Malliotakis: "Democracy Dies in the Darkness"

(WASHINGTON, DC) - Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) last night led Freshmen Republican colleagues in a press conference railing against House Democrats' "COVID Relief Bill," their flawed legislative process and limited debate.

"The reason why I'm here today is that we feel that the Speaker has not given us ample opportunity to debate this bill," Malliotakis said at the press conference. "The problem with this particular bill is that it's bloated, and we still have $1 trillion unspent from previous packages. The fact that we're here waiting to vote at 2 AM when everyone is gone, when most of the media has left for the day? The reality is that Democracy Dies in the Darkness."

"We expect to be representative of our communities who sent us here to expose what's in this bill, to debate what we like and what we don't like, and work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to make it better," said Malliotakis. "We want the Speaker to give us debate time. We want to make sure we go through this bill thoroughly; that we target and tailor the need; that we make sure we're getting it to the people...to make sure that more than just 1% of this covid-relief goes to the number one priority right now - vaccine development, production, and distribution...What kind of way is this to run a government?"

Malliotakis added: "In the State assembly, every member received up to 30 minutes to debate legislation and question the sponsor. Here, in Congress, Republicans received 30 minutes collectively. The lack of transparency, along with Nancy Pelosi's obvious attempt to silence her opposition and hide what's in this bill from the American people is outrageous."

Earlier in the evening, Malliotakis made her first floor speech where she voiced her opposition to the Democrats' plan, calling it an "Epic Fail."

Watch Malliotakis' floor speech HERE.

Watch Republicans' press conference HERE.

Read Malliotakis' Op-Ed on the relief package HERE.