Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 22.

This administration's war on American energy has sent energy costs through the roof. While this administration has continued to shift blame for the rising prices, President Biden is draining our Strategic Petroleum Reserve meant for emergencies by selling off some of these reserves in a Band-Aid solution for his policy failures.

Since May of last year, the Biden administration has sold off 1 million barrels of oil per day until after the midterm elections. Thanks to President Biden's actions, our oil reserve is now at the lowest point in 40 years. Yet, this administration has no plan to unleash American energy production to replenish our emergency oil supply and reduce prices.

To make matters even worse, while the Biden administration is selling off our emergency oil reserve at an unprecedented rate, some of these barrels

of oil have gone to Communist China. That is right. Our emergency oil supply is now in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

We are exporting a total of 300,000 barrels of oil per day to China. In part--because of the Biden administration--China, not the U.S., has the largest government-controlled stockpile of oil in the world.

With this legislation, House Republicans are delivering on our promise to restore our Nation's energy security and better protect our national security. This legislation stops the Biden administration from selling any more of our emergency supply to the Chinese Communist Party.

House Republicans will continue to stand up to China and stop the Biden administration from ceding our energy security to our enemies.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of Brandon Caserta from Peoria, Arizona.

Brandon was born on May 25, 1997, and everyone who knew him spoke of his kindness. Brandon grew up in a family dedicated to serving our Nation. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Patrick, a retired United States Navy Senior Chief, by enlisting in the Navy. Brandon dreamed of one day joining our Nation's elite in the United States Navy SEALs, and he eventually served as Petty Officer Third Class with the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 28 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Sadly, on June 25, 2018, Brandon tragically took his own life. In memory of their son, Brandon's parents, Teri and Patrick, began advocating for change to help prevent suicides among Active-Duty military and veterans. Their dedication resulted in the inclusion of H.R. 3942, the Brandon Act, named after Brandon, in the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. This bill allows servicemembers to quickly seek lifesaving mental health care.

I am grateful for Teri and Patrick's dedication and their tireless effort to ensure that Brandon's legacy brings about meaningful change within our military.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 8373.

I am here today with my Republican colleagues to stand up for the health and safety of women and girls across our Nation.

It is unfortunate that this bill is written in such a way that it is unclear that it just covers traditional contraceptives. It is disappointing to see that my colleagues across the aisle are continuing to push their extreme abortion on demand agenda.

It is unclear why those who call themselves the ``party of women'' insist on prioritizing the billion-dollar, far-left abortion lobby over women and girls.

This legislation--the payouts for Planned Parenthood act--permits the widespread use of chemical abortion pills. The FDA deems these drugs as high-risk because they can cause excessive bleeding, intense pain, infections, and even death.

To make matters even worse, this bill allows abortion providers to administer non-FDA approved drugs and devices to women and girls without any regard for the drug's efficacy or the safety of the patient.

We should not be promoting the widespread and unsupervised use of high-risk or unapproved drugs that could endanger women and girls' lives, and almost certainly will end the lives of their babies.

This legislation also erodes decades of bipartisan agreement that taxpayer dollars should not be used to fund abortions. Instead, the payouts for Planned Parenthood act forces States to direct more Federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

This legislation is not about protecting access to contraception. It is not about protecting the rights of women and girls. It is about one thing, and one thing only, lining the pockets of Planned Parenthood and the rest of the abortion lobby.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 8296 because Republicans care about women and babies.

My colleagues across the aisle are unfortunately, once again, attempting to push their abortion on demand agenda, which most Americans find appalling.

This bill is beyond extreme. It permits abortions on demand for any-- any reason, up until the moment of birth.

Eighty percent of Americans say that abortion should be illegal in the third trimester, and for good reason. The methods used in late-term abortions to end the life of the preborn baby are truly reprehensible.

The bill before us today almost completely undermines the numerous pro-life laws that States have enacted since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade by imposing a national standard for abortion on demand.

As a mother and grandmother, I can tell you that preborn babies are unquestionably human lives, and they are lives worth defending.

I find it ironic that the party that tells us to follow the science denies basic science that says life begins at conception, that the first signs of a heartbeat can be detected after just 22 days, and that preborn babies can feel pain as early as 12 weeks inside the womb.

Passing this legislation would be a stain on Congress. Women deserve better than this, and so do their preborn babies. Preborn babies are truly the most vulnerable and defenseless amongst us. We were elected to defend Americans' rights, and yet this Congress seeks to deny vulnerable persons', babies, the most basic right, the right to life.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 8297.

I heard my Democrat colleagues passionately state that women will not be stopped and that we should support freedom. Yet, sadly, these same people fail to realize that their own radical abortion legislation will, indeed, stop women's rights because their radical agenda stops a future woman's right and freedom forever by ending her life.

If this bill were to become law, healthcare professionals would be seen as obstructing victims' access to abortion if they delay the abortion to report this case of child abuse. That is not protecting women and girls.

To make this bill even worse, this legislation eliminates medical supervision requirements for chemical abortion pills. The FDA deems these pills as high-risk drugs that can cause intense pain, excessive bleeding, infections, and, in some cases, death. This means a woman or a little girl could literally bleed out without a doctor even knowing or being there to help.

Abortion is not healthcare. This is a lie from the abortion industry that has, time and time again, placed its agenda over the health and safety of women and girls.

Healthcare is meant to help patients. Yet, a successful abortion results in the death of a baby 100 percent of the time, except, of course, for those born alive, which my Democrat colleagues don't even want to save them.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise to oppose the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 6858 to unleash American domestic energy production.

Americans across the country are paying sky-high prices at the gas pump. Almost every single day for the past month, gas prices have hit a new record high.

The national average for a gallon of gas is now over $5 per gallon. In Phoenix, my home State, Arizonans are paying over $5.60 per gallon. I think yesterday it was $5.63 per gallon.

Filling up at the pump is becoming increasingly unaffordable for many Americans. As Members of Congress, many of us can afford to spend $5 for a single gallon of gas. But many Americans, like my own kids, who are working hard, and my senior citizens in my district who live on fixed incomes, simply can't afford to pay this high price.

Republicans have a solution. We have a plan to increase American energy production today and lower prices tomorrow, if only my colleagues across the aisle would agree to take up this legislation.

H.R. 6858 requires the President to submit an energy security plan to Congress and requires the Energy Secretary to develop a plan to increase oil and gas production on U.S. Federal lands. This legislation reinstates the Keystone XL pipeline, unleashes American natural gas production and oil production, and reverses the oil and gas moratorium on Federal lands and waters so we can harness our U.S.-abundant energy resources.

Republicans have brought up this legislation, as has been said before, for consideration several times, but the energy crisis just keeps getting worse and worse, and gas prices keep getting higher.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Jordan for yielding time.

I rise in opposition to H.R. 2377. I have five grandchildren. I would do anything--anything--to protect my five grandchildren, including, as a last resort, shooting someone if I had to, to protect the lives of my grandchildren.

Democrat bills that we have heard this week want to take away my right--my right--to protect my grandchildren. They want to take away the rights of law-abiding citizens to protect their own children and grandchildren and wives and brothers and sisters. This bill takes away due process from law-abiding citizens.

Can you imagine if you had a disgruntled ex or somebody who hates you because of your political views, and they go to a judge and say, ``Oh, this person is dangerous''? That judge would take away their guns, lean on the side of conservatism and take away their guns, without that person even having knowledge that there was a court hearing that would take away their guns. This is wrong.

When Republicans were in the majority, we actually passed legislation that was signed into law that would have prevented mass shootings. These bills will not. We need to join together, Republicans and Democrats. I hope they can do it in the Senate and get something done that actually saves children's lives.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Gohmert for yielding. I am a survivor of domestic violence, and it is still hard for me to talk about it, and it has almost been 30 years ago since I left my abusive ex-husband.

Domestic abuse and violence is very common, unfortunately. I think one in four women are abused by either a boyfriend or a husband, and it is a very, very big issue that I am glad Mr. Gohmert is showing attention to and shining light on.

At this time, very briefly, I thank our U.S. Supreme Court Justices for the hard work and dedication that they have, and I condemn the intimidation tactics that are taking place against our U.S. Supreme Court Justices. It is an absolute shame. It needs to be stopped.

As we await the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that may overturn Roe v. Wade, I stand with the vulnerable women and girls grappling with unplanned pregnancies and the precious infants that they carry.

Pro-abortion advocates and some elected officials push vulnerable women and girls toward abortion and deem it as an empowering choice. There is no empowerment nor compassion in abortion. There is no encouragement in crushing, dismembering, poisoning babies, and sucking them out of the womb with a vacuum.

That is why it is so important that we support vulnerable women and girls who are facing unwanted pregnancies and help them during that critical time. That is why myself and millions of women across the country support pro-life pregnancy centers, support adoptions, support housing for vulnerable women.

What is often forgotten in this argument is the long-term psychological mental health of the mother who aborted their baby.

One of the reasons that I believe I have been led to serve in Congress is to help save the lives of innocent babies in the womb. And now as you see on this floor, Republicans over and over again have called on Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats to put up a bill to save babies that are born alive--yes, born alive--from a botched abortion. Right now we have found that they are being laid aside on a table or they are found in a wastebasket and left to die. Certainly America can do better. We must do better.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to call up H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act, to protect all Americans from Biden's border crisis.

Mr. Speaker, we are at a crisis in America. We are at a crisis in Arizona. The Biden administration and the Democrats have done everything in their power to open the southern border.

On day one, President Biden stopped funding for the border wall. Then, he took away all the good policies that the Trump administration had put in place, and now he is taking away the very last tool that we have to have some kind of semblance of border security at our southern border. He is taking away title 42.

I have spoken to both Border Patrol counsel, and I have spoken this morning to Secretary Mayorkas. We are going to see an even bigger flood of illegal immigrants crossing our border.

The border is totally out of control, flooding our districts with drugs, flooding our districts with people who have been charged with criminal activity in the past, sex slavery.

Please, President Biden, secure the border now.

Mr. Speaker, I was just listening to Congressman LaMalfa from California, and I couldn't agree with him more.

Here we are, in the United States, where crime is skyrocketing. Fentanyl is crossing the border in record amounts and is the number one cause of death for ages 18 through 45.

Here, today, I see this headline. I just googled it and came up with this one from blackenterprise.com. The headline says: ``Biden administration to fund the distribution of crack pipes and syringes to promote `racial equity.' ''

``On Monday, applications closed for the Biden administration's new $30 million grant program to provide crack pipes and `smoking kits' to promote `racial equity.' ''

Are you kidding me? Our crime is rising, and this is what the Biden administration thinks is the priority? It is nuts.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to read off some headlines. The first one is from the New York Post. It says, ``Fentanyl now leading cause of death among teens in Arizona border county.'' In the article it says, ``Fentanyl overdoses have overtaken car crashes as the leading cause of death among teenagers in an Arizona border county, as Governor Doug Ducey blames President Biden's neglect of the U.S. border for the rise in lethal drugs coming into the country.''

The next article is from a TV station in Tucson, and it is entitled, ``Arizona poison centers sound alarm as fentanyl overdoses spike.''

Another article, and this one is from The Center Square. ``Arizona seizes record amount of fentanyl, now cited as leading cause of death of Americans between 18 and 45.'' It goes on to say, ``Authorities in Arizona seized $9 million worth of fentanyl pills in the State's largest bust of the illicit drug--enough, they said, to kill half the population of Arizona.'' Wow. It goes on to say, ``Fentanyl has become the drug of choice of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel, which controls the U.S.-Mexico border stretching from California to El Paso, Texas.''

`` `This is not a recreational drug' Scottsdale Police Department Chief Jeff Walther said. `This is death.' Two milligrams is a lethal dose. A teaspoon holds about 5,000 milligrams, enough to kill 2,500 people. One pound of fentanyl, or 453,592 milligrams, could kill 226,796 people.''

The next headline, and this is from NBC News: ``Fentanyl Deaths from `Mexican oxy' pills hit Arizona hard.'' And just a couple things it says in this article: Aaron Francisco Chavez swallowed at least one of the sky blue pills at a Halloween party before falling asleep forever.''

He and three other teenagers took this drug.

And it says the four thought they were taking oxycodone. They didn't know that it was laced with fentanyl. ```It's the worst I have seen in 30 years, this toll that it's taken on families,' said Doug Coleman, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge of Arizona. `The crack (cocaine) crisis was not as bad.'''

These are just some of the headlines, ladies and gentlemen. And I live in the border State of Arizona. We are impacted greatly.

I call on President Biden. I plead with President Biden: Come down to the border. See it for yourself. Talk to the Border Patrol agents. They will show you all of the fentanyl pills that they have seized. But we know that there is a lot they haven't even caught, and it is coming into our communities. It is killing our kids. It is killing our brothers. It is killing our sisters. Please, President Biden, take this seriously and secure the border now.

Mr. Speaker, you wouldn't believe it, but as I was walking here today to speak about the value of life, my daughter called me, and she is headed to the hospital to give birth to my fifth grandchildren, my second granddaughter. So isn't this an appropriate depiction right here of my next granddaughter, who is going to be named Grace.

I used to be what they call pro-choice years ago. But I was lied to. You know, they said it was just a clump of cells, just some tissues, looked like a tadpole, nothing. But, you know, as technology has gotten better, we now have ultrasounds, and in our State of Arizona we passed legislation so that the mothers could see what their babies really look like. They have little hands, little fingers, little toes. They are humans. They are real people. They are not just a clump of cells. And that is why it is so disturbing to me that here in the U.S. Congress I don't think we have one of my Democratic colleagues left that is pro- life. I think they got rid of them in the primaries.

And when Republicans have come forward and asked the Speaker of the House, please, can we vote on a bill that requires medical help to be given to babies that are born alive in a botched abortion, she said ``no.'' What has this country come to when we don't even want to keep a baby alive after it is born?

My fellow Republicans and I are fighting hard for the value of life to protect the preborn, to protect every life. This is the most important thing that we can do.

Madam Speaker, well, it has been one year since President Biden and the Democrats have had complete control of running our country.

They have the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.

And what have they accomplished in this 1 year?

Inflation has gone through the roof--a 40-year high. Gas prices are up. Grocery prices are up. The utilities costs have gone up. The border is wide-open with sex trafficking, human trafficking, and fentanyl flooding across our border.

COVID deaths are higher than they have ever been before.

Madam Speaker, do you know those long lines that you see of Americans waiting in line for COVID tests?

Well, guess what, Madam Speaker?

The Biden administration diverted over $2 billion that was meant for those testing of COVID and for medical supplies and diverted it to house illegal immigrants.

Don't be surprised or mistaken, but it is the Democrat policies that have caused these problems.

And what are the Democrats doing now while the country is going down the tubes?

They are pushing election laws, election laws where they want to rig elections to their favor and fund their own elections. This is insanity.

I hope my Democratic colleagues will work together with us to solve the problems that are facing Americans today.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans are trying to protect everyone's right to vote and the integrity of the election.

It boggles my mind that in some cities in the United States noncitizens are allowed to vote and here in Washington, D.C., and other cities when we go to a restaurant, we need to show our vaccination database passport saying that we are fully vaccinated before we are allowed to enter, but yet my Democrat colleagues don't seem to want voter ID.

In the State of Arizona, we have a law in place that requires a voter ID to vote. We also have a law in place that was held up by the courts that prohibits ballot harvesting. Yet it continues to boggle my mind that our Democrat colleagues want to undo what the States have done and undo States' rights.

I am opposed to this bill.