Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. RUTHERFORD. Madam Chair, I thank the ranking member for yielding.

Madam Chair, I rise again today in opposition to the political ultimatum that has poisoned this bill.

I had anticipated that I would support Chairwoman Lowey's proposal to provide disaster relief to American families struggling to rebuild from recent disasters like Hurricane Michael that devastated my home State of Florida.

I do thank her and her staff for the hard work that they have done in putting together this disaster relief bill. However, in the dark of night, the majority leadership slipped into this bill another continuing resolution that they know will hold this bill back from ever becoming signed into law.

Some on the other side have asked why adding a CR would be a poison pill in this measure. The answer is really simple: This bill will never be considered by the Senate or signed by the President. Leadership knows this, but they continue to place politics over helping hardworking, taxpaying American citizens.

So what are we here to accomplish? Is the majority trying to help American citizens recover or simply content to blame the President while punishing hardworking taxpayers who have been devastated by natural disasters, including those, by the way, in the Speaker's home State of California? Those folks are desperately in need of this relief as they recover from devastating wildfires.

Instead of doing the right thing and passing a clean disaster relief bill, the other side of the aisle continues to play childish games in an effort to resist the President's call for border security.

If the goal of this bill is to provide disaster relief, why on Earth would the majority attach something that effectively ensures its defeat?

Madam Chair, this move has again effectively victimized those devastated by hurricanes and fire.

It is time to accept the reality of the situation in which we find ourselves. Compromise is the only path forward. President Trump has made clear, I believe, that he is ready to negotiate and to compromise. But this bill before us today could have provided much-needed relief to Florida families recovering from Hurricane Michael. It is not just those families who will suffer. It is the Florida farmers who had their crops decimated by the storm, and the Americans who rely on them, who will suffer also.

Madam Chair, we are 26 days into this shutdown, and leadership is still playing these games. If the majority is serious about providing disaster relief, bring a clean supplemental funding bill to the floor and stop playing games with so many hurting American lives.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source