Raising A Question of the Privileges of the House
Floor Speech
Mr. Speaker, this is a profoundly stupid resolution. Under Republican control, this Chamber has become a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all. Republicans have focused more on censuring people in this Congress than passing bills that help people we represent or improving this country in any way. What a waste of time and money. They have turned this place into a joke.
They came into the majority talking a big game, but have delivered nothing, not a single, damn thing. They talk about passing this and passing that. All their hyperpartisan bills are going nowhere.
What we are now doing is distracting from the fact that the Republican agenda has been a total and complete failure, the least productive Congress in history, the most rules failed in a single year. They dragged America to the brink of default twice, almost shut down the government, wasted weeks fighting about who should be Speaker, and hitting each other in the hallways.
We should be talking about important issues in this Chamber, Mr. Speaker. We should be addressing healthcare costs, helping Americans build economic security, competing with our adversaries abroad, and investing in our people at home.
We just had a shooting in Las Vegas. We should be talking about preventing gun violence in this country, and you have us here talking about how someone tried to go out the wrong door of the Cannon House Office Building.
Honestly, what the hell is wrong with you?
Congressman Bowman apologized. I want to read his statement so we can be clear about what we are talking about here today. ``Today, as I was rushing to make a vote, I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open. I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused.''
He messed up. Like many of us do every day, he was rushing to get to votes. Guess what? No one was hurt. No one's life was put in danger. Votes went on like nothing happened. Anyone who works here knows that a fire alarm going off across the street wouldn't impact votes here in the Capitol.
I find it terribly ironic that we are talking about censuring Mr. Bowman, yet we never censured any of our colleagues who tried to overturn the election on January 6 or who failed to respond to a subpoena or who put our national security in danger by storming the SCIF with their phones.
In fact, to the contrary, Mike Johnson, the new Speaker of the House, held a press conference yesterday about the January 6 video footage. Something he said stuck with me:
We have to blur some of the people's faces who participated in the events of that day because we don't want them to be retaliated against and charged by the DOJ.
Just to be clear, Republicans want to protect the insurrectionists, shield them from accountability, the people who beat officers, kicked in doors, smashed windows, desecrated this building, and tried to take down our democracy. Not our doors; America's doors, America's officers, America's windows. This is America's building that Trump's mob defiled.
Speaker Johnson wants to protect the mob but has us here debating this absurd censure. What a pathetic exercise in retaliation and revenge. What a petty thing it is to bring this garbage to the floor. Sadly, it is just a typical week for this disgraceful Republican majority.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Clark), the Democratic whip.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I will say it again, this resolution is profoundly stupid.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman talks about following the Constitution. Really? Coming from that side, it is laughable to hear that. There was silence about the crimes of Donald Trump; silence about what happened here on January 6. Silence.
Do you want to talk about opening a door?
The people who stormed this place broke down doors trying to kill people. Silence. I don't want to hear any lectures about upholding the Constitution. There is nothing but silence about the crimes of those who attacked this Capitol on January 6.
Stevens).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me just respond to the gentleman by saying if this isn't political or partisan, I don't know what the hell is. This is a pathetic display that we are seeing here on the House floor today.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me just say to my Republican colleagues: Are you listening to yourselves talk?
We are in the House Chamber. Heads of state address this body. We have debates about war and peace, and you are talking about a fire alarm? I mean, give me a break.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Ocasio-Cortez).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, it is really rich to get a lecture from someone about civility who stood on this House floor and screamed and interrupted the President of the United States during his state of the Union, or somebody who continues to circle the wagons and cheer on the insurrectionists who attacked this Capitol violently on January 6.
I was the last person off the House floor on that day, and I saw what happened. Then for people to come down here and defend those actions, it is pathetic and disgusting.
Tlaib).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, oh, my goodness, I had trouble following the gentlewoman. I mean, was crime up or down in the last administration? The one thing I can say with certainty is that crime was way up in the White House in the last administration without a doubt.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Jayapal).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Omar).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Pressley).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Bush).
I apologize to the American people. I apologize that Republicans are wasting their hard-earned taxpayer money with yet another stupid and meaningless censure resolution instead of doing anything that will help the American people.
Jamaal Bowman is a good man, a decent man, a kind man. He was rushing to exit a House Office Building so he could go vote, and he activated a fire alarm in the process of trying to open a door.
Did he destroy government property? No.
Did he obstruct an official proceeding? No.
Did he wield a deadly weapon? No.
Did he assault or injure anyone? No.
However, did he apologize and take responsibility for his actions? Yes, he did.
That is more than we can say for January 6, when this building was desecrated by an angry mob sent by Trump to overturn an election. Republican Members of this body still act like nothing happened. How disgusting. How offensive it is to the men and women who protect us that my friends on the other side of the aisle continue to act like nothing happened that day.
At the end of the day, this has nothing to do with Congressman Bowman, and my friends know that. It is about deflecting from how unhinged this majority is. They had to expel one of their own Members last week, for God's sake. They had the first Speaker in history to be ousted. They have nothing of any consequence to show for an entire year in the majority. Nothing. They have done nothing. They have wasted time on stupid measures like this. Nothing.
This whole exercise is just nuts. For Republicans, it is all about appeasing their orange overlord in Mar-a-Lago who can do no wrong.
They don't care about governing. They aren't fit to govern. They aren't concerned about the serious and complex issues facing this country, the world, or the people we represent. For them, being in power is all about retaliation and revenge, and the destruction of their perceived enemies. It is time for the Republican Party to grow up.
Mr. Speaker, I don't want to waste another second on this meaningless resolution. This is pathetic. The Republicans have turned this Chamber into a place where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all.
My friends have done nothing--not a damn thing--for the people that they say they represent. How can anybody on the other side of the aisle go home with a straight face and say that they are representing their constituents? They have produced nothing for them. They have turned this place into a joke.
It is sad that we are here today. Again, I will end as I began, by apologizing to the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this pathetic, stupid resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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