Adjusting the amount provided for the expenses of certain committees of the House of Representatives in the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the House Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1065 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

general leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, the Rules Committee met yesterday and reported a rule, House Resolution 1065 providing for consideration of S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act under a closed rule.

The rule provides for 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The rule provides for one motion to commit.

The rule extends recess instructions, suspension authority, and same day authority through May 13, 2022. Finally, the rule deems H. Res. 1035 as passed.

Mr. Speaker, Vladimir Putin's criminal war of aggression and atrocity against the sovereign nation of Ukraine has dismembered the second largest country in Europe. Putin's soldiers have killed more than 2,700 Ukrainian civilians and more than 100 children in Ukraine. They have raped and murdered untold numbers of women, leaving their bodies in the street. They have wounded thousands of civilians. They have displaced 10 million Ukrainians, creating the largest exodus of displaced persons since the Nazis rampaged through Europe. They have traumatized a nation.

It is a sobering thing to canvas the damage today, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Putin's invasion is intended to deal a fatal blow to democracy in Ukraine and around the world. Putin's lurch into fascist aggression has actually unified and galvanized the democratic world, the democratic nations, and peoples and movements of the world.

I concede that Putin still has his cheerleaders for his homophobia, his corruption, and his white nationalist racism around the world. I concede that some people, even in this body, continue to chant the filthy words ``Russia hoax'' to describe what we know from our own intelligence community of Putin's unceasing efforts to subvert democracy all over the world. I concede that Vladimir Putin has been called a genius by a former twice-impeached President for his assault on a sovereign democratic nation.

The vast majority of Americans and vast majority of democratic societies around the world reject Putin's atrocities against democracy. President Zelenskyy and President Biden have rallied the world against Putin and in defense of the heroic people of Ukraine standing strong against this aggression--people who have more courage in their pinky than Vladimir Putin and his thugs will ever be able to understand.

Mr. Speaker, NATO members have sent or promised at least $8 billion in weapons to Ukraine. The billions we have sent from the United States of

America has made a key difference in allowing the people of Ukraine to defend themselves. The people of America paid for anti-tank and anti- air systems, for helicopters, for drones, for grenade launchers, for 50 million rounds of ammunition, and more.

Today, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 comes before Congress as an important part of the effort to defend Ukraine. This act is rooted in the lend-lease program of World War II, which President Roosevelt proposed in January of 1941, which allowed our government to lend or to lease war supplies and equipment to any nation whose security was defined as vital to the defense and the security of the United States.

Passage of that act enabled Great Britain and Winston Churchill to keep fighting and to survive the fascist Nazi bombardment until the United States could enter the war.

President Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine needs weapons to sustain themselves, and President Biden has answered that call with billions in military assistance since Russia's full-blown invasion began on February 24, a day that will live in infamy in the freedom-loving world.

On April 21, last Thursday, President Biden announced that we will be sending an additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, the eighth such installment, which will include 72 howitzers, 144,000 artillery rounds, 72 tactical vehicles, and more than 121 Phoenix Ghost tactical drones. Today, I understand President Biden has asked for an additional aid package for the next several months.

But S. 3522 will streamline current legal authorities under the Arms Export Control Act that allows our government to lend defense articles needed to defend civilian populations. We will eliminate red tape to make it easier for our government to lend or lease necessary military equipment in this struggle to defend Ukraine.

The legislation requires the Biden administration to establish expedited procedures for delivering military equipment to Ukraine and other affected Eastern European countries to defend populations made vulnerable by Vladimir Putin's aggression. It also facilities the provisioning of loaned and/or leased defense articles to Ukraine, easing a myriad of administrative regulations and processes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to hear from my friend from Pennsylvania that he supports S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act. This is a moment of grave emergency in Ukraine as Putin's army continues to bomb hospitals and schools, rape and assault women, and murder the civilian population.

I am, of course, disappointed that even when we agree, the minority caucus insists upon disagreeing and bringing up matters that are utterly extraneous to this resolution. But my friend mentioned authoritarian lockdowns, oppressive procedures, and dangerous and radical policies. I didn't know if he was referring to Vladimir Putin or to the prior President whose dangerous, radical appeasement of Vladimir Putin empowered and emboldened him as Vladimir Putin has tried to undermine NATO; and the last President did everything in his power to undermine NATO and to weaken NATO. But at this point we have the opportunity to rally the democratic world, the democratic nations of the world, the democratic societies, peoples, and movements against Putin's bloody, imperial invasion of Ukraine.

That is what is on the table right now. That is what is on the table in the world today. That is where democracy is on the line.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I think that all of these efforts to distract us from the issue at hand are meant to cover up the very clear pro-Russian and pro-Putin faction at the heart of their side of the aisle.

Last month in March of this year, the very distinguished gentlewoman from Georgia went on a radio show called the ``Voice of Rural America,'' and she followed Donald Trump's sickening appeasement of Vladimir Putin and blamed Ukraine for the situation.

She said:

You see, Ukraine just kept poking the bear and poking the

bear which is Russia, and Russia invaded. There is no win for

Ukraine here. Russia is successful in this invasion.

When Members of Congress are cheerleaders for Vladimir Putin and are voices of nothing but defeatism, fatalism, and pessimism for democracy in Europe, then they try to distract us with a lot of phony rhetoric about other issues.

She also said:

NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis with powerful weapons

and extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is

going on with these NATO Nazis.

Mr. Speaker, we have to decide which side we are on.

When Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Americans looked at what was happening in Europe during World War II and they saw Nazis marching down the street, they did not see very fine people on both sides of the street. They did not start cheerleading for Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco. Yet we have people here who go out and speak on the side of Vladimir Putin and on the side of Russia.

Let's pass this Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act to show where America is. We are not cheerleaders for Vladimir Putin. We are not going to follow the Trump-Putin axis down the road toward autocracy and kleptocracy and sedition and insurrection and corruption and coups in the United States. That is not where we are going.

This is the land of the free, the home of the brave. We stand for democracy here, not Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I find this astounding. We are here to talk about aid to Ukraine, how to streamline and expedite aid to defend the people of Ukraine, and they will talk about anything but.

I was willing to believe that the distinguished gentlewoman from Georgia and several other Members were isolated in their Conference. Now, I am starting to think that maybe they are speaking for the whole Conference.

I wonder if my good friend from Pennsylvania would explicitly repudiate some of these statements made by the gentlewoman from Georgia.

Does the minority Conference agree that NATO has been supplying the ``neo-Nazis in Ukraine'' with powerful weapons?

Does the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania support or dissociate himself from the argument that the aid that we send to Ukraine falls ``into the hands of Nazis,'' a statement made by the gentlewoman from Georgia, echoing Putin's filthy claim that his war on the sovereign democracy of Ukraine is, in fact, an attempt to denazify the country?

Of course, we hear distinct echoes in everything that we get from the erudite gentlewoman from Georgia.

Does the minority agree that Putin invaded because Ukraine repeatedly poked the bear?

I mean, I can't understand why they won't talk about defending Ukraine. That is what this legislation is about. That is what this rule is about. They want to talk about anything other than that.

We can debate all of those other important issues in other contexts at the right time. This is how the House of Representatives works. But why are they covering up for the pro-Putin faction within their Conference? I would like them to dissociate themselves from the people who are blaming Ukraine for Russia's bloody imperial invasion and war of human rights violations and atrocities against the people. Please do that.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the United States of America just witnessed the most astonishing spectacle. We are here to debate aid to the people of Ukraine defending themselves against a massive invasion by Vladimir Putin and his army. Then, the minority puts up the distinguished gentlewoman from Georgia, who does not mention Ukraine once.

She does not mention the thousands of Ukrainian civilians who have been slaughtered by Putin's army. She does not mention more than 100 Ukrainian children who have been shot and killed by the Russian army. Instead, she talks about a massive invasion at the border, a massive invasion, which their own speakers have said, today, hundreds of thousands of people have been apprehended in.

That is very different from a military invasion, the one in Ukraine. Of course, the gentlewoman is not going to talk about that. She had a lot to say the other day when she heckled me continuously. When I came to the floor, it was like ``The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' in here with her chanting about the Russia hoax and Russia this and Russia that.

Now, she had the opportunity to tell the world what her views about Russia are. I put them out there, exactly what she has said. She said that the aid that the taxpayers of America are sending to the people of Ukraine to defend themselves against Vladimir Putin and the Russian army falls into the hands of Nazis.

I want to see her proof.

Where is her evidence?

She talks about NATO Nazis. Does the minority believe that our allies in NATO, who are trying to defend the people of Ukraine, are Nazis? Has it come to this?

The gentlewoman talked about massive invasion. We had a massive invasion of our own Chamber. * * *

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the offending remark.

Mr. Speaker, the House rules do forbid engaging in personalities. I accept the advice of the Parliamentarian that I used unparliamentary language to make my point, and I certainly respect the necessity for parliamentary decorum.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close when my friend from Pennsylvania is prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, my good friend from Pennsylvania suggests that this is something that we didn't actually need to bring to the floor, that it could have been done on a suspension vote. And yet, I am certain that my dear friend is aware that a number of suspension votes on things as simple as post office renamings have been voted down by the minority.

There was a distinguished judge who a post office was going to be named after and that was sabotaged on a suspension vote. There have been multiple votes like that.

In fact, we have a resolution that we put forward to affirm support for NATO and its democratic principles. And that was rejected by 63 Members of the minority caucus; 63 Members voted against a resolution expressing unequivocal support for a strong NATO and for the democratic principles underlying it.

Mr. Speaker, I would love if it were as simple as he was suggesting, that we could all agree to this, but they are not agreeing with the things that we are putting forward about the need to unite for democracy around the world. That is why we are precisely in this situation we are in.

Even when we are trying to talk about the importance of this new lend-lease expediting program to allow the U.S. Government to lend military equipment, to lease military equipment to Ukraine and to get it done quickly, it seems like our friends keep on wanting to change the subject to talk about anything other than that.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know what to say other than I wish we were unified in supporting this rule for the legislation that we are bringing forward to make it a lot easier to get support to the people of Ukraine, the support they need to fight off the bloody military invasion being conducted by Putin's army.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for his service, of course, and also for his clarification about his particular vote.

The House Resolution we are talking about is 831, calling on the United States Government to uphold the founding democratic principles of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and establishing a center for democratic resilience within the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Of course, everyone in the majority voted for it. I think the vast majority of the people on the gentleman's side of the aisle voted for it, but there were 63 Members who did find this or that clause objectionable and, therefore, voted against it. But that is precisely my point.

My good friend from Pennsylvania takes me to task for saying, Why didn't we just do this on a suspension vote basis, just bring it up here and let it glide through. Because nothing is simple when we are talking about these issues.

There are some people who are out there on the radio calling NATO Nazis and saying that the money that Americans are putting into Ukraine is going

to support Nazis. I haven't heard anybody renounce or repudiate that point of view.

Then there are others who find far more substantive and defensible problems with what we are doing.

In any event, they have been voting against it, so we were not able to do a suspension resolution. So we bring it up to have a discussion about Ukraine to see if we can get unity and then they take us off in 50 other directions.

It is a sad thing to see that when President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine have demonstrated democratic courage, bravery, and valor to the entire world, and democratic societies are trying to get together to mobilize behind democracy to oppose what Vladimir Putin and his gang of thugs in Moscow and their allies in different places, like Orban in Hungary and--well, I don't want to get into the whole rogues' gallery of tyrants and bullies that they have gathered to support them.

We have got to be building the democratic forces. We should be together on this. We should be able to think about this in a far broader way than just talking points for the next election.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank my friend for our lively discussion today. And I am glad to hear, again, that he supports the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, S. 3522. I wish we could have focused on the meaning of this legislation, rather than for them to fight about the rule and to raise subjects that are not part of this legislation.

More than 10 million Ukrainians have been forced out of their homes; have been forced to flee in the worst mass exodus of refugees since World War II. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed. More than 100 Ukrainian children have been murdered by Putin's Army.

And I have heard the word authoritarian uttered on the other side of the aisle today, and it applies to whom? Not Vladimir Putin. They used it to apply to Nancy Pelosi, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, because they disagree with some interpretations of the rules of the House.

Well, this is a serious moment for people who are serious about democracy in the new century. If allowed to continue, Vladimir Putin will spread his rampage beyond Ukraine into neighboring countries in Eastern Europe, and then other authoritarian and autocratic leaders around the world will decide they will be able to do to their neighbors what Vladimir Putin was allowed to do to his neighbor.

This legislation is named after what President Roosevelt made happen during World War II, the Lend-Lease program that, without declaring war, America would come to the aid of its allies by lending and leasing military equipment to our allies in order to secure the democratic world. And that is where we are again.

So we need to streamline all of the red tape. We need to expedite the delivery of equipment to our allies in Ukraine. And I hope we will hear the end of the constant statements of defeatism and pessimism and surrender that we get from so many people who are out there and continue to take the position of the former President Trump

that Vladimir Putin is some kind of genius for invading his neighbor. He is not a genius. He is a mass murderer. He is not a genius. He is a human rights violator, and he is a perpetrator of war crimes.

The world needs to know where America stands. And we should stand, if we could, unified, for the people of Ukraine, for democracy in Europe, and for democracy all around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the previous question.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Reschenthaler is as follows:

Amendment to House Resolution 1065

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 4. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the

House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the

bill (H.R. 471) to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human

Services from lessening the stringency of, and to prohibit

the Secretary of Homeland Security from ceasing or lessening

implementation of, the COVID-19 border health provisions

through the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other

purposes. All points of order against consideration of the

bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All

points of order against provisions in the bill are waived.

The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the

bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without

intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally

divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority

member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and (2) one

motion to recommit.

Sec. 5. Clause l(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the

consideration of H.R. 471.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman, my good friend from Maryland, (Mr. Raskin), for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the rule before us today provides for consideration of S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022.

Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying that I strongly support this bill, which streamlines existing defense authorities to enable the President to enter into a lend-lease agreement directly with Ukraine and Eastern European countries.

I know I speak for my Republican colleagues in expressing my wholehearted support for the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves and their democracy against Vladimir Putin's atrocities. That is why I look forward--and so do so many of my colleagues--to voting for this bill later today.

However, I have to urge my colleagues to oppose this rule as it continues Speaker Pelosi's authoritarian lockdown of the House of Representatives.

For over 2 years the Speaker has used COVID-19 as an excuse to deny Members the ability to advocate on behalf of the people they represent. This rule keeps those oppressive procedures in place, despite the fact that even the bluest of States are easing their COVID restrictions. This is just further proof that my colleagues across the aisle care only about political science, not about real science.

Further, Mr. Speaker, this rule fails to provide for consideration of legislation to address the serious issues facing the American people. Under the Biden administration, our Nation has careened from one crisis to the next.

Right now, families across the country are facing a 41-year high in inflation and skyrocketing gas and food prices. These are expected to cost the average American family $5,000 a year.

This morning we learned the U.S. GDP fell by 1.4 percent during the first quarter of 2022. This is getting worse by the day. Forty percent of small businesses are planning to raise prices by 10 percent just to keep up with inflation. This economic crisis is not the result of the war in Ukraine as President Biden and the leftists on the other side of the aisle like to claim. This crisis is a direct result of the Democrats' out-of-control spending and their far-left, dangerous, radical policies.

Just look at the fact that inflation has increased every month since Joe Biden has been President. Putin didn't invade Ukraine until February of this year, yet during President Biden's first year in office--again, well before the invasion of Ukraine--gas prices jumped nearly 53 percent, from $2.25 a gallon to $3.44 a gallon. Again, that was before Russian soldiers ever crossed the border in Ukraine.

But talking about borders, let's talk about our southern border. The border crisis is a direct result of Joe Biden's incompetence, and the radical policies of the left are leading to disaster. Thanks to the open border policy of the left, last month over 200,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at our southern border. That is a new Biden-era high. Again, that is over 200,000 illegal immigrants. To put this in perspective for my colleagues, that is roughly three congressional districts.

Since Biden took office, over 2.4 million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at our southern border, including more than 40 individuals who are on the terrorist watch list. This is only going to get worse if President Biden gets away with lifting title 42.

So, again, Mr. Speaker, while I support S. 3522 and, of course, the people of Ukraine, I believe this is a missed opportunity to help the American people, the people in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the people throughout this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I, therefore, urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Maryland said that we just can't help but to disagree. Nothing could be further from the truth. This bill could be passed on the suspension calendar. This is going to pass by well over two-thirds vote. It passed, I believe, unanimously in the Senate. The fact that we are here debating a rule on this instead of just passing this on suspension is a waste of time. This bill will pass.

But we have got a real crisis at the southern border. We have got inflation. Even the Biden administration said we are expected to have food shortages. We also are failing to project American power abroad, which is leading to chaos all over the world.

We agree on the issue with Ukraine, yet we are still here wasting valuable time that we could be using to address real problems.

But let's just go back to the southern border. As I mentioned earlier in my remarks, just in March, encounters at the southern border hit a new Biden-era high of over 200,000 individuals encountered at the southern border. In addition to apprehending individuals from the terrorist watch list, Border Patrol agents are seeing an increase in illicit drugs, including deadly fentanyl. Alarmingly, fentanyl border seizures increased by 134 percent in fiscal year 2021. President Biden and House Democrats had this open border policy that is creating a humanitarian and a security crisis both at the border and in our communities where people are literally dying from fentanyl overdoses.

With all that in consideration, the Democrats and the left still want to do away with title 42 and lift it. That is why, Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act of to 2021.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Stefanik), who is the Republican Conference chair. She will explain the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Just two quick points in rebuttal for my friend from Pennsylvania.

First off, if there is concern about the humanitarian crisis on the southern border, the best thing you can do is try to bring order to that southern border. The trek that these individuals have to take is incredibly dangerous. Women and children are often exploited. Coyotes are making literally millions of dollars. Oftentimes, when the illegal immigrants come to the United States, they are put in sort of indentured servant status to the drug cartels and the coyotes.

The perverse thing about arguing that you care about people is that if you really did care about the humanitarian crisis, you would share the Republican viewpoint of law and order.

Secondly, to the fact that we need to act quickly on the bill regarding Ukraine, my colleagues across the aisle could have passed this bill on Tuesday. The fact that we are here wasting time on a bill that could have passed by suspension just shows the lack of seriousness on the other issues facing the American people. To act quickly, my colleagues should have been advocating this bill be run on Tuesday on suspension.

Here to talk more about these issues is the Republican leader of the Oversight and Reform Committee, Mr. James Comer of Kentucky, who recently led a delegation to the southern border.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. Greene).

Mr. Speaker, I would request to have words taken down.

Mr. Speaker, no objection.

Mr. Speaker, I would tell my colleague across the aisle that I still have several speakers, just so we are on the same page.

Mr. Speaker, there were comments made prior regarding why we, on our side of the aisle, are not talking about the underlying bill.

The answer to that is very simple. Let's put this into perspective.

We are here debating the rule.

We are not debating final passage. In fact, we don't need to debate final passage because the vast majority of my colleagues agree on this particular bill. We are not here debating final passage of the bill.

We are debating, in essence, the rest of the legislative calendar for the day. We simply are arguing that in this calendar and in the agenda for the rest of the day, we should be considering other important matters, such as the crisis at the southern border.

So I just felt like I needed to put that in perspective.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Guest), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Green), my good friend, to rebut the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, let me just be clear. We are not going down several roads. We are going down one road with this argument and that is the southern border.

I am willing to bet that this vote will pass, the underlying bill will pass with over a two-thirds vote. We could have tried to run this on Tuesday. Even if it did fail, we could have been here running it today.

We have delayed this when we have serious business to discuss, particularly the southern border. And that is what we are debating; the fact that the legislative business for today should include the crisis at the southern border.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), my good friend, and a good pharmacist, to talk more about the crisis at the southern border.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, let me just start by reiterating that I and the vast majority of my colleagues support S. 3522, and we look forward to voting on that bill later today. We need to bolster Ukraine's defense capability and protect vulnerable civilian populations in Ukraine.

However, we are debating the rule right now. The rule before us extends Speaker Pelosi's authoritarian COVID lockdown that has stripped rank-and-file Members of their ability to advocate for the people they represent.

Let's just look at the stats. Ninety percent of the country is in a low-risk community level. That is according to the CDC; over 90 percent of the country. So why is the Speaker so afraid to let the House get back to work?

If the Speaker followed the real science, not the political science the left has followed through this entire pandemic, the Speaker would allow the people's House to resume regular business.

Further, this rule is a missed opportunity to address the serious issues that are facing American families. American families are getting hammered by inflation. Gas prices are out of control. The border crisis is raging, and we are being told by President Biden that we are expected to face food shortages in future months.

On top of all that bad news, just this morning, we learned the GDP decreased at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2022. Our GDP is decreasing. This is the weakest showing since the pandemic recovery began and this falls well below the projections of economists.

So, instead of passing legislation to address the serious economic crisis we are facing and the serious security issue we are facing at the southern border, Democratic leadership is sending the House home a day early. We were supposed to be here tomorrow. Yet, we are getting sent home early, despite all these issues facing the American people.

We can do a lot more for this country and the American people. For that reason, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act introduced by the gentlewoman from New Mexico, Yvette Herrell, to ensure title 42 remains in place.

Mr. Speaker, since Joe Biden took office and started implementing his radical open border policies, over 2.4 million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at our southern border. We just had the highest number of border encounters in the past 20 years--over 220,000 in March alone.

In FY 2022, CBP has seized hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds of drugs and thousands and thousands of pounds of illicit fentanyl, the leading cause of death for adults aged 18-45. What is worse, over 40 people on the U.S. terrorist watch list were encountered at our U.S. southern border. And just today, Secretary Mayorkas, when asked if those individuals on the U.S. terrorist watch list had been released into the United States of America, could not answer that question. That should stun every American. It is unacceptable that the Secretary of Homeland Security cannot answer a question about whether those dangerous terrorists have been released into the United States of America.

In fact, just yesterday, in previous testimony, Secretary Mayorkas claimed that the Biden administration has ``effectively managed'' the crisis at the southern border and delusionally believes that the southwest border is somehow secure. Let me tell you something, Mr. Speaker, the American people are smart. There is nothing effective about this border crisis. No good management has come from the Biden administration when it comes to the southern border.

This has been an invasion. Just look at the numbers. President Obama's own Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, said 1,000 apprehensions a day would be a crisis. We are already at the 7,000 mark, and we could see upwards of 18,000 a day if title 42 is lifted.

I just came back with my colleagues on a congressional delegation from Eagle Pass, Texas, from the Del Rio sector of our southern border. This was a delegation led by Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, hosted by our colleague, Tony Gonzales, who has been such a tremendous voice standing up for his constituents, particularly Border Patrol officers and their families.

It was a somber day. Just hours before, our Border Patrol identified the remains of Texas National Guardsman Bishop Evans. In fact, I had the opportunity to go on the boat with the river Border Patrol officers, the two individuals who actually identified the remains.

God bless Bishop Evans. God bless his grandmother who has laid him to rest.

This is irresponsible of Joe Biden; and Joe Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, and this administration must be held accountable.

We also spoke to ranchers, local leaders, and local elected officials. They broke down in tears talking about the risks to their livelihood and their families. One rancher told us, in fact, that his children needed to carry pistols if they wanted to go outside and play in their yard because they needed to protect themselves as droves of illegal immigrants cross their property.

Do you know whom they blame, Mr. Speaker?

They blame Joe Biden, and they blame this administration who has turned their backs on having a secure border. They have turned their backs on the people, not just of south Texas but the people across this country.

We also witnessed a processing facility where illegal immigrants were given brand new iPhones--just released. I thought they were doing facial recognition technology to run through a list. No. They were doing facial recognition technology to hand the illegal immigrants their cell phone paid for by U.S. taxpayer dollars.

This is a crisis. Every district across the country is a border district and every State is a border district.

On top of that, we have seen flights in the middle of the night relocating illegal immigrants to other States across the Nation, including my home State of New York.

This current crisis is untenable. Our systems are well-beyond the breaking point. The drug crisis caused by our porous border is reaching every part of this country causing deaths in every congressional district. Every Member of Congress needs to step up and secure the border. Our colleagues across the aisle have had over a year to put forth any bill to secure the border. They have failed to put forth any single bill, and, now, because we are heading toward a November election, they are honestly worried. And they should be, because the American people are smart. They know this is a result of their failed policies.

In my district in northern New York, I am proud to represent Border Patrol officers who have been transferred over and over and over again to the southern border. They are stepping up to do their job. They are stepping up to address this catastrophe caused by Joe Biden.

House Republicans are going to be unified. We stand behind the PAUSE Act to make sure title 42 remains in place, which is why we will oppose the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, Oversight and Reform Committee Republicans witnessed firsthand the crisis on the border after the southern border trip I led earlier this month.

By pushing blanket amnesty and eroding interior enforcement, President Biden has now signaled to the world that our laws can be violated with little to no consequence.

In 2021, over 2 million apprehensions of illegal immigrants were made. This is the most ever recorded by U.S. Border Patrol. In fact, I want to quote Punchbowl News because they really put it into perspective yesterday morning when they reported: ``According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, during the past 3 weeks, the agency has `encountered an average of 7,800 migrants per day across the southwest border. This compares to a historical average of 1,600 per day in the prepandemic years,' a roughly 480 percent increase.''

The surge of illegal immigrants is overwhelming the Department of Homeland Security. As a result, DHS was forced to release hundreds of thousands of these illegal border crossers into the United States.

Catch and release does not work. It only encourages more illegal immigration. The numbers we have don't even account for illegal immigrants who have evaded capture entirely. That number is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

The situation only gets worse when we look at how much fentanyl and other deadly drugs are being smuggled across the border by cartels. On our trip, we witnessed hundreds of discarded backpacks littering the ground, backpacks that once carried illicit narcotics.

The Biden administration's border policies have only boosted the human smuggling industry and empowered drug cartels.

Now, President Biden's decision to terminate the CDC's public health order under title 42 on May 23 will turn this national security and humanitarian crisis into a catastrophe.

Former Obama administration Secretary of Homeland Security Johnson once said that only 1,000 apprehensions per day was ``a relatively bad number'' that ``overwhelms the system.'' He described 4,000 apprehensions per day as a crisis.

The Department of Homeland Security now predicts as many as 12,000 to 18,000 illegal migrants per day will attempt to cross the border because of President Biden's policies when the

title 42 order terminates, overwhelming the congregate processing facilities in ports and Border Patrol stations that we toured along the border in California and Arizona.

This administration's plan to address this catastrophe boils down to simply speeding up the release of even more illegal border crossers. Mr. Speaker, that is no plan at all. Placing illegal immigrants over Americans is unacceptable.

Committee on Oversight and Reform Republicans have been at the forefront of this crisis, demanding answers and seeking to hold the administration accountable to the American people.

Mr. Speaker, the American people should know this: We will persist in exposing the waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement by this administration that has led to this current crisis. We will do everything in our power to stop the flow of fentanyl across President Biden's broken border.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act of 2021.

This important bill, introduced by my good friend Yvette Herrell, would maintain health screening protections at the border and ensure that the Biden administration does not allow foreigners to enter our country illegally without being properly vetted.

I am from Georgia. For those of us that don't live in border States, it is a lot different when we see on the news the stories of the massive invasion at our southern border. It is a lot different when we read about it.

But when I went to the border just a few days ago with Congressman Tony Gonzales--he put together a great trip, and I am so grateful--it became very clear to me. What is happening at our southern border is a crisis of epic proportions, and it is difficult to comprehend it until you actually see it in person.

This is a complete human and drug trafficking operation that is doing nothing for Americans but hurting our country and enriching the cartels. They have grown their network and expanded it massively throughout their country, into our country, far-reaching, even into our cities, as was explained to us by the Border Patrol, where they recruit from our own American cities to come down to Mexico to help them traffic humans and drugs across our southern border.

This should never be happening, and it certainly was not happening not long ago under the Trump administration, where we had the most secure border we have had in decades.

Mr. Speaker, I urge our Congress to take this very seriously. As we are discussing other countries and other borders, this is the one country where we all swear an oath to uphold our laws and defend our Constitution, and we serve the American people from each of our own districts.

We should be taking extreme seriousness to this invasion at our southern border, not only for the COVID-19 pandemic but also for the many other dangerous diseases such as tuberculosis and others that they bring into our country.

Passing title 42 is imperative, and it is the most important thing this Congress can do at this time, as there is an average of 7,000 people coming across the border every single day and hundreds of thousands of got-aways that we don't know who they are, where they are from, and what their purpose and intent is to do in the United States of America.

We already know that 42 known terrorists have been apprehended at our southern border, but we don't know how many terrorists exist in those hundreds of thousands of got-aways.

When I listen to a grown man cry over the amount of illegal aliens that are, 24 hours a day, coming across his ranch in Eagle Pass, it is a shame, and it is a tragedy.