Jeff Crank

Mr. Speaker, this resolution simply condemns socialism and anti-American ideas of the DSA. It is a simple up-or-down vote: Where do you stand on the anti-American platform of the DSA?

Mr. Speaker, 10 to 15 years ago, we wouldn't even have to ask this question. A resolution like this would have passed 10 or 15 years ago 435-0.

The Rules debate from yesterday showed that some of my friends think that this is pointless. Now, these are the same people who shut down government and didn't want to pay soldiers and employees for months on end, and we are being lectured about this being pointless? What was that?

However, what we are seeing in elections across the country paint a different picture. The Democratic Socialists of America was a fringe movement a decade ago. Now, they are growing within the Democratic ranks, winning primaries, and threatening the foundation of what makes this country the greatest on Earth.

Mr. Speaker, I can help my friends if they aren't sure how to vote on something as simple as this. Let me remind every Member of this Chamber: You took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. The DSA uses intimidation to shut down free speech.

This is unconstitutional, and it is anti-American. The DSA's candidates' platforms stand in direct contrast to our Republic. They are in favor of getting rid of the United States Senate, open borders, defunding the police, and allowing noncitizens to vote in Federal elections. Those aren't consistent with our Constitution.

DSA is an insidious movement within the Democratic Party. Let's be clear. They aren't running as Republicans. They are Democrats. There is no Republican Socialists of America.

Mr. Speaker, we know where these ideas lead to: Less freedom, less liberty, less money in your pockets, more government, more taxes, and more control. These are ideas in governments that many have fled to come to the United States of America. They came here to seek freedom, opportunity, and self-government. These are things that we have sworn to protect in this body.

This is no longer a fringe movement. They want to take over this country and upend our democracy and our voting laws. DSA-affiliated candidates are increasingly running for office across this country, and we are seeing what happens when they win.

Democrats and DSA don't want Americans to show their IDs at the polls, so noncitizens can vote them into power. However, as soon as they are elected, they turn around and ask for your ID to enter a government-run grocery store.

If we believe American elections belong to Americans and the American people, then we should have no problem saying so clearly. We should say so by adopting this resolution as a unified body because if we don't, we let this fester uncondemned.

If we fail to pass this resolution and we continue to not pass the SAVE America Act to ensure secure and fair elections, they will exploit our democracy. They will mislead the public into putting them into positions of power and erode all sense of individual liberty.

Freedom-loving Americans can escape New York City, but if DSA continues to run candidates and beat Democrats in Federal primaries, Americans will be the ones fleeing from their own country to escape socialist and communist ideologies.

Where can they go if they can't be here in America?

I encourage my colleagues to stand firm against the ideas coming out of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Families are worried about the cost of living. I understand that. However, like doctors, who take the Hippocratic oath, above all else, do no harm. Socialism is harm. Socialism doesn't lower costs. It doesn't bring prosperity.

Free markets and capitalism lift people out of poverty. Embracing freedom and liberty brings prosperity for people. These are the values that have guided this country for 250 years, and this body needs to ensure that it remains our guiding light.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my friends to support this resolution and vote ``yes.'' It is really not that hard.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise today to offer my amendment to return common sense to decisions surrounding a member of the United States Armed Forces' constitutional rights.

Since 2015, our men and women in uniform have required approval from their base commander to carry a personal firearm on that installation.

Let's be clear: Constitutional rights are the baseline for all Americans, guaranteed to all Americans, and can only be restricted in thoughtful and specific decisions.

The Department's policy for the last 10 years has instead approached the Second Amendment from a no-first perspective, requiring our servicemembers to seek government approval to exercise their Second Amendment right. That is not how the Constitution works.

Madam Chair, I find it hard to reconcile the idea that it is these same men and women who use firearms every single day in training and in defending our country who are being denied access to their personal property.

Our servicemembers are extensively trained in firearms safety and in best practices. Yet, the Department treated them as blanket security risks.

I am grateful to the Secretary of War for taking recent action to ensure that applications for conceal carry on Department property are reviewed with a presumption of approval, returning these decisions to a commonsense yes-first perspective.

My amendment codifies this presumption to ensure that we are protecting the rights of our troops and adds a layer of accountability, requiring the Department to tell a servicemember why their application was rejected.

My amendment is straightforward: It preserves a base commander's ability to protect their installation and to deny the right to conceal carry. It restores the universal applicability of constitutional rights, especially to those men and women who serve us every day, and it increases transparency in those decisions.

Madam Chair, I thank Chairman Rogers for his support and his assistance in this effort. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I appreciate my colleague's concern. It is always interesting that there are some who put all of these stipulations on the rights of firearm owners, on the Second Amendment.

I always wondered to myself what would happen if we put those same restrictions on the First Amendment, if they had to get approval from the base commander before they exercise their First Amendment right, if they had to get approval from the base commander before they went to church and their First Amendment right to worship God as they see fit. I wonder how some of my colleagues might think of that, Madam Chair.

This is a commonsense approach. These are the men and women who use firearms every single day to defend our rights, our First Amendment rights, our Second Amendment rights, and all of our constitutional rights guaranteed to us in the Bill of Rights. That is who we are talking about.

If we can't trust them to be responsible gun owners, then who in the world can we trust?

Madam Chair, my colleague talked about that a military installation is a place where there are homes. Does a soldier have a right to defend their family in their own home?

These would seem to me to be basic rights, and I guarantee that to the Founders of our Constitution, this is an absolute basic right.

Could you imagine our Founders looking at us today deciding whether the men and women of the militia, the people who carry and use firearms every day to defend us, whether or not they are capable, whether or not government can grant them the right to carry a firearm and defend themselves?

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mourn the loss of Sergeant Devin A. Seibel, assigned to the Air Ambulance Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Combat Aviation Brigade, at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Devin was a dedicated soldier who was deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, an American-led coalition working to prevent a resurgence of ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

On May 31, Devin, at only 26 years young, tragically passed away during a training-related incident on Erbil Air Base in Iraq. His sacrifice is not only a reminder of the price of peace but also the unwavering dedication to our freedoms.

He leaves behind his loving wife, his stepfather, parents, and brothers, whom we will be praying for.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that you join me in remembering Sergeant Devin Seibel and his service to our Nation.