Providing for Consideration of H.R. Iran Counterterrorism Act of Providing for Consideration of H. Res. Condemning Iran's Unprecedented Drone and Missile Attack on Israel; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. to Provide for the Rescission of Certain Waivers and Licenses Relating to Iran, and for Other Purposes; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I join the gentleman from Pennsylvania in condemning Iran's attack on Israel, and I also express my growing concern at this situation. I hope that President Biden continues working to de-escalate tensions. I don't think that any of us want this to turn into a broader conflict that puts even more civilians at risk.

Mr. Speaker, I also thank President Biden because, as Commander in Chief, he ordered our military to shoot down more than 70 drones and 3 ballistic missiles that Iran launched. Because of his actions and his work to unite our allies in the region, Israeli airspace was defended, and 99 percent of the projectiles fired by Iran were intercepted.

That is real. That is concrete. That is tangible.

Listening to my friends on the other side. I think they blame Joe Biden for everything. I mean, they blame him for Iran's attack more than they blame Iran. I think they have people on their side who blame Joe Biden for the earthquake, and I think one of my friends on the other side of the aisle blamed Joe Biden for the eclipse. This is crazy.

At some point they need to stop playing the blame game and work with Democrats to address these global challenges in a thoughtful and bipartisan way. Instead of doing that, instead of bringing everybody together, what we have from Republicans is a fake response to a real crisis.

The majority dusted off a bunch of old bills, some of which have never had a hearing and have never been marked up by committee, and they are bringing them to the floor. I guess they decided the original schedule for the week would have looked bad because they originally planned to bring up bills dealing with household appliances.

You heard that right, Mr. Speaker. With all the crises going on in the world, the majority's plan this week was to bring up a bill about refrigerator freedom. Not just one bill or two bills; they had a whole week, six bills, dedicated to appliances. They wanted us to debate the Liberty in Laundry Act this week. It took an actual international emergency to get them to notice how out of touch and absurd their policy agenda is.

Meanwhile, Democrats have been saying for months and months that we need Republicans to get serious about helping our allies, and for months we have heard excuse after excuse from Republicans.

First, they said we had to wait until H.R. 2, their extreme MAGA border bill, became law. Then they changed their tune because they tanked their own border bill. Next, they told us to wait until the Federal Government was fully funded. We did that, and the MAGA caucus moved the goalposts yet again. Then Democrats were told aid for Ukraine had to wait until the House reauthorized FISA.

Guess what, Mr. Speaker? Republicans are out of excuses and our allies are out of time. Speaker Johnson's inaction has consequences. He has emboldened our adversaries and left our allies wondering: Where is America? I hear reports that he is in backroom discussions with Members to find a way forward on Ukraine funding, and I hope that we see the aid our allies need on the floor this week and that there is no partisan B.S. attached to it.

What our allies need right now aren't more empty, do-nothing exercises and political messaging like we are doing today. They need our help immediately.

These bills we are debating do not meet this moment at all. The very first thing we should have done this week is come back and debate a bipartisan bill that can provide real, tangible help to our allies. Instead, we get more wasted time, more broken promises, more useless rhetoric from this Republican majority.

Has anyone even asked the Senate if these bills are going anywhere over there, Mr. Speaker?

They passed the sanctions bill on Iran 6 months ago and haven't sent it to the Senate yet. Are they going to send any of these bills to the Senate or is this all for show, so they can send out a press release to say they did something?

Meanwhile, the world is wondering when America will get our act together and when this Republican majority is going to get their act together, stop playing politics, and start doing their job.

Let me just say I have never heard so much B.S. in my life, to be honest with you. Let me just remind my colleagues that Donald Trump, the guy they apologize for constantly, is the one who let Iran attack U.S. troops.

Donald Trump is the one who allowed not one but dozens of Chinese spy balloons to fly overhead without telling us.

Donald Trump is the one who gave classified Israeli intelligence to the Russians, intelligence they could have given to Iran.

Donald Trump is the one who went to North Korea--remember that--and tried to get a brutal dictator to love him. He said, hey, Kim Jong-un and I are in love.

Donald Trump is the one who tried to extort Ukraine by withholding our aid, and he was impeached over it.

Donald Trump praises Putin, he fawns over Xi Jinping and Victor Orban, and he sends Kim Jong-un love letters.

It is pathetic. It is pathetic.

Donald Trump is the one who praised an angry mob who attacked the United States Capitol and injured people. That is all good for my friends on the other side.

At every step of the way, Trump stood with America's adversaries and those who oppose democracy. I am sorry that is an inconvenient truth for my Republican friends, but it is the truth.

Contrast that with Joe Biden. Joe Biden rallied the world to Ukraine's defense. He defended our ally Israel in their air space, and he has rebuilt our image on the world stage and has stood up for democracy.

My friends on the other side said nothing when the previous President was apologizing and praising every tin horn dictator in the world who had no regard for human rights.

Democrats are the party of democracy. Republicans can use whatever rhetoric they want about the far-left this and the far-left that. Their party has been radicalized by MAGA extremists.

Here we are at this late date debating legislation that is going nowhere when, in fact, our allies, specifically Ukraine, is out of money and out of equipment to defend themselves against Russia, and my friends just sit there and twiddle their thumbs.

This is pathetic. This is pathetic.

I urge my colleagues to understand what is going on here. We are doing this exercise that is going nowhere. I do not know who it is designed to please--maybe to show that we are doing work when we are not doing work.

We actually passed a bill on Iran--6 months ago to be exact--that is still here. They never even sent it over to the Senate. This is all for show. Meanwhile, we have a real crisis on our hands.

I hope my friends will get serious. Let's waste this time doing these bills that are problematic and that are going nowhere, but don't come and lecture us about democracy or about protecting Israel, about protecting democracy in Ukraine.

It is because of House Republicans that the world right now is on the brink, and I hope that hopefully in the next couple of days you come to your senses and allow us to provide relief to our ally Ukraine. I hope that we do that because if not, it will be too late. You have waited so long, constantly giving in to the most extreme rightwing elements of your party, people who have nothing but contempt for Ukraine, for democratic movements who couldn't give damn about human rights.

It is pathetic that at this late date we are here doing this and not doing what we should have done a long time ago--and that is provide Ukraine the assistance it needs to push back on Russia.

Oh, my goodness, Mr. Speaker, listen to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy). He got up, and he blamed the President of the United States more for Iran's attack on Israel than he blamed the supreme leader of Iran.

It is pathetic. It is pathetic.

I say to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), yes, we are emotional when we talk about this stuff. We are emotional when we talk about this stuff because the bottom line is people are dying, and we have Members on the other side of the aisle who continue to use Putin's talking points in defending why we are not giving aid to Ukraine. That is not me saying that. That is the Republican chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

So, I mean, this is a really important moment here, whether we are going to stand with our friends in Ukraine, whether we are going to help them stand up to Russia, or whether following the example of Trump we are going to turn a blind eye. I mean, Putin is hoping that maybe Trump wins and the Republicans win because then he knows he can take over Ukraine.

Yes, we are emotional because people are dying. Russia has launched a vicious war against Ukraine, and we are emotional when we talk about not only protecting Israel but protecting innocent people in Gaza as well because we actually think human rights matter.

Human rights knows no political party, knows no country's boundaries. Everyone's human rights ought to be upheld. We are emotional because we are sick and tired of the rhetoric coming from my Republican friends. We are sick and tired of them apologizing for Putin all the time or turning a blind eye on human rights abuses in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.

Coming to the floor with bills that my friends know are going nowhere--I mean, we have done similar bills before that are still being held at the desk and have not been sent to the Senate. This is all about show business.

Enough. Enough.

We have an opportunity to come together, put politics aside, and do the right thing. I hope my friends will join us in that effort.

Leger Fernandez), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for pointing out the importance of the moment we are in and the fact that there are people dying. There are children dying of hunger. How is it that we do not cry for that, and that we do not cry for solutions?

Mr. Speaker, I, like all of my colleagues here today, strongly condemn Iran's heinous and unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel over the weekend. We should all be proud of how President Biden, the United States military, and our allies struck down hundreds of drones to minimize the casualties and the damage from the attack.

This is the mark of a strong President, bringing our allies together to combat the threat to democracies around the world. The United States should lead because we are the strongest when we lead coalitions of democratic nations.

When the Republican majority scrapped this week's meaningless agenda of protecting the freedom of refrigerators, we thought this would be the moment when the Republican House leadership would finally rise to the challenge of funding the fight against tyranny. This rule, however, is a disappointment. It is incremental bills with titles condemning Iran, but the bills themselves, where it counts, the text of the legislation, does little. Lots of talk in the title but no real solutions in the bills.

It is especially sad because we have a bipartisan bill that would provide the bullets that Ukraine needs to defeat Russia, that would provide the humanitarian assistance that the starving children in Gaza need to stay alive, that would provide more assistance to Israel, and that would combat China's increased aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

I know the vast majority of my Republican colleagues want to do the right thing for Ukraine, but when extreme Putin-protecting Republicans fail to curb Russia's aggression, they support Iran.

We cannot see these global threats in isolation. Iran's attack on Israel is tied to the efforts of Russia, Iran, and China to reassert themselves against the West, against America, and against democracy.

Mr. Speaker, I think I have heard everything. The gentleman from Florida just talked about regular order, saying to vote for this rule because it represents regular order. I mean, he and I have a different opinion of what regular order is.

There are six bills. Five of them are completely closed rules. Is that regular order?

Two of these bills that are closed never went through committee or never had a markup in committee. Is that regular order?

Boy, I need to send the gentleman a textbook on what regular order is. This is not what it is.

The gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler) is giving us lectures about Biden and leadership. I should remind the gentleman that the Republicans are on their second Speaker of this Congress right now. If reports are to be believed that were in the newspapers this morning, you have Republicans wanting to get rid of this Speaker and go on to a third Speaker.

I mean, please, oh my goodness, lecturing us on leadership?

You are upset that Joe Biden used the U.S. military to help intercept Iranian missiles into Israel. You say that is a lack of leadership by President Biden. On the contrary, that is leadership. It is protecting our ally from missiles from an adversary.

When Donald Trump was President and 109 U.S. troops suffered brain injuries in a strike by Iran, what was the leadership that the former President demonstrated? He did nothing, no response. Iran just did it, and he did nothing. He downplayed it like it was no big deal.

I am sorry, we have a different opinion of what leadership is all about. The fact of the matter is that we are looking for some leadership on the other side of the aisle to support Ukraine in their fight against Russia. I mean, the Senate acted a long time ago, and my Republican friends continue to do nothing but sit back and scream about Joe Biden and cover up all of Donald Trump's misdeeds and ignore all of his weaknesses. Meanwhile, Ukraine is literally at the edge right now.

I mean, this is a strange way of defining leadership. Do you want to show some leadership? Let's help our ally Ukraine. Let's stop Russia in its tracks rather than giving comfort to Vladimir Putin.

Now, I know when the former President was in office, he had a lot of nice words to say about Vladimir Putin, praised him as this great friend and this great leader. Then again, the former President also said he and Kim Jong-un, one of the most notorious dictators in the world, were in love. How pathetic. How disgusting.

Mr. Speaker, not one, not one of the bills under this rule, would prevent Iran from carrying on future attacks, not a single one.

What are we doing here? The answer is simple. Republican leadership can't organize their clown show of a conference. MAGA members are playing politics with a global crisis, blaming Joe Biden instead of Iran, and to top it all off, many of them continue siding with Putin, an ally of Iran, in his war of aggression against Ukraine.

The people of Ukraine have been bombarded by Iranian drones for months and months and months, and Republicans have refused to do anything about it, not a single thing.

Republicans had an emergency Rules Committee meeting. They scrapped their whole agenda this week to debate these useless bills that we are talking about right now. There has been nothing for months and months while the people of Ukraine beg for our help, nothing. In fact, not only has this Republican majority done nothing, they have Members who echo Putin's propaganda and mimic Kremlin talking points. You can't make this stuff up.

What do our allies see when they look at us now? When the Speaker even mentions potential action to support our allies, extreme MAGA Republicans threaten to remove the Speaker and shut down Congress again.

Mr. Speaker, is this the message we want to send our allies when they need us most? This is shameful. We are at a turning point right now, an inflection point in human history. Are Iran, Russia, and their allies going to write the next chapter of the story, or are people around the world going to stand up and say democracy is worth fighting for? Is America going to fulfill our obligations and lead the free world as we have always done and as Democrats want to do, or are we not?

We can't only do it sometimes or when it is politically convenient for one party or the other. We need to do it all the time. We need to do it in Ukraine, where people are fighting and dying for their freedom and begging us for support. It is beyond time we pass something real to help them.

The bills that we are talking about right now are messaging bills. We don't even know whether, if they pass, they will even be sent to the Senate because we have passed bills on Iran before, and they are still being held up by the House. We haven't sent them to the United States Senate.

I think people are sick and tired of my Republican friends going through the motions or making believe like they care about human rights or making believe that they care about ending the conflict in Israel or ending the fighting in Ukraine. I think people see through what my Republican friends are doing. They come to the floor and yell and scream and blame Biden for every single thing, yet they continue to do nothing.

This is the last week before we have another break, and it remains to be seen whether or not there will be a package that comes to the floor that will actually help Ukraine stand up against Russia.

I get it. There are a lot of Republicans who apologize for Putin and apologize for Russia; think Russia can do no wrong. The former President, in all of his meetings with Vladimir Putin, praised him and praised him and praised him and said they are really good friends. He doesn't really want us to help Ukraine at all and is imposing all of these new conditions.

We are running out of time. We either do something now or it is too late. What a tragedy to basically hand Ukraine over to Vladimir Putin, as if that is where he will stop.

This is about human rights. This is about doing what is right. This is about standing up for the principles that this country is supposed to be all about. I just hope we do it.

I say to my colleagues: Vote ``no'' on this rule. We are wasting the time of this Congress. What we need to do is do something concrete before the end of the week to help Ukraine.

I know it is uncomfortable for my friend from Pennsylvania to hear that. I know he doesn't want to have to scold some of his Republican colleagues who would like nothing better than to turn a blind eye while Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine.

I was in Ukraine. I met with not only Mr. Zelenskyy, but I met with a lot of average citizens in Ukraine. They are counting on us and the world community to help them protect their country from invasion. I hope that we do that. This, what we are doing today, is a colossal waste of time. That is what we do on a regular basis in this Chamber.

The Republican majority has done a horrific job, and we are now out of time. Let's hope after we get this rule done and get whatever we are going to vote on done here, that before the end of the week we can actually bring a package to the floor that will help save Ukraine from a Russian invasion.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source