[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 146 (Monday, September 8, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H3885-H3889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           BETTER IS POSSIBLE

  (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mrs. McIver 
of New Jersey was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the 
minority leader.)
  Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, once again, we find ourselves staring down 
a deadline to fund the government--deadline after deadline after 
deadline. Once again, we expect to see our colleagues across the aisle 
use this as an opportunity to put partisanship over people.
  Like so many Americans watching from home, I must ask: Why does this 
keep happening? Why does this keep happening?
  My colleagues across the aisle either don't understand, or they 
simply don't care about how a government shutdown impacts people, real 
people. They seem to think that it is a tool that they can use to force 
their cruel agenda onto our communities and a tool to take more from 
the folks who they have already hurt with their big, ugly bill.
  During recess, I conducted a roundtable with school leaders from 18 
cities in my district, and they talked about the challenges that 
students will face with cuts to SNAP benefits and the school lunch 
program. They spoke of how students will not be able to show up to 
school ready to learn and how it would impact their learning experience 
and their school environment.
  I spoke to families who told me that they didn't know how they would 
be able to afford healthcare once their Medicaid is cut, once the 
effective date kicks in. We talked to many constituents about how they 
would be able to afford to put food on their tables once SNAP benefit 
cuts kick in.
  The people deserve a government that works, a government that works 
for the people, one that is stable, functional, and focused on solving 
real problems, not constantly heading toward a shutdown, not a 
government engaged in constant cruelty, constant chaos, and constant 
confusion.
  Once again, the American people deserve a government that works for 
them. That means investing in what matters, such as public safety. How 
about education, transportation, healthcare, and the services that 
families and communities rely on the most? Those are the programs we 
should be investing in, not cutting. We need more investments in these 
programs.
  Mr. Speaker, we must and will oppose attempts to slash those 
services, and we won't support a partisan, poisonous bill that hurts 
the people we serve and the people who depend on us, the people who 
have elected us to work on their behalf and their behalf only. That is 
as simple as that. We will not support it, point-blank, period.

[[Page H3886]]

  Better is possible. We know that better is possible. We know better, 
despite what the other side of the aisle does. That is why we are going 
to continue to fight like hell for the people we serve because we know 
that they deserve better.
  We will not stop fighting, no matter what. We are fighting not just 
to pass something to keep the lights on for another few months but for 
a solution that actually serves the American people, something that 
makes people's lives better.
  Did we forget why we are here and why the people elected us? They 
elected us to make their lives better, not to hurt them or make their 
lives worse. That is not our job. Let me remind you: The people elected 
us. They put their trust in us to make their lives better, not worse.
  I invite all of my colleagues to join us. Join us to fight for people 
and to work for people. Let's get back to the real work in these 
Chambers. Let's make it make sense why we are here working on behalf of 
our constituents who have elected us. Let's get back to the people's 
business.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Kamlager-Dove).

                              {time}  1940

  Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my illustrious colleague of 
the great State of New Jersey for being the lead for tonight's 
Congressional Black Caucus Special Order hour to talk about the 
government, money, funding, keeping this government open, and about why 
we come here every single day of each week and why some of us are 
fighting for the American people while others of us are fighting for 
Donald Trump.
  This is a great time to share that Republicans don't care about you--
you, all of you. Trump doesn't care about you, none of you. They don't 
care about your safety. They don't care about your freedom. They don't 
care about your voice. They don't care about your vote. They don't care 
about your pocketbook.
  Why does the Congresswoman from California say this? Because I have 
receipts, and I am going to share them.
  Earlier this year, Republicans voted on a $4.5 trillion tax cut for 
the richest of the rich. In order to pay for that, they passed a 
honking series of cuts to all the services that you need to help you 
survive and thrive.
  What kinds of services? It is things like shutting down or 
threatening to shut down Social Security offices in high-rent 
districts, which would include all of Los Angeles. They are cutting 
funding to SNAP, which helps young mothers who are looking for baby 
formula for their babies and folks who need help buying food so that 
maybe their children's bellies aren't empty when they are going to 
school. Services by farmers who actually produce goods that are sold 
into this agricultural program would be cut.
  They are cutting funding to the Small Business Administration. Most 
people in my district are interested in their hustle, their small 
business that they are trying to get off the ground. I thought that was 
why the SBA was developed, designed, and created: to help start 
businesses. Now, we have a President who wants to cut that, maybe 
because he wants all the money.
  We have a President, supported by the Republican Party, who is 
sending in the National Guard and militarizing soldiers against 
citizens in those cities and States. They are right here at Union 
Station in Washington, D.C. The taxpayers are footing a million dollars 
a day for these National Guard members to pick up trash. They are doing 
the job that sanitation workers would be doing in the District of 
Columbia.
  We are talking about $770 billion for Medicare. I talk to young 
people in my district, Mr. Speaker. They say: ``I am not on Medicare.'' 
I say: ``That is right. Maybe you are not, but your grandmother is, 
your elderly aunt is, and the doctor you see is able to see you because 
of the reimbursement they are getting from a Medicare patient.''
  With these cuts, we are hearing from community clinics. We are 
hearing from hospitals. We are hearing from doctors and other 
healthcare providers. They are trying to see if they are able to stay 
open to help you when you get sick, but that has been cut.
  In the last administration, President Biden said that he was going to 
forgive student loans. This President says: Oh, no. Everybody pays 
except me. Everybody pays but me.
  Not only are we doing away with that forgiveness, but we are actually 
capping the amount of money that you can get in student loans and in 
grants to maybe go to medical school because Lord knows we need more 
doctors, especially in rural communities, willing to help Americans as 
they search for healthcare.
  One place, though, that didn't get cut is ICE and Homeland Security 
because this is an administration that wants his own personal militia 
to go after folks who ask for the truth. These cuts also mean and 
include cuts to Federal jobs. California is a State with the second 
largest number of Federal workers. These are workers who have been 
answering the phones when you call, checking on your application when 
you submit it, and getting back to you about your benefits. Those folks 
are being terminated, but this is the President who is all about 
workers first, which is why I had to drive down to the city to the 
Department of Labor and see the President's face on the big, old 
banner.
  Why are we spending money on these banners but cutting money to 
farmers? Because dismantling USAID and cutting USAID is more than just 
what is happening in other countries. You are actually also cutting 
contracts to American farmers who produce goods and products that we 
then sell to other countries. This is all about hurting all of us.
  They are cutting funding to the National Institutes of Health. They 
are cutting cancer research.
  In my State of California, we were on the cusp of clinical trials 
because a cure had been found for breast cancer. We were on the cusp of 
clinical trials for a cure for prostate cancer. All of that has now 
stopped because of cuts to the National Institutes of Health.
  That is what we are talking about. The party in power has a 
responsibility to make sure that those basic services--because nothing 
I talked about was not basic--are not cut.
  I am trying to find out why we have a President who is chair of both 
the World Cup and the Olympics. These are events that will be happening 
in my district and in my State. The World Cup festivities will be 
happening in cities across this State. How can you have cities that are 
preparing for the World Cup and the Olympics when they are being 
attacked by the Federal Government and when we are not providing them 
the support that they need to get ready?
  Here we are on the verge of the third set of receipts, a funding 
shutdown, which is imminent and can be stopped by the party in power, 
the Republicans.
  The Republicans have to make a decision. Are they going to prioritize 
the American people, or are they going to prioritize the President of 
the United States?
  I don't know about you, but the Congresswoman from New Jersey talked 
about hosting townhalls in her district. I did, too. I didn't meet a 
constituent who said they wanted the Rose Garden paved at the White 
House. I haven't met a constituent who said they want to see more gold 
candelabras in the White House. I have met constituents who said: What 
is going to happen to my health insurance? When is ICE going to get out 
of the kindergartens in Los Angeles?
  I hope we don't have a government shutdown, but that would require 
Republicans to make some decisions about who they are going to support. 
On top of that, which people like to forget, the last thing we did 
before the beginning of August was that Republicans voted on a 
rescissions package, which was essentially giving the President back 
money that Congress had already voted to appropriate to go to the 
American people.
  Some Republicans said let's do this once a month. That is not an 
exercise. It is like going on a diet once a month. Let's cut more money 
out of the hands of the American people. It is not funny.
  I know people think that Congress is drama and theater, but it is not 
theater when you talk to a constituent who says, ``Thank God you called 
the agency on my behalf so I could get my benefits back.'' It is not 
theater when you have a constituent who is older and is going to get 
evicted, and they say, ``Thank God you called HUD to

[[Page H3887]]

make sure that my grandmother doesn't get evicted from her house.''
  I thought that was what the government was supposed to do. How come 
no one answers my calls? How come this President doesn't care about me?
  This is not theater. We have farmers in trouble. We have young 
children who are hungry. We have elders who are concerned if they are 
going to be able to go to the doctor when they get sick. We have young 
people who don't even know if it is worth going to college because they 
don't know if they will find a job. We have partners and friends who 
have opened up businesses in our cities across this country who are 
afraid to show up to their jobs because they don't know if they will be 
snatched and deported, even though they are legally allowed to be here.

                              {time}  1950

  What is going on? We read these headlines. It does not sound like 
anything that should be happening in the United States of America.
  It is one thing to talk about policy, but it is another thing to cut 
the benefits of a veteran who put their life on the line to protect us.
  It is one thing to debate policy. It is another thing to vote to shut 
down a hospital.
  It is one thing to talk about foreign policy and where we should be 
and what we should be doing. It is another thing to cut jobs, folks who 
are building things that keep us safe.
  I had a gentleman come into my office a week ago. He is not even from 
my State. He has a business in Mississippi, and they make the 
thermostats that we put into refrigerators. They have investments in 
another country. They have American people, American workers working in 
Mississippi and in that country, and you know the money they make comes 
here.
  He said: I am going to have to fire all those people and shutdown 
because of these cuts on top of these tariffs.
  Now, that man didn't vote for me. That man probably didn't even vote 
for my candidate, but he came in my office and said: Can you help? What 
is going on? What is going on?
  My answer was: You have got some people up in here that ain't got no 
courage. They don't have no courage. I don't owe you nothing, you are 
not from my State. However, you are trying to create jobs to help 
American people, give young people an idea about how they can start 
their own business and be an entrepreneur and come up with a product 
they can patent that is good for business, that allows them to earn 
some money, save some money, start a family. All that is in jeopardy 
because of these cuts, because of these rescissions, and because of 
this potential government shutdown.
  I don't know about you, but when I am in trouble, I don't call 
somebody and say, hey, are you a Republican or a Democrat? I just call 
and say: Can you help me?
  My dad has got health issues right now. I was on the phone. I wasn't 
saying: Hey, who did you vote for? I said: Hey, can you help my dad?
  That is what Americans across this country are asking, like, are you, 
the people in power, the people with the gavel, are you going to help 
me?
  Make me drop my notes.
  I want the party in power to say: Yeah, I am going to help you. I am 
going to prioritize you. I am just not going to prioritize you in March 
of 2026 before my name is on the ballot, I am going to prioritize you 
right now because American companies, American students, American 
innovators, American researchers, American veterans, American farmers, 
American students deserve all of us fighting for them and not for one 
person who is only looking to hang more banners up and put up more gold 
candelabras at 1600 Pennsylvania.
  Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I am telling you, it is time for us to work 
for the people.
  I thank the fine gentlewoman from California for those remarks. It is 
time for us to work for people. That is what we are here for. That is 
what your constituents voted for you to do; not to make cuts. Think 
about it. I say this to my colleagues across the aisle, the next time 
you are out in your district working, ask one of your constituents: Is 
your life better? Has your life been better since January 20? Is it 
better? Ask. See what they tell you. I can bet you that it isn't.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the fine gentlewoman from Virginia (Ms. 
McClellan), my co-anchor of this Special Order hour.
  Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman McIver for co-
anchoring this Special Order hour tonight.
  You don't grow up in the Commonwealth of Virginia without getting 
history lessons, and those lessons stuck with me. I am cognizant that 
next year we have the opportunity to celebrate 250 years of an 
extraordinary, revolutionary, radical idea that had never been tried, 
truly, before in the world: the idea that the power of government 
derives from the people, not from brute force, not from getting it from 
an inheritance, but the consent of the governed to give power to the 
government.
  Why do they do that? It is to meet their needs, to solve their 
problems. It is an idea that sparked my imagination as a child. It is 
an idea that as I listened to my parents tell stories of what their 
life was like growing up during the Depression, growing up during Jim 
Crow, where they didn't always have their needs met, not because of any 
fault of their own or their parents, but they saw the best of 
government through the New Deal, where the Federal Government used its 
power to help people who couldn't afford to put food on the table, to 
help people who lost their life savings overnight in the stock market 
crash, but didn't help all the people because at the same time, my 
parents saw the worst of government, a government that oppresses some 
for the benefit of a few.
  That sparked my imagination again to say what can I do to make 
government a force for good that helps people and solves problems, 
rather than oppresses some for the benefit of a few? Eventually, that 
question led me to Congress.
  After growing up as a member of Generation X on ``Schoolhouse Rock,'' 
learning about just a bill's journey to becoming a law, I got here and 
thought, they didn't get it right because there is no song for what I 
have seen since coming to Congress, particularly in the 119th.
  We stand here today, 22 days before government funding expires. We 
stand here, House and Senate Democrats, ready to pass a bipartisan 
funding bill that will improve the health of Americans, that will 
improve access to quality, affordable healthcare, that will improve the 
safety and economic well-being of every American.
  As a matter of fact, our leaders sent a letter to Republican 
leadership in the House and the Senate to that effect. The very next 
day, the President sent down a pocket rescission that the Republican 
chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee said was unlawful. I 
happen to agree.

                              {time}  2000

  Most of this Congress, we have watched a President ignore the will of 
Congress, Mr. Speaker, or we have seen, at the President's request, 
congressional Republicans cut Medicaid, cut SNAP benefits, put lifetime 
caps on student loans, Federal student loans, cut funding that Congress 
appropriated for cancer research, for the National Institutes of 
Health, a whole host of things. People at home are scratching their 
heads saying: How does this help me? How does this solve my problem? It 
creates more.
  I spent the August recess mostly in my district, but I spread out a 
little bit beyond my district because I am one of only two Virginians 
on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Healthcare, in particular, has 
been very important to me. I spent time talking to my constituents, and 
listening, more importantly, to their concerns, what they were worried 
about, what they were afraid of, and then talking particularly to 
healthcare providers across the Commonwealth.
  What I heard was a lot of anxiety and fear, whether it was my farmers 
who because of tariff policies aren't seeing the kind of orders--
particularly for soybeans--that they used to see this time of year 
going overseas. Mr. Speaker, some can't get the parts to repair their 
equipment because of tariffs. Some businesses have had to raise prices 
because they have absorbed them for as long as they can. Yet, they are 
in between a rock and a hard place where if they raise their prices too

[[Page H3888]]

much, especially the small business owners, they are going to go out of 
business.
  I heard from State legislators who wonder how am I going to fill the 
hole in my State budget caused by cuts to Medicaid, cuts to SNAP, and 
the requirements on States to pay more when I am also trying to fill 
the holes in NIH funding and in all the other healthcare funding that 
helps me meet the needs of my constituents. How am I going to fill the 
hole when I am still waiting for the Department of Education to send 
money that was appropriated as schools are about to start.
  What my State legislators and my local elected officials told me 
was--I keep hearing people say about how this big, ugly bill is a tax 
cut, but what it is doing to me is forcing me to either cut services or 
raise taxes at the State or at the local level.
  Congress has 22 days for Republicans to decide whether we are going 
to have a government shutdown because they have made clear from day one 
that they are in charge. They have made clear from day one that the 
President can just decide not to spend money we have appropriated, and 
that is okay. They have made clear that they can pass reconciliation 
bills without giving us a seat at the table. It is up to them whether 
Congress will pass funding that meets people's needs and solves their 
problems and keeps the government open or not.
  I am usually the eternal optimist. I am a little worried. I am a 
little worried. Virginia has the second highest number of Federal 
employees, and since the cuts to the Federal workforce have now seen 
unemployment increase multiple times before the folks that were paid to 
stay home until September 30 come off the job rolls, those people are 
not able to find jobs. Mr. Speaker, unlike what our Governor says: Just 
because you are a NASA engineer, doesn't mean that you are qualified 
for the healthcare jobs that our healthcare providers can't fill. The 
big, ugly bill is going to make all of those issues worse.
  I want to share some of what I heard from our healthcare providers. 
You have the academic research hospitals who are worried they can't 
attract students, particularly medical students, because of the 
lifetime cap on student loans which are $257,000.
  Today, I talked to a physician from Roanoke, Virginia, who has 
$500,000 in medical school debt. That math doesn't math. When you have 
enough medical school debt, you have enough debt to pay for somebody's 
house. Yet now, the next generation of students coming up behind him 
can only get half of that in Federal student loans. That math doesn't 
math.
  I visited a dental clinic in Abingdon, Virginia. Before the dental 
clinic, most people west of Roanoke who needed dental services waited 
until once a year when the RAM Clinic came to Wise County. You would 
see the longest line you have ever seen of people waiting to get dental 
services because they live in a dental desert.
  Now, this clinic was able to open, and 80 percent of their patients 
are Medicaid recipients. The other 20 percent are uninsured. They are 
worried what happens when the Medicaid cuts take effect and the 80 
percent starts to decline as to how many are actually paying something. 
They won't be able to cover their costs. When Medicaid reimbursement 
rates were already too low for them to completely recover their costs, 
that is going to be even harder.
  When I shared with the press what I was hearing from healthcare 
providers across the State, how they were worried they were going to 
have to close because of Medicaid cuts, the gentleman who represents 
that area said that Democrats are just spreading fear.
  Well, imagine my surprise--actually not surprised--when last week 
Augusta Medical Group, which covers parts of southwest Virginia, 
announced they were closing three primary care centers in western 
Virginia as part of its response to the one big, ugly big.
  It is not hyperbole. You have rural hospitals that are already 
operating on the margins who now are going to have to provide more 
uncompensated care.

                              {time}  2010

  Mr. Speaker, when people come off of Medicaid and when the Enhanced 
Premium Tax Credits for purchasing insurance on the Affordable Care Act 
Exchange expire if we don't act by the end of this year and more people 
become uninsured, they are not going to magically never get sick. They 
are going to get sick.
  When they get sick and show up for care, they will go to the 
emergency rooms. They will be treated. It is going to be more expensive 
to treat them. It will be uncompensated care. Guess who pays for that? 
We do when our insurance premiums go up or when the price of care goes 
up to recover the cost from private insurers.
  All of these jobs that are lost, that is also employer-provided 
health insurance. That is even more uninsured.
  My colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee said they are 
trying to make sure Medicaid is made sustainable for future 
generations. That bill did not do a thing to address the underlying 
reasons healthcare costs are going up. It just provided that fewer 
people would end up getting health insurance, up to 17 million 
according to the Congressional Budget Office.
  Mr. Speaker, I heard a lot about the SNAP benefit cuts. I heard from 
recipients who were worried, but I also heard from grocery stores, 
rural and urban. I represent Surry County. Surry County has one grocery 
store. It opened last year. Prior to that, it didn't have a grocery 
store for 20 years. That meant that people in Surry County drove 30 
minutes to go grocery shopping. They couldn't get a lot of perishable 
items. They could only get what would fit in a cooler.
  The Surry Marketplace helped with that. The Surry Marketplace took 
forever, but we were able to help them become eligible for SNAP. They 
would receive SNAP benefits. They knew that certain times of the month 
the SNAP recipients would come in. It was mostly the seniors living in 
two senior facilities within walking distance to the grocery store.
  The grocery store bought enough fresh food, produce and meat, that 
made it sustainable for the market to buy fresh food in bulk and know 
it would be sold. That is 10 percent of their revenue.
  Their worry is that when people lose their SNAP benefits, they can't 
count on that bulk anymore. It will be harder for them to keep their 
doors open.
  I heard the same thing from the market in Church Hill in downtown 
East End, Richmond. Both of these areas were food deserts before these 
stores opened. By the way, a lot of their customers are also Medicaid 
recipients. The same people who lose access to the food benefits and 
lose access to their healthcare in the HUD funding bill could lose 
access to rental assistance, as well.
  I heard a lot about FEMA cuts. We had a water infrastructure 
roundtable. I represent cities that have water infrastructure that is 
over 100 years old. One of them received a grant to help upgrade its 
water treatment plant and its water infrastructure that failed earlier 
this year during a storm.
  They got a resiliency grant from FEMA to help upgrade that 
infrastructure so they would know that when there is a natural disaster 
the water infrastructure will survive it and the people in the region 
will have clean drinking water. The Department of Homeland Security 
canceled that grant, saying it had nothing to do with natural 
disasters.
  Mr. Speaker, I think we all want to be sure that a water 
infrastructure system will provide clean drinking water when there is a 
hurricane, a tropical storm, or another natural disaster.
  From childcare to healthcare to housing to utility bills, these are 
just a few of the things that I heard from my constituents about how 
the price of everything is going up. You name it, Mr. Speaker.
  So far, the funding actions of the President and Congress have made 
it worse. We passed an energy bill last week that gutted the very 
programs that help people weatherize their homes to reduce their energy 
costs. We cut in half the very department that has that program.
  People ask me: Weren't you elected to help people solve problems?
  I was, but we have to work together to do it. Just because 
Republicans are in the majority does not mean that they only govern 
over Republicans. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans in 
Virginia's Fourth District and

[[Page H3889]]

across the Commonwealth want us to come together to help them solve 
their problems. That is what the best of government does. It does not 
make them worse.
  In November, the people made very clear--and they continue to make 
clear today--the cost of everything is too high. When I talk to 
Republicans, Democrats, and Independents--rural, urban, and suburban--
no matter where they were born, no matter what language they speak, no 
matter the color of their skin, no matter who they love, no matter how 
they worship, they want three things: They want to know they live in a 
thriving and healthy community. They want to know that they have a job 
that allows them not just to pay their bills but to have a fair shot at 
a better life for their children than they had. When they get sick, 
they want to know they can go to the doctor and not go bankrupt.
  Every single person that I talked to in my district during the August 
period said it is getting harder to do that, and they are afraid it is 
not going to get better.
  We answer to our constituents. When we all took our oath of office, 
we took an oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the 
Constitution of the United States and to do our jobs to the best of our 
ability.
  When we see people who are hurting and we have the ability to help, 
our job--or as Matthew 25 says: When we see somebody who is hungry, we 
feed them. When we see someone who is homeless, we give them shelter. 
When we see someone who is sick, we provide them care. When we see a 
stranger, we welcome them. When someone is in prison, we visit them. At 
a minimum, how about we make sure they are in conditions that are 
humane?
  We can do a lot better. The American people deserve better. It is 
going to require us to put politics aside and focus on the people. We 
have 22 days to do it, Mr. Speaker. We have 22 days to decide: Are we 
going to come together, find common ground, fund this government in a 
way that helps people and puts people over politics, or are we going to 
let it all shut down?
  I didn't come here to shut down the government. I also didn't come 
here to vote for a bill that strips food out of children's mouths and 
that strips healthcare away from the people that need it. That is not 
what my constituents sent me here to do.

                              {time}  2020

  That is not what my constituents sent me here to do. That is not what 
this government has done in the past when people were hurting.
  I end where I started. My parents saw the best of government, and 
they saw the worst of government.
  If we had another hour, I could walk down the path of how a lot of 
what I am seeing in 2025 reminds me of what my grandparents saw in 1925 
or what my great-grandparents saw in 1905, but we only have 1 Special 
Order hour and not 2.
  Let me just say: Let's find our better angels and show the American 
people the best of government, where we come together and put people 
over politics and meet their needs and solve problems together.
  Mrs. McIVER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Virginia for 
those remarks, and I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________