[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 128 (Friday, July 25, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONDEMNING CHAOTIC AND HARMFUL FAILINGS OF THIS CONGRESS

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                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2025

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, we are going to adjourn and not do the 
peoples' business because we have thus far gotten an ``F.'' An ``F'' 
for the work of the people in this Congress. We have taken health care 
away from hundreds of thousands of people. We have taken SNAP payments 
and nutritional sustenance, away from tens and hundreds of thousands of 
people. We have made injuries to the Earth, God's Earth we are here to 
preserve, and we only use. We have taken away from women the right to 
go to Planned Parenthood to have health care that they need. We have 
taken away protections for clean energy to change the rate of growth of 
global warming that affects our planet and affects our future with 
hotter and hotter summers, flash floods, fires and disasters. It will 
increase our reliance on fossil fuels, which make the air dirtier and 
people sicker, all while we are taking away people's health care. This 
Congress has earned an ``F.'' We do not deserve a better grade.
  I am ashamed to be a part of this Congress, but I will stay because 
people need to stand up, speak the truth, stand up for things the 
American people have always stood for: justice, due process, the rule 
of law, fairness, caring about the little guy, caring about giving 
people something when they need it, but not giving something to people 
who have too much--millionaires and billionaires.
  Just think, Mr. Speaker, of the harm the rescissions bill did to 
public broadcasting--NPR and PBS--legacies of President Johnson's Great 
Society that help our citizens stay informed. Think of the harm done to 
life-saving foreign aid that keeps children fed and vaccinated from 
dreadful diseases that can and will cross our borders in check. And the 
Big Ugly Bill does substantial harm to critical programs and to the 
people who rely on them, so millionaires can get a tax break and the 
rest of the country gets huge and endless deficits and trillions more 
in debt.
  Newsweek reported this week that the current Congress is one of the 
least effective ever, passing only 27 bills since January 3, far fewer 
than in previous Congresses at the same point. Unfortunately, the 
biggest, ugliest bill we passed, and the rescissions package will 
contribute to incalculable pain, suffering, and death all around the 
world.
  Come to think of it, maybe this Congress should get something worse 
than a grade of ``F.'' Maybe those voting for these cruel and dangerous 
provisions should be sent to the principal's office and expelled.

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