Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Lamborn for organizing this Special Order. The Scripture tells us in Psalm 100 that God is good, that His mercies are everlasting, that His truth endures to all generations, and that truth is revealed to us in God's Word.

This week we will see communities and churches and leaders all across the country celebrating National Bible Week for its importance in the role and life of our country and us as individuals.

I believe that we, as political leaders, have the responsibility to remind America and our citizens of the significance of the Bible in our history, our life, and our culture. It is impossible to accurately describe the history of America without including the history of the Bible and its impact on our Founders and the impact it can have on us today.

I think of all the magnificent truths of God's Word, which I begin every day in, all the incredible things, the wisdom, the splendor of it all, but I think the most important thing ever that has transformed my life is how God took my sins away.

The Scripture describes for us in Isaiah 53 that all of us, like sheep, had gone astray, that all of us had sin, heaped upon sin, but that God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. That is the story of the great love and the mercy of God, where He who was sinless took upon Himself our sins and made the pathway for us to have forgiveness and peace with God, both now and forever more.

I urge my colleagues to be open and receptive to the love of God, to the forgiveness of God. I urge our country to be receptive to the Word of God, the truth of God. The blessings of God await us as a Nation as we return to the truths of His Word.

Madam Speaker, the House Democrats have done this. It is all one big party. And while we are going to be celebrating Thanksgiving next week, families gather together giving thanks, I am absolutely confident there will not be one family in America giving thanks for the economic crisis created by President Joe Biden and the Democrats--the crisis, economically, that they are serving the American people.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this is going to be the most expensive Thanksgiving in history. From turkey to potatoes, pumpkin pie--you name it--this is going to be the most expensive Thanksgiving ever; probably a whole lot fewer second trips for food, or thirds, or whatever your family is accustomed to.

Meanwhile, what is the answer that our Democrat friends are giving us? Democrats here in Washington have a great solution: Let's spend trillions of more dollars. Let's make inflation go up even more. Let's put more pain and suffering around the Thanksgiving tables and the pocketbooks of the American people. While Americans are pinching their pennies, literally, to live within their means, President Biden and his socialist cronies from the other side of the aisle here in Washington are wanting to spend even more of the hard-earned money of the American taxpayer and the American worker.

The Democrat socialist gravy train has left the station, and the American people, I assure you, are not at the table. They are not on board with what is happening in this country.

Americans are the ones paying the price for this. They are paying the price for President Biden's budget-busting policies--more money at the gas pumps, more money at the Thanksgiving table this year, more money for everyday goods. We can go down the list.

It is high time--it is past time--that President Biden and the Democrats stop this reckless, runaway spending. Our economy cannot afford trillions more dollars that we don't have for unnecessary spending for socialist, Marxist spending, robbing us not only of our hard-earned income but our liberties, our freedoms that we love and cherish in this country.

It is time that we put a stop to this nonsense.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend from Louisiana for yielding. We are here this evening to recognize, but most importantly, to defend the sanctity of human life, something that once again is under attack in this House.

In response to the left's adamant desire for abortion legislation, Speaker Pelosi is demanding that we vote on H.R. 3755 to allow abortion at any time during a pregnancy. The left wants to, in addition, strip away the rights of States to protect the lives of unborn children. This is abortion on demand, and quite frankly, the Democrats don't care if the unborn child has a fully developed heart. They don't care if it has arms or legs or fingers or toes. They don't care if it feels pain. They want abortion, period, and they want to finance it with your tax dollars.

Time and time again, the Democrats in Congress stand in the way of those of us who are trying to protect the lives of those who cannot protect themselves. Eliminating innocent human life is despicable. It is outright evil. And I for one am tired of the left continually sacrificing the lives of the unborn on the altar of their progressive ideals.

We cannot give up this fight. We cannot turn a blind eye. We must defend the sanctity of life and the unborn. Never, and I mean never, will we falter in this duty.

I stand in strong opposition along with my colleagues to H.R. 3755. Life is sacred. It is a fundamental and divine right that is gifted to every single human being, and we will always stand against the abortion industry and fight. Life and the right to life is something that only God almighty gives, and it is something that our Constitution guarantees. So help us God to stand for it.

Madam Speaker, I rise today as a staunch defender of the rights of the unborn, as a defender of the idea that human life begins at conception. But these ideals are being threatened today like never before.

This week, I join my fellow Republicans in speaking out in support of the Hyde amendment and other pro-life provisions stripped from appropriations bills by the Democratic majority.

The Hyde amendment is and has been a bipartisan provision included in every Federal spending measure for the past four decades. It has ensured that the lives of the unborn are protected and that no Federal tax dollars are used to fund abortions.

Very simply, the Hyde amendment saves lives.

I am committed to ending the blight of abortion on our Nation and to stand with all I have to fight to protect the rights and the lives of the unborn.

My Democratic colleagues are great at changing terms and changing names. By definition, healthcare protects and improves lives, yet Democrats changed ``healthcare'' to include abortion. But abortion does not improve or defend life; it takes life. It is not healthcare.

For this reason, Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 18, and I ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Master Sergeant Luciano ``Louis'' C. Graziano, a resident of the Tenth Congressional District of Georgia and the last known surviving witness to the German surrender of World War II. His story is truly incredible, and his contribution during his tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Europe is worthy of our nation's everlasting gratitude.

On June 6, 1944, D-Day, Louis was aboard a landing craft with his men and landed upon the sands of Omaha Beach in Normandy France. Once beached, Louis drove a truck full of gasoline onto the sand. With no place to go, he abandoned the vehicle and gathered his weapons to get into the fight. He took up a position at the base of a cliff and fired a burst from a flame thrower to take out a German machinegun nest.

But, Madam Speaker, further up the cliff were even more enemy machinegun nests. In quick thinking, Louis took a flare gun and fired a flare into those positions hoping to direct the fire of allied ships cruising just off the beach. The gun crews on the ships responded as hoped, unleashing their fire from larger caliber guns destroying those positions beyond.

Advancing beyond the shores of Normandy, the French city of St. Lo and Reims were soon liberated. It was in Reims that Louis's skill in his craft would come into play and eventually afford him a seat to history itself. Upon establishment of a command post within the heavily mined city, Louis was ordered to install General Eisenhower's phone line. This phone line was vital for the General's real time communication, helping to bring about a timelier allied victory.

As allied forces fought to reclaim the town of Bastogne, the Germans mounted a last-ditch counteroffensive known as the ``Battle of the Bulge.'' In response, all troops were being mustered to come to the rescue of encircled troops near the Belgian town of Bastogne. In a dangerous mission, Louis and his Captain had to search and find the lost armored element. They suffered frostbite, but their effort was successful. After, Louis returned to Reims to recover.

Among the buildings in Reims, there was a ``Little Red Schoolhouse'' where General Eisenhower had his headquarters. It was there that the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed in the early morning hours of Monday, May 7, 1945. Louis was there, in the room, as General Yodl of the German Army signed the articles of surrender.

Madam Speaker, Louis has served our Nation with integrity, excellence, and courage, and we, as Americans, owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for his incredible sacrifices to serve and protect our country at home and abroad. He not only has earned the admiration of his fellow Americans but that of our allies as well. On April 6, 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron approved awarding him the French Legion d'honneur, which is the highest French order of merit that can be bestowed upon an individual. For these reasons, I am honored to represent him in Congress, and it is with pride that I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the life and legacy of Master Sergeant Luciano ``Louis'' C. Graziano.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding his time.

Mr. Speaker, we are all seeing gas prices soar--35 percent since January, since this administration took office. Whereas, what this administration inherited, under President Trump, was low and affordable energy costs and our Nation had actually achieved energy independence. There was record low unemployment numbers across all demographics. And prior to COVID, the average hourly wage earnings rose at the fastest rate in decades.

So what has changed? Well, what has changed is a reversal of those policies that work. Unfortunately, President Biden has proved that he is far more concerned with appeasing the fringe left-wing environmental extremists in his party than he is in helping the average American by lowering energy costs and creating good-paying jobs.

So with prices continuing to soar and massive labor shortages, it only makes sense that we should be doing the right kinds of things to get people back to work. And make no mistake, Biden's reckless energy policies have consequences.

I know I hear all the time from veterans in my district who literally are having to make the choice between driving 45-plus miles to a veteran's clinic or trying to have enough money to survive.

However, on day one, President Biden celebrated the canceling of the Keystone Pipeline and eliminated tens of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars for our economy. And yet, yesterday, the Biden administration gave the green light to finishing Russia's pipeline going down to Germany.

This is the height of hypocrisy. Are you kidding me? That we are not going to allow our own country to have a pipeline, but we are going to approve it for Russia? That pipeline with Russia is literally going to give billions of revenue to the Putin regime, and the completion thereof is going to cause our allies in Europe to have to rely more heavily on Russian oil. We are the ones who ought to be selling American oil to Europe, not enabling their reliance upon the Kremlin.

Under President Trump, we had a policy where America was first. It appears under this current administration that America is last. And I will just repeat this: This is what we have:

Under President Biden, sanctions against Russia are canceled and they build a pipeline. Under President Biden, he cripples our own economy by canceling Keystone.

It is time for us to get back to work.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.

I don't even know where to begin to respond to what we just heard. To imply that Washington, D.C., has no representation is absolutely false. It does have local representation. It also has a Delegate right here in the House of Representatives and has electoral votes for Presidential elections, things that no other city in this country has.

This H.R. 51 flies in the face of what our Founders intended. They never wanted the seat of our government to be a State, and they specifically framed the Constitution to say so. Yet, what the Democrats really are trying to do, that they will not admit, is gain even more representation by creating a city-state whereby they get two more Senators.

Again, this is absolutely against what our Constitution and our Founders intended, and this ought to be soundly rejected, permanently rejected.

Madam Speaker, there is an unprecedented crisis at the southern border. Literally, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are crossing into the United States, stretching our patrol officers and enforcement down there to a breaking point.

In February of this year, over 100,000 illegals were apprehended. That is a 28 percent increase from the year before. And I guarantee you, it is only going to get worse. The projections are even more than that this coming month.

Illegal border crossings are now five times higher than before President Biden was inaugurated. And this is all fueled by the ``open border'' policies of this administration promising amnesty, ending the wall construction, halting deportations, handcuffing our law enforcement, and undermining border security.

President Trump gave President Biden a secure southern border, and in

less than 3 months, it has been dismantled. This is absolute insanity.

Madam Speaker, meanwhile, here in Washington, the Democratic majority is cheerfully pushing more legislation to incentivize more illegals coming here. We have this bill promoting amnesty. We are literally exalting illegals in this country over those who have waited years to become citizens.

Madam Speaker, this is not rocket science. The Democratic party knows this is going to create a greater crisis, and they simply don't care. It is time to stop fueling the crisis and start solving it.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding.

It is stunning to me that we are still wrestling through these type of issues. We have been watching over the last few months one radical piece of legislation after another and our country is beginning to suffer. We are watching gas prices go up, skyrocketing. We are still shutting businesses down. We are still seeing schools closed. We are watching our energy independence be reversed.

Madam Speaker, it is one horrible bill, one horrible policy after another. And now we are watching a catastrophe on our southern border, and my friends on the other side of the aisle appear to not care what is happening at the southern border.

We haven't honestly called it for what it is: a disaster.

We are not willing to look at the national security issues of it. We are not willing to look at the danger that is occurring, the cartels, the human trafficking, the drug trafficking, the criminals who, perhaps, are coming across our border, the terrorists who may be coming across our border.

And now what are we doing?

We are looking at another outrageous piece of legislation that says: if you come work on a farm, we are going to give you amnesty. It doesn't matter what your background. It doesn't matter who you are.

At the same time, we even have here around Capitol Hill fences guarding us, guarding the American people from the people's House, but we are going to open up our borders for who knows who to come marching through.

Now we have a piece of legislation that says: just come work on a farm and we are going to give you amnesty.

Madam Speaker, 1.5 million people are going to become citizens for working minimal time on farms.

This is going to shield criminals. They are just going to come across the border, claim amnesty, come work on a farm, and before long, they are legal citizens here.

We don't know who these people are. We don't know what their intentions are, but we are going to grant them amnesty through this bill. It is nonsense. It is frightening. It is irresponsible. It is endangering American lives. It is encouraging even more disaster and danger on our southern border.

It makes absolutely zero sense for us to proceed with this type of irresponsible legislation, and I urge my colleagues to vote against this.

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

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

Look, bottom line is, we all know that by definition criminals don't abide by the law. And that applies also when they are purchasing firearms. Nothing in this bill prohibits this type of individual from obtaining firearms.

In fact, the majority of individuals in prison for committing crimes with firearms obtain their firearms through theft, the underground market, family members, and the like.

But what this bill does is threaten everyday American citizens with up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine for exercising their Second Amendment right in doing common practices.

To say that this does not create a national gun registry, you cannot accomplish what is in this bill without a gun registry.

The reality is universal background checks do not stop mass shootings. We do not have mass shootings because of lack of background checks. This bill will not make our communities safer. In fact, what it will do is cause law-abiding citizens to lose more of their Second Amendment rights.

We shouldn't be focused here in Congress in taking those rights away. We actually should be strengthening the enforcement of laws we already have to make our communities safer.

I stand with the Constitution and urge my colleagues to vote against

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to call up H.R. 682, the Reopen Schools Act, to get our kids out from behind screens and back in the classroom.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are all concerned with this bill, H.R. 8. And the reality is, the big money donors and powerful special interest groups behind the Democratic Party for a long time have sought to undermine, restrict, and even eliminate the Second Amendment rights of Americans.

With the Democratic Party now calling the shots here in Washington, quite frankly, the majority party is not even trying to hide their true agenda.

Masquerading as supposedly good-faith proposals to end gun violence, what they are really putting in place are the stepping-stones to creating a national firearm registry and eventually even confiscating firearms.

H.R. 8 is being considered later this week, and it would implement a universal background check system. The majority claims that this is an obvious solution to gun violence, but that is simply not the case at all.

Gun violence in America is complex, and so are the solutions. But the overwhelming majority of criminals would not be stopped by H.R. 8 whatsoever. In fact, the Justice Department itself, by its own data, says that 75 percent of criminals in prison who possessed a firearm obtained it through theft, the black market, or family and friends.

Secondly, we know that the vast majority of mass shooters would have been able to pass background checks. This bill does not in any way end gun violence.

But what it does do is create a national gun registry that will eventually be used against law-abiding Americans.

Without a permanent database of who owns a firearm, the Federal Government would not be able to determine whether a private firearm transfer took place with the required background check.

So that brings to us the real aim of this bill, H.R. 8. It paves the way for this database to be used at a later date in a national gun confiscation program.

Mr. Speaker, don't take my word for it.

Even President Biden, himself, in August 2019, said that he does support confiscating assault weapons which he would consider AR-15 style.

So, Mr. Speaker, the threat is real. We are in a major fight for those who are trying to dismantle and eliminate the Second Amendment. We are not blowing smoke here. H.R. 8 is a massive move in that direction, and we stand here tonight to say: No, we are not going to allow that to happen on our watch.

We have to be vigilant, and we have to stand guard for our freedoms.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Arizona, for yielding to me.