Providing for Consideration of H.R. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, Providing for Consideration of H.R. No Funds for Repeat Child Care Violations Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. No Aid for Ghost Students Act of and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Tanf Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. HOUCHIN. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1333 and ask for its immediate consideration.

The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 1333

Resolved, That at any time after adoption of this resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 8646) making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2027, and for other purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. The bill shall be considered as read. Points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to comply with clause 2 or clause 5(a) of rule XXI are waived.

Sec. 2. (a) No amendment to H.R. 8646 shall be in order except those printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution, and pro forma amendments described in section 4 of this resolution.

(b) Each amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules shall be considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by section 4 of this resolution, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.

(c) All points of order against amendments printed in the report of the Committee on Rules or against amendments en bloc described in section 3 of this resolution are waived.

Sec. 3. It shall be in order at any time for the chair of the Committee on Appropriations or his designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of amendments printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution not earlier disposed of. Amendments en bloc offered pursuant to this section shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for 20 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees, shall not be subject to amendment except as provided by section 4 of this resolution, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole.

Sec. 4. During consideration of H.R. 8646 for amendment, the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees may offer up to 10 pro forma amendments each at any point for the purpose of debate.

Sec. 5. At the conclusion of consideration of H.R. 8646 for amendment the Committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit.

Sec. 6. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 7726) to amend the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to withhold funds from noncompliant States under such Act. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Education and Workforce now printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 119-32 shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further 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 Education and Workforce or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 7. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 7892) to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require to the Secretary of Education to use an identity fraud detection system to review each FAFSA to determine whether the FAFSA presents a reasonable suspicion of identity fraud. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. In lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Education and Workforce now printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 119-31 shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further 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 Education and Workforce or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 8. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill (H.R. 8872) to amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to target funds to low-income families, strengthen program integrity guardrails for State expenditure of funds, require measurement of improper payments, and establish goals for eliminating fraud and improper payments under the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Ways and Means now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further 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 Ways and Means or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

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Mrs. HOUCHIN. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave
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Mrs. HOUCHIN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, last night, the Rules Committee met and reported out a rule, House Resolution 1333, providing for the House's consideration of four bills.

First, the rule provides for H.R. 8646, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, to be considered under a structured rule, with 26 amendments made in order. It provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees, and provides for one motion to recommit.

Second, the rule provides for H.R. 7892, the No Aid for Ghost Students Act, to be considered under a closed rule. It also provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and Workforce or their respective designees, and provides for one motion to recommit.

Third, the rule provides for H.R. 7726, the No Funds for Repeat Child Care Violations Act of 2026, to be considered under a closed rule. It also provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and Workforce or their respective designees, and provides for one motion to recommit.

Finally, the rule provides for consideration of H.R. 8872, the Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act, under a closed rule. It provides 1 hour of debate, equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means or their respective designees, and provides for one motion to recommit.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and in support of the underlying legislation. The legislation before us this week reflects a straightforward principle: Federal programs should serve the people they were intended to serve. Taxpayer dollars should be spent responsibly, transparently, and accountably.

It should be easy for this simple but important effort to be pursued in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion, yet my Democratic counterparts will undoubtedly oppose these bills. In doing so, they will be voting to perpetuate rampant fraud, but that is no surprise since the States flagged for massive amounts of fraud are led by Democratic Governors and State legislatures. Why would they want to clamp down on the fraud Democrats helped perpetuate?

Every week, during debate on the rule, Democrats will use a technique we refer to as gaslighting to accuse and blame Republicans for their own egregious behavior. Let's remember that it was President Biden who eased the rules around Federal childcare billing, which resulted in spending double in some facilities in Minnesota while enrollment stayed flat.

Here we are, doing much more than combating fraud in our legislative package this week. Together, these measures strengthen oversight, close loopholes that have enabled fraud and abuse, support rural America, and ensure Federal resources are reaching the families, students, workers, and communities they were designed to help.

Let me begin with the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The bill makes targeted investments in the programs that matter most to producers, consumers, and rural communities. It continues to support agricultural research, rural development initiatives, and the critical food safety infrastructure that Americans rely on every day.

For States like Indiana, where agriculture remains one of the largest economic drivers, these investments will yield tangible results. Whether it is supporting corn and soybean producers, livestock operations, food processors, or rural small businesses, this legislation strengthens the industries that sustain local economies and help feed the world.

This bill recognizes a simple reality: Food security is national security. Foreign adversaries are increasingly looking to buy up American farmland, influence our food supply, and gain access to critical agricultural resources. This legislation takes important steps to increase oversight on foreign ownership of U.S. farmland, safeguarding against foreign influence and protecting American agriculture from emerging threats.

In addition to these wins, I am proud we secured over $3 million in community project funding in this bill for Indiana's Ninth Congressional District. This funding will support projects, including critical upgrades to wastewater systems in Borden and Moorefield, expanded sewer service in Greenville, and replacing aging stormwater pipe in Austin.

These projects reflect priorities identified by local leaders and will deliver much-needed updates to aging infrastructure, which will expand economic development opportunities and improve quality of life across the district.

I thank Chairmen Cole and Harris for their work on this legislation and urge my colleagues to support it.

Also included in the rule is the No Aid for Ghost Students Act. Federal student aid was created to help Americans earn a degree, learn a trade, and build a better future. It was never intended to become a slush fund for fraudsters or identity thefts, and that is exactly what is happening.

Bad actors are exploiting the system by using stolen or fake identities to submit FAFSA applications, enroll in classes, collect taxpayer-funded financial aid, and disappear once the money has been issued. The result is millions of taxpayer dollars lost to fraud. Every dollar stolen by a fraudster is a dollar taken away from a student trying to improve their future.

Under the leadership of Secretary Linda McMahon, the Department of Education has already prevented more than $1 billion in attempted student aid fraud through stronger identity verification and fraud detection measures.

This bill builds on that success by making sure taxpayer dollars go to students, not scammers. It strengthens identity verification requirements, requiring schools to verify suspicious applicants before aid is distributed, and it holds institutions accountable when basic safeguards are ignored. We need to restore the integrity of the Federal student aid system and ensure taxpayer dollars reach the students they were intended to help.

Next, Madam Speaker, I will turn to the Stop Child Care Scams Act. Childcare assistance programs are designed to help working parents afford quality childcare so they can provide for their families and pursue economic opportunity. These programs are a lifeline for millions of Americans, but when taxpayer dollars are lost to fraud, it is not just taxpayers who suffer. The families who depend on these services suffer, too.

For years, the Child Care and Development Block Grant program has been vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse, yet despite repeated warnings, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars remain at risk.

Recent reports have uncovered troubling instances where providers received Federal childcare assistance funds without actually serving eligible children and families. Shockingly, during a congressional Oversight Committee hearing, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently admitted his State had known about the fraud in its childcare assistance program since 2012 yet took no action. That is unacceptable.

When that happens, families who rely on these services are the ones who ultimately suffer, particularly the hundreds of thousands of families in need of childcare assistance vouchers currently sitting on a waiting list.

The Stop Child Care Scams Act takes commonsense steps to protect both taxpayers and families. It cracks down on providers who attempt to game the system by increasing transparency, strengthening oversight, and adding additional auditing requirements.

Just as importantly, it helps ensure providers caught committing fraud in one program cannot simply move to another State or locality and continue their theft of taxpayer dollars.

My Democrat colleagues are going to say this bill is going to make childcare assistance less available. In fact, it does the opposite. It helps ensure these resources reach the children, parents, and providers they were intended to serve, protecting them from being siphoned off by fraudsters.

Lastly, let's turn to the Preventing Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in TANF Act. For nearly three decades, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program has helped low-income families meet basic needs while promoting the values of work, personal responsibility, and self- sufficiency.

A key strength of TANF has always been the flexibility it provides to States to decide how these funds will best be used.

Congress intentionally designed the program to allow States to tailor services and benefits to the unique needs of their communities, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all, top-down Federal approach. But as we have already discussed, flexibility must be accompanied by accountability.

Today, TANF is one of the few major Federal assistance programs that is not required to measure and report improper payments under Federal program integrity laws. Let me repeat that. Under TANF, States are not required to report improper payments.

As a result, taxpayers and policymakers often lack basic information about how these funds are being spent and whether these resources are actually reaching the families they are intended to serve.

Recent Government Accountability Office reports have uncovered a major oversight failure within the TANF program that should concern every taxpayer. This bill requires accountability while still preserving State flexibility. It requires States to track and report improper payments, helps identify and reduce waste and fraud, and ensures Federal funds are directed toward the low-income families that they were designed to serve.

A common thread, Mr. Speaker, among each of these bills before us today is that taxpayer dollars should be used responsibly, and taxpayers should have confidence that their hard-earned dollars are being spent for the purposes intended, safeguarding limited resources and directing them to where they are needed most.

Mr. Speaker, let's be clear. This bill provides $8 billion for WIC which is the level needed to serve expected participation.

As the Appropriations Committee crafted this bill, they worked with USDA and OMB to get the most recent program data. This funding level reflects that participation, participation that has been declining, and it is not projected to be as high as originally estimated for fiscal year 2027. USDA also expects to have sufficient carryover funds.

Remember, Mr. Speaker, WIC is 2-year funding, and they expect to recover more unspent funds from the States. With the lowered participation estimates and increased carryover funds, $8 billion will fully fund the program full stop. It is completely false to believe that there will be people kicked off of the program. Funding this at the level necessary to meet the need is exactly what we are doing in this bill.

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Mrs. HOUCHIN. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to hear my colleague acknowledge that pregnant women carry babies.

Mr. Speaker, I do want to address the WIC cash value voucher funding for the fruit and vegetable benefits since my colleague has mentioned it.

I am not sure if my colleague has noticed but the pandemic is over, thank goodness.

Chicago-area union teachers are finally back to work. We can leave our homes, shop where we want to, and we can return to pre-COVID funding levels and re-center our spending to meet the need.

Let's be clear, we are not eliminating the benefit for fruits and vegetables. We are not even taking it back to pre-COVID levels. We are simply restoring parity to meet the need.

Mr. Speaker, in response to the accusations that have been made in this Chamber today against the President of the United States, a government contractor criminally leaked the President's private tax returns. He was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

The President had every right to fight back. The President took no money from the settlement, not a single dollar. He received a formal apology. A man who has lost billions of dollars since entering politics to serve this country asked for an apology, and that is what he got.

When concerns were raised about the fund, the administration listened and pulled back.

The weaponization of government against political opponents must end. That is exactly what the President is fighting for and what the settlement represents. The people crying foul today are the same ones who cheered when the President's financial records were illegally leaked. The outrage is not credible. Democrats were silent as President Joe Biden pardoned, preemptively in some cases, his entire family.

Democrats today insist on deflecting from the issues we are here to talk: fraud. Republicans have sounded the clarion call on waste, fraud, and abuse that exists within the Federal Government. Meanwhile, Democrats have been content to use hyperbole and vitriolic attacks to hide behind the fact that they have no desire to ferret out this systemic waste, fraud, and abuse that is plaguing our programs.

There is fraud in our Government programs. We have known about it for decades. Democrats seem content to live with it. Republicans in Congress have been consistent in going after it, despite the head-in- the-sand posture by our Democratic colleagues. We went after it in ObamaCare in H.R. 1, and, guess what, the CBO stated that premiums would go down as a result of our work. We went after Medicaid fraud, especially involving illegal immigrants. By the way, a Federal court recently ordered officials to turn over Medicaid information to ICE enforcement.

We went after waste, fraud, and abuse through our rescissions package. Once again, Democrats refused that premise ever existed, even though it is right in front of their eyes. One just needs to look at the ever-revealing childcare center fraud in Minnesota. The universe of money that stands to be squandered by overbilling could reach in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Worse yet, it has been discovered before, as I mentioned, as has the glaring inability for Minnesota to properly create any enforcement checks. Just earlier this year, the inspector general of Minnesota released an audit that randomly sampled payments to childcare centers in 2023, finding an astonishing 11 percent of government outlays have problems related to attendance and proper payment, and that was simply based on a random sample.

Here is a direct conclusion from the attorney general's report: A lack of oversight to ensure accurate and complete attendance documentation could increase the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse to the CCAP program.

The scandal comes on the heels, also, of the worst COVID fraud scandal ever perpetrated: the $250 million Feeding Our Future criminal fraud enterprise in Minnesota that literally robbed taxpayers of funds intended to help hungry children. An early reporting is potentially discovering concentric circles around individuals and families involved in that criminal enterprise, including these childcare centers.

Before that, in 2019, the State's legislative auditor revealed it could literally prove at least $6 million in fraud from previous years, believing the true number to be greater.

It is not limited to food benefits either. ABC News reported that the student loan fraud that is targeted in this bill we are considering this week, known as ghost students, had thousands of colleges across the country with sophisticated thieves becoming a scourge. The scammers, using stolen or fake identities to enroll in classes online and sign up for Pell grants and loans, then disappear once they get the money, robbing the Federal Government of hundreds of millions of dollars and leaving an untold number of victims in their wake.

There are really only three responses to fraud once it is exposed: You attack it, you cover it up, or you minimize it.

The legislative auditor in Minnesota previously accused the Walz administration of minimizing or dismissing allegations of fraud, citing a shoot-the-messenger attitude. One media outlet characterized Governor Walz as a hands-off leader when it comes to seeking accountability for episodes of fraud and mismanagement on his watch.

Which path will our Democrat colleagues take now that this fraud is being revealed? Will they root it out as we have, or will they turn a blind eye in the mode of Governor Tim Walz?

Just a few months ago, the Massachusetts State Auditor released the Bureau of Special Investigations annual report for fiscal year 2025, which exposed nearly $12 million in public assistance fraud across thousands of cases in the State, including $4.1 million in food stamp fraud. Mass Health, the State Medicaid and CHIP program saw more than $1.3 million in fraud.

Another report, published in April of 2026, found that more than a billion dollars was improperly spent on food stamps in Massachusetts between 2022 and 2024. The cases show just how deep and widespread the fraud is in Massachusetts.

A transportation company allegedly billed Mass Health more than $3 billion for rides that never happened. A tiny bodega, only 150 square feet, somehow pushed nearly $7 million in food stamp trafficking, ringing up a half a million dollars a month like it was a big box store.

One man living illegally in the country stole a dead U.S. citizen's identity for decades, even serving prison time under the alias. After release, he used the same alias to apply for food stamps, stealing thousands in benefits. A State employee even flagged his food stamp application with a note: death match. Yet, it was still approved.

In 2026, fraudsters used more than 100 stolen identities to funnel food stamps into a restaurant supply scheme, stocking up on hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of wholesale meat, all paid entirely on the taxpayers' dime.

It is not surprising, given the lack of oversight, that TANF fraud is so pervasive. Just take a look at Colorado where 135 cases of theft were reported by Pueblo County. Benefit recipients, in one week alone, totaled $73,991 in losses, including 40 TANF Colorado Works customers totaling $19,344.

This is just a short sample, Mr. Speaker, of the fraud committed in primarily Democrat States that we know about.

It is Republicans, once again, that are heeding the call, the request of American families, to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and protect our tax dollars.
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Mrs. HOUCHIN. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am really happy that there is at least some agreement in this debate today from my Democrat colleagues on the other side of the aisle. We agree, as it was mentioned today, that pregnant women carry babies. What a momentous day in this Chamber.

Democrats insist on deflecting from these issues, though, the ones we are talking about today, because it is their leadership in Democrat-run States and their lax policies that have led to rampant fraud. It is no wonder that they are trying to deflect from that conversation about the fraud that their policies have allowed to perpetuate.

Mr. Speaker, the measures discussed here today reflect a clear and consistent commitment by House Republicans to restore accountability, improve program integrity, and ensure that taxpayer dollars are used as intended. From agricultural investments that support rural communities to safeguards against fraud in student aid, childcare, and TANF, this package represents practical solutions to ensure that every Federal dollar is accounted for and, again, targeted to meet the need.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to moving these bills out of the House this week, and I ask 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. 1333 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. 8914) to amend section 1304 of title 31, United States Code to restrict payments for compromise settlements or awards. 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 the Judiciary or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.

Sec. 10. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX and clause 8 of rule XX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 8914.

Sec. 11. The Clerk shall transmit to the Senate a message that the House has passed H.R. 8914 no later than three calendar days after passage
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