Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Lumbee Tribal Council member, Terry Hunt, who during July's council meeting was honored for nearly three decades of service in the U.S. Army and the North Carolina National Guard where he served as a Command Sergeant Major.

During the meeting, Councilman Hunt was bestowed with the Old North State Award, which honors guard members who have served at least 20 years and who have shown a dedication of service beyond expectation. He was also awarded the North Carolina Association Certificate, which honors National Guard retirees.

Councilman Hunt was elected to the Tribal Council in 2018, representing District 14, which includes communities in Eastern Robeson County. I am proud to work alongside him and the other members of the council as we pursue long-overdue Federal recognition for the Lumbee.

Congratulations to Councilman Hunt on this great honor. The people of North Carolina are grateful for his service.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

The Transportation Security Transparency Improvement Act is a commonsense solution to strengthen national security and promote communication with stakeholders. Involving stakeholders in policymaking is the most effective way to implement trustworthy and efficient decisions. As any stakeholder will tell you, information sharing is critical.

My bill will improve consistency in TSA's designation and redaction of materials as sensitive security information, as well as address the security directive and emergency amendment process and its impacts on international aviation security. My bill will also ensure clear and consistent designations and emphasize TSA's outreach with carriers and local law enforcement to promote information sharing.

Finally, the Transportation Security Transparency Improvement Act will instruct the TSA Administrator to implement guidelines to ensure all security and safety measures are being met. This legislation will undoubtedly improve aviation security by ensuring TSA clearly communicates critical security information to transportation security stakeholders.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate the Honorable Mike McIntyre, former Member of the House from 1997 to 2015

for his induction into the University of North Carolina's Order of the Golden Fleece, the oldest and highest honor society at UNC, where Mike received both a bachelor of arts and a juris doctorate.

After graduating from UNC law, Mike practiced as an attorney in his hometown of Lumberton until he was elected to Congress in 1996. During his 18 years representing Robeson County and other parts of southeastern North Carolina, Congressman McIntyre acquired a reputation for excellent constituent service and advocacy for rural communities, including his work on the Agriculture Committee and his coauthoring the landmark Tobacco Buyout legislation, as well as fighting for full Federal recognition of the Lumbee.

For Mike, country over party was not just a slogan, it was his approach to leadership. I am honored not only to carry on his work serving the rural southern Piedmont of North Carolina, but also to strive to emulate his example as I do so.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Mike on this appropriate recognition.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 18, and I ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and my fellow North Carolinian, Mr. Cawthorn, for having this Special Order.

My comments will echo his. Look, the pandemic is over. Thank goodness. Our economy should be seeing robust growth. Instead, businesses cannot fill the record number of jobs available.

In fact, the number one issue that I hear, not only from business owners and managers, but from all constituents, is that folks will not come to work, businesses cannot find workers.

Last month, despite 9.3 million job openings, there were only 69,000 more new hires than in the month before. How is that possible with unemployment at 6 percent?

Simply put, President Biden and Democrats have insisted on continuing to pay people more to stay home than to work.

Despite consistent warnings from Republicans and economists, the so- called American Rescue Plan continued expanded unemployment benefit programs enacted in the heart of the pandemic.

In my home State, in North Carolina, these expanded benefits are worth $650 a week. That is about $50 more than the Progressives' preferred minimum wage of $15 an hour. You don't have to be an economist to see why small businesses can't fill job openings, and it is beyond time that Congress fix this self-inflicted wound.

That is one reason that Representative Jodey Arrington and I introduced the Jump-Start the Economy with Jobs Act. This bill, which ought to move promptly in this Congress, requires an individual who is currently receiving enhanced unemployment benefits to recertify that they do not have a job offer waiting for them in order to continue receiving enhanced benefits.

If their former employer would receive a communication, and if they say we are prepared to give an offer to that person to come back to work, then they can't continue to receive unemployment benefits. How appropriate. That would tailor the program to those people that continue to need it because of a job dislocation they cannot resolve. Enhanced unemployment benefits should continue for those who truly need them and not for those who have a job waiting for them.

The extended Federal unemployment benefits implemented during COVID- 19 had their time, but they should not be the mainstay now. They are, instead, artificially reducing the workforce.

Across the country, let's all be thankful, communities are opening up their economies and getting back to normal.

It is past time for this government to stop holding back the recovery and to stand up for small businesses, job generators, by ceasing to pay people to stay home.

A good first step would be to enact the Jump-Start the Economy with Jobs Act.

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

Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today makes a small but significant change to the Federal fraud statutes to protect veterans from criminals who seek to steal their benefits. It does so by inserting a new provision into the criminal code to complement the mail and wire fraud statutes.

Unfortunately, there have been reports in recent years of criminals entering nursing homes in search of elderly veterans with the intent to defraud them of their Federal benefits.

Like many crimes of fraud, these fraudsters present themselves to their victims as a helping hand in a time of need. This is a truly despicable crime worthy of this body's attention.

This legislation has passed this House three times by overwhelming margins, including a vote of 417-0 last Congress.

Our men and women in uniform have sacrificed much for us. They have earned our gratitude, our respect, and our protection.

Mr. Speaker, there is little, in my mind, more contemptuous than someone who tries to defraud a veteran of what they have earned in defense of our country. We must put an end to this fraud.

I urge all my colleagues to support this measure.

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

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2694, the Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2021.

This bill strengthens existing laws that provide for the transportation and subsistence for indigent criminal defendants when they are brought to court proceedings.

H.R. 2694 also allows a magistrate judge to finally decide post- judgment motions in a misdemeanor case where that magistrate judge was the judge who handled the underlying case.

This provision will improve the efficiency of our court system by allowing our courts to manage caseloads in a more economical manner.

I thank the bipartisan sponsors of this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to improve the administration of justice through our court system by supporting this bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2922.

The Elder Abuse Protection Act builds on President Trump's strong record of protecting America's seniors and responding to elder abuse in America. In 2017, President Trump signed into law the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act to improve the justice system's response to victims of elder abuse and exploitation cases.

In 2018, President Trump signed an executive order that established a task force within the Justice Department that placed a new emphasis on the growing problems of cyber fraud and fraud targeting the elderly. Attorney General Barr appointed a National Elder Justice Coordinator to oversee the Department's work to combat elder fraud.

Because of the Trump administration's work, all 94 U.S. Attorney's offices now have a prosecutor dedicated to focus on the most pressing elder justice issues in each jurisdiction.

The Department also established an Elder Justice Initiative to support and coordinate the Department's enforcement and programmatic efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect, and financial fraud cases and scams that target our seniors.

This bill codifies the Trump administration's Elder Justice Initiative as a program within the Department of Justice. President Trump and his administration led on protecting American seniors. The bill before us today will make permanent the thoughtful and successful initiatives implemented by President Trump and Attorney General Barr.

I am pleased that my colleagues across the aisle recognize the leadership of President Trump and Attorney General Barr in these important areas. I thank the sponsor and cosponsor of this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Spartz).

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 961, the Justice for Juveniles Act. This bill eliminates some of the administrative hurdles for juvenile prisoners seeking relief in Federal court.

Juvenile offenders often lack the knowledge to pursue and exhaust all the complex administrative rules and grievance procedures in correctional facilities. H.R. 961 will address that problem by providing juvenile offenders with quicker access to courts when they feel they are being abused or mistreated.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I take a moment to note my agreement with the gentlewoman from Texas' point, that the cognition of juveniles is not fully developed and that they should not be called upon to make unalterable, lifelong decisions under those circumstances.

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

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

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