Rescissions Act of 2025
Floor Speech
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Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, Sunday is Father's Day, and what do dads want? They want a fair shot. They want to know that if they work hard, they can provide for their families. Yet, right now, most families in America can't even afford the basics.
Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of families in the richest nation on Earth cannot afford the first rung of the American Dream. What are my Republican colleagues doing about that?
The majority voted for a big, ugly bill that makes it even harder to raise a child in America. It takes away healthcare from 16 million Americans. It takes food benefits from working parents. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are cutting half a trillion dollars from Medicare and hiking the costs of everyday items with their tariffs, all to fund tax breaks for the billionaire class.
That alone is a betrayal of working families, but the GOP is not stopping there. My Republican colleagues are not stopping at dismantling people's financial security. Today, Republicans are threatening their physical security because when you defund public broadcasting, you are defunding emergency broadcasts during hurricane season, tornado season, and wildfire season.
That is not even enough. The majority has to take even more. Today, my colleagues are also voting to dismantle our national security.
There are three shields that defend our homeland: defense, diplomacy, and development. When you destroy our capacity to address famine, control disease, and build infrastructure in developing nations, you are ceding our power to our rivals. You are planting the seeds of future wars.
A prominent Republican said this week that he just couldn't justify these investments. In this debate, I have heard that this is about putting America first. What are Republicans talking about? They just cut food programs and healthcare for American families.
Here is what my Republican colleagues fundamentally don't seem to understand: There is no security for billionaires in this country without security for a hungry child. There is no security for the ultrarich donors without security for working parents.
In the words of President Kennedy: ``If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.''
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to please vote ``no.''
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