[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 37 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H759-H764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXTENSION OF CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS AND OTHER MATTERS ACT, 2024
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 7463) making further continuing appropriations for fiscal
year 2024, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 7463
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Extension of Continuing
Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2024''.
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. References.
DIVISION A--EXTENSION OF CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024
DIVISION B--OTHER MATTERS
SEC. 3. REFERENCES.
Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference to
``this Act'' contained in any division of this Act shall be
treated as referring only to the provisions of that division.
DIVISION A--EXTENSION OF CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024
Sec. 101. The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024
(division A of Public Law 118-15) is further amended--
(1) by striking the date specified in section 106(3) and
inserting ``March 22, 2024''; and
(2) by striking the date specified in section 106(4) and
inserting ``March 8, 2024''.
This division may be cited as the ``Extension of
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2024''.
DIVISION B--OTHER MATTERS
SEC. 101. MODIFICATION TO FAFSA.
(a) In General.--Section 475(g)(1) of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087oo(g)(1)), as amended by the FAFSA
Simplification Act (title VII of division FF of Public Law
116-260), is further amended to read as follows:
``(1) In general.--The student's available income is equal
to--
``(A) the difference between the student's total income
(determined in accordance with section 480) and the
adjustment to student income (determined in accordance with
paragraph (2)); multiplied by
``(B) 50 percent,
except that the amount determined under this paragraph shall
not be less than -$1,500 for award year 2024-2025 and not
less than zero for award year 2025-2026 and each award year
thereafter.''.
(b) Appropriation.--Section 401(b)(7)(A) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(7)(A))), as amended
by the FAFSA Simplification Act (title VII of division FF of
Public Law 116-260), is further amended to read as follows:
``(A) In general.--In addition to any funds appropriated
under paragraph (6) and any funds made available for this
section under any appropriations Act, there are authorized to
be appropriated, and there are appropriated (out of any money
in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated) to carry out this
section--
``(i) $1,170,000,000 for fiscal year 2024;
``(ii) $3,170,000,000 for fiscal year 2025;
``(iii) $2,170,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and
``(iv) $1,236,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and each
succeeding fiscal year.''.
(c) No Effect on Previous Appropriations.--Section
401(b)(7)(B)(i) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1070a(b)(7)(B)(i)), as amended by the FAFSA
Simplification Act (title VII of division FF of Public Law
116-260) and section 102(b) of the FAFSA Simplification Act
Technical Corrections Act (division R of Public Law 117-103),
is amended by striking ``or 2023'' and inserting ``2023, or
2024''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect and
[[Page H760]]
apply as if included in the FAFSA Simplification Act and in
accordance with section 701(b) of such Act, as amended by
section 102(a) of the FAFSA Simplification Act Technical
Corrections Act (division R of Public Law 117-103) (including
the authorization provided under section 102(c)(1)(A) of such
Act).
SEC. 102. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
(a) Statutory PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of
this division shall not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard
maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay-As-
You-Go Act of 2010.
(b) Senate PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of this
division shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard
maintained for purposes of section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71
(115th Congress).
(c) Classification of Budgetary Effects.--Notwithstanding
Rule 3 of the Budget Scorekeeping Guidelines set forth in the
joint explanatory statement of the committee of conference
accompanying Conference Report 105-217 and section 250(c)(8)
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985, the budgetary effects of this division shall not be
estimated--
(1) for purposes of section 251 of such Act;
(2) for purposes of an allocation to the Committee on
Appropriations pursuant to section 302(a) of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974; and
(3) for purposes of paragraph (4)(C) of section 3 of the
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 as being included in an
appropriation Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Granger) and the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the motion?
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, I am.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would inquire whether the
gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) is opposed to the motion.
Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, no.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. As such, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy)
will control 20 minutes in opposition.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger).
General Leave
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the measure under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Texas?
There was no objection.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this short-
term continuing resolution. This bill extends government funding until
March 8 for four bills and March 22 for the others.
Given the differences between this year's House and Senate bills, we
knew finding common ground would not be easy. Nonetheless, we have made
progress, and we need a few more weeks to finish drafting the bills. We
also need to give Members adequate time to review them.
In the meantime, we can't afford a harmful government shutdown.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this CR, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Madam Speaker, here we are again, kicking the can down the
road and for other purposes, buying more time so that we can spend more
money that we don't have at a time when we are going to eclipse more
interest and more spending on interest than our national defense this
year, and by 2026 we are going to be spending $1 trillion on interest.
We are going to continue to spend moneys at the Nancy Pelosi-spending
level of an omnibus bill that Republicans roundly oppose.
That is what is happening on the floor of the United States House
right now.
We are going to continue funding this government at Nancy Pelosi's
omnibus spending level. That is a level that will continue, by the way,
to fund all of the priorities we oppose.
We are going to continue to fund the open borders that led to the
death of Americans.
We are going to continue to fund the United Nations at $12.5 billion
that is undermining our freedom and working against us to move people
illegally into the United States. We are going to fund UNRWA which is
funding Hamas, an enemy of Israel.
We are going to fund the IRS that is targeting Americans.
We are going to fund the Department of Justice that is targeting
former President Trump.
We are going to do that today here on the floor of the House of
Representatives rather than exercising the power of the purse that
James Madison articulated in Federalist 58 that this body--this body--
is supposed to check an out-of-control executive branch.
That is what is happening today, and we should oppose it.
Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Florida (Mr. Gaetz).
Mr. GAETZ. Madam Speaker, watching House Republicans is like watching
a football team whose best plays are the punt and the block.
Now, I have tried to throw a few Hail Marys along the way, and I am
glad that we blocked the bad Lankford amnesty bill, but we punted on
needed FISA reforms.
We blocked the McConnell supplemental for now, but we punt, yet
again, on needed spending cuts.
We blocked additional aid and additional U.S. involvement in the war
in Ukraine; and, indeed, we punted Kevin McCarthy who authorized $115
billion to Ukraine.
Be that as it may, here we gather to punt, yet again.
The last I checked, the Republicans actually have a majority in the
House of Representatives, but you wouldn't know it, Madam Speaker, if
you looked at our checkbook. We are all too willing to continue the
policy choices of Joe Biden and the spending levels of Nancy Pelosi
instead of showing the will and the courage to say that this woke and
weaponized government has to be defanged, it has to be attacked, and it
has to see reductions in spending.
Many Americans have lived most of their lives not actually paying a
price for the national debt. However, because we are $34 trillion in
debt and because we are on our way to $50 trillion in debt, the
Americans who work hard all over this country are seeing higher gas
prices, higher grocery prices, and higher interest rates, but all we
seem to offer is low energy and low-T in the face of those mounting
challenges.
{time} 1300
We ought to be rejecting this CR. We ought to pass single-subject
spending bills. We ought to vote for the spending cuts that this
country desperately needs.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the ranking member.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this continuing
resolution, which will provide us with the short time that is needed to
fully conclude the 2024 appropriations process.
The continuing resolution keeps the government open while the
Appropriations Committees in the House and the Senate finalize the 2024
funding bills that are in line with the agreement that has been the law
since last June, reaffirmed in the top lines agreed to by Leader
Schumer and Speaker Johnson earlier this year.
While, at the time of passing our last continuing resolution, I had
hoped that we would not need this measure, now we owe it to the
American people to do our due diligence in reaching the end of this
process. I appreciate the respectful bipartisan cooperation that took
place to put forward this continuing resolution and move us closer to
the finish line.
There is now a shared understanding that the ultimate conclusion to
the saga of 2024 funding will be in the appropriations bills that
earned the support of Democrats and Republicans in the House and the
Senate, bills that will likely need to pass under suspension of the
rules, like the bill we are considering today.
In addition to passing the 12 appropriations bills, Congress still
must respond to President Biden's request for our urgent national
security needs. There is no time to waste. We must quickly provide
support for Ukraine in their fight against Russian tyranny. We must
provide support for our Indo-Pacific and Middle East allies. Crucially,
we cannot wait any longer to provide humanitarian aid for the civilians
caught in the crossfire of these conflicts.
Without this swift action, the legacy of this Congress will be the
destruction
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of Ukraine, the appeasement of a dictator, and the abandonment of
starving children and ailing families.
We must come to a bipartisan compromise and show the American people
that Congress is still able to address urgent needs and show the world
that America is still unwavering as a defender of democracy wherever it
is being fought for.
Congress must avoid a shutdown. We must enact full-year spending
bills and emergency assistance for our national security and deliver
for the American people as soon as possible. To those ends, let this be
our last continuing resolution.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman, it is important to note, voted against
the FRA last year because, specifically noted in the gentlewoman's
press release, the side deals that are being put in place in this
exercise that we are going to be putting forward next week in
appropriations bills, those side deals were not in the law that the
gentlewoman just referred to.
To be very clear, everyone is going to go around talking about
following the deal that was cut last year under the FRA, that we are
spending at a certain level. The fact is another $70 billion was added
in side deals, and that is why the gentlewoman opposed the FRA last
year. However, those side deals are a part of this agreement that is
plussing up and funding the bureaucracy that is at war with the
American people.
That is the truth. That is the truth no matter how much people want
to gloss over it on either side of the aisle, particularly this side of
the aisle, because this side of the aisle wants to be able to campaign
on border security. Do you know what? The border is not secure, and we
are going to be passing a continuing resolution that continues to fund
a DHS that refuses to secure the border.
These Americans are dead. These Americans are dead because illegal
immigrants, illegal aliens, were released into the United States by
this administration.
Laken Riley, 1 week ago today, was alive and well, and now she is
gone because somebody from Venezuela was released on mass parole in El
Paso, went into the United States, went to New York, was released after
assaulting somebody, moved to Athens, Georgia, and killed this young
woman because of the policies of the radical progressive Democrats that
my colleagues on this side of the aisle want to campaign against but
refuse to use the power of the purse to stop.
James Madison gave us the power of the purse, and we should darn well
use it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr.
Biggs).
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
The gentleman is exactly right. What is the legislative branch's
remedy to an executive branch that refuses to follow the law? It is to
remove spending.
I introduced legislation. I introduced legislation that said: We will
fund ICE, CBP. We are going to fund TSA. We are going to fund air
traffic controllers and our military personnel, and do you know what?
We are not going to fund anything else, except for mandatories, until
this administration actually enforces the border.
However, we can't do that because there is this fear of a shutdown.
Explain that to the American people. Explain that to the American
people in my community. Go down there and take a look at the national
forest, where there is now a squatters camp set up, filled with people
who are flowing across our border.
Our leader said in November that we are not going to do any more
short-term CRs--had it with them. This is the third one. Do you know
what happens? We just keep spending money, and we keep the policies
that are in place.
That means the border remains open. This country remains in danger
because of this administration--but not just this administration but
because this body does not use what the Founders gave us as the
ultimate tool, and that is the purse strings. It is really shameful.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Fleischmann), the chairman of the Energy and Water
Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee.
Mr. FLEISCHMANN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chair Granger and her
outstanding staff and, really, all the staff on the majority and
minority sides and in both Houses.
Mr. Speaker, our Founding Fathers gave us a great constitutional
Republic. In that regard, each and every one of the Members of this
Chamber stands for reelection every 2 years.
I represent the people of the great State of Tennessee, east
Tennessee--wonderful people, God-fearing people. They love this
country, our history, and they are just so proud of what we are doing
as a nation.
I realize that other people in other parts of our country have a
different ethos, have different priorities, but we are where we are.
The American people gave us a very slim majority in the House. In the
Senate, the other party has a slim majority, and the White House is
controlled by the other party.
I want the American people to know, Mr. Speaker, that this
negotiation has been difficult, but to close the government down at a
time like this would hurt people who should not be hurt.
Let me give one example. I chair, as our distinguished chair has
said, the Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. It funds our great
national labs, our Office of Science, and so many other great things.
However, as a part of that, through the NNSA, the National Nuclear
Security Administration, it funds our Nation's nuclear arsenal.
We are in a very dangerous world right now. Our adversaries are
ramping up. I wish we were not on the precipice of another arms race,
but I am afraid we are.
We can't close that down. We can't shut that down.
So that I can be abundantly clear, government shutdowns--and I have
lived through three--never work. They cause more harm than they do
good. They cost more money. They cost the American taxpayer more money
because when they revamp and start up again, basically, we lose all
those person-hours, and it just causes havoc.
This continuing resolution, to be clear, is a process continuing
resolution. It is just to get these six bills to next week when we will
actually pass a fiscal budget, which I think is the obligation of the
House, the Senate, and the White House to do. We will do that. We will
do that with the other bills.
I do respect my friends, who are very passionate today in opposing
this, but the reality is the American people want us to do our work. To
do our work well, we have to keep the government open.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I note that the gentleman, for whom I have a great deal
of respect, was just using a lot of the arguments that I have heard
over and over again. It is something that we have come to understand in
this town as what we call the glossary.
When you run out of the, sort of, what are we actually going to fight
over substantively, we should bring out all the terms, right? We talk
about, oh, we only have a slim majority.
Well, I will remind my colleagues on this side of the aisle that the
Democrats had a slim majority when they jammed through numerous massive
bills, whether it is ObamaCare, whether we are talking about the
Inflation Reduction Act. Yet, here we sit, and we are walking away from
the majority that we were given, to use that majority, to use the power
of the purse to stop an executive branch that is out of control.
A continuing resolution will continue to fund Biden's war on our
border, and it is not just Biden. It is the radical progressive
Democrats as a whole. It is a war on our well-being, a war on our
security and safety.
That young lady who was killed in Georgia last week, that is
happening over and over again in Texas: a young cheerleader was found
in a bathtub, killed by somebody here illegally; a 2-year-old right
here in Montgomery County, Maryland, outside of D.C., was killed by
someone here illegally and released; a young person was raped last week
in Louisiana by somebody here illegally from Honduras and released.
When are we going to stop it? When is this side of the aisle going to
use the
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power of the purse to stop it? I can promise you the radical
progressive Democrats want it. They want open borders.
We are continuing to fund a weaponized IRS, continuing to fund a
weaponized Department of Justice, like the DOJ that went after Mark
Houck, went after Scott Smith. We are funding an EV, electric vehicle,
mandate.
I heard my colleague talk about energy and water. What are we going
to do to preserve American energy while the American people suffer? Our
colleagues on the other side of the aisle are pursuing unicorn energy
policy--EPA rules killing coal and natural gas plants, the World Health
Organization, the United Nations, UNRWA, the ATF that is banning pistol
braces and our Second Amendment rights, the Department of Education
student loan scam that the President of the United States went to the
microphone and applauded, ignoring the United States Supreme Court.
What are we going to do? Fund it. We are going to keep funding it.
What about the NIH and the FDA and COVID tyranny? What about the
Department of Veterans Affairs, the chief diversity officers, the
abortion travel fund, taxpayer-funded sex changes, transgender
surgeries?
Your tax dollars are funding all of that, and we are going to
continue it with a continuing resolution. To do what? To buy time to
cut a deal that will do what? Spend even more money, rack up even more
debt, continue these policies at war with the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms.
Boebert).
Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, let's call a spade a spade. The uniparty's
deal to keep spending taxpayer dollars like drunken sailors is a
horrible deal for the American people. It is immoral and unsustainable
to continue the reckless spending in Washington, D.C.
This debt is going to our children and our children's children. The
American people elected a majority that promised to cut spending, cut
this out-of-control spending from Washington, D.C., and put an end to
the Biden regime's policies that are destroying America.
This bill does the opposite of what we, the majority, promised the
American people. Voting for this bill is voting to fund Joe Biden's
wide-open border policies that killed 22-year-old Laken Riley last
Thursday. Crime in Venezuela sure is going down, and that is because
they are all coming through our wide-open borders--criminal, illegal
aliens coming through.
Additionally, voting for this bill is voting to enable the cartel,
which has operational control of our southern border, to continue the
flow of fentanyl into our communities, which is killing our children
and our families, our loved ones. They are a foreign terrorist
organization, and they are guilty of narcoterrorism. We need to execute
our military's ability to stop them. Instead, we are funding these
policies to continue.
Voting for this bill is voting to continue Nancy Pelosi's spending,
taxpayer-funded abortions, and Green New Deal policies.
Everything we campaigned against and we won this majority on, we are
now going completely against it.
We need to govern as we campaign and do what we promised the American
people that we would do. That is why I have led to impeach Joe Biden
for his dereliction of duty to secure the southern border, and now we
must use the power of the purse and not fund a government that is
allowing this against its people.
Mr. Speaker, I am voting ``no'' on this continuing resolution, and I
urge my colleagues all to do the same.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. DesJarlais). Members are reminded to
refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President.
{time} 1315
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Granger and Ranking
Member DeLauro for their leadership.
Mr. Speaker, 331 million Americans are depending on us to save their
lives. If we do not vote today, we will cause the loss of life. We did
not vote for the supplemental that the President sent over almost a
year ago to deal with the southern border, and lives have been lost. As
a Texan, I will not accept your challenge that I want people to die, or
that this constitutional right of the power of the purse is one that I
have used recklessly.
They have used it responsibly, and the budget numbers, whether it is
Nancy Pelosi or the negotiators, are responsible for helping the 331
million Americans.
In my State, your State, you will not pay 172,000 Active-Duty
soldiers when we don't pass this today. The Small Business
Administration will stop handling $2 billion in loans. There will be no
reentry programs for those who are trying to get their life straight.
We will eliminate the funding for our public schools at the Department
of Education in programs like early education and child nutrition. We
will stop 176,000 people from flying and airport travel because you
will not be able to fund aspects of Homeland Security. Mr. Speaker,
786,000 people would lose their access to the women and infant program,
which I understand is one of those that are being attacked.
You are causing the loss of life, and I will not stand here and
accept that challenge. You are my friends and we work together, but
your arguments are false. The responsibility of the power of the purse
is to be responsible.
Mr. Speaker, 168,000 Federal workers who do vital work will be lost
if we do not proceed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. It is important that the food and drug is able to be
funded, that housing is able to be funded, and that the Department of
Agriculture is able to be funded.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me say, Mr. Speaker, as I close, we must be
responsible-- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman is no longer
recognized.
Members are reminded to direct their remarks to the Chair.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, respecting my friend from Texas, I would say,
where were my Democratic colleagues when we were passing H.R. 2, which
would actually do the job of securing the border?
It is hard for me to take seriously the claims of my Democratic
colleagues, all radical progressives, that want to actually secure the
border and don't have complete ownership of the fact that Laken Riley
was killed by a Venezuelan let out by this administration under abuse
of parole, which H.R. 2 would fix.
It would have fixed it, and my Democratic colleagues were nowhere to
be found.
This body, this side of the aisle, did their job in passing a strong
border security measure. We have legislation on the floor that did the
job, but we had no support from our Democratic colleagues because it
would have worked.
Then my colleagues on the other side of the building, in the Senate,
passed legislation that would not do the job and now want to hide
behind that. That is the actual truth.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.
Massie), my good friend.
Mr. MASSIE. Mr. Speaker, I will give the American people an overview
of the debate that is happening here today. Why are there three Members
of Congress controlling time on the floor? I thought there were only
two parties. No. When it comes to spending, there is the ``uniparty.''
There is only one party today, and that is because Republicans and
Democrats have united to kick the can down the road. They wanted to
control all time for debate today, but my colleague, Mr. Roy from
Texas, came down here and used a parliamentary procedure to claim time
in opposition for 20 minutes so that people who take their oath to the
Constitution most seriously, the people who are most concerned about
debt, the people who want to represent the good folks back home, have a
voice here today.
And what are we doing here today? We are going to pass a CR. We are
going to kick the can down the road. Is that going to solve any
problems? No. It creates another crisis next week. That is what they
want. They want another crisis. They want to threaten you with the
shutdown so they can get
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more spending. Is this a clean CR? We are told you can't add anything
to it. No. It deals with student aid in this CR.
Are the American people concerned about student aid right now? Is
that the most pressing issue to address in this spending bill? We have
a crisis at the southern border. We could add one sentence to this bill
that would help tremendously. Just say: None of the funds hereby
appropriated may be used to disassemble border security erected by the
States on our border. Put that one sentence in this continuing
resolution. That would help tremendously.
I am worried that we are not going to prevail today, the third group
who is debating here against the uniparty. If the other side prevails,
what will happen? What will happen today, this evening after this
passes? Will we stay here and work hard for another week to get the 12
bills done, the 12 separate appropriation bills? No. Guess what we are
going do this evening? Everybody has already got their plane tickets.
They are sending us home early. Congratulations. You moved the crisis
down another week. Go home. Have a 4-day weekend.
We are going to let staff and a few Members in the Senate and a few
Members in the House write this big bill, and then you can take it or
leave it next week. Gone is any semblance of regular order from this
process.
What we have is what the swamp always does, and I urge my colleagues
to oppose this continuing resolution that does nothing but kick the can
down the road.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Good), my friend.
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today, again,
opposing the status quo of more reckless spending in Washington. This
House is supposedly run by Republicans, and yet here we are continuing
to pass the Pelosi-Biden-Schumer spending levels and the policies
connected to them, predictably with a majority of Democrat votes.
As a matter of fact, this morning I had a Democrat Member tell me in
a private conversation that he likes it when we are in charge because
nothing changes, but we get the blame for it because we have the
majority.
Our national debt continues to skyrocket. We are at nearly $35
trillion. That is a number that is hard to grasp. It is actually more
than $100,000 per citizen and that figure just grows by the day.
Bidenflation is further exacerbating the crisis, and the
congressional uniparty is perpetuating it on a daily basis. Thankfully,
we may be getting some future relief with the just-announced
resignation of the minority leader in the Senate, but some of us here
in the House came here to actually represent the American people, to do
what we said we would do, and we did not mean constantly kicking the
can down the road, passing more continuing resolutions that hurt the
American people.
Many people in this body are scared of a government shutdown, and I
will acknowledge that a government shutdown is not the ideal thing, but
it is not the worst thing. The worst thing is keeping in place the
Biden-Pelosi-Schumer policies that are destroying the country and
bankrupting our kids and our grandkids.
Worse yet, they are keeping in place the border invasion, the very
invasion that we campaigned against, the very invasion that is the
greatest threat to our country.
That is what is going to happen here today. We are going to fund that
border invasion for another week as a bridge to another spending bill
that will keep all the policies in place and actually increase them
over the Pelosi-Schumer levels from back before we had the majority.
We could have passed a full year stopgap spending bill that would
have cut $100 billion. We could have attached it to border security to
stand up for the American people. As a bonus, it would eliminate
thousands of earmarks for tens of billions of dollars more, but here we
are today. True leadership involves making difficult decisions. Cutting
spending is difficult. That is why nobody does it here, but when will
the debt matter in this Chamber beyond a campaign talking point? I urge
a ``no'' vote.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Alabama
(Mr. Moore), my friend.
Mr. MOORE of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, the only thing this CR does is
prolong the out-of-control spending of Biden and Pelosi that fuels our
17.9 percent inflation rate.
This legislation provides no funding for President Trump's border
wall. More than 600,000 illegal alien criminals and 300 on the
terrorist watch list have entered our open southern border under Biden,
and there is no doubt that American families are in danger.
Just this week in Alabama, two illegal aliens were arrested as part
of a child trafficking sex ring.
Last week in Georgia, a young girl, with a bright future ahead of
her, was murdered by an illegal alien. The list of tragedies is
growing, and it is past time to do something about it.
I signed the Immigration Accountability Project pledge to oppose all
government funding until the action is taken to secure our southern
border. Instead of kicking the can down the road with another CR, the
number one priority of this Congress should be funding Trump's wall and
defunding this invasion. We must fund President Trump's wall and defund
Biden's backdoor contributions to organizations that are sending
illegals to a city near you. It should not take more than one tragedy
for our border to become a priority. It is time to finish the Trump
wall and protect Americans.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Missouri
(Mr. Burlison).
Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Texas (Mr.
Roy) for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, here we go again.
Today, the House is set to extend the bloated and inflationary
spending levels that have left our country $34 trillion in debt and
fuels the government that is at war with the American people.
This is now the fourth time that we have kicked the can down the road
since just last September. It is now the fourth time that we have
shrugged our shoulders and said: Sorry, America. We just don't have the
fight in us this time, but we will try again next time.
We all promised we wouldn't do this crap when we got up here. The
American people have demanded responsible spending and border security
for years, but we fail them.
When will we heed the calls of our constituents to rein in the
wasteful spending, secure the borders, and defeat the bureaucracy
targeting them?
The last line of the Declaration of Independence has a bold and
courageous statement by the people who signed it. They said: ``We
mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred
Honor.''
Sadly, we are not serving with people of this same resolve today.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this CR.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Texas has 1 minute
remaining. The gentlewoman from Texas has 11\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the
balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues on either side of the aisle, we have a
fundamental responsibility under the Constitution of the United States
to use the power of the purse to check an executive branch that is not
following the law.
It is not enough to impeach, send to the Senate, sit back, grab the
popcorn, and watch. We have a duty to actually defund tyranny and
lawlessness. That is precisely what the Founders said. It is what the
Founders wrote into the Federalist Papers. It is what they contemplated
in Article I in the Constitution.
Do not go out and have talking points about dead Americans because of
what this administration is doing by
[[Page H764]]
letting people into this country to kill Americans like Laken Riley
last week and then write the check that funds their broken policies.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1330
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 7463.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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