Raising A Question of the Privileges of the House

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of outrage in this Chamber about an interruption last night. Republicans are furious--furious--that someone dared to speak up.

Do you know what, Mr. Speaker?

I agree that there was a violation of the dignity and decorum of this Chamber, and it came from the podium where Donald Trump was standing. He gave one of the most bitter, angry, and divisive speeches ever delivered in this room.

He offered no vision and no solutions, just grievance after grievance after grievance. It was 90 minutes of pure propaganda. It made me sick.

He offered zero ideas to fix the egg shortage, zero solutions for inflation, zero plans to lower rent, zero about prescription drugs, and zero about caring for our veterans--he didn't even mention them--and zero about the wildfires devastating South Carolina.

Mr. Speaker, do you know what Donald Trump did mention 13 times? Joe Biden. That is because he is obsessed with the past, and he is obsessed with himself.

Republicans jump into action after someone has the guts to stand up and call BS. It has been less than 24 hours, and here they are on the floor with an emergency censure to soothe Donald Trump's fragile ego. I have never seen them leap into action so fast in my life. It was overnight.

Meanwhile, their own voters are getting hurt by this administration, and it is radio silence. They can't even be bothered to lift a finger or do a townhall.

Mr. Speaker, where is the outrage over Trump wanting to cut 80,000 jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs?

Where is the condemnation for Trump firing 6,000 veterans with no justification?

Where is the anger for Trump firing scientists who are working to fix the egg shortage by fighting the bird flu?

Moreover, where is the immediate action when the people who keep Ebola out of the country are fired or the people who secure our nuclear weapons are fired?

Where is the outrage?

Republicans can't lift a finger about any of those things, but they sprint to the floor to censure Al Green because he hurt Trump's feelings. It is pathetic, Mr. Speaker.

Now, look, we know what this is all about. Republicans don't work for America. They don't work for the people. They don't work for veterans, and they don't work for the teachers or the nurses or the firefighters or factory workers or the waitresses or the farmers.

They work for Trump. They work for Trump, for their billionaire donors, and for the greedy corporations who write their campaign checks. Mr. Speaker, if you ever needed proof, then look no further than what is happening right now.

They are desperate--desperate--to distract from their own failings. They are desperate to distract from their betrayal of the middle class. They are so desperate that they are running from their own voters and censuring people who hurt Trump's feelings.

Give me a break.

Al Green is not the one trying to gut Medicaid; Trump is. Al Green is not the one trying to gut veterans' benefits; Trump is. Al Green is not the one cozying up to dictators and screwing over our allies; Trump is.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for the gentleman who just spoke, but where was he and where were the Republicans when Joe Biden was President of the United States?

I remember sitting here, and there was an entire heckling section on the Republican side. We didn't call for all of those Members to be removed. We wanted to go on with the people's business, but where was the gentleman? Where were my Republican friends?

Nobody apologized for interrupting Joe Biden time and time again. The majority talks about lack of decorum. Go back and look at the tapes.

There was silence on the Republican side. I appreciate the gentleman's selective outrage, but he would have more credibility had he expressed outrage when his colleagues were heckling Joe Biden.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the gentleman who just spoke, if he felt that the most offensive thing last night was Mr. Green coming to this floor, standing up in this Chamber, and pleading with the President not to cut people's healthcare, if he thinks that was the most offensive thing that occurred on the House floor last night, then I don't think he was paying attention to the speech that was being given by the President of the United States. Go back and reread it.

Go back and reread it. It was a totally divisive and partisan speech. The President was calling Senators names, berating Joe Biden. It was a campaign speech.

The gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baumgartner) says that the President is supposed to be the President of the entire United States, not just Republicans.

Mr. Speaker, I wish we had seen that last night, but we didn't. In all of my years, I have never ever witnessed anything as partisan and as divisive as that.

DelBene).

Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States said a lot of things last night. He used a personal insult against a sitting Senator from my home State, and the gentleman who just spoke is upset that someone stood up and asked him not to cut Medicaid?

Really? That is what this is all about?

You heard from Mr. Green. There is not a gentler soul in this Chamber, and he was offended by some of the things the President was saying yesterday. I am all for decorum, but where is the decorum in throwing poor people off of healthcare? Where is the decorum in cutting food benefits and nutrition benefits to people who are in desperate need? Where is the decorum in cutting school meals?

These are unusual times that we are in. They are firing veterans as we are gathered here today, people who serve our country with distinction. Our constituents and your constituents are upset, and here we are upset because somebody got up and pleaded with the President not to cut Medicaid.

Where were all of my Republican friends when we had a heckling session year after year of Republicans berating Barack Obama? There was nothing. There was nothing. I can't believe we are having this debate.

Do you know what has never happened in my career? The President of the United States coming before a joint session of Congress and insulting Members by name individually, shouting slurs at people.

I have never seen that before. Would the gentleman agree with me that Trump deserves a censure for calling my Senator from Massachusetts a slur? Would that be appropriate?

Again, this was not business as usual yesterday. To make believe that somehow it was or that the person who was giving the speech yesterday was acting within the structures of decorum is laughable.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

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Mr. McGOVERN. DeLauro).

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire, is the gentleman prepared to close?

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say, the virtue signaling we are seeing from Republicans right now is insane. I am sorry. Who was it who yelled: ``You lie'' at President Obama during his address? A Republican.

Who was it who heckled President Biden, standing up and ranting like lunatics? It was Republicans.

Go back and look at the videos. It was embarrassing. Nothing was done about that.

I am the ranking member of the damn Rules Committee, and I have a question. Why are the rules only applied to Democratic Members?

Are Republicans ready to censure their own Members for wearing campaign hats in the Chamber last night? That is a violation of the rules.

Are they ready to censure the Republican Member who got caught voting from California last month, which is a violation of the House rules? He wasn't even in the Chamber. Hell, he wasn't even on the East Coast.

Are these people going to be censured? Of course not, because their outrage is all BS.

There was a breach of dignity and decorum in this Chamber last night, but it wasn't Al Green. It was the President of the United States, who stood at that podium and delivered a manifesto of pure fantasy.

He says he wants to make America affordable again. Well, inflation just hit a 7-month high, and his new trade war will cost families $2,000 more a year.

Trump says he wants to balance the budget. His plan would add $3 trillion to the deficit to give billionaires another tax cut--let me repeat that again--to give billionaires a tax cut. All these cutbacks, all these firings are going to fund tax cuts for billionaires.

He says Social Security is paying benefits to millions of people over 100 years old. That is totally wrong, debunked a hundred times.

He says he cares about childhood cancer. He slashed the funding for child cancer research.

He says his tariffs are good for farmers. Last time he did this, farmers lost $27 billion.

He says he supports law enforcement. He pardoned the people who beat police officers on January 6. He pardoned them: people who tried to overturn the election, people who brutally beat the men and women who protect us in this Chamber every single day.

There was just one outrageous statement after another, and not a single peep from my Republican friends. Nothing. Now, Mr. Speaker, Republicans have the nerve to come down here and censure anyone.

Republicans moved heaven and earth to come down here and defend the honor of their boss, Donald Trump, but they won't lift a finger for their own constituents. Look in the mirror and censure yourselves.

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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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