Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize and honor the bravery of one man, Mr. Robert Aitken, the first printer for the Journals of Congress.

Prior to the American Revolution, all Bibles entering America were imported from Britain.

Shortly after America declared its independence, Mr. Aitken petitioned the Continental Congress to approve a version of the Bible for use in schools.

Mr. Speaker, you would hope that during a time of high inflation and energy prices, that the U.S. Treasury Department would focus on promoting economic policies that support the American taxpayer. Unfortunately, common sense is not a common trait with the Biden administration.

Instead, the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people are being spent by the Treasury Department to promote garbage, exclusionary, and profoundly racist DEI ideology. This evil and grotesque concept threatens to tear our country apart, and this President clearly couldn't care less.

Efforts to promote so-called equity and diversity have already contributed to the failure of businesses and banks in the private sector. We have just seen that. Yet, this administration is unfazed and as focused as ever on pitting fellow citizens against each other on the basis of race. The Democrats' woke, radical agenda is hurting our children, it is hurting our families, and is destroying the American economy.

Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve better. Woke garbage is not--I repeat, is not--a substitute for fiscal policy.

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

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

I am grateful that the House of Representatives is taking a stand to protect women and girls in this country and to ensure that they continue to have access to athletic opportunities at school. I strongly support the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act.

My amendment strengthens the underlying bill by protecting schools from a weaponized bureaucracy and frivolous lawsuits as they work to comply with the intentions of the bill.

Many schools provide a wide range of programs and activities to support their student athletes. This amendment ensures that schools can continue to provide a range of resources exclusively or preferentially to members of an athletic team without worrying about activist bureaucrats or opportunistic trial lawyers targeting them with disingenuous arguments about what constitutes an athletic program or activity.

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

Mr. Chair, no woman or girl in our country should be forced to lose competitions to biological men. No school in our country should be punished for fighting to preserve the integrity of women's sports.

We cannot pass up an opportunity to protect schools from adverse actions accusing them of discrimination when they provide a tutor to a team or they let athletes move into a dorm early or accommodate a practice schedule.

We know Democrats will work to pursue every loophole imaginable to undermine this bill, and we should take this opportunity to stop them before they can start.

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

Mr. Chair, I reiterate that no woman or girl should be forced to lose competitions to biological men. I say that as a father of a daughter who is an athlete. I say that as a father to two sons who are athletes. Girls should play girls' sports, and boys should play boys' sports.

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

Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. was thrust by Biden and the Democratic Party into the Ukrainian conflict. We have spent over $113 billion to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Democrat legislation passed in the 117th Congress exempted Biden from complying with numerous requirements of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act for leases to Ukraine, a country that former President Obama didn't think twice about not lifting a finger to assist in 2014.

These exemptions have led to rampant spending with little to no accountability. The American people deserve

transparency and assurance that their hard-earned dollars are not simply being given away, which is why I have introduced the Ukraine Lend-Lease Accountability Act this morning.

This legislation would ensure that the terms of Federal foreign military aid leasing would be followed by the President. It is unacceptable to throw money to a country with no terms for repayment, especially when we are talking about over $100 billion at a time when we are having to cut our own budget.

If I have to choose between a foreign war and our seniors who are struggling, I choose our seniors. If we have to choose between our children and their future, I choose our children.

Mr. Speaker, I choose America first.

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

Mr. Chairman, Amendment No. 30 expresses the sense of Congress that the royalty rate for onshore Federal oil and gas leases be 12\1/2\ percent. This amendment establishes that it is the sense of Congress that the royalty rate of onshore Federal oil and gas

leases be 12\1/2\ percent, the pre-Inflation Reduction Act level. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act was filled with horrific policy and has only made things worse.

The Inflation Reduction Act is geared to severely harm American energy independence by, among other things, increasing royalty rates and fees while restricting access to energy resources.

Our country needs to produce more energy, not less, but Democrats designed their extreme climate agenda to restrict oil and natural gas production.

One measure of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act enabled the Biden administration to raise the oil and gas royalty rate for certain offshore leases from the current 12\1/2\ percent to 16.67.

This measure will only result in less oil and gas production, harming consumers and our national security.

The Biden administration doesn't even pretend otherwise. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said, It resets how and what we consider to be the highest and best use of American resources.

This is about the use of the land, and the Biden administration clearly wants to block all of our lands from the use for oil and gas production.

My amendment simply returns onshore royalty rates to what it was 2 years ago, before this radical Democrat intervention.

This amendment would affirm the intent of the underlying bill, which would reset the royalty rate for onshore leases to 12\1/2\ percent.

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

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

Mr. Chair, it should be noted that the largest oil profit was realized by Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment provides that any entity subject to the jurisdiction of the Government of the People's Republic of China or any entity that is owned by the Government of the People's Republic of China may not acquire any interest with respect to the land leased for oil or gas under the Mineral Leasing Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and may not acquire claims subject to the General Mining Law of 1872.

We need to secure our land and not make it available for foreign governments, especially the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP is one of the greatest threats to American democracy and our homeland.

Since at least 2007, the Department of Defense has consistently recognized China's dominance in the mining of key minerals as a leading national security threat.

The Biden administration is recklessly pursuing a green agenda that makes the United States economy more dependent on critical mined minerals used to make things like batteries.

We cannot continue to allow the genocidal CCP to control that supply chain. We certainly must ensure that the CCP cannot expand its market power by controlling mines even in our own country.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my commonsense amendment for the sake of our people and our national security, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Westerman and my colleague across the aisle for their support.

It should be noted that it is the CCP that launched a reconnaissance balloon across our country. It is the CCP that is flooding our country with fentanyl and killing our kids and poisoning our country.

I urge adoption of this amendment. Let's send a message to China that we have had enough.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to remember those lost in an unspeakable tragedy that took place in Nashville at the Covenant School, which is in my district, and to acknowledge the power of prayer.

At approximately 10:13 a.m., evil ran rampant in the halls of the Christian academy and claimed the lives of three children and three staff members:

Hallie Scruggs, age 9;

Evelyn Dieckhaus, age 9;

William Kinney, age 9;

Mike Hill, the school custodian;

Dr. Katherine Koonce, the head of the school; and

Cynthia Peak, a substitute teacher.

These innocent lives were lost in a senseless act of violence.

As a father of three children, I cannot begin to imagine what the families of these six individuals are experiencing right now.

To my fellow Tennesseans in Nashville and the Covenant School, we are here for you. We are sending our deepest and most sincere condolences. My prayers are with each and every one of you.

I also want to recognize the bravery demonstrated by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and to all of the first responders who took exemplary steps during this tragic event.

To Officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo, thank you. Your incredible bravery, valor, and courage in the face of danger saved lives.

Our community is broken. To those who are wondering and trying to make sense of the world, the Lord says: ``So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.'' Isaiah 41:10.

Please join me for a moment of silence.

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

Mr. Chairman, accountability matters. Our Nation deserves nothing less than full transparency from Federal officials working in the name of the American people.

When government officials abuse their office to infringe on Americans' right to free speech, it is a very grave offense. Government officials who abuse official taxpayer-funded resources to censor Americans need to be out of government service for a long time.

My amendment allows the Office of Special Counsel, which adjudicates the Hatch Act, and would adjudicate the newly added provisions of this bill, to punish those employees with a longer span of debarment.

This amendment revises the disciplinary action under the bill to allow for debarment from Federal employment for up to 10 years rather than 5. This better reflects the gravity of their offense. People who abuse their official office to violate Americans' constitutional rights shouldn't be able to return to government employment after a brief stint in the private sector.

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, this bill simply empowers the Office of Special Counsel to do better and adjudicate their job.

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

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

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

Mr. Chairman, again, accountability matters. If you are paid from an appropriation for the White House office or appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, you need to be held to a standard of utmost impartiality.

These folks are paid generous salaries and have large platforms as Cabinet Secretaries or senior White House aides. The monetary penalty should reflect their increased responsibility compared to rank-and-file employees.

The American people have had enough of the swamp, and its efforts to infuse authoritarianism into the fabric of American society.

This amendment, which raises the penalty from $10,000 to $50,000 for senior officials who abuse their office to violate Americans' constitutional rights deserve a costly penalty.

I urge adoption of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, the purpose of this amendment is to create greater accountability, responsibility, thoughtfulness in these Cabinet secretaries and senior officials so that it is not partisan politics that rules the day, but, rather, the American people--or the interests of the American people.

Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer).

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Fischbach for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that will live in infamy. Because of that opinion, over 63 million unborn children have lost their lives due to abortion.

In time, future generations will look back at this moment in American history and wonder how the greatest country in the world could have permitted modern-day slaughter of the innocent. Our Nation has dehumanized those who are seen as a burden. Comfort and convenience are now the new cardinal virtues of our modern society.

It is this mentality and this historic decay of the value of life that has allowed our Nation to treat the unborn as a disposable commodity.

Over the last five decades, we have treated the unborn as problems to be solved rather than children to be loved. Due to the incredible work of millions of patriotic Americans, abortion has been consigned to the ash heap of history. On this day, we thank those Americans who for over 50 years willingly and joyfully stood outside in the January cold for the March for Life.

On June 24, 2022, the United States of America declared to the world that, once again, our Nation will embrace the intrinsic worth and value of every human life.

This is a reminder, however, that our work is not yet done. We will continue to work and convince hearts and minds that the culture of life is worth preserving.

May all those who work to promote the cause of life forever know that their cause is true, their cause is beautiful, and their cause is good.