Floor Statements

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

Mr. Chair, the job description of a Member of Congress is real short. It is to take care of your constituents and have oversight of the Federal Government.

This amendment deals with the oversight portion. It is oversight of an unauthorized Federal agency, of which we have over 1,200 unauthorized agencies. An unauthorized agency is one that was simply not approved by Congress.

In this case, the agency was approved through the executive branch to help with overseeing the implementation of NEPA back during the Nixon administration. Since then, it has become one of the rogue, woke, climate control warriors for the Biden administration, pushing rules and regulations. As a matter of fact, the budget for this unauthorized agency was around $3.75 million. It happened to grow during the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act to over $62 million.

Now, the Council on Environmental Quality is just one of a long list of unauthorized agencies in this Federal Government.

During recent oversight hearings, on four occasions, Director Brenda Mallory was requested to come and testify. Now, she only showed up one time. During that time, she decided that she would refuse to answer questions. She didn't have to answer our questions on any subject.

Let me make that even clearer. She wasn't refusing to answer my questions or the committee's questions. She was refusing to answer to the American people, the very taxpayers that foot the bill for that agency. You see, they have gotten to where, like other agencies, like the one that was just mentioned, they feel they don't have to answer to us. They don't have to answer to the American people. They are beyond that. It is beneath them to have to explain what they do.

This amendment does one simple thing. $3.75 million is their annual budget. It simply takes that from this woke, climate-change-warrior- style agency, and it moves it over to the national parks to their construction fund, and what that does is that is going to help, Mr. Chairman, with the backlog of deferred maintenance that is in the national parks.

The national parks are running a deferred maintenance because of Members from the other side of the aisle using their funds on the national parks for pet projects.

Mr. Chair, I urge the passage of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, this is a prime example of another rogue, unauthorized agency out there that is implementing rules and regulations for which they were not set up. It also is an agency that was issued $62 million through the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act. Therefore, they have plenty of cash over there. This simply takes $3.75 million and moves it over to help with the deferred maintenance in the national parks.

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

I ask unanimous consent to reclaim my time.

Mr. Chairman, I believe that $62.5 million was given to this agency in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed into law. Any bill that is out there that rescinds that money has not been signed. Therefore, it is still there.

I am simply saying, take the $3.75 million, which is our duty as Members of Congress to have oversight, especially over an agency that was never

authorized by Congress. I don't care which administration it is. Wrong is wrong. This agency is not authorized by this body. Therefore, I am asking for the funds to be moved over to the national parks for their deferred maintenance. I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Chair, my amendment prohibits any funding from being used by the EPA to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce NOAA's vessel speed limiter rule.

This is a misguided rule that would require any vessel over 35 feet to go 10 knots or less all along the Eastern seaboard from Maine all the way down through Florida. They claim they are doing this in order to protect the North Atlantic right whale.

Well, let's review some of the facts.

Approximately 15 whales have been killed by boats in the last 18 years. You have got better odds of hitting the lottery than this.

The right whale population has been consistent since 1980.

The right whales used to calve every 3 to 5 years, but now they are only calving every 7 to 9 years.

What is this rule going to do for the economic impact? It has a $84 billion economic impact on the East Coast. It will jeopardize 340,000 East Coast jobs, and there are 63,000 registered boats that will be impacted with this new rule.

There is a better way to track these whales, but NOAA just refuses to do it. We tag horses, cows, pets, many other animals. Why can't we tag these whales as well? There is no reason that we can't use some commonsense solutions such as this. Tagging the whales would allow the boats to avoid any whales that are in the area without the need to put some burdensome speed restrictions all along the East Coast.

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

Mr. Chairman, I urge all my colleagues to adopt this commonsense amendment and prevent the EPA from enforcing this job- killing rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, as a Member of Congress, our job description up here is really short: Just take care of your constituency and just have oversight of the Federal Government, and we do that through things called appropriations and hearings. Appropriations are what we are working on right now.

Well, I want to tell you: The past 9 months, I have been out here crossing this country attending field hearings. I have also been speaking with and listening to members of our industries about the overreach and the out-of-control government agencies that we have up here, and that is why I rise today.

I rise today to speak about an important issue that, sadly, this bill is going to fail to address. You see, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's boat speed limiter proposed rule, which, by the way, NOAA is an unauthorized Federal agency, never authorized by Congress, but NOAA's rule limits the speed now of all boats 35 feet and longer to 10 knots, and this is up and down almost the entire eastern seaboard.

Now, they are doing this by claiming that this rule is necessary to save the North Atlantic whale, which, by what I have been able to find, they have been able to maintain roughly the same population since the 1980s, so I just wanted to go over a few quick facts.

Now, approximately 15 of these whales have been killed by boats in the last 18 years. Now, there are approximately 63,000 registered boats in this 35- to 65-foot length. That is a one in a million--in a million--chances that you are going to hit one of these whales. If you do, you are going to come out on the short end of the stick, and they are going to know it.

This is what is going to happen. This is going to have an $84 billion economic impact just on the East Coast. Also on the East Coast, 340,000 jobs will be impacted. This rule is not just going to cripple the boating and sport fishing industry. It is going to crush it, and it is also going to crush and kill the communities that support them.

Now, I offered an amendment to prohibit the Coast Guard from enforcing this rule, because I think our Coast Guard has a whole lot more important things to be out there doing, but, sadly, my amendment was not made in order.

Therefore, Mr. Chair, I stand today and I urge my colleagues to fight for language that is going to prevent the Coast Guard from enforcing this misguided rule during our conference committee.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3371) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to complete all actions necessary for certain land to be held in restricted fee status by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 3371, the bill now under consideration.

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

Madam Speaker, H.R. 3371, the Wounded Knee Memorial and Sacred Site Act, introduced by Congressman Johnson from South Dakota, would place approximately 40 acres of fee land within the Pine Ridge Reservation into restricted fee status for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

The land would be held as a memorial and a sacred site in remembrance of the Indian people killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. In the mid- and late-1800s, there were many armed conflicts between Tribes, settlers, and U.S. military on the Great Plains and in the Western United States.

This contributed to distrust, fear, and misconceptions between groups, and the Wounded Knee Massacre was a result of that atmosphere.

On December 29, 1890, a group of Lakota Indians, led by Chief Spotted Elk, had made camp near Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. U.S. Army 7th Cavalry troops were sent there to disarm the Lakota.

A struggle occurred between the U.S. Army and some of Chief Spotted Elk's band, a majority of which consisted of women and children. A shot rang out, and the U.S. Army opened fire on the largely unarmed group. At that time, it was estimated that approximately 300 Indian people were killed.

In September 2022, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe jointly purchased 40 acres of land where an old trading post was located. The piece of land also contains a portion of the area where the Wounded Knee Massacre took place.

On October 21, 2022, both Tribes signed a covenant stating that this property shall be held and maintained as a memorial and sacred site without any economic development and prohibited any gaming on the land.

I applaud Mr. Johnson for working collaboratively with both Tribes to develop H.R. 3371, which would place the 40 acres into restricted fee status held jointly by both Tribes and memorializes the covenant between them.

Restricted fee land contains the same restrictions against alienation and taxation as land held in trust, but title is not held by the Federal Government. It is held by the Oglala Sioux and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes.

This legislation and the land it sets aside will memorialize and honor the Indian men, women, and children who were killed in 1890.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson) and the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes for their work on this important legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Johnson), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation will further allow the Lakota

people to memorialize and honor their relatives and ancestors killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre. It gives title of the land to both the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe while ensuring that the land has the protections that restrictions against alienation and taxation provide.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2872) to amend the Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2013 to allow States to issue electronic stamps under such Act, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the matter under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2872, sponsored by the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), my friend and colleague.

This bill makes commonsense improvements to the Federal Duck Stamp program by modernizing how waterfowl hunters across the country can purchase a Federal duck stamp.

The duck stamp was created when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act into law in 1934. That law required waterfowl and other migratory bird hunters ages 16 and over to purchase and possess a valid duck stamp prior to taking of migratory waterfowl.

Current law requires hunters to physically possess a signed duck stamp on their person while hunting any migratory waterfowl. Even in States where electronic licensing is used, a signed physical duck stamp is required.

H.R. 2872 further modernizes the program by removing the 45-day requirement to have a physical duck stamp, and it allows States the option to sell electronic duck stamps for the entirety of the hunting season.

Under this bill, purchasers would still receive the physical stamp at the end of their State waterfowl hunting season, therefore preserving the long legacy of the Federal Duck Stamp as a physical representation of the conservation efforts of hunters for generations to come.

This is a good governance approach that will reassure waterfowl hunters and continue the unmatched American tradition of wildlife conservation through sportsman participation. I applaud Mr. Graves for his work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, which is based on a user-pays system through the purchase of items like the Federal duck stamp, is the envy of the world. In total, fees paid by the sportsmen community contribute over $1 billion per year in revenue that goes toward wildlife conservation, which is a truly remarkable achievement.

H.R. 2872 is a commonsense, bipartisan bill that underpins the North American model by giving hunters certainty while modernizing the Federal duck stamp process.

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

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 663) to amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 663, as amended, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 663, the Native American Child Protection Act, introduced by Congressman Gallego from Arizona, would amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act to reauthorize three programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of the Interior.

These programs include the Indian Child Abuse Treatment Grant Program, the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Program, and the Indian Child Resource and Family Service Centers, which would be renamed the national Indian child resource and family service center under this legislation.

These programs are intended to prevent cases within Indian communities where child abuse, neglect, family violence, and trauma may occur, and to provide treatment for victims of Indian child sexual abuse.

H.R. 663 also makes several technical changes to the underlying statute and requires agency reports on grant awards and performance.

The Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act was introduced in 1989 by the late Arizona Senator John McCain in response to widespread reports that Native children were being physically and sexually abused, that these incidents were going underreported, and that there needed to be supports in place to ensure the Bureau of Indian Affairs could handle the situation at the time.

The act created the programs that H.R. 663 would reauthorize, and it included provisions to provide Tribes with technical assistance training and other resources related to the investigation and treatment of the cases of family violence, abuse, and neglect.

The authorization for these programs expired in 1997. H.R. 663 would reauthorize these programs and make improvements to the programs' operations and service delivery.

Advocates cite the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act as the only Federal statute that sets aside funding for Tribal governments dedicated to child abuse prevention and victim treatment funding for Tribal governments.

I appreciate the gentleman from Arizona for bringing attention to this important issue, as abuse, neglect, and violence have no place in any community.

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

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time. I am prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, this legislation does the critical work of Congress to update and reauthorize programs. This work is especially important when the programs in question help protect children and support Tribes in caring for their Tribal members.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, the ox is in the ditch and it is time to go to work and get him out.

We were sent to Washington to work, but it sure doesn't feel like we are doing that right now. We promised the American people we would rein in these out-of-control Federal agencies and get spending under control. The way we do that is by uniting and passing conservative appropriation bills that will give us leverage against the Senate and the White House.

Colleagues, this has gotten out of hand, and we need to start voting. Let's put these bills on the House floor to debate and amend so that Members can put themselves on record. I am fine defending my votes back home. What I am not fine with is going home and telling people that we clocked in this week and we didn't do any work.

Mr. Speaker, we should stay here until we pass all 12 appropriations bills and send them to the Senate. Until we do that, the job is not done.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank our servicemen and - women, our military personnel who are stationed all around this world who are standing in the gap and who are ensuring that our freedoms are protected--not only our freedoms, but those of our kids, our kids' opportunity to grow up in the greatest country in the world.

We all know there are enemies out there all around who would like nothing better than to see this country, our freedoms, and our way of life be destroyed and taken away.

That is why, Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the veterans appropriations bill that will support our troops overseas and will let them know that we have their backs.

You see, Mr. Speaker, House Republicans are providing over $800 million above the President's budget request for new military construction that is focusing on the Indo-Pacific theater to counter China.

H.R. 4366 also funds new barracks and other quality-of-life projects just so our men and women in uniform can perform at their best while out there defending our Nation.

Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker, our troops and their families make great sacrifices in defending our country, and it is our duty to support them and give them that support they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss how the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill will honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom here and abroad.

Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place of hundreds of thousands of veterans who died fighting for us.

It is a tremendous honor to be buried at Arlington, but the cemetery is running out of space and is currently undergoing an expansion that requires funding from Congress to be completed.

The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill fully funds the cemetery's Southern Expansion Project, which will increase burial capacity until at least 2060.

Those who pay the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation must be honored, and the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill ensures America's most hallowed ground can continue to be the final resting place for our fallen heroes.

Mr. Speaker, since I was a little boy I have been told that a dog that won't bark in his own backyard ain't much of a dog.

Mr. Speaker, the number one enemy to the Communist Chinese Party is the United States of America. As a matter of fact, Xi Jinping has clearly stated that by 2049 he wants China to be the world leader diplomatically, economically, militarily, even in space. As a matter of fact, they are on pace right now to outperform and pass the United States as a leader in space before 2045.

Where are we right now? Well, China owns $870 billion in U.S. Treasuries that finance our debt. They either own or have a huge portion of the Chicago Stock Exchange, AMC Theaters, General Electric's appliance division, General Motors, and Smithfield Foods, just to name a few.

On another alarming note, they own 384,000 acres of American agricultural land. That is a 30 percent increase just since 2019. On top of that, they own land near an Air Force base in North Dakota. That is a clear threat to our national security.

That is what the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration appropriations bill is going to address. It is going to put American interests first by directing the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit the purchase of land by those associated with our foreign adversaries.

Mr. Speaker, this dog is barking, and Congress needs to address the threat right here in our own backyard.

Mr. Speaker, I am here to speak about the fiscal year `24 Agriculture Appropriations bill, specifically how this legislation supports American farmers and ranchers by slashing regulations and reducing spending back to prepandemic levels.

Georgia is the top poultry producer in the Nation. Our poultry industry generates an economic impact of $28 billion for our State.

This bill eliminates harmful regulations that unnecessarily dictate how to raise and market livestock which negatively impact Georgia producers and consumers alike. It also cuts spending to account for the end of the COVID pandemic emergency by saving $32 billion in taxpayer dollars.

My colleagues and I in the House are going to have the opportunity to discuss this legislation and support our rural communities and farmers.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the fiscal year 2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.

Specifically, I will highlight the work that this legislation does to rein in wasteful Washington spending while strengthening our rural communities and protecting our food supply.

Georgia is the number one State for poultry, and this bill reins in harmful regulations that dictate how poultry and livestock producers raise and market their animals.

This bill also prevents the purchase of land by foreign adversaries. Let me repeat that. This bill will prevent the purchase of land--U.S. land--by foreign adversaries, countries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

Let's take China for instance. China owns 384,000 acres of American agricultural land. As a matter of fact, they have even got land that is close to one of our air bases in North Dakota. That poses a national security threat, not just that, but a food supply threat.

Finally, this year's Agriculture Appropriations bill reins in Washington spending and D.C. bureaucracy by directing the USDA to focus State hiring efforts on assisting rural communities and producers.

So with that, and my colleagues in the House, as we continue to discuss and debate this appropriation bill this week, let's focus on our commitment to the American people and protect our agriculture industry.

Madam Speaker, I am reminded of the old hymn, ``There Is Power in the Blood,'' ``power in the blood, wonder working power.'' It also reminds me of something else, that Congress has the power of the purse.

Madam Speaker, yesterday, before I returned to D.C., I had a meeting with a local county official. I thought we were going to discuss infrastructure and workforce problems. He wanted to talk to me about veterans, homeless veterans, how it was increasing so much in his county, and the fact that we have borders that are just porous, with record numbers of people crossing those borders. Here we are, setting them up in rooms and with food, yet we have veterans all across this country living under bridges.

Madam Speaker, when I got to the world's busiest airport, I ran into a dear friend, a marine, on his way to his next assignment. I thought it was very ironic because here we are this week, discussing the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. That is right, the power of the purse.

We owe our veterans a debt of gratitude that we can't ever repay. We also owe our military, our current members of the military, all the tools that they can get in their toolbox.

That is why, this week, we are going to be discussing things. We are fully funding the health program for our veterans and fully funding the veterans benefits in all the VA programs. We are also focusing on infrastructure investments for our current military.

There is another thing we have with that power of the purse--not just funding, but cutting. See, we are going to cut out of our military DEI and CRT, which are hurting recruitment and killing morale.

Madam Speaker, as we go throughout this week and have this debate, for their salvation, I encourage my colleagues to focus on that power of the blood, but I also encourage them to focus on the power of the purse for these appropriations bills.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to encourage Congress to continue investigations into potential criminal conduct by President Biden or his family.

The web of deceit that is being spun surrounding this issue must be unraveled, and House Republicans are doing just that.

Yesterday, House Oversight heard from two credible IRS whistleblowers with knowledge of the Biden criminal investigation.

According to the whistleblower, Hunter Biden and his associates raked in a total of $17 million from China, Romania, and other sources between 2014 and 2019.

Knowing whether or not President Biden has been compromised or targeted by foreign actors is critical to our national security.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House to continue the investigations and pursue all reliable evidence. The American people deserve truth, transparency, and answers.

Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman for yielding me some time to speak on this very good piece of legislation.

Mr. Chair, as a member of the Science Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Aviation Subcommittee since I got here in January, we have spent countless hours visiting with stakeholders, manufacturers, and visiting airports to get a good feel and learn more about this. I must say that I probably still don't know one-tenth of what the chairman, the ranking member, or Chairman Lucas knows about this subject.

Mr. Chair, since the Wright brothers took their first flight, America has been the world's pioneer in the skies. That is why I rise in strong support of the FAA reauthorization bill that is before us today because it will build on that legacy.

Today, we will vote to provide much-needed long-term stability to our Nation's aviation system and ensure that our skies remain the safest in the world.

With this legislation, we will improve efficiency at the FAA and invest in our critical infrastructure, including regional and local airports. We will pave the way for new technologies and ensure that the FAA is ready to certify innovations like hypersonic aircraft. We will also strengthen our general aviation community, which is a key part of our Nation's economy and identity, and we will take steps to grow our aviation workforce and ensure our airlines can meet the needs of the traveling public and improve the passenger experience.

Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen for their leadership. I also thank their incredible staffs, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.