Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Ohio for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I associate myself with Mr. Jordan's sentiments, and I might even take an even stronger and more critical opposition to these so-called law enforcement bills. I certainly don't want to impugn the motive of every colleague on the other side of the aisle, but here are my strong views, and this is my position on behalf of west Texas:

Since the riots of 2020, I have been warning my Democratic colleagues that we get what we tolerate. After 2 years of Democrats' amplifying defund the police rhetoric, failing to hold criminals accountable, and refusing to condemn the lawlessness that is running rampant in our cities across the country, crime is absolutely out of control.

Last year, a record number of police officers were killed. Seventy- three American heroes lost their lives. Law enforcement has experienced a staggering 115 percent increase in ambush-style attacks. Further evidence of the left's war on law enforcement is that police have seen a 45 percent increase in retirements and a 20 percent increase in resignations, leaving the most vulnerable Americans even more susceptible to being victimized by criminals.

Now the party of defund the police wants to push through some face- saving bills just ahead of the election in November. Call me cynical, but that is unbelievable, Mr. Speaker.

This legislation would expand the Federal bureaucracy unnecessarily, take over the responsibility of local governments, and add even more strings to Federal funding for the Biden administration or future administrations to impose their woke agenda and unrelated progressive policies on the American people.

Mr. Speaker, these are not real solutions to the crime epidemic in America. These are political machinations to give the appearance of being supportive of law enforcement. These are a Texas-sized fig leaf to cover the Democrat left's reckless policies and dangerous rhetoric that have encouraged crime, have only coddled criminals, and have created a culture of lawlessness in our country.

Mr. Speaker, I condemn all of that, and I urge my colleagues on both sides to vote ``no'' on this bill and the whole lot of these bills that are really just political window dressing.

Madam Speaker, the last time my Democrat colleagues used reconciliation to jam through a massive partisan spending spree, it was under the pretense of COVID recovery. Not only did they ``fail to rescue America,'' they destroyed our recovery efforts and sent us spiraling into recession.

Now, in the aftermath of their self-inflicted economic disaster, my Democrat colleagues' response is to run the same play and expect a different result.

Another false promise under the guise of a grandiose title, the Inflation Reduction Act.

Nobody in America, Madam Speaker, believes that this bill will reduce inflation. In fact, it is going to make inflation worse by imposing massive tax hikes on U.S. job creators, strangling domestic oil and gas production, unleashing an army of tens of thousands of IRS agents to shake down working families and small businesses, handing out hundreds of billions of dollars in Green New Deal giveaways that will jeopardize America's energy security, putting America in the same position of weakness as our European allies.

Mark my words, Madam Speaker, this bill will further fuel inflation, deepen our recession, cripple our competitiveness, and increase costs at the pump.

Too often, Mr. Speaker, we skip over the fundamental principle and precept and driver of the Second Amendment, so let's reaffirm our faith here.

Our Founders were determined to fight against their own government for our freedom and independence. They stated unequivocally that when there was a train of abuses and usurpations, and the citizens were reduced to absolute despotism, it was our right and our duty to throw off that government.

We wouldn't have these United States, we wouldn't be here today, without this sacred Second Amendment. Every law-abiding citizen in America must be able to meet evil with equal or greater force, whether it is a violent criminal, a crazed killer, or a coercive government.

Mr. Speaker, we must reject this attempt to trample the Constitution, to violate the spirit of what those Founders wrote into that sacred document, and disarm our citizens.

Mr. Speaker, Trista and Chris Hamsmith lived every parents' worst nightmare when their 18-month-old daughter, Reese, swallowed a button battery from the back of a remote control. It went undetected for a couple of days before an x-ray revealed that the battery was lodged in her esophagus. It burned a hole in her esophagus.

By the time the doctors dislodged the battery, it had gone so long, and the unique nature of these batteries, it had done irreparable harm and, eventually, unfortunately, led to her death.

But like a strong west Texas woman, and a mom on a mission, Trista prayerfully set out to make sure that other families would not have to experience this horrible tragedy. She started Reese's Purpose, a nonprofit aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of button batteries and advocating for strong safety measures.

While I am an ardent limited-government and less-regulation guy, it was evident to me, and thanks to Trista's diligence, quite frankly, that these button batteries were uniquely dangerous. They would burn holes in kids' stomachs or their esophagi and cause major complications and even death.

And the cases where children were ingesting these batteries were growing exponentially; 8,000 in 2020. During COVID, we saw a 93 percent uptick in kids going to the emergency room having ingested these batteries.

I was convinced it needed appropriate immediate action, and I spoke to the Commissioner of the Consumer Products Safety Commission. They agreed it was a serious safety risk; but they said it would take 3 to 5 years for the rulemaking process.

That is when I connected with my colleague, Robin Kelly. We introduced this bipartisan legislation that we affectionately refer to as Reese's Law, which would require the CPSC to put enhanced safety standards, including packaging, warning labels, and the like.

I am glad we are voting on this. I am proud of Trista and her family.

I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes;'' send it to the Senate, where they can act swiftly to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to represent west Texas, the most kindhearted and compassionate people, and I am especially honored to be a small part of Reese's Purpose and partner with such a strong, persistent, and loving mom in Trista Hamsmith, who I now call Trista ``the Hammer'' Hamsmith.

God bless America. God bless these children. I hope we can save some lives.

And go west Texas.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Washington State.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle's efforts to create a national policy that allows for terminating a pregnancy at any stage, for any reason is not only extreme and outside of the mainstream of America, it is wholly inconsistent with our values and the founding principles of our great Nation.

This abortion on demand legislation taken together will put us in the dubious company of the likes of China, North Korea, and only five other countries that I guarantee you, Madam Speaker, do not have America's values.

I commend the Supreme Court for restoring the integrity of the Constitution and returning power back to the States and We the People.

God bless America, and God bless our fellow Americans both born and unborn.

Madam Speaker, God's Word says, To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

On June 21, 2022, after 76 years, Donald Wayne Porter went home to be with his Lord.

Despite a battle with Parkinson's that may have overcome his body, it never conquered his spirit.

Wayne Porter represents the very best of America, the epitome of west Texas, and a true cowboy spirit.

He was a third generation cattle rancher, grocery store owner, deacon in the First Baptist Church, and a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam war.

But his greatest legacy, Madam Speaker, was his fierce love and commitment to his God and his family. Wayne had just celebrated 50 years with his beloved wife, Edith, and is survived by his 6 children and 11 grandchildren.

His only son, John Porter, served as my chief of staff.

While I didn't know Wayne Porter, they say the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, so I felt like I knew the man. It was clear to me that Wayne Porter was a man of immense character, quiet strength, with a Texas-sized heart for God and people, the proudest of family men, and a patriot to his core.

God has blessed America with men like Donald Wayne Porter, and may God continue to bless John, Madison, Duke, and the entire Porter family in their great loss but in heaven's gain.

Go west Texas.

Madam Speaker, tonight we are going to talk about a subject that gets too little attention in this Chamber and too little debate and consideration among lawmakers. Yet the storm clouds are gathering, and an epic crisis looms large over the future of our great Nation. Our mountainous and unsustainable national debt is the most significant, in my opinion, long-term threat to our economic prosperity as well as our national security. We have sown the wind of fiscal irresponsibility, and our children will reap the whirlwind of economic calamity. We will rob generations of Americans of the freedoms and the opportunities that we have enjoyed and have been so blessed with.

Madam Speaker, we all take an oath, but there is an unwritten covenant between lawmakers today and our Founding Fathers and our future generations of Americans, and that unwritten sacred promise that all American leaders have subscribed to is to leave this Nation better than we found it.

I believe the question is still hanging out there. The jury is still out on whether our Nation's leaders today in this generation are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to take on what I believe is the greatest challenge of the 21st century, and that is this unsustainable, unconscionable, and even immoral fiscal path that we are on. It is a collision course with a disastrous future.

We have to do something. We have all the reforms and policy solutions. But what we don't have and what I have not seen in now 6 years in this Chamber is the collective political will to do something about it. It is very simple.

Madam Speaker, I am honored to be joined by fellow lawmakers who I know share these sentiments. One such man hails from Ohio's Sixth District. He is a dear friend, he is a patriot, and he is a veteran. He has served on the Budget Committee. He is the co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a task force on addressing our broken budgetary processes and getting our arms around the debt and reining this in.

Madam Speaker, I am so glad he has joined us tonight. I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson).

Madam Speaker, I thank my dear friend from Ohio and echo his sentiments. We must get our fiscal house in order.

It is shameful. I would say, a case in point, to the cries from our citizens, citizens who say that this body and politicians in both Chambers, in Washington, play by a different set of rules. Do you know what? They are right. There is no further you have to look than at our budget and appropriations process.

We haven't had a budget in the last 4 years under the leadership of our Democrat colleagues, but quite frankly, both parties have been guilty. I think, over the last 50 years, we have only gone through regular order and passed a budget in all 12 appropriations and run the people's House the way our States and local governments and our families run their fiscal affairs.

They don't get to waive pay-fors. They don't get to borrow infinitum.

This place is so broken, and it is going to catch up to us. You don't feel the pain until you feel the pain.

When the dominoes fall, you cannot borrow and spend your way out of that situation and that particular crisis, like we have seen with COVID and others prior to it.

We have a champion for this issue, fiscal responsibility, restoring that in our own Conference as well as the broader United States Congress, a fellow Texan, a man who I am proud to serve with from Texas' 21st District, and a member of the House Judiciary Committee and Veterans' Affairs Committee.

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

Madam Speaker, I say a hearty amen to my fellow Texan who has put his money where his mouth is. Certainly, he has put the votes of his constituents where his mouth is and has taken a stand.

It is not fun to be voting against things that have these wonderful titles that are going to do these grandiose things for the country. But the question is, who is going to pay for it?

I don't even call the $30 trillion of debt ``debt.'' I call it what Tom McClintock once mentioned in a budget hearing. It is a deferred tax on our children. It is so easy for us to pass these bills and not consider the incalculable cumulative cost.

But there will be a payday someday. As James Madison said, ``A public debt is a public curse.'' We are not blessing our children. We are not giving them the benefit of the quality of life that we have known as Americans second to no other nation and society in the world and in the history of the world. Yet, to do nothing and to keep this runaway freight train of fiscal irresponsibility running off the cliff is to curse them. Indeed, it is to curse them, as James Madison said.

Another friend and colleague and a new Member of Congress, but not new to public service, is Peter Meijer from Michigan's Third District. He serves on the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. We appreciate his deep concerns and convictions on this issue facing our country.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Meijer).

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan, my friend, for his comments. I am, again, proud to serve with him, and he brings such reason and common sense. He is right to say that it is not a partisan issue and that the debt and those things that have led to this massive $30 trillion, over 120 percent of the size of our entire economy, exceeding World War II with our entire debt--and by the way, in peacetime. He is right.

We have to have an honest conversation with ourselves before we have an honest conversation with the American people, and both parties have contributed to this mess. Until we decide to accept that and take ownership of it, we will never lead us to the path of restoring that responsibility, that good footing, and the prospects of having saved this country and our children and grandchildren from the disastrous, calamitous future if we don't. I appreciate his approach to it.

We are reaching out to our colleagues, our Democrat colleagues, to fix some of these broken systems, the perverse incentives that let us get away with this reckless and irresponsible process that we call budget and appropriations. Nowhere else in the world can you do what we do.

But the results are indisputable. You get a broken process, a dysfunctional system like we have, and you are going to get broken outcomes.

Look no further than the debt clock, and look no further than CBO's 10-year forecast: $16 trillion more over the next 10 years of just the public debt. It went from almost a trillion in annual deficits leading up to COVID, and now the average will be $1.6 trillion in annual deficits over the next 10 years, leading up to 2032, where we will have $2.3 trillion in annual deficits. The interest we pay on the debt just to service them, think about this.

We will spend more to service the debt to pay the interest, which you get nothing for. You get no infrastructure. You don't get a farm bill with strengthening of the food supply. You don't get a better or bigger army to put on the field against the threats around the globe.

We will see a tripling of the interest payments that will exceed in 10 years, cumulative, over $8 trillion, but the annual amount will exceed what we spend on national defense. We get nothing for this interest. It is the largest growing mandatory spending item in the budget.

Woe to the country if we don't take a hard look in the mirror and if we don't decide to muster the political courage to take this on for the sake of our kids and for the sake of our country.

Now, one of my closest friends in Congress who claims to come from a State that does more agriculture than the Lone Star State, which already discredits him from the outset, but I don't want to see the numbers because I would be afraid if he were right. I would be afraid to go back to Texas. We are just going to say Texas is bigger in every way, including ag production.

He is a Ways and Means Committee member, and this guy, he is passionate about our debt, our deficits, and getting our fiscal house in order. He is going to be helping lead the charge in the 118th Congress when the people, I pray, give our conference, Republicans, a chance to prove that we are serious on this: Ron Estes from the great State of Kansas.

Madam Speaker, I couldn't be more proud to serve alongside of Ron Estes. The people of Kansas are well served, letting him be their voice in the people's House.

You mentioned the disastrous economic plan and policies of this administration. It is hard to believe what you didn't mention that this President and our colleagues on the other side of the aisle somehow think that the largest tax-and-spend bill is the solution. More spending. More spending. More flooding the market with Federal moneys. More expansion of welfare without work.

We all want to take care of those folks who are working hard and still struggling. But, for example, the refundable tax credit, child tax credit, where we would be paying thousands of dollars per child, per person, with no requirement to work, to contribute, to have ownership in this society, it is reckless.

And, quite frankly, it is heartless because those policies trap people in poverty. They don't lift them out. They trap them in a life of dependency on the government.

We want Americans to be the very best that God has created them to be and have the best quality of life and a chance for a better life for their families. I thank my friend from Kansas.

I am reminded of some great warnings from our wise Founders. Ben Franklin said, `` . . . when you run into debt; you give another power over your liberty.'' We are talking about robbing our children of their freedom, not just their economic opportunity and future prosperity.

Thomas Jefferson said, ``To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.'' Warning after warning.

One of my favorites, our great father of this country, our first President, Commander in Chief George Washington, in his farewell address--think about it, penning a relatively short set of remarks, not only for those of his time, but for posterity, for future leaders of the greatest country in the world.

He gave three major warnings. He said: Be careful of foreign influence, be careful of the factions that will divide you within our own country, weakening our bonds of unity, as I stand under the ``e pluribus unum'' motto, out of many one, that unifying spirit that made this country exceptional.

But he warned about fiscal irresponsibility, and just to paraphrase, he said: We must avoid the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden, which we ourselves ought to bear.

I mean, we are ungenerously throwing upon posterity a burden of debt that we are not willing to bear. We are not willing to take the tough votes and pay for this and reduce our debt and deficit spending and give the next generation a chance, a fighting chance to have what we have had in this great country.

I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cloud), another freedom- fighting Texan who serves the coastal communities in the Lone Star State, Oversight and Reform Committee member and proud Texan, the lone Texan on the Agriculture Committee. I have tremendous respect for him and his love for freedom, his love for the Lord, and his love for the people of this great country, from Texas' 27th District.

Madam Speaker, wow, I have to really hold back here because I have other colleagues that have important things to say, but when I listen to my friend Michael Cloud, I am inspired because he is a man driven by conviction. I have watched him, and I admire his drive for truth, his seeking out what is best for the country. That is his measuring stick.

In an institution full of so much baloney and so many, pardon me, partisan hacks, it is nice to have somebody that just says, I want to do right by the Constitution, my constituents, and my kids. And that is what drives Michael Cloud. I am proud to serve with Representative Cloud. I thank him for joining us for this discussion.

We have another Kansan. I think we have had three Texans and two Kansans, so we are still winning, we are still up one. Tracey Mann is a new Member of Congress but not new to public service. He has led his great State as Lieutenant Governor.

Now, he might boast more wheat and sorghum there in his district, but he will never be able to produce more cotton than Texas 19. I love that he is a champion for our producers, our ag producers, and I love that he is equally concerned about making sure we live within our means, we rein in our spending, and we reduce our national debt and get back to the fiscal footing that we all have confidence will be a gift, not a curse, and that we will, in fact, reverse the curse.

We are going to get a chance in the next term. God willing, I think the people are going to give us the chance to lead. And lead we must, which will require courage, and I know you have it.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann), from the First District of Kansas.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Mann for bringing up the stepped-up basis repeal. Republicans didn't get a vote in this largest tax-and-spending bill that was called Build Back Better, that some have not so affectionately referred to as build back broke. Really, it adds, even according to CBO, trillions of dollars in new debt.

Worst of all, the Democrats negotiated some of these provisions out before they passed it out of the House. One of them was the repeal of the stepped-up basis. Then, this President puts it back in the ``Green Book'' and says to the American farmers and ranchers, who put food on the table and give us food security, which is national security--we talk about energy independence; you wait until the pain is felt by the food shortage, a whole other level of concern when it comes to supply chain. Less than 1 percent, a fraction of a percent, we spend as a nation to have ag independence and have a stable ag economy through farm policies and a farm bill. This stepped-up basis, as I told Secretary Yellen, would create the largest fire sale of farm assets in the history of our country.

Farmers are cash poor. If the next generation of farmers inherits a death tax, after paying taxes out the wazoo on every level--income, sales, franchise, you name it, they have paid it. It is an unfair, un- American double tax, and they don't have the cash for it. It amounts to selling off the family farm because the vast majority will be forced to do that to pay more taxes.

Amen.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Mann for his contributions to this important conversation with the American people.

I am proud to have also met and befriended a gentleman from the great State of Utah. The first time we met, I talked about this bipartisan effort to get at the root causes of this broken budget process and reach across the aisle and simply force us, through the right incentives, to be responsible stewards, to get budgets out on time with budget outcomes that would reduce the debt. I remember that Representative Moore lit up at that dinner meeting and said: Sign me up.

Ever since then, he has been on a mission. He has worked with his constituents, put a task force together. He is prepared, as he looks at joining the Ways and Means Committee, which, by the way, when you look at 70 percent of our budget on auto-spend--that is, entitlement, mandatory programs. The vast majority of those, certainly the big drivers of our debt, are under the auspices and the authority and jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee. I will heartily welcome him to the team in that regard. I appreciate his passion for this issue.

Again, we will get an opportunity to serve and lead and govern, and we are going to need people like him to not only sound the alarm but assemble the team of people, the coalition of the willing, on both sides of the aisle, to do the right thing by the American people.

Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore), who represents Utah's First District.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore), beating the drum and sounding the alarm is a big part of it. I think at some point it is hard to calculate and get your mind around the trillions of dollars that are amassing.

We have added $7 trillion in additional debt since COVID alone. And what happens, I believe, is when you do that and there is no consequence, there is no trade-off, we are not hitting them in the pocketbook saying, we need more of your hard-earned dollars to pay for this stuff, and we are not cutting the favorite programs of our fellow Americans, so there is no pain.

Moral hazard. We are sleepwalking off the cliff. The problem with this crisis is, as I said, when Humpty Dumpty falls and shatters it is going to be difficult to put him and the exceptional nature and the superpower leadership of this great country back together. There is just not a lot of time and heads up and warning before you go over the precipice.

It is incumbent on us, as young fathers and young family men, to be able to take this on head-on with the courage that our Founders had who gave birth to this great country.

Madam Speaker, I hear you rattling the gavel, so God bless America, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have never been more proud to be a Red Raider than after that introduction, I can tell you that.

I thank the gentleman, my fellow freedom-loving Texan, Representative Gohmert, for yielding me the time. We will miss Representative Gohmert in this Chamber and the fight that he brought every day for the people in this people's House.

I will lend my thoughts and sentiments on this issue of violence. As my colleague from Florida mentioned, human violence, sometimes perpetrated with guns, is a human problem, a problem of the soul, a problem of society, the degradation of our culture and our families. These are issues far deeper than legislation can reach, I can assure you.

I understand, because I am human, that we want to do something and that while that may be a human response, as lawmakers, we should ask the question not can we do something symbolic, can we do something to make the American people feel good, because that is not going to save a single elementary school child. We have to ask the question: What can we do that will actually work, and what can we do that will also preserve the rights of our citizens to protect themselves?

I think we often forget and fail to start this conversation with the genesis and the fundamental rationale for the Second Amendment. Our Founders knew good and well the abuses, the corruption, and the tyrannical force from a coercive central government. They wanted to make sure that not only could we preserve our happiness and our life and liberty from the crazy and the criminal; they wanted to make sure that we would have a last check on tyranny with an armed citizenry.

Folks, the Second Amendment is there, and we have preserved this experiment in liberty and democracy for 240-plus years, even though, in the 20th century alone, tens of millions of people have been slaughtered by their own government. We have preserved this great beacon of liberty, this shining city on a hill, because of that founding principle that the Second Amendment is the citizen's last check on an abusive government.

The Declaration of Independence says it best. It talks about the mission of a government that has the consent of the people to protect and secure the liberties of those people, and whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it. But it goes further. It says when there is a

long train of abuses and usurpation, reducing the society to absolute despotism, it is the right and even the duty of the people to throw off that government.

Folks, that is the context to the Second Amendment. It is not just to give east Texans and west Texans a hunting license. And I think it is critical.

As we grieve with our brothers and sisters in Uvalde, and it is heartbreaking and unthinkable to see that tragedy play out and to see these families suffer, but I think it is incumbent upon mature lawmakers and leaders of the greatest and freest country in the world to take a deep breath and ask the question: Will these things that we are talking about with respect to gun control actually do anything to stop these crazy, murderous people from committing their crimes?

We need to let Uvalde grieve. We need to let the final report come out. We all need to be more vigilant.

Quite frankly, when we talk about 18- to 21-year-olds and extreme risk orders and all the litany of things that are being debated in this Chamber, we ought to let the States like Texas, along with their communities, figure out how to solve these problems and secure their schools and communities.

The Federal Government's mission at its core is to secure the liberties of the people and provide for a common defense. Let Texas figure this out.

My goodness, the very gun control laws that were passed out of this Chamber have been in place in cities and States with the highest gun- related crimes.

No more feel-good measures, no more infringing measures. Let's pray for Uvalde. Let's let Texas solve those problems. Let's protect the God-given, constitutionally protected rights of every American to defend themselves against the criminal and, God forbid, a coercive government.

God bless America, and I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I was unable to be present for the following votes.

Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 183; NAY on Roll Call No. 184; NAY on Roll Call No. 185; NAY on Roll Call No. 186; NAY on Roll Call No. 187; NAY on Roll Call No. 188; NAY on Roll Call No. 189; YEA on Roll Call No. 190; YEA on Roll Call No. 191; YEA on Roll Call No. 192; NAY on Roll Call No. 193; YEA on Roll Call No. 194; YEA on Roll Call No. 195; YEA on Roll Call No. 196; YEA on Roll Call No. 197; YEA on Roll Call No. 198; YEA on Roll Call No. 199; YEA on Roll Call No. 200; YEA on Roll Call No. 201; YEA on Roll Call No. 202; YEA on Roll Call No. 203; YEA on Roll Call No. 204; YEA on Roll Call No. 205; YEA on Roll Call No. 206; YEA on Roll Call No. 207; NAY on Roll Call No. 208; NAY on Roll Call No. 209; YEA on Roll Call No. 210; NAY on Roll Call No. 211; NAY on Roll Call No. 212; YEA on Roll Call No. 213; YEA on Roll Call No. 214; YEA on Roll Call No. 215; YEA on Roll Call No. 216; YEA on Roll Call No. 217; YEA on Roll Call No. 218; YEA on Roll Call No. 219; NAY on Roll Call No. 220; NAY on Roll Call No. 221; YEA on Roll Call No. 222; YEA on Roll Call No. 223; YEA on Roll Call No. 224; YEA on Roll Call No. 225; YEA on Roll Call No. 226; YEA on Roll Call No. 227; YEA on Roll Call No. 228; NAY on Roll Call No. 229; NAY on Roll Call No. 230; YEA on Roll Call No. 231; and NAY on Roll Call No. 232.

Mr. Speaker, President Biden's own words: Show me your budget, and I will show you your priorities.

President Biden's budget is not only a reflection of his priorities; it is a mirror into the soul of the Democrat Party. Biden's budget exposes Democrat leadership's complete disregard for fiscal responsibility, adding trillions of dollars in new spending and sending us hurtling toward an incalculable national debt of $45 trillion by 2032.

The budget proposal includes a staggering $2.5 trillion in tax hikes that would weaken our global competitiveness, stifle wage growth, and send prices skyrocketing even higher than the current 40-year high inflation. The result would be devastating for American investment, innovation, and jobs.

The deficit spending in Biden's proposal will leave our children steeped in debt and at risk of an economic crisis they cannot borrow their way out of. His budget doubles down on the radical socialist policies, including the Green New Deal and its extreme environmental policies and a whole-of-government assault on oil and gas, which is undermining our energy independence and making us weaker and more vulnerable, like our friends in Europe. It also includes tax hikes that will make America less competitive, raising taxes higher than Communist China, and hiring tens of thousands of new IRS agents to harass hardworking Americans.

This is his vision for a stronger and more prosperous America.

While the President's expansion of nondefense domestic spending is on pace to double over the next several years, his budget effectively cuts spending for the Defense Department by 4 percent. If our adversaries weren't already emboldened by the disaster at the southern border, the debacle in Afghanistan, the weak negotiations with Iran, or the slow and feckless response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they certainly will be now.

The President's budget is not only a failure in the area of readiness; it is more advertisement of weakness in an increasingly dangerous world.

Lastly, the President's budget uses an outrageous budget gimmick to prevent his massive, multitrillion-dollar Build Back Better from affecting the budget score.

Mr. Speaker, if the American people did that--that off-balance, Enron-like accounting scheme--they would go to prison. This is not just intellectually dishonest; it is downright deceitful.

From the top-line numbers to tax hikes, from partisan policies to bureaucratic bloat, President Biden's budget highlights the Democratic Party's real priorities: the largest expansion and most radical reimagination of the Federal Government in the lives of its people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 6858, the America Energy Independence from Russia Act. That would not only strengthen our security and independence, it would lower gas prices by approving the Keystone pipeline, removing restrictions on LNG exports, restarting production on Federal lands and waters, and overall encouraging more American energy development.

In the midst of skyrocketing inflation and surging prices at the pump, along with the geopolitical context where Europe is dependent on Russian oil and gas, you would think the Biden administration would abandon their whole-of-government approach to targeting American energy production. Since Biden took office, he has used every tool at his disposal to undermine the oil and gas industry and our energy independence along with it.

In addition to the onslaught of his unilateral attacks, his first Presidential budget was released and called for $35 billion in punitive tax increases on the oil and gas industry. His administration has weaponized and abused their regulatory authority to attack the industry at every turn; SEC reports for permitting on the directives, and EPA radical regulations.

What is more astonishing is Biden's latest budget, which is $4 trillion in taxes, and includes $45 billion in taxes on oil and gas. These are the same provisions that his own party rejected and had to abandon their build back broke proposal.

Just like he has done with the regulatory regime, it appears our President is weaponizing the tax code to cancel an entire sector of our economy, one that is paramount to our prosperity and security. As events around the world constrain supply, he seems hellbent to ensure that anyone but American energy producers, the most efficient, the cleanest producers in the world, are positioned to supply the United States and our people and our allies around the world.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support the Donna M. Doss Memorial Act. It is bipartisan and bicameral legislation that I introduced alongside my friends, Senator John Cornyn and Congressman Cuellar.

Donna Doss was a constituent of mine from the Big Country, Abilene, Texas. She valiantly served our country as a Border Patrol agent for nearly 16 years before she was tragically killed in the line of duty in 2019. In addition to serving our country as a law enforcement officer-- and I would add, a hero--she was a daughter, a sister, a mother, and a loving wife to Michael, her husband for over 20 years.

Like many in her profession, she made the greatest sacrifice for the good of this great country, for the love of her fellow countrymen. The Bible says: No greater love than this that a man or women lay down their lives for their friends. She did that. She is a patriot and we will miss her.

This legislation is going to designate the Rocksprings, Texas, Border Patrol station as the Donna M. Doss Border Patrol Station to honor her and her legacy and her family, and, quite frankly, every law enforcement officer and their families that take on the same risks, and many of whom who make the ultimate sacrifice.

It is the right thing to do. It is a good thing to do. I pray that the family is comforted by this gesture, and I pray that God would bless her legacy, as we pray that he blesses our entire country.

Madam Speaker, suspending Russia's normal trade relation status with the United States is the right and absolutely necessary thing to do.

I have to note, Madam Speaker, that our President continues to take an incremental and piecemeal response to Vladimir Putin and this unprovoked attack on Ukraine. It is wholly inadequate. Not only will it not deter this tyrant, I fear it will embolden other adversaries to follow suit.

Madam Speaker, we have to stop assaulting oil and gas. This has to be an early warning to the United States and lawmakers.

We can steward the environment. We should. But we have to understand the geopolitical importance of energy independence. We can do both. This is America.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues, all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to support this suspension. But I urge my President: Be more resolute. Act with a sense of urgency. Provide the war machines and weaponry that the Ukrainians need to fight for their freedom and independence.

God bless America.

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately President Biden continues to be inexcusably feckless in his response to global threats from our adversaries.

Now, in the moment of truth, when America can send a clear and unequivocal message to dictators and democracies alike by banning Russian oil imports to the United States, the President has failed once again to rise to the occasion.

This anemic response would remove the commonsense conditions for lifting the ban like Russia's full and immediate withdrawal from Ukraine and their ceasing to threaten other NATO countries.

The most egregious aspect of this proposal is that the President and the Democrat leadership refused to revoke Russia's permanent normal trade relation status, which will continue to allow them low-tariff access to the United States market--a privilege only allies of freedom should receive.

Consistent with Biden's timid response, I fear that these half- measures will not only fail to deter Vladimir Putin, but will invite other tyrants around the world to follow suit.

Mr. Speaker, we must unload the full arsenal, the full force of America's economic arsenal on the Russian Federation and their rogue leader.

Madam Speaker, rural communities are the heartbeat of America. These are hardworking, God-fearing people, and they deserve access to basic healthcare. And quite frankly, if our Nation is going to reap the blessings of our food supply and food security and our fuel supply and energy independence, we have to work together to make sure that we have that critical access to care, which means sustainable rural communities and a robust supply of ag and energy.

Now, in 1969 in the wisdom of the Texas legislature, they created the Texas Tech University Medical School that became the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. And the mission was not only to train up the next generation of healthcare professionals and develop the next generation of healthcare innovations, it was to plug a gaping hole in rural communities by providing excellent healthcare services to these good people.

The Health Sciences Center has become Texas' center for innovation in telehealth practices.

The Health Sciences Center has pioneered telehealth and paved the way for over 100,000 rural west Texans to access vital healthcare services.

By understanding the needs of rural patients who are at increased risk for physician shortages and have a higher mortality rate than their urban counterparts, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center was able to provide a blueprint for telehealth best practices that have been essential to our country over the past 2 years.

In addition to protecting patients' physical health, the Health Sciences Center has developed Telepsych, which connects patients, including children, who are having serious mental health issues, to a licensed professional. And unfortunately, with school closures as a result of the pandemic--and I would say later as a result of union- controlled schools--this has become a much-needed and much more popular service.

Thank you, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center for being a beacon of hope for the health and future of our country and especially rural America.

God bless, and go west Texas.

Wishing Elvin N. Howell a Happy 108th Birthday

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate and wish Elvin Howell a happy 108th birthday.

Mr. Howell grew up in Snyder, Texas, before hitchhiking to Abilene, Texas, to attend Hardin-Simmons University, where he played football and ran track.

After graduating from HSU, Howell moved to Kermit, Texas, with his wife, Rena.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, Mr. Howell heroically enlisted in the United States Navy and served as a commander on a merchant marine ship guarding the United States from a foreign invasion.

Mr. Howell returned to west Texas after the war to raise his family and educate the next generation of west Texans as a teacher in Tulia, Texas.

Mr. Howell credits his impressive longevity to spending time outdoors, as when he celebrated his 103rd birthday ziplining in the Palo Duro Canyon. What a man.

Elvin Howell has lived a full life of service to his family, community, and his country. He is one of the 20 oldest living veterans in the United States. Elvin is an inspiring coach, a caring educator, and a true west Texan.

Elvin was married to his late wife, Rena, for 60 years. They have two sons, John and Fred, and three grandchildren.

On behalf of my colleagues in this great Chamber, we want to wish Mr. Howell a happy 108th birthday and many more to come.

God bless, and go west Texas.