Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Al Libasci of York, Pennsylvania, a World War II veteran who will be turning 102 years old on February 25, 2022. Al's life has been one of service to our country. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942, Al served in the Pacific Theater during World War II with the Jolly Rogers, 90th Heavy Bomb Group, 5th Air Force. Al flew over thirty combat missions in a B-24 Liberator, bravely serving our country overseas. After the War, Al went on to work as a civilian employee for the government, helping the military to acquire land for some of its installations, including the land on which the United States Air Force Academy now sits. Al's life has been marked by so much more than his career and service, however. He is a father, a husband, a bowling enthusiast, and a friend to many who has touched the lives of people around him with his positivity and enthusiasm.

Al's life has been an extraordinary one and I wish him, his family, and his wife, Rosina, the happiest of birthdays as he celebrates his 102nd.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to J. Carter Seibel, who passed away on December 28, 2021 at seventy-four years of age. A resident of Delta, Pennsylvania for nearly fifty years, Carter was a friend to many in the community. Nowhere was that more evident than during his time as a teacher at North Harford High School in Pylesville, Maryland where he taught for over two decades, touching the lives of countless students.

He established a German language program at North Harford, advised on the school's yearbook, and offered up his musical talents playing piano in the school's musicals. His love of music and the piano brought joy to many in the community as he played at numerous weddings and events, including some hosted by his former students. Carter also loved Delta as well, serving as a member of the Borough Council and working on initiatives aimed at promoting the borough.

We extend our sincere condolences to his wife, Cindy, as well as his children and grandchildren on Carter's passing. He will be missed.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dennis R. Groff who is retiring after more than thirty years of service to Paradise Township, located in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania's Eleventh District. A lifelong resident of Paradise, Dennis has dedicated

much of his life to serving his community, holding a number of leadership roles over the years. Just to name a few, he has served as Paradise's Emergency Management Coordinator, Roadmaster, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, all the while volunteering at a fire company in the community. He gives his phone number to anyone within Paradise who may need it, making sure that every resident of the township is looked after. Dennis represents the best of our country: people who are willing to give so much to their communities so that they can be better places to live, work, and raise a family.

I extend my sincere thanks to Dennis for his service and wish him an enjoyable retirement.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise today to congratulate Mrs. Elizabeth Raff of Lancaster County, who was recently named Pennsylvania's Teacher of the Year for 2022.

Elizabeth teaches sixth grade at Pequea Elementary School, in the Penn Manor School District in Lancaster County, where she has taught since 2014. Penn Manor School District Superintendent, Dr. Mike Leichliter, described Elizabeth as a ``dynamic and creative teacher who is always looking to find new ways to reach her students'' and noted that ``she creates a space where students are encouraged to explore ideas in a supportive and respectful environment.''

There is no question that teachers and students have been impacted; they have had challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last 2 years, and we thank our teachers for all they have done to make sure that our students are receiving the best education possible.

That is certainly true of Mrs. Raff, whose classroom is well- decorated and offers students access to a large library of books to pique their interest, and a raised stage to provide students the opportunity to present to their classmates.

Thank you to Mrs. Raff for all you have done to educate students in our community. We all appreciate your efforts and wish to congratulate you on being named Pennsylvania's 2022 Teacher of the Year.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Spring Grove Area High School girls' volleyball team for winning the PIAA Class 3A volleyball championship last month, with a 3-1 victory over Hampton.

Spring Grove's path to the championship was not always certain, as they faced difficult competition in the state semifinals and quarterfinals. Thanks to their passion and hard work, the team rose to the challenges and emerged victorious, becoming state champions, and finishing out the season with a nearly undefeated record. Their win marks the first time that Spring Grove Area School District has ever won a state championship in volleyball and just the second time that the district has won a state championship. This is an incredible achievement and one of which the players, their parents, and head coach, Liz Zeigler, should be enormously proud.

Congratulations to the team for this accomplishment and I wish the graduating seniors the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Larry J. Miller on his retirement after fifty years of service to PeoplesBank, which is headquartered in York County, Pennsylvania and operates branches throughout Pennsylvania's Eleventh District. In 1971, Larry started his career at PeoplesBank as a management trainee and just a decade later, he became the bank's president, making him the youngest person in Pennsylvania to hold such a position. Larry's hard work and dedication brought him further success as he took on the role of Chief Executive Officer for both PeoplesBank and its parent company, Codorus Valley Bancorp, serving in each of those positions for thirty-five years.

Under Larry's leadership, PeoplesBank opened twenty-five new branches, created mortgage and trust divisions, and grew to hold more than $2 billion in assets. Larry has similarly taken on leadership and community service roles, including positions as Chairman of the Board of Directors for several nonprofits, such as the United Way of York County and the Cultural Alliance of York County.

We thank Larry for all that he has done for the people of Pennsylvania's Eleventh District and wish him a restful and well- deserved retirement.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Tom Blefko of Lancaster, Pennsylvania for his work as the 2021 President of the Lancaster County Association of Realtors (LCAR). A graduate of Franklin and Marshall College, Tom got his start in the real estate industry in 1983 when he became a licensed realtor. From that point on, Tom quickly advanced in his career, taking on a number of new roles while closing countless real estate transactions along the way. All of the effort and hard work he put into his profession brought him to his current position as the Director of Operations for the North Pointe office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, based in Lancaster, PA. Outside of this role, Tom uses his expertise and many years of experience to mentor others looking to get involved in the real estate business by working as an instructor at LCAR's Real Estate School.

We wish Tom all the best and thank him for his many years of service to the real estate industry in Pennsylvania's Eleventh District.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Judy L. Eller of Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania for her more than forty years of federal service.

Judy got her start in the civil service through a work-study program with the Social Security Administration. From there, Judy would go on to hold a number of positions throughout our federal government with the United States Army, as well as the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Beginning in 1980, Judy was employed at the U.S. Army's Research Institute for Chemical Defense in Aberdeen, Maryland, where she worked alongside military personnel in handling and dismantling chemical agents.

After her time at Aberdeen, Judy began working for the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1986, first at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Erie, Pennsylvania and later at other VA Medical Centers across Pennsylvania and Maryland. The highpoint of her career with the VA came when she took the position of Multi-Site Research Compliance Officer for the Fourth Veterans Integrated Services Network. Judy stayed in this role for seventeen years, lasting up until her retirement this month.

We thank Judy for the many years of dedicated service she gave to our country and its veterans. We wish her a well-deserved and restful retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I hope the American people are watching closely today because there is a fundamental question being debated, and that is: What should the role of the Federal Government be in each of our daily lives, and what economic system best provides for the opportunity and well-being of the American people? That is the question today.

Democrats believe--they said this in our hearings--that the Federal Government should provide everything to ensure all needs are met for middle-income Americans.

We believe in earned success. We believe in rewarding hard work. That system, the free market system, has provided more opportunity than ever before in the history of mankind.

Mr. Speaker, freedoms aren't taken all at once. They are taken bit by bit by bit. This is a move toward an entirely different economic system. It is a move toward socialism.

We know that doesn't work. Look at every country in history that has overdelivered and overspent. It has not ended well.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Kim Lemon, who after spending 42 years serving the public as an award-winning journalist and anchor, is retiring from WGAL News 8, which is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the heart of my Congressional District.

Kim was born and raised in Lancaster, graduating from Manheim Township High School. She pursued higher education, graduating from Clarion University with a degree in Speech Communications and Theatre. She joined WGAL News 8 in 1979, hired to cover the weekend weather segment. She then spent time as a reporter, morning news anchor, then co-host of ``PM Magazine.'' For the

last 36 years, the people of Susquehanna Valley have known Kim as an anchor of WGAL' s evening news, serving as their Senior Anchor. Kim has been the longest serving anchor in the station's history. She has earned 12 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards and many other distinguished recognitions for her reporting.

Beyond sharing the news with our community, Kim has worked to give back. She has supported charitable efforts for the Children's Miracle Network, The Salvation Army, The Extraordinary Give and more. She also has been an advocate on behalf of families who are caring for loved ones with dementia, as she cares for her husband John who has Lewy Body Dementia.

Kim said that it was ``her lifelong dream to work at WGAL 8.'' And so, we thank her for living out her dream to faithfully share the news with our community for so many years. We wish her continued success and happiness in her retirement.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Keller for his leadership on this issue. My wonderful colleague from Pennsylvania introduced the Congressional Review Act, and I rise today in strong support of this act, which would block President Biden's misguided and, frankly, I think unconstitutional mandate. I thank him for his efforts and I am very, very happy to be able to support that.

Madam Speaker, I will say first, that I think the U.S. and what we have accomplished in developing a vaccine through Operation Warp Speed was a remarkable achievement of science and of a system in our country that develops the best medical system and the best drugs from across the world. And to be able to do that in the amount of time that it was done and to manufacture those drugs in a large scale is nothing short of amazing.

Personally, for myself, my family, we have discussed this with our doctor. We got the vaccine early on when it became available. And I have encouraged Pennsylvanians to speak with their own doctors and make their own decisions about the direction they want to take. And many Pennsylvanians have, and I think Mr. Keller knows this as well.

We now are at over 70 percent of our Commonwealth vaccinated, which begs the question for me: What ever happened to herd immunity? What ever happened?

Every one of us were in the room early on during this vaccine when we heard from Dr. Fauci and heard from other experts who talked about herd immunity. And they were talking about herd immunity being achieved when about 70 percent--or even less after we learned that COVID was not as fatal as was originally feared. At that point, we could do away with government mandates--many that were unnecessary in the first place, by the way--but we could reopen the economy and could control COVID; 70 percent. We are there, but nobody is talking about it anymore. CDC doesn't talk about it. This administration doesn't talk about it. What happened?

Madam Speaker, so I agree, there has got to be something else going on. And other speakers tonight have talked about it. There has got to be something more, and I fear it is control. It is control that people want.

I think we should trust the science. I think you should listen to your medical professionals. Certainly, it shouldn't be government topdown mandates.

I hear from employers every day who are worried that this mandate will further harm their ability to hire and retrain staff. They are already having a lot of problems due to some of the policies of this administration, but this will make it a lot worse. And I also hear from employees every day that are worried that this mandate may threaten their jobs and may threaten their livelihoods.

I have been heartened that over half of States have sued the administration to reverse this mandate, and I have also joined with my Republican colleagues from Pennsylvania to call on our attorney general in our State to join that litigation.

Madam Speaker, I stand ready to oppose this mandate; do everything that I can to block this and any vaccine mandates that this White House puts forth.

Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Keller for his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a truly dedicated township official from Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional District, which I am honored to represent.

Mr. Les Houck, of Salisbury Township, in eastern Lancaster County, is retiring as a member of the Salisbury Township Board of Supervisors after 48 years of dedicated service in that body; almost a half a century.

In fact, his service to the township began 2 years prior to his 48 years as a supervisor, in 1972, when he was appointed to the township's planning commission.

Les is a wonderful husband and father as well, but as I said, he has dedicated half a century working to improve his community. Over the years, Les has become a trusted voice who is sought out for counsel in Lancaster County and across the Commonwealth as well.

Beyond his service to the residents of Salisbury Township, Les served on several boards for Lancaster County, on advisory committees to the Governor and other State departments, and in leadership roles with both the county and State associations of township supervisors.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Les Houck for 50 years of service to the residents of Salisbury Township and for being an outstanding and true example of servant leadership.

Congratulating EHD of Lancaster

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate EHD of Lancaster as they celebrate their business' 125th anniversary; truly an impressive milestone.

The business, Engle-Hambright & Davies, now known as EHD, dates back to 1896 and has grown over the years, from previously working in real estate to now being a respected full-service insurance agency which employs 120 individuals with offices in Lancaster, Reading, Exton, and Pittsburgh.

They are one of only a few independent insurance agencies who achieved the Best Practices distinction for 6 consecutive years from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.

They continue to work to give back to the community they have called home for over a century, supporting a number of local nonprofit organizations through their many charitable efforts.

Mr. Speaker, the American entrepreneurial spirit has led to the founding of many businesses. Some do well, some fail, but not many have lasted for 125 years. That is rare.

Today, I want to mention EHD. We celebrate with them. We congratulate them on achieving this milestone, and we wish them continued success.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate a dedicated law enforcement officer from Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional District.

Northern Lancaster County Regional Chief of Police David Steffen was recently selected to serve as the president of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, which represents over 1,200 commanding level officers across local, State, and Federal law enforcement entities in Pennsylvania.

Chief Steffen has spent his 40-plus-year career in law enforcement, having served in Jackson Township, Hampden Township, and then the Northern York County Regional Police Department, before being named the first chief of Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department in 2011.

As chief of the department, Steffen leads over 30 full-time sworn officers and three civil staff, covering approximately 100 square miles in north central Lancaster County.

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Chief Steffen for supporting his fellow law enforcement officers, for achieving this recognition, and congratulate him on his new and well-deserved role.

To Chief Steffen and law enforcement officers across Pennsylvania's 11th District and across the country, thank you for your dedicated service and your efforts to keep our community safe.

Honoring Elizabethtown Mayor Chuck Mummert

Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to Mayor Chuck Mummert of Elizabethtown Borough in Lancaster County.

Mayor Mummert was recently named Mayor of the Year by the Associations of Mayors of Boroughs of Pennsylvania. Mayor Mummert has served the residents of Elizabethtown since 2006, in his first 4 years as a member of borough council there, and then since 2010 as mayor.

In addition to this honor, Mayor Mummert, in 2018, received the Governor's Award for Local Government Excellence, and he previously served as president of the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs.

Mayor Mummert is known as the singing mayor, as he is frequently called upon to lend his talented voice in singing the national anthem at events; something that I have certainly always enjoyed.

So I want to congratulate Mayor Mummert on being named Mayor of the Year, and to thank him for all of his work in continuing to make Elizabethtown Borough an exceptional place to live, work, and raise a family.

Madam Speaker, there are several problems with what I am hearing on the floor today. One, this is a blank check for Democrats to continue to spend at unprecedented levels. They talk about this spending for previous expenditures. Not true. This doesn't even set a limit. This would suspend completely the debt limit until December 16, 2022. They can spend as much as they want. It is a big problem.

Number two. Democrats aren't talking about finding ways to reduce the debt. We must tackle that problem. Rather, they believe that they can spend their way into a prosperous economy. In fact, they are attempting to completely erode the foundation of our society that has been built on individual freedom and personal responsibility, and they want to pave the way for the radical socialist agenda.

Unfortunately, we are already seeing the economic damage from their disastrous policies. Inflation is showing a 4 percent increase year to date. Consumer price inflation is higher than that. That is more than double the Federal Reserve's 2 percent goal. Those increases are being felt in my district; they are being felt across the country; and they are essentially a hidden tax on the American people.

Another problem we have, while they are attempting to spend even more money, cause even more economic harm, they will further degrade confidence in the dollar.

And, finally, another problem. This is an exercise in futility, and they know it. They know that this bill is very unlikely to pass in the Senate. So this is simply to score cheap political points today.

Democrats are in full control of the House, Senate, and the Presidency. They can raise the debt at any time. In fact, they passed up another opportunity to amend their budget resolution to include a debt ceiling increase, and they refused to do so.

Madam Speaker, I am strongly opposed to the Democrats' radical socialist agenda, and I oppose this bill which will help them advance that agenda.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Poiema Visual Arts as it celebrates its grand opening on this day, September 24, 2021.

With roots in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Poiema Visual Arts is an organization which seeks to foster values such as discipleship and friendship among Christian visual artists across Pennsylvania. Lancaster County is home to a burgeoning arts community, with many artists, craftsmen, and others finding it an ideal place from which to hone their craft and exhibit their work. Poiema Visual Arts will be a welcome addition to that community.

Art is often thought of as a universal language which can bring together people from all walks of life. We hope Poiema Visual Arts can do just that and unite people across Pennsylvania's Eleventh District and beyond.

We wish Poiema Visual Arts all the best and eagerly wait to see what the future has in store.