Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, serving in Ohio's 9th district, and as the leading Democrat and Ranking Member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, I am keenly aware that clean and abundant water resources are vital for the success of our nation's economy and the health of our communities. The Great Lakes region which I proudly represent and champion provides drinking water for more than 40 million people and supports a $6 trillion economy. Before us is H.J. Res. 27, another desperate attempt to weaken the Clean Water Act. After decades of reckless pollution, a fire on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, OH helped spark an environmental movement that brought us to the passage of the visionary Clean Water Act in 1972. The 50-year legacy of the CWA is a testament to the power of bipartisan legislation that prioritizes people and communities. If successful, H.J. Res. 27. would return us to a patchwork strategy of water management that existed prior to 1972.

H.J. Res. 27 is yet another example of partisan politics that do nothing for constituents in my district in Toledo and along Lake Erie-- or our neighbors throughout the Great Lakes region. Instead, this resolution undermines long-standing guidance that protects our waters. This resolution eliminates existing clarity and certainty that businesses, developers, and farmers rely on, and it creates the opportunity for our waterways to return to serving only as waste receptacles. Even with a strong Clean Water Act, much remains to be done to ensure clean drinking water for all; the 2014 Toledo water crisis was the direct result of toxins in the water. Further eroding our ability to protect our waters is a disservice to everyone. Today, I will vote no on H.J. Res. 27 because protecting our Great Lakes is a priority, and I strongly encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same, so that our waterways can be protected for future generations to come.

Mr. Speaker, today I am celebrating justice and a victory over big corruption in Ohio.

A jury in Federal court in Ohio found guilty and convicted the Republican Ohio Speaker, Larry Householder, and former Ohio Republican Party Chair, Matt Borges. Guilty of illegally selling off the Ohio statehouse through bribery, conspiracy, racketeering, and wire fraud, involving taking $61 million in bribes through FirstEnergy's dark money fund called Generation Now.

Their conspiracy involved forcing $1.3 billion of FirstEnergy losses on the ratepayers of Ohio. Shame on them.

What they were not tried for but should have been is their dangerous malfeasance in allowing FirstEnergy's nuclear plant in my district to operate in the most dangerous manner, creating the most serious set of nuclear accidents in this country's history since Three Mile Island.

Onward justice. Onward new clean energy for Ohio and America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to say hurray and recognize a northwestern Ohio institution, Hirzel Canning Company and Farms, on its 100th anniversary.

Headquartered in Northwood, Ohio, the Hirzel family rose from humble beginnings to become a major player in the national canned produce market, particularly canned tomato products. They are the best you will ever eat.

Carl Hirzel was a Swiss immigrant who lost his job as a brewer during Prohibition and moved to northwest Ohio to find opportunity. In 1923, he began farming a 60-acre plot in what is now Northwood.

He initially had trouble selling fresh products in the established produce market, until a local butcher who liked his sauerkraut told him there was an untapped canned vegetable market.

As their CEO, Joe Hirzel, always says, ``Whatever you guys do, do not forget quality.'' That is the Hirzel way.

So today with plants in Northwood, Pemberville, and Ottawa, and a farming operation near Luckey, Hirzel now distributes in 36 States nationwide. Their company is top quality, grown right in northern Ohio, and especially top quality are the people who operate and work there.

I just want to congratulate Hirzel again. Our entire region is so very, very proud of them and all of their accomplishments.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the following obituary honoring the former Congressman, Edward Ford Weber of Ohio.

Edward Weber Obituary

Edward F. Weber. a Toledo area attorney for nearly 50 years

and a one-term Republican congressman, who in 1980 swept a

longtime incumbent out of office. died Monday in Hospice of

Northwest of Ohio, Perrysburg Township. He was 91.

He had congestive heart failure. his son. Ford Weber. said

Home most recently was southwest Toledo. Mr. Weber and his

wife. Alice, former]v lived in the Westmoreland neighborhood

of central Toledo.

He returned to practice law in 1983 after his term in

Congress. rejoining Marshall & Melhorn as a senior partner.

He headed its probate and trust section before his election

and led the corporate-commercial section on his return.

In 1990, he formed the law firm of Weber & Sterling with

Robert V. Sterling, specializing in wills, trusts, planning,

and administration. He retired about 18 years ago.

Mr. Weber on Nov. 4, 1980, achieved what a dozen Republican

candidates before him could not: He defeated Thomas Ludlow

Ashley, ending the Democrat's 26-year congressional career.

In the presidential race, Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy

Carter. Lucas County results showed Mr. Weber had over 10,000

more votes than his party's standard bearer.

``He was proud of the fact that he did not ride on Reagan's

coattails,'' the younger Mr. Weber said.

Two years later. Marcy Kaptur defeated Mr. Weber by a

margin nearly identical to that by which he was elected. Ms.

Kaptur has been re-elected every two years since.

He took issue, in a Blade Readers' Forum letter, with a

report that he had admitted he could have done more to hold

the 9th District seat.

``For two years while I served in Congress. I worked as

hard as humanly possible to retain my seat short of

compromising my principles and voting differently on the

issues,'' Mr. Weber wrote to The Blade. ``That loss remains

the greatest personal disappointment of my life. However, I

do not believe that anything I could have done differently in

the 1982 campaign wou]d have changed the outcome of that

election.

Mr. Weber's startling defeat of the seemingly invincible

Mr. Ashley was the product of a precision campaign plan

effectively executed. He began planning more than two years

earlier, before Mr. Ashley's November, 1978 victory. He first

got the notion to run while working in his yard. He was then

a volunteer for Mr. Ashley's Republican opponent.

``I felt that the country very badly needed a big change in

its direction--away from overregulation, away from

overtaxation, away from unemployment, and away from the

inflationary trends,'' Mr. Weber told The Blade after his

1980 victory.

The younger Mr. Weber said: ``His parents instilled in him

a sense of community and civic duty.``

The years since, he ``developed a lot of respect for Marcy

Kaptur,'' the younger Mr. Weber said. The former congressman

and his wife contributed to Ms. Kaptur's campaigns on several

occasions.

``He served with honor,'' Ms, Kaptur said Wednesday. ``Ed

and Alice Weber had a beautiful marriage and were committed

to family, to faith, to community. and country. It was a

lifetime of achievement, not just for themselves, but for our

community. He was a gentleman.''

As Mr. Weber returned to the practice of law, he retained

his interest in the public good. He was co-chairman of a

successful capital improvement levy campaign for the Toledo

Zoo. He served as co-chairman of a campaign to find private

funding for a museum ship on the Maumee River, what is now

the S.S. Col. James M. Schoonmaker.

He tutored children in reading at a central Toledo school.

He wrote the occasional letter to The Blade Readers' Forum.

By the early 2010s, he no longer considered himself a

Republican, having voted for Barack Obama twice, but also

said he was not a Democrat.

He and his wife joined community members in arguing for

Maumee River views and green space as they publicly spoke out

against ProMedica's six-story parking garage in Promenade

Park. In 2015, Mr. Weber endorsed the mayoral candidacy of

another vocal opponent to the garage, Mike FerrIer, a former

member of Toledo City Council who was defeated in a close

contest for mayor in 1993.

Edward Ford Weber was born July 26. 1931, to Elenore and

Ford R. Weber and grew up on Scottwood Avenue in the Old West

End. He was a 1949 graduate of Scott High School, where he

played football. He received a bachelor's degree from Denison

University, where he majored in mathematics and music.

He was a 1956 graduate of Harvard law school and afterward

served in the Army at Fort Belvoir, Va., assigned to the

judge advocate as an attorney in the legal assistance office.

He began his legal career at the firm then known as Marshall,

Melhorn, Bloch & Belt.

When Craig Frederickson was hired by the firm in 1975. Mr.

Weber became his mentor and managing partner.

``I was so lucky,'' Mr. Frederickson said. ``I have to say

he was probably one of the most remarkable individuals I've

ever known--his integrity, his ethics, his brilliance, and

his ability to handle and teach a young attorney with

patience. It was so impressive. His dealing with clients--he

was honest and truthful. He actually cared.''

George Glasser, a retired judge of the Ohio 6th District

Court of Appeals. said: ``He was an individual who had the

courage of his convictions and stood for integrity and

everything good.''

From 1967-79, Mr. Weber taught trusts and estates at the

University of Toledo law school.

He was a life member of what is now Ashland Church, from

its historic home in central Toledo through its relocation

more than 15 years ago to Oregon. He had been a trustee of

the YMCA of Greater Toledo; the Toledo Museum of Art; the Red

Cross in Toledo; the Clement O. Miniger Memorial Foundation;

the Landman-Goldman Foundation, and the University of Chicago

Divinity School.

He was a former district Boy Scouts chairman and was a

scoutmaster for 13 years of a central Toledo troop.

Music was a favorite avocation. When he entered Denison, he

took the advice of his mother--who oversaw many entertainment

programs at their church--and enrolled in a course in

harmony, along with prelaw studies.

After law school, he sang in the church choir and composed

prayer responses and organ music. Mr. Weber in 1977, directed

a performance of a musical he composed, ``One Solitary Life,

`` based on the life of Jesus. He dedicated the work to his

mother. He also composed the processional march for his

daughter Mary's wedding.

He played clarinet in the Maumee Community Band and played

piano and trombone.

He also enjoyed hiking and backpacking out west and sailing

the Great Lakes.

Surviving are his wife, the former Alice Hammerstrom, whom

he married March 30. 1957; daughters Elenore Weber and Mary

Due; son, Ford Weber; six grandchildren, and a great-

granddaughter.

Family and friends will be greeted from noon-7 p.m. March

24 at Walker Funeral Home, Sylvania Township. Services will

be private.

The family suggests tributes to the Toledo Museum of Art or

the Toledo Public Schools Foundation.

Published by The Blade on Mar. 2, 2023.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the productive life of the Honorable Congressman Edward Ford Weber of Toledo, Ohio, a gifted lawyer and a man for others.

Throughout his life and during his congressional service, beginning in 1981, he worked hard to serve the people of northwest Ohio during those tumultuous economic times.

He was a gentleman and a veteran, dedicated to his family, to our community of Toledo, and to our country. He earned a Phi Beta Kappa from Denison University, was president of his fraternity, and captain of the men's tennis team. He was married to the love of his life, Alice Hammerstrom, for 66 years. They reared three wonderful children, six grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.

Ed was committed to education and to music, as well. He tutored children in reading within the Toledo public school system, some of our most challenged neighborhoods, in addition to the teaching he did at the University of Toledo Law School.

Ed practiced law in Toledo for nearly half a century at Marshall Melhorn first, and then eventually founded his own firm and generously kept giving of himself to numerous endeavors to improve Toledo: Our zoo; the Toledo Museum of History, which is world class; the Boy Scouts; the YMCA; the Toledo Museum of Art, also world class; the Red Cross; and numerous charitable foundations. He kept giving back, through his deep commitment to the people of Toledo and surrounding communities, and we needed him. He understood the impact and importance of civic duty.

Today, America salutes Edward Ford Weber for his lifelong, noble, honorable service. We honor and remember his constructive life and the ethic that imbued his spirit.

The last time I had the pleasure of seeing him was at the Toledo Club. He

had a Wednesday group, and all these guys would meet. They basically had formally retired from their professions, but they really didn't retire from life, and they were having one great time.

Our prayers are extended to his loved ones. May they be comforted by the love and memories they hold in their hearts, and may the angels carry their beloved husband, father, and grandfather to a place of peace and joy.

Madam Speaker, the latest disastrous Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, traveled through my district before its crash.

Unfortunately, this follows another dangerous derailment last October in Sandusky, Ohio--in my district--at the busy Columbus bridge overpass.

One half year later, it is clear that Norfolk Southern repairs have seriously lagged at this main artery into Sandusky, Ohio. Rail companies have failed to restore this vital main artery into the city of Sandusky, Ohio.

In a year where Norfolk Southern's rail barons brought in--get ready--$3.27 billion in profits, the companies ought to invest in the necessary safety protocols and immediate repairs to prevent such disasters from happening again across northern Ohio's busiest corridor.

The current and long-term health and safety for rail workers, for residents of communities in East Palestine and Sandusky must be America's top priority. America cannot allow rail chieftains to exploit communities and working people's safety while in turn padding their own pocketbook with billions of dollars of money.

The time to change course in rail safety is now.

Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate Black History month this February, I rise today to recognize the lifetime of work of a precious local champion for the African American community in my hometown of Toledo, Ohio, Ms. Suzette Cowell.

Suzette Cowell is the founding member and CEO of Toledo's Urban Federal Community Development Credit Union. This specialized credit union was created with a vision to help generate economic development and new opportunity. Suzette introduced fair credit to neighborhoods which had never experienced either before. In this locale, predatory lenders and financial loan sharks suck the lifeblood out of people and neighborhoods.

With decades of experience in the financial arena, Ms. Cowell is a pioneering leader in Toledo--and has led this credit union into the multi-million-dollar community development institution it is today. This credit institution is a model for financial development and community development across our Nation.

Her insight into the unmet needs and systemic issues that precipitated the founding of this successful credit union are essential to understanding America's history, and our Nation must build up to ensure all our residents are uplifted. No place in America should be absent the credit and credit counseling the Federal Urban Credit Union provides.

I thank Suzette fo her astounding faith-filled leadership and opportunity she and her board and colleagues brought to our Toledo community.

Madam Speaker, today I rise to mark more than 1 year of Russia's expanded terrorist war against Ukraine after its initial unprovoked invasion in 2014.

The words of Ukraine's poet laureate Taras Shevchenko ring especially true today as when he penned them nearly two centuries ago:

`` . . . rise ye up and break your heavy chains and water with the tyrants' blood, the freedom you have gained.''

Ukraine's moment to victory is now. The defining accomplishment of the 20th century was the victory of liberty over tyranny. Vanquishing Nazi and imperialist tyranny and defeating the forces of Soviet-imposed communism a half century later ended the Cold War.

New institutions for the common defense of liberty, including NATO, were founded. The U.S. Marshall Plan helped to secure and rebuild a war-torn but free Europe, and both America and liberty prospered.

Through the bipartisan leadership of great Americans, including General George Marshall, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, and Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, America rose--though somewhat reluctantly--to be liberty's standard-bearer. And even in those European nations that had fallen behind the Iron Curtain, such as Ukraine, the impulse for freedom hastened. For America, helping liberty defeat tyranny has always been bipartisan.

Recall the images of President John Kennedy in West Germany declaring ``Ich bin ein Berliner.''

President Ronald Reagan stood behind the Brandenburg Gate nearly two decades later near the Berlin Wall demanding, ``Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.''

Those images defined the boundary between East and West: free people versus subjugated people.

It was barely 2 years after President Reagan's speech and after over four decades of free world vigilance that the world witnessed the profound victory of the valiant Solidarnosc workers in the steelyards of Gdansk, Poland.

Soon, captive nations subjugated by the Soviet Union for decades began to tumble. First, in 1989, Poland. Then in 1991, Ukraine. Then the entirety of the captive nations held subjugated by the Soviet Union. It was a major turning point in the arc of world history.

The Allied post-war institutions created to defend liberty still exist today. Indeed, now with Sweden and Finland

joining NATO, that alliance grows stronger than it has ever been.

Ukraine, too, seeks to join its European allies who are democratic in the European Union. Ukrainian soldiers meanwhile embattled and vastly outnumbered are dying, dying, dying for the cause of self-determination and liberty. Against great odds, Ukraine faces an enemy three times their population with far more military resources, but they fight.

To gain a sense of what Ukrainians are feeling right now, visit the World War II Memorial here in Washington, D.C. Seek to understand the sacrifices of the more than 400,000 Americans whose lives were given to liberty in its cause on the Atlantic, Pacific, and African fronts during the 20th century so that we, our generations, could remain free.

Under Soviet domination, no nation in the world suffered more than Ukraine. More than 4 million innocent people were systematically starved to death by Joseph Stalin, with millions upon millions upon millions more, whose names we will never know, murdered by Stalin's brutal Communist regime. America has been absent those horrors, thank God.

Despite these bestial atrocities, America at times has turned a blind eye to Russian atrocities dating back to its World War II unholy alliance with the Soviet Union to defeat Nazism.

In 2008, when Russian President Vladimir Putin stormed into The Republic of Georgia, President George W. Bush looked the other way. In 2014, when Vladimir Putin, entirely unprovoked, originally invaded Ukraine and subjugated Crimea, President Barack Obama paused.

Now Putin, in trying to capture the sovereign nation of Ukraine and hold it under his tyrannical claw, has gone too far. America has resumed its role as the vigorous and uncompromising defender of free and aspiring people. Liberty must check tyranny. Today, Ukraine seeks liberty for her 40 million people--Liberty must win. Liberty will win.

President Biden, Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsey Graham, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and other impassioned advocates of both parties champion Ukraine's cause. America and our allies have responded to the crisis by sending fervent support in the form of weapons and humanitarian aid. What happens next? In one word, victory.

Our Nation does not exist alone on this globe. Isolation is strangulation. America's democratic ally Ukraine is pleading for help. President Biden has made his position clear: he will support Ukraine ``as long as it takes.'' And he will not let Putin force Ukraine to negotiate away its territory. He takes these positions because he knows it would be aiding and abetting the enemy for America to look the other way. To do nothing is essentially choosing to side with Russia over Ukraine. In the long term that would be foolhardy and dangerous both for the United States and for a safer, more democratic world.

America is still a young land and, in some ways, largely sheltered from the lengths to which vicious tyrants will go to wipe out free people. Putin is prepared to go to those lengths. This is the time to choose. This is the time to fight. This is the time to stand up and defend liberty, at home and abroad. Each generation must make fateful choices. So must we.

When our great Nation was founded, most of the world's population were slaves, serfs, or subjugated. Even then, one of our Founding Fathers, Patrick Henry, grasped the concept of liberty. He challenged our forbearers: ``Give me Liberty or give me death.'' He understood what was at stake then, just as the people of Ukraine do today. So must we. The free world must choose liberty. America stands with our Allies to strengthen democracy, and realize in our time and generation a free, sovereign, and independent Ukraine. Slava Ukraini! Glory to Ukraine.

Mr. Speaker, during this week of the State of the Union Address, I rise today to recognize the lifetime of work of Sue Daugherty, a champion for seniors across Ohio.

Sue and I are cheering the 8.7 percent cost of living increase for seniors under Social Security and a cap on insulin costs for seniors at $35 per month.

Sue serves as the founding executive director of Serving Our Seniors, a nonprofit organization located in Sandusky, Ohio, that supports Erie County seniors as they progress in life.

Ms. Daugherty's passion for gerontology was born out of her experience as a nursing assistant in the summer following her freshman year at Ohio University. She went on to receive her bachelor's degree from Ohio University and earned her master of public administration from Cleveland State University.

Sue has utilized her knowledge and experience to create an excellent and friendly network for aging Ohioans to receive better treatment and resources as they age. She helped establish a system for seniors to seek proactive care instead of reactive care.

Ms. Daugherty has received nearly a dozen community service awards of excellence throughout her career, including the 2002 Acts of Caring Award from the National Association of Counties.

I am honored to honor her lifetime of achievement and her work. Today, all of America salutes Ohioan Sue Daugherty. I thank her so much for her service to America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to recognize the young people from North Carolina who have joined us and to introduce the Restoring Communities Left Behind Act.

During my years as a city planner before coming to Congress, I witnessed firsthand that fostering economic development in our communities requires strong local leadership. The involvement of neighborhood champions who know their neighborhoods block by block is essential.

This legislation would direct $5 billion toward programs for homeowner rehabilitation assistance, weatherization, improved accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities, refinancing, and property tax relief.

It will help restore quality housing, including in the rural communities and the cities that I represent, such as Toledo, Sandusky, and Defiance. These locations have suffered from decades of job losses, outsourcing, recessions, and chronic underinvestment.

Congress must serve as the partner to our on-the-ground organizations. Local leaders know what resources are needed and where and how best to deploy them to revive their neighborhoods. That is why the Restoring Communities Left Behind Act promotes local control and capacity building for economic development.

These investments will repair homes, stimulate economic growth, and revitalize communities at a time when our Nation needs affordable housing.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support the Restoring Communities Left Behind Act.

Mr. Speaker, Social Security coverage is an earned benefit. In January, Social Security beneficiaries began to see an 8.7 percent cost-of-living increase, the largest since 1981. This COLA covers retirees as well as workers who become disabled and surviving children under age 18 whose working parents died.

For nearly a century, America has honored the sacred insurance promise intergenerationally. Those who work throughout their lives will benefit from the fruits of their labor.

Yes, this historic cost-of-living adjustment will help Americans manage their cost of living to pay bills and put food on the table. In addition, millions of Medicare users will now only pay $35 per month for insulin. This cost savings will benefit hundreds of thousands of Ohioans.

The Social Security COLA along with affordable insulin are being championed by congressional Democrats. We know the foundation of financial stability for over 66 million retired Americans is their earned social insurance benefits. Respecting their lives and their work, Democrats will always honor Social Security and vote to protect it and to strengthen Medicare.

Fund New Great Lakes Authority

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to also call upon President Biden to fund the new Great Lakes Authority in the administration's fiscal year 2024 budget request.

With support from our Great Lakes colleagues, the Great Lakes Authority was authorized in the fiscal year 2023 omnibus appropriations bill and signed into law on January 2, 2023.

Across America, regional development instrumentalities like this have existed for decades. Until now, the Great Lakes region was the one major region left out of our Nation's toolkit for regional cooperation, reinvestment, and revitalization.

Launched initially with Federal resources to drive economic and environmental recovery, this authority now exists and aims to become self-sufficient sooner rather than later. This new year brings new opportunities for public-private partnerships across our Great Lakes region for investment and revitalization.

The Great Lakes Authority will harness the region's strengths, which include stewardship of the largest body of freshwater on the continent and on

Earth. Our region is home to America's industrial and agricultural strength. We have hardworking men and women who manufacture the majority of automobiles and trucks this Nation manufactures, as well as, of course, farmers in our agricultural heartland who feed us all. We have these massive production assets in this region.

Finally, the wealth of the region has allowed for an array of educational and corporate institutions, as well, which now can be mobilized together to reboot and repurpose the region's recovery from massive job outsourcing and, frankly, outright neglect that has damaged its potential for far too long.

Investing to strengthen the Great Lakes heartland will usher in a new era for our communities. It is time to fund the Great Lakes Authority to be the key economic development engine that becomes self-supporting through public-private partnerships that make a lasting impact.

Onward Great Lakes Authority.

There is no time like the present to launch a stronger and more hopeful future for every community across our precious region.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in opposition to H.R. 21.

A top U.S. security priority must be energy independence in perpetuity.

We know high oil prices hit working families hard. Last year, the Biden administration rightly released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and oil prices dropped $1.69 a gallon in my area.

Unfortunately, the bill we had debated adds layers of bureaucracy-- four agencies and departments thick--limiting our progress to stabilize prices.

America must have an all-of-the-above energy profile. Here is yet another handout to Big Oil. It forces the leasing of additional lands to oil companies while vast amounts of current federally leased land sites are already going unused.

Leasing land is not the same as production.

H.R. 21 would hamstring our ability to protect people and companies from spiking gasoline prices.

I fought hard to save the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when others here tried to decommission it. American energy security means national independence. We should settle for no less.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support the delivery of Abrams tanks to our European allies, including Ukraine. Let us fulfill any backup supply to assure NATO can check aggression by Russia anywhere on that continent.

Liberty for Ukraine needs no Neville Chamberlain moments. Delivering Abrams tanks will help Ukraine push toward victory sooner rather than later. Liberty's mission must be victory.

Russia's cruel and unprovoked war on Ukraine has produced a nation soaked in blood from one end to the other. Putin views weakness and appeasement as a recipe for failure.

Across Ohio, which I am privileged to represent, and the Great Lakes region, our fellow citizens and families have survived and often, too often, have fled oppression in central Europe at the hands of a predatory Russia.

We know the price of liberty. Our patriotic men and women in the United Auto Workers proudly manufacture the Abrams tank in Lima, Ohio. They guard liberty every day.

Our workers build the finest equipment in the world, so critical to victory. Americans know what brave Ukrainians are fighting for and against.

Hasn't enough innocent blood been spilled already?

Onward Abrams.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the valorous life of Lieutenant Colonel Harold Brown of Catawba Island, Ohio, who recently took his final flight to the heavens.

Since sixth grade, Harold's dream was to be a pilot. By the age of 19, he made that dream a reality as a Tuskegee Airman.

Harold served as an exemplary officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps, completing dozens of combat missions during World War II. Once while on a mission, his plane was shot down, and Harold was taken as a prisoner of war.

This experience did not deter his service to our country. Harold served again during the brutal Korean War. Truly, he embodied the spirit of his Spit Fire legendary airmen.

Harold's devotion to his country extended beyond the battlefield. He worked to desegregate the military. He worked as a teacher to inspire new generations of students. His life was dedicated to service beyond self.

Today, America honors Harold for his service. We remember what an impact his life had, and our prayers are with his loved ones.

Truly, one human being can change the direction of the world for the better, and Harold Brown did that.

Madam Speaker, America's economic independence is based in energy independence.

Today, I voted for H.R. 22, a bill that prohibits selling oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China. However, this bill does not go far enough.

I was one of the Members that saved the Strategic Petroleum Reserve with my vote several years ago. We have to do more to prohibit the sale of oil to other tyrants who wage war on peaceful people and nations.

In 2015, it was the Republican-controlled Congress that voted to begin exporting oil to all of our biggest adversaries: Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China included.

Well, how about that?

Americans cannot be dependent on any foreign adversaries for our way of life. Now more than ever is the time to ensure American energy independence in perpetuity. We protect our workers and our companies when we stand up to predatory adversaries.

We must continue to keep advancing new energy technologies here at home, and I look forward to Republican support in doing so. That is the recipe for American strength and liberty.