Emporer of the Swamp

Floor Speech

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Mr. TED LIEU of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Gallego for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, what Congressman Gallego didn't say is, first of all, both of us are veterans, and we serve on Active Duty in the United States military because we believe in this country, we believe in America, we believe we are an exceptional nation.

But Scott Pruitt has made a joke of Federal service. He is under 12 investigations. He has wasted taxpayers' money, he has used taxpayers' money to enrich himself, and he has used taxpayers' money to help his wife.

Based on what Congressman Gallego said about this lotion thing, he had his personal security detail, paid for at taxpayer expense, drive around to Ritz-Carltons to try to find lotion. That is why I have a picture here of the Ritz-Carlton lotion.

There is also this thing, by the way, known as the internet. You can just go on the internet and search for Ritz-Carlton lotion. The first link will take you to the Ritz-Carlton shops, and he could have just ordered it without using his taxpayer-funded staff to drive around to find this lotion. This is just an example of the joke he has made of Federal service.

Mr. Gallego and I are going to break down for the American people today the top 10 scandals of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.

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Mr. TED LIEU of California. Mr. Speaker, number nine is the dinner reservation. It was publicly reported that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt asked the security detail to turn on lights and sirens so that they could drive him down the crowded traffic streets of Washington, D.C., and get him to dinner at Le Diplomate restaurant.

That is an abuse of taxpayer funds, and that is not what sirens are for. They are for actual emergencies, not to make sure that a Trump Cabinet official can make his dinner reservation on time.

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Mr. TED LIEU of California. Number four, the $43,000 soundproof phone booth: So EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is so paranoid that he wasted $43,000 of your taxpayers' money to build a soundproof phone booth for him to make phone calls.

So if the President doesn't want to fire EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for his corruption, I think the President should just fire him for being super weird, right? You have got Scott Pruitt using a security detail to get lotion at the Ritz-Carlton, to have his staff trying to find used Trump Hotel mattresses, and he has built this private phone booth. That is just creepy and strange.

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Mr. TED LIEU of California. Number two is the sweetheart condo deal with lobbyists.

So Scott Pruitt got this deal with lobbyists that no ordinary American could have gotten. It was a $50-a-night deal on a condo in Washington, D.C., near the Capitol, and market rates were much higher than $50 a night.

But in addition, he structured a lease so he only had to pay for the nights that he was there. So many nights that he wasn't there, the landlord just had to eat those costs. That is not a lease that any normal American could have gotten.

The reason that Scott Pruitt got this is because he was dealing with these lobbyists, who also lobbied on issues before him. This is what most people would call corruption.

And before we go to the last one, which is about the Chick-fil-A restaurant, I just want to say the fact that Chick-fil-A--I can't even say this without laughing. Maybe Ruben Gallego can talk about this with a straight face.

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Mr. TED LIEU of California. Again, Congressman Gallego and I served on Active Duty in the military. We are veterans. We believe in this country. That is why we are up here.

Some of the things we said today may have sounded funny, because we are trying to point out the absurdity of why EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is still in office.

Scott Pruitt has wasted taxpayer funds, he has abused taxpayer funds for his personal profit, he has abused his relationship with lobbyists to personally profit, he has also abused his relationships to help his family profit.

Scott Pruitt, at the end of the day, is not just an embarrassment to us, he is an embarrassment to the Republicans in this House, to the Democrats in this House, to the Trump Cabinet, and to the United States of America.

Scott Pruitt has to go.

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