Freedom First Society

Issue: H.R. 6119, Making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, and for other purposes. Question:  On passage.

Result: Passed, 221 to 212, 0 not voting.  Passed later by the Senate (Senate vote 477, 12-2-21).  Signed by the President, 12-3-21 (became Public Law 117-70). Democrats only scored.

Freedom First Society:  Extends unconstitutional spending without any plans for roll back.

We do not score the House GOP on this one. All the GOP could comfortably posture as fiscal conservatives and vote nay, and the measure still pass (only 1 GOP representative voted yea).

We have assigned (good vote) to the Nays and (bad vote) to the Yeas. (P = voted present; ? = not voting; blank = not listed on roll call.)

Bill Summary:  Extends FY 2021 spending levels until February 18, 2022 unless updated sooner plus other matters.

Analysis:  Fiscal year 2021 ended on September 30th.  Fiscal year 2021 appropriations included massive unconstitutional programs and spending.  No representative, respecting his oath to obey the Constitution, should vote to extend such spending, unless a serious plan to begin rolling back such spending was imminent (which it was not). This is the second such transgression, extending FY 2021 level of spending until February 18, 2022 (the first extended spending until December 3, 2021).

During the pseudo debate on the measure, the sponsor, Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.), lamented the need for a short term continuing appropriations rather that yearlong omnibus planning.  Her remarks reflected the government collectivism propagandizing the public — government not individual  action is the primary solution to society’s progress:

“Let me be clear, working families, small businesses, veterans, and our military need the certainty that comes with passing omnibus funding legislation instead of short-term funding patches. Republicans must join us for bipartisan, bicameral negotiations to resolve our differences and keep government working for us all.

“For our communities, we need an omnibus to create and sustain good-paying jobs, support small businesses, prevent future pandemics, and advance lifesaving medical research. We need an omnibus to strengthen public schools, protect our air and water, combat the opioid epidemic, and support core services such as food safety and consumer product inspections. Without an omnibus, investments in all these areas will be denied.

“For our veterans, we need an omnibus to provide sufficient funding for veterans’ benefits, reduce backlogs for veterans and their families, and meet the needs of the VA’s healthcare system. Without an omnibus there will be a shortfall that will cause veterans not to receive their benefits in full.

“For our national security, we need an omnibus to support defense readiness and modernization, secure our cyber infrastructure, and strengthen American leadership abroad. Without an omnibus, a pay raise for troops will not be funded while funds will be misdirected to a war we are no longer fighting.”

Echoing the same false leadership was Representative Barbara Lee (D-Calif.):

“Madam Speaker, these investments, along with other important investments in housing, jobs, and community investment, are on hold until we complete our work for fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills. So we must not shrink from our global responsibility but instead work to pass our budget, an omnibus bill, as soon as possible. Lives and livelihoods depend on this.

“Madam Speaker, again I thank Chairwoman DeLauro for making sure we keep the government open.” (Emphasis added.)

On the other hand, Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) argued that Congress was set on funding out-of-control government that threatened the American people with tyranny:

“There is a lot of noise in this town right now about government shutdowns, and the fact is, the issue isn’t about shutdowns. It is about whether or not Members of this body will continue to use money we don’t have to fund mandates, indoctrination, and the use of force against our citizens: $73.5 billion for the Department of Education that subsidizes the indoctrination of our children with critical race theory and woke gender ideologies;  $10 billion for an FBI that was just used by the Attorney General of the United States to target parents;

$50 billion for a Department of Homeland Security that leaves our borders wide open, empowering cartels because Secretary Mayorkas fails to execute the laws of the United States;
$6 billion for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases run by Dr. Fauci.

“Need I say more?

$592 million for OSHA, which has imposed an unconstitutional vaccine mandate on 84 million Americans.

“I offered an amendment to strip any funding from this bill that would fund Federal vaccine mandates, and it wasn’t even able to see the light of day.

“This is about a Congress that is supposed to use the power of the purse, our Article I authority, rather than hiding behind the judges in Article III, to check the executive branch. We have a moral obligation to give voice and representation to the people who elected us whose liberty and livelihoods are being attacked.

“My friend who battles MS is looking at being terminated from the university she teaches at because of the unlawful Federal contractor mandate.

“The medical hero in Texas who is 9 months pregnant is facing termination under the unlawful CMS mandate.

“Military personnel, including the 13-year Army veteran in my district who is concerned about myocarditis, are facing being discharged from service to our country.

“These are our neighbors, our relatives, our friends–maybe not for some of you who go home to double-masked, vaccine passport cities. But these are real Americans that this government wants to go after.

“I urge my colleagues to stop empowering executive branch tyranny over Americans, and I urge my Republican colleagues to not just vote “no” and give a speech, but go stand with Mike Lee. Go stand with others in the Senate trying to defend these Americans. We should not fund tyranny over American citizens.

Also on the mark were comments by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia):

“Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the CR. The American people are $29 trillion in debt, thanks to Congress. And this Congress wants to borrow more money and more time to figure out how to run the government and how to pay for it. That is an outrage to the American people.

“You want to talk about courage and responsibility? Do you know what courage and responsibility is?

“It is learning how to manage the people’s money. The people work hard every single day. They have to pay the taxes. And then they have to trust this House, this body, and the Senate to create a budget, but every single time, it is the budget that puts them further and further in debt.

“It is the audacity of Congress to borrow more money and not be able to come up with a budget that makes sense and that we can pay for.

“What an outrage. What an irresponsibility. That isn’t courage. That is not responsibility. That is out-of-control behavior that this Congress needs to rein in. This government should be shut down. You want to know why it should be shut down? Because the people in here cannot control themselves. The people in here do not understand how to balance a checkbook. And the people in here do not deserve the responsibility on how to spend the American people’s money.

“Madam Speaker, $29 trillion. Shut it down. Do not pass the CR. Shut it down.”

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