Floor Statements

Mr. Chair, I thank Ms. Foxx for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I thank Chairman Thompson and Chairwoman Foxx for sponsoring this important legislation.

I rise in support of H.R. 1147, the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. This crucial legislation recognizes the nutritional benefits of whole milk for our children.

As a result of the radical Obama Administration policies led by Michelle Obama, only fat-free and low-fat milks can be served in school meals.

H.R. 1147 would end this practice and allow schools to serve whole milk. Whole milk is a rich source of essential nutrients, including calcium and vitamin D, which are vital for developing strong bones and a healthy immune system.

Studies have also shown that whole milk can contribute to healthier weight in children. I raised my seven children on whole-fat milk, and they are all within normal weights. I also have recognized that children who have high-fat diets stay full longer.

I am proud to support this bill on behalf of parents, and I want to thank America's dairy farmers for producing milk for our families.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves--the unborn.

Since 1973, over 60 million American children have lost their lives to the atrocity of abortion, the greatest human rights violation in history.

We often boast that we are a nation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, we deny this sacred right to the most innocent among us.

Last year, the Supreme Court gave the unborn a monumental victory with the Dobbs ruling, returning the issue of abortion to Congress and the States. That is why today I am introducing a series of three bills designed to further protect the most vulnerable among us--the unborn.

First, the Love Them Both Act would prevent the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from exploiting the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to cover abortion or abortion-related services. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is designed to protect pregnant women from discrimination in the workplace, and it should not be used for political purposes.

We have a responsibility to ensure both women and their unborn children are treated equally and fairly, and the Love Them Both Act does exactly that.

Second, the Pregnancy Is Not an Illness Act would correct a longstanding but erroneous conclusion of the FDA. In 2000, the FDA fast-tracked approval of dangerous abortion-inducing drugs. To do so, they declared abortion to be a life-threatening illness. As a mother of seven, I can assure you that pregnancy is very much not an illness or disability, but rather, nothing short of a miracle from the hand of God. The Pregnancy Is Not an Illness Act would prohibit the FDA from ever calling pregnancy an illness again for the purpose of approving abortion-inducing drugs.

Lastly, I am introducing the Woman's Right to Know Act so that women seeking abortions are fully aware of the consequences of their actions. This bill would require an abortion provider to perform an ultrasound and then describe the development of the unborn child to the mother. My bill would also ask for a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is performed. These are simple, commonsense steps aimed to prevent a woman from making a decision she will regret for the rest of her life.

In Psalm 139:13-16, David writes: ``For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the Earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.''

Life is the most precious gift we have. Without it, we have nothing. If we don't protect the right to life, all of our other rights are in danger of being taken away. We cannot call ourselves a nation of liberty and justice for all when we deprive this most sacred right from the most vulnerable among us.

We are in the midst of the most joyous time of year, Christmas. Although this is the season of parties, concerts, and family time, that is not why we celebrate. We celebrate Christmas because of God's greatest gift to mankind, Jesus. Without him, there would be no Christmas. What better time to protect the cause of life than this special season of Christmas?

Make no mistake, the world is watching, and so is Almighty God. They are watching to see if we will live up to our promise of providing freedom and a bright future to anyone born here. They are watching to see if we truly want everyone to achieve the American Dream. They are watching to see if we really are that shining city set on a hill that John Winthrop and Ronald Reagan proclaimed us to be.

To quote one of my favorite Presidents, and accurately, I might add, Ronald Reagan famously said: ``I have noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.''

Mr. Speaker, you and I had the chance at life. We have been given the chance to live fulfilling lives, and I believe God has called each one of us to this body for a specific purpose.

Mr. Speaker, 60 million of our children have not had that chance, and if we really want to create a bright American future, that is the least they deserve.

I believe these three bills will go a long way toward protecting the most vulnerable among us, and I urge the House to act swiftly in passing them.

Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government's primary role is to protect the country by securing our borders.

The Biden administration has allowed, even facilitated, an invasion of more than 8 million foreign nationals led by drug cartels, terrorists, and human traffickers.

Joe Biden has created a fentanyl crisis, a national security crisis, and a child trafficking disaster, making the U.S. vulnerable in every way. In addition, this invasion costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year.

Cartels are bringing unaccompanied minors across the border, and these taxpayer dollars are being used to fly unaccompanied children across the country on secret flights.

Secretary Mayorkas has lost track of 85,000 children, and he must be held accountable through impeachment.

Americans miss President Trump. He made border security his top priority. In Congress, I will always defend children and fight for strong borders.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of my amendment to defund Joe Biden's radical Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Under Joe Biden, OSHA attempted to fire 84 million Americans if they didn't take an experimental vaccine or show their private medical documents to their employer.

The Supreme Court had to step in and tell Joe Biden he did not have the authority to force Big Pharma's experimental vaccine on the American people.

It shouldn't take the Supreme Court to stop OSHA from attempting to force an experimental vaccine on 84 million Americans.

I had the opportunity to question the OSHA Assistant Secretary during an Education and the Workforce Committee hearing. I asked him if he agreed with the court decision and would commit to never attempting to force a vaccine mandate again. He refused.

We must rein in OSHA, which is exactly what this amendment does.

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

Mr. Chairman, what is reckless is trying to force 84 million American workers to take an experimental vaccine. OSHA needs to be reined in. It took the Supreme Court's action to stop them.

Mr. Chairman, I support this amendment to hold the Biden administration accountable, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to cut the salary of Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education to $1.

The Assistant Secretary has continually refused to enforce current Title IX law, which puts our young girls in danger. Under current statute, the Department of Education is required to protect young women and girls from being forced to compete against biological men in athletics, but the Biden administration's Department of Education is ignoring the law to impose their radical political agenda on our daughters by forcing them to compete against biological males.

The Assistant Secretary's office has proposed two Title IX rules that violate congressional intent for Title IX.

Title IX was created to protect girls' sports and girls' spaces, including bathrooms and locker rooms, not to promote a radical leftwing political ideology.

The Assistant Secretary for the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education is not following congressional intent.

Please join me in standing up for our daughters and all female athletes by supporting this amendment.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I am being very serious, and this is not petty. We want to reduce her salary to what she is worth.

Title IX was specifically established to give girls and women opportunities in education and athletics, and ``sex'' in Title IX clearly was meant to be biologic and genetic, not sexual identity.

This is dangerous for our girls both emotionally and physically to have biological men participating in their athletics and entering their locker rooms and bathrooms.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to cut the salary of Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas Parker to $1.

Under Joe Biden, OSHA attempted to fire 84 million Americans if they didn't take an experimental COVID vaccine or show their private medical documents to their employer.

Assistant Secretary Parker is an unelected bureaucrat. He does not have the power to force 84 million people to take an experimental vaccine or lose their job.

Thankfully, the Supreme Court stopped OSHA from implementing their rule because it was illegal and unconstitutional.

It shouldn't take the Supreme Court to stop OSHA from attempting to force an experimental vaccine on 84 million Americans.

When I questioned Assistant Secretary Parker during an Education and the Workforce Committee hearing, he refused to agree with the court decision and would not commit to never again attempting to force a vaccine mandate on the American people.

We must rein in Assistant Secretary Parker and the entire bloated bureaucracy that is targeting the American people.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I urge support of this amendment to hold the Biden administration accountable for their illegal and unconstitutional COVID vaccine mandate, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to cease all funding to the corrupt World Health Organization because they lied repeatedly about COVID's origin and then defended communist China after the outbreak.

Last year alone, Congress approved $434 million for the WHO, and the Biden administration has been actively working to circumvent the Senate's constitutional authority to approve treaties that would give the WHO control over pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

This would be a complete surrender of our national sovereignty to an unaccountable, unelected, and corrupt international bureaucracy. It would also supercharge the WHO's power and authority to promote leftist agendas like abortion, gender identity ideology, climate change, and more.

The nightmare scenario is the Biden administration surrendering our sovereignty to the WHO to institute global vaccine mandates.

The WHO has gone far beyond its initial purpose of being a health advisory organization and has transformed itself into a tyrannical governing body.

We must cease funding to the WHO and not give in to this power grab.

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

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

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

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to prohibit funding of Biden's Office of Population Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

This office is used by Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine to promote gender transition procedures for children and title X abortion resources with taxpayer dollars.

The Office of Population Affairs released a guide called Gender- Affirming Care and Young People to sidestep parents and provide children with information on chemical castration drugs and surgical castration procedures.

Federal tax dollars are used by the Office of Population Affairs to run a website called Find a Family Planning Clinic that links to abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood.

The Biden administration uses the Office of Population Affairs to promote the radical transgender agenda while preying on vulnerable children.

My amendment to the HHS appropriations bill would defund this deeply political office.

Mr. Chair, I urge everyone to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, the American taxpayer is weary of their money being squandered on programs like this.

The Office of Population Affairs is a complete waste of taxpayer dollars. Parents should be deciding what is best for their children, not the Federal Government.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I rise in support of my amendment that would reduce Deputy Assistant Administrator Jake Li's salary to $1.

Mr. Li oversees all pesticide programs at the Biden EPA. The Biden EPA has consistently politicized crop reduction tools, creating uncertainty for farmers.

In their most recent attack on farmers and ranchers, the Biden EPA released a new herbicide strategy at the request of the radical climate cult lobby. This program would force farmers to implement costly mitigation measures, likely forcing them out of production entirely.

According to the Biden administration's own estimates, this program could cost more than $5 billion for all corn acres in Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska alone. This is just one more example of how the Biden administration puts the leftwing political agenda ahead of farmers who grow food to feed America and the world.

Madam Chair, please join me in supporting this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chairwoman, I rise in support of my amendment that would prohibit funding for the Solar for All program.

During an Agriculture Committee hearing earlier this year, the EPA Administrator told me that the EPA does not incentivize solar panels. This program clearly demonstrates he was not being truthful in his testimony.

Under the Biden administration's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the EPA has announced a $7 billion subsidy for solar panels. China completely controls the solar panel industry, and we should not be using taxpayer money to subsidize our adversaries in the name of a leftwing political ideology.

According to the EPA's own website, solar panels contain hazardous materials that are harmful to humans.

In my home State of Illinois, a school roof lit on fire due to excessive heat generated by solar panels on the roof.

The Biden administration needs to stop prioritizing the left's radical climate agenda over the energy needs of the American people.

Please join me in supporting this amendment.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

I would like to remind my friends on the other side that China controls the mining of rare earth minerals used to produce solar panels.

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

Mr. Chairman, in April, EPA Administrator Regan testified before the House Agriculture Committee and told me the EPA doesn't incentivize solar panels, that they are a regulatory agency. His statement to the committee was blatantly false.

The EPA does incentivize solar panels, which is why I introduced an amendment to strip all funding from the EPA's Solar for All program.

The Biden administration wants to cover rich, fertile farmland that we use to grow food with Chinese solar panels.

Mr. Chair, I support this amendment because we must send a message to the EPA to leave the farmers alone and never mislead Congress when testifying.

Mr. Chair, Joe Biden has forced Americans to foot the bill for hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine while our southern border is being invaded by terrorists, drug cartels, gangs, and human traffickers.

I oppose sending any additional money to Ukraine oligarchs in a proxy war that we are being dragged into because Ukraine was paying the Biden family $1 million a year in cash.

Americans deserve a spending bill that puts America first by securing our border and putting us back on the path to energy independence, which was achieved by the Trump administration.

Mr. Chair, I thank Congresswoman Greene for offering this amendment.

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

Mr. Chair, under the Biden administration, the Department of Agriculture is being forced to pander to the left's extreme ideology instead of helping farmers in rural communities.

While farmers struggle with the increasing cost of inputs caused by the Biden administration, the Biden Department of Agriculture is focusing on equity and climate change.

The Department of Agriculture's job is to support farmers and rural communities, not political equity reports.

I urge my colleagues to stand with me and support this amendment to ensure that no funds go toward the Biden administration's woke agenda policies.

Let us refocus the USDA on its core mission of supporting farmers in rural communities.

I urge the adoption of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, it is time to refocus the USDA on its core mission of supporting our farmers and rural communities.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, the FDA is no place for the left to push their radical climate agenda. While farmers face real problems, like rising input costs, the left wants to make sure that the green bad deal infiltrates every aspect of our lives.

Under the Biden administration, the USDA came out with an Action Plan for Climate Adaptation and Resilience. Instead of promoting the left's climate priorities, USDA should be focused on promoting policies that actually help farmers. That is why my amendment makes sure no Federal funds go toward the USDA's climate hubs. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, with due respect to the gentleman from Georgia, the farmers in my district recognize climate change as summer, winter, spring, and fall, and we would like the USDA to focus on policies that actually help producers and rural communities.

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

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, President Biden's COVID mandate was illegal and unconstitutional, but his radical administration tried to force it through anyway. We will never forget that President Biden tried to use the Federal Government to fire 84 million struggling Americans from their jobs.

Congress must pass this amendment to ensure that the Federal Government cannot implement its radical COVID agenda on Americans ever again.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, we need to pass this amendment so that this can never happen again.

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

I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, the American people do not want their tax dollars going to the creation of the Obama communist climate corps, which is a leftwing indoctrination program for young people that advances Communist China's attack on American energy and promotes China's solar panels, lithium batteries, and windmills.

Congress must prohibit funding for this green bad deal army and reverse the America last agenda. Barack Obama's communist revolution to fundamentally transform America kills our domestic energy production.

Obama flies on private jets and has beachfront mansions. He doesn't care about climate, and he doesn't think the oceans are rising. Taxpayers do not want to fund the foot soldiers of Obama's communist revolution.

Mr. Chair, I urge the adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Jackson for

working tirelessly to stop Joe Biden from using our military to fund abortions and his woke agenda. Throughout this year, we fought to incorporate an amendment into the Defense bill to protect the religious liberty of our servicemembers and prevent the Biden Pentagon from funding abortions.

The American people do not want the military paying for abortions. Biden's radical leftwing transformation of our military has created a recruitment and retention crisis which puts our military readiness in crisis.

I thank my colleagues in the House who have fought to keep our military from funding abortions. No taxpayer funds should ever be used to fund abortions, and I will continue to advocate for innocent life.

As the saying goes: ``America is great because America is good.'' Abortion is evil, and we can never become advocates for killing innocent babies in the womb.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the historic impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.

Congress must hold Joe Biden accountable for serving as the kingpin over a series of shady foreign business deals involving his family members. Bank records and extensive evidence show that the Biden family received $20 million in cash, diamonds, and sports cars from China, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, and other foreign entities.

Joe Biden was directly involved in this foreign influence-peddling scheme, and when Biden's son demanded $5 million in cash from a Chinese official, he wrote, ``I am sitting here with my father. . . .''

Congress has a duty to the American people to protect taxpayers from this type of foreign corruption.

Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee for amendment No. 35.

Mr. Chair, this amendment requires the inspector general to investigate the FAA's decision to broaden the acceptable EKG range for pilots to fly.

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

Mr. Chair, I urge support of amendment No. 35, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee for amendment No. 36.

Mr. Chair, this amendment requires airlines to reinstate pilots who were fired or forced to resign because of vaccine mandates.

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

Mr. Chair, I urge the adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment.

Secretary Buttigieg and President Biden's policies have created chaos within the FAA. Under the Biden administration, we saw the first full ground stoppage of all flights since September 11.

Taxpayers deserve to know where Secretary Pete was jetting off to on a private jet while our constituents were dealing with canceled and delayed flights. My amendment will force the FAA to hand over the flight logs for the Transportation Secretary's private FAA jet from the last 3 years.

The Washington Post reported that Secretary Buttigieg took 18 secret taxpayer-funded private flights. Taxpayers deserve transparency and oversight.

I urge my colleagues to support transparency for the Secretary's private flights and adopt my amendment.

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

Mr. Chairman, I urge the adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment. Secretary Buttigieg and President Biden's DEI initiatives which hire and promote people based on their physical characteristics over their merits and qualifications violate Title VII and the Constitution.

In critical public safety roles such as air traffic control, it is essential to have the best possible candidate based strictly on professional qualifications and merit. Efforts by the Biden administration to factor race, gender, and sexual orientation into hiring and promotion decisions puts the traveling public at risk and deepens the staffing shortages we have seen throughout the FAA.

Under this administration, we saw the first national ground stoppage since September 11. My constituents regularly face delays caused by shortages in air traffic control staffing, delays that I am sure many of my colleagues have also experienced.

We must roll back the Biden administration's woke DEI policies and put the needs of our public aviation system before the far left's political agenda.

I urge the adoption of my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I urge the adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to defend our daughters' right to privacy and safety.

This spring, a 16-year-old girl swimming for a local swim team in my district was banned from the YMCA for speaking out against men undressing in the girls' locker room. My constituent, Abbigail, was simply exercising her right to privacy and safety. She should not be punished for defending herself and her teammates.

In Congress, I am committed to defending our daughters from the Biden administration's radical changes to Title IX that will make this an everyday occurrence for young girls across our country.

The YMCA should immediately reverse their decision and apologize to Abbigail and her family. YMCA leadership should prioritize the safety and privacy of young girls instead of prioritizing a radical, leftwing political ideology that is allowing adult men to expose themselves in front of our young girls. Men should never be allowed to violate girls' locker rooms and bathrooms.

Governor Pritzker continues to promote policies that put our daughters at risk. His failure to address the concerns of parents and protect the safety and privacy of young girls in Illinois is deeply concerning to parents.

Please, we must speak out to protect our daughters and end this madness.

Mr. Speaker, priests and pastors have guided our troops through the darkest days of our toughest battles, and it is imperative that Congress continues to support and defend the religious liberty of our brave servicemen and -women.

This year, on Easter weekend, the Biden administration kicked Catholic priests out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center through a cease and desist order.

In response to this attack on our servicemembers and their religious liberty rights, I had the honor of leading my colleagues in the House in sending a letter to Biden's Department of Defense demanding answers and accountability.

The Defense Department claims that they are looking into why pastoral care was removed from Walter Reed during Holy Week, but Congress must demand that they correct this wrongdoing to ensure that this never happens again.

We must safeguard religious liberty for our troops by ensuring pastoral care at Department of Defense medical facilities.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Luna for leading on this resolution.

Representative Schiff used his position as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee to mislead the American people by falsely claiming that there was classified evidence of Russia colluding with President Trump, which was not true.

The Mueller report and the Durham report make clear that the Russia collusion hoax was a political lie designed to hurt President Trump and mislead the American people.

Representative Schiff used the Intelligence Committee to advance a political narrative against his political opponents, which violated the important nonpartisan tradition of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join my colleagues today in holding Representative Schiff accountable for his actions because the American people deserve justice.