Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my strong opposition to H.R. 1346. This bill is disastrous for Wyoming refiners and independent petroleum producers, leading to a direct loss of at least 750 jobs in my home State.

Just to correct the record, it isn't the farmers who produce ethanol or E15. It is the refiners, and this bill threatens to put them out of business.

In fact, it is interesting that anyone who supports this bill has not yet mentioned the fact that it is the refiners that will be forced, mandated, to meet the E15 requirement.

The refineries that are at risk of closure because of this bill across the country employ more than 5,800 workers. We could lose upward of 266,000 indirect jobs that depend on small refineries.

The EPA's own Regulatory Impact Analysis of the 2026-2027 biofuel mandate says the RFS will cost American families about $20 billion a year.

This bill would create a $3 billion or more annual cost increase for small refineries because of the blending and compliance costs.

This bill will increase the cost of gasoline by an average of over 35 cents per gallon, with some States seeing an increase of well over $1 per gallon.

At a time when the American consumer and small businesses are already struggling to make ends meet, we should not be adopting policies that make it even harder.

This bill is not in line with the values we support as Republicans such as free and fair markets. This bill is nothing short of a new tax being imposed by Washington, D.C., and it is wrong.

If higher ethanol blends were truly competitive on their own merits, they would not require Federal blending mandates, compliance credit schemes, subsidies, and special regulatory carve-outs to survive in the marketplace.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Cody and Crystal Myers on being named honorees for the Boys & Girls Club's Sixth Annual Awards and Recognition Breakfast this morning.

This annual ceremony in Riverton recognizes distinguished individuals who have demonstrated the best of Wyoming's values with a lending hand to the next generation.

Cody and Crystal have gone above and beyond to deliver service, mentorship, and community leadership to Wyoming youth for more than a decade.

Cody Myers served as a school resource officer for 18 years, wearing multiple hats, coaching, teaching, and shaping our young people into the resilient men and women of tomorrow. Today, Cody continues to serve as campus security director at Central Wyoming College.

Crystal Myers was crowned Miss Rodeo Wyoming in 2007 and went on to carry the torch as national director for the Miss Rodeo Wyoming Association for 11 years. Today, she continues to build the confidence of our young people as a preschool special education paraeducator in Shoshoni.

Cody and Crystal Myers represent the best of Wyoming, and their recognition is well deserved.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6387 to ensure States are not unjustly penalized under the Clean Air Act for engaging in responsible, proactive wildfire mitigation activities.

Mr. Speaker, wildfires are, unfortunately, all too common in my home State of Wyoming and across the intermountain West.

According to the Office of State Lands and Investments, approximately 250,000 acres of land in Wyoming were burned in 2025 due to more than 1,600 wildfires. The numbers were even worse in 2024, with around 850,000 acres burned through more than 2,000 fires. With just one fire, it burned 25,000 acres in 3 hours, giving an indication of the fuel load in the Bighorn National Forest.

Wildfires have profound effects on all of my constituents, including threatening the livelihoods of our farmers and ranchers, endangering our courageous first responders, and causing serious respiratory and other health complications for Wyoming families.

Given these life-altering consequences, we must use every tool at our disposal, including responsible forest management--which has historically been hampered by bad policies coming out of Washington, D.C.--to minimize the scale and damage caused by these destructive forces of nature.

Active forest management through prescribed burns and mechanical thinning is essential to supporting healthy ecosystems, preventing catastrophic wildfires, and improving the long-term air quality.

Unfortunately, as it currently stands under the Clean Air Act, the use of these individual wildfire mitigation measures can create uncertainty, discouraging their use out of concern that doing so would lead to noncompliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Failure to meet these standards can result in nonattainment designations, which can come with a host of immediate and downstream challenges, including excessive fees and sanctions, delayed infrastructure projects, and slowed economic growth, all of which can lead to immeasurable harm for smaller Wyoming communities.

By reforming the Clean Air Act to ensure these wildfire mitigation activities are appropriately treated as exceptional events, we are incentivizing their use and putting a stop to unfair and counterproductive regulatory punishments.

I thank Representative Evans and Chairman Guthrie for their steadfast leadership on this legislation and urge all of my colleagues to support

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Mike Stepp and his family on 70 years of sweetening Casper's history with Donells Candies.

The Stepp family opened their candy shop in 1956 on a busy strip in northeast Casper. Success followed, with the business moving to downtown 40 years later.

A family tradition started by Don and Elma Stepp with chocolates in the fifties has since expanded to selling ice cream and espresso in the 21st century.

While Elma passed before her beloved shop's first relocation, her family has continued the candy-making legacy to the delight of everybody in the community. Every Casper resident has indulged in the Stepp family's candies,

satisfying a sweet tooth as a ritual of another success story for the American Dream on Main Street.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Mike Stepp and his entire family for reaching 70 years in business.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Mark Pepper on his retirement from the Wyoming Association of Rural Water Systems after 20 years of dedicated service.

Mr. Pepper joined the association in 2006, 4 years after his return to the Cowboy State. Mr. Pepper then spent the next two decades helping Wyoming's communities to navigate many challenges inherent in providing water to rural areas: drought, distance, overregulation, and funding demands.

Wyoming is unique, being the ninth largest State in terms of landmass, while also being the least populated. To say that we are a rural state is an understatement, with 92 percent of our water systems serving communities of 500 or fewer people.

Mark not only has a deep understanding of the challenges associated with rural water delivery, but he also has the skills to work effectively to find solutions to meet them. He has been a relentless advocate for our rural water users, constantly seeking the resources needed to expand infrastructure and maintain existing systems.

We appreciate Mr. Pepper's service and wish him well in retirement. He will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Wyoming Highway Patrol Administrator Colonel Tim Cameron on his retirement after nearly five decades of serving in law enforcement.

Administrator Cameron capped his dedicated tenure in public service with 3 years at the helm of the force, keeping Wyoming's highways safe.

The high-elevation freeways of Wyoming are unlike many in the rest of the lower 48. Our windswept State has the least amount of people but the highest rate of deadly truck accidents.

Our unique challenges require the kind of unique leadership that has long defined the character of the Cowboy State. Wyoming's first responders are true public heroes who work around the clock to keep our drivers safe.

Administrator Cameron is now part of that proud legacy as a watchman on the road. We appreciate his service and wish him well in retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Jen Womack of Newcastle, Wyoming, for being named the 2025 Person of the Year by the Newsletter Journal.

Jen has long been a cornerstone of both her Newcastle community and our State. People may know her name from her time diligently reporting for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, the extensive work she has done to document history in both Converse County and the history of the origins of the Pathfinder Ranch, or from the impacts she made on so many of our young people during her time leading the Wyoming FFA Foundation.

She has now opened three thriving businesses on Main Street in Newcastle and has established a community support fund called the Sunshine Fund.

Jen is like a rising tide who lifts her community and her neighbors. She represents all that is great about the Cowboy State and truly embodies the tight-knit community spirit found across Wyoming.

Please join me in recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of Newcastle, Wyoming's Jen Womack.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my bill, H.R. 5910, which amends the Long-Term Leasing Act to authorize any federally recognized Indian Tribe to lease land held in trust for its benefit for up to 99 years.

With the enactment of the Indian Nonintercourse Act in 1834, Tribal land transactions have generally required congressional authorization. In 1955, however, Congress passed the Long-Term Leasing Act, authorizing Tribal lands held in trust to be leased by the Tribal owner for nongrazing purposes for up to 25 years, subject to approval from the Secretary of the Interior. These leases may be renewed for one additional term of up to 25 years, which could allow for a total lease time of up to 50 years.

It is becoming abundantly clear that longer term leasing is needed to assist with Tribal economic development.

For example, lease terms of 99 years are often needed for long-term commercial projects and financing arrangements. Requiring Tribes to come to

Congress for enactment of a new authorization slows the process to the detriment of the Tribe.

Although Congress has acted more than 50 times to allow for lease terms greater than 25 years, more autonomy and flexibility are needed. H.R. 5910 amends the Long-Term Leasing Act to grant 99-year lease authority over trust lands for any Tribe that desires this ability.

Tribes know best what is in their interest, and this bill gives them additional authority to meet those needs. By proactively extending this long-term leasing authority to Tribes, Congress can empower them to pursue longer agreements that drive long-term investment, job creation, and economic opportunity in their communities. These goals simply cannot be achieved under the current statute.

At its core, H.R. 5910 would update existing law to better align with modern business practices, reduce time-consuming bureaucracy Tribes must go through, and allow each federally recognized Tribe to determine what lease authorities are best for them and their members.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Leger Fernandez for her continued co-leadership on this important piece of legislation and Chairman Westerman for our Natural Resources Committee's focus on Tribal autonomy and economic development. I encourage all of my colleagues to support H.R. 5910.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 1383, the SAVE America Act, which I am proud to cosponsor and hope will pass the House floor today.

I also note that I think it is shockingly racist and sexist for my colleagues on the other side to believe that we are not smart enough to figure out how to get IDs. I can assure my colleagues that we are, even if we get married.

The SAVE America Act requires individuals to provide documented proof of U.S. citizenship along with a valid photo ID when registering to vote. This commonsense legislation strengthens election integrity through practical measures, including voter ID requirements and safeguards to prevent noncitizens from voting.

The SAVE America Act is particularly important as we continue to address the consequences of the Biden-Harris border crisis, which led to millions of individuals entering the country unlawfully.

Secure elections are fundamental to maintaining public confidence in our democratic process. The State of Wyoming has already taken steps to implement many of the reforms outlined in this bill, demonstrating that securing our elections must be a national priority.

I thank the bill's sponsors, Representative Roy and Senator Lee, as well as Chairman Steil, for their leadership on this critical issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of the SAVE America Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H.J. Res. 142, which provides for necessary and lawful congressional oversight of the District of Columbia.

This legislation rightly exercises Congress' clear constitutional authority to intervene in the District's affairs when its interests, or those of its residents, are at risk. While there are many examples of the District's poor governance that warrant scrutiny, the issue before us today is whether the D.C. Council should be permitted to decouple its local tax code from the historic tax relief enacted through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.

This landmark legislation, passed by House Republicans last July, delivers meaningful tax relief to working Americans by expanding the child tax credit, allowing nonitemizers to claim charitable deductions, eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, and more.

As much as my colleagues on the other side have tried to spin this resolution as a tax giveaway to the wealthy, the reality is that it delivers meaningful relief to Americans at every income level. Yet now, they are supporting an effort to deny that very relief to the residents of the District of Columbia.

While States retain the authority to determine how they raise and spend their tax dollars, let me be clear: The District of Columbia is not a State. Congress has both the authority and the responsibility to provide oversight in this matter, as well as many others affecting the governance of our Nation's Capital.

Mr. Speaker, I thank this resolution's sponsor, Representative Gill, and Chairman Comer, for their leadership on this important issue. I urge my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of H.J. Res. 142.

I rise today to recognize and congratulate Lou Taubert Ranch Outfitters of Casper, Wyoming, for being named one of the 50 best clothing stores in America by The New York Times.

Lou Taubert Ranch Outfitters first opened its doors in 1919 after being founded by C. W. Taubert, an immigrant from Germany who grew enamored with the cowboy spirit and the allure of the West.

From its beginnings as a hardware store catering to the local agricultural community, Lou Taubert has grown to be a cornerstone of the Casper community. Now, over 100 years later, it does not matter whether you are a rancher, a cowboy, or a tourist passing through, you are treated to the authentic spirit of the West at Lou Taubert's.

Please join me in recognizing and celebrating the accomplishments of Casper, Wyoming's Lou Taubert Ranch Outfitters.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Laramie, Wyoming's very own Frank Crum for his performance and touchdown in the Denver Broncos playoff win versus the Buffalo Bills this past weekend.

As an offensive lineman, it is not often that Frank finds himself open downfield. In fact, this was Frank's first reception and first touchdown of his NFL career. Frank's touchdown is the result of an unwavering work ethic and a commitment to excellence.

Following a commendable collegiate career at the University of Wyoming, Frank went undrafted in the 2024 draft, but he did not let that deter him. He signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent. Frank showed grit and determination, working his way up the roster to become a key piece of the Denver Broncos' offensive line.

Frank's dedication and commitment paid off this weekend, as he scored an iconic touchdown that was key in the Broncos' 33-30 victory.

Please join me in recognizing and celebrating the hard work and successes of Wyoming's Frank Crum.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Smith for the honor of being able to speak this evening.

Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight as we mark with sadness the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, a ruling that for decades removed the most basic and fundamental right we hold, the right to life itself. I stand here unwavering in my conviction that every human life is a sacred gift and deserves our protection.

Life begins at conception, and it is our solemn duty as lawmakers to defend those who cannot speak for themselves. We should never tire of advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and we must continue striving for a culture that cherishes life at every stage.

Since the Supreme Court returned authority over this issue to the States with the Dobbs decision, millions of Americans have exercised their democratic voice, but our work is not done. We must keep pushing for laws that protect life, support families, and uphold the values that make America a beacon of freedom and justice.

May we rededicate ourselves to defending the unborn and promoting a society where every life has dignity and every voice is heard.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of Wyoming's remaining World War II veterans, Mr. Bob Willis of Laramie, who recently turned 101 years old.

Mr. Willis served his country as an infantryman during some of the fiercest fighting of the war, including the Battle of the Bulge. While under enemy fire, a German tank round exploded beneath him, and shrapnel struck his side, stopped only by the Book of Mormon, which he carried in his pocket.

Mr. Willis is a true hero. He earned the Purple Heart, helped to liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny, and later protected Holocaust survivors in the aftermath of the war.

When Mr. Willis returned home, he devoted four decades to serving the Laramie community as a dentist and raised a family with his wife, Kaye.

Bob Willis exemplifies duty, faith, humility, and service. Please join me in honoring his extraordinary life and service to Wyoming and our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the life and legacy of Mr. Darrell Walker, who dutifully served his Sublette County community across many roles for over 50 years.

As the longest serving conservation district board supervisor in Wyoming, Darrell showed a lifelong commitment to conservation, ranching, and many of the values we hold near and dear in the Cowboy State.

In recognition of Darrell's decades of selfless leadership, the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts named the Darrell Walker Outstanding Supervisor Award in his honor.

Darrell leaves behind a legacy of service, dedication to conservation, and many loving children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren.

Please join me in recognizing the legacy of Mr. Darrell Walker as we send our condolences to his family.