[Pages H2796-H2806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

RESCISSIONS ACT OF 2025

Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 499, I call
up the bill (H.R. 4) to rescind certain budget authority proposed to be
rescinded in special messages transmitted to the Congress by the
President on June 3, 2025, in accordance with section 1012(a) of the
Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, and ask for
its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 499, the bill
is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 4

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Rescissions Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. RESCISSIONS OF BUDGET AUTHORITY.

(a) In General.--Pursuant to the special message
transmitted by the President on June 3, 2025, to the House of
Representatives and the Senate proposing the rescission of
budget authority under section 1012 of part B of title X of
the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974
(2 U.S.C. 682 et seq.), the rescissions described under
subsection (b) shall take effect immediately upon the date of
enactment of this Act.
(b) Rescissions.--The rescissions described in this
subsection are as follows:
(1) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``International Organizations--Contributions to International
Organizations'' made available by the Department of State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act,
2024 (division F of Public Law 118-47), $33,008,764 are
permanently rescinded.
(2) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``International Organizations--Contributions to International
Organizations'' made available by the Full-Year Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4),
$168,837,230 are permanently rescinded.
(3) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``International Organizations--Contributions for
International Peacekeeping Activities'' made available by the
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Appropriations Act, 2024 (division F of Public Law 118-47),
$203,328,007 are permanently rescinded.
(4) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``International Organizations--Contributions for
International Peacekeeping Activities'' made available by the
Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of
Public Law 119-4), $157,906,000 are permanently rescinded.
(5) Of the unobligated balances in the first paragraph
under the heading ``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds
Appropriated to the President--Global Health Programs'' made
available by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act,
2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4), $500,000,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(6) Of the unobligated balances in the second paragraph
under the heading ``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds
Appropriated to the President--Global Health Programs'' made
available by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act,
2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4), $400,000,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(7) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Department of State--Migration and Refugee Assistance''
made available by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4), $800,000,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(8) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds Appropriated to the
President--Complex Crises Fund'' made available by the Full-
Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of
Public Law 119-4), $43,000,000 are permanently rescinded.
(9) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds Appropriated to the
President--Democracy Fund'' made available by the Full-Year
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law
119-4), $83,000,000 are permanently rescinded.
(10) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds Appropriated to the
President--Economic Support Fund'' made available by the
Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of
Public Law 119-4), $1,650,000,000 are permanently rescinded.
(11) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Multilateral Assistance--International Financial
Institutions--Contribution to the Clean Technology Fund''
made available by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4), $125,000,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(12) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Multilateral Assistance--Funds Appropriated to the
President--International Organizations and Programs'' made
available by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act,
2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4), $436,920,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(13) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds Appropriated to the
President--Development Assistance'' made available by the
Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of
Public Law 119-4), $2,500,000,000 are permanently rescinded.
(14) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds Appropriated to the
President--Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia''
made available by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations
Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4), $460,000,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(15) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds Appropriated to the
President--International Disaster Assistance'' made available
by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025
(division A of Public Law 119-4), $496,000,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(16) Of the unobligated balances under the heading ``United
States Agency for International Development--Funds
Appropriated to the President--Operating Expenses'' made
available by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act,
2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4), $125,000,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(17) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Funds Appropriated to the
President--Transition Initiatives'' made available by the
Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of
Public Law 119-4), $57,000,000 are permanently rescinded.
(18) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Independent Agencies--Inter-
American Foundation'' made available by the Full-Year
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of Public Law
119-4), $27,000,000 are permanently rescinded.
(19) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Bilateral Economic Assistance--Independent Agencies--United
States African Development Foundation'' made available by the
Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2025 (division A of
Public Law 119-4), $22,000,000 are permanently rescinded.
(20) Of the unobligated balances under the heading
``Related Programs--United States Institute of Peace'' made
available by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act,
2025 (division A of Public Law 119-4), $15,000,000 are
permanently rescinded.
(21)(A) Amounts made available for ``Corporation for Public
Broadcasting'' for fiscal year 2026 by Public Law 118-47 are
hereby permanently rescinded.
(B) Amounts made available for ``Corporation for Public
Broadcasting'' for fiscal year 2027 by Public Law 119-4 are
hereby permanently rescinded.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour,
equally divided and controlled by the majority leader and the minority
leader, or their respective designees.
The gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. McClain) and the gentlewoman from
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. McClain).

General Leave

Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I request that all Members have 5
legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on the measure under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to voice my strong support for H.R. 4, the
Rescissions Act of 2025.
Last November, the American people sent a clear message to
Washington: Stop wasting our tax dollars and get our fiscal house in
order.
The President and House Republicans heard the American people. We
heard them loud and clear. We are keeping our promises to end the
waste, the fraud, and the abuse.
This rescissions package sends $9.4 billion back to the U.S.
Treasury. That is $9.4 billion of savings that taxpayers won't see
wasted.
It is their money, Mr. Speaker. It is, along with our One Big
Beautiful Bill Act, the first of many important steps

[[Page H2797]]

House Republicans are taking to rein in wasteful spending.
In 2024, the Federal Government spent over $1.8 trillion, and that is
just in discretionary spending. The rescissions are only addressing
one-half of 1 percent of that total. Democrats would consider this a
rounding error.
This administration has spent months combing through our Federal
budget, line by line, identifying waste, fraud, and abuse. Let me tell
you, Mr. Speaker, there is a lot.
I think the American people would be hard-pressed, or anyone would be
hard-pressed, to say that the government runs so efficiently that we
can't find any more efficiencies. However, don't let the fear-mongering
from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle fool you, Mr.
Speaker.
Those claiming that these rescissions will harm people in other
countries--I am going to say that again--those Democrats who are saying
that these rescissions will harm people in other countries are missing
the point. It is about people in our country being put first. It is
about putting Americans first. What a concept.
That is because American citizens support ending the waste, the
fraud, and the abuse in places like USAID.
A ``yes'' vote today will stop wasteful spending on programs like
$500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda, $4 million for bean systems
research, $67,000 for feeding insect powder to children in Madagascar,
and $3 million for Iraqi ``Sesame Street.'' Lord knows, the Iraqi
children need a little Big Bird in their life. It is a good use of $3
million of taxpayer money. I might want to use the $3 million on
homeless vets.
How about we take some of that cash back.
Mr. Speaker, $4 million for sedentary migrants in Colombia. That
seems like an oxymoron.
There is $2.5 million for teaching young children, get this, how to
make environmentally friendly reproductive health decisions. I scratch
my head on that one.
There is $833,000 for services for transgender people, sex workers
and their clients and sexual networks in Nepal.
The list goes on and on. I am sort of embarrassed to read it.
Americans know the Federal Government is wasting money, and they are
wasting Americans' taxpayer money. House Republicans are going to stop
wasting our tax dollars. It is really simple. We are focused on
actually putting the American people first. We are focusing on the
American people whom we represent, not whether the people in Zimbabwe
have vegan food to eat, and not electric buses in Rwanda. This is what
those on the other side of the aisle want to defend: the waste, the
fraud, and the abuse. They actually advocate for it.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' to end
the insanity and actually put Americans first. Let's rescind wasteful
spending. It is really simple.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes.
Mr. Speaker, I am opposed to this bill to aid and abet billionaires
in stealing from the American people and which does nothing to help the
American people with the cost of living.
Since taking office, President Trump and Elon Musk unlawfully have
stolen funds appropriated by Congress, passed by Republicans and
Democrats in the House and in the Senate, and signed into law by the
President, upending the separation of powers and our constitutional
order.
For what end?
It is to hand billionaires and the biggest corporations, who already
pay little or no taxes, another massive tax break. It is 4.5 trillion
of taxpayers' dollars.
Do the Republicans want to talk about wasting taxpayer dollars?
This money is going to the wealthiest people and the biggest
corporations. That is where they should save the money.
They want to make our government so broken, so dysfunctional, so
starved for resources, and so full of incompetent political lackeys and
bereft of experts and professionals that its departments and agencies
cannot feasibly achieve the goals and the missions to which they are
lawfully directed. That is where we are going.

Ultimately, they want to embrace privatization and give the biggest
companies unchecked power. They want to rig the economy against the
middle class, workers, and vulnerable families. They want to ensure the
American people have no faith in the ability of government to do good
in their lives.
Mr. Speaker, there is no inherent authority for the President to
impound and steal funds, and there never has been. I don't care if the
President is Republican or Democrat. The late Justices Scalia and
Rehnquist said so. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh have
said so. By the way, they are no liberal torchbearers.
The Department of Justice and the Government Accountability Office
have said so. Over 200 years of American history say so. Our Founding
Fathers designed our government so.
Alexander Hamilton said: ``But where the purse is lodged in one
branch, and the sword in another, there can be no danger.'' The power
of the purse resides in the United States Congress.
This rescissions package dated May 28, submitted June 3, 134 days
after the President began unlawfully freezing funding, is an admission
by President Trump and Russ Vought that they are breaking the law by
impounding $425 billion in appropriated funds across the government.
They do not care about the consequences for Americans.
This is a bill to codify the rights of billionaires and to
rubberstamp the right of billionaires to steal from rural and
vulnerable American communities, children, and the global poor, for the
sake of handing even more money to billionaires. Congress needs to
fight for the middle class, for the working class, and for the most
vulnerable, not to protect the interests of billionaires and big
corporations.
Members considering voting for this own the reckless cuts done by
Elon Musk.
This is a bill to shut down rural television and radio stations,
cutting off coverage of local news, eliminating emergency information
like severe weather alerts, and jeopardizing access to PBS KIDS
children's programs like ``Sesame Street.''
This is a bill to rip lifesaving support away from the hungry,
displaced, and sick people in developing countries and conflict zones
across the globe and to end programs that treat deadly diseases and
prevent pandemics.
This is a bill to abandon the people of Ukraine while they resist
Putin's tyranny.
This is a bill to cut $400 million from PEPFAR, a paragon of American
leadership that has saved the lives of 26 million mothers and fathers,
sons and daughters. Instead of facing a death sentence, people
supported by PEPFAR are raising families, building their communities,
and helping their communities grow and develop.
This is a bill that puts America last. When we retreat from the world
diplomatically and through our assistance to vulnerable people, then
America will be alone, without allies, and in a less stable world
without the support of the international community.
Mr. Speaker, do you know who will come out ahead?
China, Russia, and Iran. When people in need see bags of food and
flour coming through that say USA, that shows the power of the United
States. That now will be traded for food aid from China.
We are here today considering cuts after months of unlawful
impoundment, stealing, that will conceal a Republican reconciliation
bill to make the billionaires in America even more rich and increase
the debt by $3 trillion. Mr. Speaker, you increase the debt. You rip
health insurance away from at least 16 million Americans.
This bill rescinds $9.4 billion, which Congress just appropriated not
even 3 months ago. Now the President is asking the Congress to
rubberstamp its proposal to steal from the American people without
concern for the consequences. This bill does nothing to help the
American people with the cost of living. The President said he was
going to bring it down on the first day. He has done nothing but make
it worse.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to oppose this bill which
forfeits our global leadership, undermines national security, and
steals from the American people to hand more wealth to billionaires.

[[Page H2798]]

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I just want to clarify: We are having a
debate on the rescissions package, correct, Mr. Speaker?
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Mast).
Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I could use my minute for a number of things,
but I think I am going to use it now to apologize to all of you in the
gallery.
I am sorry. You just literally had to listen to somebody lying to all
of you directly.
How many times did she say the word ``billionaire''?
How many times did she say that we are trying to do something to
enrich billionaires?
That is not taking place at all. We are cutting waste, fraud, and
abuse.
Billions of dollars have gone to a Canadian lesbian justice
foundation, transgender sex workers networks in Nepal, and a whole list
of things. I would say that among the definition of things that we
could do to eliminate those programs would be the definition of saving
the American taxpayer money.
I am going to leave it at that.
They expect you to believe what they say and not believe what you can
see with your own eyes.
Let the American people be the judge of whether that is saving you
money or whether that is enriching billionaires.
We want to end programs like LGBTQI in the Caribbean, the Balkans,
and Uganda, and all the dollars that we put into trying to support
those programs that are waste, fraud, and abuse. Our American tax
dollars should not be spent in that way.
I am sorry that they are lying to you in this way, but we are going
to work through all this and work to save you all money.
I am sorry that you are all being lied to, but you are going to
expect to hear more.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair reminds Members that the rules do
not allow references to persons in the gallery.

{time} 1345

Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Maine (Ms. Pingree), the distinguished ranking member of the Interior
and Environmental Subcommittee of Appropriations.
Ms. PINGREE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Connecticut for
yielding the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this reckless
attack on public media contained within this rescission bill and the
millions of Americans who rely on and treasure their local public
television and radio stations.
Every State will feel the impact of this $1.1 billion rescission. In
fact, 70 percent of these cuts will directly impact local public media
stations, $770 million, including more than $4 million to my State
alone.
In rural states like Maine, local stations and networks like Maine
Public are often the most accessible and sometimes the only source of
news and information.
Whether it is children's programs like Sesame Street and Daniel
Tiger, high school basketball tournament coverage, or trusted news
shows like Maine Calling, public media has been a vital part of
Mainers' lives for generations.
Speaking of lives, these stations literally save lives. They send out
information regarding wildfire evacuations, missing child alerts, and
winter storm warnings. Storm warnings are pretty common in Maine. If
there is an emergency in your town, chances are the local media station
is sounding the alarm and giving the information people need to stay
safe.
The purpose of public media is to inform, educate, and engage. It
makes people's lives better, and it has undoubtedly made our country
stronger.
This President wants nothing more than to destroy it.
This is not about fiscal responsibility or finding waste, fraud, and
abuse. Mr. Speaker, do you know how much these services cost each
taxpayer per year? They cost less than $2. That is less than one cup of
coffee.
It is certainly not about cutting something people don't like because
76 percent of Americans support public media. In this political
climate, that kind of consensus is unheard of.
This is about one thing: the President's vendetta against the free
press and his authoritarian desire to control the media.
Public media enriches our lives, nourishes our minds, and makes our
communities safer. It deserves to be preserved and protected, not
gutted to score political points.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this rescission.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Iowa (Mrs. Hinson).
Mrs. HINSON. Mr. Speaker, Iowans overwhelmingly rejected the
Washington status quo in November, demanding an end to unelected
bureaucrats misusing taxpayer resources.
President Trump's rescissions package cuts $9.4 billion, including $3
million for Iraqi ``Sesame Street'', $6 million for net-zero cities in
Mexico, and $1 million for voter ID in Haiti, not here in the United
States.
We are only scratching the surface with this package. Imagine being
able to redirect those dollars to veterans' care or specialty crop
programs in a State like mine.
This package also rescinds funds for NPR and PBS. For decades, public
broadcasting has not adhered to objectivity standards enshrined in law.
It has pushed biased narratives and forced inappropriate content on
children, like a movie celebrating the sex change of a child, and a
feature on the racial origins of fat phobia. I am not sure what that
means.
Children should not be fed woke propaganda, certainly not on the
taxpayer's dime. That is coming from a former broadcaster.
I thank President Trump for exposing this waste and working to
protect Americans' hard-earned dollars. I urge my colleagues to join me
in passing this bill.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, if there was fraud, there would be arrests.
There is not fraud. There have not been arrests. They are depending on
the word of Mr. Musk, who took out a chain saw from the President of
Argentina and waved it around, a chain saw. He took a chain saw to the
budget, not a scalpel.
If my colleagues want to improve something, improve it. Mr. Speaker,
regarding the Kennedy Center, if they want to improve it, they want
``Hee Haw,'' have ``Hee Haw,'' but don't get rid of the Kennedy Center.
There will be people who will die. This bill is good for Russia and
China and undertakers because it is going to have people dying. Bill
Gates said this is the richest man in the world, Musk, taking advantage
of and killing the poorest children in the world. They are not going to
be getting PEPFAR programs created by George Bush. They are not going
to get the sustenance they need which is rotting in ships right now.
Don't end it, mend it. This is a terrible bill. This is Musk's bill
on drugs.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I will just remind you, that is fear-
mongering at its best.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Bean).
Mr. BEAN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chair McClain for the time.
Mr. Speaker, I know there are budget hawks, and I know there are
people that care about the deficit, which should be everybody in this
room. I know they are getting impatient. They are wondering when is the
House going to finally take action and make the DOGE cuts official. The
answer, Mr. Speaker, is today.
Today is the day we take the first step in restoring fiscal
discipline and getting our Nation back on track. H.R. 4, the
Rescissions Act of 2025, cuts unnecessary spending and ensures tax

[[Page H2799]]

dollars are not wasted on reckless foreign aid. There will be no more
tax dollars to fund DEI programs in Serbia. There will be no more taxes
to fund DEI musicals in Ireland and no more tax dollars to fund
electric vehicles in Vietnam.
Taxpayers, Mr. Speaker, have said enough is enough. I say enough is
enough. Let's pass this bill, Mr. Speaker, and let's go get them.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Washington (Ms. Jayapal).
Ms. JAYAPAL. Mr. Speaker, this rescissions package is all about going
back on the agreements that Republicans just made in March. It is about
the fact that Congress had approved this funding before Elon Musk took
a literal chain saw, an illegal chain saw, to foreign aid and public
broadcasting and a whole bunch of other things that Americans care
about. Then guess what? The courts said no.
Now, Trump has ordered his minions here in this House to go back on
their own agreements and undermine their own authority to appropriate
money, all so that they can legitimize his sometimes shadow president,
Elon Musk.
This is yet another betrayal bill. It slashes U.S. USAID funding even
more, and the cuts have already killed 300,000 people across the world.
It will kill even more. It destroys our global leadership, and it is
yet another attack on free speech in our country by slashing money for
public TV and broadcasting that are many Americans' only source of
news, weather, and children's programming.
Vote ``no'' on this bill. It is another betrayal.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, we can have free speech in America. The
government just doesn't need to fund it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr.
Messmer).
Mr. MESSMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4, the
Rescissions Act of 2025.
For decades, Americans have been waiting for their leadership to
deliver on the promise that fiscal responsibility was on its way.
Wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars has been overlooked for far too
long. For far too many years, leaders have kicked the can down the
road, hoping a future Congress would make the hard decisions required
to stop the financial bleeding.
As a proud Hoosier, I know that if we are doing our best to live
within our means as a family, the government should do no less.
Congress must deliver on the promise of safeguarding American
taxpayer dollars. I am proud to vote today to make this first initial
step to eliminate wasteful government spending.
The Department of Government Efficiency did our country a great
service in lifting the veil on how much fraud, abuse, and terrible
waste of taxpayer dollars is truly happening in our government
agencies.
By passing the Rescissions Act today, I join my colleagues in showing
Americans that we hear them and we know that this change must be made.
It is high time we work toward getting our fiscal house in order, and
this is the first step.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Meeks), the distinguished ranking member of the Foreign
Affairs Committee.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for allowing me to
speak.
Mr. Speaker, this rescissions package isn't about fiscal
responsibility. It is about abandoning America's legacy of compassion,
ceding global leadership, and turning our back on the most vulnerable.
The President's demand to slash $8.3 billion in lifesaving foreign
assistance is plunging America deep into moral bankruptcy. Despite what
Secretary Rubio and others have falsely claimed, cuts to U.S. foreign
assistance have caused unnecessary deaths around the world. The cuts in
this rescissions package, based on outright lies, will cost many more
lives.
Now, maybe they don't care about lives, but I think we have a moral
obligation that we should. My Republican colleagues should know better.
Why? Just months ago they voted for this funding. They understood, and
I believe they understand now if they would tell the truth, that we all
should know that foreign assistance is smart policy and a national
security imperative. Rescinding these funds now will have real and
immediate consequences.

This package cuts $400 million from PEPFAR. These aren't Democratic
pet projects as some would have you believe. PEPFAR was established by
President George W. Bush and has saved more than 26 million lives,
while slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS around the world. Cutting these
kinds of funds is another death sentence for children and women who
depend upon lifesaving medication that costs us just pennies.
It cuts $1.3 billion from humanitarian assistance, while over 300
million people around the world urgently need food, shelter, and
medical care. These aren't abstract numbers. These are real lives that
are at stake.
To justify these cuts, the President has misled the public about the
very agencies carrying them out. Take USAID, for example. It has never
failed an audit, never been found out of compliance with laws or
regulations. In 2022, it ranked third among nine Federal agencies for
evidence-based budgeting and decisionmaking.
Let's contrast that with the Department of Defense, who is getting
more money. The Department of Defense has failed its audit. Mr.
Speaker, 7 years in a row they have failed their audit. If this was
truly about waste, fraud, or abuse, we would be having a lot different
conversation here this afternoon.
This package also slashes funding for UNICEF, which works to protect
children around the world. It means yanking more than 40 million kids
out of school. It eliminates programs that help almost 4 million people
have clean drinking water.
Do you know who is excited about this package? I can tell you who is
excited about it. China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, they are excited
about this package. They would love to do this themselves if they
could, because they know that this takes away our strength and our
relationships, and then they will try to jump in. They are laughing.
They are happy because they see us surrendering, because that is what
this is. This is a surrender.
We cannot be fooled by this budget talk. You know what? Look at it.
These funds really are less than 1 percent of our overall Federal
budget, less than 1 percent.
Meanwhile, if you look at what the Trump administration and our GOP
colleagues are doing, they are actually adding deficits of trillions of
dollars to give tax breaks to billionaires.
This is not really about fiscal restraint. Saving lives is what we
should be talking about. Those billions of dollars that they are going
to get in tax cuts are not going to change the lives of those
billionaires.
Let us reject this rescission bill. Let us vote ``no'' and restore
the money to save lives.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Harris).

{time} 1400

Mr. HARRIS of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, if we can't unite and say
no to exporting transgender ideology abroad, say no to taxpayer-funded
leftwing propaganda, and say no to funding pet projects that put
America last, then what is the point of being called a Republican?
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to defund NPR, PBS,
and USAID. For decades, Republicans have campaigned on being fiscal
conservatives, but all we have to show for it is a national debt
skyrocketing toward $37 trillion.
Let me be clear: There is nothing fiscally conservative about forcing
taxpayers to fund vegan food promotion in Zambia or voter ID in Haiti.
We were sent here to do government differently, and nothing could be a
clearer test of our commitment than to pass this rescissions package.
The time to act is today. If we continue on our track, our
grandchildren will be enslaved to a debt that will dwarf our current
monstrosity.

[[Page H2800]]

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Massachusetts (Ms. Clark), the distinguished Democratic whip.
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, Sunday is Father's Day, and
what do dads want? They want a fair shot. They want to know that if
they work hard, they can provide for their families. Yet, right now,
most families in America can't even afford the basics.
Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of families in the richest nation on Earth
cannot afford the first rung of the American Dream. What are my
Republican colleagues doing about that?
The majority voted for a big, ugly bill that makes it even harder to
raise a child in America. It takes away healthcare from 16 million
Americans. It takes food benefits from working parents. My colleagues
on the other side of the aisle are cutting half a trillion dollars from
Medicare and hiking the costs of everyday items with their tariffs, all
to fund tax breaks for the billionaire class.
That alone is a betrayal of working families, but the GOP is not
stopping there. My Republican colleagues are not stopping at
dismantling people's financial security. Today, Republicans are
threatening their physical security because when you defund public
broadcasting, you are defunding emergency broadcasts during hurricane
season, tornado season, and wildfire season.
That is not even enough. The majority has to take even more. Today,
my colleagues are also voting to dismantle our national security.
There are three shields that defend our homeland: defense, diplomacy,
and development. When you destroy our capacity to address famine,
control disease, and build infrastructure in developing nations, you
are ceding our power to our rivals. You are planting the seeds of
future wars.
A prominent Republican said this week that he just couldn't justify
these investments. In this debate, I have heard that this is about
putting America first. What are Republicans talking about? They just
cut food programs and healthcare for American families.
Here is what my Republican colleagues fundamentally don't seem to
understand: There is no security for billionaires in this country
without security for a hungry child. There is no security for the
ultrarich donors without security for working parents.
In the words of President Kennedy: ``If a free society cannot help
the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.''
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to please vote ``no.''
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Jordan).
Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is really simple. Don't spend money on stupid
things, and don't subsidize biased media.
There are all kinds of media that are biased. They can take care of
themselves. MSNBC proves that every single day.
Think about the statement just made about NPR. Uri Berliner, an
award-winning journalist who worked for NPR for over 20 years, decided
NPR had lost its way and asked a basic question: What is the political
affiliation of the editors for NPR in the Washington, D.C., area? Guess
what he found? Eighty-seven editors' political affiliation was 87
Democrats, zero Republicans--not 44-43, not 50-37, not 60-27. It was
87-0.
This bill simply says to stop subsidizing--they can make money on
their own; all the other media outlets do it--and quit spending
taxpayer money, hard-earned taxpayer money, on stupid things.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Jeffries), the distinguished Democratic leader.
Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from
the great State of Connecticut for yielding and for her tremendous
leadership in pushing back against this reckless Republican rescissions
package.
It is extraordinary to me that, once again, we are on the floor of
the House of Representatives not debating legislation that Republicans
bring forward, Mr. Speaker, that is designed to lower the high cost of
living in the United States of America, a promise that Republicans
repeatedly made last year to the American people and now have
repeatedly broken.
Throughout this Congress, not a single bill has been brought to the
House floor by my Republican colleagues that addresses the high cost of
living in the United States of America--not a single bill.

House Republicans and President Trump promised that costs were going
to go down in the United States of America. In fact, the majority has
said that costs were going to go down on day one. Yet, we know that
costs haven't gone down in this great country, Mr. Speaker. Costs have
gone up.
America is too expensive. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs
are too high. Utility costs are too high. Childcare costs are too high.
Insurance costs are too high. America is too expensive.
Republicans have decided that, in the face of this affordability
crisis in the United States of America, the majority is going to
undermine America's ability to protect our national security through
the exercise of soft power and addressing in a bipartisan way the HIV
and AIDS epidemic, a program that was first put into place by President
George W. Bush and has saved the lives of millions of people across the
world and, of course, people here at home by fighting against this
epidemic.
America is made safer when we are able to invest in diplomacy,
development, and democracy across the world, particularly in the face
of aggressive efforts by China, Russia, and other malignant actors to
move the world in a different place.
Mr. Speaker, this reckless Republican rescissions package will
undermine America's national security and undermine public health here
in this country and across the world. It actually represents an attack
on children.
This is extraordinary to me. We are on the floor of the House of
Representatives not debating legislation that is designed to make this
country and our economy more affordable but actually debating
legislation that targets Elmo, Big Bird, Daniel Tiger, and ``Sesame
Street.'' That is what we are doing by going after public broadcasting
in the United States of America.
``Sesame Street'' has a letter of the day. I believe the letter of
the day today is C. How appropriate because this Republican bill is
cruel, and it cuts children's programming all across the country.
How can this be that Republicans' priority right now does nothing on
the economy, nothing to make life more affordable, and nothing to
address the high cost of living? Instead, Republicans are attacking
Elmo, ``Sesame Street,'' Big Bird, and Daniel Tiger. Republicans'
priorities are all wrong.
This is on top of a GOP tax scam, Mr. Speaker, where Republicans are
trying to visit on the American people the largest cuts to healthcare
in American history, targeting Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care
Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and women's health by
trying to defund Planned Parenthood. That is what Republicans in this
Congress are trying to do through the GOP tax scam, this disgusting
abomination, the one big, ugly bill.
My Republican colleagues are going after school lunch programs for
children, supplemental nutrition assistance for children, and now
children's programming.
That doesn't suggest to me that my colleagues on the other side of
the aisle are actually trying to strengthen families. This legislation
would weaken families. It would weaken our ability to lead throughout
the free world and weaken public health and safety for everyday
Americans and people all across this country.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote.
Also, I am hopeful that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
will at some point actually decide to focus on the issues that matter,
to lift children up, not target them; to lift families up, not target
them; to lift older Americans up, not target them; to lift veterans up,
not target them; and to lift healthcare for everyday Americans up, not
target them. That is what House Democrats will continue to do on behalf
of the American people. It is high time that our Republican colleagues
join us.
Vote ``no'' against this reckless Republican rescissions package.

[[Page H2801]]

Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, that was fear-mongering at its best.
I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson).
Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, America's resources should always serve
America's interests, and 22 rescissions to wasteful foreign aid and
biased media totaling $9.4 billion is a good start.
I commend this legislation because as the national debt climbs toward
$37 trillion, U.S. taxpayers deserve a government that serves them, not
radical policies abroad or at home.
The reality is that the radical left has seized these institutions
and wielded them for an agenda that doesn't serve America's interests.
Wasted government revenues siphoned off the backs of Americans' labor
through tax dollars should not be tolerated.
I commend the $1 billion rescission to the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting. Taxpayer funding for woke media entities is absurd. NPR
and PBS already have a business model that doesn't need to rely on 150
million Americans' taxed income. It does not need to promote any
agenda, including their radical agenda, with stuff like what to do if
you experience a microaggression or some other promotion of their
agenda.
Additionally, international institutions have abandoned their
original missions to promote development in exchange for radical gender
ideological and climate priorities.
That is why I support the rescissions package, and I urge support for
the bill.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Lois Frankel), the distinguished ranking member of the
National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs
Subcommittee.

{time} 1415

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in fierce
opposition to the Republicans' reckless rescission bill, a backdoor
scheme to claw back critical Federal funding that protects America's
global leadership, public safeguards, and trusted public broadcasting,
all while bypassing congressional constitutional authority.
Let's be clear: This is not a budget tweak. It is an attack on our
values; a direct hit to our national health, safety, and prosperity;
and a green light for authoritarian overreach.
This package guts essential investments in international development
and humanitarian programs, lifesaving tools that fight disease, prevent
terrorism, supports democracy, and open markets for American
businesses.
Here is the kicker, Mr. Speaker: Congress approved this funding just
2 months ago, and Donald Trump signed it into law. Now, Republicans
want to rip it back to cover up the massive hole they are blowing in
the deficit with tax giveaways for billionaires. Their so-called fiscal
responsibility comes at the expense of starving children, crumbling
democracies, and public-private partnerships that channel American
innovation to solve the world's toughest challenges.
Mr. Speaker, foreign assistance, which has long represented just
about 1 percent of our national budget, is not charity. It is strategy.
Don't take my word for it. Military leaders from both parties have
warned us for years. If we fail to lead with soft power, we will end up
paying in blood, bombs, and more boots on the ground.
Cutting foreign assistance will: deepen desperation, fuel extremism,
and push fragile societies toward collapse. When that happens, we all
pay the price. Refugee crises will surge. Diseases will spread, and
trade routes will shut down. Our troops and diplomats face greater
danger, and our homeland security is weakened.
Here is an example of what is on the chopping block: PEPFAR, which
has saved over 26 million lives and nearly 8 million babies from being
born with HIV; food assistance, which stabilizes communities and
creates agricultural markets; and public-private partnerships that
channel American innovation to solve the world's toughest challenges.
Let's talk about what happens when we pull back. When the United
States steps away, others step in and not with good intentions. China
is flooding developing countries with infrastructure loans and digital
surveillance systems. Russia is exporting mercenaries and
disinformation. While we are debating whether to send a bag of rice or
a clean water pump, our adversaries are buying influence, forging
military alliances, and rewriting the rules of global engagement.
This is not theoretical. This is happening right now. Let's take
Africa, for example, a region poised to become one-quarter of the
world's population. U.S. assistance has helped build stability there
through nutrition programs, education, and public health. If we walk
away now, we are not just abandoning our values. We are surrendering
one of the world's fastest growing marketplaces to China.
Let's be clear: Regions we assist aren't just aid recipients. They
are emerging economies and future trading partners. Pulling back opens
the door for authoritarian regimes like China to dominate the future,
commerce, connectivity, and development.
This is not just cruel. It is strategically self-defeating and
economically foolish.
Make no mistake, this rescission package is Project 2025 in action--
dismantling our institutions, silencing oversight, and handing U.S.
global leadership over to the dictators on a silver platter, leaving us
alone in the world.
This bill attempts to rubberstamp the Trump administration's illegal
actions, blocking funding already approved by Congress, firing career
public servants, and hollowing out entire agencies.
Let's be honest. These are not going to lower the costs for American
families. It is not going to reduce the deficit, but it will make the
world more dangerous.
It will make Americans less safe and less prosperous.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' on this bill.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Fine).
Mr. FINE. Mr. Speaker, I have heard from my colleagues on the other
side that we should be focused on issues that matter, that we should be
thinking about our kids.
As I lay awake at night here in Washington--I have only been here a
couple months, but as bad as I thought it was going to be. It is far
worse because Rome is burning and too many people in this building say
that that is a great opportunity to roast marshmallows.
The fact of the matter is, if we can't make these cuts, which are as
simple and as easy as you would think--$6 million to fund media in
Gaza, funding PBS and NPR--even if it was a good idea, you can't do it
when you are borrowing trillions of dollars a year.
If we can't make these cuts, which should be the easiest imaginable
cuts, then there is no hope for us. I am grateful to my leadership for
bringing this forward. I am grateful to President Trump for doing it,
but make no mistake: This is only the first step if we want to put out
the fire.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Illinois (Ms. Kelly).
Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to President
Trump's rescission package that steals $400 million from PEPFAR, a
lifesaving global health program.
Let me remind my colleagues that PEPFAR is a bipartisan effort first
led by Congresswoman Barbara Lee and signed by President George W.
Bush. It has been reauthorized on a bipartisan basis four times.
Right now, Republicans who are supportive of PEPFAR are calling the
White House seeking assurances that it will be protected. Do not listen
to the President's empty promises. Nothing in this bill protects
PEPFAR.
If I were to put it simply, PEPFAR saves lives. It has already saved
26 million lives. That is indisputable, and it should be enough to
continue to fund one of the most successful global health programs in
history.
If I cannot appeal to my colleague's humanitarian side, perhaps they
will listen to all the ways PEPFAR serves American interests. PEPFAR is
a cornerstone of global health progress and U.S. diplomacy. If Congress
was to bow to President Trump's demands to pull PEPFAR funding, it
would leave a gap for China to fill.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the sponsor of the

[[Page H2802]]

bill and the majority leader of the House.
Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, our conference chair
(Mrs. McClain) for managing this time on this important bill.
Mr. Speaker, a lot of people come up here, and they talk about trying
to get America's fiscal house in order. They talk about the idea of
getting back to balanced Federal budgets. I don't know many people here
who are against it.
I know later in this Congress when we put a bill on the floor to
require a balanced Federal budget, there will be many Democrats, Mr.
Speaker, who will vote ``no'' on that because when it comes time to
actually put your votes on the board to back up the principles that
most Americans relish, they walk away. They won't be there when it
actually matters.
Everybody can talk about cutting wasteful spending, even if you don't
necessarily agree that it is wasteful spending. However, what we are
bringing today is wasteful spending, even if you think it might not be
as bad as some other things you don't agree with. We all have to agree,
Mr. Speaker, that as we just saw a few weeks ago, Moody's downgraded
the credit rating of the United States.
It wasn't a recommendation, Mr. Speaker. It wasn't a warning that if
you folks don't get your fiscal house in order this might happen. They
actually did it. They downgraded the credit rating of the United States
because spending has to get under control. The party over there that
spent the last 4 years under President Biden spending like drunken
sailors, in all due respect to drunken sailors because they don't spend
this bad, but the trillions of dollars of debt that were racked up had
consequences, Mr. Speaker.
It had consequences not only in terms of our national debt, but it
affected the pocketbooks of families all across America because that
bloated spending in Washington, which is money we don't have, by the
way; and it increased inflation to the point where people couldn't even
go to the grocery store to fill up their carts. They couldn't afford to
go to the gas station to fill up their cars. They couldn't afford to
take out a loan to buy a house because interest rates had gotten so
high that today we are spending more money servicing our interest than
we are on America's national debt.
These are all real, dramatic facts that concern most Americans. They
say: Thank goodness Congress is finally bringing a bill to the floor to
start cutting some spending that aren't priorities.
You can call it wasteful if you want. Call it whatever you want, but
these aren't things that we can afford to spend, even if you agree with
them, because it is not money we have in the bank. It is all borrowed
money, Mr. Speaker.
Where did we start? The White House laid out a number of things, but
they looked at that USAID program. They didn't gut the whole thing, but
they said there are a number of things that are being done that just
don't represent the values of the United States and are being done in
foreign countries while we don't have our fiscal house in order here in
America, so how about we start there.
I know the Democrats on the other side are acting like, oh, my God,
the world is going to stop spinning on its axis if this spending goes
away, so why don't we talk about some of the spending that will go
away.
Mr. Speaker, again, it is borrowed money, not money we just took out
of the bank. It is money we borrowed from countries like China to spend
that is a debt to our kids.
To each one of these I list, Mr. Speaker, you should ask: If you vote
``yes,'' you are finally relieving that debt burden, but if you vote
``no,'' you think it is okay to send this bill to our kids. We are not
paying for it today, Mr. Speaker, but our kids would if we keep doing
it.
If the other side votes no, they want to keep borrowing money from
our children to spend a million dollars on voter ID in Haiti. This is
the same party that doesn't want voter ID in America, calls it racist,
wants to fund voter ID in Haiti. They want to spend $6 million for net-
zero cities in Mexico. I know some of their best supporters are waving
a Mexican flag in an American city right now, and they support those
efforts. Most Americans don't support those efforts, Mr. Speaker. They
want to spend $3 million for ``Iraqi Sesame Street.'' The minority
leader held up a ``Sesame Street'' character here on the floor as if
``Sesame Street'' is somehow going to go away.

I was just watching a commercial on TV yesterday where the Cookie
Monster was actually doing an advertisement for Netflix because a
private company is paying money to run ``Sesame Street.'' It is not
going away. It is doing just fine. It is very lucrative.
What will go away is some of the far-left radical views that are
being espoused. By the way, when this goes away at NPR, you can still
turn on about six or seven other channels and get the same far-left
radical views, but they are all going to be private companies, Mr.
Speaker, not taxpayer-funded entities.
If somebody wants to pay money to go on one of their services that
they stream or get over-the-top or however they get their digital
content, they can still do that. There are a lot of options. There has
never been more options.
Some people joke that they buy their services for their cable or
whatever else they get and that there are 200 channels, but they might
only watch 4 or 5 of them. There is still going to be a plethora of
options for the American people, but if they are paying their hard-
earned dollars to go get content, why should your tax dollars go to
only one thing that the other side wants to promote?
Let everybody compete on a fair basis. They can still watch ``Sesame
Street'' in Iraq, but let the Iraqi people pay for it, not the
taxpayers of the United States of America's children. Today's taxpayers
aren't paying for it because it is all borrowed money.
They want to spend $2.1 million for climate resilience in Southeast
Asia, Latin America, and East Africa; $500,000 for electric buses in
Rwanda. Rwanda is more than free to go buy all the electric buses they
want or diesel buses. Why should the taxpayers of America be borrowing
money from our children to buy electric buses for Rwanda?
They want to spend $33,000 for ``Being LGBTQI in the Caribbean.'' It
is taxpayer money that a ``no'' vote today says is more important than
strengthening a program like Social Security. I say not.

{time} 1430

Also included is $643,000 for LGBTQI+ programs in the Western
Balkans. This is borrowed money.
Mr. Speaker, there is $567,000 for LGBTQI+ programs in Uganda and
$5.1 million to strengthen the ``resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
intersex, and queer global movements.'' I am not sure what that global
movement is. They can continue that movement in some other way, but
just not with the taxpayer dollars of the United States of America's
children.
Again, there is no bank account that $5.1 million came out of. It is
all borrowed money that a ``no'' vote says is more important than
strengthening Social Security.
There is $135 million in contributions to the World Health
Organization, which we all saw during COVID was the mouthpiece for the
Chinese Communist Party. I would imagine if we stop this $135 million
funding, the CCP may pick it up because they were regurgitating their
talking points during COVID.
At some point, Mr. Speaker, the question we have all got to answer
is: Number one, do you believe in fiscal responsibility? Maybe some
people have other priorities than these they would like to defund. If
you think these are all things that are worth borrowing money from our
children to fund, then that is what the ``no'' vote represents.
If you think it is time we start somewhere, and here is the place to
finally start--not to finish, just the beginning--getting control over
spending and respecting those families who are working hard, who are
working two shifts at the diner to pay taxes on tips that will soon go
away if our One Big Beautiful Bill Act passes, or somebody who is
working overtime because you want to send your kid to college and you
find out this is where your taxpayer dollars are going and you are
disgusted and say, when will somebody do something about it, then today
is the day to do something about it.
Talk is cheap. Put the action on the floor. Let's finally get control
over

[[Page H2803]]

spending in a small way. Start a bigger picture toward a balanced
budget. It starts here.
Vote ``yes,'' to get this done, and let's keep moving forward to
strengthen this great country. I urge a ``yes'' vote.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Doggett).
Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, where lies are king, the truth is the
enemy. Institutions that spread knowledge are defamed as ``enemies of
the people.'' NPR and PBS are targeted here today precisely because
they are so good at delivering the truth. Like millions, I tune into
both of them daily.
Trump tweets: `` . . . RADICAL LEFT' `MONSTERS THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR
COUNTRY!'' What hurts Trump are facts when he demands flattery.
This attempt to quash thorough, objective NPR and PBS reporting is a
sign of Trump's weakness, of his drive toward tyranny. Trump doesn't
want a country of engaged, informed Americans. He prefers those who
salute on command, like for his North Korean-style, taxpayer-funded,
wasteful $45 million birthday bash this Saturday.
Reject these dangerous DOGE cuts and defend the right of the American
people to know.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McDowell). Members are reminded to
refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. McClintock).
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, this is the first of what needs to be
many rescission bills stopping the waste of public funds.
The absurd expenditures the majority leader just listed speak volumes
about the scandalous corruption and carelessness of a bloated
government. Every dollar comes from working American families
struggling to pay both their bills and their taxes.
Now, this waste is enabled by two classes of expenditures that we
should foreswear forever. One is grants, cash handouts to political
favorites with little accountability or oversight, whether directly or
through agencies like USAID. The other is subsidies that replace the
judgment of consumers with that of politicians, distorting the flow of
capital from its highest and best use.
As we express our outrage at this waste and take this first step to
claw it back, let us remember that Congress approved all of it, and it
is time that we repented before we bankrupt our country.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Beyer).
Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, people will die. That is not hyperbole. It is
reality.
When you cut PEPFAR, which is the signature program that President
George W. Bush created to eradicate the AIDS epidemic, people will die.
OMB Director Russ Vought confirmed that the bill cuts PEPFAR by $400
million.
When you cut funding to family planning programs, tens of millions
will be denied modern contraceptives, resulting in millions of
unintended pregnancies and tens of thousands of preventable pregnancy-
related deaths.
When you cut funding for international peacekeeping and to people
escaping violence, people will die.
When we reduce development assistance that ensures people have access
to food and clean water, people will die.
When you cut money to Ukraine for food security and energy grid
resilience, more people will die in their war against the Russian
invasion.
USAID is our strongest soft power vehicle. Even if you don't care
about how many people will die, it is one of our strongest assets to
saving money by decreasing military conflict risk.

I also want to speak up for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
which provides critical kids' educational programs.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is bad for America. People will die.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I can't take the fear-mongering anymore. Let me correct the truth
with the other half of the truth. We are talking about PEPFAR: $4.4
billion, and we are talking about cutting less than 1 percent from that
whole entire program.
We are not saying that you have to cut AIDS. Perhaps let me tell you
what other programs that we could cut for the American people. You are
saying that people are going to die because you want to cut the
funding. We are not saying that.
How about we do this? How about we cut $3 million for circumcisions,
vasectomies, and condoms in Zambia? How about that? How about we cut
$5.1 million that is used to strengthen the resilience of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer global movement? I have got
an idea. How about instead of spending it there, how about we spend
that money and invest in American healthcare? I could go on and on, but
this fear-mongering has absolutely got to stop.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Smucker).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to address their
remarks to the Chair.
Mr. SMUCKER. Mr. Speaker, this bill represents a tiny fraction of the
total we are spending annually. It is a tiny fraction, 0.2 percent,
one-fifth of a percent of what President Biden added to the debt over
the last 4 years. Yet, Democrats are saying that these savings are
cruel. They literally said this will destroy America as we know it. No
one outside of the beltway will take them seriously.
Have my Democratic colleagues even looked at what is in this bill
before attacking? Is it cruel to suggest that American taxpayers
shouldn't have to pay $60,000 to celebrate DEI in the Netherlands or
$30,000 to foster ``queer-feminist discourse'' in Albania?
Is it cruel to cut a program spending $700,000 to expand fruit and
jam sales in Honduras?
By the way, speaking of jam, my last name is Smucker, but even I know
that is a bad deal.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you what will destroy America as we know it,
and that is this unsustainable debt that we are passing on to our kids
and grandkids. I urge my colleagues to support this rescission package.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Sherman).
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, last month Secretary Rubio responded to me
and said no one had died as a result of the gutting of USAID, but
Boston University School of Public Health shows us that 300,000 people
have died already because they were cut off from food and medicine for
tuberculosis, AIDS, and malaria.
The Center for Global Development says that 3.3 million preventable
deaths will occur because of the gutting of USAID, but they won't just
die there. Americans will die, too, because when malaria, tuberculosis,
and AIDS infect anyone in the world, those diseases replicate. They
mutate, and they migrate back here in more virulent forms.
Evan Anzoo, a 5-year-old boy, was cut off from his HIV medications in
February and died. He is the first to die at the hands of Elon Musk and
Donald Trump.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that we observe a full minute of
silence in the memory of this child victim. I ask unanimous consent.
Let us remember Evan Anzoo.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Gill).
Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, if FOX News or talk radio or any
other conservative media outlet came to me and asked us if we should
provide them with taxpayer-funded handouts, I would say no, and I
believe that most of my colleagues would as well.
I certainly think that far-left propaganda outlets like NPR should be
defunded. Remember, this is an outlet that believes writing articles
about fat phobia and queer animals constitutes serious journalism. They
have the right to say whatever they want to, but they do not have the
right to our tax dollars.
To my colleagues who say that this is only a small part of our
budget, I would ask them what, outside of border security and national
defense, would they like to cut from our budget? They have never seen a
foreign country they don't want to shower with our tax dollars or an
illegal alien that they don't want to give welfare to.
This is a logical first step to get our finances under control. I
urge my colleagues to vote for this rescissions bill.

[[Page H2804]]

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Rhode Island (Mr. Magaziner).
Mr. MAGAZINER. Mr. Speaker, more than any other day I have been in
Congress, the cruelty of the Trump administration and the Republican
majority is on display. They are asking us to rubber-stamp Elon Musk's
cuts to PEPFAR, which saves millions of lives treating people with HIV,
funding for clean water, funding to fight malaria, funding to help
people starving from famine.
Donald Trump and Republicans are doing this at the same time they are
giving trillions of tax cuts to the rich. While they are at it, they
are also cutting educational programming for children, like PBS.
Why are they doing this? It is not to reduce the deficit because this
$9 billion is a fraction of a fraction of the tax cuts they are trying
to pass for billionaires. These are the richest people in the world
taking food and medicine away from the poorest children in the world.
I have news for Elon Musk and Donald Trump and the billionaires: No
matter how much money you have, no matter how many poor people you take
food and medicine away from, it will not fill that hole inside of you.
To my colleagues in the House: History will judge us today. You have
the chance to be heroes. Vote ``no.''
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. McDowell).
Mr. McDOWELL. Mr. Speaker, today we do what lifelong bureaucrats in
this town fear most: We cut their funding.
For far too long, Washington bureaucrats have taken advantage of the
American taxpayer, sending their hard-earned money to fund the corrupt
foreign aid complex, and pushing government funding for educational
programs that groom our children. That stops today.
The Rescissions Act of 2025 is not just a bill. It is a part of a
much larger course correction. This bill rips back over $9 billion from
the clutches of globalist NGOs, projects that fund radical gender
ideology, and the green new scam.
The great people of North Carolina didn't send me here to manage
decline. They sent me here to help President Trump usher in the new
golden age. Let the left scream. Let the media moan and grown, but
today we are putting Americans first and looking out for their hard-
earned tax dollars. I urge a ``yes'' vote.

{time} 1445

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove).
Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this
package. It is embarrassing. It is trifling. This is a funding package
that Republicans actually agreed to and voted on last Congress when
they were in the majority. Republicans must be missing Biden now
because they actually had more influence under him than under Trump.
Now, Republicans are going back on their own agreement and giving up
their own power with this package. The real question is, why show up
here if you have an orange daddy doing your work for you?
This vote actually puts every Republican on record as supporting
Elon's attack on democracy when even Steve Bannon said that Elon and
DOGE found no waste.
With this package, Republicans are one step closer to a country that
looks more like the adversaries we profess to oppose. Americans will be
left to clean up this mess, and we will have zero standing in the
international community and zero claim to global leadership while you
all have killed off Elmo.
I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this trash.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Smucker). Members are reminded to
refrain from engaging in personalities toward the President.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I never realized Elmo was more important
to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle than the American
people, but anyway.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Meuser).
Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman McClain for her
leadership.
Mr. Speaker, during President Trump's first term, we had progrowth
policies, a progrowth economy, and tax revenue growth. Even after
COVID, the Biden administration accelerated the deficit with unchecked
spending, causing the deficit to double, which increased service on the
debt from $400 billion in 2019 to nearly $1 trillion last year. That is
why this package takes steps to rein in irresponsible agencies. Some
have been taken over by ideologues doing things that are simply not in
the interest of the American people.
Maybe USAID has done some good things, but they have also done many
things that were totally inappropriate. Agencies like this need to be
defunded or reformed. The American people aren't going to put up with
it anymore.
To that end, why is the government still funding public television
and radio when most people have hundreds of channels to get their news
and information from and when these stations are some of the most
partisan stations out there? Can you imagine, as was stated earlier, if
a conservative station was funded? The left would have screamed,
vilified, and exterminated it a long while ago.
Mr. Speaker, let's pass this rescissions package, codify President
Trump's spending reductions into law, and save our country along the
way.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Colorado (Ms. Boebert).
Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support today of H.R. 4, President Trump's
big, beautiful rescissions package.
This bill slashes radical foreign aid at the State Department, USAID,
and the U.S. Institute of Peace for woke gender ideology and equity
nonsense that mocks American values. Why are we bankrolling wokeism
abroad when ranchers and small business owners in my district are
struggling?
H.R. 4 defunds PBS and NPR's biased media circus. For years,
taxpayers have been forced to subsidize a public media system that is
less about informing and more about indoctrinating.
To my friends across the aisle, I know you love your globalist pet
projects, but the American people are fed up. The voters that sent us
here are watching, and they are done seeing their dollars shipped
overseas and funneled into biased media.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4 is a victory for taxpayers, and I urge its
adoption.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks
to the Chair.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Onder).
Mr. ONDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4 to codify
President Trump's DOGE tax cuts.
Americans have been awash in unsustainable debt and waste, and
Americans have known it long before DOGE began its work. What many
didn't realize is just how bad the problem is: $14 million in cash
vouchers for illegals at the southern border, $3.3 million for being
LGBTQ in the Caribbean, $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia,
and $1.5 million to promote LGBTQ employment in Serbia, not to mention
the hundreds of millions wasted on the politically biased government
media known as NPR.
Enough is enough. We must rein in Washington's reckless spending and
hold bureaucrats accountable.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me and put Americans and
fiscal sanity first in what I hope will be the first of many rescission
bills.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, may I ask how much time remains on each
side.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Michigan has 8 minutes
remaining.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Florida (Mr. Webster).
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, the American people have called
on

[[Page H2805]]

their elected officials to do what they asked, and that is to cut
waste, fraud, and abuse. Today, we deliver.
Together with President Trump, we are eliminating billions of dollars
of spending, this wasteful spending on leftwing organizations that mock
millions of Americans. We will also eliminate wasteful spending on
radical programs in lands far, far away that do not put America first.

I have consistently voted to cut the spigot of spending, and I will
continue that record by voting to pass this bill today. I urge my
colleagues to do the same.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
West Virginia (Mr. Moore).
Mr. MOORE of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the RSC
Rescissions Task Force, I am proud to support this bill to codify the
DOGE cuts.
The American people know waste, fraud, and abuse when they see it.
They want us to eliminate Democrats' radical agenda, including $5.1
million for global LGBTQ movements, $3 million for circumcisions in
Zambia, and $833,000 for transgender surgeries in Nepal.
This package also ensures tax dollars aren't used to weaponize media
against the American people. The CEO of NPR called President Trump a
fascist while claiming her network is unbiased. These outlets can be as
insane as they want--they might want to check CNN's ratings before
doing that--but they are just not going to do it with American taxpayer
dollars anymore.
This rescissions package is only the first step, and I urge my
colleagues to support it.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Harrigan).
Mr. HARRIGAN. Mr. Speaker, the American people are sick and tired of
watching Washington burn through their paychecks on wasteful,
ridiculous, and downright offensive projects. This rescissions package
is our chance to prove that we still remember who we work for here in
Washington.
We are cutting $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam, $47,000
for transgender surgeries in Colombia, and nearly $10 billion for NPR,
PBS, and other bloated liberal pet projects that have no place in a
responsible budget.
Washington acts like taxpayer dollars are theirs to waste, but they
are not. Every cent belongs to the men and women who work long hours,
pay their bills, and expect their government to act with a shred of
discipline. This is about more than numbers. It is about trust. It is
about respect. And it is about time.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this bill and prove that
Congress can still do the right thing.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
South Carolina (Ms. Mace).
Ms. MACE. Mr. Speaker, under President Donald Trump's leadership,
this rescissions package codifies $9.4 billion in DOGE cuts by
canceling some of the most egregious Biden-era waste, fraud, and abuse.
Here is just some of the funding that we are canceling today: $4
million for sedentary migrants in Colombia; $3 million for
circumcision, vasectomies, and condoms in Zambia; $5.1 million to
strengthen the resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
intersex, and queer global movements; $3 million for Iraqi ``Sesame
Street''; $2.5 million for teaching young children how to make
environmentally friendly reproductive health decisions; and $833,000
for services for transgender people, sex workers and their clients, and
sexual networks in Nepal.
The American people are begging Congress to get off its ass, codify
the DOGE cuts, and stop this taxpayer-funded nonsense. Failure is not
an option.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert into the Record the
text of Representative Kelly's amendment immediately prior to the
motion to recommit.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Connecticut?
There was no objection.
Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, President Trump promised to bring down the
cost of living. He made it worse. He is illegally stealing
congressionally approved taxpayer dollars, and these are services for
the American people.
If my colleagues want to deal with waste, fraud, and abuse, they have
to deal with cutting back on the $4.5 trillion tax cut for billionaires
that the Republicans supported and voted on, tax cuts for billionaires
and the biggest corporations.
If my colleagues vote for this bill, they own every reckless cut
crafted by Elon Musk. They are rubberstamping illegal cuts, and they
own it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President.
Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear. These rescissions
should get bipartisan support. We, as elected officials on both sides
of the aisle, have been entrusted with the hard-earned tax dollars of
the American people.
The duly elected President of the United States has asked this
Congress to protect the American people's tax dollars. It is the least
we can do. The administration has identified waste, fraud, and abuse of
American taxpayer dollars. It is our responsibility as Representatives
to act on those abuses and rescind the money.
All of us should be able to vote to eliminate $45 million in
duplicative spending in the African development program. We should all
be able to support eliminating $1.7 billion for radical gender projects
in the Economic Support Fund. Every Member of this Chamber should be
able to support a rescission of $2.5 billion in the development of
assistance programs, which bankrolled corrupt leaders in foreign
countries.
Mr. Speaker, the American people are watching their Representatives
today, emphasis on ``their Representatives.'' They are watching to see
if their Representatives have the courage to actually fight for them or
will their Representatives defend waste, fraud, and abuse of the
bloated Federal Government.
I can say with certainty that House Republicans will always put the
American people first, and I hope the other side of the aisle might
have the courage to join us.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes''
on H.R. 4 so that we can take the necessary first step in rescinding
the wasteful spending of American taxpayer dollars.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

{time} 1500

The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 499, the previous question is ordered on
the bill.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.

Motion to Recommit

Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at
the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Yakym). The Clerk will report the motion
to recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Ms. Kelly of Illinois moves to recommit the bill H.R. 4 to
the Committee on Appropriations.

The material previously referred to by Ms. DeLauro is as follows:

Ms. Kelly of Illinois moves to recommit the bill H.R. 4 to
the Committee on Appropriations with the following amendment:
Strike section 2(b)(6).

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XIX, the
previous question is ordered on the motion to recommit.
The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and
nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.

[[Page H2806]]

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