During debate on the House floor last month, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) spoke in opposition to GOP-backed legislation.
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00:00The gentleman from New York Reserves, the gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized.
00:04Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the gentleman from New York for yielding me the customary 30 minutes,
00:10and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
00:13The gentleman is recognized.
00:15Mr. Speaker, we are here today for a rule on two measures.
00:19Two lousy measures doubling down on Republicans' agenda to help big banks and big polluters.
00:25S.J. Res. 13 is a gift-wrapped giveaway to Wall Street, plain and simple.
00:31It would make it easier for big banks to get even bigger, hurting small businesses and communities in the process.
00:38S.J. Res. 31 is even worse, a blatant handout to big polluters, putting corporate profits ahead of our constituents' health and safety.
00:48And this isn't new, Mr. Speaker.
00:50That's been the Republican playbook all Congress long.
00:54Help the polluters, help the banks, help Wall Street, help CEOs, help everyone except the working people who actually need it.
01:02And you may ask why?
01:04I would say follow the money.
01:07Look at the donations.
01:09One of the things we need to get serious about in this Congress, and hopefully when Democrats take control of the House after the next election,
01:16this will be a priority, and that is campaign finance reform.
01:20All this excessive money from big industry, from big banks, from corporations, from people like Elon Musk pollute this chamber in a way where the needs and the wants of regular people get put to the side.
01:38It is disgraceful, if we are being honest here, Mr. Speaker.
01:42But as bad as these two bills are, and I can't emphasize enough, they're really bad, they're just a warm-up act.
01:51In fact, this is filler.
01:53We weren't even supposed to be dealing with these bills.
01:55We were supposed to be dealing with the budget reconciliation bill.
01:58And because of the disarray within the Republican conference, all of a sudden, these bills appeared.
02:07Because in just over 13 hours, Mr. Speaker, the House Rules Committee will meet, starting at 1 o'clock in the morning,
02:17to debate a bill that steals from the American people so they can help out the billionaire donors who write them big checks.
02:24Now, let me ask, if this bill is so great, so big, so beautiful, as Donald Trump says it is,
02:31then why the hell are we debating it in the middle of the night?
02:37Why not debate it in broad daylight, where the American people can tune in and hear what it's really about?
02:44Well, we all know the answer.
02:46We all know the answer.
02:47And I encourage the American people to pay attention to what's happening very, very, very early in the morning here in the United States Capitol.
02:56Watch what happens in the Rules Committee at 1 o'clock in the morning.
03:02To all the insomniacs out there, tune in at 1 o'clock in the morning and watch what unfolds in that committee.
03:10Republicans do not want you to pay attention to their tax scam.
03:14Hell, Trump doesn't even want Republicans to pay attention to what's in this bill.
03:20He told you guys to close your eyes and vote for this garbage.
03:25Republicans were ordered not to say a word in committee, just fall in line and rubber stamp it.
03:33And now listen to this.
03:35Now they're sneaking a change into the rules, buried in the fine print of this rule,
03:40to give themselves same-day authority to bring the bill to the floor with a moment's notice.
03:46This bill, this bill is over a thousand pages long.
03:51They want to ram it through the rules committee, potentially changing it,
03:56and we know that there are changes coming, and then vote on it just hours later.
04:01A bill that adds trillions to the deficit and kicks millions of people off their health care.
04:06Now you guys once bragged about requiring 72 hours to review legislation.
04:12Remember that?
04:14Now you're ready to toss that promise in the trash to serve Trump's demands.
04:19And if my colleagues in the Freedom Caucus vote for this rule,
04:23they will have reached a new height of hypocrisy.
04:25It is unbelievable to me that they cry and whine about passing bills without the time to read them,
04:33and then they come down here and support ramming a bill through committee in the middle of the night
04:40and bringing it straight to the floor.
04:43Unbelievable.
04:45Hypocritical.
04:47Let's be real.
04:48This bill that we will be debating, this budget reconciliation bill, is a disaster.
04:53It is unpopular.
04:56It is indefensible.
04:59This is all about massive, huge tax breaks to billionaires paid for by stealing from working Americans.
05:08That's not hyperbole.
05:09That is just the truth.
05:12It rips away Medicaid from parents and grandparents.
05:15It slashes food assistance for children.
05:18The biggest cut in food assistance in history is contained in this bill.
05:23It drains resources from the moms and dads all to fund giveaways for those at the very, very top.
05:32And any backroom deals made in the next few hours to twist arms and to buy votes,
05:37well, they're only going to make this terrible bill even worse.
05:40And this is not what democracy looks like.
05:44This is what corruption looks like.
05:48And shame on every single person who votes to advance this awful process by torching any semblance of a fair process.
05:55A vote for this rule is a vote to allow Republican leadership to jam this bill through the House without enough time to even read it.
06:04Zero transparency, zero respect for this institution or the members here.
06:10Just close your eyes and vote for it.
06:13That's what Trump told you to do.
06:14Close your eyes and vote for it.
06:18Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve a hell of a lot better than this rushed, reckless process.
06:25They deserve leaders who work for them, not for the billionaires.
06:29And I urge a no vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.