Providing for Consideration of H.R. Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, Providing for Consideration of H.R. Special Interest Alien Reporting Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities From Duis Act of and Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Condemning the Violent June 2025 Riots in Los Angeles, California

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, that was riveting. I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Austin Scott) for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, contained in this rule are two immigration bills, one of which Congress has already passed, another of which directs the administration to do something they already have the power to do.

There is a nonbinding resolution here to condemn rioting. We had an interesting conversation in the Rules Committee last night, and I don't remember Republicans offering a nonbinding resolution to condemn the riots that occurred outside this building on January 6, 2021.

We can't even get the Speaker of the House to hang the plaque expressing gratitude to the law enforcement officers who protected us that day that a law says he has to hang, so please forgive me if I think this one rings a bit hollow.

Then, we have an appropriations bill that continues this trend toward privatizing VA services and blocks women who are veterans from being able to get abortion services at the VA in most cases. Republicans are trying to restrict the freedoms of the people who are willing to fight and die for our freedoms. Republicans are unbelievable.

I am glad that we are here on the floor debating, Mr. Speaker. I just don't think we are debating what 90 percent of Americans want us to be talking about right now, which is the chaos and confusion that this administration has created and the real fear that Americans have about this country being dragged into another quagmire in the Middle East.

The bottom line is that this administration is acting insane. The President yesterday said there was going to be a cease-fire forever between Israel and Iran. They are back to bombing each other this morning. The cease-fire he bragged about didn't even last a day.

He has inserted us into this war with zero thought to the consequences. We are bombing Iran. Iran is bombing us. The risk of miscalculation is massive, and the entire Republican Party is just going along for the ride.

Stephen Miller, a top administration official, is on TV talking about Donald Trump like he is Kim Jong-un. It is creepy.

The majority says they are not in a cult. Now is their chance to prove it.

Trump is doing literally the exact opposite of what he promised to do in his campaign. Instead of having the courage to say something, 99 percent of these guys suddenly decided they are in favor of endless wars. The mental gymnastics that takes is nuts.

Mr. Speaker, if it looks like a cult, if it acts like a cult, maybe, just maybe, it is a cult.

I thought Republicans said they were going to lower food prices. Food is just as expensive as it was 6 months ago, and now, we are dragged into another war in the Middle East. This isn't America First. This is not even normal. It is nuts.

This is an administration in way over its head that thought ending a war was as easy as ranting on Truth Social. Now, American troops and taxpayers are paying the price for their stupidity and carelessness.

Let's be crystal clear. These strikes were illegal, unauthorized, and unconstitutional. No debate, no vote, no evidence of an imminent threat--that is not how this should work. If we are going to drop bombs and put American lives in danger, Republicans in Congress should be willing to come down here and have the courage to vote ``yes'' or ``no'' so that people know where they stand.

Meanwhile, while families are bracing for gas prices to go up and dealing with food prices that never came down, these guys want Congress to ignore all of that and rubberstamp their big, ugly tax scam, a scam that hands tax breaks to billionaires while ripping food off kids' tables and healthcare out of seniors' hands.

Mr. Speaker, these guys do not know what the hell they are doing, and America is paying the price. Trump said there would be a cease-fire forever, and it lasted 1 day. He said the big, ugly bill won't touch Medicaid and won't screw over middle-class families, but the bill cuts 16 million people off their healthcare and ransacks the food budgets of working people.

Guess what. You can't trust him. You can't trust a word this administration says. We should be debating a War Powers Resolution. We should be talking about their awful, ugly bill that is working its way through the Senate. Instead, Republicans want business as usual, endless wars, and tax cuts for the rich.

Enough is enough. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump--I know it pains my colleagues to say that, ``President of the United States Donald J. Trump''--for his decisive action. I thank him for calling both sides out on the cease- fire.

I point out to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that, as of right now, the cease-fire is holding, and most of the world wants that cease-fire to hold.

Mr. Speaker, when you talk about a cult, the cult would be the people who hate Donald Trump so bad that they want the cease-fire to fail.

Mr. Speaker, let me just remind my colleagues again about what is happening here. Trump said he would end the war in Ukraine on day one. He didn't. Last time I checked, it is still going on.

He said he wouldn't get us into another war. He just did. He said there was a cease-fire that would last forever. There wasn't.

He said his bill won't kick people off of Medicaid, and it will. Sixteen million people are about to lose their healthcare, and it is going to adversely impact rural areas even more so because of what he is doing.

Mr. Speaker, do you know what he has been doing since midnight? He has been on Truth Social. He has posted nearly 30 times since midnight on Truth Social, first of all declaring victory and that everything is beautiful and then retweeting posts calling for him to get the Nobel Peace Prize.

He is more interested in getting an award than he is in protecting people's healthcare and making sure that people in this country have enough to eat and that children don't go hungry.

I mean, these priorities, maybe they are the majority's priorities. They are not my priorities. I think they are all screwed up.

Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 2753, the Hands Off Medicaid and SNAP Act of 2025, which would block the Republicans from cutting Medicaid or SNAP benefits and kicking people off these lifesaving programs as part of their reconciliation bill.

Last month, House Republicans jammed through their multitrillion- dollar tax scam by a one-vote margin. As a reminder, this bill includes the largest ever cut to food assistance and will strip healthcare from 16 million Americans, all while adding $3.3 trillion to the debt.

Mr. Speaker, some Republicans didn't even know what was in the bill when they voted for it. Yet when they had the chance for a revote 2 weeks ago, because they screwed it up the first time, they voted to cut Medicaid and SNAP again.

As we stand here, debating unrelated immigration measures, Senate Republicans are moving forward with their version of the big, ugly bill. Because House Republicans broke so many rules when they passed their bill the second time, they are going to have to vote on it a third time when it comes back from the Senate.

Miraculously, due to their own ineptitude, Republicans have given themselves yet another opportunity to protect healthcare and SNAP for millions of Americans. Let's see if they vote this time to bring up the Hands Off Medicaid and SNAP Act.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Figures).

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that everybody is going to be adversely impacted by the big, ugly bill. Senior citizens, children, and everybody in between will be impacted.

In the gentleman's district in Georgia, it is estimated that a total of 41,718 people will lose their insurance. It is estimated that 33,400 will lose Affordable Care Act coverage. Mr. Speaker, 8,318 will lose Medicaid coverage.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know how Republicans go back to their districts and meet with their constituents. I guess they don't meet with their constituents anymore. I know the Speaker of the House said Republicans shouldn't do townhalls.

At some point my Republican colleagues will have to face them. How do they tell their constituents they voted for a bill that will adversely impact them?

The cuts in SNAP alone will increase hunger in this country substantially. We should talk about how we end hunger and, instead, Republicans are moving legislation to increase hunger.

We should have a country where everybody has healthcare coverage. Instead, they are pushing a bill that will throw people off of health insurance. I don't know how people do that. I don't know how they go home and talk to constituents about the fact that they are here fighting on their behalf.

I thought our job, no matter whether Democrat or Republican, was to fight for things to improve the quality of life for everybody in this country. That is not what this big, ugly bill is about.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say the Senate has actually made the Medicaid provisions worse, if that was possible. Even more people will lose it. That is not me saying it. It is the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, saying that. It is not Jim McGovern or Democrats. The Congressional Budget Office is saying it.

It talks about not only how many people will lose their healthcare coverage and how many people will lose their SNAP benefits, but it talks about how much this is going to add to the debt. It will add trillions.

The people who are deficit hawks, they all talk a good game. They are going to be tough on the budget. They are going to make cuts to make sure we can balance the budget, except they don't. They add another $3.3 trillion, basically to give tax breaks to billionaires.

Who does that? Who thinks that is a good idea? I don't think I know any billionaires. I am hard-pressed to find somebody out there who is a billionaire who says he really needs another tax cut.

We ought to reject this big, ugly bill that they pushed through the House and that is on its way back from the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, my question to the gentleman is: If he doesn't represent any billionaires, why is he for tax cuts for billionaires?

Why are Republicans for tax cuts for billionaires? Maybe it is because they write out big campaign contributions. That is really a cynical thing. That is what is at the heart of all of this.

The gentleman said that taxes will go up for middle-class families in Massachusetts. We actually gave them a chance in the Rules Committee. We are for middle-class tax cuts. We are for extending them. In the Rules Committee, I offered a number of amendments to exempt billionaires from the tax cut. Every Republican, the gentleman included, voted ``no.'' They wanted to make sure that the billionaires got the tax cuts.

Then we said: What about millionaires? Let's exempt millionaires. Let's keep the tax cuts for the middle class and exempt millionaires. Everyone on the Rules Committee, including the gentleman, voted ``no.''

By the way, if people want to know what is going on here, the cuts to SNAP alone are $300 billion. The cuts to Medicaid in the Affordable Care Act are $1 trillion. The tax cuts for people with incomes in the top 5 percent are $1.6 trillion.

The numbers don't lie, but it kind of shows what this debate is all about. This is about a transfer of wealth from those in the middle to those at the top. It is about rewarding and enriching those who are well-off and well-connected. It is about punishing those in the middle and those fighting to be able to just get by, to put food on the table, and to make sure they go to the doctor if they or their kids get sick.

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I, and I think everybody on the Democratic side, oppose violence and criminality, and people who commit violence ought to be held to account.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield to the gentleman if he would join with me in publicly condemning the pardon of all those who committed such heinous crimes and so much violence here on the Capitol on January 6.

I can tell you one thing, Mr. Speaker, Governor Newsom is not going to pardon those who looted stores or committed violence or attacked law enforcement, but Donald Trump pardoned the people who attacked the men and women who were protecting all of us here, our staff, and all of the people who work here.

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield to the gentleman if he wants to condemn the pardons that Trump gave to all those who committed these terrible crimes on that horrific day.

Silence.

We can't even get the Speaker of the House to hang a plaque honoring the men and women in law enforcement who defended us.

What is wrong with this place?

Violence is wrong no matter whom it is committed by. The difference here is that Governor Newsom will not pardon people who committed violent crimes.

Again, Mr. Speaker, as we are gathered here today, we have a President who all he seems to want to do is tweet. As I said before, he has posted nearly 30 times since midnight. He took credit for a cease- fire which, by this morning, was broken. He attacked Federal Reserve Chair Powell. He attacked Representative Ocasio-Cortez, and he attacked Representative Thomas Massie. Again, I think attacking Massie may replace golf as the President's favorite pastime.

Of course, while talking about Representative Massie, Trump had to pat himself on the back for winning elections in Kentucky. He also posted multiple times about the Nobel Peace Prize. That is what he cares about, getting an award. It is all about him, not saving healthcare, not ending hunger, but getting an award.

We need serious people working to solve real problems, and what we have is a reality TV show White House with a stream of consciousness press operation, and it is supported by a Republican Congress that thinks it is a debate club rather than an equal branch of government.

This Congress doesn't even debate real things. The President sent our troops to bomb another country this week, and that is not what we are here debating this week. We are debating a meaningless resolution and bills to further demonize immigrants.

Enough, Mr. Speaker. Let's try work on something, anything, that will help real people. This is not the way government is supposed to operate. It is not working. People are being hurt.

While we are having this discussion here today, this big, ugly bill is winding its way through the Senate to come back here to the House.

I predict that my Republican friends, as always, will say: Oh, I am really concerned about the cuts in Medicaid. I am really worried about people who will lose their healthcare. Yeah, I know, I wish they weren't cutting SNAP so deeply. Oh, yeah, I really care about this and care about that.

Do you know what they will do, Mr. Speaker?

They will come here, and they will cave. They get in line because they are afraid of even asking a question about what this President is doing and what this administration is advocating. We need to do so much better around here.

I have to tell you, Mr. Speaker, this is ridiculous that this is what we are doing this week when there is so much happening in the world. By the way, again, let's make sure everybody understands this: This big, ugly bill that is coming here is about a tax break for billionaires. I just showed you the figures, Mr. Speaker. There is more money going to billionaires than anybody else in the tax bill, and they are cutting programs like SNAP and Medicaid. It really is shameful.

Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time each side has remaining.

Mr. Speaker, a couple of things. The gentleman has had 30 minutes, and he couldn't spend 30 seconds to condemn the Trump pardons of those who viciously attacked our law enforcement on that terrible day on January 6. We have a Speaker of the House who won't hang a plaque that he is supposed to do under law honoring the law enforcement who were here protecting all of us and who were beaten right outside that door.

It is crickets on the other side. They can't bring themselves to condemn that. They can't say that the pardons were wrong. I don't get it.

I have spent my entire life fighting for peace, and when Trump says that he wants peace, where is the peace?

He said that he was going to bring peace to Ukraine on day one. Instead, what he has done is he is constantly giving comfort to the Russian leader. He has lambasted Zelenskyy in the Oval Office and can't say enough nice things about Vladimir Putin.

That is not my idea of peace. That is capitulation. That is giving in to a vicious aggressor. I am sorry, if the gentleman thinks that that is peace, then we have a very different opinion of that.

Again, we all hope and pray that things de-escalate in the Middle East. Here is what we know: We don't know whether Iran still has nuclear material, and we also know that they have been lobbing bombs at each other still. We know there is tremendous unrest in the Middle East, and we don't really know what the endgame is. That is why we should have a debate, and that is why Congress has a role to play.

Again, Mr. Speaker, you may think that all that Donald Trump is doing is fabulous, and that is great, but do you know what, Mr. Speaker?

You should also, as a Member of Congress, want to defend the powers of the legislative branch and understand that we have a role in this too, and that sometimes through debate, if people decide they want to support the President's policies, well, that just strengthens his hand. If people have real questions, then maybe we have to take a different course.

I was around here when we rushed to war in Iraq. We did have a debate, but we were given faulty information by the administration at the time. We were lied to. There were no weapons of mass destruction, and look at what that cost us in terms of life, treasure, and credibility around the world.

Mr. Speaker, again, I think there are things that we should be focused on here right now that are much more pressing than the items that are before us here today.

Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I certainly have thanked before, and I will thank again, all of the law enforcement and the men and women who keep us safe in this Capitol. I appreciate what they do for us.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close if the gentleman is prepared to close. I don't have any additional speakers. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, let me just say to the gentleman: You say that you support and respect the men and women who protect us here, the law enforcement who protect us here, yet you can't bring yourself to condemn the action that pardoned those individuals who viciously attacked law enforcement. Also, nobody on the Republican side will demand of the Republican Speaker of the House to hang the plaque that, by law, he is supposed to hang honoring the law enforcement who defended us on that day.

I think that is a lack of respect. That is a lack of respect to law enforcement. The Republicans can't even condemn the rioters who were here on January 6.

So what the hell is wrong with this place?

Mr. Speaker, I will close with this: Congress alone has the power to declare war, not Donald Trump, not his Truth Social account, and not his campaign donors. This administration cannot be trusted with that power. They have no plan, they have no strategy and no clue. Just follow him on Truth Social. Every day they stoke chaos abroad to distract from the misery that they are causing at home.

Mr. Speaker, does anyone remember the last time a Republican President misled the Nation about WMDs, using vague evidence to drag us into a war in the Middle East? He stood under a mission accomplished banner, and then we were at war for nearly a decade, and it cost trillions of dollars and thousands of lives.

I guess the 2025 version of a mission accomplished banner is a Truth Social post telling everyone that this was a spectacular military success.

Give me a break. Mr. Speaker, 2003 called. They want their foreign policy back.

Republicans want to keep everyone divided and distracted. They went to distract us from their big, ugly bill, a tax scam so cruel and corrupt that it actually makes working families poorer just to make billionaires richer.

They want to distract us from the fact that under Trump's watch, grocery bills are sky-high, farmers will suffocate under tariffs, and now families are bracing for a spike at the pump because this President started a war, and he has no clue how to end it.

Well, I won't be distracted. We see this chaos for what it is: reckless, stupid, and dangerous. We see this tax bill for what it is: greedy, immoral, and bad for working people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this House to stop rubber-stamping chaos and to stop rubber-stamping corruption. Let's do our constitutional duty: Stop this illegal war, end this rotten tax scam, and stand up for the people we work for.

Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia.

Mr. Speaker, this week, the House has the ability to advance four pieces of legislation under this rule.

H.R. 3944 is the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2026, which provides significant investments and support for our veterans, servicemembers, and their families, as well as military construction. I expect and hope that it will pass in a bipartisan manner.

H.R. 275 is the Special Interest Alien Reporting Act of 2025 which provides transparency by publishing a monthly report on the number of special interest aliens attempting to enter the U.S. and includes the encounter location and their country of origin. This is information that the public has a right to know.

H.R. 875 is the Jeremy and Angel Seay and Sergeant Brandon Mendoza Protect Our Communities from DUIs Act of 2025, which works to keep the American people safe by closing a loophole in U.S. immigration law to ensure that aliens who drive intoxicated are inadmissible to, and deportable from, the United States.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I hope and expect it will pass in a bipartisan manner.

H. Res. 516 condemns the violent June 2025 riots in Los Angeles, California, which recognizes the right to assemble and protest peacefully while condemning the riots and violence against law enforcement.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on the previous question and ``yes'' on the rule.

The material previously referred to by Mr. McGovern is as follows:

An Amendment to H. Res. 530 Offered by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 9. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 2753) to amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide for a point of order against reconciliation measures that cut benefits for Medicaid or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Rules or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 10. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 2753.

Mr. AUSTIN SCOTT of Georgia.

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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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