Jim McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN

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

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, Republicans care more about personal vendettas and sucking up to Trump than about doing what is right for the country. Adam Schiff has been an incredible Member of Congress. He exposed Trump's lies and corruption, impeached him, and got a bipartisan conviction vote in the Senate. He has passed real and consequential laws that solve real problems and help real people. What has the sponsor of this censure done? What is Congresswoman Luna's record? I want her constituents to know in her congressional career, five of the six legislative items she has ever introduced are about Adam Schiff. Doesn't she have anything better to do--like, I don't know, help her district? This is what is known as lunacy, and it is all about deflection, retaliation, and distraction from Trump's 37 felony charges. The people who came up with the big lie want to censure Adam Schiff for telling the obvious truth, all so they can defend a three-time loser ex-President who has been indicted more times than he has been elected. What an embarrassing day for this institution. What an insult to the American people. I urge a ``no'' vote, and I stand proudly with Congressman Schiff.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the privilege of meeting with a delegation of young Cuban entrepreneurs. I was impressed by their vision, dedication, and private-sector experience. One had founded her business, Beyond Roots, in 2016. It promotes Afro-Cuban culture through education, product marketing, and artistic and other collaborations. Her company has been recognized as a project with significant social impact, and she hopes to generate positive change in people's lives by promoting a closer connection with their roots. Another founded Wajiros Films in 2017. It is an audiovisual creative group composed of young Cuban artists who want to generate audiovisual projects based on the stories, characters, and visual content that reside outside of Cuba's major cities and prominent cultural industries. They want to create visual arts that show the diversity of Cuba. They believe in the right to dream and the right to fight for your dreams. I talked with the cofounder and creative director of DADOR, a female- founded fashion brand committed to using the entrepreneurial spirit to make a mark on Cuba's emerging private sector. I also met with the cofounder and CEO of TostoneT, an information technology infrastructure company. He created his first enterprise in 2012 and, in 2018, expanded his interests to support academic and business groups traveling to Cuba from the U.K. and other European countries. Mr. Speaker, I could not have asked to meet with a more exciting, innovative, and visionary group of Cuban entrepreneurs. They reinforced what I had learned during my last trip to Cuba in December when I met with several other Cuban entrepreneurs. I came away from my December trip and my conversations with last week's delegation with three main conclusions. First, it can be time-consuming, even difficult at times, to navigate the Cuban Government's rules and regulations on the private sector. Overall, Cuba is opening more and more space for private-sector development, especially for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. Cubans, especially young people, are taking advantage of these opportunities to expand existing businesses and create new companies. Innovation and collaboration are happening in every sector. Second, each of the entrepreneurs who I met appreciates the support and encouragement they have received from the U.S. Embassy. They noted, however, that they no longer need workshops on how to establish a budget, handle payroll, or devise a marketing plan. Third, the greatest difficulty facing small and medium-sized Cuban entrepreneurs is in the financial sector. They all emphasized how U.S. policies are strangling their ability to get financing, set up bank accounts, and market their products outside of Cuba. They pleaded for Cuba to be removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list so they can open up bank accounts in the U.K. and Europe, where they have clients eager to purchase, market, and use their goods and services. They talked about how difficult it is to travel to the United States, how difficult it is to go back and forth in order to establish partnerships and other business relations, and how impossible it is to set up bank accounts to sell and market their goods. Financial barriers that stifle the development and expansion of Cuban entrepreneurs can all be traced, unfortunately, to the United States. It is our policies and our financial restrictions that are hurting the very sector that the U.S. proclaims it most wants to help. If we really want to support them, we should remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. There is absolutely no justification at all for them to be on that list. They were put on the list by the Trump administration for purely political purposes. We should also get rid of the financial restrictions imposed by the Trump administration and now maintained by the Biden administration. Mr. Speaker, it has been over 2 years since President Biden took office. The Cuban people and entrepreneurs should not have to wait any longer for change to happen. The Biden administration must take a long, hard look in the mirror and recognize that its own policies are causing hardship and suffering in Cuba, including in the private sector. Cuban entrepreneurs don't need us to lead them by the hand. They are more than capable of setting up companies and following their own dreams. We need to get out of their way. Mr. Speaker, I once again call on the Biden administration to tear down the financial barriers and restrictions that are strangling Cuban entrepreneurs and stifling their success. Let us stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it is great to see you again. How are you? It has been a while. You look terrific. We haven't had votes in what, 5 legislative days, all because some Republican Members decided to throw a temper tantrum last week on the House floor, wanting to rehash legislation that was passed the week before. What we saw was essentially a fight between the rightwing and the extreme rightwing. I mean, what the hell is going on here? With each passing week, it becomes more and more obvious that the Republican Party is completely out of touch with what everyday people care about in this country. We are bringing a new rule to the floor that incorporates the bills that we were supposed to do last week and adds an additional bill to make it easier to kill people. I am told that the Republicans now have the votes to pass this rule. The question is: What was the deal? Better yet, what was the secret deal to convince the Republicans who were problematic last week to go along to get along this week? Reading the press, we see that members of the Freedom Caucus are saying they have this deal on power sharing. I am not quite sure what that means. Power sharing with the Speaker and the extreme rightwing; is that the deal? We hear from the Speaker that there is no deal on anything. I don't know what the truth is. Maybe my friend can enlighten us at some point about what the truth is. My Republican friends like to say that this place should be run like a business. Well, if they really believe that, then this place should be out of business because this is not the way Congress should be run. This is not the way you run a democracy. This is ridiculous. Democrats have worked tirelessly to try to lower costs for people, bring jobs back from China, rebuild our country, fight pollution, and keep our communities safe. Republicans? What do they stand for? Well, forgive me if I say I am not entirely sure because right now, the only thing I have seen so far since they took over is dysfunction and disarray. Republicans began this Congress by wasting a week fighting with each other about who would be Speaker. Now we are 5 months in, and they have enacted five laws. One a month. Boy, what an achievement. Even Democrats and President Trump were able to enact 21 laws at this point. The far right fringe of the Republican Party, the same fringe that demanded Speaker McCarthy give them all of his power, has succeeded in even dictating to him what bills he can and can't bring to the House floor. This is important. I want the American people to understand who is in charge here right now. It is not the Speaker of the House. It is not Kevin McCarthy. It is the far right of the far right. We have sitting members of the Republican Conference right now openly advocating for civil war. These are the people calling the shots. Are you kidding me? In what world should the 11 most extreme people in the Republican Party get to dictate the entire agenda of a legislative body that represents 332 million people? What are we doing here, Mr. Speaker? We have smoke from wildfires clogging up our air. Scientists are telling us we need to do more on climate change, yet we are passing messaging bills about gas stoves. By the way, that is not even me calling them messaging bills. It is the Republicans saying that. This is a Republican: We do not need to leave D.C. early because messaging bills are not coming to the House floor. That was Congresswoman Boebert last week. How about this one: When we pass things around here that are messaging bills that don't do anything, is it really a loss that we aren't passing anything? I mean, their own Members are saying that the bills they are passing do nothing. Essentially, they are just playing a messaging game. Is this really the best we can do with all of the challenges that we face in this country and around the world? Meanwhile, our constituents are begging us and they are pleading with us to do something about gun violence in this country. What do Republicans do? How do they respond? By bringing to the floor a bill that makes it easier for the next mass shooter to kill more people. It is sick. Mr. Speaker, killed were: 9 people outside a bar in Dayton in 2019; 10 people, including a police officer, at a grocery store in Boulder in 2021; 5 people in an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs in 2022; and 6 people, including children, at a school in Nashville just a few months ago. What do they all have in common? They were all killed by mass shooters who used stabilizing braces. By the way, the ATF rule that the Republicans are trying to overturn, contrary to what they say, doesn't even make stabilizing braces illegal. It doesn't ban them. All it does is it says that you need to register braces because they are used in a lot of mass shootings. But for Republicans, any amount of commonsense gun safety regulation is too much. Why? Because the NRA says so. Our kids are being slaughtered, for God's sake. Does anyone care? Do my Republican colleagues care at all that America's parents stay up wondering whether their kids will be the next one shot at school or at a mall or at a movie theater or at their own graduation? People come up to me all the time and they ask me: Why can't Democrats and Republicans just work together? I tell them I wish we could. There was a time when we did. I say to them: Go online and Google the bills that Republicans are bringing to the floor. Ask yourself why Republicans oppose background checks on a gun accessory that mass shooters use to kill people. Ask yourself if it is right that this bill was introduced by a Republican Member of Congress--and you are going to love this--who owns a gun store and makes millions of dollars by selling guns and these types of gun accessories that mass shooters use to kill people. Ask yourself if it makes sense that the only reason this bill is even on the floor is because Speaker McCarthy isn't even in charge of the House schedule anymore; the far, far, far right is. The craziest thing is this rule was inspired by guidance published under the Trump administration. Let me repeat that. Even the Trump administration thought it was necessary to further regulate stabilizing braces. I can't believe I am about to say this, but I agree. If you want to know why we can't have real action when it comes to gun safety, follow the money. In the last decade, the NRA has spent more than $100 million to help elect Republicans who will support their extreme agenda. Follow the money. It is no surprise that the far right is demanding this bill, but it is a shame. How many more mass shootings need to happen? How many more kids need to die before my Republican colleagues pull their heads out of the sand and say the NRA's blood money is not worth the damage that is being done to our country? I wish I was wrong, Mr. Speaker, but sadly the cowardice and moral bankruptcy on the other side of the aisle seems to know no bounds. Between the new concept of power sharing in the House, which really just means that the Speaker is going to have to keep a tiny minority of extremist Members happy for the House to be able to function, and the fact that their party's frontrunner for the 2024 Presidential election is being indicted with very serious charges for the second time this afternoon, I am sorry to say the Republican Party is a train wreck, and it doesn't bode well for what is to come. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me say a couple of things. First of all, nobody is talking about banning anything here. What we are saying is that an accessory that has been used in a number of mass shootings be registered. That is it. By the way, the gentleman said the administration should not be making laws. The administration is not making laws. They are administrating and enforcing the laws that we have passed, and they do that through regulation and rulemaking. I am not sure what the gentleman is talking about. Let me also say that he keeps on saying that this bill will turn gun owners into automatic felons, that by owning or buying one of these stabilizing braces, American gun owners will become felons. That is just not true. By the way, I should tell the gentleman, someone has to be convicted of a crime in a court to become a felon. Let me give him an example, one that he might be able to relate to. Despite being charged with 37 counts for mishandling classified documents, former President Trump is not a felon. He only becomes a felon if he is found guilty of the crimes that he was charged with and is sentenced to a year or more in prison, which may very likely happen. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to include in the Record an article from the Washington Post titled: ``Here are the 37 charges against Trump and what they mean.''

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, before I yield to my next speaker, I have to say, we heard a lot of words from the gentleman and from other Republicans who speak on these issues. Do you know what we don't hear? We don't hear any empathy for the families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. I began my opening remarks by citing examples of how this accessory was used in mass shootings. Children, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers lost their lives. They were murdered. Police were murdered. There is not even any empathy. There is no acknowledgment that this is a terrible tragedy. All we hear about is: Don't take away my toys. Don't interfere with my hobby. You can't register any of these things. I think people are so sick and tired of where our priorities are. People are sick and tired of having the National Rifle Association and all of their money dictate what our policies should be on guns. They don't care about all the people who have died and have been murdered in this country. By the way, other countries have similar challenges and problems that we do, but they don't have the level of gun violence. They don't have massacres on a regular basis. This is what we get. Enough. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. McBath).

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

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we didn't call them messaging bills. Members of the Republican Conference called them messaging bills, I would remind the gentleman. The gentleman says that we need serious solutions to gun violence in this country. I think I heard the gentleman correctly, that he is suggesting it is okay for people to carry guns into bars when they are drunk. I don't think that is very serious. The idea that we can shoot our way into gun safety is insane. We already have more guns than people in this country. We are the only country in the world that has massacres that occur on a regular basis. The gentleman is saying that people should be able to carry guns into bars when they are drunk, that we ought to give teachers more guns, and that everybody ought to have more guns and everybody will be safe. This is insane. It doesn't make any sense. At some point, people are going to have to have the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and say no to the NRA's money and actually do what is in the best interest of the American people, do what will protect the people of this country. To hear this nonsense--this place is crazier than usual. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. This is strange what we hear on the House floor today. My friends keep on talking about veterans and people with disabilities, but I don't see any major veterans organization or disability organization that has endorsed this bill. The gentleman talks about the fact that we have security here. Yes, the Capitol Police who protect us all have had background checks and have all had training. It is interesting that we have a rule when my friends are in charge where you can't bring weapons on the House floor. I feel good about that after I have listened to some of my colleagues here today. I also remind the gentleman that there were police officers at Uvalde. We hear from police officers and organizations all across the country all the time how they don't want to have to get into situations where they are battling with somebody who has an AR-15. People are dying in this country on a regular basis. Massacres are happening on a regular basis, and we are on the floor to basically make it easier for people to have access to an accessory that can make a gun more deadly and more accurate that can kill more people. I mean, it doesn't make any sense. All I can think of is the fact that some of my friends are afraid to take on the gun lobby. They are afraid to lose their money. $100 million in NRA money went into campaigns in the last 10 years--$100 million. We have to get our priorities straight here in this Congress. We have to put people ahead of guns. Mr. Speaker, I am going to urge that we defeat the previous question, and if we do, then I will offer an amendment to the rule to provide for consideration of a resolution which states that it is the House's duty to protect and preserve Social Security and Medicare for our future generations and reject any cuts to these essential programs. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment in the Record, along with extraneous material, immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Casar), to discuss our proposal.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I won't hold my breath waiting for the other names. It is astounding to me that my friends on the other side of the aisle don't want any gun laws. Basically, they lack empathy for the murders and deaths in this country that happen on a regular basis. I mean, at some point, we have to say enough is enough. They have to put people ahead of the gun lobby, and my friends are incapable of doing that. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez), who is a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the gentleman how many additional speakers he has?

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, we have real problems in this country. I mean, the Northern Hemisphere was on fire. You couldn't walk outside last week without a mask in Washington, D.C., New York City, or a number of major cities and communities all across the Northeast. Our planet has a fever. I mean, we have a real issue here with climate change, but we don't talk about those things. There are a zillion issues that we need to deal with, but instead we come to the floor with--this is what the Republicans have said-- messaging bills. Those are their words, not mine. These messaging bills promote their culture war against gas stoves, and these messaging bills, I guess, make the NRA even happier. The gentleman talks about veterans who want this. There are 16 million veterans in this country. If this were a priority of our veterans, these major organizations would be supporting this bill, but they are not. The bottom line is, we are here talking about stuff that will not help anybody. In fact, this gun bill just makes it easier for people to kill people. Why are we doing this? This makes absolutely no sense. Last week, my Republican friends fought with each other, and nothing got done. This week, we are bringing bills to the floor that Republican Members are calling nothing more than messaging bills. Congress was created to help solve problems, to help people. My Republican friends think that that is a foreign idea. This is helping nobody. It is a joke that we are here today bringing this horrific bill to the floor basically so that the NRA can be happy and justify another $100 million into their campaigns. People are dying every single day in this country, and we hardly hear a word about it from the other side of the aisle. In fact, during this debate, very little was even acknowledged in terms of the people who are dying in this country. We can do so much better. I used to have a history teacher who used to say the world will not get better on its own. I didn't really know what he was talking about when I took the course, but I do now. Nothing good happens unless good people come together and make change. There have to be some reasonable people on the Republican side who understand that gun violence is out of control. We have more guns in this country than people. We can't shoot our way out of this problem, and yet that is what my Republican friends are suggesting. Enough is enough. We need to get back to doing the people's business. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question, vote ``no'' on the rule, and vote ``no'' on all this garbage messaging legislation that will follow. We are here to solve problems, to make people's lives better. Let's do something that actually makes the American people proud of this Congress. This is embarrassing. 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. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I have always thought it was odd that doctors could prescribe medications for heart disease and diabetes but couldn't prescribe fresh fruits and vegetables. For a long time now, community-based organizations have been incredibly successful in using produce prescriptions to reduce hunger and diet-related disease. Recently, the Indian Health Service announced a new $2.5 million grant to make produce prescriptions available to more American Indian and Alaska Native peoples. In Indian Country, hunger is prominent. About one in four Native people experience food insecurity, compared to one in nine Americans overall. Last September, the Biden-Harris administration hosted the second- ever White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Within the ambitious national strategy that came out of the conference is a special focus on the challenges and opportunities in Indian Country. That is why I am so excited about programs like the one just announced by the Indian Health Service agency to end hunger among historically underserved communities. We can and we should end hunger now.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to H.R. 1640, which would add an important provision to ensure that nothing in this bill would harm U.S. energy security. Before I share with my colleagues why this amendment is necessary, I want to take a minute to say what an exercise in absurdity this week in the House has been. With everything going on in the world, we are considering nonsense bills about imaginary threats. That is the best that this Republican majority could muster, bills that are written so poorly they wouldn't even fake solve the fake problems they are making up to scare people. In the case of H.R. 1640, this bill could do real damage. The Biden administration is not trying to ban gas stoves, period, but instead of just acknowledging that and moving on, my Republican friends are pretending that the administration is trying to ban them through an energy efficiency proposal that would save consumers money and improve America's energy security. Consumers and experts recognize that energy efficiency is a key component of energy security. It is simple. If you can cook the same exact way with less gas, that means we are more energy secure. I have heard for years from Republicans that they care about energy security. This vote is an opportunity for them to prove it. This amendment contains a ``do no harm'' provision, which says that the bill should not take effect until the Secretary of Energy certifies that it would not have a negative impact on U.S. energy security. This is simple. This amendment is a chance to affirm, in a bipartisan way, that Congress should be strengthening our energy security, not weakening it. Mr. Chair, I urge support of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. If energy security is as important to Republicans as they say it is, this should be a no-brainer, because why would they bring a bill to the floor that could possibly weaken our energy security? I suspect there might be something else at play here. It is possible that the majority knows exactly what this bill would actually do, and they are eager to steamroll U.S. energy security and make consumers pay through the nose. Why do I think that? Because that is exactly what Big Oil and the fossil fuel lobby wants. Follow the money. Google their donations. If Republicans really care about energy security, they wouldn't all have voted against the Inflation Reduction Act last year, the single most ambitious bill on energy security that Congress has ever considered. If Republicans really care about energy security, they wouldn't have voted against millions of new clean energy jobs that will make us truly energy independent. With this vote, let's see what my Republican colleagues care more about, America's energy security or helping Big Oil and gas billionaires rake in more profits on the backs of our constituents. I am sure my Republican friends will be generously compensated for their efforts here today. How sad. How pathetic. I urge everybody to follow the money. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, House Republicans nearly caused a catastrophic default on our debt all because they wanted to tighten the screws on America's poorest families, and now Speaker McCarthy says: ``Let's get the rest of the work requirements.'' He basically said taking away food from hungry people was ``one of the best nights I have ever [had].'' So, let me be just as blunt: SNAP work requirements don't work. They do the opposite. Any Member who disagrees can reach out to my office, and I will provide him or her copies of many, many studies. Second, as attention turns to the farm bill, which we all know must pass with bipartisan support, I want to be up-front about my red lines: SNAP work requirements are off the table. Cuts to SNAP are off the table. Changes that hurt America's small farms and family farmers are off the table. There will be no farm bill without serious investments in the national strategy put forward by the Biden administration to end hunger and diet-related diseases. GOP leadership may care more about tax cuts for billionaires than food for everyday families, but House Democrats do not, and we will keep fighting to end hunger now.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deep frustration with the Biden administration, especially the State Department, and its indifference to the suffering of the Cuban people. I was in Cuba in December. I have traveled there often over the past four decades. I have deep ties to many ordinary Cubans, small entrepreneurs, and people of faith. I have never seen the Cuban people suffer such hardship as they are at this moment. The main drivers of Cuban migration right now are hunger and a despair for a better future. There are many reasons for this desperation: The economic collapse of the tourist economy during the COVID-19 epidemic, rigid economic controls by the Cuban Government that change too slowly, a harsh crackdown on protests, and the denial of basic rights and freedoms. However, a significant factor contributing to the suffering are the policies of the United States. Despite promises made as a candidate, President Biden has failed to undo the economic and financial restrictions imposed by his predecessor. He has failed to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list against all reason, information, and analysis that should have led to its immediate removal upon his taking office. These restrictions have strangled ordinary people's daily activities, financial transactions, the Cuban private sector, activities by other Western governments, and even the delivery of humanitarian aid. In December, young entrepreneurs were begging me to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. The Governments of Colombia and Mexico, and many others, have asked the Biden administration to remove Cuba from this list. They have received the same response as many Members of Congress: an indifferent silence. No doubt, the Biden administration will tinker around the edges, announcing limited reforms that might allow a few small entrepreneurs to survive another year or two, but they won't thrive. Such measures will hardly alleviate the suffering of the Cuban people as a whole. Until this administration takes a hard look in the mirror and gets serious, until it removes Cuba from the state sponsor of terrorism list and ends the economic and financial restrictions imposed during the Trump administration, the United States will continue to contribute to the suffering of the Cuban people every single day, every single hour. The Biden administration has had nearly 2\1/2\ years to undo the Trump restrictions. It has purposely decided to keep them in place, even to embrace them, no matter the cost to the Cuban people. These policies are no longer President Trump's policies. They are Biden's. Cuban migration is just a symptom of the suffering. It won't stop until U.S. policy changes and starts working on behalf of the Cuban people rather than sitting back and continuing the harsh policies that have driven thousands to abandon their homes. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am angry. I am frustrated. I am past making excuses for this administration on this issue. We need to change U.S. policy toward Cuba. Today couldn't be soon enough.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I keep hearing from my Republican friends about work requirements, work requirements, work requirements. Speaker McCarthy said--get this--people are getting paid to sit at home on the couch. Okay. Let's talk about work requirements. I have good news for my GOP friends. In 1996, you all demanded the work requirements that are still in place today. Now, maybe if Speaker McCarthy weren't so busy auctioning off his used Chapstick for $100,000, he would know working families in this country are struggling and need help. Maybe if he weren't so busy giving speeches to Wall Street bankers, he would know most people on food assistance are children, seniors, and people with disabilities. Maybe if he spoke to an able-bodied adult on food assistance, he would know they aren't sitting on the couch. They are out working. They just make so little, they qualify for a measly $6-a-day benefit they use to buy food. Republicans are going after food assistance so they can give another tax break to billionaires. It is a disgrace. It is a shame. Speaker McCarthy should try living on SNAP for a week before screwing over poor people.