Relating to Consideration of the Senate Amendment to H.R. Rescissions Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, this process sucks. None of what we are doing here today is about governing. We aren't here to improve healthcare access or to put money back in hardworking people's pockets or to make life better for Americans or, for that matter, anybody in any way.

We are here because Republicans want to protect powerful people. They want to protect billionaires and protect those at the top. It is about doing Donald Trump's bidding. Shame on them.

Earlier this week, I offered a simple amendment to release the Epstein files that Donald Trump, his AG, his FBI director, and his supporters tell us contain a list of clients of Jeffrey Epstein. Let the American people make up their own mind. But Republicans voted it down, every single one of them. Why? Because Donald Trump, for whatever reason, doesn't want these records to get out anymore.

After years of promising America that his administration would release the Epstein files and tapes, Trump is now calling it a hoax. He is calling his own supporters stupid for believing the things he told them, and you are deeming adoption of a bullshit resolution on Epstein that does nothing.

Let me be clear. This resolution does not have the force of law. This does not have the force of law. It is political theater. It is a smokescreen for Republicans to hide from doing something that would demand Trump's DOJ release of these files.

This is a glorified press release, a talking point to save face, something they can wave around and say: See, we care, so they can walk free of shame while doing absolutely nothing.

This nonbinding resolution does nothing to get these files released.

Mr. Speaker, when we asked them when this nonbinding, useless resolution is coming to the House floor, the answer was, well, it is up to the majority leader.

Mr. Speaker, either Republicans want to actually release the files, or they don't. There is no middle ground here.

Republicans don't get credit for pretending to care. They don't get points for playing PR games while the people who enabled Epstein's abuse go unnamed and unpunished.

This is why people hate Congress. This is why they don't trust government.

Republicans talk about supporting the victims. They talk about holding powerful people accountable, but it is lipservice. When the time comes to do something, they come up with a phony, fake vote to give themselves political cover, which brings me to this rescissions package, Mr. Speaker, another disaster, fiscal irresponsibility masquerading as cuts.

The other side just added $4 trillion to the debt with their big, ugly, billionaire-tax-break bill. The big, ugly bill costs 450 times what these rescissions will save. It doesn't even come close.

Mr. Speaker, I should mention that these rescissions are also deeply harmful. It cuts funding for international aid that provides lifesaving healthcare. People are going to die because of these cuts. It undermines Ukraine and our allies. It slashes public broadcasting that delivers essential news to communities nationwide.

Republicans call it tightening the belt, but it is the same old story. Republicans blow up the budget for billionaires, and then they nickel and dime everyone else to pretend that they care about the debt and the deficit. It is nuts.

If we were all being honest here, nobody even truly knows exactly what the hell is in this bill. As Senator Tillis, a Republican, said: ``I suspect we're going to find out there are some things that we're going to regret.''

Susan Collins, another Republican, said: ``The rescissions package has a big problem--nobody really knows what program reductions are in it.''

You can't make this stuff up.

Finally, let's not forget that the Trump administration, as we speak, is illegally withholding over $425 billion in congressionally approved funding while Republicans in Congress rush to get these rescissions done, covering for the President once again, afraid to raise an eyebrow to question what he is doing.

This is not how this place should work. None of what we have experienced with this majority is normal. This is government by chaos, run by a party that can't count its own votes, can't pass its own rules, and can't stand up to the White House after all of their broken promises.

This week has been shameful. People are watching. They see what is happening, and they are tired of being sold out, spun, and left behind.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is concerned about unchecked deficits and debt. He just voted for a bill to add $4 trillion to the debt. Come on. Give me a break.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, you have to love the gentleman from Georgia when he says that he worries about the deficit and the debt. My question is, why the hell did you vote for the big, ugly bill that adds $4 trillion to the debt? It makes no sense.

Mr. Speaker, I urge that we defeat the previous question, and I will offer an amendment to the rule to immediately bring up to the House floor H.R. 4405, the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act, introduced by Representatives Khanna and Massie under a closed rule with 1 hour of debate.

Mr. Speaker, tonight in the Rules Committee, Democrats offered a motion, several motions, to allow a vote on the floor to actually release the Epstein files, and Republicans on the committee just voted to block it, time and time again.

The only reason it won't be considered on the floor immediately after this rule passes is because of nine Republicans on the Rules Committee who voted no.

Now with the previous question, I will give the entire Republican Conference another chance to vote to release the Epstein files, the only other chance to vote on it this week. As I just said, the resolution Republicans just voted on in the Rules Committee is a glorified press release. It is nonbinding.

The Republicans are pretending to do something because they are feeling the heat at home, but it won't even come to the House floor this week, Mr. Speaker. We can't even get a commitment for when it is coming to the floor.

The bipartisan bill we are offering, if we defeat the previous question, would actually release the files. It would have the power of law. It would not be a glorified press release.

Ask yourself, Mr. Speaker, why would anybody want to stop this bill from getting a vote? What are Republicans so afraid of?

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, let me go back to something the gentleman said in his long and rambling speech.

He talked about a coverup. Let me just say to him, who is doing the coverup? You guys are in charge. You control the White House. You control the House. You control the Senate. Get a grip on reality, for God's sake.

Either you don't want to know the truth because you have been conned by Trump that there is nothing in the files, or you are afraid that there might be something in the files. You are in charge.

By the way, I was hoping the majority leader would tell us when he is going to schedule the vote on his meaningless bill on the Epstein files, but I think we will have to wait until he gets back on the floor.

DeLauro), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman voted for the big, ugly bill and added $4 trillion to the debt.

Leger Fernandez), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, Republicans are destroying that which is good and kind in America. Abraham Lincoln said that America is ``the last best hope of Earth.''

Our public radio and TV and our work across the globe for public health and peace are what is the best of America. They are taking Elmo off the air because they gave billionaires a tax break. They are defunding Tribal radio and rural broadcasting while Trump burns through $56 million of taxpayer money on golf and throws himself a $45 million birthday parade.

Republicans are engaged in waste, fraud, and abuse. That is the definition of it. That is the definition of destruction, deception, and corruption.

The bill doesn't protect Tribal broadcasting, doesn't protect emergency alerts, and doesn't protect the working families who rely on public media for news, safety, and education.

Republicans are eating your public programs to serve caviar to their donors. The public will remember who stood with Big Bird and who strangled him.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, according to CBO, the top 1 percent get 22 percent of the tax cuts. The top 20 percent get 66 percent of the tax cuts. Only in a Republican mind would that be considered fair.

I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

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Mr. McGOVERN. That was riveting.

Pelosi), the Speaker Emerita.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, my head is about to explode. That guy just voted to increase the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, and he is trying to blame Democrats for Jeffrey Epstein.

Who was President when Jeffrey Epstein died in his cell?

It was Donald Trump.

Who is in charge now and blocking the release of the files?

It is Donald Trump, so please.

Lois Frankel).

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, we are witnessing a reckless, cruel, and shortsighted assault on American values, global leadership, and our constitutional responsibilities.

Let's be clear. This is not a budget fix. It is a dangerous retreat from our role in the world. Foreign aid is just a sliver of our budget, but it saves lives. It prevents wars, and it opens markets for American businesses. It is a smart investment in our national security.

As we speak, Mr. Speaker, there are millions of dollars of food that has been left rotting over in ports, leaving massive numbers of people in conflict zones starving. This is all due to the chaos and mismanagement of the White House.

This is not fiscal responsibility. It is moral failure. This bad bill pulls millions of children out of school, leaves small farmers without tools, wipes out access to clean water, and cuts off contraception for women and girls.

Meanwhile, our adversaries are stepping in. China and Russia are seizing influence as we retreat. This bill cedes Congress' power of the purse giving one man the authority to cancel funds we have already approved.

I call us the disappearing Congress, and that is not how democracy works. It is how autocracy begins. Vote ``no'' on this very bad bill.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, that guy voted to add $4 trillion to the debt, too.

Mr. GOLDMAN of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to President Trump's reckless and destructive rescissions bill.

The proposed $8 billion cut to global aid programs is not only a shortsighted betrayal of American leadership, but it is going to result in millions of people getting sick and losing their lives.

If we continue to retreat from helping countries around the world as this administration is doing, our adversaries like China will fill the vacuum. That makes us less powerful and less safe.

It is not just lives at risk abroad. Lives here will be lost, too. By defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, millions of Americans will no longer have access to our national emergency weather alert system. Simply put: Americans will die because of these cuts.

In addition to gutting one of the last vestiges of independent journalism, which is only biased if you think the truth is biased, the Republicans are also defunding free children's educational programs enjoyed by millions around the country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

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Mr. McGOVERN. Adams).

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Mr. McGOVERN. Stansbury).

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how many more speakers the gentlewoman has.

Mr. Speaker, before I close, let's talk about what is actually in front of us.

This rescissions package is a joke. Republicans passed a massive tax giveaway for the rich, one of the most expensive in history. That giveaway was 450 times the size of these rescissions, and every single Republican who spoke tonight voted to add $4 trillion to the debt-- every single one of them.

This isn't even good policy or process. It is rushed. It is sloppy. Even Republicans in the Senate are warning about the consequences, but the House majority doesn't care. They are more interested in headlines than outcomes. Once again, it is everyday people who pay the price.

Mr. Speaker, let us end where we started: the Epstein files.

Republicans can take a real vote today, a vote that will put them on the side of truth and justice, a vote to tell victims that we hear you, we see you, and we will not protect the powerful at your expense.

Instead, they are choosing cowardice. They are choosing obedience to Trump, so they cooked up this nonbinding resolution, a press release, pretending to do something.

Let's be clear: Republicans can either vote to release the files or vote to bury them. If every Republican votes to block our attempt to release the records, they are telling Epstein's victims that they don't matter as much as their political convenience. That should disgust every single one of us.

This place deserves better. This country deserves better. The victims, most of all, deserve the truth.

Release the Epstein files. Release the Epstein files. Release the files.

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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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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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