Today is Friday, May 15 and I am in Washington, DC to cast a vote against Speaker Pelosi’s $3 Trillion hyper-partisan wish list of liberal agenda items. President Trump has already declared that Pelosi’s wasteful bill is “D.O.A.-Dead on Arrival,” and I intend to help him defeat the Speaker’s bill and to provide him with a vote to sustain his veto should it ever reach his desk.
Among the items included in this legislation are provisions that actually incentivize illegal immigration to our country, wastefully provide hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations that have no role in defeating the COVID-19 coronavirus, and that radically restructure the way Americans cast their votes in elections. No wonder Minority Whip Scalise has taken to calling the bill “H.R. 6800 – Pelosi’s Socialist Wish List Act.”
Here are some of the troublesome provisions that House Republicans have already identified in Speaker Pelosi’s legislation:
“Incentives for Illegal Immigration:
- Awards federal funding to sanctuary cities
- Requires review of those detained by ICE so certain illegal immigrants can be released
- Prevents the deportation of illegal immigrants
- Authorizes illegal immigrants to work during this crisis
- Allows illegal immigrants to collect Economic Impact Payments
Wasteful Spending:
- Provides funding to matters unrelated to combatting COVID-19 including:
o $125M to National Science Foundation
o $50M to Legal Services Corporation o $50M to the EPA in “environmental justice grants”
o $40M to U.S. Geological Survey
o $10M to National Endowment of the Arts
o $10M to National Endowment of the Humanities
Wholesale Election Law Changes:
- Federalizes the entire election process and takes power away from the states
- Calls for mailed absentee ballots to be sent to every voter permanently
- Permits same day voter registration nationwide which would lengthen voting lines
- Codifies ballot harvesting
- Enacts national vote by mail
- Prevents states from having voter ID requirements”
President Trump is correct to oppose this legislation, and I am pleased that he has done so publicly. There is a saying, popular among some members on the other side of the aisle, that “one should never let a crisis go to waste.” In my opinion, Speaker Pelosi’s $3 Trillion wish-list is her latest attempt to use the terrible COVID-19 pandemic to radically restructure American society by advancing a bill that was drafted in secret while Congress was out of town. I am looking forward to voting against it.
Speaking of Congress being out of town, I will also be voting against the House Democrats’ unilateral attempt to rewrite the House Rules to allow proxy voting. The rule disregards the Constitutional requirement that a quorum be present to conduct business, and it amounts to an unprecedented power grab by the current House majority. At a time when we are asking Americans to re-enter the economy, Congress should be willing to return to do its job too.
