Rescissions Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 499, I call up the bill (H.R. 4) to rescind certain budget authority proposed to be rescinded in special messages transmitted to the Congress by the President on June 3, 2025, in accordance with section 1012(a) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I request that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice my strong support for H.R. 4, the Rescissions Act of 2025.

Last November, the American people sent a clear message to Washington: Stop wasting our tax dollars and get our fiscal house in order.

The President and House Republicans heard the American people. We heard them loud and clear. We are keeping our promises to end the waste, the fraud, and the abuse.

This rescissions package sends $9.4 billion back to the U.S. Treasury. That is $9.4 billion of savings that taxpayers won't see wasted.

It is their money, Mr. Speaker. It is, along with our One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the first of many important steps House Republicans are taking to rein in wasteful spending.

In 2024, the Federal Government spent over $1.8 trillion, and that is just in discretionary spending. The rescissions are only addressing one-half of 1 percent of that total. Democrats would consider this a rounding error.

This administration has spent months combing through our Federal budget, line by line, identifying waste, fraud, and abuse. Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, there is a lot.

I think the American people would be hard-pressed, or anyone would be hard-pressed, to say that the government runs so efficiently that we can't find any more efficiencies. However, don't let the fear-mongering from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle fool you, Mr. Speaker.

Those claiming that these rescissions will harm people in other countries--I am going to say that again--those Democrats who are saying that these rescissions will harm people in other countries are missing the point. It is about people in our country being put first. It is about putting Americans first. What a concept.

That is because American citizens support ending the waste, the fraud, and the abuse in places like USAID.

A ``yes'' vote today will stop wasteful spending on programs like $500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda, $4 million for bean systems research, $67,000 for feeding insect powder to children in Madagascar, and $3 million for Iraqi ``Sesame Street.'' Lord knows, the Iraqi children need a little Big Bird in their life. It is a good use of $3 million of taxpayer money. I might want to use the $3 million on homeless vets.

How about we take some of that cash back.

Mr. Speaker, $4 million for sedentary migrants in Colombia. That seems like an oxymoron.

There is $2.5 million for teaching young children, get this, how to make environmentally friendly reproductive health decisions. I scratch my head on that one.

There is $833,000 for services for transgender people, sex workers and their clients and sexual networks in Nepal.

The list goes on and on. I am sort of embarrassed to read it.

Americans know the Federal Government is wasting money, and they are wasting Americans' taxpayer money. House Republicans are going to stop wasting our tax dollars. It is really simple. We are focused on actually putting the American people first. We are focusing on the American people whom we represent, not whether the people in Zimbabwe have vegan food to eat, and not electric buses in Rwanda. This is what those on the other side of the aisle want to defend: the waste, the fraud, and the abuse. They actually advocate for it.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' to end the insanity and actually put Americans first. Let's rescind wasteful spending. It is really simple.

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I just want to clarify: We are having a debate on the rescissions package, correct, Mr. Speaker?

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I will just remind you, that is fear- mongering at its best.
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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, we can have free speech in America. The government just doesn't need to fund it.
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Mrs. McCLAIN.

Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, if we can't unite and say no to exporting transgender ideology abroad, say no to taxpayer-funded leftwing propaganda, and say no to funding pet projects that put America last, then what is the point of being called a Republican?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to defund NPR, PBS, and USAID. For decades, Republicans have campaigned on being fiscal conservatives, but all we have to show for it is a national debt skyrocketing toward $37 trillion.

Let me be clear: There is nothing fiscally conservative about forcing taxpayers to fund vegan food promotion in Zambia or voter ID in Haiti. We were sent here to do government differently, and nothing could be a clearer test of our commitment than to pass this rescissions package.

The time to act is today. If we continue on our track, our grandchildren will be enslaved to a debt that will dwarf our current monstrosity.
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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, that was fear-mongering at its best.

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson).

I can't take the fear-mongering anymore. Let me correct the truth with the other half of the truth. We are talking about PEPFAR: $4.4 billion, and we are talking about cutting less than 1 percent from that whole entire program.

We are not saying that you have to cut AIDS. Perhaps let me tell you what other programs that we could cut for the American people. You are saying that people are going to die because you want to cut the funding. We are not saying that.

How about we do this? How about we cut $3 million for circumcisions, vasectomies, and condoms in Zambia? How about that? How about we cut $5.1 million that is used to strengthen the resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer global movement? I have got an idea. How about instead of spending it there, how about we spend that money and invest in American healthcare? I could go on and on, but this fear-mongering has absolutely got to stop.

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I never realized Elmo was more important to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the American people, but anyway.

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Boebert).
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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time remains on each side.

Mr. MOORE of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the RSC Rescissions Task Force, I am proud to support this bill to codify the DOGE cuts.

The American people know waste, fraud, and abuse when they see it. They want us to eliminate Democrats' radical agenda, including $5.1 million for global LGBTQ movements, $3 million for circumcisions in Zambia, and $833,000 for transgender surgeries in Nepal.

This package also ensures tax dollars aren't used to weaponize media against the American people. The CEO of NPR called President Trump a fascist while claiming her network is unbiased. These outlets can be as insane as they want--they might want to check CNN's ratings before doing that--but they are just not going to do it with American taxpayer dollars anymore.

This rescissions package is only the first step, and I urge my colleagues to support it.
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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mace).

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear. These rescissions should get bipartisan support. We, as elected officials on both sides of the aisle, have been entrusted with the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people.

The duly elected President of the United States has asked this Congress to protect the American people's tax dollars. It is the least we can do. The administration has identified waste, fraud, and abuse of American taxpayer dollars. It is our responsibility as Representatives to act on those abuses and rescind the money.

All of us should be able to vote to eliminate $45 million in duplicative spending in the African development program. We should all be able to support eliminating $1.7 billion for radical gender projects in the Economic Support Fund. Every Member of this Chamber should be able to support a rescission of $2.5 billion in the development of assistance programs, which bankrolled corrupt leaders in foreign countries.

Mr. Speaker, the American people are watching their Representatives today, emphasis on ``their Representatives.'' They are watching to see if their Representatives have the courage to actually fight for them or will their Representatives defend waste, fraud, and abuse of the bloated Federal Government.

I can say with certainty that House Republicans will always put the American people first, and I hope the other side of the aisle might have the courage to join us.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on H.R. 4 so that we can take the necessary first step in rescinding the wasteful spending of American taxpayer dollars.

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