Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to give my last speech as a Member of the House of Representatives.

What an incredible honor this has been. It has never been lost on me that the privilege of serving here was granted by the people I represent, people who trusted me to listen to them, speak for them, and conduct myself with integrity.

Every time I have stepped onto this floor, I have felt the weight of our Nation's history and the hope of millions of people that we will conduct ourselves and do work that serves them well.

One of the joys of serving in Congress has been the surprise of learning how much good work you can do if you are here to do work.

I thank my staff, an incredible group of young people who woke up every morning asking themselves: How much good can I do today? A big part of the reason serving here was such a joy and such an honor was because I was able to do the work with them. I won't go down the big list of everything that we got done, but we were able to do a lot: improve water systems for small towns; expand parental leave for members of the National Guard, parents who had earned it; and improve weather radar detection for the people of North Carolina's 14th District who have needed that for decades.

When people come up to me now that I am leaving and say: Boy, Jeff, I bet you are glad to be getting out of that place, I say, no, that hasn't been my experience here at all.

Part of the reason that has not been my experience is because of the two committees I had an opportunity to serve on: Armed Services and Science, Space, and Technology, relatively serious bipartisan committees, really about the work. There is not a lot of shouting going on in the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. The Armed Services Committee, for someone who enlisted as a private 22 years ago, to be a part of classified briefings with our Nation's top military leaders, what an amazing experience, what an incredible education. To anyone who is considering running to serve, I could not encourage you more strongly.

However, that said, a word of caution to everyone back home, as well as anyone who may be listening. I know that when you look at Congress, you see a lot of anger. What I need you to know is that most of the ones who are angry here are faking. They know that eliciting your outrage is a surefire way to gain your attention. Some of them want your attention more than they want to do a good job. I have seen this over and over again, that when the cameras turn off, so does the anger.

There are moments of genuine frustration felt by everyone. It is felt by me. That is normal in a legislative body. It is to be expected. The ones who are always trying to make you angry, they are faking. It is theater. A ton of you keep falling for it, and you owe it to yourselves not to be fooled by the outrage farmers in Congress.

My request to all of you, to everyone back home, is don't reward the theater, reward the work. If you do that, you will get more work and less theater. I thank my colleagues who do their job in that manner. I thank my staff who genuinely was a constant source of energy and inspiration. I thank my family who allowed me to be away from home to do this work. Lastly, I thank the people of North Carolina's 14th District for trusting me to be your voice. It has been the greatest honor of my life.

Madam Speaker, 3 months ago, the Supreme Court opened a loophole in our bribery laws. They legalized, in effect, a certain kind of bribery. That is bribery where the payment to the politician comes after they do the thing they have been bribed to do.

The Supreme Court said: That is not bribery, but that is a tip. That is a gratuity, and it is not against the law.

Justice Kavanaugh said: If Congress wants this to be against the law, then they should pass a law saying so.

Well, I agree. My office has filed a bill to close exactly that loophole, and nothing else. We consider this a completely nonpartisan effort. This is simply about making sure that you cannot bribe politicians. That was the state of the law 3 months ago as we all understood it, and now that has been changed by this court ruling.

My office filed a bill. We are very grateful that a Member of the majority, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Crenshaw) has joined us on that bill.

I am encouraging every Member of this body, regardless of party, to join us to make sure that we send a very simple statement to the country: You cannot bribe politicians. That should be against the law. Even if you come up with a somewhat creative way in which to do it straightforwardly, it is wrong. It should be illegal. If we pass this bill, it will be illegal once again.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I missed a vote on H.R. 192, a bill to prohibit individuals who are not citizens of the United States from voting in elections in the District of Columbia. Had I been present on the House floor, I would have voted

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in a horrific act of violence, four law enforcement officers were killed in Charlotte, and four more were injured as the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force sought to serve a warrant on a very dangerous person.

I rise today on behalf of Representative Adams who is back in her district, standing with the community following this tragic event.

I ask my colleagues to join us in a moment of silence to honor the four law enforcement officers who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep our community safe, to support the four officers who were injured, and to recognize the courage of all the first responders who answered the call on that day.

Mr. Speaker, the week after I was elected to Congress, a group of meteorologists from my district got in touch with me, and they taught me something I didn't know, which is that my district, which is the Charlotte area, is in the largest weather radar gap in the country.

Our nearest NEXRAD radar is roughly 100 miles away, which makes it very difficult to have accurate forecasts for especially low-altitude storms and fast-moving tornadoes, so at the request of these meteorologists, our office got to work on a piece of legislation to address this. I am very grateful that it has been included in this bill. It would address this by asking NOAA to have a plan to implement the next generation of weather radar and specifically to prioritize districts, like mine, that currently exist in these blind spots, in these weather radar gaps.

This legislation isn't going to just help solve this problem, but it is going to identify a number of these spots across the country and prioritize those to make sure that we have accurate forecasts across the country.

I am very grateful for its inclusion, and I ask all of my colleagues to join me in supporting it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to gratefully announce that our office has secured over $4.5 million to support water and sewer infrastructure in Gaston County.

We need these funds to support new jobs and affordable housing, as Gaston continues to see remarkable growth. The town of Ranlo is going to double in population this decade. With new families and businesses moving to the county, it strains our utilities and you can't put an apartment or an office building on a septic tank.

When I have talked to local leaders in Gaston County, this has been one of their top priorities. This funding is desperately needed and will go directly to making Gaston a better place to live and work. I am very proud that our office was able to help.

Supporting Gastonia Police Department

Mr. Speaker, I rise today proud to announce that our office secured nearly $1 million to support the Gastonia Police Department.

The funding will support a project equipping the Gastonia Police Department with technology to reduce crime, allowing officers to act in real time and protect the safety of Gastonia residents.

It is vital that we give our law enforcement the tools they need to safely reduce crime and help the people in our communities. I am proud to stand with the Gastonia Police Department to help them get the funding and tools they need to keep us safe.

Supporting Affordable Housing in Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties

Mr. Speaker, I rise today proud to announce that our office has secured $1.5 million to support affordable housing projects in Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties.

Our growth has made housing far too expensive, and it is making it even more difficult for working families to make ends meet.

The funding will support two projects in my district that will provide housing repair assistance and improve living conditions for families at risk of homelessness. It will also help the town of Matthews buy land and help with startup costs for new affordable housing developments. Having stable and affordable housing is the key to growing the middle class in our country.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be able to support these projects in my district.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to vote during a portion of the legislative day on March 6, 2024. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on H. Res. 1061.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties and just want to report back on some bipartisan progress we have had lately.

We have a huge problem with fentanyl across the State, as we do across the country, but we have new funding both to prevent overdoses and to crack down on the organized crime that is trafficking fentanyl into our communities.

We also got bipartisan support to close the weather radar gap which exists in Charlotte. We have the largest weather radar gap in the country. We are working on new technology to make sure we have more accurate forecasts to keep people safe.

We are also working on the Junk Fee Prevention Act to save your family money and prevent all of those fees that attach as we make purchases online. It is a solid bipartisan start with more work to do. I will keep you posted.

Madam Speaker, today, the junior Senator from Alabama said that our military has never been weaker in his lifetime. Of course, that statement is false. Our military has never been stronger, not just in the history of our country but in the history of any country.

This is just the latest example of what happens when we allow partisan politics to infect everything. We shouldn't let this moment pass without acknowledging how destructive it is for our country when you can just say anything you want without any concern about whether or not it is true.

We also should acknowledge the 2 million servicemembers who have dedicated their lives to defending the right of that Senator to smear them. They are owed an apology, although I assure you none is coming.

Mr. Speaker, I have been a Member of Congress for about 11 months, and I want to give my constituents a quick update on some of the bipartisan work that we have done.

Our office has been able to bring about $90 million back into the district. A big portion of that has gone to the Charlotte airport, which is one of the main economic drivers not just for the district but for the whole State.

A portion of that has gone to law enforcement to help them get more body cameras and also to help them process the backlog of rape test kits that we have in North Carolina. Another portion has gone to help fight the fentanyl epidemic, which is claiming lives every single day in our State.

I have also worked on legislation to close the weather radar gap that we have in Charlotte that has been a problem for several decades. We had an amendment pass last week about that.

We had another amendment pass today about quantum technology and the security concerns that that is going to pose for all of us.

I am also working on a bipartisan bill to cut down on the junk fees that attach to all the things that we buy as consumers.

Last week, I worked very hard to make sure we finally ban Members of Congress from trading stocks. It is wrong. It has been obvious for a long time that this should be against the law, and I am working on a bipartisan effort.

Madam Speaker, recruitment is down in the military. Fewer young people are joining, in part because unemployment is low and they have higher paying options elsewhere.

I would love to show young people that the military is still a good option for them, as it was for me. In order to do that, I need some help from my friends across the aisle. I need them to put the dog whistle down.

Each year's class of new recruits to our military is now the most diverse in the history of our Nation. Every time they blow the dog whistle against diversity, it is not just their political base that hears it, it is young people who are trying to decide whether to enlist in our All-Volunteer Force.

Last week's debate over the defense bill featured a series of very clear dog whistles. There was one for gay people, one for transgender people, one for Black people, and one for women. Don't remember? They ran amendments on Pride flags, diversity programs, books in libraries, and abortion. Those were all dog whistles for their base. Our generals asked for none of that.

One of our colleagues even went so far as to say that the military's strength ``is not its diversity.'' Someone in this building explicitly defended white nationalism in our military.

When it comes to recruitment, I assure you, that is not helping.

Caring about the military means caring about the people who serve in it, not using them as a political punching bag. If you want to help solve the recruitment problem, the first thing you need to do is stop attacking the people we need to enlist.

Madam Speaker, a Senator from Alabama is now many months into a blockade of all the generals and admirals in our military who are scheduled to advance in their leadership. This is no longer just a political statement from him. This is a national security issue for all of us.

He has taken a personal crusade and made it an impediment to our entire

military. We are at 250 nominations blocked so far. By the end of this year, it will be 650.

These are our military's top leaders. The notion that all of these positions should remain vacant because one Senator objects to the Defense Department's travel policy regarding servicemembers who get an abortion is a perfect example of letting culture war politics impact our military.

This year, we have been treated to countless speeches about whether politics has infected our military and whether that has impacted its readiness. Now, the single clearest example of culture war politics colliding with our military is this blockade of our top military leaders, a blockade built by one man in defense not of our Nation but of his politics on the issue of abortion.

The clearest price yet was paid this week as the leader of the Marine Corps retired and then Congress tried to replace him with his appointed successor, General Eric Smith, and the Senator from Alabama blocked that replacement. The Marine Corps is now without a confirmed leader for the first time since 1910.

Up next, we have several members of the Joint Chiefs with scheduled retirements, including the Chair of the Joint Chiefs. Half of those positions will be vacant by the end of this year if the Senator from Alabama decides to maintain his blockade.

Asked about this, the Senator from Alabama expresses indifference. He says everything will be fine. He is wrong. We have leaders in place for a reason. When they are not there and crisis strikes, we get chaos.

We are the world's most powerful Nation, and when one Senator chooses to sideline hundreds of nominations for military leaders, he chooses to reduce our power knowingly, willfully, and in the face of our enemies who are delighted by the self-inflicted wound.

When in doubt, act in a way that frustrates your enemy. This does the opposite.

I respect everyone's sincere beliefs on matters of culture and policy. That does not extend to respecting any and all tactics in pursuit of those goals. Those who disagree with the Defense Department, as the Senator does, do their cause a disservice by adopting extreme tactics that carry with them such collateral damage.

The Senator from Alabama is in his first term in Congress, as I am. He is in the minority party in his Chamber, as I am. I have lost several battles here. I will lose several more. But when you can't get something done that you very much care about, how you conduct yourself in that moment matters. Even people who don't follow politics every day can tell the difference between standing on principle and a very powerful man throwing a temper tantrum.

I think he sees that there is no endgame where this tactic works. He is now all the way out on a limb. That limb is starting to crack. I don't think he knows quite yet what to do.

I have been in the military a long time. One of the things you learn is that hopeless strategies produce disastrous results. The strong move for him is to change course, not to recommit to a path that will lead to nothing except chaos and danger for our country, as seven former Secretaries of Defense, from both administrations, are strongly urging him to do.

Mr. Speaker, last week there was an enormous fire in Charlotte. An apartment building that was under construction caught fire. Within an hour, it became a five-alarm fire.

Ninety firefighters from the Charlotte Fire Department responded. They were able to heroically rescue 15 construction workers, including one from on top of a crane. Tragically, two construction workers were not able to be rescued, and they died: Reuben Holmes and Demonte Sherrill.

Reuben was loved by his family. He was set to have lunch with his sister on Saturday, and they just can't believe what happened.

Demonte was a father of four. Obviously, this is a tragedy that will reshape their families' lives but also a big part of our community.

We honor the first responders who sprang into action and did everything they possibly could under extraordinary circumstances, a fire that burned at a temperature of 2,000 degrees.

We call upon the members of our broader Charlotte community to do everything that they can for these families that have suffered truly unimaginable loss.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, we just heard from the gentleman from South Carolina that the purpose of this bill was to make sure that the use of our Strategic Petroleum Reserve was confined to instances in which there was a national emergency.

The purpose of this amendment is very simple. It is to make sure that if we are going to restrict releases from our strategic reserve, it have an exception for national security. That is it. Very simple.

If you are going to tie the President's hands to respond to an energy crisis, at least include language that allows for a swift response in the event of a threat to our national security. At least do that.

I understand the concern about the use of our reserve. I do not understand the lack of concern for a future situation that could call for its use when our national security is at stake.

This is a simple amendment. It only adds language with respect to national security. This should be a bipartisan concern, and I welcome bipartisan support.

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

Mr. Chair, the gentleman from South Carolina concluded his remarks by saying this amendment ``would affect that'' and provided no specification for ``that.''

Look, this was just about national security. We didn't get two words in response to the substance of this amendment. We got a bunch of platitudes that were completely unrelated.

I was under the assumption, given everything we had heard about national emergencies and national security, that making sure that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve could be used for national security used to be bipartisan.

If not, there would be a good reason as to why that exception should not exist. We didn't get a one. We got a speech about hurricanes. We got a speech about other uses for oil. I hear you. I am on board. This is national security.

The fact that you had no response whatsoever tells me your bill isn't serious. This bill is about messaging. You are looking to tie any future President's hands in a way that is fundamentally reckless. If this bill were serious, you would take national security more seriously.

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

Offered By: Mr. Jackson

Amendment No. 46: Page 2, line 11, after ``(d)'' insert

``or if the Secretary determines that a situation exists in

which a delay in executing a drawdown of petroleum products

in the Reserve in order to comply with this paragraph will

harm national security''.