Providing for Consideration of H.R. Law-Enforcement Innovate to De-Escalate Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Undersea Cable Protection Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Securing America's Critical Minerals Supply Act; and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman who is my friend from the great State of Colorado, Representative Neguse, for yielding time and for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this rule, another reckless effort by the Republican majority to stop this House from doing something to stop the reckless Trump tariffs.

Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives, part of this Congress, is a separate and coequal branch of government. We don't work for Donald Trump. We don't work for J.D. Vance, and we don't work for Republican billionaire donors. We work for the American people.

The Constitution, Mr. Speaker, gives this House the explicit authority with respect to tariffs. Yet because apparently my Republican colleagues have been ordered by the current President not to allow an up-or-down vote on whether his tariffs are harmful to the American people, once again, we find ourselves discussing a rule to limit the ability of this Congress to act on behalf of the American people.

This is consistent with what we have seen from the Republican majority, Mr. Speaker, from the very beginning of this Congress, which, unfortunately, continues to act like nothing more than a reckless rubberstamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, an agenda that is not helping the American people. It is hurting the American people.

Yes, we have a cost-of-living crisis in this country, and I know the President doesn't want to talk about it. He thinks it is a Democratic hoax.

No, the affordability crisis in this country is not a hoax. It is very real. Working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, and everyday Americans are suffering because of the failed Trump Republican economy.

Donald Trump, his words, promised to lower the high cost of living on day one. More than 1 year later in the United States of America, Mr. Speaker, costs haven't gone down. Costs have gone up. Housing costs are out of control. Healthcare costs are out of control. Childcare costs are out of control. Electricity bills are out of control, and the price of groceries and everyday goods are completely out of control.

One of the reasons why the cost of living continues to crush the American people is because of the Trump tariffs which have imposed thousands of dollars in additional costs on everyday Americans, making life even more expensive than it had been when this Presidency began.

Why is it so complicated for Donald Trump to keep his promise to the American people to lower costs and to focus on making life more affordable?

Instead, he has gone the opposite direction, imposing tariffs on our allies in Canada and Mexico, in Europe and across the world, without any clear strategy, having an adverse effect on the pocketbook of everyday Americans.

This Congress is charged constitutionally with the ability to say yes or no as it relates to tariffs that have been imposed. In fact, the President should have sought our authorization.

Instead, he is using a fake emergency authority that hopefully the Supreme Court will make clear he does not have, and we certainly await that decision. However, we don't need to wait for that decision. We don't work for the Supreme Court either.

The House is the Article I branch of government, the institution that the Framers decided should be the part of government that is closest to the American people, that reflects the hopes, the dreams, the aspirations, the fears, the concerns, the anxieties, the passions, and the life experiences of the American people, who are suffering right now in this failed Trump Republican economy.

That is not just my simple observation. FOX News, the President's favorite news source, in a recent public opinion survey concluded that more than 70 percent of the American people believe, correctly, the economy is a disaster under this President.

One of the reasons why it is a disaster is because of the reckless Trump tariffs. The Republican majority, Mr. Speaker, won't even allow an up-or-down vote. That is what this rule is about--silencing debate and the will of the people's Representatives to do something meaningful to make life more affordable for the American people.

I asked some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who know that this so-called mandate that Republicans apparently believe they had in the aftermath of the November 2024 elections--parenthetically, by the way, what mandate do they really think they have in this House when they have the narrowest majority that any party has had since 1930 during the Great Depression?

In fact, we also know they wouldn't even be in the majority right now had they not stolen three seats from the people of North Carolina with mid-decade gerrymandering in 2024. Therefore, we don't want to hear anything about mandate.

The only mandate we have collectively is to make life more affordable for everyday Americans, to drive down the high cost of living, to stop burying your head in the sand, to stop being a reckless rubberstamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, to stand up to him every now and then as part of a separate and coequal branch of government.

Stop the cult-like behavior, Mr. Speaker. It is hurting your very constituents.

We have an opportunity, if we vote down this rule, to actually take up for consideration the resolution put forward by Congressman Meeks that would wipe out the unnecessary tariff imposed on our ally to the north in Canada. It is a step that should have been taken a long time ago, but Republicans have been blocking this vote.

I just hope that a handful of Republicans will join every single House Democrat in opposing this rule so we can get to a debate on the actual substantive effort to stop the reckless, dangerous, and harmful Trump tariffs as part of our commitment as Democrats to do what is necessary to lower the high cost of living and to make sure that every single American in this country, when they work hard, when they play by the rules, they should be able to live an affordable life, a comfortable life, and live the good life.

It is not too much to ask for in the wealthiest country, America, in the history of the world. Work hard. Play by the rules. Live the good life. Good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for the children, and a good retirement--which means backing off extreme attacks on Social Security and Medicare--that is a Democratic commitment.

In order to help bring about that good life, Mr. Speaker, one of the most meaningful things that we can do as a body is to stop the harmful Trump tariffs. Vote ``no'' against this rule.

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