John Rutherford: “I thank my friend from Oklahoma for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this political and insincere…”

“I thank my friend from Oklahoma for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this political and insincere attempt at coronavirus relief. Over the past few months, Congress came together in a bipartisan way and passed four major packages to combat coronavirus, but now, for whatever reason, the Speaker has decided she is done working with Republicans. Despite what you may hear from my friends on the other side of the aisle, they know this is not a serious bill. They also know that it was drafted in secret, without input from the minority, and many of them are just as disappointed that there was no attempt at bipartisanship. Mr. Speaker, almost 40 million Americans are out of work, and here we are in Washington considering a bill that will never, ever become law. How do you think those unemployed Americans feel right now? I would say that they are not interested in watching the Speaker, who is still receiving a full salary, by the way, play these political games. I do support elements of this bill. So let me be clear: I do support additional coronavirus relief for hardworking Americans. I also support sending additional relief to States and cities to help them respond to the coronavirus and its costs. However, I will not ask taxpayers to wipe out years of debt many of these localities incurred long, long before the coronavirus pandemic. Let's get back to working together and write a bill we can all support.…”