Floor Statements

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

Mr. Chairman, the section 1260H was established by the fiscal year 2021 NDAA to blacklist Chinese companies with close ties to the People's Liberation Army as well as other companies, so-called civil-military fusion contributors. The FY 2023 NDAA went even further, applying sanctions for those entities on the list.

Section 1260H addition certainly hurts a company's shareholder value, which is the point. It protects American investors from unwittingly supporting companies underwriting China's military modernization and/or genocide.

This amendment simply ensures that for the coming fiscal year, the Biden administration cannot remove any CCP company designated for the Department of Defense section 1260H list.

I understand there is similar language in the underlying bill, but the language has a waiver so broad you could drive a Chinese tank through it. I am therefore offering it as a stand-alone to continue to push for full funding prohibition.

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

Mr. Chair, this amendment is necessitated by the fact that, at every opportunity, our President has chosen to placate rather than punish China. Appeasement has long been a failed strategy, and it continues to fail us today.

Last year, Joe Biden unilaterally removed 27 CCP entities from Commerce's unverified list, all to ensure that Gina Raimondo could simply secure a meeting with her CCP counterpart.

Similarly, in November, Joe Biden removed an agency of China's police, an agency which uses DNA to collect genetic information on Uyghur detainees from Commerce's entity list. Joe Biden made this decision on a mere commitment from China that they would cooperate with us on confronting drug trafficking.

I can tell my colleagues that the drug overdoses in my State and your States last night would conflict with this idea that China is cooperating with us, that they are doing anything to stem the flow of precursor chemicals for fentanyl into this country, so this amendment is quite necessary.

The gentlewoman is right that it amends the law. It removes the Secretary's ability to do so, and it puts Joe Biden in a box, where hopefully he can't get lost.

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

Mr. Chairman, increased scrutiny of these companies is a national security imperative, and delisting these companies, these Chinese military companies, cooperators in genocide, and proponents of the PLA's military modernization, must be an absolute nonstarter. We have to put America first, whether that is at our border, whether that is in commerce, and most certainly for our military.

We have to take a stand and put Biden in his place and not let him delist these companies for political or monetary gain.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, this is an important issue. We are going to talk about RIMPAC for a moment. It has direct impact on Taiwan and also the United States of America, our beloved country.

RIMPAC, Rim of the Pacific, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise, involving coordination of dozens of countries. The 2024 RIMPAC exercise will showcase the participation of nearly 30 countries, 40 surface ships, 3 submarines, 14 national land forces, over 150 aircraft, and more than 25,000 personnel.

RIMPAC promotes a free and open Indo-Pacific, which itself promotes fairly commonsense priorities, including that all nations, big and small, have the right to freedom of the seas and the right to pursue economic growth consistent with international law and the principles of fair competition.

This vital naval exercise deepens interoperability and resiliency with our allies and partners. It serves as a bulwark against malign major powers. It pursues deterrence for the sake of peace and stability.

Genocidal nations, like the People's Republic of China, have no business going anywhere near the RIMPAC exercises.

This amendment would defund enforcement subsection (b) of section 1259 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. That subsection is a waiver that, if utilized, would effectively allow the People's Republic of China to participate alongside the United States Navy in the RIMPAC exercises, no questions asked.

Consider just how peculiar it is that the Chinese Communist Party, our adversary, can be eligible to participate in this naval exercise. It is all because of a waiver Congress wrote several years ago.

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

Mr. Chair, keep in mind that China is a country that steals hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of U.S. intellectual property every year. They commit espionage against the United States on an unparalleled scale every year. They are doing the bare minimum to prevent fentanyl precursors from flooding into Mexico en route to the southern border. They are directly supporting every single designated state sponsor of terrorism on the State Department's list: Cuba, Syria, North Korea, and Iran.

Even considering all of this, Beijing is not fully excluded from participating in RIMPAC. For robust democratic allies like Taiwan, however, participation currently is impossible.

The existence of the waiver undermines the precondition on China's participation in RIMPAC. Currently, the Secretary of Defense must certify to the congressional defense committees that China has stopped all land reclamation activities in the South China Sea, removed all weapons from land reclamation sites, and established a consistent 4- year track record of taking actions toward stabilizing the region. If they do all those things, China could be invited to RIMPAC.

It is important that we send a message to our adversary that they are a bad actor, it is time for them to behave and to understand that countries in their region, like Taiwan, have a right to participate in the free market, to be free and democratic, and not to be under their thumb.

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

Mr. Chair, in the fiscal year 2021 NDAA, Congress included a fourth precondition stopping the ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs. We have already seen President Biden placate China in more ways than one, in addition to the unilateral delisting of dozens of entities from Commerce's unverified list.

Mr. Chair, we are the leader of the free world. Who else is going to hold China accountable?

Who else is going to send a message that enough is enough?

They are a bad actor on the global stage. They undermine us at every turn.

Yes, this is an amendment. Yes, it may take a moment to work through it. Yes, that may require more time, but this is the people's House. We do the work, we take the time, and we get it right.

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment to cut the budget of the Office of the Secretary of Homeland Security by $10 million.

If we want our government to function, there must be consequences for poor performance. We have a record number of illegal aliens flooding across our borders. Under Secretary Mayorkas' so-called leadership, the U.S. Border Patrol's migrant encounters have reached five times the rate they were even under the Obama administration.

Nearly 371,000 illegal aliens were apprehended in the United States in December alone, with over 5.4 million illegal alien apprehensions occurring between fiscal year 2023 and the present day. We know this failure comes from the top.

That is why this body voted to impeach Secretary Mayorkas for his willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law. It is a breach of the public trust.

My amendment imposes a measured cut to the Office of the Secretary to make it clear that we find his work unacceptable.

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

Mr. Chairman, serious? I think this is serious. Actions have consequences. Inaction should also have consequences.

A 12-year-old girl, intending to connect with her 13-year-old boyfriend, instead was intercepted by two drunk illegals. They took her. They raped her. They strangled her. Two hours later, they tried to get money to leave the country.

I pause because this is serious. We have a Secretary who is not doing his job.

Mr. Chairman, this is a modest cut. It is not going to turn out the lights, but it sends a clear message that the Secretary's job is to protect American citizens. It is not diversity. It is not political points. It is to protect America.

There were 400 individuals just designated as having potential ties to terrorists, but they weren't apprehended because they weren't on the terror watch list.

Inaction has consequences. This is serious. This cut is meant to send a message: Enough is enough.

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, Executive Order No. 14019, allegedly promoting access to voting, is an effort to divert Federal resources to partisan politics.

This dangerous executive order instructs a wide range of agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Small Business Administration, to engage in voter turnout operations. Worse, it instructs agencies to partner with approved third-party organizations to assist them in their voter registration and other election-focused efforts.

Who will approve these organizations? What criteria will be used? The executive order doesn't say.

Congress has never granted the administration any authority to approve such groups or specified any criteria for doing so. This executive order is illegal.

We all know how this will play out. The Biden administration will partner with groups focused on mobilizing Democratic voters. The executive order instructs agencies to let these groups use Federal property to conduct their voter registration initiatives with the assistance of Federal employees. The use of Federal resources may free up their other resources for more nakedly political operations elsewhere.

Attorneys general in 13 States wrote to President Biden in opposition to this executive order.

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

Mr. Chairman, we all understand the importance of maintaining the American people's faith in our elections. We understand that voting and access to the ballot box is important.

My colleague spoke to the idea of outside influence, and that is exactly what this order does. It brings outside influence onto Federal property. The 13 attorneys general raised objections because, with individuals and outside groups being hosted on Federal property, if there is a violation, those AGs may have problems or troubles prosecuting the State law because it is on Federal property.

This creates a conflict between the Federal Government and the States, as pointed out by attorneys general. It seems impossible that this executive order can be carried out without violations of the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits the use of funds for purposes not authorized by Congress; the Administrative Procedures Act; and the Hatch Act.

Congress must clear this up. This amendment is clean. It is clear. It blocks some of this undue outside influence.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment prohibits the Secretary from requiring individuals to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Mr. Chair, this may seem like an old argument, but when we see the testimony of Fauci talking about how much of the recommendations were made up and fictitious, I think it is important that we keep this conversation in the forefront.

I think we remind individuals that our government overreached its authority and infringed on liberty. I think it is important we draw a line in the sand and tell the Secretary that he can't offer a mandate that forces someone to wear a mask.

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

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate my colleague for her sentiment, but I would argue that this bill needlessly allows for the Secretary to infringe on the medical relationship between an individual and their doctor. It needlessly forces someone to wear a mask when there is no science to back it up.

There was a New York Times article by leading epidemiologist Tom Jefferson, not to be confused with Thomas Jefferson, that said even the N-95, the gold standard in masks, wasn't effective at blocking the COVID-19 virus.

It is important that anything that is infringing on someone's liberties be based on fact and science and not on conjecture and panic.

Mr. Chairman, I ask adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, following Hamas' brutal attack on October 7, this administration said all the right

things. Joe Biden said he was ready to offer all appropriate means to support the government and the people of Israel.

The Acting U.S. Ambassador to Israel said he was sickened by the images coming out of southern Israel of dead and wounded civilians at the hands of terrorists from Gaza. The White House said it unequivocally condemned the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians.

Of course, the Office of Palestinian Affairs, defunded by this act, called on Israel not to respond militarily to the crimes of rape and murder. Aside from that, the U.S. response couldn't have been stronger.

Fast-forward to June 2024, the Biden administration is withholding precision-guided munitions as Israel is facing down an existential threat from Hezbollah. The administration and its sycophants in the House and the Senate are attempting to undermine Israel's democracy by telling the Israeli Government not to defend the Israeli people and Israel's security interest.

Meanwhile, American citizens taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 have died in captivity, and this administration's response continues to be insufficient, by proposing a cease-fire that is essentially on Hamas' terms. Most importantly, it preserves Hamas.

We have done little to apply pressure on the negotiations, particularly Qatar, to use their extensive leverage against Hamas on getting Americans back. We have seen the Biden administration cave to the demands of student protesters who chant ``kill the Jews'' in Arabic.

There is an old expression in the ``History of the Peloponnesian War'' in which it is said that: What men did once in private, they now do in public. He spoke of this in the context of the dying Athenian morality. I do fear that Hamas' goal of promoting international terrorism has emboldened far more public demonstrations of anti- Semitism.

We have seen pro-terror activists wielding bear spray while preventing Jews from using the entrance to their synagogues in L.A., seizing a building and holding custodial staff hostage at Columbia University, and other outrages. It is one sign among many of our growing societal rot.

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

Mr. Chair, if this administration supported Israel as much as it has worked to preserve Hamas, this war would be over.

Of course, it doesn't. Rather than signal its support for Hamas' extermination and Israel's right to defend itself, Joe Biden now wants to keep thousands of Hamas sympathizers in the United States.

On February 14, 2024, perhaps chosen to demonstrate the administration's relative affinity for the so-called Palestinian cause, Joe Biden announced he was extending Deferred Enforced Departure for Palestinians, allowing up to 6,000 Palestinians to stay in our country through August 13, 2025.

Think about that: Hamas has just been organized, and they attacked, and they raped, and they killed, and what does this administration do? It defends Hamas. It allows Palestinian sympathizers to stay in our country.

Again, Mr. Chairman, enough is enough. This is the United States of America. It is time to secure our border. We get to decide who comes in and, by George, we get to decide who has to leave.

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, environmental justice is a concept closely intertwined with DEI principles.

Rather than seeking to use Federal resources to mitigate environmental harms as effectively and efficiently as possible, advocates of environmental justice want resources allocated based on their misguided notion of equity for marginalized communities.

DHS owes all Americans fair treatment regardless of race, ethnicity, or any other factor. It also owes it to taxpayers to dedicate its resources to where they can provide the most benefit.

Whatever some critical theory professor might claim, we all know that the weather is not racist. A tornado will not check the race of a homeowner before damaging a house. If the temperature reaches 100 degrees in your town, it will be 100 degrees for everyone.

The existing environmental justice strategy for 2021 through 2025 sets such goals as: expand department-wide awareness of environmental justice considerations that might result from its programs, policies, and activities; further the integration of environmental justice principles into DHS lines of business, prominently including mitigation, adaptation, and resilience; strengthen outreach to communities and stakeholders. It goes on and on and on. It doesn't say anything about providing resources in the case of a catastrophic event.

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

Mr. Chair, I appreciate my colleague's perspective.

Prior to being in Congress, I was a county executive. One of my departments was emergency services, emergency management, county fire. We also had a county hospital and a county health department. What I can say is, during my tenure, I witnessed tragedies, tornadoes, fires, and in each case, those first responders, those in charge of deploying resources did so without concern for race, color, creed. They responded to a disaster.

The idea that resources would be diverted for justice, I can speak for the men and women on the front lines, they don't see by way of color; they see people, their friends, their neighbors in need, and I trust they will do the right thing.

There are procedures and mechanisms in place if there is truly an injustice that can be resolved.

Mr. Chair, this is a good amendment. At a time of burdening debt, we have got to start cutting. This is wasteful. I urge adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment prohibits the Secretary of Defense from requiring individuals to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on any military installation in the United States. I was proud to introduce a similar amendment last year, and I am happy to do so again.

Policies involving mandatory mask implementation are not about science or safety but control.

Tom Jefferson, not to be confused with Thomas Jefferson, a leading epidemiologist who coauthored what The New York Times Opinion section called: ``The most rigorous and comprehensive analysis of scientific studies conducted on the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of respiratory illness, including COVID-19'' found that there was no evidence that masks made a difference.

It found that wearing a mask in public places probably makes little or no difference in the number of infections, and Dr. Fauci has recently admitted as much.

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

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for his words.

Again, to my colleague's point, this really is about following the science and the lessons we have learned that this information, the requirement, the mandatory implementation of mask wearing, which was not presented honestly to the American people, has created distrust within the very institutions that we should trust when such said things happen.

That being said, I think this is important to lay the groundwork and the framework that you can't just mandate masks because you feel that you have to do something.

Fauci has acknowledged that he was winging it, that the 6-foot margin was made up. We now know the efficacy of masks didn't work, and, yes, obviously not wearing a mask could or could not have an impact.

The efficacy studies were on the masks themselves, on N95 masks. This isn't about not wearing a mask; this is about the fact that N95 masks did not work against COVID. We should not have a mandatory mask allowance for our military because of control.

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

Mr. Chair, again, I will just emphasize this amendment is based off of what we now know about COVID. We know the masks didn't work. There is no need for the Secretary of Defense to urge or mandate our military to wear masks on military installations.

This is about freedom.

This is about liberty.

This is about science.

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

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

Mr. Chairman, our veterans deserve the very best. It is our job to make sure they get it.

That is why we are here during amendment debate to ensure that their needs continue to be met after their honorable and heroic service to the Nation.

The underlying bill appropriates $320 million to the VA Housing Benefit Program Fund for administrative expenses to carry out the direct and guaranteed loan programs.

As many of my colleagues know, the VA loan program guarantees loans made to servicemembers, veterans, reservists, and single surviving spouses for the purchase of homes.

As veterans navigate the often cumbersome process of buying a home, they should have access to as much information as possible that will enable them to make the best financial decisions for their families. That is all this amendment does.

If the VA accepted this recommendation, this amendment would ensure that $1 million of the total administrative expenses funds appropriated for the home loan program can be used for the development of improved information materials regarding the relative benefits of a VA home loan versus other types of housing loans for prospective buyers.

This is simply a reflection of the fact that while a VA home loan is often the right choice for veterans who are trying to buy a home, the benefits may not be as clearly presented as they go through the process. If a VA loan would be better, then the veteran should know it.

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

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her support.

Again, all we are trying to do here is make sure that our veterans who have committed their lives and sacrificed for our country have information as they are trying to provide for their families. We have made promises, so this is promise made, promise kept.

Madam Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of my amendment to prioritize increased support for our veterans suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

The numbers don't lie and bear repeating: Over 20 percent of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans have received a diagnosis of PTSD. Our older veterans are also impacted. Over 10 percent of Gulf war veterans and 15 percent of Vietnam veterans are similarly impacted by this cruel diagnosis.

Unfortunately, current treatments do not always meet the needs of our veterans suffering from PTSD. Therefore, it is vital that the Department of Veterans Affairs invests more of its resources into any treatment that can improve the daily lives of our veterans. One of those treatments, SGB therapy, has been a cause championed by my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).

Madam Chair, I urge adoption of his amendment, as well.

Caring for our soldiers is the top priority of this Congress, whether Democrat or Republican. This bill proudly carries the legacy of the great promise from President Lincoln that the United States would ``care for him who shall have borne the battle.''

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her support.

PTSD is real. We have veterans suffering from it every single day. ``Promises Made, Promises Kept,'' that is our oath.

Madam Chair, I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, with many veterans in my family, this is something that is near and dear to my heart as I have seen members of my family having to drive long distances to receive care that otherwise could have been provided at home.

I think of my Uncle Keith, who suffered and languished in the hospital when he could have passed peacefully with his family in his own home.

VA's Medical Community Care Program allows veterans to get the care they need from community providers when the VA cannot do so. To complement the VA's efforts to provide medical services to chronically ill or disabled veterans through the community care program, this amendment ensures additional funding specifically for in-home healthcare.

If a disabled veteran would like to receive medical services from a specific VA-approved community provider, and it would better facilitate that veteran's care than other medical services, it should be a top priority for the VA.

This is plain and simple, common sense, providing the best healthcare for those who have sacrificed so much for this country, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, when I think about my home State of Tennessee, and particularly Maury County, where I reside, we have Maury Regional Hospital, which is a community-owned nonprofit hospital. The VA is over an hour away if veterans live where I live. If they live further south, then the VA would be 1\1/2\ hours to 2 hours away. You have a locally owned, community-owned hospital that is a nonprofit that could provide these same services for our veterans, in our community, at their homes, where they are not having to travel 1 hour or 1\1/2\ hours to get services.

This isn't about privatization. This is about prioritizing our veterans as they seek medical care for the service that they gave to their country.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I appreciate my colleague's comments, but I would disagree. This is simply about prioritizing our veterans.

Again, I speak of my community. From where I live, the VA is over 1 hour away. Veterans can be served by their regional hospital, their community hospital. In rural Tennessee, most of the hospitals are community owned.

This is about allowing veterans, who otherwise would be 1 hour to 3 hours away from care, to be served and serviced in their community. They are our veterans. They served the country. They have sacrificed, and they deserve the best.

Madam Chair, I urge adoption of the amendment. Promises made, promises kept.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, the underlying legislation provides similar funding to the Board of Veterans' Appeals as the fiscal year 2024 levels, approximately $267 million. This amendment recommends that the Board of Veterans' Appeals invest a very small portion of its appropriated funds to expedite and eliminate the casework backlog many of our veteran constituents have raised with a variety of Members of Congress.

Again, this is simply to get rid of the backlog, to expedite those cases, as has been discussed here previously, so that our veterans can get care in a quick, expeditious manner.

The committee report highlights sustained Member concerns regarding the ongoing delays veterans and their families face. Claims can currently take years to resolve.

I am grateful to see that the committee, under Chairman Carter's leadership, has prioritized hiring needed staff to expedite processing. This amendment stands in support of the committee's work.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her kind words.

This is a report ordered by this legislation that directs the VA Secretary to produce a plan within 90 days that would eliminate the veteran case backlog within 3 years. It is a simple, commonsense approach of promises made, promises kept. Let's do that.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, coming from a family who has had family members serve in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and the current war on terror, I have a near and dear place for all of our veterans in my heart.

Specifically, I think about our World War II veterans and the veterans of the Korea and Vietnam conflicts. We owe it to those who risked life and limb to fight our Nation's battles, not only to have our deepest gratitude and sympathy, but to have their service recognized. They should know that we will stand with them through disability, illness, and old age.

Again, to our veterans of World War II--there are not many of them left--Korea, and Vietnam, we need to make sure that they have access to excellent extended care. State extended-care facilities play a critical role in living up to that promise.

State governments can place these facilities where they can best serve veteran communities. They allow our veterans to find high-quality nursing home care in their home States and near their communities so they can enjoy the camaraderie of being surrounded by other residents who know what it is to have served our country.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her comments.

Again, this encourages the VA to redouble its efforts in supporting States in constructing and maintaining excellent facilities to serve all veterans, especially the veterans of our foreign wars.

Promises made, Madam Chair, promises kept. That is what we must do.

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

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment adds the sense of Congress that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System should not be permitted to develop, create, or implement a central bank digital currency or use any such tool to implement monetary policy.

A major concern surrounding a government-run CBDC is the potential for the government to block transactions and exert control over people's finances. Not only that, but it would give the Federal Government unprecedented power to intervene in private transactions, deciding who can buy and sell and what they can buy and sell.

It would also give the government unprecedented access to information about their daily lives. The government could keep a record of every transaction.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).

Mr. Chairman, there is a reason that China, under the rule of the totalitarian Chinese Communist Party, has the most developed CBDC program. It is about control. Their CBDC enables them to combine intrusive monitoring of the public and control their lives with their Orwellian social credit scores.

Take what Canada did by cutting off money for the truckers. Look at what China is doing. If we go down this path, we are heading toward an Orwellian nightmare.

My sense of Congress doubles down on the fact that the greenback is the reserve currency of the world. A CBDC undermines that, and it should not be pursued.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment is simple, because it underscores that the Federal Reserve should not move forward with implementing a CBDC or use any policy that would forward that action.

Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my amendment. It is clear. It is concise. It is simple. It is just good policy.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I recognize Master Sergeant Steven D. Parker, who is retiring from the 218th Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group (ISRG) of the Tennessee Air National Guard.

Master Sergeant Steven D. Parker began his military career over forty years ago on March 12, 1984. He honorably served the Tennessee Air National Guard as a C-130 Aircraft Mechanic for 28 years and an Administrative Craftsman for 12 years. His deployments include time in Tabuk, Minhad, and at Bagram Air Base to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He later served in Baghdad supporting Operation Inherent Resolve as an Administration Craftsman.

Master Sergeant Parker's exemplary service and dedication to his country has twice earned him the 218 ISRG Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Quarterly Award. He also serves as the Sergeant at Arms at American Legion Post 141 in Tennessee, where he champions patriotism and community engagement, something which he commits to himself by volunteering in his community.

I urge my colleagues to join me in thanking Master Sergeant Parker for his service to his country and in wishing him good luck as he retires.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and commemorate the outstanding bravery and valor of Metropolitan Nashville Police Officers Michael Collazo and Rex Englebert. Nearly one year ago today, two men answered the call to serve the most vulnerable members of our Nashville community, and without regard to their own physical well-being, they confronted a murderer and saved countless lives.

At 10:13 am, on March 27, 2023, Metropolitan Nashville Police confirmed an active shooter situation was taking place at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. After the first 911 call, officers rushed to the campus, entered the building, and reported shots coming from the second level of the school. On the second floor, in a common area, a team of officers encountered the shooter who had been firing through a window at arriving police cars. Two members of an officer team, the men we are honoring today--Michael Collazo and Rex Englebert--fired on the shooter and fatally wounded her.

The Covenant School shooting remains etched in the minds of the Nashville community as an evil, brutish, and senseless assault against the most innocent members of our society. Six lives--three children and three adults--were needlessly taken from their families and those who loved them. In the face of such depravity, we are fortunate and grateful that two men acted in such a manner that they were willing to give their own lives to preserve the lives of strangers The heroism of Michael Collazo and Rex Englebert serves as a poignant reminder to each of us that evil will never triumph over good.

On behalf of Tennessee's Fifth Congressional District, I express our profound gratitude to Officers Collazo and Englebert for their devoted service to their community. May we learn from these two men the virtues of self-sacrifice and fidelity to our beloved Nation.

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 86.

Stated against:

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I honor Inglewood Baptist Church in Nashville as it celebrates its 100th anniversary.

First meeting on November 18, 1923, Inglewood Baptist was officially ``called to order'' on March 18th the following year. In the late 1920's, its congregation moved to its current location on Gallatin Road, meeting in a basement auditorium on the site where it still meets today. Its seventh and current pastor, Dr. Kevin Shrum, has shepherded his community since 1995.

Existing to ``make known the Glory of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,'' Inglewood Baptist seeks to edify believers in their personal and saving relationship with their Lord. Over the past century it has continued to grow and build its community, completing its current auditorium in 1948 and finishing a four-story educational complex in 1955. In addition to its other ministries; it has instituted the Allegro School of Music, which provides an opportunity for music education and skill development for those living in the Nashville area.

I urge my colleagues to join me in congratulating Inglewood Baptist Church on its 100th anniversary and wishing it well as it starts its second century as a congregation.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I recognize Mr. Porter Frierson, who served in the 42nd Regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War.

A native Tennessean, Mr. Frierson was born in 1849 in Macadonia. Joining the Union Army at a young age, Mr. Frierson served as a drummer in Company A of the 42nd. Formed in both Chattanooga and Nashville, the 42nd performed valuable service as a garrison regiment; providing for the protection of territory held by the Union Army before being disbanded in 1866. Mr. Frierson is buried today in Rose Hill Cemetery in Humboldt, Tennessee.

The son of an enslaved woman with two brothers and a sister, Mr. Frierson would go on to raise a family of his own after serving his Nation. He is remembered today by his descendants, who are rightly proud of his service. I invite all my colleagues to join me in honoring the memory of this great American hero.

Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 14, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 15, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 16, ``yea'' on rollcall No. 17, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 18, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 19.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment is really rather simple. It is about transparency. It is about simply moving the reporting requirements. My amendment reduces the threshold for the value of gifts that must be reported from $50,000 to $1. It simply lowers the threshold. Mr. Chairman, this is about transparency.

The underlying bill, which represents a solid and sorely needed first step, advertises much-needed transparency. If we are going to stop America's foreign adversaries from targeting our Nation's educational institutions and students, we need transparency at every level.

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

Mr. Chairman, the Trump administration discovered $6.5 billion in previously unreported foreign money to universities from adversarial countries.

In response to the terrorist attack against Israel, I think it is important that we make it tougher. That we make it more clear who is trying to unduly influence our universities and our students--the future of America.

Qatar, an anti-Semitic country, earlier this week accused Israel of committing genocide, has contributed $5 billion to U.S. universities. There are billions of dollars going unreported. Saudi Arabia has contributed $3 billion. This can't be allowed.

We have foreign adversaries, adversaries of Israel, adversaries of the West, adversaries of America donating to universities, and we need to know. That is all we are asking.

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

Mr. Chair, I think it is important to understand that we are in a new day. October 7 changed the world.

Qatar, for example, has praised Hamas. They have literally praised the systematic rape of women and the torture and rape of little girls. Surely, my colleagues understand why reporting donations is so paramount.

I can't stand by and pretend that this isn't going on. Qatar is trying to buy forgiveness--$500 million to Hamas. How many rapes did that pay for, Mr. Chairman? How much is enough to absolve their sins?

I am appalled that anyone would be opposed to this. We need reporting. We need transparency. We are in a new day. The West is under attack.

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

Mr. Chairman, I could go on about Al Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar, praising the torture. They were cutting off the genitals of men. They were cutting off the breasts of women. They were gang-raping women.

Foreign contributions need to be found out, discovered, and disclosed. The only way to make sure that nothing is slipping through the cracks is to lower the threshold.

There is no reason to oppose this amendment. If the universities are doing nothing wrong, then they have nothing to hide.

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

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my amendment. It is common sense, and it takes a stand against the atrocities that took place in Israel, the pay-fors, and the forgiveness that Qatar is trying to buy through our American universities.

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

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

Mr. Chair, the unprovoked assault on Israel on October 7 shocked millions around the world and demonstrated the unrelenting brutality of Hamas.

While many countries around the world supported Israel as it confronted this single deadliest day for the Jews since the Holocaust, many did not. Many of the countries that pointedly refused to condemn Hamas are located in the Middle East.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment expresses a sense of Congress that all U.S. allies in the Middle East should publicly and unequivocally condemn the anti-Semitism displayed by the Iranian-backed terror groups, including Hamas.

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

Mr. Chairman, Kuwait, a country that American soldiers liberated from Saddam Hussein, expressed its grave concern and blamed Israel for the blatant attacks. Kuwait further urged the international community to stop the provocative practices by the occupation.

Talk about victim blaming, Mr. Chairman, especially when the guilty party, Hamas, has proudly taken responsibility for attacking and raping Jewish civilians.

Lebanon, a country which at this point is effectively controlled by the terrorist group Hezbollah, congratulated the resisting Palestinian people. Hezbollah hailed Hamas for its large-scale heroic operation, an operation that saw an 8-year-old girl have her hands cut off and then being left to bleed to death.

Tunisia declared its full and unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian people following Hamas' brutality on October 7, an attack that saw a pregnant woman have her mouth duct-taped and her baby cut out of her stomach. In no uncertain terms, the country, a listed major non-NATO ally, maintained their position to fully stand by the Palestinian people until they recover their entire land.

Qatar, a country whose state-controlled media outlet, Al Jazeera, which should also be known as the Qatari news network, is the mouthpiece of Hamas terrorists and blamed Israel for being solely responsible for the ongoing escalation and stressed their unwavering stance on the justice of the Palestinian cause and for the international community to compel Israel to cease its blatant violation of international law. These attacks saw women bound, gang-raped, and then murdered, attacks that saw a baby put in an oven and baked alive, the father's eyes gouged out and the mother raped.

On November 1, the Kingdom of Jordan, a country which was given well over half a billion in taxpayer dollars in this last year's omnibus, recalled its Ambassador to Israel.

Other countries, including Oman, Turkiye, and Egypt, choose to equivocate instead of condemning Hamas.

Wherever you are on the political spectrum, the attack was inhumane. It was brutal. It was blatant, and those culpable should be punished.

The international community, including many of the Arab states that I have mentioned, should join with the international community in condemning Hamas and should speak for the innocent.

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. Chairman, most Americans would be surprised and disgusted to learn that Iran has been given approximately $50 billion in a sanctions relief package by the Biden administration.

More to the point, it was done in exchange for a promise from Iran that they wouldn't produce weapons-grade uranium. That is it. That is all we apparently got.

Think about the implications of this deal. The Ayatollah, who embraces chants of ``Death to America'' and ``Death to Israel,'' can produce even more deadly long-range missiles, but that is fine by Joe Biden. How about highly enriched uranium? Somewhere in Foggy Bottom, Antony Blinken is nodding his head: Sure, why not?

The Ayatollah can put his country on the cusp of the nuclear threshold and hold it over us as a constant threat. He can continue to pocket billions of taxpayer dollars made available by the so-called adults in charge at our State Department.

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

Mr. Chair, civil. On October 7, Iran sponsored the murder, rape, and torture of innocent civilians.

Civil. I do not trust Iran with nuclear material.

Civil. They raped little girls.

Civil. I should think not.

This is a no-brainer, Mr. Chairman. This administration--whether due to side deals, incompetence, or just selling out America--is bringing the world's most grievous, grotesque sponsor of state terrorism closer to nuclear capabilities.

Mr. Chairman, I am from the South. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.

Iran should be punished for what happened in Israel. Hamas should be driven into the sea. Respectfully to my colleague, we should take extraordinary measures to send a message to the world that this will never happen again.

Iran must pay and pay dearly. This is but a first step.

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

Mr. Chairman, the world is in a precarious place. We see the CCP making moves in the Pacific against Taiwan. Russia has made a move against Ukraine. Iranian-backed terrorists killed innocent civilians.

There should be no relief for Iran. There should be no sanctions relief for Iran, for they are not civil. They do not belong at a seat at the table with the rest of the world. They need to be driven into the stone age, where they belong and how they behave.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. Chairman, while Hamas terrorists were brutalizing Israeli citizens, Hamas' top leadership was celebrating from a penthouse in Doha.

Qatar claims to be our ally. They want to hold a special place with the United States. We have a forward operating base there.

While they are claiming to be our friend, they are literally housing, aiding, and abetting terrorists from Hamas, roughly a dozen who are worth billions, flying on private jets, drinking champagne, and partying while Israeli citizens are being slaughtered.

Qatar has the opportunity to stand with the United States, stand with the innocent people of Israel who were murdered.

This sense of Congress simply urges that Qatar should condemn Hamas, turn over Hamas leadership to U.S. and Israeli custody, and pledge never to facilitate the transfer of covered Iranian funds to Iran.

Mr. Chairman, there is a direct link between the money that was wired to Doha and terrorism. Iran has said they will use the money however they see fit. It is time for our allies or so-called allies to be our allies.

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

Mr. Chairman, a thief that robs your house, then 2 days later mows your lawn, is still a thief. A country that houses terrorists is still an accomplice. It is a fact.

While they are giving over or assisting with the release of the hostages, they have the opportunity to give over the Hamas leaders who planned and orchestrated the attack, but will they do it? Of course not, because they are guilty.

Qatar reportedly gives Hamas between $360 million and $480 million per year. To my friend, I wonder how many of those dollars from Qatar given to Hamas bought bullets, bought antitank mines, paid for the training of the soldiers that raped children.

I wonder how many of those millions of dollars built the training camps in Gaza. When the militants, the terrorists went in, they were well armed. They were well trained. I wonder how many of the millions of dollars Qatar gave Hamas to pay for that. Al Jazeera, the terrorist news network, has praised the attack. It is controlled by Qatar.

If my child or children that I love stick their hand in the cookie jar, just because I love them doesn't mean that they will escape punishment.

Qatar may claim to be our friend, but they just got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, and perhaps they should be punished.

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

Mr. Chair, with respect to Qatar's recent activities on the world stage, I will just say this: Qatar should not get a pass whenever it decides to stop playing law breaker in order to start playing first responder.

I think it is a misnomer to think that without Qatar, that somehow negotiations wouldn't take place. The reality of the situation on the ground is the reason why Hamas is negotiating, because Israel is kicking their butt and is going to continue to do so. These negotiations would happen with or without Qatar.

Qatar benefits from our Air Force base there.

If my colleague from my own party thinks giving money to Qatar so that Hamas can rape little girls, then that is his choice, not mine.

You can't pretend to be our friend when you are funding an organization that attacks and brutalizes innocent civilians. You can't have it both ways. It just doesn't work that way. You can't have your network praising the attacks.

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

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

Mr. Chairman, if I were to describe to you a group that has just seized a cargo ship and what Israel has since referred to as an Iranian act of terrorism, you might come to the conclusion that perpetrators can't distinguish between civilians and military targets.

If I were to also tell you that the same group just earlier this week shot two ballistic missiles at a U.S. warship, you might come to the conclusion that these perpetrators are the enemies of the United States.

Finally, if I told you that this group is guilty of kidnapping and torturing U.S. citizens, you might come to the conclusion that we need to wipe these people off the face of the Earth.

You might think that the Biden administration would agree, but apparently it does not, and that is to the detriment of our national security.

This is a sense of Congress that the Houthis continue to benefit from the Biden administration's unwillingness to unequivocally condemn.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, if Americans knew that the Biden administration was treating a state sponsor of

terrorism like a major ally, they would be infuriated, but that is exactly what is going on with Qatar, a tiny but very wealthy country in the Persian Gulf.

Qatar is a friend to anti-Semites. As the general stated, clearly, they must hate Israel and the Jewish people. They are one of the largest sponsors of state terrorism in the world. They regularly play host to leaders of Hamas and the Taliban. In fact, Qatar provided Hamas leadership with a venue to celebrate the horrific atrocities of October 7.

Only in a world where Joe Biden is President would we be supporting a terrorist country as part of our foreign policy. Last year, President Biden designated Qatar as a Major Non-NATO Ally, a special designation given to about 20 countries, like Taiwan and Israel, and an honor meant to highlight an extremely close bilateral relationship. In a sense, we do have a close relationship with Qatar, far too close.

Qatar has given over $5 billion--that is b as in bravo--to U.S. colleges, which makes them the number one foreign donor to our very own educational institutions. Researchers at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy have presented a strong link between the funding of U.S. universities by Doha and the active presence of anti- Semitic groups on those campuses.

Needless to say, we should be extremely wary about the impact of these donations on our young people. For decades, Congress has allowed these donations to flow into our universities without any supervision or meaningful disclosure requirements.

Meanwhile, American Jews are harassed on campuses or compelled not to reveal their Jewish heritage. Since the start of the October 7 war, 73 percent of Jewish students in the U.S. have been victims or witnesses to on-campus anti-Semitism.

Qatar has the honor of hosting a major airbase outside of Doha. The presence of that airbase all but ensures their safety and that they will never be attacked. You would hope, at the very least, Qatar would try hard to ensure that it is not spreading anti-Semitism or supporting anti-American sentiments, but we have seen this anti-Semitism. We have seen it alive and well on Qatar's state-owned media outlet, Al Jazeera, or, as I like to say, AJTN, Al Jazeera terrorist network.

Unfortunately, criticisms of Qatar come in muted in this town. Doha has certainly poisoned the well, purchasing the loyalties of university elites, influential think tanks, some of the best lobbyists that money can buy, and even politicians, which is why so many D.C. institutions whitewash Qatar's support for terrorism.

On top of this, as I mentioned earlier, Qatar lets the leaders of Hamas and the Taliban stay at the most expensive hotels in Doha and provides up to $480 million, half a billion dollars, to Hamas to keep their military afloat.

Qatar will tell you that this is going to nonmilitary uses, but we have heard throughout testimony today that money flowing to Qatar, flowing to Iran, is fungible.

As the former chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, once put it, in Qatar, there are three buckets: terror financed by the government, terror financed through Qataris, and terror financing that Qatar doesn't stop.

That is the former chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee commenting on something that has been known for decades, known in this town, that Qatar openly and actively supports terrorism.

Let's look at a few more examples. In 2003, Congress was informed of Qatar's funding to charities that support al-Qaida, including the bin Laden-endorsed charity, the Qatar Charity. The same year, The New York Times also reported that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11 and one of the terrorists responsible for murdering 3,000 Americans, fled to Qatar from Kuwait in order to avoid apprehension.

We also know that Qatar has provided support for al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria, al-Nusrah Front. Qatar has provided support to numerous terrorist groups, including the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood, and, of course, its most visible beneficiary, Hamas.

What would you call a group that supports terrorists or a country that supports terrorist groups like al-Qaida, al-Nusrah, the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas? You would call them a state sponsor of terrorism.

That is what this administration needs to do. It needs to remove Qatar's Major Non-NATO Ally status until such time that Qatar denounces terrorism and any support for terrorism or terrorist groups. If they don't, maybe it is time to label them as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Earlier today, this House passed, in a unanimous fashion, my amendment to call on Qataris to condemn Hamas, turn over Hamas leadership to the U.S. or Israeli custody, and prevent Iran from receiving any funds.

If the Emir of Qatar were here on the House floor, I would tell him to pick a side. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. Enough equivocating.

Let me be clear. I do not wish ill on Qatar. In fact, I am open to dialogue.

To the people of Qatar, I wish them well, but I want to ensure that my country has partners it can trust. Qatar has demonstrated time and again its unwillingness to abandon its two-faced approach toward relations with the United States and with terrorists.

Mr. Speaker, regarding the atrocities, what does Qatar have to say when a mom and her 10- to 12-year-old daughter were brutally raped, left naked, and murdered in their home?

What does Qatar have to say when a baby was put into an oven, the father murdered, and the wife brutally raped? What does Qatar have to say?

When women were being gang-raped, their breasts cut off, and the terrorists were playing with them, tossing them around like toys, what does Qatar have to say?

When they were sexually abusing men and cutting off their genitals, what does Qatar have to say?

When the pregnant mom, her mouth gagged, was being held while they cut the baby out of her womb, what does Qatar have to say?

They blame Israel.

They need to pick a side. For too long, they have been on the wrong side.

Let me make one final note on Qatar, and it is in reference to a comment made earlier by my colleague from Texas. He mentioned Qatar's role in helping to release hostages from the clutches of the Hamas dogs, the terrorists of Hamas. Most Americans taken by Hamas on October 7 are still in custody. What has Qatar done?

Many people, Israeli and otherwise, are still in Hamas custody. What has Qatar done?

I would say they are stalling for time to allow Hamas to regroup, to flee, and to rebuild. It is time that families and children be reunited. We want every hostage released now.

We pose a question to you: Do you think Qatar is the best intermediary for releasing hostages? I don't think they are.

I am grateful for every hostage that has been released, but while Qatar is helping to release some hostages, they are also ensuring Hamas' preservation.

I said earlier today that someone who robs your home and then offers to cut your grass 2 days later is still a thief. It does not change who they are.

Given the level of financing Qatar provides Hamas on an annual basis, they could have at least compelled the release of all Americans.

Let me mention briefly, Mr. Speaker, my Trust But Verify Act, which would delist Qatar's MNNA status, Major Non-NATO Ally status, until the President certifies that they are no longer providing support for international terrorism, and the President must recertify this every 90 days.

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

Mr. Chair, $451 billion, that is the cost of the American taxpayer of caring for illegals who broke our laws and unlawfully entered our country.

My amendment simply requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to jointly submit an annual report, just a report, to Congress that includes the number of aliens that have been provided housing on federally managed lands and information regarding such aliens' countries of origin.

This will be critical data, Mr. Chairman, and this amendment should have bipartisan support.

This administration is extending an open invitation for foreign nationals to invade our country and undermine the sovereignty of the United States. As a reward, they are going to have their housing, education, and every cost taken care of. If these illegal aliens need a trip to the hospital, they don't need to meet a deductible because the American taxpayer pays for it.

Between 16.8 million and 29 million illegals currently reside in the United States, an incentive for more to come freely. There were 341,000 apprehensions at U.S. borders to the north and southwest made in September. That is 1 month; setting an all-time record. There were 309,000 apprehensions calculated in October.

Mr. Chairman, this has to stop. We are a sovereign Nation. We have a right to manage our lands. We have a right to say no.

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

Mr. Chairman, I acknowledge my colleague's comment regarding laws; that this bill, if passed, would essentially ban folks from being housed on Federal lands. It should also be noted that there are laws on the books that require our border to be secure, and, yet, this administration ignores those laws. This amendment requires accountability to the aforementioned.

Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).

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

Mr. Chairman, with this bill, part of what we are trying to accomplish is securing our border, securing our country. There are hard-earned taxpayer dollars being sent to house illegals.

In New York alone, Mayor Adams has said that housing illegals could cost up to $12 billion. That is $12 billion that could be used for children in need, to educate our children, for children who are underperforming in school. That is $12 billion that the city of New York could use for our veterans.

We have to prioritize Americans. We have to prioritize the security of our border.

I was in Tucson in August, and I was in an area that was even then controlled by the cartel. Now, we hear because of the war, the shooting, the lawlessness in that very sector, that the Border Patrol has had to pull back.

There is a war going on at our southern border, and it could be stopped, Mr. Chairman. It is time to close, to secure, our border. You have women and children who are being raped daily at our southern border, and this administration is doing nothing about it. I have had enough. All this amendment does is require a report. It requires accountability.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption, and I yield back the balance of my time.