Further Continuing Appropriations and Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, have the Republicans forgotten that they are in the majority? The bill that was supposed to come up was posted and negotiated by the Republican Speaker. He posted it. He negotiated it.

You know that the bill that you are bringing up instead tonight will not pass. We will leave here tonight. This bill will not pass, and so you are the ones who are creating the shutdown.

You have the power to decide what bills come to the floor. You are putting a bill on this floor that you know will not pass and will lead to a Republican shutdown. It is on you because you have the majority.

Mr. Speaker, I mention this other bill that was supposed to come up and that you refused to bring up. This bill was negotiated because we realized in the Energy and Commerce Committee that people were suffering.

They were suffering from high drug prices because of pharmaceutical benefit plans, PBPs, and so we put in a bill on a bipartisan basis, a way of trying to bring prices down with PBP reform.

We knew that consumers were being screwed all over the place with shady things on websites when they buy things, junk fees, and all kinds of deceptive practices.

We put in on a bipartisan basis that we were going to get rid of junk fees, that we were going to get rid of deceptive practices, whether it went to a concert or a hotel or whatever it happened to be, because we cared on a bipartisan basis to try to bring prices down, to try to make things more fair for the consumer, for the American people.

You took all of that out because a billionaire, Elon Musk, decided that the Republicans were supposed to act in favor of corporate interests, in favor of billionaires, and in favor of special interests. That is what is going on here.

You jettisoned all of the things that we worked on, on a bipartisan basis, to try to bring prices down, be fair to the American people, protect the consumer, protect the environment, protect safety. Instead, you decided to simply go ahead with something that you know will not pass and that will shut the government down.

Don't tell me that this is on our watch. This is on your watch. You are the majority. You are responsible. This is not going to pass. The government is going to shut down, and the American people are going to suffer because of you, as Republicans.

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