Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, again, I thank the chairman and the minority leader for their support on this.

In April 2020, just months into the pandemic, we had a briefing from various agencies to the Intel Committee about the origins of the pandemic. At that point, one of the agencies said to us that they knew this did not come from the Wuhan lab, and many of us were angry at that.

We said to them, how could you possibly know that? The truth is, they didn't know that. The American people deserve to know the truth.

Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci has consistently said anyone who would even propose this idea that it came from the lab or some other source that was manufactured in China was nothing but a conspiracy theorist. He belittled anyone who suggested that. They tried to silence anyone who suggested that. He advocated among his fellow scientists to do the same thing.

Again, the American people deserve to know the truth, and I would defy anyone to give me any possible explanation why they would oppose this bill.

This isn't like the movies--``You can't handle the truth.'' The American people, of course, can handle the truth. They deserve to know the truth.

This final thought: Even now, the NIH is still listing the Wuhan Institute of Virology for eligibility to receive our Federal tax dollars.

That makes no sense at all. It is absolute nonsense. We can't do that until, once again, we know the truth.

Madam Speaker, I encourage support for this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great American, Mr. Ed Mahen who died this past fall. Edward C. Mahen, Jr., was a dedicated civil servant, an Air Force combat veteran and an extraordinary engineer. Ed worked for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for more than 23 years. Prior to his work for the NRO, he honorably served for 27 years as an active duty officer for the United States Air Force, including as a veteran of the Vietnam War.

Ed was always excited about his work. He was fascinated by science his entire life, and he served as a trailblazer throughout his career. He was a leader, a driving force behind innovation, and a model of procurement excellence. Recognized for his contributions, he received a number of awards over his career, including that of Pioneer of National Reconnaissance. His work profoundly influenced the NRO's capabilities, and he has left an indelible mark across the Intelligence Community (IC).

Born in rural Missouri, Ed was raised by his mother and father who were born during the Great Depression. His upbringing was greatly influenced by his parents' experience, as he was taught the importance of frugality, hard work, self-reliance and family loyalty.

Once Ed entered high school, he was exposed to his first experience with formal education. He grew up in the post-World War II period with its proliferation of science and technology, including rockets and nuclear weapons. While still living at home, Ed built a high-frequency radio telescope to listen to the radio emissions of the planet Jupiter as it would rise at night. In high school, he excelled in science and math. After graduation, Ed worked his way through the University of Missouri and graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in electrical engineering.

In 1969, Ed Mahen was drafted for the Vietnam War and joined the United States Air Force. His formal education was over, but Ed was a firm believer in life-long learning. He stated, ``Education is a continuum. It doesn't stop when you get a degree, and you have to continue to learn. So I never stopped going to school; I just stopped going to formal school . . . If I want to learn cryptography, I go off and study cryptography for a while. And I could figure it out. I could learn about it and apply it . . . So you just never stop learning.''

From May 1972 to May 1973, Ed Mahen took an assignment on an AC-130 gunship in Vietnam. As was the case for many young Americans, this was a time of harrowing conflict and quick growth as he matured in a combat zone. In 1972 alone, the squadron lost one-fourth of its airplanes. Ed reflected, ``It was the first time anybody really tried to kill me. We tried to die a lot of times.'' in that year, Ed earned two distinguished flying crosses and eleven air medals, and he flew 144 combat missions. At the end of his tour, Ed returned to the United States and served in various assignments in the Air Force, including overseeing all of the classified strategic and electronic warfare programs. He also served as a technical director for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

In 1996, Ed Mahen went to work for the Secretary of Defense to help resolve the situation in the Balkans, serving as the Director of the Bosnian Command and Control Initiative. He helped establish a peace- keeping mission with no loss of life and kept the price tag within budget.

Upon his return to the United States, as a Colonel in July 1997, the logical next step was promotion to Brigadier General. However, this would entail an assignment away from his family across the country. His upbringing and lessons from his parents meant putting family first. So he retired from a highly successful career in the Air Force.

In 1998, as a civilian, Ed Mahen was recruited by the Director of the NRO to join the agency, where he served as the Chief Technology Officer for the Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate. In the years that followed, he was recognized repeatedly for his many contributions in the field of national reconnaissance. His work defeated current and emerging threats from terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation--he became a standard of success at the NRO.

In 2009, Ed was nominated for the NRO Director's Award for Excellence in Acquisition. This time he was recognized for developing capabilities that ``have yielded actionable intelligence and made significant contributions to IC missions.'' Further, ``his mission-focused, technically driven, and results-oriented leadership has and will continue to deliver revolutionary new capabilities to help counter the most critical threats to our Nation's security.'' As well as his technical accomplishments, he served as a role model and mentor for his team.

In January 2020, Ed Mahen was named a Pioneer of National Reconnaissance, the highest award offered by the NRO. The Director of the NRO, Dr. Chris Scolese noted, ``Mr. Mahen's work enabled intelligence analysts to understand adversary capabilities and intent and helped our warfighters locate and track adversaries.''

Ed Mahen was a remarkable leader, applying the lessons learned over a lifetime of experience and focusing that knowledge on practical, technical problem solving for national security challenges. He developed a unique ability to hire junior people and groom them into subject matter experts. He explained, ``The key to program management, the first thing you do is put yourself out of business. So the first thing you do is hire the people who are going to replace you. So this program pretty much runs itself . . . it's sort of the biblical story of teaching people to fish. Teach people to be self-sufficient.''

Ed was a storyteller, and he maintained a sense of humor. He illustrated his work at the NRO by telling the story of ``Stone Soup,'' concluding, ``A lot of these programs are finding the pieces to stitch together so that you can do things very quickly.'' Most importantly, he never lost his enthusiasm and wonder for the accomplishments of the NRO. He once reflected, ``I think the NRO is a magic place. And I think with visionary leadership, the NRO could do anything.''

After nearly 50 years of service to the country, and still an active innovator, Ed Mahen passed away on September 29, 2021. Madam Speaker, our Nation has been blessed and prospered with greater national security by the lifetime of service of Ed Mahen. May he rest in peace and may his wife and family be comforted knowing their husband and father was a true patriot--one who endlessly loved them and his country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a truly great American, Mr. Edward C. Mahen, who unfortunately died last fall. This was an amazing man, and he will be missed.

Mr. Mahen was a dedicated civil servant, an Air Force combat veteran, and an extraordinary engineer with more than 50 years of service to our country.

In 1972, Ed joined the Air Force. In Vietnam, he earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses and eleven Air Medals flying 144 combat missions. He retired as a colonel in 1997 after a career of assignments in classified strategic and electronic warfare programs.

In 1998, Ed was recruited by the director of the NRO to become the chief technology officer for the Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate.

He was a remarkable leader. He left a legacy within the IC by hiring and guiding a new generation of IC professionals.

May he rest in peace. May his wife and family be comforted knowing he was a true patriot, a true friend, and one who endlessly loved his family and this country.

Madam Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Rollcall No. 141.

Madam Speaker, there is so much in this bill to be concerned about.

For the last 5 years, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I lived through the Russian hoax, I lived through impeachment 1, I lived through impeachment 2, all of which are great examples of provisions in this bill that harm our democracy. Let me talk about just one of them.

Tucked into this bill's provisions are elements which will rewrite the very nature of our democracy, whittling down the meaning of government for the people and by the people.

The President of the United States is elected by the people to run the executive branch. The President, by design, is accountable to the people. But among the many failures in this bill before us today are new sections which would severely restrict the ability of the President to remove senior government employees. This will have the effect of empowering these senior officials with the ability to paralyze a President whose policies they may not agree with, which we saw again and again during the Russian hoax, during impeachment 1, and during impeachment 2. This sets a dangerous precedent that will create a permanent bureaucratic resistance to the duly elected President.

The danger of these provisions will also set in motion a precedent to weaponize the entire intelligence community bureaucracy by allowing anonymous individuals to paralyze a President without any accountability. If you don't think it is going to happen, I refer you back to the Russian investigation hoax, to impeachment 1, and to impeachment 2. This guarantees more of this collusion.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote against this bill.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Owens, my friend, for organizing this event and for his interest in something that I think every American shares.

I have a young family. I have six kids. Many of them are just young couples. They are starting their careers; they are starting their families; and they are starting to make their way in the world and their mark on life.

If you are a young family, you know what it is like to go to the grocery store and to pay more every week than you paid the week before. You know what it is like to fill up your pickup and have it cost more every week than you paid the week before.

The reason you are driving a pickup is because you are a working American. You are not driving a big pickup around the city. You are driving a big pickup because that is what you use to work, whether you work on farming and ranching, like I did when I was young, or whether you are working construction, or whether you are working and going down to the docks. Those are the folks who are paying the price.

If you are wealthy, if you are affluent, if you don't go shopping but have someone who shops for you, if you don't fill up your vehicle yourself because you have someone who fills up the vehicle for you and then picks you up, you may not realize what a painful thing this is for Americans. But the vast majority of Americans do their own shopping. The vast majority of Americans struggle paycheck to paycheck. The vast majority of Americans know what a painful experience we find ourselves in now.

After only 10 months of President Biden, Americans are facing the worst inflation they have seen in 31 years. Democrats keep saying these prices are only temporary.

We are told that all the time. We have been told that by the Secretary of the Treasury. We have been told that by the Chairman of the Fed. We have been told that by the President. And they continue to say that.

But the truth is that $4 trillion in spending, when he says it is zero dollars that it will cost, the American people aren't stupid, and they know that is not true. They know inflation when they see it.

The consequences of this President's tax and spend agenda hits Americans, as I have already said, in their everyday lives. It hits Americans when the price of heating jumps from $574 to $746, which is what the Energy Information Administration predicts it will cost the average house this winter.

It is a tough choice when you have some people who say: Hey, we would like to have it warm. We would like for our little children to be comfortable. But we want to be able to buy the food that we want for them, other than just macaroni and cheese.

Some people are left with that decision.

It hits Americans at their Thanksgiving table. As we have said over and over again, this will be the most expensive Thanksgiving in American history, when frozen turkeys cost an average of 22 percent more than they did just last year.

What does the President do to alleviate some of this financial strain and the pressure that so many American families are feeling? Unfortunately, he does the same thing again and the same thing more, the very same policies that put us in the hole.

Here is the reality. There is no political spin for any Democrat. Americans will not be reassured by empty promises from those who don't see inflation coming in the first place, and President Biden cannot wish away this cost-of-living crisis, no matter how much he would like to do that.

From day one in office, President Biden's mission was clear. He wants the American people to rely on the government from cradle to grave.

To sell his agenda, he is telling Americans that more taxing, more spending, and more mandating will solve the financial problems. But this is just economic nonsense; it is an economic fairy tale; and this one has a scary ending, the kind that only George Orwell could imagine.

But because it is Thanksgiving, we can be thankful that we know how to solve these problems. If we didn't know how to solve them, it would be much more worrying, much more stressful. But the truth is, we know how to solve them. Congress simply needs to start expanding that opportunity, not shrinking it with mandate after mandate. Congress needs to start empowering the people, not expanding bureaucracy with tax after tax. Individual liberty must always triumph over government dependence.

If President Biden cannot accept that reality, we can expect more of what we have seen and felt over the last 10 months. If he can't understand that people, not the government, are the key to our success, American culture, American businesses, and American families will reap the results.

I sincerely hope that he will. I sincerely hope the President will look at the pain the American people are feeling and will recognize the responsibility he has not to make it worse, not to keep doing the same thing and just do it harder and faster, not to do the same thing and just excuse it away, but to try to do something different. Until then, I am afraid we will see much of the same.

I think I speak not only for Republicans on this, but many independents and many Democrats feel the same way. We hear from them when we go back home as well.

I thank Mr. Owens for organizing this on this incredibly important subject. It is an honor to be with him.

Madam Speaker, what an honor it is to be here with my friends, people that I have tremendous respect for, colleagues, people who love their country and want to serve their country.

Several of them have said something that I think is worth emphasizing, and that is, for example, when Mr. Curtis talks about 40 percent of the money that was printed in the history of this country was printed in the last several months, I am not sure that that is easy to convey to people how important that is.

We talk about a million dollars or a billion dollars or now a trillion dollars, and I am not sure we have an understanding, again, what those numbers even mean. I think a lot of times people think of a trillion dollars, well, it sounds like a lot of money. Is that like double a billion or what is a trillion?

I think I found a really good way to illustrate it and for us to visualize what it means when we are printing this kind of money.

Let me start with this: A million seconds is 11 days. A billion seconds is 31 years. A trillion seconds is 31,000 years. Think about that. 11 days to 31 years to 31,000 years. The people watching at home can't see this enormous Chamber we are in but imagine that I stretched a string from this wall to this wall, and let's say that over here is zero, and then I ask them to go touch 11 days, they would go touch and they would be nearly touching the wall. But then if I said touch 31 years, if this one over here is 31,000 years, they would still nearly be touching the wall, and all the rest of that distance is a trillion. I think that gives us a sense and gives us a way to visualize when we talk about spending trillions of dollars, it is magnitudes more than billions. It is an unimaginable number, like Mr. Curtis said, the percentage of that that has been created in the last few months.

Since COVID hit, we spent about $2 trillion on the COVID 1 relief package; we spent about the same, $1.9 trillion, on the second COVID relief package. This President suggested a budget that takes us from about $4.8 trillion a year to $6.3 trillion. We just spent $1.2 trillion on infrastructure. This government has spent, taken together, more than $11 trillion in a matter of months. That should scare the life out of every American.

People say, Well, you are kicking the can of debt down the road to our kids or grandkids. That is nonsense. We will never get to our grandkids if we spend trillions of dollars in a matter of months. We will never get to our kids if we spend $11 trillion in 18 months.

This problem will correct itself. It will correct itself in a painful way and in not a matter of generations, a matter of years, if we don't try to fix it now.

If you think inflation is because of bottlenecks and supply chains, that was part of it. But the vast majority of this is explained by one thing: The Federal Government spending trillions of dollars. And the American people pay the very unfortunate, the very painful price.

Once again, I thank Mr. Owens for the honor to be with him tonight.

Madam Speaker, I hereby remove myself as a cosponsor from H.R. 1297.

Madam Speaker, I rise to include in the Record a letter signed by the

Utah Congressional delegation to honor the life and service of my dear friend, Commissioner Dean Cox of St. George, Utah, who passed away on July 7, 2021. I have known Commissioner Cox, and his wife LaRene for years. They are the kind of family who set a high standard for public service and involvement. Dean was a great public servant, a wonderful neighbor, and a fantastic friend. He is sorely missed.

Congress of the United States,

House of Representatives,

Washington, DC, July 20, 2021.

LaRene Cox,

St. George, Utah.

Dear LaRene Cox and Family: We write to offer our sincere

condolences and honor a great pillar of southern Utah,

Commissioner Dean Cox. His years of diligent public service

to his community and family will be felt for decades to come.

He will be dearly missed.

Commissioner Dean Cox devoted his life to serving others

and set an example of measured and thoughtful leadership

throughout his life. He gave of his time and talents

generously and had a way of bringing people together to

complete essential projects for the benefit of all in

Washington County.

Dean's local knowledge and diverse experiences secured him

as a vital and trusted voice for the community. We revere

Dean's willingness to share his love of flight and knowledge

of radio operation to protect his community through service

as volunteer emergency responder. As a small business owner,

he showed the way to invest in the future of his community.

His ever willingness to serve taught us compassion for, and

devotion to beloved neighbors, which is a legacy that will

live on in Washington County, the State of Utah, and beyond.

We are grateful to you for your sustaining love and support

to Commissioner Dean Cox throughout his life and career. You

will continue to carry on the legacy of friendship and

kindness that together you set during his lifetime. We will

miss working with Dean and are grateful for the time we spent

with him as a friend, neighbor and dedicated public servant.

Our hearts go out to you as we keep you and your family in

our prayers and hope for you to find comfort during this

difficult time.

Sincerely,

Senator Mike Lee.

Representative Chris Stewart.

Representative Blake Moore.

Senator Mitt Romney.

Representative John Curtis.

Representative Burgess Owens.

Madam Speaker, I thank the ranking member, Mr. Hill, and my colleagues. I especially thank my cosponsor from New Hampshire for her support and her words today.

Madam Speaker, much has been said, so I will be brief.

I obviously stand before you in support of awarding the Ghost Army veterans the Congressional Gold Medal. For more than 40 years, this World War II unit of more than 1,000 soldiers was nothing more than a myth; a bit of a ghost, if you will. More than 20 years ago, their heroic actions were still classified until, finally, we could learn the things that they had done.

Today, I ask my colleagues again, both Democrat and Republican, to join me in giving these men and women the recognition that they really deserve.

During our Nation's darkest hour, the Ghost Army did not shy away from the fight. They saved thousands of lives. They stood eye-to-eye against the axis of evil. They defeated fascism in Europe. To do so, many of them made the ultimate sacrifice.

For those heroes who returned home, no one knew of their courage and sacrifice; neither did many of them know of the great success that the Ghost Army had had. They kept their top-secret mission and the operations they did even away from their friends and family.

But, still, they have not been yet recognized by the Army or by this Congressional body. We have the opportunity to right that wrong.

Today, there are only 11 members of more than 1,000 of the original Ghost Army who still remain alive. And to this day, they continue to embody the ideals that Americans strive for: Duty, honor, sacrifice, courage, service.

Let's pass this bill. Let's give the Ghost Army heroes the highest honor that we can.

Mr. Speaker, I rise before you in support of awarding the Ghost Army veterans with the Congressional Gold Medal.

This is such a great story. In World War II, the Ghost Army had a mission unlike any other. They were recruited in one of the greatest counterintelligence operations of our time, fooling the Nazis with inflatable tanks, mannequins, and decoys.

It is estimated that they saved tens of thousands of American soldiers' lives. Their work was so groundbreaking that it remained classified for more than 40 years.

Mr. Speaker, the Ghost Army and their legacy have never been formally recognized. This bill is long overdue for the soldiers and their families. Of the

1,100 who served, only 11 of them are alive today. Among them, 103- year-old Staff Sergeant Stanley Nance, who lives in my home State of Utah. I have had a chance to get to know him.

He and his fellow soldiers, those few, those 11 who are still alive, and their families, deserve recognition of their service and sacrifices.

Mr. Speaker, I call on my colleagues to honor the Ghost Army and award them the Congressional Gold Medal.

Mr. Chairman, as the designee of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment is very simple. It adds the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee to the list of committees that will receive a briefing from the Director of National Intelligence on emerging infectious disease and pandemics.

The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health has jurisdiction over all public health and quarantine, as well as the Centers for Disease Control.

Given the Energy and Commerce Committee's and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee's jurisdiction over the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response, which plays an integral role in our Nation's public health and security, it is imperative that these committees be included in this briefing.

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

Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman for supporting the amendment. I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time

Mr. Chair, again I rise as the designee of Mr. Burgess, and I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, once again, my amendment is simple. It directs the Secretary of Homeland Security, in collaboration with the Director of National Intelligence, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and appropriate private entities, to undertake an effort to remove or neutralize unauthorized international mobile subscriber identity catchers, or cell-site simulators, installed by foreign entities or that have an unknown attribution.

International mobile subscriber identities, IMSI, catchers, or cell- site simulators, are devices used for intercepting mobile traffic and location data. They appear to be legitimate cell phone towers that nearby phones may connect to. Once connected, phone locations can be tracked.

Some advanced IMSI catchers can even read content, such as messages and cell phone data. Much remains unknown about the proliferation of these devices, particularly in the national capital region. However, we do know that foreign actors have access to and have used these devices.

It is imperative that our intelligence community, with the relevant agencies and private industry partners, undertake an effort to neutralize unauthorized IMSI catchers.

Mr. Chair, I urge support of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment which is being considered in En Bloc 2. My amendment regards the important topic of Military Working Dogs (MWD), commonly known War Dogs.

War Dogs play an important role protecting our service men and women in combat and non-combat zones all over the world. Speaking on the importance of these working animals, General David Petraeus said that, ``The capability they bring to the fight cannot be replicated by man or machine. By all measures of performance, their yield outperforms any asset we have in our inventory.''

War dogs are trained to detect bombs--with 98 percent accuracy, sniff out drugs, track people, and provide physical protection when necessary. Staff Sgt. Andrew Mier of the DoD Military Working Dog Program also said that these dogs ``create a strong psychological deterrent''. It's been shown that these animals can inflict fear on enemies in a way that not even armed soldiers can. Today, more than 2,300 War Dogs are deployed on active duty and I, for one, am incredibly grateful for their service.

In an effort to honor these heroes, my amendment, No. 6 to Division C of H.R. 2740, is a good government measure that will ensure War Dogs are returned to the United States after they complete their service by providing $200,000 to the Secretary of Defense for travel purposes.

Previously, if a War Dog retired from service in a non-combat zone overseas, the handler was given the option to adopt the animal. If the handler declined to adopt, these animals would be put up for adoption to civilian families. If the dog was adopted, however, the new owner was required to pay for the dog's transportation back to the United States.

Congress attempted to make it easier to get these service dogs home by adding verbiage to the National Defense Authorization Acts of 2014, 2016 and 2018, requiring the Department of Defense to organize the return of retired and retiring military dogs stateside.

Despite these requirements, the Department of Defense has unfortunately still not adopted a formal organizational plan to implement this policy.

My amendment to Division C of H.R. 2740 restates Congress's strong opinion that the Department of Defense must formalize plans across the services to ensure that these dogs are able to return stateside after they retire from active service.

These dogs selflessly give everything to protect our service men and women. They deserve the same devotion from us. I strongly believe they should be brought home, so they can retire to a loving environment as a reward for their hard work and loyalty. They are American heroes and should be treated as such.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and others who have worked on this.

Mr. Speaker, I am so disappointed in this legislation. I have been involved, in my time in Congress, with leaders from various LGBTQ and other organizations representing good people, as well as religious leaders, in an effort to find common ground to satisfy two important priorities.

Yes, of course--of course--we should treat each other with fairness and with dignity. I believe that all people in America should live their lives free of any discrimination. But we also have to defend the first freedom, the foundational liberty, the amendment and the principle upon which all other liberties are based.

People of faith, who are also good people, deserve to have the right to express their sincerely held religious beliefs without compulsion from the Federal Government.

This bill, unfortunately--and more than unfortunately. I mean sadly, disappointingly, this bill makes absolutely no effort to do that. It makes no effort to find common ground.

What a wasted opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 962, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I urge to immediately schedule this important bill.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in favor of H.R. 1617, and I am proud to cosponsor this bill with my friend, Mr. Krishnamoorthi.

The Keeping Russian Entrapments Minimal and Limiting Intelligence Networks Act, also known as the KREMLIN Act, is a commonsense bill that directs the intelligence community to conduct an assessment on the leadership of the Russian Government's plans and intentions, as my friend Raja has said, especially in regards to NATO.

Madam Speaker, with some questioning Washington's commitment to the transatlantic alliance, this bill also serves as a reminder to our allies of the U.S. Congress' commitment to NATO.

NATO is indispensable. As a former military officer, I know firsthand how true that is. It is also as important today as it has ever been. Understanding the threats that the Kremlin continues to challenge to this important alliance is of utmost importance.

In particular, the bill seeks assessments in three areas:

First, any potential military action against NATO members;

Second, potential reaction to the expansion of NATO; and,

Third, potential weaknesses and areas of division against NATO allies.

Learning the Russian Government's intentions in these areas will better enable the United States Government to counter any attempts to undermine this critical alliance that we call NATO.

I thank the Speaker, urge passage of H.R. 1617, and reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, once again, very briefly, this is a commonsense piece of legislation. It is a bipartisan piece of legislation. Importantly, it improves our national security. It improves the ability of our intelligence agencies to do the critical work that they do.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor, and I yield back the balance of my time.