Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, on Roll Call No. 72, I mistakenly voted Yes when I intended to vote No.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Housing for the 21st Century Act, introduced by Chairman Hill and Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance Chairman Flood, which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Housing affordability is a supply problem, and for too long, Federal policy has made it slow and expensive to build new homes.

President Trump and Secretary Scott Turner advanced housing reforms that

cut blue tape, expanded supply, lowered the price of lumber, and brought mortgage rates below 6 percent.

This legislation builds on that progress by removing Federal barriers so homes can be built faster and economically at scale without new Federal spending.

Today, it can cost over $100,000 before a shovel ever hits the dirt to build a new home, and builders often cannot build a home for less than $250,000. This bill modernizes housing laws, improves coordination between HUD and USDA, expands manufactured housing in rural communities, reduces barriers for veterans, and increases access to small-dollar mortgages.

Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, on Roll Call No. 43, I mistakenly voted No when I intended to vote Yes.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 322.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairwoman Wagner for her leadership and, with all due respect to our minority leader, I oppose this amendment. I do support the INVEST Act, led by Chairman Hill and subcommittee Chairwoman Wagner strongly.

The INVEST Act broadens opportunities for everyday Americans to invest in public and private markets, expands access to capital, facilitates capital formation, promotes transparency, and helps charitable organizations build retirement security for their employees.

For example, it allows people to invest in private markets based on their knowledge and experience, whereas previously they could only qualify based on their income.

It encourages new public companies to issue more shares without burdensome regulations so they can focus on hiring and expanding instead of diverting limited resources to filing paperwork with the

Mr. Speaker, I thank our chairman very much for yielding and for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my legislation, H.R. 2066, the Investing in All of America Act of 2025. This legislation will incentivize greater investment from small business investment companies, SBICs, to small businesses located in rural or low-income areas, as well as small businesses in the manufacturing and national security technology sectors.

SBICs are privately owned and managed investment funds that are licensed and regulated by the SBA. These companies raise private capital, which is then matched with additional leverage by the SBA, capped at $175 million.

SBICs then invest both their private capital and SBA leverage into small businesses in communities across the country. Importantly, the SBIC program operates at zero subsidy cost to the American taxpayer.

Over the last 5 years, SBICs have invested over $130 billion in small businesses across America, including $1.3 billion in my home State of Pennsylvania's small businesses.

Though the SBIC program is successful, recent studies have shown that less than 20 percent of SBIC investment reaches low- to middle-income communities, especially rural communities.

The Investing in All of America Act encourages additional private capital investments in parts of America that are often overlooked by not counting dollars invested in these areas against an individual SBIC's $175 million leverage cap. By creating this incentive, my bill will increase investment for these currently underserved communities.

It is important to note that the bonus leverage included in this legislation does not change the costs or risks of the SBIC program. The existing model operates at no cost to the taxpayer and will remain the same.

The Trump administration and SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler are focused on fueling small business growth and reinvigorating domestic manufacturing throughout the United States. This legislation supports that effort by encouraging increased private investment in the manufacturing sector.

By expanding access to capital and reducing barriers to entry, this legislation helps manufacturers scale operations and create high- quality American jobs.

I thank Representative Scholten for her continued partnership, as well as the support from the Democratic leadership, on this legislation and the bipartisan group of all Members, Republican and Democrat, who have cosponsored it. This legislation will have tangible, positive impacts on our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support passage of this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Cole for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, if this were a library, we would have the fiction side over there and the nonfiction side over here. The only thing that is not fiction, however, is their consistent criticism of the healthcare system known as ObamaCare that they created. That is what this fight seems to be about, and that is the one end of things that is truthful.

Today, Mr. Speaker, after 6 weeks of lots of pain and no gain, they are going to vote again to keep the government closed. They are going to vote again--they are whipping their votes--so they would not be paying Federal workers and won't be funding essential programs like SNAP and undoing the chaos at our airports.

I spent the last 43 days in my district talking with these groups, talking with SNAP, talking with Head Start, seeing their pain, realizing it, understanding it. Some of my colleagues did the same, but, shockingly, they are still going to vote to keep the government closed and keep this funding from being delivered.

It is time to fix the damage that Democrats have caused. With this vote tonight, Republicans will restore SNAP payments and get TSA, air traffic controllers, and Federal workers paid.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for the additional time.

You know what, Mr. Speaker, yesterday was Veterans Day. Veterans didn't fight for the red. They didn't fight for the blue. They fought for the red, white, and blue. Maybe tonight we can follow their example.

Mr. Speaker, on this solemn anniversary, we reaffirm our vow to never forget September 11. That morning began like any other. I had just dropped my daughter off at school on a clear, beautiful day across the northeast.

Within hours, our lives were forever changed as we watched in horror as planes struck the Twin Towers, learned of the attack on the Pentagon, and witnessed the extraordinary heroism in Shanksville, where ordinary Americans made the ultimate sacrifice to prevent another attack.

In the days that followed, I traveled to Ground Zero, delivering mobility equipment requested by the NYPD--not for the injured, but for those first responders who had been on their feet for days.

Yet even in that moment of national grief, I will always remember the New York streets lined with Americans cheering for first responders and standing together in renewed patriotism.

In President Lincoln's timeless words: ``We . . . resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom . . .''

May our Nation always endure, producing patriots like the late Charlie Kirk whose legacy reminds us that America will thrive and never perish from the Earth.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise today in regard to the latest stabbing on the Charlotte Area Transit System of Iryna Zarutska. It is just the latest awful example of what has gone wrong with our criminal justice system.

Mr. Speaker, today, I felt compelled to tell my daughters to be careful.

This suspect had been arrested 14 times, including for violent offenses. Despite this record, mental health issues, and skipping bond, a Democrat judge--happened to be Democrat--released him back into the streets after his arrest in January.

Police do their jobs, but ideological prosecutors and judges refuse to do theirs.

This is not justice. It is a failed social experiment backfiring on our communities. We see it time and time again.

In D.C., police recently arrested a carjacking suspect who laughed in their faces saying: I have been in the D.C. jail six times for this warrant. I will be out tomorrow because the victims never show up. That is the mentality of this broken system, and it emboldens criminals.

President Trump is proving there is another way, using all the resources available to protect innocent people.

Mr. Speaker, we need to support these efforts. We need to bring law and order to our streets. The American people deserve protection, not excuses.

Mr. Speaker, although I am originally from Babylon, New York, like a few in the gallery today, Pennsylvania is home to a champion horse known as Smarty Jones.

I rise today to celebrate one of the great horses our Commonwealth has ever produced. Born and bred at Roy and Patricia Chapman's Someday Farm in Chester County, Smarty Jones was not just a racehorse. He was a Pennsylvania champion horse.

In 2004, he captivated the Nation, winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, and coming within a single length of the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes.

Last month, Smarty Jones was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.

Today, thanks to Rodney and Sharon Eckenrode, he continues to stand at Equistar Training and Breeding Center in Lebanon County.

I look forward to visiting Smarty this weekend for an event my good friend Chairman G.T. Thompson is hosting.

Smarty's story is proof that when you are Pennsylvania-bred, you are built to win.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 1582, the GENIUS Act. I thank the chairman of our full Financial Services Committee, Chairman Hill, for his leadership; Chairman Steil for his great work; Whip Emmer, and so many in our committee and our colleagues in the Senate for their work on this legislation.

I also recognize President Trump's administration, crypto czar David Sacks, and SEC Chair Paul Atkins for

their efforts to reverse the Biden-era irrational opposition and misguided regulations that we lived with for 4 years toward innovation and now we are setting America back on a progrowth America First course.

Mr. Speaker, the Senate's legislation built on 2 years of groundwork by the House, crafting a framework for stablecoins that protects consumers, the dollar, and unleashes private-sector innovation. This bill achieves three goals. It supports the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency. It provides a private-sector alternative to a government-run digital dollar which is very important, and it modernizes payments to reduce costs and expand access. This is smart, forward-looking policy.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of our full committee, Chairman Hill, for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1919, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, led by Whip Emmer.

This bill is about defending our Constitution and protecting the privacy of the American people. The Constitution is unambiguous in Article I, Section 8, which grants only Congress exclusive authority to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin.

This is a clear provision of the United States Constitution. It is a foundational element of our constitutional Republic designed to keep such important authority over our Nation's currency issuance within the hands of the people's Representatives.

A central bank digital currency would centralize unprecedented power in the Federal Government and could open the door to real-time surveillance of every financial transaction in America.

Existing banking practices safeguard Americans' privacy. A CBDC could undo that protection overnight, creating a tool ripe for abuse. Even though the Constitution is clear, this bill restrains the Fed from even considering a central bank digital currency, reinforces Congress' constitutional authority over currency, and ensures that any digital dollar reflects our founding principles.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Whip Emmer for his leadership, and I urge support for this very important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Foxx very much for her leadership.

Mr. Speaker, let's set something straight about tax cuts, so-called, for billionaires. There are fewer than 800 billionaires in the United States of America. We kept taxes low for over 160 million Americans, and the Democrats all voted to increase taxes on 160 million Americans. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, most of those billionaires--over 70 percent--are huge Democratic donors.

During President Trump's first term, we had progrowth policies, a booming economy, and revenues increased. Then the Biden administration accelerated the deficit by those in the administration, by the way, who referred to themselves as the Politburo who were actually running the administration.

Service on the debt alone increased during that time from $400 billion in 2020 to nearly $1 trillion last year. That is why we must rein in irresponsible agencies. They have been taken over by ideologues, Mr. Speaker, doing things that are simply not in the interest of the people of the United States.

USAID has done some good things, but they have also done things that were an enormous waste, totally inappropriate, and, in fact, they lost the trust of the American people. Agencies like this need to be reformed. The American people aren't going to put up with it anymore.

Why is the government still funding public television when most people have hundreds of channels, as has been mentioned, to watch their news or whatever they want to watch? Is it just because it has been around for 50 years? That is not reason enough.

Unless we want to pass along $37 trillion, and climbing, of debt to our children, we have to start spending money on the must-haves, not on the nice-to-haves. These stations are not only nice-to-have to some, they are not-nice-to-have to most, and they are certainly not must- haves.

Mr. Speaker, let's pass this rescissions package. Let's get on our way to having some accountability for the American people and codify President Trump's spending reductions into law.

Mr. Speaker, the American economy is gaining momentum, but the independent Federal Reserve is, regrettably, not adding the energy needed to abet this growth potential.

After 4 years of inflation caused by excessive government spending and an all-out assault on U.S. energy, our private-sector economy is now in significant recovery, and it truly is only the beginning.

Tariffs are realigning supply chains here at home. By supply meeting and exceeding demand, this will continue to lower inflation.

Additionally, the OBBB makes bonus depreciation, the small-business deduction, and the R&D tax credits permanent, sharpening our competitive edge and incentivizing capital investment.

The table is set for growth. However, nearly $1 trillion in annual interest payments hang over our heads.

Here is where the Fed's actions can make an enormous difference. Due to the Biden administration's highly inflationary policies, we saw inflation soar to over 9 percent, 20 percent over the 4-year period. Those policies and inflationary rates that came from them forced the higher interest rates by the Fed to as high as 5.5 percent.

The recent CPI report, however, has inflation at 2.4 percent, and PCE, personal consumption expenditures, the Fed's favorite indicator, at only 2.1

percent. Yet, the Fed has not moved much and has left interest rates as high as where they currently are, 4.5 percent.

Mr. Speaker, a 1 percent reduction of interest rates to 3.5 percent would add $290 billion in GDP growth while also delivering $200 billion of savings in the service we pay on our debt. That is an improvement of $490 billion to boost our economy.

Lower rates today will advance housing, an industry with a 3-to-1 multiplier, spur capital investment, and unlock durable good purchases, including cars and household appliances. Unfortunately, fear-mongering by the media drove consumer sentiment down despite, in fact, the lower inflationary data.

Mr. Speaker, I call upon the Fed to choose growth over apprehension, as the President is urging.

Continue Building World's Strongest Military

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as we are voting on the fiscal 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, an essential bill that demonstrates our unwavering commitment to our veterans, military families, and national security.

This is a major piece of legislation, totaling $453 billion, that ensures we support those who have worn the uniform and continue building the strongest military in the world. This bill fully funds veterans' medical care, backing up the words we often say on this floor and throughout our districts that we support our veterans and thank them for their service.

Let me quickly walk through what is in this bill: $453 billion in total funding, $150 billion in discretionary funding, $300 billion for mandatory programs, $131 billion to fully fund veterans' medical care, $2 billion for military family housing, and over $1.2 billion for Guard and Reserve construction facilities.

This supports President Trump's initiative to end veteran homelessness through the Bridging Rental Assistance for Veteran Empowerment program, protects veterans' Second Amendment rights, and invests heavily in general military construction.

I proudly represent more than 45,000 veterans in Pennsylvania's Ninth Congressional District. When I include their families, many of whom have served or are preparing to serve, well over 100,000 Pennsylvanians just in my district alone will be directly impacted by what we do today. We also have 800,000 veterans throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Speaker, our Lebanon VA in my district was ranked among the top VAs in the Nation for many years in a row. That is something we certainly take pride in and something this bill supports.

I am also proud to represent Fort Indiantown Gap, the second largest Army helicopter training facility in the U.S. In total, the Gap trains more than 130,000 military personnel each year.

This bill not only honors our past military heroes, but it also helps inspire the next generation to serve. We are seeing that patriotism grow. Recruitment is way up, thanks in part to the new culture of strength and support for our military under President Trump's leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this critical appropriations bill. It reflects our values, strengthens our defense, and ensures we never waver in our duty to those who have sacrificed for our freedom.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 175.