Mary Scanlon

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, last night in the Committee on Rules, my Democratic colleagues and I offered multiple amendments to try to improve the crypto bills. We offered amendments to prevent the President and his closest relatives from profiting off of crypto while he is in office. We offered amendments to protect investors and consumers and allow the kind of government oversight that is needed to protect our economy. All of these amendments were rejected by committee Republicans. Last night, as we discussed the Defense spending bill, we also pressed Republicans on how military families will be impacted by the Medicaid cuts in Republicans' big, ugly bill. About 850,000 military families on TRICARE also receive healthcare through Medicaid, particularly children with special needs. Those families may now see their health benefits cut or taken away as a result of the big, ugly bill. That issue was not addressed in the Defense spending bill. Our Republican colleagues didn't want to hear it, and I doubt we will be able to prevent them from proceeding with this misguided crypto legislation today. Yet, I will say this: If these bills become law, we can predict many more crypto scandals and crises and money laundering. A lot of people will lose a lot of money, and no one will face accountability for taking advantage of retail investors. I hope that day doesn't come, but it is bills like this that will determine the future of our financial system. Do we want a system that promotes speculation, bubbles, Ponzi schemes, and frauds or one that promotes investment in innovative and productive businesses that grow the real economy in ways that benefit all Americans? Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the PQ and rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am not sure what the gentleman from Georgia is talking about when he says that my amendment is offered as a product of radical leftists. I know that it is rare in D.C., but this amendment actually has broad bipartisan support, from the far right, from the far left, and from the middle. We just want to release the Epstein files. That is why we have offered the amendment, and this body has the opportunity to vote on it. I don't understand why my Republican colleagues are suddenly so adamant about throwing up procedural hurdles to have the Epstein files released. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from California.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this is a debate about what Congress should be considering, and my amendment would simply allow Congress to express its will with respect to the release of the Epstein files. This is something our Republican colleagues and certainly key members of the Trump administration have been talking about for years until their recent about-face. Congress can express its will. We would like to have it put up for a vote. It doesn't block any votes on the crypto bills or the Defense Department funding. We think that the administration should release these files. It really is a little confusing, I think, why suddenly our Republican colleagues are blocking this, but perhaps it was a mistake. At least one Republican voted with Democrats last night to release the files, so this would just give all of our colleagues the opportunity to say what they have been saying for so many years, that the Epstein files should be released. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Khanna).

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

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Veasey), who is the sponsor of the resolution directing the Trump administration to release the Epstein files to discuss our proposal.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to make in order amendment No. 50 to H.R. 3633, offered by Representative Khanna, which requires the Attorney General to preserve and release any records related to Jeffrey Epstein. I applaud my colleagues, Representative Veasey and Khanna, for their work to release the Epstein files. I strongly support these efforts and the release of the files. Last night, at the Rules Committee, Republicans rejected an amendment that would have required the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files, multiple criminal investigations which allegedly documented trafficking of young women and girls by Jeffrey Epstein, a sex offender and financier with whom the President often socialized. For years, the President and those in his orbit, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, alleged that prior administrations had covered up the identities of the rich and powerful people to whom Epstein had trafficked the girls and the facts surrounding his allegedly suspicious death. They came into office pledging to seek accountability for the horrific crimes by revealing Epstein's client list and other information, but recently backtracked and refused to release any further information. There appear to be only two explanations for this about-face. Either the Epstein files did not contain the explosive information that Trump and his allies claimed during his campaign, or this administration is the one covering up what is in the files. Last night, all the Republicans on the Rules Committee except one voted against releasing the files. Why would they try to prevent the truth about Epstein's abuse and those he enabled from coming out? That is anybody's guess. With this previous question, the entire Republican Conference has the opportunity to correct that mistake. They can vote today to release the Epstein files. 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.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the rule. Although Bitcoin has been around for over 15 years, cryptocurrencies and related decentralized financial products have exploded in the past few years. Many Americans now own cryptocurrencies, and the industry has seen significant growth. At the same time, our laws have not kept up with these novel crypto products, and there is wide agreement that Congress must update our laws to appropriately account for crypto assets. However, today's bills are not the answer to that problem. The CLARITY and GENIUS Acts are bad legislation. They are industry- written bills that give the crypto industry everything it wants at the expense of retail investors, consumers, and the overall health of our financial system. These bills are products of the D.C. swamp that so many of our colleagues usually condemn. Mr. Speaker, every time our Republican colleagues write a finance bill, it leaves us less safe and more prone to financial crisis. We saw the very real consequences of this when Silicon Valley Bank failed in 2023. That failure was the direct result of Republican legislation that exempted Silicon Valley Bank from Dodd-Frank Act regulations. GOP proponents of that bill had argued, without evidence, that Dodd- Frank was too onerous and that big banks needed regulatory relief, but it only took a couple of years for their disastrous deregulatory agenda to lead exactly where we all knew it would, with billions of dollars of customer deposits evaporating overnight and with the Federal Government bailing out the bank's uninsured depositors. This time, Republicans are at it again with two bills that will create a weak and ineffective regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, allowing exchanges and insurers to continue risky, fraudulent, and illegal practices with limited oversight by the SEC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These bills give the crypto industry exactly what it wants. They get the illusion of a real regulatory regime and the legitimacy that would bestow. They get weak rules that can be exploited and manipulated for financial gain, and they get enforcement mechanisms that are so meager and underfunded that they won't deter bad actors. We have seen what deregulation gets us. It got us the 2008 financial crisis. It gets us bankruptcies and bailouts, and it ultimately leaves hardworking Americans holding the bag while CEOs get golden parachutes. It is not like we are talking about deregulating some benign financial product. Crypto stands out as a uniquely risky asset. From the invention of bitcoin until now, the primary demonstrated uses for cryptocurrencies have been speculation, fraud, and money laundering. You can't really use crypto to buy anything. The coins themselves aren't backed by any profits, assets, or other tangible property. While we have been hearing about all the wonders of the blockchain for over a decade, shockingly few companies actually use it in a way that is essential to their business. In practice, the main real-life-use case for crypto is money laundering. Crypto is used by Mexican cartels to launder their proceeds from drugs trafficked into the United States. Terrorist organizations fund their operations with crypto, and countries like North Korea use cryptocurrencies to avoid U.S. sanctions and fund their nuclear weapons programs. In fact, bitcoin and Tether are the payment methods of choice for the fentanyl manufacturers in China that supply the Mexican cartels, as well as other fentanyl traffickers inside the United States. These criminal organizations rely on crypto, and the legislation under consideration today will not disrupt that illegal commerce. The CLARITY and GENIUS Acts will not do anything to prevent crypto from being used to break our laws or fund fentanyl deaths and senior fraud. These bills do not provide any meaningful regulations to ensure that issuers and exchanges fully comply with anti-money laundering laws. Add to this that cryptocurrencies are used to facilitate billions of dollars' worth of fraud against Americans each year. This fraud comes in the form of scams, especially those targeting seniors, where fraudsters trick people into purchasing fake crypto products and then run off with the money, leaving the seniors with no recourse. Then there is the institutional fraud, the fraud that comes from the crypto companies themselves. Here we also have a long list of examples, the most notable being the fall and bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which incorporated itself in The Bahamas to avoid American regulatory scrutiny, gambled with customer funds, and ultimately left its customers penniless because of fraudulent business practices. There is no other way around it. The CLARITY and GENIUS Acts will not stop these types of fraud from happening, and they will leave regular investors on the hook if they are victims of fraud. The other glaring omission in these bills is they do nothing to stop the abuse of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as tools for bribery and influence peddling. As President Trump and his allies have demonstrated on a daily basis, any politician can issue a crypto asset, own the majority of tokens, and then anyone who wants to buy that politician's attention or votes can just invest in the asset. There is no oversight or disclosure requirement. There is deniability on both sides of the transaction. Any person, any foreign country can bribe and buy politicians through cryptocurrency like this. Those who have purchased such coins have been open about their motivations for doing so. Right before his inauguration, President Trump issued his own coin, the Trump coin, for which he is the majority owner. Millions of dollars of questionable funds, including funds from foreigners and foreign governments, have flowed into this coin, as well as his companies, Trump Media and World Liberty Financial. All in all, it is estimated that President Trump has netted $1 billion from those crypto schemes, taking advantage of the Office of the President to enrich him and his family. During the 2024 election, crypto companies donated millions of dollars to elect the President. After he was elected, they donated millions more to his inaugural committee. It is notable that in his first 6 months in office, Trump has dismantled all the regulators that oversee the financial and crypto industries, dropped criminal charges and investigations against various crypto companies, pardoned a crypto exchange that pleaded guilty to abetting money laundering, and pardoned the former owner of the Silk Road who was responsible for selling hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of drugs on the deep web. Apparently, anyone who seeks to buy influence in this White House simply has to find one of the President's companies or meme coins and make a sizable investment. Emiratis and Saudis are investing in Trump's crypto assets to curry favor. People looking for pardons, dismissals, or preferential regulatory treatment are taking advantage of the Trump crypto scheme. Lawyers and lobbyists are advertising to clients that they can buy a pardon for the right price. It is easily the biggest potential corruption scandal in our Nation's Presidential history. If there is any crypto regulation we need right now, it is a bright- line prohibition on any elected official profiting off a crypto asset. Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 15th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which paved the way for corporations and billionaires to spend unlimited money in our elections. Because of this ruling, anyone, for the right price, can buy their preferred outcomes in our elections and in Congress. One need look no further than Elon Musk and the crypto bills that we are considering today to see the impact of the Citizens United decision. We all know about the millions that Musk poured into the Trump campaign and the White House access he was granted before their abrupt split recently, but the crypto industry also spent a lot of money. It spent money to make these bills happen. Over the past few years, the crypto industry has emerged as one of the biggest and most aggressive political spenders in American politics. In the 2024 election, crypto emerged as the biggest corporate spender, accounting for nearly half of all the corporate money spent. Crypto outspent every other business lobby by tens of millions of dollars. While the crypto industry's political spending is enormous, what really sets it apart is the brazenness with which the industry buys influence in Washington. Usually, it is hard to exactly pinpoint a direct relationship between political spending and outcomes, but crypto spending is so in your face that we can actually put a price on these bills. All in all, the CLARITY and GENIUS Acts cost the crypto industry about $245 million, and that is a conservative figure. That is just the money spent on 2024 campaigns. If you count money spent to hire expensive lobbyists to come to Congress and ply Representatives with industry talking points, the number is even higher. Crypto's $245 million was spent supporting candidates who backed the industry and defeating candidates who did not. Crypto got a good return on its investment. In the overwhelming majority of races that crypto principals invested in, they got their preferred candidate. Now crypto companies have been able to write their own regulations to ensure they won't face serious scrutiny or oversight, meaning that fraud and money laundering will continue unabated, and investors will be on the hook when the next crypto crisis happens. Fifteen years after the Citizens United decision, these bills are the direct result. Crypto is a textbook example of the consequences of that decision. The question before us today is, how should cryptocurrencies be regulated? The answer we are getting is with regulations provided by the crypto industry itself. Fifteen years later, Citizens United has been an unmitigated disaster for our country. Unlimited spending in politics has corroded our democracy. It has bred cynicism and nihilism in the political process. It has made Americans feel disenfranchised and powerless. It says to every American, your voice doesn't count unless you can pay to play. Mr. Speaker, we have a political system where any company or any rich person can pay for advertisements, pay for lobbyists, donate to campaigns and PACs and super-PACs, all to buy influence and get their desired outcomes from Congress or the White House. Time and time again, in every sector of our economy, corporations and the rich have won in Congress, in the courts, in the rulemaking process, and even in decisionmaking by enforcement agencies. We see the consequences of Citizens United everywhere we turn. It is the reason corporations can screw over workers and consumers with no penalty. It is why every part of the economy is monopolized by two or three companies that sell poor products and give bad service. It is why we are diving headfirst into a global climate crisis and doing nothing about it. It is why every time someone runs for office on a platform of putting people over profits, they have to endure attacks from super-PACs supported by billionaires or business interests. Our democracy will remain imperiled so long as the mega-rich can buy influence, votes, and elections. If anyone was unsure of the consequences posed by Citizens United in 2010, it is now clear, beyond any doubt, that the decision was an abject failure for the country. We have to overturn Citizens United, get dark money out of politics, and make sure our government is accountable to voters and not donors. To my colleagues here in the House, we don't need to end campaign spending for Members of Congress to do the right thing. Integrity doesn't require authorizing legislation. We cannot allow big money donors to buy or bully Congress. We need to do the right thing. Mr. Speaker, today's rule also provides for consideration of the fiscal year 2026 Defense appropriations bill. Since taking the majority in the House, Republicans have unfortunately abandoned any pretense of bipartisan compromise to promote our national security by loading every defense bill with radical, rightwing policy riders. These riders have turned what was once a rare area of bipartisan consensus into yet another partisan divide. This time around, Republicans have loaded the national defense bill with provisions to prevent female servicemembers from accessing reproductive healthcare. They have given a green light to discrimination against LGBTQ servicemembers. This bill does nothing to address the gross mismanagement of the Pentagon by Pete Hegseth, a man who has leaked classified intelligence, who spends more time in front of his Pentagon makeup mirror and doing press stunts than effectively managing the Armed Forces, and who has prioritized support for bigotry and weird cultural war obsessions like changing the pictures on the Pentagon's website and renaming military bases after Confederate icons. When this bill is combined with the money spent by Republicans in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the United States is on track to spend over $1 trillion on defense. Every year, we spend more and more on defense. It is not clear that taxpayers are getting a good deal. After years of consolidation and lax antitrust enforcement, the defense industry has ossified around five major prime contractors, each with a degree of specialization. That means only two or three companies ever compete for major contracts. The consequences of this consolidation can be found across the defense industrial base. We don't make enough of the weapons and platforms that we need. Production for major platforms is often beset by delays and cost overruns. We spend billions on studies and research programs that don't lead anywhere. Production timelines are always being extended. Delivery times are delayed, and per-unit costs are increased. In the face of these glaring business inefficiencies, Congress and the Pentagon always give the contractors what they ask for and ask for very little in return. We need to replenish our weapons stockpiles. We need to quickly field next-generation military assets like the Columbia submarine and the B- 21 Raider. We need to bolster supply chains that support this production. We need to ensure that the Nation has the industrial capacity to respond to a sustained major conflict anywhere in the world. In order for us to achieve these goals, meet our national security needs, and support our servicemembers, Congress needs to perform real oversight over the Pentagon and defense contractors. In my time in Congress, I have supported multiple efforts to require the Pentagon to perform a clean audit with tangible enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance. In each case, these efforts haven't garnered the votes for passage because at the end of the day, this body has not been willing to hold the Pentagon and defense industry's feet to the fire. The Pentagon has failed to complete seven audits in a row. That is seven. Until the Pentagon faces real consequences for being unable to account for the billions of taxpayer dollars it spends every year and failing to comply with congressional oversight, we will never have accountability. At a time when our Republicans' quest to root out waste, fraud, and abuse has led them to slash funding for American's healthcare and hunger relief, it is astonishing they are willing to write yet another blank check to the Department of Defense with no questions asked, despite growing evidence of cost overruns, mismanagement, and more. At the end of the day, I want our servicemembers to have every single advantage over our adversaries. I want them to have all the tools, platforms, resources, and weapons systems we can provide. I don't want taxpayers to get a bad deal. I don't want to waste money on overpriced defense contracts that overpromise and underdeliver. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.

Ms. SCANLON

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

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on the previous question. The country deserves better leadership, leadership focused on the common good and public service rather than culture wars and private profit. The United States faces enormous challenges, and the American people want Congress to act on their behalf. They want us to lower the cost of groceries, rent, and healthcare. They don't want Congress wasting time on performance, on pointless legislation like the bills we are debating today. The American people want real solutions. They want their elected officials to collaborate, to govern with decency and discipline in ways that benefit the American people, not deep-pocketed donors. They don't want politicians who chase headlines or who try to flatter the whims of erratic leaders with insane ideas like renaming the Gulf of Mexico, invading Greenland, annexing Canada, or reinstituting Alcatraz. While many Americans are struggling just to get by, the last thing they want is a Republican tax bill that guts their healthcare and denies food and housing to children and seniors so that millionaires can pay less in taxes. It is obscene. If Republicans carry out their stated plans, it will be one of the largest government handouts in American history, paid for by those who can least afford it and delivered to those who need it least. Talk about corporate welfare. While the rich will get their tax cut, working families will be stuck footing the bill for Trump's tariffs. It is not too late for Republicans to change course. I pray that enough of them find the courage to push back against this plan, to listen to their constituents, and to do the right thing. We don't need to slash Medicaid and SNAP, and we can move forward with a sensible tax bill that invests in families and the middle class, not just billionaires and the Fortune 500. I urge my colleagues to vote down this resolution, reject these unserious bills, and join us in the business of governing for the public good, the common good. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 2753, the Hands Off Medicaid and SNAP Act, which will prevent the Republican budget from cutting Medicaid or SNAP benefits. Mr. Speaker, this week the House is voting to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. I am not joking. This is what House Republicans are spending their time doing publicly. However, privately, behind closed doors, according to reports, Republican leadership is meeting with vulnerable, moderate Republicans to try to sell them on trading devastating cuts to Medicaid for tax cuts for billionaires. Under their plan, they have to cut $880 billion from Medicaid and $230 billion from food assistance just to make the math work for their disastrous reconciliation bill. Mr. Speaker, what is worse is they continue to argue that they aren't doing that, but the math doesn't lie. They can't reach the levels of billionaire tax cuts they want without gutting vital programs like Medicaid and SNAP, programs that the most vulnerable in our country rely upon. Republicans are publicly claiming that they won't make those cuts, so today I will give them a chance to prove that to the American people by putting their money where their mouths are and voting to ensure those devastating cuts can't move forward in this House. 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.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In January when House and Senate Republicans punted once again on passing a budget and instead passed a continuing resolution, they forgot to include the funding to operate the District of Columbia. The Senate moved to rectify that mistake and has passed a bill to fix it, and the President has said that he will sign that bill. The Mayor of D.C. has repeatedly spoken to House Republicans about the urgency of fixing the city's budget. The clock is ticking, and if the fix isn't passed, D.C. will have to lay off hundreds of teachers and police officers and curtail critical services in the District. While this is going on, House Republicans are instead using floor time to prioritize removing the longfin smelt from the endangered species list, to rename the Gulf of Mexico, and to do other, frankly, stupid messaging bills like those we are considering today. The Speaker may claim that it is just a matter of schedule, but once again, clearly, the gulf in America is between what Americans--the people who live in D.C. and most of the country--think is important and what House Republicans are willing to do. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Johnson).

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as much as it pains me to say this, we are here on the House floor today because the House Republican majority has chosen to prioritize debate and passage of a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. That is not what my constituents think is the most important thing Congress should tackle this week or this year, and I bet it is not what your constituents think either. It is easy to mock this legislation because it is so inane and embarrassing, and we have, but its very existence and the fact that House Republicans have chosen to waste time and taxpayer dollars to bring it up for a vote, is worth considering. Let's talk about the real gulf of America--the gulf in America--the gulf between the ambitions and priorities of this White House, aided and abetted by the House majority, and the needs of the American people. That is the gulf that makes Republicans think that it is more important to give tax cuts to billionaires than to make sure that America's children, veterans, and seniors have food, housing, and medical services, and that we protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. It is the gulf that causes the Speaker to bring ridiculous legislation to the floor to flatter the President and appease his base rather than meet the needs of the American people. Americans want a Congress and a White House that solves problems rather than creates them. Americans aren't asking to rename the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, public polling, including on FOX, says that nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose that executive order and this legislation to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Like many Americans, I follow the news each day with trepidation. Many folks tell me that the chaos and missteps of this administration are too painful or upsetting to follow. They have tuned it out because the only guarantee we have is that every day the President or his administration will have done something dumber or more dangerous than the day before. Each day brings its own self-inflicted crisis with this White House, and millions of Americans are exhausted by it. They are pleading with their elected officials to act, to do something, anything, to bring normalcy back to this country, to bring decency back to this country. There was a time when American public life was guided by a genuine sense of duty and a converse fear of shame, but today neither appear to hold much sway. Instead, we have a White House filled with charlatans, con men, snake oil salesmen, grifters, billionaires, and criminals, all using the power of the Federal Government to enrich themselves at the expense of the American people and to punish their political opponents. Last week was President Trump's 100th day in office, a customary benchmark by which we measure the successes and failures of a new President's term. I think it is safe to say that Trump's first 100 days have been a disaster. His tariff policies are likely to cause a recession. Millions of people have seen their retirement savings evaporate. Families don't know if they are going to be able to afford basic goods, much less Christmas dolls. Businesses, big and small, are paralyzed by uncertainty and reducing their spending, and many small businesses may not survive. To add insult to injury, when faced with these facts, the President says: Deal with it. Those are the President's own words. The tariffs will be painful, but it is a price that must be paid; but paid by whom? It won't be Trump or the billionaires in his Cabinet or at his golf clubs. No, it is going to be real people, people who work for a living, who will have to pay the price for his ill-conceived trade war. It is not going to be guys like Bessent and Lutnick, who have multimillion- dollar mansions and fly on private planes. They will be just fine. However, for working parents, according to Trump, maybe the kids will have 2 dolls instead of 30. I don't know who has 30 dolls. Maybe the moms who live in my district will have to pay more for the stroller they use to transport their kids to daycare and doctors and the grocery store. So much for the guy who said he was going to bring down prices on day one. It is worth noting that just yesterday in our Rules markup, our Republican colleagues voted, once again, to keep the Trump tariffs in place. Over a month ago, they rigged the rules of the House to prevent Congress from voting to end the Trump tariffs. They literally voted to stop time, to say that for the purposes of protecting the Trump tariffs, there is only one day between now and the end of September in order to prevent anyone from being able to force a vote on whether to end Trump's tariffs. They are dragging down our economy and American families with it. That is just the terrible Trump tariffs. In these first 100 days, the administration has cut services at Social Security, fired medical staff at VA hospitals, and withheld aid to food banks, children's health programs, and community violence prevention efforts. They have waged a political war against universities and scientific research, and illegally froze over $400 billion in congressionally appropriated funds, including billions of dollars to FEMA, to everyone from local firefighters to States that have been affected by natural disasters. This White House has issued hundreds of controversial executive orders, many of which courts have deemed illegal or unconstitutional. Every day this administration is disappearing hundreds of people, sending them to faraway detention centers without any due process, due process that would expose mistakes and lies about some people who are not criminals and, in some cases, are even citizens and, therefore, should not be deported. The damage that is being caused right now by this administration to our communities, to our international standing, to our national security and national fabric, will take years to unwind. Eager to do their part and contribute to the chaos, House Republicans continue to find novel ways to bring this Chamber to new lows. This week, Republicans are putting forward two bills, one that is pretty much a redundant effort to counter Confucius Institutes and another to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. The second bill may be the dumbest bill brought to the floor during the 6 years I have served in Congress. With all of the important work this Congress should be tackling, the Speaker and House Republicans have chosen to indulge the President in a whim that the American public does not support. Frankly, if I had to vote on a bill like this, I would find it deeply embarrassing. I know my Republican colleagues are smart people. They are not dumb, so I have to think that they share this embarrassment, unless they are members of a cult, a cult of personality based around a dear leader who they are required to obey or risk retribution, and upon whom they bestow endless compliments and praise in order to seek personal favors. It doesn't matter how much damage he causes, how much money he wastes, how many lives and families he hurts. It doesn't matter if he causes a recession. It doesn't matter if he encourages influence peddling and grift with a Trump coin, or his Gulf of America merch, or if he gives insider stock tips before taking executive action. House Republicans seem to always do what Trump says. If he wants to do something as dumb as rename the Gulf of Mexico, Republicans apparently will fall in line. We will watch them twist themselves into pretzels to come up with increasingly convoluted rationales for the President's actions. Today will surely be a master class in delusion. Further adding to the chaos, this month, House Republicans are expected to finish drafting the text of the reconciliation bill through which they are planning to cut healthcare benefits to seniors, children, and people with disabilities and cut nutrition assistance to the poor in order to pay for a huge tax giveaway to billionaires and big business. Despite more than 40 years of empirical evidence showing that Republican trickle-down economics are a resounding failure, Republicans are nonetheless pushing ahead with their party orthodoxy. We have more than enough evidence that trickle-down economics does not work. It doesn't help the middle class. It doesn't create jobs. It doesn't increase business investment, and it doesn't grow the economy. What these policies actually do is allow companies and their shareholders to pocket more profits at the expense of everyone else. It is because of trickle-down economics that we now have some of the most extreme income inequality in this country in our Nation's history. To pay for this giveaway to the rich, Republicans are going to take away healthcare benefits and food assistance and cut critical Federal investments in our local communities, our democracy, the environment, and our national security, all so millionaires and billionaires can get an extra buck. It is horrifying, immoral, and un-American. Unlike many of my Republican colleagues, I have participated in multiple townhalls this year to hear from my constituents. One message that I hear consistently is that people are scared. These are good, honest, hardworking Americans who in one way or another have been forced to rely on Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, WIC, Head Start, Social Security, or LIHEAP in order to make ends meet for their families, and they are rightfully scared that Republicans are planning to gut those programs. We will surely hear all kinds of mental gymnastics from our colleagues about how millionaires really need that extra tax cut or how cutting Medicaid won't really lead to a loss of coverage or service. We will hear tortured arguments from Republicans to hide what they are really doing. When you take a step back and look at everything that is happening, this White House, in concert with Elon Musk and congressional Republicans, have put the country on a dark and troubling path, a fear- based path. It is leading us to a place that has more in common with Stalin's Russia than the free society envisioned by our Founding Fathers. It is heartbreaking to see the lengths to which some people will go to destroy the ideas and institutions that for decades have made this country great. Mr. Speaker, I think it goes without saying that I rise in strong opposition to this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I spent the weekend listening to my constituents, and it damn near broke me. I heard from seniors worried about Musk's attacks on Social Security and Medicaid, small businesses confronting bankruptcy from Trump's tariffs, and parents seeing their college and retirement savings wiped out. I met with teachers worried about students who don't have the resources to weather the hardships so casually inflicted by this White House. I heard from Federal employees who lost their jobs but were more concerned about the veterans and seniors and kids with disabilities they could no longer serve. I met with medical researchers whose work fighting cancer and pandemics had been abandoned by this White House. I heard from veterans stunned that they had been fired for no reason and volunteer firefighters who had lost FEMA funding. I heard from a dry cleaner terrified that her family would be deported, even though they have no criminal records and are legally in this country. I also heard from mental health specialists fighting opioid and fentanyl addiction, whose funding was canceled. My question for House Republicans is: What does it take to get them to stand up for Americans? Mr. Speaker, I yield my time but not my outrage.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, today House Republicans are trying to avert a funding crisis of their own making by passing a partisan Republican spending bill they drafted behind closed doors. It cuts $13 billion from programs like low-income housing, agricultural inspections, and election security. This bill would allow President Trump and Elon Musk to supercharge their attacks on essential Federal programs and workers, including Social Security and the FAA, with no input from Congress. I will highlight how this bill impacts our Nation's veterans, particularly in light of the administration's recent actions. Due to the success of the PACT Act, more veterans than ever before have enrolled in VA care, and we should celebrate that success. Instead, this bill reneges on a commitment of $23 billion in healthcare funding for veterans who were exposed to burn pits and Agent Orange. It also fails to guarantee essential programs within the Veterans Health Administration. Programs like homelessness assistance, mental health care, rural health initiatives, opioid and substance abuse treatment, oncology services, and caregiver support are left undefined and, therefore, subject to cuts or elimination by DOGE and Trump. This is not an oversight. Our Republican colleagues are supporting this bill because it allows Musk to eliminate more programs without congressional approval. Mr. Speaker, in just 6 weeks, over 6,000 veterans have been fired from the VA and other Federal programs. Veterans comprise 30 percent of our Federal workforce. They are among the hardest working and most patriotic employees in our country. Nonetheless, Trump has allowed Elon Musk and DOGE to fire thousands of them without cause, and more jobs are on the chopping block; 80,000 at the VA, tens of thousands at the IRS, and 7,000 at Social Security. When DOGE destroys Federal programs, it is not just cutting essential services for American families. It is also firing veterans. Between deep VA cuts, eliminating funding for veterans' healthcare, and job cuts that disproportionately hit veterans, it appears that the Trump White House has declared war on veterans. Our veterans and their families deserve better than this. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this travesty of a bill and instead pass the clean CR offered by the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the White House's pet project, the department of government inefficiency, otherwise known as DOGI. For the past month, our Federal workers and agencies have been assaulted by a dilettante billionaire empowered by President Trump to muck about in Americans' lives and Federal agencies. Americans are justifiably concerned that these unelected intruders are acting as judge and jury on people's lives and livelihoods as they gleefully and illegally feed tens of thousands of jobs and vital programs into a woodchipper. This billionaire and his tech bros claim to have found billions in fraud, waste, and inefficiency, but their methods and results are shrouded in secrecy. When they hype their claim on Twitter or the White House press room, independent review has shown that their claims are false or riddled with errors. Buying condoms for Gaza? It didn't happen. Social Security payments to people who are 150 years old? Nope. Mr. Speaker, $800 billion in savings on one contract? Oops. Maybe $800 million, they are not really sure. Absolutely nothing adds up. These DOGI efforts have introduced fraud, waste, and inefficiency into every agency they have touched with their invasions, freezes, and suspensions. Federal workers have been fired then rehired as their functions were quickly proven to be indispensable rather than nonessential. Employees have been bombarded with weird emails that threaten them with termination if they don't accept a sketchy buyout or snitch on their colleagues and with demands that they interrupt their real work to do make-work for review by people who have no understanding or interest in public service or government functions. Elon Musk's DOGI efforts are disrupting critical medical research and treatments, foreign aid, veterans' care, criminal investigations, and health, housing and human services across the Nation and beyond. It takes a remarkable combination of arrogance and stupidity to think that this is the best use of time for our intelligence officers, VA workers, air traffic controllers, FBI agents, and everyone else upon whom our Nation depends to do their jobs well. If this is what bringing business acumen to government function looks like, then it is pretty clear we need to prevent our government from becoming a dumpster fire like X or one of Trump's corrupt corporations. We can't afford it, and the American people can't afford it. Mr. Speaker, it is well past time that Congress removed Mr. Musk and his DOGI minions from our government and get down to doing the peoples' business.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to urge Federal workers in Pennsylvania and across the Nation to exercise extreme caution as they consider the bogus buyout plan that the White House is pressuring them to accept. In a memo to Federal workers last week, Trump's Office of Personnel Management notified Federal workers across the country that they had just over a week, until tomorrow, February 6, to voluntarily quit their jobs in exchange for keeping pay and benefits for 8 months. The memo threatened that if they refused the offer, their jobs might no longer exist. Tens of thousands of Federal workers in the Philadelphia region received that email and were rightly concerned. The workers impacted by the memo include those who care for our veterans, protect our ports and airports, fight corruption and drug traffickers, and make sure that our food is safe to eat, that our air is clean, and that our water is safe to drink. The OPM memo is one in a series of directives by the Trump White House aimed at gutting the Federal Government and the critical services it provides to Americans in order to justify massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations. We have already seen illegal firings of hundreds of career civil servants and unconstitutional attempts to shutter entire agencies. Union leaders immediately began raising the alarm that the buyout offer could be a scam. Congress has not authorized or funded these radical cuts to the government workforce and services, and employees could be left without the pay, benefits, and protections to which they are entitled by law. The proposed workforce reductions would make it impossible for the Federal Government to deliver the services that Congress has authorized and Americans deserve. They would, however, make it easier for large corporations to take advantage of consumers and employees and to pollute the environment. The unions have filed suit to protect their employees, and yesterday, 12 State attorneys general, including those in New Jersey and Delaware, issued a warning to Federal employees across the country that the buyout offer was misleading and should be viewed with caution. Amidst the concern about the legality and impact of this unauthorized buyout, our colleagues from across the aisle, at both the State and Federal levels, have gone missing in action. Republicans control both the House and Senate in Washington, and we would welcome their help to stand up for the Constitution, for our constituents, and for Federal workers. We will continue to raise the alarm and do everything possible to protect Americans and our Constitution from the worst abuses of this administration and its billionaire buddies because construction workers and contractors in our area know that the Trump corporation never kept its promises with respect to pay and meeting its obligations. Mr. Speaker, the whole world knows that Twitter became a dumpster fire after Elon Musk tried to impact the exact types of reductions that we are seeing here, so I am issuing this warning to our constituents across the Delaware Valley.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, we are here again because Republicans have prioritized a bill designed to make headlines, not good law. H.R. 21 is designed to mislead the public about those who need abortion care and the doctors who provide that care. Let's be clear. As stated, the law of the land is that doctors have an obligation to provide appropriate medical care to their patients, including infants, and no one here is advocating for infanticide. This bill goes further than restating the current law, and it is our job here to read the fine print. This bill would create harsh criminal and financial penalties for doctors and clinicians providing medically necessary and appropriate care to their patients. As Representative Kennedy's heartbreaking testimony just made clear, every pregnancy is different. Patients and providers have to be able to make the healthcare decisions that are right for their families without politicians mandating a one-size-fits-all approach and threatening healthcare providers who disagree. Republican extremists can continue attacking healthcare providers and women's fundamental freedoms, but we are going to keep fighting to ensure that women can make their own healthcare decisions.

Ms. SCANLON

Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing but unsurprising that House Republicans have made it their top priority in their new Congress to pass a bill, H.R. 28, designed to generate headlines rather than solve actual problems. Mr. Speaker, I have spoken on the serious flaws in this bill several times, including last night in the Rules Committee, but it is worth noting that since the House last considered this bill, it has been altered with an increasingly ironic amendment. The amendment added mandatory imprisonment for people accused of assaulting a law enforcement officer. I say this amendment is ironic because yesterday, just hours after taking the oath of office, President Trump granted mass pardons for over 1,200 January 6 MAGA rioters who had been convicted. President Trump also ordered the dismissal of cases of hundreds more, including hundreds who assaulted police officers with bats, poles, bear spray, explosives, and other weapons. Over 140 officers were hurt that day, with injuries including crushed spinal disks, traumatic brain injuries, heart attacks, and strokes, while they bravely defended the Capitol and those who work here. Some lost their lives or became permanently disabled after sustaining injuries and horrific trauma at the hands of fellow citizens during the MAGA attack on January 6, 2021. In issuing those pardons, President Trump put the Presidential seal of approval on political violence, so long as it supports him, and even if it is directed against law enforcement. Just to be clear, there was no case-by-case review of these convictions. This is a blanket pardon. We are already seeing the fruits of that incredibly dangerous act of pardoning the people who attacked the Constitution, this Capitol, and the police officers and people within it. Among those attackers are dangerous felons who are not chastened or remorseful or reformed. They feel emboldened. One of them, Daniel Charles Ball, has just been rearrested, one day after his January 6 case was dismissed, on new weapons charges. Another, the infamous MAGA supporter known as the QAnon Shaman, tweeted Monday: I got a pardon baby. Thank you, President Trump. Now I am going to buy some motha f'ing guns. These pardons show an utter disrespect for law enforcement, our criminal justice system, and the rule of law. They have been rightly condemned by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police, among other police organizations, but virtually every House Republican has turned their backs on our police and cowered in silence rather than denounce the shameful decision to put those criminals back on our streets. Mr. Speaker, I continue to oppose this rule and this bill. I seek unanimous consent to include in the Record the Joint International Association of Chiefs of Police and The Fraternal Order of Police Statement on the Recent Presidential Pardons dated January 21, 2025.