Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, since being appointed as border czar by President Joe Biden, Kamala Harris has undoubtedly been a complete failure in her job and has destroyed our country by releasing a record-setting level of criminals, rapists, and terrorists into our communities.

Despite the attempts of the fake news media to whitewash her appointment as border czar, as Axios correctly reported and are now lying and saying they never did, she was, in fact, labeled a border czar by nearly every major news outlet across the country.

Border czar Kamala Harris said, ``Do not come,'' yet proudly welcomed 11.5 million illegals from over 160 countries, including over 2 million known got-aways, who completely evaded U.S. authorities.

She stood by and allowed these people to come in and idly watched our children and women being raped by illegal alien criminals.

She is not just allowing them to come. The policies of the administration allowed the CBP One app to import over 400,000 illegals into American communities. Under her watch as border czar, this has happened.

She can fake it for the photo ops, but we know that Kamala Harris wholeheartedly supports the chaos at our border, the chaos in our streets, and the chaos in the families who have been victims of her open-border policies.

Border czar Harris outlandishly compared ICE to KKK and radically called for ICE to be abolished. She also posted the Minnesota Freedom Fund to bail out violent Black Lives Matter terrorists who burned down cities, looted stores, destroyed communities, and caused over $2 billion in damage to communities all over America.

Kamala Harris is not only the border czar, but she is also the czar of chaos, and her policies have destroyed America.

Mr. Speaker, since Merrick Garland took over as Attorney General in March of 2021, he has completely subverted and weaponized the Department of Justice. This weaponization of the DOJ has resulted in the persecution of the left's political enemies in a two- tiered justice system. From investigating parents who protest their school boards, to going after pro-life activists and Catholics, to persecuting former President Donald J. Trump, Merrick Garland's corruption knows no bounds.

The DOJ's persecution of Joe Biden's primary political adversary, President Donald J. Trump, is illegal and an actual assault on democracy. Raiding President Trump's home for legally declassifying documents in a transparent violation of justice and persecuting a declared candidate for President of the United States is nothing short of election interference.

In the meantime, Merrick Garland has refused to comply with a lawful congressional subpoena, claiming executive privilege, the same defense argued by Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro.

For Merrick Garland and Joe Biden, it is rules for thee, but not for me.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my Republican Conference to support this resolution, reclaim our congressional authority, and hold Merrick Garland accountable for his hypocritical and illegal actions that spit in the faces of all Americans' rights to a fair justice system.

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment uses the Holman rule to slash Secretary Lloyd Austin's salary to no more than $1.

Lloyd Austin has failed in his role as Secretary of Defense and has jeopardized the national security of the United States. He botched the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in the deaths of 13 American soldiers, along with the abandonment of American civilians and military equipment. This remains today as a large stain on our Nation and a wound in the hearts of every veteran who served in Afghanistan.

He is, in large part, responsible for handing over control of Afghanistan to the Islamic extremists, the Taliban.

During Secretary Austin's tenure, military recruitment has reached historic lows. Instead of recruiting new soldiers, Secretary Austin has focused

his efforts on purging the military through oppressive vaccine mandates and so-called extremism stand-downs.

More than 8,000 troops were kicked out of the military for refusing the vaccine. Thousands more sought religious and medical exemptions, many of which were still pending when the DOD rescinded the mandate.

For too long, our soldiers have been punished because the current administration is hellbent on forcing them to take a dangerous vaccine and submit to this practice.

We also don't know how many of our military members have been harmed by these vaccine mandates, and we know they have been harmed.

While the United States is being ravaged by an invasion at our southern border, Lloyd Austin continues to prefer to write blank checks for Ukraine. Lloyd Austin's open-ended support of Ukraine has depleted our defense capabilities and pushed the United States even closer to world war III.

Secretary Austin has betrayed the American people and lost the public's trust. The American people should no longer have to reward his failures by paying his salary.

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

Mr. Chairman, I would argue that the families of the 13 American soldiers who were killed in the failure of the withdrawal in Afghanistan do not agree with my colleague's statement.

This Nation is too important, our national security is too important, and our military members are too important to be under the direction and the leadership of Lloyd Austin, who failed our entire military and failed our country in Afghanistan.

Also, our country deserves defense, and our country and our States are left defenseless when the DOD's main focus is securing borders in foreign countries, specifically in Ukraine.

It moved me to anger when I heard Lloyd Austin directly tell me that our cousins, our uncles, and our sons could be sent to fight on the ground in Ukraine one day. I think that is appalling when 300 Americans are being killed by fentanyl every single day and when America's young women are being raped and murdered by illegal aliens. This is becoming something so frequent in the news that it is shocking and appalling.

This is absolutely not what the DOD is supposed to be for. The DOD should be defending America and defending our national security. I think many Americans would agree that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin's salary should be reduced to $1 because that is the exact job performance that he has given to America and our national security.

Also, it is absolutely embarrassing that young people today do not want to serve in our military. Having the lowest recruitment numbers in probably history is appalling. It is embarrassing.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues in this House to pass this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment would ensure that no additional military funding is authorized for the war in Ukraine.

To date, Congress has appropriated $174.2 billion of American's hard- earned, taxpayer dollars in emergency supplemental funding for Ukraine.

Of this amount, about $116 billion, 67 percent, has been provided through the U.S. Department of Defense. While our southern border is invaded by murderers, rapists, and terrorists, the Biden administration cares more about protecting the borders of Ukraine than the country he swore to protect and that many people in this body swore to protect.

Now, Ukraine is using American weapons to bomb civilian beaches in Russian territory.

Ukraine is recruiting an untold number of their own men in Ukraine to fight in this war that they cannot win. Anyone that says Ukraine can win is being completely dishonest.

We know how Russia will respond to this aggression because they already are. Just recently, we saw reports of Russian warships off the coast of Florida in the Caribbean. How much longer will the United States provoke Russia before we fall into world war III, or have American boots on the ground in Ukraine, which the American people do not support?

As a matter of fact, over half of America thinks that the U.S. is not only spending too much money to help Ukraine, they disagree with the war.

In a recent CBS poll, over 60 percent of Republicans do not support additional aid to Ukraine, and even one in four Democrats don't support it anymore.

By the way, we are at $34.5 trillion in debt. It is unreal that anyone in this body who votes to appropriate money can go home to their folks in their district and say more of your money should be put in debt to go to defend some country that most of you can't find on a map.

It is truly disturbing to watch Americans' hard-earned, taxpayer dollars go down the drain because this government, this body, and many people in Washington think they have to go fight a war or pay for a war and send weapons to a war in a country that does not touch our borders. Yet we are completely ignoring the war on our own border, the war on our own people that is waged on us every single day by the cartels.

I don't understand why we can't come together in this United States House of Representatives to defend the American people and recognize who our true enemies are. There are people invading our country from over 160 countries around the world, including the international crime organizations that are murdering Americans every single day, trafficking children, trafficking women, trafficking drugs. That is the

only thing that we should be talking about, and if we have a Department of Defense that should be our focus.

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

Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. Chair, it is no wonder that Congress has a 13 percent approval rating from the American people because Congress is an absolute failure to the American people. This Congress has put the American people $34.5 trillion in debt because of the ridiculous decisions to make our American military the world police and make our government the biggest charity in the world just giving away all of this money and enslaving Americans in debt. It is also a complete lie to say you support Ukraine while you support funding the continual murder of Ukrainians in a war Ukraine cannot win.

The Russian population is 144 million. Ukraine's population is 38 million.

The fact is, Ukraine is going to run out of men that are going to die on that battlefield, while America beats their chest and talks about Putin every single day and keeps sending money and keeps sending weapons and keeps causing these people to die.

We should be pushing for peace in Ukraine. If we are going to defend America, we should be fighting together, all of us, for our own border and for our own American people that we swore an oath to defend.

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment would effectively fire Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security for the atrocious job that he is doing with our southern border and the overall security of our Nation.

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed my Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas, making him the first Cabinet Secretary to be impeached since 1876. If the House impeached Secretary Mayorkas, we should certainly not pay him.

Here are some real-life consequences of Alejandro Mayorkas's failures.

Rachel Morin, a mother of five from Maryland, was brutally raped and murdered by an illegal alien from El Salvador, who Mayorkas allowed to enter our country as a got-away.

A 13-year-old girl in New York City was violently raped at knifepoint and kidnapped in broad daylight by a vicious illegal from Ecuador. He is a monster who was previously caught crossing the border with a 3- year-old child on his back in 2021, and then he was released into the United States of America under Secretary Mayorkas.

Jocelyn Nungaray, 12 years old, was strangled to death and dumped in a creek in Houston, Texas, by two illegals from Venezuela, who were released under Secretary Mayorkas earlier this year.

I can't understand and comprehend why my colleagues across the aisle want to keep this going. This child was 12 years old.

Kayla Marie Hamilton, 20 years old, was raped and strangled to death by an illegal MS-13 gang member who was apprehended but subsequently released under Mayorkas. By the way, he was covered in gang tattoos. They knew exactly what he was, but under the leadership of Secretary Mayorkas, these monsters get released into our country.

Laken Riley, 22, was brutally kidnapped and murdered by an animal from Venezuela, who was released into our communities under Secretary Mayorkas and not prosecuted in the justice system in the State of New York.

No more Americans should have to die because Secretary Mayorkas refuses to enforce the laws of our country. Secretary Mayorkas' policies are escorting murderers, rapists, criminal trespassers, gang members, and terrorists into American communities.

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

Mr. Chair, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Chair, my colleague across the aisle talks about Secretary Mayorkas and his so-called critical role in our Nation's security, yet Secretary Mayorkas has allowed over 360 individuals on the terrorist watch list to be caught while illegally crossing the southern border between ports of entry. We have no idea how many terrorists are in the interior of our country. Two million that we know of have gotten away. How many of the 2 million are terrorists?

He has enabled a 7,000 percent increase in illegal crossings of Chinese nationals ever since 2021 when he took the job.

His open border is allowing fentanyl to pour into our communities, which is killing 300 Americans every single day.

I would argue the Ukraine war is not murdering any Americans, yet this House of Representatives and the people in Washington are obsessed with using American taxpayer dollars to fund that war while fully ignoring the war on our southern border.

According to the Georgia Narcotics Association, approximately 7 out of 10 pills on the street are laced with fentanyl coming across the southern border, yet my colleague across the aisle says that we are ignoring the humanitarian crisis at the southern border.

What this government, this administration, and Secretary Mayorkas are doing is ignoring the humanitarian crisis all across our country. Fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction that is murdering Americans. That should be the issue this House cares about.

Secretary Mayorkas' policies have killed Americans, bankrupted communities, overrun schools, besieged towns, drowned hospitals, and incapacitated law enforcement while empowering cartels and foreign entities.

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

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from working with the State Department to establish something they call Safe Mobility Offices. As if legalizing and enabling the invasion of America is not enough, the Biden administration wants to create offices down in foreign countries to bring more people in in their foreign country and help them invade the United States, and they want the American taxpayer to pay for it. It is unbelievable.

Secretary Mayorkas is not only allowing illegals to invade our country, but he is also actively importing these terrorists and rapists into our country through the establishment--taxpayer-funded, by the way--of Safe Mobility Offices.

In a recent ABC interview, Mayorkas bragged about this fact, stating: ``We have built Safe Mobility Offices in Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica to reach people where they are so they don't have to take the perilous journey.''

I can't even believe this is a real thing. He is not discouraging or preventing these illegals from invading our borders. He is showing them how to do it, and he is making it easier for them to come by establishing offices in those foreign countries, bringing them in, and telling them how to come to the United States.

According to the State Department, the Safe Mobility initiative is one of the many ways the United States is facilitating access to safe and lawful pathways from partner countries in the region, at no cost to them, so refugees and vulnerable migrants don't have to undertake dangerous journeys in search of safety and better opportunities.

I bet Americans would love to feel safe. I bet Americans who have lost children and family members to illegal alien crime, rape, and murder would love for their family members to be safe and their dead family members to have better opportunities. No, the Biden administration won't allow it. They have to open up offices to bring in more people.

Once aliens apply, experts from international organizations help individuals assess which legal pathways might work for them. If the individual qualifies for resettlement into the United States, which, according to the Biden administration, everybody gets resettlement into the United States, they get a bus ticket, a plane ticket, or a train ticket to any of the 50 States that they want. Then, the individual will undergo expedited refugee processing under the Safe Mobility initiative.

So our taxpayers are paying for offices in these foreign countries to recruit people to come to our country and be expedited in at the cost of the American people. This is outrageous, infuriating, embarrassing, and pathetic.

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

Mr. Chair, talk about burdening Border Patrol, we can talk about the over 12 million illegal aliens that have flooded into our country ever since Joe Biden took office, all under the direction of Secretary Mayorkas. Yes, that has definitely burdened Border Patrol.

Talk about innovative solutions, I think we could call it innovative if you are talking about completely invading the United States of America by the Biden administration and Secretary Mayorkas. His creative idea of an innovative solution is to open offices in foreign countries to recruit people to come to the United States and be expedited wherever they want to go.

This is a slap in the face of every single American. It is a complete embarrassment. It is outrageous. Our Nation is over $34.5 trillion in debt right now, and Democrats want to open up and spend money to open up more offices to bring more people in? My colleague talks about overwhelming Border Patrol. This is overwhelming the American people.

Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues in the House to pass my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment reduces the salary of Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to $1.

Samantha Power is a globalist leftwing activist who uses government positions to force the regime's views on the American people and the rest of the world.

When Samantha Power took office in 2021, she set three priorities for USAID in her New Vision for Global Development: one, broadening the coalition by increasing the number and diversity of voices at USAID; two, focusing assistance more on the voices and needs of the most marginalized; and, three, making aid more responsive by better incorporating the perspectives of those on the ground.

Under Samantha Power, USAID has focused on food security in response to the Ukraine war, climate change, democracy, and governance.

Also under Samantha Power, USAID has installed diversity, equity, and inclusion advisers in all bureaus, offices,

and overseas missions and has created an agencywide dashboard and DEI scorecards to track staff compliance with the administration's DEI directives.

These blatantly political scorecards demand ideological conformity and should have no place in the government workplace or elsewhere.

Furthermore, Samantha Power has repeatedly met with influential leftwing foundations while serving in the role.

According to nearly 700 pages of internal calendar entries obtained by FOX News, Power met with George Soros' Open Society Foundation multiple times. Of course, she did. She also has met with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at least five times. She also held meetings with several other powerful groups like the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations.

Power's intimate association with these entities exemplifies how the Biden administration and its officials and agencies keep close contact with leftwing outside groups who help execute extreme policy initiatives.

When Samantha Power served as Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, she made hundreds of requests to intelligence agencies to unmask names associated with the 2016 Trump campaign in order to support the Russia hoax narrative. For her activism, the Biden administration granted Samantha Power a permanent seat on the National Security Council, a more prominent role than the USAID administrator she has had under previous administrations.

A person who abuses her position in government to meddle in democratic elections should be nowhere near public office. Instead of fulfilling her role as an administrator, Samantha Power is focused on imposing a leftwing agenda throughout the entire U.S. Government and its proxies around the world.

My amendment will ensure that she is held accountable and that the American people no longer have to fund her salary.

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

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

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would ensure that no additional funding is appropriated for Ukraine through the State Department. To date, Congress has appropriated $174.2 billion in emergency supplemental funding. Of this amount, about $58 billion of which 33 percent has been provided through the Department of State and USAID, and there is virtually no oversight to tell the American people how much of their money is going where.

We know the money goes to humanitarian and economic assistance and other nonmilitary assistance, but there is much fraud and abuse suspected and widely reported.

The economic support fund for Ukraine's Government goes toward providing food, energy, and healthcare services for the people of Ukraine. It is also used to counter Russian disinformation and supporting small- and medium-sized agribusinesses and natural gas purchases by Ukraine.

According to some reports, Ukraine has actually been purchasing Russian natural gas from third parties during the war. It seems counterintuitive for the U.S. to sanction Russian oil and then send taxpayer dollars to Ukraine only for them to turn around and use the money to buy Russian oil.

USAID provides direct budget support to the Ukrainian Government through three trust funds: the multidonor trust fund, the single donor trust fund, and public expenditures for administrative capacity endurance.

This budget support funds the salaries of healthcare workers, first responders, school employees, and assistance for pensioners and internally displaced persons in Ukraine.

While our southern border is being invaded daily, Joe Biden cares more about protecting the borders of Ukraine than the country he swore to protect.

About one-half of Americans think the U.S. is spending too much money helping Ukraine according to the most recent AP poll. According to a recent CBS poll, over 60 percent of Republicans do not support additional aid to Ukraine, and even one in four Democrats don't support it anymore. After all, the American people are over $34.5 trillion in debt, but Joe Biden doesn't care about what Americans on either side of the political spectrum think. Joe Biden and his family have profited so much off of Ukraine's corruption that he must think it is only fair to return the favor.

It is truly disturbing to watch American taxpayer dollars go down the drain or, actually, should we say in foreigners' pockets for foreign purposes that are not our own. Nevertheless, President Biden is beholden to a foreign government.

My amendment will ensure that no American taxpayer money is sent to continue an endless failed war in that corrupt country which is murdering an unknown amount of Ukrainian men.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, may I ask how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Chairman, hearing my colleague across the aisle talking about the rape and murder of women, I remind everyone that American women and children are being raped and murdered by illegal alien monsters that this Biden administration is allowing into the country, releasing into our country and paying for them to travel via buses and planes to all 50 States.

If this United States House of Representatives should care about any women, girls, and children being raped and murdered, it should be American women, girls, and children, but this body cares most about Ukraine.

I remind everyone that, just recently, a Ukrainian group called Texty published a list of Ukrainian enemies that includes almost 400 Americans, including Republican U.S. lawmakers, conservative influencers and media groups, and antiwar activists.

This group receives money from the U.S. State Department through a program called TechCamp. So the State Department is funding a group called Texty that has published a Ukrainian kill list, basically, and that involves American lawmakers and conservative influencers and media groups. It is unbelievable that American taxpayers would be used for this.

This is outrageous, Mr. Chair. I ask the House to vote in favor of my amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. Chair, the American people are over $34.5 trillion in debt thanks to the decisions made here in Washington, D.C.

My amendment would prohibit $1.6 billion of funding for the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, which sends billions of American taxpayer dollars every single year to foreign nations across the world.

USAID was responsible for the management of more than $40 billion in combined annual appropriations in fiscal year 2022, representing more than one-third of the funds provided in the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

Imagine if this money went to Americans, who, by the way, are paying for it, instead of foreign countries. Maybe we could solve some of the problems we have here at home.

That year, USAID provided assistance to over 130 foreign countries. The top countries that received money from most to least were Ukraine, Ethiopia, Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, the Congo, Syria, and Sudan.

Among the wasteful things USAID has funded in recent years--under Samantha Power's tenure, by the way--are programs like $385 million DREAMS Initiative--Determined Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe--a program under PEPFAR which aims to reduce rates of HIV among adolescent girls around the world. We certainly care about girls around the world, but we really care about our American taxpayers helping Americans at home.

DREAMS has provided millions of girls with family planning counseling, contraceptives, and referrals. In 2022, more than 275,000 sex workers and many others around the world received HIV medication from USAID.

Again, the American people are over $34.5 trillion in debt, and 300 Americans die every single day from fentanyl poisoning.

USAID also implements programs that identify and respond to the unique needs of women, men, girls, boys, and those of other gender identities--by the way, there aren't any; there are only two--of all ages and abilities, and in all their diversity, so they can equally access and use HIV prevention and treatment services, protect themselves and practice healthy behaviors, exercise their rights, and live free from violence, stigma, and discrimination.

I think Americans here would like to live free from violence, but again, our border is overrun.

Since 2014, USAID has led the coordination and implementation of PEPFAR's Sustainable Financing Initiative. PEPFAR, by the way, is receiving over $5 billion in funding from the American people.

With investments of $48 million, the USAID-led SFI generated more than $361 million of domestic resources across 16 countries and two regional programs over 6 years. In Tanzania, USAID helped access $7.8 million in private-sector financing for private clinics. This investment resulted in a 35 percent increase in HIV testing, with over 10,000 patients tested and 100 percent of positive patients linked to care. In Nigeria, USAID engaged in private pharmacies to provide HIV treatment.

Meanwhile, the fentanyl drug crisis continues to rage across America, but we continue to fund USAID with billions of dollars to address AIDS and other diseases all over the world.

We should be caring about Americans, and we should be funding treatments for Americans here at home from a weapon of mass destruction that is murdering Americans every single day.

American taxpayers are funding this, and American taxpayers want their problems solved. They want Americans protected. They want to feel safe and secure at home, not to be the piggy bank of the world, which is what USAID is.

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

Mr. Chair, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

Mr. Chair, I also would like to tell the House that USAID has been an arm of the Democratic Party. Ninety-six percent of all political contributions from USAID employees go to Democratic Party candidates or PACs.

Also, just months before the national elections, over 1,000 USAID staff issued a statement echoing Democratic talking points.

Here is the issue: Our government is not a charity. The American people are the most generous people in the world, sending unknown amounts of money constantly to every cause to save people's lives.

I urge the House to pass my amendment, support our America. America First.

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment would say that none of the funds available in the NDAA may be used for assistance to Ukraine.

I think this is an important amendment because I strongly support the NDAA. This is a great military funding bill that has many things involved in it that our military needs. It even contains a much-needed pay raise for our troops, and that is something I greatly believe in right now while many of our military members are suffering under this inflation caused by the Biden administration.

I think it is extremely important for Members of Congress to be able to vote separately for funding of foreign wars, and I do not believe that funding for Ukraine should be a part of the NDAA.

The mission statement on the Department of Defense's website says that its purpose and mission are to deter war and to ensure our Nation's security.

Funding a war in Ukraine does not deter war. It funds it. Funding a war in Ukraine does not ensure our Nation's security, it actually puts us at risk for possible further military engagement with another nuclear-armed nation, and that is Russia.

Americans do not support this and neither does the majority of the majority here in Congress, which has voted against funding the war in Ukraine.

To date, Congress has appropriated $174.2 billion in emergency supplemental funding. That is a lot of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars going to support security for another country's border while our border is being invaded every single day.

Not only is our border being invaded every single day by millions and millions of people from over 160 countries, there is also a war declared on our own country with human trafficking and drugs that are killing Americans every day. On average, there are 300 Americans dying from fentanyl overdoses every day. I believe that should be our focus in the United States Congress.

It is also a war in Ukraine that is not defending democracy. Zelenskyy has canceled elections. He is now a dictator. Zelenskyy canceled free speech. Zelenskyy canceled freedom of religion, and Zelenskyy canceled free press. That is not defending democracy. That is actually attacking democracy.

Americans do not support sending their hard-earned tax dollars to Ukraine. They support paying our military and funding our military, but not funding a war in a foreign country.

Over half of Americans think the United States has already spent too much money in Ukraine, and over 60 percent of Republicans do not support sending additional money to Ukraine. Even one in four Democrats don't support it anymore, according to recent polling.

However, most importantly, the corruption in Ukraine is something that cannot be ignored. There has been report after report after report of money missing. The Pentagon cannot track over $1 billion, and there have been reports of much corruption. That involves our hard-earned tax dollars.

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

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

Mr. Chair, according to the bill text in the NDAA, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the DSCA, is the account of the NDAA that funds Ukraine. The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, USAI, which annually appropriates $300 million in Ukraine, would receive the standard $300 million authorization again this year, so the funding is in there. That USAI funding is part of the DSCA line item. DSCA is receiving $2.389 billion in this NDAA, of which the $300 million for Ukraine is a part, so the money is definitely in there. It has not been taken out.

I will also inform Congress and the American people that a Ukrainian group called Texty recently published a list of Ukrainian enemies that includes almost 400 Americans, including Republican lawmakers. I am on that list, as are Conservative influencers, media groups, and antiwar activists.

The group receives money from the U.S. State Department through a program called TechCamp. While that is not part of the NDAA, our money is going to fund NGOs in Ukraine that have declared U.S. lawmakers and Americans enemies. That is extremely dangerous. None of our hard-earned tax dollars should be funding any sort of group that thinks that we are the enemies while we are funding them.

We also have no idea how many Ukrainians have been killed in this war. We asked for that number and have not heard. I urge Congress to pass my amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, my amendment would basically say that no funds authorized or to be appropriated in this act or otherwise made available for the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2025 may be used for electric vehicles or electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

My amendment would ensure that no funds are authorized in this year's NDAA to be used on electric vehicles or electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Electric vehicles made up only about 7.6 percent of U.S. car sales in 2023 and remain a very small percentage of all cars nationwide. The reason why that is, is because they are not popular, they are not practical, and none of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars should be used for our military to be forced onto electric vehicles.

Automakers continue to report millions of dollars in losses on electric vehicles. They have already begun scaling back pronounced investments in electric vehicles to production targets more in line with consumer demand. Remember, that is less than 10 percent.

CNBC reports Ford Motors, General Motors, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin are all scaling back or delaying their electric vehicle plans.

On Earth Day in 2022, a day not traditionally associated with the grand national security pronouncements, Biden said: ``We are going to start the process for every vehicle in the United States military, every vehicle is going to be climate-friendly.

``Every vehicle. I mean it. We are spending billions of dollars to do it.''

Energy Secretary Granholm said: The Biden admin set a 2030 target to switch all nontactical military vehicles to electric.

That is quite the opposite of what my colleagues across the aisle are saying.

Our military, our Department of Defense, is for the defense of the United States, and their mission goal is to protect our national security, not to play climate politics.

It is absolutely ludicrous that, as we continue to waste our precious military resources in Ukraine, Joe Biden wants the military to rely on China, which is on track to control a third of the world's lithium by 2025, and to provide the materials for electric vehicles.

China currently produces over 80 percent of the world's batteries. We don't need Americans' military to be dependent on China's batteries. Forcing the military to adopt unreliable electric vehicles would endanger the lives of servicemembers and weaken our ability to defend ourselves from attacks. It

also will waste money on an already-failing industry that Americans just do not want to take part of.

My amendment will ensure the charade is no longer funded.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, examples of the electric vehicle funding in this bill text are: Joint Base Andrews, microgrid with electric vehicle charging infrastructure for $17.92 million.

Joint Base Andrews is only 10 miles outside of Washington, D.C., in Maryland. This is the very base that, if there was an attack on our Nation's Capital, Joint Base Andrews would be responding. Are we going to have to sit around and wait for our military members at Joint Base Andrews to charge their electric vehicles to come into the Nation's Capital to defend us in case of an attack? I don't think the American people want to spend almost $18 million for that.

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey is another example of funding. Microgrid with electric vehicle charging infrastructure of $17.73 million, another enormous waste of money.

At a time, Madam Chair, where military recruitment numbers are at an all-time embarrassing low, Americans do not want to spend money to play climate politics. If we are going to spend more money on our Department of Defense, on our NDAA, why don't we pay military recruits more money instead of paying for electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging stations? That is an embarrassment, and I think it is an insult to the American people, who work very hard to pay their taxes.

Another little fact that everyone needs to know is there is a problem with electric vehicle charging stations. They don't always work. As a matter of fact, a recent number that came out is one out of every four electric vehicle charging stations do not work. This is an investment into a system that isn't reliable, isn't proven, and is a massive waste of the American people's money.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, my amendment strikes funding for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Security Investment Program.

My amendment would strike over $433 million in NATO funding from the bill. America should not be doling out hundreds of millions of dollars to international organizations to help them fight their enemies, especially when they are unwilling to fight for themselves.

As of 2023, a majority of NATO countries do not meet their pledge to spend a minimum of 2 percent of their GDP on defense. The United States has been financing and promising to defend NATO countries for decades and paying more than its fair share, all while countries like Germany fail to fulfill their NATO obligations.

European countries could and should be stepping up their financial contributions to ensure the security of NATO. Instead, they prefer the U.S. taxpayer to foot the bill and, if the time comes, for American servicemembers to die for them.

Our continued involvement in NATO only undermines the security of our Nation because it embroils the United States in other countries' military entanglements even if the United States has no direct interests.

This is exactly what has happened in Ukraine, which could become a part of NATO. Billions of American taxpayer dollars go to the corruption capital of the world, and the sanctions placed on Russia end up actually hurting Americans.

As long as we remain a member of NATO, the United States will continue to function as the military ATM of European countries at the expense of our own citizens, putting our own national security and our economy at risk.

If the United States further involves itself in NATO, it may be another 20 years of Afghanistan all over again, except the outcome may end up being much, much worse.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Madam Chair, the American people are very fed up with their hard-earned tax dollars being sent overseas to countries all around the world, especially when our own border is being completely invaded every single day.

We don't have an idea of how many millions of people are in this country. We know that it is upward of 12 million, while some estimates go as high as 20 million. Our country is being invaded by people from over 160 countries around the world.

We are talking about criminals, gang members, cartels, rapists, murderers. All kinds of convicted criminals have come into our country and are committing crimes against Americans.

Just recently, there was an illegal alien monster that was arrested in the State of New York by NYPD that was released. When he was released, because the justice system of New York did not prosecute him, this monster then came to Georgia and murdered Laken Riley. These are the types of crimes that are happening all over our country.

Just recently, Madam Chair, as I heard you speak earlier today about two police officers who were killed in New York, these are the types of things that Americans care about, the crimes that are being committed against Americans. We are not interested in seeing our hard-earned dollars go to countries that don't even meet their commitments.

Over half of the NATO countries have not met their pledge to spend at least over 2 percent. We are talking about countries like France. We are talking about countries like Denmark, Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkiye, Spain, and many others that are not even paying and meeting their pledge of spending at least 2 percent in NATO.

Yet, America is beyond our pledge. We are spending, in 2023, 3.5 percent of our GDP, yet we don't do anything to defend our own country and our own borders.

This is why Americans would love to see Congress take action, action to defund NATO and stop spending hundreds of millions of their hard- earned money to defend these foreign countries while we don't defend our own country and our own people.

Madam Chair, I urge Congress to vote for this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the CBDC Anti- Surveillance State Act. This would prohibit unelected bureaucrats at the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency that would destroy Americans' rights to financial privacy.

CBDCs are a digital form of sovereign currency designed and issued by the Federal Government and recorded on a ledger controlled by the Federal Government. In other words, if a political enemy of the deep state or, say, a Democratic regime says or does something that is not approved, the government could prohibit them from using their digital government-controlled financial assets or simply take them away. We are talking about Americans' money.

Never forget that, in the past few years, we just lived through a time--and Americans are very aware of it--where the government forced social media to censor Americans for their statements about the 2020 election, unconstitutional COVID lockdowns, and violations of Americans' medical freedoms, forcing them to take an experimental vaccine in order to work, go to school, shop, go to restaurants, and live.

Government tracking Americans on keywords like ``MAGA'' or ``Trump'' or Americans who care about their Second Amendment rights has also been something that has happened in the past few years and is still happening.

The very idea of our government controlling our money with the ability to turn it off whenever they see fit is terrifying.

Mr. Chair, I support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I seek recognition to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House.

The form of the resolution is as follows:

House Resolution 1209. Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant.

This is the uniparty, for the American people watching.

Whereas, the House Republican Conference elected Mike Johnson on October 25, 2023, after 3\1/2\ weeks of trying to decide on a new Speaker of the House.

Whereas, Mike Johnson sent the Republican Conference a letter making promises as to what type of Speaker he would be and outlining his plans going forward. Mike Johnson put forth seven tenets that would guide the Conference under his Speakership:

1. Restore trust by ensuring total transparency, open processes, and regular order.

2. Advance a comprehensive policy agenda supported by Conference consensus.

3. Promote individual Members and thus the whole team by working to understand and emphasize each Member's unique strengths, district dynamics and challenges, and individual goals and objectives.

4. Engage Members in productive working groups to formulate solutions in key policy areas and enhance our internal communications and team building.

5. Effectively message to persuasively inform the Republican base and the American people of our policy agenda, why we are pursuing it, and how it will ensure liberty, opportunity, and security for all Americans.

6. Build and utilize external coalitions in the Conservative ecosphere, including think tanks, policy groups, and other allied organizations that can contribute to our efforts.

7. Develop and grow our majority by building upon our resources and expanding the base to successfully advance our Conservative agenda.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson has not lived up to a single one of his self-imposed tenets.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson allowed the Conference only 1 day rather than

72 hours to review a 1,000-plus page bill, to which no amendments could be offered, rather than ensure ``total transparency, open processes, and regular order.''

Whereas, Speaker Johnson worked with Democrats to produce appropriations text, NDAA text, and other legislative items rather than with Republicans ``to understand and emphasize each Member's unique strengths'' and engage with them.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson relied on majority Democrat support to pass a two-part omnibus spending bill rather than advancing a ``policy agenda supported by Conference consensus.''

Whereas, on December 1, 2023, Speaker Johnson failed to protect the Republican majority when he allowed multiple votes to remove another Republican from the House of Representatives.

It was unprecedented for a Member to be removed from Congress by a two-thirds vote prior to conviction of a crime. To this day, the Republican expelled from the House under Speaker Johnson has not been convicted of a crime. Meanwhile, a Democrat now holds that seat.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson supported fully funding abortion, the trans agenda, the climate agenda, foreign wars, and Biden's border crisis rather than ensuring ``liberty, opportunity, and security for all Americans.''

Whereas, Speaker Johnson relied on Democrat votes on at least two occasions, with the first transgression occurring on March 22, 2024, with the House passage of H. Res. 1102--part 2 of the Johnson-Schumer omnibus--and the second transgression occurring on April 20, 2024, with House passage of H.R. 8035--the $61 billion Ukraine funding bill. On both occasions, the ``majority of the majority''--112 Republicans-- voted against the measures, while only 101 voted in favor.

Whereas, before Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker, our Conference had passed seven appropriations bills, which were some of the strongest Conservative bills passed in decades. Speaker Johnson refused to continue this important process. He, instead, led us to another CR on January 18, 2024, and got it passed with the support of 207 Democrats and only 107 Republicans, while 106 Republicans voted against it.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson passed a third CR, this time calling it a ``process CR,'' as if that made continuing Nancy Pelosi's budget, yet again, any different from the previous CRs.

Whereas, with little to no communication with our Conference, Speaker Johnson passed the first minibus appropriations bill on March 6 and passed the second minibus appropriation bill 2 weeks later on March 22.

Whereas, a two-part omnibus split into two minibuses was crammed down our throats and passed under suspension of the rules with only one day to review it.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson's omnibus did nothing to stop Biden's deadly border invasion--it fully funded it. Speaker Johnson did nothing to stop the energy-killing Green New Deal climate agenda--he fully funded it. He did nothing to stop the weaponized Department of Justice and FBI--he fully funded them. He did nothing to stop the trans agenda on kids--he fully funded it. He did nothing to stop full-term abortions-- he fully funded them. He did nothing to stop the fueling of forever foreign wars--he fully funded them.

Whereas, on April 18, 2024, the Rules Committee passed H. Res. 1160-- the rule providing for consideration of the $95 billion foreign funding package--by a vote of 9-3. Notably, all Democrat Members of the committee voted to advance the measure to the floor while three Republicans opposed it. It is unprecedented for Members of the minority party to advance a resolution out of the Rules Committee. Since 1995, there have been a few instances of rules advancing out of committee with minority support. However, H. Res. 1160 is the only instance where this was done to bypass opposition from the Members of the majority party.

Whereas, the last instance an appropriations measure which passed the House failed to include a ``majority of the majority'' was on final passage of the fiscal year 2015 Department of Homeland Security House Appropriations bill during the 114th Congress. In the months following this failure, Speaker Boehner announced his resignation.

Whereas, in a January 26, 2024, ``Dear Colleague,'' Speaker Johnson called the Senate supplemental and border security legislation ``dead on arrival in the House.'' Likewise, in January 2024, Speaker Johnson took a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border where he said, ``If President Biden wants a supplemental spending bill focused on national security, it better begin by defending America's national security.''

Whereas, in the months following his border trip, Speaker Johnson introduced a $95 billion foreign aid supplemental with no border security attached.

Whereas, excuses like ``this is just how you have to govern in divided government'' are pathetic, weak, and unacceptable. Even with our razor-thin Republican majority, we could have at least secured the border, with it being the number one issue in the country and the issue that is actually causing Biden to trail President Trump in poll after poll.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson's capitulation on his promise to secure the border came on the heels of Laken Riley being brutally murdered, women and children being raped by illegal alien monsters, and our own Border Patrol and Texas National Guard being run over by hordes of military- aged illegals.

Whereas, great legislation, like H.R. 2 and the Laken Riley Act, are only messaging bills unless we fight to enforce them in our government funding bills.

Whereas, while serving on the House Judiciary Committee, Mike Johnson was a strong defender of individual liberties and was the chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government. Despite his history as a defender of civil liberties, on April 12, 2024, Mike Johnson cast the deciding vote against requiring a warrant for U.S. person queries of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) section 702 data.

Whereas, our Conference could have also taken out funding for abortion and the trans agenda on kids, if our own Speaker would have allowed us to offer amendments. Instead, Mike Johnson worked with Chuck Schumer rather than the Conference and gave Joe Biden and the Democrats everything they wanted, no different from how a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries would have done.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson fully funded Special Counsel Jack Smith's witch hunt and 91 indictments against President Trump, our Republican Presidential nominee. House Republicans could have used our power of the purse to stop this, but Speaker Johnson didn't even let us try.

Whereas, Joe Biden's weaponized DOJ is arresting a new January 6th election protestor every single day and putting nonviolent political enemies, including veterans, mothers and fathers, and grandparents in jail for years, and the fifth January 6th defendant has now committed suicide.

Whereas, our pro-life Christian Conservative Republican Speaker Mike Johnson fully funded the Department of Justice as it is prosecuting and convicting peaceful pro-life activists who are facing 11 years in jail, again refusing to allow Republicans to offer amendments to stop these injustices.

Whereas, actions are the only thing that matter, and words are meaningless without following through on them. By passing the Democrats' agenda and handcuffing Republicans' ability to influence legislation, our elected Republican Speaker, Mike Johnson, has aided and abetted the Democrats and the Biden administration in destroying our country.

Whereas, removing this uniparty Speaker will not give the Speaker's gavel to the Democrats, which would only happen if Republicans actually vote for Hakeem Jeffries. In fact, Minority Leader Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, and other high-ranking Democrats have publicly stated they will save Mike Johnson from a vote to vacate him. In a recent interview, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said: ``Even though we are in the minority . . . we effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority.''

Whereas, our country is nearly $35 trillion in debt and about $40 billion are added to the debt every day, our border is overrun by illegal invaders

and terrorists from over 160 countries, our people are being killed by the hundreds every single day by fentanyl, and Mike Johnson refuses to do anything about it.

Whereas, Mike Johnson is ill-equipped to handle the rigors of the job of Speaker of the House and has allowed a Uniparty--one that fuels foreign wars, tramples on civil liberties, and increases our disastrous national debt--to take complete control of the House of Representatives.

Whereas, Speaker Johnson's tenure is defined by one self-serving characteristic: When given a choice between advancing Republican priorities or allying with the Democrats to preserve his own personal power, Johnson regularly chooses to ally himself with Democrats.

Now, therefore, be it resolved, That the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is hereby declared to be vacant.

Yes.

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment today would drive the bill for Ukraine, that each dollar amount in this act is hereby reduced to zero.

You see, the United States taxpayer has already sent $113 billion to Ukraine, and a lot of that money is unaccounted for. This is a continuance of a sick business model that the American Government continues.

The Federal Government continues to fund the military industrial complex, and this is a business model that requires Congress to continue to vote for money, to continue to fund foreign wars, and this is a business model the American people do not support.

They don't support a business model built on blood and murder and war in foreign countries, while this very government does nothing to support our border.

The American people are over $34 trillion in debt, and the debt is rising by over $40 billion every single night while we all sleep, but yet nothing is done to secure our border or reduce our debt.

Inflation has driven out of control.

Americans are suffering every single day.

They can hardly afford their grocery bills. They can hardly afford gas in

their car. They can hardly afford rent. Right now mortgage payments are well over $3,000, where they were only just over $1,700 3 years ago.

The youngest generation, young adults don't even think they are going to be able to buy a home in their lifetime, and today, in Congress, the most important thing that this body thinks should be done is to send another $61 billion to a war in Ukraine that the American people by 70 percent do not support.

Mind you, this comes on the very heels of Monday, April 15, tax day, where every single American had to scrounge up their money and send their dollars in to the IRS, or some of them had to file extensions because they weren't ready and didn't have the money to pay their taxes.

But today, this body says the most important thing we can do, no, it is not reduce spending, that is not it; not to do anything to drive down inflation, oh, no, we can't do that for the American people; it is not to secure our own border that is invaded every single day by people from over 160 different countries; no, don't secure the American border, let everyone in.

Mr. Chair, we have over 1.8 million known got-aways. We don't know who these people are. Yet, there are Members of this body talking big and tough: Oh, we have to defeat Russia. Oh, we have to protect Ukraine. Yet they are all unwilling to protect the American citizens that pay their paycheck, pay the light bills in this building, and pay for this entire Federal Government.

For what? For nothing.

Ukraine is not even a member of NATO. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but the most important thing you hear in Washington D.C., is: Oh, we have to send Americans' hard-earned tax dollars over to Ukraine and keep the money going to continue to murder Ukrainians, wiping out an entire generation of Ukrainian men, leaving behind widows, fatherless orphans, and not enough men to work in their industries.

Oh, but you really support Ukraine. Wow, what kind of support is that? It is repulsive.

Mr. Chair, shame on the American government. If we support our military, support our military. We should be funding to build up our weapons and ammunition, not just send it over to foreign countries to kill foreign people.

If this body was worth what it claims to be, every single one of us would be demanding peace in Ukraine, between these countries, peace for these people so that no more of them have to die.

Mr. Chair, we never hear anybody demanding peace. No, no, peace is the last thing Washington wants because it doesn't fit the business model.

This is a business model that they say continues our economy, protects American jobs. What a disgusting business model. We should have a business model that builds up our American companies and American jobs to serve American interests, and our military and our government should care about protecting the national security of the United States of America, and the Americans that pay their hard-earned tax dollars to fund all of this.

America last. America last, that is all this is. Every single day, America last.

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

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. Speaker, the question today is: Do you trust the government?

We often hear the claim that it is for your safety, and any time the government tells us it is for your safety, the American people really question what that means.

The same intelligence community that spied on President Trump's campaign has been deeply invested in reauthorizing FISA. The same intelligence community that wrote the letter lying, saying that the Hunter Biden's laptop is not real, deeply wants FISA reauthorized.

These are also the same people in the intelligence community that abused FISA and spied on hundreds of thousands of Americans, and I would argue they will continue to do it.

These are also the same people who oppose the FBI having to get a warrant before they can search Americans' data. Yet, we have a clause in this bill today that protects Members of Congress and requires Congress to be notified before they can search Members of Congress' data.

It is always the rules for thee, but not for me. The problem is that this process to reauthorize FISA has received more effort than Congress has actually given securing the border. If the government really cared about protecting Americans, then they would shut the border down and mass deport terrorists out of our country and criminal illegal aliens, but they are not doing that. No. They are telling us we have got to reauthorize FISA so the government can continue to spy on Americans.

There has been a lot of games played here in the swamp this past week when it comes to authorizing this bill. We were even told on Wednesday that FISA was completely stopped; yet, here we are voting on virtually the same rule and virtually the same text. The only change has been from a 5-year sunset to a 2-year sunset.

Mr. Speaker, I would argue that changing that timeframe does nothing.

If Congress wants to change FISA to protect Americans or get rid of it altogether, we can do that. We make the laws. The question today is: Do you trust the Department of Justice to hold the FBI accountable?

I don't.

The warrants aren't added to the bill text unless we pass the amendment after this vote and change the bill text. A vote to change the bill text and add warrants will not get me to pass the final bill, to pass FISA, because I don't trust the government and neither should you.

Madam Speaker, I rise in extreme opposition to the second part of the omnibus bill.

No Republican in the House of Representatives in good conscience can vote for this bill. It is a complete departure of all of our principles, especially if you call yourself pro-life. This

bill funds full-term abortion. This is not a Republican bill. This is a Chuck Schumer, Democrat-controlled bill coming from the House majority that is supposed to be controlled by Republicans, yet our majority has been turned over to the Democrats.

Madam Speaker, it is the will of our voters, and it is the will of Republicans across the country that this bill should not be brought to the floor.

This bill will absolutely destroy our majority and will tell every single one of our voters that this majority is a failure.

This is the bill that the White House cannot wait to sign into law. This is the bill that rips our border wide open and tells every single person in over 160 countries around the world they can invade our country, they can run over our Border Patrol, they can run over our Texas National Guard, they can come in, rape our women, murder our people, and squat and take over our homes.

Madam Speaker, this is an atrocious attack on the American people. The Speaker of the House should not bring it to the floor, and this bill should not pass.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the only Member of Congress that has ever been banned by social media.

On January 2, 2022, Twitter banned me, banned my personal account on which I was campaigning for Congress, raising money, and using my free speech to inform the voters in my district they can vote for me.

This was not done by a company owned by China. That was done by American-owned Twitter. This came on the heels of our own United States Government working with Big Tech and working with social media companies to censor and ban Americans' free speech.

I believe that this bill can cause future problems. It is opening Pandora's box, and I am opposed to this bill.

Most Americans don't trust the United States Government because of our experience dealing with it. Never forget that the United States Government also was the one that provided the Russia hoax to Americans. It also worked to ban Americans' free speech. It also has worked in so many ways to illegally spy on Americans through FISA without a warrant.

If we wanted to be serious about stopping a foreign adversary, if we wanted to be serious about stopping China, we would stop China from buying our U.S. farmland. We would raise up our American energy independence. We would also stop the Green New Deal and not rely on China who owns and operates 85 percent of the battery market worldwide.

There are dangers that lie ahead in this. This is really about controlling Americans' data. If we cared about Americans' data, then we would stop the sale of Americans' data universally, not just with China.

There is some further issues. This is a Pandora's box. What is to stop Congress or the United States Government in the future from forcing the sale of another social media company claiming that it is protecting Americans' data from foreign adversaries.

I think we can see in the future another Russia, Russia, Russia, and possibly force the sale of X as many Members in this body claim that Elon Musk is altering the algorithms of X.

By the way, it was Elon Musk's purchase of X that restored my social media account on Twitter and allowed me to have my free speech back on Twitter.

There are also Democrat Members of this body claiming that election meddling can happen on social media.

Well, we can never forget Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. We can never forget the election meddling that happened there. By the way, American- owned Facebook and Instagram is where most of the garbage like the gender lies and the woke lies exist.

Many Americans and many teenagers believe awful things and they don't just see them on TikTok, they see them on Facebook and Instagram, too. I don't think this will accomplish what the goal is to accomplish.

The other concern is that when the government moves in to force the sale of TikTok, who is going to buy it? That is the question that we should be asking. Who is going to buy it? Who will be the next to control the data of over 170 million Americans? Are we going to trust Mark Zuckerberg to control their data? I certainly don't.

By the way, most of the time, my posts on Facebook are shadow banned, and I certainly don't have the reach on that social media account.

I think that there are many other ways to protect data, and I think this body is capable of it if we choose to do it.

Mr. Speaker, I oppose the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 532, to designate the Federal building and United States Courthouse located at 600 East First Street in Rome, Georgia, as the Harold L. Murphy Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

This bill honors a man who devoted his life to the service and protection of our Nation, Judge Harold Murphy.

Born in Felton, Georgia, in 1927, Judge Murphy attended West Georgia College before serving in the Navy toward the end of World War II. He resumed his studies at the University of Mississippi and the University of Georgia School of Law where he graduated in 1949. He began a law practice in Haralson County, Georgia, and in 1950 was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives as the youngest member at the time.

Judge Murphy served five consecutive terms before stepping down in 1961 to focus on practicing law. In 1971, Judge Murphy was appointed by Governor Jimmy Carter to the Superior Court for the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, and following his election in 1976, Mr. Carter nominated Judge Murphy to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 28, 1977.

For 45 years he served his country on the Federal bench and became an acclaimed jurist and legal icon with a stellar reputation that extended far beyond Georgia. He always displayed a quick wit and a keen sense of humor. Judge Murphy once subpoenaed a talking myna bird who had witnessed a store robbery to testify in court.

He was kind and empathetic and treated all those who appeared before him with courtesy and respect.

Judge Murphy's congeniality was only surpassed by his fairness and prudential impartiality. In fact, he is the only judge who was known to receive Christmas cards from inmates in prison that Judge Murphy had himself put away. He was so excruciatingly fair and impartial that during one case, he even talked a defendant out of a guilty plea.

Judge Murphy worked tirelessly and carried a full docket until the age of 90 when he took senior judge status in the Northern District of Georgia. He continued to preside over cases until his death on December 28, 2022.

Judge Murphy received many professional awards and recognitions, including from the State Bar of Georgia and the University of Georgia School of Law.

In 2014, Alabama State University renamed its graduate school after Judge Murphy in recognition of his landmark ruling in Knight v. Alabama, a long-running case that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals asked him to handle involving the vestiges of racial segregation then present in the University of Alabama System.

Above all else, Judge Murphy was a loving and devoted husband and father, and a strong role model who made everyone who knew him in northwest Georgia proud.