NATION LOSING ITS MORAL COMPASS

On 2026-06-08, Representative Melanie A. Stansbury (D-NM-1) delivered a floor speech titled "NATION LOSING ITS MORAL COMPASS" in the House.

NATION LOSING ITS MORAL COMPASS

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 96 (Monday, June 8, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 96 (Monday, June 8, 2026)] [House] [Page H3918] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] NATION LOSING ITS MORAL COMPASS (Ms. Stansbury of New Mexico was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.) Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I rise on the floor this afternoon because I believe this Nation is losing its moral compass, led by a President who is more interested in ballrooms and bullying reporters than the rights and the dignity of our basic human rights as Americans. This week, this body will consider a $70 billion package of funding for ICE to continue a cruel and inhuman detention system that has robbed countless Americans of their freedom and human dignity; that has fueled a massive for-profit private prison industry with billions of taxpayer dollars on the backs of the suffering of our people; that has torn families apart, incarcerated children, killed dozens in detention, violated human and civil liberties, and left millions of people in this country living in fear every day. Now, the leadership of this body wants to approve another $70 billion on top of the more than $100 billion that they already gave them so that the Trump administration can continue to terrorize our families and communities without any checks. This is not okay. This body has lost its moral compass. It follows after last week as this body passed appropriations bills that cut hundreds of millions of dollars in food assistance to children, not just children here in the United States but abroad. In a time when hunger is higher now in this country today than it was during COVID, they chose to cut food assistance to American children and children across the world. Last week, in their agriculture bill, they cut food, housing, and basic infrastructure for rural communities and food to children. Now, they want another blank check for ICE? What next? The President is asking for $1.5 trillion for more bombs for illegal wars to continue the suffering abroad. That is why I am here today to stand, to fight, to fight back, to reclaim the dignity of this body, the moral compass of this country. Last week, we finally passed a War Powers Resolution to end the war in Iran. We did not succeed yet in passing a War Powers Resolution to end the war in Lebanon, but we cannot stand by and let this reckless President wage illegal wars in the Middle East and empower an out-of- control foreign leader, who even this weekend further threatened the peace of the Middle East through continued attacks. It must stop. Congress must assert not only our Constitutional authority but reclaim our moral compass. As we stand here in this Chamber, violence continues abroad. Over the weekend, bombs and firefights shelled communities in Lebanon, Israel, and Iran. In Lebanon, more than 3,500 people have been killed, nearly 11,000 injured, and more than a million people have been displaced and lost their homes. Families have lost loved ones. Communities have been uprooted. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. Across the region, innocent people are paying the price for decisions they did not make and conflicts they did not create. As this violence rages on, it happens against the backdrop of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, ongoing human rights violations in the West Bank, human suffering that has reached unimaginable levels. Children are facing hunger, displacement, and the constant threat of violence. Families are struggling to access food, clean water, medicine, and shelter. In the West Bank, Palestinian families continue to face violence daily. A 7-month-old baby was shot and killed by a soldier just days ago in a car. Entire villages and sacred olive trees have been destroyed. There are restrictions on movement, indignities in everyday life, and unfathomable cruelty. These impacts are not just felt in these communities but in our districts here at home, as their families and friends watch in horror and grief. We have a fundamental, not only constitutional, responsibility as Congress to rein in these immoral and illegal wars but to stop these crimes. Congress cannot stand by and let this continue. These illegal wars are not only violations of our war powers, they are violations of the basic human rights of our people. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired. Ms. STANSBURY. So it is time to end these illegal wars. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired. Ms. STANSBURY. End the cruel and inhuman policies that are terrorizing our communities. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman is no longer recognized. ____________________