Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to call up H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act, to protect all Americans from Biden's border crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to share my support for expanding access for individuals to investigative drugs because I am concerned that we are not moving swiftly enough in order to prevent diagnosis, mitigate, treat, or cure ALS.

This is very personal to me, it is very personal to the committee. It hits extremely close to home for so many of us who have lost friends, and have seen good friends and neighbors struggle with their families with this difficult disease.

I had the opportunity to speak about this earlier today in the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on biomedical innovation. We are not moving fast enough and we have more work to do.

Mr. Speaker, I applaud this Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act for working to create and further develop public-private partnerships and to prevent policies from being enacted that impede private sector investments and advancements.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to join my voice with my Utah colleagues, vocalizing our great concern about the runaway inflation impacting Americans across the country.

I remember the inflation of the 1970s. When I bought my first home, we assumed a loan at 12 percent interest and thought that that was a bargain at the time. I remember what it is like to lose 15 percent of the value of a savings account in just 1 year.

I saw firsthand the devastation to our senior citizens and those on a fixed income with runaway inflation.

Here we are, 40 years later, pretending that trillions of dollars of wasted government spending is okay and that it won't impact inflation.

Madam Speaker, in the simplest terms, inflation is financially handcuffing the American people and their families, which is further evidenced by the fact that the Consumer Price Index is now showing the highest level in over 30 years. That is not okay.

The White House tells us not to worry about inflation; it is all under control. I think Utahns know better. They see the gas prices, and they see the difference they pay at the grocery stores.

Utahns, specifically, have seen their gas prices rise by over 70 percent this last year. What is the response from Washington, D.C.? We can fix this. All we need to do is spend trillions of dollars more.

Seriously? Employers can't find employees to do the work, and the President touts his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill as job-creating.

We also know that inflation is an unlegislated tax on hardworking Americans, most notably some of our most vulnerable communities, like low-income communities and rural communities with less access to goods and services.

But instead of focusing on finding ways to address critical supply chain shortages, to lower our energy costs through policies designed to generate more independence on energy, and to address the growing behavioral healthcare crisis, we are doing just the opposite. We shut down U.S. pipelines and then ask our enemies to produce more dirty oil.

Here are the facts: 40 percent of all the money printed in the history of this country was printed in the last 20 months. Forty percent of all the money printed in the history of this country was printed in the last 20 months.

Congress has already authorized, just this year alone, $3 trillion of additional spending in addition to our normal spending, and we are about to spend another $2 trillion.

It is hard to get your arms around what is a trillion dollars. Let me put this in perspective. This $5 trillion of spending is approximately $25,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States. It gets worse. Thirty years from now, unless we pay that money back--and I don't think anybody believes we will have paid it back--that is now three-quarters of a million dollars for every man, woman, and child just in extra spending this year. That is not okay.

It is simply time to stop the bleeding and time to earnestly focus on bipartisan solutions that will address the growing needs of the American people.

We literally cannot afford to play partisan politics at the expense of our constituents and, more importantly, our children and grandchildren and our future generations.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2379, the State Opioid Response Grant Authorization Act.

This legislation provides critical resources to State and local governments combating the opioid crisis that has crippled communities across the United States, including Utah.

This legislation will give State and local governments flexibility in addressing this tragic epidemic in their communities.

For example, in Utah there are significant socioeconomic differences between Price and Orem, two communities I represent that are both fighting addiction.

We have to allow experts on the ground to address these challenges accordingly, which is why I strongly support this legislation.

Equally as important is ensuring we have the workforce to treat individuals suffering with addiction.

That is why I recently introduced the Helping Enable Access to Lifesaving Services Act, or the HEALS Act.

The HEALS Act would complement the State opioid response grants with targeted Federal dollars to help train future behavioral healthcare workers in areas of high need.

Taken together, these are the necessary steps to fight addiction in communities across our country, which has taken the lives of nearly 100,000 Americans in this past year alone.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2379 and my legislation, the HEALS Act.

Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my amendment to require a study of any land impacted by the legislation to determine if these areas contain geothermal resources or minerals needed for battery storage, renewable energy technology, or electric vehicles.

We agree that we want to reduce human emissions that are polluting our ecosystem. Renewable energy will play a role long into the future, and we must ensure we have the resources needed to make solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries here in America.

President Biden agrees. Just yesterday he issued an executive order to ensure the United States has access to domestic critical minerals. President Biden's fact sheet on the executive order says: ``While the U.S. is a net exporter of electric vehicles, we are not a leader in the supply chain associated with electric battery production. The U.S. could better leverage our sizable lithium reserves and manufacturing know-how to expand domestic battery production.''

To state the obvious, if we are accidentally locking up lithium with this bill while President Biden says we should do the opposite, this is something Congress should know. This amendment does not prevent any part of the lands package from being implemented, as currently drafted.

I am a strong supporter of the local-driven public lands legislation, which is why I ensured my amendment would not impact any of the bills on the ground level. There is parts of this package I actually support. Mr. Huffman's bill included in the public lands bill was supported by me last year.

This amendment is not a criticism of this lands package. It is about listening to science and combating climate change. More information is always better, more science is better. That is all this amendment does, give us more science-backed information as Congress faces the issues of producing renewable energy in the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, to my friend from Colorado, I welcome his invitation to work together on many of these issues. I point out that we are simply asking for a study so that we know what is there. We are not stopping anything. We are simply asking for a study.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman).

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. I suspect you have an answer ready to tell me, and I would love to hear that.

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

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

SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution 8, the yeas and nays are ordered.

Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question are postponed.

Amendments En Bloc No. 2 Offered by Mr. Neguse

Mr. Speaker, I hereby remove my name as cosponsor of H.R. 366.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Sean D. Foster on his retirement from the Army. LTC Foster's remarkable career spans nearly three decades of distinguished service in defense of our nation.

LTC Foster's career started in the Army National Guard, where he enlisted as a Tank Crewman. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned as an Infantry Officer upon graduation. After serving for five years in the Infantry, including a year-long deployment to Iraq, LTC Foster attended law school and became a Judge Advocate through the Army's Funded Legal Education Program.

LTC Foster's career as a Judge Advocate has been truly exemplary. He immediately established himself as a criminal law expert and served in prosecutorial and defense capacities to ensure the fair administration of justice. Notably, LTC Foster was also selected to serve as the lead defense attorney for a general officer in a historic courtmartial that garnered national media attention.

From 2014 to 2016, LTC Foster served in the Special Operations Community, deploying to Germany and Afghanistan. As the Group Judge Advocate for the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Carson, Colorado, LTC Foster directly supported the development of more than 60 complex special operations missions in 13 countries.

LTC Foster was selected to participate in the Army's Congressional Fellowship program in 2016. He earned a Master's degree in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University and worked as a Fellow in the U.S. Senate. In 2018, he continued on as a Legislative Counsel in the Army's Office of the Chief, Legislative Liaison, and also served as the Chief of the Army's Congressional Response team. As a Legislative Counsel, LTC Foster led multiple congressional delegations worldwide, and I can personally attest to his excellent leadership and communication skills from my own experience participating in delegations led by LTC Foster.

LTC Foster has compiled an outstanding record of significant contributions to the Army over the past 27 years and has unceasingly provided the highest standards of commitment to duty. His service to our great country is indeed a gift to the American people. I thank LTC Foster and wish him and his family the very best on this occasion of his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in strong support of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act.

In recent years, Utah has witnessed incredible growth in our tech and innovation sector, bringing thousands of jobs and strengthening our economy. However, everywhere I go, I hear from business leaders that they do not have enough high-skilled workers.

Even as we work to strengthen STEM education and bolster the number of homegrown engineers and programers, the demand continues to outstrip the supply. Current limitations in our immigration system are forcing talented engineers who have trained in our universities to remain on temporary visas or leave entirely for competing countries, while important jobs go unfilled and economic opportunities are lost.

This legislation will create a first-come-first-served system, providing certainty to workers and families and enabling U.S. companies to flourish and compete in a global economy as they hire the brightest people to create products, services, and jobs, regardless of where they were born. As these companies expand operations with greater input from high-skilled workers, they create countless more American jobs.

Mr. Speaker, with the debate around our broken immigration system growing increasingly challenging in recent years, I have been thrilled to see this bipartisan groundswell of support around this effort. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about the Equality Act.

First and foremost, I must begin by saying that I believe the LGBTQ community is a critical part of the fabric of our country. They are deserving of our unequivocal love and respect, and their contributions to my home State of Utah are utterly invaluable.

As the mayor of Provo, I prioritized inclusion and love, and sought to ensure my administration did everything possible to recognize the intrinsic value of all of our citizens, including our LGBTQ community.

I fought hard against discrimination and was grateful for my associations with organizations like Provo Pride, Equality Utah, Encircle, and others, who I was honored to stand with to ensure that our city motto of ``Welcome Home'' extended to everyone.

Perhaps even more important than that, I am grateful for the association and relationships of my life that have helped me better understand the experiences of the LGBTQ community, and who have been patient with me, a conservative Utah boy raised in the 1960s, who took longer than I am proud of to gain empathy for this important issue.

Again, I say I am incredibly grateful for the contribution of the LGBTQ community and will always stand with them in respect and support.

With the Equality Act, we face a unique challenge: balancing the needs and protections against discrimination with the importance of protecting religious liberty, which is one of the fundamental rights enshrined at the foundation of our Nation.

I believe this compromise is possible, because I have seen it before in my home State with historic legislation called the Utah Compromise that effectively balanced the absolute rights of both LGBTQ individuals as human beings and religious institutions protected by the First Amendment.

The Equality Act fails to strike that balance. Instead, these two interests are treated as zero sum games, with no good-faith effort put forth for both sides to win.

This bill would end longstanding religious liberties under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a historic bipartisan legislative victory fought for by the current Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer; my own Utah mentor, Orrin Hatch, a Republican; and liberal icon, Ted Kennedy. It was also signed into law by Democrat Bill Clinton.

I have introduced commonsense amendments that would help achieve this critical balance of protection for both maintaining the standards against discrimination and religious freedom, but I am frustrated that House Democratic leaders have decided there will not be any consideration or even debate of amendments to the Equality Act. Instead, they have established a model of legislative gas-lighting.

In this case, they are taking issues where broad bipartisan agreement is possible and taking the debate right off the table on issue after issue, whether it be climate change, violence against women, and now the Equality Act.

They disregard willing partners, such as myself, standing here hoping to work with them, and instead, prefer to pass party-line bills that won't go anywhere so they have issues to campaign on.

If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle truly want to achieve progress on this issue, I hope they will recognize that they have a willing partner in me, but they must be willing to work together to legislate and make room to protect both religious liberty and the LGBTQ community.

Exploiting yet another group in order to pass a campaign message bill along party lines is not in harmony with this body.

I hope they will hear me today and change course before we vote on this bill.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of this amendment to H.R. 2157, increasing funding for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.

Last year, Utah, like many States in the West, faced devastating wildfires that affected areas of my district. The Pole Creek fire and Bald Mountain fire, which started on Federal land, collectively burned over 117,000 acres and left, damaged, infrastructure and watersheds.

Many of my communities affected by the fires need assistance to rebuild and repair the critical watersheds that they rely on, but they have not been able to receive it. For example, Utah County has been approved for over $9 million in aid from NRCS through this program, but inadequate funding means they won't receive those promised dollars.

Cleaning up and rebuilding after a wildfire is an important step in protecting against future disasters. I am pleased to support this amendment that will bring aid to communities like Utah County that have been affected by catastrophic natural disasters.

Mr. Speaker, Utahns believe in being good stewards of our planet, leaving the Earth better than we found it.

When I served as the mayor of Provo, we pursued policies to construct LEAD-certified buildings, create more environmentally friendly transit options, and educate our residents on how they can be better stewards of the environment. We considered these efforts to be meaningful steps in the right direction.

But, imagine my surprise when I arrived in Congress and learned of the dangerous winner-take-all system of governing that has overtaken Washington, especially on issues impacting the environment.

Instead of a pragmatic approach to a positive change through small and consistent consensus, an all-or-nothing approach dominates the debate and villainizes all but the most extreme positions.

Congress is a place where ideological purity is rewarded more than results. It is easy to vote on a messaging bill that the sponsor knows will never be passed into law and then go home and take the applause from the like-minded constituents, but it is difficult to leave the echo chambers and work across the aisle with individuals who have different backgrounds than yourself and find common ground.

The most obvious example of this is the climate change debate in our country where, today, my Democratic colleagues have taken the easy path. The

bill we are voting on today has 224 Democratic sponsors and not a single Republican sponsor.

Instead of working with Republicans on our four-part approach to addressing climate change through innovation, conservation, adaptation, and preparation, we are sending a partisan bill to die in the Senate.

I attempted to work with my colleagues on this bill. I offered a good-faith amendment that would increase transparency and competition by comparing emissions produced by all the countries in the Paris Agreement. This amendment wasn't even allowed a vote by the Democratic leadership, although there was no problem allowing votes from their Democratic friends' amendments.

In fact, only three Republican amendments will be considered, and 26 Democratic amendments will be offered for debate.

It is as if my colleagues on the other side are afraid of hurting the feelings of China and Russia by pointing out that they are not pulling their weight.

I have long been a proponent for the environment, and I was proud to receive the Utah Clean Air Partnership Person of the Year award in 2017. I have championed hundreds of thousands of acres of bipartisan conservation in Utah.

I, like all Utahns, care deeply about conserving our planet and our way of life for future generations, but I cannot vote for H.R. 9 because I believe it further divides us apart, reinforcing the false narrative that all Republicans don't care about the environment because they are unwilling to get on board with an all-or-nothing, unrealistic approach to addressing climate change.

H.R. 9 completely ignores the serious and legitimate concerns about the cost and effectiveness of the Paris Agreement.

H.R. 9 ignores that President Obama's pledge to the Paris Agreement could cost the United States $250 billion and nearly 3 million jobs in this next 6 years; and it ignores that, in the next 20 years, this commitment could cost us $3 trillion and 6.5 million American jobs.

H.R. 9 also ignores that, because of innovation and technological improvement, the United States is already leading the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Since 2000, the United States has decreased annual carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 800 million tons, the largest absolute decline among all countries since 2000.

H.R. 9 ignores the fact that, if the United States cut CO2 emissions to zero, it would not even come close to offsetting the emissions coming from the rest of the world.

H.R. 9 even ignores that the Paris Agreement allows China, the Earth's largest greenhouse gas polluter, to increase their emissions through 2030 with little evidence to show that they plan to comply in the future.

I have heard over and over that the U.S. must remain in the Paris Agreement to show leadership. And I ask you: What kind of leadership leads to double-digit unemployment in rural America but lets China off the hook?

I agree that America must continue to show leadership, but let's focus on leadership that goes back to the core principles of innovation, conservation, adaptation, and preparation. This bill fails to do any of that.

Let's continue leading the world and bettering our environment, but let's not pretend that H.R. 9 is a silver bullet to our evolving world.

I hope that we can stop with the easy, cheap rhetoric that offers false promises and divides our country even further and focus on those things that make meaningful change.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Protecting United States Businesses Abroad Act. This legislation will provide critical protection against corruption by authorizing the President, through the advice of Congress or the State Department, to revoke the visas of those engaging in corruption targeting Americans doing business in emerging markets around the world. This includes, soliciting bribes, extorting payments or assets, manipulating law enforcement, and more.

Many businesses, and especially small businesses, do not have the resources to combat this type of corruption overseas. This bill will provide a critical tool for small businesses to invest safely, benefiting our economy and developing markets around the world.

I would like to give special thanks to Ranking Member McCaul of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, and Rendeavour, a company that has been directly impacted by this type of corruption overseas.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the service and work of Austin Fulton. Austin has played an instrumental role in setting up my Congressional office. He previously worked for Representative Jason Chaffetz and helped through the successful transition after I was elected to Congress. He was later promoted from Staff Assistant to Legislative Correspondent, where he worked diligently on a variety of policy issues, including housing, veterans, and space policy.

Austin had a positive attitude and was willing to help with any task no matter the scope. I am grateful for all his service, and I wish him the best of luck in his next chapter. Despite his departure, he will always be a member of Team Curtis.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Captain John Frederick Wilson, as he celebrates his 100th birthday.

Born on April 2, 1919 and raised in Park City, Utah, John Frederick Wilson, known affectionately as ``Jack'', was one the few pilots trained at BYU. On December 11, 1941, four days after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the Army Air Corps.

After learning to fly the four-engine B-24 Liberator bomber--an aircraft featured in the Hollywood film ``Unbroken''--he was assigned to the 90th bombing group in the Fifth Air Force of the Army Air Corps. He was sent by ship to Pearl Harbor, and then to New Guinea, where he became pilot and captain of a ten-member B-24 crew.

Jack and his crew were assigned to seek out and destroy the Japanese airstrips in the island Pacific. Given his prowess as a pilot, Jack and his crew were soon reassigned to reconnaissance missions to track the Japanese fleet. His beloved B-24 was stripped of all bombs, bomb bays, machine guns, and other defensive weapons, so that the weight could be replaced with extra gas tanks to support their long-distance reconnaissance missions. His biggest fear rapidly became encountering not enemy aircraft, but running out of fuel. ``My career as a B-24 pilot basically consisted of long periods of boredom punctuated with moments of terror.''

Jack and his crew were dispatched to a small airstrip on an island near Okinawa. They were assigned to fly five days a week to the North China sea, to track the Japanese fleet. He there became as member of the famed ``Jolly Rogers'' and was issued a card that he has carried in his wallet to this day: ``Having been assigned to the best damned heavy bomb group, and having paid his dues, Captain Jack F. Wilson is hereby considered a member in good standing of the Jolly Rogers.''

Jack refused to participate in the demonization of the Japanese that was popular during and after the war. ``There are good people everywhere,'' he taught his children and grandchildren. At one time, a typhoon had threatened the island airstrip and the Okinawan people showed him a cave that he and his B-24 crew sheltered in, thereby saving their lives.

After the war, Jack used his flying skills to help locate wildfires and his people skills to create the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, which bears his name.

Madam Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to honor a native Utahn, the last remaining B-24 pilot from World War II, and extend warm greetings to Mr. Wilson on April 2, 2019, his 100th birthday. We commend him for his life of service and valor in defense of his country.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the leaders in Emery County, Utah, who fought for over two decades to resolve long standing issues facing their county through federal legislation. On March 12th, 2019, President Trump signed into law S. 47, a sweeping public lands bill that included the Emery County Public Lands Management Act, with broad bipartisan support.

With this historic achievement, I would like to pay tribute to the exceptional efforts and years of dedication from the Emery County Commissioners, Emery County Public Lands Council, and many other state and local leaders who played an integral role in making this cooperative effort possible. This law will benefit Utahns for decades into the future.

This law is a model for how Utahns can work together to solve public land management questions in one of the most unique landscapes of the country. After years of input and stakeholder engagement, this law resolves a number of issues affecting the region through a school land trust exchange, conveying certain lands to Emery County, expanding Goblin Valley State Park, conservation designations, and the creation of the new San Rafael Swell Recreation Area. The bill also decreases the amount of land owned by the federal government in Emery County.

There are countless individuals over the years who deserve recognition and made this law possible. Over the last year, since I sponsored the Emery County bill in the House, I would particularly like to recognize:

Emery County Commissioners Lynn Sitterud, Kent Wilson, and Gil Conover.

Emery County Public Lands Council Members Rod Play (Chair), Edward Geary (Vice Chair), Laren Huntsman, Leon McElprang, Kim McFarlane, J.R. Nelson, Randall Stilson, Sherrel Ward, Les Wilberg, Bruce Wilson, and Ray Petersen (Public Lands Administrator).

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop.

Governor Gary Herbert.

Senator Mitt Romney.

These leaders should all be very proud of what was accomplished with this bill.