Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1280.

Do you know what is terrifying to the American people?

Watching Democrats try to pass a defund the police bill; the same Democrats who cheered on and supported riots that burned American cities, and the same Democrats who shared Minnesota Freedom Fund bail bond links supporting criminals and helping them get out of jail.

This bill is atrocious. Shame on all of you. This hurts our police officers.

April 29, 2010, my friend, Jonathan Edwards, was shot in the line of duty. If that happened today and this bill is passed, getting rid of qualified immunity allows the criminal who shot him to be able to sue him simply because they are upset that they were arrested.

This same bill will also allow that criminal who shot him to be able to put his name on a national hit list that will be made public, whether police officers are found to have done wrong or not.

This is shameful.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1.

While we are talking about voter suppression and long lines, I would like to point out that there is real voter suppression that happens right here in Congress. Many Members of Congress have to stand in long lines to enter the Chamber going through metal detectors, emptying our pockets, and being treated very disrespectfully. That is real voter suppression, and it is a shame that it happens right here on the House floor.

Standing in line to vote is not suppression. It is just part of the voting process, just like people stand in line to buy groceries in the grocery store.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition today against H.R. 1280. This bill is nothing more than a get-cops-killed campaign. It sends one clear message: Democrats hate law enforcement.

This bill does not bring justice to victims. It just takes revenge on all of the men and women in uniform. Meanwhile, Speaker Pelosi is surrounded by an army of taxpayer-funded law enforcement 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This bill disarms cops and opens them to frivolous lawsuits by lawyers representing criminals who got their feelings hurt simply because they broke the law and got arrested.

Speaker Pelosi is putting police on a hit list to be ambushed while on the job keeping our streets safe. So I have one message for Democrats: Shame on you.

Shame on you for using these men and women to protect your fortress

while destroying their rights and livelihoods. Don't call a cop for help if this is how you are going to treat them. You should tell them to go home. At least then, they won't have to stand guard while you dismantle everything they stand for.

Madam Speaker, I would like to point out to my Democrat colleagues that there is no Republican Member of Congress that condones the attack on the Capitol on January 6.

I was also a victim in this Chamber when it happened, and we are very offended at your constant attacks on us for claiming we had anything to do with it. So that needs to stop.

Equality Act Causes Discrimination

I would also like to address the entire 117th Congress and say that the Equality Act is not about stopping discrimination. It is about causing discrimination against women and religious freedoms.

Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this conversation tonight about cancel culture. I think it is one of the most relevant topics that we should be discussing more, and I am really glad to talk about this.

I think this past year we have seen more things canceled in our American history than we have at any other time. In the past year, starting with the virus, that has been politicized. I say that, I believe that, along with millions and millions of Americans that believe it.

We saw, starting with schools got canceled, business got canceled, jobs got canceled, people had to stay home. Then things got further. Sports were canceled, prom was canceled, graduation was canceled, social life was canceled, vacations, movies, entertainment, restaurants, and the list goes on and on. Basically, the ability to pursue happiness in the United States of America got canceled due to COVID-19 and the politicization of it because it was an election year.

I can't think of anything worse. I have been privileged to be a business owner for almost two decades, and it has been a joy in my life to be able to function as a business owner, to employ people, to do business in the marketplace and have the freedom to do that. But over the past year, many small businesses have been shut down, along with many big businesses.

Dreams for people starting a business have been canceled. But even more than that, the belief that conservative opinions and thoughts and statements and just beliefs are being canceled and considered dangerous.

The fact that millions and millions of Americans support President Trump, still support President Trump, and are angered that he has been canceled is unbelievable to me.

You see, America is the greatest country in the world, and I say it over and over. We are all blessed to be Americans. We are blessed that we are equal, and we should have equal voices. We are given that with our First Amendment, with freedom of speech.

But today, it is not looked at that way. People that support President Trump are considered to be possibly domestic terrorists. How can that be?

You see, we don't look at America that way. We don't look at people that we disagree with politically that way, not at all.

President Trump was canceled on Twitter. I understand what that is like. I have been suspended multiple times on Twitter. I have been in Facebook jail multiple times for stating my opinions, things I think and feel. It shouldn't be that way, where people are canceled by companies.

We are moving in an era of corporate communism to where corporations and businesses can force their views and political opinions, and force it on their customers. That is absolutely wrong. It should not be happening. But that is where we are today.

Where do we go from here? Today, we saw my Democrat colleagues here in Congress cancel gender. This is not up for debate, and it should not be shocking for us to say there is only male and female. That is not a shocking statement. It is science. There are only two sets of chromosomes. They also canceled women's rights, religious freedom, and the ability for little girls to have privacy in the bathroom.

This cancel culture has gone too far, and we have to change that. The media is addicting America to hate, and the media is addicting people to the idea that they can cancel out someone's opinion that they don't agree with.

Mr. Roy, would you like to elaborate on that?

Yes.

Thank you, Mr. Roy. I really appreciate that. Yes, being canceled in Congress after 35 days, being stripped of my committee membership, is not something that I ever expected, and I think it is completely wrong.

Statements and things that I had said that I addressed here and with my colleagues that happened before I even campaigned for Congress, certainly not anything I did as a Member of Congress, but that cancelation is taken to an extreme, and it should not happen.

Then the fact that we did object to electoral college votes, that is something we are able to do. You disagreed with us, and here we are, having a perfectly great conversation. I wish we could have the same type of conversation with our Democrat colleagues because they have, indeed, objected to electoral college votes in the past, I think, every Presidential election for the past 20 years or so. Thank you for reminding me that, and thank you for setting this up tonight.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in defense of women, girls, and children.

I would like to talk about the Equality Act. It is a bill that we will be voting on this week. It is a bill that was passed before, but it is a bill that needs to be struck down. This is a bill that will add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under the Federal 1964 Civil Rights Act.

We live in a nation--thank God--that declares all of us equal. There should not be discrimination of anyone in the United States of America, and I fully believe that. But I ask everyone to take pause and truly consider what the Equality Act will do, because it has very serious consequences.

You see, women have come very far in America and our rights are extremely important. The work of our grandmothers and mothers to declare women as equal and push our way into the workplace and into sports has been a remarkable achievement.

Voting, being able to own businesses, achieve education the same as men in America is a gift that I feel so honored and blessed by. I know that every American woman treasures this.

You see, the Equality Act will change all of that, because it will put trans rights above women's rights, above the rights of our daughters, our sisters, our friends, our grandmothers, our aunts. It is too much.

Mr. Speaker, you see, as a woman, I have competed in sports, and I am so thrilled that I was able to do that, but I competed against biological women. It is a wonderful thing to be able to compete and prove yourself. Competition is a great, great thing. Little girls all over the country play sports. They play their hearts out, they practice, they enjoy time with their friends, then they compete at higher levels where they can earn scholarships, where they can go to college and achieve and receive an education through playing a sport for their university or college.

There are women that move on into professional sports fields and do remarkable things, incredible things for women. For example, Florence Griffith Joyner became the fastest woman in the world in 1988 when she ran the 100-meter dash in 10.49 seconds. I could only dream of being that fast. But in 2019, Matthew Boling caught the fastest high school 100-meter time ever in 9.98 seconds, an entire half-second quicker than the fastest woman in the world.

Biological women cannot compete against biological men. Biological little girls cannot compete against biological little boys. And they shouldn't have to.

I have a daughter that is a D-1 athlete. We traveled the country for 10 years where she competed at the highest level. She earned her scholarship, and now she plays fast-pitch softball. And I can't tell you how much fun I had watching her play this weekend, and she had a home run. But if she has to compete against boys in her sport, not only will they be on her playing field and she has to compete against them; they will be in her locker room; they will be in her showers; they will be in her bathroom; they will be in her hotel room when she travels with her team--all under the Equality Act. This is wrong.

Mr. Speaker, this isn't about political parties. It is not about Democrat, Republican. This is about right and wrong. This is about girls' and women's rights.

Furthermore, it affects women in prison. Trans men, biological men that identify as women, will be put with women in prison.

Battered women's shelters, women that have been beaten and abused by men will have men in their battered women's shelters.

Drug rehab centers--and the list goes on and on.

Mr. Speaker, it is one thing to stop discrimination of a class of people, but it is another thing to completely violate and destroy the rights of girls and women in order to achieve this. This bill must be struck down. It is completely wrong.

Furthermore, we are in an institution where it says, ``In God we trust.'' Well, it says in Genesis: God created us male and female. In his image, he created us. Science has two sets of chromosomes that prove male and female.

Mr. Speaker, 80 to 95 percent of children with gender dysphoria completely outgrow it after puberty. The Equality Act will force doctors and nurses to perform mastectomies on girls that want to have their breasts removed. It will force doctors also to perform abortions, because according to the Equality Act, a doctor cannot say no.

Mr. Speaker, I ask that everyone please pause and consider, and vote ``no'' for the Equality Act. We can't do this in America, and it needs to stop with political parties.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of the debate here for the rule, there seems to be quite a disagreement between each side over what exactly this bill says, so for a parliamentary question, I would like to request that the entire bill be read.

Well, then, let's read some of the rules. You keep saying it doesn't violate religious freedoms when, in fact, it does. It says so directly here in the bill in these sections, and it is a shame that we aren't reading the exact text because it is the text that matters. It doesn't matter what you have to say or what I have to say. It is the actual wording.

In section 1107, it actually talks about: ``The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 shall not provide a claim concerning, or a defense to a claim under, a covered title, or provide a basis for challenging the application or enforcement of a covered title.''

This bill, in the text, also specifically talks about: ``With respect to gender identity, an individual shall not be denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual's gender identity.''

Mr. Speaker, in the wording in the text of the bill of the Equality Act, it also says: ``With respect to sex, pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition shall not receive less favorable treatment than other physical conditions.''

As a parliamentary question, what does that mean? Does that mean that anyone can demand an abortion? And it is discrimination to be refused this medical service?

Mr. Speaker, as we convene this week, I would like to ask all of my fellow colleagues and Members of the 117th Congress to reflect on the words right there on the wall: In God We Trust.

God created us male and female. In His image, He created us. The Equality Act that we are to vote on this week destroys God's creation. It also completely annihilates women's rights and religious freedoms.

It can be handled completely differently to stop discrimination without destroying women's rights, little girls' rights in sports, and religious freedoms violating everything that we hold dear in God's creation.

As we are reflecting on the 500,000 people who have died from COVID- 19, I would like to remind everyone that over 62 million people have been murdered in the womb in our country and that our tax dollars many times have funded it. This is an evil that should not exist in our land, and I ask all Members of Congress to stop this evil now.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, to my Democrat colleagues, to my Republican colleagues, to my district back home in Georgia 14, to the American people, to my mom and dad, and to my husband and my children:

I have been here for 1 month and 1 day, and I have gotten to know part of my conference--my Republican colleagues--but not even all of them yet. I haven't gotten to know any of my Democrat colleagues, and I haven't had any conversations with any of you to tell you who I am and what I am about. You only know me by how Media Matters, CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the mainstream media is portraying me.

What you don't know about me is that I am a very proud wife of almost 25 years and that I am a mother of three children. I consider being a mother the greatest blessing of my life and the greatest thing that I will ever achieve. I am proudly the first person to graduate college in my family, making my parents very happy and proud. I am also a very successful businessowner. We have grown our company from one State to 11 States. I am a very hard worker. I have always paid my taxes. I have never been arrested. I have never done drugs. But I have gotten a few speeding tickets in my day.

What you need to know about me is I am a very regular American, just like the people I represent in my district and most people across the country. I never, ever considered to run for Congress or even get involved in politics. As a matter of fact, I wasn't a political person until I found a candidate that I really liked, and his name is Donald J. Trump, when he ran for President.

To me, he was someone I could relate to, someone that I enjoyed his plain talk; not the offensive things, but just the way he talked normally. And I thought, finally, maybe this is someone who will do something about the things that deeply bother me, like the fact that we are so deeply in debt, that our country has murdered over 62 million people in the womb, that our borders are open and some of my friends have had their children murdered by illegal aliens. Or perhaps that maybe we can stop sending our sons and daughters to fight in foreign wars and be used as the world's police basically. Or maybe that our Government would stand up for our American businesses and our American jobs and make the American people and the American taxpayers their focus. These are the things that I care about deeply.

So when we elected President Trump, and then I started seeing things in the news that didn't make sense to me--like Russian collusion, which are conspiracy theories also and have been proven so--these things bothered me deeply. I realized that just watching CNN or FOX News, I may not find the truth.

So what I did was I started looking up things on the internet, asking questions, like most people do every day, use Google. I stumbled across something--and this was at the end of 2017--called QAnon. Well, these posts were mainly about this Russian collusion information. A lot of it was some of what I would see on the news at night, and I got very interested in it. So I posted about it on Facebook, I read about it, I talked about it, I asked questions about it. And then more information came from it.

But, you see, here's the problem: Throughout 2018, I was upset about things and didn't trust the Government really because the people here weren't doing the things that I thought they should be doing for us, the things that I just told you I cared about. And I want you to know that a lot of Americans don't trust our Government, and that is sad. The problem with that is, though, I was allowed to believe things that weren't true, and I would ask questions about them and talk about them.

And that is absolutely what I regret because, if it weren't for the Facebook posts and comments that I liked in 2018, I wouldn't be standing here today and you couldn't point a finger and accuse me of anything wrong, because I have lived a very good life that I am proud of, my family is proud of, my husband is proud of, my children are proud of. And that is what my district elected me for.

So later in 2018, when I started finding misinformation, lies, things that were not true in these QAnon posts, I stopped believing it. And I want to tell you--and I say this to everyone--any source of information that is a mix of truth and a mix of lies is dangerous, no matter what it is saying, what party it is helping, anything, or any country it is about. It is dangerous. And these are the things that happen on the left and the right. And it is a true problem in our country.

So I walked away from those things and I decided that I am going to do what I have done all my life: I am going to work hard and try to solve the problems that I am upset about. So I started getting involved in politics.

You see, school shootings are absolutely real. Every child that is lost, those families mourn it. I understand how terrible it is because when I was 16 years old, in 11th grade, my school was a gun-free school zone, and one of my schoolmates brought guns to school and took our entire school hostage, and that happened right down the hall from my classroom. I know the fear that David Hogg had that day. I know the fear that these kids have. And I say this sincerely with all my heart because I love our kids, every single one of your children, all of our children: This is why I truly believe that children at school should never be left unprotected. I believe they should be just as protected as we were with 30,000 National Guardsmen. Our children are our future and they are our most precious resource.

I also want to tell you that 9/11 absolutely happened. I remember that day, crying all day long, watching it on the news. And it is a tragedy for anyone to say it didn't happen. So I definitely want to tell you that I do not believe that it is fake.

I also want to tell you that we have to do better. You see, big media companies can take teeny tiny pieces of words that I have said, that you have said, any of us have said, and can portray us into someone that we are not, and that is wrong.

Cancel culture is a real thing. It is very real. And with big tech companies like Twitter, you can scroll through and see where someone may have retweeted porn. This is a problem. This is a terrible, terrible thing. Yet when I say that I absolutely believe with all my heart that God's creation is he created the male and female and that should not be denied, when I am censored for saying those type of things, that is wrong.

You see, here's the real situation: I decided to run for Congress because I wanted to help our country. I want Americans to have our American Dream. I want to protect our freedoms. This is what I ran for Congress on.

I never once said QAnon during my entire campaign. I never once said during my campaign any of the things that I am being accused of today. I never said any of these things since I have been elected for Congress. These were words of the past. These things do not represent me. They do not represent my district. They do not represent my values.

Here's what I can tell you: I am beyond grateful for this opportunity. And I will tell you why. I believe in God with all my heart. I am so grateful to be humbled, to be reminded that I am a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross to forgive me for my sins. This is something that I absolutely rejoice in today to tell you all. I think it is important for all of us to remember that none of us are perfect. None of us are. None of us can even come close to earning our way into Heaven just by our acts and our works, but it is only through the grace of God.

This is why I will tell you as a Member of this Congress--the 117th Congress: I am a passionate person. I am a competitor. I am a fighter. I will work with you for good things for the people of this country.

But the things I will not stand for is abortion. I think it is the worst thing this country has ever committed. And if we are to say, ``In God we trust,'' how do we murder God's creation in the womb?

Another thing I will say to this body is I want to work with all of you for our people. It should be America first always. Always. There is nothing wrong with that.

If this Congress is to tolerate Members that condone riots that have hurt American people, attacked police officers, occupied Federal property, burned businesses and cities, yet wants to condemn me and crucify me in the public square for words that I said--and I regret--a few years ago, then I think we are in a real big problem, a very big problem.

What shall we do as Americans? Shall we stay divided like this? Will we allow the media, that is just as guilty as QAnon of presenting truth and lies, to divide us? Will we allow ourselves to be addicted to hate and hating one another?

I hope not, because that is not the future I want for my children and it is not the future I want for any of your children.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the blue State bailout budget. The Democrats know they don't have the votes to pass these radical policies in the Senate, so they are doubling down on reconciliation to destroy our economy with a $2 trillion taxpayer-funded spending spree.

Democrats are using reconciliation for the exact opposite purpose for which it was created. With this budget, Democrats are bailing out failing Democrat-run States like Illinois and New York, expanding the welfare state, exploding the deficit, groveling to teachers' unions and teachers who refuse to go to work, and hiking taxes on businessowners who don't comply with the higher minimum wage standard. This is just the beginning.

They want to pay people more money to stay home rather than allowing them to go back to work and earn a paycheck. They are fine letting schoolchildren and parents suffer while teachers' unions ignore them and still collect taxpayer-funded paychecks.

American politicians sent millions of children and young adults home, closed their schools, and banned them from going to their jobs. They forced them to stay in isolation from their peers. They canceled prom, canceled sports, and canceled graduation.

They claim this was for their safety, but the results have been horrific. Suicide and depression have been on the rise. Do you think any family will feel like a consolation prize of $1,400 will make them feel good about their teen that committed suicide because of the shutdowns? I don't think so.

Democrats are trying to raise the minimum wage for jobs that they won't even let people go to work in. Democrats closed their States while Georgia stayed open. Why are we supposed to bail them out? Why are my hardworking constituents being punished for wanting to go to work and support their families?

Democrat Governors have run their States like tyrants of third-world countries, not like free Americans. They are oppressing the American people and reaping the benefits.

Madam Speaker, I am against the impeachment effort by the Democrats.

President Trump has held over 600 rallies in the last 4 years. None of them included assaulting police, destroying businesses, or burning down cities.

Democrats have spent all this time endorsing and enabling violent riots that left billions in property damage and 47 dead across the United States.

Democrats are on record supporting violence when it serves their cause, in their own words on social media, on interviews, and on the fundraising platform ActBlue.

Democrats support defunding the police when it is someone else's city, someone else's home, and someone else's business. Democrats will take away everyone's guns, just as long as they have guards with guns.

Democrats' impeachment of President Trump today has now set the standard that they should be removed for their support of violence against the American people.