Blake D. Moore

Mr. Speaker, today I honor the life of my constituent, Emma Anne Hill, who sadly passed away on September 29, 2026, at 25 years old. Emma was born with a congenital heart defect, known as pulmonary atresia. When she was born, doctors expected she would not live through the month, but Emma decided that wasn't enough for her. Emma spent her 25 years fighting through multiple surgeries, heart failure, pain, and challenges most Americans could not imagine, but she also spent her years determined to bring joy to her family and friends.

My heart is with Emma's parents, Casey and Kysha; her siblings, Porter, Claire, Adam, and Jane; and the community of people who love and have supported Emma and her family over the last 25 years. I am comforted to know that they will all be together again one day.

Emma was a friend to every person she met, spreading happiness, friendship, and joy--what her father has called as ``the Emma way.'' In her honor, I encourage all of us to be more like Emma.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in favor of the Protecting Domestic Mining Act.

Mr. Speaker, I also rise to give the ranking member, the gentleman from northern California, another opportunity to agree with a Utahn today.

I am very proud to co-lead this legislation, including this bill, with Representative Shreve and sincerely thank Chairman Westerman for his leadership on this issue.

This committee is about getting things done. This committee is about being productive, and it is an honor to have been on this committee and to continue to be associated with it.

I am glad to see this very important bill progress through our Chamber. It is no question that the American domestic mining industry is critical to our national security and our energy dominance.

In Utah alone, mining supports over 43,000 jobs and contributes over $5 billion to our State GDP annually. Across the country, those numbers jump to nearly 600,000 jobs and over $375 billion to our GDP.

Growth in this sector has historically been difficult. It takes an average of 19 years for a new mine to go through the permitting process. These delays unnecessarily burden our growing supply chain demands and create further reliance on Chinese mineral production.

The FAST-41 Program was a move in the right direction to ensure more efficient and predictable timelines when working with the Federal Government to open new mines. The increased coordination and cross- agency engagement are exactly the kind of improvements that our government needs.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration decided that only certain types of mines should be eligible for FAST-41. This bill corrects that decision and protects the eligibility of all hardrock mines.

We often speak about the importance of supporting domestic production and the risks associated with overreliance on countries that want to see us fail. We have a real opportunity to change our programs, to support domestic industry, promote American energy and national security, and fulfill our responsibility to make government work better for the people.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.

Mr. Speaker, I am excited to welcome my colleagues to speak with me tonight during this Special Order. I understand some of my colleagues have commitments, and I want to be respectful of their time. I will have them start us off before I provide some of my own comments.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Knott).

Mr. Speaker, I concur. The greatest sporting event of the year is always, of course, the Little League World Series. Thank you to the gentleman from North Carolina for highlighting it, and congratulations to that incredible team.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Kiggans).

Federal Government Should Work for American People

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from the Commonwealth of Virginia for her remarks. I appreciate all of the work that she does. She cares. I have been able to go throughout her district with her to her military bases. I know of nobody who understands the issues more than her and who cares about the issues of our servicemen and -women more than Jen Kiggans. I thank her for sharing that message with us tonight.

I now yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his remarks. I loved the opportunity to work with him on that bill.

As he brings up 199A, it is always fascinating. The one thing I wish we didn't have to go through back here--there is a long list of that, I guess--is the misrepresentation of that bill. The vast majority of it is targeted at small business and middle- and lower-income Americans. There is a constant, let me call it, like I said, misrepresentation of ``this goes to the billionaires and doesn't help the working class.''

Then explain to me why the child tax credit is income capped, so middle- and lower-income Americans are the ones who take advantage of it. Then you add in the standard deduction, things like 199A, those are all targeted at small businesses and lower- and middle-income Americans. It is frustrating and disheartening to constantly hear the misrepresentation from the left on that tax policy. It is what it is, unfortunately, but it is one of the things that really wears on you because it is just not accurate, and they know it, but it is where we are. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for sharing that.

I now yield to the gentleman from the great State, maybe the greatest State, I think we can call it the greatest State in the United States of Utah (Mr. Kennedy).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Kennedy) for his excellent words. They come from a place of firm understanding, being a physician and recognizing that the answers are not derived from Washington. I had it couched. I was talking with a colleague the other day, saying that the legislation of the working families tax cuts that we accomplished last year had the largest spending reductions in history. At the same time, it has provided more relief to families with respect to the tax policy than any piece of tax legislation that we have seen.

It is all focused on middle- and lower-income Americans. That is where the bulk of that comes from, and it gives them more opportunities and options to be able to choose their course, their decisionmaking, and their potential upward mobility.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for highlighting all of that.

Mr. Speaker, this week, we passed legislation to prevent another government shutdown and provide more time to make intentional decisions about the other Federal spending aspects that still need to be accomplished.

We acted early to keep the government open and made the investments needed to keep America running, putting the interests of families and businesses first. There was no last-minute crisis, just responsible government well ahead of the shutdown date. That keeps America moving forward.

This bill protects veterans, families in need, and our national security. It preserves programs for senior nutrition; women, infants, and children in the WIC program; housing assistance; veteran services; and disaster relief.

It provides the stability needed to meet critical national security obligations and maintain America's strength. It extends major highway, rail, and transit authorities, which gives States and communities certainty while longer term legislation will continue to move forward. Now, we will continue debating, discussing, and moving forward on that larger appropriations process. We are ensuring the process is committee-led and Member-driven, as it should be, with more transparency and accountability.

Last year's government shutdown hurt American workers and families. I am grateful both sides of the aisle came together to avoid another one.

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