WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.510 Gentlemen from Kentucky is recognized. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time I have? You have 17 minutes remaining. 00:00:08.520 --> 00:00:17.710 I yield myself 2 minutes. Gentlemen is recognized for 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, today is an extraordinary day in this chamber. 00:00:17.720 --> 00:00:27.310 If my colleagues will vote for this measure, we'll see justice triumph over politics. Truth will triumph over deception and obfuscation. Transparency 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:35.670 will triumph over dark money. Partisanship will fall away to bipartisanship. Grassroots, 00:00:35.680 --> 00:00:45.030 the people, will reclaim the people's house with this vote. It's going to be a victory for survivors, not just survivors of the 00:00:45.040 --> 00:00:53.670 Epstein sex trafficking scandal, the thousand survivors that exist. Some of them are victims. They're no longer 00:00:53.680 --> 00:01:03.150 alive. Some have committed suicide. They share one thing in common. Their youth was robbed from them. Much of their lives were robbed from them. 00:01:03.160 --> 00:01:12.710 But they're claiming it back. We're going to help them claim that back. But it's not just a victory today if this vote prevails for those survivors. 00:01:12.720 --> 00:01:22.990 It's a victory for every person, man or woman, boy or girl, who's been victimized sexually in this country. Anybody who's 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:35.590 been a victim of sexual assault. Or maybe they've been victimized by a family member. Maybe it's not a billionaire. But they're all waiting and watching to see what we do today. 00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:45.470 They're wondering, if I go to mom or dad, will anything happen? If I go to the sheriff, will anything happen? Well, we have a chance today to make 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:55.350 something happen. Something that's not happened. Something that should have happened decades ago. And that is to get justice for these victims 00:01:55.360 --> 00:02:04.390 and survivors and transparency for America. That's what this vote is about today. And I reserve the balance of my time. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:13.630 Gentlemen from Kentucky reserves. The general lady from North Carolina is recognized. I reserve. General lady reserves. Gentlemen from Kentucky is recognized. 00:02:13.640 --> 00:02:24.150 I I now yield uh 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia, Mrs. Green. General lady from Georgia is recognized for 5 minutes. 00:02:24.160 --> 00:02:32.630 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I proudly rise today in a bipartisan effort to release the Epstein files 00:02:32.640 --> 00:02:41.550 finally after five administrations have covered it up. Earlier today, I attended the press conference where 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:51.750 the survivors, they're not victims, the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse and sex trafficking 00:02:51.760 --> 00:03:01.190 told their stories. And they told stories about how it started back in 1991, 1996, 00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:11.070 and they continued on through the decades. And they told stories about how they told someone and tried to get help. They told the FBI and they weren't 00:03:11.080 --> 00:03:23.310 listened to. And they told law enforcement and no one did anything. And these women don't just number a a few. These women number around 1,000 00:03:23.320 --> 00:03:32.070 women. And they are victims of something that's unthinkable. And this should have never ever happened. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:41.390 This was the biggest fight I think I've seen in Washington, D.C. This is my fifth year here. And this was a fight that we should have never had to wage. It should have been 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:51.030 the easiest thing for every single member of Congress. It should have been the easiest thing for the Speaker of the House. It should have been the easiest 00:03:51.040 --> 00:04:00.670 thing for the President of the United States to release all the information, every single file on behalf of these 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:10.190 American women. These American women aren't rich, powerful elites. They do not have someone paying for their airline tickets or paying for 00:04:10.200 --> 00:04:20.550 their trips or paying for their expenses every time they try to do something to get this get this information out. These are your average Americans. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:29.790 And you want to know what the Epstein file files represent, the cover-up represents to average Americans? It represents the 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:39.870 failures of the federal government and Congress to the American people. And that is that is what people rose up about in 2024. 00:04:39.880 --> 00:04:49.630 They wanted and demanded transparency from their government and for Americans finally to be put first. And today, with 00:04:49.640 --> 00:04:59.550 this vote, we are finally putting these victims and these survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and the cabal of rich, powerful 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:10.470 elites that expands not just here in the United States of America, but to other countries as well, we're putting them last. And that is exactly what Americans 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:19.950 want. You see, for far too long, far too long, Americans have been put last. And they're sick of it. They're sick and 00:05:19.960 --> 00:05:29.950 tired of it. And this is why they don't trust Congress. This is why they don't trust the government. And here's the problem. All of these 00:05:29.960 --> 00:05:38.790 women, women who have suffered in shame for years and years and years. Women who were 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:48.510 terrified. Women who were intimidated. Women who were threatened. Just like Virginia Giuffre. 00:05:48.520 --> 00:05:58.750 And now she's dead. And these women should have never faced that for this information to come out. And we, especially the four Republican 00:05:58.760 --> 00:06:07.350 members of the House of United House of Representatives, we should have never faced intimidation and threats for us to 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:15.790 get this vote to come to the floor. Never forget there were four. Thomas Massie, myself, Nancy Mace, and Lauren 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:25.070 Boebert. We had to sign a discharge petition. And we had to fight through intimidation. And we had to endure it for months to 00:06:25.080 --> 00:06:34.590 push that discharge petition finally to 218 to get this vote to come out. This is what of the American people are 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:42.830 sick of. And rightfully so. Now, where does this go from here? The question will remain, will the 00:06:42.840 --> 00:06:51.350 Department of Justice release all the information? Will the judge in New York release the information? Will the CIA release the 00:06:51.360 --> 00:07:02.550 information? And will foreign governments release their information? Or will this continue after this vote today be a cover-up? 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:13.070 A cover-up of the rich, powerful elites that bond together in sex and human trafficking abuse and all types of global business that 00:07:13.080 --> 00:07:21.670 enriches them, but never serves Americans. The American people will know. And the victims, actually the survivors of 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:30.470 Jeffrey Epstein, will know because they know the list of names. And I remain dedicated to my promise to read that names those names here on the House 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:39.710 floor if those women ever find them in a place that it needs to be done. I yield back to Mr. General lady from Georgia yields back. Gentlemen from Kentucky 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:49.390 reserves. General lady from North Carolina is recognized. I I reserve, Mr. General lady reserves. Gentlemen from Kentucky is recognized. I yield myself a 00:07:49.400 --> 00:07:57.950 minute and 30 seconds. Gentlemen is recognized for a minute. I want to thank the generosity of Jim McGovern, Representative McGovern, for granting us 00:07:57.960 --> 00:08:06.790 this time. I'm embarrassed for my own party today. I'm embarrassed we withhold withheld signing in, swearing in a duly 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:16.070 representative of uh the people for 49 days just to avoid this vote that's finally going to happen today. 00:08:16.080 --> 00:08:24.470 I'm embarrassed that my own party isn't going to yield me time to debate this, even though they say they support it and I authored it. They don't even want to 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:33.070 yield me time to debate this during the bill debate. But I'm thankful. Let me tell you who I'm thankful to. These three brave women, Marjorie Taylor 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:41.550 Greene, Nancy Mace, and Lauren Boebert. They have been threatened. They have been intimidated physically, politically. It's 00:08:41.560 --> 00:08:49.830 disgusting. And not by the far left. They have been intimidated by people in 00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:58.910 our own party. And for what? For seeking justice for these victims. So, I have my hats off. I congratulate 00:08:58.920 --> 00:09:08.030 them for standing strong. I've always wondered, where were the Republican men during this battle? We've taken 5 months. These three women and I have had 00:09:08.040 --> 00:09:16.550 to drag our party to this floor today to even vote on this. And Ro Khanna is the most to be thanked here. 00:09:16.560 --> 00:09:25.870 In an extraordinary display of bipartisanship, he did not hesitate when I asked if we wanted to bring this bill to the floor together, if he would stand in the 00:09:25.880 --> 00:09:35.550 trenches with me. He said, "Yes." With that, I reserve. Gentlemen reserves. General [snorts] lady from Kentucky is recognized. I'd like to now recognize the general 00:09:35.560 --> 00:09:44.910 lady from South Carolina for 5 minutes, Nancy Mace. General lady from South Carolina is recognized for 5 minutes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank my 00:09:44.920 --> 00:09:53.310 colleagues today for the time uh Mr. McGovern and Mr. Khanna for the 5 minutes on the floor to speak about an 00:09:53.320 --> 00:10:02.310 issue that is not political for me. Helping the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his horrific, gruesome, 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:11.670 brutal sex trafficking ring is deeply personal. And while we often have many disagreements about a lot of issues, 00:10:11.680 --> 00:10:19.790 maybe most issues, today they are allowing us to speak on the floor and I want to thank my colleagues, Congressman Massie, 00:10:19.800 --> 00:10:29.710 Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert, the four of us making history today over the discharge petition and delivering 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:39.990 justice for those who have desperately fought for it, for in some cases almost 30 years. I wore white today 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:49.750 because I wanted to reflect on the innocence of the young women who had their innocence stolen from a demon named 00:10:49.760 --> 00:10:58.830 Jeffrey Epstein, from demons, friends of his, rich and powerful people who stole their innocent 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:08.870 innocence as young as 14 years old. It was taken from them and they've never gotten it back. 00:11:08.880 --> 00:11:17.670 I'm also wearing white today to recognize the courage that it takes for women to come forward, the sacrifices to them personally, 00:11:17.680 --> 00:11:27.030 professionally, financially, the embarrassment, the humiliation, the shame that we still deliver on the backs of 00:11:27.040 --> 00:11:35.710 women who have been brutalized, who have been raped, who have been assaulted, the shame that the media pours over their heads, 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:45.070 that their colleagues, their friends, their neighbors, their loved ones, because you come forward and because you talk about sexual assault, 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:54.190 you are not a It's not because of what you wore. You're not a But that's how women are treated and you're not lying. 00:11:54.200 --> 00:12:03.710 And I want every woman to know, every Epstein survivor to know, every woman across the country who is a survivor, who is a victim of assault, 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:12.030 that we today, we see you. And this fight and this vote tonight, I see it it is about the Epstein victims, 00:12:12.040 --> 00:12:22.110 but it's about much more than the Epstein victims. This is about the powerless taking power away 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:31.990 from the very powerful. This is about giving women who never had a voice, giving a voice 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:40.710 to the voiceless. This is about their sacrifice. This is about having and recognizing 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:50.430 their courage. This is about justice for the Epstein victims, but it's also about hope. Earlier this year, 00:12:50.440 --> 00:13:00.590 I gave a speech right here on the floor of the US House of Representatives detailing trauma that I experienced, endured, and am a 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:09.030 survivor of, that I accidentally uncovered two years ago, almost to the day. 00:13:09.040 --> 00:13:18.829 And today, I still don't have justice, like millions of women across the country. When I spoke out, 00:13:18.839 --> 00:13:29.590 I got attacked. When I spoke out, I was shamed. When I spoke out, I was defamed and smeared, and that goes on 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:38.350 today, right now, in the present. God sure has a funny way of working through us. I, like many of the Epstein survivors 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:48.590 and many other survivors across the country, I don't think I'll ever heal from the destruction my abuser did to me. 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:59.510 But I can heal by being a vessel and being a voice for all those who need it, and that's why we are here today. That is why I will never abandon a single 00:13:59.520 --> 00:14:08.750 survivor, ever, and I will never waver. I spent my morning talking to law enforcement 00:14:08.760 --> 00:14:16.990 and others about another potential Jane Doe, Jane Doe number five, who may be another sexual assault victim in the 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:25.390 case that I uncovered two years ago. It's very difficult for us to come forward, but I want to thank the women who have 00:14:25.400 --> 00:14:33.910 the Epstein victims, the victims in the case that I uncovered, I want to thank all of you for being a voice, for giving me hope. Maybe one 00:14:33.920 --> 00:14:43.030 day, I too can get justice. Thank you, and I yield. The lady yields back. Gentleman from Kentucky. Reserves. Reserves. 00:14:43.040 --> 00:14:52.110 Gentleman from Kentucky is recognized. >> Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining? Gentleman has 5 and 1/2 minutes remaining. I yield myself 3 and 1/2 00:14:52.120 --> 00:15:00.870 minutes. Gentleman is recognized. Mr. Speaker, all that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. And we've had a lot of good men 00:15:00.880 --> 00:15:09.910 doing a lot of nothing on the other side of the aisle, until we did something. Three brave women and myself and the and the Democrat caucus, we did something. 00:15:09.920 --> 00:15:18.630 And then what did they do? They've opposed us every step of the way. They've lied about the legislation. Let me tell you some of the lies they've told. They've said that it doesn't 00:15:18.640 --> 00:15:26.790 protect victims. Well, if that is so, why were dozens of victims with us today at a press conference urging this body 00:15:26.800 --> 00:15:35.990 to pass this legislation? It's because this legislation specifically protects victims. They've said this legislation does not prevent 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:45.510 the release of child pornography. Of course it does. We have a specific provision in our legislation to prevent that. They've said so many falsehoods about 00:15:45.520 --> 00:15:55.750 this legislation, but now they're going to vote for it, hopefully enthusiastically. But really, they've been dragged to this. Our judicial system is broken. 00:15:55.760 --> 00:16:04.910 If it were working, there wouldn't be a thousand victims who haven't seen justice yet. They are victims of the Epstein class. 00:16:04.920 --> 00:16:13.110 I I begrudge nobody success that they become a billionaire, but if you think being a billionaire or buying politicians keeps you out of the 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:23.829 judicial system, lets you rape young women, lets you traffic women, you've got another thing coming when this bill passes. 00:16:23.839 --> 00:16:32.510 Do not let the Senate muck this up. There have already been efforts to derail this our our discharge petition. 00:16:32.520 --> 00:16:40.870 The Oversight Committee has released thousands, tens of thousands of documents. That's fine. Keep working. How many 00:16:40.880 --> 00:16:49.310 names have you released? Zero. You are still protecting, or the DOJ is protecting, pedophiles and sex 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:58.510 traffickers. The time for that to stop is now. Now, our speaker says, "Oh, this Senate this bill needs amended in the Senate." 00:16:58.520 --> 00:17:06.910 And specifically, he's trying to create a loophole. He's trying to categorize the pedophiles as victims. He's saying, "Oh, we don't embarrass the 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:15.829 people that went to the rape island. We should protect those names against unreliable accusations." Is he calling 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:25.510 all of these victims unreliable? They've testified to the FBI. The FBI has these names in their possession. 00:17:25.520 --> 00:17:33.550 I asked the FBI director in a hearing, "Have you looked at the documents?" No, he trusts everybody that's been there for decades. 00:17:33.560 --> 00:17:41.830 That is wrong. Do not let the Senate muck this bill up. And if you are if you're a party to that in the Senate, you are part of this 00:17:41.840 --> 00:17:52.110 cover-up that we are trying to expose. I am sorry if one of your billionaire donors is going to get embarrassed cuz he went to rape island. 00:17:52.120 --> 00:18:00.710 That is what they have coming. In fact, they need to be on the other side of bars, a lot of them. Some of them will be embarrassed, 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:11.270 but some of them need to go to prison. And the survivors know that. So, how will we know if this bill has been successful? We will know when there are men, rich men, in handcuffs being 00:18:11.280 --> 00:18:19.790 perp-walked to the jail. And until then, this is still a cover-up. I urge my Senate colleagues, 00:18:19.800 --> 00:18:29.590 do not muck up this bill. The president has already said he will sign it. That means he will sign the bill that we have here today. Do not change this bill. He is ready to 00:18:29.600 --> 00:18:37.990 sign it. Give it to him. Put it on his desk. Let's get just him justice for these victims. With that, I reserve. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.520 The gentleman from Kentucky reserve?