Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with pride, gratitude, and some bittersweet news.

After nearly 8 years on Team Clark, Kathryn Alexander, my communications director and senior adviser, is moving on to her next project and her next chapter.

Kathryn, affectionately known as ``KA'' to all of us, brings her incredible style, good humor, patriotism, compassion, and wicked-smart strategy to all she does.

It has been a privilege to have her in the trenches with me, from late-night press conferences to early-morning interviews. It will always be my distinct honor to call her my friend.

I thank KA. She is extraordinary. May this next chapter bring her, Mike, Nolan, and baby Jude all of the happiness and all of the bliss that they deserve.

Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

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

Mr. Speaker, Donald Trump said the cost- of-living crisis is fake news, ``a con job by the Democrats.''

Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of Americans can't afford a basic quality of life, 45 percent have had to skip a doctor's appointment or a prescription because they can't afford it, and 41 percent are living with medical debt. The American people are simply not making it.

Not only is that crisis real, it is a crisis that Republicans promised to solve. Voters believed them. Now, after a 54-day hiatus, what are Republicans doing? They are voting to raise the cost of living. They are voting to make it even harder to get by, not by some marginal amount. They are doubling, tripling, and quadrupling monthly premiums.

What is their defense? They are looking people in the eye and flat- out gaslighting them: Costs aren't up; costs are down.

Trump says: ``I don't want to hear about the affordability.'' Well, get used to hearing about it. You are going to hear about it a lot because people are feeling it every single day. People can't make rent. They can't afford their prescriptions. They can't afford to take their kid to a doctor. They can't find childcare. When they find it, they can't afford that, either. Grocery and utility bills are spiking. This is the crisis of our time, and it is about to get exponentially worse because of the GOP's craven allegiance to billionaires over working people.

The cost-of-living crisis is not fake news. It is not a perception issue. It is daily life for the people that we all represent. Let's do something about it. Let's reject this budget. Let's stop the healthcare cuts. Let's stop the premium hikes. Let's stop the hospital closures, and let's stop the billionaire giveaways.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to bid farewell to my senior floor adviser and alumna of Teams Jayapal, McBath, and Pelosi, the one and only, the incomparable, Allison Blankenship.

The last few years have been some of the most unpredictable in the history of this Chamber, and throughout all of it, Allison has been a constant and joyful guiding light.

From the longest speech in House history to the longest vote, Allison has skillfully navigated the unprecedented.

She has powered through all-nighters with a smile, with pride, and always with helpful information, because above all, she is driven by a love of country, a love of justice, and a love of this institution and its people.

We thank Allison for her hard work, and we wish her all the best on her next chapter.

We will not forget Allison, and we hope she will not forget us.

I have a motion at the desk, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to warmly welcome the spiritual head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, His All- Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, to Washington, D.C.

The longest-serving Archbishop of Constantinople in the history of Christianity, the Ecumenical Patriarch will arrive in the United States this month to receive the distinguished Templeton Prize. This prestigious award will be presented in recognition of his ``pioneering efforts to bridge scientific and spiritual understandings of humanity's relationship with the natural world, bringing together people of different faiths to heed a call for stewardship of creation.''

Guiding the world's 300 million Eastern Orthodox Christians since his election in 1991, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has been a powerful voice for our common responsibilities to one another--our shared obligation to defend the freedom, dignity, and wellbeing of our neighbors and of future generations.

I am especially grateful for the impact his leadership has had on Orthodox Christians across the United States, particularly the more than 600 families at St. Demetrios Church in Weston, Massachusetts. For decades, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has had the deepest respect of the American people and of this institution--an abiding admiration reflected in Congress' decision to award him the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997.

Today, the Ecumenical Patriarch continues to bring together people of all faiths in the pursuit of peace, mutual respect, and a future more worthy of our children. I join my colleagues in commending his invaluable work, and I proudly join my Orthodox constituents in welcoming him back to the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, as we are here in the early morning hours, and 60 percent of the families in this country cannot afford the basics. Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of the Americans cannot afford that first rung of the American Dream. This is an existential failure of the wealthiest Nation on Earth.

With this big, ugly bill, Republicans are on the verge of moving that dream further out of touch. They are making people sicker and poorer. We hear the message. If Americans do not have great wealth, they do not matter to the GOP.

If my Republican colleagues vote for this cruel monstrosity, they are condemning families to poverty. They are condemning seniors and veterans in this country to hunger. They are condemning children to sickness without treatment. They are voting to enrich billionaires at the expense of what makes us American, which is our freedom to build a better life for our families.

Mr. Speaker, the American people overwhelmingly oppose this bill, and they will not forget if my Republican colleagues sell out their freedom this Independence Day.

Mr. Speaker, Sunday is Father's Day, and what do dads want? They want a fair shot. They want to know that if they work hard, they can provide for their families. Yet, right now, most families in America can't even afford the basics.

Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of families in the richest nation on Earth cannot afford the first rung of the American Dream. What are my Republican colleagues doing about that?

The majority voted for a big, ugly bill that makes it even harder to raise a child in America. It takes away healthcare from 16 million Americans. It takes food benefits from working parents. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are cutting half a trillion dollars from Medicare and hiking the costs of everyday items with their tariffs, all to fund tax breaks for the billionaire class.

That alone is a betrayal of working families, but the GOP is not stopping there. My Republican colleagues are not stopping at dismantling people's financial security. Today, Republicans are threatening their physical security because when you defund public broadcasting, you are defunding emergency broadcasts during hurricane season, tornado season, and wildfire season.

That is not even enough. The majority has to take even more. Today, my colleagues are also voting to dismantle our national security.

There are three shields that defend our homeland: defense, diplomacy, and development. When you destroy our capacity to address famine, control disease, and build infrastructure in developing nations, you are ceding our power to our rivals. You are planting the seeds of future wars.

A prominent Republican said this week that he just couldn't justify these investments. In this debate, I have heard that this is about putting America first. What are Republicans talking about? They just cut food programs and healthcare for American families.

Here is what my Republican colleagues fundamentally don't seem to understand: There is no security for billionaires in this country without security for a hungry child. There is no security for the ultrarich donors without security for working parents.

In the words of President Kennedy: ``If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.''

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to please vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I recently heard from a mom in Massachusetts. I will call her Rachel.

Rachel's son was born 3 months early and then spent 2 years in the hospital. He is finally home, but he needs a ventilator and a feeding tube. Still, his mom says he is the happiest little 3-year-old in town.

They have been through a lot, but they are able to get by--unless this Republican budget becomes law.

Medicaid pays for the daily care this little boy needs to survive. Rachel wrote: ``We are terrified about what losing Medicaid support would mean for our family.''

Moms have enough to deal with. Let's leave their healthcare alone.

Mr. Speaker, remember when the GOP promised to lower the cost of living? It really wasn't that long ago.

Today, we have a tax on cars. We have a tax on coffee. We have a tax on the eggs we import to fill the empty shelves. We have a tax of 125 percent on clothes, toys, and electronics.

What does this all add up to? It adds up to a tax of $4,600 a year on American families. While Trump shrugs at all those rising costs, he certainly wants us to know this. While all this was happening to American families, he wanted us to know that he won his Senior Club Championship golf tournament.

What are House Republicans doing?

Are they voting to cancel these taxes? No, they are carving them into stone, prohibiting us from revealing them, no matter how painful they get. Then they are pushing the costs even higher. Today, they are voting to raise overdraft fees.

After crashing the economy, eliminating jobs, and destroying people's retirement savings, they are making it more expensive to be short on money by $225 a year per family. Also, the banks can pocket more, which is their priority.

Later today, Republicans will be back on their tax plan, the one where they take deserving taxpayer dollars and give them to the billionaire class in the form of tax cuts for them.

By defunding Medicaid, the largest healthcare program in our country, by defunding food programs that feed 15 million children, by dismantling Social Security, firing veterans, closing and cutting public schools, and abandoning special needs children, the rich will get richer. That is who they work for.

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work and vote for working people, and we will vote ``no'' on this budget.

Madam Speaker, I have been blessed to work with some of the most talented staffers ever to walk the Halls of Congress, but the greater the blessing, the harder the good-bye.

Recently, I bid farewell to my director of operations, Wendy Hamilton, and my senior adviser, Michael Reed, two pillars of the House Democratic Caucus.

Let me start with the one and only Wendy Hamilton. I am so pleased she is here with us today in the Chamber. Wendy joined my team back when I was vice chair. I knew I had hired a talented and passionate Hill staffer. She had already completed tours of duty with Pramila Jayapal, Brenda Lawrence, and Kathy Castor.

One by one, I also started realizing she had many off-book skills under her belt, whether it was flower arrangements, style advice, or frank and forthright guidance at Sephora.

Along the way, she was putting the service in Member Services, becoming something of a celebrity. Everyone she worked with was grateful for Wendy's expert knowledge, her helpful hints, and her deep insight into how to get things done for constituents.

More times than I can count, I met a district director halfway across the country, and when I introduced myself as a Congresswoman, they would say: Wait, you work with Wendy Hamilton? I was always proud to say: I sure do.

Then there is the Member whisperer himself, Michael Reed, an adviser who has been essential to my first 2 years as whip. A wise counselor for colleagues across the Caucus, Michael has that instinct for figuring people out, meeting them where they are, and getting them to where they need to be.

Here is what you need to know about Michael: You can ask the Speaker Emerita or a new intern, and they will both rave over him in equal measure. They will tell you about his fundamental kindness. They will tell you he is a selfless mentor to those trying to follow in his footsteps, and they will tell you he is just plain cool. He is the only guy in D.C. who can look cool zooming around on a Lime scooter, the only man who can pull off wearing joggers with a suit jacket, and the only person who could ever make Eagles fans seem chill.

I am sorry to say good-bye to these two dear friends. I am so grateful to everything they have given to Team Clark, to this institution, and to the American people.

To Michael and Keenan, to Wendy, Marvin, and Hendrix, thank you for everything, and the best of luck in all that lies ahead.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Connecticut for yielding.

Republicans made a promise to the American people. We are going to build a stronger economy, we are going to lower costs, and we are going to have safer communities.

For 7 weeks we have seen nothing but ideas and bills that break that promise. We all want government to run more efficiently, to be better for people who depend on it, but stealing money from the Veterans Administration, from schools, from law enforcement, from children's healthcare and giving it to a tax cut to the wealthiest man on Earth and his billionaire friends is not finding efficiencies. That is not taking on waste and fraud in government. It is destroying working families.

The GOP are crushing the American people under the weight of their own political ambition. Rents are going up. Housing is in a crisis. This bill today, they propose to evict 32,000 families from their homes, 32,000. Those are veterans. Those are kids. Those are seniors. Those are domestic violence survivors.

Eggs at my grocery store on Sunday were $8.49 a dozen. In this bill, Republicans propose to take $27 million away from the inspectors who go out to our chicken farms who are fighting and trying to stop bird flu that is causing the spike in the price of eggs. What kind of insanity is that?

Then if we look at the budget overall, we have got healthcare spiking, and you want to cut Medicaid. That is the answer? Seniors' cost of living is out of control, and Republicans are saying let's run up the cost of prescription drugs. As Elon told us directly this week, coming next Republicans want to eliminate Social Security.

If Republicans feel this is the mandate that they have, they can do that on their own.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

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

Madam Chair, despite all the promises on the campaign trail, House Republicans have chosen to do three things with their majority: raise the cost of putting food on the table, raise the cost of getting healthcare, and use that money, deserving taxpayers' money, to cut billionaires' taxes. That is it. That is the agenda.

Let's look at the scale of what Republicans are sacrificing: funding that feeds 15 million children, a program that pays for half of all the births in America, and a service that keeps nursing homes and health centers' doors open. This is all to cut Elon's taxes.

If that sounds outrageous to you, Madam Chair, and I sure hope it does, you are not alone.

Let's be clear about the kind of money we are talking about. Do you know what it costs to keep a kid on Medicaid? It costs $10 a day. How about how much it costs to keep that child fed with SNAP benefits? It costs $6 a day.

What do Republicans want to give away to the already rich? They want to give $6 million per billionaire. Think about that. For a billionaire, $6 million is not even a rounding error. For a hungry child, it is enough to eat every single day for 34 lifetimes.

Inflicting hunger on children to give billionaires money they don't need and won't even notice, there is no moral code under which that is acceptable. There is no public demand for it. There is no logical reason for it other than total fealty to billionaire donors, billionaires who will never feel they have enough.

I will close with a family that has been on my mind, a mom-to-be who is 5 months pregnant. She and her husband are happy. They are in love, and they are excited for their daughter to arrive. Every month, their budget is tight. They get a little bit of help from food pantries, but sometimes, even if they arrive by 6 a.m., the food is already gone. Without the SNAP program, the mom said: I honestly don't know what we would do. I honestly don't know what we would do.

Every Republican has a choice to make with this vote. Will they vote to keep that mom and her daughter fed, or will they keep padding the pockets of those who will not even notice?

The American people can forgive a lot, but they will not forgive this betrayal.