What they said. What they meant.

“I want everyone to have more time to add things to the Record.”

“I want to complain about Trump. He wants to spend less taxpayer money on foreign aid. I don't like that. I want America to spend more money on foreign aid. Some other people agree with me.”

“My son was in the military. Then he worked for USAID. He said USAID helps people in other countries. I want to spend more money on USAID. USAID gave water to a woman in Nigeria. USAID gave education to a girl in Nepal. I want USAID to have more money. I think USAID helps America too. USAID stopped some programs. I don't like that. I want USAID to have more money again.”

“Donald Trump said he was good at peace. But he was bad at peace. He did bad things. He destroyed USAID. USAID saved lives and helped people. USAID helped Colombia make peace. USAID helped stop drugs from coming to America. USAID helped fewer people come to our border. USAID did all that for very little money. A Republican senator said USAID was good. But he changed his mind. He supports a man who wants to build big prisons in Colombia. That is bad. We need to spend money to make a better world.”

“Donald Trump cut USAID. Trump called USAID bad names. Elon Musk bragged about destroying USAID. They were wrong. Cutting USAID killed people. I know three children who died because of USAID cuts. They had names and families. They would be alive today if USAID still helped them. More children will die if the cuts continue. America is paying a price too. Cutting USAID costs America jobs, security, and health. Disease outbreaks will be worse without USAID. Our allies don't trust us. Our enemies are taking over. We must rebuild USAID. We must remember the children who died. They were not just numbers. They should be alive today.”

“The last guy cut USAID. He said that was good. He said it saved money. I don't think so. I say it cost us more. We had disasters. Some Americans died. It would cost less to prevent them. We should spend more on USAID. I say that will save money. We should spend less on war. We should spend more on aid.”

“I want to talk about USAID. They used to save lives around the world. Trump messed it up. Trump is bad. He cut funding a lot. That killed people. Trump and Elon Musk did this. They stopped the aid. That made more people die. Children will die. We need to fund USAID. It costs us little. It helps our national security. It saves us money later. China and Russia will take over if we stop. We can't just ignore the world. If we don't lead, our enemies will. I think Trump should fund USAID again.”

“I don't have much to say. My friend talks a lot. I agree with him.”

“I want more foreign aid. People think we spend a lot. But we don't spend enough. I want to spend your money to help other countries. I say it will help America too. If we don't spend this money, bad things might happen later. People might get sick. Some Americans could die. Many people in other countries will die if we don't spend more of your money. We should spend more to prevent that.”

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk cut foreign aid. I don't like that. They said it was to save money and put America first. I don't believe them. They caused more spending to settle lawsuits and pay employees to stay home. Our debt is very high now. I blame them for not caring about the debt. The aid cuts caused death and suffering. That is bad. I want to say how many children will die because of these cuts. I want to talk about diseases and suffering in other countries. That makes me sad. I want to say that less aid will cause more diseases to spread. I serve Virginia. I heard from many people who used to work in foreign aid. They don't like the cuts. I want to call foreign aid a national security strategy. I want to scare you about diseases coming here. I want to say foreign aid promotes growth and helps our counterterrorism. I want to rebuild our foreign aid. I want you to think I will prevent bad things in the future. I look forward to spending more of your money on foreign aid.”