HOUSE REPUBLICANS ARE COMPLICIT IN PRIVACY VIOLATIONS

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ARE COMPLICIT IN PRIVACY VIOLATIONS

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 25 (Thursday, February 6, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 25 (Thursday, February 6, 2025)] [House] [Page H515] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] HOUSE REPUBLICANS ARE COMPLICIT IN PRIVACY VIOLATIONS The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Barragan) for 5 minutes. Ms. BARRAGAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to sound the alarm for the American people about the abuse of power that House Republicans are allowing and that puts the American people in danger. House Republicans have allowed billionaire Elon Musk and his gang of thieves to enter the U.S. Treasury Department, fire the people entrusted with secret, private information about Americans, and give them that access. Madam Speaker, this billionaire, his interns, and his young workers have complete access to your Social Security number, your bank account number, your name, your address, your Medicare payments, your tax refunds, and your veterans benefits. This privacy violation endangers the personal information of the American people. Yet, where are House Republicans? They are totally silent, doing nothing, and saying nothing. They are just allowing it to happen because they are okay with it. What is the worst that could happen? Madam Speaker, your data could be accessed in a way that makes it vulnerable to hackers or identity theft. SNAP benefits could be cut, Head Start shut down, and your Medicare payments delayed or frozen, all without a paper trail. Elon Musk and his DOGE friends have the ability to choose what government bills to pay and what not to pay. I have heard from the American people. They do not want a Federal contractor who receives billions of dollars in government payments to decide which contracts to pay or to punish Americans who disagree. These individuals with no government accountability are now inside the very heart of our Federal systems, and Republicans are nowhere to be found. Elon Musk has bragged on social media that he has been able to cancel contracts and programs he doesn't like. This is reckless and illegal. Why would he want access to the information? It is to look for programs to cut, programs the American families and people rely on every day. It is to have more money to make sure House Republicans can give to their billionaire friends, and tax cuts. This is the Republican rip-off. Just last week we saw the consequences of this Republican rip-off in action. The administration issued an illegal shutdown order, a freeze that threw nonprofits, schools, health clinics, and entire communities into chaos. Critical grants and programs were frozen without warning. Just yesterday, we learned that some community health centers in rural America are shutting down because of it. Where are House Republicans? They are certainly not speaking out, and they are not standing up for our community health centers. Madam Speaker, imagine going to your doctor and you are told you cannot be seen because Elon Musk has cut off Medicaid payments to your State. Imagine your child's school closing because the money to fund it was frozen. That was the fear that went through our communities last week. Domestic violence shelters and health clinics worried about whether they would have to shut their doors. Meals on Wheels and the seniors who rely on it didn't know where their next meal would come from. While a judge has temporarily blocked the government-wide freeze, many grant recipients still cannot access funding. The administration has said that they are still going to implement the funding shutdown. The administration is also targeting programs such as the EPA's clean ports program which affects millions of dollars going to ports across the country to help clean up air pollution. In my district alone, that is over $400 million in funding to reduce pollution at the Port of Los Angeles. Madam Speaker, what could be next? How will it affect your family? There are reports that the Department of Education and our public schools' funding is next on their target list. Let me be clear. This is unconstitutional. Congress controls the purse strings, not the President and not Elon Musk. This money was legally appropriated by the people's Representatives. Elon Musk and House Republicans want to steal it from the American people to give tax breaks to billionaires and to get investments in our communities. House Republicans continue to remain silent. Their silence makes them complicit. Americans will pay the price. Democrats will stand up, speak out, and fight back. Just one of those things Democrats are doing to fight back is we are demanding that Republicans quickly bring up legislation to protect your private information. Let's all support that. ____________________