Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, it has been the greatest honor of my life to serve the people of West Virginia in the United States House of Representatives over the past 10 years.

I was elected on November 4, 2014. Believe it or not, back then West Virginia wasn't a safe Republican State. I only won by 3 percentage points in a tough election. The good people of West Virginia's Second District have trusted me with the privilege by electing me four more times, so five times in total, to represent them for these past 10 years.

I did not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. I ran for another office, which I did not win, so my time will come to a close at noon on January 3. I have actually enjoyed educating a lot of folks about how this works here, and the Constitution dictates specifically the time at which you are no longer a Congressman. It is exactly at noon on January 3. And at that time, my 10 years in office will come to an end.

During my first 8 years in Congress, I represented 17 beautiful counties from the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, where I live, all the way down to Charleston and Kanawha County. That is the part in the red here through the middle of the State.

After the 2020 Census was done, West Virginia lost one of our three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, so for the past 2 years I have represented 27 counties across the northern half of

our State, the top part of the State there. I had the uncomfortable, unfortunate experience of having to run against another incumbent Member of Congress in that election. I did prevail. It has been a great privilege to represent half the State just these past 2 years.

While West Virginia is one of the smaller States in terms of population, its geography is vast. It takes 6 hours to drive from one end of my district to the other, so I have traveled thousands of miles, meeting wonderful, hardworking taxpayers in West Virginia. In fact, one of my favorite things to do is, when I am driving basically 6 hours from one end of my district to the other, is stop in every little town at the barber shops, thrift stores, general stores, and just say hi to folks.

I have found that most folks have actually never met their Congressman or have ever met any Congressman. I take great pleasure in just popping in, even unannounced, saying hi to folks, letting them know we are there and we are here to help. I consider it a great honor and privilege to be able to do that.

My wife, Dr. Grace Gonzalez Mooney, and I are proud to call West Virginia home. We are, in fact, West Virginians by choice. We chose to move there from another State, an intentional choice we made that we are very proud of, and we are certainly not leaving.

I am grateful my wife has supported me unwaveringly over the past decade and even before. This is tough on the family, this business, so I really thank my wife. We have shared many triumphs and challenges through those years.

On October 13, 2014, our bonus baby, we call her, our daughter Gabrielle--we call her Gabby--was born at Women and Children's Hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. She is now 10 years old, and she knows I will be home more next year. Being in Congress has meant missing a lot of time with family, but West Virginia has educational freedom, which is great, so we homeschooled our children, allowing us to spend more time together.

I have watched my children grow and thrive over the years. I am proud of my son, Lucas, a junior at Princeton. He is an expert in jujitsu. My daughter Cami, who is a gifted singer, is a freshman at Vanderbilt. I am excited to spend more time with them as I step away. I thank my three children for their love and support.

When I first arrived in Congress, one of my top priorities was addressing the opioid overdose crisis that was ravaging our State. The opioid epidemic is a tragedy that knows no bounds. It doesn't matter the color of your skin, if you live in a city or a rural area, if you are rich or poor, drug addiction is ravaging this country everywhere. I was proud that the first law I had changed was based on my bill called the PROP Act, Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act.

This simple, yet important, piece of legislation simply sought to reduce unnecessary access to narcotic pain medications, thus lowering the risk of addiction.

I actually had a meeting with the West Virginia Medical Society my first term in Congress in Charleston, and they brought this to my attention. Doctors said that according to the newly passed Affordable Care Act there are provisions that allow the reimbursements to be reduced if patients complained that they didn't get the drugs they wanted. Studies have shown 70 percent of people addicted to drugs start with legally prescribed drugs.

Doctors are trying to do the right thing and not prescribe drugs to people who don't absolutely really need it. They don't want to cause more drug addiction, and for that they had to risk being penalized and not being reimbursed, have their reimbursements reduced.

They complained about this quite strongly to me, and I took action. I put in a bill to stop it. It was a bipartisan bill. We had 30 Republican cosponsors and 30 Democratic cosponsors. The Department of Health was dug in. They wouldn't acknowledge the problem. They wouldn't change it. They fought back against it. We had a hearing, and there was no opposition. Later that year the Department of Health just took the exact language of my bill. They agreed with me, and they took word for word the legal language of my bill and made it the new law of the Department of Health ensuring that doctors could never be penalized for not giving prescription drugs.

That was the first law I had changed, and I am proud of that.

I led support for the coal miners and families with the STREAM Act, Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining. The bill blocked anti-coal regulation from the Obama administration, preserving we estimate 77,000 good high-paying jobs in West Virginia and also across the Nation. The passage of the STREAM Act was crucial protecting our way of life in West Virginia.

Throughout my time in Congress, my colleagues know I fought for a term, what we call regular order in the appropriations process, actually passing the spending bills on time, reasserting the power of the purse that, again, the Constitution specifically and only puts in this Chamber right here, not in the Senate and not to the President.

The Constitution says that only this Chamber can initiate spending or taxation. That is something we have gotten away from doing. We pass these things called continuing resolutions where we give all the money to the President to do whatever he wants, and that is not right.

I firmly believe that the government works best when Congress uses its constitutional power of the purse to hold Federal agencies accountable. We don't live in a bureaucracy in a bureaucratic-run government. We live in a democracy, a republic with democratic elections. It is crucial that we prioritize our districts and the needs of the American people rather than allowing bureaucrats to dictate policy behind closed doors and just give them the money.

Believe it or not, it almost sounds like living history, but when I was first elected, President Obama was in office, and it felt like our Nation was, frankly, losing their identity. I am convinced that President Trump's election in 2016 helped steer our country back on course. I stood behind President Trump through two politically motivated impeachment trials and against the partisan witch hunt of the January 6 Committee.

While I believe in robust political debate, the weaponization of government against President Trump was unprecedented, and many American people, as well. I am proud to have fought back. I am heartened by the support Trump and other conservatives continue to receive across this Nation.

As a member of the Financial Services Committee, I worked tirelessly to protect small businesses and to defend industries vital to our State: coal, oil, natural gas, and many others, financial services, banks, and even small banks that provide you loans you need to buy a home or start a small business. These people provide very important services.

People would stop and say: What are you going to get done? We have got a new Congress coming in.

We can get things done. It isn't easy. The political process isn't easy and simple, you have to fight for it, but we can get things done.

In 2017 and 2018, we worked to repeal some of the most harmful provisions of the Obama-era Dodd-Frank law. It was called the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law by President Trump. It passed the House, and it passed the Senate with bipartisan support in the Senate. We had a coalition of some Democrats and most Republicans, but on May 24, 2018, that bill was signed into law.

Now West Virginia banks and banks across the country are not subject to many of the costly regulations that hurt economic growth.

This Congress, I fought against government overreach. I introduced an amendment to block the Federal Reserve from the digital dollar program, a move that would open the door to government control of our personal transactions similar to what you see in China. We have to defend our freedoms from government overreach.

During my entire time in public service, from the time I ran for State senate through today, I have been passionate about the right to protect all human life, including unborn babies. It has been a privilege to lead the Life and Conception Act which seeks to protect the most vulnerable among us, the unborn.

Following the Supreme Court's historic decision in Dobbs, States now have full authority to protect life from the moment of concept. My bill, the Life and Conception Act, is a biological fact. Joe Biden agrees with my bill. He said it last year that he believes life begins at conception. They used to teach this in school in biology classes across the country. In public schools they would teach that all human life begins at conception. That is just simply a fact. You can have different views on things, but it is a fact of life that life begins at conception. I am proud that most of my Republican colleagues have supported my legislation, and urge folks to continue to fight for all human life as we go forward.

I have a few closing comments and folks I want to thank, but I do want to yield to some of my colleagues who are here in the Chamber to reflect, and I appreciate them being here.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith).

I appreciate your friendship over the years, Mr. Griffith. I will certainly miss my colleagues. I will come back and visit. It is not that far away. I appreciate you taking some time. I know you are getting home to your family.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my other colleague from Virginia, Congressman Bob Good, who, like me, is going to head to private life at least some period of time on January 3 of next year.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good), who is also from Virginia.

My good friend from California on the other side of the coast, a lot of similar issues, and I have gotten to know this Congressman for a long time since I have been here. There were many social gatherings and things. I am going to miss the relationships with my friends, but I thank Congressman Doug LaMalfa for sticking around to say a few words.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.

Mr. Speaker, I didn't plan the hour out. I just came to the floor to say good-bye and mention a few of my colleagues. If you want to stick around to say something, please do. I appreciate you three sticking around. There may be one yet to come.

One thing I am going to miss is my colleagues. There are a lot of frustrations in this job, but it is still an honor to do it.

I would say to my colleagues that we have friends on both sides of the aisle. We all do. It is not as partisan a place as people think, and I would say a bipartisan comment: Most of us come down here wanting to help our country and make it a better place and to fight for what we believe in.

People often ask: Why do you do this kind of thing? Why do you run for Congress? What is your motivation?

They don't really understand that. I think sometimes they think it is all about power and other things, but it is really to serve your faith.

I know, along with my colleagues here, we run to serve our faith. I am a practicing Roman Catholic. That is important to me. I also know that my faith demanded involvement in the public policy process, and that is why we run.

I am glad that the gentleman who I endorsed early on, Riley Moore, who is taking my seat, shares the same values. The new Governor of West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey, is a good friend, and I think he is going to do great things for our State. The process goes on, and people come in.

The values you are raised with are important. I am blessed to be the middle of three boys.

I have an older brother, Vincent, who is a college professor. He has been a great role model for me growing up in many ways, including faith and family. He is a lot smarter than me. He got his Ph.D. and teaches electrical engineering. I didn't have the gift of that, but he has been a great role model.

I have a younger brother by 1 year named Pat, and we shared a room growing up as kids. He has always been helping me in every way he can.

I don't know how people do this without family, to be honest with you.

My baby sister--I say the middle of three boys, but we have the youngest, who is the fourth, my little sister, Margarita, who is always praying for me and helping me in every way she can.

I know there is so much love and support from my siblings. That matters a lot, and I thank them for standing with me as really the only politician in the family, other than my uncle, who was the mayor of Miami, and my cousin, who is the mayor of Miami. That is Miami. That is the Suarez part, my mother's side. In my immediate family, I am the one who all the family surrounded to help.

My father was taken home a little early in 2001 at the age of 57. He had strokes and passed away, but my father was a feisty Irishman from New York, and he really believed in the political process.

He was actually the political one in the family, believe it or not. He was always talking politics around the kitchen table. He was the oldest of seven children, and, as far as I know, the only Republican in the whole family, an Irish Catholic family from New York.

He accepted the calling to go to Vietnam and serve in the Army. He was a captain. Thankfully, he came home alive because I was born 1 year later, in 1971. My older brother, Vincent, was born while my father was in Vietnam.

My dad literally fought the advance of Communism in Vietnam. He was proud of his service. He thought it was the right thing to do.

My mother's story is different but similar in a way. My mother, who is 83 years old, still lives with me. When she was 20, her country was taken over by Communists. She was sitting in Cuba with a pretty nice life on a farm. She is the fourth of 14 children.

One day, the Castro militia, the Communist militia and their thugs, came kicking in the doors at my mother's house and put my mother and my ``abuelito,'' ``grandfather,'' in jail, and anyone over the age of 16 went to jail.

My mother spent 7 weeks in a Communist prison in Cuba because she wasn't supporting the revolution of Castro and the Communist regime. She had a free place to come to, a place where you can live in freedom, which is what we all fight for here, at least some of us.

Being raised by a mother who, at age 20, lost her country--and still to this day, by the way, if you look at Cuba, it is still an oppressed Communist country. What the Communists take, they don't give back. To this day, we are waiting for Cuba to become free.

My mother saw what government can do, how evil government can be to you. My father fought these people in Vietnam.

People say, why are you so into politics? I guess my mom and dad really

valued that, really instilled in me that it was an honorable thing to do, to serve your country. If good people don't do it, guess what? The bad guys are going to do it. You really don't have a choice.

At least vote--I know some people don't even vote, but at least vote. That is just the minimum level.

I accepted the calling.

I thank my mother for her support over the years, not in only raising me but standing with me and always supporting me. She lives just a couple of miles away from me in West Virginia right now. She is 83 years old.

I think most politicians--really, not most. I will tell you every politician wishes they had a mother like mine. She goes to every event she can go to. She is always promoting me.

She even wrote a book called ``Leaving Cuba: One Family's Journey to Freedom.'' She enjoys giving speeches about that. Still to this day, she runs around and gives speeches about it. My mom lives for her four children.

Thank you, Mom, for everything.

Well, last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't at least thank one gentleman on my staff who has been with me for 8 years, my chief of staff, Michael Hough. He did leave earlier this year because I am leaving, but Mike has been with me through thick and thin, ups and downs, witch hunts, and successes. He was with me when I was a State senator.

Thank you, Mike, for everything you have done. Mike is one of my best friends and will continue to be a best friend.

He is not here to say anything about me yet, and I know he would be if he could, but my longest colleague, Andy Harris, I am going to miss him. I am going to miss you all, but Andy has been a good friend for a long time. He is sticking around.

As I close this chapter in my life, first and foremost, the constituents who elected me five times, thank you. I have fought hard. I have kept my word.

One of my mentors here, Jim Jordan, just wrote a book. It was simply titled ``Do What You Said You Would Do.'' That is the name of the book. You don't even have to read the book. ``Do what you said you would do,'' it is right there if you would just do that.

People will say, what are you going to do when you get to Congress? Look at what I said when I was running for Congress over here, and then don't be surprised when I vote that way right here. That is what I am going to do. I am going to do what I said I would do, and I have done that.

To my constituents, thank you for the 10 years. I have done what I said I would do to the very best of my ability every time. We don't always agree. Not everybody agrees with their own family. No one is going to agree with every vote, but I voted my conscience. I have done the best I could. I thank you for the opportunity to do that.

To all of my staff, it has been the honor of a lifetime.

While I am leaving the House of Representatives, I am not leaving public service. I look forward to continuing to serve the people of West Virginia in whatever capacity in which I am called in the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor my good friend Delegate Eric Householder as he retires from the West Virginia House of Delegates after 14 years of service.

For the last 2 years, he has served as the house majority leader and previously chaired the house finance committee. As a small business owner, Eric ran for elected office to fight back against the job- crushing regulations coming out of Charleston and to reform our tax code.

With the help of Eric's leadership, West Virginians have less regulation, lower taxes, and educational freedom. I am proud to bestow upon Delegate Householder my Congressional Patriot Award for excellence, leadership, volunteerism, and selflessness, virtues without which our Republic cannot thrive.

While his time in the house of delegates has come to an end, I know that Delegate Householder is not done serving our State.

I thank Delegate Householder for his years of service and his tireless efforts to improve the lives of West Virginians. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, it is truly an honor to stand before you today as I reflect on my one decade of service representing West Virginia's Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Over these 10 years, I have fought relentlessly to uphold the core conservative values that brought me to this Chamber, including securing our southern border, defending the Second Amendment, pro-life, and reining in the reckless spending of our tax dollars in Washington. Today, I want to focus on that last point, our government's unsustainable spending habits.

Mr. Speaker, spending comes in two primary categories: mandatory and discretionary. Mandatory spending, which includes programs like Medicare and Social Security, occurs automatically, and it accounts for two-thirds of our Federal budget. To change these programs, Congress must act deliberately.

On the other hand, discretionary spending must be approved annually by Congress and fund the vital operations of Federal agencies like the Department of Defense.

The most fundamental responsibility of this body is to fund our government in a responsible manner and on time to 12 single-subject appropriations bills. Let me emphasize that: responsibly and on time. It is called the power of the purse, which the Constitution of the United States of America specifically gives only to this Chamber, the U.S. House of Representatives.

It is designed to protect the separation of powers so the President and the administration doesn't just do whatever they want with out-of- control regulations. In my State it was a war on coal, a war on guns, and onerous regulations that go after farmers and the construction industry. By passing the discretionary appropriations bills like we are supposed to, we can rein that in and stop it. That is our job. We should not delegate that or give that up.

As I wrap up my 10th year here in Congress, let's take a hard look at how we have handled spending over that time. When I was sworn in, in January of 2015, the national debt stood at about $18 trillion. Today, it has doubled that and stands at $36 trillion. Worse still, the United States now spends more on interest for our debt than the entire annual defense budget which is $822 billion.

Frankly, this is an astonishing failure of the responsibility of Congress on both sides of the aisle. This out-of-control and growing debt is a failure to live up to the mandate we were elected to fulfill.

Congress has chosen to abandon the basic function of passing timely spending bills. We have an entire year to prepare, negotiate, debate, and pass these 12 bills, but too often we just don't do it. In my 10 years in Congress, on this chart in red, Congress has passed 34 temporary stopgap measures known as continuing resolutions. One is coming up next week because we did not do our work. By doing that, we surrender the power of the purse.

In the entire span of my service here in Congress, just two times, in 2 years, in 2017 and 2019, Congress passed the spending bills on time. In 2017, we passed only one. In 2019, we passed five. We saw a partial government shutdown because Democrats refused to help President Trump secure the border.

Each time we fail to pass spending bills on time, we kick the can down the road and leave the American people with bloated omnibus packages that are, frankly, an insult to the responsible budgeting that our Nation deserves.

When we do pass it, the game is the Senate Democrats essentially filibuster it, causing a government shutdown and trying to blame the House Republicans for it. This is political bullying. We need to stand up to this tactic. It is just not right.

The American people gave Republicans a resounding mandate for change. We have been entrusted with unified control of government, and that means one thing: cutting wasteful spending and doing our jobs on time. It is another travesty for Members of Congress to continue to vote for reckless, unsustainable spending when it is our children and our grandchildren who will bear the burden of this debt long after we are gone.

I was actually a Hill staffer here in 1994 in the Republican Revolution. In 1995, Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House. We passed all 12 single-subject spending bills like we were supposed to. We actually did it. It has only been in the last 20 to 25 years in this country where we failed to do that. From George Washington and the founding of America until about 20 years ago, standard process was to actually pass our spending bills.

What we are doing now is weird. It is wrong. It is not normal at all. It is because of these bullying tactics from the Senate because they get what they want. If they shut down government and try to blame us and we cave in, they get everything they want: no border security, transsexual sex change operations in the military. They get everything they want if they try to

shut down government. We must stand up to this.

To the Members of the incoming 119th Congress, which I will no longer be a part of, it is time to control spending and reclaim that power of the purse before it is too late.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and sacrifice of Sergeant Kester B. Hardman of Ritchie County, located in the beautiful Second District that I represent.

Sergeant Hardman, a dedicated serviceman of the Army's Second Infantry Division in the Korean war was reported missing in action after intense combat near Suncheon, South Korea.

North Korean authorities reported he had died in 1951 as a prisoner of war, but his remains were never identified. In 1954, 848 unidentified remains were recovered from North Korea and laid to rest among countless other unidentified servicemen at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

After 70 years of being unidentified, in May of this year, the fantastic lab of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency was able to use dental and medical records to identify Sergeant Hardman and notify his family.

Sergeant Hardman was finally laid to rest on October 17 of this year in his hometown of Smithville with the honor and dignity he deserves.

Madam Speaker, the national World War I Memorial here in Washington was recently completed with a sculpture known as ``A Soldier's Journey.''

In the spirit of honoring our World War I veterans, I rise to commemorate Louis Bennett, Jr. of Weston, West Virginia. Bennett realized the power aviation could bring to the war effort and formed the West Virginia Flying Corps. When the corps failed to achieve military status, Bennett chose commendably to interrupt his studies at Yale and enlist in the British Royal Flying Corps.

Bennet flew combat missions in Western Europe. Over the course of only 9 days, he amassed a remarkable high number of 12 kills of enemy aircraft. Lieutenant Bennett became known as the balloon buster for shooting down nine German surveillance balloons, which is dangerous because, when the balloons blow up, they sometimes take the plane down with them.

On August 14, 1919, he was shot down and killed by German antiaircraft artillery. In honor of her only son, in 1992, Mrs. Sallie Bennett donated her stately home to Lewis County for a war memorial and library. Mrs. Bennett used her considerable wealth to fund memorials of World War I veterans. I am pleased we have a place to memorialize them here in our Nation's Capital.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules be discharged from further consideration of H. Res. 1470, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet on Monday next, when it shall convene at noon for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the life of an American patriot from West Virginia, Asa Davison, Jr., who passed away on the 80th anniversary of D-day in June of this year.

Asa, a World War II veteran, had celebrated his 100th birthday just months before his passing. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 and proudly served in an all-Black regiment known as Harlem Hellfighters until 1946.

He would often recount how his Bible, gifted to him by his mother, sitting in a pocket near his heart, stopped a bullet and saved his life. That same Bible remains a treasured possession to his family today.

Asa was blessed with 73 years of marriage to his wife, Ethel. They lived their whole lives in Fairmont, West Virginia, raising their three sons, Asa, Brian, and Gregory. He was a grandpa of 8 and great-grandpa of 11.

Asa worked at the Fairmont Post Office for 34 years and was well- known for his volunteer work in the community. He truly lived a life of service. His legacy will continue to inspire many in the community that he loved.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor the memory of a remarkable West Virginian, Captain Jon McBride, who passed away this August.

Captain McBride's life exemplifies the values of steadfast dedication, unwavering integrity, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. His distinguished career spanned flying 64 combat missions during the Vietnam war. As a NASA astronaut, he piloted the historic STS-41-G mission aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

McBride was inducted into the West Virginia Hall of Fame in 2014. He has received the honors of the Legion of Merit, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the NASA Space Flight Medal, among many others.

As we remember Captain Jon McBride, let us honor his legacy of inspiring all of us to reach for the stars while never forgetting the roots that ground us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Juanita Morgan who celebrated her 101st birthday in Randolph County, West Virginia, on June 1, 2024.

Juanita represents a distinguished group of women, widely known as ``Rosie the Riveters,'' who helped fill the gaps in the industrial labor force in factories and shipyards when our brave soldiers left for World War II. They were known by the slogan, ``We Can Do It'' as you can see from the three ladies standing behind her in this picture.

She served at the Glenn L. Martin aircraft factory in Baltimore, riveting B-29 airplanes. The B-29 airplane would play a pivotal role in our victory in the war.

Juanita and all the Rosie the Riveters are inspiring individuals who demonstrate their patriotism of their generation as we came together to fight the forces of fascism in Europe and the Pacific.

Randolph County is hosting a special event on August 10 to honor all of the West Virginia Rosie the Riveters and their families.

I congratulate Juanita on a life well lived as she celebrates her 101st birthday and wish her continued good health.

May I inquire how much time is remaining?

Madam Speaker, my constituents are getting crushed by inflation caused by out-of-control Washington spending, which reduces the purchasing power of their dollar.

Many Americans turn to gold and silver for a better store of value, yet the IRS classifies gold and silver as ``collectibles'' alongside artwork and baseball cards, which subjects them to a punitive 28 percent capital gains tax, despite the U.S. Constitution affirming gold and silver as money. The IRS does not let taxpayers deduct losses they suffer from holding U.S. dollars, so it is unfair to assess a capital gains tax when citizens hold gold and silver to protect against inflation.

My legislation, H.R. 8279, the Monetary Metals Tax Neutrality Act, would end the Federal income taxation of gold, silver, and bullion, and I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense measure.

Permanently Allow Localized Hiring Authority at Hazelton Federal Prison

Madam Speaker, I rise to call on the Bureau of Prisons to permanently allow for localized hiring authority at the Hazelton Federal Prison in Preston County, West Virginia, in my district.

The prison has struggled for years to fill critical staffing shortages, which has resulted in unsafe conditions for both correctional officers and inmates.

I helped lead the charge for the authorization of retention bonuses at the facility and am pleased that the Bureau of Prisons has authorized local hiring to speed up the process and provide jobs for hardworking West Virginians.

Prior to this authorization, applicants were required to apply through the Bureau of Prisons headquarters in Texas. This bureaucratic process slowed down and discouraged hiring. Local hiring authority has already resulted in a class of seven new officers, which are desperately needed at this facility, which doesn't have enough people there.

I join the correctional officers' union in calling for this authority to be made permanent as the prison works to fill the 90-officer shortage.

Mr. Speaker, as a former avid rugby player at Dartmouth College and founding member of the Congressional Rugby Caucus, it is my honor to welcome the U.S. Men's Eagles to the House of Representatives.

Tomorrow, the Men's Eagles host Scotland right here in our Nation's Capital City.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage you to watch the game.

Scotland is a nation with a proud rugby heritage, and rugby continues to grow in popularity in the United States of America.

This game on Friday will be a great rematch as 6 years ago the USA defeated Scotland in a historic upset of the number 6 ranked team in the world.

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the Scottish team to Washington and wish both teams a good game.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the recently established public/private partnership between the Berkeley County Commission, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, and the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation Board in West Virginia's Second Congressional District, which I am blessed to represent.

This partnership will lead to the establishment of Hoke's Run Battlefield Park near Falling Waters 163 years after the battle was fought, highlighting the importance of Berkeley County and West Virginia's role in the Civil War.

The planned preservation of the 10-acre battlefield where Union General Robert Patterson battled Confederate General Thomas ``Stonewall'' Jackson will educate visitors on the small battle's historic importance to the first major battle of the Civil War at Bull Run. The park will feature a recreation trail, interpretive signage, and a pavilion.

I look forward to the opening of this new park, bringing area residents and visitors alike to learn more about the rich history of Berkeley County, West Virginia, as the northern gateway to the Shenandoah Valley.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. Chair, a central bank digital currency, or digital dollar, represents one of the greatest government surveillance threats of our time, and I am glad this Republican majority is taking it seriously.

House Republicans have been clear that the Federal Reserve does not have the authority to issue a digital dollar without an act of Congress first. It also does not have the ability to build and test one behind the scenes.

My amendment would stop the Federal Reserve's rogue digital dollar experimentation, known as the pilot program loophole, dead in its tracks.

Right now, the Federal Reserve is contracting with the private sector to build digital dollars for the United States far beyond what could be considered traditional research. Essentially, the Federal Reserve is creating a central bank digital currency to use at a moment's notice.

In Communist China, the digital yuan is being used to spy on its citizens and crack down on prodemocracy dissent. Soon, Chinese citizens will not even have a choice whether or not to use the digital yuan. In America, the Biden administration could use the digital dollar to track your gun purchases, for example.

Chairman Jerome Powell has said the Federal Reserve would not issue a digital dollar without an act of Congress, but doing so as a so-called pilot program is the same thing. That is why my amendment is important, because Congress cannot give an inch when it comes to the central bank digital currency.

My amendment would simply block the Federal Reserve from establishing, carrying out, or approving any program intended to test the feasibility of issuing a digital dollar. If the Federal Government wants to experiment with a surveillance tool that the overwhelming majority of American citizens oppose, that direction must come from a vote in Congress. Make no mistake: Central bank digital currencies are not about innovation. They are about control.

My amendment prevents the Federal Reserve from bypassing the will of the legislative branch by closing the pilot program loophole once and for all, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

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

Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson), my colleague.

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

Madam Speaker, on April 18, five brave young girls had the courage to stand up for their rights in Harrison County, West Virginia. These 13-year-old girls showed more guts and courage in their convictions than most grownups.

These student athletes competed in the 2024 Harrison County Middle School Championship track and field meet. These girls from Lincoln Middle School stepped up to the circle for their turn before refusing to throw in the shot put event. They were showing solidarity in protest of the participation of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old boy. Pepper-Jackson won the event by recording a throw of 32 feet. The second-place competitor, who was actually a female, finished with a 29- foot throw.

West Virginia State law bans transgenders--in other words, boys pretending to be girls--from playing on girls' sports teams. However, a recent Federal court ruled the law could not be lawfully applied to Pepper-Jackson.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey quickly stepped up and filed an amicus brief in support of the five athletes and asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on transgender student-athlete bans for a second time on behalf of the parents who filed a complaint with the local county board of education.

As a result of their protest and appearance at a press conference with West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the five girls were barred from competing in their next track meet and also subject to punitive sprints in practice.

These strong girls should be rewarded, not punished, for standing up for the sanctity of women's sports. Young women should not be forced to compete against young men. No school

in West Virginia, nor anywhere in America, should turn a blind eye to this woke nonsense.

Former college swimmer Riley Gaines, who has been an outspoken critic of trans athletes participating in girls' sports, has weighed in on the issue, writing in a post on X: ``These girls stood up for what they believed, and their coach barred them from competing. Insane.''

I applaud Riley on for her amazing work advocating for young girls and women in sports.

Now, more than ever, it is important to address the unfairness in our society and the right to peacefully protest as our Constitution allows. These constant assaults on the sanctity of women's sports threaten the future of fair athletic competition in our country. The ramifications of allowing men into women's sports are far greater than simply allowing men to put on a women's uniform.

We have seen numerous examples of stronger men seriously injuring young women and girls in contact sports. Millions of young women are also being exposed to uncomfortable situations in which men are present in women's locker rooms.

Only God can create men and women. It is simply wrong for any parent to think they can or should even try to change the sex of their child. Male athletes who can't win competing against other males who then choose to take advantage of bad laws to steal titles from women are truly a threat to females.

We should be less focused on offending an individual's feelings than protecting the physical safety of our daughters who simply want to compete against other women.

Radical trans policies are out of touch with not only the facts but the pulse of this great country. We must stand up against this nonsense and unlimited overreach on the fringes.

I applaud the five young women in my district for standing up for themselves and being examples of strength as this fight for women's sports goes on.

Madam Speaker, God bless these young ladies.