Jim McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Let me, first of all, respond to something the gentlewoman from North Carolina said about Republicans trying to protect our children. I would just ask, where the hell are the Epstein files? We have forced resolutions on this floor to be passed, to demand a release of these files. Congressman Massie came to the floor. Again, he has another resolution. Still, we have no compliance with the law. We know that this administration is up to their eyeballs in the Epstein files. When is that going to happen? When is that going to be released? I mean, talk about protecting children. Mr. Speaker, you know when Republicans send us home this week, what exactly will be cheaper? Will groceries cost less? Will rent go down? Will anybody's electric bill shrink? Will health insurance premiums come down? The answer is no. Not one damn thing on the agenda this week will address the affordability crisis. Nothing. Congress will have condemned socialism again. Mission accomplished, I guess. You know that tells you everything about the priorities of this Republican majority. Whenever the conversation gets uncomfortable, they change the subject. Why are groceries so expensive? Socialism. Why are healthcare costs so expensive? They showed socialism. Why did Trump start another new war in the Middle East? You must be a Socialist for asking the question. When are you going to release the Epstein files? When is that going to happen? Socialism, socialism, socialism. It is literally insane. It is Trump derangement syndrome. Meanwhile, the President's big win this week is pretending to rename Lake Ontario after getting into a trade war with our closest ally and neighbor. This is nuts. This Chamber ceases to be a serious body when we don't call this stuff out and when we don't actually bring bills to the floor that address the real needs of the American people. The American people are not stupid. They know who is focused on listening to their problems and who is focused on playing political games. We should be working to lower costs, period. Contrary to what Trump says, affordability is not a made-up word, and it does have a definition. People cannot afford to pay everyday expenses. They can't afford their groceries. They can't afford their rent. They can't afford to fill their gas tank up. They want lower healthcare costs. They want lower housing costs. They want lower energy costs. They want lower grocery bills. They want an end to the corporate giveaways and tax loopholes that let big companies jack up prices and gouge consumers. You know, they want an end to giving these corporations the ability to cheat on their taxes and to avoid accountability. That is what people want us to do, not fight absurd culture wars and debate far-right fringe garbage. If our Republican colleagues want to have another debate about socialism, fine, let's have it. Waste more time passing more nonbinding resolutions. At the end of the day, people are going to vote based on their bank accounts, pocketbooks, grocery bills, and gas prices. People look at life through their kitchen window. They are tired of all of this bs that is being talked about in this Chamber. They are sick of a Congress that debates trivial issues passionately but important ones not at all. They want to know when we are going to care about them. They are sick and tired of a Congress that gives tax breaks to entities, that gives big donations to political parties and political candidates. They want to know when they come first. My friends, you have failed miserably to deliver on your promise to make life more affordable for people. People are counting on us. They want us to do better. You have a chance. We will work in a bipartisan way to try to deal with some of these high costs the people are faced with right now. No, we come back after a recess, and this is what we are dealing with. This is garbage. This is a waste of time. This is an insult to this Chamber. It is an insult to the American people. They will remember in November. Vote ``no'' on this rule. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about United States policy toward Cuba, or rather our lack of a coherent policy and our decades-long failure to help the people of Cuba. Cuba is our neighbor. We have lived side by side for centuries. Our histories are intertwined. Our futures are, too. Almost 10 million people live on the island of Cuba. They go to school and work, raise families and go about their lives, and crave freedom and justice, but the people of Cuba struggle to realize their aspirations. The Cuban Government deprives the people from enjoying their civil and political rights. Freedom of expression and assembly are severely curtailed. The recent release of 2,000 prisoners was welcome, as is the recent release of Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, a political prisoner in the Defending Freedoms Project of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, but over 700 prisoners of conscience remain behind bars, according to Human Rights Watch. Yet, for all the abuse of the Cuban people by the Cuban Government, so too has the United States deprived the Cuban people of enjoying their economic and social rights. The crushing U.S. embargo has stunted their economic development and caused immense hardship. These U.S. policies are human rights violations. America's cruel and illegal blockade is creating a severe humanitarian crisis, denying energy imports, which the Cuban people depend on for their healthcare, food distribution, and livelihood. Cubans recently experienced the eighth collapse of their power grid since October 2024. Some 3 million Cubans experience water shortages every single day, and the U.N. reports that infant mortality has doubled to 9.9 per 1,000 births. Childhood cancer survival rates have fallen from 85 to 65 percent. Supplies of essential medicines are only 30 percent of normal. What we are witnessing in Cuba, as some have characterized it, is basically Gaza in slow motion: man-made starvation with the help and complicity of the United States of America. Meanwhile, arrogant politicians in Washington tell Cubans on the island that they must suffer violations of their economic and social rights as the only way to restore their civil and political rights. This is an insult to their dignity, and it is wrong. The six-decade embargo has been a miserable failure. Over and over we see that it does not work. It only emboldens hard-liners and makes things worse for regular people. Now, we hear that the administration is plotting military action against Cuba. This would be horrible, wasteful, inhumane, and illegal. Cuba is not doing anything that would legitimize a war. Congress has approved no declaration of war, no Authorization for Use of Military Force. Military action against Cuba would make America a rogue State, aligning us with Russia, China, Iran, and others that believe that international rules don't matter. If we want to know why invading Cuba would be such a disaster, look no further than Venezuela. Meet the new boss; same as the old boss. The Venezuelan people still have no democracy or human rights, while listening to Marco Rubio lecture them with empty promises about freedom and self-determination. Their economy was still in shambles even before the earthquake. Trump and Rubio are pals with the new President. The U.S. has immense leverage, but we are not using it to restore democracy, improve human rights, or fight hunger. The security apparatus remains in place. Political prisoners remain in jail. Oil revenues go to the elites. The people of Venezuela deserve better, and the people of Cuba do not deserve to be screwed over in the same undignified and illegal manner. Cubans deserve to shape their own future, not have it selected for them by arrogant politicians in Washington. There is a better way. Ten years ago, the U.S. tried a better approach. We tried diplomacy. We tried engagement. We tried talking to each other, working through our differences, and guess what. It started working. American tourists went to Cuba. We dropped barriers. We opened up relations. Things started getting better for the Cuban people, and there was hope that some day they could shape their own future. My U.S.-Cuba Trade Act, H.R. 7521, would reverse our decades of failed policies toward Cuba. It would repeal the statutory basis of the embargo. It would give us tools to work with the Cuban people on economic and political progress. It would ensure that Americans and Cubans can be good neighbors. We must chart a shared path to the future, built not on fear and threats or marked by invasion and blockade. The future we must build is one of good will and diplomacy, reinforced by trade and exchange. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to consider a new approach to Cuba. It is time for a new path forward. The Trump administration has damaged our Nation's standing in the world. They have totally screwed up the Middle East by ignoring human rights and embracing war. I urge my colleagues to stand with me in demanding that they not repeat the same cruel mistakes in Cuba.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, last week I spoke with 160 incredible anti-hunger advocates as part of the fourth Gen Z Food and Hunger Summit. Shocking research from Purdue University shows that nearly one in three members of Gen Z have experienced food insecurity--one in three. Let that sink in. In fact, many of the young people I met experienced hunger firsthand. Congress ought to listen to them. I will continue to amplify and uplift their voices. Gen Z leaders at the summit came together to strategize, holding over 150 congressional meetings to highlight their generation's struggle to afford food. Mr. Speaker, I am so glad the next generation of Americans is impatient and unwilling to wait for a hunger-free future. There is a lot to be discouraged by these days, but the young people I met at the Gen Z Food and Hunger Summit give me hope. I am grateful for their energy, and I am grateful for their passion and our shared work to end hunger. Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican colleagues and members of this administration to pay attention to them. We live in the richest country in the history of the world, and we have 50 million Americans who are hungry and food insecure. It is unconscionable. It is shameful, and we can do something about it.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for yielding me the customary time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this Congress is an absolute mess. The gentlewoman from North Carolina says that our rhetoric doesn't carry a bit of substance. But let me begin by asking a question of the American people, a very simple question: Are you better off today than you were 1\1/2\ years ago? It has been 18 months since Donald Trump returned to the White House. Republicans have controlled every lever of power in Washington for over 1\1/2\ years. They control the House. They control the Senate. They control the White House. They even control the Supreme Court. That is the one simple question to me that matters more than anything else that we will debate today. In fact, it is the only thing that matters, really. Is it easier to fill up your gas tank? Are your rent bills more affordable? Are your groceries cheaper? Have your prescription medicine costs gone down? Does your paycheck go further? In short, Mr. Speaker, has life gotten easier for anybody over these last 18 months, or has it gotten harder? I think most people, including most Republicans, if they are being honest with themselves, know the answer. They don't need a politician or a fancy economics degree to say that things are not better. They are not better. In fact, they will tell you that things are worse--much, much worse. They see it every time they tap their credit card at the gas station. They see it every time they check out at a grocery store. They see it every month when their rent is due, when their electric bill comes in, and when the pharmacist says that their kids' medicine is more expensive. They see it when their paycheck just doesn't go as far as it used to. This is the Republican economy. These are their prices, and it is their policies that have failed America miserably. Donald Trump and Republicans promised they would use their power to lower costs on day one. Well, it is year two, and costs are not lower, which by any definition would make that a broken promise. Mr. Speaker, why are prices up? Why is life harder? Why are things worse off now? The reason is simple: It is because instead of working with Democrats to fight for everyday people, Republicans have made one decision after another to help the rich and the powerful and, basically, hurt everybody else. I have example after example. Are things better off because of Trump's tariffs, Mr. Speaker? The tariffs the New York Federal Reserve says are almost exclusively paid by American consumers, American farmers, American manufacturers, and American companies, does that make anybody better off? I don't think most people would say that tariffs have made their lives better. I would say that the tariffs have made their lives worse, more expensive, more difficult. What about the war in Iran--a new, endless, illegal war, another one of Donald Trump's broken promises? Does anyone think that has made life better for the American people? Maybe it has made life better for defense contractors. Maybe it has for the crazy neocon warmongers who get a kick out of another war, but not for everyday people. We have spent probably well over $100 billion on this illegal and reckless war. That is $100 billion. That is not helping make sure that Americans don't go hungry. That is not lowering healthcare costs, lowering people's rents, or lowering gas prices. It is on this crazy war, a war of choice that the President had no plan for. He doesn't know what the hell he is going to do next. This is nuts. In fact, we are now 5 months into a war that these guys said would only last a couple of weeks. They have declared victory like six times, yet the Strait of Hormuz is still closed. More American troops, sadly, were killed this weekend. Gas prices are back above $4 a gallon. Inflation continues to skyrocket. Does anybody think that has made life better for most Americans? There has been 5 months of war in the Middle East. I can go right down the line. Republicans promised better healthcare. Instead, they passed a law that takes hundreds of billions of dollars out of Medicaid and leaves millions more people uninsured. How the hell does that make anybody's life better? Republicans promised lower taxes, except they chose another tax giveaway for those at the very top, and they pat themselves on the back for the pennies they gave to everyone else. Has that made life better for people? After 18 months of higher costs, more inflation, new wars, costly tariffs, and stunning, stunning corruption, now they are bringing us a continuing resolution that kicks the can down the road. They are bringing us a pathetic excuse of a stock trading ban that fails to address the much larger culture of corruption and self-dealing coming out of the White House, and they are bringing us a budget framework authorizing $73 billion for Trump's illegal Iran war, $12 billion as a Band-Aid to help farmers that their policies continue to hurt, and another $10 billion to rig the November elections. That is nearly $100 billion in new spending with no offsets, meaning this bill could very well increase the debt by over $100 billion. Whatever happened to the old-fashioned Republicans who wanted to pay for things, who didn't want to increase the deficit or the debt? I guess that is a thing of the past. Not one thing in this reconciliation bill, by the way--not a single damned thing--will be about affordability. Not one thing will lower prices. That is called being out of touch, Mr. Speaker. There will be time to debate their crummy bills on the floor this week, but this hour is about priorities, and Republicans have their priorities all out of whack. Their agenda has only made things better for those at the top, for the Mar-a-Lago members and CEOs with private jets, the donor class and the corporate special interests. Things are better for them, but for the rest of America, their agenda has been a disaster. The policies of this Republican Congress are a dumpster fire for everyday people, a total disaster. Their tariffs are crushing people. Their war is driving up costs. Their toxic environmental policies are filling our air with smoke and our food with parasites, and Americans are dying in the Middle East for their war. Again, Mr. Speaker, when I go back home and I ask people if they are better off than they were 18 months ago, they don't even answer. They laugh because it is such a ridiculous question. It is so obvious that all of us are worse off because of this Republican majority and because of this administration, which cares only about not hurting the President's fragile feelings and delicate ego. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I am a little confused. The gentleman who just spoke maybe doesn't know this, but the government funding deadline isn't for months away, and he is scolding us as if it is now. I am going to tell you what the crisis is right now. It is that people can't afford to live. The gentlewoman from North Carolina said that our priority is about national security and national defense. I have news for her. National security means more than the number of bombs we have. It also means healthcare for people. It means whether people can afford food, whether they can afford rent, whether they can afford to put gas in the tank of their car or pay their everyday bills, and whether they have a good job that allows them to support their family. Those are all sources of our national defense and our national security. I will just say one other thing. I don't know how the hell our national defense and national security are served when the President takes us into an illegal, risky war in the Middle East, a war of choice, that he has no plan for. Our troops are being put into harm's way, and this President has no plan about how to conduct this war or what the heck he is doing there. That is not national security. Mr. Speaker, I urge that we defeat the previous question. If we do that, I will offer an amendment to the rule to make in order an amendment to H.R. 7008 consisting of the text of H.R. 6731, the Restore Trust in Government Act. This bill is the Democratic proposal for a more comprehensive and robust stock trading ban than is found in the Republican plan. It is one which also includes the President of the United States and the Vice President. There is a level of corruption that we have never ever seen in the White House. What is the response from our Republican colleagues? Silence. They are scared of the guy in the White House. They won't challenge this corruption, so he makes billions and billions of dollars while hardworking Americans struggle. Mr. Speaker, in the first year of his term, President Trump cashed in to the tune of more than $2 billion--billion with a b. In 2025 alone, the President completed over 21,000 stock trades. His investment accounts grew by over $850 million. He tweets out glowing endorsements of companies after he buys their stocks. Now, he is considering having people pay to get early access to his social media posts so they can cash in, too. We need to ensure that people can trust their government to work for them and not enrich himself. This means banning stock ownership by Members and by this President. That is what the Democratic proposal will do. Let the House decide and make this amendment in order. That is all we are asking, is to allow us to have this debate. You can vote however you want. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record, along with any extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal) to discuss our proposal.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I just want to respond to the gentlewoman. I am just a little confused. I thought I heard her say that we already have laws to deal with stock insider trading. If that is the case, then why are we doing a bill to ban stock insider trading? I mean, the bottom line is we are doing it because it is a problem, and our objection is the fact that they are basically excluding somebody who is violating the law in our face right now, blatantly, who is in the White House, who is making countless millions, if not billions, of dollars on some really shady deals. Quite frankly, it makes Richard Nixon look like a Boy Scout. I mean, the deal is the American people are sick of it. They want us to clean up Washington. That includes Congress, and that includes the executive branch. I just also would like to kind of highlight kind of the absurdity of all the stuff. We have six different bills that we are talking about here today, but I want to read a tweet from a Republican, Tom Massie. He says: ``The House will pass a $12 billion bailout for farmers suffering from high fuel & fertilizer prices caused by the Iran war, expensive equipment & parts caused by tariffs, and lower sales prices for commodities due to trade disputes with China. But the GOP is fighting communism!'' The Republican leadership had a big press conference earlier today. It was all about communism, but I have to say to Mr. Massie, I don't think I have heard truer words spoken by a Republican Member of Congress. I really appreciate that, the truth, the accuracy of what the situation is. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Olszewski).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, you know, one of the frustrating things about kind of where we are in terms of political debate in this country is that issues that really matter to regular people are being ignored or being shoved aside because, quite frankly, Republicans don't want to do anything about it. They know that their agenda is unpopular. They know that people are struggling with the issue of affordability. They know that people are having a tough time paying their rent, filling up their gas tanks, affording healthcare costs--I can go on and on and on--buying food, and they don't want to talk about that. They know that the American people kind of are sick and tired of what they are doing here, and so they are trying to divert attention. I just want to address something that happened this morning, and that is the Republican leadership in this House held this wackadoodle press conference. I have never quite seen anything like it, trying to divert attention away from issues of affordability and get people to look someplace else. Basically, the Republican Party's new favorite talking point is calling Democrats Communists. I mean, oh, my God, Mr. Speaker, I mean, really? Really? Communists? Did we accidentally step into a time machine? I get it. I get it. They don't want to talk about the real issues, the bread-and-butter issues. They don't want to talk about affordability. I guess my question is, is Joe McCarthy back from the dead? It sounds like that is who wrote all the garbage coming from Republicans about communism. These guys dust off the same, tired, old talking points every time they are backed into a corner. Every time a new poll comes out saying that their economic agenda sucks, what they do is they change the subject. They try to divert attention. It is pathetic. But, fine, if they want to play that game, let's play that game. Let's talk about the Republican Party, a party that worships one man above the Constitution in a cult of personality, a party that demonizes immigrants and says they poison the blood of our country, a party that calls the free press the enemy of the people and sics the Justice Department on journalists they don't like. It is a party that says their political opponents are internal enemies and calls them ``the enemy within.'' It is a party that is okay with invading our allies, including other democracies, and it is a party that punishes their political opponents. It is a party that has deployed troops on our own streets, that wants to use the American military on the American people. It is a party that believes any unhinged lie, fantasy, and conspiracy theory as long as it comes from one man. It is a party that tries to lock up Members of Congress for exercising their free speech rights. It is a party that has tried to violently overthrow the results of a free and fair election in the United States of America. It is a party that, in fact, pardoned everyone who invaded this building on January 6, 2021, and tried to throw out the votes of millions of Americans because the President couldn't accept a loss. How dare that party lecture anyone. How dare they talk about communism when their own party has totally lost touch not just with the founding ideals of this country but lost touch with reality itself? If we are going to start assigning political labels based on conduct, then let's call things by their proper names. The Republican Party has become the party of fascism, full stop. They have become a party of far-right fascists who are hell-bent on destroying our country and our way of life. Every single time they call us Communists, it is nothing more than a projection of their own radicalization. They don't want to talk about that, and they definitely don't want to talk about their higher grocery prices or skyrocketing gas prices or higher inflation or the cost of healthcare or their new endless illegal war that has now cost over $100 billion. Instead, they scream and they yell because they have nothing else left to offer. This would be funny, Mr. Speaker, if it weren't so pathetic and so unhinged. Mr. Speaker, Democrats are patriots who love this country enough to fight for it. We are fighting to make it easier for people to afford groceries. We are fighting to try to make it easier for people to afford rent, prescription drugs, and healthcare. We will not be lectured by a fascist Republican Party that offers the American people nothing but lies, fear, endless culture wars, and tax breaks for billionaires. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I want to return to the question I asked at the start of this debate: Are Americans better off than they were 18 months ago? Think about the family sitting at the kitchen table tonight. The rent is due. The electric bill is higher, and groceries cost more. The gas tank is on empty. A prescription is waiting at the pharmacy. Somebody is trying to figure out which bill they can put off for 1 more week. That family does not need a lecture about how great Donald Trump is. They know what life costs, and they know it costs more--much, much more--than it did 18 months ago. Eighteen months is long enough to judge a majority by its choices. There is a lot packed into this rule, a budget resolution, a continuing resolution, a Defense bill, a disability bill, a banking bill, a bill on Congressional stock trading, and a bill to rig the elections. I could go on and on and on. Republicans could not--could not--find a single provision for us to consider today about lowering the cost of housing, or lowering the cost of food, or lowering the cost of medicine or healthcare or electricity. There is nothing--nothing in anything we are going to be considering does any of that or focuses on any of those issues. They have time to weaken bank oversight. They have time to combine a watered-down stock trading bill with new restrictions on voting. They have time to bring back bills that failed weeks ago. They have time to protect the President, bail out powerful special interests, and finance another endless war. However, helping working people somehow never makes the cut. It never makes the cut. Mr. Speaker, these bills are not just stacks of paper. They are statements on our values. They tell people who matter, who gets hurt, who gets helped, and who are expected to fend for themselves. The answer from MAGA has been painfully clear, Mr. Speaker: The greedy get protected. The well-connected get rewarded, and everyone else gets told: Sorry, maybe next time. Again, I ask: Are Americans better off? The answer is ``no.'' Do the measures in this rule lower their costs, improve their healthcare, make them safer, or give them greater peace of mind? The answer is absolutely ``no.'' Nothing does that. We will hear talks about socialism and communism and all this other stuff to get people to not focus in on the fact that they are getting screwed over. The American people deserve more than excuses. They deserve more than distractions. They deserve more than another blank check for the people on top from this failed Republican majority. They deserve a government that is on their side. They deserve a government that is on their side, and that is not what they are getting here. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this rule. We have to do better. We have to do better. The American people are hurting, and my friends on the other side of the aisle behave like everything is just fine and nobody is noticing. Go and do in-person townhalls in your districts, I would say to all my colleagues who are listening, and you will get an earful. People have had it. They are fed up with the corruption in Washington. They are fed up with the policies that reward the well-off and well- connected. They are tired of getting screwed over. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, when schools are closed for the summer, far too many kids in America go hungry because they don't have access to nutritious breakfasts or lunches. That is where the incredible Summer Eats program comes in. Funded by USDA and in partnership with States, local schools, and community organizations, Summer Eats provides free, nutritious summer meals to kids across the country. Last week, I joined Project Bread on a visit to Summer Eats programs in Leominster and Turners Falls, two communities in my district. I was able to talk with young children and teens who told me they loved the meals and enjoyed the ability to spend time with their friends while school was out of session. I thank the Spanish American Center and the Gill-Montague School District for sponsoring these successful sites. Mr. Speaker, even with important programs like Summer Eats, 14 million kids in the United States of America, the richest country in the history of the world, are food insecure. We have to reject Republican cuts to nutrition programs and invest more in programs like Summer Eats, which help to improve health and end hunger now.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina for yielding me the customary time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, to all my friends on the other side who have held this floor hostage for weeks on end, let me save them the suspense: Nothing changes with this rule. There is nothing in this rule that forces the Senate to take up the awful SAVE America Act. Nothing. The majority is simply attaching the SAVE America Act on to an unrelated State Department funding bill and sending it across the Capitol. The Senate can and will strip it right back out. Everybody here knows that. The fact of the matter is that the SAVE Act is never going to become law because even Republicans know it is a disaster that will make it more difficult, if not impossible, for American citizens to vote. What Republicans are doing here with this procedural move is not some master strategy. It is merely political theater, designed to settle another Republican family feud. If that is enough to flip Members who have held up business for weeks, boy, they are cheap dates. What this rule does is bring to the floor four bills. The first would make daylight saving time permanent. Look, everybody has an opinion about changing the clocks. I actually support this bill, but for folks getting crushed by rent, groceries, utility bills, and healthcare costs, is this really the best the majority can do? Is this really the most pressing issue before the American people at this moment? Then, there are three bills Republicans tried to bring up weeks ago, before their own chaos brought the House to a standstill. One is the Department of State funding bill that cuts funding for American diplomacy and foreign assistance. Another would block the use of a merchant code for gun stores, making it harder to flag suspicious purchasing patterns. Then, there is the so-called Take Care of America's Veterans Act. That title is doing a lot of work. That bill expands some benefits by putting the disability compensation of future veterans on the chopping block, particularly veterans suffering from tinnitus and sleep apnea. In other words--get this--Republicans want disabled veterans to pick up the tab for other veterans' benefits. That is just plain wrong. How hard is it to understand that we shouldn't rob Private Peter to pay Sergeant Paul? The Veterans of Foreign Wars agrees. They were in the Committee on Rules last night. The VFW strongly opposes this bill on behalf of the veterans it represents, and it published a political cartoon to protest the cuts. What did the Republican chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs do? He and other Republican Members sent a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs, asking the agency to review the VFW's accreditation. That accreditation is what allows the VFW to represent veterans before the VA and help them navigate the benefits system. Disagree with the cartoon, fine, say so, but do not use the Federal Government to threaten the VFW's ability to help hundreds of thousands of vets. That sure as hell looks like retaliation to me. Veterans fought for the right to speak their minds. They should not be threatened by their own government for exercising it, but this is what happens when a majority becomes completely consumed by its own dysfunction. Meanwhile, Americans are working hard. They are doing everything they have been told that they are supposed to do. Yet, somehow, they can't get ahead. What is this Republican majority doing about any of it? Next to nothing. One of the bipartisan things that we actually did do to try and bring down housing costs, Donald Trump refused to sign it. He let it become law without his signature because he was angry that the Senate had not passed his voter suppression bill. I mean, imagine that. Think about how screwed up all of that is. Families cannot afford to buy a home, rents keep climbing, and the President of the United States used a bipartisan housing bill as leverage in his fight over election lies. That tells us everything we need to know about this party's priorities. They will move heaven and Earth to protect Donald Trump's political power, but when it comes to making life more affordable for regular people, suddenly, they can't find the time. They can't be bothered. Republicans control the House. They control the Senate. They control the White House. They control the Supreme Court. They still can barely keep the House floor open long enough to do the people's work. Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve a hell of a lot better than this chaos, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me just respond to the gentleman by saying that whatever good is in this veterans bill is offset by the bad. Basically, they are saying we are providing veterans' benefits by cutting other veterans' benefits. I mean, this is a shell game. That is why the VFW is furious, why they are pissed over this bill, why they have told their membership to contact Members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to oppose it. If this were a tax cut for billionaires, my Republican friends don't care about an offset. If it is an illegal war in Iran, they don't care about offsets. When it comes to providing veterans' benefits, all of a sudden, we have to find offsets. Those offsets that they have found to pay for this are by cutting other veterans' benefits. That is unconscionable. That is wrong, and everybody should vote ``no'' on that bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I ask that we defeat the previous question. If we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to allow the House to take an up-or-down vote on an amendment to H.R. 8595, sponsored by Representative Schrier, which would reverse the cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that were imposed by the Trump administration that could have prevented the ongoing outbreak of cyclospora, a parasite that has already infected thousands of Americans. Last year, the Trump administration began illegally defunding Federal health and science agencies, firing scientists and researchers, and cutting programs that keep us healthy and safe. One of the programs that Trump cut was called FoodNet, and it helped Federal and State public officials monitor and prevent outbreaks for eight different foodborne illnesses, including cyclospora. Yet, after Trump and his DOGE goons got their hands on this lifesaving program, the government stopped monitoring cyclospora. That was stupid. It was dumb. Our country is now experiencing a full- blown outbreak of, you guessed it, cyclospora. For the sake of everyone's health, I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so we can reverse these dangerous cuts. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment into the Record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. If there were people watching these proceedings and listening to my Republican friends, they may conclude that they sound a little defensive because they are, and they should be, especially on these veterans issues. The bottom line is that the VFW, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, strongly opposes the disability benefit cuts that are included in the proposed Take Care of America's Veterans Act. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record the entire statement of the VFW and their strong, strong opposition to these cuts.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I trust the VFW more than I trust the Republican millionaires' club that basically populate the United States Congress on their side in this Chamber. The VFW is saying we can do these benefits without punishing other veterans. I find it amusing because the gentlewoman says we need to find offsets. Well, she voted basically to increase the debt by $4.7 trillion in the big, ugly bill, adding $4.7 trillion to the debt. Included in that, by the way, is $70 billion, again, unpaid for, for ICE and CBP. Again, they have no problem with doing that. They have no problem with tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and now America's trillionaire, and no problem with tax cuts for them that are not paid for, but when it comes to providing veterans' benefits, all of a sudden they have a problem? By the way, just for the record, there is a discharge petition that has been filed to basically bring the Major Richard Star Act to the floor without cutting other benefits for veterans. Every Democrat is on that, every Democrat. We can bring this to the floor. We can have this debate. We can vote on providing veterans additional benefits without cutting other veterans' benefits. That is the choice. When I hear these speeches about, oh, we really are doing all that we can, and we are on the side of veterans, again, the VFW opposes this strongly. They showed up in the Rules Committee, filled up the Rules Committee hearing room yesterday to show their protest, their outrage, over what Republicans were doing. Republicans don't have to do this. Republicans could provide veterans with the benefits they need without robbing other benefits that veterans need. It is that simple. This is outrageous. This is outrageous what is going on, and people should not be fooled. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am glad the gentlewoman decided to go down this pathway because it is not only the Veterans of Foreign Wars that oppose this, but the Disabled American Veterans, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance, the Black Veterans Project, Reserve Organization of America, Veterans Education Success, Student Veterans of America, Marine Corps League, Marine Corps Reserve Association, Minority Veterans of America, Common Defense, Vet Voice Foundation, National Security Leaders for America, Swords to Plowshares, The Chamberlain Network, Unite for Veterans Coalition, Veterans for Common Sense, Veterans for Responsible Leadership. I could go on and on and on. The gentlewoman began by mentioning The American Legion. She may not know this, but as we speak, The American Legion in Texas, representing one of the largest memberships of The American Legion, has come out against this bill and is urging The American Legion nationally to now follow its lead and come out against this bill. The bottom line is, the more veterans' organizations know that they are getting screwed, the more and more they are coming out against this bill. They are in favor of the Major Richard Star bill, which would provide and expand veterans' benefits without taking away other veterans' benefits. It is that simple. This is a bad bill and, quite frankly, the more people realize what is in this bill, the more they realize the cuts in this bill that will adversely affect the veterans' community, the more and more people will come out against this. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Landsman).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.