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

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Indiana for yielding me the customary time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans with a straight face come to this floor and pretend that these bills are about fraud, waste, and abuse.

What a crock that is.

I mean, you want to talk about fraud, Mr. Speaker? Let's talk about fraud. Let's talk about a President who had to pay $25 million after students got defrauded by Trump University.

Let's talk about how Trump and his family have made more than $4 billion since he became President through crypto schemes, corrupt foreign deals, self-dealing government contracts, shady real estate transactions, and pump-and-dump stock schemes.

Let's talk about the sweetheart deals, the pardons, the loopholes, the contracts, the favors, the corrupt giveaways that seem to follow this administration everywhere it goes.

If my Republican friends want to come down here and lecture America about waste, fraud, and abuse, then they should answer a very simple question: Do they support the deal that gives Donald Trump and his family blanket immunity from Federal investigation or prosecution?

Do they support what amounts to be an unlimited stack of get-out-of- jail-free cards for tax crimes, insider trading, bribes, kickbacks, sweetheart contracts, or any other crimes that could be investigated by the Federal Government?

Is their answer yes or no?

I mean, I am outraged by this, and I think it is corrupt as hell. I think the American people deserve to know why Republicans are so obsessed with attacking poor people but suddenly lose their voice when Donald Trump uses the Federal Government like his own personal protection racket.

That is not what Republicans want to talk about. Their idea of cracking down on fraud is simple: Go after people with the least so they can give more to those at the top. Go after poor families. Go after hungry kids. Go after students trying to get an education. Go after parents trying to afford childcare. Go after pregnant women who need help buying food.

That is what these bills do. That is what these bills do. So let's go through them one by one.

Their TANF bill does not help one struggling family. It gives the Trump administration more power to make the safety net harder to use and easier to weaponize.

Their childcare bill does not bring down the cost of childcare by one penny, not one. It just adds more red tape and more paperwork.

Their student aid bill does not help students. It gives more power to a Department of Education Secretary who has shown zero interest in helping students. It lets them freeze aid based on a barely tested system. And by the way, CBO says it saves taxpayers nothing, zero.

Then we have the agriculture funding bill, and this one is especially rotten. I serve on the Agriculture Committee. I represent farmers. I represent rural communities. I have spent my career fighting hunger, so I know what this bill does.

It hurts farmers. It hurts rural America, and it is a disaster for hungry families.

At the exact moment when families are getting crushed at the grocery store because Trump's economy sucks, Republicans are making it harder for them to buy food.

At the exact moment when farmers are getting squeezed by Trump's tariffs and Trump's war, Republicans are gutting the programs that support them.

At the exact moment when inflation is up and we should be talking about bringing prices down, Republicans are screwing over middle America.

Republicans promised prices would come down on day one. Do you remember that? Well, here we are a year and a half in, and everything is up. Groceries are up. Energy costs are up. Inflation is up.

Their answer to pregnant women paying higher grocery costs is to cut WIC by $200 million, to take nutrition help away from pregnant women and little kids. Who asked for that? Who asked for you to cut one of the most basic, effective, profamily programs that we have? WIC helps pregnant women stay healthy. It helps babies grow. It helps new moms. It helps them buy milk and eggs and vegetables and formula and healthy food, and Republicans want to gut it.

By the way, they want to totally decimate the fruit and veggie voucher, which since 2007 has helped make sure moms of newborns can afford to eat healthy food.

Mr. Speaker, why would you eliminate that? At a time when fruits and veggies are getting more expensive, why would you slash a benefit to help prevent postpartum moms from being malnourished because they can't afford healthy food?

I mean, Republicans can always find money for another illegal war. They can always find money for billionaire tax breaks. They can always find money for corporate giveaways. But fruits and veggies for a pregnant or postpartum mom, formula for a baby, food for toddlers, then they have a problem?

What the hell is wrong with these people, Mr. Speaker?

I thought they wanted to Make America Healthy Again. I do, too, but here is the problem, Mr. Speaker: You can't say that you care about children's health while cutting the program that makes sure kids can eat healthy. You can't say that you care about wellness while voting for a bill that will malnourish our communities.

This bill does not stop there. It weakens support for Food for Peace, a program that feeds people facing famine around the world. It is a program that buys from American farmers. It is a program that shows the world that America can still do something decent and humane.

Why cut that? Whom does that help?

What kind of people look at hungry kids here at home, struggling farmers, and rural towns begging for investment and say: Sorry, we need the money for billionaires, for slush funds, for White House renovations, and for an illegal war?

I will ask again: What the hell is wrong with them?

Mr. Speaker, their entire agenda is about supporting those at the very top, the Mar-a-Lago class, and the hell with everyone else.

This rule deserves a ``no'' vote, and this cruel, upside-down agenda deserves to be rejected.

Mr. Speaker, I want to respond to the gentlewoman's comments about WIC. It is really hard for me to believe that I am hearing Republicans speak in the way they are.

Let me begin with a basic lesson in economics. First of all, Mr. Speaker, USDA's April 2026 Food Price Outlook makes it clear that prices are not down, they are up. They are skyrocketing. Food prices are up 2.7 percent from last year. Restaurant prices are up 3.8 percent. Beef and veal prices are up over 12 percent. Fresh vegetables are up 7.5 percent. Nonalcoholic beverages are up 4.7 percent, and grocery prices, overall, have gone way up.

These are not my talking points. These are not Democratic talking points. These are the Trump administration's own numbers. After 16 months of total Republican control of Washington, of everything, you control the House, you control the Senate, and you control the White House, these guys passed tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. They imposed the tariffs which are one of the reasons why food prices are going up. They started a war that is driving up food and gas prices.

While they tried to put a good face on all of this, the bottom line is they are at fault here.

Pregnant moms' groceries are going up. The food that they need for themselves and for their babies are not going down. They are going up.

By the way, hunger, I should point out to the gentlewoman, is getting worse in this country. It is getting worse. Mr. Speaker, 48 million Americans are food insecure, including 14 million kids. That is what Republican economic policies have done. It is a national catastrophe, and this Republican Congress is doing everything it can to make hunger even worse.

Let me just say this: WIC helps pregnant women. It helps postpartum moms and babies eat nutritious food. It used to be bipartisan. Even the MAHA report talked about the health benefits of the program, and WIC participation has been steadily increasing.

Now, to the gentlewoman's point, there was a slight dip in participation thanks to the Republican government shutdown. If my friends did their homework and did their research and cared about facts, then they would know that. However, the National WIC Association, the voice of 12,000 service providers across the country, have scientific modeling that tells us that participation is expected to continue climbing.

It makes sense. It makes sense given the fact that food prices are going through the roof. People can't afford their basic necessities. We have been in situations in the past where WIC almost ran out of money. Providers, States, and families were scrambling. New moms were worried that their toddlers wouldn't have access to food. I don't think it is a radical idea to want to make sure that the program is fully funded.

This is also something the gentlewoman hasn't responded to, can somebody explain to me why Republicans are cutting the fruit and vegetable benefit that used to be in this bill? What sense does that make?

Mr. Speaker, I will respond to the gentlewoman with regard to her last comment. Rather than respond substantively to a single thing that I said about Republicans cutting the WIC program, Women, Infants, and Children, that is in the name of the program, rather than responding to why Republicans are cutting the food and veggie program, she responds with a dig at trans people, and that is the Republican Conference in a nutshell. It really is.

We want to fight hunger. They want to fight culture wars. That is the difference here. This bill is an attack on the most vulnerable people in this country. For the life of me, I just don't understand where they are coming from. Their arguments just take my breath away. They waste time on culture wars, but they don't give a damn about the fact that there are 48 million people in this country who are hungry, that there are millions and millions of children in this country who are hungry.

I am telling you, by cutting these programs, you are not saving any money. You are creating more problems. If programs like WIC get cut and other nutrition programs get cut, then people can look forward to a life with a whole myriad of healthcare problems that are going to be very costly. You guys are something else.

Mr. Speaker, I urge that we defeat the previous question. If we do, I am going to offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 8914, which prohibits the use of taxpayer money to create a slush fund to compensate January 6 rioters, MAGA sycophants, senior government officials, and members of the President or Vice President's family.

Mr. Speaker, following President Trump's settlement of his bogus lawsuit against his own IRS, he tried to commandeer nearly $1.8 billion in taxpayer funds to bankroll a slush fund for the January 6 insurrectionists and other aggrieved MAGA loyalists.

After the obvious outcry at this ludicrous use of taxpayer dollars, Acting Attorney General Blanche said yesterday that they weren't moving forward with the fund.

Mr. Speaker, that isn't good enough.

Why? Because no one believes them. I wouldn't trust the Acting Attorney General to tell me the correct time. Even the people who stand to benefit from their roles on January 6 don't believe them.

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role on January 6, told a reporter: ``This isn't an abandonment. . . . I believe even if this fund is killed in courts or at a congressional level, the President will find a way.''

Senator Lindsey Graham, who earlier this year already tried to get millions of taxpayer dollars as payment for the government lawfully subpoenaing his cell phone data, said of Acting Attorney General Blanche's reversal on the fund: ``While I appreciate Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's statement . . . I am still of the firm belief that there are many victims.'' He then went on to argue for the formation of a new taxpayer fund. Just replace the paused corrupt fund with a new corrupt fund. That is what the Republicans are arguing. You can't make this stuff up.

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that this corrupt fund is not dead, no matter what the Acting Attorney General says. The only way to ensure that this self-dealing taxpayer funded payoff for cop beaters doesn't move forward is to do what the newly free-to-speak-his-mind Senate Republican Whip, Senator Cornyn, said: ``The way to ensure the Trump retribution fund is more than mostly dead would be for Congress to put a stake through it.''

That is exactly what I am offering every Member of this House today: a chance to vote on if they want to kill this slush fund for good or not.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Ansari).

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to listen to all this. Food prices are going through the roof, and my Republican friends are arguing that we need to reduce a benefit or cut back on a fruit and veggie voucher. Really?

Mr. Speaker, I will get to another matter. I had just talked about the corrupt January 6 payoff fund and taxpayer money going to people that beat cops. That is sick. It is disgusting.

Now let me talk about the other half of the corrupt deal that I mentioned.

Yesterday, the Acting Attorney General of the United States said that the fund was not going forward. I guess we are just supposed to take his word on that. But he also indicated that the other nefarious part of the deal is still going forward.

Tucked into this agreement that Trump hopes you will not notice is a get-out-of-jail-free card for him and his entire family.

I mean, it is right here. Donald Trump, with the help of his personal criminal defense attorney turned Acting Attorney General Blanche, has drafted a separate agreement granting himself, his family, and his businesses full immunity from any violations of Federal law, criminal, civil, or administrative.

Even if this corrupt settlement fund is killed--which I hope we will vote to kill it--the President, negotiating with his own administration, secured a settlement agreement that grants him, his family, and their businesses full immunity. It is unprecedented. It is stunning, and a brazen level of corruption in self-dealing.

For my Republican colleagues who are upset about the fund, are you not equally upset by this attempt to put himself above the law? This amounts to granting himself a super pardon. It means he and his family are free to do any activity they please without the possibility of legal consequences.

Now, let me just read a bit of what this agreement says. The entire Federal Government is: forever barred and precluded from prosecuting or pursuing any pending claims, whether presently known or unknown, against Trump, his family members, and businesses, or collecting any taxes, fines, or other payments due to the U.S. government.

Now, Mr. Speaker, do you realize what this means? It means the Trumps and their businesses are not only shielded from enforcement of any taxes that they might have dodged, or enforcement of any fines or payments they may owe to the government, but from any and all consequences for violating any Federal crimes or civil law. That means that Trump and his family get an unlimited number of get-out-of-jail- free cards for any civil or criminal violations that could be investigated and prosecuted by the Federal Government.

Now, here are a couple of examples of what Trump could be shielding himself from: one, any liability for insider trading or prediction markets, like Kalshi or Polymarket, that Donald Trump Jr. or any other Trump may be involved with; any bribes or kickbacks paid by Jared Kushner, or any other Trump family member, to the Saudi royal family; any allegations of sexual assault by Donald Trump revealed in the Epstein files, he is protected on that; any secret, no-bid contracts Donald Trump Jr., or any other Trump, steered toward companies he has invested in, hundreds of individual stock trades by Trump or any of his family members or businesses that look like insider trading; and the $100 million comprehensive tax audit that Trump has been fighting since 2010.

If this settlement fund was bad, then this is even worse. Every American should know what the President is trying to do, which is trying to put himself above the law.

I remind my Republican colleagues--and I will remind everybody who is paying attention to this--Donald Trump is the President. He is not a king. He is not above the law. Every Member of Congress has a duty to stand up and denounce this corrupt scheme.

We are talking about fraud here today. What do you call this? What do you call this? The silence by my Republican colleagues, the going along to get along that my Republican colleagues demonstrate each and every day on this kind of garbage, that is complicity. That is complicity, and it is wrong.

Oh my God, Mr. Speaker, I don't even know how to respond to all of that.

First of all, let me just set the record straight. The gentlewoman said neither myself or anybody on the Democratic side was critical when Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter. That is just not true. I have an article here that says: ``Rep. Jim McGovern Criticizes Hunter Biden Pardon, Disappointed President Didn't Honor Pledge.''

So what she just said is just factually incorrect.

Secondly, Mr. Speaker, I am listening to the gentlewoman defend the corruption in the White House, and it is stunning to me. I feel like maybe Todd Blanche wrote those talking points, because that is what I would expect to hear from the Acting Attorney General.

For the record, let's just set the record straight. Remember, Donald Trump sued a government that he runs for $10 billion for leaking information when he was in charge of the same government, with the leaked documents being tax returns, by the way, that every single modern President has released on their own. He promised he would release them. He didn't release them. He won't release them. Why? That is a good question. But every other President not only released them, but we expected them to. Again, what he is complaining about happened under his watch.

The gentlewoman also said that Trump lost a lot of money.

He has made billions since he has been in the White House. I don't know what the hell she is talking about.

Mr. Speaker, I also ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article from Forbes titled: ``Here Are Donald Trump's 10 Best Stock Trades of 2026.''

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Boy, I wonder what that is all about.

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about fraud and corruption, Donald Trump has pardoned or issued commutations for 21 people convicted of healthcare fraud at the same time that my Republican friends voted for giving tax breaks to billionaires.

Philip Esformes, convicted of a $1.3 billion Medicare fraud scheme, one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes charged by the Department of Justice, Donald Trump pardoned him.

Judith Negron, convicted of orchestrating $205 million in terms of a Medicare fraud scheme involving assisted living facilities, she has been pardoned.

Jon Michael Harder, convicted of defrauding people of $120 million in investments through his senior housing and assisted living facilities, he has been pardoned.

I can go right down the list of all of these people that have been pardoned.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, this is the most absurdly corrupt and morally bankrupt administration in our history. To hear my Republican friends defend what is happening, to defend the fraud and the corruption that is right out in the open, is pathetic.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I was hoping the gentlewoman would respond to some of my concerns, or maybe engage in debate, or give me some hope that Republicans actually are upset about what is happening right now with all the corruption and the fraud.

I yield myself the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, this is not complicated. People are hurting. They are hurting because of Trump's inflation. They are hurting because of Trump's tariffs. They are hurting because of Trump's illegal war. They are hurting because of Trump's failed economic policies that are driving costs up and up and up.

Instead of doing something--anything--to help bring down costs, they are doubling down on the cruelty. They are literally going after pregnant moms and newborns. Literally, they are taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids.

What kind of mean, rotten, awful people do things like that? I can't believe it. It takes my breath away, Mr. Speaker.

They talk about fraud. They talk about waste. They talk about abuse. What a bunch of baloney.

Why don't they start with the billionaires writing their own tax breaks into the tax code.

Why don't they start with giant corporations ripping people off.

Why don't they start with the sweetheart deals, the no-bid contracts, the tax loopholes, or the people cashing in on the chaos.

Why don't they start with the blanket immunity for Donald Trump and his family with the possibility of tax crimes, insider trading, bribes, kickbacks, contracts for companies that Trump's family maybe invested in or anything else that Federal law enforcement might have a reason to investigate.

No, no. Republicans here in Washington, they go after hungry kids. They demonize poor people. They go after pregnant moms. They go after the families struggling to survive.

Mr. Speaker, this is wrong. It is morally bankrupt, and people see it.

They see Republicans talk about health while cutting nutrition.

They see Republicans talk about the deficit while handing out favors to the rich.

They see the grift, and they are sick of it. They are sick and tired of it.

They see that Democrats actually believe in something different. Maybe my Republican friends think we are radical. I don't think it is radical to believe people should be able to afford a decent life. I don't think it is radical to believe parents should be able to afford formula. I don't think it is radical to believe that no child in America, the richest country in the history of the world, should go hungry.

What I think is radical is that the far right, radical MAGA extremists who run this place can find endless money for wars, for billionaires, and for corporate tax giveaways while they steal from new moms and kids who are struggling to eat.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know what is going on in this Chamber, but where is our humanity? Where is our commitment to helping uplift people who are struggling? I say to my Republican colleagues: Where is your heart?

People are looking to us for help during these very difficult economic times, and what they are getting is all the garbage that my friends are bringing to the floor, stuff that does nothing to improve anybody's life.

You want to talk about fraud and you want to talk about corruption? I just gave you a boatload of facts and figures for you to go after.

Instead, when it comes to the Trump White House: Oh, hands off. We are going to give him immunity, not only for past activity but for anything he does in the future.

Again, nobody, no citizen gets that kind of treatment. Again, he is the President, not the king, and people in this Chamber have to start recognizing that fact. Nobody in this country, even the President of the United States, is above the law.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this rule, a ``no'' vote on the rotten underlying legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source