Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7180) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 80 1st Street in Kingsland, Arkansas, as the ``Kingsland `Johnny Cash' Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a great American music legend, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7199) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at S74w16860 Janesville Road, in Muskego, Wisconsin, as the ``Colonel Hans Christian Heg Post Office''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Fitzgerald).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Steil).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to make a little statement as well here to kind of follow up on what Mr. Steil said.

For those of us who are familiar with the Wisconsin State Capitol, the statue of Christian Heg is an institution in the State of Wisconsin.

It was horrific, and it shows the ignorance of the hard left in this country when, about 4 years ago, there was a riot, and they tore down the statue of Christian Heg. Hopefully, this will serve to bring even more fame to his great deeds and fame to the great Americans who fought during the Civil War.

In any event, I am very pleased that Congressman Fitzgerald has decided to bring forth this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a true American war hero, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5712) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 220 Fremont Street in Kiel, Wisconsin, as the ``Trooper Trevor J. Casper Post Office Building''.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5712. This is for a true American hero. It is a bill to designate the post office in Kiel, Wisconsin, after Wisconsin State Trooper Trevor Casper.

Trevor Casper is a shining example of dedication and service. Sadly, 9 years ago, he joined a growing list of men and women in law enforcement who have risked their lives to keep Wisconsin streets safer.

Trevor was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on May 21, 1993, to Kevin and Deborah. He graduated from Kiel High School in Wisconsin with the class of 2011, where he was active in wrestling, soccer, and coaching youth sports.

After high school, Trevor pursued a degree in criminal justice at the Lakeshore Technical College, graduating in May 2014.

During his time there, he was actively engaged in the color guard and served as the president of the LTC student government. It was clear Trevor was not just interested in a career but was passionate about making a difference in his community.

Trevor's dream was to continue his education at the State Patrol Academy, which he did, successfully graduating December 18, 2014.

Following his graduation, Trooper Casper was stationed at the State trooper base in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he continued to serve his community with honor and dedication.

Tragically, on his first solo assignment, he made the ultimate sacrifice. On March 24, 2015, he was shot in Fond du Lac while apprehending a bank robbery and murder suspect. Though gravely wounded, Trooper Casper returned fire at the suspect, killing him and protecting those nearby from possible harm.

Trooper Casper's bravery in the face of danger, his commitment to the upholding of law, and his willingness to protect our community were unwavering.

Trooper Casper is a true hero, the best America has to offer. He deserves to be remembered and honored for his selfless service. His actions will always serve as a reminder of the values that he was raised in, in the Casper family, and the training he received through the Wisconsin State Patrol.

Renaming the Kiel Post Office in his honor is a small but meaningful gesture to ensure that his legacy lives on in our hearts and the very fabric of our community.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, Mr. Casper was just a great man. I strongly encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a great American hero. I look forward to the day when we put his name on the Kiel Post Office.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7606) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1087 Route 47 South in Rio Grande, New Jersey, as the ``Carlton H. Hand Post Office Building''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a great American war hero from the Greatest Generation, whose actions serve as a lasting inspiration to all of us who value freedom and courage.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7607) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at Block 1025, Lots 18 & 19, Northeast Corner of US Route 9 South and Main Street in the Township of Middle, County of Cape May, New Jersey, as the ``George Henry White Post Office Building''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a great American and a great public servant.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7417) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 135 West Spring Street in Titusville, Pennsylvania, as the ``Edwin L. Drake Post Office Building''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly).

Mr. Speaker, that was a great story. Glad I am on the House floor today to hear it.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support the bill honoring a great American, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6810) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 518 North Ridgewood Drive in Sebring, Florida, as the ``U.S. Army Air Corps Major Thomas B. McGuire Post Office Building''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Scott Franklin).

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a great American hero. I am glad to be on the floor today to have the chance to hear about his exploits.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5985) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 517 Seagaze Drive in Oceanside, California, as the ``Charlesetta Reece Allen Post Office Building''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which would rename a post office in Oceanside, California, for Ms. Charlesetta Reece Allen.

Ms. Allen opened the first Black-owned storefront and restaurant in Oceanside and was the first president of the north San Diego County branch of the NAACP and founded the Oceanside Girls Club.

She was a trailblazer for the Black community in Oceanside, and her contributions improved the lives of residents of North County. I fully support naming the historic Oceanside post office after pioneer, activist, and local community leader, Charlesetta Reece Allen.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, honoring a true pillar of the community who dedicated herself to advancing justice and freedom for all, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7893) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 306 Pickens Street in Marion, Alabama, as the ``Albert Turner, Sr. Post Office Building''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the bill, which would rename a post office in Marion, Alabama, after Mr. Albert Turner, Sr.

Mr. Turner devoted his life to the civil rights movement and fought to ensure equal access to the ballot box for African Americans. He worked with prominent leaders such as Martin Luther King and served as the Alabama Field Secretary to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and founder of the Perry County Civic League.

He was instrumental in helping organize protests and boycotts in support of racial integration of public facilities and schools.

Mr. Speaker, I support naming a post office in memory of Mr. Turner and encourage my colleagues to do the same.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a local public servant who worked to pursue freedom for all Americans.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 7192) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 333 West Broadway in Anaheim, California, as the ``Dr. William I. `Bill' Kott Post Office Building''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill that would name a post office in Anaheim, California, for Dr. William ``Bill'' Kott.

Kott was a World War II veteran who, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, enlisted in the U.S. Army and was deployed in Europe as a sergeant in General George S. Patton's Third Army.

He was one of the liberators of the Buchenwald concentration camp, among his other servicemembers. He was awarded two Bronze Star Medals. Following his honorable discharge, Dr. Kott used the GI Bill to earn a dental degree. He became a politically active member of the Republican Party, serving as chairman of the California Republican Assembly of Orange County and on several boards and commissions.

In 2018, he had the distinct privilege of connecting with the family of one of the Buchenwald prisoners he had helped to liberate.

In support of naming a post office in memory of Dr. Kott, I encourage my colleagues to vote for this fine bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a great American war hero.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1098) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 50 East Derry Road in East Derry, New Hampshire, as the ``Chief Edward B. Garone Post Office''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which would name a post office in East Derry, New Hampshire, for Chief Edward Garone.

Mr. Garone served as a law enforcement officer for 58 years, beginning in 1964. In 1972, Mr. Garone became chief of the Derry Police Department, a position he served until his death in 2022.

Mr. Garone was also instrumental in the formation of the Southern New Hampshire Special Operations Unit and helped lead multiple local nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Speaker, I support naming a post office in memory of Chief Edward B. Garone, and I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a great public servant and a real blessing for New Hampshire, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6651) to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 603 West 3rd Street in Necedah, Wisconsin, as the ``Sergeant Kenneth E. Murphy Post Office Building''.

Mr. 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 on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Tiffany), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bill honoring a great American war hero and great Wisconsinite.

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to comment on a controversy affecting the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee this past week.

Wisconsin at Milwaukee, like many universities in America, has been the site of bizarre protests in favor of Hamas. Milwaukee is the second largest university in the State of Wisconsin. While the response to these protests by universities around the country can best be described as pathetic, Milwaukee is one of the worst.

Israel has suffered an attack almost unprecedented in its brutality in which Hamas and its supporters reveled in the horrific deaths of civilians, including young children. Israel's response can best be described as very measured, particularly given that Hamas has decided to hide among hospitals and other civilian locations.

Certainly, Israel's response was more measured than our response during World War II when you look at what was done to Tokyo and Dresden, so by comparison, there is no comparison.

Hamas could end this war tomorrow if they would surrender, show Israel its tunnels and its arms, and surrender the hostages. They are entirely responsible for allowing this war to go on.

The university's statement to the protesters appears to blame Israel. Even before the October attacks, it should have been obvious who wears the white hats here.

Israel is a modern, prosperous, and tolerant country in which even Muslims can build mosques and are allowed to vote. In Gaza, from childhood on, children are raised to hate Jews. People from Thailand, the Philippines, and Latin America--non-Jewish people--flow to Israel to live and work there.

Hamas' leadership, meanwhile, takes their foreign aid from Europe and lives in Qatar and Turkiye. The descendants of Yasser Arafat himself don't want to live in Gaza. They live in Paris.

Even with this, UWM feels they should side with Hamas. The university has tried recently to amend their position, but they still display a moral equivalence in which they can't bring themselves to say there is a right and a wrong, a good and an evil, in this conflict. Their bias shows further in that their first impulse was to meet only with representatives of the protesters and not with the broader community, this despite the fact that public opinion polls consistently show the American public as a whole, including presumably the taxpayers who fund the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, have no problem figuring out who is good and who is evil.

The university should apologize for developing their own foreign policy and spend some time with the broader community to learn what the vast majority of Americans and Wisconsinites think.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the House and talk about four issues that, per usual, I think have not been adequately covered by our mainstream press corps.

The first issue I would like to deal with is their treatment in their public statements by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which is the second

biggest university in the State of Wisconsin, towards what is going on in Israel.

They, I think in part because of some Palestinian sympathizers who set up tents on their campus, felt compelled to make an issue on what American foreign policy or at least UWM's foreign policy is.

To my great concern and great embarrassment, they have decided to, in their statement, condemn Israel. Also, in addition, to condemning Israel, they called on Israel to begin a cease-fire in the Middle East.

If you read their statement, Mr. Speaker, it is apparent that there is some equivalence between Israel and what could be called Palestine, or even treating Palestine in a superior position there. This is completely unacceptable, and it is, sadly, something that is seen too much on university campuses.

The thing that makes this uniquely horrible is it is coming from the administration. It is bad enough if run-of-the-mill faculty members of universities around the country can't figure out the obvious difference between right and wrong here. It is particularly disturbing that the administration itself has a problem distinguishing that.

Israel was attacked, and over 1,000 people were killed in the most bloodthirsty and callous way possible. Israel responded to this declaration of war by trying to, as carefully as possible, get rid of the Hamas fighters who had tried to destroy them and recapture hostages that at least are claimed to be hidden probably in tunnels beneath the Gaza community.

There is a huge difference between the countries. Israel is a modern Western, humane country. It is a country with lots of mosques that has a very diverse population. Mr. Speaker, you will notice when the over 1,000 people were murdered and taken hostage, people from Thailand and the Phillipines were in Israel. They are trying to get people from Ecuador in Israel. People are coming from all around the globe for an opportunity to work in Israel.

Meanwhile, Gaza, like too many, sadly, Third World countries, is a corrupt state in which, despite receiving billions of dollars from foreign countries, primarily in Europe, is still stuck in the muck. It is a country that has no synagogues in it. There is not the appreciation for freedom of religion in Gaza like there is in Israel.

The people who run Gaza have been corrupt. The leaders have sometimes been in Qatar and sometimes been in Turkiye. The ancestors of Yasser Arafat, who ran Palestine during much of my life, wound up in Paris. The people who get the money here don't even stay in Gaza. It is a country, by the way, that would be well-run and would be prosperous. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea. It was formerly a place where people came to recreate and was a tourist spot. It was a place that used to have greenhouses that were left behind by the Jews when they had to go back to Israel and were destroyed by the people in Palestine.

In any event, we have to weigh in as a country and wake up as far as what is going on in our universities.

Why do we have universities?

Some of the American public will overwhelmingly figure out whom they should have sympathy for. Nonetheless, in the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, the administration clearly had more sympathy with Hamas than they did with Israel, which is something of great concern.

Another thing of great concern is when they had to deal with the apparent crisis of having tents in their university, they felt compelled to negotiate with the squeaky people who sympathized with the barbaric Hamas military and didn't even talk to people who have had a vested interest and apparently didn't talk to people who had a vested interest in looking out for Israel, which, after all, is fighting for its existence.

If Israel would immediately pull out of Gaza, what would happen?

It would allow the Hamas group to replenish their arms and to regroup and to someday attack Israel again 5 years, 10 years, 15 years down the line.

So, in any event, I realize the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is not as well-known academically as Harvard or MIT or Northwestern or some of these other universities that embarrass themselves, but I hope the public is paying attention to what is going on in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

I hope the taxpayers are paying attention, and I hope the chancellor who has made some admission that what he did was maybe not right, would take a bolder stance and say that his university is not going to weigh in or give any sympathy towards Hamas, particularly so soon after they so barbarically killed over 1,000 Israelis.

My second issue today is that within the last few weeks, we received, one more time, the monthly totals on the number of migrants who came across our southern border. One more time, it is true almost as far back as you can find, the numbers for April were a substantial increase over last April and a huge increase over the final April under Donald Trump.

During the final April under Donald Trump, April 2020, about 6,000 people crossed the border. Last April about 178,000 people crossed the border. We are now at 204,000. So it has been a huge increase, from 178,000 to 204,000 people. This is obviously unacceptable.

That increase is understated because what President Biden has done to hold down the numbers is he gives parole to people who are coming here from Cuba and Haiti, which probably would add another 30,000 people to this list, except for it is not included on the numbers released. So the American public and the American press should keep paying attention to what is going on at the border.

The biggest problem in our country, if our country goes under, our great country, I think is we anticipate a free press, but to have a free press and have it count for something, it has to be a competent press. When the numbers were released a couple weeks ago, I think it was within the last week, on the number of people who crossed the border from April, it should have been a banner headline in every newspaper in this country.

Every 10 o'clock news station around the country should have led with the story that we had another all-time record for an April as far as people coming across the southern border--instead, nothing. They should have pointed out that, one more time, we have just shy of 6,000 unaccompanied minors.

There was a time when the press corps cared a little bit about breaking apart families.

Now, when a 16- or 15-year-old shows up at the southern border, what does our administration do? Nothing. For all we know, that child is never going to see his parents again. Who knows what his motive is for showing up at the border, but nothing is done. Our administration is settling in where we expect if a young person crosses the border without their parents, we will find them a sponsor, and they will stay here.

Quite frankly, what our administration ought to be doing is, even if a child shows up at the border with one parent--in this country, in a divorce case, we will frequently try to keep both parents in touch with the child. So, at the southern border, even if a child shows up with one parent, they ought to be turned around unless we can document where the other parent is and that they are signing off on this situation.

Again, I strongly encourage the press corps to pay more attention to the border.

By the way, I want to make one more statement with regard to the situation with Israel. There are people who are horrified--and it is horrific--when people die in this war. The war could be ended by Hamas at any time. At any time, they could say they surrender, here are their arms, here are where you are going to find the tunnels, here are where the hostages are held. The war would be over tomorrow.

People do die in the explosions and bombings that take place there. I think that there should be a little more attention paid by the protesters before they condemn Israel to see how this country reacted when we felt it was necessary to bomb population centers when war was declared on the United States during World War II.

I suggest sympathizers with Hamas look a little bit at the Dresden firebombings and the bombings in

Tokyo. That was before we got to the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even with traditional bombs in Dresden and Tokyo, you will find, I think, more horrific things happened than anything that is happening near Hamas. Not to mention, the Israelis had been incredibly careful--much more careful than we were in Tokyo and Dresden--about warning civilians and trying to keep them out of harm's way.

If anybody in this body wants more sympathy or wants to condemn Israel, I suggest they look at how we handled the situation when we were bombing Japan and Germany toward the end of World War II--by the way, at a time when the conclusion of the war was, to a certain extent, already determined.

The third issue that I believe has not been adequately addressed in the paper--and when I get back on the weekends, I try to talk to people about it; they have no clue--is the fact that we have recently begun collecting information regarding Middle Eastern people and people from North Africa for a variety of purposes.

I think people believe that by keeping track of these people, we will eventually give them the benefits of affirmative action-type programs or diversity sort of programs. Prior to this, which was only approved in the last few weeks, we gave potential preferences to Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, Asians--quite frankly, we give preferences whether you are American or not, just Asians who are here--and Pacific Islanders.

The Biden administration, the most divisive administration in this country's history, felt that wasn't enough. I think even without showing a need, they have decided to add Middle Eastern and North African people to the mix.

If you look at a map of the world, right now, Pakistanis already have potential preference, but that ends at the Pakistan-Iran border.

What they have done is taken anybody who lives between the Pakistan- Iran border over to the Atlantic Ocean, over to Morocco, and said they have the potential for preferences.

My guess is it would mean that, right now, if you come here and open a business, and your ancestry is from these countries, you would, therefore, for example, get preferences in government contracting. You may get preferences for the purpose of government hiring. You may get preferences for government bidding.

In any event, I think there should have been a lot of discussion in the news media before we added another huge bloc of people who, as a practical matter, were going to get preferences over the native-born.

Making this decision even more bizarre, I think the two rationales for affirmative action--neither of which I agree with, by the way--were either because something bad happened to people in this country maybe 100 years ago or that this group maybe statistically was not doing as well when measured by economic metrics.

Here, people from the Middle East and North Africa largely have not immigrated to this country until the last 30 or 40 years, so you couldn't say that there has been historical discrimination here. Not only that, at least with regard to people from Iran, they are doing much better than the native-born.

If people from Iran who are doing a great job in this country and adding a lot to the United States are making more money than the native-born, why would the government go out of its way to say they are going to get preferences for government contracting?

Even more bizarre, like all preferences under these programs, is they don't care how wealthy you are. I can be here. We will say I am from Morocco. If I inherited $10 million from my parents, I still would be helped or given a preference because of my ethnicity, despite the fact that I am wildly wealthy. It doesn't really make any sense.

You self-identify, so you could have somebody who is three quarters Irish and one quarter Moroccan, and they would be able to identify as North African and get preferences.

The biggest problem is that it continues the Biden policy of trying to create division in Americans. They want people to view themselves forever as not just an American, as we did when I was a child, but for forever as: I am Hispanic American. I am an Asian American. I am picked on.

This is a way to, I believe, destroy America. I think that is why the Biden administration is going down this path.

I do think, coming back to the mainstream media, we should ask ourselves why I have a hard time finding anybody back in my district who is aware that we have recently given preferences to this whole new body of people, which is a significant policy change. If we had a competent press corps in this country, it is something everybody would be aware of, and we would have had a public discussion about.

The final topic, which I don't think has been discussed enough, is the goal to have two-thirds of our vehicles be electric vehicles by 2032.

I recently bought a car, a Ford Escape, and it occurs to me now that it is not impossible that this will be the final normal car I will ever own.

There are a lot of things that can be said about electric cars, but almost all of them are bad. My major concern--though there are others, as well--is that they are more expensive. When I talk to my insurance agent, he tells me the cost of auto insurance with an electric car could easily be up more than 50 percent. There are other sources who don't say it will be that high, but I think everybody would agree it will be at least a 20 or 30 percent increase in the cost of auto insurance.

This, at a time, where due to the excessive spending of the Biden administration, the cost of housing is through the roof and the cost of food is through the roof. Well, guess what? The cost of a car is about to go up. I am told the cost of a new pickup could go up $20,000 as we switch to electric cars. The cost of insurance is going up.

In addition to that, we have the problems that our infrastructure is not even remotely ready for electric vehicles and the problems you are going to have in which you are not able to drive as many miles. I happen to be from Wisconsin, where the huge problem will be trying to get these things charged when it is 10 degrees below outside.

In any event, it is something for this body to pay attention to and to warn our constituents about so they are aware that as they set aside money for a new car--I think it is a smart thing to set aside money so you don't go into debt--you are going to have to set aside extra money if you plan on buying a new car more than 8 years from now. It is just one more cost that is going to make it more difficult for young Americans to join the middle class and prepare for the American Dream.

In summary, I mentioned the four issues I wish the press would pay attention to.

In the Wisconsin area, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee came out with a ridiculous press release, which they have tried to modify, but nowhere near enough, in which they imply that Israel has to do something as far as ending the war in the Middle East, not, apparently, Hamas, the brutal people who killed many Israelis a little over half a year ago now.

The second issue to look at is that, one more time, we have a record number of people coming here for a month, a record number of people coming across the border in April, at a time, by the way, when we are hitting in 4-year increments records of people being sworn in as immigrants legally. It is not like nobody is coming in here, but I think the American public ought to be appalled that, one more time, in April 2024, we hit an all-time record for people coming here in April.

The third issue almost entirely unreported in the mainstream media is the fact that we apparently are going to give preferences to people from North Africa, Libya, Algeria, whatever, over to the Middle East, Syria, Iran, as far as government contracting and probably government employment. I don't know if it is something we can undo if we get a different President, but it is certainly very divisive.

With it comes the bureaucracy that will forever tell people from North Africa and the Middle East that they should identify not just as American but a Middle Eastern American or a North African American.

Finally, I hope the press, as the clock winds down to 2032, warns Americans what they are going to have to expect as far as driving a new electric vehicle.

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

Madam Speaker, I think one more time today it is important to update the Chamber as far as what is going on with the biggest crisis in America today. That is, of course, the virtual invasion across our southern border.

We recently had published an estimate of the number of people who have crossed the southern border in April, the most recent month available. That number is about 204,000. April is usually a low month, but per usual, it appears as though we hit the all-time record number of people coming here in April.

A year ago, it was about 178,000, and a year before that, about 160,000. If you go back to the final year that President Trump was President, it was about 6,000. We have gone from about 6,000 people, which is apparently doable, to about 205,000.

During that time, President Biden, through executive orders, has changed the policy and is also allowing about 30,000 people here as parolees from countries such as Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba. So, that number of 204,000 is really probably understated by about 30,000.

Our country continues to struggle with this. It is very expensive, though that is not the biggest problem, be it schools, be it medical care. Even in my district when I talk to people who try to put together free clinics used to get Medicaid payments, that sort of thing, one of them told me even a majority of people they are having to take care of--in essence, charity--are people who some would describe as illegal immigrants.

I assume that the number of illegal immigrants who are unaccompanied minors continues to be a concern. We have about 6,000 of the 205,000 unaccompanied minors.

We heard testimony about this recently, but we still do not know exactly where all these folks are. We don't know if they are living with a so-called relative, whether we are consistently giving DNA tests to see whether it really is a relative. We know The New York Times published articles that guessed that there are tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors not accounted for.

It would be very easy to solve this problem. You reinstitute the stay in Mexico policy. You get parole. By the way, with parole, you automatically get what we refer to as welfare benefits as soon as you come here. You get rid of these programs and this drive to change America would change almost overnight.

We can never forget that Barack Obama, living in the greatest country in the world, the United States, during his term felt that one of his goals would be to fundamentally change America. When you change the people in America, how they are brought up, how they think about things, you will fundamentally change America, the greatest country in the history of the world.

The only reason you continue to let, as far as I can see, about a quarter million people coming here every month is because you do want to change it and want it to be different. So, I call upon President Biden to return to the stay in Mexico policy.

I think primarily by doing that, you could get that quarter of million figure back down around 20,000 or 10,000 almost overnight.

Again, the takeaway for this body and the American public should be, and we should never get bored of saying it, it appears, one more time in April, we hit the all-time high for an April of the number of people crossing into our Nation.

What I thought was the biggest crisis in the country when I became a Congressman--now I guess I have to say it is second to the border--is the continued assault on marriage and the breakdown of the family. When I talk to people in my district, they know something is wrong.

In some ways, America is different than the America they knew in the 1990s, the 1970s, the 1960s. You ask them what the change is, and they frequently say the number one change is the breakdown of the American family, the end of the old-fashioned mother and father and children at home as we slowly increase the number of children who are born without a father in the household.

Of course, this is a problem in two ways. It is a problem for the children by every metric. They would be better off if they had mom and dad at home. It is also a problem for the men in society, as usually men get their self-worth out of supporting their family.

We have more and more families in which, as an immigrant in my district tells me, in America, or some communities, the woman marries the government. Because we have a situation in which we are encouraging the woman to marry the government, we have a situation in which we no longer have what is for most men their most important function in life, and that is supporting their wife and supporting their children.

I want to point out, by the way, that this is not a coincidence. When I talk to people around my district and say: Why do you think the family is breaking down? Maybe they shrug their shoulders and say: America is less religious or something. They have to realize there are people all along who want the breakdown of the family. That is their goal.

In 1848, Karl Marx, who is still read and still respected in some circles, wrote about the need to abolish the family in ``The Communist Manifesto.'' He did not want children to be raised by parents. He wanted the government to assume that role.

I think it is not a coincidence that in the 1960s at the time of great subsidy of fatherless homes was also a high tide for feminism. Kate Millett, a very important feminist, that I think some

young people don't know, said that destroying the American family was necessary to bring about the leftwing cultural revolution.

I think today our children are sometimes taught that the feminist movement was a positive. We can't forget during their power of the sixties their goal was to destroy the American family.

Remember a few years ago, at a time when so many Congressmen in this institution would show up at places where Black Lives Matter was having a rally or carrying signs, that at that time, before it was taken down out of embarrassment, they said that they were calling upon the end of the Western prescribed nuclear family.

Let's not forget that--despite the fact that on their website Black Lives Matter was calling for the end of the nuclear family--dozens, perhaps hundreds of people in this body, showed up at places showing support for Black Lives Matter, as well as the chief executives of our largest corporations frequently giving money to Black Lives Matter because, apparently, they thought it was the trendy thing the way America was going.

Last month, in another bit of evidence that the hard left likes to believe the nuclear family is outdated, there was a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision dealing with adoption laws. This wasn't the reason for the decision; the decision wound up being unanimous. Justice Jill Karofsky of the Wisconsin Supreme Court--and in Wisconsin our supreme court justices are not partisan elections, but everybody knows who the Democrat is and who the Republican is. The relatively new Democrat Justice Jill Karofsky writes: ``The notion that marriage serves as the foundation of society is at best outdated, and at worst misogynistic.''

Think about that. In a State like Wisconsin where frequently Republicans win statewide, we have U.S. Senator Ron Johnson here, but a woman got elected to the Wisconsin State Supreme Court and here she declares that: ``The notion that marriage serves as the foundation of society is at best outdated, and at worst misogynistic'' letting the cat out of the bag that the goal of the left is to destroy the American family.

Now, how is President Biden responding to this in his proposed budget? There are many programs out there which are made available, as long as there is not a breadwinner in the family, particularly as long as there is not a man in the family, which I think they are really aiming at, then those programs kick in. Some of these programs, it appears to me, are increased in this budget, which, in other words, further pushes for financial reasons for getting the men out of the household.

President Biden tries to increase more low-income housing frequently available to one-parent families, not to married couples. The earned income tax credit is a horrible program which was begun or actually pushed by a Republican Jack Kemp and is another program which discourages marriage. SNAP increases discourage marriage. Things like Pell grants are a program that is much easier to take advantage of, college scholarships, if you don't have a two-parent family at home.

It is very disappointing that President Biden has decided to put all this money into programs designed to assist primarily fatherless homes, but we have to stand up as a Congress and say, no, we are no longer going to push one lifestyle over another.

It would be a good thing if we went back to a time when the government was not putting their thumb on the scale as to what type of family you have. I hope that my Republican colleagues in the Appropriations Committee, when they see the increase in these programs, make sure that they don't come about, but, in fact, do the opposite, that they turn around and begin to work our way back to the eighties, the seventies, the sixties, the fifties where we did not punish parents for getting married.

On the Pell grant thing I want to recount an anecdote I have talked about before. I have spoken about this topic for over 20 years now, and I was once speaking to a group of primarily senior citizens. It was during the Tea Party thing. They were older people, and I went through all the programs that you lost if you married a guy with an income.

There was a young gal working at that time. Most of the people who are most familiar with the Tea Party movement know a lot of people there were older, but there was a young gal. I asked her what she thought about my speech and all the benefits out there to discourage people from getting married. She said that, you know, me and my husband, we got married before I had a child, but none of my friends got married, and they get free college.

I realized even then that the 24-, 25-year-olds, they had it figured out. Sadly, they already realized that the goal of the American Government was to discourage marriage and do what they can to give programs based upon the idea of not having a man in the family.

My hope is we begin to work our way back to a time where the two- parent family--there are wonderful parents raising children in all sorts of circumstances, but the government should no longer create situations in which there are incentives to keep the man out of the household.

We had some votes recently with regard to American aid to Ukraine, and I believe that once we have gone down the path we have gone down, we cannot allow Ukraine to collapse.

That being said, it bothers me that to this day the Biden administration does not talk about trying to end this war. We have two countries that are actually very closely related. In my district, when you run across someone that is Russian, they very frequently have a spouse from Ukraine or the other way around.

It seems to me a real tragedy that a huge number of people, tens of thousands of people of both countries are dying because of that war. Ukraine has the second lowest birth rate in the world. It is always a tragedy when people die, but to have a country in which so many young people are dying is truly a tragedy. They have the same problem in Russia, a birth rate that is too low. Not only is the birth rate too low, but they also have a huge immigration problem.

I know in this country having been down at the southern border, it is not unusual to have Russians come in there. I know a few people in my district, including a young couple with children that I am sure Russia would love to have, but they left Russia to come here. That was before the war started.

The goal of both Mr. Zelenskyy and Mr. Putin ought to be to try to get more young people to populate their rather large countries, not to have this war going on. I think they both must realize this if they really want what is best for the future of their countries. I would hope that President Biden, in addition to asking for more munitions for the war would find some country, be it Israel, be it Turkiye, whatever country, to try to negotiate an end to this war. It is such a tragedy to see tens of thousands of young people dying on both sides when from what I can see the biggest problem that both countries have is a lack of young people in the first place.

I would ask President Biden to spend a little time on that. When I have met in the past with his advisers or his Cabinet on this issue, they really just seem dumbfounded when I ask them about when the war is going to end. It is like they haven't even considered it. It is something we should consider. It is also bad geopolitically for the United States.

We saw earlier this week meetings between Red China and Russia. I know going back to President Nixon we did not want close ties between Russia and China, and we have been very careful to make sure that hasn't happened. However, you leave it to President Biden, and those countries have closer ties, as well as closer ties with Iran, another country that we don't like to necessarily see prosper or become part of an alliance against the United States.

My third request for this body is that we try to prod the Biden administration in looking for an end to this war, so these two great historical countries do not continue to lose their younger population.

To go over one more time, we have to have Americans still be aware that we are hitting records of people coming across the southern border.

We have to remind people at home that this breakdown of the family did

not just happen; it happened because this Congress continues to dole out money, virtually conditioned upon not having an old-fashioned, nuclear family, and the Biden administration is trying to throw gas on the fire with this budget.

Finally, we hope Members of this body will prod the Biden administration towards looking for peace in Eastern Europe.

Madam Speaker, as I wrap up, I hope the body proceeds as I would wish, and I yield back the balance of my time.