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Source: Congress.gov
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from sexual exploitation. The Committee on Energy and Commerce is working to address the biggest issues facing our country and our constituents. Every bill we're considering today is bipartisan, and in many cases, members of this committee have been working together on them over several congresses. Every bill today, either passed out of the committee unanimously and through the House last year, was strong bipartisan votes or were negotiated and agreed upon on a bipartisan, bicameral basis at the end of last year. Every single bill we are considering today had bipartisan agreement last Congress, and I hope we can pick up where we left off and move them all forward today. Earlier this Congress ranking member, my good friend from New Jersey, Pallone, and I testified before the House Administration Committee to talk about our committee budget, and I really appreciate what my good friend said at the hearing. when he said, while we were not able to get these bipartisan bills and provisions signed at all last Congress, I know that we're committed to getting them done this Congress. And I'm glad to report that we're moving these bills forward because they make our country stronger and we need to pass this critical legislation. In particular, we'll advance healthcare legislation to lower costs for patients, support cancer research, and address substance use disorder. And I'm thankful to all of my colleagues who have supported this legislation to increase access to care for patients and their families. Today, we have an opportunity to advance multiple bills that will strengthen our communications infrastructure and better prevent attacks from our adversaries who are continually seeking to compromise our critical infrastructure. These bills will help fortify our networks against our threats. While technological leadership is critically important to our national security and economic prosperity, as a father and a grandfather, I am extremely concerned by the stories we're hearing from parents about the potential unintended consequences of new technologies. from protecting Americans from romance scams to increasing price transparency in ticketing and lodging, today should be a chance to celebrate bipartisan wins that serve our constituents.
I am still hopeful we can make progress soon on some of the other bills I have discussed with my friends from across the aisle, but nonetheless, we are marking up some outstanding legislation today And I want to thank all of our sponsors for their hard work getting us to this point. I always say the work we do here in the House affects people and their homes. This legislation makes Americans' homes safer, healthier, and more prosperous. Thank you for all your hard work. I appreciate everybody's efforts for advancing this legislation. I yield back, and I recognize the ranking member, Mr. Pallone, for five minutes for his opening statement.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're here today for what would normally be a routine markup of 26 bills. However, these are not normal times. I know Republicans want to proceed with business as usual around here, but the daily chaos and illegal activity that we're seeing from the Trump administration is not business as usual. The reality is most of the bills we're considering today were already agreed to last year as part of a bipartisan bicameral legislative package that was set to be passed and signed into law in December. before Elon Musk intervened and killed the agreement. We should be passing that entire package as one bill today. That package included important provisions that would have lowered costs for hardworking Americans, but instead of passing it and sending it to the President's desk to be signed into law, my Republican colleagues allowed Elon Musk to decide what becomes law. What's especially upsetting about this is that my Republican colleagues know this was a good agreement that would have helped people. It included provisions to lower prescription drug prices, crack down on junk fees, lower gas prices, ensure our water is safe to drink, and fund community health centers and teaching health centers. Republicans repeatedly look the other way. First, as President Trump gave Elon Musk and his doge lackeys free reign to loot the American government and destroy our institutions and illegally fire tens of thousands of public servants who go to work every day to serve the American people. And now, as Trump's reckless tariffs are leading to the largest middle class tax increase in at least 50 years. These tariffs are crashing our economy, raising costs for groceries and other goods, and wiping out the hard-earned retirement savings of middle-class families. Amidst all this chaos, Republicans have refused to hold this administration accountable. We're marking up 26 bills that would task various federal agencies with more responsibilities. while at the very same time the Trump administration is gutting the agencies and firing the public servants who would implement these new laws. Republicans are bringing up consumer protection bills while also ignoring Trump's attempted illegal firing of the Democratic FTC commissioners and reports that Doge has arrived at FTC to fire people
and an already understaffed agency and this illegal action threatens the ability of our nation's leading consumer protection watchdogs to do their job including protecting children from big tech online harms but republicans finally move ahead without acknowledging the new reality meanwhile we will debate health related bills today like the support act all while President Trump eliminates 20,000 jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Amidst a continued fentanyl crisis and a measles and bird flu outbreak, a 25% reduction of the workforce at HHS is alarming and truly irresponsible. The truth is, Republicans want to hold this mark of today so they can continue to pretend like everything is normal. But it's all a charade. It's time for this committee to wake up and pay attention to what's going on around us. This is not business as usual. The Trump administration is driving up costs, ruining our economy, and putting American families at risk. It's time for Republicans to pull their heads out of the sand and start demanding some accountability before it's too late.
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