Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of S. 1917, the K-12 Cybersecurity Act of 2021.

Schools around our country are increasingly the target of malicious cyber actors and have recently been targeted with a deluge of ransomware attacks.

This legislation introduced by Chairman Peters and passed by the Senate mirrors the House version spearheaded by Representatives Langevin, Garbarino, and Matsui.

This bill requires CISA to conduct a study to develop recommendations and provide resources regarding specific cybersecurity risks facing K- 12 educational institutions. Importantly, it requires CISA to do so in consultation with teachers, schools, administrators, Federal agencies, nine Federal cybersecurity entities, and other private-sector organizations.

In doing so, the study required by this bill would help the Federal Government better support schools in defending against cyber threats.

I urge Members to join me in supporting S. 1917, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4426, the Homeland Security for Children Act.

While terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and other large-scale emergencies have devastating effects on our communities that last for years, the impacts on children whose lives are often shaped by such emergencies can be felt throughout our country for decades. This legislation will help ensure that DHS, especially FEMA, is considering those long-term implications in all aspects of its mission and planning.

I commend Representative Payne for his tireless effort over the years to support and protect our Nation's children.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to join me in supporting H.R. 4426. I have no more speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4094, the One-Stop Pilot Program Act of 2021. This legislation will allow TSA to conduct a pilot program with select foreign airports that will make international air travel both more secure and more efficient.

Streamlining international aviation security for passengers from certified foreign airports would not only encourage airports around the globe to reach U.S. security standards, but it will also help revitalize a struggling international aviation industry. This innovative pilot program shows that it is possible to have both better security and a more seamless passenger experience.

I thank Ranking Member Katko for his tireless work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring this legislation to where it is today.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to join me in supporting H.R. 4094, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to gentleman from New York (Mr. Katko), the ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, I also have no further speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4682, the Unmanned Aerial Security Act.

It is imperative that the Department of Homeland Security be able to protect the Nation against all threats. This defense includes ensuring that the unmanned aircraft systems, commonly known as drones, that DHS uses and buys, are not made in foreign countries that do not align with our interests; countries such as China.

DHS requires the dominant, air domain capabilities that drones provide to accomplish many of its land and maritime missions. We know that DHS uses drones for surveilling our southwest border. Utilizing drones is a cost-efficient way to protect large areas of the homeland.

However, many of the commercial drones used in the United States are manufactured in China, which dominates the United States market. Of the top 10 drone manufacturers that supply the United States market, a single Chinese manufacturer towers over all the others with nearly 77 percent of the market share.

DHS has issued warnings in recent years about Chinese-made drones, specifically citing concerns that they may be sending sensitive data to their manufacturers in China, where it can be accessed by the Chinese Government.

Our colleagues in the Senate share our concern. In fact, Senator Rick Scott has introduced similar legislation to ban the purchase and use of these drones across the Federal Government, not just at DHS.

Given the role that drones have in protecting homeland security, it is more important than ever to require DHS to assess its drone fleets. This bill would require DHS to provide a threat assessment report to Congress on whether the agency has analyzed the threat of its drone from adversarial nations; the number of these drones that the Department is currently operating; and the extent to which the information gathered by these drones may be a threat to the homeland or economic security of the United States.

Second, the bill would prohibit DHS from buying or using drones made in adversarial nations going forward.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and colleague, Ranking Member Katko, for being an original cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation. Along with Members on the other side of the aisle, this is truly a bipartisan piece of legislation.

With China looming as a growing threat on the horizon, maintaining our homeland security is of the utmost importance, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I urge all Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4363, the DHS Contract Reporting Act of 2021.

The Department of Homeland Security, along with its component agencies, is appropriated billions of dollars every year to carry out its mission. This legislation, authorized by my colleague, Representative Harshbarger, will bring long overdue transparency to the money DHS spends when contracting services from the private sector.

I commend Representative Harshbarger for her legislation to battle waste, fraud, and abuse, and to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and transparently.

Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to join me in supporting H.R. 4363, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. Harshbarger).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools for their progress in closing achievement gaps among student groups and for their overall academic excellence. This year, 325 public and private schools across the country were awarded the distinction of a National Blue Ribbon School by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.

I am proud to announce that Brandon Elementary School was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School. Brandon Elementary School's hard work in closing the achievement gap demonstrates that all students can achieve high academic levels. I am thankful for Brandon Elementary School's efforts, as I believe the education of our youth, the future

leaders of our State and country, is a crucial component of our society.

I congratulate Brandon Elementary School on being recognized for this outstanding achievement and encourage the school's administration to keep up the wonderful work they are doing that is having such a meaningful impact on the lives of young men and women.

Madam Speaker, Calvin Lamar McDonald, Jr. was a distinguished Navy veteran who was loved by everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him. Born in Meridian, MS, he graduated from Meridian High School during World War II, which motivated him to enlist in the United States Navy. He loved his country and was honorably discharged from the Navy twice. After his time in the Navy was completed, he graduated with an engineering degree from Mississippi State University.

During his second enlistment into the Navy, Lamar was placed in Gulfport, MS. He hitchhiked home nearly every weekend to see his future wife, Betty Jean Speed. They married, moved home to Meridian, and raised three children together.

It has been said that Lamar McDonald was the most popular man in the City of Meridian. Going out to eat or to the grocery store was no small task because he had friends to talk to everywhere he went. As much as the town loved him, he loved it right back. When the Civil Rights movement was underway, Lamar was on the City Council and received threats regularly. Despite this, he continued to act in the best interest of all citizens. In the 1990s, when Congress considered closing the Naval Air Station in Meridian, Lamar stood up once more and defended the community that he loved. He truly believed that every single person was made in the image of God, and he treated people as such.

For all the great stories of how Lamar cherished his community, there are many more to share about how he loved his family. He was a great man, husband, father, grandfather, and friend who left a lasting impact on countless lives, not just in Mississippi, but everywhere he went. Lamar will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and community, but the positive impact he made on Meridian, our state, and Nation will not soon be forgotten.

Madam Speaker, America is a nation of laws, but in many parts of our country, the rule of law is under attack. At a time when the Nation should be reopening and healing, we see rising crime in many cities across America. And where this rise of crime is most prevalent is in cities that have decreased funding for its officers.

In 2020, we saw the highest number of murders in over 25 years. And now in 2021, we have seen a spike in violent crime and attacks against law enforcement officers. The Defund the Police movement has been the catalyst behind this rise in crime and attacks on our law enforcement. It has fueled hatred against our fellow citizens who risk their lives to protect us from crime. And sadly, there are many progressive members in this Chamber who have supported this dangerous movement.

The first step in addressing the increase in crime is not banning guns from law-abiding citizens as proposed by the President. Rather, we must reject the Defund the Police movement and ask those that support it to recognize its disastrous impacts on our communities.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2795, the DHS Blue Campaign Enhancement Act. As vice-ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, I know how important it is for us to approach protecting this great Nation in a comprehensive manner by tackling all types of threats, including: hackers, terrorists, violent criminals, and human traffickers.

Criminal organizations use human trafficking to fund their operations by defrauding, coercing, and exploiting both adults and children, forcing them into labor and commercial sex acts. The DHS Blue Campaign enables and empowers the DHS workforce and customer-facing industries they work with--industries such as airlines--to recognize the indicators of human trafficking and take the proper steps to alert authorities.

H.R. 2795 enhances the Department's existing training opportunities by developing internet-based training programs to train Federal, State, local, Tribal law enforcement officers, and others as part of the Department's Blue Campaign. This important piece of legislation also established the Blue Campaign Advisory Board within the Department to coordinate Blue Campaign efforts and work cohesively to combat human trafficking.

Empowering State and local law enforcement to recognize potential human trafficking is the first step in helping them assist these victims, many of whom have been told that they have broken the law and can't seek police assistance by their traffickers. H.R. 2795 does this and helps disrupt these criminal networks, which is an important component in dismantling criminals and the terrorists financing their acts around the world.

I want to thank Representative Meijer for his leadership, and Chairman Thompson for moving this legislation out of committee, and I urge my colleagues to support this important bill to further secure the homeland.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Meijer).

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I urge Members to support this bill.

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

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3138, the State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2021.

I thank Chairwoman Clarke, Chairman Thompson, Ranking Member Garbarino, and my other committee colleagues for their leadership on

Madam Speaker, I urge Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, tonight the eyes of the Nation will be on TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska, as the Mississippi State Bulldogs face the Vanderbilt Commodores to determine who will be crowned the national champion in NCAA Baseball.

Mississippi State will not only be playing for their fellow students, the faculty, and alumni, but also for our great State as they seek to bring home the first Division 1 National Baseball Championship in Mississippi history.

Led by the offense of Tanner Allen, Rowdey Jordan, and Kamren James and the pitching of Will Bednar and Landon Sims, this group of athletes has brought life and excitement back to the people of Mississippi in the wake of a deadly pandemic.

We could not be prouder of these young men and all that they have accomplished. Tonight, I and the entire State of Mississippi will be hanging on every pitch of this winner-take-all game at the College World Series.

Good luck and Hail State.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation includes more than $715 billion in wasteful spending.

One out of every two dollars would go toward Green New Deal requirements. Funding for passenger rail for big cities has been increased eight-fold in this bill, sacrificing our rural roads and bridges for costly urban projects. The Electric Charging Station Grant Program in this bill would receive four times more funding than a rural grant program and take away funding from States that don't comply; even in States like Mississippi, which has less than 1,000 electric vehicles.

This bill is bad for our economy. It is bad for our rural States. And without significant change, this bill is bad for America.

Madam Speaker, the McLennan Community College baseball team recently won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Championship. The Highlanders capped their season with a victory over reigning champion Central Arizona by a score of 7-3 at Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, Colorado, in the championship game to complete an undefeated run at the Junior College World Series. For McLennan, located in Waco,

Texas, this was the team's first appearance in the finals since 2015 and its second national championship in baseball, with the first coming in 1983.

The Highlanders are led by head coach Mitch Thompson, my brother-in- law. For Thompson, who has had a long and distinguished baseball career, this was his first national championship. Thompson played college baseball at Fort Hays State University in Kansas, where he twice earned academic all-conference honors and served as team captain as a senior. Following his graduation from Fort Hays State in 1988, Thompson began his coaching career. Prior to being named the head coach at McLennan in 2013, Thompson served as an assistant at Mississippi State University, Radford University, Auburn University, and Baylor University. Additionally, he was a scout for the Kansas City Royals organization in 2013. Throughout his coaching career, Thompson has become widely respected as a recruiter and evaluator of talent.

I want to congratulate Coach Thompson and his team on their fantastic season. Coming off a year in which the baseball season was cut short, this season provided unique challenges and was unlike any other the players had previously experienced. I am proud of the McLennan team and all that the Highlanders accomplished this year by bringing home the top prize in junior college baseball.

Madam Speaker, the American College Application Campaign (ACAC), which is part of the ACT's Center for Equity in Learning, is a national effort to increase the number of first-generation college students and students from low-income families pursuing a college degree or other higher education credential. About 3.7 million students from all 50 states and the District of Columbia have been served, submitting nearly 6 million college applications since the campaign's inception in 2005.

ACAC gives a School of Excellence award for each state, and I'm proud to recognize Mendenhall High School as the 2020 School of Excellence award winner for Mississippi. Mendenhall High School was selected ``based on its demonstrated commitment to student success, timely submission of data, and serving as an exemplary model for our state's application campaign,'' according to ACAC.

As its selection for this prestigious award demonstrates, Mendenhall High School creates unique opportunities that have positive and lasting impacts on the lives of its students. Because of the hard work of teachers, staff, and administration, Mendenhall High School students are better equipped to pursue higher education or become leaders in their communities out of high school.

I am personally thankful for Mendenhall High School's efforts, as I believe the education of our youth, who are the future leaders of our state and country, is a crucial component of our society. I congratulate Mendenhall High School once more on being selected for this outstanding award and encourage the school's administration to continue this wonderful work, which is having such a meaningful impact on the lives of young men and women.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this year I had the opportunity to join with my other Republican colleagues to visit the southwest border. This was not a gesture, as the Vice President has referred to these visits. It was, instead, a learning opportunity.

The conditions we saw and the stories we heard conveyed a situation far worse than we had previously imagined. We learned that border encounters are at a 20-year high. We spoke directly to Border Patrol and law enforcement officers who told us that they are so overwhelmed with the care of migrants that they are unable to execute essential core roles of their job. We learned how drug cartels are taking advantage of the overwhelmed system and saw the routes they use to smuggle drugs and people across the border.

What we witnessed could only be defined as a crisis. This is why I encourage all of my colleagues and the Vice President to set aside political gamesmanship, visit the border, and see the crisis firsthand.