Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer my amendment No. 63 to prohibit funding for President Biden's Executive Order No. 14019 entitled: ``Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting.''

This executive order requires Federal agencies to use their power, their influence, their resources, and taxpayer cash to enter into agreements with partisan nongovernmental organizations, mostly left- leaning, to conduct voter registration and other mobilization activities.

Mr. Chairman, this executive order is nothing but a blatant attempt to transform the Federal Government into a partisan get-out-the-vote scheme for the Democrats. America's civil servants must be nonpartisan, and Federal agencies should not be using taxpayer funds to actively engage in get-out-the-vote operations that have nothing to do with agencies' core missions, not to mention the obvious mission creep and the Hatch Act violations that this activity would trigger.

Mr. Chair, President Biden should not be weaponizing the Federal Government using taxpayer dollars to manipulate and steer our elections in a partisan manner.

As the cofounder and chair of the Election Integrity Caucus, it is my privilege to introduce this amendment to restore transparency and confidence in our democratic process while keeping partisan Federal bureaucrats and the swamp from deliberately tipping the balance at the ballot box.

I stand firmly behind the concept of one citizen, one vote, as is enshrined in our Constitution. However, I do not support this blatantly partisan mobilization of the Federal Government for political purposes. No citizen should have their vote diluted by Federal bureaucrats.

Mr. Chairman, I urge all my colleagues to support this amendment, which will preserve election integrity and stop the Biden administration from transforming our people's government and our people's House into a get-out-the-vote machine for partisan Democrats.

Let's make voting great again.

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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chairman, respectfully, the reason many people don't vote is they don't have trust in our system because they know it has been undermined, particularly after the pandemic election of 2020.

Also, it is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the Federal Government, particularly by an unconstitutional executive order, to intervene in the role that is set forth in our Constitution where States administer our elections, not the Federal Government on a partisan executive order and partisan bureaucrats using our tax dollars to sway elections for partisan reasons.

These groups that the so-called order is bringing forth are mostly Democratic. In fact, almost all are Democratic-leaning outside groups, third-party groups that should not be involved directly with our agencies. Our agencies are tasked with important missions that serve the American people. They should not be serving up votes for the Democratic Party.

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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chairman, I urge all my colleagues to vote for this amendment. We have to have free, fair, and private elections. It is what the Election Integrity Caucus has set out to do and what we have been doing. We endeavor to make sure we can get every legal citizen to vote in every election. That is our mission. It is not to sway voters.

Voters need to feel confident that their votes are secure, that their votes are not manipulated, and their votes are not diluted. That is exactly what this amendment seeks to do, and that is what has undermined the trust that our citizens have in these elections.

Mr. Chair, for that reason, I urge all of my colleagues, including my Democratic colleagues, to vote in favor of this amendment to be sure that we have free, fair, and private elections.

Again, I must reiterate to Mr. Chair: Let's, for once, make voting great again.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to introduce my amendment No. 64 to prohibit any funds from taxpayer dollars to pay the salary of, reinstate, or reemploy a gentleman named Robert Malley.

The Biden administration has made some of the worst appointments in modern history. The appointment of Rob Malley as the special envoy has to be among the worst. Even before joining the administration, Rob Malley has a storied history of legitimatizing the terrorist organization Hamas, also a U.S.-designated terrorist organization; has blamed Israel for Palestinian attacks; and has facilitated the disastrous 2015 Iran nuclear deal. This was all before he was even appointed by the Biden administration.

Despite this history, the Biden administration appointed Mr. Malley as the special envoy to the country of Iran. Not only did Mr. Malley tarnish the great work of previous envoys, like Brian Hook and Elliott Abrams, but Malley was working to circumvent U.S. law by striking a deal with Iran without disclosing this to Congress.

Under the INARA, the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, any deals with Iran must be disclosed to Congress, whether written or not. However, Malley worked for years and, according to reports, reached an agreement on his own with Iran. Yet, still, nothing had been disclosed to Congress.

Over a year ago, in June of 2023, Malley was placed on unpaid leave due to investigation into his mishandling of classified information. This matter has been referred to the FBI for criminal investigation and prosecution.

Was Malley handing over State secrets to Iran? We still don't know, and the administration is refusing to update Congress. It has been a year, Mr. Chairman. Why has the administration continued to refuse to update Congress on this critically important national security investigation?

Alarmingly, a bombshell report revealed that three top aides to Malley were part of an Iranian Government network. That is right. The special envoy to Iran's self-appointed top aides were compromised Iranian assets. This is beyond incompetent. This is criminal, and it is the very definition of harming U.S. national security.

While Mr. Malley is still on unpaid leave, he cannot be allowed to return to his post under any circumstance. The employment of Rob Malley in the Federal Government, using our taxpayer dollars, is an active threat to the safety and the security of the United States.

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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is simple. The American people should not be forced to support a top-level government official who surrounded himself with compromised foreign assets from a designated state sponsor of terrorism.

If Members care about U.S. national security, support this amendment. If Members oppose a nuclear Iran and oppose the despotic Iranian regime, a government that tortures and murders its own citizens who are standing up and exhibiting free speech, then support this amendment. If Members oppose state sponsors of terrorism having premier access to U.S. Government officials, support this amendment.

I urge my colleagues to defund Rob Malley's salary completely and make it clear that the House stands against compromised foreign assets receiving taxpayer dollars.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. TENNEY. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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