House Resolution 722 Honors Charlie Kirk's Legacy and Advances Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2026

[00:00] Mr. Speaker, by the direction of the

[00:02] committee on rules, I call up House

[00:04] Resolution 722 and ask for its immediate

[00:07] consideration.

[00:08] The clerk will report the resolution.

[00:10] House calendar number 45, House

[00:12] Resolution 722, resolved that upon

[00:15] adoption of this resolution, it shall be

[00:17] in order to consider in the House the

[00:19] bill HR 5371 making continuing

[00:22] appropriations and extensions for fiscal

[00:24] year 2026 and for other purposes. All

[00:26] points of order against consideration of

[00:28] the bill are waved. The bill shall be

[00:30] considered as read. All points of order

[00:32] against provisions in the bill are

[00:33] waved. The previous question shall be

[00:35] considered as order on the bill and on

[00:37] any amendment there two to final passage

[00:38] without intervening motion except one

[00:41] one hour of debate equally divided and

[00:43] controlled by the chair and ranking

[00:44] minority member of the committee on

[00:45] appropriations or their respective

[00:47] design and two one motion to recommit.

[00:50] Section two upon adoption of this

[00:52] resolution it shall be in order without

[00:54] intervention of any point of order to

[00:56] consider in the house the resolution.

[00:57] House Resolution 719 honoring the life

[01:00] and legacy of Charles Charlie James

[01:02] Kirk. The resolution shall be considered

[01:05] as read. The previous question shall be

[01:07] considered as order on the resolution

[01:08] and preamble to adoption without

[01:10] intervention of any motion. Demand for

[01:12] division of the question except one hour

[01:14] debate equally divided and controlled by

[01:16] the chair and ranking minority member of

[01:17] the committee on oversight and

[01:18] government reform of their respective

[01:20] design. Section three. Sections 9, 10,

[01:24] and 11 of House Resolution 707 agreed to

[01:27] September 16, 2025, are each amended by

[01:30] striking March 31st, 2026 and inserting

[01:33] January 31st, 2026.

[01:38] The gentleoman from Indiana is

[01:39] recognized for one hour.

[01:42] Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for

[01:44] the purpose of debate only, I yield the

[01:46] customary 30 minutes to the gentleman

[01:49] from Massachusetts, Mr. from McGovern,

[01:51] pending which I yield myself such time

[01:53] as I may consume. During consideration

[01:55] of this resolution, all time yielded is

[01:57] for the purpose of debate only. Mr.

[02:00] Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that

[02:01] all members have five legislative days

[02:03] to revise and extend their remarks.

[02:05] Without objection.

[02:07] Mr. Speaker, last night the rules

[02:08] committee met and produced a rule HRES

[02:11] 722 providing for the House's

[02:13] consideration of two pieces of

[02:15] legislation. First, the rule provides

[02:17] for HRES 719 honoring the life and

[02:21] legacy of Charles Charlie James Kirk to

[02:25] be considered under a closed rule. It

[02:27] provides one hour of debate equally

[02:29] divided and controlled by the chair and

[02:31] ranking minority member of the committee

[02:33] on oversight and government reform.

[02:35] Second, the rule provides for HR 5371,

[02:38] the Continuing Appropriations and

[02:40] Extension Act of 2026.

[02:43] HR5371

[02:45] would be considered under a closed rule

[02:46] and it also provides one hour of debate

[02:49] equally divided and controlled by the

[02:50] chair and ranking minority member of the

[02:53] committee on appropriations or their

[02:54] design and provides for one motion to

[02:57] recommmit. Finally, the rule tolls the

[03:00] day counts until January 31st, 2026

[03:03] regarding joint resolutions terminating

[03:05] the national emergencies declared by the

[03:07] president on February 1st, 2025, April

[03:10] 2nd, 2025, and July 30th, 2025.

[03:15] Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this

[03:18] rule and in support of the underlying

[03:20] legislation

[03:21] beginning with HRES 719

[03:25] honoring Charlie Kirk. It's really quite

[03:27] unbelievable that we're here today

[03:30] honoring the life of Charlie Kirk, taken

[03:33] from us far too soon. This is the kind

[03:36] of tribute you would give after a

[03:38] lifetime of service, not usually at the

[03:41] young age of just 31. But Charlie Kirk

[03:45] made a lifetime's worth of impact in his

[03:47] short 31 years on this earth. And we're

[03:50] grateful for it. Charlie Kirk was a

[03:52] generational leader, a cultural icon. He

[03:56] was dedicated to engaging young people,

[03:59] depend defending our constitutional

[04:01] freedoms and calling on Americans to

[04:04] live with courage and conviction.

[04:07] Whether you agreed with him or not, he

[04:08] showed up. He listened. He engaged in

[04:12] respectful dialogue. He never backed

[04:14] down from the belief that ideas should

[04:17] be debated in the open. Charlie Kirk

[04:20] believed that freedom is worth

[04:22] defending, that faith has a rightful

[04:24] place in the public square, and the next

[04:27] generation deserves leaders who tell the

[04:29] truth and invite honest debate. He

[04:32] believed that every human life had

[04:34] value, even those who vehemently

[04:37] disagreed with him. What happened last

[04:39] week was evil, but we can't fear it

[04:42] because if we do, then evil wins. So we

[04:46] will not back down and we will not allow

[04:48] hatred to intimidate us or to silence

[04:50] our speech. He leaves behind a loving

[04:53] wife and two children. He was a child of

[04:56] God, a son, a husband, a father, and a

[05:01] conservative leader who even in death

[05:04] still inspires millions around the

[05:06] world. I hope the whole house will join

[05:09] me in praying for Erica and his precious

[05:12] children and the family and friends he

[05:14] leaves behind. May God surround them

[05:17] with love, comfort them with his

[05:19] presence, and provide a peace that

[05:21] surpasses our understanding. We will

[05:24] never forget Charlie Kirk. Let us carry

[05:28] on his legacy and always defend the

[05:31] ideals he lived out.

[05:33] I was proud last night to be a member of

[05:35] the rules committee and want to thank

[05:37] the ranking member, ranking member

[05:39] McGovern, and the other Democrat members

[05:40] of the committee for recognizing that

[05:43] many of us on this side of the aisle

[05:45] knew Charlie personally. I also want to

[05:47] thank representatives Debbie Dingle, Tom

[05:50] Swisy, Don Davis, John Larson, Jimmy

[05:53] Panetta, Marie Glucen, Camp Perez, and

[05:55] Chris Papus who joined our prayer vigil

[05:58] for uh Charlie earlier this week. I was

[06:01] and am glad that we condemned political

[06:04] violence together and were able to share

[06:07] compassion for one another. Moving on to

[06:10] HR5371.

[06:12] This rule also provides for

[06:13] consideration of the continuing

[06:15] resolution.

[06:16] Passing a continuing resolution is never

[06:19] our first choice, but as Chairman Cole

[06:21] said last night, real progress is being

[06:23] made and he's encouraged by this year's

[06:26] appropriations process. The House has

[06:28] already approved 60% of government

[06:31] spending and the appropriation committee

[06:33] has finished its work at the committee

[06:34] level. Chairman Cole and every member of

[06:37] the appropriations committee deserves

[06:39] credit for the long hours of work that

[06:41] have already been done and the progress

[06:43] that has been made. Following this good

[06:46] example under the leadership of Leader

[06:47] Thun and our Senate Republican

[06:49] colleagues, they've also advanced

[06:50] appropriations me uh measures on the

[06:53] Senate floor. Something Senate Democrats

[06:56] failed to do in the last appropriation

[06:58] cycle when they controlled the chamber.

[07:00] Though a CR, a continuing resolution, is

[07:03] not ideal. This year, we're further

[07:06] ahead than we've been in a long time. We

[07:09] cannot allow a government shutdown to

[07:11] derail the important work of the Trump

[07:13] administration. As Chairwoman Fox said

[07:16] last night, this short-term CR gives our

[07:19] appropriations colleagues the time they

[07:20] need to keep negotiating and work toward

[07:23] bipartisan funding bills that fulfill

[07:25] our priorities to the American people.

[07:28] There have been plenty of debate about

[07:30] what is and what isn't in the CR, but

[07:32] our priority must be keeping this

[07:35] process moving forward and avoiding the

[07:37] chaos uh that a government shutdown

[07:39] would create. If our colleagues on the

[07:42] other side of the aisle really care

[07:44] about our military, about law

[07:46] enforcement, about our federal workers,

[07:48] they'll join us in keeping the

[07:50] government open. Mr. Speaker, I look

[07:53] forward to the consideration of these

[07:55] important pieces of legislation, and I

[07:58] urge the passage of this rule. I reserve

[08:00] the balance of my