Late Thursday afternoon, the U.S. House voted on legislation that Republicans rushed to put together to keep the government funded beyond December 20, after being pressured by President-elect Trump, Elon Musk, and their allies to withdraw a larger bipartisan measure on Wednesday. The new bill was defeated 174-235. Thirty-eight Republicans voted against the bill, along with nearly all Democrats. Four Oklahoma House members — Rep. Kevin Hern, Rep. Frank Lucas, Rep. Tom Cole, and Rep. Stephanie Bice — voted yes; one member — Rep. Josh Brecheen — voted against it.

Here are the opening statements on the bill, H.R. 10515, the American Relief Act, 2025, from the members chosen to manage the debate: Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), in favor, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), opposed.

Tom Cole:

"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today in support of H.R. 10515, the American Relief Act of 2025. As the 118th Congress draws to a close, it’s natural to use these final days to reflect on our work. Though we’ve accomplished much over the last two years, there’s more to be done. First and foremost, we need to ensure that the government remains open and operating to provide needed services for Americans. That’s why I stand before you.

With government funding running out, it’s our duty to act. When the House Appropriations Committee began drafting bills for fiscal year 2025, we knew we had to work quickly to put the House in the best position possible. To that end, we successfully reported all 12 of our annual appropriations bills out of the committee and succeeded in passing five of them across the floor. Unfortunately, the House does not act on its own, and I’m sorry to say, whether we like it or not, our colleagues in the Senate have input in this process.

To date, the Senate has yet to pass a single fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill across the floor. As time went on, it became clear that we would not conclude the FY 2025 process by the deadline of December 20, meaning another extension is necessary. I know there’s great frustration that a second continuing resolution is needed, and quite frankly, I share that feeling. But a government shutdown is never a good alternative.

Today’s bill funds the government through March 14. This will allow Republicans to engage President Trump as we negotiate a final-year funding bill that fulfills the mandate of the American people and our America-First agenda. Further, this route ensures that there are no undue disruptions to our national security and the vital programs our constituents rely on.

Today’s bill also extends the debt limit for a further two years, to January 20, 2027. This will allow President-elect Trump to begin his term without needing to immediately address our national debt limit, allowing us to move forward on the many other pressing concerns of the American people.

Finally, the legislation also provides much-needed relief to Americans struggling to recover from recent natural disasters. This includes destruction in my own district, which faced tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma. From floods and droughts to wildfires and other storms, communities across the United States have suffered. These realities have been grim.

I recently visited North Carolina at the invitation of my good friend and fellow Appropriations Committee member, Chuck Edwards, and saw with my own eyes the devastation and damage caused by Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic flooding. Even months after the storm, countless people remain without basic necessities, and the region will remain affected for years to come.

My takeaway from these experiences is clear: Congress must act. We need to provide the necessary disaster recovery aid for states and communities as our fellow citizens rebuild and restore. The relief efforts are ongoing, and it will be months, if not years, before life returns to normal. Additional investments are necessary to provide needed assistance to our fellow Americans.

Today’s measure fully funds our existing relief requirements, ensuring that help and resources can get to those who desperately need them. Rural communities, particularly our farmers and ranchers, are facing a tough farm economy amid the aftermath of multiple disasters, and these are prioritized in this legislation. While there’s still a long road ahead for recovery efforts and rebuilding, this aid will mark a vital step forward.

For these reasons, I urge all of my colleagues to vote in support of H.R. 10515. I thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I reserve the balance of my time."

Rosa DeLauro:

"I rise in strong opposition to this continuing resolution. We had a strong bipartisan, bicameral agreement among the leadership of both parties, at both ends of the Capitol, to avert a disastrous and pointless government shutdown. To provide desperately needed disaster aid and emergency assistance, and to provide Congress with the time required to enact full-year funding bills for fiscal year 2025.

That bill was a result of a compromise. There were things in it that Democrats liked and Republicans did not, and there were things in it that Republicans liked and Democrats would have preferred to leave out. But that is the nature of government funding bills. They require compromise and the support of Democrats and Republicans that we in the House and Senate need to have in order to become law.

That was true throughout the 118th Congress, despite Republicans’ repeated and failed efforts to write extreme and partisan funding bills, and that will be true in the 119th Congress as well. Yes, we were on the cusp of an agreement to move this country forward.

Yesterday, a multibillionaire with apparently no working knowledge of government or appropriations, a self-appointed President of the United States, Elon Musk, issued a marching order for House Republicans to go against their own elected leadership and shut down the government. Soon after, Congress was on a fast track to a government shutdown.

House Republicans are responsible for any harm and uncertainty brought upon the American people, and should some get their wish for a month-long government shutdown, they will be responsible for cleaning up their mess come Inauguration Day. We are in completely unprecedented times.

The world’s richest man, an unelected contractor reaping billions in government contracts, is calling the shots in the Republican Party. Who is in charge? And at the behest of the world’s richest man, who no one voted for, the United States Congress has been thrown into pandemonium.

We had a bill on Tuesday that was the result of a year and a half of work, which had the input of Republicans and Democrats, their interests, their concerns, and the needs of their constituents. This bill has no such bipartisan input.

And we are considering it in mere minutes after it was released. It will remove key provisions to limit the power of pharmaceutical companies and abandon our bipartisan efforts to ensure American dollars and intellectual property are reinvested in American businesses and workers, instead of fueling the Chinese Communist Party’s technology and capabilities.

It includes a two-year raising of the debt limit. What does that do? That serves to allow Republicans to cut taxes on the ultra-wealthy like Elon Musk and raise deficits on the backs of the American people.

We must immediately return to considering the bipartisan, bicameral compromise legislation that Speaker Johnson, Leader Schumer, Leader Jeffries, Leader McConnell, and the four corners of the Appropriations Committee reached earlier this week.

We must unequivocally reject the illegitimate oligarchy that seeks to usurp the authority of the United States Congress and of the American people. And with that, I reserve the balance of my time."