Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor my dear friend, David DiStefano. Since November 4, 2021, Dave has been serving the people of Ohio's 15th Congressional District as our chief of staff.

Roughly 36 hours after I won the special election on November 2, 2021, Dave and I walked into an empty room in the Rayburn House Office Building with no phones, no computers, and no staff. In fact, Dave and I had to scramble just to find out what we were actually being asked to vote on that evening.

In short order, with Dave's leadership and tireless work, we were able to not only fill our staff positions, but we were able to fill them with arguably the best team on the Hill and in Ohio.

While Dave officially left our office last Friday, you can rest assure, Madam Speaker, that he won't be too far away. Dave and I have been friends and colleagues for over 30 years. From introducing me to my wife, Meghan, as well as being the godfather to my oldest son, Prescott, Dave is more like family.

I wish Dave, his wife, Karen, and their son, Vince, all the best as they embark on this new journey.

I will end by saying the simplest but sometimes most underused phrase to my dear friend--even by me: Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1163.

Our jobs recovery has been hampered by bloated COVID relief benefits that paid people more not to work, while criminals and fraudsters were lining their pockets with billions in taxpayer funds from expanded UI programs.

We are not talking about everyday fraud or administrative error. We are talking about fraud that was committed with intent, both domestically and by foreign nation-state actors that, frankly, used COVID relief to conduct economic warfare against American citizens and put our national security at risk.

In my home State of Ohio, it was estimated that $1 billion may have been paid in fraudulent unemployment from March of 2020 to June of 2022.

Now, my friends on the other side are arguing against this bill and the administration has just released a Statement of Administration Policy opposing this bill.

The fact is, the President's Fiscal Year 2024 budget request includes several of the very same fraud recovery and prevention measures that my colleagues across the aisle are railing against today. Three of the proposals in the President's budget are nearly identical:

Allowing States to keep 5 percent of recovered overpayments and reinvest those dollars in program integrity and fraud prevention;

Matching unemployment claims data against the National Directory of New Hires to verify when somebody that is receiving unemployment becomes employed; and

Extending the statute of limitations for criminal charges and civil actions for prosecuting fraud from 5 to 10 years.

After declaring that ``the watchdogs are back'' in his first State of the Union, it has taken the President nearly 2 years to finally embrace the antifraud policies that we Republicans are calling for today.

Were the President to veto this bill, he would be vetoing the very same policies he endorsed.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 302, the Energy Cybersecurity University Leadership Act of 2023.

Reliable energy infrastructure is critical to our national security and our economic well-being. With the rising number of threats and attacks on our energy grid, this bipartisan, commonsense legislation will help our country avoid large-scale power outages due to cyberattacks on our critical infrastructure.

The Energy Cybersecurity University Leadership Act directs the Secretary of Energy to provide financial assistance to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers studying the convergence of cybersecurity and energy infrastructure.

This financial assistance in the form of fellowships, scholarships, and research and development projects will prepare the next generation to address the cyberattacks on our energy infrastructure that our Nation will inevitably face.

These graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will have the opportunity to study and train at our national laboratories, giving them the proper experience and tools to be successful in protecting our energy grid as they enter the workforce.

With the war in Europe, the rising threat of China, and the record- high energy prices over the last couple of years, it is more important than ever to invest in the protection of energy infrastructure, and this legislation is a step in the right direction.

I thank Congresswoman Ross for her work on this important legislation as well as Chairman Lucas and Ranking Member Lofgren for bringing the bill to the floor for consideration.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of my dear friend, Congressman Dave Hobson, who is a former member of the Ohio Air National Guard, the Ohio State Senate, as well as a Member of this body for 17 years representing Ohio's Seventh District.

Earlier this week, Dave--or ``Uncle Dave'', as his former constituents fondly call him--was inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame for his service in the Ohio Air National Guard. As a veteran in Congress, Dave was able to secure more than $200 million in Federal funding for military projects in Ohio and beyond.

I would also like to personally thank Dave for the positive impact he had on me throughout the years, as you can see, from a very young age, and he continues to have on me today as he does much of Ohio. I am also now honored to represent Dave's home county of Clark County in western Ohio.

We have quite literally come full circle, and I am glad to see his legacy recognized as he joins the impressive ranks of his brothers and sisters in arms in the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

Dave, congratulations on this momentous occasion, and thank you for your continued mentorship and friendship for the last 35 years.

Mr. Speaker, Americans are in the midst of a recession and the worst inflation in over 40 years, yet my friends across the aisle are set to pass a $745 billion spending bill that will raise taxes, fund the Green New Deal initiatives, and hire 87,000 IRS agents to target Americans--all this while doing nothing to reduce inflation and adding over $146 billion in debt.

Now, they say it won't raise taxes on people making less than $400,000, but the Joint Committee on Taxation has said at least half of all new tax revenue raised will come from those earning under $400,000.

Probably the biggest thing for me is the 87,000 new IRS agents. To folks back in Ohio, I just want to put this in a way that you can understand. That is 10,000 more people than live in the city of Parma. That is 17,000 more people that live in the city of Canton, 23,000 more than in Youngstown.

This is not the Inflation Reduction Act. This is the audit America act.

Mr. Speaker, I hereby remove my name as cosponsor from

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 304.

Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress

Barragan (Correa)

Bentz (LaMalfa)

Bowman (Evans)

Brown (MD) (Evans)

Cardenas (Correa)

Carter (GA) (Mace)

Castro (TX) (Neguse)

Cherfilus-McCormick (Evans)

Cohen (Beyer)

Deutch (Schneider)

Doggett (Beyer)

Fallon (Gonzales, Tony)

Hartzler (Bacon)

Higgins (NY) (Pallone)

Johnson (TX) (Jeffries)

Kahele (Correa)

Katko (Meijer)

Kirkpatrick (Pallone)

Lawrence (Stevens)

Leger Fernandez (Kuster)

Lieu (Beyer)

Meng (Kuster)

Moore (WI) (Beyer)

Moulton (Stevens)

Newman (Beyer)

Panetta (Beyer)

Pappas (Kuster)

Pascrell (Pallone)

Payne (Pallone)

Pingree (Kuster)

Porter (Neguse)

Ryan (Beyer)

Salazar (Gimenez)

Sires (Pallone)

Soto (Castor (FL))

Speier (Correa)

Steel (Obernolte)

Taylor (Pfluger)

Timmons (Armstrong)

Torres (NY) (Carter (LA))

Trahan (Stevens)

Walorski (Baird)

Williams (GA) (Carter (LA))

Wilson (SC) (Lamborn)

For nearly 400 years, the U.S. National Guard has served as a vital component to our Nation's warfighting and peacekeeping capabilities.

Guard members are the stewards of the equipment and resources necessary to assist in times of need, and they are always ready to respond to our Nation's challenges both at home and abroad.

As a former officer in the Army National Guard, I know that the Guard is so much more than a weekend a month and 2 weeks a year to those who serve. It is about service to our Nation and always being ready to answer the call. It is about neighbors helping neighbors, ready to respond to anything from a natural disaster, drug seizure, or even a cyberattack. Members of the Guard are essential to provide the capabilities to accomplish State and national priorities that we have.

In the Buckeye State, the Ohio National Guard is always ready and always there. Since 9/11 more than 25,000 Ohio soldiers and airmen have been deployed all over the world. Over the last 2 years, just as the Guard members across the country have done, Ohio National Guard members have been lifesavers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 2,000 Ohio National Guard members were deployed to 18 testing centers and 62 hospitals across Ohio as part of clinical and general support teams. They prevented a crisis of care by providing patient monitoring, transportation, staffing and administration, testing, vaccinations, and even food distribution.

I saw their work firsthand at a drive-through testing site in Columbus where Guard members collaborated with the Ohio State University to ensure that more than 1,000 Ohioans per day could be tested during the national testing shortage. It was an amazing operation that could not have worked without the expertise and efficiency of our National Guard members.

In conclusion, we cannot thank our National Guard members enough for what they have done to keep us safe and what they will continue to do throughout their service.

Madam Speaker, I rise in honor of Ohio Tuskegee Airmen Day.

Most know the Tuskegee Airmen as the first Black pilots in the military who overcame the headwinds of segregation and racism to achieve unparalleled success during World War II, flying nearly 1,600 missions and destroying over 260 enemy aircraft.

What you may not know is their success continued after the war, both militarily and culturally, in Lockbourne, Ohio.

In 1946, the Tuskegee Airmen arrived at the Lockbourne Army Air Force Base, where they operated the first and only Army Air Force base under the command of Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.

Segregation continued to hinder their opportunities off base, but Lockbourne overcame and was lauded as the best managed base in the Air Force. Their work led President Harry Truman to issue an executive order in 1948 that desegregated the military and mandated equal opportunity and treatment.

I am proud to represent an area of such historical significance and to honor the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as our Nation faces major foreign and domestic challenges brought on by the weakness of the Biden administration.

The border crisis, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the failure to hold China accountable, the green-lighting of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and ``minor incursion'' remarks have sent signals of weakness to our global adversaries. That weakness is now being tested as Russian aggression threatens the sovereignty of our strategic partners in Ukraine.

This threat to Ukraine is also a threat to democracy. Ukraine needs our support to defend itself. That means sending a strong signal by supporting more military and security equipment, as well as immediate financial, economic, and energy sanctions against the Russians.

At this time, our national sovereignty has been betrayed by the administration. Illegal immigrants and drugs are flowing across the southern border at a record pace.

We must act to secure our borders and support Ukraine. Failure to do so will weaken our national security for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, as a Clinton County native, I rise today in honor of the 2021 Division IV Ohio high school football State champion, the Clinton-Massie Falcons.

On December 3, 2021, the Clinton-Massie Falcons defeated the Youngstown Ursuline Irish in a thrilling comeback victory that one would expect to see in a movie.

Trailing 28-7 late in the third quarter, the Falcons kept their poise and refused to be denied. They shut down the Irish offense while scoring on three straight possessions. The Falcon's final touchdown came on a fourth and goal from the 1-yard line with under 1 minute to play.

With the score 28-27, the team didn't think twice when given the choice. They went for 2 points and the win to bring home the school's third State championship in just under 10 years.

To Coach Dan McSurley and every player on the Falcon roster, congratulations. As a former captain of the East Clinton Astro football team, I understand the obstacles that you have had to overcome to earn this title. You have made our county proud and proven that hard work and determination truly pay off.

Madam Speaker, first, I am humbled to stand here today to serve in the people's House as a product of the small town of Sabina, Ohio.

I thank my family: my wonderful wife, Meghan, who is home with our young son Conrad while we are preparing to welcome a new son into the world in just a couple of weeks; also, my incredible son Prescott; my brother Chad; and my loving mother, Debra, who are all here today in the gallery.

To the people of Ohio's 15th District, from our smallest towns to our State capital in Columbus, I am truly honored that you have entrusted me with this solemn duty. Whether you work on a farm, own a small business, or are a large employer, I promise to fight for our district and to represent you all with dignity and respect.

The problems facing our Nation today are great and consequential. Working families need this body to deliver solutions. Today, I am ready to work for the people of my district and for this great Nation.