John Rutherford: “I thank the ranking member for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise again today in opposition to the political ultimatum that…”

“I thank the ranking member for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise again today in opposition to the political ultimatum that has poisoned this bill. I had anticipated that I would support Chairwoman Lowey's proposal to provide disaster relief to American families struggling to rebuild from recent disasters like Hurricane Michael that devastated my home State of Florida. I do thank her and her staff for the hard work that they have done in putting together this disaster relief bill. However, in the dark of night, the majority leadership slipped into this bill another continuing resolution that they know will hold this bill back from ever becoming signed into law. Some on the other side have asked why adding a CR would be a poison pill in this measure. The answer is really simple: This bill will never be considered by the Senate or signed by the President. Leadership knows this, but they continue to place politics over helping hardworking, taxpaying American citizens. So what are we here to accomplish? Is the majority trying to help American citizens recover or simply content to blame the President while punishing hardworking taxpayers who have been devastated by natural disasters, including those, by the way, in the Speaker's home State of California? Those folks are desperately in need of this relief as they recover from devastating wildfires.…”