Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Bureau of Land Management Relating to ``Miles City Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment''
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, it is day 8 of the government shutdown, but it is day 19 of the House being on vacation.
How is it possible that the party in charge of the government is sitting at home while the government is shut down?
Well, let's take a look. This is the House schedule. These yellow blocks are workdays. It is already a pretty nice schedule. Most people, if they are fortunate, get either 7 days or 10 days of vacation. Some people get less; some people get more. But nobody gets this amount of time off. We call that a district work period or a home work period. And that is true, we need to be home to interact with our constituents. But that is what August is for.
Here is what happened. They left early on the 25th, specifically, to avoid a vote on the Epstein files. Then they had this week off, this week off, this week off, this week off, this day off; come back, one, two, three, long weekend; one, two, three, four, long weekend; one, two, three, four, long weekend; another break; another break; another break. And now they are taking another break.
Get back to work.
Get back to work.
We are facing a healthcare crisis, and we didn't pull this out of some Democratic strategist's lab. The Presiding Officer knows this in his home State. Prices are about to spike disproportionately among people who voted for Donald Trump, disproportionately in rural communities, disproportionately among farmers. And they are not going to spike a little. This is not like a normally 4-percent increase is now 7 percent.
For 22 million Americans, the price of healthcare is about to go up 114 percent--114 percent. So you can find some people who are only paying like a 40-percent or 50-percent increase. You still can't afford that. Most people can't afford a 40-percent or 50-percent increase in the cost of almost anything, but healthcare is a big chunk of the cost of living.
So here we are as Democrats saying: Help us help you, Republicans. You created this mess that is causing your signature legislative achievement to be a drag on your electoral chances. And if we were a little bit more cynical, we would just let you stew in it.
But we want those 22 million people to have relief. So we are simply saying, we can open the government tomorrow morning if Donald John Trump realizes he is hurting his own people. Illinois
Mr. President, I want to follow up on what the Democrat whip was talking about in the city of Chicago in the State of Illinois.
We all swore an oath to the Constitution. I am honestly scared. I used to do this sort of schtick on Twitter. I would say the thing Donald Trump said on Twitter is this, and then I would say he is trying to take your healthcare away. My point was that is a distraction from the main issue, which is that he was going to try to take your healthcare away.
That is not true anymore. He is going through with these authoritarian actions. The last time he posted that one of his political enemies should be jailed, it was James Comey, and then James Comey was indicted. This morning, he pled not guilty. His trial is in January.
So, this morning, Donald John Trump, with the assistance of the Texas Governor, who is endlessly servile to him, is mobilizing, over the objection of the Illinois Governor, 200 or 300 troops to go into Chicago to do nobody knows really what other than to terrorize people.
They are belaying off a helicopter into an apartment building in urban Chicago?
Give me a break.
And lest you think this is theater, this morning, Donald Trump is in one of his moods and he says: Governor Pritzker should go to jail. Are we to assume he is kidding this time? Are you sure he is kidding this time? ``Oh, he is just trolling.'' Last time, 3 weeks ago, he clearly wasn't trolling. The Attorney General went through with what he asked.
So I am asking my Republican colleagues who swore an oath to the Constitution and love this country just like I do to say publicly or privately--I don't care--enough is enough.
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