Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6644) a bill to increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support today of our collaborative and bipartisan bill titled: ``Housing for the 21st Century Act.''

Americans across our Nation have faced the tough reality of out-of- control costs because of the recent spike in inflation coming out of the pandemic.

President Trump has prioritized addressing affordability, and the Financial Services Committee has been working on solutions in our Committee's area of jurisdiction.

Alongside Ranking Member Waters, Chairman Flood of our Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, and Ranking Member Cleaver of our Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, together, we have introduced the Housing for the 21st Century Act to deliver a straightforward approach to housing. This includes building more homes and removing barriers standing in the way with an eye towards driving down that marginal cost of a new unit.

Mr. Speaker, the Housing for the 21st Century Act will streamline approvals and simplify the Federal and local housing process to give rural and urban communities the tools they need to build homes faster. Importantly, our bill helps banks access stable deposit funding. It streamlines the exam process that is tailored particularly for our vital community banks. It helps promote more community banks to do what they do best, which is lend locally and support their communities.

I think it is important, Mr. Speaker, that on this House floor all of us know that without our community banks and without vigorous lending, homes don't get built. Our communities and regional banks play a key role in that housing construction ecosystem.

When there are not enough homes, prices go up. The Housing for the 21st Century Act includes real bipartisan solutions to expand supply, lower costs, and, more importantly, give our families more options.

Let's deliver this real solution and return the housing market back to working for the very people that it should serve, the very people we do serve in the people's House.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, from Los Angeles, California, to the capital city of Little Rock, Arkansas, I have heard directly, Mr. Cleaver has heard directly from Kansas City, and other Members hear directly about what is wrong at HUD. We are asked about how we can improve these programs and make them work for the American people and how they can have more accountability and more effectiveness for the taxpayer dollars that are expended.

That is at the heart of the work that Mr. Cleaver and Mr. Flood have done, as I say, benefiting a big city like the Los Angeles Basin all the way to a capital city like Little Rock, Arkansas, and certainly to Lincoln, Nebraska.

I am so pleased to have the leadership of the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Flood), who serves as the chair in this Congress of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee. Mr. Flood has spent a lot of time working with Mr. Cleaver to do exactly that: How to make these programs more effective for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Flood), the author of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Nebraska.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Cleaver for his work with Mr. Flood on this bill and his leadership in trying to find bipartisan solutions.

Mr. Speaker, I met last week with the community development folks from Little Rock, Arkansas. Kevin Howard, my friend who runs Housing and Community Development for the city of Little Rock, was in, singing the praises of this bill of how it will make their work so much more effective were the 21st century housing proposal enacted into law today.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a link to a list of over 70 organizations that support this bill being enacted: https:// financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle. aspx?DocumentID=411018

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), the vice chairman of our full committee, the Committee on Financial Services, for remarks on this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the work of my friend from Illinois on this bill, the important work he has done both in the housing portion and on the work we have done together on nonbank designations. I appreciate his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, he mentioned the importance of community banks, from Texas to California, Arkansas, and across this country. The reason why it is so important to link housing and lowering housing cost policies, these HUD-related policies, to banking is because our banks under $10 billion, Mr. Speaker, make about 60 percent of all the home construction loans in our country.

Therefore, that is why the ranking member and I, and our committee, have chosen to come to this House floor to talk about some specific housing measures. I want to make sure that the American people know that we know that the supply of housing has to be financed. Some 60 percent of that is done by our local community banks and credit unions spread across this country.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz), the author of section 106 in this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose), who has authored the very important manufactured housing provisions, which will immediately help our consumers, our families, across this country have a more affordable housing option.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from Tennessee.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Rose certainly talked about cost savings due to the deregulatory nature of this bill, lowering costs. All of us here know that we have learned in our committee work that 25 percent of the price of a new home in America is due to regulatory costs, State, local, and Federal. So, our bill has that as a theme.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nunn). He has worked hard at making sure these improvements in the Housing for the 21st Century Act fully apply to housing in rural areas, not just urban areas.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), a great member of our House Financial Services Committee and a senior member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.

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

Mr. Speaker, first, I have to say a big thank-you to Ranking Member Waters; the ranking member of our subcommittee, Mr. Cleaver; and the tireless leadership of Mike Flood, the chair of our Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. They have collaborated for a year to bring these proposals to the House floor today.

I reiterate that the linkage of housing and community banking is two sides of the same coin that leads to a better outcome, more choice, more accessibility, more affordability, and more housing choices for the American people.

This bill also has important HUD oversight, which I think is critical to make sure those who are tenants in HUD programs have the care, oversight, and safe and sound conditions they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I also thank the staff on both sides of the aisle for their work in putting this bill together, particularly on the majority side, Ed Skala and Maura Woosley, for their collaboration on the banking provisions with their minority colleagues and the community banking provisions.

I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to provide a ``yes'' vote for this important banking and housing legislation.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3682) to amend the Financial Stability Act of 2010 to require the Financial Stability Oversight Council to consider alternative approaches before determining that a U.S. nonbank financial company shall be supervised by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days 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 today in support of this fine bill offered by Mr. Foster and Mr. Huizenga. It is a bipartisan bill, Mr. Speaker, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act, after a decade of collaboration across four Presidential administrations that has led to this consensus on this measure.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council, FSOC, created in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, plays an important role in understanding and examining nonbanks, and that is because many nonbanks, large nonbanks, are not subject to the same regulations and supervision as traditional banks, so the Congress created this process.

Unfortunately, its own structure, as composed by political appointees, can inhibit the Council's ability to effectively critique fellow agencies or itself when monitoring potential systemic risk to financial stability by a large nonbank.

H.R. 3682 requires the FSOC to explore alternatives to designating a nonbank for enhanced supervision by the Federal Reserve. This is at the heart of the collaboration in this bill.

If a nonbank were improperly designated, it could hinder innovation and make the United States' financial system less competitive as a result.

This bill will impose rigorous procedural guardrails and enhance due diligence protections and a stronger analytic framework before a firm can be designated as a systemically important financial institution, or

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), who is the vice chairman of our full committee and the author of this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate on this bill.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois and his collaboration with the gentleman from Michigan to tackle and bring definition to something that has been a big issue for the past decade, which is what is the proper method, style, and oversight of designating a nonbank a systemically important financial institution.

I congratulate them on their bipartisan work. For the reasons I have stated, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3390) to amend the Federal Reserve Act to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to carry out a review of discount window operations and to implement improvements to such operations, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 for the Record on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of Ms. De La Cruz's bill, the Bringing the Discount Window into the 21st Century Act.

It is critical that our banks have the ability to have emergency liquidity in the case of a crisis or having liquidity intraday in the banking day without a stigma. These are challenges. They were challenges before the financial crisis, but it continues today.

This bill allows banks to keep credit flowing through the economy while reducing risks that a panic-induced bank run would lead to unnecessary bank failures.

The discount window has been underused and burdened by operational difficulties and stigma. We have seen that on this House floor in our economy, most recently in the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the spring of 2023, where fear of a market reaction and outdated technology delayed the use of the discount window when it was needed most.

It is critical that the Federal Reserve learn from these mistakes of the past and allow the discount window to fulfill its role as the primary tool for stabilizing the financial system in a time of stress.

Representative De La Cruz's bipartisan bill would do just that by directing the Fed to conduct a review of the discount window, submit a plan to Congress with concrete, actionable reforms, and then provide regular updates on its implementation.

For example, H.R. 3390 explicitly directs the Federal Reserve to evaluate whether extending operating hours and improving technology would make the discount window more accessible and thereby more effective. In requiring the Fed to make changes based on these findings, H.R. 3390 goes beyond a study bill and would meaningfully address deficiencies that would make the American financial system stronger and more stable.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from south Texas (Ms. De La Cruz) for her leadership on this important issue to make sure the Fed is ready and the discount window use is appropriate for the 21st century, where money now moves, Mr. Speaker, at the press of a button.

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

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz), the author of this important legislation.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from south Texas for advancing this bill. I thank the minority's consistent work to make sure that this is a bill that will substantially direct the Federal Reserve to make sure our discount window is effective and used by our financial institutions to enhance financial stability.

Mr. Speaker, I urge both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1531) to direct certain financial regulators to exclude representatives of the People's Republic of China from certain banking organizations upon notice of certain threats or danger, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Mr. Lucas' bill, the PROTECT Taiwan Act.

Mr. Speaker, China has shown no sign of slowing their aggression toward Taiwan. The Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, continues to threaten the people of Taiwan's independence by repeatedly holding military drills, increasing economic coercion, and ramping up political pressure.

Let me state clearly, Mr. Speaker, and with no equivocation, the Chinese Communist Party's obligation under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which sets out quite clearly that China cannot use military force or coercion, boycotts or embargoes to compel Taiwan to capitulate to the Communists and become One China.

The PROTECT Taiwan Act will exclude Chinese representatives from international organizations like the G20 and the Financial Stability Board if the President of the United States notifies Congress declaring any threat to Taiwan.

H.R. 1531 ensures there will be significant financial and diplomatic consequences for China to invade Taiwan. Full stop.

The U.S. must send a clear message that China's aggression toward Taiwan will not and is not tolerated, and the PROTECT Taiwan Act does just that.

I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) for his work in standing up for our keen allies in the Indo-Pacific, not just Taiwan but all of our allies in northeast Asia. This is a key step in deterrence to the Communists in Beijing from invading Taiwan, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), the chair of our Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity and the author of the PROTECT Taiwan Act.

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

Mr. Speaker, I noted in my remarks that the only way that Taiwan and the People's Republic of China can become one is through mutual consent, not through coercion, not through embargoes, not through invasion, and not through military attack. Congressman Lucas' bill is a commonsense measure to unify American policy of economic deterrence, military preparation, peace through strength, but also diplomacy and economic deterrence.

Mr. Lucas' bill is an excellent step in that regard. I urge all Members to support it on both sides of the aisle, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3190) to amend the Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2022 to extend the sunset, to require a determination with respect to the imposition of sanctions on certain persons of Burma, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 the bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of our vice chairman, Mr. Huizenga's bill, the BRAVE Burma Act. The vice chairman is also a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Burma has been plagued with an ongoing humanitarian crisis for far too long. The Burmese people have been the victims of genocide as a direct result of the military junta's use of funds that fuel these abhorrent acts.

The bill introduced by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) addresses this crisis head-on. H.R. 3190 requires the Treasury Secretary to limit any increase in Myanmar's influence at the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, so long as it is governed by the military dictatorship.

This bill also requires the President to annually determine whether the United States should impose stronger sanctions on the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, their economic bank, and any foreigners working in the jet fuel sector of the Burmese economy.

I commend the vice chairman for his hard work and leadership in fighting for the humanitarian rights in Burma by cutting off the source of the funding that is empowering these human rights travesties.

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

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), the author of this important bill, the vice chairman of the Financial Services Committee, and a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his dedicated work on our committee, as well as the Committee on Foreign Affairs, in crafting economic deterrence to bad actors--certainly, the military junta in Myanmar is a bad actor--calling loudly for a strong bipartisan vote in this House on the BRAVE Burma Act, which I hope then will be promptly considered by the Senate.

This is when the legislative branch and the executive branch work best together, when we are in alignment on putting pressure against bad actors around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his work. I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to vote because I was in a legislative meeting that ran over. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 32.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Cole and Chairman Joyce for their good work on our side of the aisle and the committee at large for producing this constructive, good appropriations bill.

I rise in support of the Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

This bill funds key government agencies that are focused on economic stability, fiscal responsibility, and national security. As chair of the House Financial Services Committee, I am proud that key provisions included in this bill were championed by our committee.

My bill, H.R. 1474, the International Nuclear Energy Financing Act, expands U.S. financing tools for civilian nuclear energy projects abroad, helping U.S. companies compete globally while promoting safe and reliable energy as an alternative energy source from opposing nations.

It requires the Treasury to advocate for nuclear energy assistance at the World Bank and other international financial institutions, including the establishment of Nuclear Energy Assistance Trust Funds.

Also included in this funding package is Congresswoman Salazar's H.R. 6892. This is a critical piece of the bill that authorizes a capital increase for the Inter-American Development Bank, IDB Invest, an arm of the Bank devoted to private-sector growth in Latin America. Empowering the IDB Invest helps expand opportunities for U.S. businesses and strengthens their economic partnership and footprint in Latin America and counters growing influence from our global competitors.

We cannot overlook also, Mr. Chairman, the importance of adequate funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is included in this bill. Strong capital markets are essential to American economic leadership, and ensuring that the SEC has the resources, clear rules, and effective oversight to carry out its mission is essential.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for his leadership. I appreciate the time today, and I urge all my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I was in discussion with another Member on the floor. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 8, H.R. 504.

Mr. Speaker, America recently witnessed the new mayor of America's largest city share his democratic socialism vision with New Yorkers. He pledged to ``replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.''

Here in our Nation's semiquincentennial, 250 years of liberty, the new mayor rejected the fundamentals of American hard work and the extraordinary benefits of markets that have freed billions from hunger and poverty around the globe.

Anyone with even a basic knowledge of history knows that government- enforced collectivism always ends in poverty, death, and despair.

Mr. Speaker, look at Cuba, where the warmth of communism has left people with no rights, no freedom, and driving cars from the 1940s and 1950s; or Xinjiang, China, where the Uyghurs are imprisoned and enslaved to labor; or certainly no modest case, the Korean Peninsula, North Korea, where people are in darkness for 12 months a year and where people are stunted by malnutrition and oppression and live in darkness, literally and figuratively.

Compare that to South Korea, Mr. Speaker. In less than three generations since the end of the Korean conflict, the average South Korean is three inches taller, lives 12 years longer, and earns 18 times more than their northern struggling counterpart. Same people; same peninsula. One system embraced the individual; the other, the collective.

Of course, there are the millions starved to death and thrown into the gulags by Mao's China and Stalin's Soviet Union.

These aren't abstract failures, Mr. Speaker. They are graveyards built on broken bodies. What starts as hope ends in tyranny and death every time.

Coptic Christians in Egypt

Mr. Speaker, I rise to shed light on the discrimination faced by Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Coptic Christians face restrictions on building churches, have limited representation in government, and, tragically, have been targets of violence and persecution. They are attacked in the streets, held as political prisoners, and have little recourse.

The discrimination they face not only violates their basic human rights, but also undermines Egypt's rich cultural diversity and history, as well as Egypt's own legal commitments to its citizens.

It is critical for the international community to encourage the Egyptian government to further embrace religious tolerance, effectively protect minority rights, and ensure equality under the law for all of its citizens.

It is important for us to bring to light these issues and do all we can to promote our values: that no matter what race or religion, all people deserve dignity and respect.

As the Coptic Pope Tawadros II told me: ``All Egyptians take their water from the Nile.'' In that spirit, Egypt has work to do.

Recognizing Dr. Cam Patterson

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the leadership of Dr. Cam Patterson, our former chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Last year, Dr. Patterson announced his decision to step down from his leadership position after 7 years of focused, dedicated service to the university, the medical school, and the people of Arkansas.

Under his leadership, UAMS continued its commitment to excellence. As UAMS faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Patterson helped expand access to care across the State and navigated the pandemic while strengthening the university's reputation for excellence and research, patient care, and medical education.

As he remains at UAMS as a professor of cardiovascular medicine, Dr. Patterson will continue to advance his spirit of innovation, compassion, and service.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Patterson for his leadership and for always putting Arkansas families first.

Condolences to the Family of Doug LaMalfa

Mr. Speaker, I rise in condolence to Jill LaMalfa and the LaMalfa family of northern California, that beautiful area north of Sacramento, deep in the wilderness, home to Mt. Shasta. There was no better representation of the people of California than Doug LaMalfa.

He was a gentle giant. I had so much fun with him over the years. He was such a committed person to his constituents, to the State of California, to public service, to his relationships on both sides of the aisle. He had deep respect. From the most liberal Democrat in California to the most conservative Republican down in Texas, they all loved Doug LaMalfa. He will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, Martha and I share our condolences. We pray for the family at this tragic loss, but we are grateful for our friendship and service with Doug LaMalfa.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6500, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Extension Act, introduced by Chairman Jason Smith.

This bill reauthorizes the AGOA program--first established by Congress in 2000. AGOA is a nonreciprocal U.S. trade preference program that encourages trade and investment with sub-Saharan African countries.

Economic benefits of AGOA include:

The bolstering of economic growth.

Promoted economic and political reform.

Improved U.S. economic relations in the sub-Saharan Africa region.

Diversified supply chains.

New markets for American goods and services.

Stronger and diversified American investments.

National security benefits of AGOA include:

Peace and stability in a region that our adversaries, such as China, are trying to exploit.

An American presence in a region rich in critical minerals.

American values are being promoted abroad, resulting in governance improvements that align sub-Saharan African nations with American foreign policy.

AGOA greatly benefits our national security and economy. For those reasons, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6500.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand on the floor with my colleague from Arkansas, our distinguished chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and our colleagues to give the American people some perspective on the important action that President Trump has taken that reasserts America's leadership in the Western Hemisphere, counters our rivals for that Western Hemisphere influence, Russia, Iran, China, and keep America safer by taking this action.

The communist, authoritarian government in Caracas has long been an adversary of the United States.

In the early 2000s, our relationship with Venezuela was strained when they named strongman Hugo Chavez as their leader. Maduro was a leader in the Chavez government, Mr. Speaker, and was a full partner in the anti-American policies and the growing partnership with Cuba, China, and Russia.

In 2013, Maduro became the president of Venezuela after Chavez' death. He continued those communist partnerships, compounded the anti- American rhetoric and strategy by adding the goal of becoming a narcostate.

From 2014 to 2015, the United States began to sanction Venezuelan officials for drug trafficking.

In 2017, the United States escalated sanctions against the Maduro government for its links to the illicit drug trade.

In 2019, the United States no longer recognized Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president. As a result, the United States officially cut diplomatic ties with the Maduro regime.

In 2020, the Department of Justice charged Maduro with narcoterrorism, and the United States offered a $15 million reward for his capture.

In 2024, in my view, Mr. Speaker, was the last straw when Maduro lost the national election and annulled the results.

He simply is a cheap, drug-dealing, election fraudster.

Don't take Republicans on this side of the aisle's word for it, Mr. Speaker. The European Union, the United States Government under the Biden and the Trump administrations, the Organization of American States, his neighbors, they all agree Maduro stole the election in 2024 and compounded it by annulling the results.

The regime was one long string of repression and human rights abuses. Over 8 million Venezuelans have fled Venezuela, their home country, because of Maduro.

Republicans and Democrats have acknowledged that Maduro has been a national security threat to the United States, and that is why I have to call out the hypocrisy that I have witnessed in recent days from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

The Western Hemisphere is America's backyard. It is also why I am pleased that the recently released National Security Strategy reasserts the Monroe Doctrine with current American security interests.

Under the National Security Strategy, the United States will enlist allies in the Western Hemisphere to partner in controlling migration, halting drug trafficking, and mutually strengthening stability and security.

Also, under the Trump National Security Strategy, the United States will expand our goals and partners in the Western Hemisphere by bringing in new countries, building new relationships, bolstering America as the top choice as a security and an economic partner.

The strength of the Trump administration, combined with the exceptional execution by our law enforcement and military operators, showcases, Mr. Speaker, how serious the United States is to keep our country safe, keep our people safe, keep our streets safe, and secure our allied economic and security interests from the tip of Argentina and Chile to Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Arkansas for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Stauber for the time.

I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 3187. First, I thank my good friend and fellow Arkansan Chairman Westerman for advancing my bill from the committee to the House floor.

I thank all the members of the Natural Resources Committee for their bipartisan and unanimous support.

As noted, my bill seeks to transfer ownership of a vacant Federal building owned by the U.S. Forest Service at 1069 Fourche Avenue in Perryville, Arkansas, to Perry County.

This property is no longer in use by the Forest Service, and there are no plans for its utilization by them. That has been the case, Mr. Speaker, for well over a decade.

Perry County is a very small, rural community with a population of around 10,000. About 16 percent of the residents there live below the poverty line. About 77 percent of the county is forested, and 72 percent of that land is privately owned.

The U.S. Forest Service is the largest public landowner in the county, managing 119,000 acres as a part of the Ouachita National Forest.

For several years, Perry County has mightily sought to acquire this property. However, due to limited resources and that high poverty rate, this small county has been unable to easily navigate the complex Federal rules and to find a way to purchase the property outright.

My legislation would enable the Federal Government to convey the property at no cost to the county with all the benefits that Mr. Stauber outlined.

The building will require many significant repairs, but the county does have that repair budget appropriated. Once restored, the facility will support many local programs. Specifically, the University of Arkansas extension program, the Perry County Conservation District, and, importantly, it will serve as a meeting place for our 4-H youth development program. These organizations are currently struggling with limited options for meeting space in Perryville. This cures that problem.

My bill provides Perry County with a much-needed facility to expand youth development, agricultural education, and community health initiatives.

I thank Perry County Judge Larry Blackmon, Perryville Mayor John Roland, the Perry County Extension Office, the Perry County Chamber of Commerce, and the Perry County Farm Bureau, all for working with us collectively both on the Natural Resources Committee staff and my staff to bring this forward and make it a reality.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join the committee and me in supporting a unanimous vote for H.R. 3187.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Mrs. Wagner for her work as our subcommittee chair of Capital Markets in this Congress. I thank our vice chairman of the full committee that you will hear from tonight, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) who for three Congresses served as chair of Capital Markets or ranking member on this subcommittee.

This work tonight represents over a decade of effort on a bipartisan basis, both sides of the aisle, to advance economic growth for our citizens, and for our businesses by advancing their ability--at a lower cost, in a more effective way--of raising money from working out of their garage and crowdsourcing their idea to bring their idea to life, through angel investing all the way through to lowering the cost to be a public company.

Mr. Chairman, exactly 1 year ago this week, when I aspired to serve as chair of the House Financial Services Committee, I asked my colleagues: Can you tell me how many companies are in the Wilshire 5000 Index? There was silence in the room.

Mr. Chairman, there was silence in the room because it is not 5,000 companies, it was 3,700. Why? It is because we don't have enough qualified public companies in this great Nation--the largest economy in the world--to have 5,000 public companies in the Wilshire 5000.

Tonight we do something about that. We make it easier to be a public company in America. We make it easier if you have a great idea to crowdsource that idea, raise money from friends and family, and we make it easier if you are an individual investor to have other opportunities in which to invest.

Before I served in this House, I conducted many private placements to help people start their own business, and Reg D of the SEC is what you do that under. Those are the rules of the SEC to privately raise money to help somebody start a business.

In that effort, you have to be an accredited investor in order to invest. What if you invented the technology that is doing the business, but you did

not have a million-dollar net worth and a $250,000 income? Mr. Chairman, you can't be an investor--it is your technology--unless you are the CEO or a board member.

This bill corrects that. It says if you have an expertise in a particular area, you can become an accredited investor.

Tonight, Mr. Chair, we believe in Steve Case's admonition to the whole Nation, ``The Rise of the Rest.'' We want America to thrive no matter what side of the tracks you grow up on or what your education level is. We want hard work, savings, and investment rewarded.

Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Gottheimer, and Mr. Meeks have delivered that in the INVEST Act, and I urge a ``yes'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 879, I call up the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 58) denouncing the horrors of socialism, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the concurrent resolution under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, a ``yes'' vote on this resolution should be a relatively straightforward, easy decision.

It simply states that Congress denounces socialism in all its forms and opposes the implementations of socialist policies in the United States of America.

It is a statement that I would hope all of our elected leaders in the United States up and down our system of government could support.

Socialism ignores the side of a man and woman that is the spirit. It dulls the human capacity for self-initiative, entrepreneurship, and risk-taking. For those who have concerns about the resolution, I just invite them to read it.

It outlines the pain and hardship experienced by millions around the world who have suffered under socialist regimes. This is something that the sponsor of the resolution, Congresswoman Salazar of Florida, has focused on combating for her entire career.

Congresswoman Salazar is the daughter of Cuban exiles and was born in Miami's Little Havana. Representative Salazar has led the charge against socialist policies.

This resolution today is just one example of her commitment to her constituents and our entire Nation. The contrast between the successful policies under market capitalism and the freedoms associated with, particularly, our robust democracy here in America and socialism across the world and in history could not be starker.

I cannot express this enough: This resolution is not just a messaging bill or, as some from across the aisle have called it, a waste of time. It is not that to the people and the families who have experienced the horrors and atrocities associated with socialist regimes.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Salazar for her work on this. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote a vigorous ``yes'' on this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy my good friend from California's long lectures to this House on her views about current events. I am always grateful for her point of view.

Mr. Speaker, I would share from my perspective that the shutdown was borne fully and irresponsibly by the United States Senate, by just a handful of Democratic Senators with their leader, Mr. Schumer, that refused to keep the government open while we continue debates about something we do every day here, which is, what are the ways and means to fund the American Government.

This House body under Speaker Mike Johnson with bipartisan vote, I might add, had a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open for those 42 days. Yet, 14 times, Senate Democrats denied funding to air traffic controllers, denied funding to farm assistance, and denied funding for all the Federal programs, inconveniencing States, hurting families, and hurting Federal workers.

Further, perhaps, unlike some, I certainly gave up my pay for those 42 days by direction of this House. I was not going to be paid personally as a Member of Congress while we see this kind of lack of responsibility out of the Senate.

Today, what we are talking about here in the most vigorous democracy in the land in our 250th year, we are talking about rejecting socialism that punishes freedom, punishes individual action, and tears families apart. That is what we are here to talk about. We are not here to rattle down about current events.

Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from Florida, Congresswoman Salazar, leads our Western Hemisphere Subcommittee in the House Foreign Affairs Committee and what better person, Mr. Speaker, to have this responsibility.

Born in Little Havana in Miami, daughter of Cuban exiles, let her tell you how cushy life was under Castro's Communist socialist dictatorship.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Salazar).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), who grew up in Korea, and as a young girl immigrated here to the United States of America. She knows the truth of postwar Korea and how challenging it was.

She compared the Korea of her childhood to the Korea of today: Democracy, freedom, vigorous democracy, amazingly vigorous democracy in Korea today. Mrs. Kim is now the chairwoman of our East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs. What a transition and what a great voice to condemn socialism.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose), my good friend, a prominent member of the House Financial Services Committee, and very active on financial policy in this House.

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

Mr. Speaker, regarding the policies that are perhaps being considered in New York, the voices of the people of New York have been heard. They have spoken.

We think about having government-controlled grocery stores, instead of relying on entrepreneurial immigrant families or Korean families with the beautiful bodegas and flower shops around the city. They are now somehow doing an inadequate job. The mayor proposes that the government step into those businesses or run those grocery stores, for example.

Mr. Speaker, he proposes even more difficult rent controls that have already driven down the number of units available in the city of New York, which is already suffering from a huge housing shortage and a huge price disadvantage for the thousands of people who want to work in the city.

This is contrary to economic choice, and that is another reason why we are here on this House floor. We are here to note that an open and democratic market capitalist system offers choice. The freedom to choose is of critical value. That is limited under socialism, in addition to the atrocities.

One of my favorite economists, Nobel Prize Winner Friedrich Hayek, authored books I read as a young man such as, ``The Road to Serfdom'' and ``Constitution of Liberty.'' This is a man who lived under socialism. He lived through the Communist regimes of Stalin and Eastern Europe and of Nazi Germany. He talked about the road to serfdom. Mr. Speaker, we think of some of these policies potentially as the scenic route to socialism.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), who chairs the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement for House Judiciary. He is someone who understands market capitalism and a constitutional Republic like no other Member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), who is a distinguished senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Malliotakis), who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and who is firmly opposed to socialism.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford), the chair of the Small Business Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Regulations and a distinguished member of the Appropriations Committee.

Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Salazar), my friend from south Florida who is also a child of Cuban exiles from the Castro takeover of Cuba.

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

Mr. Speaker, in the short time we have remaining this morning on this important resolution, let's cut to the chase.

America stands as a beacon of freedom. America stands as a place of choice. America stands as a place of initiative and opportunity. What the gentlewoman from Florida brings to the House today is a resolution that says that we condemn the horrors of socialism not just the atrocities associated with mass murder in Ukraine or Cuba or Venezuela or imprisonment but the capture of the spirit that ends individual freedom and ends individual opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, I will say that I have been shocked at some of the debate today that we hear from a daughter of

Korea, two daughters from Cuba, who have seen firsthand the dangers, the fear, the atrocities, the restraint, the constraint, the end of freedom that they experienced and their families experienced personally.

In my young life, I worked to bring freedom to Eastern Europe. I saw East Germany's empty shelves, empty eyes, empty spirits, no choice, and in West Germany, vibrancy. Yet, today, we would even have to debate that socialism has some value to the human spirit across the land, it is amazing to me.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this resolution whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, old, young, no matter what your political philosophy is, let's unite on this floor and reject the evils of socialism.

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

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to vote because I was in a legislative meeting which ran over. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 298.

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