Calamity Does Not Pause for Campaigns

This was a debate about the House’s planned schedule, specifically whether to add more recess weeks in September on top of the month-long October recess already on the calendar. Rep. George Whitesides, a Democrat, argued against adding the extra time off, saying the country faces wars, rising costs, and natural disasters, and that the House should stay in session and do its work instead. He directed his criticism at majority leadership for considering the added recess weeks.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

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1 statement

George Whitesides, CA

Democrat
“I do not want the House to take more weeks off in September. We are already scheduled to be gone all of October. The country faces wars, rising costs, and natural disasters. We should stay here and do our work.”
Official Congressional Record

Mr. Speaker, we stand at an hour of profound peril, yet this Chamber contemplates premature retreat. All of October is already reserved for recess. Now, majority leadership is weighing the addition of 2 or even 3 more recess weeks in September, turning an already extended 5 weeks of absence into as much as 8 weeks of abdication. Calamity does not pause for campaigns. Abroad, the war in Iran burns hotter by the hour. At home, millions face canceled care, punishing tariffs add thousands to family bills, and our national debt mounts. From the West’s wildfires to flooding and a fall full of hurricanes, natural disasters demand not our departure but our duty. Mr. Speaker, we were elected not to flee friction but to forge solutions. Let us reject retreat, remain at our posts for September, and do the work for the American people.

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