Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize Mr. Bonard Mace, a distinguished Superintendent from my district who is retiring this year after a career of service.

Mr. Bonard Mace is a dedicated educator of 39 years, who served as a teacher, coach, and administrator in the Hoxie, Westside, Nettleton, and Gosnell school districts. He is retiring as the Superintendent of Gosnell after also serving as an Assistant Principal, High School Principal, and Assistant Superintendent.

Mr. Mace devoted his careers to his students and played an essential role in teaching and preparing the next generation to be leaders and public servants. His hard work and dedication is invaluable in our communities, and I am certain the First District is better because of his service.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my cosponsor for his work on this, and I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see this bill come to the House floor for consideration.

As a former Army bomb tech, I know how critical it is for our military to be adequately equipped on the front lines to dispose of explosive threats. This is all the more true on our home front, where the public safety continues to be threatened by terrorists and other bad actors who consistently use bombs and explosive hazards to advance their agenda.

But it should not take a tragedy to enact sensible change and to continue to equip our homeland security officials with the tools they need to mitigate bombing incidents and to protect the critical infrastructure of our Nation and the lives of our citizens.

The Office for Bombing Prevention, or OBP, was created in response to terrorism events, both at home and abroad, including the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988; the World Trade Center in 1993; Oklahoma City in 1995; a Madrid train in 2004; London in 2005; the Boston Marathon in 2013; and Nashville on Christmas Day in 2020.

OBP leads the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to implement the National Policy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices and enhances the Nation's ability to prevent, protect against, respond to, and mitigate the use of explosives against critical infrastructure, the private sector, and Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial entities.

Currently, the OBP sits underneath the jurisdiction of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA. However, our recent history has proven that OBP needs a bit of promotion in order to adequately inform the Secretary of Homeland Security on ongoing threats and to keep the general public out of harm's way.

I say recent history because, unfortunately, our Nation has not been safe from threats, most of which, thankfully, never led to serious injury, destruction, or death. The 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, the IEDs left outside the RNC and DCCC on January 6, 2021, and over 50 reported bomb threats between January and February of this year targeted disproportionately at HBCUs, Black churches, mosques, and synagogues.

It is our responsibility as Members of Congress to lead and address these unacceptable threats while simultaneously reducing the amount of threats designed to instill fear in the public. I applaud my colleagues for responding to these events seriously and appropriately, and I have full confidence the OBP will have the tools necessary to carry out this mission.

Our bill authorizes OBP and directs the office to develop a strategy for further securing critical infrastructure against terrorist explosive threats and attacks and to evaluate effective technologies to defend against them. Further, OBP will be required to promote security awareness of risks posed by the misuse of explosive precursor chemicals, bomb-making materials, providing technical assistance to the public and private sectors to support security preparedness, assist other agencies with information sharing and responding to various threats, and working with relevant stakeholder interests in bettering this overall effort.

It has come to my attention that in response to the bomb threats at our HBCUs, the OBP led a briefing with 150 leaders on training opportunities and engaged with educational stakeholders about accessing OBP's counter-IED capability development programs, information, training, and tools. This kind of responsiveness to a dire situation only strengthens my confidence that the men and women at OBP are ready and informed to respond to ongoing bomb threats and prevent further incidents and potential devastation.

We should be proud, as Americans, to feel a sense of security each and every day. Security and strength are what brings us together and the foundation for what we fight for. Unfortunately, we live the reality that anyone can be a threat to this security and strength, even when we least expect it, from our grocery stores, to our places of worship, to our schools. We must continue to fight and ensure that Americans live free from fear of the malicious use of explosives and from the threat of a terrorist's agenda. Our citizens should feel and remain secure at their jobs, their schools, and, most importantly, around their families. That is my mission as a Member of Congress; that will be the mission of the Office for Bombing Prevention, and that is why I support H.R. 6873.

I thank my co-lead, Representative Malinowski, one more time, as well as

Representative Katko for his leadership on the Homeland Security Committee, and for meeting with me to discuss my priorities for bombing prevention from our service branches to the domestic front.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize an exceptional family from my district. Since 1947, the Craig family has run Craig's Brother Bar-B-Q, dazzling De Valls Bluff with mouthwatering pork sandwiches dripping in the secret family sauce known for its hints of apple and bell pepper.

Lawrence Craig, a former cook on a Mississippi River boat and his brother Wes opened the restaurant in 1947. Now with three generations of the Craig family maintaining the barbeque tradition, Craig's Brother Bar-B-Q was recognized as a 2019 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame Award Winner.

Craig's offers slow-smoked meats covered in curated levels of spicy sauces, perfected coleslaw, ribs, and burgers that will make you feel like you are in Southern barbeque heaven. A local favorite, duck hunters frequent the family-run establishment that was also recognized as a 2020 People's Choice Nominee.

For a blast of flavor and unforgettable taste of the South, visit Craig's Brother Bar-B-Q.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize an exceptional family from my district. Since 1910, the Jones Family has owned and operated the award-winning and nationally recognized Jones BBQ restaurant in Marianna, Arkansas. Today, owner James H. Jones, the great-nephew of founder ``Uncle'' Joe Jones, continues to serve mouthwatering barbeque and a secret family barbeque sauce to customers who come from as far away as England, Germany, and even Yemen.

However, the secret to the success of Jones BBQ is in the simplicity. Mr. Jones, 4 times a week, places multiple pork shoulders on the grill in the back of the restaurant, leaving them to smoke for 10 to 12 hours. Then, he wakes up early the next morning to prepare them for customers and serves the barbeque until he sells out. If you do not get to Jones BBQ before noon, there is a good chance all the barbeque will be gone.

Jones BBQ is so beloved by customers, that in February 2021, when the back half of the restaurant burned down in a fire, the community rallied around Mr. Jones and raised over $100,000, allowing Jones BBQ to reopen by Memorial Day.

In 2012, Jones BBQ became the first restaurant in Arkansas to receive a prestigious James Beard Foundation Award. In 2017, Jones BBQ was recognized as an Arkansas Food Hall of Fame Award Winner and in 2020 was a People's Choice Nominee. Then recently, Jones BBQ found themselves on the New York Times favorite restaurant list for 2021.

Believed to be the first black-owned restaurant in the South, Jones BBQ is a staple of the First District of Arkansas. I encourage anyone passing through to stop by and give Jones BBQ's nationally acclaimed offerings a taste--they will not regret it.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize an exceptional family from my district. The Murry and Young families of Prairie County, Arkansas have blessed their community with warm service and delectable plates since 1961, when Olden Murry founded Murry's Restaurant of Hazen.

Taken over in 1986 by Murry's son-in-law and protege, Stanley Young, the family-run establishment was recognized as a 2020 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame Award Winner. Young and his wife, Rebecca, continue the legacy of delicious homestyle fare, specializing in fried catfish, hush puppies, chicken fried steak, T-bone steaks, as well as homemade bread, and onion rings.

Regulars describe Murry's as home to ``the nicest people ever,'' where you can enjoy the ``best fried catfish in the nation,'' according to Southern Living Magazine in 2018.

When passing through, don't miss the opportunity to indulge in Murry's widely-beloved bourbon bread pudding, and partake in the family hospitality of Murry's Restaurant.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri for yielding.

I rise today to recognize the passing of my friend and colleague, Representative Don Young.

While many accomplished and effective men and women have served here in the House of Representatives over the years, very few have built a legacy like Representative Young.

Over the last almost 12 years, I have had the honor of serving with him on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he spent untold hours fighting for stronger investment in American infrastructure. The Don Young Coast Guard Authorization Act on the floor today is just one of many examples of this.

Don took his job as dean of the House seriously. He regularly offered advice to colleagues, like his warnings to me to never shave my beard. He was eager to welcome Members and their families to Capitol Hill. My kids loved getting a tour of his office and hearing his wild hunting stories.

Representative Young will be remembered for his boisterous personality and outrageous anecdotes, but above all, he will be remembered for his passion for the people of Alaska.

I am thankful for the time I served with Representative Young, and my prayers are with his family, friends, staff, and constituents.

Today, I encourage my colleagues to honor our friend and support H.R. 6865.

Madam Speaker, I hereby remove my name as cosponsor of

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7108. Everyone here on the floor with me today can agree that Russia's aggression in Ukraine with Belarus in support is reprehensible and wrong.

While I strongly believe that this next round of sanctions will continue to hold Russia and Belarus accountable, we also can't ignore soaring fertilizer costs already propelled by global supply chain issues. Russia and Belarus, unfortunately, are major exporters of fertilizer and these sanctions may drive costs even higher.

But skyrocketing fertilizer costs won't affect my support for this bill. Peace must be achieved by all available measures. I will turn my focus now to solutions to drive fertilizer costs back down.

From temporarily or completely eliminating barriers for fertilizer trade from other nations, to input subsidies for our producers to offset input costs, we must be willing to put all available solutions on the table.

I have always argued that food security is national security, and I will continue to work with my colleagues to alleviate fertilizer costs to our farmers in order to grow food for our shelves.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Keith Weaver ahead of his retirement this month.

Dr. Weaver's 37 years of dedicated service to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and to the conservation and management of the National Wildlife Refuge System played a critical role in protecting important natural resources in Arkansas and throughout the nation. Wildlife refuges are an essential piece to both the economy and culture of the Natural State, and we owe many thanks to Dr. Weaver for his leadership in conservation.

His career officially began at Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Louisiana as a forestry technician. There he oversaw logging contracts, participated in reforestation activities, dealt with nuisance beaver control, and later became the refuge's first Wildlife Biologist where he conducted important research on the area's black bears. He served outside of the Southeast in refuge leadership positions at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland's Eastern Shore and Nulhegan Basin Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Vermont. Dr. Weaver took his current position as the project leader at the Central Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex in 2007. He is responsible for managing six refuges at Bald Knob, Big Lake, Cache River, Holla Bend, Logan Cave, and Wapanocca, Arkansas--five of which are primarily managed for wintering waterfowl.

Throughout his career, he invested in future conservation leaders and earned a reputation of the highest character, integrity, and honesty. He engaged with national, regional, and local stakeholders and was a dependable resource for my staff and I, always ready to help serve Arkansans.

Dr. Weaver's dedication and leadership has not gone unnoticed, and in September 2021, he was awarded the Department of the Interior's Distinguished Service Award, the highest honorary recognition an employee can receive within DOI. This award is reserved for outstanding individuals who make significant contributions to science or to the public service.

Both the state of Arkansas and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are losing an exceptional public servant. I thank Dr. Weaver for his decades of commitment to keeping the Natural State a vibrant, safe, and beautiful place to call home.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose this insane piece of legislation House Democrats are proposing.

This bill is yet another further attempt by the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Adam Schiff, to retroactively attack President Trump, even after the Democrats' Russian collusion allegations have been repeatedly debunked.

I want to specifically bring attention to Title XIII of this ridiculous bill. This provision requires employees, officials, and agents of a Presidential campaign to report foreign national contact and/or contributions to the FEC and to the FBI. The FBI is then required to provide notice to the campaign and to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, or HPSCI, as we call it.

Sound familiar? The FBI would be required to work with HPSCI on counterintelligence investigations into political candidates. What could possibly go wrong?

This provision is designed to further the Democrat-led FBI scheme against Republican Presidential candidates, just as they did with President Trump.

Here's how it would work: First, if a foreign government contacts a Republican campaign, the Republican campaign, in compliance with the proposed law, reports the contact to the FBI. Then the FBI notifies HPSCI Democrats, and somehow the media miraculously finds out about it and runs story after story about the Republican campaign colluding with the foreign government.

Lather, rinse, repeat. I am not sure if anyone has told Chairman Schiff and House Democrats yet, but Donald Trump is, unfortunately, no longer President. Time to stop living in the past.

The clear intent of this bill is to weaponize the Federal Government bureaucracy against Republican candidates. If this legislation becomes law, Madam Speaker, don't be surprised if we see Russian hoaxes every 2 years.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Alabama for his leadership.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the 2022 NDAA. This process began months ago. A bill was introduced, Members offered amendments, debated accordingly, and reached bicameral consensus.

However, as Members arrived in Washington this afternoon, they realized they only had about 8 hours to review and vote on a 2,100-page document to secure our national defense--a surprising and frustrating process that has become all too familiar with House Democrats and the majority.

While I will always support our men and women in uniform, I am concerned that not all these men and women, specifically those who serve in the Army as explosive ordnance disposal technicians, as I once did, are adequately equipped to defend our Nation by this year's version of NDAA. I will continue to work hard to achieve this purpose going forward.

I am voting in favor of the legislation because of the critical funding it provides for our national defense, pay raises for our servicemen and -women, provisions to hold the Biden administration accountable on its irresponsible withdraw from Afghanistan, and serious steps to assess the involvement of the Chinese Communist Party in the origins of COVID-19 as well as their unacceptable and increasingly aggressive behavior around the world.

I sincerely hope that next year we have more time to absorb the final provisions of the NDAA to make sure that all of our troops feel confident they have the full support of Congress.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Florida for hosting this Special Order.

Madam Speaker, I stand today alongside my colleagues, my constituents, and millions of Americans in support of life and in defense of the democratic process.

Human life begins at conception. Just 5 weeks into a pregnancy, an unborn baby's heart begins to beat. At 10 weeks, they have fingers and toes.

However, for 48 years, the Roe v. Wade decision has trampled on the democratic process and the unborn.

Since the 1973 decision, over 62 million abortions have been performed. That is over 1 million per year. This is a disgraceful attack on human life.

It is imperative that the legislative powers to make laws, especially of this magnitude, be vested in the people's representatives and not nine unelected judges.

Arkansans and citizens across this Nation want to protect life, but their hands have been tied by the Supreme Court.

I urge the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. It is time to return the abortion debate back to where it belongs, with the people.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Bob Knight, a man who gave himself freely and fully to his family, business, state and community, who died on October 28, 2021.

He was born July 15, 1945, in the former Rollins Hospital at Gassville, Arkansas. Bob graduated from Mountain Home High School in 1963, the Wichita School of Broadcasting in 1965, and served in the U.S. Navy from 1965 to 1969 aboard the battleship New Jersey.

Those who were lucky enough to know Bob were aware that he had a deep and abiding passion for the Bombers, broadcasting, the Twin Lakes Area, his state, and the Navy. Many of his numberless stories were centered on one of those passions. His family was his first priority. He was married to the former Sue Hightower for 48 years. They were a team in every sense of the word. He would light up when talking about his daughter and grandchildren.

Bob was 23 when he started working at KTLO in 1968. He and Sue were part of a group including two local doctors--Johnny and Bobby Ahrens-- who bought the station in 1973. In 1994, current co-owner Danny Ward and his wife, Velma, became partners, along with Charlie and Scottie Earls. Mountain Lakes Broadcasting Corporation was formed. The Knights and Wards bought the Earls' interest in 2012.

Bob earned accolades for his devoted and tireless service to organizations both local and statewide. He was president of the Mountain Home Educational Foundation for 16 years. He was also a past president of the Arkansas Broadcasters' Association and chairman of the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Commission. The jobs Bob held had one general aim--to make the Twin Lake Area and the State of Arkansas better places to live and work.

Bob's sense of humor brightened up the day and will be missed. For four decades, people in the KTLO listening area have started their day with his program's signature opening, ``It's time to rise and shine.'' Bob Knight was preceded in death by his wife of almost 50 years, Sue Hightower Knight; and son, Jordan Knight. He is survived by his daughter, Heather Loftis, her husband, Chris, and two grandchildren: Mia and Jordan Zane Loftis.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Lieutenant Colonel Brian Mason. Lt. Colonel Mason enlisted as a medic on Active Duty in 1985. He served in Desert Shield/Desert Storm as a medic on a Forward Area Surgical Team assigned to the 44th Medical Brigade (Airborne), and his unit was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation. He commissioned as an Engineer Officer in 2002 assigned to the 875th Engineer Battalion then deployed as a Platoon Leader and Executive Officer with the 239th Engineer Company, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to Iraq in 2003 through 2005. He has had various full-time duty assignments in the AGR program, culminating now as a member the Adjutant Generals' special staff, State Public Affairs Officer and Director of Communications.

He was an Assistant Professor of Military Science and Executive Officer of the Red Wolf Battalion when U.S. Army Cadet Command tried to eliminate the program at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He also served two years in the command position, the Professor of Military Science, bringing the program back from closure and into viability standards. During his six and a half years at Arkansas State University, he commissioned 102 officers for the Active Duty Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve.

Upon retirement, Lt. Colonel Mason and his wife, Loretta, plan to enjoy their grandchildren and hiking. He will continue teaching classes as an Adjunct Faculty member at Arkansas State University for the College of Nursing and Health Profession's Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management program. I thank Lt. Colonel Mason for 36 years of total service and 26 years of Active Duty service to our Nation, State and community.

Madam Speaker, I hereby remove myself as a cosponsor from H.R. 1297.