Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a very heavy heart.

As a parent, my 11-year-old son is with me today on the House floor because it is spring break. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering that those parents in Nashville are experiencing.

As a Member of Congress, I can say that this is something that we can stop. It is complicated. We have a mental health crisis, and that is going to take a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of energy, but the guns, that is one vote to ban assault weapons, to tell the Defense Department, hey, buy all these assault weapons, these 20 million assault weapons. Give them to the military where they belong, and pass criminal background checks for all the other guns.

That is it. One vote. We are Congress. We can do it with a single vote. We just need more of us.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the rule and to this very controversial and very dangerous bill, H.R. 5.

I am a former teacher. I am a parent. My wife and I have two children right now in public schools. This is the life we lead. This is our reality right now.

I can tell you that I offered several amendments because I know what I am talking about. One of the amendments was to protect our schools, our teachers, and our parents from unnecessary, awful, and very expensive litigation. That is what this is going to do. This is going to drown our school districts, our schools, our teachers, and maybe our parents in lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit.

I offered amendments because everyone in my district believes in local control. One amendment just said: Hey, if you are a believer in local control, then allow school districts to opt out of this very dangerous bill. That is a local control issue. That amendment and the other amendment was not ruled in order so there will be no vote on it.

I believe that this government that they are proposing has become too big for most Americans. It is too intrusive. They are banning books. You can't say this, you can't say that. They are in doctors' offices, and they are in classrooms. They are going too far and trampling on our freedoms.

If they want to help, then invest in preschool, invest in childcare, invest in prenatal care, invest in stable housing, invest in afterschool programs, and invest in all kinds of things that are going to help children and parents.

Stop telling us what to do with our lives and with our children.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this controversial and highly dangerous bill, H.R. 5.

I am a former teacher. My parents were teachers. I have been doing child education advocacy my entire career. My wife and I are parents of two public school children right now. This is our lives. This is what we do day in and day out.

I want to be very clear so that my colleagues understand what rights I have as a parent, which are the same rights that all Americans, all parents in America, have if their children are in public schools.

I can go speak to the school board whenever I want. I can do that now. I have that right.

Madam Chair, I can ask about the books. I can ask about the budget.

Of course, I can get information about the medical condition of my children. I have that right now.

My colleagues have to know this. If they do not, and this is news to them, they can pull the bill.

Right now, this new national ban and set of controls will simply lead to our schools, our teachers, and many of our parents drowning in lawsuits.

I offered two amendments. One was a litigation shield to help protect our folks from obviously dangerous lawsuits that would come of this if this bill were to pass. The second was to opt out if a district does not want to be part of this because I believe in local control, as do most of the people in my district. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents believe in local control. Let school districts opt out.

It is not about local control. This is about taking a small, teeny ideology and forcing it on the rest of us. As a parent, I can say on behalf of so many parents, leave us alone.

Madam Chair, we need politicians at the State level and D.C. politicians with this bill to get out of our lives, get out of our doctors' offices, get out of our classrooms, and, as a parent, get out of my house. Let me parent my child.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 5.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise today to ensure that this debate is placed in an honest and important historical context.

In the 1930s and early 1940s, Hitler needed America out of his war. He used propaganda in this country to divide us and to keep us out of his war in Europe.

Pro-Hitler propaganda was all over the country, and it reached this body. We know this now. Members of Congress were in on it.

As a Jew, this is frighteningly similar to what is happening today.

One year ago, a new foreign adversary invaded Eastern Europe. Putin, like Hitler, wants us divided and isolated from his war. We must be clear-eyed about pro-Putin propaganda and who and why some intentionally, and others unintentionally, are promoting his will.

Why are we being asked to ban American officials from trying to stop propaganda from foreign adversaries like Putin?

Why are some proposing we leave Syria, which Putin wants?

Why is the call to abandon Ukraine continuing to emerge from some Members?

Remember, Hitler did this. He used Americans to spread his propaganda, and it cost millions their lives. Putin is doing the same thing.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 140 and to call out any and all attempts to promote Putin's propaganda and will.

At the appropriate time I will offer a motion to recommit this bill to committee.

If the House Rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to the bill. The amendment would have delayed implementation of the bill until Federal agencies reported to Congress that this bill would have no negative impact on lawful activities to combat speech that incites violence, discriminatory speech, or domestic terrorism.

The bill as drafted is very unclear on those points. As I and my colleagues have pointed out, if passed, H.R. 140 will encourage the spread of foreign propaganda. It will also promote hateful, harmful, and violent content online, undermine democracy, and make us less safe.

We clearly need more information about the effects this bill would have on speech that incites violence, discrimination, domestic terrorism, and Federal agencies, including the Department of Justice and the intelligence community, are best positioned to provide that information. These critical issues must be addressed before this bill is implemented.

Mr. Chairman, I include in the Record the text of my amendment.

Add at the end the following:

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the folks in East Palestine, Ohio, and for bipartisan congressional action on 21st century rail safety regulations.

On February 3, 38 train cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio; 11 of them carrying highly explosive material. There was a massive explosion, and the community has been reeling ever since.

Congressman Bill Johnson pulled the entire Ohio delegation together, Republicans and Democrats, to ask FEMA for additional action.

FEMA's response: Full aid will be provided, and teams are on the ground to help now.

While Norfolk Southern will be responsible for making East Palestine whole, we must now act to ensure this never happens again.

Congress, all of us, Republicans and Democrats, need to pass a bipartisan package that ensures safety from the wheel bearings to the brakes, from the detectors to the placards, for more frequent and comprehensive inspections to clearer communications with our communities.

We must do this for the folks in East Palestine, for Cincinnati and southwest Ohio, and for every community in this great country of ours.

Madam Speaker, I rise today for the first time as a Member of Congress to thank the folks back home in Cincinnati and throughout the First Congressional District. I couldn't be more energized to be serving all of you and the country that we love.

My commitment to you and my new colleagues, Madam Speaker, is to be here as a new, transparent, bipartisan, and highly reliable leader.

We are already working with Republicans on legislative priorities that will help our children and families back home to cap the costs of insulin for children, to help folks pay their bills with an expanded earned income tax credit and a child tax credit, and to provide additional grants to communities to recruit more police officers and firefighters.

There will always be more that unites us than divides us.

My work will continue to find common ground working across the aisle to get things done on the issues that matter most to us.