[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 63 (Monday, April 17, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        House Republican Agenda

  Mr. President, on Republican extremism, at the start of the year, I 
warned that Republicans in Congress faced a critical choice: Abandon 
MAGA extremism for the good of the country or double down on the road 
to radicalism. Four months later, too many Republicans have made the 
choice clear. Instead of coming to the middle, they have sprinted to 
the extremes. Instead of abandoning MAGA, too many Republicans have 
doubled down; especially look at the last few weeks. Look no further 
than what happened last week in Florida, where the Republican Governor 
signed one of the most extreme anti-choice bills in the entire country, 
a near total ban on abortion after 6 weeks.

  Let's not kid ourselves: A 6-week ban is practically a total ban. 
Many women don't even know they are pregnant by 6 weeks. Most 
Floridians fiercely oppose such a draconian provision, one that will 
endanger not only millions of women in Florida but tens of millions of 
women across the entire south who, tragically, have fewer and fewer 
options for accessing reproductive care.
  And lest anyone think Republicans oppose abortion because of States' 
rights--oh, no. The decision by a Federal judge in Texas issuing a 
nationwide suspension of mifepristone should make it clear what this is 
about: a national ban on abortion. That is where the Republicans seem 
to be.
  Republicans seem to be caught--these 2 weeks made it clear--in a 
self-destructive dynamic: The more that Americans reject their extreme 
views at the ballot box, the more these MAGA Republicans seem to double 
down.
  We have seen this played out on choice, but we are seeing it play out 
on gun safety. Let me be clear: Most Americans support some commonsense 
gun safety. Parents are tired of worrying about whether their kids are 
safe at school. But when tragedy struck at a school in Nashville, TN, 
Republicans reacted not by voting new gun safety laws but, instead, by 
expelling two representatives of color who dared commit the sin of 
speaking out against the inaction. That is the anthesis of democracy. 
That is the road to outright autocracy.
  Even today, Republican extremism was on full display in New York 
City. Today, the Republican House Judiciary chairman held what he 
claimed was a field hearing about public safety. But to date, Chairman 
Jordan and his colleagues have refused to denounce President Trump's 
call to defund the FBI and the DOJ.
  Defunding the FBI is truly unhinged, and every single Member of the 
House and Senate--Democrat and Republican alike--should unequivocally 
condemn former President Trump for pushing this idea. Very soon, the 
Members of this Chamber will have a chance to go on record and denounce 
the former President's call to cut funding to our Federal law 
enforcement. I hope everyone in the Chamber does the right thing.
  The FBI--many of them risk their lives to protect us from drugs, from 
guns, from terrorism. Defund it just because President Trump, in his 
self-serving moment, said so? Where are our Republican friends, or are 
they just moving so far to the right they can't even reject something 
as clear as this?
  As I said moments ago, Republicans are caught in a self-destructive 
dynamic: The more that Americans reject their extreme views at the 
ballot box, the more they seem to double down. If they continue down 
this road, not only will our country suffer, but the GOP themselves 
will suffer as Americans keep rejecting them at the ballot box. If they 
continue down this road, our country will suffer and so will the GOP as 
Americans keep rejecting them at the ballot box.