Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, in America, you can't drive a car, board a plane, or buy fireworks without an ID proving that you are who you say you are. Why are folks allowed to vote, to decide the future of this country, without proving that they are citizens first?

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the House passing the SAVE Act just moments ago. It is common sense that only American citizens should be able to vote in American elections.

Congressman Chip Roy's SAVE Act will close election loopholes by ensuring that every State requires voters to provide proof of citizenship before registering to vote.

When noncitizens go to the ballot box, the electoral system is compromised and American votes are diluted.

The American people have the right to determine the future of our country, and we refuse to be disenfranchised by illegal votes. I was proud to support the SAVE Act when it passed the House today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, all across the country, at record levels, activist judges are impeding President Trump's America First agenda with nationwide injunctions, depriving the American people of the changes they demanded in November.

To put how unprecedented this is into perspective, President Trump has faced more than twice as many nationwide injunctions as Presidents Bush, Obama, and Biden combined. In addition, more than 90 percent of these nationwide injunctions have been issued by Democrat appointed judges.

I am calling this what it is: weaponized political lawfare.

There are 677 district court judgeships nationwide, and as of now, if just one of these judges decides to block an executive action, they can singlehandedly halt the President's agenda.

I am sure our Founders did not envision this extreme constitutional overreach from the judicial branch. Fortunately, Congressman Issa's No Rogue Rulings Act will correct this discrepancy by ensuring that district court judges cannot issue nationwide injunctions.

The American people demand sweeping change from us. From cutting waste, fraud, and abuse in our bloated Federal Government to deporting the millions of illegal alien invaders, we need to make progress.

Right now, a single district court judge can impede this progress on a whim, essentially holding the America First agenda hostage indefinitely. This must end.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on the No Rogue Rulings Act to stop this judicial tyranny from harming the American people.

Mr. Chair, I thank Congressman Baumgartner for his work on this bill.

Mr. Chair, each year adversarial nations like China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia attempt to buy the ability to influence our next generation through donations and contracts with American colleges and universities.

The DETERRENT Act will shine light on these shady backroom deals

and get malign foreign influence out of our schools. The legislation will strengthen the thresholds of reporting foreign gifts and contracts.

According to The Wall Street Journal, in the last 12 years, U.S. schools had nearly 3,000 contracts with China valued at no less than $2.32 billion. That raises an important question: Why would a country that certainly doesn't have the best interests of American students in mind pay such enormous sums to American universities?

This bill will get to the bottom of it.

The DETERRENT Act includes language from my own legislation, the No Contracts With Foreign Adversaries Act, which requires a college or university to be transparent about the reason they might want to contract with one of the four countries currently designated by our government as a ``country of concern.''

It is true that there could be an academic purpose for a partnership with a country like China, North Korea, Iran, or Russia, but these partnerships cannot come at the expense of our national security, research integrity, or our future generations.

Students, parents, and taxpayers have a right to know the financial ties of these universities.

The DETERRENT Act strengthens current law by raising the reporting standards and providing a real enforcement mechanism if schools try to hide their dealings with foreign countries.

I urge all of my colleagues to stand and support the DETERRENT Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of my constituents, Representative Dean Arp of the North Carolina General Assembly, for going above and beyond and putting his life on the line for a fellow North Carolinian just this week.

On Monday night, Representative Arp found himself in the position of seeing something that looked concerning. During a road trip, he noticed smoke coming from a roadside mobile home. Being moved in his heart to turn around and stop, Representative Arp discovered a woman in a wheelchair, trying to escape her burning home.

What did Representative Arp do? He took his public service to a whole new level, rescuing her from the flaming house and saving the woman's life.

Not everyone would have the courage to step up and get engaged, but Representative Arp clearly has a hero's heart.

Mr. Speaker, in a day of the slogan, If You See Something, Say Something, I thank God Representative Arp saw something and did something to change the outcome.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 30, the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act.

Mr. Speaker, common sense dictates that if an illegal alien is in our country and commits a sex offense or domestic violence, they should be deported immediately. Common sense dictates that if an alien is at the border and has committed these kinds of egregious crimes in their past, they should not be allowed to take one step onto American soil.

Anything short of this standard is a complete and utter failure to protect American women and girls. This bill before us today ensures just that.

As Republicans, we have been called to clean up Biden's border crisis, and that means not only deporting illegal alien sex offenders and abusers, but we must stop them from coming into our country in the first place.

It is common sense that the legislation before us today codifies this standard. The Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act shouldn't be controversial. Sadly, as we saw last week with the Laken Riley Act, many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will use any excuse to oppose commonsense border security.

I stand on behalf of my constituents in North Carolina's Eighth Congressional District to urge my colleagues to support this crucial initiative in our fight to keep our citizens safe.

Mr. Speaker, in 2022 North Carolina high schooler Peyton McNabb was seriously injured when a teenage boy spiked a ball into her head during a girls volleyball game, leaving her with a concussion and permanent injuries.

Despite stories like Peyton's, the left continues to want us to believe it is totally safe for men to compete against women. In fact, the current administration tried to impose this radical agenda across our Nation.

The truth is, President Biden's attempt to redefine the word ``sex'' in Title IX robs our daughters of opportunity and leaves them vulnerable.

Thankfully, the Biden administration's perverted rule was invalidated at the national level by a Federal court just this past week.

However, I stand today because Congress needs to make it clear that Title IX cannot and will not be weaponized to perpetuate a lie that men can become women.

This bill simply affirms common sense and reflects reality. Men and women are uniquely created by God, and no amount of testosterone therapy can reverse biological design.

On behalf of the women and girls I represent in North Carolina and those across America, I will vote ``yes'' for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and fight to restore sanity. I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 29, the Laken Riley Act.

For the past 4 years, the American people have suffered under the Biden administration's disastrous open-border policies that have allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood our communities.

One of those illegal aliens was Jose Ibarra. In 2023, he was caught shoplifting. Despite multiple arrests on his record in addition to his illegal status, he was released under the Biden administration. Months later, as we all know, he murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley.

There is no other way to put it. Her death is a direct result of President Biden's deliberate refusal to enforce our laws. It is the Federal Government's job to defend our borders and protect our citizens, and our government has failed us.

Fortunately, a new leader is taking office soon. This past November, Americans demonstrated that they are fed up with the left's refusal to secure our border. I am proud to be part of a Republican majority that will work with the new administration to strengthen our laws to ensure the safety of every American.

While I am confident that the Trump administration will secure our border and, yes, empower ICE to do its job, we must not allow our security to depend on whether or not a Republican occupies the White House. We in this Congress must ensure there are no future Laken Rileys.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this legislation.