Rep. McCollum Statement on H.R. 4

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 4, the Recissions Act of 2025, because this bill undermines and outright destroys long-held, bipartisan American values at home and abroad. 

I’ll start right here at home. This bill makes an unprecedented attack on public media that Americans rely on for unfettered access to information, educational programming for kids, cultural programming, as well as nationwide emergency alerting. Spanning many different Administrations, public media has received bipartisan support for the past 50 years because Congress has continuously recognized that access to public media is in the public’s best interest. That’s why Congress has always forward-funded public media – to ensure the consistent access to nonpartisan, unbiased information for Americans in every state, regardless of which party controls the White House. These airwaves belong to every American – and they’re a bargain: public media receives less than 0.01 percent of federal spending, and yet it provides essential services to every citizen in every part of this country. That’s roughly $1.60 per taxpayer. Public media is the country’s only local, no-cost, commercial-free, nonprofit news and information service, and passing this bill puts this service at great risk. For stations like Minnesota Public Radio, valued services will be eroded. For many smaller stations in rural communities across the country, these cuts will prove utterly devastating. They will not survive, resulting in news deserts for these communities. 

This bill also rescinds billions of dollars in lifesaving and life-affirming international assistance – another in a long line of cruel decisions from this administration to abdicate U.S. leadership abroad and put millions of lives at risk. If enacted, H.R. 4 will rescind over $8.3 billion in foreign assistance funding already appropriated by Congress on a bipartisan basis. The recissions in this bill will cut lifesaving food assistance for families, emergency services for families fleeing conflict, agriculture development programs, and core nutrition services for children under five – just to name a few. This bill even goes as far as to cut the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, a historically bipartisan and uncontroversial program that has saved an estimated 26 billion lives since its inception. Not only will this bill have devastating impacts on the lives of millions of children and families around the world; the cuts in this bill will actively make our country less safe. Our nation’s ability to prevent conflict, eradicate extremism, and promote democracy will be utterly destroyed – and our adversaries are eager to step in. 

Mr. Speaker, for these reasons and many more, I strongly oppose this legislation and encourage my colleagues to do the same. Thank you, and I yield back.