We Say No
Floor Speech
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Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to say:
No to endless wars.
No to a President who breaks the law daily.
No to a Republican Congress that is so weak and so spineless that they refuse to stand up.
No to Congressmen and -women who refuse to do their jobs.
No to a Republican Congress that is attempting to rob the American people of healthcare, food, and public lands.
No to lawmakers who refuse to speak out as this administration undermines the rule of law, due process, and American democracy.
No to Members of this Chamber who have been so kowtowed by Donald Trump that they are failing to stand up for the American people, their own people who elected them in good faith and sent them here to defend this country and uphold the Constitution and the rule of law.
We say no.
Mr. Speaker, I stand here today as Donald Trump has taken us to the precipice--the precipice of war, a constitutional crisis, and millions living in fear and marching in the streets.
Mr. Speaker, 3 days ago, the President ordered a unilateral military strike against Iran and notified the majority of Congress and the American people, essentially, by tweet, using a social media post on Truth Social.
Days later, the world is in chaos because we have a President who is acting unilaterally. Authoritarianism is on the rise across the planet, and a region has been destabilized by conflict and violence, putting millions of people at risk, not only in this country but across the world.
American troops are in harm's way.
Iran is seeking help from our adversaries in Russia.
To date, we have had exactly zero--zero--briefings here in this Chamber from the President or the White House about their strategy or intent, or on what they know, what they planned, and how they are going to protect our troops, our bases, and the American people.
This follows on days of Donald Trump attacking the American people on our own soil by deploying United States marines, as combat troops, and the National Guard against our own people.
His own DHS Secretary and Federal agents handcuffed and pushed a United States Senator to the floor.
His U.S. attorney indicted a United States Congresswoman from this Chamber for doing her job.
A New York City official was arrested in a Federal courthouse.
I ask my colleagues: Is this the America that you swore your oath to and that you raised your right hand to defend, an America where the President is making hundreds of millions of dollars in a cryptocurrency bribery scheme; an America where the President is soliciting foreign governments for private gifts, including a $400 million jet in exchange for favors; and who is systemically dismantling programs that feed and house our people? He is trying to gut our healthcare systems and saddle generations of our people with trillions of dollars in debt so that he and his billionaire friends can have a few more tax breaks and a few more toys in their collection.
Is that what you stand for? Is that why you ran for office? Is that what the GOP and the Republicans in charge of this Chamber ran for and stand for?
You are the people who decide what moves on this floor and hold the keys to accountability. You are the ones who know that what is happening right now is wrong.
I ask how you can sit idly by and watch as your President dismantles the systems that uphold our democracy and the rule of law.
How can you sit here and watch as he recklessly deploys the military at home and abroad, threatening the safety and security of our people?
How can you sit idly by and watch as children starve across the world, including in Gaza and Sudan?
How can you justify a man who cozies up to our foreign adversaries and turns his back on our allies?
It does not have to be this way. You control this Chamber. You decide what happens, and Donald Trump is not a king.
I call on my Republican colleagues to find your backbones, find your moral compass, find your resolve, do what is right, and do your jobs.
I say to the American people: Keep marching. Keep speaking.
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