[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 110 (Thursday, June 26, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2981-H2982]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      DEFUNDING ``SESAME STREET''

  (Mr. LARSON of Connecticut was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, again, I want to commend 
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emerita, for always making judgments, and sitting 
next to President Kennedy certainly was one of them, as well. What a 
great story.
  We are here today because oftentimes, Mr. Speaker, as you might know, 
there isn't enough bipartisanship.
  Today I rise, since the Speaker Emerita mentioned President Kennedy, 
to talk about profiles in courage. I commend the Republicans and my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle for the courage they 
demonstrated when they decided to get rid of ``Sesame Street.''
  I don't know how many people know this, but a lot of people think 
that ``Sesame Street'' is about the education of children, especially 
in rural areas, and teaching the basics, like reading, writing, and 
arithmetic. However, our colleagues on the other side have pointed out 
that: No, this is about wokeism, and it has a direct impact on 
reconciliation, reconsideration, and inquiries of resolution. Those are 
three Rs that I didn't know about.
  I had to explain to my daughter when she said: Do you mean your 
granddaughter won't see these programs?
  I said: Well, I went to  Jim Himes on the Permanent Select Committee 
on Intelligence, and I asked him if he had heard anything about wokeism 
or what does woke mean?
  Jim looked around the room. He was a little cautious, and he said: 
Well, woke means we are okay with Elmo.
  I didn't realize that the Republicans had actually broken the code, 
and that anyone who is okay with Elmo has to be suspect of wokeism.
  He further said to me: We have discovered that this is a real issue.
  I said: What is the threat that exists here? Has there been a 
classified briefing on this? Are we aware of this?
  He said: No, there has been no classified briefing yet, but there is 
grave

[[Page H2982]]

concern about the Cookie Monster. Anytime you have ``monster'' in your 
name, the American people ought to be made aware of it, and you ought 
to be vitally concerned about what kind of habit this monster could 
create.
  I couldn't believe it. Imagine, Mr. Speaker, for more than 50 years, 
they have been providing this kind of education, teaching kids how to 
read, write, and to inquire, but it was all code. This was part of 
leftwing wokeism. Regarding the Cookie Monster, that should have been 
obvious.

  He said that a lot of people are wondering why the supreme Commander 
in Chief had been talking about Greenland, other invasions, and 
everything like this.
  There is grave concern, and I asked Rosa DeLauro if she had heard 
about this. She is a known friend of Big Bird, and because of that 
relationship, she, obviously, along with others, is locked into this 
wokeism that has been plaguing the country.
  I didn't even get into the relationship that Joe Courtney had with 
Bert and Ernie on the Armed Services Committee. However, Mr. Speaker, 
you can only imagine the job and the skill that our colleagues used on 
the other side to say that we have to end the public funding of this 
because of the great threat that this poses to our democracy.
  How could we possibly let the Cookie Monster run rampant like this? 
Where was everybody? How did it take so long?
  However, the supreme commander was able to figure it out, and his 
willing partners joined with him in making sure that ``Sesame Street'' 
was banned. I congratulate him. We are nominating him for Profiles in 
Courage.

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