Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023. Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Rogers have put together an outstanding piece of legislation.

I also thank my ranking member, Mr. Lamborn, for his tremendous cooperation throughout the year and all the members of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces for their valuable contributions to the bill.

This bill strengthens our national security at a time when our country is facing new and evolving threats in almost every theater. This bill takes care of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and guardians, and it invests in the tools that we need to protect ourselves, our allies, and our partners, as well as to deter our strategic competitors.

The Subcommittee on Strategic Forces has within its jurisdiction some of the most technical, complex, and consequential issues involved in our national security. At the top of that list are nuclear weapons. It is absolutely essential that American nuclear forces and their command and control infrastructure remain safe, secure, and reliable.

This bill makes certain that the Departments of Defense and Energy are well positioned for the immense task of sustaining our legacy forces while also recapitalizing our nuclear enterprise for the next 70 years.

This bill ensures that both Departments are pursuing balanced approaches, emphasizing deterrence but also nonproliferation and arms control. We must remain focused on the highest priority efforts and realistic in our plans for future programs. Plutonium pit production is a prime example of where greater realism is needed.

Regarding space, the subcommittee this year focused on the ability of China and Russia to degrade and destroy our national security satellites. This bill presses the Department to publicly release a strategy on how they will defend our on-orbit assets. It also requires the new Space Force to continue tactically responsive space efforts, authorizes additional funds to do so, and encourages increased competition within phase 3.

Please support H.R. 7900.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Foster amendment.

Why?

To the average Member, this may sound complicated, but it is all about nuclear testing. We need to stop North Korea and other nations from doing nuclear testing, and if they do, then we need a trusted international source to monitor exactly what they are doing.

It does not help us in America to be blind, and it does not help the House of Representatives to blindly follow what the Senate does, particularly Senate inaction, because the other body is notoriously unable to conduct its work.

The important fact that Members need to know is: all of the heads of our national labs say that we do not need to test. The heads of Sandia, Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Oak Ridge certify annually. We do not need to test, and we need to stop other nations who are trying to test.

This amendment helps us stop those other nations. This amendment helps us stop North Korea. This amendment helps us stop other rogue nations and major powers like China and Russia from testing.

Mr. Speaker, let's support the Foster amendment, and let's keep America strong. This is a very important principle for us to stand up for, and I thank Mr. Foster for offering this important amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask support for H.R. 5271, my bill to name this Nashville Post Office for a great friend of mine and a great friend of all Tennesseans, the late State Senator Thelma Harper.

Thelma was many things. She was a beloved public servant. She was the first African American to be elected to the Tennessee State senate, and she was the first female African American to be elected to the Tennessee Senate. She was the longest-serving female State senator in all of Tennessee history.

Her nearly four decades of public service were marked by her tireless service on behalf of her constituents. She started in the city council, and she helped fight a toxic landfill in her community of Bordeaux.

She then moved to the State senate, and she continued to fight for average people in Nashville, Tennessee. She served in the State senate until 2018, and she had a hand in many of Nashville's greatest projects: for example, bringing the Tennessee Titans to our city, the development of Nashville's Music City Center, the downtown public library, and for the National Museum of African American Music.

Thelma Harper was a proud member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and she served as chair of the Tennessee Commemorative Women's Suffrage Commission.

She is fondly remembered by many for her annual Kids' Are Special Too community Easter egg hunts, which kids delighted in, and which I personally participated in for many years. Those were held continuously and are continued by her family since Thelma passed away in May of 2021.

Most importantly, Thelma was a dear friend who was kind enough to include me in her family. She was a member of

many organizations in Nashville, a mentor, a teacher, and a friend. She taught me how to find common ground, even with some tough political adversaries. She saw the best in everyone.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5271.

Madam Speaker I rise today to honor The Tennessee Tribune, one of Tennessee's most influential publications, and Rosetta Miller-Perry, who is the paper's founder, publisher, and CEO.

Thirty years ago, Rosetta took a business risk to launch The Tribune in order to raise awareness of, and address issues facing, Black families. The Tennessee Tribune has become the state's largest minority weekly newspaper, fearlessly speaking truth to power and highlighting stories too often ignored by other publishers.

From joining the United States Navy to working alongside civil rights leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Z. Alexander Looby, Rosetta has always been an advocate for good on the right side of history. Before founding The Tennessee Tribune, she worked at the United States Civil Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. After arriving in Nashville, Rosetta founded the city's Black Chamber of Commerce, which is still the preeminent resource for African American businesses in the area. It's no surprise that Rosetta is known to many as the Queen of Jefferson Street, the historic center of Nashville's African American community.

Rosetta's lifetime of accomplishments is documented in HistoryMakers, an oral history collection of prominent African Americans. In 2019, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Newspaper Publishers Association for her work with The Tribune.

The Tennessee Tribune's work is multi-dimensional. It has two stores in the Nashville International Airport so that most visitors to our state will see the importance and power that diversity has made in shaping our growing region. This progress would not have been possible without Rosetta and The Tribune.

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of The Tennessee Tribune and Rosetta's dedication to championing the cause of civil rights and leadership of African Americans. Rosetta always makes our city, state, and country better, and I am honored to call her a friend. I look forward to The Tribune's next thirty years and many more decades after that.

Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Mr. Chair, the Strategic Forces Subcommittee probably has the heaviest responsibility of any in Congress, or possibly in the world, because authorizing nuclear weapons affects the fate of the Nation and of the planet. I thank all of our subcommittee members and our wonderful staff for their hard work on this bill.

The most important duty of our government is to defend the Nation, and the number one priority of the Defense Department is to make sure that we have safe, secure, reliable, and effective nuclear weapons. This subcommittee has a long tradition of bipartisanship on these vital issues.

This bill upholds our commitment to maintaining a strong nuclear deterrent force. We owe it to our constituents, to our allies, and to the planet to strengthen and preserve the remarkable peace and prosperity that the world has known for the last 75 years.

As an example, this bill funds the National Nuclear Security Administration at 4.3 percent over last year's appropriation, which also means a $608 million increase to the NNSA Weapons Activities programs.

We take steps to reduce the risk of nuclear miscalculation. This bill denies President Trump's request for a new low-yield nuclear weapon for use on our nuclear submarines, a request that would undermine our security.

The last 60 years of nuclear deterrent strategy were based, in large part, on the U.S. strategic nuclear submarine force, that most survivable leg of our triad, never being used for tactical nuclear weapons. Deploying another low-yield nuclear weapon, of which we have countless ones and other delivery systems, is not only unnecessary but a dangerous policy.

We prioritize a production level of 30 plutonium pits a year and making this happen as soon as possible by 2026. This goal alone will be extremely challenging. We must set up NNSA for success.

On arms control treaties, we continue to be challenged by the administration, which continues to try to upend treaties. This bill supports the Open Skies Treaty.

Mr. Chair, I look forward to our colleagues supporting this important legislation.

Madam Speaker, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the vote to pass the 19th Amendment, I would like to recognize Tennessee's crucial role in the Amendment's ratification.

State Representative Harry T. Burn was a slow learner. He was originally antisuffragist, but he ultimately changed his ``nay'' vote to ``yea'' just in time to heed his mother's advice to ``be a good boy'' and vote for ratification.

His was the deciding vote in the Tennessee General Assembly, making Tennessee the 36th State, and final State, needed for ratification. Representative Burn explained his vote this way: ``I know that a mother's advice is always safest for her boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.''

So thank you to Representative Burn and, above all, to his mother, Ms. Phoebe Burn, for her crucial role in aiding women's right to vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Future Farmers of America Alternative Energy Sustainable Logistics Academy at Whites Creek High School in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 2016 and 2017, Whites Creek High School Future Farmers of America Alternative Energy Sustainable Logistics Academy, led by the Academy instructor Dr. Garry Gibson, grew four acres of soybeans for their biodiesel program at the Whites Creek Community Garden.

In 2016, the Academy applied for and won the first place prize nationally and $10,000 in the Ford Motor Challenge STEM Contest. The 2016 winnings were used to drive a biodiesel powered vehicle for a student lecture tour up-and-down the east coast ending at the University of Guelph, Canada's top agricultural university.

In 2017, the Academy again placed first place nationally in the Ford Motor Challenge, winning $20,000. The 2017 winnings are being used by the Academy to create a student-led solar power station at Whites Creek High School, overseen by the Academy Principal, Mr. Jeremiah Davis; a local solar power adviser from Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Mr. Jason Carney; and Whites Creek High School seniors Rachel Rhea and Daniel Vanclief. The Academy has since created a solar power curriculum so Whites Creek students can continue these efforts.

The solar power station will reduce the school's electrical costs by an estimated $5,000 each year. It will also keep an estimated 72,072 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the environment that would otherwise have been created from burning coal.

I congratulate the Whites Creek High School Future Farmers of America Alternative Energy Sustainable Logistics Academy on their invaluable contributions to Middle Tennessee's future.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital is the largest faith based nonprofit hospital in Middle Tennessee, providing spiritually centered, holistic care that sustains and improves the Nashville community.

With its 683 licensed acute care beds, more than 2,000 employees, 1053 physicians, and 425 allied health providers on staff, Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital delivers world class care and makes a tremendous impact on Nashville and the surrounding counties every day.

Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital provides a wide variety of vital inpatient and outpatient services. The clinical programs and medical facilities are continuously updated to meet both the changing needs of the community and the challenges posed by new discoveries and innovations in technology.

Saint Thomas Midtown began its healing ministry in Nashville as Protestant Hospital on March 20, 1919. The ownership of Protestant Hospital was transferred to the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 1948 and became Mid-State Baptist Hospital. The name was later changed to Baptist Hospital on December 17, 1964. In January 2002, Baptist Hospital joined Saint Thomas Health's regional health system and became a member of Ascension, a Catholic Health System that is the largest nonprofit, faith based health system in the United States. In 2013, the name was changed from Baptist Hospital to Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital.

Despite its evolution and many name changes over the years, one thing has remained constant. Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital has always been dedicated to improving the health of our entire community, especially the poor and most vulnerable.

We are fortunate to have a ministry like Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital providing compassionate care in the great state of Tennessee for the past 100 years. I hope that Nashville is lucky enough to have Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital caring for our citizens for 100 more years to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the late Charles Baldinger of Nashville, Tennessee.

While attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Charlie was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma--a rare Stage 3 malignant brain tumor. He found the bad news after a near-fatal accident. As a cadet, Charlie fell 20 feet during a rope-free bouldering set. The fall resulted in a trip to the hospital where it was discovered that he had a brain tumor.

Nevertheless, Charlie graduated from West Point, was commissioned as an Infantry Officer, but then was forced to medically retire. Yet he kept learning and kept excelling. Charlie earned his master's degree from Lipscomb University. Charlie began treatments while at Lipscomb and allowed its College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences to use his body for research. He underwent test treatments that allowed data to be gathered for the purpose of better understanding how to treat cancer. Even during his illness, Charlie continued his service to others.

Charlie passed away peacefully on January 6, 2019. He was a brother, son, grandson, husband, and friend, who will always be remembered by his loved ones.

Mr. Speaker, on November 16, 2018, during debate on H.R. 6784, the Manage our Wolves Act, I voted incorrectly on Roll Call Vote No. 420. My vote should have been cast as `NO.'

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember Stratford High School and the Nashville community on the 55th anniversary of the school's desegregation. On that remarkable day, four twelve-year-old girls courageously walked into Stratford High School prepared to change history and open the doors of opportunity for all.

The lessons of Nashville's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement are still teaching us how to build a more perfect union. In a 1960 speech in Nashville, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ``I came to Nashville not to bring inspiration, but to gain inspiration from the great movement that has taken place in this community.'' Equal access to quality education, like that provided at Stratford, is vital to growing leaders who will inspire generations to come.

In 1963, just a few days after Dr. King spoke of a dream from the Lincoln Memorial, Bernadine Price [Rabathaly], Beverly Page [Ward], Brenda Harris [Haywood], and Pamela Franklin walked into school and trusted the content of their character. With the help, encouragement, and protection of the school's Assistant Principal, Ronald Webb, the students overcame obstacles that no students should face and helped change our nation forever.

As we reflect on the past, let us remember and thank these heroic individuals for their relentless efforts in making our community a stronger place, and realize we still have a lot of work to do.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Goodlettsville Church as it celebrates more than 175 years of service to the community in Tennessee.

Goodlettsville Church's deep community roots began in the 1800s on the banks of Mansker Creek. From 42 members in the early days to more than 200 today, Goodlettsville Church has touched countless lives with its rich community of faith.

Through the strong pastoral leadership, Service Ministry Team, Cumberland Presbyterian Women and the family worship each week, Goodlettsville Church shares the love of Christ at home and in mission trips abroad.

With its mission to show others the ``Love of Christ Inside and Out,'' Goodlettsville Church will continue to be a beacon of hope in the community for many more years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Country Music Association for its 60 years of providing unity, purpose, and leadership within the country music industry.

The Country Music Association was the first trade association formed to promote a genre of music. Since its founding in 1958, it has

grown from its original 160 members and today represents more than 7,400 industry professionals. The Country Music Association preserves the industry's rich heritage and time-honored traditions. This organization's tireless advocacy has brought the appreciation for and the excellence of country music to new heights.

Country Music is the story of America, and the Country Music Association shares this story around the world. The Country Music Association celebrates life by connecting those near and far and making global connections through the gift of music. Country music creates a place for everyone by evoking celebration and pain, joy and sorrow, love and loss.

The country music industry is as charitable as it is talented. The Country Music Association Foundation, the organization's charitable group, has invested more than $21 million in improving and sustaining music education programs across the nation. Thanks to these efforts, students from everywhere are gaining skills and knowledge to help them succeed in all facets of their lives.

The power of country music is boundless, and the Country Music Association ensures that its genius is reaching every corner of this world and will continue to do so for generations to come.

I am honored to represent the home of the Country Music Association in Nashville, Tennessee, and am proud to recognize its 60th anniversary.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember Stratford High School and the Nashville community on the55th anniversary of the school's desegregation. On that remarkable day, four twelve-year-old girls courageously walked into Stratford High School prepared to change history and open the doors of opportunity for all.

The lessons of Nashville's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement are still teaching us how to build a more perfect union. In a 1960 speech in Nashville, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ``I came to Nashville not to bring inspiration, but to gain inspiration from the great movement that has taken place in this community.'' Equal access to quality education, like that provided at Stratford, is vital to growing leaders who will inspire generations to come.

In 1963, just a few days after Dr. King was murdered, Bernadine Price Rabathaly, Beverly Page Ward, Brenda Harris Haywood, and Pamela Franklin walked into school and were greeted with hate. With the help, encouragement, and protection of the school's Assistant Principal, Ronald Webb, the students overcame obstacles that no students should face and helped change our nation forever.

As we reflect on the past, let us remember and thank these heroic individuals for their relentless efforts in making our community a stronger place, and realize we still have a lot of work to do.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank all members of the conference committee for their record-breaking work on this National Defense Authorization Act. This bill supports the national security, so I am pleased to support it.

I would particularly like to thank my good friend, Chairman Rogers, for his bipartisan leadership of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.

In addition to authorizing core missions of our nuclear forces to provide a strong deterrent, this defense authorization bill mandates an independent study on increasing the decision time before the President can use nuclear weapons; allows negotiations for extending the New START treaty to maintain binding limits on the number of strategic weapons that Russia can deploy; drops a provision that would have all but separated the Nuclear Security Administration from the Department of Energy, in direct contradiction of expert recommendations; and allows the Department of Energy to continue terminating the failed and unaffordable MOX boondoggle.

The bill supports effective missile defense efforts, including pressing for near-term solutions such as boost-phase missile defense using kinetic interceptors, increases accountability of the acquisition of expensive interceptors, and, of course, supports U.S.-Israeli missile defense.

Finally, I strongly commend Chairman Rogers' leadership in strengthening our ability to defend our assets in space against increasing threats.

The bill creates a sub-unified command for space and continues oversight of warfighting readiness, presses for a more rapid and agile acquisition process, and mandates a plan for improving our space capabilities.

I look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Rogers and others toward establishment of a true space corps or space force. I urge support for this bill.

Mr. Speaker, the opening prayer today was given by Rabbi Mark Schiftan of Nashville, the senior rabbi of the oldest and largest Jewish congregation in middle Tennessee. The congregation dates back to 1851, when the Vine Street Temple began worship services in downtown Nashville, even before the Civil War.

Rabbi Schiftan has led today's temple, Congregation Ohabai Sholom, for nearly 20 years and is well known and beloved in our community.

His family escaped the Holocaust from Vienna, Austria, fleeing first to Shanghai, China, and then to San Francisco.

Rabbi Schiftan was educated at San Francisco State University, the Hebrew Union of Los Angeles, and then was ordained at the Hebrew Union of Cincinnati.

Under Rabbi Schiftan's leadership, the temple has been the indispensable religious and cultural institution for all of middle Tennessee.

I would like to personally thank the rabbi for his strong leadership in our community, for our personal friendship, and for opening the House with prayer today.