Providing for Consideration of H.R. Ukraine Security Assistance and Oversight Supplemental Appropriations Act, Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. Department of Defense Appropriations Act, and Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, Republicans spent 3 weeks trying to bring the Defense appropriations act to the floor. Three times it went to the Rules Committee. The first two times, the rule failed on the floor, and it failed, in part, because a small minority of Republicans do not support any Ukrainian assistance, including support for Ukraine that has been in the base Defense bill for 9 years.

The Republican Conference knew for weeks that this was a problem for them, and that is why they have created this pseudo minibus that we have been working on the past few days. It is loaded with extreme social policy riders to appease the far right so that their party can advance a Defense bill.

Earlier this week, Republicans could have used the Rules Committee to strip out the Ukraine funding from the Defense bill. They chose not to do so then. Instead, the Rules Committee made two Republican amendments in order to strike any Ukrainian funding. Then that amendment came to the floor, and they asked the House to do its will.

The Biggs amendment was rejected by this House by a vote of 104-330. The Gaetz amendment was also rejected 93-339. In a closely divided Congress, this is about as clearly a bipartisan vote as you can get. In both cases, the Republicans and the Democrats stood together with Ukraine, but the Republicans found out that they still had a problem with the extreme right in their party.

Even after the votes, the vocal Republican minority threatened the Speaker again to take down the Defense bill, all because the votes didn't go their way, so here we are today.

The Speaker has sent the Defense bill back to the Rules Committee to override the will of this House in its most basic democratic process of amending bills.

It is ironic that the Speaker is so focused on passing the defense bill in such an undemocratic way. He has wasted weeks letting the far right abuse the Republican majority, while at the same time failing to address the impending government shutdown.

Today, these extreme Members are abusing the entire House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, Members, the lessons from the last 3 weeks could not be more clear. When you don't stand up to bullies, they continue to bully you. That is what is happening here. The bullies in the Republican Conference have won once again at the expense of this institution. That is why I would ask my colleagues to defeat the previous question.

Let's stand up to the bullies in this Chamber. Let's strip this outrageous provision from the rule and return this House to regular order where every vote matters, and when the vote of the majority of the House speaks, it is respected.

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