Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1724) to prohibit the use of funds supporting any activities within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the No Dollars to Uyghur Forced Labor Act.

The Chinese Communist Party is carrying out a campaign of genocide against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

The evidence, documented by human rights organizations, journalists, and survivors, is overwhelming: over a million people detained, families torn apart, entire communities forced into labor in factories that feed global supply chains. Some of those goods end up right here in the United States on our shelves and in our homes.

The No Dollars to Uyghur Forced Labor Act makes one principle clear: Not a single American taxpayer dollar should be used to purchase goods, raw materials, or services tainted by Uyghur forced labor.

It ensures that Federal contracts, programs, and policies only go to companies that can certify their supply chains are free from this abuse.

American consumers should not be complicit in human rights violations. American businesses should not profit from forced labor, and our government, our tax dollars, must never enable oppression.

Mr. Speaker, I urge strong support, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran), the sponsor of this legislation and a former committee member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, this bill, this debate, and previous bills send a clear message to the Chinese Communist Party and to the world, the United States does not turn a blind eye to China's atrocities. I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran) for his leadership.

We must pass this bill and say with one voice: Not one more dollar.

I urge my colleagues to pass this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1316) to amend the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 relating to licensing transparency, as amended.

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 this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act. I wish my colleague could have picked a shorter name for it, but that is my friend, Mr. Jackson. He does good legislation, sometimes a little long- winded on the names.

Export controls are a critical tool for protecting American national security. Foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party are working tirelessly to steal and exploit U.S. technology. We have known this.

The CCP is using its military-civil fusion strategy to fuel China's military buildup and commit human rights atrocities, just like we spoke about on Uyghur genocide. No American servicemember should have to face a foreign adversary armed with U.S. technology, and no act of genocide should be enabled by American innovation.

As important as export controls are to protecting American lives and values, they are only as strong as their administration and enforcement. Every U.S. export control ultimately requires the government to decide on whether to approve or deny a license for the item in question.

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, or the BIS, is the lead agency for administering and enforcing U.S. export controls. As export controls have become more vital to our national security, the importance of congressional oversight has only increased. The licensing data for how BIS is administering export controls can be difficult for Congress to gain access to for oversight purposes.

Last Congress, the Foreign Affairs Committee worked persistently to uncover that BIS was routinely approving export control licenses for even the worst actors, such as Huawei and SMIC. Last Congress, the Foreign Affairs Committee worked to expose this in hearing after hearing without much help from the Biden administration. Huawei and SMIC are two of the CCP's national champions and play a critical role in supporting China's military buildup and human rights abuses.

It is essential that Congress has visibility into how many licenses are being approved for the worst actors on export control blacklists, known as the Entity List. This bill will improve transparency and ensure Congress is able to conduct regular oversight of how BIS is handling licenses and how effectively our export controls are being enforced.

I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Jackson), and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Jacobs) for introducing this important legislation. The Foreign Affairs Committee marked up this legislation last Congress, and it passed the committee and the House floor with strong bipartisan support. I expect it will receive the same support today.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Jackson), the sponsor of this long-titled legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for working to improve transparency and congressional oversight of U.S. export controls. It is vital. That can't be overstated enough. It is vital.

I urge all Members to vote in favor of H.R. 1316, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2416) to amend the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019 to provide that the United States, as a member of any international organizations, should oppose any attempts by the People's Republic of China to resolve Taiwan's status by distorting the decisions, language, policies, or procedures of the organization, and for other purposes.

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 this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, Taiwan is not just a friend. Taiwan is a self-governing democracy, a critical economic partner, and a responsible global stakeholder. It deserves to be seen and heard and not erased or silenced.

When the United States shows leadership, we know that others follow. We must lead now before the Chinese Communist Party permanently rewrites international norms.

I thank Mr. Connolly for his work on this piece of legislation. I miss seeing my friend here. As much as we have differences on many things--and we have had many intense arguments back and forth--I wouldn't want to argue with anybody else. I miss seeing him here.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1800) to repeal the sunset provision of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1800, the Solidify Iran Sanctions Act of 2025.

The Iran Sanctions Act was enacted back in 1996. For 29 years, this law has acted as the cornerstone of U.S. efforts to address the Iran regime's malign influence. From its support to terrorist proxies to its dangerous nuclear program, the impact of the regime's provocative actions continues to be felt far and wide.

These sanctions are more important now than ever. As this administration pursues a last-ditch effort to address the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program diplomatically, these sanctions continue to provide much-needed leverage to address the full range of Iran's malign activity. They are a vital and necessary tool not only to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon and to cut off its enrichment capabilities but also to counter Iran's malign influence abroad, including its ongoing support to terrorist proxies like the Houthis.

What we see across the region and beyond is that the threat Iran poses to the United States and our partners and allies is becoming more and more entrenched. We need a policy response that is durable and shows that we are committed, day in and day out, to choking off any financial support to Iran's malign activities.

That is why, today, the House is considering the Solidify Iran Sanctions Act, which would eliminate the upcoming 2026 sunset from the Iran Sanctions Act.

We need to send Iran a clear and simple message. They cannot wait out our sanctions. Our sanctions will not expire on some arbitrary date. The only way to make U.S. sanctions go away is to stop the sanctionable conduct and not threaten the United States' national security interests or our allies, period.

The fact that we are considering this bill under suspension of rules is hugely significant. It shows that eliminating this sunset is not a partisan issue. Republicans and Democrats agree that we need durable, long-lasting, and long-term pressure on Iran.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Mackenzie), the sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

On October 7, the world witnessed the horror of Iran-backed terrorism as Hamas brutally murdered over 1,200 innocent people in Israel.

Iran has been sponsoring Hamas for years. They were sponsoring terrorists on the battlefield that I and many of our colleagues participated in, just as it has been sponsoring Hezbollah and the Houthis to attack Israel just over this past weekend, amassing ballistic missiles, building armed drones, and expanding its nuclear weapon program at an alarming rate.

The Iran threat is wide-ranging and multifaceted, and the Iran Sanctions Act is the foundation of our tools to combat this threat. We know this threat isn't going away anytime soon, so let's stop fooling ourselves that a sunset makes any sense on these provisions.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in bringing our statutes in line with the strategic reality on the ground.

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 5, I call up the bill (H.R. 23) to impose sanctions with respect to the International Criminal Court engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, a bill that I am proud to have worked on with my colleague and friend, Chip Roy, a bill that sanctions International Criminal Court officials and their families and anybody who is assisting them.

Why? It is because they are targeting America's allies, who are right now the front line of fighting to bring American hostages home from Gaza.

America is passing this law because, on November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court's Pre-Trial Chamber issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant.

Let me explain that in a more detailed way. America is passing this law because a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the Prime Minister of our great ally, Israel, who is not only responding to an enemy which conducted a genocide, killing as many men, women, and children as possible, even beheading some of them, on October 7, 2023, but an enemy who still holds 100 hostages, scores of bodies of those that they murdered, including 7 of my fellow Americans. Let me say that again. Israel is the tip of the spear in bringing the fight to an enemy who currently holds and has killed our fellow Americans.

Israel has conducted this war with as much restraint as war can allow. In the face of horror, they have shown humanity. We know that for Israel, any civilian dying is a tragedy, and we know that for Hamas and the Palestinians who support them, civilians dying is quite literally their strategy for victory.

Hamas' strategy uses hospitals and schools as bases for combat operations. It is not that some fighter accidentally walked into a hospital for 5 minutes carrying their machine gun. No, they build hospitals and schools into fortified launching points for attack. In clear violation of the laws of armed conflict, Hamas deliberately targets civilians.

What the ICC is doing with their arrest warrants is legitimizing the false accusations of Israeli war crimes in order to do something to stop the overwhelming success of Israeli military operations.

Mr. Speaker, I don't care if a person is a terrorist in a cave or if they are a lawyer in The Hague. If they are getting in the way of bringing home our Americans or bringing home our allies who are, as we speak in this very moment, bound, blindfolded, tortured, raped, enslaved, starved, facing execution, if you are getting in the way of bringing them home, then we will give you no quarter. We will certainly not allow you to be welcomed to American soil.

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

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

We are the people's House. Let me translate what was just said: It is not a priority for the people's House to do everything possible to get our people home, to include getting in the way of those who are getting in our way.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy), the genesis of and the lead sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, what the gentleman did say very clearly was that this legislation is not a priority, and this legislation is meant to get in the way of those who are getting in our way from getting our Americans home.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler), a patriot.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

THE SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida has 18 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 19 minutes remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I would remind everybody that every time my colleagues across the way rise, they rise to oppose legislation that would get in the way of those getting in our way of bringing Americans home. That is what they are standing against. That is what they are rising against.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Weber).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).

Mr. Speaker, I remind my friends across the aisle that Americans are being held and tortured. Get with the American team, and get in the way of those that are getting in our way.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Miller).

Mr. Speaker, the gentleman across the aisle is right. We need everybody working to get hostages home to get this resolved. That means not giving an iota of recognition to kangaroo courts, like the ICC, who are trying to prevent Israeli military success, who are conducting their brand of anti-Semitism against Israeli leaders, preventing Americans and our allies from being returned home.

Again, Israel is the tip of the spear in bringing American hostages home, and anybody who gets in their way is getting in our way.

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

THE SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bost). The gentleman from Florida has 10 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Massachusetts has 16\1/2\ minutes remaining.

Mr. Speaker, since I have 10 minutes remaining, I am going to sit here in silence for 2 minutes and see if my colleague from Texas shows up.

THE SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman must remain behind the mike.

Mr. Speaker, that is a good lesson. Thanks. I will remain standing here.

Mr. Speaker, it appears we will have no more speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the statement of the gentleman from the other side is as untrue now as it was when he gave the same speech a few months ago on this very floor.

I would say the message is clear to everybody: Don't get in America's way as we are trying to work with our allies to get our Americans home and our allies home.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Jackson).

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

Mr. Speaker, this bill sends an incredibly important message across the globe when we make this law: Do not get in the way of America or our allies trying to bring our people home. Do not get in our way. You will be given no quarter. Again, you will certainly not be welcomed to American soil.

This bill is even more urgent today than when it was first passed back in June of last year. In June, the ICC's prosecutor had only just requested warrants. The warrants had not yet been issued or approved. There was still time for the ICC to abandon this shameful effort. Instead, the ICC's attempt to obstruct Israel's right to defend itself has only prolonged the war and prevented the release of American hostages by boosting the morale of Hamas. If you are boosting the morale of Hamas, you are on the other team.

In November, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber approved the arrest warrants. We have to pass this bill today to prevent this travesty from moving any further and to deter any more illegitimate actions by this kangaroo court to halt or stall the military success of our allies trying to bring hostages home, American, Israeli, and others.

Mr. Speaker, for that reason, I call on every single one of my colleagues to put America first by voting for this legislation today, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, my community lost three brave Palm Beach County Sheriff's Deputies in a very tragic crash: Deputy Ignacio ``Dan'' Diaz, Deputy Ralph ``Butch'' Waller, and Corporal Luis Paez.

I did know these men. I can't pretend that I knew them well, but we shared a handshake at various Veterans Days parades throughout the years, nods as we were in the same motorcade routes, and camaraderie as we fired up our Harleys and hit the road on motorcycle runs during times like the holidays, just like now.

These men, they were always present. They were always on watch because it was their calling to protect every person in our community from danger, whether they knew them well or not. They knew the hazards of their chosen profession. All day, every day, they patrolled inches away from death.

Yet, these men, they never hesitated. They never stepped aside and asked somebody else to face the danger. Each day, they woke up, they put on their badge, their body armor, they holstered their pistols, they left their families, and they went to work.

Courage for them was as natural as breathing. Plain and simple, they were warriors, strong, selfless, committed to protecting others. We thank God for these men. We thank God for their families who shared these patriots with us each and every day, and we thank God for their dedication to duty, which was a beacon of selflessness.

I ask that my colleagues rise and join me in a moment of silence to honor these brave men for their sacrifice. I would ask that the gallery rise as well since they are here listening and let us honor these deputies in a moment of silence. I ask that my colleagues rise to honor these deputies in a moment of silence.

Mr. Speaker, I thank all of my colleagues for their work and support on H.R. 8234.

It is a bill to reduce the passport barriers that American travelers face with just a few commonsense solutions to help make it a more seamless process for Americans and a more intuitive process for when their passport might expire. It would help prevent the emergency situations that all of us as Members of Congress face for our constituents to get the passports they need.

Getting a passport, for many, is the closest that Americans will get to seeing the work of our State Department, and when they see delays and backlogs, that shakes their confidence in what they believe the State Department and many of our other institutions can do.

The backlog is especially troublesome for our citizens who live in rural areas without easy access to the few passport agencies or centers that we have around the country.

If the State Department can't get those small things done right now in a timely fashion and competent way, then it is hard to convince the American people that the State Department can handle bigger things-- except a passport is not a small thing for most people, most families, and most individuals. For our constituents, that is a business trip, family vacation, wedding, or, God forbid, funeral.

We urgently need reforms to address the passport backlog and prevent any future backlog from occurring.

H.R. 8234 enhances U.S. passport applicants' customer experience in three ways that have been mentioned already.

First, it authorizes the Secretary of State to allow qualified notaries to accept and certify the relevant paperwork. Certify doesn't mean that they are issuing a passport. It means they are identifying that all the t's have been crossed, the i's have been dotted, and the blanks are filled in so that the application doesn't get kicked back by the State Department.

Currently, citizens who live in rural areas need to mail in their paperwork or try to get to a certain employee in a place like the post office. They have few or inconsistent hours to actually go see those individuals, and it delays their application process. By expanding the number of people who can accept and certify the paperwork to include these qualified notaries, we greatly expand the options for Americans who do not live near these passport acceptance centers.

Second, my bill requires the State Department to devote more resources to nontraditional applicants--again, often from rural areas-- who utilize private courier services for emergency passport services. Since 2007, the number of slots these private courier services have to process Americans' applications has decreased, while the number of Americans who live at least 250 miles away from a passport acceptance office has substantially increased over that same period of time.

These services are an effective alternative for Americans who need urgent passports and don't live near those offices, and expanding these resources will help serve the citizens by adjusting to population migration patterns

that we have seen over the last two decades.

Finally, my bill would make it easier for Americans to remember to renew their passports by changing the passport expiration dates to coincide with their birthdays, just like most of us do with our driver's licenses. This simple change in awareness will make it so that many people remember to renew their passports early instead of realizing it at the last second because it is not on an intuitive date, which leads to the surges in applicants in the system and creates those backlogs.

Mr. Speaker, I thank all of my colleagues for their work on this legislation, and I urge adoption of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to condemn the September 15, 2024 attempt on Former President Trump's life and to honor the Martin County Sheriff's Office for their bravery in apprehending the would-be assassin.

The attempt on Former President Trump's life was a cowardly act aimed at the very heart of our Republic. We are nearly a month away from an election where tens of millions of people will decide the next commander-in-chief.

Yet, this would-be assassin was selfish enough, deluded enough, and cowardly enough to try and rob us of that opportunity. But in that moment of darkness, courage blazed through.

The heroes of the Martin County Sheriff's Office acted with incredible speed and bravery, risking their lives to apprehend the would-be assassin before he could harm others. Their valor turned a potential national tragedy into a story of triumph over evil.

Let's honor these men and women for their valor. They stand as a beacon of what it means to protect and serve.

Let's also reaffirm that political violence has no place in our discourse. We should always stand united in the face of those who seek to divide us.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and ranking member for recognizing an amazing man. I wish we could do this for every single veteran. Every single veteran deserves far more, but today is a victory, doing it for this veteran.

I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 7333, to name the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, as the Thomas H. Corey VA Medical Center.

I am going to speak about him as a friend because he was a friend. I would say this about him: He exhausted himself in the most worthy cause that he could find, and the most worthy cause that he could find was veterans.

Every veteran that he could find from every conflict, every war, not just his war, but anybody that put a flag on their shoulder, that put on a uniform on behalf of the United States of America, it gave him a sense of joy, a smile. He was a cheerful giver. Whatever he could do for one of our brothers and sisters in arms, that is how he lived his life every day.

Tom Corey served during the Vietnam war as an Army combat infantryman with the 1st Air Cavalry Division, 1st Battalion, and 12th Cavalry.

While engaged in an assault against enemy positions during the first day of the Tet Offensive, he was shot in the neck, leaving him permanently paralyzed.

Although he had injuries for the rest of his life, he did not let his injuries define him. He overcame his injuries to advocate for others in local, regional, and national veterans' organizations every single day going forward during his life.

Tom Corey was a longtime member of Vietnam Veterans of America, founding the Palm Beach County chapter at home in my district. He held multiple leadership roles in organizations, ultimately serving as the president of Vietnam Veterans of America from 2003 to 2005.

Mr. Corey was a tireless advocate for our veterans' healthcare, particularly Vietnam veterans suffering from illnesses attributed to Agent Orange. He worked for 15 years at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center as an ombudsman, ensuring that veterans received the highest quality of care day in and day out.

Despite all of his efforts advocating for veterans here at home, he never forgot his brothers-in-arms who were still missing in action. Mr. Corey returned to Vietnam 16 times leading delegations to meet up with top Vietnamese and Laotian officials focused on locating and repatriating the remains of those he served shoulder to shoulder with.

Along with multiple service medals, including two Purple Hearts, Mr. Corey was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts and his work.

Tom Corey has shown the world that no injury was big enough to eclipse his mission to serve others. Naming the West Palm Beach VA in his honor is the least we can do to honor his legacy of service and his passionate advocacy for veterans.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Florida delegation for their support on this effort, and I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my pastor, Pastor Travis O'Neal, for coming to open the House with prayer this morning.

He has pastored Christ Fellowship Church for roughly the last 8 years in Port St. Lucie, Florida. He makes sure that there is a home and a place for people to find the Lord and to grow in their walk with the Lord to make disciples.

I thank the pastor for his prayer, and I ask that we heed the words that he said to us this morning that we seek the Lord's counsel.

I ask that his prayer be granted that the Lord's hand guide us in our work here, and most of all, I ask that the Lord fulfill what the pastor prayed for, which is that God bless the United States of America.

Madam Chair, the argument here against privatized housing for people in the military is if you allow somebody to put their private dollars into it, then down the road it may turn into what the government has allowed the housing to turn into, which would be terrible. We shouldn't let a private entity oversee the housing because it may turn into what the government has allowed housing to be for our servicemembers.

That argument holds no water, makes absolutely no sense, and I would put my money on the private entities taking better care of their investment than how the government takes care of an investment that is paid for by the ambiguous tax dollars of people across the country any day of the week.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise today to discuss this bipartisan amendment to ensure that veterans have access to every tool possible when it comes to healing from both the visible and the invisible wounds of war and service. That could be trouble sleeping. It could be physical pain. It could be some disease that you get from something you were exposed to in war, a cancer that you contracted. It could be an addiction. It could just be finding peace in your life. That tool that we are specifically speaking about today is cannabis.

My proposed amendment, I believe, is common sense. It allows doctors in the VA, those who deal with veterans, to give advice to their veteran patients. That seems simple enough, but under the status quo, VA doctors are limited in essential treatment options that they can offer to their patients, treatments that patients who are not veterans can readily access in many States.

This amendment would allow doctors to discuss cannabis as a treatment option with their patients. It would allow doctors to help those patients fill out paperwork that authorizes medical use of cannabis. It would allow those doctors to help weigh cannabis when choosing whether other medical options may be the best fit for that individual veteran.

When I woke up in Walter Reed Army Medical Center after being injured in Afghanistan, I was on a laundry list of medications. It was a shock to me. I was on sleep sedatives, antidepressants, anti-inflammatories, and probably half a dozen different, very serious narcotic painkillers. When I woke up and became aware of all of this, I quit those things cold turkey. I was lucky that I was able to do that. Most veterans that I have encountered were not able to do that. Many, unfortunately, suffered addiction afterwards.

A few years ago, I met a former member of Navy SEAL Team 6. He was in a helicopter crash that resulted in catastrophic injuries. After countless surgeries, he found himself addicted to opioids that he was prescribed for sleep and pain management. He was never given an alternative to those drugs, and, ultimately, it was cannabis for him that allowed him to break free of that addiction and manage his pain without opioids. However, he has never been able to discuss cannabis with his doctor at the VA for fear of repercussions. He couldn't talk to his doctor about it.

His story isn't unique. There are tens of thousands of veterans for whom cannabis may be a better alternative if they could discuss it.

According to a survey in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 50 percent of veterans who use cannabis said that they used it in place of prescription medication, but they are forced to hide their use and self-medicate because VA physicians are hamstrung from discussing it as a viable option.

Beyond the veteran population, the Nation is turning the page on how we think about cannabis. It has become a key part of the medical system in more than 30 States. It offers law-abiding Americans a low-cost and safe option.

I say we should not keep those who fought for our country from accessing what is proven to be a critical tool for pain management. It is time for change. Veterans deserve to have access to every possible tool and the best medical options available and the best possible medical advice by their doctors.

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

Mr. Chair, I will add a little bit to what he just said.

He is absolutely correct, my colleague, in saying that there was a time when veterans were handed opioids in bags. They were given recurring prescriptions. There was a time that I had drawers full of OxyContin just because the prescription kept getting refilled. I literally never used one, but they kept giving me more and more. At the same time, you are not allowed to discuss cannabis with your doctor, not do the paperwork with your doctor, not be able to find out if it is the best option or the worst option but really not be able to be benefited by your doctor and the advice they could offer on this. As we both said, it is definitely time to turn the page on this issue. I thank my colleague for his work on this issue, as well.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Treasure Coast lost a hero this year when Florida Highway Patrolman Zachary Fink was killed in the line of duty. He was a son of St. Lucie County, Florida.

Trooper Fink had a desire from an early age to help people, and that is what led him to a career in law enforcement.

I did know Trooper Fink. I didn't know him well, but I did know him. I recognized that he was willing to lay his life on the line to protect me and every other member of our community.

We all have people in our lives that we would sacrifice anything to protect, our siblings, our children, our spouses, but very few of us would lay down our life for somebody that we barely know. Law enforcement officers like Trooper Fink do just that every single day.

I have introduced legislation to name the U.S. Post Office building at 290 NW Peacock Boulevard in Port St. Lucie after Trooper Zachary Fink.

I would simply say this: We cannot repay his sacrifice in any measure, but we can always remember his sacrifice.

Mr. Speaker, in the early morning of February 2, 2024, Florida Highway Patrolman Zachary Fink, ID No. 1550, gave his life in the line of duty. He served in St. Lucie County, where he was raised and where he dedicated everything he had to protecting.

He will be remembered by all who knew him, and remembered as a man you could count on. He was a natural comedian who could deescalate. He was an outdoorsman. He was a man deeply proud of his law enforcement brothers and sisters, who he himself considered it an honor to be among their ranks.

Mr. Speaker, it is we who have all been honored by Trooper Fink's selfless and total commitment to others. I thank God, and I thank his parents for giving him to us.

Mr. Speaker, I ask for silence in recognition of the sacrifice of Trooper Zachary Fink.

Mr. Chair, the amount of teleworking in Washington is astronomical. We all know post-pandemic it is nearly impossible to get an employee of a Federal agency on the phone because they are still working in their homes and not in the office.

Perhaps some of the worst offenders are those at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD. According to a GAO study from July of this year, the occupancy rate of HUD's headquarters, the Robert C. Weaver Federal building, is roughly 9 percent occupancy. The building is just a stone's throw from here where we are sitting right now, and it is sitting basically empty.

Why, then, I ask, are we proposing to spend $4.68 million to modernize a building that very few are using?

I propose we do something else with that money. At the same time many of our Nation's veterans are living in untenable conditions, and they have lived with physical disabilities as a result of war. I am here today to argue that a better use of that $4.68 million is to support low-income veterans via the Veterans Housing Rehabilitation and Modification Pilot Program.

This program provides awards through competitive grants to nonprofit organizations that provide nationwide or State programs that primarily serve low-income veterans. Once the grant is received, the veterans' homes receive modifications such as wheelchair ramps, widening door thresholds to accommodate mobility needs, shower bars, and things related to that.

It is estimated that with the money that would be transferred there, they would be able to modify hundreds of more homes for these veterans.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman, and I thank the ranking member for making my amendment as a part of the en bloc package. I urge my colleagues to support the adoption of the en bloc package.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and the submariner up front. That is a special kind of service, no doubt about it. I thank the chairman for his work on this legislation, for helping to bring it to the floor, and for his work in helping to make sure that in this body when those of us who are in here say never again in support of Israel and the Jewish state, that it is something that we are doing everything possible to make sure that never again is the truth.

You might ask what can this bill do in support of never again, and why. The ``why'' on it is very simple because October 7 didn't happen for free. October 7 didn't happen without planning. October 7 didn't happen without delivery of arms from multiple nations. October 7 didn't happen without the intelligence from multiple nations, nongovernment organizations, and individuals. This happened as a result of a great deal of all of the above.

This bill is specifically about sanctions, about making sure that we can get to the individuals, the states, the government agencies, the nongovernment agencies, or the companies that enabled October 7 to happen. It is about making sure that we cut off the material support, whether that is money or equipment or something that we might label here in Washington as a dual-use item, from making it to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank or into the hands of Hezbollah or somewhere else; from making sure that we cut off the technological support, whether it is intelligence or, literally, software or hardware or arms of propaganda; whether we are cutting off the financial support, the terror financing, the transactions, those that are engaging with the literal perpetrators of terrorism, doing it by blocking and freezing assets and funds, providing travel restrictions, export restrictions, and financial sanctions so that they can't use our banks or financial institutions. The list goes on.

That is the work that has to be done within these walls to make sure that we can say never again. That is the work that we can do in here to make sure that October 7 doesn't happen again, and it is the work that we have to do in passing this bill to make sure that we do everything possible to prevent the kind of terrorism, the barbaric acts that the chairman spoke so eloquently and so vividly about.

It is in that vein that I ask my colleagues to rise in support of this bill. Join us, vote unanimously in support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I will address some of the comments that were brought up about the bill and exemptions, and exemptions that do not exist. I think it is important to recognize there are some exemptions. There are exemptions for food and medicine.

Those exemptions exist, but there are not exemptions for pieces of equipment that might be considered dual-use items that were used to knock over the barricades, the fences, and the barriers that were preventing the Palestinian terrorists from making it into Israel.

There are not exemptions to allow those kinds of pieces of equipment that might come in under agricultural exemptions in this bill. Why? Because they can be dual-use items. That is a reason to not have them.

When we look at this as a whole, I encourage the other side to not so lightly throw around the idea of innocent Palestinian civilians, as is frequently said. I don't think we would so lightly throw around the term ``innocent Nazi civilians'' during World War II.

We are going to speak later about a bill related to Palestinian education and the fact that in their schools, schools run by the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, not Palestinian Islamic Jihad, not al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, not Lions' Den, not any of the other groups run by the Palestinian Authority, they have anti-Semitic teachings that they put within their own schools.

The list goes on and on of the examples we could give of what somebody might call a rank-and-file Gazan or a rank-and-file person in the West Bank or just a Palestinian that maybe doesn't fall under that name of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad but by any classical definition would absolutely be considered a terrorist, somebody that in the last couple of weeks had been conducting kidnappings, murders, brutality that is nearly unspeakable.

As we look at this and what kind of exemptions should and should not exist, I ask that it be looked at through that lens, that there is not this far stretch to say there are very few innocent Palestinian civilians.

I haven't seen the videos of the innocent Palestinian civilians who were out there trying to protect the Israelis, who were out there trying to stop the attacks and trying to get the captives returned instead of being taken into the tunnel systems.

We need to look at that as well when we think about the equipment, whether agricultural or otherwise, that might be put in the hands of those terrorists.