Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I thank Mr. Aderholt for his remarkable work on this bill, particularly under the trying circumstances in which we find ourselves.

One area of concern I would like to touch on is the Medicare wage index. The wage index is unfair to rural southern States like Alabama.

Alabama has one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the Nation. Even worse, Mobile and Baldwin Counties, which I represent, face a huge struggle with the labor market since they are so close to Florida and competing with Florida's higher reimbursement rate.

A small adjustment to this classification for Mobile and Baldwin Counties would level the playing field at a time when hiring and retaining healthcare workers is at such a critical stage. It would also address the massive population growth that we are having in these counties and the increasingly older population on the Alabama Gulf Coast.

The reclassification is carefully designed to address this unique situation. These carve-outs have been accomplished for decades in higher reimbursement States while lowering the reimbursement for States that need it the most and that have been ignored. To achieve more fair funding in healthcare, especially in a unique situation like Mobile and Baldwin Counties, a reclassification is the right thing to do.

Mr. Chair, I support this bill, and I hope that by working together, we can address these critical issues and ensure a brighter future for our communities.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. Simpson for his remarkable work on this bill, particularly under these trying circumstances.

Mr. Chairman, we are $33 trillion in debt. We cannot spend our way and we cannot regulate our way out of that debt without having some of the sacrifices that are in this bill, quite frankly.

Chairman Simpson has done an outstanding job identifying the key priorities despite a challenging allocation.

One area of concern I would like to address is related to the Biden administration's handling of royalties on Federal land. I would like to emphasize the impact on Warrior Met Coal, which produces metallurgical coal crucial for steel production and happens to be the largest exporter from the Port of Mobile, Alabama, which I am honored to represent.

Regrettably, Warrior Met Coal's Federal lease application with the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management has been marred by delays. The Interior Department's shifting requirements, including the recent demands for an environmental impact study on top of a comprehensive environmental assessment completed over a year ago have been the latest obstacles in a near decade-long effort to secure this lease.

As you are aware, Mr. Chairman, the Mineral Leasing Act requires the maximum economic recovery of coal within

the proposed lease area. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing permit delays, Federal coal is not currently being efficiently mined, causing further setbacks in Federal coal mining. Every day that passes without progress results in a loss of crucial revenue from coal royalties for affected communities, the State of Alabama, and the Federal Government. These are the fees that will help pay some of this debt down.

This situation is unacceptable, and I am eager for our colleagues and staff to identify ways to move forward ensuring that the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management uphold their responsibilities under the Mineral Lease Act that impacted communities receive the essential funding they require.

Now, regarding the specific language included in the bill, it highlights the importance of the Bureau of Land Management's production of domestic coal on Federal lands, with a particular emphasis on distinguishing between metallurgical coal and thermal coal.

Additionally, the bill is focused on clawing back wasteful spending, reducing bureaucracy, and maintaining responsible funding levels to serve the best interests of our constituents in this Nation. It addresses the needs of prioritizing essential programs, protecting critical minerals, promoting oil and gas lease sales, and limiting burdensome regulations, among other key priorities.

Continuing to claw back wasteful spending is one step closer to getting our spending under control. I support this bill. It is my hope that, by working together, we can address these critical issues and ensure a brighter future for our communities.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Donna Watts for her 38 years of service in the Chamber of Commerce world. Donna has been an integral part of our district's Chamber of Commerce. She began her career as director of the Bay Minette Area Chamber of Commerce. After 12 years, she moved to the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce and has worked there since 1997. Her dedication and contributions to the Chamber of Commerce were incredibly influential to Baldwin County's businesses.

We are so grateful for all that she has done for our community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor John Shell for his service to Alabama's First Congressional District. John Shell initiated the Eagle Reef Project, which involves deploying reef structures to foster marine life. These reefs are installed under docks or wharfs to filter and clean up to 10,000,000 gallons of water annually. They provide homes for many species of fish and crabs. John raised $52,000 for 175 reefs in aims to expand the project to reach 1,000 reefs along the coast of Alabama, and eventually to Mississippi and Florida. He hopes to do a similar project in coastal areas along the Gulf and the Atlantic.

His environmental impact on our waters is remarkable. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I will take just a moment to thank David Bullock, my pastor, my friend. I sometimes refer to him as a son.

I have known David most all of his life. We grew up in church together. His beautiful family is here in the gallery with us. I am sure you probably can't see them there, but David has come a long way from our old roots in Cottage Hill Baptist Church.

When I say ``roots,'' we are roots. We are family. We all grew up under the ministry of Dr. Fred Wolfe. I gave a speech on brother Fred here a short time ago.

David is the next legacy. He is the next step in the vision of God for our church and for our Nation. It is men like David and women like David's wife, Leslie, and his children that make this country such a special place.

We get on the floor and argue issues down here while we have prayer warriors that are at home praying for us--all of us, not just for my side of the aisle, but for all sides of the aisle.

I want to take just a moment to say thank you to the Bullocks and thank you to David for coming and speaking today, and may God bless this assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Ms. Macy McKay for her years of service at St. Luke's Episcopal School. Ms. McKay is retiring after 50 years of teaching and coaching countless students. Teachers and coaches are tasked with an incredible responsibility to mold the minds of our young folks and equip them with the knowledge and the tools they need to be productive members of our society.

Ms. McKay has gone above and beyond the call of duty with her students, and her impact will live on for generations to come in the lives of so many students, parents, and fellow educators in Mobile.

After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1970, Ms. McKay began her career in education. In 1973, she came to St. Luke's to help create a physical education program. During Ms. McKay's time as a coach at St. Luke's, she has been the driving force behind the state winning archery program. Her passion for physical education is just one of the many factors that play a part in the incredible impact she has made on our community.

Ms. McKay's legacy lives on in the St. Luke's community. After 50 years of hard work and determination, she has more than earned a relaxing retirement. I know I am joined by so many in our community who are thankful for her impressive career.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife proposal regulating and banning lead ammo and fishing tackle from our public lands across this country.

So many of us grew up hunting and fishing with our parents, our grandparents, and our friends. Some of my best memories are with my kids and grandkids when I have taken them hunting and fishing in those quiet moments that we have together when we can talk about life lessons and about the things that, as families, we need to pass on.

These traditions will cease to exist if we allow this proposal to come into effect by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

In my opinion, enjoying the great outdoors with our friends and families is one of the most important and special parts of the American Dream. Unfortunately, the Biden administration is planning to impose more rules and regulations even on our most basic rights.

I have huge concerns over these actions. Low-cost lead for ammunition and fishing gear made of lead is commonly used by all of us. Banning them will essentially be the same as putting a ``no hunting'' sign on millions of acres of land and kicking people off waterways across this Nation.

Access to hunting and fishing on public land is important in this country, and we cannot allow the Biden administration to take away these rights because they would rather listen to the far-left environmentalist groups than trust the science and leave law-abiding Americans alone.

Whether they are attempting to ban gas stoves, force expensive electric vehicles on everyone, or tell us what kind of ammunition we can hunt with or what type of fishing lures we can use, this administration seems determined to chip away at our constitutional rights.

Many years ago, I took a hunter safety course from a blind gentleman who could no longer see to hunt and fish, but his way of reliving all of those memories was teaching a hunter safety course. He taught me that you will never control guns because you can make a gun out of virtually anything.

The way to control guns, by an old gunsmith who is living his dreams through his blind eyes, is ammunition. Don't think for a second this lead bill is about wildlife. This bill is about controlling the lead that we use in our guns and not controlling the guns themselves. This man had wisdom. This was 30 years ago. It has just taken them a little while to get to it.

What is the next step? Will the next step be banning all lead from being used in hunting? How is that going to limit our hunting? Who is that going to limit that can afford to hunt?

This is a slippery slope we don't have to go down. We have to stop it now. We cannot give them the first bite of the apple by saying that we cannot use lead on government property.

I can promise you that I will do all I can to stop this from happening and ensure that this administration can try to do nothing similar to this.

I encourage all American hunting and fishing clubs, whether you are a shooter, a hunter, a fisherman of any type, to do something. Speak out. Talk to your legislators. Reach out to the President. Make some phone calls. Let your voice be heard today.

Don't wait until after something gets passed because this proposal will kill our sport as we know it, and we have to fight back.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate our colleagues on the other side of the aisle pointing out all these different rules and regulations that we have to go through for a vessel to simply come in and out.

This amendment is very simple. It says if you have a permit today and it expires today, that permit is good until the new permit is issued. It has nothing to do with further checking of water quality because that is already set up in the first permit. The layers of government bureaucracy are already put in place.

All this amendment very simply says is you can continue running your business until we have time to do our job. It is hard to run a business based on the Federal Government's time clock because the government gets in no hurry. The slower they get, the more important they feel. The business community cannot handle this. We have got to give the business community some help, and this is help.

Again, all this is simply saying is you carry on the way that you have agreed to carry on for the last 5 years, and we will get to you as quick as we can. I think it is a great amendment, and I am here to support it.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act.

I did not bring any fancy charts. I don't have any nice pictures for you to look at. But what I do want you to look through is my heart and my mind.

In 64 years of living, I have spent the last 2 years working with the other side of the aisle, watching them systematically take this country apart when it comes to our natural resources. Enough is enough.

You want me to prove it?

We just won the House. We have the majority now. We have a chance to change what is going on today.

Let me tell you what is going on. All we hear is: The sky is falling. The sky is falling.

I encourage people to get out from wherever you are hiding and look around, smell the fresh air, look at the sun shining. It is not falling.

It is like dealing with a bunch of guys practicing magic. They want you to watch one hand while they are picking your pocket with the other hand. I have had enough. I have had enough, and I think it is time we talk about it.

They have systematically shut down our copper mine, the largest copper mine on the North American Continent and in the world, so I understand. They have shut it down.

Who are we buying copper from now? China, a communist country we are buying all that copper from.

Excuse me. I have got a problem with that.

I look at my oil refineries and my gas refineries down in Alabama and outside of Alabama.

Those gas refineries, do you know what they are refining?

Venezuelan oil. Not American oil. Venezuelan oil from a communist country.

Is there a pattern here that we should be looking at? Is there a pattern of a communist regime here that we just keep getting pushed on us?

I just spent 2 weeks in Central America trying to figure out how we can keep a communist country from taking over Central America. But we have this side of the aisle that wants to tell us the sky is falling. I refuse to believe it, and I refuse to give it up.

Voters made their voice heard last November when they sent Republicans to Congress to put an end to Democrats' anti-American agenda.

Americans are paying 40 percent more for their gas since President Biden took office, and the Democrats have done nothing but add fuel to the fire to raise that price by shutting down our drilling and shutting down our mines.

On the other hand, House Republicans this week are moving forward with the Lower Energy Costs Act, this act, which has two primary objectives here: Increasing American energy production--not communist-- and to strip away the rules and regulations that make it harder for American infrastructure to grow this economy.

I am especially proud of this bill because I worked on part of it. The Unleashing American Energy Act is included in this package. My bill fights back on the Biden administration's war on our domestic energy production by mandating oil and gas lease sales each year in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska.

Let me remind my friends, most of these are union jobs. Unions are supporting you. Remember that. These are union jobs you are voting against.

House Republicans have a solution right here in this lower energy costs bill. I encourage all of my friends to vote on this bill. This bill will help end our reliance on these foreign countries--these foreign Communist countries. We need to reflect on that as we vote.

Madam Chair, if you support the Communist Party, vote ``no'' on this bill. If you support American jobs and if you support American families, vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Hakela Hapner for her service to Alabama's First Congressional District.

Hakela received her Bachelor's degree in History and Business Law from the University of Southern California. After graduating, she was hired by the Institute for Justice as a Mafucci Fellow and then as an Activism Assistant. I then hired her in September of 2021 as a Legislative Correspondent, where she managed the mail program and was soon promoted to Military Legislative Assistant.

Hakela handled the National Defense Authorization Act, Veterans Affairs, Science and Space, Homeland Security, Oversight and Government Reform, Energy and Water Development, Food and Drug Administration, Rural Development, Agriculture Appropriations, and State and Foreign Operations Appropriations. Hakela stepped up and took the lead on my community funding requests and general appropriation requests. She has been a force for Alabama's First District during her time holding these positions.

We are so proud of all the accomplishments she has made, and I cannot wait to see where the next adventure takes her.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Nicholas Ayers for his service to Alabama's First Congressional District. A Virginia native, Nicholas graduated from George Mason University, where he also received his Master of Public Administration. Nicholas has been on the Hill for nearly six years and has dedicated his time serving for the U.S. House of Representatives. Starting off as a Legislative Intern, Nicholas researched information about legislation and issues which affected that district. He was then promoted to Staff Assistant, Legislative Correspondent, Legislative Aid, and then I hired him on as my Legislative Assistant. His extensive knowledge of health care made him an asset to my office, and I know wherever he goes next, he will continue to be a leader. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of a dear friend of mine, Brother Fred Wolfe.

Fred Hartwell Wolfe was born December 5, 1936, in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and he passed away on January 3, 2021. I was standing on this very floor being sworn in the moment they let me know he had passed away.

To so many people in this country, Fred Wolfe was a friend. He was a spiritual leader. He was a life coach. He was a father figure. He was a big brother. That is why we all simply called him Brother Fred.

Brother Fred had a God-given ability to make everyone feel special, and he truly believed that everyone was special. Every waking moment in Brother Fred's life, he understood that God was not only watching him, but God knew exactly what His next step would be in Fred's life.

Brother Fred, on numerous occasions, would tell me that everything in our life is controlled by God, and everything was put here to serve God.

Later in life, Brother Fred's health started breaking down, but he never took his eyes off of God. I remember when he had open-heart surgery and the men from the church would stay with him to take care of his needs. One night when I was there with Brother Fred, I asked him how his open-heart surgery had played a role in God's master plan.

He told me, I don't know. He said, It is part of the plan, but I don't know. I am here to serve. I thought that was a pretty strange response seeing he just had his chest cracked open and everything moved around. But he knew he would wait. He told me, We may never know; then again, we may.

Just a few minutes later, a nurse came walking in to take his vital signs--of course, as they do in the hospitals and keep you awake all night--while doing so, he smiled at Brother Fred and said, You don't remember me, but a few years ago, I got saved under your ministry.

Unfortunately, I have slipped away from God, and I am paying the price in my family today.

With all the tubes, with all the monitors, with everything going off in that room, Brother Fred stopped what he was thinking and doing and prayed with that man. He left with much higher spirits than he actually entered with.

As we sat there quietly, I was thinking, Did God use Fred Wolfe in this position because of this man? I looked up and made eye contact with Fred, who was laying in the bed, he simply winked and rolled over and went to sleep like he knew that was the answer.

For thousands of people who were saved under his ministry, raised their family with his wisdom, and learned that God is the most important thing in their life, I say this is not good-bye, for we will see you again. We will see Miss Anne, and we will see Brother Fred at the right hand of God.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Laura Stagno for her service to Alabama's First Congressional District. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Laura previously worked for the USDA and then for Representative Mac Thornberry before joining my Washington office during the 117th Congress as a Legislative Assistant. In this role, she did an excellent job and proved herself to be one of the sharpest minds on the Hill. Her strong knowledge of natural resources, energy, healthcare, agriculture, education, and labor and her outstanding work ethic earned her a promotion to Legislative Director in January of 2022. In this role she continued the work in her policy portfolio and meeting with constituents across our district, while she also managed 2 Legislative Assistants and a Legislative Correspondent. Laura has been a huge asset to Alabama's First Congressional District and will be greatly missed. I wish her the best in all her future endeavors.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Sadie Lackey for her service to Alabama's First Congressional District. A Georgia native, Sadie graduated from the University of Georgia. Prior to working on the Hill, Sadie gained knowledge and experience working in higher education at the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. After excelling there, she went on to work for the USDA, supporting youth-focused outreach programs and further providing opportunities for younger generations to succeed in the agriculture industry by partnering with higher education and industry. Through her efforts at USDA, Sadie helped inspire countless youth to become farmers, leaving a lasting impact across rural America. She then started on the Hill as a Senate Press Assistant, ensuring the Senator's message strategy was effective and clear. After recognizing her many talents, I hired her on as a Legislative Correspondent and then as a Legislative Aide. Sadie's success has forever shaped the landscape of South Alabama and made the 1st Congressional District a prime destination for the agriculture industry. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors and know she will continue to be a leader in the agriculture industry.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) for his leadership on all of these pro-life issues.

Madam Speaker, in the wake of the Dobbs decision, pro-abortion radicals have waged horrific attacks on our pro-life community.

Pro-life institutions are on the front line of meeting the needs of women, youth, and, yes, men. They provide critical services and support and have saved so many lives. Nobody should be in fear for their safety when seeking medical care and spiritual support.

This body has an opportunity to express its unwavering support for women and families across America and condemn this violence by voting for this act.

I am proud to be part of this effort. Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes'' on this resolution.