Press Releases

(As prepared for delivery)

Mr. Chairman, we find ourselves back on the Republican road that goes nowhere for the American people and says sky is the limit for the former president.

This Committee has reported 30 bills out of Committee and only two have become law.  It’s an utter failure compared to the 116th and 117th Congresses.

Now, they dig in even deeper in their service to their nominee. Embracing his lies about the outcome of the last presidential election, aiding and abetting his most extreme supporters as they stormed the Capitol, and turning a blind eye to his own unlawful acts.

It seems these days that there’s nothing they won’t do to further his political interests as he’s sidelined up in court in New York.

Now I agree, taxpayers must have the fullest confidence in the IRS and its employees that their information is safe and protected, and if you commit a crime, you must be held accountable. That’s why Democrats made historic investments in the IRS in the Inflation Reduction Act. My colleagues have attempted to hamper our progress at every turn because they aren’t actually interested in a secure, well-run tax administration. If they were, they would’ve joined us when the former president refused to cooperate in the routine oversight of his own tax returns, or when we passed the Presidential Tax Filings and Audit Transparency Act of 2022.

This theme will come up a lot today—picking and choosing based on the whims of the former president.

Another bill under consideration today is in some ways a real departure from their norm, and in others, the same old political grift we’ve come to expect. Today, my colleagues are attempting to crack down on the private investment that enhanced and secured our last presidential election in the middle of a-once-in-a-generation global pandemic because they disagree with the political leanings of the foundation that originated the grants.

This investment was already unanimously cleared by the Federal Election Commission, after finding no reason to believe there was any wrongdoing. Rather, private citizens who recognized the immense financial strain and infrastructure challenges that cropped up in administering the 2020 election in the middle of a global pandemic decided to do something about it. While the president at the time fearmongered and refused to acknowledge the great need across the country. Local officials were begging for assistance, and Republicans refused to act.  

This comes from the same party that pushes for privatization when it serves their interests but wants to ban it outright otherwise. Let me be clear: they are okay with private meddling in your Social Security, or when it comes to privatizing the rail system or Air Traffic control.

Election security isn’t political. It’s the most sacred tenet of our democracy, and something we should all be able to agree upon. Yet my colleagues on the other side continually threaten it. Putting doubts in the American people’s with their lies, disinformation, and even fraud.

There are districts of members on this Committee—from both parties—who received support to safeguard the health of election workers, and fairly and fully administer the election.

At a time when voting rights are under attack, the American people should be able to look to their elected officials as honest actors who put the best interest of the country first. Today, these bills fall far short.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

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