Floor Statements

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

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Texas for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring attention to the continued death of freedom and personal rights occurring in greater China.

Last week, Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90 years old, the former cardinal from Hong Kong, was arrested by the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong for speaking out for democracy.

This arrest threatens the fundamental freedoms of all individuals with the courage to speak out against the Chinese Communist Party by demonstrating the extent of the regime's aggression, threatening these advocates with life in prison or worse.

For years, Cardinal Zen has advocated for democracy and religious freedom for the Chinese people. I have had the opportunity to meet with Cardinal Zen and have heard his pleas for freedom and advocacy for citizens in Hong Kong and Roman Catholics in China.

Next week, we will recognize a week of global prayer for China. During the week, we will pray for all suffering under the Chinese regime, including Cardinal Zen.

I urge my colleagues to take a moment to pray for religious tolerance and individual rights, to pray for a bright and safe future for the Chinese people, a future without persecution, a future with the fundamental freedoms we all deserve.

We must keep Cardinal Zen and the other brave individuals advocating for freedoms that we enjoy here today and every day in our prayers today, tomorrow, next week, and until the Chinese people are no longer under the boot of Communist persecution.

Preserving Peace and Stability in Taiwan

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation that I have introduced with the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).

Our bill, H.R. 7704, the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, is a necessary step to help deter the Chinese aggression or the potential aggression, I think we should all hope, against Taiwan.

In 1979, Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act to preserve and promote a close relationship between the United States and Taiwan. For 43 years, the United States has been committed to the preservation of human rights, peace, and stability for the people on the island of Taiwan.

Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party has been growing more comfortable in taking coercive and aggressive actions toward Taiwan.

Our bill will ensure that the financial consequences for CCP officials and their immediate family members are immediate if they are tempted to get any ideas from their brutal, repressive, murderous friends in Russia.

Under my bill, if the President reports to Congress any threat to the security or social or economic system of Taiwan made by China, as required under the 1979 act, the Treasury will report on all illicit and corrupt assets of senior CCP officials and their immediate family members and will take steps to prohibit these officials from benefiting from these funds at U.S. financial institutions.

We cannot risk any lack of clarity regarding the U.S. commitment to Taiwan. Aspiring global strongmen must know personal consequences are in store for any aggressive behavior.

Madam Speaker, I urge quick consideration and adoption of our bill, the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act.

Madam Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Foxx for her work and leadership on these important issues and for visiting my home State of Arkansas many times in support of a better workforce.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 7309 due to its lack of innovation and lack of opportunity that I think is embedded in this legislation.

It is a shame we are on the floor, yet again, debating a bill that the Democratic majority crafted to please unions and bolster them at the expense of American workers, small businesses, and nonunion entities.

Most employers want to provide work-based upskilling, but they are already hesitant to apply for Federal funds. This bill will make that process even more complex and burdensome.

In my home State of Arkansas, we are a right-to-work State. This bill is harmful to my home State.

There are many bad policies embedded in the bill that will harm the American workforce. This bill will expand Federal control over workforce standards, limiting the rights of jobseekers. It will do this while mandating that union representation on State and local workforce development boards be expanded by 10 percent. Most importantly, this bill will fail to expand opportunity access for jobseekers.

It is clear that this bill was written to favor unions, not the full and diverse American workforce. This bill is deeply flawed and another example of the Democratic majority being out of touch with working Americans.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise, too, in support of S. 1872, the United States Army Rangers Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act. I thank my friend from Illinois for managing the time today and also thank Senators Ernst and Duckworth for their work on the Senate side in originating this bill and Representatives here in the House, Crow, Miller-Meeks, and Waltz for their work on the House companion, H.R. 3577.

Madam Speaker, to become an Army Ranger is a distinct honor. Those who have the privilege of donning the tan beret are proven warriors whose commitment to our freedom knows no bounds. These warriors embody the Ranger motto: ``Rangers Lead the Way.''

The 75th Ranger regiment is so well-known that it is hard to believe that the United States had no official units organized to carry out such specialized missions prior to World War II.

But when America entered the war, conventional wisdom changed, and it became clear that special operation units were essential to an Allied victory.

The first Rangers were trailblazers, whose work influenced our Nation's approach to special operations across all branches of the military. On May 26, 1942, Brigadier General Lucian Truscott, the U.S. Army liaison with the British Combined Operations headquarters, proposed to Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall that ``we undertake immediately the organization of an American unit along British Commando lines.''

In short order, a cable was sent from the War Department to Major General Russell P. Hartle, the commander of U.S. Army forces in Northern Ireland, to authorize the activation of the first-ever Ranger unit.

The idea was to disseminate volunteer units with the British Commandos to become combat tested in special operation warfare and eventually to return to their original American units and share their newfound combat knowledge.

It was Truscott who bestowed the title, ``Rangers'' on these brave soldiers. Truscott said: ``I selected `Rangers' because few words have a more glamorous connotation in American military history.

``It was therefore fitting that the organization destined to be the first of American ground forces to battle Germans on the European Continent in World War II should be called Rangers--in compliment to those in American history who exemplified such high standards of individual courage, initiative, determination, and ruggedness, fighting ability and achievement.''

In just a few weeks after Truscott's original proposal, the First Ranger Infantry Battalion was activated 19 June 1942. Five more Ranger battalions followed, as well as a provisional Army National Guard unit known as the 29th Ranger Battalion.

The newly formed Ranger battalions had an immediate impact on the Allied war effort. The first battalion, then led by Major William O. Darby, was an integral part of the North Africa campaign, so much so that the battalion was awarded battalion honors for its actions in Tunisia spearheading Operation Torch.

Bill Darby was a hero in my home State of Arkansas. Brigadier General Bill Darby was born and buried in Fort Smith, Arkansas. And Darby, for all his leadership, proudly represented that Ranger uniform and Ranger leadership. He was killed in action in Italy at age 34 in April 1945.

Darby and those early Ranger units were able to overtake enemy troops where the Axis forces held every advantage, including that of just sheer numbers. Our debt can never be repaid to those who have chosen to wear the cloth of this Nation. But today, we can honor this very special group of volunteer soldiers, those very first Ranger battalions who, during the Second World War, set the tone for the modern Ranger regiments.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson), a distinguished member of the 75th Ranger Regiment.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Ohio.

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

I urge that our friends across the aisle and on this side of the aisle support this important bill to recognize those few Army Rangers who are still living and recognize the work of the establishment of the Ranger Corps in our Nation.

Madam Speaker, I am so grateful that Warren Davidson was here today. Because of Warren's work on the House Committee on Financial Services and in this body, truly he is the embodiment of ``Rangers Lead the Way.'' His reflection on the formation of the regiments makes us all think back to that historic anniversary of D-day and President Reagan's speech at Pointe du Hoc when he paid tribute to those Rangers, ``the boys of Pointe du Hoc.''

Madam Speaker, there were, at that time, at the 40th anniversary, a whole row of Rangers, still living at Pointe du Hoc, who sat in front of President Reagan to hear him pay tribute to these brave men who scaled the cliffs at Normandy. Now, so many years later, we have lost so many more.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friends in the Senate for this bill and for my friends in the House who worked on it. I urge all of the House to vote unanimously to support this Gold Medal to recognize the Greatest Generation of Army Rangers.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5911, the Fair Hiring in Banking Act. I appreciate the hard work of Congresswoman Beatty from Ohio in its preparation and passage.

This bill is an important step toward continuing to expand employment opportunities for all Americans, including ex-offenders.

This bill is bipartisan. In fact, this bill codifies rules promulgated under the previous administration. The FDIC rules struck a balance between allowing qualified individuals to obtain employment through the waiver process with the need to protect the safety and soundness of our banking system.

Republicans and Democrats worked together on this bill to ensure that both of those objectives were met. In fact, I am proud to say that one place where we worked together to improve the bill was on the question of rehabilitation. Just because an individual once committed a crime does not automatically mean that they can never be trusted, nor does it mean they are unqualified to work in our financial system.

Madam Speaker, it is our responsibility as lawmakers to ensure that our banking system is safeguarded against bad actors, but it is also our responsibility to ensure that those who are

qualified to work in America's financial institutions have that opportunity to pursue happiness in that manner.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill and support those who have repaid their debt to society as they begin that important journey of shifting back to society, building a new life, and pursuing happiness.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Again, I thank Mrs. Beatty for her work on this bill and her leadership as our subcommittee chair.

I think it deserves reiterating that when former FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams was at the helm, she is the one who led the way to issue rules that allow individuals convicted of certain crimes who are currently barred from employment in the banking industry to apply for an exemption. Chair McWilliams did, I think, an outstanding job at the helm of the FDIC on behalf of the Trump administration.

H.R. 5911 takes the approach that would codify--put into law--aspects of that rulemaking, as well as expand the employment opportunities at banks and credit unions.

As Congresswoman Beatty says, it does this, in part, by eliminating that waiver requirement for certain older criminal charges and reducing the lookback for crimes committed by persons under the age of 21.

This bill in no way eliminates the waiver requirement for crimes specific to a financial institution, and it doesn't change the 10-year minimum probation period.

This bipartisan bill codifies work done by the prior administration in an effective way that opens up, as I say, the opportunity for many people in this country to pursue happiness by way of a career in the financial services industry.

Madam Speaker, I spent almost four decades in the financial industry and have been involved in hiring hundreds of people in the banking industry, and this is the kind of a practical, commonsense view that I think will help many of our banks find and retain key members of their staff.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for her work. I encourage colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise today in support of H.R. 5914, the Empowering States to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act. I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), my friend, for his work on this important legislation.

Protecting investors, especially the most vulnerable to financial crimes and fraud, is a bipartisan effort. In the great State of Arkansas, our seniors make up 17.4 percent of our population and, across the Nation, with 54 million seniors over the age of 65, senior investors are a frequent target of investment fraudsters.

It is especially important that we protect this population against fraud and punish bad actors, especially since these investors are largely on fixed incomes, living on their savings.

H.R. 5914 better equips State securities regulators and their enforcement and investigative arms to pursue, punish, and deter financial crimes and fraud committed against our seniors.

With this being a new grant program, important provisions have been included that require an interim and final report to the Congress. This will allow us to determine the effectiveness of this program before it is renewed.

I urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, let me again urge our colleagues to provide support for this bill.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the committee in support of H.R. 935, the Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act. I particularly want to thank the bill's sponsor, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), for his leadership on this issue on behalf of small businesses across our country. The importance of small businesses to our economy, our job creation, and the innovation across our Nation cannot be overstated. They are the backbone of all of our communities.

In October 2020, the SBA, the Small Business Administration, reported that there were 31.7 million small businesses in the United States. Yet, too often Democrats' heavy-handed approach to business regulation in this country can put that success at risk. A one-size-fits-all regulatory approach disproportionately burdens small enterprises. For those looking to grow through merger and acquisition, they often face additional costs, the expense of that transaction.

The committee has found that merger and acquisition brokers provide crucial services to small businesses whose owners desire to sell the business or merge with another firm. However, certain of these brokers face significant compliance costs, including SEC registration fees, which, of course, are passed on to their clients, the small businesses.

H.R. 935 helps to alleviate these costs by amending the Exchange Act to create a simplified registration system for these kinds of merger and acquisition brokers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, agrees with the premise of this bill. In fact, back in 2014, the SEC issued a no-action letter to exempt certain M&A brokers from registration, and that no- action letter, Madam Speaker, is relied upon today.

Without a change in law, the regulated community is left in a state of uncertainty when it comes to Federal securities laws. The gentleman from Michigan's bill will clarify, simplify, and provide much-needed certainty as to that process without compromising important investor protections.

I also remind my colleagues that this bill has passed the House in previous Congresses. Therefore, our committee urges our colleagues to support H.R. 935, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), the author of this legislation and the ranking member of our Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets Subcommittee.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, let me conclude the discussion on H.R. 935 by thanking my friend from Michigan for his persistent leadership over many Congresses on this topic. I urge my colleagues to support him in this effort, putting it over the goal line, and getting a great result out of the Senate in the days ahead.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Illinois for managing the bill. It is also good to be on this House floor again talking on an issue that we share in common, and that is the importance of sanctions being successful as a part of our strategy to get Mr. Putin out of Ukraine. So it has been very good to partner with my friend from California (Mr. Sherman) on H.R. 7066, the Russia and Belarus Financial Sanctions Act.

Madam Speaker, U.S. financial institutions are already prohibited from engaging in transactions with sanctioned Russian entities, but H.R. 7066 extends that prohibition to entities owned or controlled by U.S. financial institutions as well. This is a commonsense provision, and it has helped other sanctions programs be more successful, and I cite particularly the efforts to isolate Iran and North Korea.

Under the President's ongoing Russia measures, anyone providing support to a sanctioned person runs the risk of being sanctioned themselves. We know that U.S. financial institutions are fully aware of us. Congress expects their full compliance and to be watchful on their affiliates that may also do business with Russia.

As the U.S. continues to pressure the Putin regime, we must seek and prevent opportunities for Russia to find loopholes for non-U.S. financial institutions.

I am glad to see that our current sanctions on Russia are making it more difficult for Moscow to find alternatives to Western banks. However, opportunities remain for us to tighten these multilateral sanctions and increase pressure on Russia, particularly in Russia's energy exports. Both the United States and Europe continue to provide carve-outs for energy transactions, and the next step on the sanctions ladder is to close these loopholes so that Russia cannot receive hard currency by selling oil and gas.

I hope that Republicans and Democrats can work together to pursue this kind of policy and continue to collaborate on how to tighten the financial noose around Putin. Just as we worked on this bill together, I hope Members on both sides of the aisle will come together and support the work of my friend from California.

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

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

I thank my good friend, Mr. Sherman, on this bill, and let me remind the leaders of the Kremlin that Americans on both sides of this aisle are unified in our efforts to cut off the economic flow to the Kremlin, and we share that objective with our friends in Europe. When I was in Europe a few weeks ago, just before Easter, leaders in both Poland and Romania reiterated that they are prepared to go further in economic sanctions against the Putin regime and Moscow.

So it needs to be clear that Americans, while we are fully on board with our transatlantic friends in constraining Mr. Putin, the announced sanctions by President Biden and the sanctions that we are talking about today are just a beginning point as this Congress works to provide lethal assistance with 31 countries to help the Ukrainians defend themselves. This Congress helps provide humanitarian assistance, along with countries from all around the world and the United Nations, to help the Ukrainians have the medicine, food, and material that they need to survive in this really outrageous and unprecedented attack by the Russians on the sovereign nation of Ukraine.

So it is important to note here that we are here not for the last time to talk about how to fine-tune, how to tighten, and how to direct our economic sanctions more successfully.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from California for our collaboration on this. I encourage all Members on both sides of the aisle to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7081, the Ukraine Comprehensive Debt Payment Relief Act.

Last month, Ukraine's President Zelenskyy gave a speech about rebuilding a free, sovereign, and democratic future for his sovereign nation of Ukraine. While it seems distant now, with Putin's war raging, we, in fact, must start to think about the country's eventual rebuilding, recovery, and rebirth.

The United States and our allies must support Ukraine to ensure that its debt repayments don't overwhelm the country while it continues to confront Russia's invasion and keeps up the fight every day, not only on the war front but on the home front in trying to keep its domestic operations functioning.

In fact, Madam Speaker, Ukraine is spending roughly some $5 billion a day in its core functions for government. So while Putin is pulverizing villages, plazas, parks, and ports, the Ukrainian Government presses on, serving its citizens.

But when this war is over, Ukraine will face an enormous financing need that will require international financial institutions to step in with support.

I am pleased to support this legislation, which calls for a suspension of Ukraine's debt service payments and urges debt relief from multilateral and bilateral creditors.

When you think of the hundreds of billions and certainly possibly trillions of dollars of long-term reconstruction that faces Ukraine, you have to recognize the need now for conserving cash flow and conserving its resources.

That rebuilding is going to take immense good government; investment in the country's municipal, health, and education infrastructure; energy resilience; and energy independence. That will be a special opportunity to strengthen democracy and the rule of law in Europe.

Prior to the war, Ukraine's economy had stagnated for too long. Therefore, international financial institutions should assess how best to foster Ukrainian industries that can expand exports, earn hard currency, and move forward.

This bill is an important step in our bilateral and multilateral efforts to help Ukraine mush on, get through this war, maintain its services to its citizens, and fight Putin to the end with his leaving the country.

This legislation was reported out of our committee unanimously, and I look forward to its passage today.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I reiterate my thanks to my friend from Illinois for his work on this bill as one key component of helping Ukraine have the financial wherewithal, the financial resources, to fight back against Putin's illegal invasion.

I remind my colleagues that this debt suspension has a 7-year sunset in the bill, that this is in no way a panacea, but it is an absolutely critical element in the cash flow conservation for the Ukrainians as they attempt to deliver the important services that they have

to in their country of over 40 million people while a war wages on their domestic and sovereign ground.

Madam Speaker, let me urge a ``yes'' vote on this bill. I thank the gentleman from Illinois, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of Congresswoman Wagner's bill, H.R. 6891, the Isolate Russian Government Officials Act.

As the United States and our allies confront Russia's aggression in Ukraine, we must show the world that the Congress can unite around bipartisan legislation to hold the Putin regime accountable.

I thank my friend, Congresswoman Wagner, who recognized early that Russia's invasion of Ukraine required a complete rethinking of Moscow's involvement and engagement in our international organizations.

Congresswoman Wagner is eminently qualified for that as she is a

senior member of both the House Financial Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has had the distinction of serving our Nation abroad as our Ambassador.

Congresswoman Wagner's bill would establish that U.S. policy is to exclude Russia from participating in key international bodies until Moscow withdraws completely from Ukraine.

I think Americans join us in knowing that it is illogical and unreasonable for a country that threatens peace in Europe and financial stability globally to take part in overseeing the world's many multilateral financial system organizations.

Our strong sanctions against the Putin regime have been vital to raising the costs and imposing new ones, as we have talked about on this floor today, on Moscow, on Putin's leadership, on his cronies. But Moscow must pay a diplomatic cost as well.

We were in Romania and Poland, many of us on both sides of the aisle, over the last few weeks, and we have also had some extraordinary presentations by the distinguished Ambassador to the United Nations from Ukraine. Universally, diplomats in the European Union, across Europe, and at the United Nations are asking themselves: Are we really going to have business as usual when a member of the U.N. Security Council invades another United Nations member and destroys a country?

Today, we are proposing to employ a heavy diplomatic cost on Moscow, and that means leaving Russian Government officials on the outside, Madam Speaker, looking in.

After H.R. 6891 was introduced, Russia was suspended from the Bank for International Settlements and agreed to no longer participate in the meetings of the FSB, the Financial Stability Board. These moves would be codified in law when Mrs. Wagner's bill is enacted. We now need the G20 to follow suit.

While it is a symbolic step for Treasury Secretary Yellen and other allied officials to walk out of the recent G20 meeting last month, where Russian representatives were attending, this Congress and our transatlantic partners need to do more.

Under this bill, a hostile Russia would have no future in the G20. H.R. 6891 presents a clear choice for the Putin regime: End your destabilizing, illegal violations of Ukrainian sovereignty or remain an international pariah.

Our response to Putin's invasion should signal to China a similar fate awaits Beijing should it ever decide to follow in Putin's ill- conceived footsteps. The costs imposed on Russia through this bill foreshadow costs that China or any other nation bears if it violates the international norms of behavior.

This strong measure passed unanimously in the House Financial Services Committee, and I, too, welcome its passage on this House floor. I thank Chair Waters for her work on H.R. 6891 and appreciate the strong bipartisan work on this important national security, economic security, and diplomatic cost measure.

Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), the author of H.R. 6891. Let me reiterate Congresswoman Wagner's experience as the vice chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee and vice chairwoman for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

First, I reiterate my thanks to Mrs. Wagner for her leadership on this bill and as she has done so well ably, even as a diplomat in our own House of Representatives, provided leadership through the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services on this issue.

Secondly, let me reiterate Mr. Connolly's comment that we do speak in one voice on this House floor as it relates to Putin's illegal, unprovoked invasion of a sovereign nation, Ukraine, particularly egregious for a permanent

member of the U.N. Security Council, to place the world in this position. But I think we do have to take to heart Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations' view of ``we are not going to have business as usual.''

So while we speak as one voice here in the people's House, let's encourage the executive branch, under President Biden, to also speak with one voice on this point. Let's not have weasel words from former Secretary Kerry talking about, ``Oh, but we need the Russians' support on climate'' or Jake Sullivan saying, ``Oh, but we have got to have Russian support negotiating with Iran on the failed JCPOA reentry project of this administration.''

I agree it is not business as usual, and you can't have it both ways when you are having Ukraine, a nation of over 40 million people, the size of the State of Texas, in the heart of central Europe, invaded by a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. It is outrageous. They don't have a seat at the table, and this bill demonstrates it and demonstrates that strong bipartisan view in the House of Representatives that Putin doesn't deserve a seat at the table.

I think Americans, as I said earlier, believe it is illogical and unreasonable for a country that threatens peace on the Continent of Europe and financial stability globally in any way, shape, or form, take part in overseeing the economic affairs of our international order.

Therefore, I reiterate that this bipartisan support for Ukraine is fully embraced in H.R. 6891. I urge all Members to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my legislation being considered here on the House floor, the Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act, H.R. 6899.

This legislation would prohibit the United States from exchanging any Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, with Russia or Belarus. These SDRs are reserve assets issued by the International Monetary Fund, the IMF.

This bill would also require the Secretary of the Treasury to work with other IMF member countries to prevent them from doing the same.

Now, let's be blunt. We should be especially concerned by Russia's ability to exchange its SDRs for Chinese renminbi or pledge their SDRs for a loan that isn't transparent to the world in support of Russia's illegal invasion by a country such as China, using those reserve assets.

This is a particular risk, as Moscow is increasingly forced to potentially turn to China in response to global sanctions imposed on the nation of Russia and its central bank. Mr. Speaker, the world is watching, and we must send a message that the United States is not standing idly by and allowing SDR assets to be used to finance the destruction of Ukraine.

Russia alone owns over $25 billion of these IMF reserve assets, and these IMF assets represent unconditional liquidity and a source of financing for the Kremlin. It is important to note that of that $25 billion of SDR assets on the books of the Russian central bank, more than $17 billion of it was just recently gifted to czar Putin last year, through the Biden administration's $650 billion green-lighting of a general SDR allocation by the IMF.

Nearly a billion dollars in SDRs were also awarded to Belarus last year, a move that our colleagues from the bipartisan Friends of Belarus Caucus warned would be rewarding state-sponsored violence against civilians.

Now, Mr. Speaker, on this House floor, in our committee, and in many other forums over many months, I urged Treasury Secretary Yellen and the administration not to pursue this flawed policy. There were superior policy choices with an eye to benefiting the poorest nations on our globe that have had the hardest macroeconomic impact as a result of COVID-19, superior policy choices, far superior to an across-the- board general allocation, because not only do wealthy countries get that allocation and the poor countries get it, but the foes of freedom get the allocation. We are back on this House floor today talking about the ramifications of when that happens. Two foes of freedom today, no doubt, are Belarus and Russia.

My warnings came long before the invasion of Ukraine began, but those warnings were not heeded. Today, we come to the House floor united as a bipartisan leadership team saying under no circumstances should the central banks of Belarus and Russia in any way, shape, or form have access to their special drawing rights, pledge their special drawing rights, or exchange their special drawing rights, and we once again urge our Treasury Secretary to put up the guardrails, lay those rules of the road out, prohibit anyone who is a member of the IMF from doing likewise. That work with our allies at the IMF is critical to ensure that China or some other nation doesn't throw Vladimir Putin an SDR lifeline.

Passing this bill, too, sends a clear signal to Beijing that the United States will not tolerate such a move, and I would argue our European Transatlantic partners would not tolerate such a move.

This bill also requires the administration to oppose conventional loans to Russia or Belarus if they approach the IMF as a lender of last resort. This is important, because as we seek to exert maximum pressure against these regimes, we cannot, as Mr. Sherman talked about a few minutes ago, allow loopholes to be exploited for potential assistance from the IMF.

H.R. 6899 presents a clear choice to Russia and Belarus: End the destabilizing activities in Ukraine or find yourself shut off from emergency liquidity just like on this floor we have talked about shutting off diplomatic efforts at global responsibility.

I conclude my comments by thanking Chair Waters and her Democratic colleagues for their support of this bill and her work on this bill and her recognition of what a tragedy a backdoor bailout of Russia by others using central bank assets would be.

We will continue to find a way to deprive Russia of cash and financing as it continues to wage war in Ukraine. H.R. 6899 is a strong step in that direction. I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

As Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine, this body, on a bipartisan basis, will continue to ensure that we are using all the levers to exert and utilize maximum pressure, maximum lethal assistance pressure to Ukraine, maximum diplomatic pressure through isolating Russia in international organizations, and maximum economic pressure that we are talking about on this floor, of which H.R. 6899 is one cog in that wheel.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank U.S. Senators Rick Scott and Joe Manchin, who have introduced the companion legislation to H.R. 6899 in the U.S. Senate.

I look forward to this becoming law soon. I urge all my colleagues to support the Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6015, the Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act. I thank Congresswoman Frankel and the numerous original cosponsors for their work on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, Ben Ferencz was the last surviving prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials. A few minutes ago, we were reflecting on how few Army Rangers we have left from World War II. Truly, the Greatest Generation is passing before us.

Ben Ferencz is one of the few people remaining on Earth who had a front row seat to witness the horrors brought about by Nazi Germany before and during the war. As we witness the horrors now being carried out in Ukraine, it has never been more important for the world to hear his story.

Ben Ferencz's family fled to New York City to escape Romania's persecution of the Hungarian Jews. As a young man, Ferencz studied at the City College of New York and attended Harvard Law on a scholarship. After graduating from Harvard in 1943, Ferencz joined the U.S. Army. Like so many Americans, this was a decision that put him face to face with the potential of death and face to face with the worst case of persecution and genocide in history, the Holocaust.

After 2 years at Camp Davis in Holly Ridge, North Carolina, Ferencz was transferred to the headquarters of General Patton's Third Army. There he was assigned to a team tasked with setting up a war crimes branch, collecting the evidence of the horrors that had been carried out at the recently liberated concentration camps. One of those liberators in April 1945 was my father-in-law, Captain William A. McKenzie, a brand-new graduate of Texas A&M University, an Army engineer with Patton's Third Army. One spring day in April 1945, their convoy rolled up to the gates of Buchenwald concentration camp.

There, he bore witness to the Nazi terror, a terror that started with an

ideology of hate and superiority based on race and creed.

Bill McKenzie was just a good kid from Texas, put in an incredible position, and that was being one of the first U.S. Army officers to see smoke still coming out of the chimneys, bodies stacked up, and survivors.

In 1994, at the 50th anniversary of freedom in Europe and Paris, Bill McKenzie, that skinny captain from Texas A&M, got to meet a survivor from Buchenwald, Jacques Graubart, who was from Brussels, who had been imprisoned in Buchenwald and survived, and 50 years later, they met face to face in Paris, France.

Mr. McKenzie swaggered up to this man and said, Well, what unit were you in in World War II? And Mr. Gruber said, I wasn't in a unit. I was in the Buchenwald concentration camp.

And Mr. McKenzie was so caught with emotion, so embarrassed for his question, that he said, I never expected to meet a survivor. And Jacques looked at Bill McKenzie and said, I never expected to meet someone who saved us to say thank you.

So today, we are back on this floor to thank the work of Ben Ferencz and so many Americans and other Allies who worked against the ideology of the Nazis, such an affront to American values. And Ben Ferencz was there to put those puzzle pieces together that those American Army officers found at Buchenwald.

Ben Ferencz would travel to that concentration camp. He would collect the evidence of the horrors. He would honor us with the work in that war crimes branch. And Sergeant Ferencz was honorably discharged in 1945 and recruited to work on those trials for many, many years. For three years he led the researchers investigating those records, and we know it was no easy task.

As the lead prosecutor for the Einsatzgruppen case, Ben Ferencz successfully convicted 22 men for taking part in a mobile death squad, which was responsible for nearly a third of Jewish civilian deaths. His work at the Nuremburg trials established an incredible mandate for international criminal responsibility for the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

And Ben Ferencz' work, his sacrifice, echoes true for all of us as we see what Assad has done in Syria, and we see what Putin is doing in Ukraine. Ferencz' career spanned several decades and included fighting for proper compensation for the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust and working to establish an International Criminal Court.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to come together in support of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

General Leave

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I am prepared to close.

Mr. Speaker, let me thank Ms. Frankel for her leadership, Congresswoman Manning for her testimony there, and we all, on both sides of the aisle, stand in recognition of Ben Ferencz' pioneering efforts of his and his colleagues in the Nuremberg trials for laying out the protection of evidence, the careful documentation of it, preserving a way to convict the perpetrators of the Holocaust.

Those lessons and Ben Ferencz' legacy live on today, as just a few months ago we received one of our first convictions in a court in Germany of an Assad henchman for murder and mayhem in Syria. There is no doubt in my mind that the chain of evidence and the actions of this Congress, the actions of the United Nations, to promptly set up an evidence protection and evidence documentation effort for Ukraine will bear fruit in coming days. Those are all efforts standing on the shoulders of Ben Ferencz and his colleagues in Nuremburg.

I urge all my colleagues to support this recognition of his efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I missed Roll Call No. 127. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, Mr. Wilson from South Carolina, for his leadership on this effort. Of course, I have to thank my good friend, our chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Greg Meeks, for his immense work for many weeks on trying to get this done and done in the right way.

I rise in support of the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act. We have to thank two essential people for this concept. Winston Churchill thought up the idea of lend-lease. He talked his essential partner in the very special transatlantic relationship, FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, into this concept. Roosevelt sold it to the Congress, and it is a real moment in history that we are back on this House floor supporting lend-lease.

Congress came together to arm Britain in the face of the blitz by the Nazis, but today, we find ourselves in a very similar situation with Putin systematically bombing and shelling the peaceful villages and cities of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people bravely defending their own sovereign land in the face of evil.

When I was in Romania 2 weeks ago, the Prime Minister there described their fighting spirit as: The Ukrainian people fight with lions' hearts.

This bill will expedite the resources needed for Ukraine to defend themselves against Russia's illegal, unwarranted, and brutal war in Ukraine.

In every single meeting with our Ukrainian friends, parliamentarians, ministers, citizens, and our own colleagues, the answer is: While they appreciate the American response and the response of 30 other nations, they need weapons, and they need them now.

In history, victory and defeat can come down to days and weeks, if not hours. There have been too many delays already in getting Ukraine the military equipment they need.

That is why I am pleased to see that we are enacting this Churchillian idea, born in World War II, a strategy now that will set the foundation for victory in this war and the President's authority to get the weapons to the brave Ukrainians fighting for their own independence and freedom.

Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill. I thank the Members who worked on it so diligently.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from South Carolina for the time, and, of course, I thank my friend, Mr. Phillips, for leading the debate on this important issue.

Once again, we gather on the House floor in unity--Republicans and Democrats--to counter Putin's behavior.

Last year, I cofounded the first Congressional Task Force for American Hostages and Americans Wrongfully Detained Abroad with my friend, Ted Deutch, from Florida.

I thank Representative Stevens for being one of the first members of that task force, and that is why I rise in strong support of my friend Haley Stevens' resolution which calls for the release of Paul Whelan who is, in fact, unjustly imprisoned in Russia.

We have heard today in the debates some of the details of Paul's arrest and nearly 2 years in pretrial detention with no evidence publicly presented justifying wrongdoing.

All parts of our government, especially Members of Congress, who directly represent the families of those held hostage or wrongfully detained, must engage with friends and enemies alike, to ensure that Americans in situations like Paul Whelan's are expeditiously brought home. Further, Congress must continue to engage with the administration in situations like these to disincentivize the wrongful detention or hostage taking of Americans.

Last year, we passed a similar resolution on this floor in support of Trevor Reed and Paul Whelan. It was, in fact, rewarding this morning to hear that Trevor was released; but, he should have never been held, and the exchange of prisoners should have never been necessary.

But today, Mr. Speaker, on a combined basis, Republicans and Democrats, let us issue a message to Paul Whelan: We have not forgotten you.

And let this message be clear that countries that engage in political hostage taking must stop the disgraceful practice and be held accountable.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support Representative Stevens' resolution.