Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, God, I love the compassion and the passion on the other side of the aisle. Democrats are worried about taking money from families. Well, you know what? You all can do the right thing and vote ``yes.'' If not, you are the ones who are taking money from needy families, not us, because yes means we want to feed the families. We want to have SNAP programs. No means we don't fund those programs. See how simple that is? Keep on with the rhetoric. I mean, it is cute, but the American people don't buy it.

Listen, for the past 40 days, Democrats have inflicted needless pain on hardworking Americans. They stranded millions of travelers. They denied food assistance for hungry families. How did they do that? When you vote ``no'' to continue funding, that means you deny food stamps for hungry families. No means no, you don't want to pay them. Yes, like the Republicans vote, that means, yes, we do want to pay them.

Democrats left our troops wondering when they would get their next paycheck, and for what, Mr. Speaker? Democrats did that to use the American people as leverage. Don't take my word for it. Take theirs. It was leverage for more wasteful Washington spending, spending that no one other than the radical left ever wanted.

To remind the American people, Democrats wanted to waste $1.5 trillion of their hard-earned tax dollars. What did Democrats get in return? Democrats got nothing. Democrats got nothing because Republicans refused to waste the American people's money.

Democrats did not get a dime for radical climate change, not a dollar for taxpayer-funded benefits for illegals, and not one single concession to the radical far-left base.

Millions of Americans whose lives were upended by the Democratic shutdown will remember this.

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Mrs. McCLAIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding additional time.

Mr. Speaker, the American people will remember who held them hostage for petty political reasons and who fought to put America first.

Now that the shameful charade is over, House Republicans will continue our work on behalf of the American people. We will restore regular order to the appropriations process. We will continue to fulfill the mandate of the American people, and we will keep delivering results for American people because that is what we are here to do and not to play politics.

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