During a debate on the House floor on Tuesday, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) discussed the proposed 'Gulf of America' Act.
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00:00The gentlewoman from Pennsylvania is recognized.
00:03Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
00:05As much as it pains me to say this, we're here on the House floor today
00:09because the House Republican majority has chosen to prioritize debate and passage of a bill
00:14to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
00:19That's not what my constituents think is the most important thing Congress should tackle this week or this year.
00:25And I bet it's not what your constituents think either.
00:28It's easy to mock this legislation because it's so inane and embarrassing, and we have,
00:35but its very existence and the fact that House Republicans have chosen to waste time
00:40and taxpayer dollars to bring it up for a vote is worth considering.
00:44So let's talk about the real Gulf of America, the Gulf in America,
00:49the Gulf between the ambitions and priorities of this White House,
00:53aided and abetted by the House majority, and the needs of the American people.
00:57The Gulf that makes Republicans think that it's more important to give tax cuts to billionaires
01:03than to make sure that America's children and veterans and seniors have food and housing and medical services
01:10and that we protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.
01:15The Gulf that causes the Speaker to bring ridiculous legislation to the floor
01:20to flatter the President and appease his base rather than meet the needs of the American people.
01:26Americans want a Congress and a White House that solves problems rather than creates them.
01:32Americans aren't asking to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
01:35In fact, public polling, including on Fox,
01:38says that nearly 70 percent of Americans oppose that executive order
01:41and this legislation to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
01:46Like many Americans, I follow the news each day with trepidation.
01:50Many folks tell me that the chaos and missteps of this administration
01:54are too painful or upsetting to follow, and they've tuned it out
01:58because the only guarantee we have is that every day,
02:01the President or his administration will have done something dumber or more dangerous
02:06than the day before.
02:08Each day brings its own self-inflicted crisis with this White House,
02:12and millions of Americans are exhausted by it.
02:15They're pleading with their elected officials to act,
02:18to do something, anything, to bring normalcy back to this country,
02:21to bring decency back to this country.
02:25There was a time when American public life was guided by a genuine sense of duty
02:29and a converse fear of shame, but today neither appear to hold much sway.
02:36Instead, we have a White House filled with charlatans, made-for-TV personalities,
02:40conmen, snake oil salesmen, grifters, billionaires, and criminals,
02:44all using the power of the federal government to enrich themselves
02:47at the expense of the American people and to punish their political opponents.
02:53Last week was President Trump's 100th day in office,
02:55a customary benchmark by which we measure the successes and failures
03:01of a new president's term.
03:02I think it's safe to say that Trump's first 100 days have been a disaster.
03:08His tariff policies are likely to cause a recession.
03:11Millions of people have seen their retirement savings evaporate.
03:14Families don't know if they're going to be afforded basic goods,
03:18much less Christmas dolls.
03:20Businesses, big and small, are paralyzed by uncertainty
03:23and reducing their spending,
03:24and many small businesses may not survive.
03:27To add insult to injury, when faced with these facts,
03:31what does the president say?
03:32Deal with it.
03:34Those are the president's own words.
03:35The tariffs will be painful, but it's a price that must be paid.
03:40But paid by whom?
03:41It won't be Trump or the billionaires in his cabinet or at his golf clubs.
03:46No, it's going to be real people, people who work for a living,
03:50who will have to pay the price for his ill-conceived trade war.
03:54It's not going to be guys like Bassenford, Lutnick,
03:57who have multi-million dollar mansions and fly on private planes.
04:00They'll be just fine.
04:02However, for working parents, according to Trump,
04:05maybe the kids will have two dolls instead of 30,
04:07and I don't know who has 30 dolls.
04:09And maybe the moms who live in my district
04:11will have to pay more for the stroller
04:13they use to transport their kids to daycare and doctors
04:17and the grocery store.
04:19So much for the guy who said he was going to bring down prices on day one.
04:23And it's worth noting that just yesterday in our rules markup,
04:26our Republican colleagues voted once again
04:29to keep the Trump tariffs in place.
04:31Over a month ago, they rigged the rules of the House
04:34to prevent Congress from voting to end the Trump tariffs.
04:38They literally voted to stop time,
04:41to say that for the purposes of protecting the Trump tariffs,
04:45there's only one day between now and the end of September.
04:48That will prevent anyone from being able to force a vote
04:51on whether to end Trump's tariffs.
04:54So they're dragging down our economy and American families with it.
04:58And that's just the terrible Trump tariffs.
05:01In these first hundred days, the administration has cut services at Social Security,
05:06fired medical staff at VA hospitals, and withheld aid to food banks,
05:11children's health programs, and community violence prevention efforts.
05:15They've waged a political war against universities and scientific research,
05:19and illegally frozen over $400 billion in congressionally appropriated funds,
05:25including billions of dollars to FEMA,
05:28to everyone from local firefighters to states that have been affected by natural disasters.
05:33This White House has issued hundreds of controversial executive orders,
05:38many of which courts have deemed illegal or unconstitutional.
05:43And every day, this administration is disappearing hundreds of people,
05:48sending them to faraway detention centers without any due process,
05:52due process that would expose mistakes and lies about some people who are not criminals,
05:59and in some cases are even citizens, and therefore should not be deported.
06:03The damage that's being caused right now by this administration to our communities,
06:08to our international standing, to our national security and national fabric,
06:13will take years to unwind.
06:16But eager to do their part and contribute to the chaos,
06:19House Republicans continue to find novel ways to bring this chamber to new lows.
06:24This week, Republicans are putting forward two bills,
06:26one that's pretty much a redundant effort to counter Confucius Institutes,
06:31and another to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
06:35The second bill may be the dumbest bill brought to the floor during the six years I've served in Congress.
06:41With all of the important work this Congress should be tackling,
06:44the Speaker and House Republicans have chosen to indulge the President in a whim
06:48that the American public does not support.
06:52Frankly, if I had to vote on a bill like this, I would find it deeply embarrassing,
06:56and I know my Republican colleagues are smart people.
06:59They're not dumb, so I have to feel that they share this embarrassment,
07:03unless they're members of a cult, a cult of personality based around a dear leader
07:08who they're required to obey or risk retribution,
07:11and upon whom they bestow endless compliments and praise in order to seek personal favors.
07:17And it doesn't matter how much damage he causes, how much money he wastes,
07:21how many lives and family he hurts.
07:23It doesn't matter if he causes a recession.
07:26It doesn't matter if he encourages influence peddling and grift with a Trump coin
07:30or his Gulf of America merch,
07:32or if he gives insider stock tips before taking executive action.
07:38House Republicans seem to always do what Trump says.
07:41So if he wants to do something as dumb as rename the Gulf of Mexico,
07:46Republicans apparently will fall in line.
07:48We'll watch them twist themselves into pretzels
07:51to come up with increasingly convoluted rationale for the President's actions.
07:56Today will surely be a master class in delusion.
08:01Further adding to the chaos,
08:02this month House Republicans are expected to finish drafting the text of the reconciliation bill,
08:07through which they're planning to cut health care benefits to seniors and children
08:11and people with disabilities and cut nutrition assistance to the poor
08:15in order to pay for a huge tax giveaway to billionaires and big business.
08:21Despite more than 40 years of empirical evidence
08:24showing that Republicans' trickle-down economics are a resounding failure,
08:29Republicans are nonetheless pushing ahead with their party orthodoxy.
08:33We have more than enough evidence that trickle-down economics does not work.
08:39It doesn't help the middle class, it doesn't create jobs,
08:41it doesn't increase business investment,
08:43and it doesn't grow the economy.
08:46What these policies actually do is allow companies and their shareholders
08:49to pocket more profits at the expense of everyone else.
08:54It's because of trickle-down economics
08:56that we now have some of the most extreme income inequality
09:00in this country, in our nation's history.
09:04To pay for this giveaway to the rich,
09:05Republicans are going to take away health care benefits and food assistance
09:08and cut critical federal investments in our local communities,
09:12in our democracy, in the environment, and in our national security.
09:17Also, millionaires and billionaires can get an extra buck.
09:20It's horrifying, it's immoral, and it's un-American.
09:25Unlike many of my Republican colleagues,
09:27I have participated in multiple town halls this year
09:30to hear from my constituents.
09:32One message that I hear consistently
09:34is that people are scared.
09:37These are good, honest, hard-working Americans
09:40who in one way or another
09:42have been forced to rely on Medicaid or Medicare
09:44or SNAP or WIC or Head Start
09:47or Social Security or LIHEAP
09:49in order to make ends meet for their families.
09:52And they're rightfully scared
09:54that Republicans are planning to gut those programs.
09:57We'll surely hear all kinds of mental gymnastics
09:59from our colleagues
10:00about how millionaires really need that extra tax cut
10:03or how cutting Medicaid won't really lead
10:06to a loss of coverage or service.
10:07We'll hear tortured arguments from Republicans
10:10to hide what they're really doing.
10:12When you take a step back
10:14and look at everything that's happening,
10:16this White House, in concert with Elon Musk
10:18and Congressional Republicans have put the country
10:20on a dark and troubling path, a fear-based path.
10:25It's leading us to a place
10:26that has more in common with Stalin's Russia
10:29than the free society envisioned by our founding fathers.
10:33It's heartbreaking to see the lengths
10:36to which some people will go
10:37to destroy the ideas and institution
10:40that for decades have made this country great.
10:43Mr. Speaker, I think it goes without saying
10:45that I rise in strong opposition to this rule
10:48and I reserve the balance of my time.
10:49The general moment.