Floor Statements

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

Madam Speaker, I am deeply concerned with the Biden administration's efforts to look to other foreign adversaries for oil amid the current conflict in Eastern Europe.

Last week, Secretary Buttigieg said the option to import oil from Iran is on the table. Over the weekend, the Biden administration sent a delegation to Venezuela to discuss resuming relations with dictator Maduro and is weighing options to import Venezuelan oil.

Not once has the Biden administration considered the solution that is staring us right in the face: revitalizing domestic energy production.

The U.S. is blessed with the world's largest oil and gas reserves, and we are fully capable of producing these resources more cleanly and efficiently than anywhere else in the world.

Before we turn to socialist nations or countries that openly chant ``death to America'' in the streets, we must harness the potential in our own backyard.

American energy means lower prices for consumers at home and greater energy security for us and our allies.

The Biden administration needs to end their war on domestic energy production immediately and restore our Nation's energy dominance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize and commend Lauren Gollofon from Bozeman, Montana. Lauren is a 17-year-old senior at Liberty Online Academy and a former student at Bozeman High School. When Lauren became aware that the Pledge of Allegiance was not being said daily in public schools in Bozeman, she sprang into action. Lauren notified school administrators that their failure to hold the Pledge of Allegiance every day violated Montana House Bill 543, and asked that they hold the Pledge of Allegiance daily in accordance with the State law.

Within a week of her advocacy, local schools began to recite the Pledge of Allegiance daily. When asked why this was so important, Lauren said patriotism is on the decline in the United States. When students say the Pledge of Allegiance, they are acknowledging the freedom and the values and also everyone who has died and fought for our country.

This display of patriotism demonstrates why a report just this year found that Montana is one of the most patriotic States in the Nation, a ranking which we are extremely proud of.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of all Montanans, I want to sincerely thank Lauren Gollofon for her leadership, community activism, and her dedication to the core principles that make this country great.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for being a leading example on this charge for us.

Tomorrow will be a unique and significant day. Tomorrow many of us will take the unfortunately similar steps of a march that began in 1974. This March for Life however may be the last one before the stain of Roe v. Wade is lifted from this Nation.

However, even if we are so fortunate, the decision to continue this crime will likely remain in many of the States.

Sadly, millions of Americans have yet to awaken, awaken to the cruelty and the evil that is abortion. The reason for this slumber is no less devastating than the murder of 63 million children. It is the failure to recognize the inherent dignity of every life. This failure has justified the intentional killing of a living child, led to the many atrocities of the 21st century and this American tragedy. We, however, are not reconciled to continue this moral failing.

I often think about the abortionist who has woken up to the evil which he has been so complicit in. That moment when his heart converts, when he has been availed of the truth inherent in human life. He looks back at the trail of broken bodies that he has traveled.

But if we stop there at the horror and the tragedy, we would not have hope because we know that when he looks up he now sees those glorified souls looking down on him, singing in praise and rejoicing in his conversion.

There is renewal in our movement, and there is hope. There is the hopeful anticipation that everyone in every State will also see the obvious truth and the inherent beauty in the tiniest life.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for including me in this Special Order today.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Dakota for yielding to me. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who helped bring this bill to the floor today.

I am proud to rise in support of this bipartisan bill with Congresswoman Schrier, H.R. 4489, the National Forest Restoration and Remediation Act, which would allow the Forest Service to use accumulated interest on settlement agreements to restore our national forestlands.

Montana is blessed with an abundance of public lands with well over 20 million acres available to all for recreation, hunting, fishing, camping, and more. It is part of who we are as Montanans and an important aspect of our Montana way of life.

These public lands are a patchwork of land managed by the State as well as the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service. If these Federal lands are damaged, an agency will reach a settlement agreement with the responsible party to support restoration and cleanup efforts.

And while the Department of the Interior, which houses the National Park Service, and the BLM has the authority to retain interest from these settlement funds, the Forest Service does not.

This commonsense bill would rectify that by allowing the Forest Service to use the interests on settlement funds to restore damaged public lands, which improves forest health and supports conservation. It merely will mirror the policy that is already utilized by these other agencies.

When the Forest Service enters into a settlement agreement, the funds are deposited into the Treasury account that is used to remediate the damaged land. However, these accounts do not allow the Forest Service to take advantage of the interest generated in them, leading to the value of funds available for forest restoration to diminish over time creating the potential for years-long delays and budget shortfalls from remediation efforts.

The National Forest Restoration and Remediation Act would ensure the Forest Service has adequate funding for restoration work by unlocking this additional funding without additional expenses to taxpayers.

I, again, urge my colleagues to support Congresswoman Schrier and my bill and I thank all those involved in this commonsense, bipartisan legislation.

Mr. Speaker, on this National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, I rise to honor Charlie Dowd, Montana's last living Pearl Harbor survivor.

Charlie was just a 17-year-old radioman stationed at Pearl Harbor when he was awakened by the sound of the Japanese surprise attack, a day which lives in infamy. Charlie immediately raced to the window of the ship where he saw a nearby hangar go up in a plume of flames. Wearing just a T-shirt, he grabbed a rifle and climbed on to the roof where he and other volunteers started firing at the attacking planes, some of the first shots fired by Americans in World War II.

Charlie's heroism, and that of others on that day, undoubtedly saved lives, and their bravery and resolve should be commended. He served for nearly 5 years in the United States Navy.

Charlie lives in Anaconda, Montana, and will be celebrating his 98th birthday on December 23. On behalf of all Montanans and a grateful Nation, I want to thank Charlie Dowd for his service and wish him an early happy birthday.

Madam Speaker, I rise to condemn Merrick Garland targeting parents who express their views on how their children are educated.

Recently, parents have risen up to voice their opposition to schools indoctrinating their children with critical race theory, but Merrick Garland won't stand for folks exercising their parental rights.

Merrick Garland testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he didn't think parents getting angry at school boards constitute domestic terrorism, and that he could not imagine a circumstance where they would be labeled as domestic terrorism.

Despite this, it is now clear Garland has weaponized the FBI's counterterrorism division against concerned parents, using threat tags to label and surveil them as domestic terror threats.

Parents have a right and an obligation to voice their opinion on how their children are educated, and I wholeheartedly agree critical race theory has no place in our classrooms.

Weaponizing the FBI against concerned parents is dangerous and an absolute disgrace.

Merrick Garland must resign immediately. Thank God he isn't on the Supreme Court.

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