Washington, D.C. – House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) delivered a speech on the floor today where he vowed that he and the House Republican Conference would continue to fight against the passage of the Democrats’ reckless spending bill.
“On the merits, this bill deserves to be defeated. Fundamentally, it’s anti-worker, anti-family, anti-jobs, anti-energy, and anti-American,” said Leader McCarthy. “We have the chance this week to correct course and save America … For the good of the country, let’s take hold of it. Let’s defeat the bill.”
We are just days away from voting on a two thousand page bill that will very likely cost $4 trillion.
“A bill that the White House Chief of Staff recently bragged is ‘twice as big, in real dollars, as the New Deal was.’
“Let that sink in.
“Two thousand pages!
“4 trillion dollars!
“Twice as big, in real dollars, as the New Deal was.
“Given its size and scope — given its unquestionable impact on American life — the American people deserve an honest and transparent debate about its true costs and content.
“Yet here we are and not one member of this House can honestly say they have analyzed, studied, or reviewed it.
“We know this because the Congressional Budget Office has made it clear they won’t have their final analysis on how much the bill costs until Friday at the earliest.
“But even without the CBO report — we already have a pretty clear idea that the final price tag will be far more expensive than what Democrats are claiming.
“According to estimates from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, new spending would increase by over $4 trillion. That’s twice as much as the Democrats say it will cost.
“And it’s not just the topline costs, it’s the tax increases, too.
“According to the Tax Policy Center, a center-left think tank, 20 to 30 percent of middle-income families will see their taxes go up in 2022. That directly breaks President Biden’s pledge that he wouldn’t raise taxes on the middle class.
“The Democrats are trying to pull a bait and switch on the American people.
“The American people obviously know better than to believe a bill of this size and scope would cost $1.75 trillion — or zero dollars, as the President claims. They know better than to believe it will be fully paid for.
“So in desperation, Speaker Pelosi is demanding the House vote on this bill even as we do not know exactly how much it will cost or how it will truly impact our lives.
“If that sounds familiar to you, it should. It’s exactly what Speaker Pelosi did just 10 years ago while trying to pass Obamacare.
“Remember her infamous words? ‘We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it.’
“Here we go again.
“So what’s the rush? After all — several of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been clear: they want to make sure that this bill actually matches up with what the White House says it will.
“Speaker Pelosi is rushing this bill to the floor because once the they find out that Build Back Better does nothing to lower gasoline prices, reduce food prices, fix our broken supply chain, stop illegal immigration at the border, make our streets safer and our schools better for children — once they find all of that out — they will reject it overwhelmingly.
“I know that many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle understand this — that they truly don’t want to vote on this bill because they know it can’t be justified.
“They know it can’t be justified to spend trillions of dollars when inflation just hit a 30-year high.
“They know it can’t be justified to spend trillions of dollars on programs that benefit them politically while hiking taxes on the middle class.
“They know it can’t be justified to spend trillions of dollars for mass amnesty during the worst border crisis in history.
“They know it can’t be justified to spend trillions of dollars that will make gasoline even more expensive than its current 7-year high.
“They know it can’t be justified to spend trillions of dollars to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to spy on any American who spends as little as $28 a day.
“They know it can’t be justified to spend trillions of dollars to make the labor crisis worse by turning the child tax credit into welfare without any work requirement.
“They know it can’t be justified to spend trillions of dollars to abandon the Hyde Amendment, allowing for taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand.
“And they know it can’t be justified to spend trillions of dollars to dictate our children’s education standards so that Washington has the final say in what our children learn.
“On the merits, this bill deserves to be defeated.
“Fundamentally, it’s anti-worker, anti-family, anti-jobs, anti-energy, and anti-American.
“From bank surveillance to bailouts, it takes the problems President Biden and Washington Democrats have created over the past nine months and makes them much, much worse.
“Its destructive policies should alarm every American.
“Democrats aren’t just ignoring what’s going on throughout the country. It’s worse: they aren’t even pretending to listen.
“And that is the fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans.
“The Democrats are focused on securing the Speaker’s legacy, House Republicans are focused on solving the labor crisis.
“Democrats are focused on so-called ‘equity,’ we’re focused on quality education.
“Democrats are focused on payoffs for illegal immigrants, we’re focused on protecting the border.
“Democrats are focused on the Green New Deal, we’re focused on lowering gas prices.
“Democrats are focused on mandates, we’re focused on more freedom.
“When you look at those differences, it’s no wonder the American people want a change in leadership.
“Just this morning, a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives changed parties.
“This comes just two weeks after voters from Virginia to Seattle rejected radical Democrats and voted to return to common sense.
“Just last Tuesday, it wasn’t just Virginia. Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points. He won New Jersey by 16.
“On that night, it wasn’t just Virginia that flipped.
“It was the races in New York.
“It was the races in Minneapolis.
“And it was the race in Seattle for City Attorney.
“There was good news and bad news that night.
“In New Jersey, the good news for many people across the country was a Republican truck driver with less than $200 defeated the second most powerful elected leader — the Democrat Senate President, that was the good news.
“The bad news is that we lost another truck driver in Joe Biden’s America where we need so much more help.
“It’s not just a message, it’s a mandate — not for left vs. right — but for right vs. wrong.
“My question is, will Washington Democrats listen? So far, the answer is no. They’re focusing on themselves and on the demands of Speaker Pelosi.
“Today, the longest serving Democrat in the Senate announced his retirement.
“Now, I don’t know what plans Speaker Pelosi has.
“I know she has been to Europe three times in the last three months.
“I don’t know if she plans on staying longer.
“I know in her press conference she said that ‘this would be the culmination of her career.’
“Maybe that’s why she’s pushing so hard for people to vote on a bill that costs $4 trillion.
“A bill that breaks the promises of President Biden before anyone can read it or analyze it — I just think that’s wrong.
“But we have the chance this week to correct course and save America.
“So many Americans — independents, Democrats, and Republicans — went to the polls last Tuesday. It wasn’t just one pocket of America saying one thing and one thing saying another, it was an overwhelmingly resounding rejection of the current policies of this majority.
“This one party rule of Washington in one year has given us not just inflation, but rising gas prices, a labor crisis, a supply chain crisis, chaos, crime — and worst of all, failure.
“As we sit here today, Russia brings thousands of their military to the border with Ukraine. they feel empowered because they are able to have a pipeline that President Biden okayed, but America was denied.
“We watch China pressure Taiwan even further.
“We still have Americans stuck in Afghanistan.
“It’s just a little over a week away from Thanksgiving where millions of Americans gather together, but those events may be smaller because they may not be able to afford the gas to drive to see their families. They may not be able to afford the most expensive Thanksgiving dinner they have ever had.
“They’re looking to Washington to do better. The worst thing we possibly could do is not listen to them. They have spoken loud and clearly: the path that we are on is wrong.
“They cannot afford it.
“They cannot accept it.
“And they expect us to do better.
“The idea to rush a bill this large without any analysis — and to think that the American people won’t understand it — they’ve watched what’s happened under one-party rule. And on Tuesday, they said that will change.
“I just hope that this body listens and waits for the report because they will not be able to justify a yes vote for it.
“Because America cannot afford it.
“For the good of the country, let’s take hold of it. Let’s defeat the bill.”