On the recordFebruary 5, 2021
I first welcome the gentlewoman from Florida to the House, and I look forward to many opportunities to work together in a bipartisan fashion. I would note that one of the very first things we did in this House was the bipartisan passage of Public Law 117-1, which was paving the way for an historic appointment of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. So we have worked together, and I think we will find common purpose on so many things facing the American public. And I certainly hope we find commonality and purpose in this work that we will do over the next several days to work on support, in the most difficult of times, for American families. Because I have heard this now said so many times in the last few days about a trillion dollars that the Biden administration has not spent, I would say, first of all, if anyone in a period of 2 weeks could spend a trillion dollars, I would find that remarkable. The second is, this is in the pipeline. And we don't wait for every dollar to be spent and then think about having another debate about further support. There is nothing about this that I find extraordinary. What I do find extraordinary is that you point out that money that has been appropriated, is earmarked, and is moving out the door in appropriate ways and going through the proper channels, and that would be a point of debate and argument. This is necessary.…
