Floor Statements

Mr. President, 10 years feels like a lifetime ago. In May of 2015, I had just returned from serving a tour in Afghanistan and had just started my campaign--my very first campaign--for Congress. But not even a few weeks later, on this day, June 16--10 years ago today-- Donald Trump came down that golden escalator in Trump Tower in New York City and changed American politics forever. He took the Republican Party and the country by storm, and our country is better off for it.

No one in the history of this country has dominated American politics for an entire decade like Donald Trump has, and it has been a wild ride. The Republican Party is better off because of that. Our country is better off today because of that too.

Remember, when President Trump came down that golden escalator, we were in the political wilderness. Republicans hadn't won a national election in 12 years, and Republican experts, you might recall, gathered in 2013 to do an autopsy report.

And what did they say? They said the best way to win a national election was to embrace amnesty. Boy, were they wrong.

It may seem like a lifetime ago, but it wasn't too long ago when Republicans and Democrats in this Chamber were working together to pass so-called comprehensive immigration reform, or also known as amnesty-- remember the Gang of 8.

But President Trump shifted us away from that ideology and that mindset. He changed the Republican Party from one that wanted to pass amnesty to one that would fight to save jobs from illegal labor.

Donald Trump was the first Republican in my lifetime to say that immigration should put the interests of the American workers first and foremost. It is one of the reasons that he was so different from other Republicans back in 2015 and 2016, when he came down that escalator talking about putting American workers first.

It turns out that all working-class voters--whether they were Black or White, Latino or Asian--all they wanted was a shot at the American dream for themselves and their kids, just like every other generation of Americans had before them.

And, today, the new Republican Party is that multiracial, working- class coalition, thanks to Donald

Trump. Working-class Americans are now the backbone of the GOP, and those are the men and women that President Trump stands up for every day and fights for, and I am proud to stand up with him.

It wasn't that long ago, as well, that leaders in both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party ignored the fact that China was ripping off our country and stealing jobs from American workers. Those same experts assured us that allowing China into the World Trade Organization and establishing permanent normal trading relations with China would gradually turn the communist China into a liberal democracy. Once again, they couldn't have been any more wrong than what they were.

The political class completely ignored communist China's ambition to destroy our manufacturing base. For decades, they stood by and watched as China stole our American technology, copied our products, broke trade rules, and built entire industries on the backs of slave labor. They supported a trade system that made our country poor and more dependent on our enemies abroad.

President Trump, from the moment he came down that golden escalator, recognized that this was a bad deal for American families, workers, and for our national security. In fact, at one of his very first campaign stops in Fort Wayne, IN, where I am from, he used stronger language about China than any other political leader before him.

In his first term, President Trump rewrote the national security strategy and named China a national security threat for the very first time.

And this time around, President Trump's trade agenda is working. His tariffs are already bringing back manufacturing jobs to the United States and encouraging companies to invest trillions in American manufacturing and get out of China instead.

In the last few months, thanks to this President's ``America First'' agenda, we have seen Honda announcing that they are going to build their next-generation Civic in Greensburg, IN. General Motors announced it would increase truck production in Fort Wayne. Eli Lilly plans to invest $27 billion in American manufacturing. Novartis also just announced a $23 billion investment in their American facilities, creating more good-paying jobs for Hoosiers.

President Trump's policies are strengthening America's economy and bringing critical manufacturing back home, while weakening China's economy. Imports from China have already dropped 35 percent, and China's economy is struggling because of it. And President Trump has got their attention. The Chinese are begging him to make a deal.

He is the first President, you see, in my lifetime to understand China's economic and military threat. Every President before President Trump played footsie with China, but President Trump is the only person tough enough to be in that negotiating room with communist China.

We finally have a President who is putting American workers and their families that they provide for first. Our country is stronger and more secure because of it. No other President since Reagan has done more to protect our national security.

President Trump projects peace through strength and puts the American people's interests first in our foreign policy as well. He is rebuilding our national defense and our industrial base after his predecessors depleted it. He got our NATO allies to step up to the plate and invest more in their collective defense when other Presidents tried and failed to do the same thing.

And President Trump is the greatest peacemaker of my lifetime. He is the only President not to get our country into a new war in the last four decades. Our enemies respect us again. They fear us. Our allies respect us. The ``America First'' foreign policy is working because President Trump rejected the failed thinking of the past.

I thank God that President Trump came down that escalator 10 years ago today. It is a date that we should all mark on our calendar and never forget. American politics hasn't been the same since; I don't think it ever will be again--and for the better. For all the reasons that I have already mentioned, our country is stronger and more united today. Our workers and families are better off. Our streets are safer, and opportunity and the American dream are within reach.

The American people are charting our country's future again--not China, not the elites, not multinational corporations--the American people. It is a new direction, and it never would have happened without President Trump's leadership and coming down that escalator 10 years ago today. I am proud to stand with President Trump.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Captain Scott Krueger on the completion of his tenure as president of the Indiana State Police Alliance. As president, Captain Krueger represented over 1,200 active Indiana State Troopers.

Captain Krueger has proudly served the State of Indiana for 25 years, following in the footsteps of his father as a dedicated member of the Indiana State Police.

The Indiana State Police Alliance champions the values of integrity, superior quality, outstanding service, teamwork, mutual respect, and accountability. It is clear why Captain Krueger was chosen to lead this esteemed organization; he not only understands these values, he embodies them.

On behalf of a grateful State, I thank Captain Krueger for his service and leadership. Indiana is better and safer because of his dedication. I wish you the very best in your continued career.

Mr. President, it is the honor of my life to be here representing Indiana in the U.S. Senate. I want to start out thanking Hoosiers for sending me here to serve them, my State, and my country. It is an incredible honor. It is humbling and thrilling, truly, speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate for the very first time.

You know, I grew up in a trailer park in Columbia City, IN, a small town of less than 10,000 people. I still live there today with my wife Amanda and our three young daughters, and, really, it is the best hometown in America.

But when I was a kid, we lived on the very south end of town, on a dead-end street with about a dozen trailers. I often drive by that boyhood home, and I point it out to my daughters, and I say: That is where I came from.

Unfortunately for them, it is on the way to school. So they hear me say that a lot, and they get annoyed every time I say it.

But I have a lot of great memories growing up in that trailer park. I remember my dad teaching me how to ride a bicycle in the cul-de-sac at the end of the street.

I remember his cream-colored Ford Bronco. The top would come off. He would wax it on the street and drive it around town. He was so proud of it.

I remember the bunkbed at the front of the trailer that I shared with my brother Chad. I remember the swing set in the side yard.

I remember deer hunting season. My dad would bring the buck home that he was proud of. We would can the meat, and we would live off it for the winter.

You see, my parents didn't have much, but they worked hard, and they provided for my two younger brothers and me.

My mom and dad were high school sweethearts. They didn't go to college. They had me at a young age. My mom started working when she was 13 years old at a local nursing home called Miller's Merry Manor, and she only recently retired from working there for most of her life.

My dad worked at a local Dane factory, where they made axles for cars and other vehicles. My uncle, my grandpa, many relatives, and many friends of our family also worked in that same factory. In fact, it was my grandpa, my mom's dad, who got my dad his job there when he started dating my mom.

When I was growing up, that factory provided good pay and opportunities for so many families in my community. During all three shifts, 24/7, the parking lot would be overflowing as workers earned a wage that was good enough to support their families. That was our American dream. Those were exactly the kinds of jobs that allowed my parents to put food on their table and raise their boys.

To so many Americans like my parents, the American dream isn't just some concept that think tank experts in Washington, DC, write about. It is real. It is what they have lived in their lives, like my mom and dad did, because to my mom and dad, the American dream is, if you work hard, then perhaps your kids might have a better shot than what you did.

I want to take a moment, like the Good Book says to do, and I want to honor my mom and my dad. It is because of them that I have lived the American dream. Look at where I am today: on the floor of the U.S. Senate, from humble beginnings in a small town in Northeast Indiana, the first of my family to go to college, and the great honor of wearing the uniform and serving my country.

I served my country in the U.S. House of Representatives and now here in this historic Chamber, the U.S. Senate. My oldest daughter Lillian is in the Gallery with us today. And just like my parents, I want my three daughters to be better off than what I was. That is the American dream.

This really is the greatest country in the history of the world. That American dream is always worth fighting and protecting.

But sadly, the country has changed a lot from when I was a kid growing up in that small town. There used to be plenty of those good- paying factory jobs like the one that my dad had, with pay that kept up with the cost of living and companies that treated their workers right.

It is no accident that a lot of those jobs have disappeared, and the working class is falling further and further behind. You see, it is clear: It is the result of bad policy choices that put corporate and foreign interests ahead of those workers like my dad. Decades of America-last policies have hollowed out our industries and crushed our workers.

Wall Street shipped factories overseas and stripped our companies for quick profits. For a State like Indiana, the top manufacturing State in the country, that is a huge blow.

We have lost 6 million manufacturing jobs since 1980, while our population grew by over 117 million people. Like President Trump said last week, we have also lost more than 90,000 factories since NAFTA was signed. Adjusting for the value of the dollar, working-class wages for men haven't gone up at all. They earned about $850 a week in 1980, and they still earn about $850 a week today. About 600,000 jobs went to Mexico over two decades since NAFTA. In the 1980s, it took about 40 weeks of work for a factory worker to earn enough to support their family. Today, it takes about 62 weeks, which means those working-class families are growing debt and falling further and further behind.

For too long, empty lots, boarded-up buildings, and dead store fronts could be seen all over America because of the choices that our Nation's elites made. It was a tremendous failure of leadership. They opened up our borders, they cut wages for workers, and, as a result, cheap labor flooded into our country.

Indiana is also the top steel-producing State in the country, but the steel industry has shrunk by two-thirds. In 1980, the United States made one-sixth of the world's steel. Now that has dropped to one- twentieth.

Foreign companies have used their low wages and subsidies to dump cheap steel and take over our market, while American steel companies have struggled to keep up.

Today, America produces 1 percent of all of the cargo ships in the world. But in 1980, we made over 50 percent of them. It costs over double to build a ship in the United States than it does in China and South Korea, and they heavily subsidize their shipbuilding industries.

You see, in Columbia City, my small hometown, the best paying jobs are at a local steel mill called Steel Dynamics. A lot of guys I went to high school with, a lot of friends of our family work there today, and they do really well and provide for their families.

But we have lost way too many of those kinds of jobs around the country to China and foreign countries that have taken advantage of us and our workers. It was great to see leaders from that steel mill-- Steel Dynamics--in the Rose Garden last week when I had a front row seat to celebrate President Trump's tariffs announcement, which will massively help our steel industry in places like Columbia City, IN. For too long, our leaders have turned a blind eye when our enemies like China took those good-paying skilled jobs away from us.

One of the really memorable moments from the Rose Garden, last week, of President Trump for me was when he said that it is hard to fully blame foreign countries when it was the lack of leadership on our own part that allowed those countries to take advantage of America.

In fact, he kept pointing back to the Oval Office and saying that we are in the position that we are today because many of the men who sat in that office behind him did nothing while foreign countries took advantage of us and our workers.

President Trump understands, like we all do, that we can't pass the American dream on to the next generation if we let China dominate us. In fact, he is the first President of my lifetime to call China a threat to the American way of life. That is why I believe that letting China into the World Trade Organization was the worst economic mistake of my lifetime.

For too long, they have stolen our technology, they have copied our products, and they have built up their industries with slave wages that American workers can't and shouldn't have to compete with. No one has held them accountable until now. Too many of our leaders have been playing footsie with China instead of pushing back and standing up for our workers.

In 2001, our trade deficit with China was $84 billion. By 2024, that deficit more than tripled to $295 billion. Nearly 25 years ago, China accounted for 8 percent of the world's manufacturing output, but by 2020, that number has gone up by 35 percent.

The Chinese Communist Party wants to make the United States irrelevant in every key industry: steel, aluminum, nuclear power, AI, semiconductors, telecom, planes, ships, cars, and many more.

They are making us weaker and dependent. And here is the worst part about it: the CCP conned American investors into footing the bill. They rolled out the red carpet to corporate America, and Wall Street poured nearly $1 trillion into Chinese companies that destroyed American jobs.

Some people believed naively that China would become freer, more open, and more like America; the complete opposite has happened. Now, they are our biggest adversary, and it is past time that we fight back.

During my time in the House, I made it my mission, my biggest priority to stand up to China, and only one President in my lifetime, once again, has understood that threat. In the U.S. Senate, I intend to help and stand with President Trump to stand up to China and put America first.

When President Trump first came down that escalator over 10 years ago, my dad, a retired union factory worker, was for him from day one. I wasn't so sure about it, but my dad knew that

Donald Trump was going to fight for the working class, and, boy, was he right.

President Trump tapped into the American people's hopes in a way that few leaders before him ever have. And that is why I was so inspired in just the first couple of weeks on the job as a U.S. Senator to be in that Rotunda for President Trump's inauguration when he talked about ushering in the golden age of America. It was so encouraging and inspiring to real people in real places like my hometown.

I feel like I am living through some of the best parts of our history, and I stand with President Trump in his commitment to put those working families first. He is removing the ``kick me'' sign from the backs of our workers and our producers. He is doing what the voters elected him to do, and he is keeping his campaign promises.

He is putting our attention on the issues that matter most to working Americans, like being able to afford a home, a car, groceries, education, and healthcare.

He is standing up against global companies that are selling out to our enemies, and he is bringing back a country that builds and makes things. Just last month, so important to Indiana, we heard that Honda is going to build their new Honda Civic in Indiana, not in Mexico. And last week, GM said that they would increase truck production just a few miles from my hometown in Fort Wayne. Our steel mills are roaring back to life. Our tech companies are hiring in America again.

And Eli Lilly, also based in Indiana, plans to invest $27 billion in American manufacturing. So far in just 10 weeks, President Trump has announced $6 trillion in new investment in the United States of America. That type of investment is helping to bring back the American dream for hard-working Americans.

On election day this past November, I took what ended up being a long and nostalgic walk with my dog Marshall. He is named after Thomas Riley Marshall, the 28th Vice President of the United States, who is also from my small hometown.

In fact, his Vice Presidential statue is right outside the west door as you enter this Chamber. In fact, on election day, we walked right past his home, which today is a museum in his honor to his history. When I was in elementary school, we would go to field trips to the museum, and the teachers would say: Look what this guy did coming from a small town like this. If you work hard and dream big, maybe you can do something like that too.

I went on this dogwalk with Marsh, and we walked past the museum, we walked past the courthouse and the town square in my hometown. We walked past the hot dog stand that was where I had my first job as a teenager, and then we ended up in that trailer park that I mentioned earlier where I grew up.

I have driven past it many times, but it was the first time that I have actually gone through alone and walked through and down this street since I was a kid. It was just a couple of hours before the news would call my race and name me the Senator-elect for the great State of Indiana, so this was rather an emotional experience for me. As memories of my childhood flooded back, I realized how incredible of a life and opportunity that I have been given.

But as we were walking down that street, I noticed a mom sitting on the steps of her trailer, smoking a cigarette, watching her two boys in the yard who would have been about the same age as my brother and I would have been when we lived in that trailer park too. As I watched them, I couldn't help but wonder if those boys would be able to achieve what I did or if the deck was so stacked against them today that that kind of opportunity for them was way out of reach.

Later that evening as the results from election night poured in, it became apparent to me that America decided to turn the page to a new chapter for this great country. And as someone who has lived the American dream, I have got great news for those boys and their mom: The golden age of America is here.

It has only been 5 months since election day when I took that walk, and we have already seen a major shift for hard-working Americans. For too long, Washington has not cared about people like those boys and that mom, but I do. And I know that all of you do, and I know that President Trump does too.

As leaders in this country, we have a duty to fight for those boys and those moms like her for their American dream.

To my Republican colleagues and my colleagues across the aisle, we must stand together more than ever before to fight for those working families.

It is going to take everyone in this Chamber working together to do it. There is so much in this fight that we can all agree on as Republicans and Democrats, and now is the time for leadership of both parties to step up for American workers and families.

We are kicking off a new era of peace and prosperity like we have never seen before. Again, Indiana, thank you for this incredible opportunity. To my colleagues, it is a privilege to serve with you. I am so excited about what lies ahead.

I yield the floor.

(Applause.)

Mr. President, Richard Warner Carlson died at 84 on March 24, 2025, at his home in Boca Grande, FL, after 6 weeks of illness. He refused all painkillers to the end and left this world with dignity and clarity, holding the hands of his children with his dogs at his feet.

He was born February 10, 1941, at Massachusetts General Hospital to a 15-year-old Swedish-speaking girl and placed in the Home for Little Wanderers in Boston, where he developed rickets from malnutrition. His legs were bent for the rest of his life. After years in foster homes, he was placed with the Carlson family in Norwood, MA. His adoptive father, a tannery manager, died when he was 12, and he stopped attending school regularly. At 17, he was jailed for car theft, thrown out of high school for the second time, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.

In 1962, in search of adventure, he drove to California. He spent a year as a merchant seaman on the SS Washington Bear, transporting cargo to ports in the Orient, and then became a reporter. Over the next decade, he was a copy boy at the LA Times, a wire service reporter for UPI and an investigative reporter and anchor for ABC News, covering the upheaval of the period. He knew virtually every compelling figure of the time, including Jim Jones, Patty Hearst, Eric Hoffer, Jerry Garcia, as well as Mafia leaders and members of the Manson Family. In 1965, he was badly injured reporting from the Watts riots in Los Angeles.

By 1975, he was married with two small boys, when his wife departed for Europe and didn't return. He threw himself into raising his boys, whom he often brought with him on reporting trips. At home, he educated them during 3-hour dinners on topics that ranged from the French Revolution to Bolshevik Russia, PG Wodehouse, the history of the American Indian, and, always, the eternal and unchanging nature of people. He was a free thinker and a compulsive book reader, including at red lights. He left a library of

thousands of books, most dog-eared and filled with marginalia. His reading and life experiences convinced him that God is real. He had an outlaw spirit tempered by decency.

In 1979, he married the love of his life, Patricia Swanson. They were together for 44 years, all of them happy. She died 16 months before he did, and he mourned her every day.

In 1985, he moved to Washington to work for the Reagan administration. He spent 5 years as the director of the Voice of America and then moved to the Seychelles as the U.S. Ambassador. In 1992, he became the CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and later ran a division of King World television.

The last 25 years of his life were spent in work whose details were never completely clear to his family, but that was clearly interesting. He worked in dozens of countries and breakaway republics around the world and was involved in countless intrigues. He knew a number of colorful national leaders, including Rafic Hariri of Lebanon, Aslan Abashidze of Adjara, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, and whoever runs Somaliland. He was a fundamentally nonjudgmental person who was impossible to shock, and he described them all with amused affection.

He spoke to his sons every day and had lunch with them once a week for 30 years at the Metropolitan Club in Washington, always prefaced by a dice game. Throughout his life, he fervently loved dogs.

Richard W. Carlson is survived by his sons Tucker and Buckley, his beloved daughter-in-law Susie, and five grandchildren. He was the toughest human being anyone in his family ever knew and also the kindest and most loyal. RIP.

Mr. President, on January 10, 2025, Indiana lost a remarkable man of faith with the passing of Rev. Paul D. Mooney of Indianapolis.

Reverend Mooney was born in Noblesville, IN, in 1943, and was raised on his parents' farm in rural Hancock County. From an early age, Paul's exceptional gift for communication was evident. As a teenager, he hosted his own radio show and graduated as president of his high school class. But God had even greater plans for his life. As Reverend Mooney often advised, ``Don't plan your life, because you'll under-plan what God has for you.''

Reverend Mooney's parents pastored a small church in Indianapolis, where a young Paul helped with the youth ministry. He married his beloved Micki in 1963, and together, they embarked on a lifelong ministry journey, pastoring thriving churches in Michigan and Indiana.

Throughout his ministry, Reverend Mooney was entrusted by his colleagues in the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI) to serve as superintendent of both the Michigan and Indiana districts. He was later elevated to assistant general superintendent of the international fellowship, which encompasses more than 5 million constituents. He traveled the world, inspiring leaders with his trademark positivity and his legendary storytelling abilities.

Reverend Mooney dedicated much of his life to training and inspiring young people for ministry. As president of Indiana Bible College and Calvary Christian School for over 30 years, he impacted thousands of graduates who are now serving in ministry around the world.

A trusted friend and counselor to Governors, mayors, and legislators in Indiana, Reverend Mooney was a vital source of strength and wisdom for Hoosier leaders. His heart for the people of Indiana will be long remembered. He devoted his life and ministry to serving and loving all people, and he will be greatly missed.

I offer my deepest condolences to Reverend Mooney's children Jonathan, Adena, Jaye, and their families and his many friends around the world who join me in celebrating the life of this great man.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today one final time in this Chamber after 8 years of serving northeast Indiana in the House of Representatives.

I thank my supporters, my friends, and my family, who have allowed me the great honor of serving in Congress. I will always be grateful to them.

Most of all, I thank my wife, Amanda; and our three daughters, Lillian, Elizabeth, and Joann. I am only able to do this job because of the sacrifices that they make.

I thank my incredible staff over the last 8 years for their hard work on behalf of my constituents as well.

I am proud of where I come from, and it has been an honor to represent the best place in the world and the best people in the world in the U.S. House of Representatives.

This is the greatest country in the history of the world, and we have a duty to keep it that way.

I am thankful on behalf of my great State of Indiana, though I will have an opportunity to continue to serve my country and my State in January beginning in the United States Senate.

It has been an incredible honor to serve the people of Indiana.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Tom Beers, the longtime pastor of Columbia City Church of the Nazarene and my own childhood pastor, as he retires at the end of this year.

Born in Elkhart, Indiana, Pastor Tom grew up in the church and accepted Jesus as his Savior at the early age of five. After graduating high school and marrying his sweetheart, Deborah Goble, he began to feel the call to full-time ministry. In 1976, he enrolled at Olivet Nazarene College with only $250 in his pocket, a new job at Arby's, and faith that God would provide for him and his young family.

Pastor Tom graduated in 1982 and began his pastoral journey as an associate pastor at the Lansing Church of the Nazarene in Illinois. He went on to serve as the senior pastor at the Brookfield church for three years and the Waukesha, Wisconsin, church for another three before moving to Columbia City in 1991.

Since then, Pastor Tom's leadership has guided Columbia City Church of the Nazarene, establishing it as a steadfast beacon of faith in the community. Under his care, the church has flourished as a sanctuary of worship, spiritual growth, and fellowship. Pastor Tom's vision and dedication have shaped a congregation deeply committed to both local outreach and global missions, creating a legacy within the community and beyond.

Jeremiah 3:15 states: ``Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.'' Pastor Tom's ministry has been a testament to the heart of a shepherd, providing wisdom, guidance, and love to countless lives--including my own.

As he prepares to depart from his current role, I wish Pastor Tom many joyful years ahead to cherish time with his family, enjoy the community he has called home for so long, and cheer on his Indiana Hoosiers. His remarkable life of service, faith, and leadership will continue to inspire all who have been touched by his ministry.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the distinguished career of Patrick Smith, a dedicated flight paramedic and Registered Nurse who has dedicated 40 years to the field of emergency medical services (EMS). Pat's contributions have left a profound impact on both the individuals he has served and the EMS profession here in northeast Indiana.

Throughout his career, Patrick was a trailblazer in the early education of appropriate airway management technique. Drawing on his years of experience as a Respiratory Therapist, he emphasized the importance of proper ventilatory and oxygenation steps long before they became widely recognized and implemented as they are today.

Pat dedicated 32 years to the Bippus Fire Department. During this time, he served as a Primary Instructor, teaching First Responder and EMT classes across Huntington County. He also worked as a street paramedic and shift supervisor with Huntington County EMS, where his leadership and skill led to his appointment as Director.

Pat's career then took him to Lutheran, where he excelled as a Critical Care Paramedic before transitioning into the Flight Program a few years later. After becoming a Registered Nurse (RN), he has continued to maintain his Paramedic, RN, and Respiratory Therapist licenses. Among Pat's many accolades, he holds the record of completing over 1,270 flights with Lutheran Air.

Beyond these professional achievements, Pat has been a mentor to consecutive generations of healthcare workers. His deep knowledge, wealth of experience, and positive demeanor have aided countless others through the challenges and demands associated with emergency care.

Pat's peers, students, and the thousands of patients he has served hold him in the highest esteem, and his absence will be felt. Healthcare professionals like Patrick are vital to our community. I want to express my gratitude for his decades of service to our region and wish him continued success in this next great chapter of life.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the passage of the 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree through Fort Wayne, Indiana.

From its origins in Alaska's National Forests to its final destination in Washington D.C., this distinguished tree has traveled through many of North America's beautiful landscapes. It has visited small-town main streets, grand state capitals, elementary schools, and local businesses. And now, it has passed through Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Situated in the heart and crossroads of America, Fort Wayne introduces the tree to a vibrant community that exemplifies Midwestern values, patriotism, and the true essence of Christmas. Each Christmas season, this city's festive spirit is reborn through longstanding traditions that celebrate togetherness, generosity, and faith.

The Capitol Christmas Tree has been affectionately dubbed ``The People's Tree,'' and this journey it undertakes truly cements it as such. While the tree may not see, hear, or remember the communities it encounters, the people of Fort Wayne will long recall the honor of hosting a symbol that will stand proudly before the U.S. Capitol, embodying all that makes Christmas in America so special.

I thank Mike Nutter and the TinCaps organization for hosting the tree at Parkview Field, allowing Northeast Indiana to enjoy the occasion.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the distinguished career of business and community leader Michael Dahm of Fort Wayne, Indiana. His contributions have greatly improved the lives of those in our community and helped make the region a wonderful place to live and do business.

A native Hoosier, Michael has been deeply committed to the growth and prosperity of northeast Indiana. After graduating from Central Catholic High School in Fort Wayne, he earned a bachelor of business administration with a minor in real estate from Xavier University. Upon returning to Fort Wayne, he co-founded NAI Harding Dahm, now Bradley Company, where I had the privilege of working alongside him as a commercial real estate broker. More than five decades later, Michael continues to share his expertise in office, industrial, and investment sales and leasing.

Throughout his career, Michael has given back to the community in numerous ways. Among his many service contributions and accolades, he was named ``Realtor of the Year'' by the Indiana Commercial Board of Realtors (ICBR). He has also served as president of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and the Fort Wayne Board of Realtors. His volunteer work includes serving on the boards of the Better Business Bureau and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Additionally, he is a past member of the Anthony Wayne Rotary Club and a current member of the Rotary Club of Fort Wayne.

Recently, Michael celebrated both his 90th birthday and his 61st wedding anniversary with his wife, Dee Dee. As he prepares to retire after 66 years in real estate, I want to express my gratitude for his decades of service to our region. People like Michael are the reason the Midwest remains the backbone of America. I wish him continued success in this next great chapter of life.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the career of Steve Baker, longtime principal of Bluffton High School (BHS), who is retiring at the end of the school year.

Steve Baker has dedicated over 25 years as the head of BHS, having served the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District in some capacity for a remarkable 40 years. Shortly after college, he began his career in Bluffton as a high school math teacher and coach. After 11 years, he transitioned to become the assistant principal at the middle school before returning to the high school as its principal--a role he has meritoriously held ever since.

Under Mr. Baker's leadership, Bluffton High School has achieved notable success. The school earned Four Star School standing by the Indiana Department of Education five times and was recognized as an ``A'' school 14 of the last 15 years.

Beyond his direct responsibilities at BHS, Principal Baker has been a continuous advocate for the students of Bluffton. He contributed to numerous Indiana Department of Education committees, has advised state and federal legislators, and served on the Governor's Indiana Educational Roundtable and the Indiana Association of School Principals.

Additionally, Mr. Baker was named the quarterly Principal Advocate Champion in 2018 and Indiana State Principal of the Year in 2012 and is known throughout northeast Indiana as a trusted and supremely qualified voice on education.

Alongside this long list of accolades and achievements, Principal Baker's students, staff, and fellow principals will remember his mentorship, warmth, and unwavering dedication to his school. He leaves a tremendous legacy and big shoes to fill at Bluffton High School.

It is an honor to present this official congressional document as a token of appreciation for his exceptional service to our community. I wish Principal Baker the best as he heads into retirement with his wife and family.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Whitley County 4-H Fair.

Though 1924 marked the first year of the fair's uninterrupted, century-long run, its history extends all the way back to 1856 in various forms. This long-standing tradition has made Whitley County a leader in Indiana fairs since before the American Civil War.

The fair has always been about helping, educating, and entertaining Hoosiers. But it has also fulfilled an even deeper role for Whitley County residents: fostering a sense of community. This is its most significant and cherished contribution.

Whether through its ball games, picnics, or opportunities for proud farmers to display their finest produce for neighbors, the fair has fostered countless moments of community over the past century.

This legacy is perhaps best exemplified by a 1935 article in the Prairie Farmer. When the marshal of that year's parade was thrown from his horse and broke his ankle, the farmers at the fair took up a collection to pay his medical bills and lost wages. The article states, ``That's the kind of folks these big-hearted Whitley County farmers are. They're always ready to help a neighbor . . .'' That was true then, and it remains true today.

The 4-H fair has made an indelible impact on the families, farmers, and businesses of Whitley County, and it will continue to do so for another hundred years or more. As the slogan for the fast-growing fair in 1935 declared: ``Forward, Whitley County!''

Mr. Chair, this is a strong NDAA, and I urge my colleagues to support it. It includes many important priorities that are essential to protecting our national security. It remains must-pass legislation to care for our servicemembers and their families.

There are enormous wins in this bill for our servicemembers and their families, starting with a 19.5 percent pay raise for junior enlisted servicemembers. It increases access to specialty medical care, expands childcare programs to reduce wait lists across the country, and ensures our servicemembers receive 100 percent of their housing costs for their basic allowance for housing.

We must continue, as well, to gut the woke bureaucracy at the DOD. This bill does that. It contains many provisions, including a requirement that all military personnel actions are based on merit without regard to race, color, sexuality, or your political views.

There is a ban in this bill on affirmative action at our service academies. By the end of this week, I expect this bill will also include more important provisions, like a hiring freeze on all DEI personnel, a ban on overpaid chief diversity officers, and a complete ban on funding for critical race theory across the DOD.

This bill builds on the foundation of last year's NDAA, curtailing the impact that this administration's woke leftist policies can have on our troops. As we have seen just this week with the Air Force in Korea authorizing the wearing of Pride patches on Air Force uniforms or how a DoDEA school in Bahrain honored a known anti-Semite and activist on their Facebook page, DEI and leftist politics in the Biden Pentagon are still firmly entrenched. We must do something about it.

Mr. Chairman, this bill is a huge step forward in supporting servicemembers and their families. It is our promise that they receive the pay and benefits necessary to focus on their mission and that their children are cared for and well educated. We can't do enough to make sure that that happens, but this bill goes a long way to do it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Marine veteran Conrad C. Janowski, who passed away on May 12, 2024.

A long-time resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Conrad was a respected member of the community, an accomplished architect, and beloved husband, father, and friend.

Conrad attended the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. After he moved his family to Fort Wayne, he served on the Board of Directors for the Indiana Society of Architects and was President of the Northern Chapter early in his career. One of Conrad's greatest sources of pride throughout his life was his service in the United States Marine Corps from 1956 to 1958.

We honor Conrad for his service to his country and for the civic leadership he showed across the entirety of his life. May he rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Indiana State Representative Jerry Torr as he prepares to retire from the Statehouse after almost three decades of service.

Rep. Torr's long and distinguished service in the House has made him a legend in Indiana and has earned him the respect of the hundreds of legislators who have served alongside him over the years.

Jerry's contributions to the state of Indiana have been numerous and significant. Most notably, he was instrumental in making Indiana a right-to-work state and spearheaded the legislation that moved Indiana to daylight saving time. His work to allow Hoosiers with minor pre- existing conditions to be insured illustrates his effectiveness, but also his advocacy and concern for the people of his state.

To those who have followed Indiana politics and government for the past 30 years or so, Jerry has been a fixture. He has consistently represented the best of what it means to be a public servant. Beyond his legislative accomplishments, his leadership has been characterized by integrity and fairness. His presence in the halls of the Statehouse will be missed, but his legacy will inspire Hoosier leaders for years to come.