like it or not, our colleagues in the senate have input in this process. to date the senate has yet to pass a single fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill across the floor. as time went on, it became clear that we would not conclude the f.y. 2025 process by the deadline of december 20, meaning another extension is necessary. i know there's great frustration that a second continuing resolution is necessary, and quite frankly i share in that feeling. but a government shutdown is never a good alternative. so today's bill funds the government through march 14. this will allow republicans to engage president trump as we negotiate a final year funding bill that fulfills the mandate of the american people and our america-first agenda. further, this route ensures that there are no undue disruptions to our national security and the vital programs that our

constituents rely on. today's bill also extends out of the -- extends out the debt limit for a further two years, to january 20, 2027. this will allow president-elect trump to begin his term without needing to immediately address our national debt limit, allowing us to move forward on the many other pressing concerns of the american people. finally, the legislation also provides much-needed relief to americans struggling to recover from recent natural disasters. this includes destruction in my own district which faced tornadoes that ripped through oklahoma, from floods and droughts, to wildfires and other storms, communities across the united states have suffered. these realities have been grim. i recently visited north carolina at the invitation of my good friend and fellow appropriations committee member, chuck edwards, and saw with my own eyes the devastation and damage caused by hurricane helene's catastrophic flooding.

en months after -- months after the storm, countless people remain without basic necessities of life, and the region will remain affected for years to come. my takeaway from these experiences is clear. congress must act. we need to provide the necessary disaster recovery aid for states and communities as our fellow citizens rebuild and restore. the relief efforts are ongoing, it will be months, if not years, before life returns to normal. additional investments necessary to provide needed assistance to our fellow americans. today's measure fully funds our existing relief requirements, ensuring that help and resources can get to those who desperately need them. rural communities, particularly our farmers and ranchers, are facing a tough farm economy. and the aftermath of multiple -- amid the aftermath of multiple disasters and these are prioritized in this legislation. while there's still a long road ahead for recovery efforts and

rebuilding, this aid will mark a vital step forward. for these reasons, i urge all of my colleagues to vote in support of h.r. 10515 and i thank you, mr. speaker, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from connecticut. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. delauro: i rise in strong opposition to this continuing resolution. we had a strong bipartisan, bicameral agreement among the leadership of both parties, at both ends of the capitol, to avert a disastrous and pointless government shutdown. to provide desperately needed disaster aid and emergency assistance, and to provide congress with the time required to enact full-year bills, funding bills for fiscal year 2025. that bill was a result of a compromise. there were things in it that

democrats liked and republicans did not. and there were things in it that republicans liked and democrats would have preferred to leave out. but that is the nature of government funding bills. they require compromise and the support of democrats and republicans that we in the house and senate need to have in order to become a law. that was true throughout the 118th congress. despite republicans' repeated and failed efforts to write extreme and partisan funding bills, and that will be true in the 119th congress as well. yes, we were on the cusp of an agreement to move this country forward. yesterday a multibillionaire with apparently no working knowledge of government or of

appropriations, a self-appointed president of the united states, elon musk, issued a marching order for house republicans to go against their own elected leadership and shut down the government. soon after, congress was on a fast track to a government shutdown. house republicans are responsible for any harm and uncertainty brought upon the american people and should some get their wish for a month-long government shutdown, they will be responsible for cleaning up their mess come inauguration day. we are in completely unprecedented times. the world's richest man, an unelected contractor reaping billions, billions in government contracts, is calling the shots in the republican party. who is in charge? and at the behest of the world's richest man, who no one voted

for, the united states congress has been thrown into pandemonium. we had a bill on tuesday that was the result of a year and a half of work, a year and a half of work which had the input of republicans and democrats, their interests, their concern, the needs of their constituents -- concerns, the needs of their constituents. this bill has no such bipartisan input. and we are considering it, in mere minutes, after it was released. it will remove key provisions to limit the power of pharmaceutical companies and abandons our bipartisan efforts to ensure american dollars and intellectual property are reinvested in american businesses and workers. instead of fueling the chinese communist party's technology and capabilities. it includes a two-year raise, raising of the debt limit. what does that do? that serves to allow republicans to cut taxes on the ultrawealthy like elon musk, raise deficits on the backs of the american

people. we must immediately return to considering the bipartisan, bicameral compromise legislation that speaker johnson, leader schumer, leader jeffries, leader mcconnell and the four corners of the appropriations committee reached earlier this week. we must unequivocally reject the illegitimate ol gashingy that seek -- oligarchy that seeks to usurp the authority of the united states congress and of the american people. and with that, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: thank you very much, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i yield to the gentleman from north carolina, a member of the appropriations committee, a good friend and valued colleague, mr. edwards, for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for five minutes. mr. edwards: thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in strong support of the american relief act. the basis of this bill we all

know is a continuing resolution to fund the government, to prevent us from shutting down, until some time into the first quarter. now, i admit, i think we all know a continuing resolution is not the best way to fund our government, nor to be responsible for our taxpayer dollars. we have an appropriations process that should work and to the credit of chairman cole, that did work through the appropriations committee. and i certainly appreciate the chairman's strong leadership in getting us through that. and it's noteworthy that he pointed out, the appropriations committee by itself does not get to determine how we fund our government. we've got many needs and necessary reasons to keep our government functioning. the american people are counting

on us, our military, our border guards, are counting on us. our enemies are watching. we all know north korea, russia, china and others do not have to face issues such as a government shutdown. and also keeping the government open is critical to the district that i represent in western north carolina. but i'd athletic just take a moment -- but i'd just like to take a moment to speak specifically to the disaster relief portion of this bill. as most of you are aware, north carolina was hit by hurricane helene on september 27 of this year, and we experienced unprecedented disaster and destruction. it's going to cost north carolina about $58 billion to rebuild. this storm walz the most deadly -- was the most deadly in north carolina's history.

we lost 126,000 homes that were either damaged or destroyed. countless people are now homeless. i want to thank speaker johnson for personally visiting western north carolina, getting his boots muddy and seeing what we were dealing with there. i'd like to thank leader scalise for visiting western north carolina. and chairman cole also took time to come down. many other members were there. we're going to see a number of members on this floor argue against this bill. mr. speaker, i need to remind you that folks in western north carolina have been paying their taxes for decades, that have gone towards funding disasters in every other part of this country. from california to the midwest, to the gulf coast.

without argument. but, mr. speaker, now north carolina needs our help. they need the help of this body. i'm sure some folks are going to speak against this bill. i urge you to think about the disasters that you may have experienced and what you've seen in the news and what you're hearing from me about the need in western north carolina. i even heard one member last week refer to recipients of disaster relief as coastal elites. i represent about 783,000 people in the mountains of western north carolina. and i can promise you, not one single one of those is a coastal elite. those are hardworking, tax paying americans that deserve the help of this body at this time. and i urge passage of this bill. i must also say that i'm

disappointed, even though there's $110 billion in here to help begin to rebuild my great state, there is a provision for private roads and bridges that will strip -- that was stripped out of this for some reason in the last moments of pulling this bill together. the folks from fema in western north carolina have told me the most significant difference that they see in this disaster versus those they've dealt with in other areas are the number of private roads and bridges that we have. and so i'm hoping and i appreciate chairman cole offering to help me get this provision back in with some other vehicle at some other point in the future. so, members, i urge your support of this bill. north carolina deserves and needs the respect and the help

to rebuild. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentlewoman from connecticut. ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, the distinguished democratic leader, mr. jeffries. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr.. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. jeffries: i thank the distinguished gentlelady from the great state of connecticut, our top democrat on the appropriations committee for yielding and for her incredibly strong and steadfast leadership during this process. house democrats, house republicans, senate democrats and senate republicans reached a bipartisan agreement to fund the government, prevent a shutdown and meet the needs of the american people. we reached a bipartisan agreement to provide disaster

assistance to people who had their lives turned upside down by extreme weather events, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and wildfires all across america. we reached a bipartisan agreement to be there for farmers and families, children, seniors, working class americans all across the country. the men and women who serve this country in uniform and our veterans. house republicans have abandoned that bipartisan agreement that we entered into in good faith. a bill that house republicans negotiated. gave us your word that we were going to move forward together on behalf of the american people. it was a republican-drafted bill

that was posted by house republicans. and then one or two puppet masters weigh in and extreme maga republicans decide to do the bidding of the wealthy, the well off, the well connected millionaires and billionaires, not working class people all across america. the bill that is before us today is just part of an effort to shut down the government unless we as representatives of the american people bend to the will of just a handful of millionaires and billionaires, because the provisions in this bill, particularly as it relates to suspending the debt ceiling for two years are designed to bring about a massive tax cut unpaid for for wealthy donors

and for wealthy corporations, for millionaires and billionaires for clearly some in this congress are working for. and this bill is validation for it. now it's been interesting to me that for decades the republican party has lectured america about fiscal responsibility. about the debt and the deficit. it's always been phony. this bill proves it. one thing we do know is that every time a republican president comes into office, the one thing we can count on republicans to do is to pass a massive tax cut for wealthy americans and in the process stick working class americans with the bill. by raising the deficit and the

debt. that's what happened in the 1980's when ronald reagan was president, biggest thing that he did was pass a massive tax cut for the wealthy and the well off, paid for by working families and middle-class folks across the country. didn't do anything for working class americans and didn't do anything to stimulate the economy, this whole notion of trickle-down economics. come to the conclusion that trickle-down economics simply means that middle-class families and working-class may get a trickle, but they are guaranteed to stay down. that's what your economics are all about. massive tax cuts for the wealthy and the well off under president reagan continued into president

bush. bill clinton comes to office, inherits a significant deficit and under his stuardship president clinton turns a deficit into a surplus. and passes that surplus to president george w. bush. so-called party of fiscal responsibility. and once again we see the same exact playbook. republicans inherit a surplus and they immediately blow it to pass massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well off and the well connected, not provide relief to working-class americans, a tax cut in 2001, unpaid for and a tax cut in

2003, unpaid for. and they continue to run up the debt and the deficit prosecuting two failed wars. the so-called party of fiscal responsibility. want to lecture america when your record speaks for itself. president obama comes in after mismanagement related to the prior administration, including helping to trigger the great recession, inherits a deficit from a republican president of $1.5 trillion, as well as the great recession. and working under the leadership of president obama, democrats and house and the senate get the situation turned around and over a eight-year period of time reduced the deficit by a trillion dollars from $1.5

trillion to $500 billion, progress under democratic leadership as it relates to getting america's fiscal house in order. and then donald trump comes to office and again follows the same exact playbook. after failing to take health care away from millions of americans, the republicans turn their attention to the g.o.p. tax scam, where 83% of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1%. why? to subsidize the lives of the rich and shameless. and in the process of doing that, borrowed $2.3 trillion added to our debt, explode the deficit, so-called party of fiscal responsibility.

in fact, this debt that we are dealing with that democrats are taking seriously that republicans have no interest in being responsible around, that's what this two-year suspension of the debt ceiling is all about. and our nation's 248-year history, 25% of our nation's debt was accumulated during the four years of the former president, 25%. how dare you lecture america about fiscal responsibility ever. and president biden comes to office, gets things done for the american people on infrastructure, on the chips and science act, standing up a clean energy economy, rescuing america from a once in a september try pandemic gets all of these big

things done and partnering with house and senate democrats and in the process, reduces the deficit by $1.7 trillion. and so we see a very clear pattern. the facts speak for themselves. democrats are the party of getting things done and fiscal responsibility. republicans are the party of massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well off and the well connected, which brings us to this very moment. because this bill is designed to set up the g.o.p. tax scam 2.0. to stick the american people with a bill so you can continue to cut taxes for wealthy donors and well-connected corporations and jam working class

americans. that's what this bill today fundamentally is all about. that's why republicans are suspending the debt ceiling for two years, the so-called party of fiscal responsibility. and in addition to these massive tax cuts, we know how you want to pay for it. many republicans have said this in the public domain, we want to end social security as we know it, end medicare as we know it, end medicaid as we know it, end nutritional assistance as we know it, not support our veterans. these are all the reasons why democrats are opposed to this legislation because you are trying to jam working class americans again, as you have repeatedly done over and over and over again. those are the facts. the you have a problem with this

bill is that we negotiated in a bipartisan, bicameral way, real progress for working-class americans, middle-class americans and every day americans who aspire to be part of the middle class that has been cut out of this legislation. why would you do that? why would you eliminate funding for community health centers? that impacts the heartland o america, urban america, rural america, small town america, appalachia. why do you cut off funding for that? that's why we are opposed to this legislation. why would you cut funding for nutritional assistance for children in america, for seniors

in america, for veterans in america? why would you do that? this bill cuts funding for nutritional assistance that had previously been agreed upon and that's why we are opposed to this legislation. this legislation actually cuts a program that was designed to help children and their parents detect cancer, cruelty is the point. why would you eliminate that program? we are going to fight for the children of america. so the reasons are too numerous to articulate, but with my magic

minute, i could do that, but we've laid out the challenges with this bill, the phonyness in claiming that extreme maga republicans are about working-class americans, or the party of fiscal responsibility, nothing could be further from the truth. when you run up the debt and the deficit, middle-class families pay, working-class families pay and we are going to defend them. house democrats are going to continue to fight for working families, middle class families, all those who aspire to be part of the middle class, for the children of america, for the seniors of america, nor unions of america, for the veterans of america, for the least, the lost and left behind, for the poor, the sick and afflicted. we are going to fight for every

day americans. that is why we are voting no on this bill and to stop this reckless regressive and reactionary republican shutdown. vote no. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. members are directed to direct their comments to the chair. the gentlelady from connecticut reserves. the gentleman from oklahoma. mr. cole: i recognize my good friend and distinguished the gentleman from missouri for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i did not bring any fancy signs with me today. those take hours to prepare, but i will tell you, if a shutdown occurs because we do not pass

this continuing resolution today, it will not be a republican shutdown, it will be a democrat shutdown and when it goes to the senate, it will be the schumer shutdown. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentleman will suspend. the house will come to order. the gentleman from missouri has the floor. the gentleman is recognized. >> mr. speaker, this is not about millionaires, this is not about billionaires but about our farmers, this is about our military getting the pay that they deserve through the christmas and new year's. this is about the future of this nation. this continuing resolution before us, it is not a perfect solution, but this is a bridge, a bridge that will allow us to continue the critical work of funding our troops, supporting

our farmers, caring for our veterans and providing disaster relief for those in the carolinas that we visited just last month. link in tents in freezing while illegal aliens are living at the roosevelt hotel in new york city. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the house will be in order. allow the gentleman to be heard. it is his time. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. >> mr. speaker, missouri has missouri has 87,000 farms. we're losing a thousands farms in america each month. our food security is national security. and democrats don't want to support our farmers because of the high cost the administration has brought about and low

commodity farmers. i don't understand the consolidation of farming in america and why the democrats are in favor of that. we've got to support our farmers and disaster victims through this bill. and most of all we must support america. we're not here for ourselves. we're here for those we represent. the hard-working americans who depend on us to set aside our differences and act with responsibility. they deserve a government that works for them and not against us. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the chair would remind my colleagues to allow speakers to be heard. the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. delauro: i want to say the compromised bill had

overwhelming support for farmers and american families as well. i yield three minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, a distinguished ranking member of the yanks, mr. neal. >> mr. neil, i i ask to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. neal: we're in favor of every request that you asked for. these were modest agreements that were reached and rendered by both parties in an honest and public agreement. the speaker of the house broke his word. that's why we're here. and to the gentleman from missouri who just spoke, i've been here for a long time. you've never won a government shutdown and you won't win this one either. your currency in this institution is your word. >> hear, hear. mr. neal: we reached an agreement and came to modest

achievements and a tweet changed all of it? can you imagine what the next two years are going to be like if every time the congress works its will and then there's a tweet from an individual which has no official portfolio who threatens members on the republican side with a primary and they succumb? this institution has a separate responsibility based upon the separation of powers. members of congress don't serve under presidents of the united states. it's called the national principle. i'm in favor of aid to north carolina. i'm in support of aid to the farmers in missouri. we come to the aid of the american family at momentslike this. but you walked away from your word, you walked away from an agreement. that's what we're bothered by. a simple suggestion from the president-elect that you ought to abandon that principle a, and

this is what this is about. this is trying to raise the debt ceiling to disguise a big tax cut that they want to offer later on. in december of 2017, the tcja was rendered, and my friends, particularly the ones that have been here for a while, you know what i'm about to say is true, you borrowed the money for a tax cut. $2.3 trillion for a tax cut for wealthy people. and when you see the distribution tables, you know who got one. we are trying to avert a government shutdown but we're also trying to subscribe to the basic principles as outlined earlier. we reached an agreement. it was honorable, it came to the aid of everything you've asked for. and then you walk away from it. what about your word going forward here? what about the currency that i noted a moment ago?

and i want to tell you, you cannot win a government shutdown and you won't win this one either. we need to return to the original agreement and stick with it. the last word here i'm going to offer up is this -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. from neal: the speaker of the house needed to -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. the gentlewoman from connecticut reserves. the chair would remind my colleagues to direct comments to the chair. the gentleman from oklahoma is recognized. mr. cole: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield to my good friend, the gentlewoman from florida, ms. luna, for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from florida is recognized for two minutes. ms. luna: i never voted for a c.r. but i'm here today because i realize the plan that's on the table currently to keep our government open but also the

promise from the only president in my lifetime who has ever followed through on all of his campaign promises to the american people -- excuse me. i'm not done talking. give me the same respect we give you guys. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman will suspend. the house will come to order. my colleagues are reminded the gentlewoman has the floor and has the right to be heard. the gentlewoman has the right to be heard and the gentlewoman would be reminded to direct her comments to the chair. the gentlewoman from florida is recognized. ms. luna: from the only president in my lifetime who fulfilled all his campaign promises to the american people have promised to cut hundreds of billions in reconciliation, you want to talk about shutting down the government, the deal negotiated was largely rejected by the american people which to speaker johnson's credit pulled it from the floor. that's why we're here today. the deal on the table will keep the government open for the american people and if you so

choose to shut it down, it will be on you but not the republican party. we will not be going back to the table. this deal stands as it is so let you go back home on christmas and explain to your people why you shut down the government because we won't be doing it. furthermore, mr. speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the house will be in order. the gentlewoman is reminded to direct her comments to the chair. my colleagues are reminded -- my colleagues are reminded to yield the floor to the gentlewoman from florida. ms. luna: furthermore, mr. speaker, the former bill had items in it to include random pandemic policies, biocontaminant research that was not in the best interest of the american people. so the deal on the table is as is. you either vote for it or you vote for the shutdown but it will be not on the republican party but on democrats as it

stands. mr. speaker, i yield my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields. my colleagues, the chair acknowledges the emotion and passion behind all arguments. please, the house will be in order. the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentleman from oklahoma reserves. the gentlewoman from connecticut is recognized. ms. delauro: a deal is a deal. i yield three minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, the ranking member of the energy and commerce committee, mr. pallone. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: have the republicans forgotten they're in the majority? the bill that was supposed to come up was posted and negotiated by the republican speaker. he posted it. he negotiated it. and you know, you know that the bill you're bringing up instead tonight will not pass.

we will leave here tonight, this bill will not pass. so you are the ones creating the shutdown. you have the power to decide what bills come to the floor. you are putting a bill on this floor that you know will not pass and will lead to a republican shutdown. it's on you because you have the majority. now, i want to talk about this other bill that was supposed to come up and that you refused to bring up. this bill was negotiated because we realized for one, in our committee, the energy and commerce committee, that people were suffering, right? they were suffering from high drug prices because of pharmaceutical benefit plans, p.b.m.'s. we put in a bill on a bipartisan basis, a way of trying to bring prices down with p.b.m. reform. we knew consumers are being screwed all over the place with shady things on the website when they buy things, junk ,