Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act. It is bipartisan legislation I introduced with my colleague from California, Congressman Mullin.

Our energy grid is the backbone of our economy, and every hospital, factory, and family in America depends on it working reliably.

Right now, the system connecting new power generation to that grid is badly backlogged. Interconnection studies that should take months are dragging on for years, and that delay is more than just a paperwork problem. It is a drag on the grid performance and on American competitiveness at a moment when energy demand is skyrocketing like never before.

This bill takes a commonsense first step toward fixing that. It directs the Secretary of Energy, working with FERC and NERC, to conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine how technologies like high- performance computing and artificial intelligence can be used to enhance grid operations, finding efficiency in our existing capacity, speeding up these interconnection studies, and improving reliability with tools like predictive maintenance and digital twins. Understanding how these tools can help our bulk power system run on full power will be critical to ensuring affordable rates for the long term.

As part of the study, DOE will also work to understand the technical and cybersecurity barriers for widespread adoption.

Madam Speaker, we don't have a clear national picture of where this technology stands, but this bill gets us that picture with a report due to Congress within a year and substantive recommendations so policymakers have the facts on how these technologies can help reliability and performance of our grid and where the challenges lie.

My bill is both bipartisan and forward looking. Most importantly, it is about making sure America leads the world as the epicenter for affordable, reliable energy.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the American Music Tourism Act of 2025. It is bipartisan legislation that I have had the privilege of leading in the House alongside my colleague from California, Congresswoman Barragan, and our partner in the Senate, Senator Blackburn.

Whether it is Dolly Parton or Morgan Wallen, they have got a storied history colored by many country music icons. From Dollywood in Pigeon Forge to the birthplace of country music in Bristol, Tennessee, east Tennessee does play a vital role in our Nation's music tourism industry. That story is true in communities across the country, from Nashville to Los Angeles and everywhere in between.

This bill simply directs the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism to implement a plan to grow music tourism for domestic and international visitors and to report back to Congress on that progress.

It is a commonsense, bipartisan idea, and I note for my colleagues that it will not cost taxpayers one additional dollar to implement.

Madam Speaker, the House already passed this bill with overwhelming bipartisan support in April. The Senate now has done the same, and this is about as close to the finish line as legislation gets. I am proud of the work that our two Chambers have done together to get us there.

I thank again Congresswoman Barragan and Senator Blackburn for their partnership in helping carry this legislation forward.

Madam Speaker, let's finish the job. Let's send this bill to the President's desk and give America's music communities the recognition and support they have earned.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Affordable Innovation for the Grid Act. It is bipartisan legislation I introduced with my colleague from California, Congressman Mullin.

Our energy grid is the backbone of our economy, and every hospital, factory, and family in America depends on it working reliably.

Right now, the system connecting new power generation to that grid is badly backlogged. Interconnection studies that should take months are dragging on for years, and that delay is more than just a paperwork problem. It is a drag on the grid performance and on American competitiveness at a moment when energy demand is skyrocketing like never before.

This bill takes a commonsense first step toward fixing that. It directs the Secretary of Energy, working with FERC and NERC, to conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine how technologies like high- performance computing and artificial intelligence can be used to enhance grid operations, finding efficiency in our existing capacity, speeding up these interconnection studies, and improving reliability with tools like predictive maintenance and digital twins. Understanding how these tools can help our bulk power system run on full power will be critical to ensuring affordable rates for the long term.

As part of the study, DOE will also work to understand the technical and cybersecurity barriers for widespread adoption.

Madam Speaker, we don't have a clear national picture of where this technology stands, but this bill gets us that picture with a report due to Congress within a year and substantive recommendations so policymakers have the facts on how these technologies can help reliability and performance of our grid and where the challenges lie.

My bill is both bipartisan and forward looking. Most importantly, it is about making sure America leads the world as the epicenter for affordable, reliable energy.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the American Music Tourism Act of 2025. It is bipartisan legislation that I have had the privilege of leading in the House alongside my colleague from California, Congresswoman Barragan, and our partner in the Senate, Senator Blackburn.

Whether it is Dolly Parton or Morgan Wallen, they have got a storied history colored by many country music icons. From Dollywood in Pigeon Forge to the birthplace of country music in Bristol, Tennessee, east Tennessee does play a vital role in our Nation's music tourism industry. That story is true in communities across the country, from Nashville to Los Angeles and everywhere in between.

This bill simply directs the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism to implement a plan to grow music tourism for domestic and international visitors and to report back to Congress on that progress.

It is a commonsense, bipartisan idea, and I note for my colleagues that it will not cost taxpayers one additional dollar to implement.

Madam Speaker, the House already passed this bill with overwhelming bipartisan support in April. The Senate now has done the same, and this is about as close to the finish line as legislation gets. I am proud of the work that our two Chambers have done together to get us there.

I thank again Congresswoman Barragan and Senator Blackburn for their partnership in helping carry this legislation forward.

Madam Speaker, let's finish the job. Let's send this bill to the President's desk and give America's music communities the recognition and support they have earned.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a true daughter of Tennessee, Dolly Parton--a woman who needs no introduction.

Dolly was a native of my district in East Tennessee, and she was from Locust Ridge in Sevier County. She never forgot where she came from. Her music told the truth about hard work, faith, and family, and that truth is why the whole world fell in love with Dolly.

But it was her heart that made her a legend back home. She rebuilt the community after the wildfires in 2016 that tore through Sevier County. She opened doors for children to learn to read through her Imagination Library. She supported healthcare and research for Tennessee families. She protected the mountains that she loved. Most people will know her theme park that is in the district called Dollywood.

She was guided by her faith and her East Tennessee upbringing, and Dolly used her success to lift people up around her at every turn.

My prayers are with her family and everyone who loved her. The Tennessee delegation is committed to ensuring that her legacy is remembered for generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen), my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, she was a funny lady. She had a lot of quick sayings--and I won't go into that--but we lost an icon, not just to us in Tennessee but to the world.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that the House now observe a moment of silence in her memory.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Utah for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the fourth anniversary of one of the most consequential decisions in the history of our Supreme Court, and that is Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago, the Supreme Court corrected a 50-year wrong and returned the question of life back to where it has always belonged, and that is to the American people and to their elected representatives. This was a historic victory for life and the rule of law.

But today is not just a day to celebrate a court decision. It is a day to recommit ourselves to the work that remains, and there is still a lot of work to do.

As a mother, a grandmother, and a lifelong advocate for life, I have always believed that the pro-life movement is fundamentally a movement of deep affection and love: love for mothers facing impossible choices, love for families navigating the unexpected, and love for the most vulnerable among us--the unborn, who have no voice.

That love is showing up in communities across the country. In 2024 alone, pregnancy centers provided over 1 million women with services valued at more than $452 million. That is free ultrasounds, free natal care, diapers, car seats, and so much more. And for every Planned Parenthood, there are 15 pregnancy resource centers ready to serve women with real support and real choices.

That is the true face of the pro-life movement.

Here in Congress we have continued to act. Earlier this year, the House passed the Supporting Pregnancy and Parenting Women and Families Act and Pregnant Students' Rights Act because we know that protecting life means supporting mothers before, during, and after pregnancy.

President Trump's HHS stood up for moms.gov, and that was inspired by my Pregnancy.Gov Act to connect expecting mothers with the resources they truly need.

These are the kinds of life-affirming policies we should be building on.

But I want to be direct about where we still fall short. Since Dobbs, abortions in this country have actually increased by nearly 400,000 a year.

Why is that?

It is because the Biden-Harris administration spent 4 years dismantling every commonsense safeguard around chemical abortion drugs. They allowed mifepristone to be ordered online, shipped through the mail, and dispensed without a doctor ever seeing the patient.

As a pharmacist for almost 40 years, that is not patient care. That is recklessness.

Democrats have made their agenda very clear. Nearly every House Democrat has signed on to legislation that would impose abortion on demand until birth wiping out every pro-life protection at the State and Federal level, and we cannot let that stand.

Dobbs gave us the tools. Now it is our job to use them. I will not stop fighting for life in every form at every stage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in recognizing this year's national jubilee of prayer and praise and thanksgiving. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on something that is near and dear to my heart.

I come from east Tennessee. It is a place where faith isn't just something you practice on Sunday morning. It is woven into the fabric of who we are. It shapes how we raise our children, how we care for our neighbors, and, yes, how we govern.

If you look at the history of this great Nation, that is exactly how our Founders intended it to be. From the very beginning, America's leaders understood something that too many in Washington have forgotten: that we are not self-sufficient, that the blessings of liberty--the prosperity, the freedom, the strength of this Nation--do not come from us. They come from God.

When English settlers first landed at Cape Henry in 1607, they planted a cross and offered prayers, dedicating their endeavor to God. That spirit of faith was part of America's foundation.

When the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in 1774--facing a crisis, facing uncertainty, facing the very real possibility of war--one of the very first things those delegates did was bow their heads in prayer. By all accounts, that prayer changed the room, and it brought divided men together. It gave them clarity, and it gave them courage.

When our Constitution was hanging by a thread at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when tempers had flared, and delegates were walking out, Benjamin Franklin urged the delegates to seek divine guidance with humility and prayer before continuing their work on what would become the greatest governing document in the history of the world.

I am proud to say that Tennessee has been part of this tradition. Three of this Nation's Presidents called Tennessee home, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson. Each one of them understood the weight of the Presidency and that it demands more than human wisdom alone.

Andrew Jackson, in his inaugural address, called it the most fervent prayer that almighty God, the same God who had kept this Republic from its infancy, would overrule his intentions and actions for the good of the American people.

James K. Polk, in his own inaugural address in 1845, fervently invoked the aid of the almighty ruler of the universe to guard this Heaven-favored land against the mischiefs that arise from unwise policy.

Andrew Johnson, who assumed the Presidency under some of the most painful circumstances in American history following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, called the Nation to a special day of humiliation and prayer and later issued a Thanksgiving proclamation, calling Americans to give thanks to God for the perseverance of the United States.

Three Tennesseans, three Presidents. All of them, in their highest moments of responsibility, all turned to prayer.

George Washington, in his Circular Letter to the States, asked God to ``incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another.''

Abraham Lincoln, in the darkest days of the Civil War, called on the Nation to humble itself before God, not out of weakness, but out of wisdom. He recognized that we had forgotten God.

On June 6, 1944, as Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, President Franklin Roosevelt didn't give a victory speech. He led the Nation in prayer.

Mr. Speaker, the evidence is overwhelming. This Nation was built on prayer. It has been sustained by prayer. If we want to see it restored, it will be through prayer.

I know it is not a popular thing to say in some circles in Washington these days, but faith has been pushed out of the public square. Prayer has been treated like something to be embarrassed about or hidden away. We are told to keep our beliefs private.

I refuse to accept that. As a matter of fact, I rebuke that. I don't think the American public accepts it either.

I have been a pharmacist for almost 40 years, and I have stood behind the counter when people were at the lowest points in their lives, when they were diagnosed with cancer or certain other ailments. The ones who leaned on their faith and the ones who prayed, they had something to hold onto--something that no government program, no prescription, no piece of legislation could ever replace.

That is why I believe deeply that this National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving isn't just about a nice tradition. It is a necessity.

As we celebrate 250 years of American freedom this year, we have an extraordinary opportunity to do what our Founders did--to stop, to humble ourselves, to give thanks, and to ask for guidance, not because we are weak, but because we are wise enough to know that the blessings we enjoy are not of our own making.

Psalm 33:12 reminds us--and I think Mark said it a minute ago-- ``Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.'' May that always be true of America.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2319) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a review to evaluate the status of research on lung cancer in women and underserved populations, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on this bill.

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

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2319, the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2025 led by my colleague Representative Brendan F. Boyle.

Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States, and it claims the lives of more Americans than any other type of cancer.

Globally, over 600,000 women die every year from lung cancer, and we know that nearly 20 percent of lung cancers occur in individuals who have either never smoked or smoked less than 100 cigarettes over their lifetime.

These findings demonstrate that we need to be doing more to understand the risk factors beyond just smoking cigarettes and improve both our strategies and tools for screening, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, especially among women who face unique risk factors.

H.R. 2319 would allow us to strengthen and advance emerging research opportunities that we rely on to reduce the burden of lung cancer mortality.

Further, this bipartisan bill requires an interagency review between the Department of Health and Human Services and the Departments of War and Veterans Affairs to determine the current research landscape in identifying new areas of research to explore.

H.R. 2319 is an opportunity to take another critical step in our fight against cancer in the United States.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).

Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close. I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2493) to reauthorize certain programs regarding rural health care.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the Record on the bill.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2493, the Improving Care in Rural America Reauthorization Act of 2025, led by my friend from Georgia, Congressman Carter.

Too often where a patient lives determines whether they are able to access adequate healthcare services, and patients who live in rural areas, in particular, often face barriers like a shortage of local providers and transportation challenges of traveling longer distances to reach points of care.

To overcome these challenges and build toward a healthier future, we must continue leveraging tools like telehealth to ensure that rural and underserved communities have access to quality healthcare.

H.R. 2493 reauthorizes grant programs that utilize integrated healthcare networks to help connect patients to high quality care. More specifically, the programs we are reauthorizing will help address critical healthcare gaps in rural communities such as access to preventive screenings and chronic disease management while improving services in primary care settings.

We must continue to invest in these community-driven policies to promote better health outcomes for rural and underserved populations.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I thank the sponsors, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Madam Speaker, I encourage a ``yes'' vote on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3419) to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the telehealth network and telehealth resource centers grant programs.

Madam Chair, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record on the bill.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3419, which would reauthorize the telehealth network and telehealth resource grant programs, led by my colleague Congressman Valadao.

Telehealth has been an extremely useful tool that helps patients overcome various physical barriers to care and expands access to a wide array of services provided by high-quality healthcare professionals. It is both an effective and efficient way to deliver healthcare services to patients living in rural and medically underserved areas across the United States.

As we continue working to build a healthier America, telehealth is an incredible tool to help break down barriers and promote patient access.

H.R. 3419 reauthorizes key grant programs, namely the Telehealth Network Grant Program and telehealth resource centers.

Under the Telehealth Network Grant Program, awardees can receive funding to provide services through a telehealth network for patients in rural and medically underserved areas.

Additionally, the telehealth resource centers provide telehealth technical assistance for regional and national entities that support providers to best utilize this technology to care for their patients.

Ultimately, this bill continues critical support and strengthens the telehealth infrastructure that Americans rely on.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I thank the sponsors for their work on this bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Valadao).

Madam Speaker, in closing, I encourage a ``yes'' vote on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1020) to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the time period during which licensees are required to commence construction of certain hydropower projects.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and to insert extraneous material on S. 1020.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1020, led by Senator Daines and, in the House of Representatives, by Representative Newhouse.

Hydropower is a critical part of our Nation's energy mix, supplying baseload power to approximately 30 million homes and businesses and accounting for 40 percent of our black start capacity.

S. 1020 authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, to extend construction deadlines for critical hydropower projects licensed before March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains and halted many projects.

Current law requires hydropower projects to commence construction within 10 years of receiving a license. This legislation allows FERC to authorize an additional 6 years for certain projects to ensure fully licensed infrastructure is not permanently halted, depriving Americans of reliable energy.

There are currently 37 projects, across 15 States, that are at risk of losing licenses without the passage of this bill providing additional construction time.

These projects in limbo would provide energy that is imperative to power our communities, win the artificial intelligence race, and lower electricity prices for consumers.

I urge my colleagues to support S. 1020, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Newhouse).

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on S. 1020, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the valiant military service of Manuel Lee Campbell of Johnson City in Washington County, Tennessee, or simply ``Lee'' for those who know him best. As a partner of the 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemoration, I had the honor of recognizing Lee in-person at one of our local ceremonies last year.

SP-5 Campbell was drafted by the U.S. Army in September 1966, where he completed Basic Training and Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and soon received orders to report to Oakland Army Base,

California for deployment to Vietnam. He arrived at Bien Hoa Airbase, Vietnam and was transported to the 90th Replacement Battalion and then to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade Main Base in March 1967. He served as a Combat Infantry Radio Telephone Operator in Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry. The company would deploy from base camp to ``the field'' on Eagle Flights by ``Huey'' helicopters and would then set up a Command Post, with most combat missions conducted at the platoon level. SP-5 Campbell has described his duties as endless Search & Destroy patrols through jungles and rice paddies during the day and setting up ambush defensive perimeters with 3-man positions at night. Despite the daunting challenges of the mission, which required contacting the elusive enemy, the Viet Cong (VC) Guerrilla forces, and surviving the ensuing firefights, SP-5 Campbell and the Charlie Company succeeded in gathering vital operations intelligence for the U.S. Army. On July 2, 1967, PFC Campbell was Wounded in Action in a firefight with the VC on a Search & Destroy patrol. For his bravery and sacrifice to our country, PFC Campbell received the Purple Heart. Despite his injury, PFC Campbell remained in Vietnam in service to our great Nation. While assigned to Headquarters Company at the 199th Infantry Brigade Main Base, shortly after midnight on January 30, 1968, SP-4 Campbell witnessed the infamous Tet Offensive begin, where the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong launched a series of well-coordinated attacks on cities, towns, and large military bases all over South Vietnam. SP-4 Campbell courageously served as part of the last line of defense for Brigade Headquarters, and we thank him and his comrades for ensuring our enemy never broke through the Brigade's perimeter defenses. Finally in March 1968, SP-5 Campbell returned to the 90th Replacement Battalion and back to the Bien Hoa Airbase for the flight home.

Please stand with me to honor SP-5 Campbell for his bravery and dedication, which will always be treasured by our Nation, our community in East Tennessee, and everyone who knows him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor National Rural Health Month and to honor the men and women who keep healthcare alive in America's small towns and rural communities.

As co-chair of the Congressional Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus, I am proud to join my colleagues in leading an effort to ensure the millions of Americans who live in rural areas, including the hardworking people of Tennessee's First District, receive the same quality of care as anyone else in the Nation.

In northeast Tennessee, rural healthcare is a lifeline to people, especially those who live in remote areas and are limited or have no mode of transportation. They depend on a nurse to drive during the night and before dawn to check on a patient or the pharmacist who knows every family by name and stretches every dollar to keep medicine affordable. It is the doctor who stays late to see one more patient because there is no one else to take the next shift.

These are the people who form the backbone of our rural healthcare communities, and they deserve a system that works as hard for them as they do for us.

The truth is, rural healthcare has always faced an uphill battle. When a rural hospital shuts down, it just doesn't take away healthcare. It takes away jobs, stability, and peace of mind.

It means longer drives for emergency care, fewer options for expectant mothers, and limited access for seniors and veterans who depend on those services the most.

The systems that are supposed to support them is too often buried in bureaucracies.

Pharmacy benefit managers are manipulating drug prices, restricting choices, and squeezing out small-town pharmacies that are fighting just to survive.

These PBMs never see a patient, but they control what medicines people can get and at what cost.

That is wrong, and I have been proud to lead bipartisan legislation to bring transparency, accountability, and fairness to that system because patients and pharmacists alike deserve better.

I have made it my mission to champion these policies that put people, not politics, first. Under President Trump's leadership, we signed the Working Families Tax Cuts Act into law this year. This critical legislation included the single largest investment in rural healthcare in history. That is $50 billion for a Rural Health Transformation Fund to reinvest Federal savings directly into the communities that need it most, expanding telehealth, and recruiting and retaining rural healthcare workers.

We are committed to ensuring telehealth remains an option for those living in rural communities. Telehealth provides expanded access to specialists, closes the distance between patients and providers, and gives families faster, more reliable care.

I have legislation, the Rural Physician Workforce Production Act, that would help bring more doctors to rural communities by giving rural hospitals the resources they need to train and retain more physicians.

I have fought to strengthen our Nation's drug supply chain by supporting domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing, including facilities like USAntibiotics in Bristol, Tennessee, where we are proving that these lifesaving antibiotics can and should be made right here in the United States and not halfway around the world.

Mr. Speaker, these aren't abstract policy debates. They are about real people and real places. They are about the mom who drives an hour to find a pediatric specialist. They are about the veteran who can't get his prescription filled because his local pharmacy closed. They are about the nurse who works back-to-back shifts because there aren't enough hands to go around.

Those stories are what drive my work every single day. That is why I have joined my co-chair, Representative Tokuda, in introducing a resolution to recognize November 20, 2025, as National Rural Health Day. This resolution recognizes the challenges we face, but more importantly it affirms our commitment to solving them.

I thank Representative Tokuda for her continued commitment on working together to address the pressing healthcare issues facing our rural communities. We must fight for a healthcare system that serves patients, not big insurance companies; that values rural providers, not red tape; and ensures no community, no matter how small or remote, is left behind.

We thank the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and first responders who keep rural America healthy. Their work saves lives. Their compassion gives hope, and their dedication holds our communities together.

As long as I have the privilege to serve the people of Tennessee's First District, and as co-chair of the Rural Health Caucus, I will continue that fight. We are united in our shared mission to strengthen rural healthcare, protect patient access, and preserve the small-town values that make this Nation strong.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on faith tonight.

You know, the Bible so beautifully defines faith. In Hebrews 11:1, it says: ``Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.''

This Nation is in the midst of spiritual warfare--make no bones about it--for the soul of not only America but for the world. There is an assault on Christianity, and we have to be diligent in sharing our faith if we profess to be Christians.

As my colleague, Mr. Babin, just quoted, Psalm 33:12 declares: ``Blessed is the Nation whose God is the Lord.'' America is a Nation that is blessed, in

large part, because we are rooted in Judeo-Christian values.

I want to speak about faith as it pertains to politics. During the earliest beginnings of our Nation, it was abundantly evident that Christianity played a formative role in shaping our Nation's founding. Christian principles shaped the Founders' thinking in a profound way. They believed that humans are created in the image of God with an informed conscience of what is right and what is wrong. They believed that humans are inherently sinful, and because of that, we always would need laws and a system of checks and balances. They believed God is the source of moral standards and that legislation should be in agreement with the moral law. They believed that religious liberty is a God-given right and must be protected.

There was a British politician who served in the late 1700s, early 1800s. He was against the slave trade, and he devoted his life to promoting Christian values. His name was William Wilberforce. He wrote: ``I am disturbed when I see the majority of so-called Christians having such little understanding of the real nature of the faith they profess. Faith is a subject of such importance that we should not ignore it because of the distractions or the hectic pace of our lives.''

He goes on to say: ``I would suggest that faith is everyone's business. The advance or decline of faith is so intimately connected to the welfare of a society that it should be a particular interest to a politician.''

Being a Christian in a secular society is not an easy task, but we have examples who left benchmarks for not just our country to follow but for the world to follow.

This generation of leaders has a tremendous opportunity to leave a Christ-honoring legacy that can possibly change not only our country but the world. We should let our faith be the catalyst for every decision that we make.

I am thankful, as a Christian, I can share my faith from a platform that very few people will ever have the opportunity to share from, and that is right here in the House of Representatives.

Wilberforce's work is an example to generations going forward to integrate faith, reason and courage into our engagement with those we have been called to serve.

I am honored to be part of Faith Month ``for such a time as this.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, Chairman Gus Bilirakis, who I affectionately call Gus, and Ranking Member Pallone for supporting this act.

We have the opportunity today to vote on legislation centered around something that brings us all together, and that is music. Today, we will take the American Music Tourism Act under consideration. It is a bipartisan piece of legislation that I am proud to have led through the House alongside my co-lead, Representative Nanette Barragan.

It will require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism to develop a plan to boost music tourism, welcoming both domestic and international visitors to experience the rich musical heritage we have across America.

It also ensures that Congress stays informed, with regular reports on our progress, our success, and any challenges that we face.

Importantly, let me emphasize this bill will not require any additional taxpayer dollars. It is a smart, efficient, and unique way to support our economy without increasing spending.

Whether it is New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz; Seattle, where they rock out to grunge; the cradles of hip hop, which are L.A. and New York; or Austin, which proudly calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World, our Nation is overflowing with the rich history of music.

For those of us in Tennessee's First District, which I represent, this bill is especially personal. We are home to

treasures like Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, the home of Dolly Parton, and the Birthplace of Country Music, which is in Bristol, Tennessee--places that just don't celebrate our culture but also drive tourism, create jobs, and strengthen our communities. I can't forget a little town in my district called Sneedville, Tennessee, and that is the home of Morgan Wallen. My favorite song is ``The Way I Talk.'' I thought for a long time, Mr. Speaker, that he wrote that about me, but I have come to find out that he didn't.

As a tribute to Dolly Parton, all I have to say is that we have been working longer than ``9 to 5'' to get this bill across the finish line. I am so thankful for the strong bipartisan partnership that made it possible today.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation.