Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman for her tremendous leadership and for yielding.

I don't really understand the ``Fatal Attraction'' reference because if anyone is dealing with fatal attraction, it is between President Trump and House Republicans. As soon as he says jump, their only answer is: ``How high?'' It doesn't matter whether they are hurting the American people.

That is why House Republicans are marching the country on a track toward the largest Medicaid cut in American history. It will hurt children, families, Americans with disabilities, and seniors. It will close nursing homes and hospitals.

When Donald Trump says, ``Jump,'' extreme MAGA Republicans say, ``How high?'' That is the fatal attraction that is hurting the people of the United States of America.

By the way, the core promise that they made last year was about lowering costs. All they talked about was how they were going to lower the high cost of living.

Democrats believe that America is too expensive. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Childcare costs are too high. Utility costs are too high. Insurance costs are too high.

America is too expensive. We believe that that, in fact, is the case, but Republicans have done nothing to lower the high cost of living--no bill, no executive order, no administrative action. That is the broken promise.

We were told by President Trump that costs were going to go down on day one. Grocery prices haven't gone down; they have gone up. Inflation is up.

Do you know what is going down? The stock market. It is because President Trump and House Republicans are crashing the economy in real time and marching us to a possible Republican recession. That is what is confronting the American people.

Now, we have this partisan, reckless spending bill that we are being asked to consider on the floor today. Bipartisan negotiations were underway. Rosa DeLauro was at the table, working to reach an agreement consistent with the Fiscal Responsibility Act that was passed by Republicans and Democrats and then signed into law in 2023, but when Donald Trump says, ``Jump,'' extreme MAGA Republicans say, ``How high?'' He ordered the Republicans to leave the negotiating table to try to jam this far-right, extremist bill down the throats of the American people.

There are so many challenges with this bill, too many to detail, but let me just articulate a few.

The House Republican, highly partisan, shutdown-threatening bill is an attack on veterans. It is an attack on families. It is an attack on seniors. It cuts funding for veterans, including billions of dollars in funds that will be cut from veterans in desperate need of healthcare for people who served this country and who are suffering from painful exposure to toxic substances, Agent Orange, and burn pits. This bill before this House cuts billions of dollars in that healthcare that is desperately needed. That is an attack on veterans.

It is an attack on children and families in America because this bill cuts funding for nutritional assistance that would otherwise be available for everyday Americans to put food on the table when people are already struggling because grocery prices aren't going down. They are going up under this administration. Yet, this Republican bill will cut funding for nutritional assistance. That is an attack on children and families here in America.

It is an attack on seniors, an attack on everyday Americans, an attack on housing, an attack on healthcare. It cuts funds from things like Alzheimer's research to help older Americans battle these challenges.

That is what this extreme Republican bill is all about. It will hurt families, hurt seniors, and hurt veterans.

Mr. Speaker, the second problem, equally troublesome, is that this bill does nothing to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. We have been very clear. As Democrats, we look forward in this Congress to protecting these vitally important priorities for the American people.

Why is the bill silent on these priorities? The Republicans are trying to set in motion a chain saw to Social Security, a chain saw to Medicare, and a chain saw to Medicaid. Yesterday, their other boss confirmed that when he talked about these entitlement programs, as he called them. They are not entitlement programs. They are earned benefits.

Mr. Speaker, when you start to use the language of entitlement programs, it is because you are trying to set in motion an assault on Social Security and an assault on Medicare. They are saying the quiet part out loud.

We know they are going after Social Security and Medicare because they have been firing thousands of people from the Social Security Administration. They want to collapse the system, and this bill does nothing to stop that. All it does is facilitate the collapse of Social Security by dismantling the Social Security Administration.

Of course, we know what is going on with the assault on Medicaid, $880 billion, assaulting the healthcare of the American people. We have been very clear. We will work together to protect Social Security, protect Medicare, and protect Medicaid. They have no interest in doing that because they want to take a chain saw to these priorities.

By the way, it has nothing to do with waste, fraud, and abuse. As Democrats, we have been very clear. We want to build a Federal Government and make sure that we have a Federal Government that is effective, that is efficient, and that is equitable, delivering services all across the country in a manner that spends taxpayer dollars wisely.

That is not what this effort is all about. This bill will unleash fury on the American people. It will facilitate the ongoing effort that is currently underway. The average Social Security recipient in this country receives $65 a day. They have to survive on $65 a day, but the Republicans want to take a chain saw to Social Security, when Elon Musk and his tens of billions of dollars of government contracts essentially makes at least $8 billion a day from the taxpayers.

If we want to uncover waste, fraud, and abuse, start there. Don't start with the $65 a day that Social Security recipients receive from their earned benefits and from their hard work throughout their entire life. Start there. Elon Musk is feeding at the trough of the American taxpayer for $8 billion a day.

This bill has nothing to do with waste, fraud, and abuse. It is all part of a broader scheme to pass massive tax cuts for billionaire donors, the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected, and then to stick working-class Americans with the bill. That is the entire scheme.

As Democrats, we want no part of it because we are fighting hard to make life better for everyday Americans. We

want to make sure that when people work hard and play by the rules in the United States of America, they should be able to provide a comfortable living for themselves and for their family, educate their children, purchase a home, have access to healthcare, go on vacation every now and then, and one day retire with grace and with dignity.

That is the American Dream we, as House Democrats, are fighting to preserve. This Republican shutdown bill does nothing to enhance the American Dream. It undermines it, which is why we are strongly opposed to this effort. It is part of a power grab from those who are unelected, unaccountable, unhinged, and then working at the direction of this administration which, again, has done nothing to improve the economy, nothing to lower costs, and nothing to make life better for everyday Americans. This reckless Republican bill will make things worse.

Mr. Speaker, I was in Selma over the weekend. We had an opportunity to once again cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Think about the fact that John Lewis and Amelia Boynton Robinson and Hosea Williams and so many others, as they stood on that bridge, knew there was trouble on the other side. Even though there was trouble on the other side, they believed that their cause was righteous, and it was. It was a just one. It was designed to make America the best version of herself.

We stand here today, standing on their shoulders, continuing that effort. How do we make sure that the American Dream is alive and well for everyone, in every corner of America, and throughout every community? That is what House Democrats will continue to fight for. That is why we oppose this bill, this effort to hurt families and veterans and seniors and children and everyday Americans.

We are going to continue to show up. We are going to continue to stand up. We are going to continue to speak up for what is right. We oppose this bill. We oppose this partisan effort to hurt the American people, and we will continue to stand on the side of bringing the American Dream to life for every single American.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address one issue of concern to the American people and then an incredibly important issue related to the district that I am privileged to represent back home in Brooklyn.

The American people elected us to solve problems on their behalf and to address the issues that matter, like the high cost of living, to lower housing costs, to lower grocery costs, to lower childcare costs, to lower insurance costs, and lower utility costs. America is too expensive.

We need to build an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers at home in Brooklyn and all across America. That is what we were elected to do, to solve problems, not to make things worse.

The Republicans have decided to proceed with a budget resolution that sets in motion the largest cut to Medicaid in American history up to, if not beyond, $880 billion in Medicaid cuts. Children will be devastated, families will be devastated, everyday Americans with disabilities will be devastated, seniors will be devastated, hospitals will be devastated, and nursing homes will be devastated.

Democrats are going to stand on the side of the American people, and that is why each and every Democrat opposed these out-of-control, harmful, potential cuts to Medicaid that were part of the Republican budget resolution.

We will continue to stand on the side of the American people to solve problems for hardworking American taxpayers to make life more affordable and to ensure that in America, Mr. Speaker, when you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for your family. You should be able to educate your children, purchase a home, one day retire with grace and dignity, go on vacation every now and then, and, of course, have access to high- quality affordable healthcare, not to take healthcare away from the American people.

Congratulating Mo Better Jaguars

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 2024 Pop Warner Football National Champions for 9 and under, and to welcome them to the House Chamber. The Mo Better Jaguars straight out of Brownsville, ``Never Ran, Never Will.''

Throughout the season, the Mo Better Jaguars team displayed incredible skill, resilience, courage, intellect, and determination on the field and off.

In a year when our local NFL teams went a combined 8-26--it is rough to be a Jets and Giants fan at this moment--the Jaguars did their thing and put together a remarkable 12-0 undefeated season, not giving up a single touchdown before the Super Bowl.

During their championship run, people from all walks of life, including the owner of the iconic Junior's Restaurant came together to support the Jaguars to make sure they could travel to Florida, participate in the Pop Warner Super Bowl, and bring the trophy home to Brooklyn.

What a show they put on. Running back Ron Rollock made the play of the game with an incredible one-handed catch on fourth down to seal the victory for the Jaguars.

It was an incredible team effort.

I thank the dedicated coaches, loving parents and families, and the entire Brooklyn community for supporting these amazing young men.

I welcome the Jaguars to the House Chamber and congratulate the Mo Better Jaguars on their Super Bowl victory.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in strong opposition to the reckless Republican budget, which is a betrayal of working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, children, seniors, and everyday Americans all across the country.

I thank the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Boyle), the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, for his leadership, all the members of the Budget Committee, and all the members of the House Democratic Caucus, who are standing up for the American people by opposing this reckless Republican budget that will devastate people all across the land.

It is not consistent with promises that were made to the American people. It is the exact opposite. Here is the promise that was made to the American people over and over again: Republicans were going to drive down the high cost of living in the United States of America and combat inflation. That was the promise that Republicans made to the American people.

As House Democrats, we are working hard to lower housing costs, lower grocery costs, lower insurance costs, lower utility costs, and lower childcare costs because we know America is too expensive. We want to drive down the high cost of living.

On the other side of the aisle, we haven't seen a single bill introduced by Republicans to drive down the high cost of living and address the affordability crisis in the United States. Not a single executive order issued by President Trump has anything to do with driving down the high cost of living. Not a single administrative action taken this year by the Trump administration has anything to do with driving down the high cost of living.

In fact, costs aren't going down in the United States of America. Costs are going up. Grocery prices are going up. Inflation is going up. Republicans are crashing the economy in real time.

Republicans have betrayed the American middle-class, working families, everyday Americans, children, and seniors with this $4.5 trillion budget scheme.

Don't come to the House floor and act like this is being done in the name of fiscal responsibility. Enough with that narrative. There is nothing in the Republican track record to suggest to the American people that you are the party of fiscal responsibility, absolutely nothing.

President Reagan comes into office. His signature legislative accomplishment is a massive unpaid-for tax cut for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. What does it do? It increases the debt by $2 trillion. That is not fiscal responsibility. That is recklessness. That is your record.

Those kinds of fiscal policies continued for 8 years and carried over into the Presidency of George H.W. Bush. Then, we saw a massive debt handed over to President Bill Clinton. What do Democrats do with that massive debt? We turned that debt into a surplus over an 8-year period of time, and the economy exploded.

That is what fiscal responsibility looks like. That happened under President Bill Clinton. Stop saying to the American people that you are the party of fiscal responsibility. The facts say exactly the opposite.

A budget surplus was handed over to President George W. Bush, who proceeded, in 2001 and then again in 2003, to pass massive tax cuts-- same playbook; here we go again--massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. That explodes the debt by $8 trillion, and at the same time, we have a failed war in Iraq and a failed war in Afghanistan, over time adding another $8 trillion to our Nation's debt.

That burden is handed over to President Barack Obama, but during the period of his time in office, when he had a $1.5 trillion deficit, he cut it by $1

trillion, despite the fact that he also inherited from Republicans the Great Recession and had to turn things around. He cut the deficit by $1 trillion, from $1.5 trillion to $500 billion. You asked about numbers. Here are the numbers.

Then, that gets handed over to President Trump in his first term. He proceeded, of course, to follow the same Republican playbook, which has nothing to do with fiscal responsibility and everything to do with massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected.

Republicans passed the GOP tax scam with 83 percent of the benefits set aside for the wealthiest 1 percent and, in connection with the GOP tax scam, exploded the debt by another $2 trillion that they force working families, middle-class folks, and everyday Americans to pay for.

Republicans are not the party of fiscal responsibility. Stop trying to convince the American people otherwise. It is the same playbook.

In fact, during the administration of Donald Trump during his first 4 years, the debt exploded to such a degree that 25 percent or so of our Nation's debt came from just the first term of President Donald Trump, 25 percent. We have been around for over 248 years. The party of fiscal responsibility?

Then, of course, President Biden inherits a significant deficit and overwhelming debt in his 2 years. The first 2 years he gets a lot done and cuts the deficit by $1.7 trillion.

There is still a lot of work for all of us to do, but do not pretend that this budget resolution has anything to do with fiscal responsibility or keeping their promises to the American people. The Republicans promised to lower the high cost of living and have done nothing about it.

So here we are again, and there they go again with this GOP tax scam, the same exact playbook, $4.5 trillion worth of cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected disproportionately to benefit billionaire donors and well-connected corporations.

To make matters worse, the Republicans would actually cut programs, cut the social safety net, and cut the things that matter to working- class Americans, middle-class Americans, young people, seniors, and others, including up to, if not more, $880 billion of cuts to Medicaid. That is the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.

It doesn't help working-class Americans. It doesn't help middle-class Americans. It doesn't help children, and it doesn't help older Americans. It will devastate them. It will devastate children, devastate people with disabilities, devastate seniors, devastate pregnant women all across the country, devastate nursing homes, and shut down nursing homes. It will shut down hospitals, including in rural America, urban America, small-town America, and the heartland of America. That is what the Republican budget betrayal is all about.

It will devastate supplemental nutritional assistance programs for our children, for our veterans, and for our families. That is what the Republican budget is all about. It has nothing to do with making life better for everyday Americans. It will hurt everyday Americans.

So Democrats are not going to provide this reckless Republican scheme, this out-of-control budget, a single vote, not a single vote, because we are standing on the side of the American people.

We will fight this reckless Republican budget today, we will fight this reckless Republican budget tomorrow, and we will fight this reckless Republican budget until it is buried deep in the ground never to rise again. We will stand on the side of the American people at all times.

Mr. Chair, vote ``no''.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the Republican bait and switch that has been taking place throughout the 119th Congress.

The Republican bait and switch has three elements:

Part 1: Talk about lowering the high cost of living but do nothing about it.

Part 2: Enact massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations that will do nothing to improve the quality of life of everyday Americans.

Part 3: Stick working-class Americans with the bill for those massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations by destroying Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as we know it.

House Democrats want nothing to do with the Republican bait and switch, and we will do everything possible to stop it.

The cost of living in the United States of America is far too high. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Insurance costs are too high. Utility costs are too high. Childcare costs are too high. America is too expensive.

It is not acceptable, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, that far too many everyday Americans are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. It is time for us to do something about the high cost of living and to build an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers.

House Democrats hear you. We see you. We feel you when it comes to the pain being experienced by the American people, and we are determined to do something to make life better for you.

The Republican bait and switch has a very different plan. Last year, all we heard from our Republican colleagues was the need to do something about the high cost of living, while at the same time they ran away from Project 2025 as if it didn't exist.

This year, Republicans have spent all of their time implementing the most extreme parts of Project 2025 that have done nothing to lower the high cost of living. There has not been a single thing, a single bill, a single idea, or a single proposal from my House Republican colleagues to do anything about the high cost of living in the United States of America. Why? It is a Republican bait and switch.

Part 2 of the Republican bait and switch is that their true objective is to enact massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations just like they did in 2017 when the GOP tax scam was passed where they set in motion legislation where 83 percent of the benefits would go to the wealthiest 1 percent.

My House Republican colleagues are back at it. There they go again with the same plan but nothing to drive down the high cost of living. Everything is about massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations, who in many cases aren't even asking for it. They certainly don't need the relief that everyday Americans need, that working-class Americans need, that middle-class Americans need, and that all those people who aspire to be part of the middle class need. It is a Republican bait and switch.

What is the final element of the Republican bait and switch? Enact these massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations and stick working-class Americans with the bill.

The nerve of this group of people who spent all last year lecturing the country about how they were going to do something to drive down the high cost of living, do nothing about it, are planning to enact massive tax cuts for their billionaire buddies, and then, as the final element of the Republican bait and switch, stick working-class Americans with the bill.

House Republicans have no plan to love and cherish Medicaid. Let's be very clear about that. They have no plan to love and cherish Medicaid. Their plan is to destroy Social Security, destroy Medicare, and destroy Medicaid as we know it.

With Republicans controlling the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, it is their intention to try and do it. Just watch what happens at the Republican budget hearing that is upcoming in terms of what is proposed. The cuts to Medicaid will be devastating. Hospitals will close, including in rural America and urban America and in the heartland of America.

Nursing homes will be shut down. Everyday Americans, children, seniors, and those who are suffering with disabilities will be hurt as part of the Republican effort to target earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare and to destroy Medicaid as we know it. It is the Republican bait and switch.

We will continue to expose it to the American people. House Democrats want nothing to do with it, and we are going to do everything in our power to stop it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Connecticut, who is our top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, for yielding and for her incredibly strong and steadfast leadership during this process.

House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats, and Senate Republicans reached a bipartisan agreement to fund the government, prevent a shutdown, and meet the needs of the American people.

We reached a bipartisan agreement to provide disaster assistance to people who had their lives turned upside down by extreme weather events--hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and wildfires--all across America.

We reached a bipartisan agreement to be there for farmers, families, children, seniors, working-class Americans all across the country, the men and women who serve this country in uniform, and our veterans.

House Republicans have abandoned that bipartisan agreement that we entered into in good faith. It was a bill that House Republicans negotiated. You gave us your word that we were going to move forward together on behalf of the American people.

It was a Republican-drafted bill that was posted by House Republicans. Then, one or two puppet masters weigh in, and the extreme MAGA Republicans decide to do the bidding of the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected millionaires and billionaires, not working-class people all across America.

The bill that is before us today is just part of an effort to shut down the government unless we, as Representatives of the American people, bend to the will of just a handful of millionaires and billionaires because the provisions in this bill, particularly as it relates to suspending the debt ceiling for 2 years, are designed to bring about a massive tax cut unpaid for for wealthy donors, for wealthy corporations, and for millionaires and billionaires who clearly some in this Congress are working for. This bill is validation for it.

Now, what has been interesting to me is that for decades, the Republican Party has lectured America about fiscal responsibility and about the debt and the deficit. It has always been phony. This bill proves it.

The one thing we do know is that every time a Republican President comes into office, the one thing we can count on Republicans to do is to pass a massive tax cut for wealthy Americans and, in the process, stick working-class Americans with the bill by raising the deficit and the debt.

That is what happened in the 1980s. When Ronald Reagan was President, the biggest thing that he did was pass a massive tax cut for the wealthy and

the well-off that was paid for by working families and middle-class folks all across the country. It didn't do anything for middle-class Americans. It didn't do anything to stimulate the economy.

As far as this whole notion of trickle-down economics, I have come to the conclusion that trickle-down economics simply means that middle- class families and that working-class Americans may get a trickle, but they are guaranteed to stay down. That is what your economics are all about.

Massive tax cuts for the wealthy and the well-off under President Reagan continued until President Bush. Bill Clinton came into office and inherited a significant deficit. Under his stewardship, President Clinton turned a deficit into a surplus and passed that surplus to President George W. Bush from the so-called party of fiscal responsibility.

Once again, we see the same exact playbook: Republicans inherit a surplus, and they immediately blow it to pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected; not provide relief to working-class Americans. It was a tax cut in 2001 unpaid for and then a tax cut in 2003 unpaid for. They continued to run up the debt and the deficit prosecuting two failed wars.

The so-called party of fiscal responsibility wants to lecture America when their record speaks for itself.

President Obama came in after mismanagement related to the prior administration, including helping to trigger the Great Recession, and he inherited a deficit from a Republican President of $1.5 trillion as well as the Great Recession. Working under the leadership of President Obama, Democrats in the House and the Senate got the situation turned around and, over an 8-year period of time, reduced the deficit by $1 trillion, from $1.5 trillion to $500 billion. This is progress under Democratic leadership as it relates to getting America's fiscal house in order.

Then, Donald Trump came into office and, again, followed the same exact playbook. After failing to take healthcare away from millions of Americans, the Republicans turned their attention to the GOP tax scam, where 83 percent of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1 percent. Why? It was to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

In the process of doing that, they borrowed $2.3 trillion that was added to our debt and exploded the deficit, the so-called party of fiscal responsibility.

In fact, this debt that we are dealing with and that Democrats are taking seriously and that Republicans have no interest in being responsible around, that is what this 2-year suspension of the debt ceiling is all about.

In our Nation's 248-year history, 25 percent of our Nation's debt was accumulated during the 4 years of the former President--25 percent.

How dare Republicans lecture America about fiscal responsibility ever.

Then, President Biden came into office and got big things done for the American people on infrastructure and on the CHIPS and Science Act. He stood up a clean energy economy, rescued America from a once-in-a- century pandemic, and got all these big things done by partnering with House Democrats and Senate Democrats. In the process, in his first 2 years, he reduced the deficit by $1.7 trillion.

So, we see a very clear pattern. The facts speak for themselves. Democrats are the party of getting things done and fiscal responsibility. Republicans are the party of massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected, which brings us to this very moment.

That is because this bill is designed to set up the GOP tax scam 2.0 to stick the American people with a bill so that they can continue to cut taxes for wealthy donors and well-connected corporations and jam working-class Americans.

That is what this bill today, fundamentally, is all about. That is why Republicans are suspending the debt ceiling for 2 years, the so- called party of fiscal responsibility.

In addition to these massive tax cuts, we know how they want to pay for it. Many Republicans have said this in the public domain, that: We want to end Social Security as we know it, end Medicare as we know it, end Medicaid as we know it, end nutritional assistance as we know it, and not support our veterans.

These are all the reasons why Democrats are opposed to this legislation. It is because you are trying to jam working-class Americans again, as you have repeatedly done over and over and over again.

Those are the facts.

The other problem with this bill is that we negotiated, in a bipartisan, bicameral way, real progress for working-class Americans, for middle-class Americans, and for everyday Americans who aspire to be part of the middle class. That has been cut out of this legislation.

Why would you do that? Why would you eliminate funding for community health centers? That impacts the heartland of America, urban America, rural America, suburban America, small-town America, and Appalachia. Why would you cut out funding for community health centers?

We are fighting for those everyday Americans. That is why we are opposed to this legislation.

Why would you cut funding for nutritional assistance for children in America, for seniors in America, and for veterans in America? Why would you do that? This bill cuts funding for nutritional assistance that had previously been agreed upon, and that is why we are opposed to this legislation.

This legislation actually cuts a program that was designed to help children and their parents detect cancer. Cruelty is the point. Why would you eliminate that program? We are going to fight for the children of America.

So, the reasons are too numerous to articulate, though with my magic minute, I could do that.

We have laid out the challenges with this bill, the phoniness in claiming that extreme MAGA Republicans are about working-class Americans and are the party of fiscal responsibility. Nothing could be further from the truth.

When you run up the debt and the deficit, middle-class families pay and working-class families pay. We are going to defend them. House Democrats are going to continue to fight for working families, middle- class families, all those who aspire to be part of the middle class, for the children of America, for the seniors of America, for the unions in America, for the veterans of America, and for the least, the lost, the left behind, for the poor, the sick, and the afflicted.

We are going to continue to fight for everyday Americans. That is why we are voting ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, to stop this reckless, regressive, and reactionary Republican shutdown, vote ``no.''

Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina, Representative Wiley Nickel, for yielding and for his leadership on this incredibly important issue around prohibiting extreme partisan gerrymandering across the country and certainly in the great State of North Carolina.

I thank Representative Wiley Nickel for his extraordinary leadership in this Congress.

I thank Representative Kathy Manning for all that she has done to combat anti-Semitism and for many other issues throughout her time in Congress.

I thank Jeff Jackson for his leadership and certainly congratulate him on his continued journey as a public servant as the next attorney general from the great State of North Carolina.

These are three extraordinary public servants who were elected by the people but then unable to continue to serve not because of any decision made by the people of North Carolina, but because of extreme partisan gerrymandering by far-right extremists in the North Carolina legislature and this MAGA North Carolina Supreme Court. It is an extraordinary thing.

As Representative Nickel has indicated, the people of this great country should determine who represents them. We shouldn't have so- called representatives making the decision as to the people whom they will represent.

There has been a lot of talk in the aftermath of this most recent election about an extraordinary and overwhelming mandate. Let's just look at the State of North Carolina.

I congratulate the incoming President on his success in North Carolina--a close race--on his success in North Carolina and in every other battleground State. In that very same State, every single Democrat running statewide for constitutional office won, proving the point that North Carolina is an evenly divided State. It is a 50/50 State. That should be clear to anyone.

When fair maps were drawn in advance of the 2022 election, the North Carolina congressional delegation, upon the success of Representative Wiley Nickel in an evenly divided district, was seven Democrats and seven Republicans. That is the will of the people of North Carolina. It makes sense in an evenly divided 50-50 State.

Apparently, because far-right extremists in this country aren't convinced that they can win elections on their own or even hold the United States House of Representatives on their own, they decided to rip away three seats from the people of North Carolina through extreme partisan gerrymandering.

It is interesting. I hadn't fully thought about that because we are still counting votes, but as Representative Nickel indicated, Democrats are on their way to perhaps 215 seats. In the 119th Congress, when every single vote is counted in California, House Republicans will have 220 seats. By the way, that is the smallest majority of any incoming party, Democratic or Republican, since before the Great Depression.

What mandate? It is an evenly divided House of Representatives. The people of this country want us to work together, which we are willing to do, and find bipartisan common ground on any issue whenever and wherever possible to make life better for the American people and deliver real results for hardworking American taxpayers.

At the same period of time, we will push back against far-right extremism whenever necessary, but it is interesting that this so-called overwhelming mandate wouldn't have even yielded a majority in the House of Representatives if it wasn't for the extreme partisan gerrymandering that took place in the great State of North Carolina.

I thank Representative Nickel for raising this issue because it should shape how we proceed in the next Congress of finding bipartisan, common ground together to get things done because there is no mandate to enact far-right extremist policies in the United States House of Representatives or, by the way, anywhere in this country. That is the reality of this most recent election.

I thank Representative Nickel for his leadership, his service to the people of the great State of North Carolina, to the Congress, and to the country. I know that the great Representative from North Carolina is not finished in his public-service journey, and we look forward to the best being yet to come.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished once and future chair of the House Committee on Appropriations (Ms. DeLauro) for her leadership and for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the extreme MAGA Republican effort to shut down the government and hurt everyday Americans.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle have suggested that this is anti-woke week. It is not anti-woke week. It is Project 2025 week because, at the end of the day, my extreme MAGA Republican colleagues are determined to jam Trump's Project 2025 down the throats of the American people.

From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have made clear that we will find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues on any issue whenever and wherever possible in order to make life better for the American people, deliver real results, and solve problems for hardworking American taxpayers, and that is what we have repeatedly done.

House Democrats have repeatedly governed in the minority as if we were in the majority, finding bipartisan common ground to deliver for everyday Americans, and we are prepared to do that once again.

Yet, this extreme MAGA Republican shutdown bill that is on the floor of the House of Representatives today is not a serious effort to meet the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety, their national security, and their economic well-being.

The extreme MAGA Republican shutdown bill that is on the floor today would shortchange our veterans by $12 billion. That is a Project 2025 objective--$12 billion--shortchanging our veterans who have been suffering from painful exposure to toxic substances, burn pits, and Agent Orange.

People who have served our country, we should stand by them in the way that they have stood by us, but this extreme MAGA Republican shutdown bill will shut out the veterans of the United States of America.

The extreme MAGA shutdown bill will shortchange the administration of Social Security here in the United States of America. Why? Because one of the goals of Project 2025, effectively, is to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it.

There is no circumstance where we can support such legislation that will hurt the well-being of older Americans all across the United States of America. These are people upon whose shoulders we stand.

The extreme MAGA shutdown bill will shortchange everyday Americans who have been suffering harm from extreme weather events all across America, in blue States, purple States, and red States, shortchange our taxpayers by $25 billion. That is unacceptable. That is unserious. That is unconscionable for people who have had their lives upended.

Now, in the context of whether we are able, capable, to reach a bipartisan resolution, the answer to that is pretty clear because there is already an agreement connected to the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act passed by both Houses of Congress last May, signed into law by President Joe Biden, that sets top-line spending numbers for fiscal year 2025. It also enters into an agreement across the parties that says there will be no partisan policy riders attached to an appropriations bill.

So, why are we here right now with an extreme MAGA Republican shutdown bill that includes elements, partisan elements, rightwing elements, extreme elements of Trump's Project 2025? That is a breach of an agreement that we all reached connected to the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act.

This is a shutdown effort. That is not hype. That is not hysteria. That is not hyperbole. It is history because in the DNA of extreme MAGA Republicans has consistently been an effort to make extreme ransom demands of the American people, and if those extreme ransom demands are not met, we shut down the government. That is history.

The 1990s extreme MAGA Republicans shut down the government because they were determined to end Medicaid as we know it. In 2013, extreme MAGA Republicans shut the government down for 14 days, and the demand at that point was to repeal President Obama's signature legislative accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act, that benefits more than 100 million Americans.

In 2018 and 2019, extreme MAGA Republicans shut the government down for a record 35 days. What was the ransom demand in that particular moment? The former President and Republicans in the House and Senate demanded that the American taxpayer fund Trump's ineffective, medieval border wall, notwithstanding the fact that the promise was clearly made that Mexico would pay for that wall. Because we were defending taxpayer interests, they shut the government down for 35 days.

The notion that we are here today facing another extreme MAGA Republican-driven shutdown, concerned about it, the only thing standing between a shutdown and the American people is not hype, not hysteria, not hyperbole, not a hypothetical, it is history.

We are simply asking our traditional Republican colleagues to break with the extreme wing of your party, break with the extremism around a national abortion ban, break with the extremism connected with Trump's Project 2025, which, by the way, includes government surveillance of pregnancies and miscarriages. There is no circumstance that we can ever support such an outrageous agenda.

We are asking our traditional Republican colleagues to stand up for working families, the middle class, older Americans, our children, our veterans, and people from all across the land, in urban America, rural America, small-town America, the heartland of America, suburban America, exurban America.

Stand up for the American people as opposed to standing up for massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and big corporations. That is the other part of Project 2025.

This is not anti-woke week. It is extreme MAGA Republican Project 2025 week.

House Democrats right now are the only thing standing between Project 2025 and the extreme agenda you want to jam down the throats of the American people and keeping the government open and doing the right thing for everyday Americans.

Vote ``no'' on this extreme MAGA Republican shutdown bill and partner with us to do the right thing for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), my good friend, for yielding and for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in a bittersweet moment to pay tribute to a beloved member of my team and a dedicated longtime employee of the House of Representatives.

For 37 years, Rena Diamond has been a fixture in the south Brooklyn community, across an illustrious career in which she has worked for three different Members of Congress.

She has served the last 11 years as a constituent services representative in my office, for 26 years before that with Representative Jerry Nadler and former Representative Steven Solarz.

That is 37 years of service, 37 years of dedication, and 37 years of incredible commitment to the people of Brooklyn and to the community at large.

None of what we do here in the House of Representatives will be possible without the hard work and dedication of our staff, particularly those who are on the front lines in the community back home in our districts.

Each and every day, each and every week, each and every month, each and every year, Rena has engaged in such an intimate and compassionate way with the people of Brooklyn, helping community members with solving immigration challenges, resolving Social Security or Medicare issues, and securing veterans' benefits for countless individuals who have served our country.

Hardworking, diligent, consistent, and compassionate, Rena has served faithfully in her role through the ups and downs of government service, including, most recently, a once-in-a-century pandemic, which was a time of incredible challenge for the people of Brooklyn and for our country.

Over the years, thousands of constituents have expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the incredible assistance that Rena has so capably provided. Her excellence is widely known, having been recognized as an exemplary staffer by the Congressional Management Foundation and a recipient of numerous acknowledgements and accommodations.

Rena has been the consummate example of what a public servant should represent. The Eighth Congressional District of New York and the borough of Brooklyn owe a debt of gratitude to Rena Diamond that we can never repay for her years of excellent service and incredible dedication to our community.

On behalf of the people of the Eighth Congressional District, we thank Rena for her amazing service. She will be deeply missed, but we congratulate her and wish her nothing but the best on her retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman, the ranking member of the House Administration Committee, for his tremendous leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this extreme MAGA Republican voter suppression bill.

The right to vote is sacred. The right to vote is special. The right to vote is sacrosanct. The right to vote is central to the integrity of our democracy. It is the foundation of the principle of government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The problem is apparently my extreme MAGA Republican colleagues have concluded that, rather than trying to win a debate and the hearts and minds of the American people anchored in ideas, the majority has instead chosen a strategy to engage in voter suppression. There is no evidence that has been presented to suggest that undocumented individuals have been participating in Federal elections. Republicans who investigated these allegations on their own committee have been unable to document these allegations.

It is unconstitutional. It is the state of the law that only citizens can vote in Federal elections. Only citizens can vote for the House of Representatives. Only citizens can vote for the United States Senate. Only citizens can vote for the Presidency of the United States.

This extreme MAGA Republican voter suppression bill is not designed to solve any problem on behalf of the American people. It is designed to jam people up and prevent Americans from voting.

The extreme MAGA Republican voter suppression bill will not allow Americans to vote who have a State-issued driver's license.

The extreme MAGA Republican voter suppression bill will not allow Americans who are serving in the military to use their military ID while they are serving this country to vote.

The extreme MAGA Republican voter suppression bill won't allow young people, college students who are attending State universities all across the land and who have been issued college IDs through their State colleges and universities, to vote.

There is a big difference between the House Democratic view of free and fair elections, the peaceful transfer of power, and government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and the extreme MAGA Republican view.

House Democrats want to make it easier to vote and harder to obtain weapons of war. Extreme MAGA Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier to deploy weapons of war. These are weapons, by the way, not used to hunt deer, but to hunt children in classrooms and other human beings.

The extreme MAGA Republican voter suppression bill has given us an opportunity again to communicate with the American people on the difference between our values, House Democrats putting people over politics, focused on the things that matter, like lower costs, growing the middle class, ending price gouging, defending democracy, and fighting for reproductive freedom.

We embrace having a debate with our extreme MAGA Republican colleagues about issues that matter. Why won't Republicans just take their issues to the American people? Why are my colleagues on the other side of the aisle trying to hide their plans that are connected to Trump's Project 2025 publicly, but then come to the House floor and bring this extreme MAGA Republican voter suppression bill that is part of the blueprint of Trump's Project 2025? The majority can't fool the American people. They are smarter than my colleagues think.

Republicans don't want to have a real debate about issues because the extreme MAGA Republicans want to criminalize abortion care and impose a nationwide ban. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to hide that now from the American people, stripping it from their convention platform.

We know what Republicans really want to do. The extreme MAGA Republicans put the Justices on the Supreme Court who detonated Roe v. Wade. That is Republicans' agenda. That is part of Trump's Project 2025.

Republicans don't want to debate the issues. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to suppress the right to vote because Trump's Project 2025, which is part of the majority's platform, wants to detonate and destroy the Department of Education, which the American people don't support.

Republicans don't really want to embrace the ability for young people of every race, of every part of America, including the heartland of America and rural America and Appalachia and suburban America, to get a high-quality public education. That is what Trump's Project 2025 is about.

The majority doesn't want to have a discussion about that. My colleagues don't want that exposed to the American people, so we are on the floor right now with an extreme MAGA Republican voter suppression bill that does nothing because the law is already clear: Noncitizens cannot vote in Federal elections.

We are going to continue to do everything we can to make sure that the American people can participate in free and fair elections, have the freedom to determine their own destiny by exercising their right to vote in an uncompromised and unfettered fashion, as opposed to engaging in this type of frivolous legislative activity, at best, perhaps designed as a cover already trying to set up an excuse for what may happen in November, just like what was done in advance of January 6.

Mr. Speaker, it has come to my attention that a so- called leader has made the factually inaccurate statement that Black folks were better off during Jim Crow. That is an outlandish, outrageous, and out-of-pocket observation.

We were not better off when a young boy named Emmett Till could be brutally murdered without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when Black women could be sexually assaulted without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when people could be systematically lynched without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when children could be denied a high- quality education without consequence because of Jim Crow. We were not better off when people could be denied the right to vote without consequence because of Jim Crow.

How dare you make such an ignorant observation. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Mr. Chair, I thank the distinguished gentleman from the great State of New Jersey for yielding and for his tremendous leadership.

Mr. Chair, the House of Representatives, of course, is the institution the Framers designed to be the closest to the American people. The first institution mentioned in the United States Constitution is the people's House, the place where President Abraham Lincoln declared that America is ``the last best hope of Earth,'' the place where FDR made clear the importance of defending democracy against the tyranny of Nazi fascism. It is the place where President Lyndon Baines Johnson talked about the importance of the Voting Rights Act and made clear to America that we shall overcome.

The House of Representatives is a special place.

Earlier today, I was told you need to get to the House floor to deal with a signature piece of legislation from the extreme MAGA Republicans in this 118th Congress. I wondered to myself, is it going to be about inflation, lower costs, housing affordability, public safety, dealing with the challenges at the border, Social Security, Medicare? What is it going to be about?

It turns out the signature piece of legislation for the extreme MAGA Republicans this week, this month, this year is the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act. This is what we are dealing with on this magical House floor, with all the challenges that the American people are confronting. Liberty for laundry, defending the dignity of dishwashers, fighting for freedom of refrigerators is what we are doing? You can't make it up. You can't make it up.

As House Democrats, we are going to defend democracy. Extreme MAGA Republicans are working on defending the dignity of dishwashers.

As House Democrats, we are going to protect and strengthen Social Security. Extreme MAGA Republicans apparently are interested in protecting gas stoves against phony accusations of oppression.

House Democrats are going to defend reproductive freedom. Extreme MAGA Republicans are focused on the freedom for refrigerators.

We believe in a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions, period, full stop. We believe in women's healthcare, in protecting the women of America against extreme MAGA Republican overreach. Instead of leaning into the protection of reproductive freedom, instead of trying to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, my Republican colleagues want to criminalize abortion care and impose a nationwide ban and then waste time on the House floor as it relates to the liberty of laundry. You can't make this up.

Mr. Chair, I urge my Republican colleagues to partner with us. If they want to push back against overreach, then push back against the pro-Putin extreme overreach on their side of the aisle that doesn't want to defend democracy and freedom here and abroad. It is undermining it.

We extend the hand of partnership, as we have repeatedly done, to solve real problems for the American people, but those problems have nothing to do with the dignity of dishwashers, the freedom of refrigerators, or the liberty of laundry.

Let's get back to doing the real business of the American people. Vote ``no'' against this legislation.

I thank the distinguished gentlewoman for yielding.

It is with great sadness that we gather here today to honor the life and the leadership and legacy of Don Payne, Jr., but also celebrate that life, that leadership, and that legacy of our dear brother, who was a gentle giant; a kind, compassionate man; powerhouse in terms of his legislative capacity, though he didn't spend a lot of time promoting his accomplishments. He just let the work be done and speak for itself.

However, that is work that was transformational. He stood up for the people that he represented in his beloved Brick City of Newark, his beloved State of New Jersey, and for people all across the country, particularly underrepresented communities in the area of healthcare.

He was a champion in providing access and information and affordability to Black men and to other historically underrepresented communities suffering from disproportionate high rates of ailments, and that is a legacy that will be with us in this Congress, in this country, and, indeed, throughout the world for years and decades to come.

It was my honor, along with Joyce Beatty and Robin Kelly and Steven Horsford and Marc Veasey, to come into Congress together with Donald Payne, Jr. He often made reference to the fact that he arrived a few months before us in a special election, so we affectionately called him the dean of the class of 2012. What a great dean he was, what a great man he was, what a great colleague and friend he was, and may he forever rest in power.

Madam Chair, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman

from the great State of Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) for yielding and for her extraordinary leadership throughout this process.

I thank Speaker Emerita Pelosi and all of the members of the House Democratic Caucus for steadfastly standing behind America's national security priorities to get us to this point.

Madam Chair, I rise today in strong support of the legislative package that is before the Congress. For months, the national security priorities of the American people have been obstructed by pro-Putin extremists determined to let Russia win.

A bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans has risen up to work together and ensure that we are getting the national security legislation important to the American people over the finish line. House Democrats have risen to the occasion. President Joe Biden has risen to the occasion. Traditional conservatives, led by Speaker Speaker Johnson, have risen to the occasion.

We have a responsibility--not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans--to do what is necessary to defend democracy wherever it is at risk and the best interests of the free world. That is what this legislation represents.

We have a responsibility to push back against tyranny, we have a responsibility to push back against totalitarianism, we have a responsibility to push back against terror, and we have a responsibility to stand with our democratic allies throughout the world.

Israel is a democratic ally. Ukraine is a democratic ally. South Korea is a democratic ally. Taiwan is a democratic ally. Japan is a democratic ally. We have a responsibility to stand with our democratic allies throughout the world.

We also have a responsibility to push back against our adversaries. Russia is not our friend. The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend. Iran is not our friend.

We have a special relationship that exists between the United States and Israel. It is a relationship that is anchored in shared values and shared interests. Our commitment to Israel's security is ironclad. Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state and safe haven for the Jewish people, who have faced centuries of persecution throughout the years.

The events of October 7 make clear that Hamas must be decisively defeated. For the good of Israel, for the good of the Palestinian people, for the good of peace in the Middle East, for the good of the free world, Hamas must be decisively defeated.

At the same time, there are other urgent priorities. We must do everything possible to make sure that we are freeing the hostages so they can safely return to their families, and we must do everything possible to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza so we can help out Palestinian civilians who are in harm's way through no fault of their own. We must surge in food, surge in medicine, surge in humanitarian assistance. That is what this package will help accomplish with more than $9 billion in humanitarian assistance.

The events of October 7 and the suffering of Palestinian civilians in the theater of war are heartbreaking. Any person of good will should come to the conclusion that we have to find a way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people.

The only way for that to happen is for us to truly commit to a two- state solution when the moment presents itself, with a safe and secure Israel living side by side in peace and prosperity with a demilitarized Palestinian state that provides dignity and self-determination for the Palestinian people. Let us recommit to accomplishing that objective.

The humanitarian assistance in this legislative package will also allow the United States to be there to support people who are suffering all across the world, including millions in Haiti and millions in the Sudan dealing with famine and starvation in a war-torn environment.

This legislation, of course, will allow us to stand with our allies in the Indo-Pacific in the face of continued aggression from the Chinese Communist Party, to make sure that freedom and democracy and these values all across the world will continue to be triumphant. This legislation will allow us to support the bravery and the courage of the Ukrainian people, who, against all odds, continue to stand for what we, as Americans, believe in.

In February of 2022, we were told that Ukraine would likely fall in a week and that Russian troops would be in Kyiv in a week, but the bravery, the courage, and the resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of the most powerful military in Europe has proven to be consequential in partnership with American support and that of our NATO allies.

However, the Ukrainian people have taught us something: That in the face of an incredible military apparatus that they were confronting, against all odds, that when a people believe in freedom or liberty or democracy, that can overcome even the mightiest of militaries. Therefore, we have seen them, despite the prediction that they would fall in a week, inflict more than 300,000 casualties on the Russian military; significant portions of the Russian navy wiped out in the Black Sea; more than half the territory that had initially been seized by the Russian military recaptured by Ukraine, against all odds.

However, the pro-Putin obstruction that has stopped this national security legislation from advancing to the floor until this point risks all of the progress that has been made, which is why it is so essential for us to do what is necessary to stand with the Ukrainian people.

Let me close with this observation. This is a moment to choose. We can choose democracy or autocracy. We can choose freedom or tyranny. We can choose truth or propaganda. We can choose Ukraine or Russia. We can choose Zelenskyy or Putin. We can choose a democratic ally or a sworn enemy. This is a time to choose.

The American people have always stood on the side of democracy, freedom, and truth, which is why we must stand on the side of the Ukrainian people.

We will stand with the Ukrainian people today. We will stand with the Ukrainian people tomorrow. We will stand with the Ukrainian people until victory is won.

Announcement by the Acting Chair

Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Connecticut for yielding, the Honorable Rosa DeLauro. I thank her for her extraordinary leadership throughout this process and getting us to this principled result.

I thank all the appropriators for their extraordinary work, on the Democratic side and on the Republican side, as part of the effort to complete the fiscal year 2024 appropriations.

This hasn't been a perfect process, but we should never let the perfect be the enemy of the good when it comes to solving problems on behalf of hardworking American taxpayers.

This is a good result for the American people in terms of standing up for their health, their safety, their education, their national security protection, and, of course, above all else, their economic well-being, a bipartisan process leading to a bipartisan result that will hopefully lay a foundation for us to continue to do the work of the American people together.

We have said from the very beginning of this Congress that, as Democrats, we will find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues on any issue, whenever and wherever possible, as long as it will make life better for the American people. That is exactly what House Democrats continue to do.

At the same time, we have said we will push back against extremism whenever necessary.

We will always defend a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions.

We will always defend the gorgeous mosaic of the American people and push back against unnecessary attacks against diversity, equity, and inclusion. These are American values.

We will always fight to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.

We will always put people over politics.

We hope that that will continue, not just on the Democratic side but together to solve problems for the American people.

As soon as we complete this work, let us turn to our national security priorities and make sure that we don't abandon the people of Ukraine in their hour of greatest need as they fight for principles like democracy, freedom, and truth, and push back against autocracy, tyranny, and propaganda.

America should always stand on the side of principles like democracy, freedom, and truth, and that means standing with the people of Ukraine.

I thank, once again, the appropriators for their leadership in concluding this process. I urge everybody to support this legislation.

I hope that as we move forward in our promise to you and, more importantly, to the American people, who expect that in this Congress we should have more common sense and less chaos, more decency and less dysfunction, and more exceptionalism and less extremism, our promise to you is that we will do our best to put people over politics. We hope that you will do the same.

Vote ``yes'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, let me first thank the distinguished gentleman from the great State of Mississippi for yielding, for his leadership, for his dignity, for his decency, for his continued defense of our democracy in the face of the extreme attacks coming from the other side of the aisle.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this political stunt, this reckless Republican effort to impeach Secretary Mayorkas.

Let's be clear: Secretary Mayorkas is a good man, a patriotic man, and a hardworking man doing the best he can under very difficult circumstances. That is not an impeachable offense.

Extreme MAGA Republicans have produced no evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has engaged in a high crime or misdemeanor, no evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has engaged in an impeachable offense, and no evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has broken the law or violated the Constitution--not a shred of evidence, not a scintilla of evidence, nothing but extreme MAGA Republican chaos and confusion and the effort to avoid doing the hard work necessary to find common ground to actually address the challenges at the border.

What do these impeachment articles have to do with the issue of addressing our broken immigration system? Nothing.

What do these impeachment articles have to do with building a healthy economy for everyday Americans? Nothing.

What do these impeachment articles have to do with addressing the inflationary challenges and affordability issues that the American people are experiencing day after day as we work to continue to emerge from a once-in-a-century pandemic that shut down the economy? Absolutely nothing.

Extreme MAGA Republicans have spent this entire Congress not advancing any ideas, acting on any agenda, deciding to work together with us to solve problems for the American people.

You have brought Articles of Impeachment that are not anchored in reality. You have brought Articles of Impeachment for one simple reason: Because you really want to impeach Joe Biden.

That is what you were directed to do by the puppet master, the former President of the United States, Donald Trump.

You really want to impeach Joe Biden, but you realize that that is politically unpopular, so you have brilliantly come up with, in your minds, plan B. Let's go after Secretary Mayorkas. No evidence that he engaged in wrongdoing, committed a crime, or violated the Constitution, but let's go after Secretary Mayorkas.

Maybe that will satisfy the quest for revenge of the puppet master because when the puppet master, Donald Trump, says jump, extreme MAGA Republicans respond: How high? We just got evidence of that over the last few weeks because extreme MAGA Republicans have been lecturing America that we have to deal with the challenges at the border.

We agree. A bipartisan process has been underway in the Senate for months to try to fix our broken immigration system, but as soon as Donald Trump says no, we actually don't want to do anything about the challenges at the border because, politically, that might not be good for us, you walked away from working together in a commonsense fashion to fix our broken immigration system. Instead, what you have to offer the American people is this sham impeachment, this political stunt, this waste of time.

You will not fool the American people. You will actually be held accountable for your inaction and your affirmative leaning into doing things that don't advance progress in any way, shape, or form for the American people.

No reasonable American can conclude that you are making life better for them with this sham impeachment, but you will live with this like a scarlet letter.

It may succeed. It may not. Secretary Mayorkas should wear this like a badge of honor because it is worthless. It means nothing.

It is fake. It is fraudulent. It is foolish.

Mr. Speaker, I urge everybody to vote ``no,'' so we can get back to doing the real business of the American people.