Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, a recent poll shows that the American people agree with all of President Trump's major executive orders, though they are not likely to learn about it from the liberal media.

Fifty-five percent approve of revoking Federal funding for sanctuary cities. Only 33 percent disapprove. Fifty-five percent approve of prohibiting refugees from seven countries from entering the U.S. Only 38 percent disapprove.

By wide margins, the American people side with the President on freezing regulations and Federal hiring, building pipelines, and constructing a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

As favorable to the President as this poll is, think how much more favorable it would have been if the media had not incessantly criticized his executive orders.

Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that the media's credibility has hit a record low with the American people, according to a recent Gallup Poll.

The media attacked President Trump because he proved their predictions wrong and their candidate lost. They attack him because they are mostly liberal Democrats and he is a conservative Republican. They attack him because he is reversing many of the policies of President Obama, whom they openly supported. They attack him because he is going around them, directly to the American people with his Twitter messages. They attack him because they can't intimidate or control him.

The media's hate is poisoning the country.

Wouldn't it be better for our country if the media gave the American people the facts rather than told them what to think?

Wouldn't it be better for our country if the media treated the President fairly and without malice?

Mr. Speaker, despite the saturation of negative media coverage of President Trump, the people have spoken. A recent poll found that President Trump is thought more trustworthy than the news media.

The administration is considered truthful by 49 percent of registered voters, but the media is less trusted than the administration, with only 39 percent finding it honest. So President Trump is more credible than the liberal national media.

That is no surprise. If the media wants to increase their credibility, they should report the news fairly, objectively, and without malice.

Mr. Speaker, the liberal national media have two choices.

First, they can continue their dislike--some would call it hatred--of President Trump that results in severely slanted coverage. This is the road to self-destruction. The media's credibility has hit a record low, and the American people soon will stop looking to them for news.

Or, second, the liberal national media can start covering President Trump objectively. This means not portraying his actions in the worst possible light but sometimes giving President Trump the benefit of the doubt. It means giving his side of the story. It means, most of all, recognizing that President Trump represents the legitimate hopes and fears of millions of Americans.

If the liberal national media continue to treat President Trump unlike they would a Democrat, the public will grow tired of the double standard.

The American people have an innate sense of fairness, which the media should not ignore. For their own sake and for the sake of our democracy, the media should change their ways.

Mr. Speaker, here is President Trump's report card after less than a month in office:

The President wants to stop terrorist attacks by conducting background checks on refugees from countries that are considered security threats.

The President wants to prevent criminal immigrants from being released into our neighborhoods where they continue to prey on innocent Americans.

The President wants to lower the cost of health care and let individuals choose their own insurance plans.

The President wants to reduce our $500 billion trade deficit and export goods and services, not jobs.

The President wants to eliminate unnecessary regulations which are a drag on the economy.

Mr. Speaker, the President's critics oppose all these actions. Only the people are on the President's side.

Mr. Speaker, a whistleblower has charged that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration falsified data in a study that attempted to disprove the widely accepted 15-year halt in global warming. This was done in an effort to garner public support for the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan and the United Nations' Paris climate agreement.

NOAA's officials suppressed internal debate about the study and actively obstructed the House Science Committee's investigations of concerns about the data. However, one brave scientist decided to step forward and blow the whistle on NOAA.

According to Dr. John Bates, NOAA put its thumb on the scale to justify their predetermined conclusions and support the President's agenda, even if that meant violating their own scientific integrity rules.

The Science Committee will continue to investigate this scandal. Americans have a right to unbiased science.

We can thank Dr. Bates for his heroic act and for having the courage to step forward in the face of the liberal media's smear campaigns.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Joint Resolution 37, which annuls a poorly-written regulation put in place by the Obama administration.

We need to clean up the regulations that the previous administration imposed upon American business. We need to reform them, and ensure that they serve a useful purpose. This is especially important for the Department of Defense and NASA.

The regulation in question does not allow contractors to exercise their right of due process. Rather than letting our legal system provide justice, American companies could be blacklisted by contracting agencies if ``preliminary determinations'' had been made against them.

This is not how our justice system works. Perhaps that is why this regulation was halted by a nationwide injunction.

We should protect American workers. The regulation we strike today was poorly crafted, and it would ultimately do America's workforce more harm than good.

As Chairman of the Science Committee, I know that such a regulation would impede NASA from carrying out its mission of exploration and place an unnecessary cost on taxpayers by diminishing competition.

NASA should not be hampered by such unnecessary regulations and needs to focus its resources on the challenges of outer space exploration.

The Federal procurement process cannot afford to be bogged down with defective regulations. Congress must clean up how our government does business to ensure that it is just and efficient.

I encourage my colleagues to support this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, for days the media has saturated the news with stories savaging President Trump for his immigration executive orders.

The President wants to protect Americans by temporarily halting the admission of refugees from seven countries considered security threats to the United States.

Despite the media's heavily biased coverage, the American people still agree with the President. A USA Today poll found that 53 percent support ``registering immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.'' Only 41 percent oppose it.

Even the poll was slanted against the President. The question asked implied that all Muslim-majority countries were affected, which is not true. It also used the word ``register,'' which has negative connotations and besides is not accurate.

A more factual question that inquired about stricter vetting of refugees from the seven countries that pose security risks likely would have garnered even more support for the President's executive actions.

The media did everything they could to turn the public against the President, but it didn't work. The American people are smarter than the media thinks.

Madam Speaker, anyone who wants to protect Americans from terrorist attacks should support President Trump's immigration executive orders.

Put aside the hysteria of his political opponents. Here are the facts:

There will be a temporary halt in the admission to the U.S. of those from seven designated countries, including Iraq, Iran, Libya, and Syria. These are the exact same countries designated a security threat by President Obama.

Congress passed bipartisan legislation in 2015 designating these countries as security risks in order to protect our homeland from terrorism. In fact, the bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 407-19.

Despite what the media and others imply, Muslims are not being targeted. Many Muslim majority countries, in fact, are not singled out. The purpose of the temporary halt is to allow time to improve procedures so better background checks can be developed.

Who could possibly oppose efforts to keep Americans safe?

Mr. Speaker, NASA has given us a good reason to limit the amount of funds the agency gets for climate change.

They recently claimed that a landslide in Alaska, fires in Yellowstone National Park in 1988, and a drought in California were all due to climate change. But extreme weather events actually had been declining over the last few decades at the same time that carbon emissions have been increasing.

That NASA has played so fast and loose with the facts with the clear intent to mislead the American people shows why they can't be trusted with hard-earned taxpayers' dollars.

Cervantes wrote in Don Quixote that ``one swallow doesn't make a summer.'' Well, one weather event doesn't presage climate change disaster. Ignore the media's exaggerations, the alarmists' predictions, and scientists trying to scare men, women, and small children.

As for NASA, let's get them out of hyping climate change and back to exploring space.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 589) to establish Department of Energy policy for science and energy research and development programs, and reform National Laboratory management and technology transfer programs, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 589, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, H.R. 589, Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act, is the product of over 3 years of work by the Science, Space, and Technology Committee to advance basic research and set clear science priorities for the Department of Energy.

I thank my colleagues on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee who cosponsored this legislation, particularly Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson.

The Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act prioritizes basic research and science at the DOE national labs. This legislation also requires DOE to coordinate research across the Department and provides private industry with more access to the national labs so they can develop next generation technology.

Title I of H.R. 589 enables DOE to partner with the private sector and cuts red tape and bureaucracy in the DOE technology transfer process. The innovative early stage research performed at the labs can have great value to the private sector.

Because of a communication gap between the labs and the private sector, ideas and technology created in the national labs are often slow to reach the market. And Federal Government bureaucracy further discourages the private sector from using the unique state-of-the-art facilities at the national labs.

I thank the gentleman from Illinois, Representative Randy Hultgren, and the gentleman from Colorado, Representative Ed Perlmutter, for their initiative on this issue and for sponsoring similar legislation in the last Congress to advance these important reforms for our national labs.

Title II of the legislation requires the DOE to better manage and coordinate research efforts at the Department of Energy. This title also requires the DOE to provide a regular strategic analysis of science and technology activities within the Department. This will help identify key areas for collaboration across science and applied research programs. This review allows the Secretary to pinpoint programs that cost too much and that could be better accomplished by the private sector.

Title III of the bill provides statutory direction and priorities for the basic research programs within the DOE's Office of Science. This includes research and basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research, high performance computing, nuclear physics, high energy physics, and fusion energy. These basic research programs are the core mission of the Department and lead to scientific discovery that can provide benefits across the economy. This title specifically authorizes basic research programs in solar fuels, electricity storage, exascale computing, and low-dose radiation.

In the last Congress, the House separately passed Science, Space, and Technology Committee legislation to authorize these four key basic research programs. I again thank Representative Hultgren, as well as the gentlemen from California--Representative Steve Knight and Representative Eric Swalwell--and the gentleman from Illinois, Representative Dan Lipinski, for sponsoring legislation authorizing these programs in the last Congress.

Finally, title IV of the legislation is the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act. I thank my Texas colleagues, Representative Randy Weber and committee Ranking Member Johnson, for advancing this bipartisan, bicameral legislation both in this Congress and in the last.

This title authorizes nuclear R&D activities at the DOE and harnesses and combines the strengths of the national labs, universities, and the private sector in a joint innovation initiative. Advanced nuclear reactor technology provides a great opportunity to make reliable, emission-free electricity available throughout the industrialized and developing world. The nuclear energy innovation language also provides a clear timeline for the DOE to complete a research reactor user facility within 10 years. This research reactor will enable proprietary and academic research to develop supercomputing models and also design next generation nuclear energy technology.

In summary, H.R. 589 represents a bipartisan, bicameral agreement to modernize and increase the productivity of the DOE national lab system, streamline DOE research programs, prioritize basic scientific research, and enable the development of next generation nuclear technology.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Perlmutter for his comments and again thank him for his work on this legislation.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Knight), who is the vice chairman of the Energy Subcommittee of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren), an active member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 589 provides basic research direction and good government reforms to ongoing DOE programs. This legislation establishes congressional priorities for the Department, and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to quickly send this bill to the President's desk.

I thank the members of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee who provided valuable input into this legislation. This includes the cosponsors of the bill, Ranking Member Johnson, and Representatives Randy Weber, Steve Knight, Randy Hultgren, Frank Lucas, Dan Lipinski, Dana Rohrabacher, Elizabeth Esty, Brian Babin, Marc Veasey, Barbara Comstock, Ed Perlmutter, Mo Brooks, Paul Tonko, Jim Banks, Eric Swalwell, Andy Biggs, Zoe Lofgren, Neal Dunn, and Clay Higgins, Republicans and Democrats alike.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of H.R. 589.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, just think what the media would be saying about President Trump if he were a Democrat:

He has tremendous energy. He campaigned for 18 months, puts

in 15-hour days, and has the stamina of a bull elephant like

Teddy Roosevelt.

He is courageous, even fearless. Given the amount of hate

directed his way, no doubt he constantly receives death

threats. But that doesn't curtail his public appearances or

seem to worry him in the least.

He has conviction. He practices what he preaches. He

doesn't waffle or waver. And he is obviously not deterred by

media criticism.

He is a great father. Anytime his son or daughter calls, he

picks up the phone. He includes them in his activities.

Clearly, he has a strong relationship with his children.

He is off to a fast start. His Cabinet consists of smart,

experienced, and successful individuals. He already has taken

steps to keep jobs in America, put unnecessary regulations on

hold, and improve health care. Consumer confidence is at a

16-year high.

No, the national liberal media won't print that or air it or post it. Better to get your news directly from the President. In fact, it might be the only way to get the unvarnished truth.

Mr. Speaker, whenever you see climate change in the news, remember the difference between actual data and exaggerated predictions. For example, much coverage was given yesterday to the predictions by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that polar bears now face extinction because of climate change. That prediction is contradicted by the evidence. The polar bear population has been increasing and is now around 26,000, probably the highest number in many years.

Climate alarmists want to scare people with extreme predictions. Better for Americans to look at the scientific evidence and discount the wild tales. Climate change has many causes and has occurred throughout the history of the Earth. Real scientists acknowledge this and are hesitant to make long-range predictions.

Mr. Speaker, science, technology, engineering and math are critical to America's future prosperity.

Women are unfortunately underrepresented in STEM careers. Despite representing nearly half of the college-educated and total U.S. workforce, women account for less than 25 percent of America's STEM workforce.

Supporting women's involvement in the fields of aerospace and space exploration should be an important part of NASA's mission.

Current NASA programs such as NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS are important and give young students the opportunity to interact and learn from real NASA engineers, scientists, and technologists.

They provide virtual mentoring that use commercially available video chat programs to pair NASA innovators with young students across the country.

H.R. 321 builds upon this success. It leverages NASA's talent pool of current and retired astronauts, and early career female scientists, engineers, and innovators to inform and inspire young women to pursue their dreams in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. One day, these young people will push the boundaries of space.

Space can be a catalyst for inspiring young girls to enter the STEM fields. By doing our part to support their engagement in space with this legislation, we are investing in the futures of our daughters, nieces, and grandchildren.

I again want to thank the bill sponsor, Research and Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Comstock for her leadership on this topic. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 255, the Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act. I thank my Science Committee colleagues Ms. Esty, who authored the bill, and Research and Technology Subcommittee Chairwoman Comstock for their initiative on this issue.

H.R. 255 authorizes the National Science Foundation (NSF) to use its existing entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women and help them develop their research and technology ideas for the marketplace.

STEM education is critical to our country's economy and global competitiveness. A well-educated and trained STEM workforce promotes our future economic prosperity.

These STEM workers have the potential to develop technologies that could save thousands of lives, jump-start new industries, or even discover new worlds.

That's why I authored with Ms. Esty the STEM Education Act, a new law that strengthens science, technology, engineering and mathematics education efforts at federal science agencies. It also, for the first time, expands the definition of STEM to include computer science. The bill was signed by the President in October 2015.

Unfortunately, studies show that only 26 percent of women who attain degrees in STEM fields work in STEM jobs.

H.R. 255 encourages NSF to tackle this problem. It enhances women's ability to translate their enthusiasm, scientific expertise and research ideas into tangible products and businesses.

Inspiring American students to seek science and math careers is a goal shared by Republicans and Democrats alike. Some of the most energizing and exciting moments of my Science Committee chairmanship have been interactions with young people who want to pursue STEM studies and careers.

At various Committee hearings and robotics competitions in my district, I have encountered motivated, talented young people who want nothing more than an opportunity to pursue their dreams. And, in some cases, change the world with their ideas.

Their passion for learning and science reminds me of why I enjoy serving in Congress and on the Science Committee.

I again thank Ms. Esty and Chairwoman Comstock for their work on this bill. I urge my colleagues to join me in support of H.R. 255.