Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Donalds), my good friend, for yielding on this important issue. I also thank my colleague from Maryland for his support.

Madam Speaker, it is truly my honor today to rise in support of this community bill, H.R. 3865, which would rename the post office at 101 South 8th Street in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, as the Lieutenant William D. Lebo Post Office Building.

Madam Speaker, Lieutenant Lebo, of the Lebanon City Police Department, tragically lost his life in the line of duty on March 31, 2022, while responding to a domestic-related burglary incident.

During his memorial, my very good friend, Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf, said that Lieutenant Lebo's last words to his men before entering the House that fateful day were, ``I'm going to go in first, and I'm going to keep you safe.''

This is the kind of police officer Lieutenant Lebo was, a man who was willing to give his life to protect his fellow officers. He served the Lebanon Police Department and his community faithfully for 40 years and was just 30 days from retirement at the time of his passing.

Madam Speaker, as the son of a police officer, the risk of our finest, to protect and serve, needs never be forgotten and should always be respected and certainly not taken for granted.

Lieutenant Lebo's fellow officers say there is not a day that goes by without members of the department sharing fond stories of Lieutenant Lebo. I am told a story often shared is that Lieutenant Lebo would drive around in his patrol car with the windows down to better interact with the community he served but also to more easily hear if someone needed help. He was an incredibly community-oriented police officer who really served as a model for law enforcement.

Lieutenant Lebo is survived by his loving wife, Lora; his daughter, Corinne; and his mother, Rina. I am honored to have them joining us here today in the House Chamber, along with the mayor of Lebanon city, Sherry Capello, and Lebanon City Police Chief Bret Fisher. We are honored to have them with us.

Lieutenant Lebo was known as a mentor to younger officers, whom he loved training to be the best police officers that they could be.

As Chief Fisher has said: Somebody that has spent 40 years at the police department as Lieutenant Lebo did, they are still with you in so many ways. There isn't much you can touch or do that Lieutenant Lebo didn't have his hand in somewhere along his career on the Lebanon City Police Force.

To honor her husband's remarkable life, Lora Lebo established the Lieutenant William D. Lebo Memorial Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting the growth of Lebanon with positive intent, providing educational scholarship to Lebanon County first responders and their children, and providing comprehensive leadership development training to the law enforcement community.

While Lora and the community have already done such great work keeping Lieutenant Lebo's memory alive, it is my hope that the renaming of this post office in his honor will further serve as a lasting recognition of his life and legacy, during which he always put service above self.

I do know that memorializing Lieutenant Lebo in this manner will be so meaningful to the Lebanon community. While I attended Lieutenant Lebo's funeral, it was overwhelmingly clear just how much he meant to Lebanon and, in fact, to all of Pennsylvania. The procession, Madam Speaker, was miles long, and people lined the streets to pay their final respects.

Lieutenant Lebo was a dedicated public servant who is remembered by his colleagues and those he served as a calm, kind, and ethical police officer who was completely devoted to protecting the Lebanon community.

I ask my colleagues to join me today in supporting H.R. 3865 to rename the post office in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, for a very deserving local hero, Lieutenant William D. Lebo.

Mr. Speaker, I was reminded recently by my very good friend and great American, Tiffany Cloud, of another great American from my district, an avid writer and Marine Corps veteran, Lance Corporal Joseph Barna, whom I was pleased to meet several years ago.

Joe recently won a national gold medal for his essay ``Our Life Is About Memories'' in the prestigious 2023 Veterans Administration creative arts contest. This impressive feat marks his fourth national gold medal in this highly competitive veteran writing contest.

Joe Barna served our country with honor during the Korean war with the 1st Marine Division, 1st Regiment, 1st Battalion, Baker Company, Anti-Assault Platoon.

He writes essays, and he wrote a book, ``God Makes Angels and Navy Corpsmen: A Korean War Veteran's Memories of the War and Life.''

Joe also uses his writing talents to actively promote veteran causes throughout our community. He is all about America, and he is all about veterans.

Mr. Speaker, today on the House floor, I am not only honored to recognize Lance Corporal Joseph Barna, but I strongly encourage all Americans to read the essay ``Our Life Is About Memories.'' It is sad, heartwarming, patriotic, and written by a great American.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Barna for his service.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 5 o'clock and 48 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman McHenry very, very much. I appreciate his leadership on our committee and on this bill.

I do rise in support of my legislation, the China Exchange Rate Transparency Act, H.R. 839, a bipartisan initiative supported by Representatives Donalds, Loudermilk, Nickel, Lawler, Lee of Nevada, and De La Cruz.

This legislation confronts the People's Republic of China's often deceptive and autocratic exchange rate policies and regular disregard for financial transparency on the international stage.

With this legislation, we are directing and challenging China's opaque and often manipulative practices in foreign exchange markets, including their policy of accumulating massive foreign currency reserves and depreciating their currency, which undercuts the competitiveness of U.S. exports. By mandating the U.S. executive director at the IMF to use the voice and vote of the United States to advocate for increased exchange rate transparency from China, we are not just advocating for fairness--we are fighting for the integrity of the global economy.

The Department of Treasury's reports from November 2022 to 2023 lay it out clearly: China's exchange rate practices are too often shrouded in secrecy, undermining not just the U.S. but the entire global trade system. It is time we confront China's persistent gaming of international norms. They have been playing by their own rules for too long, and it is detrimental to global economic fairness and stability.

This legislation is not about only singling out China. It is about ensuring that all IMF members, including China, adhere to the rules that they have agreed to. China has promised to maintain orderly exchange rate arrangements without manipulation. It is our job to hold them to that promise and to ensure they do not continue to exploit the system to their advantage.

We are taking a firm, no-nonsense approach to a complex issue, emphasizing our commitment to fair trade and a transparent global economic system.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support the China Exchange Rate Transparency Act of 2023, H.R. 839. This legislation stands for accountability in international finance, fair trade practices, and the stability of our global economy.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Foxx very much for her leadership on this very important issue.

Mr. Chair, kids love milk, but our schools have been prohibited from providing children whole milk since 2010 and, frankly, it was based upon false science.

Milk is a healthy choice for our children. It has 13 essential nutrients that kids need--calcium, protein, iron, vitamin D, potassium, and more. Compared to soda or iced tea, which kids will turn to without a healthy alternative, a carton of milk has only one-third of the sugar as a can of Coca-Cola.

We, as adults and Representatives, need to give our children and grandchildren the options to make healthy choices. We need this legislation to put whole milk back in our schools.

Mr. Chair, would you be surprised to know that whole milk is 96.75 percent fat free? To say whole milk is unhealthy for kids is, if you will, ``udderly'' ridiculous.

Let's do the right thing by our children, families, and dairy farmers by passing the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. It is time to ask American schoolchildren if they, once again, ``Got Milk?''

Madam Speaker, will the gentlewoman yield?

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of S.J. Res. 32, which would repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) 1071 rule, which mandates burdensome personal data collection from small businesses when they apply for loans from financial institutions.

I very much thank Mr. Williams, the chairman of the Small Business Committee, for introducing a similar resolution here in the House for which I am a cosponsor.

Madam Speaker, we are hearing some information that should be of great interest to us all, that there is no need for small businesses to comply with the 1071 rule if, in fact, what we just heard is accurate.

I will take it a little bit further here. It is clear in Dodd-Frank at section

1071 that any applicant for credit may refuse to provide any information requested pursuant to subsection B in connection with any application for credit.

However, the CFPB 1071 rule says a low response rate to this rule may indicate a failure to comply. Therefore, the CFPB gets the statute wrong, and this is another example of their overreach. If the statute is clear that any applicant may refuse, then how can refusal somehow be a sign that a lender is not complying with the statute? Lenders know and are rightfully concerned that failing to get a high response rate will likely result in running afoul of the CFPB or being publicly named and shamed by progressive activists. Regulating to generate fear among law-abiding businesses is terrible public policy, Madam Speaker.

I urge us to be real here, to deal with the real world, to actually engage small businesses as the CFPB should do along with consumers, along with homeowners, along with small businesses.

We need to support this resolution, and I urge all Members of this House, as well as President Biden, to stand with small businesses.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment No. 6 to H.R. 5894.

My amendment would increase the health workforce account in the underlying bill by $10 million. This increase is completely offset by a decrease in funding for the National Institute of Nursing Research by $19 million. While the National Institute of Nursing Research provides funding for important research, the nursing workforce shortage is at a critical point, Mr. Chair, and must be addressed immediately.

The increase in funding for the health workforce account is intended to provide additional funding to Nurse Corps programs, which would bring the total funding amount for this program to $102 million for fiscal year 2024.

This critical HRSA workforce program provides scholarship and loan repayment opportunities for nurses working in either a hospital or a community-based setting located in a critical shortage facility. Increasing scholarship and loan repayment opportunities will help encourage nurses to serve at facilities that are facing nursing shortages.

As we all know, there is a shortage of healthcare professionals across our country, especially amongst the nursing workforce. The nursing workforce shortage is especially felt in rural communities, including those in my district.

This fact was recently reinforced when I visited the Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre last month. During this visit, I was able to see the great work that the hospital was doing to incorporate new technologies to combat some of this nursing shortage.

Nevertheless, the American people deserve this Congress to support such a critical profession, and we must keep in mind that this amendment, again, is fully offset and will aid in our efforts to resolve the nursing shortage workforce that exists.

Nurses are the backbone of our hospitals and our healthcare in general, Mr. Chair, and, again, we must support this crucial profession.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, with all due respect to my colleague, this amendment was developed and created with the assistance of the nursing community from rural hospitals as well as more urban.

We have in our country a finite level of resources. We cannot continue to do things the same way they have always been done. We need to properly dedicate resources where they will deliver the most good for the most people.

This bill, by reallocating and having such an offset, will improve, enhance, and augment the nursing pipeline for the critical needs and value that nurses bring to our hospitals, particularly in rural communities.

We have a win-win. We have a reduction in the excessive spending that takes place. This bill brings accountability, and it fortifies the all- important professional nursing pipeline now and for the next generation.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to thank and honor the brave men and women who have served our country's military.

As we approach Veterans Day, let me especially recognize the more than 800,000 veterans who call Pennsylvania home, including the 56,000 who reside in my district, Pennsylvania's Ninth. Pennsylvania's Ninth is also home to the Army and Air Force National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap.

Throughout our history, our forefathers, forebears, and family members have put service above self in defense of our freedoms. They have fought to preserve our Republic, to promote righteousness, and to protect our homeland. When fighting overseas, the only land we asked for was enough to bury our dead.

Our veterans fought for us. It is now our duty here in this House to work for them.

Since coming to Congress, we have enacted legislation like the PACT Act, the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, and more, all aimed at expanding veterans benefits and ensuring veterans receive the medical care they have earned.

Madam Speaker, this weekend, let's thank and honor those who have served as we celebrate Veterans Day.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of my amendment No. 70 to H.R. 4664.

In May of this year, the Small Business Administration implemented a final rule on affiliation and lending criteria that eliminated longstanding guardrails and prudent lending standards for its flagship 7(a) loan program.

Chief among these changes is the SBA's decision to eliminate the prescriptive lending criteria that has allowed the program to function with integrity for decades.

The 7(a) lending program offers government-backed loans to businesses that are guaranteed by the taxpayer up to 85 percent. By removing the prudent underwriting standards for all lenders in the program, the SBA has opened up the program to increased fraud and losses. These changes will add risk to the SBA's loan portfolio. If enough of these loans go bad, Congress will have to step in and bail out the program to keep it operational, meaning the weak underwriting standards implemented by this rule could lead to a significant loss of taxpayer dollars. Mr. Chairman, such added risk is unacceptable when taxpayers are on the hook.

This year our country experienced the largest bank failures we have seen since the 2008 financial crisis. The SBA should not be moving forward with their plan to reduce underwriting standards in the 7(a) lending program during these uncertain economic times.

This important amendment would undo the troubling underwriting changes made by the Biden administration. This commonsense measure will restore guardrails on these loans and ensure the longevity of the 7(a) loan program.

Mr. Chair, I thank Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams along with Representatives Luetkemeyer, Stauber, Ellzey, and Alford for their cosponsorship of this amendment. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment will strengthen the already meaningful piece of legislation we are considering today, which cuts wasteful spending and reduces burdensome, costly regulations on small businesses.

Of particular importance, the underlying legislation prohibits the Biden administration from implementing the SEC's climate disclosure rule, which prioritizes ideology over capital formation for investors.

The legislation also rightfully brings the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the purview of the congressional appropriations process. The CFPB has lacked transparency and accountability for years while being funded directly by the Federal Reserve, and this bill will give Congress the authority to provide appropriate oversight.

Additionally, the bill will halt the CFPB's implementation of its onerous 1071 small business data collection rule, which places undue costs and compliance burdens on America's small businesses and lenders.

Mr. Chairman, H.R. 4664 is a win for taxpayers, consumers, and for the American financial system. My amendment will help make it an even greater win for small businesses by protecting the soundness and integrity of a program that offers access to affordable and reliable capital for entrepreneurs.

I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense amendment and the underlying legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Simpson for his very responsible leadership.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 4821, a very fiscally responsible Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

I represent the Ninth District of Pennsylvania where part of that district includes the Marcellus shale, one of the largest reserves of clean natural gas in the world.

Not only does the natural gas industry support over 250,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, but it also contributes $24 billion to the Commonwealth's GDP, meaning Biden's continued assault on American energy, including the natural gas industry, is truly an assault on Pennsylvania's workforce and economy.

Since taking office, the Biden administration has taken many actions to weaken the natural gas industry by blocking pipeline construction, implementing burdensome regulations, and issuing costly new rules and taxes. This makes foreign producers with less pollutant controls far more competitive within the energy industry. Many of these nations where these producers exist use these funds to fund terrorist activities and fund Vladimir Putin's war. We should take these things into consideration, Mr. Chairman.

While this administration seeks to limit American natural gas, despite it being 50 percent cleaner than other fossil fuels, this appropriations bill supports domestic energy production because Republicans recognize we must embrace an all-of-the-above but also all- of-the-below solution to achieve energy independence and dominance.

This legislation requires resumption of gas lease sales on previously restricted Federal lands, and it also prohibits a number of onerous regulations, such as the EPA's clean power rule that would be detrimental to American energy production.

Among other provisions in the legislation, this legislation will, Mr. Chairman, benefit the American consumers, farmers, manufacturers, small businesses, the U.S. economy as a whole.

Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Joyce, my good friend and colleague from Ohio, very much.

Mr. Chair, I do rise in support of the Homeland appropriations bill. We all know that our country, our citizens, are in dire need of stronger Homeland Security.

We know that we have an unmitigated disaster at our borders. Three years ago, Mr. Chair, we also all know that our borders were, in fact, secure. Today, almost 10,000 illegals in despair are crossing our border--not including the so-called got-aways.

Human trafficking and deadly drugs are killing Americans, primarily our young people, by the tens of thousands.

This bill adds to our Customs and Border Patrol, Mr. Chair, and provides for border barriers which work and for fentanyl detection. This bill strengthens our asylum laws and forces Secretary Mayorkas to do his job. This bill also, Mr. Chair, ceases the ability for HHS through the DHS funding to send ghost flights into my district in the middle of the night. That can't happen anymore under this bill.

This bill also provides for our Coast Guard and eliminates over $500 million in go-green initiatives that have absolutely nothing to do with Homeland Security.

This bill is a vote for our Nation's Homeland Security. A ``no'' vote is a vote for the status quo.

Mr. Chair, by the way, if we want to keep our government open, we have a plan. We have a plan to keep our government open, and it includes border security and reasonable fiscal sanity with some moderate spending reductions within our discretionary spending.

We, unfortunately, have a handful of Republicans on our side not supporting it, but every single Democrat does not support securing our border and moderate reductions to our outrageous spending that is taking place.

Mr. Speaker, the numbers don't lie, and data shows a staggering unmitigated disaster continues at our southern border.

There have been 5.8 million illegal crossings since Biden took office, 1.6 million got-aways, nearly 24,000 pounds of fentanyl, and 146 crossers on the terror watch list.

Mr. Speaker, Biden's open border policy is a cancer on our country, and it is making our Nation very sick.

One statistic that stands out to me in the wake of the manhunt for the escaped fugitive in Pennsylvania, a murderer who came here illegally and terrorized Pennsylvania communities for 2 weeks, is the number of criminal noncitizen arrests, Mr. Speaker.

Over 10,000 illegal aliens have been arrested this year who had serious convictions on their record. That is compared to 2,400 in 2020 during Trump's last year in office. These weren't petty convictions. These were for murder, rape, assault, DUI, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and more.

Mr. Speaker, this administration is turning a blind eye to our immigration laws. If the White House won't stop it, this House needs to.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, during the debt ceiling negotiations, some of my colleagues across the aisle baselessly claimed that Republicans were cutting funding for our Nation's veterans, which was entirely unfounded and untrue.

As Members of this House, Republicans have always supported those who served our country, and our MILCON-VA funding legislation this past week further proves this fact.

In this year's appropriations bill, not only did we not cut funding for veterans, but rather we fully fund their healthcare and benefits programs to ensure our veterans receive the timely care they have rightfully earned and deserve.

Additionally, the GOP is continuing to fight to improve the quality of life of Active Duty servicemembers by supporting the construction of new family housing units and childcare centers. In my district, Fort Indiantown Gap is receiving a significant level of funding for necessary upgrades.

Our bill, Mr. Speaker, also keeps ideology and politics out of the care of veterans by, quite frankly, rightfully prohibiting from our military the use of funds to advance such things as critical race theory and disallowing the implementation, administration, and enforcement of President Biden's executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

These functions and plans probably have a place in society, where appropriate, but certainly not in our military because in the military, we continue to respect all Americans who are willing to serve.

Republicans as well, Mr. Speaker, just recently passed the strongest NDAA in history, which included the largest pay raise in 20 years for our soldiers, our sailors, our airmen, and our marines. Despite this, only a handful, Mr. Speaker, of our Democrat colleagues voted for it.

House Republicans have supported and will continue to support our military and those who risk their lives and make the sacrifices necessary to serve our great country, and I am appreciative.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to continue to support H.R. 4366.

Mr. Speaker, ``I think that there's no doubt about the seriousness of the problem we've got. We have a cancer within--close to the Presidency, that's growing. It's growing daily.''

Mr. Speaker, that is a quote from the Watergate scandal, but the American people are applying it to current circumstances in the White House.

We have a laptop referencing ``the big guy'' is getting his 10 percent. We have text messages stating: My father is sitting next to me and you better pay up.

I am paraphrasing, slightly.

Despite statements from the White House on how there was no contact with business partners, we have pictures of them playing golf together, and White House visitor logs.

Mr. Speaker, we have bank records, lots of them, around 20, with tens of millions of dollars going to members of the President's family, including grandchildren. We don't know what they did for it, and recently a bag of cocaine was found in the White House, but case closed. No one accused. No one found.

Mr. Speaker, if this was a bag of anthrax, would that have been taken more seriously and solved? I think the answer is yes. The only reason there are any investigations taking place or oversight is because Republicans have a majority in the House.

Mr. Speaker, the National Defense Authorization Act is vital to the national security of the United States, as is border security and energy dominance. I am very pleased we are making strides into these areas with the passage of the NDAA and continue to strengthen and have a dominant military.

This NDAA includes significant resources to counter China in the Indo-Pacific, requires the DOD to identify and mitigate land purchases near military installations, and makes certain the United States continues to have the world's superior fighting force.

This legislation also funds the National Guard's border security deployment mission and rejects the Biden administration's plan to shrink our U.S. Navy.

This bill includes language to require allies to provide proportional levels of funding for the Ukraine conflict, alleviating the burden on U.S. taxpayers, yet fortifying the Ukraine freedom fighters.

Importantly, it supports our servicemembers with a 5.2 percent pay increase, the largest raise in 20 years.

This NDAA strengthens the national security of the United States as well as the world, and I am pleased to have supported it.