Congressman Jim McGovern delivered a blistering 40-minute speech accusing Donald Trump and his allies of undermining democratic institutions and attempting to tilt the political playing field ahead of the midterm elections. In an impassioned warning, McGovern laid out his concerns over election integrity, political intimidation, executive power, and efforts he says could threaten Americans’ right to choose their leaders freely. The Democratic congressman urged voters to remain vigilant, arguing that the stakes extend far beyond partisan politics. Watch the key moments from McGovern’s explosive remarks and the warnings driving renewed debate over democracy, accountability, and the upcoming midterm elections.
#JimMcGovern #DonaldTrump #Trump #Midterms #MidtermElections #USPolitics #Congress #Democracy #ElectionIntegrity #BreakingNews #PoliticalNews #WashingtonDC #HouseDemocrats #AmericanPolitics #News
~HT.410~PR.498~GR.538~ED.194~VG.HM~
#JimMcGovern #DonaldTrump #Trump #Midterms #MidtermElections #USPolitics #Congress #Democracy #ElectionIntegrity #BreakingNews #PoliticalNews #WashingtonDC #HouseDemocrats #AmericanPolitics #News
~HT.410~PR.498~GR.538~ED.194~VG.HM~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00From Massachusetts is recognized. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the gentleman
00:04from Georgia for yielding me the customary time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
00:09Gentleman's recognized. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by asking, do Republicans even have the votes to
00:15pass this rule? Because if not, then what on earth are we doing here? Wasting more time?
00:22Even your own members are fed up, Mr. Speaker. Every week wondering if someone's going to throw
00:27a fit, if Donald Trump is going to post something crazy and blow everything up, if Mike Johnson is
00:33going to bring something to the floor when he doesn't have the votes. The chaos and the dysfunction
00:38around here is unhinged. We wasted hours and hours at the Rules Committee last week debating and voting
00:46on a rule that never came to the floor. And for what? Because Congress passed a bipartisan housing
00:52affordability bill, and the president had a temper tantrum, refused to sign it, and derailed everything?
00:58I mean, really? And why? Because he's still busy trying to fraudulently claim that the 2020 election
01:08was stolen, and now he wants to use that as an excuse to try to rig the midterms. Let me
01:14remind my
01:14colleagues, this is the United States of America. It is still the United States of America. We're not
01:20China or Russia or some two-bit dictatorship. This is insane, what is going on here. Families cannot
01:29afford rent. Folks are priced out of buying a house. And Donald Trump is asking about the bipartisan
01:36housing bill yesterday, and he says it's so unimportant. He says it's so unimportant. And then
01:47he says, I made a lot of money with housing. The American people are not asking whether Donald
01:53Trump made a lot of money in housing. They are asking why they cannot afford it. They are asking
02:00why his economy sucks, why their prices are going up, and nobody in this Republican administration
02:08seems to give a damn. So now we're back with another rule. Maybe it passes, maybe it doesn't. Who knows
02:16anymore? This rule includes a national defense authorization bill with a trillion, that's with
02:23a T, trillion dollar price tag. I should tell my colleagues that we already spend more on our military
02:30than the next six countries combined. I mean, it's an astronomical amount. You know, over another
02:39trillion dollars on our military budget? Boy, that's so wild and extravagant. Even Dr. Strangelove
02:47would be impressed. Now, Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. You guys want to give Donald Trump
02:52over a trillion dollars for the Pentagon? Donald Trump, who started an illegal war? Donald Trump,
03:00who got 13 American service members killed because he started a war to distract from the Epstein files?
03:07That's who you want to give a trillion dollars to? I mean, get real. The state and foreign operations
03:14bill is a mess, too. It guts all the programs that actually prevent crises before they explode.
03:21So, when the next war, famine, pandemic, or global breakdown knocks on our door, just remember,
03:30it was Republicans who set the stage, just like they did when they cut funding for screwworm protection.
03:38There's a Social Security Disability Bill that hands more authority to an administration already
03:44targeting programs that working people rely on. And then, and then, we get to this Republican
03:52self-esteem exercise. Yet another non-binding resolution praising Republicans for the big, ugly bill.
04:01Mr. Speaker, I have a secret for you. I check with my staff. Not a single person has called my
04:07office
04:08saying, Congressman, I think Republicans should spend time congratulating themselves on a bill they
04:14passed last year that took away my health care and is directly responsible for raising my bills.
04:19I haven't gotten a single call about that. What exactly is it that my Republican friends are
04:26congratulating themselves for anyways? I mean, you passed the big, ugly bill a year ago. Since then,
04:32gas prices have gone up. Grocery prices have gone up. There's a new war in the Middle East.
04:39Health care is more expensive, and fewer people have it. Child hunger has gone up. The tariffs are
04:46crushing farmers and driving up costs. That's what you guys are doing a victory lap over? Really? I mean,
04:54really? And never, never have we seen so much inequality between the rich and the poor in this
05:00country. Regular people are getting screwed, while the top 0.001% saw their incomes go up by,
05:10get this, $20 million last year. You guys could not be more out of touch if you tried, Mr. Speaker.
05:17There might be hours of floor debate on these crummy bills this week, but right now we're here to talk
05:23about the Republicans' agenda, their plan for the week. And the truth is that their bills are just more
05:30of the same old status quo nonsense that people back home are sick and tired of. The Republican agenda
05:39is a nightmare for this country. The American people are in an economic crisis right now. They are getting
05:46screwed by the policies of this administration. Their wallets and their pocketbooks are getting
05:53cleaned out by this president and this majority's billionaire first agenda. And then they turn on
06:03C-SPAN today, and God help them if they do. And what do they see Republicans bringing to the floor?
06:09Not a bill to help deal with rising inflation and economic uncertainty? No, no, no. Their focus this
06:17week is a resolution to congratulate themselves on a bill that they already passed last year. And in case
06:25they haven't noticed, for most people, things have gotten worse since then, not better. People are looking
06:32to this place and wondering whether anybody at all on the Republican side has any idea what their life
06:42is actually like. They believe that this Republican majority is just out of touch, out of sync with
06:49where regular people are. And if you look at these awful, lousy bills, the answer is obviously no. And I
06:58reserve my time.
06:59Mr. Speaker, no doubt the Democrat Socialists of America believe everything that the gentleman
07:09from Massachusetts just said. But the majority of Americans are smart enough to know that those
07:14things are simply not true. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve.
07:17Mr. Speaker, no doubt the Democrat Socialists of America believe everything that the gentleman from Massachusetts just said.
07:21Boy, that was a good retort. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the
07:27previous question, I will offer an amendment to strike the section adding the Save America Act to
07:34the NDAA during engrossment. Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. I think the Save Act is an awful bill.
07:42It's not about election security. It's about relitigating Donald Trump's loss in 2020. And he did lose.
07:49He lost big. It will make it harder for American citizens to vote if this Save Act stays in
07:55or ever becomes law. And here is another thing that is clear to everyone or should be. This little
08:01maneuver by the Speaker is a nothing burger. It's a shell game. It's the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain
08:07pretending to do magic. And here's the truth. The Save Act will not become law. Even if this rule
08:14manages to pass, the Senate will not pass an NDAA with the Save Act included. They have already said that.
08:20And Leader Thune, five days ago, already filed cloture on the Senate's own version of the NDAA
08:27without the Save Act. And at the end of the day, it's very simple. Republicans are using procedural
08:33tricks to try to make it harder for people to vote because they can't win elections the old-fashioned
08:39way. They can't win them fair and square. And it's offensive. And in the case of this MERV scheme,
08:46it's downright stupid. Mr. Speaker, I ask you unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment
08:51into the record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous
08:56question. Without objection. And Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield five minutes to the
09:02gentleman from Alabama, the sponsor of this amendment, Ms. Sewell. The gentlelady is recognized.
09:08Thank you, Ranking Member McGovern for allowing me to speak. I rise today in opposition to attaching the
09:15Save America Act to the NDAA. You know, this week, Mr. Speaker, marks the 250th anniversary of our
09:22nation's independence. And yet, instead of working to strengthen our democracy, Trump and Republicans
09:30are hell-bent on undermining it. While we should be celebrating how far we've come since the days of
09:37Jim Crow voter suppression, Republicans are working to drag us back. Old battles have indeed become new
09:43again. Mr. Speaker, the so-called Save America Act is nothing more than a scheme devised by my
09:50colleagues across the aisle to save themselves from accountability at the ballot box. It is a voter
09:57suppression bill designed to block millions of eligible voters from casting their ballots. Let me be
10:03perfectly clear. We all agree that it is important for citizens to verify who they are during the voting
10:10process. But this bill is not about voter ID. It is so extreme that even a ballot driver's license would
10:19not be enough to register to vote. This bill is about one thing and one thing only, making it harder
10:26for
10:26Americans to vote and easier for Republicans to win. Here are the facts. Rampant voter fraud is a myth.
10:35It does not exist. It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections. In fact, under current
10:43law, non-citizens would face up to five years, five years in prison for attempting to vote in federal
10:51elections, and they would even risk being deported. That's why the fact of the matter is that non-citizens voting
10:59is roughly .0001 percent, according to the Brennan Center. This legislation is an egregious attempt
11:07to solve a problem that is not based in reality. The solution to this non-existent problem is not to
11:14prevent eligible voters from voting and accessing the ballot box. Mr. Speaker, roughly half of all
11:21Americans do not have a ballot passport. In my home state of Alabama, that number is even higher. More than
11:2872 percent of Alabamians do not have a passport. To get one, most Americans would have to pay an
11:35application fee of $130. Mr. Speaker, this is nothing more than a modern-day poll tax.
11:42There are also 69 million women who have changed their last names after getting married. Those women
11:50would not be able to vote using their birth certificate. Under this voter suppression bill,
11:56up to 21 million eligible Americans would be blocked from exercising their right to vote.
12:02The SAVE Act also requires states to purge their voter rolls on a consistent basis without requiring
12:09common-sense measures like requiring officials to notify voters before removing them from the voter roll.
12:16That means that eligible voters would risk learning that they have been removed from the polls at the
12:22election day. Keeping voter rolls accurate is important, Mr. Speaker, but it must be done by using
12:29quality data and best practices to ensure that citizens are not inadvertently removed from the
12:37voter roll. In my home state of Alabama, an effort was made to remove non-citizens from the voter rolls
12:43using data from the state from the state's Department of Labor. The data was highly incorrect. And what we
12:51found is 93.8% of the voters removed were U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens being removed because my
13:00state
13:00thought that they were using something accurate in removing the voter roll. Let me say this again, 93.8%
13:07of the voters
13:08removed were U.S. citizens. Mr. Speaker, this is very personal to me. I am a proud daughter of Selma,
13:15Alabama
13:16and the representative of Alabama's Voting Rights and Civil Rights District. It was in my hometown 61
13:23years ago where hundreds of foot soldiers like John Lewis shed blood on a bridge for the equal right of
13:30all Americans to vote. They marched, they bled, they prayed, and some even died for the right to vote.
13:37The so-called SAVE Act makes a mockery of their legacy. As America celebrates its 250th birthday,
13:47we in Congress should be working to make voting more accessible, not less. Our democracy functions best
13:54when every citizen is given an opportunity to participate in our elections. I urge all my
14:01colleagues to vote no on the previous question, no on the rule, and to oppose any efforts by President
14:06Trump and Republicans to suppress the voting rights of Americans. Thank you, and I yield back the balance
14:13of my time.
14:14The gentleman yields. The gentleman reserves. The gentleman from Georgia is recognized.
14:22Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The key provision of this, one of the key provisions, is the National Defense
14:29Authorization Act. This is a bipartisan piece of legislation that has passed every year for the
14:35last several decades and passed out of committee with a strong bipartisan vote.
14:41I just want to encourage the American citizens to understand this. With regard to our national security
14:49and our national defense and how important this piece of legislation is, up to and until 2022,
14:58in order to launch a satellite, the United States was buying rockets from Russia.
15:082022 is the last time we purchased rockets from Russia to launch satellites, and 2024 is the last time we
15:15actually used the Russian rocket to launch a satellite. We have to invest in our defense
15:25industrial base so that we are not dependent on the enemies of the United States of America to provide
15:32for the security of the American citizens. The National Defense Authorization Act, in a very bipartisan
15:39officer of American military care and civil war effort. It does exactly that. This rule needs to pass,
15:44Mr. Speaker. We need to ensure that we are not dependent on our adversaries for our national security,
15:49and with that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
15:53General Reserves.
15:54General from Massachusetts is recognized.
15:55Mr. Speaker, I would just again remind the gentlemen and others that we already spend
16:01more than six of our nearest competitors in terms of military spending combined.
16:09I mean, we're talking about $1.5 trillion, it's trillion with a T, going to the defense
16:16budget this year.
16:17And I've got to tell you, I really think we ought to have a debate in this Congress
16:21about the definition of national security, and I think it ought to include things, you
16:27know, like health care.
16:29My Republican friends cut a trillion dollars from health care, people are losing their health
16:32care left and right.
16:33If you don't have health care, you don't feel very secure.
16:37National security definition also ought to include, you know, the quality of education
16:41we provide our young people.
16:43It ought to include things like ending hunger in this country, with the richest country in
16:47the history of the world.
16:48We got 48 million Americans who don't know where their next meal is going to come from.
16:51It ought to include housing, whether people can afford housing.
16:54We have an affordability crisis right now that we tried to address in a bipartisan way, but
17:00Donald Trump had a meltdown.
17:01It ought to include supporting our veterans and cleaning up our environment.
17:06It ought to include things like investing in our workforce.
17:09All of those things are sources of our national strength that are getting shortchanged here.
17:15So, you know, forgive us if we're not getting excited about this massive increase in military
17:21spending at a time when the average American is getting screwed.
17:25Enough!
17:27Enough!
17:27I mean, when you go back to your district and you talk to people in coffee shops, I mean,
17:33they're not worried about whether we're spending $900 billion or $1.5 trillion on our military
17:38spending.
17:38Most of it goes to defense contractors.
17:41I mean, what they're worried about is whether they can afford their groceries, whether they
17:44can afford their rent, whether they can afford the gas for their car.
17:49Those are things that are real.
17:50Whether they can help send their kids to college.
17:52All of those things matter, and Mr. Speaker, at this time I'd like to yield two and a half
17:57minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island, Mr. Magaziner.
18:00Can everyone recognize?
18:01Thank you to the ranking member.
18:03Eight million Americans have lost their health insurance over the last year.
18:08Eight million Americans lost their health insurance.
18:12Millions more have seen their health insurance premiums go up by hundreds and thousands of dollars.
18:18Hospitals and community health centers have shut down all across the country.
18:22Why?
18:23Because our Republican colleagues passed the big ugly bill last year that cut funding from
18:29health care in order to fund tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations.
18:34And that's not all.
18:36They also cut money from SNAP.
18:39A million children, children lost their SNAP benefits over the last year.
18:44Children going hungry.
18:46People who are sick and hurt not able to go to the doctor because they can't afford it anymore.
18:51And I see our Republican colleagues.
18:54They don't understand why their bill isn't more popular.
18:57They don't understand why the American people aren't grateful to them for cutting their health
19:02care and cutting their food aid in order to pay for tax cuts for rich people who don't
19:07need it.
19:07They tried changing the name of their bill.
19:09They don't call it the Big Beautiful Bill anymore.
19:11They said, well, maybe if we change the name, then people will like the fact that they can't
19:16afford to go to the doctor anymore because of our tax cuts for the rich.
19:19Well, that didn't work.
19:21So now they are proposing to use floor time this week to vote on a resolution congratulating
19:28themselves for passing this monstrous bill that has cut health care and cut food aid for
19:35the American people in order to pay for tax cuts who don't need it.
19:39Oh, don't worry.
19:40The bill did more than that, by the way.
19:42One thing that it did fund is more ICE agents invading American cities, Minneapolis, Chicago,
19:50killing American citizens in broad daylight.
19:53Why aren't the American people grateful for that, they wonder?
19:57Well, maybe a resolution congratulating ourselves for doing this.
20:00Maybe that will do the trick.
20:02Why aren't the American people grateful for the fact that whatever small tax relief was
20:07included for the middle class is outweighed dramatically by the increased costs from the
20:12tariffs and the war and the health insurance premiums skyrocketing?
20:18Well, Mr. Speaker, how about this?
20:20How about we as a Congress, instead of using this floor time on meaningless resolutions, actually
20:26do the work of the American people?
20:28How about we fund health care?
20:29How about we fund food aid?
20:31How about we fund education instead of yet more tax cuts for Elon Musk and the billionaires
20:36partying at Mar-a-Lago while working people suffer?
20:39With that, I yield back.
20:42I reserve.
20:43Gentlemen, reserves.
20:44Gentlemen from Georgia is recognized.
20:47Wow.
20:50A couple of things, Mr. Speaker.
20:52One is federal tax revenues are actually up this fiscal year, over the last fiscal year,
20:57and that's because the economy is doing pretty good under President Donald Trump.
21:03Again, tax revenues are up 5% over last year.
21:11I want to mention one other thing.
21:14People under the age of 18 were exempt from the changes we made in the SNAP benefits.
21:20Under 18, they were exempt, and yet they still stand up and say, we kicked children off of
21:25SNAP.
21:26Read the law.
21:28Read the law.
21:29If you're under 18, you're exempt from the changes that we made.
21:32I want to speak, Mr. Speaker, about something that's in this piece of legislation, in this
21:36rule that's wrong that I've tried to correct for many years, and if we get the chance to
21:43vote on it, I hope we will get it corrected.
21:46I want to tell you, several years ago, I went to Bethesda, and a young man that I represented
21:54stepped on a pressure plate, and he lost both legs in Afghanistan.
22:00I stayed in touch with the young man, and a couple of years later, I was taking him hunting.
22:05I remember exactly where I was, on 475 in central Georgia.
22:12And he told me, he said, I work at O'Reilly's Auto Parts, but I have to be careful, at
22:20the
22:20time it was $1,100 a month, to make sure that I don't make more than $1,100 a month,
22:27or my family loses the Social Security benefits.
22:31And we talked a little while about this, and I told him, I'm like, hey, you know, when
22:35I get back to D.C., I'm going to meet with the lawyers, because that just doesn't
22:39sound right.
22:41And I came to D.C., I scheduled a meeting with the attorneys up here that deal with Social
22:48Security, and I met with them, and I had the discussion with them.
22:52And they told me that that was actually the law, that that was correct.
22:57So here we have this young man, combat wounded, totally and permanently disabled, who wants
23:07to go back to work.
23:08And I'm a firm believer that the number one thing we can do for our veterans, especially
23:12when it comes to veteran suicide and their mental health, is to get them back to work
23:17as soon as possible.
23:19And so I wrote a piece of legislation that's had multiple co-sponsors from both parties from
23:28all spectrums of the political divide, conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican, moderate.
23:38And we haven't been able to get it through because of some of the budget rules that plague this
23:45place with good ideas.
23:47And so now we have 88, 84, and if it has passed, I am confident that the concept of the
23:55Purple
23:55Heart Freedom to Work Act will be put in place as a pilot project.
24:01And so what it would allow people to do is for people who are combat wounded, totally and
24:06permanently disabled, it will allow them to go back to work and keep their Social Security
24:10benefits.
24:11It shouldn't take as long as it's taken to do this and to get this passed.
24:18But if this rule passes, I'm confident that HR 8884 will pass.
24:23And if we can get it through the Senate, and that's a big if with getting anything through
24:27the Senate, then hopefully our combat wounded, totally and permanently disabled veterans can
24:33go back to work and not be afraid of going back to work because they would lose their Social
24:39Security benefits.
24:40And with that, Mr. Chair, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
24:45The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized.
24:47Mr. Speaker, I have to admit I was taken a little bit aback by the gentleman's statement
24:53earlier when he said the economy is doing, quote, pretty good.
24:57I think those are his exact words.
25:01And I'm kind of stunned by that because inflation is up.
25:04The prices of groceries are up.
25:06The price of gas is up.
25:08The price of housing is up.
25:10The price of everything is up.
25:13And people, by every poll that has been conducted, whether it's on the left or the right or in
25:21the center, says the same thing.
25:22The people are not satisfied with this economy.
25:25They do not think it is pretty good, no matter what their party affiliation is.
25:30They do not think it's good.
25:31Now, maybe, maybe if you're a Republican in the House of Representatives and you hang around
25:36with the Mar-a-Lago class, maybe they think it's pretty good.
25:40I mean, Elon Musk is now the first trillionaire.
25:43I guess he thinks it's pretty good.
25:44But, you know, if you're the average worker, whether it's in Massachusetts or Georgia or
25:50California or South Dakota, you don't share that view because it isn't.
25:56Things are actually pretty bad.
25:58Things are pretty bad.
25:59And the gentleman said that poor kids are not losing their SNAP benefits.
26:04Mr. Speaker, I request you unanimous consent to insert into the record an article entitled
26:10Over 700,000 Poor Kids Across Twelve States Have Lost Food Aid Under Trump GOP Budget Law.
26:18That objection.
26:19And I want to amend, this article appeared in May 2026.
26:24That number is now estimated not at 700,000, but at 800,000 in this country.
26:30And think about it, think about it, the economy is doing pretty good.
26:35And in this country that we live in right now, the United States of America, we have close
26:42to 50 million Americans who don't know where their next meal is going to come from, who
26:47are hungry.
26:49I don't think they think the economy is pretty good.
26:52And a lot of these people, in fact, the majority of these people are working families.
26:56They're working harder than ever, but because everything is going up, they can't afford groceries.
27:03Go to any grocery store in this country and you'll see people actually putting groceries
27:09back on the shelves because their paychecks don't stretch as far as they used to because
27:16prices are going up.
27:17And by the way, it's not just the big ugly bill.
27:19It's the president's stupid tariff policy which are raising prices all across this country.
27:25And the war.
27:25And the war.
27:26The war in Iran that I don't even know if he knows what the hell he's doing.
27:31It just goes on and on and on.
27:33And again, I mean, we're spending countless dollars on this war, again, which is resulting
27:40in energy prices going through the roof.
27:42So, no, people do not think the economy is pretty good.
27:47They do not.
27:48And I suspect that that is what is behind this effort by Republicans to try to rig the midterm
27:55elections because they know that the American people are not happy with where things are.
28:02And it's not just Democrats.
28:03It's not just independents.
28:04But a whole bunch of Republicans.
28:06A whole bunch of Republicans are also dissatisfied.
28:09And I would urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to go to coffee shops, to
28:16go to diners, to go to grocery stores, to go to VFW halls in their district and listen
28:21to what people are saying.
28:23They are not happy.
28:25They are very, very concerned about the state of the economy.
28:28And they're not confident that things are going to get better.
28:31And they do not think that the person running this country right now has any clue about
28:37what the reality is for working families.
28:39He lives in a different sphere altogether.
28:43He's worried about reflecting pools and building, you know, monuments in his honor
28:48and redoing the East Wing that he said would cost nothing, but it's going to cost us billions
28:53when all is said and done, cost the taxpayers billions.
28:56That's what he's consumed about.
28:58They want a Congress and they want a government that cares about them.
29:02And with that, I reserve.
29:04The gentleman from Georgia is recognized.
29:07Mr. Speaker, might I inquire as to how much time remains on each side?
29:13The gentleman from Georgia has 14 minutes and 45 seconds.
29:19The gentleman from Massachusetts has eight minutes remaining.
29:26Mr. Speaker, I don't have any additional speakers.
29:32I'm prepared to close if the gentleman is, if I want you to.
29:48Mr. Speaker, I've listened a lot today, and I want to get back to the heart of this matter.
29:57The National Defense Authorization Act.
30:01The National Defense Authorization Act.
30:05That is what this rule is about.
30:09It's about H.R. 8884 and allowing, in the case of the legislation that I had, Purple Heart,
30:19people who are combat wounded, total and permanent, having the ability to go back to work
30:23and not worrying about losing their social security benefits at least for a period of time.
30:28The Appropriations Act for our State Department and things that we do around the world.
30:37There's a lot in this rule, Mr. Speaker, and this rule needs to pass.
30:42And yes, yes, the Save America Act will be attached to the legislation when it goes across.
30:49Because yes, we do think y'all are letting non-citizens vote in elections.
30:54We know you're doing it at the local level.
30:56And we think that places like California ought to get their ballots counted before the end of the night,
31:03not before the end of the week.
31:05And so with that, Mr. Speaker, I'll reserve the balance of my time until the gentleman is prepared to close.
31:14Gentleman reserves.
31:16Gentleman reserves.
31:16Gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized.
31:21But I do want to remind the gentleman that it was the Republicans that put into this rule
31:27a bill to congratulate yourselves on the big, ugly bill.
31:31And it was the gentleman who said that people think this economy is doing pretty good.
31:36And I take issue with that.
31:37There are people, you know, who are losing their health care.
31:41Republicans like to pretend that their big, ugly bill, which cut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act
31:46by more than $1 trillion, didn't actually hurt anyone.
31:50I mean, there are lots of real stories of people being hurt.
31:54I mean, Kathy and Jeffrey Maney, who live in Brandon, Vermont, are owners of a garage door installation repair business.
32:00They said that their premium was jumping up from $625 a month to nearly $2,670 per month.
32:08And the cheapest alternative they could find was still nearly $2,000.
32:12Kathy and Jeffrey ended up dropping their coverage.
32:16The economy is not working good for them.
32:18Eric and Lisa Frankenfield, a chiropractor, and his wife, who live in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, said their premium was
32:24set to skyrocket to $1,928 per month, up from $340 per month.
32:30So they decided to go without coverage this year.
32:33Lisa said that, quote, we are health care providers who cannot afford benefits.
32:38Oh, the irony, end quote.
32:41Caitlin Provost, a 37-year-old single mom and social worker from Henderson, Nevada, saw her premium jump from $85
32:48to $750 a month.
32:50She said she would likely drop her own coverage in order to keep insurance for her four-year-old daughter.
32:58I mean, these are real-life stories that go on and on and on and read them here.
33:03The economy is not pretty good for them.
33:05The economy is lousy for them.
33:07And there is nothing that is in this rule that we will consider that will help any of them.
33:13In fact, there is nothing that this Republican Congress has done to help any of them.
33:18Instead, you've made their life worse.
33:20And so the economy is not doing pretty good.
33:23And the idea that you're going to congratulate yourselves on the passage of the big, ugly bill, well, I just
33:28have a difference of opinion.
33:29And with that, I reserve.
33:31Chairman of the reserves, gentleman from Georgia is recognized.
33:33Mr. Speaker, I want to address a couple of issues.
33:36One is, he said health care providers can't afford their benefits.
33:39Well, that's because you turned the whole system over to a select few extremely large health insurance companies that are
33:45accountable to nobody and they're not paying their claims.
33:49They're not.
33:51You know, my father was a surgeon.
33:54A lot of my friends are in the health care business.
33:56Let me tell you something.
33:57When you gave UnitedHealthcare and the other multi-billion dollar corporations control over all aspects of our lives, you did
34:04a lot of damage.
34:05And you did that in your so-called Affordable Care Act.
34:08And if the Affordable Care Act had worked, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
34:12So you want to talk about the problems in the health care system.
34:16You need to look in the mirror because y'all wrote the bill.
34:19And now none of those big insurance companies aren't accountable to anybody.
34:22They own the PBMs.
34:23They own the pharmacies.
34:25They own the doctor's offices.
34:27They own the hospitals.
34:28They are huge, huge oligopolies that cater to nobody other than their shareholders.
34:36Look at the share price of the large health insurance companies.
34:39Look who you made rich with the Affordable Care Act.
34:42It was the shareholders and the executives of all of those major health insurance companies.
34:47And when I talk about the economy, yes, I realize that the American citizens, the American citizens are paying more.
34:56Inflation, which started because of the so-called American Rescue Plan, I think that's what y'all called it, and
35:03your so-called Inflation Reduction Act.
35:05Why did you name a bill the Inflation Reduction Act?
35:09Because you started the inflation with the American Rescue Plan, and then you turned around and passed the so-called
35:16Inflation Reduction Act that just exponentially escalated the amount of inflation that the American citizens were having to deal with
35:25on a regular basis.
35:26My point with the economy is this, real GDP grew, real GDP grew at a 2.2% annual rate
35:38for the full year of 2025.
35:41That beat the baseline expectations.
35:44Yes, American citizens are having challenges.
35:47One of the reasons they're having challenges is the cost of energy.
35:50And you know what, I'll admit, after Donald Trump tried to end the Iranian jihadist control over what was happening
36:03around the world, and he's done a pretty good job with it.
36:05And let me tell you this, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, knows exactly what he's doing with
36:10Iran.
36:11He knows exactly what he's doing with Iran.
36:13And if you would get the briefings, you would understand why.
36:16And in fact, I would point out that a U.S. Senator that doesn't like the President had a few
36:22things to say.
36:23And as soon as he went and got the briefing, he turned around and reversed his position.
36:27So instead of blaming everything on Donald Trump, you should get the facts.
36:32But the cost of energy is embedded in every single thing that we do and that we buy.
36:39And when the Democratic Party does things like canceling the Keystone Pipeline, like stopping the development of nuclear power plants,
36:50like stopping oil and gas developments inside the United States of America, it hurts the American citizens.
36:58It hurts the American citizens and it leads to inflation.
37:02And so, you know, I'm sorry that we're having to deal with the inflation that the Democrats started with the
37:13American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act and the pain that has come from that.
37:17And I'm sorry the American citizens are dealing with the pain of the Affordable Care Act.
37:21I wish we could have repealed that horrible bill.
37:23But we didn't get it done.
37:25We didn't get it done.
37:26But health care providers who can't afford their benefits, they can't afford their benefits because the insurance companies that you
37:31turn the system over to aren't paying the claims.
37:34And with that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve.
37:36The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized.
37:40Yeah, Mr. Speaker, I find it's rich to be lectured about health care from my Republican friends.
37:45Let me tell you what Democrats did with the Affordable Care Act.
37:48By passing it, it stopped health insurance companies from charging sick people more premiums than healthy people.
37:54It kept health insurance companies from denying coverage to pregnant women and people with preexisting conditions.
38:01It demanded insurance companies to cover more preventative services.
38:06It allows young adults to stay on their parents' insurance until they're age 26.
38:10I go on and on and on.
38:11What did my Republican friends did?
38:13They cut a trillion dollars from health care.
38:16And by the way, I should remind the gentleman that Republicans control the House, Republicans control the Senate, Republicans control
38:22the White House,
38:22and health care prices are going through the roof under your watch.
38:25I reserve.
38:27The gentleman reserves.
38:28The gentleman from Georgia.
38:31The Affordable Care Act created a system where the major insurance carriers are not answerable to anybody.
38:36You did this to the American citizens.
38:38It's your responsibility without our reserve.
38:41The gentleman reserves.
38:42The gentleman is ready.
38:43How much time do I have remaining?
38:46The gentleman has five minutes and 15 seconds remaining.
38:52Is the gentleman prepared to close?
38:54All right.
38:55Well, then I will reserve.
38:55I will yield myself the remaining time.
38:57Mr. Speaker, I go on.
38:58I go on on health care all day, but I would just urge those who are in the gallery and
39:04those who are watching.
39:05I mean, look at your own health care bills.
39:09Look at your own health care coverage now after nearly two years of Republican control of government.
39:14And the bottom line is people are losing their health care benefits.
39:18And in this country, that is unconscionable.
39:21Mr. Speaker, I have served here a long time, and I've seen majorities struggle before.
39:26I've seen close votes.
39:28I've seen disagreements.
39:29This is something else entirely.
39:32This is a majority that cannot function unless Donald Trump is lucid and in a good mood.
39:39And even then, it's a coin flip.
39:41I mean, Americans need cheaper housing.
39:43They need a raise.
39:45They need health care that doesn't break the bank.
39:48They need a government that lowers prices and brings down inflation and protects them.
39:54Instead, what they're getting is a Republican administration that raises prices, increases inflation, and protects the Epstein pedophiles.
40:02Republicans promised they would lower prices on day one.
40:05It's now year two.
40:07They've been in complete and total control for almost 18 months.
40:10They run Washington.
40:12And if you go home and ask people in small towns and big cities and suburbs and in rural communities
40:17and states across this country how things are going with Trump and Republicans in charge, they will tell you the
40:23truth.
40:23Which is that things are getting worse because Trump's economy sucks.
40:29He swore he would end inflation.
40:31End it.
40:32Those are his words, not mine.
40:34He said he would end wars.
40:36He's starting them.
40:37He promised gas would be cheap.
40:39The national average is nearly $4 a gallon.
40:42The only people who are doing great right now are the billionaires and now a trillionaire.
40:47And the greedy corporations that help Republicans get elected.
40:51Because that is who they work for.
40:53And I think people are sick and tired of it.
40:56They're sick of watching Congress lurch from crisis to crisis.
41:00They're sick of Republicans spending more time managing their own egos than lowering anybody's bills.
41:07And let me just end with this.
41:09As we celebrate our country's 250th birthday this weekend, we have so, so much to be proud of as Americans.
41:16We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for.
41:19Each new generation that has fought to expand the circle of our democracy and make real the promise of our
41:25founding.
41:25And they have brought us closer to the dream of a more perfect union.
41:30And that's what makes America great.
41:32And I'm looking forward to spending this 4th of July with family and friends back up in Massachusetts,
41:37the birthplace of America, where our citizens came together to overthrow the most powerful army in the world
41:43and establish a government of, by, and for the people.
41:47But the truth is that right now too many people feel like this country is run of, by, and for
41:53the powerful, the wealthy, and the well-connected.
41:55And you know what? They're right.
41:58People see the corruption, the greed, the self-dealing, and the self-enrichment of this president's family and his crooked
42:04administration.
42:05And they are fed up with it.
42:06And I believe that patriotism means calling your country to a higher standard.
42:12Patriotism means telling the truth, Mr. Speaker.
42:15And the truth is Americans are hurting.
42:17Costs are too high and our democracy and freedoms are under assault by an out-of-control, lawless administration run
42:24by a president who thinks he's a king.
42:26And Republicans are either too busy pledging allegiance to Trump to notice or too distracted fighting with each other to
42:33care.
42:33And we can do better than this.
42:35We should do better than this.
42:36We must do better than this.
42:38Reject this rule.
42:39Stop acting like a cult.
42:41Let's bring back bills that actually help people.
42:45And for God's sake, let's start acting like America again.
42:49And I urge a no vote on this rule, a no vote on the underlying bills, and I yield back.
42:56Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
43:01Download the One India app now.
Comments