Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Alvin L. Alce, SPC5, a native of Key West and an Army Veteran who served in Vietnam. On August 8, 2022, Mr. Alce was formally presented with the Purple Heart--the oldest military medal still awarded to service members--at Harvey Government Center in Key West. This medal recognizes Mr. Alce's extraordinary service and sacrifice after being wounded as a direct result of enemy action in Vietnam.

Mr. Alce was born in Key West on December 17, 1949. At age 18, he was drafted into the Army and served in the 3rd Battalion, 1st Infantry, Americal Division, and the 101st Airborne Division. Mr. Alce received decorations for his military service from both the United States Armed Forces and the government of South Vietnam, including the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, and the Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze service stars.

Mr. Alce was wounded in the Battle for Hamburger Hill, which began on May 11th, 1969. Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division fought the North Vietnamese for control of the jungle hill in western Vietnam. Bitter fighting ensued for ten days, as North Vietnamese forces beat back repeated American attacks. On May 20th, American forces with South Vietnamese reinforcements finally captured the hill, and the enemy retreated across the border to Laos. Mr. Alce was hit many times by enemy small arms fire during the battle. American casualties at Hamburger Hill numbered 72 killed and 372 wounded.

In December 2019, Monroe County Veterans Affairs discovered Mr. Alce had never received a Purple Heart. Monroe County Veterans Affairs successfully petitioned the Department of the Army to correct Mr. Alce's record and award him the prestigious medal. This ceremony is the culmination of their efforts, and I want to thank Monroe County Veterans Affairs for their diligence on behalf of Mr. Alce.

What an honor it is to recognize Mr. Alce for his sacrifice. He bravely put his life on the line serving his Nation in Vietnam, and this long overdue medal recognizes his courage. Let this ceremony inspire all of us to serve our country however we can as Mr. Alce did.

Mr. Speaker, I hereby remove my name as a cosponsor of

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the City of Key West's designation as a Coast Guard City. This designation, made official on August 4, 2022, at Truman Waterfront Park, pays tribute to the city's longstanding, fruitful, and supportive relationship with the United States Coast Guard (USCG).

Since 1998, this legal designation has recognized communities that welcome Coast Guard servicemembers and their families with open arms. These cities support their local USCG families in a variety of ways--by building monuments, hosting picnics and parades, sponsoring patriotic events and awards, establishing partnerships with the local business community, and much more. To achieve this designation, a municipality submits a request explaining its history of supporting the Coast Guard. Only after a rigorous examination by Coast Guard Headquarters, the Commandant, and the appropriate congressional committees is a city finally proclaimed a Coast Guard City.

The history of the Coast Guard in Key West traces back to 1823, when the U.S. Navy Antipirate Squadron settled on the island. Congress established a depot for naval supplies in 1852. Nine years later, Key West became the headquarters of the East Gulf Blockage Squadron. Even before the Coast Guard was established in the early 20th century, Key West Headquarters performed the vital functions of collecting import tariffs, capturing pirates, interdicting smugglers, and rescuing those lost at sea.

Today, the Coast Guard continues to serve the greater Key West community by patrolling the surrounding 55,000 square miles of water. In return, the City of Key West supports

USCG personnel in many ways. Quality-of-life initiatives, discounts, and sponsorships enrich the lives of Coast Guard servicernembers and families. The city integrates both Active-Duty and retired personnel into the fabric of all aspects of the community--business, education, and leisure. Parades, battle reenactments, and festivals celebrating the Coast Guard's presence are a Key West staple.

I am honored to celebrate this distinction for the City of Key West, and I also thank USCG Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan for her service to the Key West community. This designation reflects the deep, enduring relationship between the city and the U.S. Coast Guard. May that relationship continue to flourish for many decades to come.

Madam Speaker, Thank you, Congressman Hill for taking the time to put together this special order.

From Arkansas to South Florida, every hardworking American is facing the same dilemma under Biden's presidency.

Look, we all know the facts. Record high inflation, 9.1 percent, a shrinking economy.

But what we often overlook is just how devasting this Biden's inflation is on everyday people and the real-life, practical impact it has on hardworking families. Inflation is the worst tax on American workers.

Over the last week, my office has been hearing a lot about Biden's inflation. Many families desperate to make ends meet, having to choose between feeding their families and putting gas in their car.

Genevieve from Cutler Bay reached out to my office saying quote: ``we were already living paycheck to paycheck with very little savings. Now we are dipping in our savings just to make ends meet. I am worried that I will not be able to pay for after school services for my children when the school year starts.''

Marianela from Miami shared similar concerns, saying quote: ``I have less money to save or spend. My groceries are to a minimum. Costs of gas are a consequence of Mr. Biden's executive orders which have a domino effect on everything we have to buy.''

Maria from Key West also reached out to us saying quote: ``Constantly negative in the bank because bills have doubled in price, had to use credit cards after being debt free because of how expensive everything is. I was a stay at home mom and will have to return to work sooner than planned.''

When you go out and talk to people at the grocery store, at the gas pumps, parents at our schools, they all share the same stories. Biden's 9.1 percent inflation isn't just some fictional economics stat.

It means Americans are 9.1 percent poorer today than they were a year ago. Hardworking Americans are feeling the heat. It's time President Biden grow a backbone and do the work needed to increase our domestic energy, arrest the out-of-control spending, and get our economy working again for all Americans.

Mr. Chairman, pardon me if I get a little emotional, this is actually personal for me since I was actually born in Cuba.

Mr. Chair, I rise to oppose Congresswoman Tlaib's FSGG amendment to exempt current prohibitions against U.S. assistance to Cuba.

It is ironic that this amendment is being pushed on the week after we commemorated the bravery of the pro-freedom protesters in Cuba.

Whether we are talking about the Biden administration's announcement last month to allow private travel to Cuba or allow Americans to invest in so-called private companies within Cuba, the regime takes advantage of these lifelines to fuel their butchery, their massacres, their jailings, their nonstop violations of human rights.

Now, Congresswoman Tlaib wants to extend yet another pipeline of cash to the regime to directly fund the murdering, the raping, the jailing of the Cuban people. Quite frankly, anyone supporting this legislation really ought to be ashamed of themselves.

If you believe in freedom and democracy, in capitalism, in the power of economic and social opportunity, I urge you to vote against this shameful and pathetic amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Water Resources Development Act to improve our ports and harbors, inland waterway navigation, flood and storm protection, and other pieces of water resources infrastructure, all with a focus on locally driven projects rather than a nationwide partisan wish list.

This bill is an example of supporting real infrastructure, and it goes to prove that if we focus on real infrastructure, Congress can come together in a bipartisan manner.

This legislation has a lot of wins for South Florida. In it, we get provisions to expedite projects to protect Miami-Dade County and Monroe County from future storm damage. The flooding this past weekend in Miami underscored the importance of these projects for our region, particularly as we begin hurricane season.

We also doubled funding levels for the Florida Keys Water Quality Improvement Project to expand sanitary sewer systems in the Keys.

Overall, this legislation will be greatly beneficial to South Florida. It is incredible what we can accomplish when we put political hackery to the side and focus on the real needs of the American people. I urge my colleagues to support this year's WRDA.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 6858, the American Energy Independence from Russia Act.

This administration's insistence on destroying our energy independence has worsened the financial strain on American families, who have already been burdened by crushing inflation under the Biden administration, and weakened our national security posture by making us more reliant on foreign sources of energy.

Thanks to the incompetence of the present administration and this House's failure to secure America's energy independence, Americans are left poorer, weaker, and with a bleaker outlook toward their future.

Mr. Speaker, it is pretty clear how we got to this point. The Biden administration's efforts to weaken our Nation's energy security began on their very first day in office when the President canceled the Keystone XL pipeline. Since then, the administration has taken further action to discourage domestic oil production by halting leases for drilling on Federal lands, the latest of which came just last week when the Biden administration canceled another round of contracts in Alaska.

These policies have forced our President to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to keep gas prices from rising even more, but it is not working.

At a time when Russia is fueling this barbaric violence on the Ukrainian people through its gas exports, holding countries around the world hostage due to their reliance on Russian oil, we need to ensure the United States not only ends permanently all oil imports from Russia, but that the United States has a sustained domestic supply to supplant Russia as a leading net exporter of oil. America, and the world, is safer when it is our country that is in charge of our own destiny.

Passing the American Energy Independence from Russia Act will also have a tremendous economic impact right here at home, at a time when our fuel costs continue to skyrocket and hurt the pockets of the American people. Instead of taking the commonsense approach put forward by this legislation, the President and his allies in this House send diplomats to negotiate with tyrants and dictators, sworn enemies of America, such as Iran and Venezuela, seeking deals to import their oil to the United States. Venezuela, in particular, which sits on the world's largest known oil reserves, cannot even keep its own people fed or electricity running due to the malice of its socialist and Russian- allied leadership.

Just today, we learned that the Biden administration is looking to ease the sanctions on Venezuela in exchange for promises that the Maduro regime will enter into dialogue with its opposition. Unbelievable.

Let's end this nonsense and pass the American Energy Independence from Russia Act. It is time the elected officials in this body, the ones elected to represent the American people, stop doing the bidding of our adversaries and promote domestic production of oil.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to move this extraordinarily important measure forward for our families and for our country's safety.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the incredible career of my good friend Tony Dimare. Going back to my days as Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Tony has been a pillar of leadership in the agricultural community of South Florida for over thirty years and I am honored to join the Dade County Farm Bureau in recognizing him and all he has done for the agriculture industry.

Tony Dimare began working for his family's business in 1983 and has worked in the produce industry for nearly forty years. His family's business, The Dimare Company, is a 94-year-old family produce company four generations deep with operations in four states--Florida, California, Pennsylvania, and Texas. He has taken his family's business to another level and has created countless jobs in South Florida and across the country.

Along with bringing countless jobs to South Florida, Mr. Dimare serves on countless boards and does philanthropic work for South Florida. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, one of the organizations he serves on hosted daily food drives to help families experiencing food insecurity in the Miami-Dade County area. Mr. Dimare has always proven to be an integral part of the community.

I am always honored to recognize individuals who spend their lives bringing invaluable services to the South Florida and District 26 communities. Tony and I have worked together throughout the years, and I am certain he will continue to be a strong leader in the agricultural industry and in the community.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the extraordinary life of Michael A. Finney. Michael was a pillar in the business community in Miami-Dade County and known around the country for his ability to conduct business and spur economic growth. On a personal level, Michael was a dear friend and I will always cherish the time we spent together and the projects that we worked on for the people of Miami-Dade County during my tenure as Mayor. Lourdes and I send our prayers to his wife and children, Gina, Michael Jr., Marcus, and Austin.

Known by many as an ``intellectual,'' Michael was brilliant, and more importantly, a deeply caring person. He dedicated his life to serving communities from his time in Michigan to his time in Miami-Dade County. One of his many initiatives, Miami Community Ventures, sought to help individuals from low-income neighborhoods and pair them with employers to help them earn a living wage. This is just one example of how Michael wanted to bring economic prosperity to everyone he could reach.

Michael was an incredible businessman and embodied the American entrepreneurial spirit. He helped navigate the largest municipal restructuring of debt in the United States during his time in Michigan and played a key role in Miami-Dade's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although he was not an elected official, he was truly a public servant.

The Miami-Dade County community will mourn the loss of Michael A. Finney; husband, father, grandfather, friend, and businessman.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Drama Club at Christopher Columbus High School, my alma mater. On March 16-19 of 2022, the Columbus Drama Club participated in the Florida State Thespian Festival in Tampa. Their performance was exceptional--the CCHS Drama Club scored six Superiors.

In the first Festival since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Explorers achieved a Superior grade in each of the six presentations they submitted. This remarkable feat is only the second time in Columbus High School's history that the Drama Club won a Superior in all its presentations, and the first time in eight years.

I would like specifically to congratulate Christian Wilson, David Figueredo, Tobias Reyes, Joaquim Carvalho, Michael Remy, Miguel Ramirez, Christopher Ramos, Nicholas Sutton, Gabriel Vergara, Matthew Gory, Austin Garcia-Hall, Alexander Valcarcel, Victor Barreda and Sebastian Arana. The Drama Club was led by Ms. Erin McGrath, who deserves a hearty commendation for their success.

Acting brings so much joy to our lives. No doubt these talented and hard-working Explorers-Thespians will go far in their artistic endeavors. I also congratulate the CCHS student body, staff, and especially the parents of the Drama Club students, for their part in this distinguished achievement. I look forward to continuing to witness our school make history. Forward (adelante).

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the Whispering Manes Therapeutic Riding Center's opening of a new arena in Florida's 26th Congressional District. It is my honor to recognize individuals and organizations in my district that dedicate their time and resources to helping improve the lives of children and their families that struggle with physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities.

Whispering Manes is opening a new arena and dedicating it to Marilyn Fizer March, an advocate and leader for children who suffer from a wide variety of disabilities. The March Arena is in the heart of my district and serves a neighborhood that would not otherwise have access to equine activities.

Through safe and supervised programs, participants with a wide range of disabilities are given the opportunity to participate in activities that promote physical, cognitive, or emotional well-being. The program aims to promote improvements in core and overall muscle strength, balance, and motor skills.

I am always proud to recognize individuals and organizations that dedicate their time to improving the lives of children in my district and in the community. I look forward to seeing this new arena provide invaluable services to this community and the constituents of Florida's 26th Congressional District.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to call up H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act, to protect all Americans from Biden's border crisis.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize The Orianne & Phil Collins' Little Dreams Foundation (LDF). The LDF was founded in 2000 and has been headquartered in Miami since 2013. The foundation's goals are to provide training and advice for aspiring young artists, athletes, and musicians by pairing them with a mentor who is a professional in their respective area.

Being able to extract creative talent out of students in Miami is important to Lourdes and I. Studies show that when students are introduced to music and the arts at a young age, it helps improve cognitive ability particularly in the math and sciences. In a world that is rapidly evolving and growing technologically, it is crucial that students at a young age have the ability to compete on a global stage in STEM courses. Organizations like The Orianne & Phil Collins' Little Dreams Foundation are crucial for giving students skills that they may not necessarily learn inside the classroom.

Now more than ever are LDF'S contributions and mission critical to the surrounding community. I congratulate The Orianne & Phil Collins' Little Dreams Foundation. I look forward to their continued success and prosperity in the future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Key West, Florida. The island's rich history and culture has made it an exquisite destination for millions around the world and in our great nation. Throughout the last 200 years, Key West has remained resilient and has always taken pride in its early entrepreneurship, labor force, and culture.

What is now Key West was originally incorporated as Thompson's Island. Early on, Key West was designated a Port of Entry. Within a few years, it transformed into an active city, attracting merchants, shipbuilders, politicians, and others from all over that were in pursuit of success. In the 1830s the wrecking industry expanded and became the main trade for the island.

During the mid-nineteenth century migration on the island also increased. Many Bahamians relocated to Key West and specialized in shipbuilding, fishing, sponging, and other maritime industries that were expanding at the time. Due to the expansion of these industries, Key West's success remained steadfast.

Today, the island is known for its biodiversity, historic sites, beaches, tourism, and rich culture. l commemorate the contributions many over the course of the last two centuries have made to propel and expand Key West. Exploration, entrepreneurship, and hard work have allowed the island to be what it is today--a unique treasure in our state.

It is an honor to join the South Florida and Conch community in celebrating this grand milestone. Key West has played a significant role in our nation's history and continues to exemplify the best of our great state today. Happy 200th anniversary Key West. Congratulations to all of those who have contributed to our island and have made it what it is today.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, the woke left have stood idly by as rabid criminals have embarked on an all-out assault on our police officers. Rather than standing up for the brave men and women of law enforcement--the very ones who put their lives on the line every day to keep our families and communities safe--they have bent over backwards to the most radical fringes of the progressive movement that actively works to defund, disarm, and disband our police departments.

The result? Under Joe Biden's first year as President, police officers have seen a historic spike in violent crime against them.

In 2021 alone, there were 346 officers shot in the line of duty resulting in 63 deaths.

Police officers were victims to 103 ambush-style attacks, which increased 115 percent over the prior year.

The FBI reported a 48.7 increase in 2021 of officers' killings, both on-duty and off-duty, totaling 73 deaths from firearms, vehicles, knives, and other personal weapons. Believe it or not, those numbers represent the highest number of law enforcement officers who were intentionally killed since the terror attacks of September 11.

Last week, House Homeland Security Committee Republicans stood up to demand the Department of Justice open a Federal investigation into these egregious spikes in crime against our police officers.

President Biden, his administration, and the Democrats who maintain a stranglehold on Congress must find the courage to break with the radical liberals who want to defund, disarm, and disband our police and show up with unprecedented support for our officers in blue.

I, for one, am proud to back the blue. Thank you to our officers for all the work and your sacrifices. Know that the Republicans in this Chamber stand with you and have your back.