Maxwell Frost Demands To Know Which Republican Pushed To Include Gun Silencer Deregulation In Budget

8 months ago

During remarks on the House floor Thursday, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) debated Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) about the Republican budget that ultimately passed the House early Thursday morning.

Transcript

00:00The gentleman is recognized for four minutes.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

00:03Mr. Speaker, this is a moment I'm never going to forget.

00:07Because tonight, hundreds of Republican members of Congress

00:10are wanting to line up to vote for the biggest transfer of wealth

00:14from the working poor and the working class

00:17to billionaires and mega corporations that we've seen in this country's history.

00:21This is a deep moment of betrayal,

00:25a complete absence of loyalty to the people that we represent

00:29in an abandonment of the values of hard work and dignified life.

00:34Mr. Speaker, I'm 28 years old.

00:37My generation already expects that we'll never be able to afford a home,

00:41to get out of debt, to retire, to live comfortably.

00:46And no, it's not because we've lived beyond our means,

00:49but it's because we've been denied the means to live.

00:52Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are making it worse,

00:56gutting Medicaid and food assistance to give tax cuts to billionaires in special interest.

01:02And all of the things that you could give tax breaks for,

01:06this bill will cut taxes on silencers for guns.

01:11And for those who don't know,

01:12for those who don't know, gun silencers can be attached to a gun to muffle the sound of a gunshot.

01:24And I'm going to wait until the House is in order, Mr. Speaker.

01:30Gentleman's correct. The House is not in order.

01:35Gentleman may continue.

01:36In mass shootings, these silencers make it harder to identify and respond to the source of the gunshots.

01:44Earlier, I put forth an amendment to strip this tax cut for the gun lobby and House Republicans

01:50wouldn't even let it come up for a vote. And then the Republicans made the bill worse

01:57in their manager's amendment by making silencers completely unregulated.

02:02In 2023 alone, the ATF recovered over 400 silencers from violent crime scenes.

02:11For this reason, silencers have been highly regulated for nearly 100 years.

02:17In May of 2019, the Virginia Beach shooter attached the silencer to his .45 caliber handgun that he used

02:24to kill 12 people on three floors of a city building. Survivors of the attack said they weren't even aware

02:31a mass shooting was going on because of the silencer. My question is, why did this get added to the

02:38bill just a couple hours ago? Which Congressional Republican just couldn't stand to vote for the

02:44horrible bill until it promised even more death to people? And I will yield to hear a name.

02:51Mr. Speaker, this is supposed to be a challenge because the rule says that we've waived earmarks,

03:08but the gentleman is not talking about earmarks. He's talking about process that he doesn't like. He's

03:14talking about parts of the bill he doesn't like, but he has not mentioned any specific earmark. Even the

03:21gentleman who spoke before him, the gentleman from Massachusetts, only talked in general terms

03:27about things that were general policy, not earmarks. So I submit, I submit, I submit, Mr. Speaker,

03:34that the gentleman is not in order in giving remarks that are not pertinent. The gentleman from Virginia

03:40has not stated a point of order. I'm sorry? I reclaim my time. I will yield just to hear the name of

03:48the Republican that couldn't vote for this bill. The gentleman from Virginia has not stated a point of

03:56order. The gentleman from Florida is recognized. Thank you. I am just curious on which Republican

04:04couldn't vote for the bill until we completely deregulated silencers.

04:11My generation isn't just defined by a bleak financial future. We're also defined as the

04:16mass shooting generation. We've done more active shooter drills than fire drills. We've grown up

04:21watching classes of our students die a brutal death, helpless inside classrooms, on our blocks,

04:27in our churches, again and again and again and again. And so, America, we've got to be very clear

04:33and truthful about this budget. Laws for gun manufacturers to make more money off of the

04:38death of children and our people? Yes. Food for children to eat? No. Healthcare for seniors,

04:45disabled Americans, and millions more? No. Resources to help working families fight to ends meet? No.

04:53This is why they've been told to not host any town halls back in their districts. That's why this debate is

04:58happening in the middle of the night. It's nothing short of theft. And congressional Republicans are

05:03really helping me understand why half of this country doesn't vote. It's because they'll look

05:09people in the eyes and make promises only to come here in the middle of the night to advance a bill

05:14that will take away the benefits that they have earned. Republicans would have us believe that the

05:19person most likely to steal from you is a person in a hoodie, a black person in a hoodie, or an immigrant

05:25with tattoos. The gentleman's time has expired. The gentleman is recognized for an additional minute.

05:33This is to distract from the fact that at least here tonight, the people stealing from Americans

05:41are not folks with tattoos and hoodies. It's people wearing suits and ties and congressional pins

05:47sitting in this Capitol right now. Not in some random alley wrapped in darkness,

05:53this, but in the United States Congress wrapped in the flag. It is disgusting. And we will never

06:01forget this. I yield back. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from Massachusetts Reserves,

06:08general lady from Indiana is recognized. Mr. Speaker, I yield two minutes to the gentleman from

06:13Virginia, Mr. Griffith. The gentleman from Virginia is recognized. Mr. Speaker,

06:18Mr. Ricard. As I said in the point of order, which I was, I didn't have the rule at hand,

06:24but it's 17 1B. But as I said then,

06:28if they want to complain about they didn't like the process, if they don't like the bill,

06:32if there's a piece of the bill they don't like, save that for the debate on the bill itself.

06:38But instead, they've raised a parliamentary procedure to claim that the rule is not proper,

06:46assuming or claiming that there are earmarks but i would submit mr speaker that they have not

06:54mentioned an earmark yet i've been listening i've been wondering where it was because i've read the

07:00bill and i've read the manager's amendment and with the manager's amendment i see no earmarks

07:05in the bill and they haven't brought it up and i submit it's because they can't and the proper

07:11ruling will it be to rule that there aren't any earmarks i understand we might have to take a

07:17vote but let's try to get our processes right mr speaker i would submit to everybody we ought to

07:21get the process right and i yield back builds back gentlelady from indiana i reserve reserves

07:29gentleman from massachusetts is recognized does the gentlelady have any more speakers

07:34uh we have one more speaker mr speaker i'll reserve them

07:40gentleman from massachusetts reserves gentlelady from indiana is recognized

07:43oh stand i reserve i'm prepared to close gentlelady reserve gentleman from massachusetts is recognized

07:52yeah uh mr speaker this is everything that people hate about washington this bill is a tax scam that

08:00steals from the american people um and it is filled with earmarks earmarks to the gun lobby earmarks to

08:07polluters to be able to exploit land earmarks to every big donor uh that gives to the republican

08:13congressional campaign committee i mean this is really about corruption and this bill that we are

08:19trying to trying to bring to the floor steals from regular people takes away people's food benefits

08:27throws people off of health care and gives a big fat tax break to millionaires and billionaires

08:33that is what their priorities are all about so i would urge democrats and republicans who care about

08:40the integrity of this institution to vote no on considering the rule uh and block and to block

08:47this terrible tax scam from coming to the floor today we can do a hell of a lot better this is a disgrace

08:53with that i yield back and i urge a no vote gentleman yields back and gentlelady from indiana is recognized

09:00mr speaker this is just a dilatory tactic by my colleagues across the aisle we must continue

09:07so the house can begin consideration of this historic legislation and deliver on president trump's

09:13agenda i urge members to vote yes on the question and i yield back the balance of my time

09:19all time for debate has expired the question is will the house now consider the resolution those in favor say

09:27aye those opposed no in the opinion of the chair the ayes have it the speaker i asked for the yeas and nays

Maxwell Frost Demands To Know Which Republican Pushed To Include Gun Silencer Deregulation In Budget

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