00:00Mr. Speaker, and I thank the gentleman from Virginia for yielding me the customary 30 minutes,
00:04and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
00:07Jim's recognized.
00:08Here we go again, Mr. Speaker. Here we go again. This rule is insane. And notwithstanding the
00:15gentleman's monotone delivery, there's a lot going on here in this rule, and much of it is not good.
00:23What are Republicans doing the first week back? Something to lower food costs as Trump's tariffs
00:29drive up prices? Nope. Something to fully fund the government before it shuts down in less than a
00:36month? Nope. Something to help with skyrocketing health care prices or reversing their devastating
00:42cuts to Medicaid? Nope. None of that. Nothing to help regular people, nothing to help workers or
00:50families or people struggling to get by. Instead, Mr. Speaker, these guys are continuing to cover up
00:58the Epstein files. Republicans are deeming as past, which means no debate, no hearing, no markup.
01:06They are deeming as past a new fake Epstein resolution and killing their last fake Epstein
01:13resolution. All the while, we already have a real bipartisan bill to unseal all these files.
01:22It's the Massey-Connor bill. And last night, every single Republican on the Rules Committee voted
01:30against that bipartisan bill. Every single one. And as if that's not bad enough, every single Republican
01:40on the Rules Committee also voted to create, out of thin air, a brand new committee to rewrite the
01:48history of what happened here on January 6, 2021. They are so desperate to paper over what happened
01:57that day, to whitewash it, and to pretend it was a normal tourist visit. I was here, Mr. Speaker,
02:04here in this chamber where you are sitting right now. And you can be damn sure I'm not going to let
02:11anyone pretend that January 6 was a normal tourist visit. But Republicans, the gentleman from Virginia
02:18included, refused to even display a plaque to honor the police officers who were here that day.
02:26I'm so sick of this BS about how Republicans support law enforcement. Mr. Griffith and every other
02:33Republican on the Rules Committee voted against displaying a plaque to honor the law enforcement
02:40officers who were here on January 6. That plaque, Mr. Speaker, already exists. Congress already passed
02:47a law to create it. The Speaker just refuses to display it. Why? Why would he refuse to do it?
02:57I know why. And we all know why. It's the same reason why every Republican voted against releasing
03:04the Epstein files. It's because Rules Republicans are scared as hell. This is not a deliberative body
03:12anymore. Under this Republican majority, Congress has become a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. This is
03:19all about the ego of the man who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. You guys think you work for
03:26Trump. You're obsessed with him. It's pathetic. Republicans are ruining this institution, Mr. Speaker,
03:33destroying this institution. Again, let me repeat, every single Republican on the Rules Committee
03:41voted against releasing the Epstein files. Every single one. I mean, we heard last night that all
03:49Republicans want full transparency. But that's just not true. Let me read you a quote from the top
03:56Republican in this country, President Donald J. Trump. This is what he says about the Epstein files. And I
04:02quote, it's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans. End quote.
04:11And at a press availability just minutes ago, the President again said that this is all a
04:19hoax. Now, what do Republicans think of that? Donald Trump says this is all a hoax. And if you
04:25want to release the files, you're stupid. Now, I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised that the guy who
04:31once called Epstein a, quote, terrific guy and who Epstein considered his, quote, closest friend is not
04:38actually interested in getting to the truth. But you know what you know when this clicked in for me,
04:43Mr. Speaker, and for a lot of people, it clicked after Trump won and then the backtracking began.
04:51It clicked again yesterday. You know, it clicked after Republicans, it clicked after the same
04:58Republican leaders who invited influence to the White House and then passed out binders about the
05:04soon-to-be-released client list suddenly changed their tune. And it clicked again yesterday when phase
05:09two of the binders came out. More information released that's already been released. 97% of
05:16it has already been released. It clicked when the same MAGA politicians who once pledged to release
05:23everything suddenly came up with more excuses, more delays, and more stalling tactics. And what is
05:29obvious to everyone is that someone is hiding something. And while all this stalling goes on,
05:37what happens? Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's partner in crime, winds up in a cushy country club prison
05:45courtesy of Trump's political appointees. Not a word, not a word of outrage from this Republican
05:51majority. Not a whisper of accountability. Just silence. Now let's not pretend that this is
05:58complicated. It's pretty obvious what's going on. The Trump administration has the power to release
06:05the Epstein files today. They could redact names to protect victims and survivors and deliver the
06:13truth. But they refuse. And there's a simple through line to all of this, Mr. Speaker. We all know why
06:22Republicans are doing this with the Epstein files. We all know why Republicans refuse to display the
06:28plaque honoring the brave law enforcement officers who protected our democracy and protected all of us
06:34on January 6th. We all know why Republicans vote again and again and again for all these giveaways for the rich and
06:41powerful. It's Donald Trump. He wants to rewrite history. He wants to hide the truth about Jeffrey Epstein. And he
06:50wants to continue his giveaways to the well-off and the well-connected. This is all straight out of the
06:58authoritarian playbook. And you can bet your ass we are going to continue fighting like hell to oppose this
07:04insanity. I reserve my time.
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