On the recordApril 9, 2025
Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker, Donald Trump's tariffs are the biggest tax increase on the middle class in this country in generations. Even with today's so- called pause announcement, he is still putting a 10 percent tax on food, on energy, and on essentials that Americans need, while keeping up with the high cost of living. The number one thing that I hear in my district and that I know everybody hears in their districts is the cost of living is too high. Why in the world is this President increasing the cost of living for millions of middle-class Americans? At the same time, the stock market has tanked. Even after today's so- called pause, which is not a pause because it is still a 10 percent tax--the S&P is down 10 percent since Trump took office, and trillions of dollars of people's retirement savings are wiped out. Mr. Speaker, what are our Republican colleagues doing to respond to this insanity? The majority is trying to pass a rule that says that Congress cannot overturn these tariffs even though the Constitution gives Congress and not the President the sole authority to levy tariffs. Why are my Republican colleagues even bothering to show up to work? My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are just giving the executive branch all of the powers that the Constitution had originally given to the Congress.…





