Expressing support for the designation of May 2025 as Renewable Fuels Month to recognize the important role that renewable fuels play in reducing carbon impacts, lowering fuel prices for consumers, supporting rural communities, and lessening reliance on foreign adversaries.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

First, Mr. Speaker, let me thank the staff on the Rules Committee, both the majority and the minority staff, because they put up with an awful lot. The way this House is being run, the process and procedures, are absolutely awful.

Mr. Speaker, I would say that this is a clown show, but that would be an insult to actual working clowns who probably lost their healthcare in the big, ugly bill that Republicans passed, but whatever. This is not the way this House of Representatives should be run.

Out of the four appropriations bills before us, only one, the Defense bill, was given an amendment process, where the majority issued a call for amendments.

Overall, 9 out of the 12 appropriation bills this cycle did not receive any call for amendments. In other words, nobody was asked to offer amendments to participate in this process. They were told that their views and their opinions didn't matter.

Last week, Republicans made in order 2 out of 78 amendments submitted to the two-bill minibus that we considered. Again, neither of those amendments had a call for amendments prior. The week before, Republicans made zero amendments in order on a three-bill minibus out of 40 submitted. Only one of those bills had an amendment process prior.

Today, they are making 2 amendments in order out of the 164 amendments submitted to the final appropriation bills before us. They were submitted by Democrats and by Republicans, so 99 percent of those amendments that were offered have been blocked.

The Republicans went on last night about regular order, but they only solicited amendment ideas on 3 out of the 12 appropriation bills that fund our government. Give me a break. This is not the way this place is supposed to be run.

Again, I get it. They are worried about pleasing the rebels within the Republican Conference who always threaten to bring down a rule if they don't get what they want, so I assume that is what happened by making two Republican amendments in order today.

Here is another thing that I noticed in this bill. There is this creation of an ethanol domestic energy council, aimed at kind of buying off people from Iowa, I guess. In the rule, it says this council will be appointed by the Speaker of the House to develop legislative solutions to address the crisis facing our Nation's farmers and refiners.

I asked in the Rules Committee whether the Speaker would only appoint Republicans. The answer was that you can submit whatever you want to the Speaker. It is his decision, but we don't know. So, I don't know whether this is a bipartisan council or just a partisan council.

A question was asked in the Rules Committee: Will it only be Members of Congress on this council, or could members of industry or the energy companies be on this council? We were told that they think it is just Members of Congress, but we don't know.

I mean, I don't know. Those are pretty relevant questions, and this is kind of being tossed in here essentially to buy people's votes.

Here is the deal: To those Republicans who are being bought off by this creation of this new council, let me recall back in September when we were having a debate on whether to kind of extend the pause on Trump's terrible tariffs. All of a sudden, we were told that we had to pause the vote. We went on and on and on for a while, waiting and waiting and waiting, and then we were told that there would be a special trade working group established. The press reported that Congressman Adrian Smith, who is the head of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, would be the head of that working group, and they would address the issue of tariffs. They said it would be a thoughtful process.

Mr. Smith was before the Rules Committee the other day, and I asked him about this trade working group that apparently bought off Republican votes, Republicans who were concerned about the tariffs. I asked him who the Members are on this trade working group. He said that he talks to all Members. I asked who the Members are on this trade working group, and he didn't have an answer. Do you know why? They never appointed anybody to be on the trade working group.

I asked him how many hearings, gatherings, and meetings this trade working group has had. He couldn't answer that because they never had any meetings. I asked if there were any publications or reports that have been produced by this trade working group, and he couldn't answer that because there were none.

Now, we are being told--now, Republicans who are kind of concerned about the issue of ethanol are being told that we are going to create this council for you, this new working group for you, and you should be happy.

I am just going to say this, with all due respect to my Republican colleagues: Those of you who are bought off by this in order to vote for this rule, where I come from, we have a name for that, and that is ``cheap date'' because that is what this is. At the end of the day, nothing--nothing--will end up happening.

I am just going to say one other thing before I get into the substance of these bills. When I was the chairman of the Rules Committee, I made nearly half of all amendments in order. This Republican majority has blocked 80 percent. That means Democrats--and, by the way, a lot of Republicans, a majority of Republican amendments have been blocked. Let me say that one more time. A majority of Republican amendments have been blocked.

I don't know what is wrong with Members over there, but come on, a majority of Republican amendments have been blocked, and you continue to go along to get along. They are not just blocking us. They are blocking their own Members. There have been 106 closed rules so far in this Congress, more than Democrats had in the entire Congress the last time we were in charge.

Again, I know you have a slim majority, but here is another fact that you ought to let sink in: We have had the fewest votes on the floor in 35 years. I mean, that is what this Congress is all about.

Again, I would just say, as somebody who loves this institution, who believes in this institution--and I know many of my Republican colleagues feel the same way--I mean, things have to change.

This place has become an institution where trivial issues get debated passionately and important ones not at all. All the issues that I hear about in my townhalls--the high cost of healthcare, rising food prices, the high cost of utilities--we don't talk about those things here.

We are dealing with messaging bills. When it comes to anything of substance, like these appropriations bills, we are basically told to take it or leave it, that our views don't matter. Again, this is not just Democrats, but Republicans, as well.

Mr. Speaker, again, I am grateful for the hard work of the appropriators and their staffs. These bills are complicated, and the hours are brutal. In this political climate, getting anything done, let alone in a bipartisan way, is no small thing.

While no bill is perfect, I agree with the chairwoman that there are provisions in this package that would make a difference in people's lives, and I think, in some cases, in a positive way. The three-bill minibus--Labor-HHS-Education, Defense, and Transportation-HUD--rejects President Trump's proposed $163 billion in cuts. It continues funding for priorities like medical research, NIH, opioid response grants, childcare, and Head Start. It includes badly needed funding to hire more than 2,500 air traffic controllers.

Democrats blocked more than 40 poison-pill riders that Republicans tried to jam in on reproductive care, vaccines, sanctuary cities, and more. I thank Ranking Member DeLauro for holding the line and keeping that garbage out.

I want to talk about something bigger than the line items because, in my view, these bills are being written as if we are still operating under rules that, let's be honest, this current administration does not recognize. The President has shown over and over again that he won't follow the rules. He treats the law like a suggestion. He treats Congress like an obstacle. He treats the Constitution like it is optional.

When we respond with business as usual, that isn't responsible. It is naive. If we don't build in real guardrails, strong, enforceable guardrails, then we are not just funding programs, but we are handing over power. We are writing checks and crossing our fingers that an administration that is proud of breaking the rules will suddenly decide to behave.

Here is the perfect example: This three-bill minibus increases defense spending by more than $8 billion above the President's own budget request, yet it does nothing to rein in this administration's recent illegal military actions around the world, nothing that makes clear that Congress and not the President decides when America goes to war.

The same kind of blank-check governing is also present in the Homeland Security bill. Let's not mince words: ICE is out of control. We are watching Federal agents roll through communities like they are above the law: stopping people, harassing people, intimidating them, and, yes, shooting them.

That is not America. That is not freedom. It sure as hell is not what our parents and our grandparents fought for.

We have history in this country. We know exactly where ``show me your papers'' leads. We know what it looks like when a government decides that certain people don't belong and then builds an enforcement machine to terrorize them into submission.

Yet, here we are, being asked to hand DHS more money with nowhere near the due diligence or the ironclad accountability that this moment demands. Hell, Republicans already supercharged DHS with $75 billion in their big, ugly bill last year. Now, we are supposed to keep feeding the beast? I say hell no. I don't think ICE deserves a single cent more, which is why I am voting ``no.''

I will acknowledge the work that went into these bills. I will acknowledge some provisions that could help people, but I do not trust this President. I do not trust Trump's OMB. I do not trust this administration, which has made lawlessness a habit, to follow the intent of Congress just because we typed it into statutory language.

Call it Trump derangement syndrome, as some of my Republican friends have labeled it. I call it learning from experience. I call it paying attention. This is our last real leverage point. Once we fund it, once we sign the checks, the power shifts. With this President, that is terrifying because he is erratic and lawless.

We tried to put up guardrails. We offered amendments to rein him in. The Republicans all voted them down, every single one of them. They voted against accountability, and they voted against constraints. It is crazy. It tells you everything you need to know, Mr. Speaker. They would rather give him a blank check than do their job as a coequal branch.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' on this rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Mrs. Fletcher).

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman just listing off a bunch of criminals, and we don't take issue with arresting violent criminals. Violent criminals should not be on our streets no matter where they are born, and they should face justice. But the issue is that ICE is terrorizing communities and attacking people, including U.S. citizens.

In Minnesota, a U.S. citizen said ICE took him at gunpoint in his underwear, without a warrant, in front of his 4-year-old grandchild.

In another instance, a U.S. citizen went on his lunch break, and masked Federal agents detained him in a choke hold.

In Miami, Federal agents ripped a woman from her car as she screamed that she was a U.S. citizen.

ICE agents in Minnesota ate lunch in a small-town Mexican restaurant. When they were done enjoying their meal, they detained two workers who served them.

In California, a U.S. citizen on his way to work at a food bank pulled over to warn Federal agents that they should wrap up their stop of another individual before school-age children gathered for the bus. Moments later, an ICE officer shot him in the back.

In Chicago, ICE agents stormed an apartment complex by helicopter as families slept and deployed chemical agents near a public school.

Mr. Speaker, ICE is wreaking havoc on people all over this country, trampling over the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens at every turn. U.S. citizens across the country are carrying their passports out of fear of being detained without cause.

There are reports of Native Americans who are U.S. citizens being detained by ICE. Thirty-two people have died in ICE custody in 2025-- 32. It was ICE's deadliest year in over two decades.

In just the first 9 months of Trump's second term, over 170 U.S. citizens were detained by ICE, and nearly 20 were children. Two dozen were held without being able to call lawyers or their family. These citizens have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased, and shot by immigration agents.

Mr. Speaker, I can go on and on and on. Let me be clear. This is an out-of-control agency at war with communities around the country. They don't give a damn if you are a U.S. citizen. The silence on the other side of the aisle is outrageous, as if this is no big deal. Wait until it happens to you or a loved one.

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

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

I urge we defeat the previous question. If we do, I will offer an amendment to the rule to bring up S.J. Res. 88, which would allow for an up-or-down vote on whether to terminate President Trump's global tariffs.

Mr. Speaker, on April 2 of last year, President Trump announced he was opposing tariffs on virtually all countries, including our closest allies like the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, Norway, and Taiwan--the list goes on--based on a bogus national emergency.

He called it ``liberation day.'' Let me tell you that the only liberation my constituents have felt is money being liberated from their hard-earned paychecks because the price of basically everything has gone up since Donald Trump took office.

The price of beef has risen 16.4 percent over the last year. The price of coffee is up a whopping 19.8 percent. The price of lettuce is up 7.3 percent. Frozen fish is up 8.6 percent. In total, families paid $310 more for groceries during President Trump's first year in office compared to 2024.

It is now abundantly clear that President Trump broke his promise to lower costs on day one, in large part due to his cost-increasing tariffs. Although the President and his cronies claim that these tariffs are paid by foreign governments, in reality, it is the American people who pay the tariffs.

According to a newly published study, which analyzed $4 trillion in shipments over the past year, American consumers and importers paid 96 percent of the cost of tariffs, while foreign companies shouldered a measly 4 percent of the cost.

Last October, more than 2\1/2\ months ago, the Senate sent to the House on a bipartisan basis this joint resolution to terminate the global tariffs. In this House, our Republican majority has continued to block a simple up-or-down vote. They have basically endorsed the increase in the cost of living for average people.

Speaker Johnson promised his Members that he would create a working group to address the tariffs. We now know this tariff policy working group is a mirage. It doesn't exist. You got taken.

When I ask the Republican chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade about the working group, which he was supposedly in charge of, he said he didn't know who was on it or whether or not it had ever met.

Are you serious? Are you serious? Most Republicans, even the ones who oppose the tariffs in private, are continuing to go along to get along with this.

When are Republicans who know better going to stand up against this crazy tariff policy that is raising costs at home and destroying our alliances? It is never too late to do the right thing. By voting to defeat the previous question, we can finally have an up-or-down vote in this body on whether to terminate President Trump's disastrous global tariffs.

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

Mr. Speaker, to discuss our proposal, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), the ranking member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Johnson).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for raising an issue that he got a working group on--a working group that may meet or not meet, may have members or may not have members, and may do something or may not. Boy, wow, that is something.

Mr. Speaker, today, I recognize someone who has quietly made this place work day after day and vote after vote. Ray Salazar is leaving the House after more than 11 years of service to this institution and to the Democratic Caucus. I want to say plainly and on the record that we are thankful for his service.

Ray started here the way that a lot of great public servants start: by showing up, doing the work, and earning trust. From an internship with Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, to Whip Hoyer's AmeriPAC, to becoming a special assistant to the Office of the Democratic Whip, Ray learned this place from the ground up.

Ray then served as floor assistant for Whip Hoyer, floor director for Leader Hoyer, and deputy floor director and senior adviser. Most recently, he has been floor director for the Democratic Whip, Katherine Clark, helping Members to navigate the toughest moments, the longest days, and the most important votes.

For the Rules Committee specifically, Members and staff relied on Ray for many, many years. Whether it was getting information about the floor at 1 o'clock in the morning or helping to solve tricky procedural problems, he has been a reliable and valued part of the Rules family.

He is a graduate of Hawaii Pacific University with a background in international relations, national security, and advanced military education focused on joint warfare. He understands the world. He understands the institutions. He understands that democracy runs on people who do the hard work, the unglamorous work.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Ray for his professionalism, his steadiness, and his service. We will miss him on the floor, and we wish him nothing but success as he begins his next chapter.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, after all the time that we spend together, the gentlewoman can just call me Jim.

Mr. Speaker, let me close with this: Republicans are running this place like a clown show. Over and over again, House Republican leadership shuts down the amendment process. Over and over again, they limit debate. Over and over again, they tell Members to take it or leave it.

Mr. Speaker, 80 percent of all amendments were blocked. We had to have the Speaker up in the Rules Committee this morning because, apparently, the only way Republicans can get their amendments made in order around here is by blackmailing the Speaker and threatening to take down the rule.

Last night, we had Members showing up with serious amendments, amendments aimed at basic accountability, basic guardrails, basic limits on a lawless administration. The leadership's answer is no, one structured rule for the minibus making in order two Republican amendments. Homeland is a closed rule entirely--no accountability, no guardrails, no nothing.

That is not how the people's House is supposed to work, and it is especially dangerous right now because this is not a normal administration. This President has shown he will say one thing and then do another. He will assure Congress and then ignore Congress.

Now, we are supposed to pass funding bills without ironclad guardrails on what this administration can do with that money, whether it is foreign adventurism, whether it is some half-baked scheme about Greenland, or whether it is building out a domestic secret police force that treats human beings like trash.

Let's be honest. If you cannot trust an administration to follow the law, then you don't give them a blank check. That is exactly what this process risks doing.

I want to see this House do its job. I want Members on both sides to be able to offer amendments, to debate them, and to vote on them. I want to see real constraints to prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to violate rights, to trample the Constitution, or to fuel an agency like ICE that is behaving like it answers to nobody.

I urge my colleagues: Do not rubberstamp a process that shuns accountability. Don't enable an administration that ignores Congress. Don't

pretend that normal rules can contain abnormal lawlessness.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1014 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), 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 may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and of the underlying legislation.

This morning, the Rules Committee met and produced a rule, House Resolution 1014, providing for consideration of H.R. 7147 and H.R. 7148.

The rule provides for consideration of H.R. 7148, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, under a structured rule with two amendments made in order.

The rule further provides that H.R. 7147, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026, will be considered under a closed rule.

The rule provides each bill 1 hour of general debate divided equally between the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations or their respective designees and one motion to recommit.

Additionally, in the engrossment of H.R. 7148 after final passage in the House, the text of H.R. 7006, the Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026, and H.R. 7147 will

be added to the bill. The Clerk will redesignate the sections and be authorized to make technical and conforming changes.

Mr. Speaker, with consideration of this rule and its two underlying measures, the House stands firmly upon the 1-yard line. We are, indeed, ready to move forward and complete the appropriations process. We are ready to lock in the final components of our 12 fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills.

Additionally, we are ready to further cement our long-overdue return to regular order in this legislative body. It will be a welcome return, indeed, Mr. Speaker.

Here is the simplest of truths that all of us here understand and need to be reminded of regularly: There will never be such a thing as a perfect piece of legislation or a perfect package of bills.

Perfection is a phantom. Many may seek it with the best of intentions, but in the end, it is unattainable. That is just a fact of life that we must understand.

I can imagine that there are Members who want to see more within these measures, and there are some who want to see less. Both positions are to be expected, but here is the bottom line: We should never let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

The two appropriations measures under consideration here today, as well as the ones this body has passed previously, all bear the hallmarks of the America First agenda. They meet the priorities of the President and the priorities of the American people. They make sizeable contributions to America's strong posture of defense, our Nation's systems of infrastructure, national security, and research and innovation within health.

As Chairman Cole has noted multiple times over, this process has been Member-driven and deliberate, and I wholeheartedly agree with that. I will also add that this process and the monumental victories that we have achieved thus far signal a fundamental, positive change within this legislative body, a change we should take note of and celebrate.

Let's finish out this process and deliver this final tranche of appropriations bills across the finish line.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is the most targeted process in two decades. We got the Senate to do its job. I will stack this process up against that of the Democrats when they controlled the process and let the public decide.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Webster).

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

Mr. Speaker, Democrats continue to attack ICE agents in their operations.

Instead of debating the complexities of arrest or the nuances of reasonable suspicion, Democrats are instead attacking their authority, their dignity, and their work at large. That is beyond unfortunate as ICE agents are arresting some of the worst criminals imaginable.

During the first year of the Trump administration, ICE arrested 7,000 gang members from America's streets. This includes a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela, an active gang member. The perpetrator's rap sheet includes arrests for homicide, assault, cruelty toward children, domestic violence, and damaged property. He entered the U.S. in 2022 and was released by the Biden administration. ICE arrested him on February 28, 2025, and the Trump administration removed him on September 12, 2025.

ICE arrested a criminal illegal alien from Cambodia, a Crips gang member, who was convicted of homicide, robbery, and battery. He was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration. ICE arrested him on March 4, 2025, and removed him on April 2, 2025.

ICE also arrested a criminal illegal alien from Cuba and Bloods gang member, who was convicted for multiple homicides and burglary. ICE arrested him on October 27, 2025, and removed him on January 6, 2026.

Beyond gang members, ICE has arrested some of the worst perps imaginable, including a 20-year-old citizen of Guatemala who was filming a child being raped.

Mr. Speaker, despite all of this, ICE law enforcement is facing a 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, a 3,200 percent increase in vehicle attacks, and an 8,000 percent increase in death threats.

If Democrats want to debate the new Supreme Court interpretations of reasonable suspicion, let's do it. If they want to debate the very authorities of ICE stretching back decades over both Republican and Democrat administrations, let's do that. If they want to have concrete debates about the authorities or changes of laws, let's do that. But we should not attack the operational decisions that are directed to one goal and one goal only: keeping Americans safe and upholding our immigration laws.

We enforce our immigration laws, or they are meaningless. We either grant ICE the mission of fulfilling its mandate, or we don't. We either give them the support they need to confront, stand face-to-face, and arrest the world's worst criminals, or we don't.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards).

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

Mr. Speaker, President Trump has reset our standing in the global market after decades of failed and unfair trade deals put the American economy last.

Swift and decisive action has brought scores of countries to the negotiating table and numerous new trade deals including with the U.K., the EU, Japan, Australia, Korea, El Salvador, Vietnam, Guatemala, and Malaysia, just to name a few. These trade deals will help grow the economy, protect the American workers, and reassert our global standing.

Our friends have selective memory. Let's remember: When President Biden took office about 5 years ago, he left President Trump's tariffs from his first term largely in place. We didn't hear a peep from our colleagues then. In fact, many of them advocated for keeping those tariffs and embraced the Biden decision.

President Trump is simply doubling down on that successful approach. It seems the deciding factor for Democrats' newfound opposition is grounded in Trump derangement syndrome.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Mrs. Bice).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nunn).

Mr. Speaker, I also thank Mr. Salazar for his work and, actually, all the staff who work so hard around this Capitol. We are very blessed.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that Mr.--I am going to say this in a second--Mr. McGovern is ready to close, and I am ready to close. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time, and I thank the gentleman from Worcester.

Mr. Speaker, for months, bipartisan, bicameral negotiations and collaboration have been underway. They have yielded consistent, consecutive appropriations products that deliver upon the Nation's highest priorities.

I applaud Chairman Cole and Ranking Member DeLauro, as well as other appropriators, and especially their staff, for the time they have invested in these 12 appropriations bills. It is time to get them across the finish line and stamp our seal of approval on them.

In a moment, I will offer an amendment to the rule that would repeal the Senate's Arctic Frost payout provision.

The House has previously considered this under suspension by a vote of 427-0. This vote reflects a bipartisan consensus.

I cannot overstate how wholly inappropriate it was that the Senate included this provision in the continuing resolution to reopen the government late last year. We must strike down this provision immediately. American taxpayers should not be on the hook for this inappropriate payout.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to bring this process to a close. It is time that we return this legislative body to regular order and move forward with our work. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the previous question and ``yes'' on the rule.

Amendment Offered by Ms. Foxx

Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment to the resolution.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Foxx for the incredible work of the Rules Committee. I know we worked through the night on something that is very important. That is ethanol--E15, to be specific.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the farmers, families, and small businesses in Iowa's Third District and, really, rural communities across America right now who need someone to be a fighter.

We have a good group here in Washington on both sides of the aisle who are championing the importance of renewable biofuels, giving Americans the freedom to choose cleaner, more affordable, American-made fuel at the pump.

That fuel is E15. E15 is simply gasoline blended with up to 15 percent ethanol, or corn. Ethanol is grown, produced, and refined right here in the United States, often in towns and communities where agriculture is the backbone of the local economy, where every dollar spent at the co-op, in the grain elevator, and at the plants and refineries that support it is directly invested back into the families and communities that produce it.

Authorizing year-round E15 nationwide, a free market approach that is American-made, benefits not only farmers but consumers, the environment, and our national security.

Approximately 33 percent of all U.S. corn produced is used for ethanol, so imagine this the next time you drive down the road: a cornfield where every third row goes toward helping to fuel this Nation.

Permanent E15 could boost corn demand by up to 2.4 billion bushels annually. It would increase our domestic market access for corn farmers and support viability for farmers, manufacturers, and our community.

E15 clearly saves up to 30 cents per gallon. E15 provides higher octane for better engine performance. E15 is vital for national independence, especially in light of national conflicts.

The Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025 aims to authorize year-round E15 sales nationwide to eliminate the annual uncertainty of whether it can be completed.

This legislation that we are leading adds to the billions of dollars that could be grown right here in the U.S. economy. It saves every American, and if you come to Iowa right now, at the local Casey's, it is $1.85 per gallon. That is a pretty good return on investment for your family's minivan or your truck.

Mr. Speaker, right now, Iowa farmers see this not as an abstract policy but a direct threat. This is about demand for their crops, stability for markets, and the ability to plan for the next season without wondering whether Washington will pull them out of their challenges or pull the rug out from under them by failure to act. For Iowa families, this is about affordability.

E15 consistently costs less than standard gasoline. At a time when families are watching every dollar, and this House is supposed to be focused on affordability and cost savings, this is a direct win. For our country, this is energy independence, but what is more, it is national security for all of us.

Every gallon of ethanol blended in our fuel supply is a gallon that we don't have to buy from overseas. It means less reliance on unstable foreign markets and more reliance on American farmers, American workers, American innovation, and American families.

It is good for our economy. It is good for our Nation. E15 is a must- pass bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Department of Homeland Security funding bill. I cannot support funding for a Department that has shown repeated disregard for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the safety of the people it is supposed to protect.

Mr. Speaker, I remind the American people and this body: Every Member of Congress has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution. That means all aspects of it--the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the rights of due process, and the rights of unwarranted search and seizure. Yet, we are failing at this moment because ICE is terrorizing the American people and violating constitutional rights every single day.

We have seen ICE agents and the Department of Homeland Security detain and arrest American citizens without any justification, enter homes without warrants, use excessive force when it wasn't required, and ignore constitutional rights.

They are even weaponizing children in this country, kidnapping them from schools and using them as weapons against their parents. It is morally wrong, outrageous, and not who we are as a common people.

This is a Department that is out of control, going rogue, and needs to be reined in. These are not isolated incidents. They are the result of unchecked power and a complete lack of accountability.

Last night, I offered commonsense amendments to impose basic constitutional guardrails: accountability for abuse, due process protections, and civil recourse when rights are violated. Republicans refused to even consider them.

Without these amendments, this bill gives DHS and ICE free rein to operate unchecked and unaccountable while Republicans in this body continue to look the other way.

The American people deserve better. They deserve safety without fear, enforcement without lawlessness, and a government that follows the Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, until the Department of Homeland Security is willing to operate within the rule of law, I cannot

support continued funding without meaningful reform. I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, we should vote today to end these tariffs and lower costs for everyday Americans. Instead, this House majority is paralyzed by fear, making it one of the least effective in modern American history.

The American people sent us to Washington to address affordability and to lower the cost of healthcare, housing, and groceries. Yet, this Congress has taken fewer votes in 2025 than in any nonpandemic year this century.

Apparently, the majority doesn't think affordability is important enough to vote on. Instead of focusing on prices, the White House has spent the past week talking about invading Greenland or using our taxpayer dollars to buy an island that isn't for sale.

To advance this fantasy, President Trump threatened yet another round of tariffs that would raise prices even further, only to walk back the threats after the stock market tanked yesterday.

Regardless of what the President does, we are a coequal branch of government. We should be addressing affordability right now by passing the resolutions I have offered and resolutions that have already passed the Senate to terminate these tariffs.

When asked to explain why we are not doing everything we can to lower costs for American families, the Speaker responded that the President is exercising Article II powers to impose tariffs. There is only one problem. The President has no Article II powers to tax or tariff. Those powers are explicitly assigned to the United States Congress under Article I of the Constitution.

The Republican majority is more interested in providing cover for Donald Trump than honoring their oath to the Constitution of the United States and deliberately avoiding doing its job to lower costs for Americans.

Mr. Speaker, the American people are watching. The camera of history is recording. I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question and demand a vote on terminating the tariffs.