Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose President Biden's proposal to force blue-collar workers in my district to pay off the student loans of borrowers who attended universities who are sitting on billion-dollar endowments.

In my district, there are 599,500 constituents who are not being asked to but will be forced to pay the student loan debt that people agreed to take out. This plan is unfair to responsible Americans who have diligently worked hard and saved money to fund their education.

Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge the dedication of our military members who earned tuition benefits through their service. The rising costs of higher education deserve careful examination, particularly concerning the growing number of administrative positions focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We must investigate the significant increase in administrative expenses that do not directly contribute to providing students with a quality education leading to meaningful employment.

Universities that charge exorbitant amounts for humanities degrees in cultural Marxism should bear the responsibility when their graduates struggle to repay their loans due to a lack of viable employment opportunities.

I urge my colleagues to prioritize the interest of taxpayers by opposing this proposal put forth by President Biden.

Mr. Speaker, I see them laughing over there. I don't think the people that are going to be left holding the bag paying someone else's student loan debt are laughing.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with the Illinois Representatives to express our deep condolences for the victims of the tragic multi-vehicle accident last week on I-55, and to offer our sincere gratitude to the brave Illinois first responders who assisted motorists at the scene.

The dedication and commitment of our first responders has been unwavering, and we are keeping the victims, their families, and their friends in our hearts and our prayers during this difficult time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Budzinski).

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Kiley for hosting this Special Order to oppose Deputy Secretary Su as the next Secretary of Labor.

The Biden administration's radical Department of Labor attempted to unconstitutionally fire 84 million Americans unless they took the COVID vaccine and handed over their personal medical files to prove it.

Under Joe Biden's leadership, the Federal Government has been weaponized to go after American workers, causing permanent damage to small businesses and the lives of working Americans.

As vice chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, I support a full oversight investigation to hold the Biden administration and Deputy Secretary Su accountable over OSHA's unconstitutional and illegal COVID vaccine mandate.

My constituents miss having a booming economy full of good jobs and a President who supports working families. In Congress, I will always defend hardworking Americans from leftists who want to strip away our freedoms and our ability to provide for our families.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which ensures fairness and safety in girls' athletics.

Our daughters' opportunities to compete in athletics and their safety at school have been threatened by the radical left's disturbing trend of allowing biological men to compete with them and use the girls' locker room.

Earlier this month, the world watched in horror as leftwing rioters attacked a young woman named Riley Gaines and held her kidnapped against her will simply because she was speaking out to defend girls' sports. This week, the House will stand with Riley and all young women and girls who deserve the full protection of Title IX.

The Biden administration has been clear. They want men competing against our daughters, and they want to force schools to allow biological men to change and shower with our daughters in the girls' locker rooms. This is wrong.

Proverbs 31:8 reminds us that we must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and defend the rights of those in need.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and stand up for the rights and the safety of our daughters.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to submit extraneous material into the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for joining me tonight in this Special Order. I am honored to join together to celebrate April as Faith Month, and I am calling on people of faith to join in prayer and in celebration.

As a Member of Congress, I am happy to reaffirm my commitment to the Judeo-Christian values and the freedom of religion on which our country was founded.

In Congress, my colleagues and I will always fight to protect the right of all Americans to exercise their faith and maintain the freedom of religion. People of faith seek to be a positive force in their communities, especially in difficult circumstances.

Religious organizations in America have a rich history of charitable engagement in helping the poor, the sick, and the afflicted, and they should be appreciated.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman (Mrs. Harshbarger), my friend and colleague from Tennessee.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Harshbarger for speaking. It has been a privilege to join with her weekly and with other members to pray for our country.

Our Nation is in crisis because our society has turned away from God and has embraced a culture that now tells children that life has no value. This year, I launched the Congressional Family Caucus because I believe we have a moral obligation as servant representatives to save our American values and to defend the natural family as ordained by God, a husband and a wife committed to each other for life with their children.

We need to defend the natural family from attempts by the radical left to erode this core foundation of our society. In Deuteronomy 6, in the context of the traditional family, in the home, we are to diligently instruct our children to love God and to obey His commandments.

During Faith Month, I would like to recognize that a happy family is a blessing from God and is foundational to human flourishing. I will always proudly stand up for faith and for our families in Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).

Mr. Speaker, I agree with Congressman Clyde that we do need to defend these core principles and our freedom to exercise our faith.

This year during Faith Month, we celebrate and thank God for the historic victory of the end of Roe v. Wade. The end of Roe is the beginning of a new chapter where we can now embrace a culture of life with reverence for all of God's children. I applaud the Justices who stood bravely up to the radical abortion industry and defended life. I also applaud President Trump who gave the American people a Court that delivered a pro-life win for our Nation.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 139 that we are fearfully and wonderfully created by God, knitted together in our mother's womb. This verse reminds us that every human life is created by God and has inherent worth and dignity at every stage of development.

What a shame that today we are teaching our children that they are the result of cosmic dust and are here without purpose instead of intricately woven and designed and purposed by God.

Defending life has been one of the most meaningful fights that I have contributed to during my time in Congress. I have had the opportunity to stand with pro-life colleagues from across the country by supporting the Life at Conception Act, the No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act, and cosponsoring the Protecting Life on College Campus Act.

During Faith Month, I would like to recognize the incredible strides we have made for the pro-life movement over recent years. I will always defend the lives of the unborn.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Allen for his words.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Idaho (Mr. Fulcher).

May I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good), my friend and colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his words and his testimony.

To conclude, during Faith Month I hope that you will join me in praying for our Nation. Clearly, there has been an attack on our First Amendment right to exercise our freedom of religion and our faith beliefs.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say that if you took instinct out of a beehive, you would have chaos. When you take God out of a society, you have chaos also.

I will never be afraid to speak up in defense of our faith, our freedom, and for our children. We need to protect the American way of life. We have been criticized by radical leftists, and they are trying to remake America into a Communist, atheist experiment. Our Founders were men of faith, and there are many of us here in Congress that are men and women of faith also.

We pray for our country. I encourage everybody to continue to pray for our great Nation.

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

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

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 7 o'clock and 31 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Mr. Chair, I thank Chairwoman Foxx for yielding, and I thank my Republican colleagues for taking up this very important bill.

Mr. Chair, there has been a push by powerful teachers' unions, leftwing politicians, and, most concerning, the Biden Justice Department to silence parents throughout our country. The Biden administration used the FBI--the most powerful law enforcement agency in the world--to intimidate parents for showing up to school board meetings to oppose Biden's radical agenda.

Parents' rights are nonnegotiable. Parents are the decisionmakers for their child's education, which includes their child's curriculum. Parents want schools focused on reading, writing, and math, not woke politics.

The radical left in our country seeks to silence parents and use public schools and colleges to indoctrinate our youth. They don't want to teach children how to think. They want to teach them what to think.

I am grateful that several of my bills are included in the Parents Bill of Rights Act to protect children from radical gender ideology and to ensure parents are informed when information is being collected about their children through surveys or documents.

Parents have the right to know what is being taught to their child, and they have the right to opt their child out of any discussion about sexual orientation and gender ideology.

Mr. Chair, I am proud House Republicans are keeping our commitment to fight for parental rights, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Johnson for hosting this Special Order.

The American agriculture industry powers our economy and feeds the world, but President Biden wants to burden farmers and landowners with higher taxes and more red tape with his disastrous waters of the United States rule.

Farmers and ranchers do not want to be told how to use and regulate their land by Biden's radical Cabinet Secretaries. I introduced a bill called Define WOTUS Act with Senator Braun to protect my fellow farmers and stand against the disastrous Biden EPA, which is working to regulate every pond and puddle in America. Our Nation's farmers, ranchers, and property owners come last in the Biden agenda.

This week, I will proudly stand with House Republicans to pass legislation ending Biden's disastrous WOTUS rule.

We are going to put American farmers first. It is my privilege to advocate for my fellow Illinois farmers on the House Agriculture Committee and represent our needs in Congress.

Mr. Speaker, for years we have witnessed a concerted effort by activists on the left to abolish the natural family.

The natural family, a man and woman committed for life to each other and to their children, was ordained by God as the foundation of our society. The natural family is essential for our Nation to prosper because the family is the root of self-government, service, community, personal responsibility, and faith in God.

That is why today I am launching the Congressional Family Caucus. The Congressional Family Caucus will serve to defend the natural family from attempts by the radical left to erode this core foundation of our society.

The left advances abortion, fatherlessness, surgical castration, and atheism. These woke progressives attempt to diminish parental rights by eliminating parental consent and replacing families with the State.

Families are the bedrock of our values and protectors of our youth. According to Deuteronomy 6, in the context of traditional family in the home, we are to diligently instruct our children to love God and to obey His commandments.

I believe we have a moral obligation as servant Representatives to protect and to conserve the family. Families have made this country great. I am honored to be joined by Representative Diana Harshbarger from Tennessee and Representative Brian Babin from Texas in our efforts to protect the family.

Mr. Chair, had I been present, I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall no. 128.

Mr. Speaker, Americans have a fundamental right to keep and bear arms that shall not be infringed.

The unelected bureaucrats at the ATF do not have the constitutional authority to ban guns and violate the Second Amendment rights of American citizens.

I am proud to join my colleagues to fight to block Joe Biden's pistol brace gun ban and also to fight to defund the ATF.

In Illinois, Governor Pritzker signed an unconstitutional gun ban that violates the Second Amendment rights of my constituents. Joe Biden and J.B. Pritzker's policies released dangerous criminals and defund the police, and then they want to take our Second Amendment right to defend ourselves.

I am a proud member of the House Freedom Caucus and the House Second Amendment Caucus. We are united in our opposition to these unconstitutional attacks on the rights of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I will always stand for our constitutional rights and protect our Second Amendment rights in Congress.

Mr. Speaker, today we honor Congressman Louie Gohmert and his years of service to the First District of Texas. I left the event I was at and rushed over here.

I appreciate you so much. Actually, Louie, you know you were the first Congressperson I met who was so warm, encouraging, and friendly. I appreciate how you initiated and were always there to be helpful.

Representative Gohmert, you have been a strong fighter for our constitutional freedoms of religion and speech, States' rights, Second Amendment rights, and more. You have been an inspiration to Members of this body, including myself, and you will be missed.

Oh my, the best ribs I ever ate. I need that recipe. You said you would give it to me.

Thank you, Congressman Gohmert, for your dedication to our Nation and all your hard work in protecting the

American way of life for future generations. You and I have talked about how much we care about future generations and what we are leaving them.

May God bless you and your family. My prayers will be with you as you transition to your next endeavor.

Mr. Speaker, as Halloween approaches, it is vital that we inform parents of the dangers of fentanyl, which is now the number one killer of young people in America.

Fentanyl is an extremely lethal opioid that drug cartels are trafficking across our southern border. We must warn parents that cartels are trafficking and selling rainbow fentanyl, which are colorful pills designed to appeal to children. These pills are deadly, and parents should carefully check their child's Halloween candy.

It is tragic that President Biden and his border czar, Vice President Harris, have allowed the border crisis to become so dangerous and pose such a serious threat to our children.

Right now, the immediate danger is fentanyl, and parents must be vigilant.

Mr. Speaker, by using diesel-powered equipment, nitrogen, and other fertilizers, American farmers feed our Nation and are the number one exporter of food worldwide.

My fellow farmers and I are alarmed because Joe Biden and his green bad deal team are in the process of creating a food crisis.

Radical leftists will destroy farms, especially family farms, with attacks on fertilizer and livestock. The leftists are pushing to replace the farmland we need for food with solar panels that are terrible for the environment and made in China.

Without farms, people starve. Radical leftists are causing famine, blackouts, and rationing in other countries. We cannot let them control our food production.

Madam Speaker, Americans are suffering through the Biden recession, struggling to afford gas and groceries, with inflation at historic highs.

The working families that Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer promised to represent have been hurt the worst by their leftist economic policies. Americans have been gaslighted while the media serves as propagandists for Biden and the left.

People remember the energy independence, low gas prices, and booming economy we had during the Trump administration. The media portrayed the prosperous Trump economy as doom and gloom, and they cover the Biden recession with rose-colored glasses.

The left may be woke, but the American people are now awake, which is why 60 percent of the country disapproves of the job Biden is doing, and only 16 percent trust the media.

The American people want economic policies that put the American people

first. The good news is, help is on the way.