Ranking Member Morelle Delivers Floor Remarks on Repealing Senate Provision from Funding Bill

WASHINGTON – Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, led debate for the Democrats on H.R. 6019 –  legislation that would repeal the corrupt provision snuck into the government funding bill by Senate Republicans. Under current law, millions of taxpayer dollars could be paid to eight Republican Senators whose phone records were reviewed as part of a lawful investigation into the January 6th insurrection. The following remarks were prepared for delivery.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
 
I rise in strong support of H.R. 6019. 
 
Last week's bill to fund the government included a provision-added quietly in the dead of night-that facilitates the transfer of millions of taxpayer dollars from the U.S. Treasury to the personal bank accounts of eight Republican senators. 
 
And not just any senators. They were senators who may have had knowledge of, or even participated in, efforts to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election. 
 
Efforts that culminated in a violent attack on this very institution. And because many of my Republican colleagues seem determined to forget the reality of that day, allow me to remind you that during this attack, Capitol Police officers were maimed while protecting the lives of the very senators now seeking to enrich themselves at the taxpayer's expense. 
 
Officers lost eyes. They lost fingers. They suffered traumatic brain injuries and had their spinal discs smashed. One was stabbed with a metal fence stake. Another suffered a heart attack after being repeatedly tased. Some, tragically, died. Others were so severely injured that they could no longer continue serving in law enforcement.
 
The plot to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election led multiple grand juries-both state and federal-bringing felony charges against its organizers and participants. These charges were based on actions like promoting fake elector slates, urging state officials to "find" votes to change the election outcome, and urging Vice President Pence to stand just a few feet from here, behind that very dais, and violate the Constitution.
 
According to public reports, one of the eight Republican senators now eligible for this taxpayer funded windfall testified before one of these grand juries. At the conclusion of his testimony, that Republican senator reportedly embraced the prosector and lauded the work of the grand jurors as 'cathartic.' 
 
That same Senator announced just yesterday that he intends seek his payout of "tens of millions of dollars." 
 
It should be clear to everyone here-under no circumstances should the power entrusted to us as Members Congress be used to line our own pockets. Period, full stop. And anyone who voted for this appalling provision-including all but two House Republicans-should feel ashamed of themselves. 
 
As these Republican senators and House members know, phone records are among the most routine tools used in criminal investigations. 

They do not reveal the content of any conversations. They simply show which numbers were called, which numbers called them, and when those calls were made. 
 
They are, essentially, phone bills.
 
If these Republican senators genuinely believe their civil liberties were violated, or if they are interested in changing the law relating to subpoenas, then they are better positioned than literally anyone on Earth to hold hearings, draft legislation, and debate proposed changes in the open. 

But that's not what this is about. This is about ensuring the law applies to every other American-just not to them. 
 
This kind of self-serving, self-dealing, one-sided get rich quick scheme is why Americans are so disgusted with this Republican Congress. And it's why I expect many of those who supported this provision will be dismissed next November.
 
This lucrative carve-out masquerading as legislation isn't an isolated occurrence. It's part of a broader pattern: the weaponization of the Department of Justice and U.S. Treasury to reward allies and punish perceived enemies. 
 
Let me briefly highlight just a few other examples.
 
Earlier this year, the Trump Department of Justice agreed to a $5 million settlement with the estate of a January 6 rioter who was killed while attempting to violently breach this chamber. 
 
As the Chief of the Capitol Police said at the time, the settlement "sends a chilling message to law enforcement nationwide, especially to those with a protective mission like ours."
 
According to public reporting, DOJ is also negotiating a settlement of up to $50 million for disgraced former General Michael Flynn over his purported wrongful prosecution, even though he confessed to the crimes for which incredibly he now says he was wrongly prosecuted. 
 
Other reports indicate that President Trump is seeking $230 million from the taxpayers for himself personally for prior investigations into his conduct.
 
And let's not forget Day One of this Administration, when President Trump issued blanket pardons to over one thousand criminals convicted of January 6 crimes, including members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, who assaulted Capitol Police officers. Just last week, a militia member who participated in the riot was re-pardoned for a completely unrelated gun charge. 
 
And what have we heard from Congressional Republicans about all this? 

About legalized payoffs to Republican senators? About get rich quick schemes unfolding within the federal government? About rewards for friends and retribution against opponents?
 
Absolutely nothing.  The silence is deafening.
 
Last I checked, this is the United States Congress, not the Russian Duma. We do not create a protected class of elites who can siphon off public money, reward their friends, punish their political opponents, and insulate themselves from accountability. 
 
Or at least we didn't-until last week when nearly every single House Republican voted for this disgraceful provision of law-after rejecting Democratic amendments to strip it from the bill.

You had every opportunity to stop this provision from ever becoming law. But you voted for it anyway-and now you want to turn around and say, "just kidding!" 
 
What are we even doing here? Let's review the sequence of events: 
 
Senate Republicans snuck this outrageous provision into a bill to reopen the federal government, after months of Republicans insisting they would only accept a clean funding bill. 
 
House Republicans went along with it. And now, straight faces worthy of an Academy Award, they want to pretend the Senate may repeal the very payoff they just made law? 
 
As we head into the fourth-and I pray final-year of this Republican majority, I didn't think anything could shock me anymore. I was wrong. 
 
The American people are sick and tired of this. 

They're sick and tired of watching politicians come to Washington to get rich while everyday Americans suffer through an affordability crisis Republicans don't appear interested in confronting. 
 
They're sick and tired of watching Republicans block a tax credit that would lower health insurance costs for millions of Americans-after passing a partisan budget that will throw millions more off Medicaid-only to turn around and create a slush fund for themselves. 
 
I represent Rochester, New York-the city Frederick Douglass chose to make his home and publish The North Star.
 
Douglass reminded us "The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous." 
 
Ask yourselves: is sneaking this self-enriching provision into what was supposedly a "clean" funding bill is honest, truthful, or virtuous? 
 
We all know the answer. 
 
In fact, I am so opposed to this corrupt provision, I actually voted against it last week. I look forward to hearing my colleagues on the other side of the aisle try to explain why they did not. 
 
I reserve the balance of my time.
 

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