Becca Balint

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Madam Speaker, it has been 5 days since President Trump, when asked if he had to uphold the Constitution, told a reporter: ``I don't know.'' Madam Speaker, it has been 5 days of silence from my Republican colleagues. I keep waiting to see if a single Republican will speak up about this and denounce this horrifying remark. My Republican colleagues: What has happened to you? You know that, if Obama or Clinton or Biden had said such an outrageous thing, you would be tripping over yourselves to get in front of the cameras. Yet, now, in this moment, you say nothing and you do nothing. I was at the inauguration. I saw all of you. We sat together and watched the President swear his oath of office to uphold the Constitution. I am pleading with you to speak up. Your fear is keeping you so small, and it is to the detriment of our country and our constitutional democracy.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present on April 29, 2025. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 109, and NAY on Roll Call No. 110.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Republican budget. Let's lay out where we are. Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House, and they could be passing legislation right now to actually lower costs for families on groceries, prescription drugs, and housing. Instead, they are attacking the very programs that working people and middle-class people across this country rely on. They have proposed a budget that gives massive tax cuts to the wealthiest and the corporations. How will they pay for it? They will pay for it by making cuts to Medicaid to the tune of $880 billion and deep cuts to SNAP benefits, food assistance to families. On top of that, they will add to the deficit. When I vote against this Republican budget, I will be thinking about all of the working families back in Vermont, thinking of the families who aren't going to be able to drop their kids off at a Head Start program, and thinking about the small businesses who tell me that the Trump on-again, off-again global tariffs are crushing them. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this reckless budget.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, this week we learned that 75 percent of the men on that plane to El Salvador, the men who President Trump claimed were the worst of the worst, were, in fact, not hardened criminals. Are we surprised that it was another example of optics over evidence? Mr. Speaker, 75 percent of these men had no criminal charges in the United States. One of these men is 31-year-old Andry Hernandez Romero who was snatched off the streets and put on a plane to El Salvador to rot in a prison there. Andry is not a gang member. He is not a terrorist. He is a threat to no one. He is a son, a brother, a makeup artist, and a hairdresser. He is a man who fled his home country to come to the United States because he feared for his life because he is gay. We are being lied to. These kinds of cruel tactics are not necessary to keep us safe. This is about taking away due process and intimidating us into silence and submission. If this administration will do this to Andry, then they will do it to anyone. We are all at risk. Protect due process.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I want to clarify something for some of my colleagues and for leaders across this country because there seems to be some confusion. There is a big difference between taking a knee and bending a knee. Taking a knee shows that you can hold many truths at once, you can love our country and believe that there is still more work to do. It shows that you are willing to do that work and to live up to our country's ideals. However, bending a knee is something quite different. Bending a knee is capitulation. It is what you do when you have given up, when you have lost your fight, when you have lost your way, when you are not willing to show courage, to show up, or to speak up. Taking a knee, you have got skin in the game. Bending a knee, you have given in, you have lost your self-respect. We were not elected to be obedient, to submit, to cower. We were not sent here to worship one man. We have no kings in America. We were sent here to work on behalf of the people. If you are not risking anything, you are not being brave. Show some grit and stand up for your people.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, we have heard for months now that this administration only hires the very best people. Really? Let's look at exhibit A. This is the guy? This guy? This is the guy that keeps swinging around his big chainsaw? This is the guy who is going to fix government? Let me state for the record what millions of Americans can already see with their own eyes and what Trump's own Cabinet can see and what my colleagues across the aisle are hoping nobody will ask them about. Elon Musk has no idea what he is doing. He has fired people who guard our nuclear arsenal. He has gone after the people protecting us from bird flu and Ebola. His own emails and directives contradict each other. He erroneously triple counted contracts to inflate the DOGE numbers. He has had to remove faulty claims and replace them with a page saying: Coming soon. Mr. Speaker, the incompetence is shocking, and it makes us all less safe. From exposing our personal, private information to leaving Americans stranded abroad to kicking our veterans to the curb, we deserve so much better than this.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues: What kind of man asks for absolute fealty and bootlicking from the people around him? What kind of man asks people to lie for him? What kind of man is so petty that he can't admit obvious mistakes and lies? What kind of man mocks veterans and then callously fires them from jobs? What kind of man appeases and flatters our enemies? What kind of man puts his own needs above country? What kind of men and women make excuses for him and lie for him and cover for him? These are the questions that are haunting me today. We need so much better than this in this moment. This is about the safety and security of our Nation and our allies around the world. This is about our collective protection of our ideals. Americans of conscience, we must stand together and confront any man so wholly unsuited for what we ask of him.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to the Republican budget. Here is the deal: Republicans have the House, the Senate, and the White House. They could be passing legislation to actually make our lives better, to lower costs on groceries, on prescription drugs. They could be lowering the cost of housing. Instead they are attacking the very programs that working- and middle-class families rely on in this country. It is a betrayal. All of us were sent here to work on behalf of the people back home. We were sent here to lower costs for people, to alleviate suffering. I know that my colleagues were as well. Therefore, I ask, why are they letting Trump do this? Why? This Republican budget doesn't do anything to address the costs that working people are facing. They have proposed a budget that gives massive, massive tax cuts to the wealthiest and corporations in this country. How will they pay for it? They will pay for it by making deep cuts to Medicare, to the tune of $880 billion, and deep cuts to SNAP benefits. That is right, taking food away from families who need it. They will be increasing the deficit. It is long past time for them to stop lecturing us about the debt when they know full well that their math is not mathing. They are adding to the deficit with this program, and they are literally giving the money away to the wealthiest who do not need it. When I vote on this Republican budget, I will be thinking of all the working families back home in Vermont, people who sent me here to work on their behalf, not against them. I am thinking of families who worry that they won't have Head Start.

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Chair, I am thinking of the small businesses in Vermont that have reached out to me to say that Trump's proposed tariff war with Canada is going to crush them. I am thinking about the 150,000 Vermonters who are dependent on Medicaid. I urge my colleagues to reject this unfair budget.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, Russia invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine. That is the cold, hard truth of it. Vladimir Putin is the aggressor. I stand here on the floor to say that our President will not rewrite the past. Putin has mercilessly continued this war for over 3 years now; a war that has led to immeasurable suffering for Ukraine and a shocking death toll of both Ukrainians and Russians. The region is awash in blood because of him. Now the United States stands with Russia and North Korea against Ukraine and all of our allies in Europe? It is sick. We are standing with dictators and against our allies. I never thought I would see the day when our President would be a puppet for a dictator. To my Republican colleagues: Did you ever imagine that you would be in a party that stands on the side of dictators or on the side of a country who has killed journalists, with an authoritarian accused of war crimes, and a man who assassinates his political opponents? Aren't you embarrassed by what you have become? It is revolting to watch my colleagues side with Russia because Trump said so.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to stand with our Federal workers and civil servants and to tell them that we will fight these illegal actions. The Trump administration is treating our Federal workforce as if they are the enemy. These are regular Americans who work important jobs all over the country, not just in D.C., but in all of our districts. In fact, 85 percent of the nonpartisan civil servants are spread around the country. Vermont is home to 8,000 of these Federal workers. They are part of the 2 million Federal workers who operate our national parks. They are scientists at the FDA. They work at hospitals, at NASA, and they protect our national security. In fact, 70 percent work on behalf of our national security and defense. I will tell you, Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned that the illegal purge of our civil servants at the Department of Justice and at the FBI will lead to another 9/11 terrorist attack. I ask Americans: Do we really want to put our Nation at risk so that billionaires can get a massive tax cut? Follow the money. What this is about is firing our Federal workforce to fund tax cuts for billionaires. Don't be fooled by what is happening here. It is about the money. Follow the money. Our Federal workers are civil servants because they are here to serve the people. They are hired on a nonpartisan basis because they keep our country running, and they keep us safe. What is happening is an illegal takeover of our government. By locking them out of their jobs, firing them illegally, and bullying them out of a job, Trump and Musk are trying to create chaos and confusion. It will harm Americans, not just the people who are being fired illegally, but it will harm all of those Americans in our districts who seek services from these workers. None of this is about making our government work better for Americans. It is a well-worn tactic used by authoritarians and dictators like Orban in Hungary and Bolsonaro in Brazil. They do it to destroy government services so that they create chaos and they create confusion, and then we turn against each other. This administration is using chaos and cruelty to amass power and wealth, not for us and not for Americans, but only for them.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, day one, our President made our country less safe. Day one, with an irresponsible stroke of his pen, Donald Trump released 500 violent felons back out onto our streets. These are the criminals who brutally attacked cops who were protecting this building. These were the people who betrayed our country, our democracy. I am not talking about the people who merely showed up that day to protest and didn't commit crimes. This is about the attackers who beat cops with pipes and flagpoles and tasers and mace, who literally stomped on police and tried to poke their eyes out. These were the sweeping pardons that Donald Trump made on day one. These pardons disproportionately benefited the most violent among the mob. Now, they are back out on the street, heading to our communities. A number of them have already publicly commented that they are going to go buy some more guns, that they are out for retribution and have no remorse for what they did. Of course, Americans are angry by this, and rightly so. It is an awful thing that the President has done, and it puts Americans in danger. Among those who are angry is the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the U.S., and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. They understand, more than anyone, that this puts law enforcement at risk. In a statement, they said: ``When perpetrators of crimes, especially serious crimes, are not held fully accountable, it sends a dangerous message that the consequences for attacking law enforcement are not severe.'' They further worried that it could encourage more violence against law enforcement. If you can viciously attack a police officer and get off scot-free, what kind of message is that? So, violence is acceptable if it is committed on Donald Trump's behalf? It is okay to beat a cop if it is in the service of keeping him in power? This is incredibly dangerous. I have to say, it looks an awful lot like the actions of someone who would like to be a dictator. How can the officers who protect us believe that we actually value them if the President doesn't believe in holding people accountable who attacked them? How? Over the last 2 years, I have had the opportunity to get to know many of the officers on the Capitol Police force. They take their jobs incredibly seriously. They have our backs every day. They put their lives on the line not just to protect our flesh and blood but to protect the very democracy, to protect the ideals of this country. Like many of those who spoke before me have said, it is important to make this connection. These pardons are part of a concerted effort to rewrite what happened on January 6. This desecrates the memory of Officer Brian Sicknick, who lost his life in defense of this building, and it diminishes the great sacrifices that were made by thousands of officers that day. If we don't push back on this perverted rewriting of history, we can look forward to our children and our grandchildren learning about the glories of January 6, 2021. It has to be remembered for what it was. It was a domestic terrorist attack, plain and simple. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to be trapped in a lie that they can't get out of. I know by the eye rolls. Actually, even before we went into the inauguration, I saw some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle doing impressions of the incoming President, making fun of him. They are now trapped in this lie that they have perpetuated for years now, and they don't know how to get out of it. What Donald Trump has done on day one is to say to the Capitol Police: I value violent felons more than I value you. I know I speak for so many Americans today when I say that makes me sick.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, as families in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas grapple with horrible devastation, loss of homes, community, loss of life and livelihoods, I am disgusted to hear that Republican leadership--Speaker Johnson--is planning to use this tragedy for political gain and withhold aid from California. Americans are evacuating their homes, watching their communities burn, and the Speaker and Trump and some of my Republican colleagues in Congress want to punish Americans for not voting their way in November? This is morally bankrupt. Californians obviously need this help now. I am standing up here because I am a Vermonter who just endured two horrible summers of devastating floods. I know what it feels like to go house to house and talk to people who have lost everything. I remember talking to one man who had lost his home and his livelihood and was out of his home. He said to me: I didn't vote for you. I said: It doesn't matter that you didn't vote for me. I am still showing up for you. We need to show up for all Americans, regardless of political party.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in fierce opposition to this bill. Trans Americans are not the problem. This obsession with monitoring kids' genitals is absolutely the problem. Let's be clear. This is about kids--my kids, your kids, all kids, even elementary school kids playing basketball. I am a mom of two teens. I am a former teacher. I know what kids are going through in school. They are already self-conscious about their bodies. They just want to be on the soccer field with their friends. They certainly do not want to be humiliated by Members of Congress. Let's talk about what enforcement looks like because, Mr. Speaker, you don't want to talk about it. We know there is only one logical conclusion to this. This is interrogation of young girls about their bodies. This is asking people to show them what is underneath their underwear. That is what we are talking about. This is the logical conclusion for this bill. It is vile, and it is twisted. They don't want to talk about the details. It is an absolute invasion of children's privacy. Far from protecting anyone, it puts our children at risk. Mr. Speaker, actually, I urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reject this government overreach.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, this is a message to all of my colleagues voting on the NDAA and to Americans who might be watching: You are being misled. Our most cynical Republican colleagues are telling you that Democrats are pushing for sterilization and surgery for kids in military families. Let me be absolutely clear: This is not true. That is not what is going on here. Here is what is true: TRICARE currently covers appropriate gender- affirming hormone therapy for all military dependents, period, the kind of care that millions of doctors support as safe and effective. Now, Republicans want to restrict this, but only for trans kids. They are targeting trans kids and their families and saying what kind of healthcare is appropriate for them. This is a very tiny percentage of the population, and they are using this opportunity to scapegoat them. We know that appropriate and medically recommended care saves lives. We know this. It is well documented. Why wouldn't we want to do everything that we can to save the lives of children? I am a member of a military family. I was born on an Army base in Germany when my dad served in the military. Military families carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. They shouldn't have to worry whether their kids can receive the lifesaving care that they need. Our servicemembers have enough to worry about. Why do Republicans want to make it even more complicated for them by limiting healthcare options for their families? I am here to say it absolutely loud and clear: Military families deserve the healthcare that they need. This includes gender-affirming care options for their children. Servicemembers across this country and across the world deserve so much better than what they are getting from House Republicans.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, the House Committee on the Judiciary is tasked with the underappreciated yet critical responsibility to oversee the revision and codification of the statutes of the United States. I appreciate that today we are continuing the strong bipartisan tradition of ensuring that the U.S. Code is current and accurate. Currently consisting of 54 titles, the U.S. Code compiles the general and permanent laws of the United States into subject areas. This categorization makes our Federal laws much more accessible both to government officials but also to private citizens who seek the benefit or relief the laws provide to them. The painstaking work in maintaining and updating the U.S. Code falls to the expert lawyers working under the supervision of the House and the Office of the Law Revision Counsel. I am grateful to them for their hard work and dedication to the rule of law. H.R. 7324 makes technical corrections to the U.S. Code. It is part of an effort to codify positive law in the U.S. Code. Specifically, the bill makes conforming amendments related to public contracts under title 41 of the code. The statutory changes made by these bills are purely technical. They do not change the meaning or the effect of any existing laws. They simply ensure that the code is an authoritative, accurate, and accessible source of Federal law. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Nadler and Chairman Jordan for the bipartisan way in which they have moved these bills. I encourage my House colleagues to support the bill.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Huffman for convening us to discuss this very important topic. Mr. Speaker, when I was in leadership in the Vermont State Senate, I saw the writing on the wall. I knew that Republicans were absolutely determined to overturn Roe v. Wade. We knew it was time to act to codify reproductive rights, not just in statute but in our State's constitution. At that time, some colleagues said I was overreacting. They said I was being paranoid, that I was being hysterical. They said the Supreme Court would never overturn Roe v. Wade because it was settled law. I could say it was not at all satisfying to be right, but, in fact, overturning Roe v. Wade was just the beginning. The GOP is preparing for a possible second Trump term with a plan to end all access to abortion and contraception, all spelled out in the playbook, Project 2025. Trump's Project 2025 lays out plans to purposely misinterpret an outdated law known as the Comstock Act and use it to ban mailing drugs used in medication abortions and any equipment or any materials used in surgical abortions. They even want to make it illegal to mail any information, period, about abortion. That is why House Democrats are taking action with a bill that I introduced this year with some very strong cosponsors. The Stop Comstock Act would take outdated and unconstitutional aspects of the Comstock laws off of the books and protect a woman's access to abortion no matter what town she lives in across this Nation. We have to use every tool at our disposal to protect access to abortion and all birth control options. This 150-year-old law was the result of one man's moralistic crusade against everything that he determined to be obscene, including information on abortion and contraception. Republicans know that voters don't support a nationwide abortion ban, so they will misuse this law and bypass Congress to get their way. Make no mistake, Project 2025 is not about building a future that Americans want or that they have asked for or that they need. It is about taking us back to the 1870s. Congressional Republicans and their allies in statehouses across the Nation are out of step with Americans. Americans want the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, and they want these freedoms guaranteed. No matter how much the former President and House Republicans pretend that their views are moderate, their actions tell us something very different. They have shown us through legislative action that they will continue to enact extreme policies that the vast majority of the American people do not want and that put women's lives at risk. Overturning Roe v. Wade was the next step in their plan to ban abortion in this country, and they don't appear to care how this hurts women or families. Donald Trump has repeatedly bragged about being the guy who ended Roe v. Wade, a decision that has cost lives and left women desperate for urgent medical care. One of the masterminds behind Project 2025 is a man named Jonathan Mitchell. My colleagues may not know this name, but they certainly know his work. Mitchell helped develop Texas' strict anti-abortion law, SB 8. He concocted the very disturbing ``enforcement mechanism'' that allows private citizens to bring lawsuits against those who violate the statute. It is a law that encourages neighbors to spy on each other and calls upon Americans to turn in healthcare providers who rightly and bravely put women's health and safety above extremist policies. I can't even believe I am saying this in this country in this year. I can't believe that this is where we are. His intent to misuse Comstock could not be clearer. He said, ``We don't need a Federal [abortion] ban when we have Comstock on the books.'' He said, ``There's a smorgasbord of options.'' These plans spelled out in Project 2025 are sinister, and they have very real consequences, which is why it is so important that we gather tonight to shine a light on this extreme plan. Mr. Speaker, it is time Republicans abandon their obsession with controlling women's bodies and stop using legislative action to slip parts of Project 2025 into House bills today. The American people do not want that. Democrats see this. We are standing up for the American people.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to serve with Representative Ramirez and to speak here tonight about an issue that is incredibly important to me, and that is the health and strength of democracy. When I ran for Congress, the issue I heard the most about was just that, the health and the strength of the democracy. Yes, of course, Vermonters care about particular issues for our district--housing, the workforce crisis, the mental health crisis, all of these things--but they said more than anything, they are worried about the health of the democracy. I came to the job having come up through the Vermont State Senate, and before that, I was a teacher and tried to instill in my students the importance of being involved in the democracy to keep replenishing it with the energy and attention it requires. What I have noticed over the last few years is that there is, indeed, a cynicism creeping in, as my colleague mentioned earlier, and cynicism has a corrosive effect, not just on the democracy but on our own health and stability and the health of our communities. It is, in fact, the voice of the status quo. It is about convincing people that you can't actually make change, so why even try, that it is futile. The stakes are so incredibly high. I will tell you that my family knows firsthand that democracies don't fail overnight. My grandfather was killed in the Holocaust, and I grew up with the understanding that people can be horribly cruel to one another and can perpetuate horrors upon individuals and families when the law does not protect the most vulnerable and when people turn away from each other and demonize each other. I can tell you in earnest that we have seen this in this country in the last few years grow to a fever pitch of dehumanizing and demonizing our fellow Americans. I see it in my committees, whether it is attacking immigrants or migrants, attacking the LGBTQ community, or attacking the poor. It is not about coming together as Americans and finding common cause with other Americans. It is often about making people the scapegoats. Democracies fail little by little as our rights are stripped away from us, as democratic norms are upended, and as people are scapegoated. My parents never took for granted the rights and privileges provided to us by the U.S. Constitution and that we must be vigilant and take our responsibility of supporting and protecting the Constitution seriously. I was very concerned, coming up on almost 2 years ago when I started in Congress, because I knew that 139 Members of this body did not vote to certify a free and fair election. Of those 139, 124 ran for reelection, and 118 are still serving in Congress. They serve with us in committees, and we have to see them on the floor, people who did not support a free and fair election and the peaceful transfer of power. This sickens me. In moments when I am home in Vermont, it is very difficult to convey to my constituents what it feels like sometimes to be here as a public servant supporting the democracy, supporting the ideals that supposedly we all hold so dear, and to serve alongside people who still will not admit that Joe Biden is the rightful winner of the 2020 election. It should outrage all of us. How can we make the case to our children and to my former students that democracy is something to protect, that it is sacred, that we all have a stake in making sure it is healthy when there are Members of Congress who still will not admit that Joe Biden is the rightful winner of the 2020 election? We must commit, all of us, to rising above this dangerous nonsense because we all know the truth. We do. We know the truth. As we head into another election season, I know what I fear. I fear that once again we will be faced with a critical moment of courage, and that some will fail that test. When I heard that the topic tonight was about strengthening the democracy, I said: Absolutely, I will be there. None of these things-- strengthening our voting rights, improving our representation, making sure that we have campaign finance reform, supporting our communities, and on and on--can happen if we do not have a commitment from the people in this Chamber to admit the rightful winner of an election and to stand in this Chamber and certify those election results. I look forward to seeing some courage, regardless of the outcome. I hope that I am not, once again, deeply, deeply disappointed and disgusted by the lack of courage and fortitude of those who say that they support the Constitution, the rule of law, and this great democracy.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to be present on July 22, 2024 due to flight delays. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 356, YEA on Roll Call No. 357, and YEA on Roll Call No. 358.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to start with a reflection. When I was in high school, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to go into politics. I was good in front of a room. I loved talking about policy. I wanted to make a real difference in the lives of Americans. It was so clear. I knew my path. I also thought that was just a pipe dream because, first of all, I knew nobody in my family had ever run for office. I didn't know the first thing about doing that, but I also knew at that time in high school, I had no role models for how to serve as an openly gay leader, a politician, so I put that away. I actually didn't run for office until I was in my forties because I didn't see a way forward. There was just so much homophobia, so much vitriol from within my community, sometimes within my own family. I want to reflect on the fact it is incredible that I am standing here today in this Chamber, the House of Representatives, as the first woman ever to represent Vermont in Congress, as the first openly LGBTQ person to represent my State in Congress. I never imagined that I would be here. I take it very seriously that I am a leader for all Vermonters, regardless of how they identify. Pride--which is what this month is about--is about celebrating love. It is about celebrating families of all kinds, including my own. I have a wife and two teenagers. It is about celebrating the joy that comes from living your authentic self and making genuine connections with other people. Pride is also a reminder that we must remember the history that brought us here today, of the political struggle that secured so many of our rights, and also the path we still must walk in order to get to true equality. Earlier today, I spoke in the Oversight Committee. I was waived onto that committee to talk about some of the really horrible rhetoric that has become all too commonplace in our committees and on the floor of the House of Representatives. I know because I feel it, too. I know so many of us are feeling quite down about the state of the world and discouraged about the battles that we have fought. We thought we had that discrimination behind us. We thought the hateful and hurtful rhetoric was something in the past. I get it. We, as members of marginalized communities, understand the despair. We understand why it is so exhausting to think about having to fight these battles over again, but we do not have the luxury of losing hope or giving in to cynicism. As I say often, cynicism is the voice of the status quo. Cynicism tells you nothing can change, so, therefore, why even try. I can say that I have been shocked at the constant attacks on my community that I have experienced in the last 1\1/2\ years in Congress, with the public debate and passage of so many dangerous anti- transgender, anti-LGBTQ bills, amendments, and riders. There is this sense that somehow our words don't matter, that they don't have an impact, that it is just an amendment. I literally had people say to me in the hallway that they don't really believe this stuff, that they don't really hate gay people. That doesn't matter if what they do in the end is vote for those hateful amendments and riders in bills. My colleagues' actions matter. It is not enough to say to me privately, hey, I know you, know you are a good person, and you know I don't mean you. That doesn't matter if what they do in the end is vote against my rights and freedoms and, more than that, demonize me within my community and, as the Representative from Michigan just said, contribute to the mental health crisis that so many youth in my community suffer from. We can't allow our elected officials and leaders to continue to demonize and dehumanize other Americans, other Americans who have the rights that all Americans have to live their lives free from discrimination, to go to work and not have to face discrimination at work, to serve on a jury, and to be treated with dignity and respect. That is all we are asking. We thought that the work was behind us because we are your friends, neighbors, and family members, and we have already fought these battles. The sky didn't fall when we passed civil unions in Vermont. The sky didn't fall when we passed same-sex marriage. The sky didn't fall when we passed antidiscrimination legislation. All the terrible things that were going to come to pass by treating people with dignity, respect, and love, and affording them the same freedoms as everyone else in this country--the sky did not fall. We are still here. We are still a strong democracy. The consistent stream of hate is a reminder that whenever you make progress, and my colleague here knows it so well, the backlash comes. We are in the midst of a furious backlash. We cannot allow the attacks to go unchallenged. We must go toe to toe in committee after committee, debate after debate on the floor. We cannot normalize the dehumanizing rhetoric, the fear-mongering, the hatred. We must every day call attention to the fact that what is happening in the most powerful body in this country is that people are using their political platform to demonize and dehumanize and spread hatred and fear of other Americans who are worthy of dignity, respect, and freedom. I hear from so many young people, both in my State and here on the Hill, people who work in this building, people who come to advocate on behalf of organizations and policies they believe in. They say: Thank you so much, Congresswoman, for being out about who you are and being open about your family because it is still really hard to live a life full of joy and promise in many pockets of this country. We risk lives when we don't stand up clearly and loudly against discrimination against trans people, against queer people, against people who are just different. We have forgotten that everyone in our community, regardless of gender identity, regardless of background, is worthy of dignity and respect and should be afforded the same freedoms and rights as every other American. We must be loud, and we must not give an inch. That is why we are here tonight. We are not going back. It doesn't matter how many amendments you bring up, how many riders, or how many bills that are attacking our community. We are not going back. We are not going back into the closet. We are not going to stop being who we are. We are not going to stop showing up with courage and dignity and love, not just for ourselves, but for all the young people who are watching us, who see their leaders demonizing them, who tune in to C-SPAN and tune in to committee hearings and they say: I can't believe they are spending their time attacking our community again when all we want is to live a life of dignity and freedom. Why are they spending their time on this? I have to say: I don't know. I don't know. This month is about loving and living. That is what this is. This is life-affirming. Pride is about saying: We are here. We are your friends. We are your neighbors. We are your family members, and we deserve dignity and respect. I remind my community out there: You be you. Keep being you. Keep being yourself. When we reach our full potential as humans, it does make the world a better place. It makes our communities more rich. I tell you this because I know my 11-year-old self needed to hear that. I needed to hear that from the adults in my life and the leaders. My 11-year-old self was worried that just being me, just having my identity would limit what I would be able to do in life, which is why I didn't run for office until my forties. I knew at 17 that I wanted to serve my community, but I felt limited because of the homophobia and because of the hatred. I worried that my family would not love me. I worried that I would never be accepted in school because those were the messages. I worried and feared that I would lose friends, and I did. Today, we have to remember where we have come from, and we cannot allow the rhetoric to continue in this body because it isn't just about the bills that we pass or don't pass. It is about the messages that we are sending to people across this country. Are we a Nation that believes that everyone is entitled to dignity and respect and humanity, or are we going to become a Nation that continues to scapegoat those in our communities that, for some reason, we don't understand? I am here as a Member of Congress. I am here as a parent. I am here as a former teacher. It is the honor of my life to serve my State in the U.S. House of Representatives. I could not be more proud, and I am going to use my voice to stand up for any community that is in danger of having its rights taken away from it.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, we are here today because of the Republican Party's unrelenting effort to get Donald Trump back into office, no matter the facts and no matter the law. For over 1 year, Judiciary Committee Republican colleagues have desperately sought evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden. What have they found? They have found nothing. Nothing. I am sure it was disappointing for my Republican colleagues when Special Counsel Hur cleared the President instead of indicting him, but it is time to move on. We should be on the floor moving gun violence legislation, protecting the right to abortion, and protecting the LBGTQ Americans across the country who are attacked relentlessly by my colleagues on the other side. This is a colossal waste of time, but more importantly, it is dangerous. What they are doing is dangerous. When this Congress is over, the only achievements my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will be able to point to will be the things that we, as Democrats, helped them to pass.

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, it is my job, and it is all of our jobs, to represent constituents. I thought that is what we are all here for. I implore my Republican colleagues to stop putting the interests of only one man above the interests of Americans. The truth will out, and history will not look kindly on what you have done here.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the gentlewoman from Connecticut, has been a champion on this issue, and I am so glad she has convened us here tonight. Over 41 million Americans depend on nutrition assistance to feed themselves and their families, and SNAP benefits reach millions of rural Americans every day. No State, no community, and no Congressional District in our Nation is immune to hunger and food insecurity. Paradoxically, in rural areas that grow most of our Nation's food, many households face real struggles with hunger. It is not just in metropolitan areas. We know poverty is the root cause of hunger, and it is often acute in rural communities, like in my home State of Vermont, with 15 percent of households in rural areas facing food insecurity. Millions of working families, veterans, people with disabilities, seniors, and children in rural communities cannot always afford enough food to keep themselves and their families healthy. Simply put, too many Americans are going hungry every day, but we have a vital program that actually helps to address this problem, the SNAP program. It provides monthly benefits to low-income families and individuals to help them to buy food. The Republicans' attack, and it is just the latest attack on this essential program, would slash the program by $30 billion over the next decade. If enacted, the bill would make the largest cuts to SNAP benefits in 30 years at a time when we have gross wealth inequality in this country. Slashing anti-hunger programs that we know work is stupid, it is inhumane, and it is also shortsighted. Even if you don't think we have a moral responsibility to feed the children of this Nation and make sure they don't go hungry every night, even if you don't think it is a moral imperative, which I do, but if you don't, there are real consequences for individual Americans and for our healthcare system. When Americans don't have enough food, this greatly impacts the health of those who go hungry. Food insecurity can lead to Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity. The gentlewoman from Connecticut and I are both former teachers. We know children who go hungry struggle in school. They have health problems. Americans who are food insecure are more likely to struggle with psychological and behavioral health issues. This year's farm bill should be providing more benefits to Americans. We should be expanding and protecting SNAP benefits. Instead, what are we doing? Once again, demonizing the poor. It is time that House Republicans drop their partisan extremism and work alongside Democrats to pass a truly bipartisan farm bill and actually help feed the American people.

Ms. BALINT

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, tonight, my colleagues and I are here on the floor of the U.S. Congress to talk about the mental health crisis we are seeing across the country in each of our congressional districts. I know this issue can be incredibly hard for many people to talk about. It is personal. It is complex. Many Americans don't feel comfortable talking about it because they fear the reaction from their friends, their families, or coworkers. But seeking mental health treatment is not a sign of weakness; it means you are human. The body does not stop at the neck and mental health care is healthcare. Period. All of us here tonight are fighting for a future in which anyone who wants mental health care gets it when we finally end the unequal treatment of mental health. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).

Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a nationwide mental health crisis, and it is critically important for all of us in positions of power to do the work of passing legislation and funding programs that will meet the needs of our constituents. It is also important that we use our positions to help create opportunities for connections in our communities right now because we have a crisis of loneliness and disconnection in our Nation. It has become such an urgent issue that our U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has unveiled a new framework and strategy to address this national crisis of loneliness. Murthy has said that social connections must be a top priority in terms of public health. He believes, as I do, that the epidemic of loneliness and isolation has fueled other problems in our society that are making us very sick. His research shows that about one in every two Americans is experiencing loneliness at any given time. It is shocking. It isn't just emotionally uncomfortable to be lonely; it also has real consequences for our health. It can increase the risk of anxiety, depression, heart disease, stroke, and data indicates that the risk of a premature death due to loneliness is even comparable to the risk associated with being a daily smoker. This rampant disconnection and loneliness also fuels anger and distrust, and it adds to the disconnection that many Americans experience. The science is clear and compelling. Research has found that our need for connection may be as fundamental as our need for food and water. Many studies over the past decade have come to the same conclusion: Social connectedness generates a positive feedback loop of social, emotional, and actually physical well-being. People who feel more connected to others show lower levels of anxiety and depression and greater empathy for others. They also tend to be more cooperative and trusting. Further, a lack of social connection can have a range of negative effects. One study of 7,000 Americans of different ages, genders, and health found that people who were disconnected from others were roughly three times more likely to die over that 9-year study than people with strong social ties. Surprisingly, regardless of demographics, people who had unhealthy lifestyles, but close social ties lived longer than those with healthy living habits but poor social connections. Not only are relationships fundamental to our health and happiness, but research shows that they may even shape how our brains work to make decisions. We must craft policy and make investments to address our national mental health crisis. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove).