During debate on the House floor, Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) tore into House Republican funding proposals for the Departments of Defense, State, and Homeland Security.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. Speaker, today's rule, as you've heard, provides for the consideration of three partisan
00:09appropriation bills.
00:11And while I certainly agree with my colleague from Georgia regarding the myriad of threats
00:18posed to our country, these bills fall far short of addressing those threats.
00:27House Republicans have regrettably kicked off the appropriations season by doubling
00:33down on failed legislation that would, in effect, harm our service members, abandon
00:41our allies, cede the U.N. to our adversaries, and withhold critical resources needed to
00:49secure our southern border.
00:52When it comes to global leadership and national security, House Democrats and House Republicans
00:58have a very different approach.
01:02House Republicans' Department of State Foreign Ops and Related Programs Appropriations Act,
01:08H.R. 8771, ultimately revives the doomed isolationism of the early 20th century.
01:18Across the globe, America's adversaries threaten the peace and the prosperity of the free world.
01:25With wars in the Middle East and Europe, humanitarian crises on nearly every continent, the world
01:33needs American leadership.
01:36How do House Republicans respond?
01:40By introducing a bill that cuts international disaster assistance programs by $1.3 billion,
01:49cuts international financial institutions by $583 million, cuts $362 million from programs
01:58to improve maternal and child health and fight infectious diseases.
02:04By cutting funding, ultimately, for the United Nations and other multilateral investments,
02:10this bill is a reversal of our country's historic position among the nations where
02:17we stand as a beacon for democracy and liberty.
02:22Then we have H.R. 8752, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2025.
02:29Now, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim that this bill will secure our
02:37border.
02:39It will not.
02:40The bill falls short of our responsibility to provide for the safety and security of
02:46Americans.
02:48Ultimately, it disinvests, decreases funding for a variety of critical programs designed
03:00to prevent threats from terrorists, transnational criminals, foreign adversaries, and violent
03:08extremists.
03:10My colleagues, Mr. Speaker, do not want to secure the border.
03:17How do we know?
03:19Because they had a chance to do precisely that just a few short months ago.
03:26They had a chance to do that with the Senate's bipartisan border plan.
03:33What did House Republicans do instead?
03:35They ensured that that bipartisan deal never even received a vote at the behest of their
03:46leader, former President Trump.
03:49The proposal under consideration this week that Republicans have put on the floor cuts
03:57the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction office by $48 million.
04:02It cuts the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center by $10.4 million.
04:08Ask yourself, Mr. Speaker, why would House Republicans put a bill on the floor that cuts
04:15federal law enforcement training programs?
04:20It's a fair question.
04:23The bill includes no funds for targeted violence and terrorism prevention grants and the shelter
04:30and services program.
04:31It cuts family reunification efforts by $33.9 million.
04:38At bottom, Mr. Speaker, this is another wasted opportunity, in my view, for House Republicans
04:43to address what they say is a top priority, border security.
04:49Finally, the rule includes H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act.
04:55This bill is extreme even by House Republican standards.
05:01You know, usually, in my experience, it's been the Rules Committee that has been responsible
05:08for, well, for lack of a better phrase, messing up these massive bipartisan efforts, at least
05:15during the 118th Congress, under Republican control.
05:18But my colleagues in the majority on the Rules Committee didn't even get the opportunity
05:23to do that with respect to this bill because it came out of committee as a terrible piece
05:28of legislation.
05:30It divides the country.
05:32It undermines national security.
05:34It includes provisions that fail to support service personnel.
05:38The bill cuts civilian positions at a time when the department is struggling to meet
05:43readiness goals.
05:45A number of extreme policy riders that have been included within the bill, targeting reproductive
05:52care of women in the LGBTQ community and more.
05:56And finally, it fails to invest in a number of different important programs critical to
06:01our national security.
06:04It is a bill, unfortunately, detached from reality.
06:07And of course, the elephant in the room, what we all know to be true, it has no chance of
06:13becoming law.
06:16Let me repeat that, Mr. Speaker.
06:17This bill that we're considering today, all three, have no chance of becoming law.
06:26The rest of this is theater.
06:28And what I would implore my colleagues to do is come back to the negotiating table.
06:35Let's negotiate and compromise in good faith, abandon this approach that they have unfortunately
06:46taken for the better part of the last 19 months in the 118th Congress, which has ultimately
06:51led to this Congress being the least productive in 100 years in the history of this House.
07:01Let's pursue solutions, not stunts.
07:09I would encourage my colleagues to perhaps follow that admonition.
07:18I suspect they won't.
07:20But hope springs eternal that they'll get back to working with us so that we can get
07:25back to governing.
07:27With that, Mr. Speaker, I'll reserve the balance of my time.