Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, the American people deserve a transparent and bipartisan legislative process, but that is apparently not what the Democrat majority wants.

Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle continually manufacture crisis after crisis by waiting until deadlines are immediately upon us before addressing the issues at hand. And when we are up against a deadline, it gives the majority leverage to limit opposition and allows them to ram harmful bills through this House, claiming they are necessities.

They have done it with multiple continuing resolutions. They did it with the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act. And now, after having already punted responsibility once on the issue, they are doing it again on raising the debt ceiling, as a default looms less than a week away.

We must stop fanning the flames of fires where the tools exist to extinguish them. Democrats legislating in this manner creates uncertainty and spooks the market, which contributes to the twin economic crisis and energy crisis, both of which this administration has done nothing to address.

For our economy to truly recover, we must ensure the government is working efficiently and effectively on behalf of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Boys & Girls Clubs of Harrisonburg in Rockingham County, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary on December 21.

Since its founding in 1955, this organization has grown from just one location to now more than seven throughout the region. For the past two-and-a-half decades, they have worked to ensure children in Shenandoah Valley have a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment to call home after school.

They are committed to fulfilling their mission to help mold our region's youth into productive, caring, responsible citizens through programs focused on academic success, healthy lifestyles, good character, and citizenship.

Serving more than 900 kids annually, ages 5 to 18, for the past quarter-century, the positive contribution the group has had on the valley's youth is immeasurable.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the organization on its first 25 years of success and wish them many more. Our community is forever grateful for all they do.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Stuarts Draft High School cheerleading squad.

After COVID-19 shrank the number of teams that could make it to State tournament last spring, the Cougars fell just 2 points shy of qualifying for the 2020 competition.

Coming off of this defeat and facing the loss of nine seniors, the team was determined to redeem themselves in the 2021 season. After much hard work and determination, their efforts paid off, winning this year's Class 2 State championship.

The Cougars dominated the competition earning a score of 257.5 points with their closest competition trailing by 35 points. With this victory in the books, Stuarts Draft Cheer has now claimed the State title in 4 of the past 5 years--highlighting just how talented this team is.

Following the win, cocaptain Kay-Lee Freeman said:

To not even make it last year then come back to win, I just

feel so redeemed. People said there was no way we were ever

going to rebuild, but look at us now.

Congratulations again to the Stuarts Draft Cougars on this accomplishment. It is well-deserved.

Madam Speaker, increasingly across this Nation and here in Washington, the voices of victims are being drowned out by radicals on the left seeking to eliminate cash bail. These people would rather see criminals walk free on our streets than see the rule of law upheld and our communities protected.

Without appropriate incentives to appear before the court, we run the risk of defendants fleeing justice while victims and their families are left with nothing but fear and anguish.

We cannot allow our system to fail them as it did in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Prior to plowing into a Christmas parade, convicted felon and career criminal, Darrell Brooks, was released on an inappropriately low $1,000 bond after being arrested on a slew of charges. That is astonishing to me. With his record, Mr. Brooks' bail should have never been so low, if awarded at all.

So the next time my colleagues across the aisle suggest eliminating the cash bail system, I ask them to think of this tragedy and of the victims. Our bail system keeps criminals off the streets and our communities safe.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman for organizing this evening.

I am proud to join so many of my colleagues here tonight to stand up for the unborn. Since the tragic 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, more than 60 million preborn children in America have had their lives cut short. This is absolutely heartbreaking, and we must continue our efforts to end the devastating practice of abortion in America.

Fortunately, the pro-life movement grows stronger by the day, and there is an army of folks across this country who serve as voices for the voiceless and defenders of the defenseless.

One saying that gets repeated around this Chamber a lot is ``follow the

science.'' Well, science tells us that the preborn are, in fact, human beings. This is an undeniable fact. At 6 weeks, an unborn baby has a heartbeat. At 7 weeks, they develop pain receptors. By 10 weeks, an unborn child has arms, legs, fingers, and toes, and can begin to kick. At 15 weeks, a preborn human being has a fully developed heart.

Yet, through all of this time and well beyond, the pro-abortion movement believes this child has no right to life. But God willing, the ability to protect preborn life will soon be even greater in the United States.

The Supreme Court today heard arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson that will address the question of the constitutionality of previability bans on abortion. We must protect our unborn citizens, and I am hopeful that the Supreme Court will soon recognize that right to life.

Since the first day I was elected, I have worked to advance the truth that the pro-life movement supports. On this day, I am more committed than ever to ensuring that truth always prevails.

Madam Speaker, inflation rates are at a 30-year high, and gas prices are up 61 percent since last year. Why? Well, according to Joe Biden, it is because of the American Rescue Plan that this body passed in the spring. No less than the President himself said:

You got checks, but what happens if there is nothing to buy

and you got more money to compete for goods? It creates a

real problem.

Yes, Mr. President, it does create a real problem, and now you are trying to double down with this broke back better bill.

What does it do? It further harms the economy with $4.5 trillion in new spending, $1.5 trillion in new taxes, and $3 trillion in new debt. It benefits the wealthy with a SALT tax cut of $25,000 for millionaires, electric vehicle subsidies for couples making $500,000 a year, and government-funded paid leave for millionaires. It builds the bureaucracy with 150 new government programs, props up the Green New Deal, and weaponizes the IRS.

Madam Speaker, this is the wrong plan for the American people, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Madam Speaker, being a parent is a sacred responsibility, and every parent simply wants what is best for their kids. That is why, over the past year, we saw parents speak up at local school board meetings all across the country.

Whether it was pushing back against the radical teachings of critical race theory or voicing their opposition to mask mandates or allowing boys in girls' bathrooms, parents were standing up for their kids.

However, the National School Board Association deemed people exercising their First Amendment rights as domestic terrorists, and the Department of Justice used this narrative to launch investigations into parents.

Now we are learning from a whistleblower that the FBI was using antiterror tools to monitor parents and adding threat tags to files to track them. This is absurd. We should never criminalize parents for speaking up for their children.

To make matters worse, we now know the Attorney General lied under oath when he said there was no coordination between the DOJ and the National School Board Association. This administration has weaponized the DOJ for political gain and has chosen to stand with teachers unions over parents and students.

These actions are tyrannical, and Congress must know the extent to which parents were spied on.

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend for yielding and for sponsoring this evening's Special Order.

Madam Speaker, this week the Labor Department's consumer price index jumped 6.2 percent in October from a year earlier, reflecting an increase in the cost of goods and services as well as energy and food. Fuel costs surged 30 percent.

I have a quote from someone here in Washington about that. This politician said, ``By all accounts, the threat posed by record inflation to the American people is not transitory and is instead getting worse. From the grocery store to the gas pump, Americans know the inflation tax is real and DC can no longer ignore the economic pain Americans feel every day.''

Now, that wasn't my colleague, Congressman Johnson. That wasn't Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy or Congressman Jim Jordan. No. That was Senator Joe Manchin who said that just today. He is recognizing that not just West Virginians, but all Americans are feeling the pain at the pump, at the grocery store, and all across the economy.

It is coming from legislation that our President pushed earlier this year and that House Democrats helped get behind--the so-called American Rescue Plan. No less than our President himself said this about public frustration, ``And people are feeling it. They're feeling it. Did you ever think you'd be paying this much for a gallon of gas? In some parts of California, they're paying $4.50 a gallon.

``That's why it's so important that we do everything in our power to stabilize the supply chain.''

But what he did through passage of this American Rescue Plan is actually cause inflation to jump that much further forward, and he conceded on Wednesday that inflation is at a three-decade high because people have more money now as a result of the $1.9 trillion stimulus legislation.

And what has he proposed to do now?

Double down and spend an additional $2 trillion.

What does he think that will do to inflation in this country, Madam Speaker?

He has already said, ``And the irony is: People have more money now because of the first major piece of legislation I passed. You all got checks for $1,400. You got checks for a whole range of things. . . . It changes people's lives.

``But what happens if there's nothing to buy and you got more money? . . . It creates a real problem.''

He did say that, and it did create a real problem. It creates a problem to the tune of inflation rates at a 30-year high and gas prices up 61 percent from last year.

So if the President recognizes that his last multitrillion-dollar bill caused the economics peril we are facing, then why is he proposing spending an additional $2 trillion on social programs we don't need and we can't afford--150 new government programs?

Propping up the Green New Deal won't solve the economic crisis. Weaponizing the IRS against Americans won't lower inflation. Taxing middle-class families won't put more money in the people's pockets.

Do you know what would actually help get this country's economy back on track, Madam Speaker?

Fiscal responsibility. Americans want a Thanksgiving meal that won't be the most expensive in the history of the holiday, not a progressive wish list that will only make the situation worse.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Bernard Marie, who recently passed away at the age of 82.

As a young 5-year-old living in Normandy, France, Marie often told the story of being rushed into his basement by his grandparents in the early morning of June 6, 1944.

It was there that his family sat for 16 hours in the dark without food or water before his mother emerged from the cellar to hug an American GI after realizing their village had finally been liberated from German occupation.

Marie said that witnessing the D-Day invasion instilled in him a lifelong respect for World War II veterans, and he was forever grateful for those who secured his country's freedom.

Later in life, when he moved to the United States, he began hosting an annual luncheon to honor local World War II veterans wherever he was living to show his support for them and their families.

When he settled in Roanoke, Virginia, in 2021, he brought the event with him. These luncheons served as a place for veterans to come together and share their experiences--some for the first time.

Aside from the luncheons, Marie helped raise money for the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford. He sat at the bedside of servicemembers when they were ill. He even worked to award the French Legion of Honor medal to nearly 150 American veterans. He said that his goal was not only to honor these heroes but to ensure they were never forgotten.

I was terribly saddened to learn of Mr. Marie's passing. He meant a great deal to western Virginia, and he will not soon be forgotten.

Mr. Speaker, time and again I come to the House floor to highlight the out-of-control spending schemes of the House majority. But sadly, this falls on deaf ears as they continue their efforts to push leftist government-dependency bills through this Chamber.

When will the majority leader realize that there is a real-world impact to their fiscal irresponsibility?

Just this past quarter, the U.S. Gross Domestic Product slowed to a disappointing 2 percent, and real disposable income decreased 5.6 percent, that is after already having decreased 30.2 percent in the second quarter.

On top of all this, inflation has increased every month since Joe Biden was sworn in and prices are at a 13-year high. Gas alone is now averaging $3.39 a gallon--a 7-year high. With prices rising across the board, the average family is spending $175 dollars more a month on food, fuel, and housing in Biden's America. That is more than $2,000 a year.

Job growth has slowed dramatically, and the September jobs report fell 300,000 jobs short of what economists are predicting. This is in addition to massive shortages that have wrought havoc on our supply chain and left a record number of container ships waiting to enter our ports.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 50th anniversary of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Originally founded by Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr. as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971, its first classes were held that September for its 154 students.

Over the years, the college has grown and transformed in many ways, but has always remained a Christian academic community practicing the traditions of evangelical institutions of higher education.

The school was renamed Liberty Baptist College in 1975 and became Liberty University in 1985.

Now, Liberty University is one of the largest private nonprofit universities in the Nation and the largest university in Virginia, boasting more than 95,000 total undergraduate and postgraduate students, both in person and online.

As of 2021, Liberty has more than 250,000 alumni making an impact in their respective fields and in their communities.

I congratulate Liberty University and president Jerry Prevo on this milestone and wish the institution another 50 years of success in fulfilling its mission to develop Christ-centered men and women and instill in them the values, knowledge, and skills needed to impact the world.

Mr. Speaker, our Nation is facing avoidable crises on many fronts. Because of President Biden's and the Democrats' failed leadership, Americans are dealing with a border crisis, an inflation crisis, a spreading crime crisis, and a crisis in Afghanistan. And now, with the national average for a gallon of gas hitting $3.30 last week-- a 7-year high--we are also facing an energy crisis.

Let me be clear: the responsibility for this crisis belongs at the feet of none other than President Joe Biden. His anti-energy agenda has destroyed American jobs and ended America's energy independence. On his first day in office, the President killed 11,000 jobs by canceling the Keystone pipeline, and one of his first executive orders paused new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands and waters. That executive order alone will cost approximately 1 million American jobs in the near term and will decrease U.S. gross domestic product by $700 billion.

That same order also puts America's energy security at risk. To make up for slowed production in the United States, U.S. imports from foreign sources will increase by 2 million barrels a day, and through 2030 we would spend $500 billion more on energy from foreign suppliers. Instead of making it easier for American companies to increase American oil and gas production and hire more U.S. workers, President Biden begged OPEC and Russia to increase global output to ease rising prices.

It is a shame. The President has made us more reliant on dangerous adversaries overseas rather than maintaining policies that had us on the verge of energy independence.

It would be great if Joe Biden would reverse course and turn, once again, to an all-of-the-above American energy solution that ensures we are reliant on no one but ourselves; but, instead, I guess we are just going to have to lower our expectations.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 20th anniversary of the Community Foundation for Rockbridge, Bath, and Alleghany Counties.

In 2001, its first year as an independent organization, the Community Foundation was able to provide $32,000 in grants to the community. But through the support of many individuals, families, and businesses over the years, the organization has grown exponentially.

In the past 10 years, the Community Foundation has been able to grant a cumulative $2.5 million to nonprofit organizations, projects, and programs across the organization's service area. Just this year alone, the group will be awarding more than $300,000 in community grants and an additional $30,000 in scholarships.

These grants are made possible through the generosity of individuals and businesses and primarily support projects related to art and culture, community betterment, education, health, and human services.

In celebration of their 20 years, the organization pledged to give away $20,000 in 20 days to various nonprofits throughout our region. Their work is truly inspiring, and we thank them for their tireless efforts.

I wish the Community Foundation another 20-plus years of success.

Madam Speaker, since I came to Congress 3 years ago, I have made it a top priority to work toward improving our Nation's infrastructure. I have repeatedly advocated and testified for repairing and expanding our roadways and bridges across the Sixth District, including Interstate 81, the economic backbone of the Sixth Congressional District.

But the Senate agreement up this week allocates just $110 billion for roads and bridges, less than 15 percent of the total bill's funding.

Further, House Democrats are tying its passage to the $4.3 trillion tax-and-spend boondoggle they call human infrastructure.

The bill includes $7.5 billion to create a Civilian Climate Corps to promote the Green New Deal, $80 billion for the IRS to double the number of agents that will target American families and businesses, and provides a zero percent increase for Homeland Security as the Biden border crisis continues to worsen.

Additionally, the bill provides $42.3 billion in tax credits for the wealthy, while at the same time raising $2.1 trillion in higher taxes on the middle-class families and job creators.

With inflation on the rise and unprecedented levels of government spending driving up our national debt, we cannot afford this loaded legislative package.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose both of these bills when they come before the House.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize one of the greatest code breakers in American history, Agnes May Meyer Driscoll.

At the age of 29 Driscoll enlisted in the United States Navy in 1918 and was assigned to the code and signals section. While in this unit, she helped develop the machine called CM, later a standard enciphering device for the Navy in the 1920s.

She continued her work into World War II, where she was a vital part in breaking the Japanese Navy's JN-25b code, which gave Admiral Nimitz a crucial advantage at the Battle of Midway, a turning point in the war in the Pacific.

Nicknamed Miss Aggie and Madame X, Driscoll retired in 1959 at the age of 70. When she passed away in 1971, she was buried amongst fellow American heroes in Arlington National Cemetery.

Driscoll forever changed the field of cryptology and was rightfully inducted into the National Security Agency Hall of Honor in 2000.

It is a pleasure to recognize her service on behalf of the Colonel Thomas Hughart Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and her great nephew, retired U.S. Navy Captain Victor Meyer, who resides in Staunton, Virginia.

Our country is immensely grateful for Miss Aggie's service.