We are going to spend this year to hopefully find ways that we can work together because the premiums reflect the cost of healthcare.

We want to understand the premiums, how they devise the premiums, where the premium is going, who is getting the money, and what about the consolidations. We are going to have a series of hearings, and the first one is going to be CEOs of major insurance companies to come before our committees to do the proper oversight to see why it is going from $14,000 to $22,000 and why are people being affected that way.

That is the answer the American people deserve. That is the work we must do, and I hope we can do it together.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the support of the underlying bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding the time.

I rise in opposition to H.R. 4593 with a great concern that House Republicans simply do not care to work on any solutions to lower the cost of living for our hardworking neighbors back home.

In 2025, House Republicans failed to bring one bill to the floor to lower the cost of living or to tackle the high rate of inflation, but here is some good news actually: By tomorrow, thanks to House Democrats and a handful of Republicans who stood up to their Speaker, the House will vote to lower the cost of healthcare coverage for millions of Americans. That is a little bit of good news.

If Americans were hoping that Republicans in Congress would start 2026 off with some relief for their pocketbooks, I am sorry to report that, no, Republicans are not bringing bills to lower the cost of living.

I congratulate my Republican colleagues, their first bill of 2026, to set the tone, is to address showerheads. This is critical. You heard that right. It is ridiculous, isn't it? It is so out of touch.

The President promised he was going to cut Americans' power bills in half, but since he took office last year, electric bills are up by 13 percent across the country, and they are much higher in some places. There are 80 million Americans who are struggling just to pay their electric bills. In Florida, the Republican-controlled utilities commission just approved the highest rate increases in the history of the country--they are calling them that--a $6 billion rate increase.

Across the country, folks are facing about $86 billion in electric rate increases, so hold on to your wallet. Rather than help, Republicans have only made things worse. They have gone along with arbitrary tariffs that have raised the cost of living and taken a hatchet to cleaner, cheaper energy. They have gone along with illegally halting energy projects. They ended tax cuts and rebates that helped people afford their electric bills in order to pay for tax breaks for billionaires.

They are out of touch.

Folks in the Northeast are worried about their rising electric bills because the President in December arbitrarily terminated five offshore wind projects that were under construction. That energy onto the grid would have helped keep the pressure on lower electric bills.

The President canceled final approval for what would have been the Nation's largest solar farm, a 6.2 gigawatt project in the Nevada desert. He illegally ended low-cost solar installation for working- class families that would have helped them and their family budgets.

The President now has canceled major upgrades to the power grid out of the bipartisan infrastructure law, such as the Grain Belt Express transmission line.

Republican policies now--we are adding it up--have cost Americans about 266 gigawatts of planned electricity generation projects in 2025 at a time when there is a surge of new demand for electricity across the country. They are out of touch.

Speaking of being out of touch, of course, the President doesn't believe there is an affordability crisis. He has called it a hoax. The real issues for the President are shower pressure, redecorating the White House, and so much more.

Yes, it was last April that the President thought it was so important he issued an executive order to end the Obama-Biden war on water pressure and make America's showers great again. He is out of touch. However, he urged Congress to codify that order, so that is what we are doing here tonight on the first bill of 2026 by this Republican majority. Are they serious?

What has been the President's focus during all this time he has called the affordability crisis a hoax? Well, he paved over the Rose Garden. He has torn down the East Wing of the White House to make way for a grand ballroom funded by people who have business in front of the Federal Government.

I haven't been over to the White House, but all of the pictures show 24 karat gold ornamentation all through the White House. He has installed marble floors. I have seen him tweet that

out. He has also added his name to the Kennedy Center.

For those of you who haven't come to Washington, D.C., he has put banners of his picture up on Federal buildings. He is proposing to put his likeness on gold coins.

Mr. Speaker, I think you get my drift here. It was so galling as people are trying to pay their electric bills and their grocery bills that the President here is bragging about how he has redone the Lincoln bathroom, yes, with gold showerheads.

We don't need to redefine what constitutes a showerhead. We don't need to weaken energy and water conservation measures that help people save money. We don't need to make life more expensive for hardworking neighbors back home. We don't need to boost foreign manufacturers who want to import inferior products to the U.S., but that is what they are doing.

No, in 2026 we are going to need real solutions. I beseech my colleagues to work with us to tackle the high cost of living. You can look back on 2025 now; Federal spending is up. They added $2 trillion to the national debt and they have lost manufacturing jobs when you add it all up. Now their answer on the first bill of the Congress in 2026 is showerheads. They are out of touch.