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Thanks. Madam Speaker, I rise today in
defiance of the House Republicans partisan funding
bill. Democrats pulled up a seat for
Republican leadership at the negotiating table to discuss a
bipartisan solution, but Republicans walked away.
What did Republicans propose instead?
A blank check to Donald Trump and Elon Musk to take money away
from you and spend as they will. For years, I've heard my
Republican colleagues talk about the power of the purse and how
that power belongs to Congress and Congress alone.
Republicans love to talk about Article One of the Constitution
and insisted on clear checks and balances.
What do I hear now? Silence.
Now that Republicans are in control of Congress, they decide
to bend the knee to Donald Trump.
Republicans are giving Donald Trump and Elon Musk the power to
decide who gets money and who doesn't.
Based on these last eight weeks, we know who Trump prioritizes
his billionaire friends and big corporations.
He does not care for veterans, workers with disabilities,
children, senior citizens, farmers, or families.
Just trying to make ends meet. Republicans will try to call
this a clean continuing resolution.
Believe me, that is a bunch of full in the blank because this
is far from clean. The Republican funding bill has
dirt all over it. With this bill, the Trump
administration will decide construction funding by the Army
Corps of Engineer. Trump will cut funds for lead
pipe replacements for schools, better water mains to prevent
flooding, and better streets for our communities.
Elon Musk and those have proven how little they care about
veterans. They made sweeping staffing cuts
to veterans centers across the country, including in Danville,
IL. My office has gotten calls from
workers and some vets who were fired for no justifiable reason,
impacting their own families and the veterans they care for.
The Republican funding bill goes even further, cutting 23 billion
in veterans benefits. It gives Trump permission to
eliminate programs for veterans, including homelessness
prevention programs, which could lead to more than 32,000
veterans losing their homes. These are people who defended
our country. Trump would also have the power
to reallocate funding dedicated to maternal and child health
programs, including Healthy Start, rural maternal health
initiatives, and maternity care training.
But over a decade, I have rolled up my sleeves to save mothers
who are dying from preventative pregnancy related causes.
In the middle of a maternal mortality crisis, Trump was sign
away all the programs that help mothers and babies.
Trump likes to talk a big game about border control and our
country's fentanyl crisis. He plays as the world's biggest
bully and hits our closest allies with tariffs.
Meanwhile, Republicans give Trump the power to steer funding
dedicated to stopping the flow of fentanyl and instead spend
that money on mass deportation initiatives.
Last September, Kankakee County and my district received funding
to help law enforcement crackdown on illicit drug
trafficking and address the overdose epidemic.
That funding would stop under the Republican bill.
You heard at the joint address to Congress last week that RFK
Junior is free to run with his conspiracy theories and anti
vaccination lies. This bill would give him broad
discretion to spend money as he wishes at the CDC, ignoring
critical life saving programs like Ending the HIV Epidemic,
Epidemic Initiative, Alzheimer's disease programs, and cancer
prevention. If you are not part of the 1%,
House Republicans and Donald Trump simply do not care about
you. It does not matter if you are
Democrat, Republican or independent.
This partisan funding bill proves it.
Republicans are giving Donald Trump the green light to do as
he wishes and we all know that he does not have the American
people in mind. I, alongside House Democrats,
have always been at the negotiation table, but we will
never negotiate away veterans benefits, healthcare, or
people's Social Security. I refuse to betray my
constituents. Please stand up, speak out and
make your voices heard. Thank you.
I yield back. Hey, thank you so much for
listening today. I really do appreciate your
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