Secure America Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I will start by reminding the American people that last year Republicans passed reconciliation 1.0, which President Trump and my Republican colleagues proudly boasted at the time was the big, beautiful bill.
Notice, you don't hear much about it anymore. Why? Because the American people figured out what was in it. The bill became one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation to pass Congress in decades, with disapproval more than 2-1 over approval. The reason is simple: because it hurts America's families.
The bill cut healthcare for 15 million Americans and raised healthcare costs for millions more. It made the largest cuts to food assistance in American history. It added trillions of dollars to the national debt and all to help pay for the largest tax breaks for billionaires in our Nation's history.
That is the Republican record. They cut healthcare. They cut food assistance. They raised costs on working families. They exploded the debt, and then they handed the biggest benefits to billionaires.
At the same time, this administration has failed miserably on the economy. We all remember Donald Trump campaigning in my home State, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and across this country, promising the American people he would ``lower prices on day one.''
Well, here we are, just past day 500, and costs are higher than ever. President Trump's reckless tariff taxes have driven up costs for families and businesses. As if that wasn't bad enough, his choice of war in Iran has helped send gas prices soaring, a more than 50-percent increase in just a matter of months. Families are paying more at the pump, they are paying more at the grocery store, and they are paying more for healthcare.
With that, you would think that, in reconciliation 2.0, the Republican majority might actually want to do something to fix that situation, to fix the mess they created, but no. This bill does not include one dime to help American families pay for the crushing costs that they bear.
On top of all of that, we have the President who is continuing to openly say he wants to give billions of taxpayer money to January 6 insurrectionists. Even though a vast majority of American people oppose that obnoxious notion, there is nothing in this bill to prevent that from happening.
Madam Speaker, the American people deserve better than a bill that does nothing to lower costs, nothing to help families, and nothing to stop Donald Trump from rewarding violent criminals who attacked our Capitol. We deserve better.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Education and Workforce Committee and also a member of the Committee on the Budget.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), the distinguished Democratic leader of the House.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, we heard a lot of words there. What I didn't hear, though, was even one word, just one, about what this reconciliation bill would do to lower costs for the American people. I didn't hear one word for the 15 million Americans about to be kicked off their healthcare.
I didn't hear one word about those who are paying 50 percent more for gas than what they were paying just a couple months ago because of this President's reckless war of choice. There are no words, no plans, nothing in their bill whatsoever to bring down costs for the American people.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Balint), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Jayapal), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Chu).
Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. I have been participating and listening to this entire debate. Actually, the President's name that has come up the most is President Biden. I think they actually miss him because they would like someone to blame other than the man who is in the White House right now.
The American people make it clear with some of the worst approval ratings on the economy in 20-plus years by a 3-1 margin, that they disapprove of this President's handling of the economy--72 percent disapprove. Again, these are the worst numbers since the Great Recession.
They need someone else to blame because they know just how poorly things are going right now under this President and Republican leadership.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Omar), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Velazquez), the distinguished ranking member of the Committee on Small Business.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will point out, as I said in the beginning, that this bill does absolutely nothing to prevent Donald Trump from handing taxpayer dollars to the violent criminals who attacked police officers here on January 6.
We know that this is not hypothetical. The President has said repeatedly that he wants to compensate January 6 rioters.
Just this past weekend, he refused to rule out payments even for those who assaulted law enforcement officers at the Capitol.
Mr. Speaker, let's remember what these criminals did.
Rioters trapped Officer Daniel Hodges in a doorway and ripped away his gas mask as he was crushed and assaulted.
Officer Michael Fanone was beaten, tased again and again, dragged into the crowd, and suffered a heart attack. Other officers were attacked with flag poles and pepper sprayed.
These rioters were not tourists. They were violent thugs who attempted to overturn an election by force.
Now, let's not forget, this President has already pardoned them. He already gave them a free pass. Now he wants to reward them again with our taxpayer money. What a disgrace.
For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to commit this bill back to committee.
If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill.
My amendment would make clear that not one penny of taxpayer money may be used to create, administer, or pay for any slush fund, settlement payment, or any other payout to January 6 insurrectionists.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to commit, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered. Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore
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Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
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