Floor Statements

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, we have several Members who are going to have a chance to speak here tonight. Tonight, of course, ahead of tomorrow's State of the Union Address, Members will share about ways the Biden administration has failed their constituents, from the border crisis, to the spike in violent crime, to out-of-control inflation, and also a need to protect the most vulnerable among us, the unborn.

I am grateful to host tonight's Special Order and provide the opportunity to highlight important issues facing families in every district.

I have said this for the last few years. As I have watched--and of course it is a political metric--I have seen the approval rating continue to decline and to decline and to decline from what we have seen from President Biden. It shows you that the American people are watching, and this is affecting their everyday lives.

For the most part--I would hope this to be the case--most Americans aren't necessarily paying attention to a lot of what we are doing here, and I hope they are happier and better off for it. A lot of the stuff that we do here doesn't necessarily resonate with them. They get frustrated with a lot of what we do here.

However, when you see that type of reaction from the American people, it is showing that the policies from the Biden administration are directly impacting and hurting their everyday lives. They are seeing it in so many different ways in their communities, in their families.

I am hopeful that, in my role as vice chair of the Republican Conference, I am committed to doing it and helping other Members credibly communicate how this is affecting their constituents' lives.

Additionally, today, we use that opportunity to be able to share a little bit about what is going on and hopefully offer some solutions, as well, to how we can better address this and how we can counteract so many of President Biden's failed policies.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), to kick things off tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his comments. Of course, when they become personal stories is when they become the most tragic.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Maryland for his remarks. It has happened to me before as well, so he is welcomed for being able to clear that up.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Payne).

Mr. Speaker, I say to the gentleman from New Jersey that that was the easiest request I have had all year. I appreciate hearing the stories of his father and I, of course, offer my condolences to him. It is an honor to be able to hear stories of his father's extraordinary life and service. I thank him, sir.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for this time and opportunity to be able to share more of what we are trying to highlight this week.

It is a very important week as is any State of the Union and every State of the Union should be important. Regardless of your party affiliation, this is a moment to hear from our President and to compare and contrast in a lot of cases policy differences, but also highlight where it is that we do agree.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose), the current gold medal standard bearer in our competition. I am having a Tennessee heavy day today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee and I appreciate his message and his involvement as we try to use this medium to communicate with the American people. Oftentimes, a cable news interview here or there gets a lot more hits than social media, but we need to be speaking to the American people from the House floor and this is a great opportunity to do so.

I am going to share in buckets a message that I hope that I can really drive home. My whole entire objective for being back here, personally, not necessarily in my role as vice chair of the Conference, but my personal objective to be back here is to rein in wasteful spending and to deal with our debt and deficit crisis that we are facing.

I will get a chance this evening to share more context for that.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers), the Chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Committee from the greatest half of the country out West with me. We get overlooked quite a bit. I hear some scoffing going on in the Chamber, but we all know that it is very important and the entire Nation is reliant on the West for things that matter, second only to tourism, but all the other critical things that we need.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Washington for her remarks.

As Members of this body know, we began this year, the U.S. national debt, surpassing $34 trillion. We have seen Members from both sides of the aisle talk about this extensively. We have had debates on this growing national debt for decades now and as I mentioned moments ago, it is the reason I am back here.

It is the reason that I missed my son's little league playoffs last night, which they made it to the championship and suffered a tough loss, but they played their hearts out. The only way that I can go back home and tell my 11-year-old, hey, son, sorry for missing your little league game here and there and the many games that I have to miss is because I can also counter that with I am doing everything I possibly can to make sure that your future mimics what my future looked like.

Candidly, mine is even going to be in a position of very heavy debt in my major working years, but we have to recognize that this will limit our next generation more than any other factor. The fact that interest alone will be the second largest budget line item in our Federal outlays within a year or two is the most concerning thing that keeps me up at night.

Yes, I will continue to talk about this. I will continue to debate this. I sit on the Ways and Means and Budget Committees, which I believe is where the vast majority of the work can be done here.

Ways and Means because it covers the programs, the large government programs that get established and never voted on again. In Budget we can set the tone, we can set the stage for what we all try to coalesce around as the people's House.

This debt puts a strain on not only the country's finances, but American families' pocketbooks. It goes particularly to what we saw with inflation. As I entered into Congress in 2021, January 2021, just a few months after President Biden or maybe a month or two after President Biden took office, and the Senate had just switched to Democrat controlled, so Senator Schumer took over as majority leader in the Senate and Republicans had a very strong November few months prior to that, but didn't quite take over the majority, what took place in Congress, in Washington is what you call one-party rule.

During one-party rule, what you are allowed to do is every budget cycle--and it is a little bit of a gray area, but once a budget cycle, you can pass a bill on party-line votes. You don't need the filibuster in the Senate anymore. You can bypass that and you can go big with your legislation.

Republicans and Democrats have used this over time. President Biden decided to use this for what is called the American Rescue Plan. The American Rescue Plan in its entirety was basically a $2 trillion bill that had no offset spending and was directly related to the inflationary pressures that our Nation experienced after that.

Inflation happens because of the monetary supply issue, with too much money chasing too few goods. That is what that bill was. It was a massively inflationary bill.

It wasn't the only cause. We were coming out of COVID. We were having supply chain issues. Those were all factors. We saw 40-year high inflation, and it was just months after the congressional Democrats and President Biden, on party-line votes, passed the American Rescue Plan. It wasn't much of a rescue. We saw 17-plus percent inflation, and that varied among different types of goods and services, but it was insane. The American people bore the entire brunt of that.

To tame this inflation, how you do this, the Fed goes through their process. They raise interest rates. That is a significant factor in how you tame inflation. However, the other piece that was not coincidental, Republicans took back control of the House of Representatives. With that, we were able to clamp down on President Biden's massive spending initiatives, from the Inflation Reduction Act to the American

Rescue Plan. Those were two of the largest that went fully on party- line votes.

In addition were all the other things that were in the works and needed to be addressed. Some even earned bipartisan support, but the $5 trillion--we were talking about over $5 trillion of new spending-- directly goes to massive inflationary pressure. Republicans clamped all of that down.

Then we went through the process of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. Last June, Speaker McCarthy negotiated a way to take a look at our appropriations process, among many other things, like permitting reform and other things that were very positive out of that bill and actually find a way to do what has not been done in my time here for sure, but probably within the last decade when you could take a look at our appropriations process and say, look, let's continue to support defense and veterans, and let's find wasteful spending in the other 10 or so bills that go through the appropriations process.

We did part of that today where we were actually able to break that trend of maintaining parity between those two things. That has been something that has been important to my Democratic colleagues: If we are going to support defense and veterans, you need to also make sure that you support all these other bills.

We were able to break that parity between the two and find real wasteful spending that was going on, and we came together. We came together today in an overwhelmingly positive vote to finish a portion of the appropriations process and find more wasteful spending. We are going to put that on a lower trajectory.

With House Republicans being in the majority, our plan is to clamp down on the massive spending proposals that you saw from President Biden in his first term; and then as a secondary approach, we are going to take the normal things that we do back here, the things that are a part of the standard of what we do need to accomplish with an annual budget and find areas of waste, and we have been able to successfully do that.

I love being a part of that. I came back here, like I mentioned, to deal with our growing debt and our deficit, find wasteful spending and create policies that don't do what happened in 2021 and 2022. President Biden took over with inflation in the range of less than 2 percent, and it climbed more rapid than anything. We are still feeling the struggles with that. Homeowners who are trying to purchase a home are paying mortgage rates that they shouldn't have to be paying that are so incredibly high. That was the reaction to that massive inflation, and that comes directly from Washington and from bad policy.

House Republicans effectively forced President Biden to recognize it and kind of put that on hold. We did our part with respect to inflation by controlling the monetary supply. You have to raise interest rates and you have to control the monetary supply because massive government spending always leads to inflation. Every economist will agree on that. They don't usually agree on much. Our job the last year and change has been to be able to show the American people how we are being responsible on a fiscal footing.

Some other ways the Republicans are working to lower costs for families and taxpayers include fighting back against President Biden's student loan agenda. The administration has attempted to circumvent the rule of law and leave hardworking Americans who didn't go to college with a $559 billion bill to cover these unpaid student loans. In December, House Republicans passed legislation that would put a stop to this reckless and unfair proposal.

House Republicans have also led the charge on a progrowth tax policy.

Before I get into that, I get this question a lot when I go and do townhalls back home, and I love to be able to engage on this concept of student loans. For the most part, particularly in Utah, people are categorically frustrated with President Biden just forgiving loans years after the fact. That approach was deemed unconstitutional. Then he has taken another angle, and he keeps trying to do this.

My opinion on this--and I believe it would be strongly backed by good research and data--is that if the government is just going to forgive loans, A, you obviously have more of a deficit issue because those loans have been given out in a government-spending approach knowing that some of that would ultimately come back with whatever interest is charged on those things.

If we just forgive that, there is obviously a deficit issue there, but if you forgive that, another aspect is we are creating a culture, and it is going to teach my children that there are no consequences. It is like: You will be fine. At some point this will be forgiven, and you don't necessarily have to plan and be productive with this. I think that resonates with most people, particularly back in my home State.

The third piece is something that I get into a lot with a lot of folks that they are not necessarily thinking of. The fundamental problem with what is going on with all of our entire student loans, student tuition universe is that tuition costs are rising so fast that students are having a tough time getting out ahead of it.

If we, as a Federal Government, signal to those institutions, those educational institutions, hey, you know, we know you have been raising your rates a lot, but we are also just going to start forgiving a lot of this stuff, do you think that puts pressure on those institutions to actually keep their costs under control, to constrain what they are doing?

No. They are feeling that they can actually continue to raise rates as well because people are going to be more inclined to just borrow more.

Folks, that is a recipe for disaster. It is a bad cultural aspect, but it does not communicate to the institutions. I love representing the universities that I do back in Utah. I know my colleagues are so sick and tired of me talking about how great Utah is, when I hide behind numbers like first in economy and first in volunteerism, and all these amazing things that we are first in--I am getting some looks here right now--but they deep down know how amazing Utah is.

My intent on this is not just completely boastful--that is part of it--but to just highlight the fact that universities across the State of Utah are heavily focused on ROI. You can go and speak to their administration and hear about what they are doing: dynamic credentialing, a dual-mission program.

Before I sound so ruthless by saying we shouldn't forgive loans, the State legislature in Utah--a very strongly conservative State legislature--has provided an opportunity for juniors and seniors in high school to have free tuition at tech centers so they can go learn to be an EMT or a welder. They can go learn to have a skill or trade, a computer science degree, work in audiovisual. They can take that and if they want to create a career out of it, being an apprentice electrician, a plumber, they have an opportunity to go and start building their career. If they take that and start doing that work, they are actually going off to a 4-year degree where they are working at a higher-paying job keeping their tuition down. All of our universities are focused on ROI. It is not out of just sheer, oh, I just don't like President Biden's tuition plan. It is not going to accomplish what it needs to accomplish.

I just want to continue to highlight these specific economic factors that we have enough information and data to prove: This is why inflation is caused, and this is how you get out of it. It is painful to get out of it, but I really do appreciate being part of the House Republican Conference that is controlling the monetary supply, limiting government spending, and signaling to the markets that we are trying to do something about this debt and deficit.

We are going to use the debt ceiling opportunity to say, look, in order for us to increase the debt limit, we are going to have to make changes, and we have got to actually implement some of that today. It has been an awesome thing.

I am happy to share all of this as much as I can. I will continue to do so, but we have the opportunity now to hear from the great State of Pennsylvania, Dr. Joyce will share his message. I appreciate his constant involvement in making sure that we can use this opportunity and floor speeches to

communicate not only to his constituents but to those who are paying attention and willing to hear us out. We have so many things we want to be covering.

I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce).

I thank the good doctor from Pennsylvania. Now to another Western State, which we have established is so important to our Nation, all the factors that we provide to those East Coast elitists and everything east of the Mississippi.

I welcome the gentleman from California to share his message this evening. In tomorrow's state of the Union, we will hear from our President. We need to hear this message. Again, we will compare and contrast. We will find unity on certain things, but it is incredibly important for us as House Republicans to highlight the concerns that we have, which are many.

I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California, and I think he summed up every State of the Union that has ever existed quite well.

There will be areas and opportunities of unity and things that we can be focused on together. I am hopeful that we can use this as a case to talk about the real issues that we are having and the fundamental problems but also solutions.

We know them. We can talk energy policy. We can talk immigration policy. We can talk economic policy. I can do that all day long.

I will wrap up here as to not belabor it but to just point out: Rise above it, President Biden. Rise above it. Look back to the previous administration's policies with things regarding the remain in Mexico policy, the Migrant Protection Protocols.

It is a simple concept. You cannot just say Mexico won't do it. President Trump and Vice President Pence forced the issue with our Mexican neighbors, and they got them to agree this was good for both countries. Whatever limits cartel activity is good for both nations.

Don't hide behind the fact that there is a partnership with Mexico, and you can't do it because of that. It is simple data that shows we can be effective, create these relationships, and improve our situation at the border dramatically with just that one change.

That is just one of many different types of executive actions that you can take. We have already passed it. You can't say we are not willing to legislate on this issue because we have already passed it. The Senate refuses to take it up. The House passed it. The Senate refuses to take it up.

Take some action, President Biden. Talk to your Senators and to Senate Leader Schumer and convince them that there are opportunities there. There are things we can do to reverse some of your bad policies.

Don't just look at the previous administration and say, all right, I have to do everything different from them, and then all of a sudden, it leads to these catastrophic events.

Take a look at data, see what works, and implement it. It is as simple as that. It is what the American people recognize, and we have to be willing to follow it.

I highlighted a lot of things about economic policy, from inflation to everything. Those are things that affect every single American. If we just focused on energy policy, economic policy, and immigration policy, we could really make an improvement for Americans across this great Nation and set ourselves up for success.

I hope I will be able to hear some of that. I am not hopeful that we will hear productive solutions. There might be plenty of rhetoric spewed, but we have to be able to find a way to get those three things that matter most and that affect my constituents and those from every single district across the Nation the most.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to honor the exceptional accomplishments of Carla Jean Martinez who currently serves as the National President for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) Auxiliary. She is the first veteran to hold this position. She is a dual member of both the VFW Auxiliary and the VFW and is also an All-American District Commander with VFW Post 409 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ms. Martinez's life serves as an exemplary model of selfless, patriotic service. Born in South Carolina, she joined the United States Navy in 1981, embarking on an honorable career as a cryptologist until her retirement in 1997. Her military service spanned the globe, including assignments in Japan, England, Korea, Virginia, and at the Pentagon. Whether stationed overseas or at home, Ms. Martinez consistently distinguished herself through unwavering commitment to her country. She was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal in recognition of her exceptional military service.

Following her military retirement, Ms. Martinez moved to Utah and married Stanley Martinez in 2001. Her son, following in her footsteps, served in the United States Air Force. Shortly after retiring, Ms. Martinez joined the VFW Auxiliary and dedicated countless hours to serving fellow veterans through the VFW and at VA hospitals.

I express my deep gratitude to Ms. Martinez for her decades of dedicated service and sacrifice. She epitomizes courage, selflessness, and unwavering commitment to her fellow veterans and the Nation.

It is my honor to recognize her accomplishment as the first veteran to serve as the National President for the VFW Auxiliary.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 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, tonight, Members will cover a variety of topics, as will I. We will cover particularly the Biden administration's war on American energy.

I am going to make a very, very clear point on what is going on with the Biden administration's foreign policy. While he limits and restricts what American exports can do with respect to liquefied natural gas, it makes it harder for our allies to have their energy needs met. It forces them to turn to Russia, where Russia can make revenue to wage war in Ukraine.

If every American could actually understand what is going on, the U.S. is not allowed to export LNG to our allies overseas, at which point Russia can then continue to sell to desperate nations with these energy needs. They take that revenue and wage war on Ukraine. We are now constantly pushing to be able to spend more U.S. tax dollars to go to Ukraine.

Wouldn't it be more productive to make strong energy policy to limit what Russia can do overseas? We would be in a better position to help Ukraine, which I am very supportive of. We are going to make this point.

We will talk about the impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, China's poor treatment of the Uyghurs, and President Biden being unfit for office.

Mr. Speaker, as we talk about these important topics and House Republicans' legislative efforts this week, I want to take a moment to share this story and honor the memory of Tamir Adar.

Tamir was a 38-year-old father of two who was killed defending his home and loved ones from Hamas on the morning of October 7. His body was mercilessly abducted to Gaza by terrorists and remains there today.

Tamir was part of the kibbutz's emergency response squad on the morning of October 7. He bravely left his home at 6:30 in the morning, while warning his wife and two children to shelter in place. He died protecting a neighborhood where he had lived his entire life, ensuring that his family would survive.

I stand here today to demand that Hamas return Tamir's body to Israel immediately, along with every single one of the 133 remaining hostages. Hamas continues to violate every norm and international humanitarian law, subjecting its hostages to horrific conditions without access to medical care from the International Red Cross.

This cannot continue. Israel has proven its willingness to pause the fighting for hostages to be returned home. Unsurprisingly, it was Hamas who broke the first hostage deal just as it broke a cease-fire that was in place before October 7.

Now it is time for the United States to stand with Israel as it seeks to destroy Hamas, free its citizens, and return the bodies of the fallen back to where they belong.

The U.S. must also put pressure on Qatar and other regional partners with

ties to Hamas to increase their own leverage on this terrorist group to immediately free all those it is holding captive. It is time to bring Tamir's body home. My sincerest thoughts and prayers are with his family as they mourn his loss.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) for the first remarks of the evening.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania, and I appreciate his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from that same wonderful State of Tennessee (Mr. Rose).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin) to hopefully talk about what is going on at the border. I think that part of the confusion--and I get a lot of this from constituents--is the difference between immigration reform and border security. It is something that is being lost right now in the dialogue in our country about the acute nature of the issue. We have absolute immigration reform that both parties need to come together on and figure out a path forward. There are many things associated with that. However, addressing border security is the acute issue that is allowing fentanyl to become ubiquitous in every one of our communities.

So if you are not talking about the border, I apologize for leading you in that direction, but you have been an incredibly sound voice on that. I appreciate the guidance that I have had as a Member from Utah not dealing with it as closely as you, but that is affecting all of us.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his remarks. I appreciate it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser), my good friend and colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for his remarks. I saw an interview this weekend with Secretary Mayorkas. He basically made an admission that the remain in Mexico policy is effective.

Many on the left will say it is an effective way to control our border. It doesn't feel like there is debate on that. What Secretary Mayorkas said was, well, it could be challenged in the courts. However, every single executive action can be challenged in the courts. That is, unfortunately, where we are in our Nation right now, in this ping- ponging situation from one administration to the other.

Yes, the remain in Mexico policy may be challenged in a court situation. Somebody could run a lawsuit against this. It could find its way to various levels within our judicial system. The policy works, though. We saw that. We have evidence of that from the Trump and Pence administration on working with Mexico in a partnership to limit the amount of cartel activity that exists, that is killing people, trafficking people, and creating a fentanyl crisis in every single community in this country. Yes, it might actually be challenged in the courts, but implement it. We know that it works, and we will work through it.

If there were leadership, Democrats would admit that it has been effective. Well, take the leadership to tell Congress we should pass this into law. If you don't like every aspect of H.R. 2, there is one really important aspect of H.R. 2 that, if we could agree on, we could pass legislatively, which you keep calling for.

Even Secretary Mayorkas says Congress needs to fix the problem. Well, encourage Democrats to vote in favor of the remain in Mexico policy. We have data to show that it works.

This is what is the frustration. What we can do to fix most of the acute

issues at our border is right in front of us. It is beyond me that we can't look at a good policy, take data, and be able to reimplement it.

We will continue to sound the alarm on this and call out the nature of why the Biden administration is so inept at doing this.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy), my good friend. I assume that he will highlight some of this as he gives his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the remarks of the gentleman from New York. I have seen the passion he has demonstrated for his constituents in numerous ways.

I now yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Self). I appreciate his willingness to share his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his remarks.

I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman). I thank him for his willingness to share his thoughts. I appreciate it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin for his comments. I appreciate his focus on this very, very important issue.

I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), my good friend and colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the gentleman from California. Horrible energy policy, horrible immigration and border policy, mental incompetency--these are all great Valentine's messages today.

Thank you to many of my colleagues for their willingness to come and share their thoughts and talk about these important issues.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), a distinguished gentleman and very good friend and colleague. It is hard to pick your favorite member of the Arkansas delegation, so I won't do that now, but he would be in my top four.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).

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

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

Madam 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.

Madam Speaker, with no shortage of topics to discuss and cover today, the House of Representatives just recently passed the Protecting Health Care for all Patients Act, a crucially important bill. I commend the leadership of Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers from the Committee on Energy and Commerce to get it done today.

I appreciate my colleagues joining me today to share their messages regarding the ongoing turmoil and unnecessary strain on our border due to President Biden's inability to get that under control, as well as other topics, from women's sports and beyond.

They have come to share their messages and speak to not only America but their own district.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean), a good colleague and friend representing the Fourth District.

Madam Speaker, I can't overemphasize the point about fentanyl enough, and I am glad the gentleman made it again.

That was something that was top of mind, as I just had constituent meetings in Utah, particularly with law enforcement, in trying to squelch this overabundant invasion of fentanyl. It is catching people in situations that they would have otherwise not gotten into. It is overtaking our communities, and we need to communicate about it and have it addressed.

Fentanyl becomes more and more the clear topic that we need to get out ahead of, and I think that is something that is motivating the Republican Conference more than anything to address this border issue.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose) for his willingness to always show up and share his message. His constituents and Americans alike appreciate it.

Madam Speaker, I am from Utah's First, and I call it the best district. I believe California is also the First District, so we will also call it the best district.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa), the first best district.

Mr. Speaker, I served on the Natural Resources Committee with the gentleman from California. The point that we continually tried to make is that American innovation and American leadership need to be invested in.

The policies that are playing out and the rhetoric and all of hyperbole, it moves us away from improving the situation on anything related to energy. It is fascinating. He and I had a chance to spend a lot of time on that.

To further emphasize and discuss the bill we just recently passed, the Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act, is an incredibly important voice within our conference, from Pennsylvania's 13th District, and a physician himself. I look forward to hearing his thoughts.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce).

Madam Speaker, I thank the doctor from Pennsylvania for his remarks. I appreciate his support on the bill and communicating the importance of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I welcome the gentleman from the Sixth District of Virginia to share his remarks.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the nearby State of Virginia (Mr. Cline).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Virginia for sharing his perspective from his district just west of here. I think that is the point. A lot of folks come up and use this time to share a message in speaking to their constituents, but across the country this impacts everywhere. We use the terminology that every State is a border State, but it does impact everywhere.

Madam Speaker, again, we passed a very important healthcare bill today. Healthcare policy is oftentimes misunderstood and difficult to really communicate. That has continued on for decades.

I want to highlight some of the aspects of this bill that we just recently passed out of the House of Representatives. Before doing so, I wanted to use this moment to also highlight something that I have done from this podium before on why this moment, when we talk about all the crises that are going on--we have major turmoil going on in the Middle East, we have a border crisis, and we have inflation running rampant-- in all of these different areas, I want the American people to know my perspective.

I want my constituents to know that right now the political reality is that we have what is called split government. We have a White House with a Democratic President and a Democratic Party. We have a Senate controlled by the Democratic Party, and we have a House of Representatives controlled by the Republican Party.

What the Republicans in the House of Representatives have been trying to do for just over the year that we have had as the majority--for a time we were in the minority--is to just highlight several different things.

Let me speak very plainly. The American Rescue Plan was passed several weeks after President Biden was inaugurated. What took place then was everything switched in Washington. When we have a split government like we do now, we usually, hopefully, get outcomes like we did with the tax package last week where Republicans and Democrats on committee sat down, looked through the entire Tax Code and realized that certain provisions had expired. They tried to uncover what the important aspects were of what we needed to accomplish.

We came to an amazing tax package that I have celebrated. I have celebrated along with my committee members; I have celebrated along with the entire House of Representatives and back home. I am so proud of the work that we did there. Oftentimes that is what creates a lot of really good results.

Returning to the American Rescue Plan, it was a $1.9 trillion bill that within months created some of the worst inflation our Nation has seen in four decades. It is simple. When we add that much monetary supply and we have too much money chasing too few goods, then there is only one equation, and it is inflation.

When the Republicans took over the House of Representatives this last cycle, it is being reported all the time now that inflation is sort of squashed. These are simple equations. Republicans are putting the clamps on what President Biden tried to massively spend during his time when he had the White House, the House, and the Senate, because in that scenario, Madam Speaker, you don't have to even dialogue with the other party. I am proud of the work that Republicans have done in that scenario.

So I use that as an example. That is a simple equation. It is basic economic fundamentals. If we don't load up the monetary supply so much then you won't create this type of inflation, and we have been doing that. Prices are still high because a lot of these prices are here to stay, unfortunately. After a massive inflationary period, those prices stay high, but inflation is down. I am thrilled to have been a part of it and to be able to put the clamps on the Biden administration's spending appetite and get this back to a reasonable level.

The point that I am trying to draw a correlation on is we have been hitting this border issue for 3 years now, and we are going to continue to do this. It is now clear from all of the data and all of the polling--colleagues of mine from the Democratic side recognize that this isn't just a post-pandemic issue where we are overloaded on the border--we have a fundamental issue.

The thing that I am appreciative of on my side is just highlighting very specific and simple things that could be done to fix this. I wish we could do it legislatively, but they don't even need to be done legislatively. They are

simple things like re-implement the Migrant Protection Protocols or the remain in Mexico policy. This is the strongest signal to the cartels that says: You can't overrun our borders because through this asylum process, you will get put in the system, you will get a spot and you will get your case heard, but you are not allowed to be released.

It is the most simple and basic policy. If President Biden wanted to truly effect positive change at the border, then he would just re- implement things like the catch and release program. There are simple fixes to that, and I have highlighted it over and over again. I will continue to do that and to call this out. Hopefully, we can.

Even going forward, it is a tumultuous time in the House of Representatives and in the Senate right now about figuring out where to land on some of these negotiations. We cannot give up just because things seem difficult or overwhelming. We have got to be willing to find a way to massively improve our situation at the southern border.

Again, back to the legislation that we covered today and that we recently passed. This is another step to improve our healthcare system and ensure all patients get access to the best treatments and care that they need.

Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers' Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act will help ensure the value of lifesaving cures and treatments for people with disabilities is not discounted.

The bill will provide all Federal healthcare programs, including the VA and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, as well as federally funded State healthcare programs like Medicaid, from using prices that are based on quality-adjusted life years or similar measures. Quality- adjusted life years are intended to measure the value of medical interventions relative to someone's condition and how it will impact the patient's longevity.

Nonetheless, this can devalue certain patients' lives and lead to picking winners and losers, ultimately taking the decision out of the hands of patients and their healthcare provider. A ban on quality- adjusted life years currently only applies in Medicare, so by extending this prohibition to all Federal payers, we show people with disabilities and chronic illnesses that we value and cherish their lives and their ability to get the care they need.

This is particularly important in Medicaid and the VA. Medicaid serves a large population of people with disabilities, and the VA, as we know, cares for injured veterans and those with service-related disabilities like the brave men and women who serve at Hill Air Force Base in Utah's First Congressional District.

This policy also protects the ability of payers to use utilization management tools and other measures to determine cost effectiveness to keep our healthcare costs down, so long as those measures are not discriminatory.

The Protecting Health Care for All Patients Act is widely supported by leading advocacy organizations that support vulnerable patients with chronic diseases or people with disabilities ranging from The ALS Association, to Autism Speaks, to the National Down Syndrome Society among many, many others.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Rodgers for her passion for these issues. I urge the Senate to take this up and to seriously consider it, not to look on party lines, and pass this legislation. There is merit to this, and it will go and serve vulnerable populations.

Again, Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for being willing to come and share their message. I appreciate their willingness to always come and do this and be a part of our Special Order.

I will end with just saying there are simple fixes to a lot of this, and we cannot continue to make it so difficult.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024.

Not a lot of legislation actually affects every single American. Today, we get a chance to actually pass a piece that does. Folks back home hear a lot of the drama that we do, and they hear what gets put in the headlines, but never have I seen neighbors of mine, literally coaches that I coach with say: Look, this is a killer for my small business. Losing the R&D tax credit has destroyed my ability to grow my small business.

This affects every single American and will be one of the most productive, positive, progrowth tax policies that this Congress and Congresses to come will do.

Mr. Speaker, due to plane mechanical issues delaying my flight, I was unable to vote today. Had I been present, I would have voted: ``yea'' on rollcall No. 20 and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 21.

personal explanation

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, this week, House Republicans are doing important work to support pregnant women and mothers. As thousands of people across the Nation join together this week to promote their pro-life cause, we are grateful for the chance to do our part on the legislative level and bring two critical bills to the floor, the Pregnant Students' Rights Act and the Supporting Pregnant and Parenting Women and Families Act.

We are also continuing to hold the Biden administration accountable for their policy failures at the southern border. Time and time again we are up here talking about this. We are visiting the border. We are, as the House GOP, intently focused on making some what should be very simple fixes to be able to reduce the ability for the cartels to run the border and to set so many people up for failure with this entire topic. We are going to continue to sound this alarm.

Since President Biden has taken office, there have been 8 million illegal crossings nationwide and over 6.7 million encounters at the southern border. It is unacceptable, and we just passed a resolution denouncing the administration's open border policies that are threatening the safety of our communities.

These are important items and important legislative topics. We have several colleagues of mine here to share their thoughts on this approach.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Smith) for the first remarks of the evening.

Mr. Speaker, I joined the gentleman last week at our legislative markup on this exact topic. The point we were trying to make is in this situation, particularly with TANF dollars, we need to be able to provide more care and stretch those dollars to support as many situations as possible.

This is an unneeded rule. It is targeted at groups that are trying to do right by their communities and support women going through very difficult situations as best as they can.

So continuing, as we have been doing these Special Orders, Mr. Speaker, we have had an overwhelming number of individuals, particularly from Texas, as the border issue continues to just rage on affecting those communities acutely, and other States are becoming a border State because of it.

Our Representatives from Texas are so passionate about this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the 14th District of Texas (Mr. Weber) to give a message on both the border and a pro-life message.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his comments. I echo his sentiment of how simple and best it can be for the American people. It is just baffling that we can't have the administration understand this. I appreciate so many credible Members coming down and sharing their message from their own districts.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas' 36th District, Representative Brian Babin.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for his very clear message on navigating solving this issue.

Again, I reiterate: There are simple policy fixes that would take off an enormous amount of strain at our southern border. We have got the data to show that these policies are effective. I don't want to oversimplify it because I know this is Congress, but the immediate fixes can be so simple, and we have to quit empowering the cartels to put people in these situations.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the Sixth District of Tennessee, Representative John Rose.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Rose for his heartfelt message on a very important week for this particular topic.

I yield to the gentleman from the Second District of South Carolina (Mr. Wilson), my former colleague on defense matters extraordinaire. I appreciate all his work in that regard.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Wilson's message during this very important week.

I yield to the gentleman from the First District of California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the message of the gentleman from California, particularly during this week again.

Finally, I yield to the gentleman from the Fourth District of Florida (Mr. Bean) for a special message.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman. Every one of our constituents, the people who we serve deserve that type of attention. I appreciate you for highlighting the wonderful life that she lived.

Mr. Speaker, I will wrap up briefly just by saying House Republicans have an incredible focus this week, keeping the focus on finding the solutions needed at the border and pressuring and pleading with President Biden to just take a look at what has been done in the past.

We have got policies that existed in the previous administration that worked, and they limited border activity and cartel activity. These things are simple, and we need them reinstated. Embracing these things is what the American people need.

Lastly, we have got very important bills on the floor this week related to supporting women, parents, and babies, as women make incredibly tough choices, finding the support they need in various ways, whether they are in school, whether they are in their community, whether they are working, whatever the circumstance may be. These children need a chance to have every opportunity they deserve. We are focused on building out sound legislation that addresses that this week.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for sharing their messages, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening, along with my colleagues, in support of critical progrowth tax policies House Republicans are supporting to bolster good-paying jobs and strong wage growth for earners. These are solutions that will ultimately help Utah families flourish and help the entire Nation.

We have seen that tax policy can make a difference for the American people. In 2018 and 2019, following the passage of TCJA, real median household income rose by $5,000 and real wage growth increased 4.9 percent, the fastest 2-year growth in real wages in over 20 years.

Since then, we have seen the expiration of three important tax provisions that support these job creators and workers. It is not an exaggeration to say that my team and I have had thousands of conversations over the last few years about how these provisions contribute to the ability of businesses to expand, innovate, and invest in workers, communities, and the economy. These include the ability to immediately deduct R&D expenses, the more generous limitation on business interest expenses, and the 100 percent bonus depreciation for equipment and vehicles. These provisions of the tax code were crucial for job creators, workers, and their families in Utah.

Lastly, according to SBA, over 600,000 Utahns are employed by small businesses. My Small Business Growth Act, which would lift the deduction cap for qualifying equipment for small businesses, would help these small businesses grow their workforce in northern Utah.

Mr. Speaker, I will close by noting that these policies are fundamentally about the American workers in every congressional district across the country and the investments that we can make in them as well as their families and their communities.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to work together to get these policies over the finish line.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the House Republican Conference, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

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, before I yield time to my colleague from Utah, I want to quickly highlight and reiterate the importance of what we are doing here as the House GOP.

House Republicans, during the holiday break, took the time, over 60 of us, to go down to the border to be able to share what is truly going on. We get to hear, hopefully, today a little bit more about this.

At no point in our Nation's history has the situation on the southern border reached the levels of policy failure, humanitarian disaster, and security threat that it has under the Biden administration.

Many of my House Republican colleagues witnessed firsthand the tragedy at our border last week. It is out of control, and the Biden administration has completely dropped the ball on this issue and threatened the safety of every American community in the process. The issue is, it is more simple than this.

To President Biden, the gig is up. You took office and thought: Let's just reverse everything that the Trump administration had been doing. Let's not necessarily evaluate whether it was successful, whether it was the right policy. Let's just kind of use our executive pen to reverse everything.

It is very simple to consider Migrant Protection Protocols, the remain in Mexico policy, catch and release. These are simple policy changes that would have an immediate positive impact.

Many of my colleagues were able to see this, to witness this, again, firsthand this past week, and I look forward to hearing from Representative Burgess Owens from the great State of Utah for more on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Owens).

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Owens for his firsthand look.

I spent time at the border--I believe it was in the late spring--and the same situation continues on. The solutions are right in front of us, and we just need the Biden administration to recognize that.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for speaking very plainly and very simply. These solutions are right in front of us.

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

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Murphy and I sit on the same committee, Health in the Ways and Means Committee, and if his remarks seem personal, it is because they are. He has had such a close experience with this, and no one makes the point better that all of our providers' costs continue to go up because of bad the monetary policy that we have seen, particularly in the last few years. When we constantly tell these providers, You are going to have to do more with less, they have to make decisions, and this is ultimately the worst possible thing for our patients.

The crowding-out effect that we have going on in our economy right now, particularly with things related to government funding, there is no situation where it is worse than this. The inability for us to get after our true debt and deficit drivers will continue to crowd out, so these types of cuts are forced on providers, and we have to be willing and adult enough to be able to figure that out.

So thank you for that, Dr. Murphy.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Bucshon).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, Dr. Bucshon, for another incredible perspective on this looming issue that seems to just be year over year over year, and we cannot continue to put our medical providers in this situation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I echo the gentleman's sentiments, and I will continue to speak on it today. The solutions at the border are simple. We have got actual data that can just be reimplemented and we can get rid of the politics involved and just do something right by our Nation. We look forward to an opportunity to leverage this moment to get this border policy through. The things in H.R. 2 make absolute sense.

I am looking forward now to the remarks of my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce).

Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Joyce for coming down over the holiday break.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his remarks emphasizing the need for good healthcare.

I hear this from several of my friends, family, and constituents back home. I think one of the most alarming things that we are seeing right now in the healthcare provider world is that--when I grew up, a lot of my friends' parents were physicians. They would always encourage their child to go into medical school and pursue a career that they loved so much. This may just be an anecdote, but I am literally seeing that next generation of current providers saying: Try something different.

Again, that may just be my experience. I don't think it is because I have heard a lot of it from other colleagues of mine. We can't look back at this time and say we didn't address this issue of not doing right by our providers, by our rural healthcare and making sure that they have what they need to be able to navigate the costs that are continually increasing and being able to provide for their patients.

As Dr. Murphy also talked about, we have to have private practices being able to stay nimble and focused on their specific community and not just build big conglomerates. Small business is the backbone of our Nation, and that needs to exist also in our healthcare market.

As I close here, let me just turn to the other topic that we talked heavily about today which is the border. I spent some time at home the last few weeks, and as I met with and had different forums back home with constituents, I explained to them that one of the biggest problems is the way that policy works in Washington, D.C.

It is in a very partisan and difficult circumstance back here. I don't think anybody on either side of the aisle would disagree with me that it becomes very difficult. When we factor in the Senate that requires a 60-vote threshold--every bill needs to be bipartisan in the Senate--that requirement isn't here in the majoritarian rule House, but that is what we live with. Particularly when there is split government, then we have difficult decisions and difficult things to navigate.

The point that I made to them was that with my Democratic colleagues, we often can find the first three or four provisions of a particular issue that we agree with, but then that is when it becomes difficult because if Democrats want the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh item, then they will say, no, we are not going to vote on any of the things we agree on until we get some of these things we want, even though we agree on the baseline.

We do it too. We have certain things that we want to make sure we get so we are going to leverage that so we don't get the basics done.

I can't think of a scenario where this applies more than our border crisis right now. I don't want to make this political. I remember a little while ago when there were 34-odd migrants that suffocated in the back of a truck. It was like a blip on the news feed. It was so quick. It came out as a news cycle. That is the danger of what is going on right now. We have empowered the cartel networks that we should be united against. We have empowered the cartel networks to own the border.

I heard a staggering statistic--I don't have the number in front of me--on what we have calculated on how much money those cartels are making on a weekly to monthly basis. It is terrifying because that number is going directly into the drug trade.

The fentanyl crisis is one of the biggest impacts this has on our community. I held this huge roundtable back in Utah with the caretakers, law enforcement, and advocacy groups. It was a very nonpartisan conversation, and it was so, so concerning on what was going on.

This is what I want to tell the American people: We actually agree that we should do a lot of the elements in H.R. 2. We should shore up that protection and border security. However, then we need to make sure we streamline the visa process, and we need to make sure we get a stronger workforce here.

I am here to tell you, Mr. Speaker, we actually largely will agree on that aspect of a comprehensive immigration reform.

My biggest criticism of President Biden and his administration has been that he immediately removed or reversed the Migrant Protection Protocols, the remain in Mexico policy that the Trump-Pence administration had done. ``Well, we are a new administration. We have to reverse all those things.''

A lot of the energy things were done by executive order. It was also this border policy. I think we are seeing now it is okay to have made a mistake if you are willing to be the adult and say: ``Look, we actually should reimplement some of this stuff.''

It is what the American people need. It is what the polling will tell us. It is what we largely agree, that there are some basic things that we can get done.

I think not telling the cartels: ``Hey, if you just get folks to the border and get them across, they are going to get lost in the system. You are going to be in there, and you are going to be fine.'' That is what they are telling them. The immigrants who are coming here, it is not the experience they are having because they get lost in the system and then are forced to go into the drug trade or forced to be part of the workforce of the Sinaloa cartel once they rush the product through the borders however they get it, whether it is a port or nonport. I don't care how it comes through.

Once that product gets here, then these individuals get leveraged to do that because they have no other options because they were lied to by the cartels.

If we can agree on some basic stuff, let's implement it. If we shore up and get back to times that we saw in previous Presidencies, we can then go and actually work on some of the other immigration policies that also need reform.

I am committed to doing that, and I hope that we can address that. If we leave the border with this type of policy that we have seen create a beacon for these cartels, then we will not be able to accomplish anything.

If it has to be done all in one bill, that is unrealistic because it is just a bigger beacon. It is just more opportunity for the cartels to try to get more people through, and it is nonsensical.

I hope for every opportunity to tell the Biden administration that this is actually better for you politically. I hate to say it, but this is what the American people need.

That is what my colleagues are trying to emphasize. That is why over 64 of my colleagues last week spent time down there. The same things that I saw months ago when I visited Eagle Pass are continuing. They are not getting better. There has to be policy change.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleagues for attending today's Special

Order and sharing their thoughts on these very important issues, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.

Madam Speaker, I send to the desk a privileged resolution and ask for its immediate consideration.