Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, today we congratulate the 2017 Service Academy appointees from the 21st Congressional District of Texas.

The following individuals accepted Academy appointments:

Mia Elizabeth Bean, Canyon Lake High School, United States Military Academy; Kerrilee A. Berger, Smithson Valley High School, United States Air Force Academy; Hannah Kay Boubel, Fredericksburg High School, United States Military Academy; Madison K. Dean-Von Stultz, Smithson Valley High School, United States Merchant Marine Academy; Jack Daniel Dunworth, Westlake High School, United States Naval Academy; JC Matthew Engel, Westlake High School, Greystone Preparatory School at Schreiner University, United States Merchant Marine Academy; Matthew Joseph Friedel, Central Catholic High School, United States Naval Academy; Alexander Russell Heldstab, Katherine Anne Porter School, Greystone Preparatory School at Schreiner University, United States Military Academy; James Bailey Marshall, Saint Mary's Hall, United States Military Academy; Julie Ann Padilla, Cole High School, United States Air Force Academy; Benjamin Lewis Parrish, Saint Mary's Hall, United States Military Academy; Shamus Kennedy Phelan, SHAPE American High School (Belgium), United States Air Force Academy; Jazmin Alexis Robinson, Claudia Taylor Johnson High School, United States Air Force Academy; and Jesse Alan Zimmel, Bandera High School, United States Merchant Marine Academy.

These outstanding students have much to give to their Academy and to our country. We appreciate their talents and their patriotism

Mr. Speaker, a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll states that only 36 percent of Americans approve the job President Trump is doing. But the results of this poll are flawed because it did not use a representative sample of Republican and Democratic participants.

This Washington Post-ABC NEWS poll used a population sample that was 35 percent Democratic and only 23 percent Republican, underrepresenting Republican voters by about 10 percent.

As noted by strategist Jim McLaughlin, ``If the poll reflected the actual electorate, Trump would be in mid-40s, which is what his favorability rating was on election day when he won an overwhelming electoral college victory.''

The same Washington Post pollsters gave Hillary Clinton a four-point advantage over Donald Trump on the eve of the election. They consistently predicted a significant Clinton victory, only to be proved wrong. Their credibility is questionable.

Mr. Speaker, a new survey by the Pew Research Center found that an astounding two-thirds of Americans say the news media has a negative impact on our Nation. What a comment on the media.

The survey asked participants whether a variety of institutions are having a positive or negative effect on the way things are going in this country today. The rating the media received was the lowest of all institutions.

Another public opinion poll by Gallup showed the media's credibility has reached a record low. This is not much of a surprise, given the media's constant barrage of personal attacks and negative news coverage. The American people deserve better than a biased media.

For the sake of our country, our democracy, and the credibility of the media itself, let's hope they report the news more fairly and objectively in the future.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for yielding me time, and I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson) for sponsoring H.R. 806, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017. I appreciate the efforts of Chairman Walden, subcommittee Chairman Shimkus, and members of the Energy and Commerce Committee to reduce the regulatory burden on the American people and the economy.

As chairman of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, I have worked to ensure that EPA regulations are based on sound science. Specifically, the committee found that the 2015 ozone standards implemented by the previous administration were based on questionable science and would cost billions of dollars to implement. H.R. 806 is commonsense legislation that appropriately delays the implementation of these new standards, allowing States more time to work through compliance.

This legislation also resets the time period for the next review of Clean Air Act regulations. This is necessary to provide the Agency with ample time to analyze the science and economic impact of new rules.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and reduce the regulatory burden on the American people and return the Agency to sound scientific rulemaking.

Again, I appreciate Chairman Olson taking the initiative on this subject.

Mr. Speaker, if Donald Trump, Jr., were a Democrat, the media would be defending him for doing what every campaign does: conducting opposition research. The media would be praising him for ending a meeting when it became obvious there was no evidence to back up an informant's allegations. The media would be pointing out that many countries' leaders openly supported Barack Obama for President, including those from the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and Nicaragua.

Maybe the real crime is the media's double standard. In their irrational obsession with destroying the Trump Presidency, the liberal media have forgotten journalism's profound responsibility: to be fair and objective.

Mr. Speaker, today we congratulate the 2017 Service Academy appointees from the 21st Congressional District of Texas.

The following individuals accepted their Academy appointments:

Mia Elizabeth Bean, Canyon Lake High School, United States Military Academy; Kerrilee A. Berger, Smithson Valley High School, United States Air Force Academy; Hannah Kay Boubel, Fredericksburg High School, United States Military Academy; Madison K. Dean-Von Stultz, Smithson Valley High

School, United States. Merchant Marine Academy; Jack Daniel Dunworth, Westlake High School, United States Naval Academy; JC Matthew Engel, Westlake High School, Greystone Preparatory School at Schreiner University, United States Merchant Marine Academy; Matthew Joseph Friedel, Central Catholic High School, United States Naval Academy; Alexander Russell Helstab, Katherine Anne Porter School, Greystone Preparatory School at Schreiner University, United States Military Academy; James Bailey Marshall, Saint Mary's Hall, United States Military Academy; Julie Ann Padilla, Cole High School, United States Air Force Academy; Benjamin Lewis Parrish, Saint Mary's Hall, United States Military Academy; Shamus Kennedy Phelan, SHAPE American High School (Belgium), United States Air Force Academy; Jazmin Alexis Robinson, Claudia Taylor Johnson High School, United States Air Force Academy; and Jesse Alan Zimmel, Bandera High School, United States Merchant Marine Academy.

These outstanding students have much to give to their Academy and to our country. We appreciate their talents and their patriotism.

Mr. Speaker, a recent Politico/Morning Consult poll shows that 60 percent of registered voters support ``new guidelines which say visa applicants from six predominantly Muslim countries must prove a close family relationship with a U.S. resident in order to enter the country.'' Only 28 percent oppose. Also, respondents trust Republicans in Congress more than Democrats to handle the issue of immigration.

The new, nationwide poll demonstrates strong approval by the electorate for the President's effort to keep America safe, despite a question slanted to make respondents think his action is based on religion.

Had the question noted that the six nations that require additional visa scrutiny were also selected by the Obama administration as national security threats, the poll likely would have revealed even more support for the new guidelines.

When it comes to immigration policy, the American people support the President.

Mr. Speaker, a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that a combined 68 percent of Americans said that they do not trust the media very much or not at all. The same poll also found that Americans trust President Trump more than the media.

It is no surprise that Americans do not trust the media. The media have stopped reporting and have started attacking. As The Federalist's David Harsanyi noted in a recent article, ``News organizations have become obsessed with fighting the President rather than covering him.''

A Harvard study recently found that 80 percent of the news coverage of President Trump in his first 100 days in office was negative, a new unfortunate record.

The media is so fixated on attacking the President that they rush to print unfounded stories using a single anonymous source.

Last month, three CNN employees resigned for their role in a botched Trump-Russia story. This debacle revealed the media's insatiable appetite to print any story--no matter how groundless--that is critical of the President.

The liberal media should stop fighting the President and start covering his Presidency in a fair and unbiased manner. Then they will regain the trust of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me thank the gentleman from Georgia, a member of the Rules Committee, for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support the underlying bill, H.R. 3003, No Sanctuary for Criminals Act; and I thank the chairman, Bob Goodlatte, and Representatives Steve King and Andy Biggs for introducing it.

This legislation keeps dangerous criminal immigrants off our streets and out of our neighborhoods, and it holds sanctuary cities accountable for breaking Federal immigration laws. I have a special interest in this legislation because it enforces a bill I sponsored in 1969, which was enacted into law and made sanctuary cities illegal.

The American people sent a clear message to Congress last November when they elected a President who promised to enforce our immigration laws. A recent poll shows that 80 percent--80 percent--of voters want cities that arrest illegal immigrants for crimes to be required to turn them over to immigration authorities. Eighty percent. That is a Harvard-Harris poll.

The No Sanctuary for Criminals Act is a down payment on our pledge to protect innocent Americans from criminal immigrants who deserve to be jailed or sent back to their home countries. We need to enact this legislation. There is simply no excuse for local governments to ignore immigration laws at the expense of American's safety and well-being.

Mr. Speaker, why run for Congress when a single Federal judge can write a new law without having to get any votes for it?

Another Federal court recently decided that President Trump cannot set immigration policy, despite his having the clear authority to do so.

It is hard to believe this is happening in the United States of America where judges are supposed to interpret the law, not engage in partisan politics.

Our last hope now is with the Supreme Court. Surely they will remind other courts that their ruling should rest on the plain meaning of statutes, not on their personal views of the President.

That some judges ignore precedent and the Constitution is a clear and present danger to our democracy. If the Supreme Court does not strongly affirm that President Trump has the same rights as other Presidents, we will be witnessing the slow unraveling of our democratic form of government.

Based on their preliminary actions today, though, let us have confidence that the Supreme Court has the collective wisdom to guard and guide our great Nation.

Mr. Speaker, we must speak truth to the powerful liberal media. The invective, spite, and venom they hurl daily at the President contributes to an environment of hatred and violence. The media's constant barrage of personal attacks can incite someone to take irrational actions.

The shooter at the Virginia ballpark yesterday wounded five people. His Facebook page once read: ``It is time to destroy Trump and company.'' That is not much different from the tone of many media articles.

A study last month found that the President had received a higher percentage of negative coverage than any

recent President, and a public opinion poll showed the media's credibility at a record low.

The American people deserve better than a biased media. For the sake of our country, let's hope they will drop their abusive language.

Mr. Speaker, from a recent Investor's Business Daily editorial, a Harvard University study found that ``During the first 100 days of Trump's Presidency, TV networks CNN, NBC, and CBS provided negative coverage 93 percent, 93 percent, and 91 percent of the time.''

Meanwhile, ``The New York Times delivered 87 percent negative coverage, while The Washington Post 83 percent and The Wall Street Journal 70 percent were only a bit less negative.''

``Trump's overall score of 80 percent negative coverage during the start of his Presidency compares with Obama's 41 percent, Bush's 57 percent, and Bill Clinton's 60 percent.''

``Both the Post and the Times, for instance, have used unnamed sources and even the supposed content of documents that they have never viewed as the basis for major revelations about Trump in recent days. They have let their raw hatred get the better of them.

``Such a media environment is dangerous for American democracy.''

Expecting basic professionalism from the media, sadly, seems to be too much.

Mr. Speaker, in their coverage of the President, the liberal media have given up being objective, and their credibility is now at an all-time low.

Are the courts next?

When considering the President's written immigration orders, some judges are basing their decisions not on the actual text but on what was said during the heat of the campaign.

This is a dangerous development, dangerous to our judicial system and dangerous to our democracy. The judiciary's role is to interpret the law and decide whether it is constitutional.

When judges decide to become politicians, injecting their own political bias into a decision, our Constitution and our government are at risk.

If the media and the judiciary cease being objective, we should fear for the future of our country.

Mr. Speaker, May 5th marks the 25th Anniversary of the ratification of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The Twenty-Seventh Amendment guarantees that the Members of Congress may not adjust their current salaries, and that any changes in pay will not take effect until the next session of Congress. James Madison originally proposed this amendment in 1789. However, it would take 202 years for this amendment to be ratified by the states. Gregory Watson, a constituent of the 21st District of Texas, helped restart the push for ratification in 1982. Mr. Watson's involvement helped to ratify the amendment on May 5, 1992. This anniversary marks an important day for the nation and for Mr. Watson. His efforts exemplify superb civic duty and should inspire other to become active in our government. I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing May 5th as the Anniversary of the ratification of the 27th Amendment and Gregory Watson for the important role he played in its ratification.

Mr. Speaker, are we losing our democracy?

CNN has censored and refused to air an ad by Trump for President, claiming that it is inaccurate. Of course, that is their opinion and they are entitled to it. What they are not entitled to do is violate the Constitution's protection of free speech.

Where are all the editorial boards of the media who rightly advocate for free speech? Why are most silent?

To censor a political ad because CNN disagrees with it is to threaten our democratic form of government.