Mikie Sherrill

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to a rule for a bill that does nothing to protect over 450,000 New Jerseyans who will see their healthcare premiums skyrocket.

I took my first oath to the Constitution when I was 18 and went to the Naval Academy. It is an oath to serve, to run toward the fight. I ran for Congress after I saw Washington Republicans attacking the Affordable Care Act.

I promised I would take on the status quo. I would fight the big fights because that is what people expect of their leaders. That is what people deserve from their leaders.

I am proud of the wins that I have delivered as the Representative for New Jersey's 11th District: capping the cost of insulin and prescription drugs for seniors, funding the Gateway Tunnel, the PACT Act for veterans, flood mitigation projects, and delivering for Picatinny Arsenal.

New Jersey has trusted me, and last week, they placed their trust in me again, electing me their 57th Governor. I ran on a similar promise: to take on anyone and stop at nothing to lower costs and build opportunity for everyone.

This will be my last speech in this Chamber. I intend to submit my resignation next week and turn to protecting all of New Jersey.

My parting message to Jersey is: Thank you.

To my staff, thank you for your dedication to serving the 11th District of New Jersey.

To my colleagues, do not let this body become a ceremonial rubber stamp for an administration that takes food away from children--

--and that rips healthcare away from people and takes food away from children.

To the country, stand strong. As we say in the Navy: Don't give up the ship.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. Peter P. Errante, who is retiring after 41 years of faithful and dedicated service as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army at Picatinny Arsenal.

Mr. Errante chose to apply his knowledge and experience to the U.S. military's armaments enterprise at Picatinny Arsenal located in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District. The contributions he has made to our national defense, and to our allies' defense, are enormous, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude.

Mr. Errante started out his career as an engineer, and in October 2002, he was selected as the Deputy Product Director for Crew Served Weapons as part of the newly formed Program Executive Office Soldier, Project Manager Soldier Lethality Organization. He served a key role in standing up for that organization and will continue that position up to his retirement on September 30, 2025.

As Deputy, Mr. Errante executed over $7 billion in acquisitions and delivered over two million crew served weapons and accessories to soldiers and allies. He was directly responsible for weapon life cycle management, including development, production and sustainment of the M249 Squad Automatic Rifle, M240 Machine Guns, M2/M2A1 Machine Guns, Mk19 Grenade Machine Guns, Multi-role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon Systems (MAAWS) M22, M24, M25/M25A1 Binoculars, Mounted Machine Gun Optics, M107, M110, and M2010 Sniper Rifles, Medium Caliber Weapons, Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations (CROWS), and Non-Standard Weapons and Optics. Thanks to his efforts, Picatinny's Armaments Center has continued to develop and sustain vital combat systems that both our warfighters and our allies depend on and will continue to use in the future.

I want to thank Mr. Errante for the critical engineering and program management that he and his team have done over his career to support our national defense, and I wish him the best for a well-earned and restful retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to amend the rule to make in order the amendment at the desk that protects against any cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.