Kirsten Gillibrand Warns Appropriations Committee: 'The Administration's Taking Away Your Power'

Forbes Breaking News

5 months ago

During a Senate Appropriations Committee markup meeting in July, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) spoke about rescissions.

Transcript

00:00Speak in support of this amendment. I just want to speak to my colleagues.

00:07There's a reason why past Congresses didn't do rescissions.

00:11There's a reason why we rejected rescissions for decades. And it's because we work best on a bipartisan basis.

00:22What chair and I worked on together, with chair Hyde-Smith and I worked on together, is a good bipartisan bill.

00:30You heard comments from both Senator Moran and from Senator Coons about how important tackling the homeless crisis in this country is.

00:39How important affordable housing is for our seniors and our veterans and our people with disabilities.

00:44There's so much shared interest in this committee. And there's so much shared purpose by senators who are Democrats and Republicans.

00:53And the national media and this administration wants to destroy that.

00:58You heard from the administration, I want less bipartisanship in spending, in appropriations.

01:07I don't know why we would allow anyone to take away our power.

01:13It's Congress's power to have the power of the purse.

01:15And I just want you to receive the import of this moment.

01:22When you take away the bipartisanship of this body, you take away what's best about this body.

01:30You take away what's best about our constitutional authorities.

01:33The reason why we have a balance of power in this country is because we don't want any one body to have too much power.

01:42When one party has all the power, they always overreach.

01:46Doesn't matter who it is. Doesn't matter what decade it is.

01:49They always overreach. And the people respond by changing who's in charge.

01:53So I just want this committee to understand the administration's taking away your power.

02:01Your power to be bipartisan.

02:03Your power to bring this country together.

02:06Your power to heal the wounds that are happening across the nation.

02:10The divisiveness. The anger.

02:11So I don't know why you would let anyone take away your power.

02:15And all this amendment is doing is to restore the power of the purse to the Appropriations Committee,

02:22to the bipartisanship, the work we do every Congress that is meaningful.

02:27And it is so hurtful to take away that process because it takes away the voices of our constituents.

02:33For Chair Collins, I remember the most impassioned speech you ever gave in a closed session

02:37where you talked about taking away the minorities' rights.

02:42And it was so profound. I was a junior senator.

02:46And I was so moved by you insisting the importance of the filibuster.

02:50Insisting on the importance of hearing the minority of this country's voice.

02:55And when you allow rescissions, and this administration wants to have many more,

03:00they're going to target the things that were bipartisan in this bill.

03:03Because they don't share the concerns that we have for our constituents.

03:08They don't go back to our states every weekend.

03:11They don't talk to the people that are suffering.

03:13They don't talk to the homeless youth.

03:15They don't talk to homeless veterans.

03:17They don't receive what we receive, Madam Chairwoman.

03:21And so when you allow for rescissions, you delete bipartisanship.

03:25You delete our power.

03:27You delete the role of minority members of this body.

03:30And it's just wrong.

03:31So I just want to support this amendment, Senator Merkley.

03:35I appreciate the time you gave me to talk about this.

03:38But this goes to the heart of who we are as senators.

03:41And who we are as a body.

03:43And who we are as the balance of power that the Constitution provided for.

03:48You should not let them take away your power willingly.

03:50To your power willingly.

03:51Go to Mitch McMillan guerrero deinoe.

03:53Go to Mr.

Kirsten Gillibrand Warns Appropriations Committee: 'The Administration's Taking Away Your Power'

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