Jim McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, teen hunger is an often overlooked problem, and this Congress must be doing more to help teens access the nutritious food that they need to succeed. That starts by talking directly with them. Recently, I joined my friend, Representative Jake Auchincloss, on a visit to the Boys and Girls Club of Metro South as part of my statewide End Hunger Now tour. There, under the leadership of CEO Derek Hime, we toured the Blue Spoon Community Kitchen where meals are prepared for families in need, and we visited the freight farm, which teaches the community about healthy eating and local food. The highlight of our visit was the time we got to spend with the teen ambassadors. They are amazing young people who shared with us how important the Boys and Girls Club is to their health and well-being. Mr. Speaker, I urge every Member of Congress to take some time during the upcoming recess to visit with youth leaders in their communities. Learn from them about how we can improve their food security and end hunger now.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Indiana for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Oh, my God, Mr. Speaker, it is pretty unbelievable that this is what House Republicans are spending time on right now. Wow. I mean, every time I think they can't do any worse, my Republican friends always defy expectations. People are standing in long lines at airports. Flights are delayed. Travelers are confused, and they are frustrated. TSA officers are stretched thin, exhausted, being jerked around because Republicans cannot govern responsibly even though they control everything. Now, let me set the record straight from the outset. Democrats are ready to fund the people and agencies that actually protect the public: TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard. We agree they need full funding, and I think there are more than a few Republicans who would join with us in that. Just last night in the Rules Committee, two Republican Members, including the gentlewoman from Indiana, voted with Democrats on a motion to fund the TSA. I thank her for doing that, but that vote failed because Republicans voted against making it in order. Clearly, there has to be some bipartisan appetite to try to get this thing resolved. I mean, take for instance Senate Majority Leader John Thune, the Republican who offered a deal to fund the Department outside of ICE which, by the way, already has years of funding due to the Republicans' big, ugly bill. You know the big, ugly bill, the bill that gave millionaires and billionaires tax cuts, that cut SNAP by $200 billion, that cut Medicaid by a trillion dollars. They actually snuck in more funding for ICE and CBP in that. The Republican-manufactured crisis could have been over, but that deal was shot down by Trump who said, in Republican Senator John Kennedy's words: ``No deals with the Democrats.'' He continued: ``It would have worked. We could have had TSA paid by the end of the week, but the President said, `no deal'.'' What is wrong with him? What is going on here? Let's be clear about what happened over the past few days. The Republican President tanked a deal offered by the Republican Senate Majority Leader to get us out of this crisis. This is the worst kind of politics, and it is why people are sick and tired of this Republican Congress. TSA agents continue to go unpaid, and FEMA and the Coast Guard continue to go without funding, all because President Trump decided to throw another temper tantrum. But Democrats are not in charge. Republicans control the House. I wish they didn't, but they do. Republicans control the Senate. I wish they didn't, but they do. Republicans control the White House. It is a disaster for America that a Republican controls the White House, but it is the reality. If they wanted to solve this, they could solve it. Now Trump is causing further chaos by sending ICE into airports. ICE agents are not trained to do TSA's job. Sending immigration agents into airports does not fix a staffing crisis. It makes things more chaotic, more intimidating, more ridiculous. Passing the same DHS bill today--for a third time--is a gigantic waste of time. Now, there is a clear solution to this crisis, but it means my Republican colleagues need to stand up to Trump for once in their lives. In addition to failing to fund the Department of Homeland Security, this rule does a whole lot of nothing when it comes to helping regular people. It includes a nonbinding resolution to say that Congress supports DHS. Boy, that is just what TSA agents want, a nonbinding resolution to say: Hi, how you doing? I mean, that will pay the bills. Give me a break. Also included are a bill about a single port in Mexico and another bill about graffiti in D.C. I mean, are you kidding me? Are they serious when they bring this stuff to the floor? I hate to tell you, but costs are up and anxiety is up. The country is in trouble, and the President's recklessness abroad is making an already difficult economic picture even more dangerous for working families here at home. Donald Trump has dragged this country into another stupid, illegal war in the Middle East, and there is no doubt about it, working people are going to pay the price. Gas prices are already up $1 a gallon because of this nonsense. For what? For what? Yesterday, Trump was bragging that we ``won.'' We won what? Reuters reported at the same time that his administration was preparing to send thousands more U.S. troops into the region. I mean, that is not a strategy. That is not strength. That is a President pretending the war is over while taking steps to drag us in deeper. Let's not forget the dishonesty here. Last Friday, Trump acted like further bombing might be held off because substantial talks were happening. Talks with whom? Iran has denied there were direct negotiations. They say talks hadn't even begun. Once again, this administration says whatever it thinks the markets want to hear, whatever it thinks the public wants to hear, and the truth comes later, if it comes at all. That is what is so infuriating about all of this. These guys, they don't care that regular people are hurting. They don't care that families are barely keeping their heads above water. They don't care that parents are worried about prices or that military families are worried about where their sons and daughters are being sent and why. These guys don't care that TSA officers have been left hanging while Republicans play games with basic funding. Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can: Republicans own this. They own this. They have the power of agenda-setting. They could fix this in a nanosecond. If they put a bill on the floor today to fund TSA or FEMA or any of the law-abiding agencies, it would pass the House and it would pass the Senate. But that is not what the House leadership is doing. It is a choice, and Republicans own it. I do want to just say one other thing, Mr. Speaker. I mean, when the gentlewoman and other Republicans talk about how much they care about our Federal workforce, I have got to tell you, it rings hollow. Where on Earth have Republicans been for the past year and a half when Donald Trump has repeatedly gone after hardworking Federal employees? Where have they been? Trump has said Federal workers are ``destroying this country.'' He called them ``crooked'' and ``dishonest.'' Russell Vought, Trump's own Director of Management and Budget, said he wanted Federal workers ``to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains.'' That is this administration. Where have my Republicans been defending Federal workers? These are hardworking Americans, Mr. Speaker. They help ensure that we have clean water. They help our veterans get healthcare. They help older adults access the Social Security benefits that they have earned. They help small businesses thrive. They have been treated like garbage by this administration, and nobody on the other side bothers to stand up for these Federal workers. On day one of this administration, Trump and his DOGE goons laid out their plan to tear apart our Federal workforce. They went on a witch hunt, carrying out mass terminations across government and cruelly forcing longtime, upstanding Federal employees out of their jobs. Republicans in this Chamber cheered that on, even though it caused harm to everyday Americans, people that they represented. Where was everybody? Where the hell were they all? Where were my Republican colleagues--and this is rich--when Kristi Noem said she was going to get rid of FEMA, abolish FEMA? They are on the floor today saying we have got to pay our FEMA workers. Where were they when Kristi Noem was saying we should abolish the entire agency? How about when Trump abruptly fired 400 DHS employees at the beginning of 2025? Where were they all? Where have they been as Trump is tearing apart the U.S. Department of Agriculture, shuttering offices, forcing longtime staff out of their jobs to the detriment of our farmers, hungry families, and food supply? I mean, House Republicans are supporting this nonsense, this theater that we are dealing with here today on the House floor. Let me be clear: I want TSA workers to get their paychecks. I want FEMA fully operational. That is why I have been on record for weeks trying to reopen these agencies. That is why Democrats have continuously forced votes on reopening all of these lawful agencies and departments. Please, don't pretend that Republicans have always been on the side of Federal workers. Trump has made their lives unbearable through the chaos he has inflicted upon them, and Republicans in this Chamber haven't done a damn thing to stop him. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I feel like my head is about to explode with all this nonsense that is being thrown out here. Let's just state for the record that ICE has years of funding because of the big, ugly bill, tens of billions of dollars that they put in that bill, again, the bill that gave millionaires and billionaires tax cuts and that screwed over poor people by cutting SNAP by $200 billion. They cut Medicaid by a trillion dollars in that bill where they snuck in tens of billions of dollars. The gentleman doesn't respond. He left. That is fine. I get it, but that is just the reality. I don't know what the hell he is talking about. To the extent that maybe there was an informal agreement on how to proceed, there might have been, but that was before ICE murdered U.S. citizens, before they murdered U.S. citizens. I am sorry that people on the other side don't think that that is outrageous or terrible or awful, but we do. We do, our constituents do, and I know your constituents do. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 7481, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2026, sponsored by Ranking Member DeLauro, a bill which only funds law-abiding agencies under the Department of Homeland Security and not the unlawful actions of ICE and CBP. Mr. Speaker, the entire mess at DHS is caused by one man, Donald Trump, the guy they are all afraid of, who said that he would rather leave TSA agents unpaid than negotiate with Democrats. Democrats have repeatedly shown that we are ready to fund TSA, FEMA, the agency that Kristi Noem, Trump's head of the DHS, wanted to eliminate and Republicans didn't say anything about. But we want to fund FEMA, the Coast Guard, CISA, and all the agencies acting lawfully. Under this administration, ICE and CBP have not made it over that bar. President Trump's ICE and CBP are out of control. According to the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota, ICE has violated 96 court orders in 74 different cases in 2026 alone, likely more violations than ``some Federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.'' American citizens have been murdered. This is the root of Democratic opposition. These lawless agencies need to be reined in before they receive any further funding. Yes, that is what Republicans want. They want further funding. Ranking Member DeLauro's bill does not defund ICE or CBP because, again, these lawless agencies sadly were given plenty of money in the big, ugly bill. Even the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Tom Cole, admitted last night in the Rules Committee that ICE and CBP are ``substantially funded.'' All Democrats are saying is that we should not shower these agencies with even more money until real reforms, not BS reforms but real reforms, are put into place to protect American citizens. These are commonsense reforms. 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 Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee and the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Connecticut.

Mr. McGOVERN. I yield 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as you know, we want disaster relief more than anybody. We have been fighting for that. We have been fighting to protect FEMA. Again, where were the Republicans when Kristi Noem and this administration were leading the effort to actually eliminate FEMA and get rid of everybody? I mean, where were you? The gentlewoman says we need to fund unlawful agencies like ICE and CBP to protect American citizens? I mean, are you kidding me? I mean, was that real? I can't believe I heard that. ICE has gassed schools. It has detained off-duty police officers. It shot and murdered two American citizens. I mean, that is your idea of protecting the American people? ICE right now has more money in their bank account than most of the world's militaries spend in a year. I will say that one more time: ICE already has more money in their bank account than most of the world's militaries spend in a year. Yet, they are asking that we give them more. The reforms that the gentlewoman talks about, give me a break. I mean, we have raised issues about masks. We believe that you ought to have judicial warrants before you break down somebody's door. We believe that ICE agents ought to identify themselves and the agencies that they are with. We don't believe you should be able to deport U.S. citizens. We want those written into the law. I don't think any of those ideas are radical. Yet, the gentlewoman talks about reforms? I mean, come on. Again, we have an opportunity right now to fund all of the lawful agencies. Your beloved ICE and CBP unfortunately still have tens of billions of dollars that you guys gave them in the big, ugly bill. They still have money. We can fund everything right now, and we can support our TSA agents and FEMA, the Coast Guard, and everybody that we believe we all say we want to help. We can do that right this second, and, yet, that is not happening. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman just admitted the sad reality that ICE and CBP have billions of dollars already. I guess it doesn't bother her that two Americans were killed and murdered or that we have seen the excesses of ICE and CBP time and time again breaking into people's homes without judicial warrants. I am sorry that the gentlewoman feels that it is somehow a radical idea to ask somebody who may detain you who they are and who they are with. I don't know why that is such a radical idea. What we are saying is: Why do you want to give them billions of dollars more? ICE already has more money than most countries spend on their militaries in a year, and you want to give them more money? Here is the deal. What we are doing here in the House is a joke. I mean, it is embarrassing. I am embarrassed for this House and for this institution because my friends know full well that this is not going to pass in the Senate. They know how we get to ``yes,'' and that is to exempt ICE and CBP from this bill. Everything else gets funded. If you want Democratic votes, that is what you need to do. Mr. Speaker, Republicans control everything. They control the House, the Senate, and the White House. I love it. They are in control of everything, and they blame everything on Democrats, on somebody else. They take no responsibility. I am really surprised that the gentlewoman hasn't blamed Joe Biden yet in her speech, which my Republican friends always do. I think they will go back to Bill Clinton in the not-too-distant future because they always find people to blame, but they take no responsibility. If you are in charge, you have the responsibility not only to set the agenda but also to lead. That is what the American people are asking for: some leadership, some truth, and some honesty. We are not getting any of that. Mr. Speaker, I will talk about something different right now. I realize that I may sound like a broken record talking each week about the dysfunction of this Republican-led Congress, but, unfortunately, for you and for my colleagues across the aisle and for the American people, it just seems to be getting worse and worse as this Republican majority keeps setting one terrible precedent after another. Mr. Speaker, this rule that we are talking about right now blocks privileged floor consideration of resolutions of inquiry for the rest of the Congress. Why? It is because they don't want Democrats to have any tools to shine the light on the corruption of this lawless administration. I know one thing. I don't want to hear any complaining from Republicans the next time we are in charge if this privilege that they are killing today never comes back. Last fall, Republicans gave us the longest government funding lapse in American history. This week, they have managed to give us the second longest lapse, as well. What an accomplishment. Last year, this Republican-led Congress held the fewest votes in the first session of Congress in decades. Republicans wonder why nearly 70 percent of the American people don't trust Congress. Give me a break. This place is not working for them. Last night, I offered a motion to add a bill, cosponsored by the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Houchin), to pay the TSA. While she supported my motion, her Republican colleagues voted that motion down. We can't even debate or vote on that on the floor today. The gentlewoman's support of this rule, despite that embarrassment, I think, is yet another piece of evidence that rank-and-file Republicans have given up all of their power. This rule contains another four closed rules, which means no amendments can be offered, bringing their total to a new all-time record of 125 closed rules this Congress. By the way, it is not just Democratic amendments that get rejected. It is the majority of Republican amendments that get rejected. Mr. Speaker, that is more than 85 percent of all rules brought to the House floor: no amendments, no debate, no real democracy. In fact, Rules Committee Republicans have not allowed a single amendment to be debated on the House floor in more than 2 months, but rank-and-file Republicans keep voting for the rules that block their own amendments. I don't get that, but anyway. Republicans have not allowed a single Democratic amendment in 3\1/2\ months, and it has been more than 6 months since the last bipartisan amendment was debated on the floor. Let's stop pretending that this is the people's House because it is certainly not functioning like the people's House. Republicans are ruining this Chamber, turning it into a rubberstamp for whatever Donald Trump wants whenever he wants it. Their vision for this body is the Russian Duma, a legislative body in name only. That is disgraceful. That is dangerous. Frankly, it is a threat to our democracy. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article from MS NOW titled: ``It's already a record-setting Congress-- for all the wrong reasons.''

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the final thing I am going to say before I reserve is that the amendment that Ms. DeLauro just talked about was blocked in the Rules Committee last night, as well. I just say to my Republican colleagues that if they don't want to support a bill that funds only the lawful agencies within DHS, that is fine. They can vote ``no'' on it, but they won't even allow it to be brought up as an amendment. They won't even allow us to have a debate and to deliberate on it. They blocked it. If they are so right on all of this, then they shouldn't be afraid to allow other points of view to be brought to the floor. That is what this place is supposed to be about. We are supposed to be a deliberative body, and my Republican colleagues are ruining that. They are ruining that. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I know that I have a little bit of a Massachusetts accent, and so sometimes I may be hard to understand for the gentlewoman. I didn't say that ICE agents raided schools. I said that they gassed students. They gassed schools. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record a news story titled: ``Witnesses say agents arrest Minneapolis school staff, tear gas students; DHS claims no tear gas was used.''

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, this is what it comes down to: The American people need help, and this Republican majority has nothing to offer them. People are worried about affording groceries. They are worried about gas prices. They are worried about what this war means for their family budgets, their jobs, their kids, and their future. Military families are worried about their loved ones being sent into danger with no clear mission and no clear plan. TSA officers have been forced to live with uncertainty while doing one of the toughest jobs in public service. Even Republican Senator John Kennedy admitted on FOX News that we could have TSA paid by the end of the week, but President Donald Trump has said no deal. Instead of fixing problems, Republicans waste time. They recycle the same old bills. They posture. They distract. They try to change the subject, and, yes, cruelty is part of it, too. When people are hurting, and leaders see the pain and still choose chaos and still choose stunts like this, still choose political games over actually helping anybody, that is not just incompetence. It is callousness, and it is cruelty. One day, Trump says one thing. The next day, his administration does the opposite--more troops, more escalation, more confusion--and regular people are left to absorb the consequences. They do not care that this war could send the cost of living even higher. They don't care that supply chains are getting hit. They don't care that their farmers are getting screwed over. They do not care that working families are one more price spike away from disaster. The American people want to stop being jerked around. The reality is that Republicans do not care. If they cared, we would be debating bills to lower costs; we would be demanding answers about this war; we would make sure that we paid people who keep this country safe; and they would be acting with urgency and seriousness. That is not what we are getting. Instead, we are getting a Republican majority that is deeply incompetent, deeply unserious, and far too comfortable with making ordinary people pay the price for its failures. The American people deserve better, and I think I understand why Republicans are working overtime to make it harder for people to vote before November. I understand the SAVE Act because the State legislative district that includes Mar-a-Lago flipped blue last night. The American people are sick of this. They are not going to put up with this. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and on this rule. 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, a key ingredient for making America healthy is better access to cooking classes to teach people how to prepare nutritious meals. As part of my End Hunger Now tour across Massachusetts, I joined my friend Representative Seth Moulton on a visit to the Phoenix Food Hub at Greater Lynn Senior Services. We participated in cooking classes where we learned how to make carrot muffins. We talked with the CEO of Lynn Senior Services, Kathy Burns, and clients of the food hub who shared how important these classes are to their ability to eat nutritiously. We heard firsthand how Trump's reckless cuts to SNAP and other nutrition programs such as SNAP education, which was eliminated in the big, ugly bill, are making it even harder for them to put nutritious food on the table for their families. Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is that Republicans are taking away money for food and tools to help improve nutrition. If we want to make America healthy again and end hunger now, Congress must reverse these cuts now.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, happy St. Patrick's Day to everybody. I thank the gentlewoman from North Carolina, the distinguished chairwoman of the Rules Committee, for whom I have much admiration and respect, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, what on Earth are we doing here? Yesterday, the President of the United States spent an hour at lunch talking about the Kennedy Center--you know, the place he slapped his name on before basically running it into the ground. Today, the Congress of the United States is spending an hour debating messaging bills that totally ignore the realities of what is going on in people's everyday lives. Does anyone on the other side of the aisle realize that the United States of America is at war right now? Does anyone in the Republican Conference want to acknowledge that costs are up, corruption is running rampant, and everyday people are getting screwed? They promised lower costs on day one. That is what Donald Trump promised. Guess what. Gas is up, thanks to the war in Iran. Groceries are up, thanks to the tariffs. Rent is up. Childcare is up. Healthcare is up, with millions of Americans paying double and triple for their health insurance and over a million losing it altogether because of Republican inaction. Do Republicans plan to do anything about any of that? No. This is what they did instead. They jammed through a big, ugly bill to help billionaires. They defend Trump's tariffs that are raising costs on working people. They continue to cover up for the predators in the Epstein files. Now, they are backing another illegal war in the Middle East that is costing over a billion dollars a day in taxpayer money. But they are not talking about any of that. They keep bringing distraction after distraction to the House floor, bills meant to waste time, divide people, and shift the blame from billionaires onto immigrants. That is their whole playbook. Don't look over here at Epstein elites and billionaire corporations who are ripping us off, breaking the law, and getting away with it. No, no, no. Blame the immigrants. Blame trans kids. Blame Joe Biden. Blame everybody but the President and his billionaire buddies. It is getting old, and I, for one, am sick and tired of it. This President and my friends on the other side, who are refusing to rein him in because they are all afraid of him, are burning a billion dollars a day of American taxpayer money on a war halfway around the world. That is $1 billion a day. Let me repeat that: $1 billion a day. There is no more money to help seniors heat their homes. They say we don't have it. There is no money to help kids get healthy breakfasts in school. There is no money to restore SNAP benefits to help seniors and veterans afford groceries. There is no more money to help working families breathe easier or sleep better at night. I am just sick and tired of this, Mr. Speaker. There is always money for war. There is always money for another tax break for multimillionaires, billionaires, and giant corporations. There is always time to debate silly bills that try to shift the blame onto immigrants and trans kids, but there is never the time or the money to address the real and pressing issues that the American people are begging Republicans to help them with. This is an embarrassing debate. This is an embarrassing moment for this Congress. While everybody in this country is in an uproar over rising costs, people are begging us to address that issue, to lower costs, and to help make their lives easier. While that is what is on the minds of the American people, Republicans can't bring themselves to bring legislation to the floor to address those issues. It really is sad. It really is sad. Again, I think that my friends are going to realize come the midterm elections that people have had enough of this. But really people can't wait until the next election. People need us to address these concerns now. This is an embarrassing debate, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am just going to respond to the gentlewoman because she wants me to address some of the underlying bills. One of them, H.R. 4638, is the so-called BOWOW Act of 2025. We are debating something and saying that it should be illegal when it already is illegal. It is kind of redundant. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a noncitizen who is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude is subject to removal. In 2018, the Board of Immigration Appeals found that the crime of animal fighting is a crime involving moral turpitude because there is a clear intent to harm an animal. Let me read to you how this bill we are talking about came to be. On June 24, 2025, canine detective and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Beagle Brigadier Freddie and his handler were inspecting baggage from Cairo, Egypt. Beagle Brigadier Freddie's job is to sniff out prohibited agriculture products at the border that could threaten vital agricultural industries. Beagle Brigadier Freddie alerted to one of the suitcases being transported by Hamed Ramadan Bayoumy Aly Marie, an Egyptian national. As Beagle Brigadier Freddie continued his investigation, his handler began questioning Mr. Marie who abruptly and violently kicked the canine detective. The kick was of such force that it launched Beagle Brigadier Freddie, a 25-pound beagle, off the ground. After examination by a veterinarian, it was determined that Beagle Brigadier Freddie suffered contusions on his right ribs following the attack. Mr. Marie was taken into custody and charged with harming animals used in law enforcement under the law. He pleaded guilty. He was ordered to pay Freddie's vet bill, and he was deported back to Egypt. That is the law. What the hell are we doing here? I mean, we are repeating what was already in the law. I guess the difference would be if the bill that the gentlewoman is advocating actually became law, then Mr. Marie would escape any kind of financial responsibility of paying Freddie's vet bill. I don't think we want that. But this was a deportable act, and this gentleman was deported. When I say that this is a distraction, this is what I am talking about. Again, we are spending a billion dollars a day, my friends, on this war in Iran, and nobody knows what the hell is going on. Gas prices are through the roof. The cost of everything is going up. We are here on the floor basically trying to bring bills that restate current law? I would even say that in this case it weakens current law. I have got to tell you, Mr. Speaker, I think things are screwed up around here when our focus is on the stuff that we are bringing to the floor today and not on trying to lower the costs for the American people. Life is hard. I don't know whether my friends go home and talk to their constituents or do townhalls or do town meetings, but if they do, they are hearing what I am hearing: Life is too damn expensive. People want us to address the high costs, and we are not doing that. We are not doing that, and Republicans refuse to bring legislation to the floor to address that issue. Instead, we do this. Mr. Speaker, I am a huge animal rights advocate, and so I want people who abuse animals to be deported. I don't have any problem with that, but that is the law. We are bringing this to the floor, and we are not doing a damn thing about addressing the high costs that Americans are facing each and every day. Something is wrong with this place. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me read for my colleagues a statement from the national director of the National Economic Council, Mr. Hassett, who works for President Trump. This is his quote: ``If the war were to be extended, it wouldn't really disrupt the U.S. economy very much at all. It would hurt consumers, and we'd have to think about what we'd have to do about that, but that's really the last of our concerns right now.'' This is from Trump's top economic adviser. This is a direct quote from him. He says that hurting consumers is the last of our concerns right now. This guy should be fired. This is outrageous. We all should be worried about consumers. Those are our constituents. When prices are going up, people cannot make ends meet. They can't afford their rent, they can't afford their healthcare, and they can't afford their groceries. Madam Speaker, they can't afford a damn thing, and this is what Trump's top economic adviser says: The consumers are really the last of our concerns right now? Does anything outrage my Republican colleagues? Can anybody in the Trump administration say anything that might give them pause and that might cause them concern? This is outrageous. Three out of four Americans say that groceries are so expensive that they have been forced to cut down on other spending. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article from Fortune titled: ``Three in four Americans say groceries are so expensive they've been forced to cut down on other spending.''

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert in the Record an article from CBS8 titled: ``National average gas prices now nearly 90 cents higher than one month ago.''

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I hate to tell my Republican friends this, but here is a news flash: The American people are struggling. They are desperately looking for us to take action to make their lives easier, to help them be able to afford groceries, to be able to afford gas prices, and to be able to afford to support their families. While we are spending $1 billion a day on a reckless and illegal war in Iran and the President with no end in sight has money for that, my friends on the other side can't bring themselves to bring legislation to the floor that will address the high cost of living. Madam Speaker, when you have people in the administration saying that consumers are the last of their concerns, I mean like, I am just like every time I think this administration can't say something that will shock me even more, they do. This is one of the more outrageous comments coming from one of the President's top advisers. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just want to say the gentlewoman is doing exactly what I predicted she would do: blaming immigrants so that people who are watching this debate don't focus in on the fact that prices are going through the roof and everything is more expensive than ever. She said that Trump is doing better than Biden in terms of gas prices. Well, when Biden left office, the average gallon of gas was $3.11. It is now close to $3.80. It is creeping up to nearly $4. I mean, that is just the reality. People can google that. Don't take my word for it. You can google it. The other fact is that, if I remember correctly, Donald Trump said that when he became President, he and Republicans would lower costs on day one and everything would go down. What a crock. Everything has gone up. Everything has skyrocketed. Gas, rent, the price of food-- everything has gone way up. I am going to read this again because I can't get this out of my head that somebody in this administration would say this out loud. Again, this is what the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, said: If the war ``were to be extended, it wouldn't really disrupt the U.S. economy very much at all. It would hurt consumers, and we would have to think about . . . what we would have to do about that, but that is really the last of our concerns right now. . . .'' This is one of the President's top economic advisers telling the American consumer: The hell with you. You don't matter. You are at the bottom of our list. That tells you everything you need to know. I heard the gentlewoman's 1-minute speech before we got into this debate, when she kind of defended the tax cuts for the rich and basically said that we have a spending problem in this country. Okay, we have a spending problem. We are spending a billion dollars a day on a reckless, illegal war in Iran, and nobody on the other side seems to give a damn about that. We don't have money to help make sure that we can lower energy costs for senior citizens. We don't have money to make sure our kids get nutritious breakfasts and lunches in schools. We don't have money for anything, for childcare, eldercare, our veterans, or our healthcare in general. We are told we don't have the money, but no debate and no concern about a billion dollars a day on Iran? Come on. I mean, enough is enough. The focus of Congress, the focus of government, should be about helping people, not screwing them over, not hurting them. The focus of our government should not be about enriching the rich, protecting the Epstein class, the people who are well-off and well-connected and who have tons of money. The focus ought to be on how to lift up working families in this country. That is what Democrats have been fighting for. That is what we stand for. There is a difference here. Again, going back to Kevin Hassett, his comment today. He says the quiet part out loud. The consumers, according to him, are the last of our concerns right now. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I am almost at a loss for words. I don't even know how to respond to that. That gets like five Pinocchios. I don't know what the gentlewoman is talking about. She talked about the debt and reducing the debt. My friend, who I respect and enjoy working with, voted for a reconciliation bill that added nearly $5 trillion to the debt. Let me say that one more time: It added nearly $5 trillion to the debt. Most of that additional cost to the debt were in the form of tax cuts for multimillionaires and billionaires. She talks about the Republicans trying to cut fraud, waste, and abuse. They cut programs like SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to help senior citizens and veterans and low-income families be able to put food on the table, a benefit, by the way, that is on average about $2 per person per meal. That is what SNAP is. They cut money for child nutrition programs. They cut money for school nutrition programs. They cut money for environmental protection, for infrastructure. I go right down the list, economic development for our farmers, everything. They had Elon Musk come in with DOGE, and they claim they saved all this money. Guess what. All of the cuts that they made, by the way, I think we are going to pay for down the road because they are going to add costs in a whole bunch of other ways. All of that so-called savings has just been eliminated by what has been spent on the war in Iran, a billion dollars a day. We are at $22, $23 billion already on that war. We are not anywhere near done. They tell you that we can't deal with the fact that we have so many senior citizens in this country who can't afford to put food on the table. We can't do anything about that. Then they say nothing about the billion dollars a day on an illegal and reckless war in Iran. For the record, I will include the CBO score, that is the Congressional Budget Office, on their reconciliation bill in the Record because I want the Record to reflect that what I am saying here is backed up by facts. This is a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Both Democrats and Republicans rely on the CBO for scores on how much things are going to cost. This is crazy that we are having this debate, all the while the cost of living for every person in this country, who is not a multimillionaire or billionaire who is not part of the Epstein class, is going through the roof. By the way, when you talk about taxes on people, what my friend didn't mention was the tariffs. That is a tax on every American. That is a tax on every American. We are now told that these tariffs are costing the average citizen of this country an additional $1,700 per person per year. I don't know who is asking for this stuff, but it is certainly not the people that I talk to. Madam Speaker, I am going to urge that we defeat the previous question. If we do, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 7481, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act 2026, sponsored by Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, a bill which only funds law-abiding agencies under the Department of Homeland Security and not the unlawful actions of ICE and CBP. Madam Speaker, House Republicans are trying to use President Trump's illegal war in Iran as pretext to force Congress to fund ICE and CBP without any reforms, even though these agencies are harassing, detaining, beating, and killing American citizens. This is a cheap trick to score political points, and we are not buying it. I don't think anybody in the country is buying it. You can't make this up. The President's own National Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, who Trump himself appointed and basically every single Republican in the Senate voted to confirm this guy, resigned this morning stating that he cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran and that ``Iran posed no imminent threat to our Nation.'' Also, Republicans already funded ICE and CBP in their big, ugly bill so why are they holding up funding for TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA? Republicans should allow a vote to fund the law-abiding components of DHS while negotiations on critical reforms to ICE and CBP continue. Madam 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. Madam Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee and the sponsor of this bill.

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, nobody disagrees that we should have a secure border. That is not the debate. Where there is disagreement and, quite frankly, where there is outrage is when we have a Federal agency that goes into our communities and kills American citizens. This is not at the border but in our heartland. That is where we believe there is a line that has been crossed. We are outraged over that. I am sorry that my friends on the other side are not. They control the House. They control the Senate. They control the White House. They are in charge. If they want our votes, we are not going to vote to continue to fund agencies and departments within agencies that are rogue, where there is no accountability and where there is no transparency. We are not going to do that. We support TSA, the Coast Guard, and FEMA. We will vote to support them, but don't ask us to fund agencies that do harm to our constituents. By the way, is there any end to what my Republican colleagues want for CBP and for ICE? They have got money in the big, ugly bill for them, billions and billions of dollars for them. I don't understand what the deal is. In any event, for whatever reason, they have a problem with TSA. They have a problem with FEMA. They have a problem with the Coast Guard. I don't understand why. We don't. We support them. Madam Speaker, the pattern here is obvious. It is broken promises, higher costs, more war, more hate, alternative facts, and unbelievable corruption. That is what is happening in this country right now because of Republican leadership. Republicans said they would fight for ordinary people. Instead, they helped billionaires. They said they would keep us out of war. Instead, they dragged us into another one. Madam Speaker, 13 American troops are dead. Over 140 are wounded. Our Nation is, once again, sending $1 billion a day over to the Middle East on another reckless, illegal war of choice. They said they would tell the truth. Instead, they protect the Epstein elites and peddle distraction after distraction after distraction, hoping it will all go away. At the center of it all is a President so hollow, so unwell, and so morally lost that he is fundraising off of dead American troops. I can't believe I am saying that sentence out loud. The President of the United States went to a dignified transfer of remains ceremony. He refused to take off his ball cap. Then he took a photo of himself standing behind an American servicemember in a casket coming home from war in the Middle East. He slapped it on a fundraising email, asking people to donate money to his campaign. Let me say that again. The President used a dead American servicemember as a photo op for his campaign fundraising. When he was asked about it yesterday, he said he saw nothing wrong with that. Can anyone imagine if Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden had done that? My Republican colleagues' heads would explode. That is what happened after Joe Biden checked his watch during one of these ceremonies. Yet, there was not a word after this disrespectful President dishonored our troops in the most outrageous way by using them as a prop for his own personal benefit. I challenge any Republican, any single one, to come down here and defend this. Come down here and explain to their constituents why the leader of their party is fundraising off of dead American servicemembers. I think it is one of the most disrespectful, inappropriate, awful things I have ever, ever seen in all my time in Congress. I doubt a single Republican will have the guts to say it was wrong. The American people deserve a hell of a lot better than this chaos and cruelty. They deserve better than this President. They deserve better than this Republican majority. They deserve elected officials who care about them and who want to fight to lower the cost of living, who want to make their lives better and easier and more manageable. That is not what is happening here. With all that is going on--$1 billion a day on a reckless illegal war in Iran, gas prices creeping up to nearly $4 a gallon, and the price of groceries going up because of these stupid tariffs that my friends don't want to deal with--I can go on and on and on about how the Republican policies are making life more miserable for average Americans. With all that is going on, they can't be bothered to come down here. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.