MIL USHOR-2b Engine

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Thomas Massie (4th District of Kentucky)

For Immediate Release
Contact: massie.press@mail.house.gov
Contact #: 202-225-3465

Washington, D.C.- Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) announces he is forcing a vote in the House of Representatives to impeach Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth. Among his charges, Rep. Massie asserts that Secretary Hegseth is operating in contravention of three specific provisions of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. Representative Massie is a member of the House Judiciary Committee. 

“By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable,” said Rep. Thomas Massie. “Secretary Hegseth’s constitutional violations extend beyond the illegal war in Iran. He is abusing the power of his office to ignore congressional war powers resolutions, to kidnap foreign leaders, and to intimidate critics of the Trump administration by retaliating against them for exercising free speech. If we are to remain true to our oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States,’ Congress must not turn a blind eye to Secretary Hegseth’s unconstitutional and illegal actions.”

Rep. Massie will force the House to vote on eight specific charges against the Secretary of Defense. The charges are summarized as follows:

• Article I – Waging War in Contravention of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 Section 2(c): Charges Secretary Hegseth with waging the Iran war despite no declaration of war, statutory authorization, attack on the United States, or imminent threat. It establishes that the war was unlawful from its inception.
• Article II – Waging War in Contravention of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 Section 5(c): Charges Secretary Hegseth with continuing the Iran war after both Houses of Congress directed the removal of U.S. forces through H. Con. Res. 86. It focuses on his refusal to obey Congress’s express direction to terminate unauthorized hostilities.
• Article III – Waging War in Contravention of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 Section 5(b): Charges Secretary Hegseth with continuing hostilities in Iran after expiration of the War Powers Resolution’s 60-day termination period and any potential 30-day withdrawal period. It establishes that he treated mandatory statutory deadlines as discretionary.
• Article IV – Ignoring Laws that Minimize Civilian Casualties: Charges Secretary Hegseth with ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties. 
• Article V – Extrajudicial Killings: Charges Secretary Hegseth with replacing maritime law enforcement with unauthorized lethal military targeting of suspected drug traffickers, resulting in at least 221 deaths. It also addresses denial of quarter, secondary strikes on survivors, failure to rescue shipwrecked persons, and the creation of artificial legal authorities for the campaign.
• Article VI – Suppressing Free Speech: Charges Secretary Hegseth with using DOD authority to retaliate against and intimidate Senator Mark Kelly for constitutionally protected speech questioning unlawful military orders.
• Article VII – Kidnapping of a Sovereign Foreign Leader: Charges Secretary Hegseth with directing Operation ABSOLUTE RESOLVE to seize Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores in Venezuela without constitutional or legal authority.
• Article VIII – Unlawful War in Yemen: Charges Secretary Hegseth with initiating Operation ROUGH RIDER without congressional authorization or an imminent threat to the United States, while also violating war powers reporting requirements. It further addresses extensive civilian deaths and unlawful strikes on civilian objects, rescuers, and other protected persons.

The text of the charges against Secretary Hegseth is available at this link.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)

WASHINGTON — This morning, at the weekly House Republican Leadership press conference, Speaker Johnson highlighted House Republicans’ record of success in the 119th Congress and reminded people of the disastrous Democrat record during the Biden-Harris Administration. Speaker Johnson also condemned Congressional Democrats for their refusal to disavow individuals like Hasan Piker who said America deserved the 9/11 attacks.

“This is not a campaign over standard political disagreements. We are entering a new era in American politics. In Congress, beginning January 27, we’re not going to be arguing over marginal tax rates or inflation or foreign policy,” Speaker Johnson said. “We’re going to be debating whether we’re going to keep the greatest nation in the history of the world or break the thing down to the foundation and go down this dark, dangerous, deadly road to communism. That is not campaign rhetoric; it isn’t hyperbole. That’s literally what they’re doing.”

 

Watch Speaker Johnson’s remarks here.

On the House Republican record of success:

We have had a steady hand at that wheel, and we are turning the ship of state. And these are some of the results of that. I mean, our agenda is very simple. Get control of the border; check. Let working families keep more of what they earn; absolutely, did it. Increased competition and choice to lower healthcare costs; We are on that path right now. Encourage home building and domestic energy production to make everyday life more affordable, incentivize American companies to build in America, and hire American workers; we’ve been doing all that. You could summarize it all by just saying that it’s common sense. We believe in common sense principles. Listen to what I’m about to tell you and just ask yourself if you agree. Do you think criminals should go to jail and girls’ locker rooms should be for girls only? We do. The Democrat Party doesn’t.

We have had the largest drop in prescription drug prices in 60 years since we took back over the government. The largest middle- and working-class tax cut in American history. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on social security discussed this morning. More than one million new private sector jobs have been created in the last 19 months. More Americans are working than ever before. The jobs numbers are off the charts. Inflation is finally coming down from the Biden-era highs. Remember, it was a 40-year high, and we’ve been dragging it back down. The homicide rate hit the lowest level in 126 years. We took care of the violent crime problem. Illegal border crossings plummeted to zero for almost 16 straight months. Trillions of dollars in new investment are flowing into American industries because we are reshoring American jobs and American manufacturing, and that’s the American way.

On the disastrous results of the Biden-Harris Administration:

We reminded voters of the disastrous effects of the years under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, what we inherited when we took all this over last January. Remember this because it seems like a long time that’s gone by, but this is just less than two years ago. We had a country on the brink of ruin; we had criminals and cartels with free reign over the border. Y’all remember that. Americans of all ages were dying from fentanyl overdoses, a great scourge upon the country. Inflation soared to over 9% under Joe Biden, a 40-year high. Our cities were awash with violent crime. Factories were closing and American jobs were moving overseas. And radical woke politics were invading classrooms from kindergarten to college campuses. The American people were not down with that. In their communities, in their classrooms, in their pocketbooks, families were feeling the devastating effects of Democrat leadership and their false vision for what America is. And in 2024, the people said, “That’s enough.” They wanted a change.

On the Democrat agenda:

Democrats are offering nothing more than grievance politics. You want to know what their 2027 agenda is? I just described what ours is to keep on pace and keep doing that, but this is what they want to do. Political retribution, they’re already telling you about it. Reverse the tax cuts. It means taxes go up for your family, all the hardworking families. They want amnesty for illegal aliens. They want to reopen the borders. They want a restoration of taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens. That’s quite literally what they’re going to do if you give them the reins back. We can’t do that. That’s their entire agenda.

On Democrats embracing radical, anti-American candidates and influencers:

The prevailing view of this new Communist/Marxist wing of the Democrat Party has an entirely different perspective on the tragic events of 9/11. Just observe their actions and their words and what they’ve said. The Senate Democrat nominee in Michigan, Mr. El-Sayed, openly campaigns with the radical who says America deserved 9/11. He won’t denounce it. The socialist candidate in Colorado, Kiros, said the September 11th attacks were quite inevitable. It was our fault, they say. Another candidate in New Jersey, Hamway, has publicly acknowledged past ties to Al-Qaeda as their candidate to run for Congress. It’s nuts. And in an unforgettable clip that we’ve all seen, I don’t think you can ever unsee it, during the sacred ceremony honoring the victims of 9/11 at ground zero. The unofficial leaders of the new Democratic Party, the radical left Democrat Party, AOC, and Zohran Mamdani were seen laughing while the names of the victims were being read, those American heroes names being read aloud. It’s just disgusting. And the American people see this, and they don’t agree with it. I mean, this is the kind of open disdain for America that today’s Democrat Party has. They don’t even try to hide it. It’s despicable. The American people should have none of it.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04)

WASHINGTON —A new report from the U.S. government’s nonpartisan watchdog agency revealed that federal taxpayers subsidized 1,719 Affordable Care Act (ACA) Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) that covered elective abortions for an estimated 4.4 million individuals this year alone. The report also showed that 683 more abortion-covering QHPs were available through the ACA than when GAO issued a similar brief in 2014.

                The recent report, compiled by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), was requested by House and Senate majority leadership, Co-Chairs of the House and Senate Congressional Pro-Life Caucus and Values Action Teams, and Chairmen of the House and Senate Committees of jurisdiction.

                Upon the release of the report—first reported by The Daily Wire—Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Chairman of the House Values Action Team (VAT), and Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, issued the following statement:

                “For far too long, pro-life Americans have been deceived by the ACA and strongarmed into paying for health plans that do not respect the sanctity of life. American taxpayers deserve complete transparency and truthfulness as to where their hard-earned dollars are going—and under the ACA as it currently stands, that’s just not possible.

                “Today’s GAO report confirms the very concerns that Republicans have raised for over fifteen years: the ACA fails to apply the longstanding and bipartisan Hyde Amendment law, which protects taxpayer dollars from funding abortion, both directly and through federal health plans.

                “The ACA allows premium tax credits to be directed towards health insurance coverage that includes elective abortion. Federal taxpayer dollars—even from individuals living in pro-life states—are subsidizing plans that include elective abortion coverage for over 4.4 million people.

                “The report also found that some insurance issuers failed to comply with the ACA’s consumer transparency provision, which requires plans to prominently disclose abortion coverage.

                “As we approach the 50^th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment on September 30^th—which is estimated to have saved the lives of over 2.6 million children (about 60,000 lives per year)—we renew the call to enforce this critical, lifesaving protection within the ACA without further delay. Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize plans that cover the elective killing of an unborn child by dismemberment or baby poison pills.

                “Moreover, until Congress can pass legislation requiring full Hyde protections for all ACA plans, we urge the Trump Administration to reissue the Exchange Program Integrity Final Rule to ensure that consumers understand whether a plan subsidizes elective abortion.”

                Members of Congress who signed the GAO request letter: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA); Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD); House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA); Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, M.D. (R-WY); House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN); House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain (R-MI); House Pro-Life Caucus Co-Chairs: Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Andy Harris, M.D. (R-MD), Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN), Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO); Senate Pro-Life Caucus Chairwoman Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS); House Values Action Team Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-AL); Senate Values Action Team Chairman James Lankford (R-OK); Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID); Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA); House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY); and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO).

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Rick Larsen (2nd Congressional District Washington)

Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released the following statement: 

“On September 1, my staff observed a joint exercise between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard designed to simulate response efforts and coordination between our two countries in the event of an oil spill in shared waters.

“This type of collaboration across the border between the U.S. and Canada is even more critical because of Canada’s plans to ship more oil in the Salish Sea with the proposed new Alberta to B.C. pipeline.

“I have concerns about the potential impacts of this proposed pipeline, including on tanker traffic in the Salish Sea, and I am glad that my staff could observe the exercise to ensure that there are relationships and procedures in place that benefit both countries in the event of a disastrous spill.

“I will continue to work with federal agencies to ensure their oil spill prevention and response plans account for increased tanker traffic, identify federal actions to reduce the risk of a spill and engage my Canadian Government counterparts on the concerns people I represent have about the pipeline.”

On September 1, the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard participated in a joint exercise designed to coordinate oil and hazardous spill responses in shared Pacific waters such as the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, Georgia Straits and Boundary Bay. These exercises occur every other year under the Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan.

On July 2, the Government of Alberta announced a proposed new oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Ocean that would transport 1 million barrels per day to an export terminal at Roberts Banks in British Columbia located just north of the Canada-U.S. border. The new pipeline is anticipated to significantly increase tanker traffic in Haro Strait and Boundary Bay in the Salish Sea, and with it the risks for catastrophic oil spills impacting sensitive marine environments. 

Larsen Insists Coast Guard Act to Protect Salish Sea

After hearing concerns from people who live in his district about this proposed pipeline, Rep. Larsen has been closely tracking developments on plans for pipeline construction and pressing the Coast Guard on its plans to update its prevention planning through the Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan. In late July, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a roundtable with officials from the Coast Guard on maritime safety. A video clip of Rep. Larsen asking Coast Guard officials about their awareness of the new Canadian pipeline and how it would implicate existing oil spill prevention plans can be found here, and the recording of the entire roundtable can be found here. 

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Andy Harris (MD-01)

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01), introduced legislation to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, delivering immediate relief to American drivers and truckers ahead of the midterm elections.

Statement from Congressman Harris:

“Families and truckers need some immediate relief from the high cost of fuel to drive to work or haul goods across this country. It’s time right now to temporarily suspend the federal gas and diesel tax until the end of the year. Hardworking  American taxpayers deserve that break.”

The federal gas tax currently stands at 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel. 
Congressman Harris’ bill would suspend these taxes through the end of the year, lowering costs at the pump for families, small businesses, and the trucking industry that keeps America’s supply chains moving.

To read the full bill text, please click here. 

For media inquiries, please contact Michella Carter at Michella.Carter@mail.house.gov

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH)

The National Law Enforcement Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act, introduced by Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), Congressman Troy E. Nehls (TX-22), and Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), was brought to the floor in the House yesterday and passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

This bipartisan legislation would establish a formal program within the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) to support and enhance the community outreach, public education and officer safety and wellness programs of the National Law Enforcement Museum through grants to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF). These programs would memorialize and honor law enforcement, compile data on law enforcement fatalities and injuries, increase public understanding of and support for law enforcement, enhance and improve law enforcement officer safety and wellness, and bring law enforcement closer to the communities they serve.

“Every day members of law enforcement answer the call to serve and keep our communities safe, putting their lives on the line. We must always support their critical work and honor those that give the ultimate sacrifice,” said Congressman Pappas. “My bipartisan legislation will support efforts to honor law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, commemorate their legacies of service and sacrifice, and strengthen officer safety and wellbeing. I urge the Senate to take this legislation up to support members of law enforcement and the important work they do.”

The National Law Enforcement Remembrance, Support and Community Outreach Act is supported by NLEMOF’s board member organizations, including the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Fraternal Order of Police Auxiliary, International Brotherhood of Police Officers, International Union of Police Associations/AFL-CIO, Motorola Solutions, Verizon, National Association of Police Organizations, National Sheriffs’ Associations, COPS, DuPont, National Black Police Association, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, National Policing Institute, National Troopers Coalition, Police Executive Research Forum, Police Unity Tour, and the United Federation of Police Officers. 

Created by an Act of Congress in 1984, NLEOMF operates the National Law Enforcement Museum and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. NLEOMF’s mission is to honor fallen law enforcement officers, tell the story of our nation’s law enforcement officers, and make it safer for law enforcement.  

Read the bill text HERE.

 

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Congressman Matt Van Epps (R-TN), introduced the Critical Materials Future Act. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would establish a pilot program at the Department of Energy to financially support domestic critical material processing projects.

“Securing a domestic critical mineral supply chain is essential for manufacturing clean energy technologies,” said Rep. McCollum. “For far too long, critical minerals extracted from our public lands have been shipped overseas for processing to be sold on the global market or bought back by American companies. That is not good stewardship of our natural resources, nor is it a good national security strategy. The Critical Materials Future Act will ensure that when we extract these resources, we also have the capacity to process them here at home.”

“Continuing to rely on foreign sources for our critical mineral supply is gambling with both our economic and national security. Today, China leads global processing of key critical minerals, refining more than 90% of graphite and nearly all gallium, which are essential to semiconductors and batteries. China also refines more than 90% of rare earth elements used in magnets for advanced defense technologies,” said Rep. Van Epps. “It is far past time for the United States to end this dangerous dependence. We can do this by paving the way for more critical mineral processing right here at home. That’s why I’m proud to co-lead the Critical Materials Future Act alongside Congresswoman McCollum. This bipartisan legislation establishes a pilot program to support companies committed to building critical mineral processing operations here in the United States. By strengthening our domestic supply chains, this legislation will reduce our dependence on foreign adversaries and move us one step closer to rebuilding the American defense industrial base.”

The U.S. critical minerals list contains 50 minerals – including graphite, nickel, and cobalt – that are essential to our economy, infrastructure, and military capability. Critical minerals are used in smartphones, electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and more.

In December 2024, China announced that it would immediately block the export of three critical minerals — gallium, germanium, and antimony — to the U.S. China currently controls 90% of the global processing capacity for rare earth elements and over 80% of the processing for other critical minerals like cobalt, gallium, and graphite. Experts have become increasingly concerned with U.S. dependence on China for critical materials, arguing it poses a significant risk to national security.

The Critical Materials Future Act supports critical material processing projects in the United States by granting the Secretary of Energy the authority and funding to deploy innovative financial mechanisms, such as contracts for differences and advanced market commitments, within this sector.

The bill also requires the Secretary of Energy to conduct a comprehensive study on the impact of these financial tools on market dynamics and processing projects within the critical materials sector, and to provide recommendations for expanding their use to strengthen America’s processing capabilities.

The Senate companion, S. 596, was introduced by Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Todd Young (R-IN), and referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

In the 118^th Congress, Congresswoman McCollum introduced H.R. 5021, the Securing American Critical Minerals Act, a bill to prohibit the sale or transfer of critical minerals to our adversaries. 

The full text of the Critical Materials Future Act can be found here.

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Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose)

(Washington, DC) — Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is holding a Full Committee hearing titled, Innovation in Disaster Prevention: Advancing Technology for Prediction and Response.

Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) opening statement as prepared for the record is below:

Good morning. Thank you to Chairman Babin for holding this important hearing and thank you to the witnesses for coming to share your expertise and insights with us today.

The topic of today’s hearing is timely. NOAA has announced that we’ve just experienced the hottest summer on record, and a historic “super El Niño” event is expected to bring more extreme weather events this fall. Climate change is intensifying natural hazards around the nation, and we need to prepare by investing in our capabilities for forecasting, detection, monitoring, warning, and response.

Coming from California, I know how quickly natural events can escalate into hazards that threaten public safety. Wildfires, earthquakes, landslides, and drought all pose ongoing risks to my constituents. Just last February, an atmospheric river occurred at the end of a severe fire season in my District. Torrential rainfall onto the recently burned areas caused landslides, debris flows, and flash flooding across the region. Forecasting models failed to indicate the storm’s severity or where it would make landfall, limiting evacuation time. Emergency officials should not have to resort to giving door-to-door evacuation notices. We must improve our ability to detect and communicate risks before they become active hazards.

Science and technology are fundamental to addressing the new reality of extreme hazards. Our current hazard prediction and alert systems have been built through interagency partnerships, which leverage institutional expertise and federal tools and data to inform risk management.

While industry is using AI and machine learning to improve our current detection systems, dedicated research helps us understand how natural hazards occur, who they impact, and how we can reduce risk and improve response. Translating the science into operational tools, forecasts, and warning systems will require collaborations across government, academia, the public, and private sectors.

We’ve seen the power of these partnerships in California. CAL FIRE is a leader in fire innovation, adopting next-generation wildfire technology, like AI-powered camera networks, to enhance firefighter safety and efficiency. Programs like FireSense at NASA Ames can also serve as a model by leveraging technical capabilities at our research agencies to directly support the operational decision making of our federal and state wildfire management agencies. I am excited to hear from Dr. Falkowski, who previously led the FireSense project at NASA Ames, about how we can move these technological innovations to support operational agencies and decision-makers.

While there are many successful federal programs, I am deeply concerned about the trajectory of disaster research and recovery due to reckless cuts and partisan decision-making from the Trump Administration.

The Administration has weakened the federal emergency management apparatus across several key agencies, including NASA, NSF, NOAA, NIST, and FEMA, by defunding valuable programs and research or pushing out agency expertise on these issues. In the past 19 months, the President has slashed the fundamental research that informs our hazard forecasts, haphazardly consolidated federal firefighting resources, and withheld disaster aid as he pleases. It’s become clear that public safety is not a priority for this Administration.

I am most concerned about instances where the Trump Administration has withheld disaster response funding from states that have elected Democratic leaders. Last year, the Administration withheld important wildfire funding from Los Angeles after the most destructive wildfire in the city’s history. This past February, this Administration overruled their own regional FEMA and NOAA offices to deny hundreds of millions of dollars in major disaster aid to four Democratic-led states: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

We cannot allow federal disaster response to become a partisan game. Doing so will certainly lead to a race to the bottom that neither Democratic- nor Republican-led states can afford.

Thank you again to our witnesses for being here today. I yield back.

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Steny H Hoyer (MD-05)

Click here to watch a video of his remarks.

“My statement is relatively short. The discussion of this is much more complicated. Nobody in this House believes that I am a defender of Donald Trump’s failure to address this issue head on and effectively. No one has opposed his tariff policies any more than I have. They have been harmful to the American people [and] harmful to our relationship in the international community. Madam Chair and Ranking Member McGovern and distinguished Members of the committee, my amendments meant to address an issue of concern for many Members about this bill. A lot of what we’ve heard in this debate is about affecting other countries than are set forth in the formula in the bill, and those countries are limited by the bill to being impacted. However, none of us on our side trust Donald Trump to be bound by the strictures of legislation or of the Constitution of the United States. That’s not why I co-sponsored this bill because I had some trust in Donald Trump, who I think is far more partial to Russia than he is to Ukraine. That’s a tough statement, but I think that’s borne out by conduct.

“I support Ranking Member Meeks’ numbers three, four, and five amendments. I think they strengthen the bill; I think they give more confidence to people. I do not support his removal of the tariffs. Not because I’m for the tariffs, although I think the tariffs will have some prophylactic effect on some of those named countries of which there are now ten – there used to be nine, but they struck two of the ‘-stans’ and counted it as two rather than one. Eighty-six senators supported this bill because they thought it would help Ukraine. Eighty-seven senators support the bill now because Mr. McConnell has come back and he supports the bill. My amendment simply states the ten countries that will be affected, which will be most of the opposition that was articulated, I think, by – correctly by Mr. Meeks, because we have seen the President go far beyond his legal strictures. Nothing we do to pass this bill or defeat this bill, will adversely affect his inclination to do just that. If we don’t pass this bill, it’s not going to affect the President at all. 

“Specifically, it tightens the scope of the legal tariff authority by naming the countries, as I said. I agree with the Administration [that] we ought to pass this bill. It’s a marker. It’s a, ‘You said this.’ Now the Russians lied in Budapest, when they said they were going to take the nuclear weapons in ’94 and honor the boundaries of Ukraine. They lied. The Russians lie regularly. I agree with the Administration that we ought to have sanctions. Our experience is that the President does not put sanctions on Russia or Belarus or others. That is unfortunate. The last time we acted on Ukraine positively was April 20th, 2024; two years and [five] months ago. This bill would prevent manipulation of data on oil and gas imports, as well as sanctions evasions, in order to make them qualify or not. That language is pretty specific. It says no country that does not qualify for the formula – what we don’t trust is the formula, which is why we need to name the countries so that we, acting in our constitutional responsibility, do in fact give authority for those 9 or 10 countries – the two ‘-stans’ being the 10th, and that he would have to come back if he wanted to add another country. He doesn’t want to do that. And so, unfortunately, after talking to the White House, they don’t want that amendment. It does not change the substance of the bill one iota, if you believe that the formula will be honored by the President of the United States, period. 

“I believe the change sufficiently addresses the concerns that have been raised, and I hope we can adopt it so the House can move forward on a strongly bipartisan basis with passage of this bill. My friend, Mr. Meeks, who co-sponsored the Ukraine Support Act with me – we introduced it together. As a matter of fact, I urged him to do that with me. It was a strong bill. I wish the Senate would pass it – it won’t – and if it did pass it, the President would veto it. The President won’t veto this bill, and once he signs on to it, we can say, ‘You said you will do this.’ Does that mean anything? Perhaps not. I urge the committee to include my amendment to the rule, bringing the bill to the Floor. I absolutely agree with the statement made in the report of Mr. Meeks and Mr. Neal. Here’s what they said: ‘We firmly support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s brutal, unjustified invasion.’ And then they said, ‘Ukraine’s victory against Russian aggression is critical to the U.S. national security.’ I think we all believe that. I hope the president believes it. But whether this bill passes or not will not affect the President’s view one way or the other. What it will affect is a statement by the Congress of the United States is, ‘This is what ought to happen. Sanctions ought to be imposed, tariffs or penalize countries who are funding Russia’s ability to make war.’ We now have a Department of War. How ironic.

“I urge the committee to make in order amendments that will facilitate the actions of the Congress of the United States to act nearly unanimously, which will send a strong, powerful message. But if we do not pass this bill, there will be great joy in the Kremlin and great devastation in Kyiv, who will see something that they thought they had in hand – a strong statement by the United States of America’s Congress – disappear because of a fight over tariffs. Their morale will tank and we will be still, since April 2024, having not taken the action. I’m for giving them $15 billion and for putting on sanctions. But we need to pass something, and none of you believe, in the next two years, we’re going to be able to pass things – whether we take the majority or not – that the President can’t veto and that we could override.

“Chairman, the Ranking Member – and I’ll close with this Madam Chair – the Ranking Member said this may be a Chamberlain-Churchill moment. I agree with him. However, I believe that he chose this to be a Churchill moment rejecting this legislation. I believe it will be a Chamberlain moment, where we will leave unstated the policy of the Congress of the United States, and allow the President’s actions to be the only voice that is being heard. That is not in the best interests of our country, of Ukraine, of international law, and peace and freedom. I thank you for the time.”

Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Joe Neguse (D-Co 2)

Washington, D.C. — Today, House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse, Chair of House Democrats’ Litigation Task Force, issued the following statement:

“House Democrats took our fight against Donald Trump’s disastrous attempt to impose unworkable restrictions on mail-in voting to the highest court in the land—and won. We’ll never stop fighting to vindicate our Constitution and put a stop to this administration’s efforts to disenfranchise American citizens. No party, and certainly no president, is above the rule of law.”

Neguse led more than 250 current and former Members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, in filing an amicus brief challenging the legality of President Donald Trump’s efforts to impose new restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The coalition argued that the U.S. Postal Service lacked the authority to implement the Final Rule, which imposes unconstitutional and unworkable restrictions on voting by mail and is contrary to law. 

For more information on the Litigation Task Force’s efforts to protect Americans against the unlawful actions of the Trump administration, visit litigationandresponse.house.gov. 

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