During debate on the House floor, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) tore into House Republican leadership for inserting language to block Rep. Anna Paulina Luna's (R-FL) discharge petition to force a vote on allowing new parents in Congress to vote by proxy.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the gentleman from Virginia for yielding
00:04me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
00:08Mr. Speaker, there's an awful lot of stuff in this rule before us, but let's be clear
00:15about one thing that's happening with this rule today, and that is Republican leadership
00:20is trying to overturn the Democratic process of majority rule.
00:25218 members of this House, a majority of us, signed a petition from Congresswoman Luna,
00:31who is a Republican, allowing new moms and dads to vote remotely in Congress.
00:36And when 218 of us sign a petition, the House rules say it can be brought up for a vote.
00:44But a backdoor provision slipped into this rule is being used to shut down that process,
00:50an unprecedented step.
00:53Literally, literally, it has never been done before in the history of the House.
00:58Never.
00:59So, if you signed Representative Luna's discharge petition, if you agree it deserves a vote,
01:05if you agree that a majority of the House should have the ability to bring up legislation
01:09through the discharge process, then you have to vote no on this rule.
01:13It is that simple.
01:14Let's go back to the drawing board, drop this provision.
01:18And by the way, this isn't remote voting for everyone.
01:21It's very simply about giving new parents the option to vote remotely if they so choose.
01:27That's it.
01:29That's what the Republican leadership is killing.
01:32And when we get to the actual bills Republicans are advancing here, Mr. Speaker, you know,
01:38I mean, who wrote these Republican bills?
01:42A Wall Street lobbyist?
01:44You know, one of them is literally about letting big banks raise their fees.
01:49Who the hell asked for that?
01:51The CEO of Goldman Sachs?
01:53I mean, people are getting screwed by big banks, by Bank of America, by Morgan Stanley,
01:59by Wells Fargo.
02:01This is about whose side you're on.
02:03Republicans, at least these guys are up front about it, they want to help Wall Street.
02:09Democrats fought to make sure overdraft fees are capped at $5.
02:14And these guys come down here with a straight face telling America what?
02:18That letting banks raise fees is a good thing.
02:23I mean, Republican math is that higher fees are good for you.
02:28Really?
02:29I mean, you know, that somehow we all should want to pay more fees to big banks?
02:34I mean, is this is this a joke?
02:36Is this a bad joke?
02:38I mean, this next measure that they have in this rule lets big tech off the hook when
02:42people get ripped off.
02:44I mean, did Elon Musk write this one?
02:47These guys are coming down here with a straight face and telling us that big tech needs less
02:51regulation, that they need less oversight.
02:55Is this an April Fool's Day joke?
02:58Here's the contrast.
02:59Democrats, we actually fought to make sure big tech is held accountable when things go
03:03wrong on Apple Pay, Cash, Cash App, or Zelle, when people are hacked, scammed, or defrauded.
03:10And what do Republicans want to do?
03:12They want to let big tech off the hook.
03:14You lose money?
03:15Too bad.
03:16Your data gets sold?
03:17Too bad.
03:18Whose side are Republicans on?
03:21I'll tell you this, not yours.
03:23Maybe for April Fool's Day, they could really change things up and actually stand up for
03:27working people.
03:28I mean, there's a crazy idea.
03:31But we have another bill to block nationwide injunctions when the government breaks the
03:37law.
03:38Here's a better idea.
03:40Why don't Republicans call up Donald Trump and tell him to stop breaking the law?
03:44What an idea.
03:46And of course, it's a day that ends in Y, so Republicans are bringing to the floor a
03:51bill to take away people's voting rights.
03:54Get this, if you're a woman who changed her name after marriage, you know, you will now
03:59need a certified birth certificate.
04:03But if your name is different than on that birth certificate, you're going to have to
04:08come up with a whole bunch more documentation.
04:10Some of it will be costly.
04:13I mean, only Republicans would think, you know, voter disenfranchisement is somehow
04:17a good idea.
04:19But this is all about making it more difficult for American citizens to vote.
04:24That's the real fraud.
04:25I mean, Donald Trump actually had a commission on voter fraud, and he disbanded it because
04:29he couldn't find any.
04:32Republicans are defrauding American voters by making it more difficult to register.
04:36I mean, this stuff is right out of the authoritarian playbook.
04:40Right from China, Russia, or Iran.
04:43Republicans are acting like they are above the law, putting the rich and powerful first,
04:48undermining an independent judiciary, undermining the right to vote.
04:52This is the road to authoritarianism, Mr. Speaker.
04:55Republicans are putting us in the fast lane to a dictatorship.
04:58And you can be damn sure that I'm not going to be silent, and people on this side are
05:02not going to be silent.
05:03I'm going to fight against these bills, I'm going to fight to protect and uphold our democracy,
05:09and I urge my colleagues here, both Democrats and Republicans, to vote no.
05:14To vote no on this rule, and with that I reserve my time.