Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I was unavailable, and I missed the following roll call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted: NAY on Roll Call No. 501; NAY on Roll Call No. 502; NAY on Roll Call No. 503; YEA on Roll Call No. 504; YEA on Roll Call No. 505; YEA on Roll Call No. 506; YEA on Roll Call No. 507; YEA on Roll Call No. 508; YEA on Roll Call No. 509; YEA on Roll Call No. 510; YEA on Roll Call No. 511; and NAY on Roll Call No. 512.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Anthony D'Aleo on his recent induction into the Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame.

Anthony, better known as Tony, served in the U.S. Army and later in

the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam war.

After leaving Active-Duty service, Tony moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he lives today and serves as the president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Local Chapter 1046. Through this leadership role, Tony has remained active in advocating for his fellow veterans suffering from service-related illnesses. His continued commitment to the veterans of Northeast Florida and dedication to the Nation are unmatched.

I take this opportunity to thank Tony for his continued efforts to support those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and salute his service to this Nation. We owe Tony and veterans like him a debt of gratitude that we could never repay.

Honoring the Service of John Leslie

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate retired Navy Commander John Leslie for his induction into the Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame.

John spent a total of 39 years in active service and civilian service to the U.S. Navy, where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Meritorious Service Medals, seven Strike/Flight Air Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals, and numerous other service and unit decorations.

He is known by his friends and neighbors as an honorable officer, a devoted friend, a true patriot, and a loving husband to his wife, Patricia, who you see pictured here.

John's commitment to supporting those around him has continued into retirement through his service to his fellow veterans across Northeast Florida. He now devotes his time to leadership and volunteer roles at the Mayo Clinic, Community Hospice and Palliative Care, and Veterans Treatment Court in St. Johns County. John's legacy of dedication rightfully earned him a spot in the Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame.

On behalf of Florida's Fourth Congressional District, I thank Commander Leslie for his devotion to our Nation.

Honoring the Life of St. Johns County Commissioner Paul Waldron

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember St. Johns County Commissioner Paul Waldron.

Paul was a lifelong resident of St. Johns County and a vibrant member of the community. Throughout his young life, Paul worked and operated his family's small business, Harry's Curb Market, before becoming a respected real estate professional.

Paul applied his experience running a small business to his role as St. Johns County commissioner through his efforts to support and expand recreation and tourism development and strengthen our economy.

Throughout his 6 years as commissioner, Paul also became a powerful advocate for residents in St. Johns County and continued to volunteer in a variety of capacities throughout the community.

His recent loss is a devastating blow to our community. He will be remembered as a strong leader, faithful husband, loving father, and beloved neighbor and friend. I was proud to call him my friend.

On behalf of Florida's Fourth Congressional District, I extend sincere condolences to Paul's wife, Stephanie, and their two daughters, Ashley and Kati.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I have to tell you, I have spent 40 years in law enforcement, 12 as a sheriff, as you know, and I have to tell you, never in my life have I seen law enforcement more under attack in America than I have for the last 2\1/2\ years--never.

I know the dangers that they face out there every day. I have been there. I have done that. I have to tell you, the attempts by those across the aisle to delegitimize, to demoralize, and to defund our State and local law enforcement is atrocious and unforgivable.

I hope that, come November, the American public will hold accountable some of these folks that you just heard read out. I can tell you, I don't think they are popular at all with the American public. Yet, now, leading into the midterms, we are going to come together, and we are going to throw four bills onto the floor to address law enforcement and show that we are supportive of law enforcement. I can tell you three of these bills are off that point.

First of all, the Mental Health Justice Act, the VICTIM Act, and the Break the Cycle of Violence Act, these three bills, let's take them one at a time.

The Mental Health Justice Act will actually make it more dangerous for

law enforcement, make it more dangerous for our citizens. We are going to literally send mental health workers to respond to volatile situations where police officers, who are armed, go in and are killed oftentimes.

Mental health calls are some of the most dangerous calls that we handle, and we want to send civilians in lieu of law enforcement? I don't think so.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

The idea that we are going to send civilians to do a law enforcement officer's job in quelling a dangerous, volatile situation is bad business.

The VICTIM Act does nothing. There is nothing new in the VICTIM Act. All it does is add to the programs that already exist in DOJ--not one single new idea in the VICTIM Act.

The Break the Cycle of Violence Act, first of all, comes with a very hefty price tag, $6.5 billion, but all that money goes to public health government bureaucrats, not law enforcement.

Listen, our job in Congress is to provide effective assistance to our law enforcement men and women. These three acts do not do that. They simply do not achieve that goal.

I am glad, however, that my colleagues have finally decided that defunding the police is not a good idea, but I wish they would look at the appropriation bills where they are basically federally defunding law enforcement because they are putting all of these strings attached to all of our DOJ grants that go to small-, medium-, and large-sized agencies.

They are never going to be able to meet those standards, never going to be able to meet all of those standards. So, basically, we just federally defunded State and local law enforcement if that passes. I hope to God it doesn't.

Instead of these misguided policies, let's work together on some solutions. Help us hire and retain some of the best and brightest officers that we have.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on all three of these bills: the Mental Health Justice Act, the VICTIM Act, and the Break the Cycle of Violence Act. These will do nothing but endanger our law enforcement men and women.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill.

I was very fortunate during my 40-year law enforcement career to work for a large and growing law enforcement agency. We had the resources to go after Federal grants to help keep our community safe, to bring those Federal dollars back home to protect my community.

I know that many agencies that I worked with did not have that benefit, and that is why, on many of the projects that came from Federal participation, we often partnered with much smaller agencies to help them out.

This bill is all about helping those agencies with 125 officers or less to be able to access those Federal grants that they cannot access right now for training, retention, and hiring. That is what we should be doing, Mr. Speaker.

That is why I worked with my good friend across the aisle, Josh Gottheimer. I appreciate him working on this, getting to the language that we could all agree with. It has been back and forth quite a bit, but we got it here to the floor, and I congratulate him on that.

This is a bipartisan issue. This is for our law enforcement men and women. These are for those small agencies. We need to be able to help them out.

I can tell you the last 2\1/2\ years have left law enforcement demoralized like never before. I have seen it. They need this assistance as they have officers that are leaving in droves.

I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come together and vote for this bill, which is going to help small law enforcement agencies join with the National Fraternal Order of Police, which supports this bill, and other law enforcement organizations. NAPO is another.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage everyone to vote ``yes'' on this bill. I believe these small law enforcement agencies absolutely need our assistance.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Trinity Love Hoblit and the Hoblit family. I rise today to recognize and bring to the attention of our country a horrible condition.

Trinity Love Hoblit was born with a rare form of primordial dwarfism and at age 9 was diagnosed with multiple brain aneurysms. Despite undergoing numerous surgeries to treat and prevent future symptoms, Trinity suffered a fatal aneurysm on June 30, 2015, at only 14 years of age.

Throughout her young life, Trinity underwent a variety of medical treatments, leading to several hospital visits. Her mother remembers that during those long hospital stays, Trinity would always think of the other children first. It was her love for others and her desire to make a difference within her community that now lives on through the foundation in her name.

In 2016, Olivia and Phil Hoblit established the Trinity Love Hoblit Foundation, located in Amelia Island, Florida. It is for the purpose of raising awareness, support, and funding for neurological research, training, and treatment for those like Trinity who suffer from brain aneurysms and other cerebrovascular conditions.

Most recently, the foundation began research on determining if medical history and genetic markers increase a person's risk of developing these brain aneurysms.

Brain aneurysms affect an estimated 30,000 Americans each year and can occur at any age and without any preexisting conditions.

Brain Aneurysm Awareness Month, this month, is a time to raise awareness for the signs and symptoms that can help with early detection, like:

Severe headaches,

Pain above one or both eyes,

Blurred or double vision,

Difficulty speaking or swallowing,

A numbness or weakness on one side of the body, and

Painful seizures.

These are all signs that can be symptoms and help with early detection.

Thanks to higher levels of awareness and research developments, we are one step closer to finding a cure.

On behalf of Florida's Fourth Congressional District, I thank Olivia and Phil Hoblit and the Trinity Love Hoblit Foundation for their lifesaving work in northeast Florida and across the country.

Making Homeownership More Accessible to Heroes

Mr. Speaker, as inflation takes a toll on families throughout our Nation and housing costs soar, many of our first responders and educators struggle to find affordable homes in the communities that they serve.

For this reason, I introduced H.R. 3172, the HELPER Act, which would establish a new one-time-use home loan program for law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, and pre-K-12 teachers.

Modeled after the successful VA home loan program, the HELPER Act would make homeownership more accessible to our local heroes by removing the downpayment and mortgage insurance premium requirements that can put homeownership just out of reach.

The HELPER Act has strong bipartisan, bicameral support from over 90 Members in both Houses of Congress and more than 225 different organizations across the country, including 108 mayors from different cities around the country.

As we all know, everything is more expensive these days, and the HELPER Act would prevent our first responders and educators from being priced out of home buying in the very communities they are sworn to protect.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this reckless spending bill, which, contrary to its name, will do absolutely nothing to address inflation. In fact, the bill before us today will further threaten the prosperity of hardworking, middle-class taxpayers.

The same leaders who drove this economy into a recession are back. But this time, it is another failed plan to raise taxes, build more bureaucracy, and create a government slush fund with taxpayer dollars.

We need to call this bill what it is. It is a $700-billion debacle that will drive up costs for everyone, double the size of the IRS, attack medical innovation, as you have already heard, and use $350 billion to implement the Green New Deal all while giving handouts to the wealthy.

Hardworking Americans across the country are facing the reality of rising prices and a nationwide recession. They deserve leaders who are focusing on the lives of everyday Americans, not politicians who pander to the President and his failed policies.

Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote on this egregious bill.

Mr. Speaker, America doesn't have a gun violence problem, we have a human violence problem. But those across the aisle don't want to talk about that because then you have to talk about the culture of death that we have created in this country. Killing 63 million unborn children. Denying the sanctity of life. That is the conversation that they don't want to have.

Mr. Speaker, as a former police officer, I have encountered many dangerous people with guns, and we stopped them before they hurt themselves or others. We identified them. We identified the threats that they were making. Then we were able to intervene and stop those individuals before they became a shooter.

That is what we should be focused on in the wake of these recent tragedies. Give law enforcement the tools and resources to stop those who have shown a propensity to become violent. That is what we should be focusing on, not defunding the police, not demoralizing the police, not delegitimizing the police. We should be focused on assisting the police and identifying these individuals who want to commit crime.

Madam Chair, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall No. 371.

members recorded pursuant to house resolution 8, 117th congress

Barragan (Correa)

Bowman (Neguse)

Boyle, Brendan F. (Beyer)

Brown (MD) (Evans)

Carter (TX) (Weber (TX))

Castro (TX) (Correa)

Cawthorn (Greene (GA))

Connolly (Beyer)

Crist (Wasserman Schultz)

DeFazio (Pallone)

Demings (Kelly (IL))

Escobar (Garcia (TX))

Foster (Spanberger)

Garcia (IL) (Takano)

Gohmert (Weber (TX))

Gosar (Weber (TX))

Grijalva (Correa)

Houlahan (Spanberger)

Kahele (Correa)

Kirkpatrick (Pallone)

Lawson (FL) (Evans)

Leger Fernandez (Correa)

Meng (Kuster)

Mfume (Evans)

Moore (WI) (Beyer)

Newman (Beyer)

Pascrell (Pallone)

Pingree (Kuster)

Porter (Neguse)

Reschenthaler (Keller)

Rice (SC) (Meijer)

Salazar (Waltz)

San Nicolas (Takano)

Sherrill (Pallone)

Sires (Pallone)

Smucker (Keller)

Taylor (McHenry)

Thompson (MS) (Bishop (GA))

Walorski (Fischbach)

Williams (GA) (Neguse)

Wilson (FL) (Evans)

Wilson (SC) (Norman)

Amendments En Bloc No. 6 Offered by Ms. DeLauro of Connecticut

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, this week's Consumer Price Index report indicates that we just reached a 40-year high in June. This kind of inflation is a tax on every American and a threat to our middle-class families.

As a result of Democrats' reckless, trillion-dollar inflationary spending, hardworking Americans are taking a pay cut, and failed relief plans have caused unprecedented financial challenges to the U.S. economy, hitting the American taxpayers the hardest.

Some of my friends on the other side of the aisle blame the inflation on the war in Ukraine, but Americans faced sharp, rising inflation long before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Now, additional price increases across the board continue to eat away at the paychecks of this Nation's workforce, making it even harder to achieve the American Dream for millions of Americans.

I am sure many of my colleagues can relate when I say I have conversations back home with folks who are struggling to afford everyday essentials, including baby formula and fuel, that continue to be in short supply.

President Biden and the Democrats' lack of concrete solutions are falling short. The President's first action upon taking office was to end construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and issue a moratorium on new oil and gas permits on Federal lands.

His most recent efforts to court oil deals with our hostile counterparts in Saudi Arabia are futile. In fact, it was embarrassing today.

Increasing America's energy independence is the best way to alleviate the pressure Americans feel at the gas pump. This means producing more American energy, not less. Restoring American energy production here at home will make our country more prosperous and secure while lowering the price at the gas pump.

I recently cosponsored the American Energy Independence from Russia Act which would reopen the Keystone XL pipeline, increase our natural gas production and exports, encourage energy and mineral development on foreign lands, and prevent needless regulation on domestic oil and gas production.

However, those across the aisle have consistently blocked this legislation for a total of seven times. Seven times.

This war on affordable energy production is the main culprit for both the high gas prices and skyrocketing food prices. Given the current economic climate, it is critical that Congress thoroughly consider how legislation will contribute to future inflation.

For this reason, I cosponsored the Informed Lawmaking to Combat Inflation Act. This would require the Congressional Budget Office to provide an inflation estimate for major pieces of legislation so that Members of Congress can be best informed about how these spending bills will impact inflation.

I also supported the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which lowered tax rates for all Americans and simplified our tax code. We must continue efforts to lower taxes, not raise taxes, especially at a time like this.

We should take this opportunity to make the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax cuts permanent. The President's inflation crisis is already costing the American U.S. household $6,000 as they encounter the skyrocketing cost of goods.

The American people deserve commonsense solutions that will help ease the economic burden. Future generations of Americans depend on the financial decisions made today. I will keep fighting for real relief for hardworking Americans and am focused on legislation that supports the middle class and allows hardworking Floridians and others to keep more of their paychecks, allowing families to better save for college, invest in their retirement, and spend more time with their loved ones.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Stauber amendment No. 83 that is in this en bloc.

This amendment would simply provide oversight over the DOD's management of religious and medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

At a time when we need every servicemember we can get, I am concerned that there are people being discharged from the military without full consideration of their religious or medical exemptions.

Mr. Speaker, it is past time for more transparency in the exemption process so we can ensure that our servicemembers' requests are being properly considered and fairly adjudicated.

While I don't think our servicemembers should be subject to the COVID-19 vaccine at all, the least we can do is bring transparency to the process of those who are seeking a legitimate exemption.

I thank Mr. Stauber for introducing this commonsense amendment and looking out for the best interests of our men and women in uniform.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

The Freedom-class littoral combat ships fill an important operational need in the Navy's fleet. We have invested billions in this program and decommissioning nine ships at the beginning of their service life is complete financial malpractice and takes away from important assets that can be used around the globe.

This amendment would have a direct negative impact on our national security.

The Chinese Communist Party plans to expand their fleet, which will reach 460 vessels by 2030. Meanwhile, in the same time period, the U.S. fleet will shrink to less than 300.

These ships aren't perfect, as was mentioned earlier; no new class of ship is. But scrapping these ships at less than half their average life cycle is like throwing away a dime to save a nickel.

Admiral Gumbleton himself said that the fix for these isn't an exorbitant amount of money. Why is it worth scrapping them entirely and throwing away billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars?

The push to decommission these ships is a multimillion-dollar misstep. These ships are out in the fleet and they are executing missions in littoral waters, making our country safer--from helping the Coast Guard with drug interdiction in SOUTHCOM to maritime security operations in CENTCOM.

Mr. Speaker, a vote in favor of this amendment is a vote against national security, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this amendment.

Madam Speaker, I hereby remove my name as cosponsor of H.R. 8167.

Madam Speaker, I was unavailable, and I missed the following roll call votes.

Had I been present, I would have voted: yea on rollcall No. 257; and nay on rollcall No. 267.

Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Tennessee for this opportunity.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the historic inflation and soaring gas prices that are hurting American families all across America.

You know, as my good friend from Wisconsin was saying earlier, he talked about the 8.6 percent inflation rate and how that doesn't seem to jive with the American public. It just doesn't seem like it could possibly be 8.6 percent.

My good friend talked about the inflation rate in the building industry. We are just going to talk a little bit about gas, for example, 106.7 percent; butter, margarine, 20.2 percent up; milk, up 15.9 percent; pork up 13.3 percent.

How in the world can the official inflation rate actually be 8.6 percent? It doesn't make sense, Mr. Burchett. It doesn't make sense, and every American out there knows it.

I am here to tell you that the sky-high prices that we see at stores and at the pump are, in large part, thanks to Democrats' planned policies to force the U.S. off of fossil fuels.

On President Biden's first day in office, he ended the XL Pipeline, the Keystone XL Pipeline, suspended drilling permits, and froze oil and gas leases on public lands. The Biden administration successfully brought domestic energy production to a halt.

Just 19 months ago, if you can remember, America was energy independent: $2.30-odd cents a gallon. Since then, we have seen gas more than double in price.

Now, with the volatility in international oil markets caused by Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, it is past time for the United States to bolster again our energy independence.

Yet, instead of turning to our domestic suppliers of oil and gas, the Biden administration has turned to corrupt regimes like Venezuela, or they have gone to Saudi Arabia, or they are going.

Americans across the country are struggling to fuel their cars and power their homes and businesses. Recent reports show that the average household is going to spend $5,000 more on gas this year.

That is $5,000 that won't go into rising grocery bills and other costs of living increases, and we will call it 8.6 percent inflation, but we know it is more.

The only way to alleviate the pressure Americans feel at the gas pump is to refocus our efforts on rebuilding America's energy independence.

That is why I am a proud cosponsor of H.R. 6858, the American Energy Independence from Russia Act. This bill would restart the Keystone XL pipeline, expand natural gas exports to our allies abroad, and restart oil and gas production right here in the United States.

Passing this bill is a crucial step in both reducing the price of gas and strengthening our economy. It is time for the Biden administration to take responsibility for this crisis, rein in spending, and take action to increase Americans' energy independence.

This incredible transition, as the President called it, has destroyed the very economy that had the potential to create the capital that was necessary and will be necessary, the capital that we could use to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy in a smooth and seamless process.

That would have given us the capital for the conservation, the innovation, the adaptability, but all of that is gone.

I ask the President to return us to American energy independence and let loose America's industrial might.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), my good friend, for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about a major problem facing our communities, and that is human violence. I have four children and four beautiful grandchildren who are school-aged.

Madam Speaker, I have to tell you, when I turned on the television set and saw what was going on in Uvalde, Texas, my heart sank. I saw my grandchildren in the faces of those children that I saw fleeing from that horrible violence that was being conducted that afternoon. It is too often that we turn on our TV sets and see images of schools locked down and grieving communities. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, we saw that unfold in Uvalde, Texas. Yet, every time tragedy strikes, we hear the same conversation, calls for bans on firearms, universal background checks, and red flag laws. That is how we spent the last two days in this Chamber, talking about partisan bills that are, number one, redundant--a lot of these laws already exist--or number two, they are laws that will infringe on the rights of law-abiding

American citizens. Ultimately, they won't fix the problem.

Madam Speaker, the problem is not guns. It is not gun violence. The problem is human violence. When I was sheriff, I used to explain to my community occasionally, when gun violence--as they would call it--would erupt, and they would ask me to talk about it.

Madam Speaker, I would tell the gentleman, Mr. Gohmert, I would always make the point to them that I could take that weapon off my hip, put it on that podium, and it would never, ever become violent. Now, some human may come along and pick it up and use it violently, but that is a human violence problem. It is not a gun violence problem.

I carried a gun for 41 years. It never became violent. Yet, we see it over and over again. Humans are the cause of this violence. It is a cause of the grief that we are seeing today and feeling in Uvalde and Buffalo and so many other cities across America.

We see it over and over again. A tragedy happens, a gunman is identified, and what do we learn? Then we learn that they showed all sorts of dangerous behavior and telltale signs of violence long before becoming a mass shooter, a murderer, killing animals, making threats, threatening words, self-harm, cutting themselves--the list goes on and on; mental health issues that should have been addressed long before they became an active shooter.

Madam Speaker, but people don't want to talk about that in the wake of a tragedy. The fact is, we already have the tools to deal with these individuals once they are identified. We have the tools to stop these horrific events before they happen. One of the things, as sheriff, I used to tell my officers all the time is I don't want to be the best first responder to a mass casualty event. I want to prevent it before it occurs.

Madam Speaker, I saw firsthand, countless times, when people were a danger, we stopped them before they could hurt others. We put them in jail. We arrested them for making threats. We identified them and we identified the threats that they were making, and we stopped them from acting on those threats.

The challenge here, we must focus on identifying those who are a human threat to themselves and others and then intervene. Too many times after all of these events, we hear that conversation: Oh, I knew this guy. I am not surprised.

Those are the conversations that we hear afterwards. We must identify those suffering from severe mental illness and formally adjudicate them so they cannot buy a firearm. That law already exists. We need to start adjudicating those who are mentally ill and a danger.

And let me say this: Everyone that has a mental illness is not a danger. Many people suffer mental illness and are not a danger. But those that are, we need to adjudicate them as such so that they can't go down and buy a firearm. Those laws are already on the books, but our community must do a better job of identifying those who need help and then get them the services and treatment that they need and deserve.

We could do this while also upholding basic due process rights. Our whole judicial process system is based on the assumption that people are innocent until proven guilty. But the ex-parte order issued through these red flag laws throws these fundamental rights out the window.

Red flag laws take away a person's Second Amendment rights and a lower evidentiary standard without the opportunity to even defend themselves in court. Ex-parte is almost a secretive process. It is going on without the accused's knowledge. And we see how well the ex- parte process worked in the FISA courts, didn't we?

The reason our judicial system works is because it is adversarial. We have people on both sides of the issue who are fighting it out in court, discussing the facts. Ex-parte, you hear one side of the story. That is all. And they want to use that to take away your Second Amendment rights. Then once deprived of those rights, now we have to prove that we are innocent.

This is backwards and ineffective at solving our violence problem. Before we quickly jump to pass bad legislation--like we just passed this afternoon--let's do a better job of enforcing the laws that are already on our books.

Before we rehash the same talking points and debate partisan messaging bills, let's work together on the areas where we need change. Let's work together to bolster our mental health system so we can better identify people suffering from mental illness and adjudicate them if they are a danger and provide them the treatment they need and deserve.

Let's work together to strengthen penalties for those who steal and traffic in firearms. Let's work together to secure our schools and make sure that our kids have a safe place to learn.

The STOP School Violence Act of 2018, which was signed into law by President Trump, when we drafted the language for that bill, the first concern that I had was identification of those who are a threat, and that is the first part of that law.

The second part of that law now is CPTED, crime prevention through environmental design, how we can stop those who may be coming to our schools to commit violence.

Let's work together to identify the signs of dangerous behavior and prevent these acts of violence before they even happen.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 7910 because this bill does nothing to stop human violence, which is the real problem at hand here.

Straw purchases are already illegal. You can't buy a gun for someone else to get around the background check. Bump stocks are already regulated like automatic weapons, thanks to the Trump administration.

Infringing on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans is not the answer. In fact, the bill before us will even make criminals out of legal gun owners.

This bill would put the Federal Government in charge of law-abiding citizens and how they store their firearms

inside their own homes. This bill puts firearms storage over and above self-defense.

Instead, let's work together to address human violence problems by bolstering our mental health system, identifying individuals before they become active shooters and mass murderers, and improving our school safety through crime prevention through environmental design, CPTED. It can be done.