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Thanks. Madam Speaker, I rise today in defiance of the House Republicans partisan funding bill. Democrats pulled up a seat for Republican leadership at the negotiating table to discuss a bipartisan solution, but Republicans walked away. What did Republicans propose instead? A blank check to Donald Trump and Elon Musk to take money away
from you and spend as they will. For years, I've heard my Republican colleagues talk about the power of the purse and how that power belongs to Congress and Congress alone. Republicans love to talk about Article One of the Constitution and insisted on clear checks and balances. What do I hear now? Silence. Now that Republicans are in control of Congress, they decide to bend the knee to Donald Trump.
Republicans are giving Donald Trump and Elon Musk the power to decide who gets money and who doesn't. Based on these last eight weeks, we know who Trump prioritizes his billionaire friends and big corporations. He does not care for veterans, workers with disabilities, children, senior citizens, farmers, or families. Just trying to make ends meet. Republicans will try to call this a clean continuing resolution. Believe me, that is a bunch of full in the blank because this
is far from clean. The Republican funding bill has dirt all over it. With this bill, the Trump administration will decide construction funding by the Army Corps of Engineer. Trump will cut funds for lead pipe replacements for schools, better water mains to prevent flooding, and better streets for our communities. Elon Musk and those have proven how little they care about
veterans. They made sweeping staffing cuts to veterans centers across the country, including in Danville, IL. My office has gotten calls from workers and some vets who were fired for no justifiable reason, impacting their own families and the veterans they care for. The Republican funding bill goes even further, cutting 23 billion
in veterans benefits. It gives Trump permission to eliminate programs for veterans, including homelessness prevention programs, which could lead to more than 32,000 veterans losing their homes. These are people who defended our country. Trump would also have the power to reallocate funding dedicated to maternal and child health programs, including Healthy Start, rural maternal health initiatives, and maternity care training.
But over a decade, I have rolled up my sleeves to save mothers who are dying from preventative pregnancy related causes. In the middle of a maternal mortality crisis, Trump was sign away all the programs that help mothers and babies. Trump likes to talk a big game about border control and our country's fentanyl crisis. He plays as the world's biggest bully and hits our closest allies with tariffs.
Meanwhile, Republicans give Trump the power to steer funding dedicated to stopping the flow of fentanyl and instead spend that money on mass deportation initiatives. Last September, Kankakee County and my district received funding to help law enforcement crackdown on illicit drug trafficking and address the overdose epidemic. That funding would stop under the Republican bill.
You heard at the joint address to Congress last week that RFK Junior is free to run with his conspiracy theories and anti vaccination lies. This bill would give him broad discretion to spend money as he wishes at the CDC, ignoring critical life saving programs like Ending the HIV Epidemic, Epidemic Initiative, Alzheimer's disease programs, and cancer prevention. If you are not part of the 1%, House Republicans and Donald Trump simply do not care about
you. It does not matter if you are Democrat, Republican or independent. This partisan funding bill proves it. Republicans are giving Donald Trump the green light to do as he wishes and we all know that he does not have the American people in mind. I, alongside House Democrats, have always been at the negotiation table, but we will never negotiate away veterans benefits, healthcare, or people's Social Security. I refuse to betray my constituents. Please stand up, speak out and
make your voices heard. Thank you. I yield back. Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your support. If you could take a second and hit this subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly appreciate it. It helps out the show tremendously and you'll never miss an episode. And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you
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