Original Resolution Affirming the State of Palestine’s Right to Exist

Mr. Speaker, and still I rise; and I rise as a liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. I rise in the spirit of Shirley Chisholm, who coined the notion of being unbought, unbossed, and unafraid. I rise as a proud scion of the enslaved Africans whose lives were sacrificed for more than 240 years to make America great.

Their lives were sacrificed because America at that time desired to have a caste system, a system wherein persons were born into this caste, would live, die, and be buried as a part of the caste. Not a class. Caste is hereditary. A class is a socioeconomic circumstance.

There was this desire to have persons be a part of the caste, and persons of African ancestry were selected because they were identifiable, and they wanted an identifiable caste. They wanted this caste to be subservient, immediately agreeing to whatever the master said, and they wanted them to be powerless. They were exactly that: A powerless, subservient, identifiable caste for more than 240 years.

Mr. Speaker, I still love my country, notwithstanding its history. I love it because I believe in the ideals that have been expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Pledge of Allegiance. Those ideals give me hope. I believe that America still has much to achieve, but I believe that America can still dream big and accomplish great things. It is my hope that we will at some point achieve the ideals extolled in the Pledge of Allegiance--liberty and justice for all; the ideal of government by the people for the people; the notion that we can have a country wherein all persons are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. These are the things that I believe we can achieve.

I believe that we ought to honor the persons who were enslaved. I honor victims of great, horrific tragedies. I honor the victims of the Holocaust. There is nothing to be compared to the Holocaust. There is nothing to be compared to the enslavement of millions of people for 240 years. These are two horrific incidents in history, two circumstances.

I believe that we ought to respect and acknowledge that the Holocaust occurred and that it has had an impact not only on the people of that time but on the people of this time.

I also believe we ought to acknowledge that enslavement occurred. There are people who don't want to acknowledge slavery in this country. They want to say that it was involuntary relocation. This is a fact. Well, it wasn't. It was murder. It was rape. It was robbery. It was kidnapping. It was all of these horrific things, including lynching. It was an horrific, horrible circumstance that was imposed upon people.

I think we should honor both the Holocaust and what we call slavery, the enslavement of persons of African ancestry, because these persons of African ancestry built the Capitol. We know of the great things that they did: built the roads, the bridges, planted the crops, harvested the crops, fed the Nation.

They were the economic foundational mothers and fathers of the country. Why wouldn't we honor them, given the role that they played in making America great? For some reason, we can't find it in our hearts, it seems, to honor them; but we can find it within our hearts, as I have found it within my heart, to honor the victims of the Holocaust.

Some people would ask why. Here is the reason why. I am glad you asked. It is easy to look through the window of life into someone else's horrific circumstances and condemn what happened. However, it is very difficult to look into the mirror of life, into our own circumstances, and acknowledge what happened. It is difficult for people who have suffered to do it.

You would think that people who have suffered would be among the first to say we need to have a Slavery Remembrance Day, ought to be among the first to say, well, to give a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslaved persons, just as we have given a Congressional Gold Medal to the enslavers.

In 1956, this Congress of the United States of America that accorded a Congressional Gold Medal to Confederate soldiers won't do such a thing. This Congress will not honor the victims of slavery the same as we have honored Confederate soldiers who were the enslavers.

Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to look into the mirror of life, but that is why I am here. I am here to help you see what you choose not to see and to do what you choose not to do. You may not do it today, but it will happen. It is just a matter of time. There will be more like me to require you to see what you choose not to see. It is just a matter of time.

So, I am a proud scion. That means that I am a descendant of these people who had the injustice of enslavement perpetrated upon them and perpetuated for some 240 years. I am a descendant, but I like saying that I am a scion because it has more of a regal connotation. It says you are proud to be associated with your ancestors. It says you recognize what your ancestors have accomplished. It recognizes the greatness of your ancestors.

Yes, I am a scion, but I am also the progenitor of August 20 as Slavery Remembrance Day. August 20 is the date that the White Lion docked at a place that we now call Norfolk, Virginia, near there, in Point Comfort. It had 20 persons of African ancestry on board, who were traded to the Colonies.

This was the genesis of slavery in the Colonies. There had been slavery before that, but this was the genesis of slavery in the Colonies, which became a part of America.

So, I am the progenitor of making Slavery Remembrance Day a day that is commemorated to the same extent that we commemorate the Holocaust-- two separate incidents, two separate circumstances, and two separate horrific occurrences in history. One we commemorate, and I do so proudly. The other, we would like to forget. We would like to just set it aside and not give those enslaved persons the just treatment that we would accord others.

I want to see Slavery Remembrance Day commemorated across the length and breadth of this country, a day set aside to commemorate the more than 10 million lives that were forced into slavery, had it perpetrated upon them and perpetuated for some 240-plus years.

We ought to commemorate their lives; therefore, I contend, we have and must have Slavery Remembrance Day.

Now, President Biden has agreed with me and Senator Elizabeth Warren. The two of us have been working together. We had Slavery Remembrance Day pass in the House of Representatives. It hasn't passed in the Senate, but it passed in the House of Representatives.

I will always say thanks to Mr. Steny Hoyer, who was at that time in a position to make a difference, and he did. Many people are in a position to make a difference, and they don't. Mr. Hoyer made a difference. I imagine he has been criticized for it.

Mr. Hoyer, wherever you are, I assure you that posterity will see the kindness and the understanding that had to envelop you for you to do this, and I commend you for what you did. I know that history is going to be kind to you.

The President acknowledged Slavery Remembrance Day with a communique, a press statement, if you will, and I am proud to know that he would do so. This President is a President whom I have great respect for, and I commend him for many things that he has done.

Today, I want to commend him for his comments about the Palestinians and the suffering--the suffering--that is taking place in Palestine-- Gaza, if you will--but in Palestine to this very second as I am speaking now.

I commend the President for having the courage. It takes courage to do what he did. It takes courage in an environment where Palestinians are not appreciated, not celebrated.

In this House, we have passed resolutions, several of them, that have done things that I think should have been done related to what happened on October 7, what happened to persons who were living in Israel. I commend and appreciate the passage of those resolutions. I voted for resolutions to deal with the circumstances that occurred on October 7 when the dastardly deeds were perpetrated by Hamas.

Hamas is a terrorist organization. Hamas did things that we really don't care to talk about or discuss, but we have to acknowledge that there was murder, that there was rape, and that there were decapitations that took place. We have to acknowledge the truth. It happened by Hamas, so I have no kind things to say about Hamas. I have things to say about Israel, the Palestinians, and the President.

Mr. President, I thank you for what you said. You said you wanted to help with the humanitarian crisis. You said that there would be a pier constructed such that food could be brought in to the Palestinians.

I commend you for this, Mr. President. I think we should do this.

Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, I have introduced a resolution affirming the state of Palestine's right to exist. I filed this resolution because a resolution was filed, H. Res. 888, reaffirming the State of Israel's right to exist. Israel has a right to exist. This is where I stand. I also stand on the solid, firm conviction that the state of Palestine has a right to exist.

Yes, I said ``state.'' I know it is not a state currently by our traditional definition, but I believe that it has a right to exist as a state, and I have introduced a resolution affirming the state of Palestine's right to exist.

I did it because I believe there ought to be some balance in the House of Representatives. I believe that there ought to be some people with the courage to say, ``I support the Palestinians,'' with the courage to say, ``Killing babies, knowingly killing babies, knowingly killing hundreds and thousands of babies, is an injustice.''

You have to have the courage to say committing an injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice.

Sometimes, you have to stand alone, but I have been taught and believe that, on some questions, it is better to stand alone than not stand at all. Hence, we have H. Res. 902, affirming the state of Palestine's right to exist.

Mr. President, I believe a picture is worth a thousand words, and I want people to just see what we have as evidence of the suffering that is taking place in Palestine. This is a picture, an actual representation, of people in Palestine. You have two adults and two children. You see the babies.

If you only see Palestinian babies, I would beg that you would open your eyes a little wider, clear your vision, and assume that these babies are babies from your hometown. Assume that these babies are babies from your neighborhood. Assume that these are Israelis. How would you feel if you saw this circumstance existing for Israelis?

These circumstances are circumstances that are horrific. Babies and innocent people ought not be killed in the numbers that are being killed. It is an injustice. You cannot, in the name of justice, create an injustice. It still becomes and is an injustice.

Here is another example of the horrific circumstances of devastation and destruction that exist. I just don't know that you can see enough of it to completely comprehend what has been destroyed. There are many estimates as to how much of Gaza has been destroyed. The pictures speak louder than the numbers. I called the numbers to our attention before.

Here is a baby. This baby is a victim of the war in Gaza. This baby cannot be blamed for anything that Hamas has done. You can't allege that this baby is somehow associated with Hamas.

Killing innocent babies is unacceptable. I refuse to allow people to convince me that you can kill babies and somehow conclude that it is okay because the babies were in the way. I refuse to accept it. Those who do, I would hope that you would understand that there are some of us who can't.

Another picture is a depiction of Palestinians having to move out of harm's way and having to do so with what appears to be their belongings. There are children and a donkey-drawn, if you will, cart of some sort. There is no car, and they have to move from one end to another.

Those living conditions are horrible. We have to do something about it, and I will tell you why in just a moment.

Another picture, the final picture, is of a baby, another child. This child, hopefully, will grow up and, hopefully, will get the necessary help in terms of physical aid as well as mental aid. This child is going to need help, and I would hope that this child will get help.

I would hope that this child doesn't become the next generation of persons who will find themselves at odds with the State of Israel. My hope is that there can be peace and two countries living together. That is my hope, and that is my prayer.

To this end, I have written a letter to the President. It is a letter that I will share with you now that I sent to the President some time ago, on February 29.

This is a letter to the President of the United States. The reference in the letter is: ``Justice and Mercy for Palestinians.''

This letter is a letter that I put my thoughts into. I say this because I write my speeches. I write my letters of this magnitude. I don't want people blaming my staff for the things that I do. My staff are great people, and they assist, but these are my ideas and my thoughts.

This is the letter:

``Justice and Mercy for Palestinians.''

``Dear President Biden, I pen this communique driven by the dictates of conscience and with a heavy heart--saddened by the deaths in Palestine and Israel, compounded by Prime Minister Netanyahu's recent indications that Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian

state and continue maintaining control over stateless Palestinians in lands intended for a Palestinian state. He further indicated that the recognition of a Palestinian state will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties.''

Mr. Netanyahu, Prime Minister--I rarely say Netanyahu--I respect the position that he holds. He is a Prime Minister, a person with great authority, and his position seems to be that there has to be a negotiated recognition of a Palestinian state, that Israel and the Palestinians will have to negotiate and, once they come to a conclusion that there should be a Palestinian state, then we can recognize it.

Then he goes on to say that the parties have to negotiate this, and it cannot be done unilaterally.

Well, here is what I say to the President:

``Mr. President, on May 14, 1948, President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognize Israel as a state within Palestine. . . . `'

Some things bear repeating, phraseology that I use quite regularly because many things bear repeating:

``Mr. President, on May 14, 1948, President Harry Truman became the first world leader to recognize Israel as a state within Palestine, effectuating an imbalance of political influence for Israel.''

Again, some things bear repeating:

`` . . . effectuating an imbalance of political influence for Israel. This was done unilaterally. . . . `' That is what is in my letter. ``This was done unilaterally without the consent of defiantly disapproving Palestinians. . . . `'

The Palestinians did not approve of Israel becoming a state. It was done over their disapproval, many of whom were forcefully relocated.

I go on to say:

``Mr. President, just as the Palestinians of 1948 were not allowed to thwart Israeli statehood, in the name of justice we should not allow Israel to thwart Palestinian statehood.''

Sometimes silence can help us to collect our thoughts.

Just as Palestinians of 1948 were not allowed to thwart

Israeli statehood, in the name of justice, Mr. President, we

should not allow Israel to thwart Palestinian statehood.

Now we get to some very substantive commentary:

This is particularly salient given that Prime Minister

Netanyahu obliquely opposed a two-state solution long before

October 7, 2023, long before the killing of innocent Israeli

men, women, and especially children.

It is not in the letter, but as an aside, which was a horrific event, a day that will live in infamy along with other days that live in infamy.

I go on to say:

``For years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has condoned Hamas' control of Gaza to maintain a foil for a lack of a negotiating partner. . . . `'

By the way, this is no--this is not news. It has been reported on major networks that this occurred.

``For years, Prime Minister Netanyahu has condoned Hamas' control of Gaza to maintain a foil for a lack of a negotiating partner who recognized Israel's right to exist.''

Mr. Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu, is a person that I respect in the sense that he is the leader of a nation. Prime Minister Netanyahu benefited from having Hamas in control of Gaza because he didn't have to negotiate a two-state solution. It was a means by which he could say the words two-state solution, but he didn't mean it. He didn't.

The evidence is there for those who would see. However, there is a notion that there are some who are so blind, not because they cannot see, but because they choose not to see.

Therefore, if you choose not to see, no one can make you see. You can remain in your state of darkness, but this is the truth. It has been widely reported.

``With Hamas,'' I go on to say, ``as a foil, Prime Minister Netanyahu feigned support for a two-state solution while enabling Israeli settlers to lay claim to land intended for a Palestinian state.''

My God.

Feigning, pretending to want to support a two-state solution while all along the way allowing, enabling settlers to lay claim to land intended for a Palestinian state.

``Mr. President, what President Truman did for Israel unilaterally in 1948--'' I emphasize unilaterally because, remember, President Netanyahu says it can't be unilateral. Israel has to agree for the Palestinians to have a state. Israel has a state and has had a state since 1948. Palestinians are stateless.

``Mr. President, what President Truman--'' that first Mr. President is President Biden, if I may just substitute.

President Biden, what President Truman did for Israel

unilaterally in 1948, we can do unilaterally for

Palestinians.

Now, I am an avant-garde personality. I am usually out ahead of the rest of the pack. This is going to come to fruition. It is just a matter of time.

When it does, the memory of this message will be clouded because there will be people chosen to bring the message when it is thought to be safe to bring the message. They will wait to see how safe it is for us to say these words and to come forth publicly and proclaim that there can be unilateral recognition.

They have to wait, so I am the canary in the coal mine, and they will be waiting to see how I am reacted to, and that is being kind.

I continue by saying:

``We should not allow a party feigning,'' pretending--that is parenthetically said.

``We should not allow a party feigning to negotiate in good faith to prevent our good faith, unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.''

If we are acting in good faith, if we know that the Palestinians deserve a state, yes, there will be an interregnum. While we are in that interregnum, there ought to be negotiations between people of good will who believe that there ought to be a Palestinian state, that the genesis of it is, to a certain extent, now, but that, when the full- blown interregnum occurs, then we ought to make sure that we are on the right side, not just of history.

It is a wonderful thing to be on the right side of history, but it is a better thing to be on the right side of righteousness, on the right side of saying: You don't kill babies in the tens of thousands and think you are doing the right thing.

The right side of righteousness, you don't just decimate the homes and schools and churches, synagogues, and/or properties of people, mosques, if you will. You don't just decimate those things and say: We did it because it was a just thing to do.

An injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice, so be on the right side of righteousness. Act in good faith, and let's develop a Palestinian state.

Additionally, we don't have to do it with the consent of Prime Minister Netanyahu. We don't have to do it with his consent. President Truman didn't have anybody's consent. He was the President of the United States of America.

Mr. President, I don't have to remind you who you are. You know. However, as the President of the United States of America, you don't need anybody's permission to recognize a Palestinian state, and you sure should not rely on the permission of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has been feigning, pretending to want a two-state solution while enabling Hamas. There is a lot more to be said about that, and I will get to that in another message.

I indicate in my letter to the President, lastly, in the name of mercy--mercy--I believe we must send tens of billions, not millions, of dollars in humanitarian aid to Palestine, to Gaza, to the West Bank. I believe we ought to send tens of billions, and I believe we have to be proud to say we are sending the money in humanitarian aid to people who need tens of billions in humanitarian aid.

Now, pay particular attention to the words I am about to say--to people who need tens of billions of dollars in humanitarian aid because our fingerprints are all over what you have seen in these pictures. Our fingerprints are all over this. Our money has made this possible.

We have a debt to righteousness. We ought to pay our debt to righteousness. Send tens of billions and be proud. It doesn't have to be hidden in some bill. You don't have to announce: Well, we are going to send money to Ukraine, which I supported; we are going to send money to Taiwan and the people in that area, Pacific Islanders, which I supported, but never say: We are going to send money to the Palestinians. We are going to send money to Israel, which I have supported.

As a matter of fact, the number exceeds $50 billion that I have supported to Israel.

Therefore, if we are going to say: We are going to send money to Ukraine and to Taiwan and to Israel, why can't we say: We want to send money to the people who are suffering this injustice, perpetrated by the Prime Minister of Israel, with dollars, tax dollars--tax dollars from American citizens and other persons in this country who pay taxes--sales taxes, gasoline taxes.

These tax dollars--these tax dollars--I know it makes you uncomfortable, and you ought to be uncomfortable. These tax dollars have created this circumstance.

Someone will say: Well, no, those tax dollars weren't used for that. They were used for other purposes. However, as my colleagues across the aisle like to remind me, there is something called fungibility.

These dollars are fungible. They make it possible if you have these dollars for one thing, then you can use your own dollars for other things.

Hamas was wrong. They shouldn't have done what they did. They ought to be punished for what they did. They are being punished for what they did, but it is wrong for Mr. Netanyahu to kill tens of thousands-- babies, innocent men, women, and children, an injustice of horrific proportions.

Some would say: Well, why wouldn't you expect Israel to do what it is doing? After all, Hamas did a dastardly thing.

Well, I am one of those people who believes that Israel is special. I don't expect people who have suffered the Holocaust to impose this. I don't expect it. I expect them to understand that you don't do this. That is my expectation.

I believe that we have a duty to ourselves to speak truth not only to power but about power. It is easy to speak truth to power.

You say: Power, there is a problem. We need to solve it. It is difficult to say to power when you are speaking truth about it: Power, there is a problem, and you are it.

Mr. Netanyahu, Prime Minister, there is a problem, and you are it. You have got to stop killing these babies. Silence can help you collect your thoughts. Stop it. Now.

Lastly, I say in the name of mercy, I believe we must send tens of billions--not millions--of dollars in humanitarian aid to Palestine as our largesse to Israel has enabled the decimation of Gaza, as well as the estimated deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children.

Now, if you can live with yourself and the knowledge that tens of thousands of innocent people are being killed, allow me to live with myself believing that it is an injustice. It is an injustice to do what is being done in the name of justice.

I go on to close by saying in closing, I respectfully and kindly make this appeal in the name of justice and mercy for the thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and especially children who have been injured, killed, or had their homes destroyed with munitions bearing our fingerprints.

This is my letter that I have sent to the President of the United States. I signed it as a Member of Congress, as the progenitor of August 20 as Slavery Remembrance Day, as a scion of the enslaved Africans sacrificed to make America great.

I believe that the greatness of America will not be measured by the number of battleships that we have, the number of bombers, high-flying stealth technology.

It won't be measured by the number of billionaires we produce. The greatness of America won't be measured by how we treat people who live in the suites of life and places where all is well.

Dr. King mentioned to us--and I am paraphrasing--the truest measure of a person, and I would now add truest measure of a country, Dr. King, but he said: The truest measure of a person is not where you stand in times of comfort and convenience.

He didn't say what I am about to say now. When all is well with you, when you are the leading country in the world, when you have billionaires and persons of great opulence doing well, it won't be measured by where you stand in times of comfort.

The question that Dr. King mentions in his statement is: Where do you stand in times of challenge and controversy?

His statement was: The truest measure of a person is not where do you stand in times of comfort and convenience, but where do you stand in times of challenge and controversy?

In these times of challenge and controversy, the United States of America ought to stand for justice for all. That would include this baby.

The United States of America ought to stand for liberty for all-- liberty and justice for all. That would include the Palestinian people.

The truest measure of a Nation is not about the height of our buildings, not about the billionaires, but about where we stand when we have the opportunity to stand for righteousness--not just justice by righteousness.

Here is our righteous call to the United States of America. This is it. Do not, do not, do not allow yourselves to succumb to the notion that the killing of these babies is a form of justice.

It was my honor to be present last night when the President delivered his State of the Union Address. He said many things, but I have spoken to you about the thing that was important today.

It doesn't mean that all of the other things that he said were not important. It does mean that I singled out something to talk about today, and I thank the President for what he said and for his belief that a two-state solution is the means by which we can achieve the ultimate peace that we seek in the area that we call Palestine wherein Israel now exists. By the way, I have said Israel has the right to exist.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time. I want to do what I customarily do when finish this, for those who are new to hearing Al Green speak and noticing.

I always go over and shake the Speaker's hand. There is something to be said when you express your appreciation. I shall do so.

I thank all of you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you. An injustice in the name of justice is still an injustice.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, we have several Members who are going to have a chance to speak here tonight. Tonight, of course, ahead of tomorrow's State of the Union Address, Members will share about ways the Biden administration has failed their constituents, from the border crisis, to the spike in violent crime, to out-of-control inflation, and also a need to protect the most vulnerable among us, the unborn.

I am grateful to host tonight's Special Order and provide the opportunity to highlight important issues facing families in every district.

I have said this for the last few years. As I have watched--and of course it is a political metric--I have seen the approval rating continue to decline and to decline and to decline from what we have seen from President Biden. It shows you that the American people are watching, and this is affecting their everyday lives.

For the most part--I would hope this to be the case--most Americans aren't necessarily paying attention to a lot of what we are doing here, and I hope they are happier and better off for it. A lot of the stuff that we do here doesn't necessarily resonate with them. They get frustrated with a lot of what we do here.

However, when you see that type of reaction from the American people, it is showing that the policies from the Biden administration are directly impacting and hurting their everyday lives. They are seeing it in so many different ways in their communities, in their families.

I am hopeful that, in my role as vice chair of the Republican Conference, I am committed to doing it and helping other Members credibly communicate how this is affecting their constituents' lives.

Additionally, today, we use that opportunity to be able to share a little bit about what is going on and hopefully offer some solutions, as well, to how we can better address this and how we can counteract so many of President Biden's failed policies.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), to kick things off tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his comments. Of course, when they become personal stories is when they become the most tragic.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for his remarks. It has happened to me before as well, so he is welcomed for being able to clear that up.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman from New Jersey that that was the easiest request I have had all year. I appreciate hearing the stories of his father and I, of course, offer my condolences to him. It is an honor to be able to hear stories of his father's extraordinary life and service. I thank him, sir.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for this time and opportunity to be able to share more of what we are trying to highlight this week.

It is a very important week as is any State of the Union and every State of the Union should be important. Regardless of your party affiliation, this is a moment to hear from our President and to compare and contrast in a lot of cases policy differences, but also highlight where it is that we do agree.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose), the current gold medal standard bearer in our competition. I am having a Tennessee heavy day today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee and I appreciate his message and his involvement as we try to use this medium to communicate with the American people. Oftentimes, a cable news interview here or there gets a lot more hits than social media, but we need to be speaking to the American people from the House floor and this is a great opportunity to do so.

I am going to share in buckets a message that I hope that I can really drive home. My whole entire objective for being back here, personally, not necessarily in my role as vice chair of the Conference, but my personal objective to be back here is to rein in wasteful spending and to deal with our debt and deficit crisis that we are facing.

I will get a chance this evening to share more context for that.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers), the Chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Committee from the greatest half of the country out West with me. We get overlooked quite a bit. I hear some scoffing going on in the Chamber, but we all know that it is very important and the entire Nation is reliant on the West for things that matter, second only to tourism, but all the other critical things that we need.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Washington for her remarks.

As Members of this body know, we began this year, the U.S. national debt, surpassing $34 trillion. We have seen Members from both sides of the aisle talk about this extensively. We have had debates on this growing national debt for decades now and as I mentioned moments ago, it is the reason I am back here.

It is the reason that I missed my son's little league playoffs last night, which they made it to the championship and suffered a tough loss, but they played their hearts out. The only way that I can go back home and tell my 11-year-old, hey, son, sorry for missing your little league game here and there and the many games that I have to miss is because I can also counter that with I am doing everything I possibly can to make sure that your future mimics what my future looked like.

Candidly, mine is even going to be in a position of very heavy debt in my major working years, but we have to recognize that this will limit our next generation more than any other factor. The fact that interest alone will be the second largest budget line item in our Federal outlays within a year or two is the most concerning thing that keeps me up at night.

Yes, I will continue to talk about this. I will continue to debate this. I sit on the Ways and Means and Budget Committees, which I believe is where the vast majority of the work can be done here.

Ways and Means because it covers the programs, the large government programs that get established and never voted on again. In Budget we can set the tone, we can set the stage for what we all try to coalesce around as the people's House.

This debt puts a strain on not only the country's finances, but American families' pocketbooks. It goes particularly to what we saw with inflation. As I entered into Congress in 2021, January 2021, just a few months after President Biden or maybe a month or two after President Biden took office, and the Senate had just switched to Democrat controlled, so Senator Schumer took over as majority leader in the Senate and Republicans had a very strong November few months prior to that, but didn't quite take over the majority, what took place in Congress, in Washington is what you call one-party rule.

During one-party rule, what you are allowed to do is every budget cycle--and it is a little bit of a gray area, but once a budget cycle, you can pass a bill on party-line votes. You don't need the filibuster in the Senate anymore. You can bypass that and you can go big with your legislation.

Republicans and Democrats have used this over time. President Biden decided to use this for what is called the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan in its entirety was basically a $2 trillion bill that had no offset spending and was directly related to the inflationary pressures that our Nation experienced after that.

Inflation happens because of the monetary supply issue, with too much money chasing too few goods. That is what that bill was. It was a massively inflationary bill.

It wasn't the only cause. We were coming out of COVID. We were having supply chain issues. Those were all factors. We saw 40-year high inflation, and it was just months after the congressional Democrats and President Biden, on party-line votes, passed the American Rescue Plan. It wasn't much of a rescue. We saw 17-plus percent inflation, and that varied among different types of goods and services, but it was insane. The American people bore the entire brunt of that.

To tame this inflation, how you do this, the Fed goes through their process. They raise interest rates. That is a significant factor in how you tame inflation. However, the other piece that was not coincidental, Republicans took back control of the House of Representatives. With that, we were able to clamp down on President Biden's massive spending initiatives, from the Inflation Reduction Act to the American

Rescue Plan. Those were two of the largest that went fully on party- line votes.

In addition were all the other things that were in the works and needed to be addressed. Some even earned bipartisan support, but the $5 trillion--we were talking about over $5 trillion of new spending-- directly goes to massive inflationary pressure. Republicans clamped all of that down.

Then we went through the process of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Last June, Speaker McCarthy negotiated a way to take a look at our appropriations process, among many other things, like permitting reform and other things that were very positive out of that bill and actually find a way to do what has not been done in my time here for sure, but probably within the last decade when you could take a look at our appropriations process and say, look, let's continue to support defense and veterans, and let's find wasteful spending in the other 10 or so bills that go through the appropriations process.

We did part of that today where we were actually able to break that trend of maintaining parity between those two things. That has been something that has been important to my Democratic colleagues: If we are going to support defense and veterans, you need to also make sure that you support all these other bills.

We were able to break that parity between the two and find real wasteful spending that was going on, and we came together. We came together today in an overwhelmingly positive vote to finish a portion of the appropriations process and find more wasteful spending. We are going to put that on a lower trajectory.

With House Republicans being in the majority, our plan is to clamp down on the massive spending proposals that you saw from President Biden in his first term; and then as a secondary approach, we are going to take the normal things that we do back here, the things that are a part of the standard of what we do need to accomplish with an annual budget and find areas of waste, and we have been able to successfully do that.

I love being a part of that. I came back here, like I mentioned, to deal with our growing debt and our deficit, find wasteful spending and create policies that don't do what happened in 2021 and 2022. President Biden took over with inflation in the range of less than 2 percent, and it climbed more rapid than anything. We are still feeling the struggles with that. Homeowners who are trying to purchase a home are paying mortgage rates that they shouldn't have to be paying that are so incredibly high. That was the reaction to that massive inflation, and that comes directly from Washington and from bad policy.

House Republicans effectively forced President Biden to recognize it and kind of put that on hold. We did our part with respect to inflation by controlling the monetary supply. You have to raise interest rates and you have to control the monetary supply because massive government spending always leads to inflation. Every economist will agree on that. They don't usually agree on much. Our job the last year and change has been to be able to show the American people how we are being responsible on a fiscal footing.

Some other ways the Republicans are working to lower costs for families and taxpayers include fighting back against President Biden's student loan agenda. The administration has attempted to circumvent the rule of law and leave hardworking Americans who didn't go to college with a $559 billion bill to cover these unpaid student loans. In December, House Republicans passed legislation that would put a stop to this reckless and unfair proposal.

House Republicans have also led the charge on a progrowth tax policy.

Before I get into that, I get this question a lot when I go and do townhalls back home, and I love to be able to engage on this concept of student loans. For the most part, particularly in Utah, people are categorically frustrated with President Biden just forgiving loans years after the fact. That approach was deemed unconstitutional. Then he has taken another angle, and he keeps trying to do this.

My opinion on this--and I believe it would be strongly backed by good research and data--is that if the government is just going to forgive loans, A, you obviously have more of a deficit issue because those loans have been given out in a government-spending approach knowing that some of that would ultimately come back with whatever interest is charged on those things.

If we just forgive that, there is obviously a deficit issue there, but if you forgive that, another aspect is we are creating a culture, and it is going to teach my children that there are no consequences. It is like: You will be fine. At some point this will be forgiven, and you don't necessarily have to plan and be productive with this. I think that resonates with most people, particularly back in my home State.

The third piece is something that I get into a lot with a lot of folks that they are not necessarily thinking of. The fundamental problem with what is going on with all of our entire student loans, student tuition universe is that tuition costs are rising so fast that students are having a tough time getting out ahead of it.

If we, as a Federal Government, signal to those institutions, those educational institutions, hey, you know, we know you have been raising your rates a lot, but we are also just going to start forgiving a lot of this stuff, do you think that puts pressure on those institutions to actually keep their costs under control, to constrain what they are doing?

No. They are feeling that they can actually continue to raise rates as well because people are going to be more inclined to just borrow more.

Folks, that is a recipe for disaster. It is a bad cultural aspect, but it does not communicate to the institutions. I love representing the universities that I do back in Utah. I know my colleagues are so sick and tired of me talking about how great Utah is, when I hide behind numbers like first in economy and first in volunteerism, and all these amazing things that we are first in--I am getting some looks here right now--but they deep down know how amazing Utah is.

My intent on this is not just completely boastful--that is part of it--but to just highlight the fact that universities across the State of Utah are heavily focused on ROI. You can go and speak to their administration and hear about what they are doing: dynamic credentialing, a dual-mission program.

Before I sound so ruthless by saying we shouldn't forgive loans, the State legislature in Utah--a very strongly conservative State legislature--has provided an opportunity for juniors and seniors in high school to have free tuition at tech centers so they can go learn to be an EMT or a welder. They can go learn to have a skill or trade, a computer science degree, work in audiovisual. They can take that and if they want to create a career out of it, being an apprentice electrician, a plumber, they have an opportunity to go and start building their career. If they take that and start doing that work, they are actually going off to a 4-year degree where they are working at a higher-paying job keeping their tuition down. All of our universities are focused on ROI. It is not out of just sheer, oh, I just don't like President Biden's tuition plan. It is not going to accomplish what it needs to accomplish.

I just want to continue to highlight these specific economic factors that we have enough information and data to prove: This is why inflation is caused, and this is how you get out of it. It is painful to get out of it, but I really do appreciate being part of the House Republican Conference that is controlling the monetary supply, limiting government spending, and signaling to the markets that we are trying to do something about this debt and deficit.

We are going to use the debt ceiling opportunity to say, look, in order for us to increase the debt limit, we are going to have to make changes, and we have got to actually implement some of that today. It has been an awesome thing.

I am happy to share all of this as much as I can. I will continue to do so, but we have the opportunity now to hear from the great State of Pennsylvania, Dr. Joyce will share his message. I appreciate his constant involvement in making sure that we can use this opportunity and floor speeches to

communicate not only to his constituents but to those who are paying attention and willing to hear us out. We have so many things we want to be covering.

I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce).

I thank the good doctor from Pennsylvania. Now to another Western State, which we have established is so important to our Nation, all the factors that we provide to those East Coast elitists and everything east of the Mississippi.

I welcome the gentleman from California to share his message this evening. In tomorrow's state of the Union, we will hear from our President. We need to hear this message. Again, we will compare and contrast. We will find unity on certain things, but it is incredibly important for us as House Republicans to highlight the concerns that we have, which are many.

I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California, and I think he summed up every State of the Union that has ever existed quite well.

There will be areas and opportunities of unity and things that we can be focused on together. I am hopeful that we can use this as a case to talk about the real issues that we are having and the fundamental problems but also solutions.

We know them. We can talk energy policy. We can talk immigration policy. We can talk economic policy. I can do that all day long.

I will wrap up here as to not belabor it but to just point out: Rise above it, President Biden. Rise above it. Look back to the previous administration's policies with things regarding the remain in Mexico policy, the Migrant Protection Protocols.

It is a simple concept. You cannot just say Mexico won't do it. President Trump and Vice President Pence forced the issue with our Mexican neighbors, and they got them to agree this was good for both countries. Whatever limits cartel activity is good for both nations.

Don't hide behind the fact that there is a partnership with Mexico, and you can't do it because of that. It is simple data that shows we can be effective, create these relationships, and improve our situation at the border dramatically with just that one change.

That is just one of many different types of executive actions that you can take. We have already passed it. You can't say we are not willing to legislate on this issue because we have already passed it. The Senate refuses to take it up. The House passed it. The Senate refuses to take it up.

Take some action, President Biden. Talk to your Senators and to Senate Leader Schumer and convince them that there are opportunities there. There are things we can do to reverse some of your bad policies.

Don't just look at the previous administration and say, all right, I have to do everything different from them, and then all of a sudden, it leads to these catastrophic events.

Take a look at data, see what works, and implement it. It is as simple as that. It is what the American people recognize, and we have to be willing to follow it.

I highlighted a lot of things about economic policy, from inflation to everything. Those are things that affect every single American. If we just focused on energy policy, economic policy, and immigration policy, we could really make an improvement for Americans across this great Nation and set ourselves up for success.

I hope I will be able to hear some of that. I am not hopeful that we will hear productive solutions. There might be plenty of rhetoric spewed, but we have to be able to find a way to get those three things that matter most and that affect my constituents and those from every single district across the Nation the most.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Moore's efforts to help communicate the message the American people need to see, not just tomorrow night from one side, but as best as we can maybe looking at the other side of the issues.

If you could look around the room here, you would see some of the special equipment for the event that is starting to be set up, extra cameras, lighting on the House floor so that it is illuminated in a way that shows up well on TV. Unfortunately, what is not illuminated well enough is the record of this White House in supporting the needs of our Nation.

With the State of the Union tomorrow night, these 3-plus years have been, indeed, chaotic, and you could even say a full-fledged crisis in the making or being made.

Over the last few years, President Biden has made a lot of decisions and implemented a lot of policies that have ultimately led to a 17.9 percent rise in inflation since he took office. The cost of rent, electricity, and household goods are actually becoming out of reach for many Americans.

How can these things become out of reach?

I grow food. I am a farmer in my real life in northern California at home. Food has always been for many, many decades for Americans such a low-cost item, they didn't even have to think about it.

Why is it reverting to a situation where we are more like a third world country and food is hard to afford? Energy, driving our cars around, the whole works, housing--housing is becoming almost unaffordable. What has changed?

Our Nation is less safe than before, with rising rates of carjackings and attacks on law enforcement officers. You are not safe in your home.

Right here in this town, in D.C., is an example of a carjacking affecting one of our colleagues in this body, attacked in what may seem like a fairly safe neighborhood. What is going on here?

Our country has been weakened on the world stage as well. President Biden caters to oil oligarchs in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, and even Russia.

He hastily removed U.S. troops from Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to take over after all those years of our side fighting for freedom in those areas and to have at least a modicum of a government that would work for people over there. On top of that, we needlessly lost the lives of over a dozen soldiers on that hasty, poorly planned withdrawal.

One of our other allies, one of our strongest allies in the whole world, Israel, he is walking back support for that great country, that great ally.

His Vice President, Kamala Harris, basically threw Israel under the bus with her comments recently. What is this all about? What are we going to hear in the State of the Union that you could actually point to as a positive?

I hate to be negative. I hate to be, like, oh, partisan stuff that you can't find agreement on this or that, but it is really difficult with the state of things, from what the United States was 3 years ago, even amidst that COVID mess, to what we have now.

Unfortunately, the President has been chipping away even at our Nation's sovereignty. He has taken dozens of well-documented and concrete actions that have opened our borders and undermined our laws.

Our laws aren't broken. Immigration isn't broken. The enforcement, the action of the executive branch, to maintain them is the part that is broken.

We did pass H.R. 2 early on in this session to help fortify some of these laws, to help define better what asylum means, since they are defining it in the most loose possible ways.

For the past 3 years, the Biden administration has ignored the crisis. You can't get him or Kamala Harris hardly to go to the border at all. When they do, it is not the part of the border that we could easily document that has been the problem, and he is directly responsible for it.

I have to ask the question as I do occasionally: President Biden, whose side are you on with these actions you take?

He canceled the remain in Mexico program, which was working fairly well. He revoked title 42 for health concerns. He revoked it. He stopped construction of the border wall.

I had a chance to visit that most recently down in the Tucson area, on farther south. Stacks and stacks of the metal that would be used to build that fence were just laying there, dated October 2020 on some of that material.

He even promised a little over a year ago, well, maybe we will start filling in some of the gaps. There has been no action on that.

He has reprimanded border agents, making up bogus claims that the agents riding their horses with their reins were somehow whipping immigrants with that. That was finally dispelled, but not before the lie had spread all around the world from the administration and some of their cronies. They were just trying to do their jobs, and they are being impaired by this White House in doing so.

He allowed for the release of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants into this country with no way to track them--actually, millions. Biden's Department of Homeland Security has now admitted that 40 percent of catch and release migrants have disappeared.

Last week, it was revealed that he never once spoke to his chief of the Border Patrol about any of this. Border security isn't even a priority for this administration, though they may want to put the dressing on it as we come down to an election here soon.

The Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, is leading an effort to ban his Department from doing something politically incorrect by saying the words ``illegal immigrant.'' That is what they are focused on, not the actual immigration. That is their concern.

I have to ask again: President Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, whose side are you on? Is it the American people, or is it some other agenda? We can't tell.

Tons of fentanyl are being smuggled into our country, killing our youth. The price of fentanyl is coming down. It is so cheap now because there is such a massive supply--you know, supply and demand. It is getting cheap because it is so frequently available coming across our border illegally.

Deadly chemicals and people are being trafficked to work on the illegal marijuana grows, like we have so many of in northern California, just taking over the land.

Criminal aliens repeatedly broke the law, like the Venezuelan national who recently killed Laken Riley in broad daylight.

House Republicans know that border security is, indeed, national security for our whole country. Every State, as we have said time and again, is now feeling like a border State.

We did pass the strongest border security bill in history in H.R. 2. Now, about a hundred yards that direction, Senator Schumer and the gang over there have refused to bring it up for a vote. Instead, they proposed a watered-down immigration bill that would allow--get this-- 1.8 illegal immigrants a year in our country. It codifies that.

Go ahead, 1.8 million, come on in. Once we reach that threshold, then we will start enforcing something.

How can you take a law or a bill idea like that even seriously?

They would be rewarded with immediate work permits and an ability to stay longer once they are identified. I mean, calling that a border security package is an unfunny joke.

President Biden's open border policies are putting Americans in true danger. This border crisis is responsible for the deaths of countless Americans and the destruction of countless American families.

I just saw a video back from 1995 when President Clinton stood right up there and gave a State of the Union Address and outlined the problem that illegal immigration is in displacing jobs and providing more danger for the American public. That was in 1995 when President Clinton, a Democrat, said that.

What has changed politically in that timeframe that now the Democrats are all for what is happening on our border or, at the very least, doing nothing about it?

They had a period of time when they controlled both Houses and the White House with President Biden just a little over a year ago. They had a 2-year window to do something about that. They had all the ability to line up the votes and the signatures they needed to do that. They did nothing.

Instead, they are saying it is Republicans that are blocking it. We have been for solid border policy since day one.

President Trump led the charge for 4 years on that, and they pushed back. They thwarted him. They thwarted funding for the border.

They want to send billions and billions overseas for other things when a fraction of that would secure our own southern border. Come on.

One more time: The President will be here tomorrow night, and that side of the room is going to be applauding everything. Our side? Some good, maybe some bad. It will be a mixed bag on this side of the room.

I have to ask the President: As you address us, remember, ask yourself, whose side are you on?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration took a bad situation at our southern border and turned it into a complete and utter disaster that puts Americans in danger every day. It is often said that every State is a border State, and that is very much the case, as we see now.

There is no way on God's green Earth that President Biden can spin this any other way. The President can blame it on Trump, blame it on the Republicans, but, for the last 3 years, Mr. Speaker, dadgummit, he has been in control of this.

We recently learned that, in 2023, the Biden administration flew 320,000 illegal aliens into 43 airports across the United States. Let me say that again--320,000 illegals into 43 airports across the United States. Mr. Speaker, that is in your backyard. That is in my backyard. That is all across our great country. They pay for these flights with the American people's tax dollars.

Unfortunately, this latest stunt is not nearly as surprising as it should be. Since Joe Biden took office, over 10 million illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States. What is most troubling to me in all of that, Mr. Speaker, 100,000 children are in the system somewhere.

Additionally, these cartels, they are evil, and they are from the pits of hell, and it would be my desire to send them back as soon as possible. Mr. Speaker, 100,000 children are somewhere in this system, possibly sold into labor, possibly victims of sex crimes, possibly victims of many other horrendous acts.

There have also been 8.7 million illegal alien encounters, plus 1.7 million got-aways. Every day, we are hearing about Americans who are hurt or killed at the hands of illegal immigrants. These are people who were released into the United States without being properly checked, and Americans are suffering because of it. A dear family that is very close to me back in Knoxville, they lost their son because of this.

This week, the House is voting on the Laken Riley Act, which was named after a young woman who was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant. He had been arrested three times before and, yet, he was still released back into the United States each time. He was a criminal in his homeland. He is a criminal up here. He should have been deported the first time, Mr. Speaker. If he had, that young girl would be alive today.

The Biden administration is inviting illegal immigrants into this country with its open-border policies. We have magnetized this country. We allow the giving of credit cards, free healthcare. We put them ahead of our veterans. We put them ahead of our citizens, and that is disgusting.

The Biden Administration has been actively fighting the border States that are trying to fix the problem. It has gone as far as filing lawsuits. They are using your tax dollars to fly immigrants into every State, including Tennessee, without telling the American people what they are doing.

Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable, and we need to close the dadgum border.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah, Vice Chairman Moore, for yielding and for claiming this time this evening to discuss these important issues facing our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, the President of the United States will appear in this Chamber to deliver his annual State of the Union Address and, hopefully, his last.

I say this because since the President has taken office, prices have risen by 17.9 percent, according to the Consumer Price Index. If you ask the folks I represent in Tennessee, they have gone up far more than that.

Compared to just 3 years ago, Americans are spending an extra $1,019 a month and real wages are down by more than 2 percent thanks to the Biden administration's economic policies. I believe the President calls it Bidenomics.

Since taking the majority, House Republicans have fought tirelessly to rein in the Biden administration's reckless spending that has caused record-high inflation, the highest inflation since I was just a junior in high school back in the early 1980s.

A lot of left-leaning political pundits will criticize this Congress for not following in the footsteps of the last Congress, which was led entirely by Democrats that passed multiple spending

monstrosities, but I will argue that it is a job well done by Republicans to hold the line and not give in to the Democrats' insatiable desire to recklessly borrow money from future generations of Americans and spend it on projects like Green New Deal initiatives and an army of new IRS agents.

These economic policies pursued by the Biden administration have made it harder than ever before for new home buyers to purchase a home. Even one out of eight retirees plan to return to work in 2024, according to a recent survey. They largely cite inflation as the main reason for doing so.

Mr. Speaker, Americans should not be subjected to the constant threat of rising prices wreaking havoc on their paychecks and pocketbooks. As our national deficit and debts exponentially increase due to rising interest rates, our country has no choice other than to restore fiscal common sense in Washington. That is why House Republicans are leading the way to do exactly that.