Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate the life of a west Texas giant, a proud Texas Tech Red Raider, a loving husband and father, and my dear friend, John Billingsley.

From humble beginnings in O'Donnell, Texas, John's entrepreneurial spirit and west Texas work ethic propelled him to a series of successful ventures, becoming one of the most accomplished business leaders in the entire country.

A common man with uncommon character, endless vision, and a love for God and people as big as the west Texas horizon, John was the epitome of the American Dream. His life was proof that greatness is often found in the most obscure places and within the most unassuming people.

John was a true gentleman whose uncanny business acumen was matched only by his humility, integrity, and authenticity.

John's story reminds us that with big dreams, hard work, and determination, the opportunities in this great country of ours are endless.

We grieve this great loss with his loving wife, Harriett, and the entire Billingsley family. We pray God's comfort for them, but we celebrate alongside them, as well. We celebrate John's amazing life and legacy and all the tremendous contributions he made to his friends, family, community, and our beloved country.

God bless the Billingsley family, and go west Texas.

Honoring Jonathan Nicholas Williams

Madam Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor the life of Jonathan Nicholas Williams, beloved husband, father, true west Texan, and dear friend of mine.

When I first met Jon at a Farm Bureau meeting in Terry County, he was brutally honest, direct, and plainspoken, like a lot of ag producers. While the meeting was tension filled, we became fast friends.

Jon was the epitome of a west Texas farmer, no doubt: hardworking, God-fearing, and humble, a man who was totally dedicated to his family, community, and friends.

Anyone who knew Jon would tell you that his greatest source of joy was his family, his beautiful children, Paisley, Lexi, Owen, and Willow, whom he raised with the love and support of his wife, Melissa. A proud and committed father, he instilled in his children the values of personal responsibility, perseverance, and, of course, a love of the land.

I know I speak for the entire community of west Texas when I say that the Williams family is in our prayers, and our entire community stands ready to care for them in the same way that Jon cared for us, his community, and his friends.

May God comfort the Williams family, and may He give all of us the courage and character that Jon had to live up to his legacy of truth- telling, servant leadership, and fighting for all we believe is good and right in this world.

May God bless my friend, Jon, and may he rest in peace. Blessings on his family. Go west Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members

may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H. Con. Res. 14.

Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, today, the majority will unlock the policies for making America safe and prosperous again by advancing the FY 2025 budget resolution.

Mr. Chairman, this fiscal framework will guide the process for restoring the fiscal health of our Nation by reining in reckless spending and reigniting economic growth. In addition, it provides critical resources to our Commander in Chief to secure our border, strengthen our military, and provide for the common defense.

For the next 2 hours, Mr. Chairman, my Democratic colleagues are going to reach way back to the only plays they know how to run: making false claims and fear-mongering.

Why? Because they are still, even after the recent election, disconnected from the people's reality because they are more concerned with protecting unionized government bureaucrats and woke and wasteful government programs than they are about protecting taxpayers and their sacred treasure.

Why? Because their commitment isn't to we the people in this fateful moment. It is to we the government and to derailing the mandate from the people for commonsense policies and President Trump's America First agenda.

I am going to take some time to set the record straight, Mr. Chairman, so that every time the American people hear these false claims to mislead them into thinking that the tax cuts somehow benefited the billionaires and corporations and that Republicans are cutting benefits for seniors and the poorest among us, I want the American people to know the truth. Here is the truth: The Trump tax cuts lower tax rates for every American household at every income level while increasing the amount of taxes paid by the top 1 percent.

According to The Washington Post--which, by the way, gave Democrats not one, not two, not three, but four Pinocchios every time they made these misleading claims--$3 of every $4 in the Trump tax cuts didn't go to corporations but to individuals, cutting taxes for the lowest income individuals by 10 percent while cutting taxes for the top 1 percent of income earners by less than one-half of 1 percent.

In addition, we saw a record 25-year wage increase for median household incomes. Real wages in the bottom 10 percent rose two times faster than the top 10 percent. Real wealth at the bottom half of households rose three times faster than that of the top half of our country.

A record 6 million people were lifted out of poverty. Black, Hispanic, and Asian-American citizens experienced historic high incomes and all-time low unemployment.

Here is the reality, Mr. Chairman: Our Democratic colleagues opposed the American people's tax cuts back in 2017, and they oppose their tax cuts today.

If they were successful in this endeavor, here is what would happen. We would have a 22 percent tax hike on every American citizen, on average, when they just suffered through a 21 percent tax hike from the inflation tax over the last 4 years and the worst cost-of-living crisis in modern history. Median-income families would lose $1,700. Twenty-six million small businesses would pay at the highest marginal rate and lose the 20 percent deduction, putting them on a comparable level to corporate tax rates. Forty million families would have the child tax credits for their children cut in half. Ninety-one percent of the American people who get the standard deduction would have that cut in half.

Those are the results of the Democrats standing in the way of what would be, if they were successful, the highest tax hike in American history.

Here is the other false claim. To pay for these tax cuts, the Democrats are going to say that Republicans are cutting benefits for seniors and for, again, our poorest and most vulnerable among us. Here is the truth, Mr. Chairman: Republicans are fighting to rightsize a woke, weaponized, and bloated bureaucracy; to root out the trillions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse; and to rein in the reckless spending of the Biden administration and our Democratic colleagues from over the last 4 years.

Prior to 2019, before President Biden took office and he and the Democrats jammed $2 trillion through in the so-called COVID relief, even though maybe 10, 20 percent of that money actually went for the purposes of COVID relief, our budget back then was $4.5 trillion. Today, it is $7 trillion.

With the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, they gave away $700 billion in tax credits to green energy corporations. They expanded ObamaCare subsidies to people making more than half a million dollars, many of whom already had employer-sponsored healthcare. They expanded the IRS to 80,000 new IRS agents tasked with shaking down mostly middle-class people and small businesses.

With the stroke of a pen, President Biden wasted $2 trillion unilaterally of taxpayer money by opening up our taxpayer-funded welfare services to people in this country illegally; waived work requirements for means-tested welfare programs, from SNAP to Medicaid and beyond, trapping people in poverty and dependence on the Federal Government; mandated expensive and unreliable electric vehicles for all Americans; and a whole lot more.

In fact, we are spending $9,000 per illegal immigrant in this country for the millions of people who violated our sovereignty and came to this country in violation of our immigration laws. Mr. Chairman, $9,000 is what taxpayers pay for people who are here illegally for taxpayer- funded social services. That is more than we spend on the most vulnerable Americans for Medicaid. That is more than we spend collectively for our veterans' military retirement. President Biden weakened government program integrity, allowing people who aren't eligible for Medicaid and other programs to receive benefits.

Case in point, we used to review the Medicaid rolls twice a year to make sure people who were on the rolls were those who were most vulnerable and those who qualified according to the law. That was revoked by the Biden administration. They only did it once a year. If we changed it back, we would eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse and save $160 billion of taxpayer money.

President Biden implemented unconstitutional and regressive student loan bailouts, forcing working Americans to subsidize the upper-middle class, law

students, and medical students. These are folks who deferred their education. These are hardworking people who didn't think they could afford college.

We have an unprecedented opportunity, Mr. Chairman. My fellow Republicans and I have a sacred obligation at this moment to meet this moment with the urgency it demands.

Now more than ever is the time for Republicans in Congress to demonstrate the courage of their convictions and take bold action in this historic moment. Let's save this country, save our children's future, and save us from wrecking the greatest economy in the world and jeopardizing our national security and our leadership in the world.

The world is counting on a safe, strong, and free America, and I believe that this bill encapsulates the policies that are going to restore America's greatness.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

What you won't hear from my Democratic colleagues is any mention of the half a trillion dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program that jeopardizes that program for the most vulnerable Americans and does a disservice to every taxpayer in this great country of ours.

By the way, when I hear the words ``betrayal of the middle class,'' what comes to mind is the unbridled spending and the failed economic policies that gave us the worst cost-of-living crisis in modern history. A whole lot of people suffered under that 21 percent inflation tax, and a whole lot more people would suffer under a 22 percent tax increase if they were successful in killing the American people's tax cuts.

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker), my friend, the vice chair of the Budget Committee, and a key architect, I would say, of this budget blueprint.

Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Moore), former speaker of the house of the Tar Heel State and a Budget Committee member.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Estes), another Budget Committee member who had a hand in developing this fiscal framework.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Hern), my good friend and our Conference Policy Committee chair.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cline), my good friend and a member of the Budget Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I wonder when my Democrat colleagues will direct their indignation and outrage to the fact that DOGE and our friend, Elon Musk, has exposed tremendous, outrageous, and utterly offensive waste like transgender operas in Colombia, DEI musicals in Ireland, transgender comic books, and $20 million on ``Sesame Street.'' I would only have to assume my Democrat colleagues think that is the way to find peace in the Middle East. It is insane, and it is offensive to the taxpayers. You will never hear a single word about that in this debate today.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bergman).

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gill), my friend and also a member of the Budget Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde), my friend and another Budget Committee member.

Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. CLYDE: Mr. Chair, GAO alone estimates that the fraud in Medicaid is at least $50 billion a year.

Mr. Chair, I include in the Record this report from the GAO, which states $50 billion a year of improper payments.

[From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Mar. 26, 2024]

Improper Payments: Information on Agencies' Fiscal Year 2023 Estimates

(Q&A Report to the Subcommittee on Legislative Branch, Committee on

Appropriations, House of Representatives)

Why This Matters

Improper payments--those that should not have been made or

were made in the incorrect amount--have consistently been a

government-wide issue. Since fiscal year 2003, cumulative

improper payment estimates by executive branch agencies have

totaled about $2.7 trillion. Reducing improper payments is

critical to safeguarding federal funds.

We have reported on improper payments in our audit reports

on the U.S. government's consolidated financial statements

since fiscal year 1997. We have found that these payments

represent a material deficiency or weakness in internal

controls. Specifically, we have noted that the federal

government is unable to determine the full extent of its

improper payments or to reasonably assure that appropriate

actions are taken to reduce them.

House Report 117-389, which accompanied the Legislative

Branch Appropriations Act, 2023, includes a provision for GAO

to provide quarterly reports on improper payments. This is

our fifth such report, and it provides an overview of federal

agencies' improper payment estimates for fiscal year 2023.

Additionally, we discuss agencies' compliance with legal

requirements for reporting and managing improper payments.

Key Takeaways

In fiscal year 2023, federal agencies estimated a total of

$236 billion in improper payments, a decrease of about $11

billion from the prior fiscal year. About $175 billion (or 74

percent) of these improper payments were overpayments.

The total fiscal year 2023 improper payment estimate does

not include some programs that agencies have determined are

susceptible to significant improper payments, such as the

Department of Health and Humans Services' (HHS) Temporary

Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

In fiscal year 2022, 14 of the 24 agencies covered by the

Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFO Act) fully complied

with applicable improper payment criteria, as reported by

their agency inspectors general.

What are the federal agencies' estimates for fiscal year 2023 improper

payments?

Agencies reported about $236 billion in improper payment

estimates for fiscal year 2023. This amount represents a

decrease of about $11 billion from the fiscal year 2022

estimate (see fig. 1).

Our analysis of agency data shows that 14 agencies reported

improper payment estimates across 71 programs. As shown in

figure 2, about 79 percent ($186 billion) of the government-

wide total of estimated improper payments that agencies

reported for fiscal year 2023 is concentrated in five program

areas:

HHS's Medicare, comprising three programs ($51 billion);

HHS's Medicaid ($50 billion);

the Department of Labor's Unemployment Insurance--Federal

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance ($44 billion);

the Department of the Treasury's Earned Income Tax Credit

($22 billion); and

the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Paycheck

Protection Program Loan Forgiveness ($19 billion).

As seen in figure 3, most of the total $236 billion in

government-wide improper payment estimates for fiscal year

2023 consisted of overpayments. The remaining improper

payments consisted of underpayments, unknown payments, and

technically improper payments.

It should be noted that the fiscal year 2023 improper

payment estimates do not include certain programs that

agencies have determined are susceptible to significant

improper payments. As a result, the government-wide total

potentially does not represent the full extent of improper

payments. For example, the $236 billion total does not

include HHS's TANF program. HHS reported that it does not

have the authority to obtain the information it needs to

estimate or report improper payment amounts for this program.

In April 2022, we recommended that Congress consider

providing HHS the authority to require states to report the

data the agency needs to estimate and report on improper

payments for TANF. As of February 2024, Congress has not

acted on this recommendation.

How many programs reported substantial declines in improper payments?

Our analysis of PaymentAccuracy.gov data found that eight

programs experienced substantial declines in reported

estimated improper payments for fiscal year 2023 (see table

3). Agencies attributed these declines to factors such as

terminating certain programs and implementing mitigation

strategies. In addition, variability arising from the

improper payment estimation process could potentially explain

a portion of the reported declines.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from

Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), our Agriculture Committee chair and my friend.

Mr. Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers), who is the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Mr. Chairman, the minority leader regurgitated a talking point from the Democratic Party we have heard now for years. We heard it prior to the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The gentleman said that 83 percent of the tax cuts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act benefits would accrue to the top 1 percent of income earners. The Washington Post, which is no bastion of conservative journalism, gave him two Pinocchios for that one and called it a zombie claim. They called it galling. PolitiFact agreed with them and said that it was flat-out misleading.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), who is also a member of the House Budget Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from the State of Indiana (Mr. Stutzman).

Mr. Chairman, I can't believe my ears of Democrats criticizing the audacity of Republicans here in Washington, our Nation's Capital, giving the hard-earned money back to the people, letting them keep more of their money as they have suffered 4 years under record inflation, record interest rate hikes, and record consumer debt. How dare Republicans give money back to small businesses and working families so that they can pay the bills and provide for their families?

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves), the ``Show-Me'' State, our House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), my good friend and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg), my friend and the chair of the House Education and Workforce. Committee.

Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Smith), my good friend from the Cornhusker State who is also chair of the Ways and Means Committee's Trade Subcommittee.

Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from Nebraska.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my good friend and the chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Edwards), also a Budget Committee member who helped us draft this budget framework.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McDowell), a Budget Committee member and good friend.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I remind the gentleman that the last 4 years, President Biden and my Democratic colleagues set a record of $8 trillion added to the national debt. If you add the $5 trillion in interest expense, well, I don't know that anybody is going to ever accomplish that feat. That is $6 billion borrowed a day, and during that reign of reckless spending, they added $116,000 to the debt burden that our children will bear into the future.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Obernolte), also a Budget Committee member.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman), also my colleague on the House Budget Committee.

Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from Wisconsin.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I think God has had mercy on this country, and he is giving us a shot now to turn this country around and to give it back to the American people; to return to commonsense policies, to put the American people first, and to clean up the mess in Washington, D.C.

We have seen the exposure of the waste and the woke and the bloat, and it is immoral to hand our country like this to the next generation. We are long overdue to get our fiscal house in order, Mr. Chairman.

The American people deserve to keep more of their money. The American people deserve fiduciaries in Congress who will take care to steward their tax dollars. The people who need these programs that we created for the most vulnerable deserve to have the programs without having folks siphon off moneys or people that are ineligible draining those programs.

We have got a lot of work to do. We won't be intimidated by the rhetoric. We won't be scared into paralysis anymore as a Republican Party. We are standing up with our President and fearless leader, Mr. Donald J. Trump. We know the American people are behind us 100 percent. We are leaning in, and we are going to save this country.

We are going to give our children a fighting chance at the blessings of liberty and the land of opportunity.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman), a member of the Budget Committee, my good friend who is a fighter for our freedom and fiscal sanity.

Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from South Carolina.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, my good friend and ranking member made a comment about Mr. Ralph Norman from South Carolina. Listen closely to what he said. He would like to cut $5 trillion from the budget.

Add my name to that list because the GAO says there is $5 trillion of fraud throughout the four corners of this Federal Government. That is the people's money. We ought to spend every waking hour together, across the aisle, and in a bipartisan way to go and root out that waste and fraud that is fleecing the taxpayers.

Count me in the camp of Mr. Ralph Norman when the Government Accountability Office says that there is $5 trillion of defrauding the people's government and the people's money. We will not hear anybody on the other side of the aisle, and there are some good and well-intended people. In this debate we will not hear them talking about illegals being on welfare rolls or the fact their President, President Joe Biden, with the stroke of a pen, welcomed illegals onto welfare and healthcare rolls.

We can't even afford Social Security benefits because the fund will be insolvent within the next 10 years. Instead, we are bringing people who aren't even citizens onto the social safety nets that are paid for by taxpayers. We are not spending that money, that precious treasure of taxpayers, to shore up Medicare and Social Security.

It makes no sense to me. Do you know what? It made no sense to the American people. That is why they gave this President a mandate and gave this country unified Republican leadership. They are apparently still in denial. They are disconnected from the reality of the last 4 years.

They may have had all the best intentions, but the pain and the suffering that the American people endured because of the reckless, record trillions of dollars in spending and the failed economic policies of the last administration is real. They didn't forget it. They voted with that acid test and that fundamental question: Is my life better today?

I don't think there has ever been in American history a clearer contrast between the two parties back to back with Republican total control in '17 and '18, Democrat unified leadership on the heels of that, and the philosophies, the values, the worldviews, the policies, and the consequences borne by the American people.

Mr. Chair, they have chosen a very different path, and they have asked us to reverse course and to reverse the curse that looms not only over this country but our children's future.

I am surprised that I haven't heard one sentence about the waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government at $5 trillion. I am surprised that I haven't heard any criticisms of the millions of people who have come to this country illegally and drained Medicaid, according to CBO, by billions of dollars. That was a letter in response to an inquiry that we sent.

How much of the tax dollars and Medicaid are being siphoned off for people who are here illegally? I can't believe there is not more indignation on account of the fact that $9,000 is what we are spending on people who broke the law, violated our sovereignty, and are here in this country illegally.

Taxpayers are spending $9,000 per illegal immigrant for social services that were intended for the United States citizens. That $9,000 represents more money than we spend on our own vulnerable American citizens on Medicaid, but we won't hear any of that today.

The American people know better. They have always had better judgment, and they made the right call. We aim to deliver for them.

Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, let me also pay respects to my ranking member. He is a great guy. He has been a really good partner. We have done some really important things together on a bipartisan basis. In fact, we passed more bipartisan legislation to fix the broken budget process which doesn't serve either party in this institution well.

Mr. Chair, I give him equal credit, if not more credit. When you are the minority, there is tremendous pressure not to work with the majority. He is an American first. We may disagree, but I know where his heart is.

Let me answer the question to the ranking member. The $5 trillion is a CBO score. That is a 10-year budget window score just like the $2 trillion that we have as a goal to reduce reckless, wasteful, and fraudulent spending.

Mr. Chair, the reconciliation process is generally to reconcile the House and

Senate budgets but more than a process for matching up revenues and outlays. This exercise, more importantly, is reconciling the difference between the American people's interest, expectations, and values in a Federal Government that has totally lost its way, forgotten who it serves, and too often has failed to faithfully, fairly, and efficiently execute the laws of the land.

Mr. Chair, if we learned anything from the November election, it is that the American people want a strong country. They want a competent leader and commonsense policies, and they want all of us to put America first. That is what this budget resolution does.

I like to think of this budget resolution as a promissory note to our children to preserve the land of liberty and opportunity by safeguarding it from an unwieldy government with unbridled spending, taxing, and regulating that threatens to destroy it.

Mr. Chairman, I said this in the Budget Committee, and I am going to say it now to close: The era of wasteful, woke, and weaponized government is over, and this budget resolution will be its tombstone. Here lies one of the darkest chapters in American history: open borders, record crime, lawlessness, feckless foreign policies, cost-of- living crises. Enough. It is time to reverse the curse. It is time to reverse the reckless spending and failed policies and do the first and most important job of the Federal Government: Keep the American people safe.

That is exactly what we intend to do, and that is exactly what we deliver with this framework.

Mr. Chairman, I include in the Record three statements from organizations supporting this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H. Con. Res. 14, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, you often hear me refer to West Texas as the Food, Fuel, and Fiber Capital of the World--where we feed, power, and clothe our Nation--but our greatest resource is the people who have made and shaped West Texas into the God-fearing and freedom loving place that it is today.

The patriots of West Texas work hard and stand up for what's right. Perhaps no one embodies these values more than the man I honor here, an all-time great West Texan and Medal of Honor Recipient, Major George A. Davis, Jr.

Maj. Davis was born on December 1st, 1920, in Dublin, Texas, before moving to the West Texas town of Morton, a little over 50 miles west of Lubbock. In 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Maj. Davis enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in Lubbock, Texas, as an Aviation Cadet. During World War II, Maj. Davis piloted a P-47 Thunderbolt with the 342nd Fighter Squadron, 348th Fighter Group. He heroically completed 266 missions, logged 705 combat hours, and shot down 7 Japanese fighter planes between 1943 and 1944, contributing greatly to Allied air superiority.

Following World War II, Maj. Davis again returned to the skies, this time in Korea, where it is said he distinguished himself by going above the call of duty and displaying immense courage in the face of great risk to his life.

On February 10th, 1952, Maj. Davis and his wingman encountered 12 enemy MIG-15 aircraft speeding toward allied fighter-bombers who were engaging the enemy. In an attempt to put himself in between the enemy combatants and our allied bombers, Maj. Davis rerouted his aircraft and dove directly into the MIG formation. While under fire, Maj. Davis destroyed two enemy aircraft, and instead of retreating, reduced his air speed to engage a third MIG-15 in defense of the Allied fighter- bombers. It was this last of many selfless and heroic decisions that led to Maj. Davis suffering a direct hit that took the life of this West Texas hero and sent his plane crashing behind enemy lines some 30 miles south of the Yalu River.

His heroic and selfless acts in support of the mission and his fellow airmen in the face of formidable odds, provided enough cover to allow the allied bombers to successfully complete their mission and continue in the fight for another day. As a result of these acts of uncommon valor, Maj. Davis was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Now, over 70 years later, his fellow veterans are fighting to bring Maj. Davis back home to Lubbock so he can be the first veteran buried at the new West Texas States Cemetery. As one of only seven American pilots to ever become an ace in two different wars and a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, three Silver Stars, the Purple Heart, and the Medal of Honor, Maj. Davis is an American hero. I implore my colleagues in Congress to do everything in our power to ensure his family can welcome him home to his final resting place in West Texas.

On behalf of the 19th Congressional District of Texas, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Maj. George A. Davis, Jr. and his entire family for their tremendous sacrifice in service to our Nation.

God Bless, and Go West Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to recognize a remarkable achievement in West Texas--the Food, Fuel, and Fiber Capital of the World. Punkin Center Gin, owned by Al Crisp, has marked a grand milestone by celebrating its one-hundredth year in operation. This family business underscores the resilience and history of our farming community in Dawson County.

Punkin Center Gin opened its doors back on June 11, 1924, making it not only the oldest cotton gin in West Texas but also the second oldest in the entire state still in operation.

Al Crisp's dedication to his family's agricultural legacy is clear. He is proud to maintain a century-old agricultural business in Texas where his ancestors have lived since before it was a state. He was quoted with a sentiment many share in the Lone Star State--``I'm Texas to the core.''

Like plenty of our region's farmers, Al values hard work and family. He has pushed off any centennial celebrations until after the harvest season, and he is committed to the future of Punkin Center Gin hoping to pass it down to his children. In West Texas, we take pride in fostering farmers of character who fuel and feed the rest of the country.

On behalf of the 19th Congressional District of Texas, I thank Al Crisp, his family, and the team at Punkin Center Gin for their dedication to agriculture and our community. God bless them and go West Texas.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5342) to amend title II of the Social Security Act to replace the windfall elimination provision with a formula equalizing benefits for certain individuals with noncovered employment, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, we have a great injustice that has persisted now for four decades. Some of our hardest working fellow Americans who are public servants in certain States where they have non-Social Security covered employment--or to say it this way, where they have teacher retirement systems separate from Social Security, or firefighter retirement systems separate from Social Security--have what is called a windfall elimination provision in the Social Security law, which has shortchanged roughly 2 million hardworking public servants.

Some people are still getting a windfall, but the vast majority are not getting what they earned and what they put into the Social Security system. So my colleague, Representative John Larson, who I serve with on the Committee on Ways and Means, and who I consider a dear friend and someone who I know is very passionate about fixing Social Security's insolvency, which looms large over the next 10 years, this is but one element of what is not working in Social Security for our retirees and Social Security recipients.

To solve this inequity and injustice, some of my colleagues have decided they would just repeal the windfall elimination provision altogether. That sounds good, but it is going to cost $192 billion to do that. We shouldn't be constrained by cost to do the right thing, but to repeal the windfall elimination provision would go back to pre-1983 when we had a windfall to certain Americans in the same States where they had independent retirement systems, and we were spending more money for certain retirees than they put into the Social Security system.

There was a great discrepancy and inequity between these individuals in these States and the vast majority of the tens of millions of other retirees across the country. So you had a teacher or a firefighter in certain States, like Texas, pre-1983 getting a windfall, large sums of money, over similarly situated people in other States. Firefighters and teachers are doing the same work, making roughly the same amount of money, but getting less benefits.

What we should do is fix the inadequacy of the windfall elimination provision that was oversimplified and did not use the data that we have today and make sure that people are paid what they are owed in terms of their benefits, but not revert back to pre-windfall elimination provision, where we were spending tens of billions of dollars more than we needed to according to what people put in it.

Why does that matter? Because we should have a system of fairness for every public servant in every State, every retiree who fits that definition. It is also because if we start just throwing money at this and allowing windfall payments to certain retirees, we are going to accelerate the insolvency of the Social Security trust fund.

One outside expert says that we will accelerate that if we go to H.R. 82 and just pull the plug on the windfall elimination provision, as opposed to fixing it and getting it right. We will accelerate it by 6 months.

We should be responsible in how we do this. We should consider retirees in every State, and we should also consider future retirees because what we do and how we solve problems doesn't just impact the people who have been shortchanged, and we need to deal with that, but we will impact future retirees, as well.

I am simply asking my colleagues to do the right thing, address this inequity with WEP and our public servants, but do it the right way so that we don't compromise the integrity and the fiscal responsibility of managing the trust fund and put these public servants now once again at odds with the vast majority of public servants who are retired.

Mr. Speaker, that is a mouthful, by the way. This is a complex issue, but what is not complicated is people who have been shortchanged need to get the money that they rightfully are owed by their government. I can start there and say that Democratic and Republican colleagues alike agree on that, but my bill will do it in a fiscally responsible way.

I think this H.R. 82 is well-intended, but it is going to accelerate the bankruptcy of Social Security. That is not good for anybody, current or future retirees.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

My friend mentioned my seniors in west Texas. Let me tell you what they sent me here to do. They sent me here to be an advocate for them, to ensure that we have fair and just laws, to fix what is broken about Social Security but do it in a way that we don't accelerate what will be an automatic cut in less than 10 years.

By repealing the windfall that existed before 1983, you are saying you are okay with taxpayers just spending more money than they should, more money than what has been earned and owed to the seniors, and in a way that creates a vast and tremendous discrepancy and inequity between 2 million people in several States as opposed to almost 60 million across the country.

How unfair and how nearsighted and narrow-minded can we be not to consider the fact that we will have a bankrupt system and that we have future seniors who can't bank on their retirement because we want to go back to prewindfall? It doesn't make sense, Mr. Speaker.

The Democrats had control of this place from top to bottom from 2020 to

2022, and they didn't fix it. Republicans had control when I was a freshman in 2017. Let me tell the world: They didn't fix it. The only way we are going to fix it is if we come together. I agree with Mr. Larson that there are broader provisions to look at and the system as a whole to address going forward.

You mentioned benefits. That is a great place to do it, but to suggest that we are going to go back prewindfall elimination provision and have a $2,500 additional cut in 2033 because we are not doing it the right way and responsible way and equitable way because we now have the data, I just think is egregiously irresponsible for all parties involved, including our children, who don't have much of a say in this, even though they own the deferred tax on all of these programs that are bankrupt, including Medicare.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).

Mr. Speaker, this will be budget neutral over 75 years for the trust fund, according to the actuaries, and I thank Mr. Roy for his comments.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith), my colleague and friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I thank the gentleman from Missouri for his comments. I don't know that I could add anything more to what he said. We are trying to fix this inequity that exists with this subset of the retirement or Social Security beneficiary population.

I agree with Mr. Larson that we need a broader debate on Social Security, and we had better hurry up because it will be insolvent in less than 10 years, so we need to talk about the solvency and sustainability, the entirety of the program, the pay-fors, programmatic reforms, and the benefits. All of it should be on the table.

That is why as budget chair, I passed a bipartisan fiscal commission that would look at that and also at Medicare, which is another important safety net for seniors. However, we are talking about one specific subset.

I love the gentleman's passion, and I hope that we can get thoughtful Members on both sides of the aisle, like my friend, to sit at the table and do the right, the responsible, and the mature thing and actually work on a compromise solution like Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill did, and I will bet the gentleman agrees with that.

However, we are not talking about the entirety of Social Security. We are talking about this subset, this subset of people affected by WEP. It is about 2 million people. I want to fix that for them. I want them to get the money they have earned, because the windfall elimination provision wasn't adequate. It didn't use good information. We still have people who are shortchanged.

We still have people getting a windfall, albeit less, when we have the ability, the wherewithal, the tools, and the data to actually fix it without just eliminating WEP and going back to where the inequity is greater than what it is today.

That is because if the public servants of my State and the gentleman's State would get more than they put into Social Security, then we accelerate the insolvency. Then we add to the cuts that will be automatic on seniors that would be $2,500 in 2033, and we give almost no peace of mind and hope for future seniors and our children and grandchildren that this important antipoverty safety net program for seniors will still be there when they need it.

Mr. Speaker, it is too easy just to throw money at every problem up here when you are borrowing from China, and you have a $2 trillion deficit that will double in 10 years. We have higher levels of indebtedness than we had when we were fighting Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.

This country is going to go into the fiscal ditch never to come out, never to prosper, never to be offered the American promise, and never to lead the free world because we are going to bankrupt it because we don't know how to address these problems like every American does in their own household, in their businesses, and at the State and local level, and that is conducting their business within their means and not like there is a money tree at the Treasury Department where they can borrow ad infinitum. That is not reality. That is not reality.

Let's fix it. Let's do it the right way. Let's not add to the debt. Let's not add to the inequity. Let's not accelerate the trust fund insolvency.

Then let's do what the gentleman said. I agree with the gentleman. Let's be men and women who love this country and are more concerned with solving these big problems than staying up here and being called Congressman and chairman. Let's do the people's business. I am ready. I am ready.

This is a very finite subset, and we have the solution. It is not perfect, but it balances the things that need to be balanced like these folks up there would at their homes and like my parents have to do back home in Plainview, Texas.

Taxpayers deserve a voice as much as seniors, and my children deserve a voice as much as taxpayers. That is what we are trying to do here.

I hope we can get my friend's support. I feel like that is about as compelling a pitch I can make. I think John Larson ought to come over and fix this the right way with me, then let's get that fiscal commission going, get our President to lean into this and do the Reagan-Tip O'Neill grand bargain so we can actually solve the bigger and broader issues that plague Social Security.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, only in Washington, D.C., and, unfortunately--I respect my Democrat colleague and many of my Democrat colleagues--only from the Democrat side of the aisle could I hear that paying above and beyond what we defined as an earned benefit and has now become a windfall for 2 million people at the expense of 60 million people who don't receive the same benefit so that we can give people equal treatment and not accelerate the insolvency, only in this town could I hear that as a solution. That is not a solution. It is a bad plan. Let's have the broader debate about Social Security, which is what the gentleman is suggesting, but let's fix this.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I often refer to West Texas as the Food, Fuel, and Fiber Capital of the World--where our hardworking cowboys and plowboys feed, power, and clothe this great country and the entire world. However, the greatest contribution we make as a community is not our ag and energy product. It's our people and their values of hard work, faith, and love of neighbor--exemplified in Stanton, Texas, by Martin County Hospital District.

Despite being a small community of about 3,000 residents, Stanton boasts an award-winning hospital recently recognized as one of the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in 2023 and 2024. With over 1,300 critical access hospitals nationwide, we take great pride in having one of the best for back-to-back years.

I would like to commend Martin County Hospital District CEO Nancy Cooke who said, ``Our results as a top patient care hospital means our community can count on us to deliver the services they need now and in the future.''

Our great country does not reap the benefits of energy independence and food security without excellent rural health care keeping our hard- working, freedom-loving workers in Rural America healthy and taken care of. Nobody understands this better than Martin County Medical Hospital District.

On behalf of the 19th Congressional District of Texas and untold grateful patients and families, I thank them, God bless them, and go West Texas.

Mr. Chair, if those cities want the hard-earned tax dollars of our citizens, they need to respect our laws, our sovereignty, and the safety of the American people.

Mr. Chair, there are fewer things more despairing than having to pass laws to enforce laws because our chief law enforcement officer and Commander in Chief has fallen down on the job. If President Biden and Vice President Harris don't respect the laws of our land, I don't suspect other people will either.

I rise in support of H.R. 5717, the No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act.

Sanctuary cities are magnets. They are part of the perverse incentives that are drawing illegal immigrants into

this country. In fact, their mere existence is illegal under U.S. law. Title 8, Section 1324 of the United States Code prohibits the harboring of illegal aliens, making such acts a felony punishable by imprisonment up to 5 years. Other sections in title 8 prohibit local jurisdictions from withholding the immigration status of an individual from Federal authorities.

These rogue local officials who promote these policies and flout the rule of law are themselves acting as criminals, and they are a disgrace to our great country. They should be impeached or prosecuted.

These jurisdictions are sanctuaries for lawlessness, crime, and chaos that is a cancer pervading our country.

Sanctuary cities are a scourge to our country's law and order, to a civil society whose sacred duty is to provide for a common defense, promote domestic tranquility, and enforce the laws of the land.

As John Adams once said, this is ``a government of laws, not of men,'' and when we depart from that central tenet of this Republic, we are diminished as a people and weaker as a nation.

Mr. Chair, you get what you tolerate, and we have tolerated this recklessness for way too long. Sanctuary cities must be stopped. This legislation would prohibit Federal dollars from funding public services for illegal aliens in sanctuary cities.

Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to do the right thing, uphold the rule of law, and protect the American people. I urge them to vote for H.R. 5717.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the life of an extraordinary west Texan and legendary Red Raider, Mr. Roy Don Cash who passed away recently on August 25.

Don was born to Billy Roy and Billie Mae Cash in the little west Texas town of Shamrock, Texas, in 1942. Let me tell you, there was nothing little about big Don Cash--his stature, his presence, his character, and his love for God and country.

He would make his way to Texas Tech where he met and married another west Texan who would become his wife, Sondra Kay Burleson.

After graduating from Texas Tech, he was blazing a trail in the oil and gas industry, becoming a titan for United States energy and its contributions to our energy independence, and giving our Nation and our people a quality of life second to no other nation in the history of the world.

Don was also one of the most generous supporters and donors of Texas Tech University, not just with his treasure, but with his time and his talents. He gave back by serving on the foundation board. I think he is the only emeritus director of the foundation board, which speaks to how they perceived Mr. Cash.

He gave back in scholarships and professorships and buildings and research and much, much more.

Don was the epitome of a Texas cowboy, and he was passionate about preserving the history and heritage of ranching through his time on the Ranching Heritage Association board of directors.

Don was a dear friend of mine, and I would refer to him as ``the last John Wayne.'' I was vice chancellor of Texas Tech. He and Kay were integral to the success that we enjoyed over that roughly decade era when Chancellor Kent Hance was at the helm. I think Chancellor Hance would say we wouldn't have been able to achieve the level of educational excellence, engagement of our community in west Texas and beyond, and scholarship and preparing our young people for their leadership and pursuit of their dreams in this great country if it weren't for people like Don and Kay Cash.

Don was the last John Wayne in my mind because he was rugged and tough. He was fiercely independent, humble, and hardworking, and most of all loving and selfless--loving and selfless to his family, to his friends and to the community he gave so much to over the many, many years of his life back in west Texas.

They don't make them like Don cash anymore, I can tell you that. They don't make them like Don Cash, and it is a crying shame because we need the character and caliber of men like Don Cash now in this great Nation of ours more than ever.

I guess what I would say to honor my friend is may Don Cash's cowboy spirit and his west Texas values live on forever, not just in his son, Clay, his sweet daughter-in-law, Ashley, and his grandchildren, but in every single one of us.

If you want to know what made America great and what will keep it great, it is the values of the American people, and nobody embodied those like Don Cash.

Honoring Bill Pascrell

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and honor and commemorate Bill Pascrell. I am a Republican, he is a Democrat, but I don't know anybody, Republican or Democrat, who loved their country more and fought for the people they represented like Billy Pascrell.

He was a tough guy from New Jersey that stood up for the working people in his district and was a loud and proud voice for his constituents. I just respect that. I respect that he was authentic in this place of so many plastic people--and I hate to say that. People just regurgitate the party lines on both sides of the aisle. We hardly have any real debate. It is all sort of choreographed.

Mr. Speaker, God rest Billy Pascrell's soul, bless his family and comfort them. I pray we get more Billy Pascrell people who are real and love this country and will sacrifice

for it. I am glad and honored to have served with him.

Mr. Speaker, I was not able to vote on the previous question and the Brecheen Amendment No. 24.

Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 359, and YEA on Roll Call No. 387.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, let me start by saying the critical habitat that I am concerned most about is rural America, the backbone of this country, the breadbasket, and the energy basin that is feeding, clothing, and fueling America.

What I am concerned about with respect to endangered species after almost 4 years of this administration are farmers and oil and gas producers who turn the cranks on the greatest economy in the world, who keep the consumers' cost of energy down, and who basically produce through hydrocarbons 90 percent of everything we use.

However, they are being attacked with a whole-of-government assault, and this, I think, is just one more example.

I rise to offer an amendment to prohibit the funding of the Biden- Harris administration's attempt to regulate these cowboys, plowboys, and roughnecks in rural America who truly make America great.

This administration has decided to list in this case six freshwater mussel species that in their own report and own words are moderately healthy. In doing so they jeopardize the livelihoods, the way of life, and the tremendous contributions of our agriculture and energy producers locking up 1,500 miles of rivers causing our farmers and ranchers to be in jeopardy of criminalization, essentially, for the things they do to make an efficient agriculture production for an affordable and abundant supply of food for every American.

Madam Chair, I offer this amendment. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' to defund what I believe is blatant overreach. Stand up for the God-fearing, hardworking, freedom-loving farmers, ranchers, and energy producers in the heartland. I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, may I ask how much time do I have remaining.

If the Endangered Species Act were so important to my colleagues, then we wouldn't go 30 years without reauthorizing it. If it is a national priority, then we ought to look at it, do our congressional oversight jobs that we were sent here to do, and determine if it is working or not.

I can't imagine, to my colleague from Maine, that her fishermen would appreciate being locked out of their livelihoods and what they contribute to the Maine economy any more than my producers of agriculture who put food on the table for folks in Maine and all over the country.

I really believe we have gotten this thing so out of whack when we talk about critical habitat for these freshwater mussels that are healthy. There is nothing healthy about the ag economy. There is an ecosystem that we ought to all be concerned about because if we can't feed ourselves and if we don't have food security in this country, then we don't have a strong nation.

We are blessed with tremendous resources. The greatest of those resources are hardworking farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and others who help feed Americans and take tremendous risks, weather risks and market risks. These guys live with tremendous debt. They borrow and they pray to the good Lord that the weather will work out, and they have been experiencing record drought in my home State of Texas.

Now they have to contend with healthy, freshwater mussels in 1,500 miles of river. It seems to me we have this thing upside down. Yes, we want to steward our environment. Yes, we care about wildlife and habitat of all kinds, but we seem to have moved a human flourishing objective somewhere down below where it ought to be, which is at the top along with these farmers, ranchers, and energy producers.

God bless them. They have so much to contend with with all the overreach coming out of EPA's Waters of the U.S. I could go through a litany of things that they are suffering one blow after another, one regulation, one overreach after another, and now these freshwater mussels that are apparently, according to their own reports, healthy.

We ought to care more about the critical habitat of farming and farmers than we do freshwater mussels that are healthy.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise to offer an amendment to defund the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services plan to expand the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge by an unprecedented 1,000 percent.

Madam Chair, think about that. We are out in the breadbasket of America, in the panhandle of Texas, Muleshoe America, and they take a 6,400-acre refuge and they want to expand it to 700,000 acres.

My chairman over here from Idaho is the only one who recognizes that we have the highest level of indebtedness in the history of our Nation, surpassing World War II. We are in relative peace and prosperity, and it is only going to get worse. The wheels are coming off. We spend almost $1 trillion to service the debt, just to pay interest, and that is going to more than double over the next decade.

We are in trouble. At $35 trillion, we are borrowing almost $8 billion a day to support this huge and ever-growing government. Like a hole in our head, the last thing we need to do is spend money to buy up more land to somehow either appease an environmental group or maybe just achieve what seems to be an odd objective of having the Federal Government own and operate a third of our land. They can't manage the land they have.

I just got back from Glacier National Park. It is beautiful. I want those parks to be managed well for wildfire management and recreational use. They are beautiful, and we are blessed.

The gentleman who runs that facility on behalf of the American people said he can't get to but 10 percent of the land, and we are trying to go 1,000 percent expansion in Muleshoe. The sandhill crane and pronghorns are not on the Endangered Species List. They are stable.

I don't understand why we are here. Let's think about the critical habitat versus human flourishing, the human habitat, and the American people habitat.

We have Social Security and Medicare, which will be insolvent in the next 10 to 15 years. Their unfunded liability combined is about $135 trillion. We have a farm bill that needs to be resourced. We have infrastructure that is crumbling.

We have a Defense Department, which is for the common defense, the first and most important job of the Federal Government, but because our debt and interest is squeezing our ability to fund our national priorities, we are now below 3 percent of investment in military for the defense of our country per GDP for the first time since prior to World War II.

Is this what my Democratic colleagues think is a national priority?

I mean, that is the problem with this place, is we don't prioritize. Our system of resourcing the people's government is completely irrational. We don't have to pay for anything. We don't take it out of their pockets, so they don't revolt. They would. If we took the $2 trillion that we borrow every year, they would revolt.

We ought to be able to find some waste and unnecessary spending. Maybe we ought to prioritize like every other American that is suffering with the worst tax of all, which is inflation. They have to prioritize, or they don't eat and can't take care of their families.

This is a bad deal. It is overreach. It is crazy.

Madam Chair, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Madam Chair, I have to say this: People don't trust the Federal Government anymore, and I don't like that because it is going to make it very difficult for us to govern and keep the peace and domestic tranquility and to have us love each other as fellow Americans.

They trust the Federal Government even less over the last few years because they have seen it be weaponized

against them in the name of clean air or clean water in terms of ponds, puddles, and ditches on farmers' lands that have nothing to do with navigable waters, and this administration knows it. By the way, so do the courts because they threw it out, but it is just one after another.

Texas tried to do what the Federal Government advocated under this current administration and under border czar Harris' leadership. They tried to defend our sovereign border and protect our citizens. With the stroke of a pen, this administration declared the Mexican mussel needed critical habitat, and they obstructed our ability to defend ourselves.

Mr. Speaker, I was not able to vote on the Motion to Recommit H.R. 8281. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 344.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah, my dear friend, fellow warrior for fiscal responsibility, and one of my favorite Members who is in the trenches fighting for the future of this country and to ensure that we don't bankrupt it but that we preserve the freedom and opportunities for our children. I know he loves his family, and that love manifests in the way he conducts himself here in Washington and his leadership. I thank him for that.

Mr. Speaker, I thank him for the opportunity to rise to honor the life and legacy of a dear friend of mine, Officer Dave Smith. He passed away a couple weeks ago. This is a man that I met in a very interesting and dubious way. I was pulled over for speeding. I wasn't driving at the time. This was in my first term, my first campaign for Congress. Out of the car comes this almost 7-foot gigantic man who looked like he was going to throw me in jail, and, instead, I got a warning; but better than that, I got a friend for life, a brother in Christ for eternity, and I just couldn't imagine the kind of relationship I would have with this very special man.

Dave would call me from time to time and leave the most encouraging messages. He was, like I said, almost 7 feet tall. He was a giant of a man. His stature was only eclipsed by the size of his heart--for God, for family, and for this country. I always looked forward to hearing the voicemails he would leave me and the encouraging words, the affirming words. He would say: ``Keep your head up.'' He would say: ``Keep your eyes on the Lord.'' He would say: ``Keep fighting the good fight because we need you.''

I have kept those, Mr. Speaker, on my phone, and I listened to them the other day before I went to his funeral. I think about Barnabas, the son of encouragement in the Bible. I can tell you, Dave Smith was my Barnabas. I cherish the friendship. I will cherish those words of encouragement.

His funeral was a celebration the way I would want my funeral to be. It was a testament to a life well lived, a life well lived because of the people like me whose lives he touched, for the service that he gave day in and day out to protect and serve his community as an educator, as a law enforcement officer, as a mentor, as a coach. It was a testament to the family he loved so dearly.

All of his children, eight in total, were there at the funeral. The Bible says in Proverbs that a good man will deposit an inheritance for his children and his children's children. Let me be clear, watching his son Brennon stand in that pulpit and love on his dad and honor his dad, it was clear. You could see the leadership, the love, and the character in his oldest son. It was clear to me that that proverb had been fulfilled, that Dave Smith left his children and his community a good inheritance.

It was also a homecoming celebration because as believers, the Bible teaches us that while we grieve the loss of our friends and family members, it says that we are not to grieve as the world grieves because of those promises, the promises that we hear often quoted, the promises of God that whoever believes in his Son shall not perish but live forever. I know that was a promise that Officer Dave Smith believed with all of his heart.

We lost one of west Texas' finest in Big Dave Smith. I know Taneka lost her husband, his family lost their father, the world lost a bright light, and I lost a friend and brother in Christ, but he is not lost. He is alive and well today, maybe more so than ever. He is home. He is with his Heavenly Father. He has inherited that promise, eternal life.

Because he was so dedicated to his faith, I am going to end with a scripture verse that I hope encourages everybody who would listen to this commemorative set of remarks for Dave Smith.

In Romans 8:38-39, Paul is writing to the church at Rome, and he says: ``For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.''

He is home. He is present with his Heavenly Father. I would just say to Taneka and his family that we will be with him again one day in paradise for all eternity. That is the hope we have.

I thank brother Dave Smith. I know he is resting on high. I know I will see him again.

God bless the Smith family. God bless our great country.

Mr. Chair, for his entire childhood, the dream of a young man by the name of Caleb Smithers was to serve in the United States Army.

He got the chance to serve. Literally months into his service, his training at Fort Bragg, he had a serious accident, and because the safety protocols weren't there to check on a soldier who had such a serious injury, because there weren't accountability measures for private contractors for healthcare services to the Army, this young man ended up dying.

I think his life could have been saved if those protocols were in place and if the accountability measures were in place. I think the Secretary of the Army has all but affirmed that.

This provision would put those things in place or would expect that the Army does, and we would defer to their best judgment on how to do it. This young man's life, and his mother here, Heather, who has worked diligently, relentlessly with the unconditional love for her son that not only would his spirit of service live on, but would actually save the lives of other soldiers who would find themselves in the same predicament.

I think we all care about our soldiers, our sons and daughters in uniform, and that we would want the abundance of precaution so that we would prevent this from happening.

By the way, in the future, if this should pass, those checks would be called Smittys after Caleb Smithers.

I ask my colleagues for their support.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to commemorate the 100th birthday of one of our Nation's most revered statesmen-leaders and American heroes, our 41st President, George Herbert Walker Bush.

President 41 was not only a highly decorated combat veteran, but had one of the most distinguished tenures in public service in our Nation's history.

He lived out his own maxim, that public service is a noble calling. I would add, it is only as noble as the caliber of people who answer that call. Thank God he did. My life, your life, and the life of our country are all the better for it.

May his legacy continue to inspire the servant leadership he modeled, and may it remind us that being a statesman and a politician don't have to be mutually exclusive.

I am proud to have served alongside his son, President George W. Bush. I am thinking of him and the entire Bush family today as we honor one of the most decent, patriotic, and loving leaders our Nation has ever known.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Hendrick Home for Children, which is celebrating 85 years of service to the Abilene community. Since its inception in 1939, Hendrick Home for Children has consistently served as a beacon of hope and refuge for countless children and families from across the Big Country.

Throughout its rich history, Hendrick Home for Children has embodied the true spirit of the Christian mission through its unwavering commitment to creating a nurturing environment for the most vulnerable among us. The dedicated staff, volunteers, and generous supporters have fostered a sense of community where every child is embraced with open arms and guided toward a path of healing and growth. Beyond meeting their basic needs, the Home has fostered a sense of belonging, purpose, and faith, laying the foundation for brighter and more resilient lives.

As we commemorate this significant milestone, let us not only celebrate the remarkable achievements of Hendrick Home for Children but also reaffirm our collective commitment to supporting its vital mission for generations to come. For 85 years, the Home has been a shining example of Christ's love in action and embodied His teachings of compassion, mercy, and stewardship. Through its unwavering dedication to serving the most vulnerable among us, the Hendrick Home has been a testament to the transformative power of faith. I'm proud to represent this unique institution and its wonderful people in our Nation's capital. Congratulations on 85 outstanding years.