Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, across our country, parents are facing a new and scary reality this summer. As soccer camps and Little League games get back underway, there is a new and growing crime crisis that is threatening our communities.

Just last week, President Biden made the extraordinarily false comment that crime is down. President Biden is wrong. We are seeing a rise in crime throughout American cities.

In Philadelphia, there have been 315 homicides this year, an increase of over 35 percent from last year. This is unacceptable.

The people living in our communities deserve to feel safe. While families worry about the growing crime crisis, liberal leaders have turned their backs and failed to protect our neighborhoods.

Across the country, mayors and community leaders have condemned the police officers and joined protests calling to defund law enforcement. They have failed to support our police officers as the police officers are battling, firsthand, this crime wave. This dangerous rhetoric makes our communities less safe. Now is definitely not the time to defund the police.

Tragically, ambush-style attacks on law enforcement have increased 91 percent since last year. These attacks have been deadly, and unfortunately, 155 police officers have given their lives in the line of duty.

This is not the time to play games, and this is not the time to cut funding for body armor and safety equipment that protect our officers who are on the front lines.

Now more than ever, we must stand with our law enforcement officers. We must stand with our heroes to keep us safe each and every day. We must ensure that they have the tools and the training to protect themselves from harm while they protect us and protect our communities.

Now is the time to back the blue.

Now is the time to support our law enforcement.

Now is the time to speak out against the dangerous rhetoric that puts the lives of the men and women in blue in danger.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose H.R. 2467, the PFAS Action Act. This bill takes the wrong approach to dealing with these complex and complicated chemicals.

A de facto ban on all PFAS substances will do nothing but prevent secure disposal of existing chemicals and harm innovation of new, safer products.

As a physician, I have personally seen the benefits provided by these products. PFAS materials have a variety of uses in healthcare, ranging from heart valves, cardiac stents, to coatings on contact lenses.

Thanks to technology developed using PFAS materials, surgeries, such as those that are needed to repair a child's congenital heart defect, no longer require risky open-heart surgery and can simply be done through the arm.

Of course, we don't want dangerous chemicals in our water supply. But to outright ban an entire family of products is not the answer. We would not ban the entire periodic table because it includes arsenic and mercury. We need a science-grounded, risk-based approach that identifies the most harmful chemicals and treats them as such, rather than have Congress regulate the entire family as a single group.

Inclusion in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act has the potential to slow down the cleanup process of PFAS, divert resources from current higher-priority public health issues and create another unfunded mandate for critical public utilities and local governments.

Instead of interfering, it is time to let government agencies do their work. And so I urge my colleagues, join me, vote ``no'' on H.R. 2467.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to stand for the people of Cuba who are marching against the Communist government that has oppressed them for decades.

In recent weeks, the Cuban activists have been kidnapped, jailed, and murdered for daring to stand against the Communist regime.

Now is the time to stand against this brutality. We must urge world leaders to cease all support for the Communist regime in Cuba.

We must ensure that Cubans can communicate freely with each other and with the outside world. We must forcefully denounce the Cuban dictatorship that has committed these crimes.

The Cuban people are rising up in the name of opportunity, the opportunity that they see just 90 miles away on the American shores.

As the Cuban people protest in the streets, they are chanting, ``Libertad,'' liberty. They are carrying American flags, and they are calling out for freedom.

Now is the time for us to stand with them. It is time to put an end to the murderous regime that has held the people of Cuba hostage for the past 61 years.

Freedom. Freedom for all. Freedom for Cuba. Let them see what we have here. Let them attain that freedom.

Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate Beryl Geddes of Blair County, Pennsylvania as she celebrates her 100th birthday. Mrs. Geddes is a loving mother, grandmother, great- grandmother, and great-great-grandmother.

Born on July 9, 1921 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Beryl graduated from Tyrone High School in 1939 and married Chester Geddes the following year. Beryl traveled across the country with her husband during his time in the military and later returned home to Tyrone, Pennsylvania, where she worked.

On behalf of Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District, I congratulate Beryl Geddes on this very special birthday and wish her many more happy, healthy years to come.

Mr. Speaker, at the grocery store and at the gas pump American families are facing a harsh new reality. Rising prices have effectively created both a tax hike and a pay cut for our workers.

At the height of summer, families are now paying 3 percent more for fruits and vegetables, 9 percent more for milk, and 18 percent more for bacon.

Instead of addressing this crisis, President Biden and liberals in Congress are doing what they always do, spending money that we don't have and asking taxpayers to cover the difference.

Another $3.5 trillion spending bill is not what our country needs.

Passing the Green New Deal under another name will not help American families.

In Pennsylvania, inflation has harsh consequences on our local businesses like Guy Chemical in Somerset County who has seen a 30 to 50 percent rise in costs.

Let's make it clear: President Biden's failed policies are putting American businesses and American families at risk.

Mr. Speaker, as the Chinese Communist Party marks a century of power, Americans must renew our efforts to hold this regime accountable for its human rights atrocities. The Chinese Government has imprisoned more than 1 million Uyghurs, persecuting this religious minority for their fundamental beliefs.

For 100 years, the Chinese Communist Party has committed gross violations of human rights, mass imprisonment, torture, and genocide. Now more than ever, Americans must stand strong with the people of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. We must support the Chinese people's right to free expression, their right to privacy, and the right to life itself.

As Americans celebrate the Fourth of July, we must remember that our freedom is much too precious to be taken for granted. As President Ronald Reagan said, freedom is a fragile thing, and it is never more than one generation away from extinction.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Latta), who is the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bilirakis), my friend and colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Mrs. Lesko), my colleague and a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I rise to oppose H.R. 3684 as a whole, and, in particular, the AQUA Act. This is yet another partisan attempt at unnecessary and costly legislation. These rush-to-spend bills are bad for rural America. They are bad for my constituents.

Every Member in this Congress wants safe drinking water for their communities and constituents. That is why we have already spent over $1 billion in the last 6 months on drinking water and on wastewater assistance.

The additional tens of billions of dollars that this legislation will spend is wasteful and gratuitous. Under this proposal, the EPA will be tasked, for the first time, with administering a welfare program, which will be worth $8 billion.

Worse yet, these bills restrict the rights of local and municipal authorities to best meet their customers' needs. In this legislation, local water utilities are prevented from taking action to collect overdue payments for up to 5 years, regardless of the income level of the offenders.

It would rescind flexibility for modest communities to have variances for their small water systems.

Furthermore, it would repeal provisions in the Safe Drinking Water Act that prohibit burdensome regulations where costs exceed benefits.

Unfortunately, this legislation yet again demonstrates the Democrats' fixation on urban centers while leaving rural Americans behind.

For all of these reasons, I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, nearly 100 days after being appointed as the Biden administration border czar, Vice President Harris finally visited the southern border at the end of last week. It was 800 miles away from the crux of the problem, but I suppose it is a start.

Clearly, the Biden-Harris administration knows that it is facing a border crisis. To them, it is a PR crisis. To the American people, the Biden border crisis is so real.

As I have said time and time again, the illicit fentanyl that is made in China or elsewhere crosses the porous southern border and winds up on our streets in Pennsylvania. It spurs addiction; it tears apart families; it destroys the workforce; and worst of all, it is killing friends and neighbors.

Last month alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection intercepted more than 900 pounds of fentanyl. In fact, border agents have seized more fentanyl at the border so far this year than in all of last year.

As my friend and Franklin County Coroner Jeff Conner just recently told me, fentanyl is easy to get and fast to kill. This is true in Pennsylvania, and this is true across our country.

Can you imagine what 900 pounds of fentanyl means for American communities, what it means to American families?

The chaos on the southern border is absolutely a crisis for first responders, law enforcement, healthcare providers, and community leaders on the front lines of the drug epidemic in our communities. Every day, I hear from Pennsylvanians who have experienced the ramifications of this crisis firsthand. For them, this is a stark reality.

Vice President Harris says that the Biden administration is making progress on this crisis. If that is the case, what is the President's definition of progress?

Does the President believe that his administration is making progress on the Biden economic crisis, as inflation spirals out of control and hardworking families bear that cost?

Does the President believe that his administration is making progress on the Biden crime crisis, as violent crimes skyrocket in cities across the country and our brave law enforcement officers face unprecedented opposition?

If this is President Biden's idea of progress, we must demand better.

Once again, I stand ready to work with the President and my colleagues on commonsense reforms to restore law and order and end the administration's border crisis. We must demand real progress.

Lives are depending on our work. All of America is depending on our work.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, this partisan resolution is unnecessary for a number of reasons. At its core, this is a solution that is looking for a problem.

The oil industry already is voluntarily reducing methane emissions and the United States has led the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the last two decades. Innovation is the ultimate answer to cutting emissions. We cannot afford to stifle advancement.

As a Nation, we cannot regulate our way to a cleaner environment. Most importantly, new methane regulations are duplicative of existing Federal and

State regulations under the Clean Air Act for volatile organic compounds known as VOCs.

The EPA determined in an earlier rulemaking that ``rescinding the methane limits will not actually change the amount of methane emissions reductions.''

This resolution is not about methane emissions or climate change. The truth is that we already regulate methane. The EPA and the States have strong standards in place for volatile organic compounds and methane.

The existing standards and the pollution control equipment installed at oil and gas facilities help to manage both methane and VOCs because they are both produced from the same source and have a similar chemistry and behavior.

The real intent of this misguided resolution is simple--the oil and gas sector is just the tip of the iceberg--the purpose is to give the EPA authority to use Section 111 of the Clean Air Act to regulate every other sector of our economy.

Congress must continue to embrace the bottom-up innovation that will result in leaps in efficiency far greater than any mandate, instead of expensive overregulation that will take money out of working Americans' pockets.

As a Nation, we can do better. As a Congress, we must do better.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``no'' on this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Herrell).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this is just the tip of the iceberg. EPA will use the resolution to clear the way for other sources without formally establishing that a

pollutant significantly contributes to harmful air pollution as a predicate for new regulations. Manufacturing, paper, plastics, metals, and virtually every other industry in America certainly could be next.

We must not allow overregulation to crush the energy jobs that America wants and America needs.

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

Mr. Speaker, my commitment to life is rooted in the unequivocal truth that every person is created in the image and likeness of God. As a father and a grandfather, I can tell you that there is no greater gift than new life.

As a doctor, I can tell you that science confirms what we have known for centuries. Every unborn child is a person deserving of fundamental rights. During the span of my own medical career, I have witnessed remarkable innovation. With today's technology, there can be no doubt that a child in the womb is a living person.

Despite this evidence, Democrats are mounting unprecedented attacks on pro-life protections. First, President Biden repealed the Mexico City policy. Then House Democrats blocked the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. Now they are attempting to repeal the Hyde amendment, which bans Federal funds from being used to pay for abortion services.

Since 1976, this key protection has been attached to all legislation passed in Congress, preventing American taxpayers from funding abortion against their will.

It is wholly reprehensible to require pro-life Americans to pay for abortion against their conscience. As Congress considers appropriations legislation, I urge my colleagues to dispense with their attack on the longstanding Hyde amendment.

To uphold the dignity of human life, we must preserve this protection. It is simple: The Hyde amendment saves lives.

Despite the challenges ahead, we must persevere in this fight. As we read in Romans 12: ``Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.''

Our enduring commitment to protect image-bearers and defend the sanctity of human life will prevail.

Mr. Speaker, more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, I rise once again to bring attention to the Chinese Communist Party's role in this public health and economic crisis and to call for a full congressional investigation into the origin of the virus.

Day after day, we learn more facts and evidence that confirm what we have expected from the beginning: The Chinese Communist Party intentionally covered up the COVID-19 outbreak, squandering valuable time, creating dangerous misinformation, and, ultimately, costing lives.

Over a year ago, the China Task Force began raising real questions about the origin of the virus. At that time, the mainstream media and others dismissed our concerns. Despite their objections, we continued in our efforts to expose this coverup.

Now, after lives and livelihoods have been destroyed, President Biden and the Democrats finally are asking questions about this virus. They finally are waking up to reality.

Not only did this pandemic start in China, but the World Health Organization acted as a willing pawn of the Chinese Government to cover up this virus and hide it from the world.

After taking office, one of President Biden's first actions was rejoining the World Health Organization at taxpayer expense, without requiring a single reform to its corrupt culture.

Time and time again, President Biden has failed to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable. Now, this Congress must act.

Last year, the China Task Force developed more than 400 commonsense solutions to counter the Chinese Communist Party's threat to our health, our economy, and our way of life. We could start by implementing these legislative solutions and restoring America's leadership in 21st century innovation.

As a Congress, we also should build upon the China Task Force's investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic origin, including whether the virus was engineered at the Wuhan lab.

Why delay? How many more Americans will need to be infected before we say ``enough''?

As my friend, Leader Kevin McCarthy has outlined, we need to demand transparency, and we must seek justice. We need to get to the bottom of this question and allow the truth to come to light.

Thanks to American ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, our Nation has embarked on the long path to recovery. However, while new virus cases are on the decline, the pandemic isn't over.

For the families of more than 600,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19, grief still lingers.

For the thousands of Americans struggling with post-COVID syndrome, the virus remains a central part of their lives each and every day.

For small business leaders struggling to keep their doors open amid the current workforce shortage, there is still a crisis.

Holding China accountable for the pandemic is still very relevant. We cannot drag our feet. We cannot just move on.

This is the time for Congress to get serious about our oversight responsibilities and fully investigate the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, I urge Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats to join with Republicans in exposing this regime's blame in the pandemic and demanding answers from the Chinese Communist Party.

We must ensure that this hostile regime never again is allowed to unleash a virus onto our shores. As we have seen, lives and livelihoods are on the line.

Mr. Speaker, under the leadership of the Biden administration, Americans are facing escalating challenges to our economy, to our national security and, ultimately, to our way of life. As we have heard many times, our Nation continues to jump from crisis to crisis.

On this floor, I have often raised concerns about the border crisis, and it continues to spiral out of control as we record an increasing number of migrants crossing the southern border, along with gang violence, human trafficking, and deadly illicit drugs.

Border agents seized over 900 pounds of fentanyl at our southern border last month alone. Today, we are witnessing an escalating crisis and, unlike our Vice President, the American people aren't laughing.

More than 80 days ago, President Biden tasked Vice President Harris with addressing the border crisis. Months later, she has yet to visit the border and witness the devastation firsthand.

How many days will it take? One hundred? Two hundred? A year?

If Vice President Harris needs encouragement to get to the southwest border, then Congress can provide an incentive. I am proud to support Congresswoman Ashley Hinson's See the Crisis Act, which would defund Vice President Harris' international travel until she visits America's southwest border.

It is simple. If the Vice President wants to go to Europe, then she must go to the border first.

This is no laughing matter. At home in Pennsylvania, the border crisis is a matter of life and death. Lives are depending on border security.

The truth is clear: We can't afford the Biden border crisis. We can't afford the Biden economic crisis. We can't afford the Biden national security crisis. And we can't afford the Biden energy crisis.

This pattern is rooted in the Biden administration's broken policies. Under President Biden's watch, we are a nation in crisis.

The American people are paying attention, and they are counting on us to stop this alarming trend and restore our Nation's path to recovery.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with great concern for our Nation's current economic trajectory.

Inflation is spiraling out of control, unemployment numbers continue to disappoint, and millions of small businesses are unable to fill job openings. This pattern is increasingly alarming; and for anyone who is paying attention, it is not a surprise.

The Biden administration's plan to throw money at problems is failing the American people. This so-called rescue plan is stunting our economic recovery and impeding our Nation's comeback from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As President Biden makes even more plans to squander our taxpayer dollars, prices are skyrocketing. American families are experiencing this firsthand. As they see every day, the staggering 5 percent increase in inflation is affecting nearly everything, including essentials. Together, food and energy prices have increased nearly 4 percent. And with the current cost of materials, not even the kitchen sink is safe.

At home in Pennsylvania, no one is shocked that gas is more than 50 percent more expensive today than a year ago. Our Commonwealth already has one of the highest gas taxes in the Nation, burdening workers and families alike. We cannot afford to keep paying more at the pump.

For hardworking families in Pennsylvania and around the country, the cost of inflation is real. It is real at the grocery store. It is real at the gas pump. It is real at the hardware store and at the local diner. It is real for every Pennsylvanian every day of the week.

As a nation, we cannot ignore the sound and source of this alarming trend. This is rooted in President Biden's and the Democrats' broken economic agenda. From higher taxes and fewer jobs, to more regulations and burdens on American industries, their plan is not working.

Day after day, we see more evidence of this. Just last week, the developers of the Keystone pipeline stopped this project after the Biden administration effectively eliminated its opportunity to succeed. Not only will this decision hinder America's energy independence and security, it is also killing family-sustaining jobs for American workers.

The Biden administration already killed the pipeline. What will be next?

As inflation rises, the unemployment rate remains disappointingly high and our work force is suffering. This should be a major warning to all of us that we must stop this trend now. We cannot afford to stay entrenched in President Biden's 1970s-era economic crisis.

We must advance pro-work, pro-growth solutions that will jump-start America's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and it starts with getting Americans back to work, supporting our small businesses, and strengthening the workforce. It also requires ending the current administration's infatuation with Big Government intervention.

The American people don't want more of the same. We simply cannot afford more of it. This is a time to invest in American workers, to promote the dignity of hard work, and restore our Nation to the path of recovery.

National Dairy Month

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate a truly essential industry at home in Pennsylvania and around our country.

Dairy farmers go to work every day of the year to produce safe and healthy food for all American people. Despite mounting regulations and obstacles, these hardworking men and women continue to persevere.

Dairy products, including nutrient-rich whole milk, are good for our kids and good for our families, and they are essential for our region's economy.

I have the distinct privilege of representing nearly 20 percent of Pennsylvania's dairy farms, which are home to more than a quarter of our Commonwealth's dairy cows.

This robust industry is a key part of our local community and our economy. It is truly my privilege to stand up for dairy farmers and to serve as their voice here in Congress as we seek to eliminate barriers to the dairy industry's success.

As we mark National Dairy Month, I thank dairy farmers in Pennsylvania and across the country for their steadfast dedication to our communities and to American families.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dominic Bellvia on his induction into the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Business Hall of Fame, which recognizes leaders for their outstanding contributions to our economic development and community enrichment.

Mr. Bellvia has dedicated his career of over 60 years to serving his neighbors and our region. After founding Mainline Sanitation Company in 1964 and developing Laurel Highlands Landfill with partner Banks Wright, he led a number of business ventures--including Portage Slag & Cinder, Dial Beer, A.B. Bell Rentals, Inc., and Oak Grove Village Mobile Home Park. These small businesses have provided services to Pennsylvanians and created family-sustaining jobs throughout our community.

Throughout his career, Mr. Bellvia has served on local boards including the Tri-County Water Authority board and 1st Summit Bank. His dedication to the Cambria County community is evident in his work to grow and sustain our local economy.

On behalf of Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District, it is my privilege to recognize Dominic Bellvia for his outstanding commitment to our community and to congratulate him on this honor. Mr. Bellvia's work and dedication have made an incredible impact on the Johnstown community, and I wish him and his

family continued success and happiness in the chapters to come.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Joseph Johns (Schantz) upon his posthumous induction into the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Business Hall of Fame, which recognizes leaders who have contributed to the area's economic development and community enrichment.

A farmer by trade, Johns is considered to be the preeminent urban planner of the Greater Johnstown area. Johns first purchased property in what is now Berlin, Somerset County. In 1793, he bought the Campbell tract, which includes much of modern-day Johnstown. Johns was truly the mastermind behind the settlement and development of Johnstown. Today, his beloved ``Conemaugh Old Town'' proudly bears his name.

For centuries, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, has been forged and sustained by the American values of hard work, perseverance, service, and patriotism. This region's continued success is a testament to the vision of Joseph Johns and the leaders who have come before us. In Congress, it is my privilege to represent Johnstown and its citizens as we seek to secure an even brighter tomorrow for this region.

On behalf of Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District, it is my privilege to honor Joseph Johns (Schantz) as the founder of Johnstown and a visionary leader in our community. This recognition by the Cambria Regional Chamber and Junior Achievement of Western PA is a well-deserved honor and will continue to promote his remarkable legacy.