Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Nebraska for yielding.

The idea, Mr. Speaker, of hiring 87,000 new IRS agents to close the tax gap is misguided. I served as revenue secretary for the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We did, in fact, close a tax gap through what proved to be very effective measures. These measures included improving IT systems and processes, which truly determined tax evasion from tax avoidance.

Largely taking the easy approach of hiring 87,000 new agents, doubling the size of the IRS--I don't know who thinks that is a good idea--does not improve the quality of information used to accomplish the goal of collecting all tax revenues that are due. It will only increase the number of audits, most often on innocent small businesses and individuals.

As well, the CBO projection of $186 billion of increased revenue was established before the administration said that only those above $400,000 in income would be audited. Currently, nearly 90 percent of the audits are conducted on small businesses and those making less than $400,000.

How can you make a projection when your targeted audience is reduced by 90 percent?

This is an absolutely flawed plan that will do nothing but increase the size of government, increase audits on law-abiding businesses, and fail to achieve its intended results. It is Big Government at its worse.

According to the CBO, the hiring of these new IRS agents will also cause audit rates to rise on all taxpayers. A bipartisan analysis found that this increase in funding would result in 1.2 million more audits; 700,000 of them will target taxpayers making $75,000 or less. These new IRS agents will not be targeting wealthy tax cheats as they claim. They will be targeting everyday Americans.

Mr. Speaker, the latest inflation numbers are in. Inflation has increased 7.1 percent in the last year, and in my home State of Pennsylvania, it has increased 12 percent.

Despite the Biden administration celebrating, nobody in my district is celebrating. There is no celebrating when my constituents go to the grocery store, the gas station, and when they pay their home heating bills. They feel this pain every day.

This inflation has primarily been caused by the assault on our domestic energy and excessive government spending. We are now in discussions on our appropriations bill.

Mr. Speaker, not only is the plan to add over 7 percent to compensate for inflation--which was originally created by such excessive spending--we are now going to double down and spend hundreds of billions of dollars in excess of pre-COVID levels. In fact, the Government funding bill being discussed is 25 percent more than prepandemic levels and 10 percent more than last year.

There is no merit to this continued spending spree. It will only further drive inflation and grow our deficit which, in turn, incurs more interest to be paid on our debt. All the while the Fed is increasing interest rates to further burden my constituents and to also dampen our economy.

This is absolutely ``gas backwards'' policy.

Mr. Speaker, as today is Pearl Harbor Day, may we all give thanks to those before us who fought and gave their lives for our freedom.

Mr. Speaker, come next year, Americans who receive $600 or more on their third-party payment systems like Venmo will receive a tax form thanks to a provision put into the American Rescue Plan.

For instance, if you sold an old couch and received payment for it of over $600, you could trigger an IRS audit. This reporting requirement will not be targeting the wealthy, as it was designed for, but middle class Americans who often send and receive money via Venmo and other services.

The new 87,000 IRS agents hired through the Democrat plan will be very busy. We were told last year the IRS agents would only be targeting those making more than $400,000 a year. I think we all remember that. The SNOOP Act introduced by my colleague Michelle Steel would reverse the reporting threshold back to $20,000, ensuring everyday Americans are not subject to this IRS intrusion and overreach, and I ask my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, it is universally understood that our border is an unforgivable, unmitigated disaster.

Since President Biden took office there have been: 4 million illegal crossings; over 1 million gotaways; 98 individuals on the terror watch list apprehended, and God knows how many we didn't catch; over 800 have died crossing the border; one in three women are sexually assaulted on the journey; and over 14,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl seized, a single-year record.

Illegal drugs have contributed to the deaths of over 107,000 mostly young Americans in the last year. Sadly, 14 of our CBP agents have committed suicide this year, as well.

Despite all of this horrifying data, President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas tell us that this border is secure--unforgivable rhetoric that is insulting to the American people.

The Biden administration, Madam Speaker, has no plan for the massive additional influx which will occur in just a few weeks when title 42 ends, a complete dereliction of duty.

Madam Speaker, as we here in the House and our country come near the close of 2022, the United States has gone through the worst year on our record for illegal border crossings.

Meanwhile, we have a Homeland Security Secretary who tells us regularly that the border is secure. Just this last month, over 230,000 illegals have crossed that we know of.

Along with this, gasoline prices are over $4 a gallon again, and the cost of Thanksgiving for most families will be over 20 percent what it was last year.

This has been a troubling year. America needs a new course. This House needs a new course, a new direction, and new priorities that strengthen America and Americans.

Madam Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Bost for his leadership on this important bill.

I rise in support of the AUTO for Veterans Act. This legislation would expand, as stated, access to the Department of Veterans Affairs' automobile grant, which assists severely disabled veterans.

Veterans, especially those in rural communities, Madam Speaker, face transportation challenges, as we all know, that affect their quality of life and independence. Expanding the VA auto grant program is a commonsense step toward improving this program for men and women who made tremendous sacrifices serving our country.

Improving access to safe and reliable transportation for disabled veterans will ensure they can maintain their independence and lead fulfilling, healthy lives.

I introduced the AUTO for Veterans Act, a bill nearly identical to this legislation, in the last Congress, and it did receive support from numerous veterans service organizations and garnered over 70 cosponsors, including Democrats and Republicans. I am glad that my Democrat colleagues were able to see the merit of this legislation, and I do look forward to the Senate taking action on this legislation and providing much-needed support and independence for our wounded veterans.

Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Pennsylvania for his leadership and for his support of this commonsense legislation.

Madam Speaker, I do rise to oppose the previous question so that we may immediately consider my bill, H.R. 6592, the Immigration Transparency and Transit Notification Act, which would provide much- needed transparency for the secret immigration flights sent by the Biden administration to my hometown and to communities across, primarily, rural America.

Thanks to their open border policies, the Biden administration has been sending hundreds of flights full of illegal immigrants into American communities, often in the dead of night. Over the last year- and-a-half, these flights have been landing in towns across America, placing thousands of illegal immigrants into communities with no prior notice, yet no one has flinched, no mainstream media attention, no outrage from the podium at the White House or Democrats in this House.

Now that Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Martha's Vineyard have received flights, now it has become a seemingly national crisis.

Remember, the Biden administration was flying thousands of these illegals secretly to middle America for well over a year now, and no one has batted an eye.

Sanctuary cities and States offering benefits to illegal immigrants and the open border rhetoric from the Biden administration continue to induce illegal immigration and likely violates Title 8 of the U.S. Code.

Republicans have endlessly called on the Biden administration and my colleagues in this House, Democrat colleagues, to secure our border and ultimately put an end to this practice of airdropping illegal immigrants into American communities. This should not be a partisan issue.

I became aware of these flights in my area only from local whistleblowers at our local airport. I engaged in good faith with DHS and HHS and was met with nothing but nontruths and empty promises. We were first told no illegals were being flown into Pennsylvania. This, of course, turned out to be completely untrue. I saw it with my own eyes.

I was also told that it was just a coincidence these flights were coming in at 2 o'clock in the morning into remote rural airports. One flight was around midnight on Christmas night.

After these meetings, I was told that I would receive notification of future flights. No such notifications were ever received, yet the flights continued.

At this point, I introduced this responsible piece of legislation to bring transparency, accountability, and decency, and local help and support to the situation.

The current situation at our border is not humane. Millions of illegals are enduring a treacherous journey, as we all know, facing perilous conditions, assault, rape, and death, all because the Biden administration's words and actions, and that of the cartels certainly, that we allow to exist, have led them to believe that they can come.

This is not humane, Madam Speaker. Nothing about the Biden administration's border policy is. When such illegals arrive on ghost flights, as mentioned, in these communities, no one on the ground has any idea where they are coming from or where they are going.

In addition to all of this, we have deadly drugs like fentanyl pouring across the border, killing over 100,000 Americans just in the past year.

The cartels are getting rich as migrants are giving away their life savings under the pretense set out by the Biden administration that they are welcomed here. The illegals are not to blame for making this journey. It is the cartels and the Biden administration's encouraging them who are to blame. The false message is out: Show up to our border and all will be fine.

As a result, our border is overrun and border communities and others across the country--yes, even now Martha's Vineyard--are now feeling the effects of this. It needs to stop.

Of course, if our southern border is secured, there would be no need for

such ghost flights to take place. Effective border policy should be fully implemented. Catch and release must end. Our border must be secured.

Until these policies change and our border is secured, I offer this legislation to bring accountability and transparency to these flights and ensure American communities are properly informed, ensure that the sponsor is legitimate and verified and safe, that we are not aiding and abetting human trafficking, and we give the State's Governor the authority to approve flights and determine if they have the means to provide the support necessary.

The schools should also be notified, Madam Speaker. How is it when 10 young children here illegally, who do not speak English, show up at a school district on a Monday morning, without notification? It is wrong. It is a terrible shame that it took flights to liberal enclaves like New York, Chicago, D.C., and Martha's Vineyard for this to be taken seriously and receive the attention that it finally deserves.

Madam Speaker, our border must be secured. I think I am making my point.

Until then, this bill will bring order and transparency to this practice. I hope my Democrat colleagues are truly outraged by some of these practices, as I have outlined. I urge them to join me in defeating the previous question in support of my bill. In doing so, we will address the reality that so many communities across America have been facing for nearly 2 years. Let's act responsibly.

Madam Speaker, over the past 21 months under the Biden administration, border States and cities such as McAllen, Texas and Yuma, Arizona, have seen hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants enter their cities under these reckless border policies.

I, along with 59 Republicans, introduced H.R. 6592, the Immigration Transparency and Notification Act, to provide for transparency of these secret immigration flights conducted by the Biden administration into my hometown and rural towns across America.

Thousands of illegals were flown into areas across the country with no notice or coordination, yet no one flinched; no mainstream media attention; no outrage from the White House.

Now that Chicago, D.C., and Martha's Vineyard have joined the party and been introduced to open border policy, somehow, now this is a national tragedy and unacceptable. This is hypocrisy at its highest.

Mr. Speaker, the American people are sick and tired of runaway government promises of how excessive spending, tax increases, and Green New Deal special interest investments are somehow going to make their lives better and reduce inflation.

Yet, we are here today in this Chamber to raise taxes on the American people, hire 87,000 new IRS auditors forever more, Mr. Speaker, and pass over a half trillion dollars in new government spending, all in the name of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Mr. Speaker, is this some sort of joke? Do we actually think that the American people believe that? Well, they don't.

By the way, regarding the $400,000 less won't get taxed, if a pass- through business makes $400K and the partners pay themselves $100,000 each, they will fall under the audit initiative by the IRS.

As well, the projections for IRS hiring do not count only taxing those over $400K, so the whole thing was made up to make it sound better than it is.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson), my good friend, the vice chair, for his leadership.

Madam Speaker, my constituents tend to say this phrase very often lately. They have had enough.

Madam Speaker, American families, seniors, and small business owners are struggling to keep up with skyrocketing inflation. That is not news to anyone. Families are contending with high prices at the grocery store just to put food on their table and canceling summer vacations due to record-high gas prices. Small business owners are being squeezed with the increased prices of supplies, shipping costs, wages, you name it, while they are seeing reduced revenues from customers who are reducing their own spending, of course.

Our seniors, many living on fixed incomes, are struggling to maintain their basic quality of life, afford necessities, and the gasoline it takes to travel to their doctor appointments. But, Madam Speaker, you don't have to take my word for it.

This week, I asked my constituents how inflation has impacted their daily lives. In less than 24 hours, I received over 1,400 responses from seniors, from small business owners, from mothers and fathers from every corner of my district who are struggling to keep up with inflation.

A few examples: Michelle from Schuylkill County had to cancel necessary doctor appointments because she cannot afford the current price of gasoline.

Karl and his family from Carbon County had to cancel their vacation due to astronomical gas prices.

William from Carbon County has informed me that inflation has gotten so bad that he must choose between eating or whether to fill up a gas tank to attend his needed doctor appointments.

Rick, a small business owner from Luzerne County, has had to slow down his business expansion and is unable to hire new employees while also having to raise prices just to keep his business afloat.

Scott from Lebanon County has been unable to visit his elderly father due to inflation slashing into his savings.

These are actual responses from my constituents.

Today, Madam Speaker, I had small business owners and constituents from my district in for a small business roundtable. Some of their feedback on inflation included fighting the headwinds rather than extending any of their resources to grow their business, delaying growth and delaying projects and hiring.

One constituent who does construction stated that the recent T&I bill that was passed in this House will now create 30 percent less projects in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania because of the high level of inflation. That really hits home, to say the least.

Madam Speaker, I have to say that in only 18 months, my constituents are right. They have had enough.

We do. We can.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana, my very good friend, for offering this opportunity to speak on these important issues.

Mr. Speaker, 1 year ago this week, President Biden stood before the American people and said that inflation was temporary. At that point, the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, of course, stood at 5.4 percent.

In the 365 days since, the price of nearly everything has increased, and the Consumer Price Index has skyrocketed at 9.1 percent.

Eggs are up 33 percent; milk is up 16 percent; chicken is up 18 percent; and worst of all, Americans are paying over 60 percent more for gasoline than they were a year ago, costing American families, my constituents, and everyone throughout our country, nearly $6,000 extra a year. Now we have our Transportation Secretary telling us the truth, that this pain--and I'm quoting--will lead to more purchases of electric cars.

So that was the plan. Thanks for being honest, Mr. Secretary.

Meanwhile, however, neither the administration nor the Secretary of Transportation has any understanding of where the energy comes from to charge all of these electric cars.

They are not exactly chess players, Mr. Speaker.

As my friend from Louisiana put it, inflation, incompetence--the third ``I''?

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Madam Speaker, U.S. troops are in Syria to fight ISIS pursuant to the 2001 counter-terrorism AUMF. For years, we have worked with partners on the ground to eliminate the deadly and destabilizing threat of ISIS.

This mission in Syria has been extremely successful. The job, however, is nowhere near done. Just this week, our military succeeded in eliminating the leader of ISIS in Syria. This comes after the capture of a top ISIS leader and bombmaker in northwest Syria last month.

According to the U.S. Central Command, ``removal of these ISIS leaders will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out attacks.''

Our continued presence on the ground is necessary to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.

Such a short-sighted amendment would prematurely cut short our presence in Syria. Our force in Syria has been extremely effective and part of a global coalition to defeat ISIS. This is not the time for the U.S. to abandon our allies and partners in Syria. We have seen what occurs when such actions are taken.

None of us want our soldiers, American soldiers, men and women, overseas longer than absolutely necessary. Many of us believe that the AUMF of 2001 must be updated and replaced. But forcing a withdrawal too soon virtually ensures we will have to return.

Such a plan that is outlined in this amendment undermines our military position. We saw it in Iraq when President Obama withdrew, and U.S. troops had to go back in just a few years later to fight ISIS.

We must avoid a similar situation in Syria. Withdrawal should be based on the defeat of ISIS, not on an artificial timeline. For these reasons, I urge opposition to this amendment.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) for his leadership.

Madam Speaker, President Biden's plan to tame escalating inflation passes the buck to Americans once again. Costs for driving to work, feeding families, housing, and utilities are under unimaginable increases and strain on my constituents, thanks to the disastrous policies.

President Biden largely puts responsibility on the Federal Reserve to stabilize inflation. However, the shocks that the Biden administration has brought to our economy are out of the Fed's control. Sure, they play a role here. A majority of the inflation, however, has been caused by the assault on domestic energy, excessive government spending, and incentivizing a lack of American productivity.

President Biden then wonders why we don't embrace his plan to reduce inflation by tapping the emergency energy reserves. Somehow that is going to lower gas prices. Well, it hasn't. It is a bad idea, and it hasn't made a dent.

Shockingly, against every fundamental of economics that we are even taught back in the seventh grade, Madam Speaker, he wants to raise taxes on American businesses, which, according to the Biden administration, will reduce the deficit, slow inflation, and create jobs. I am surprised it wouldn't put food on the table as well.

Americans, in their opinion, need relief right now, not in some far off, far out way. Small businesses are rightfully concerned about surviving after having to absorb huge new costs since the Biden administration came into office. And this is factual. The data is there, and the graphs are there.

Bidenomics has greatly worsened what was and is a challenging time for our economy. But digging a hole much deeper than necessary and exacerbating pain for Americans who are struggling to cope with one economic hardship after another is certainly not the answer.

There is no doubt the Federal Reserve's delay in acting did make inflation worse, and America's overreliance on goods made in China also contributed to inflation, along with the COVID supply chain setbacks. However, we would be nowhere near the position we are in now if it were not for the terrible Bidenomics that they put in place. These reckless actions have turned economic challenges into a full-blown, as some describe, hurricane of an economic crisis.

These policies have spearheaded an assault, an absolute assault, on our domestic energy--this is unforgivable--over the last 18 months.

President Biden canceled the Keystone pipeline. That was just the start of it. He halted issuance of other pipeline and drilling permits--far less were issued than were ever issued during the Obama years; mitigated LNG exports; threatened domestic banks and investment companies against investing in carbon fuels.

Our domestic energy went from a state of independence and surplus to a high level of dependency. After these Biden administration policies kicked in, the U.S. became at the mercy, once again, to the energy players like OPEC and Russia, meaning any geopolitical disruption would spike gas prices, leading to cascades of issues for Americans, consumers, and businesses.

Madam Speaker, we have seen this before. This is a rerun. This is why U.S. domestic energy independence is so crucial.

However, the administration, and many in this Chamber, have a ``go green now or else'' mentality, which has generated $5-plus gasoline prices and caused natural gas to go so far high up in price that fertilizer costs have caused farmers' prices and costs to skyrocket. Of course, food on everybody's table soon followed.

Biden and the Democrats--and it is far too many Democrats, frankly-- in Congress continued spending trillions which exacerbated inflation, leading to predictable inflation where even Democrats such as Larry Summers, an economist, stated, look out for a rapid rise and a sustained inflationary period.

Many others said, Oh, no, Larry's wrong this time. Well, Larry was not wrong. Now, with the threat of tax increases and a laundry list of every regulatory antigrowth measure imaginable, this woke, go-broke economy is going to continue to fail American families.

Madam Speaker, we must encourage responsible domestic energy production. We must lower taxes to rev up our economy. The United States must have the most competitive economy in the world, job creation machine and perhaps a job creation tax credit.

We must support production of items made in America. We must do our very best to buy American, and we need to pivot from this awful path that we continue to be on.

I will wrap up by simply stating that we must recognize where the problem started, what the problem is, have a plan for solutions, and that means having the courage to change course now.

Madam Speaker, I thank the ranking member, Mr. Luetkemeyer, for his leadership on this bill and in committee.

The EIDL program, Madam Speaker, was established to deliver relief to struggling small businesses during the pandemic. This is why I rise today in support of H.R. 7334.

Unlike the public-private partnership that was Paycheck Protection Program, the EIDL program was a direct loan program administered by the SBA, not in partnership with private lenders.

The SBA's inspector general has estimated that there is approximately $84.4 billion in potential fraudulent EIDL activity, over 20 percent of all EIDL loans extended.

With this massive level of potential fraud, it is imperative that this House passes Ranking Member Luetkemeyer's bill to extend the current 5-year statute of limitations for SBA grants and loans to 10 years. In doing so we can allow for authorities to investigate the egregious amount of potential fraud in the EIDL program and ensure accountability for those who took advantage of the EIDL program to defraud the American people.

Madam Speaker, I note that this bill had strong bipartisan support and passed out of the Small Business Committee by voice vote last month. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, as Americans struggle to afford the record-high price of gas and the cost to keep their homes comfortable this summer, they are losing their cool with President Biden's attempts to develop a plan to tame skyrocketing inflation while playing the blame game.

Harry Truman said and was known for ``the buck stops here.'' The Biden mantra seems to be ``pass the buck.''

While the President puts the blame on the Federal Reserve for inflation and taps the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to provide a few pennies a gallon off the price of gas, Americans continue to pay historic prices at the pump, face sticker shock at the supermarket, and wonder which utility company will raise their rates next.

We have gone from an energy independent Nation to one that is at the mercy of OPEC and Russia with consequences that are rattling the world economy. Yet, the President tells us this is the most robust recovery in modern history.

It is time to embrace the truth and do what works: Responsible domestic energy production; lower taxes to rev up our economy; stop the reckless spending; and reduce the economic burden on Americans.

We need the courage to change course.