CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027

On 2026-07-22, Representative Gabe Amo (D-RI-1) delivered a floor speech titled "CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027" in the House.

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 120 (Wednesday, July 22, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 22, 2026)] [House] [Pages H5127-H5143] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2027 General Leave Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 113. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Texas? There was no objection. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1438 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 113. The Chair appoints the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Goldman) to preside over the Committee of the Whole. {time} 1251 In the Committee of the Whole Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 113) establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2027 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2028 [[Page H5128]] through 2036, with Mr. Goldman of Texas in the chair. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The CHAIR. Pursuant to the rule, the concurrent resolution is considered read the first time. General debate shall be confined to the concurrent resolution and shall not exceed 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget or their respective designees. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington) and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Boyle) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington). Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, the American people suffered through 4 years of lawlessness, incompetence, and habitual failure under Joe Biden and Democratic leadership, one self-inflicted disaster after another: border chaos, rampant crime, feckless foreign policy, spending-induced inflation that we haven't seen in a half a century, a crushing cost-of- living crisis, and the worst regressive tax on working families in this country. In the historic election of 2024, our citizens gave us unified Republican leadership and an unambiguous and unequivocal message. They said that we want strong, competent leaders, commonsense policies, and a commitment to America and Americans first. Mr. Chairman, for our part, from day one, Republicans have united and relentlessly delivered in reversing those failed Democratic policies, delivering on the American people's priorities, and restoring America's greatness and the American spirit along with it. Mr. Chairman, we have been doing this in the face of unprecedented Democratic obstruction. They either didn't listen to the American people in the election of 2024, or worse: They didn't care. Instead of humble self-reflection and change, the Democratic Party has doubled down on their radical agenda and has hastened their march to Democratic socialism. Their entire strategy has been to resist Republicans and obstruct, obstruct, obstruct the President at all fronts and at all costs, even if it hurts our great Nation, its success, and the safety and security of the American people, sadly. Exhibit A: The Democrats shut the government down for the first time in history when we presented a clean CR to continue the funding of last year until we could work out an appropriations deal. They rejected it, and their demand was to repeal the safeguards that we put in to prevent illegals and ineligible people from draining the safety net that is there for vulnerable Americans. Then, they shut Homeland Security down, and they held not only TSA agents and coastguardsmen hostage, but they held the American people and our security hostage for absurd and dangerous demands that would have returned our country back to the Biden border nightmare, along with endangering our hardworking and brave Border Patrol and ICE agents. The Democrats have gone on time and time again with this unprecedented obstruction. Recently, they blocked the National Defense Authorization Act to protest President Trump and our troops' efforts to stop this radical terrorist regime from having nuclear weapons. They blocked FISA, which is a critical tool for our intelligence agencies to stave off and thwart terrorist attacks and Chinese espionage and hacking into our critical infrastructure. Mr. Chairman, I could go on and on. Let me tell you what we have done as Republicans, relentlessly, every day, with the commitment to the people who sent us up here. In reconciliation 1.0, we prevented the largest tax hike in our Nation's history, 22 percent, which would have been on top of the 21 percent increase in prices they experienced from Biden inflation. We gave permanent tax relief to working families and small businesses. We made the largest investment in rebuilding our military, restoring their spirit, peace through strength for the USA. We saved a record $1.6 trillion in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse that was robbing taxpayers and weakening the safety net for our most vulnerable. Reconciliation 2.0, unfortunately, we had to burn a reconciliation and go at it again unilaterally, Republicans stopping the defunding of ICE and CBP. That is right. We didn't get a single Democratic vote to fund ICE and CBP, and the only way we turned Homeland Security back on is they wanted to cut them out of the equation. That is what we did with the second reconciliation. Mr. Chairman, here we are with reconciliation 3.0, supporting our troops in their time of need with just baseline battlefield readiness, bullets and bombs to finish the job and to come home safely and victoriously; strengthening our food supply; and, ultimately, we want to safeguard the integrity of our elections. We want to restore the American people's confidence because as the Founders said in the Declaration of Independence: ``There is no just government without the consent of the governed,'' and there is no legitimate consent and there is no functioning democracy if the American people have no confidence in this election. Mr. Chairman, it is not just the President. It is not just MAGA Republicans. Nancy Pelosi, in 2017, said this: ``Our election was hijacked. There is no question. Congress has a duty to protect our democracy . . . `' Well, you know what, Mr. Chairman? I agree with Nancy Pelosi. We have a duty. We have a duty to safeguard our elections. We have a duty to restore confidence in what underpins the will of the people, their freedoms, our common defense, and the general welfare of every American in this country. Mr. Chairman, I encourage not just Republicans but my Democratic colleagues to join us in supporting our troops, safeguarding our elections, and saving America. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time. {time} 1300 Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, as you may recall, 2 years ago, in the election that my good friend the chair referenced, Donald Trump won a whopping landslide of 1\1/2\ points, one of the closest national popular votes in American history, for those keeping score. During that election, he campaigned in my State, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, more than any other in the country. The promise he most often recited at every rally was, and these were his exact words: I will lower your costs on day one. Mr. Chair, what an abject failure. This Presidency, and the rubberstamp Republicans who enable him, have pushed through an agenda that hasn't lowered costs for the American people. It has only made things far more expensive. He started over a year ago with the Trump tariff taxes, a tax on most imported goods. On average, this has raised costs by about $1,800 a year for the American family. He then doubled down on that last summer, in July of last year, when the rubberstamp Republicans passed, and the President signed what he used to call the big, beautiful bill, which has become the big, ugly law for the American people. That bill makes healthcare more expensive for the American people while cutting off their food assistance at a time that food prices are through the roof. Now, here we are, after all of that. We have the Republican reconciliation 3.0. I think that both parties would agree--in fact, the two Presidential nominees 2 years ago happened to, in a rare point of agreement, but they happened to agree that the number one issue on people's minds by far was the affordability crisis, that America had become too expensive. Isn't it interesting that despite the fact that polls continue to show by an overwhelming majority that is the biggest issue that voters care about, we have in front of us the Republican reconciliation 3.0, 47 pages, 6,560 words, not one word about affordability, not one word about how to bring down costs for the American people. They are not even trying. We have a President who just doesn't care about the average American family and the affordability crisis. Don't take my word for it. Take the President's own words. ``I don't think about Americans' financial situation.'' [[Page H5129]] This bill reflects that fact. We have in this bill almost $100 billion in new deficit spending. Yes, that is right. The same crowd that loves to cry crocodile tears about deficit and debt whenever there is a President in the White House who is a Democrat, cumulatively now they have added $5 trillion to our national debt, more than any other 18-month period in the history of Congress. They are about to add $100 billion more. Most of that spending is for President Trump's Iran war, a reckless deci

Referenced legislation: HR1, HCONRES14, HCONRES113, HRES1438