Floor Statements

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to name a post office in Boulder, Colorado after Officer Eric Talley. Officer Talley served as a police officer in Boulder for 11 years before being killed during a mass shooting at a local grocery store, King Soopers, in Boulder, Colorado, on March 25, 2021.

Officer Talley was the first police officer to arrive at the scene, and one of ten individuals who would be killed that day. He left behind a wife and seven children, who our hearts go out to.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill in honor of an American hero, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill in honor of an American hero, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to name a post office after the late Representative Benjamin Arthur Gilman.

Congressman Gilman was a Republican Member who represented New York between 1973 and 2003. During his time in Congress, he served as the chairman of the Committee on International Relations. He was also part of the congressional delegation to the United Nations and a member of the Ukraine Famine Commission.

In 2000, he helped establish the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program at the State Department. The scholarship provides financial support to undergraduate students with limited financial means so they can study or intern abroad.

Congressman Gilman was an important and impactful Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to name a Brooklyn, New York, post office in honor of lifelong resident Joseph Lentol.

Joseph Lentol is a former New York Assembly member who followed in the steps of his father and grandfather. He has been a strong advocate for criminal justice reform, serving on the Governor's Commission on Sentencing Reform, and is on the board of the New York State Public Defenders Association.

Joseph serves as a role model to those in Brooklyn and beyond by interacting with and supporting his local community.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill to name a post office in Winchester, Virginia, after Patsy Cline.

Patsy began singing and performing at events in the Winchester area from a young age. Her childhood home in Winchester was designated as a historic place in 2011 and draws visitors from around the world.

This post office would further honor the memory of her. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill. I also heard a rumor that the chairwoman of the committee will be singing a Patsy Cline song in her closing.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill which would name a post office in Biloxi, Mississippi for Robert Stanton McKeithen.

After graduating from the University of Mississippi, McKeithen enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Following his military service, he became a police officer in Biloxi. He was one of 13 Biloxi police officers to earn the Medal of Valor for his rescue efforts following Hurricane Katrina.

Sadly, after 24 years of service as a police officer, he was shot and killed in the line of duty on May 5, 2019. He was only months away from retirement. He left behind his wife, a daughter, two stepsons, and one stepdaughter.

As a law enforcement officer, Robert McKeithen served his community with honor, and I support naming a post office in his memory.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Palazzo).

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

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill which would name a Kansas post office after Captain Emil Kapaun, an Army chaplain during World War II.

Captain Kapaun was an ordained Catholic priest and later served as an auxiliary chaplain in the U.S. Army where he ministered to American troops in the Burma and India theaters during World War II.

In 1950 he was mobilized to support the Korean conflict and was captured by Chinese forces during the Battle of Unsan. As a POW he helped find food, cared for the sick, and led prayers and spiritual services for the other POWs. He died of illness and maltreatment on May 23, 1951.

In 1993 Pope John Paul II declared Captain Kapaun to be a Servant of God, and he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama in 2013.

I want to thank my colleague and fellow Kansan, Congressman Tracey Mann, for all his work on this project. Naming a post office after Captain Kapaun is a small way we can honor this patriot and son of Kansas for his service to our Nation. I might add that, as a Kansan, I am very proud of this, but as a Catholic, as well. We hope that it is soon Saint Kapaun.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann).

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

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill naming a post office after Captain Emil Kapaun in Herington, Kansas--although he was from Pilsen, a community of less than 100 people which has a beautiful Catholic church but no post office--so a post office in Herington after Captain Emil Kapaun.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, which would name an Ohio post office for World War II veterans John Leahr and Herbert Heilbrun.

The Tuskegee Airmen in World War II were tasked with escorting American bomber groups flying over enemy territory. I strongly support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Wenstrup).

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of energy producers across our country and especially in my home State of Kansas.

Over the past 9 months the Biden administration has put American energy producers on the back burner. Kansans are already paying over 40 percent more at the pump than they were last year, and yet my colleagues across the aisle want to ram through a reckless $3.5 trillion spending spree that would lead to the largest tax increase on working families and small businesses in decades.

There is a laundry list of bad policy in this spending spree, including the Clean Electricity Performance Program, a Federal takeover of our Nation's electricity. This $150 billion program would dictate how we power our homes, businesses, and everyday lives.

Democrats want to mandate energy providers to distribute a certain amount of renewable energy to their customers. Those who comply will get grants from the Department of Energy, while those falling short would have to pay fees to the Federal Government. This plan is absolutely ridiculous and will only make energy more expensive, undermine our grid reliability, and make our Nation even more dependent on Communist China.

As these massive Democrat spending sprees continue to make their way through committees and eventually to the House floor, I will continue to fight for Kansas energy producers.

Our focus needs to be encouraging domestic energy production across the country, having a robust energy portfolio, and ending our reliance on foreign energy.

Democrats seem to think it is impossible to have affordable, bountiful, and innovative energy while also having clean air and water. That is simply not true. Oil and gas produced here in the United States is among the cleanest and safest in the world. It is time to end the assault on our energy producers and return to American energy independence.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the Women's Health Protection Act, or more accurately, the abortion on demand until birth act.

This legislation imposes on-demand abortion until birth, meaning anyone can have an abortion for any reason up until the day the baby is born. Republicans, and as hard as it is to believe now, at one point even some Democrats, have been fighting for pro-life protections for decades. This bill removes nearly all protections for the unborn at the State and Federal level and allows babies to be aborted just based on the baby's sex, race, and disability.

Since day one of the Biden administration, Democrats have made it their goal to push a radical pro-choice agenda, and this bill is no exception.

For months, Democrats have been encouraging taxpayer-funded abortions in the United States and even going as far as limiting healthcare access to babies that survive abortions.

My colleagues and I standing up here tonight are not the only ones who agree that this bill is wrong for our country. The Democrats' radical agenda is extremely out of touch with the majority of Kansans in my district. In fact, over 80 percent of Americans agree that abortion should be illegal in the third trimester. I am proud to be a member of the Pro-Life Caucus where we are pushing back to help ensure every baby is protected under the law and to be a voice for the millions of pro-life Americans who will not rest until the sanctity of life is protected.

As my Democrat colleagues continue to advance their radical and immoral pro-choice agenda, my constituents can be assured that I will always unapologetically defend the most vulnerable among us, the unborn. And may God help us all in this effort.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the service of a fellow Kansan, and the man who handed me my college diploma-- Pittsburg State University President Steve Scott. Like myself, President Scott is a proud child of Cherokee County in Southeast Kansas. He first graduated from Pittsburg State in 1973, then went on to serve as a faculty member, department chair, dean, vice president of academic affairs, and provost before assuming the presidency in 2009.

His leadership has defined our university and community for the entirety of his service, and his time at the helm of Pittsburg State will leave an imprint for years to come. I am personally indebted to his example and mentorship in my own life, and I know that countless other Gorillas would say the same.

While I am sure President Scott will now be able to enjoy some well- deserved rest along with his wife Cathy and their grandkids, I am equally certain that he will continue teaching and serving the citizens of Pittsburg and Southeast Kansas in whatever he does next.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of retaining the Hyde amendment, and the bipartisan spirit that has allowed this commonsense provision to remain in law every year since 1976.

This past January 22 marked the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which struck down any laws protecting unborn children from abortion in every State in the Union. The Roe v. Wade decision has now resulted in the tragic deaths of over 62.5 million unborn children, and currently it is estimated that as many as 2,500 unborn American lives are ended every day through abortion.

When this body first enacted the Hyde amendment in 1976 through funding for what was then the Health, Education, and Welfare agency, the vote was an overwhelming bipartisan 312-93. And even prior to that final enactment, nearly half of Democrats in the House voted for the amendment when it was first considered.

This began a 40-year agreement on both sides of the aisle that Americans opposed to abortion should not be forced to violate their conscience and religious liberty, by subsidizing abortions through their tax dollars.

The principle that no citizen should be forced to pay for these services that contravene their strongly held beliefs has stood the test of time, and it is one that this body should protect and highly regard.

But most importantly, this simple budget rider has saved more human lives from abortion than any other policy at the Federal level. Today, it is estimated that over 2.5 million lives have been saved by the Hyde amendment since it was first enacted.

To this day, this prohibition on taxpayer funding of abortion enjoys strong support with the American people. A Marist poll earlier this year found that almost 60 percent of the Americans opposed the use of taxpayer-funded abortions.

The Hyde amendment has historically been supported by mainstream Democrats as well. In 1994, President Biden wrote in a letter to a constituent, ``The government should not tell those with strong convictions against abortion, such as you and I, that we must pay for them.'' Again, in 2005, he remarked that abortion was ``always a tragedy,'' and said, ``I think we should be focusing on how to limit the number of abortions.'' And as recently as last year, he acknowledged the fact that the majority of the American people agree with the Hyde amendment.

I can assure you that nothing has changed in the time since President Biden made those statements, other than perhaps a desire to appease the belligerent, liberal left that dominates Democrat policy today.

Back in Kansas, the Kansas Supreme Court wrongly ruled in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt. They ruled that it paves the way for unrestricted, unlimited, and even State taxpayer-funded abortion. I am grateful for the work of Kansans for Life, the Kansas Catholic Conference, the Kansas Family Policy Alliance, and all of the Republican legislators in the statehouse who have placed the Value Them Both Amendment on the ballot next year.

Madam Speaker, this past January 22 marked the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision. Now more than ever, America must continue to unapologetically stand for the sanctity of all human life. As the representative of Kansas' Second Congressional District, my constituents can be assured that I will always protect pro-life values at home and in Washington. I promised that I would be a fearless pro-life advocate throughout my public service, and I will keep my word to those who elected me.

In Kansas, I am proud to put my full support behind the ``Value Them Both Amendment'' that recently passed the Kansas Legislature. Currently, there is a legal basis for an unrestricted, unlimited abortion access in Kansas due to the Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt decision handed down by our liberal Kansas Supreme Court. The Value Them Both Amendment will allow for commonsense regulation on the abortion industry that protects babies and mothers. Thankfully, both the Kansas House and Senate passed the constitutional amendment by a two-thirds vote. Now the voters of Kansas will have the final say during a statewide election in 2022, where I am confident Kansans will choose life.

I will always unapologetically defend the sanctity of all human life, especially the most vulnerable among us--the unborn. I promised that I would be a fearless pro-life advocate throughout my public service, and I will keep my word to those who elected me to serve in Congress. After being sworn into office on January 3rd, I immediately joined the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus as my first congressional caucus and cosponsored several key pieces legislation which would defund Planned Parenthood, prohibit any abortion after 20 weeks, and prohibit the use of federal tax dollars for abortion.

Despite all of this, we are already beginning to see the drastic consequences of the 2020 presidential election for the pro-life community. President Joe Biden is wasting no time to advance his radical pro-abortion agenda. The Biden administration announced that they intend to revoke the Mexico City Policy, which bans United States taxpayer funding to foreign organizations that provide abortions. President Biden and his Democrat counterparts will shamefully send Americans' hard-earned money to other countries with the intention of funding abortions--this is deeply wrong and sends a horrible message about our values to the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, it does not end there. President Biden also proudly campaigned on ending the Hyde Amendment, a bipartisan, pro-life public policy that has been in place for more than four decades that restricts federal funding for abortions. If you didn't know, President Biden had previously opposed taxpayer-funded abortion for nearly 50 years, until he decided to run for president and abandon his conviction on the issue. I pray that President Biden will appeal to his better angels and return to a commonsense support of the Hyde Amendment, especially if he truly wants to unite our country. Forcing American taxpayers to subsidize unrestricted, unlimited abortions will only further our divisions and isolate our fellow Americans.

We must reaffirm our commitment to defending the most vulnerable lives among us--the unborn. Pro-life Americans, especially pro-life Kansans, will not rest until innocent human life is protected from the abortion industry. Life will win.