Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in very strong support of H.R. 1041, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act.

This bill would restore Second Amendment rights to the veterans who valiantly served our Nation but whose constitutional right to bear arms has been stripped away by unelected bureaucrats.

Federal law, enacted in 1968, prohibits individuals who have been ``adjudicated as a mental defective''--and the keyword is ``adjudicated''--from possessing or acquiring firearms. This restriction is enforced primarily through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

At the same time, the Department of Veterans Affairs allows service- disabled veterans to receive their hard-earned benefits through a fiduciary when the VA determines they are unable to manage their own finances.

However, this determination is often made by VA officials who may lack adequate mental health training. When the VA makes such a determination, the veteran is automatically reported to NICS as a mental defective, and there is no actual adjudication, resulting in the loss of their Second Amendment rights.

This happens without any judicial finding that the veteran poses a danger to themselves or others. In other words, service-disabled veterans who simply need assistance with financial matters can be stripped of their constitutional rights, not by a judge but by an unelected bureaucrat.

These veterans are faced with an unacceptable choice to either receive the benefits they rightly earned and risk their Second Amendment rights or retain their constitutional rights and risk their veteran benefits. This is a shameful and unjust dilemma, particularly for those who risk their lives in defense of our freedoms.

As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I am proud to say that Congress took an important first step toward addressing this injustice through the annual appropriations process. The FY24 enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act and subsequently enacted appropriations bills have included language directing the VA to cease this practice.

I am pleased to report that earlier this year, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins confirmed the VA has complied with the current law and will no longer report veterans to NICS solely because of their need for a fiduciary.

That is a real, meaningful victory for our veterans and a testament to what this body can accomplish when we stand up for those who serve in our military, but that progress is only temporary and will not remain unless we pass the bill before us today to make it permanent.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this vital bill that builds on that appropriations victory and ensures these protections are permanently codified so that no future administration can reverse course and once again use a veteran's need for financial assistance as grounds to unilaterally revoke their God-given Second Amendment rights.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Department of Homeland Security continuing resolution that pays all of our brave homeland defenders and fully funds all of DHS, including ICE and CBP. For over 40 days, my Democratic colleagues have held our national security hostage to force their reckless, open-border, and pro-illegal alien agenda on the American people.

Honestly, no one is surprised by this reckless stunt because, just a few short weeks ago in this very Chamber, these radical Democrats refused to stand for President Trump's simple statement that the first duty of the American Government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens. They showed their true colors then, and they are continuing to show them right now.

Upholding immigration laws, securing our borders, and deporting illegal aliens is exactly what the American people voted for. We wanted to prevent more avoidable tragedies, like the horrific murders of Laken Riley and Sheridan Gorman.

Democrats want to protect these monsters who are committing these crimes. It is as simple as that. You are either with the American citizens whom you swore an oath to serve, or you are with the illegal aliens who shouldn't be here in the first place.

That is why the Senate bill was dead on arrival, passed in the dead of night by a voice vote. The Senate's DHS funding bill would defund ICE and the Border Patrol, further undermining the very agencies tasked with protecting our homeland.

House Republicans rejected this terrible precedent, as we will not allow the radical Democrats' un-American, open-border, illegal foreigner-first agenda to destroy our country or dictate the appropriations process.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to put the American people first by supporting this DHS 60-day continuing resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the 2026 Georgia High School Association Class A Division 1 champions, the Rabun County High School Wildcats basketball team.

Last Friday, the Wildcats soundly defeated the Southwest Macon Patriots 52-43, leading the team to secure their first-ever State championship in program history and just the second for any team sport at Rabun County High.

This Wildcats squad put on an impressive performance all season long, boasting an incredible 30-2 record. Led by Coach David Adcock, these young men have made Rabun County and the entire Ninth District proud through their undeniable talent, grit, and sportsmanship.

Congratulations to Coach Adcock and the entire team on clinching an exciting, impressive, and historic State championship.

Go Wildcats.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my friend, Representative Andy Biggs, proposing a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution.

I was a proud cosponsor of this Republic-saving resolution, and I am proud to support it on the floor today.

I also thank Speaker Johnson for bringing this resolution to the floor and fulfilling a promise that was made when we passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

As our national debt rapidly approaches $39 trillion, Washington is long overdue for a heavy dose of fiscal responsibility. It is not just irresponsible anymore. It is a national disgrace, and it is time to put an end to it.

To put our debt into perspective, this year, the Federal Government expects to bring in just over $5.1 trillion in revenue but plans to spend almost $7.1 trillion. That is almost a $2 trillion deficit. Nearly $1 trillion of that spending goes to purely pay interest payments--no principal, purely interest payments--providing no new services, no investment, no return.

If this were a private business, no bank would keep lending it money, yet this is how our Federal Government operates today.

This trajectory is unsustainable. Global markets will not finance U.S. deficits indefinitely. When confidence in our ability to repay fades, we risk a true sovereign debt crisis--collapsed pensions, failing banks, and shuttered Federal programs.

Despite Democratic claims to the contrary, our debt crisis stems from unchecked spending, not a lack of revenue. Without serious reform, we face two damaging options: either, one, print more money, which fueled the Biden-Harris inflation surge; or, two, borrow more, which raises interest rates and slows growth.

Notably, my home State of Georgia must, by law, operate with a balanced budget, so why not our Federal Government? I have told my constituents that I aim to bring north Georgia values to Washington, and fiscal sanity is at the top of that list.

As a fiscal hawk and a member of both the Budget and Appropriations Committees, I look forward to voting ``yes,'' and I implore all of my colleagues to do the same. Let's pass this balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the life and legacy of North Hall High School teacher and coach, Jason Hughes.

Mr. Hughes was more than just a teacher. He was a beloved mentor and role model. From heading the math department and educating students in the classroom to coaching multiple teams and leading Bible studies, Jason met every opportunity with a simple, yet thoughtful, question: How can I serve you better?

Jason's service-driven life made an unforgettable impact on countless students, athletes, parents, and teachers throughout the North Hall community.

In addition to his passion for serving others, Jason was known as a devoted husband, loving father, and a man of deep faith.

Tragically, a terrible accident cut his remarkable life short too soon. I extend my deepest condolences to his wife, Laura, and their two sons, Owen and Luke, during this unimaginably difficult time. I ask that we continue to pray for comfort and healing over his loved ones and the North Hall community.

Mr. Speaker, may we take comfort in knowing that Jason is with our Heavenly Father, who welcomed him home with the words: Well done, good and faithful servant. ``Soli Deo Gloria''; ``To God alone be the glory.''

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the SAVE America Act, which implements commonsense measures backed by the vast majority of Americans, across party lines, to secure our elections and ensure that it is easy to vote but hard to cheat.

As my great State of Georgia knows all too well, we must do more to deliver secure elections. The survival of our constitutional Republic relies on free, fair, and secure elections.

Thankfully, this legislation bolsters election integrity by requiring a government photo ID to vote, requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, and directing States to remove noncitizens from existing voter rolls.

These are not controversial issues. In fact, leftwing CNN's own recent polling shows that 83 percent of Americans support voter ID, including the majority of Republicans and Democrats, as well as voters regardless of their race.

Who would oppose such a bill and why? Unsurprisingly, my Democrat colleagues oppose the SAVE America Act because it hurts the Democratic Party's ability to cheat in our elections.

Just think of all the things Americans need an ID for, yet face absolutely

no backlash from the Democratic Party. For example, to exercise another constitutional right, the Second Amendment, an individual must present a government-issued photo ID to purchase a firearm from a Federal firearms dealer. Yet, requiring identification to vote is somehow portrayed as controversial.

To underscore the Democrats' hypocrisy even further, in funding negotiations, Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are demanding that ICE agents show IDs to arrest illegal aliens. They support photo ID to enforce immigration laws but oppose photo ID to ensure our elections are secure. This is incredible hypocrisy.

In Proverbs 11:9, God says: ``The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor.'' That is exactly what Democrats are trying to do: destroy this country with their hypocrisy over voter identification.

Mr. Speaker, I support this act.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my good friend from Texas for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, the question I wanted to ask to my Democratic colleagues is

that since they have made it abundantly clear that Democrats strongly oppose photo identification in order to vote, now that is a First Amendment right, so am I correct in assuming that Democrats also strongly oppose a government-issued photo ID to exercise a person's Second Amendment right? So, therefore, no ID required to buy a firearm.

If they are going to be against voter ID to exercise a First Amendment right, then I would assume also that they would be against photo ID to exercise a Second Amendment right.

I have not seen any legislation from my Democrat colleagues to do that, so I really don't believe that. I think it is all a hoax.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of Representative Norman's amendment, which would prevent my constituents' hard-earned taxpayer dollars from funding woke earmarks and handouts to leftist NGOs that undermine President Trump's agenda and, alarmingly, support taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for children.

Buried in the minibus package is $14.3 million in earmarks for special interest projects across the country. At a time when our national debt is skyrocketing well past $38 trillion, Members of Congress should be focused on reining in wasteful spending and funding the essential functions of our government, not divisive handouts to NGOs.

Particularly concerning are the millions of dollars in earmarks going to so-called gender clinics and hospitals that push puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and even perform life-altering surgeries on vulnerable children.

This is not healthcare funding. This is not healthcare. It is promoting an ideology that harms children, sidelines parents, ignores common sense, and contradicts President Trump's executive order to restore biological truth and prevent the mutilation of our Nation's children. Plain and simple: Americans' taxpayer dollars should not be funding child mutilation.

Mr. Chair, I urge all my colleagues to adopt Representative Norman's amendment to stop this woke and weaponized funding.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Smith for holding tonight's Special Order. It is so very important.

Fifty-three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued one of the most horrendous and devastating rulings in its nearly 237-year-old history. On this solemn anniversary, we pause to remember the unborn babies who had their lives unjustly stolen under the evils of the Roe v. Wade decision.

This treacherous ruling paved the way for the murder of more than 63 million unborn children. These precious souls were denied their first and most fundamental right: the right to life.

Our Declaration of Independence rightly proclaims that we are endowed by our ``creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,'' and ``that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.'' That is right, the responsibility of government is to secure these rights, to preserve the right to life.

Our God-given right to life should be universally recognized as a blessing, not flagrantly disregarded in an attempt to justify the murder of innocent, unborn children.

While our Nation will never know the friends, colleagues, and leaders lost to the evils of abortion, it is our solemn obligation to honor and mourn these unborn lives. That is why, both this Congress and last Congress, I have proudly led a resolution to recognize today, January 22, as the day of tears.

In addition to this somber recognition, may we also give thanks to God Almighty for his gracious blessings of the victorious Dobbs decision, which effectively overturned Roe v. Wade.

Dobbs marks an incredible, historic victory in the fight to protect the unborn. Yet, we must remain ever vigilant, using every tool at our disposal to uphold and defend the sanctity of human life.

Tomorrow, I will be participating in the March for Life right here in Washington, D.C. As an unapologetic pro-life conservative, I am proud to be part of this fight because every life is invaluable, worthy, and made in the perfect image of God.

Mr. Chairman, in January, just days into the President's first term, Judge Deborah Boardman issued

a nationwide injunction using deeply flawed legal grounds against the administration's birthright citizenship order.

Months later, Judge James Boasberg attempted to halt the lawful deportation of violent Tren de Aragua gang members, even ordering a removal flight to turn around in midair. These are not isolated incidences. The D.C. Federal courts have become ground zero for lawfare.

This amendment sends a clear message: Unelected judges are not policymakers, and taxpayers should not be forced to fund judicial activism.

Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of the amendment.

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

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment to H.R. 4776, the SPEED Act, which will improve the bill's judicial standing provision to limit frivolous lawsuits and ensure that projects are not delayed by radical activist groups without actual material harm to themselves.

This amendment makes a simple but important clarification. It ensures that only material physical or property harm, not purely aesthetic, recreational, or emotional interests, qualifies someone to challenge a Federal agency action under NEPA.

As established by the bill we are considering today, NEPA is a procedural statute. Its purpose is to require Federal agencies to disclose and consider environmental effects before taking major actions, not to confer substantive environmental rights, or to serve as a tool for endless litigation.

The amendment aligns NEPA's judicial review provisions with that core purpose by anchoring standing in concrete, legally cognizant harms, rather than subjective or generalized interests.

By focusing standing on tangible harms, this amendment helps prevent NEPA from being used as a delay tactic in every dispute over administrative decisions, a tactic that too often slows necessary infrastructure and energy projects without materially improving environmental protection.

It ensures that courts remain a venue for adjudicating real disputes, where plaintiffs have demonstrable stakes, while preserving agency and judicial resources for the most serious and legally grounded claims.

At the same time, this amendment does not eliminate judicial review or impede legitimate challenges where there are real impacts. Stakeholders with substantive claims under existing environmental and land management statutes will continue to have full recourse to the courts under those laws.

What this amendment does is reinforce NEPA's role as a procedural check that it was intended to be.

For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to bring greater clarity and balance to NEPA's standing and to promote a more efficient and predictable permitting process, consistent with both environmental disclosure and responsible development.

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

Mr. Chairman, any frivolous lawsuit is one frivolous lawsuit too many. It is just not appropriate when we have legitimate actions to improve our economy and to make sure that America moves forward.

Chairman Westerman mentioned the 11 years that it took to build the Atlanta airport in my home State. Really, it took 18 months to actually break ground and build the airfield, but 9\1/2\ years for permitting. That is just not acceptable.

The Pentagon was built in just a little over a year. That could never happen today simply because of the permitting process.

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

Mr. Chairman, I think the Keystone XL Pipeline is another example of frivolous lawsuits and the years it took. Yet that pipeline still is not functional in its entirety.

Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close, and I simply want to read what my amendment says:

``Page 26, line 8, insert `, which shall not include aesthetic, recreational, or emotional interests unaccompanied by material physical or property harm' after `final agency action'.''

Mr. Chairman, that is concrete, and, therefore, I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I missed Roll Call No. 335 and Roll Call No. 336, as I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 335, and YEA on Roll Call No. 336.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the 2025 Southeastern Conference Champions, my alma mater, the University of Georgia Bulldogs.

Last Saturday, the Dawgs beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in dominant fashion, with a final score of 28-7. The win marks UGA's 16th SEC championship victory and the first back-to-back SEC titles since the 1980s.

I congratulate all the talented young men who put their everything into the game, especially to the Ninth District's own, quarterback and SEC championship game MVP, Gunner Stockton from Rabun County.

I also recognize the other incredibly talented Dawgs from George's Ninth District who helped clinch yet another SEC title: Well done to the city of Buford's KJ Bolden and Suwanee's London Seymour.

I congratulate the entire University of Georgia football team and coaching staff led by the legendary head coach Kirby Smart.

Now let's bring home yet another national championship. Go Dawgs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of restoring our Second Amendment rights.

Earlier this year, I worked diligently on and proudly voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on July Fourth. Due to my hard-fought efforts, this monumental law delivers the most significant legislative win for our Second Amendment freedoms in almost a century.

Throughout the negotiations, I fought to restore our Second Amendment rights, ultimately securing a measure to zero out the $200 tax on suppressors and short-barreled firearms under the draconian National Firearms Act. This tax had been on the books since 1934, representing both an unconstitutional and financial barrier to our Second Amendment rights. Thankfully, starting January 1, 2026, American citizens will no longer be subjected to this unnecessary and unconstitutional taxation.

However, the burdensome transfer and registration requirements linked to the zero tax have so far remained. Yet, it was Congress' clear intent to repeal the NFA registration by eliminating the NFA taxation. After all, the two are inseparably linked. Without the tax, the associated registration requirements no longer have a legal standing. In fact, had it not been for the radical, partisan Senate Parliamentarian, this intent would have been explicitly written in the bill text.

Apparently, what the Senate Parliamentarian didn't understand is the history and mechanisms of the National Firearms Act. Congress enacted the NFA in 1934, imposing an excise tax of $200, equivalent to nearly $5,000 today, on the manufacture and transfer of certain firearms.

Congress enacted the NFA pursuant to its taxing power under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court, in Sonzinsky v. United States, 1937, upheld the constitutionality of the NFA's registration and transfer provisions as ``supportable as in aid'' of Congress' proper exercise of the taxing power. Furthermore, the Supreme Court, in United States v. Constantine, 1935, held that a tax that doesn't generate revenue cannot be justified as a tax.

Therefore, NFA registration serves as the mechanism by which ATF accounts for the tax paid on each firearm, identified by its serial number. The tax stamp affixed by the ATF on an NFA application reflects both the firearm's serial number and the amount of tax paid for the transfer.

Moreover, the NFA's criminal provisions pertain exclusively to the failure to pay or register the payment of the tax with the ATF. The registry is a tax registry, a registry of the tax paid on each firearm cataloged by the serial number of each firearm.

Again, NFA registration and taxation are inseparably linked. You cannot have a registration of the tax paid on a firearm when there is no tax.

Last month, on Veterans Day, I led 30 of my House Republican colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi to reaffirm congressional intent behind the zeroing out of the NFA tax provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as well as to urge that the DOJ adopt this position in all litigation concerning this matter.

Unfortunately, the DOJ's recent brief in a lawsuit involving NFA registration defends the draconian NFA firearm registration and ignores congressional intent.

First and foremost, the legal argument to defend and keep the NFA registration simply isn't there, plain and simple. When the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated the tax on a broad class of firearms regulated under the NFA, the constitutional foundation for applying the NFA's transfer and registration requirements to those zero-tax firearms no longer exists. These requirements now improperly operate without any corresponding exercise of Congress' taxing power.

As the Supreme Court upheld the NFA's provisions only as ``in aid'' of that taxing power, and since the relevant excise taxes have been repealed, the transfer and registration requirements must likewise be understood as repealed with respect to the firearms now subject to the zero tax.

The Department's recent filing ignores this reality and instead offers a theory that would convert the NFA from a tax statute into a freestanding gun registry, an outcome Congress has never authorized and has repeatedly rejected. Even the 1986 Firearm Owners' Protection Act prohibited a Federal registration scheme: `` . . . nor that any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions be established.''

In addition, when Congress reduced the ObamaCare penalty to zero during President Trump's first term, the Department of Justice refused to defend the underlying flawed law. Clearly, the DOJ is fully empowered to decline to defend statutory provisions that no longer rest on a valid constitutional basis. It has exercised that authority before and must do so again here, this time in defense of Americans' Second Amendment rights.

When I came to Congress, I promised my constituents that one of my top priorities would be to not only fight to protect our Second Amendment rights but to restore what we have lost. The National Firearms Act of 1934 is an unconstitutional relic that has infringed on these liberties for far too long. We must take this historic opportunity to ensure both taxation and registration on suppressors and short barrels are gone for good.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation, H.R. 5107, the Common-Sense Law Enforcement and Accountability Now in DC Act, or affectionately known as the CLEAN DC Act for short because that is what it is intended to do, and that is to clean up the city of Washington,

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

Mr. Speaker, a point of order.

Mr. Speaker, a point of order.

Mr. Speaker, the point of order is you may not call the President of the United States a felon. That is a violation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend, Mr. Norman from South Carolina, for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this resolution censuring and condemning Delegate Stacey Plaskett from the U.S. Virgin Islands for inappropriate coordination with convicted

sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing and removing Delegate Plaskett from the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and referring her to the Ethics Committee for further investigation.

After 4 years of silence on this matter, there was not a peep during the entire Biden Administration. Let me repeat that. After 4 years of silence on this matter about Jeffrey Epstein, House Democrats are now demanding transparency and accountability surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.

While their fake outrage is clearly just another disgusting attempt to smear President Trump, House Republicans are taking this matter seriously and are working toward delivering the much-needed transparency and accountability that the American people deserve.

This resolution is accountability page 1. During the House Oversight Committee's ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, emails obtained by a congressional subpoena--that is right, it was a congressional subpoena--by the House Oversight Committee, not the discharge petition that just got voted on, but this is the Oversight Committee's congressional subpoena--has brought to light that in 2019, Delegate Stacey Plaskett coordinated her line of questioning with Jeffrey Epstein in real time over text messages during an Oversight Committee hearing featuring testimony from Michael Cohen.

Now, who is Michael Cohen?

Michael Cohen was the disgraced former attorney of President Donald Trump.

She was asking input from Jeffrey Epstein on how to best question Cohen, and Cohen was himself at that time a convicted felon from 2018.

So now that Republicans are exposing Democrat ties to Jeffrey Epstein and his vile crimes, the other side of the aisle has flipped. They apparently no longer want transparency or accountability.

Why?

It is because they don't want the truth. They want to weaponize a serious matter into a distraction all in an attempt to take down President Trump and to hurt his administration and what he is doing to Make America Great Again.

The actions taken by Delegate Plaskett reflect poorly on the House, and this body needs to hold her accountable.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote to adopt this resolution to show the American people that those who colluded with Mr. Epstein, including Members of the House, will be held accountable, and this resolution is the beginning of that.