Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to Lieutenant General Larry Wyche, Deputy Commanding General, United States Army Materiel Command, and Senior Commander of Redstone Arsenal in my home state of Alabama, on the occasion of his retirement following more than 42 years of exemplary service to the United States Army.

Lieutenant General Wyche began his career as an enlisted soldier rising to the rank of Sergeant and he will retire with three stars. Those stars were not easy to come by. They were hard earned. Lieutenant General Wyche has been critical in transforming the manner in which Sustainment is provided to our Nation's Warfighters and he has been a champion for the health and welfare of the Organic Industrial Base--our arsenals, manufacturing depots, and ammunition plants.

Lieutenant General Wyche has shaped and led the day-to-day operations oflhe U.S. Army Materiel Command, a $58 billion logistics enterprise, staffed by more than 120,000 Soldiers, Civilians, and Contractors for more than two years. The command has a presence in all 50 U.S. states and 155 countries.

As Senior Commander of Redstone Arsenal in my district, Lieutenant General Wyche was in charge of the security and well-being of the more than 70 tenants, Soldiers, Army Civilians, and Families. Under his watch, the quality of life for residents and employees alike greatly improved.

Lieutenant General Wyche's many stellar achievements are too many to recite, but they have had far reaching effects at home and abroad. As a major, he deployed with the XVIII Airborne Corps to Haiti and did his part to restore democracy to that country during Operation Uphold Democracy. His bravery and courage were also tested in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lieutenant General Wyche began his career earning stripes and retires having earned every one of his three stars. We thank him for his leadership. On behalf of all those touched by his service, we wish Lieutenant General Wyche and his wife, Denise, and their family, good luck, good ground, and Godspeed. Army Strong.

Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to welcome Bishop Joshua K. Lynn to the House of Representatives. I thank him for serving as today's guest chaplain.

Joshua is the senior pastor serving Mastin Lake Church of God of Prophecy in Huntsville, Alabama. He also serves as the area presbyter, regional overseer, of north Alabama.

Bishop Lynn earned his bachelor's degree and his master of arts in biblical studies from Clarks Summit University. He serves Huntsville not only as a pastor, but as a volunteer with the Covenant Christian Academy Athletic Committee.

Bishop Lynn and his wife, Chrissy, also direct a summer youth program at Camp Boothe in West Blocton, Alabama.

Bishop Lynn and Chrissy have been married for almost 18 years, and they have four children: Camille, Ava, Heidi, and Elias. I understand they are here with Joshua today. We welcome them to Washington.

I appreciate the work Bishop Lynn has done and the positive impact he has had on north Alabama by providing care and support not only for the spiritual needs, but also the social and physical needs of our community.

Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of his retirement from the Department of Defense, I raise tribute to Mr. Richard S. Matlock for a 40-year career as a civil servant and distinguished member of the Senior Executive Service of the United States. Mr. Matlock was one of the Department of Defense's top Science and Technology Executives. In his most recent position, Mr. Matlock served as the Program Executive for Advanced Technology for the Missile Defense Agency. In this position, he led the development of the next generation cutting-edge missile defense technology and proved the benefit to the warfighter through realistic experiments in relevant environments. Mr. Matlock developed new missile defense capabilities that outpaced threats from potential adversaries and enabled the Ballistic Missile Defense System to defend the Nation, its deployed forces, and its friends and allies against ballistic missile attack. Mr. Matlock's portfolio inlcluded high energy lasers, advanced sensors, and future anti-ballistic missile interceptors. Mr. Matlock simultaneously directed a Department-wide missile defeat special program for the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Mr. Matlock's previous Senior Executive assignments included the Program Director for Ballistic Missile Defense System Kill Vehicles, Program Director for Modeling and Simulation, and Technical Director for Kinetic Energy Interceptors.

Mr. Matlock's broad based career in government service included major acquisition and scientific positions with the Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, the Missile Defense Agency, the United States Navy, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, and the United States Air Force.

While serving at the Missile Defense Agency, Mr. Matlock led the world's first destruction of a ballistic missile during boost using an airborne high energy laser. His expert management skills enabled the program to overcome numerous technical hurdles to accomplish a feat many leading scientists declared outside the laws of physics. Mr. Matlock also initiated a joint experimental plan with the United States Air Force to prove the utility of unmanned aerial vehicle systems in a missile defense role. As the Senior Executive responsible for developing, integrating, testing, and procuring advanced kill vehicles for all exo-atmospheric interceptors, Mr. Matlock defined a modular kill vehicle concept that decreased the number of system developments which reduced cost and risk. Mr. Matlock also redirected the agency's modeling and simulation approach by using state of the art open architecture frameworks that allowed plug and play capability of a disparate set of models from a diverse contractor base thus eliminating intellectual property loss and reducing the time required for model code rewrite.

During his tenure with the Naval Sea Systems Command, Mr. Matlock led the development and implementation of a joint missile defense research program with the Japan Defense Agency which set in motion the joint deployment of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Prior to employment with the Navy, Mr. Matlock was the Program Manager for Interceptor Technology Integration in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (formerly the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization). Mr. Matlock developed the Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile, a primary building block for the Nation's missile defense programs. As Program Manager for this technology demonstration program, he established the experimental pathfinder for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program. Mr. Matlock also built, launched, and operated several earth observing satellites, proving the value of low cost rapidly fieldable microsatellites for complex missile defense and space control missions.

Prior to joining the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, Mr. Matlock held several positions in the Department of the Air Force, both as an officer and civil servant including Chief of Integration and Analysis at the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory and Technology Director, Space Based Interceptor System Program Office at Air Force Systems Command's Space Division.

Mr. Matlock's major awards include the Air Force Aerospace Primus Award, the Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for Missile Defense, the Navy Superior Civilian

Service Award, the Missile Defense Agency's Star for Program Management, the inaugural Missile Defense Technology Pioneer Award, the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service.

Mr. Matlock consistently exemplified a true dedication to our Nation and its ideals. His vision and drive enabled fielding of a truly worldwide ballistic missile defense capability that will be part of this Nation's defense for decades to come. The Ballistic Missile Defense System is one of mankind's greatest technical achievements. Mr. Matlock created programs that matured technology, strengthened the Nation's industrial base, leveraged the capabilities of laboratories and universities, and grew a science and technology workforce that will meet the needs of the next generation of missile defense systems. Our Nation owes Mr. Matlock and his family a debt of gratitude for his outstanding leadership and service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend President Trump on his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

For emphasis, the Paris climate accord is not now and never has been an agreement that binds the United States of America because it was never ratified by Congress.

More specifically, the Paris climate accord, a treaty, was never ratified by the Senate pursuant to Article II, section 2 of the United States Constitution.

Rather, in yet another example of disdain for America's constitutional Republic, the Obama administration refused to seek Senate approval of the treaty.

By declining to move forward on a poorly negotiated bad deal, President Trump kept his promise to the American people to put America first.

Lest there be any doubt, the Paris climate accord intentionally hurt America to the benefit of competitor nations. In a global redistribution of the wealth scheme, the Paris climate accord called for America to give away tens of billions of dollars to other countries. That is tens of billions of additional taxpayer dollars on top of America's existing foreign aid giveaways. That is money America does not have, has to borrow to get, and cannot afford to pay back. That is nuts.

America must stop borrowing money to send overseas to help other countries take jobs from Americans. Is that really so hard for the left to understand?

The Paris climate accord undermined America's economy by putting American employees at a competitive disadvantage. By way of but one example, a comprehensive new study prepared by NERA Economic Consulting estimates that the Paris climate accord could cost the American economy $3 trillion in gross domestic product and 6.5 million industrial sector jobs over the next two decades.

President Trump is right. America must lead by putting America's national interests first. The Paris climate accord failed to do that.

By way of example, under the Paris climate accord, China and India, two of the biggest and worst polluters on Earth, have no new air pollution control obligations until 2030, at the earliest.

Contrast the abysmal environmental record of China and India with that of America. And let's be clear, without a Paris climate accord, America's carbon dioxide emissions have been and are being reduced. For example, between the years 2000 and 2014, the United States reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by more than 18 percent.

Further, over the past 50 years, America has been the world's environmental leader. No country on Earth has done more to reduce pollution by cleaning our air, cleaning our water, and properly disposing of hazardous waste. That 50-year record is compelling evidence that America's focus on being good environmental stewards will continue, with or without the Paris climate accord. That is world leadership.

I know of nothing that says we are going to stop being the world's environmental leader. That 50-year record is also compelling evidence that America can and will lead on our own without hamstringing ourselves with a badly negotiated, one-sided Paris climate accord that reduces America's wealth while costing struggling American families their jobs.

In summary, I am proud that President Trump puts America first. America should not and must not yield even a smidgen of our national sovereignty to the dictates of other, lesser nations.

Despite liberal climate-scare and socialist Democrat hysteria to the contrary, America has been and is, by almost every standard, the greatest Nation in world history.

With an America First attitude, America will continue its 75-year streak as the greatest Nation in the history of the world, second to none.

Mr. Speaker, as a former Tuscaloosa County prosecutor and Madison County district attorney, I fully understand the importance of the rule of law that, in turn, protects us from anarchy, crime, destruction, and death. Without the rule of law, criminal brute force prevails.

Unfortunately, leftist political forces who care more about inciting racial division for political gain and less about crime and terror victims regularly second-guess those who wear the uniform to protect and serve.

For emphasis, antipolice, leftist political rhetoric has helped incite ambush-style attacks against police in places like Dallas, Baton Rouge, Des Moines, and Palm Springs.

I support the Thin Blue Line Act because I appreciate the sacrifice of law enforcement officers, and because it is morally right to help protect officers who risk their lives to protect ours.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that I recognize a constituent of mine, Cindy Cooke, DNP, FNP-C, FAANP, of Huntsville, Alabama, for her service over the last two years as President of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).

Dr. Cooke has an exemplary career of service with 42 years as an experienced nurse and nurse practitioner. As a nationally board certified family nurse practitioner, Dr. Cooke has provided care to patients for 18 years and for over 12 years exclusively to active duty and retired military members and their families

Dr. Cooke has been involved in local, state, and national nurse practitioner organizations. Prior to her term as AANP President, Dr. Cooke was past President of North Alabama Nurse Practitioner Association (NANPA), the founding President of the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama (NPAA), past American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) State Representative for Alabama, and past AANP Regional Director. Dr. Cooke has been active in speaking locally and nationally on various clinical and health policy topics. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in 2009.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners is a national professional membership organization representing over 225,000 nurse practitioners nationally. Under Dr. Cooke's tenure, AANP membership has grown to more than 75,000 members, making AANP the largest nurse practitioner organization in the world. Dr. Cooke has helped lead nurse practitioners in transforming patient-centered health care and has made tremendous strides in ensuring that policy makers and the public understand the care that nurse practitioners provide to millions of Americans each year.

I urge my colleagues to join me in congratulating Dr. Cooke on a successful term as President of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and in thanking her for the excellent care she has provided to her patients, the nurse practitioner profession, and the constituents in the Fifth District of Alabama.

Mr. Speaker, fake news by the leftist Washington Post has gotten even more shrill and more irrational since Donald Trump became President.

At a Republican meeting in Philadelphia, a felony was committed by the illegal tape recording and subsequent publication of my private conversation with Vice President Mike Pence about voter fraud. The Washington Post reported that I said: ``In my first election in 1982, Democrats rigged about 25 percent of the voting machines to vote for everyone on the ballot but me. That's 11 of 45 machines.''

Rather than reporting about my being a voter fraud victim or about something else I said that a Federal court decree opened the floodgates for illegal alien voting, The Washington Post did a partisan fake news hit piece and gave me, the voter fraud victim, a four-Pinocchio score on truthfulness.

Mr. Speaker, I proudly wear The Washington Post four Pinocchios like a red badge of courage. I know what the truth was. I was there. Here are the facts:

In 1982, I was a Republican candidate in Alabama House District 18 at a time when Democrats dominated Alabama. All 31 of Alabama's statewide elected officials were Democrats. Democrats held every partisan elected office in Alabama's Tennessee Valley.

On election day, angry voters called me nonstop about rigged voting machines that would not allow them to vote for Mo Brooks. As a former assistant district attorney, I knew how to conduct an investigation. I talked with witnesses. I examined documents. Another attorney did the same. When the polls opened, 11 of 45 voting machines registered votes for all candidates on the ballot except for Mo Brooks. Not once was my opponent or any other candidate blocked on any machine.

My hometown is the birthplace of America's space program and many of America's high-tech weaponry. We know math. Mathematically, if there were 26 candidates on the ballot, which there were, and only one name is blocked out, the odds of a particular candidate being blocked out are 1 in 26. If there are two machines that each has one name blocked out, the odds of Mo Brooks being blocked out both times is 1 in 26 squared, or 1 chance out of 676 chances.

If there are 11 machines that each have one name blocked out, the odds that all 11 blocked names are Mo Brooks are 1 chance in 26 to the 11th power. Hence, the odds that my name, the only name, was accidentally blocked out on 11 different machines, as The Washington Post would have you believe, are 1 chance out of 26 to the 11th power, or 1 chance out of 3.6 quadrillion chances.

Conversely, the probability that these 11 voting machines were rigged is 3.6 quadrillion to 1. The evidence is overwhelming. There was no accident. The voting machines were rigged.

Who rigged the voting machines?

In 1982, every single elected official with control over voting machines was a Democrat. In 1982, I was campaigning in a hotly contested race to be the only Republican legislator in the northern third of Alabama. I was the breach in the Democratic Party dam.

Earlier in the campaign, the Democratic Alabama secretary of State, who is now serving hard time in Federal prison, notified me that I would be removed from the ballot because my paperwork was allegedly not in their files. Fortunately, I had date-stamped copies of the documents I filed, thereby forcing the Democrat secretary of State to back off.

The Democrats had motive. The Democrats had opportunity. The Democrats had control. It is fake news for The Washington Post to cover up Democratic sins by suggesting otherwise.

Mr. Speaker, The Washington Post's fake news hit piece begs a broader question: Why would The Washington Post even bother to write about an election they know nothing about that happened over 34 years ago? The answer: partisan paranoia. The Democrats and their media allies like The Washington Post are so paranoid and angry about President Trump's election that they are shrilly lying and lashing out against anybody, anytime, regardless of truth.

The Washington Post: fake news, sad.

As a footnote, despite the voter fraud, I won the election with 57 percent of the vote. In a court-ordered election just 1 year later, voters still angry about Democratic voter fraud reelected me with 82 percent of the vote. That is 25 percentage points higher than when the Democrats rigged the voting machines.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Georgia, Barry Loudermilk, for the leadership that he has shown in putting this event together where we on the House floor can try to help explain to the American people what is at stake here with the President's executive amnesty.

Mr. Speaker, in that vein, I rise to speak in opposition to President Obama's illegal and unconstitutional executive amnesty for illegal aliens. Why? Because I was elected by Americans to represent Americans in Washington, D.C. While, clearly, protecting the United States Constitution is the number one reason to fight President Obama's illegal and unconstitutional conduct, a close second reason is the economic welfare of American families searching for jobs that will empower them to take care of their own families.

In that vein, a report by the Center for Immigration Studies is very instructive. The Center for Immigration Studies did a report based on Federal Government data. It was collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Census Bureau. And this is what they found.

From the first quarter of the year 2000 to the first quarter of the year 2014, a 14-year period, with respect to people in America who are ages 16 to 65--and I will repeat that--ages 16 to 65, which is far and away the largest block by age of working Americans, the American economy for that 16 to 65 age group created 5.6 million net new jobs. Some would say that is pretty good--5.6 million net new jobs.

But do you know how many of those jobs went to American-born citizens? Do you know the answer to that question? Well, I would submit to you that every American citizen should--and they ought to be outraged by the answer. Of those 5.6 million net jobs created over a 14-year period in the United States of America for people ages 16 to 65, American-born citizens had a net loss of 127,000 jobs.

And you wonder why the polling data shows that Americans still believe they are in a recession. The answer is American-born citizens are still in a recession.

Well, who got those jobs? Well, according to the Center for Immigration Studies report, 5.7 million net job gains were by two groups: illegal aliens, plus lawful immigrants.

So look at the priorities of our Federal Government over the last 14 years.

Look at the priorities established by President Obama's executive amnesty. The priorities do not lie with American citizens. Rather, they lie with people of all kinds other than American citizens.

We had 127,000 net job losses, but that doesn't really tell the whole picture. We also had population growth in the 16 to 65 age bracket for American-born citizens during that 14-year period of time.

So do you know how many more Americans are unemployed today-- jobless--in the 16 to 65 age bracket because of America's faulty, porous like a sieve immigration policies? Seventeen million.

And you wonder why our youth are despondent, you wonder why they are depressed with the job circumstances they face, you wonder why American families cannot earn a living with the wages that are now being paid. It is because there are so many people in the White House, on K Street, and other places who are lobbying the United States Congress to dramatically increase the labor supply by bringing in illegal aliens and lawful immigrants to suppress wages and to take jobs from American families. That is wrong.

Now, you have heard the argument often raised: Well, Americans won't do those jobs. Let me tell you about those jobs for a moment. We have got two categories: illegal aliens and lawful immigrants.

Well, you can make the argument that illegal aliens are seeking the blue collar jobs and that perhaps Americans won't do them at the suppressed wages now being paid.

With respect to lawful immigrants it is a different picture. Over those 14 years, in that 16 to 65 age bracket, American-born citizens lost jobs while lawful immigrants gained jobs in these fields: engineering, architecture, health care, sales, office staff. Those are good-paying jobs that when I was growing up American citizens used to be able to compete for and get but which are now being denied because of immigration policies.

Those are sobering numbers, those are startling numbers. So sobering, so depressing, that I challenged my staff. I said, This report can't be right.

So my congressional staff went to the raw data from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Department of Homeland Security, and they confirmed that the Center for Immigration Studies data was correct. Which brings us back to President Obama's executive amnesty that does so much damage to American citizens.

The House has done its job. We have passed legislation to defund executive amnesty to prevent the President from doing what he has been doing. The problem, as has been the last 4 years that I have been in the United States Congress and hopefully won't be the case for the next 2 years, lies with the United States Senate.

Media reports say that we are in an impasse, that the Democrats are standing with illegal aliens and shunning American families and filibustering. And the Republican leadership is professing: We don't have the firepower, we don't have the 60 votes, we are stymied, we can't end this filibuster.

Well, Mr. Speaker, there is another option.

Let's think back for a moment and let's look at Harry Reid when he was Senate majority leader and the power that he wielded. And what did he do? He said: I am not going to let the filibuster stop me from achieving my political goals. And he exercised the nuclear option. And then under Harry Reid you did not need 60 votes for appointments of Barack Obama-submitted appointees; rather, a mere majority would work.

Well, if Harry Reid and the Democratic majority can do that, if they can stand up for their beliefs, however wrong those beliefs may be, then where is our Republican Senate leadership, and why aren't they doing the same thing? We have 54 Republican Senators. Mitch McConnell last time I checked is the Senate Republican majority leader.

All of our Senators have said they object to executive amnesty. Why don't they do the same thing in respect to bills that we have to pass to prevent government shutdowns, bills dealing with spending matters, and say only 51 votes are needed; no longer can a minority with a filibuster shut down the United States Government?

And so with that, Mr. Speaker, I would submit that it is time for the United States Senate to change their rules to reflect the will of the American people. And certainly if those rules can be changed for mere appointments by a President, they can also be changed to protect the United States Constitution and the separation of powers.

Mr. Speaker, I can't speak for any Senators or, for that matter, any elected officials in Washington, D.C., but I can speak for me and I can speak for the people of the Tennessee Valley of the State of Alabama. I vote to put the jobs and wage interests of struggling American families over the interests of illegal aliens. I encourage all Senators of both parties to do the same. Respect the wishes of the American people, act on behalf of the American people, and if you do that America will continue to prosper and the rule of law in America will continue to prevail.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association on its fifty years of dedicated service and proclaim September 2014 as Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association Month. Established in 1964, the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association's most important goal is to stimulate the economic and cultural development of North Alabama through the tourism and travel industry.

Representing the sixteen counties of North Alabama and an ever- expanding membership base, the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association is committed to expanding, and not duplicating, the objectives or efforts of local associations, organizations, and chambers of commerce that represent specific industry components.

The Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association is committed to sharing with the rest of Alabama, the South and the nation the great attractions, festivals, restaurants, and other entertainment options that North Alabama has to offer. From the W.C. Handy Music Festival in Florence and Riverfest in Decatur to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville and the Limestone Sheriff's Rodeo in Athens, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

I congratulate the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association on their fifty years of unparalleled success and wish them well and best wishes as they continue to promote the North Alabama region.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend the Alpha Delta Kappa International Honorary Organization for Women Educators on its sixty-seven years of dedicated service and proclaim October 2014 as Alpha Delta Kappa Month. Established in 1947, Alpha Delta Kappa's goals have been to establish high standards of education, give recognition to outstanding educators, build a fraternal fellowship among educators and to promote educational and charitable projects and activities enriching the lives of individuals everywhere.

With a membership of over 33,000 educators representing all fifty U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and Australia, Alpha Delta Kappa is committed to educational excellence, personal and professional growth and for collectively channeling their energies toward the good of their schools, communities, the teaching profession and the world.

Women in education constitute a great portion of the nation's working force and are constantly striving to serve their communities and nation in educational, cultural, and charitable programs leading to harmony, happiness, and peace among all people.

Over the last few years, the members of Alpha Delta Kappa have given altruistically to the communities they serve by raising nearly $14.5 million and volunteering over 2 million service hours. Alpha Delta Kappa also biennially awards over a quarter of a million dollars through its 11 scholarship programs.

I congratulate Alpha Delta Kappa International Honorary Organization for Women Educators on their many years of unparalleled success and wish them well and best wishes as they continue to educate our children.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak strongly and unequivocally in support of Israel's right to self-defense, the same right to self-defense we would assert if America were attacked and Americans killed by rockets and other weaponry.

Israel launched Operation Protective Edge in response to relentless and unprovoked rocket attacks launched from Gaza by Hamas, a brutally ruthless terrorist organization. In just the last 3 weeks, more than 2,500 rockets have rained down on Israel, and the targets of these rockets are not military but civilian.

2,500 rockets fired at any country is a lot. It is an act of war that triggers self-defense military responses. But 2,500 rockets fired at a country as small as Israel is even worse. To put the size of Israel in perspective, Israel is smaller than the Tennessee Valley of north Alabama that I represent. If anyone dared to fire even a single rocket at the people of the Fifth District of Alabama, much less if 2,500 rockets rained down on the Tennessee Valley, you can be darn sure that we would demand an overwhelming military response.

In Israel, Hamas fires at communities, at schools, at daycare centers, all with the same goal: to invoke terror by injuring and killing as many innocent Israeli citizens as possible.

Fully 80 percent of the Israeli population is living under the constant threat of missile attacks, having to run into the shelters constantly at a moment's notice, in the middle of the night, at all times of the day with mere seconds of warning. No country on Earth would tolerate such a situation.

So that we are clear, Hamas consistently places and fires its rockets within heavily populated areas, including schools and hospitals. Hamas does this to use their own civilian population as human shields. This means that every time they fire a rocket, they are committing not one, but two, war crimes: targeting civilians in Israel while using human shields in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it very well in describing the juxtaposition of Hamas firing from civilian areas in the hope of drawing fire and the use by Israel of the Iron Dome missile defense system: ``We use missiles to protect our people. Hamas uses their civilians to protect their missiles.''

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not emphasize how truly miraculous the Iron Dome missile and mortar defense system is. It is like hitting a bullet with a bullet.

I thank the Tennessee Valley's incomparable defense workers who, working hand-in-hand with very bright Israeli engineers and scientists, made hitting a bullet with a bullet possible. Untold Israeli citizens' lives have been saved as a result of the Tennessee Valley's technological contributions to Israel and the Iron Dome defense system.

Since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, Israel has discovered more than 30 offensive Hamas terrorist tunnels dug from Gaza under the border and into Israel. These tunnels have 60 different access points, and the entrances have been found in houses and mosques.

The purpose of the tunnels is to allow armed Hamas terrorists to emerge in Israeli communities to murder and kidnap civilians-- defenseless mothers, fathers, and children, it makes no difference to Hamas. Hamas kidnaps, tortures, and murders, and seemingly enjoys it.

Israel's only solution, the only path to peace in the face of those who kill in the name of religion, is Israel's disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza.

Israel is the only democracy in the tumultuous and dangerous Middle East. Israel is unquestionably America's most reliable ally in the Middle East. The people of Israel are engaged in a fight to protect their home, a fight for survival, and America must stand with Israel without hesitation.

Mr. Speaker, the June jobs report says America's unemployment rate dropped to 6.1 percent. While 1,115,000 new part-time jobs were created, a staggering, 827,000 full-time jobs were lost, and America's labor participation rate remained at 62.8 percent, the worst since President Carter.

A recent Center for Immigration Studies report, based on data from the Census Bureau and Homeland Security and Labor Departments, offers a startling and sobering insight concerning people in the 16-65 age bracket, so startling that I instructed my staff to double-check the report's data, and it checked out as factually accurate.

First, the report determined the American economy created 5.6 million new jobs in the 16-65 age bracket over the past 14 years.

Second, ``the total number of working-age immigrants (legal and illegal) holding a job increased 5.7 million from 2000 to 2014, while declining 127,000 for American-born citizens.''

Over the past 14 years, although the American economy created 5.6 million net new jobs in the 16-65 age bracket, American-born citizens lost 127,000 jobs. All job gains, and more, went to immigrants.

Third, even though the American economy created 5.6 million net new jobs over the past 14 years, population growth and job losses caused 17 million more American citizens to not be working in 2014 than in 2000.

Fourth, and contrary to what amnesty proponents and their media allies would have you believe, ``Immigrants have made gains across the labor market, including lower-skilled jobs such

as maintenance, construction, and food services; middle-skilled jobs like office support and health care support; and higher-skilled jobs, including management, computers, and health care practitioners.''

Immigrants swept the jobs field and had jobs gains in virtually every segment of the American economy. The argument that immigrants only do jobs Americans won't do is not supported by the facts.

Immigrants gained jobs while Americans lost jobs in each of the following high paying industries: architecture and engineering; transportation and material moving; installation, maintenance, and repair; sales; construction and excavation; office and administrative support.

Fifth, Americans of all major races lost ground. Black Americans lost, Hispanic Americans lost, White Americans lost. The percentage of working Black American-born citizens dropped 9.2 percentage points. The percentage of working Hispanic Americans dropped 7.7 percentage points, and the percentage of working White Americans dropped 6.1 percentage points.

Sixth, America's immigration policies over the past 14 years have been both a war on women and a war on men. The percentage of working female American-born citizens dropped 5.5 percentage points, while male American-born citizens did even worse, dropping 9.1 percentage points.

Mr. Speaker, I have two comments on the Center for Immigration Studies report. First, lawful immigrants have done well. Everyone would do well to learn from lawful immigrants' work and study habits.

Second, President Obama must start vigorously enforcing America's immigration laws. A Pew Hispanic Center study determined that illegal aliens hold roughly 8 million jobs in America. That is 8 million job opportunities illegally taken from Americans, thereby suppressing wages, causing unemployment, and creating income inequality among far too many struggling American families.

Mr. Speaker, I can't speak for anyone else but me, but as for me, Mo Brooks, the Congressman from Alabama's Fifth Congressional District, I will fight for the economic interests of American citizens as Washington works its way through the immigration debate.

Mr. Speaker, America's deficits have averaged a trillion dollars a year for 5 years. America's total debt has blown through the $17 trillion mark, and our Comptroller General warns America that our financial path is unsustainable.

Last year, America's debt service cost roughly $250 billion--which is five Federal transportation or 14 NASA programs we can't afford because we have to pay debt service.

If not fixed, what do these deficits and debt mean?

On a micro level, America must learn from Detroit and Stockton, where bankruptcy courts battle over pension plan funding. On a macro level, we must learn from Greece and Spain, where unemployment is 26 and 28 percent worse than America at any time during the Great Depression. We must learn from Argentina and Venezuela, where inflation rates were 28 percent and 56 percent in one year, in 2012.

Closer to home, we must learn from Puerto Rico, the home for 3.5 million Americans. In February, Puerto Rico's sovereign debt was downgraded to junk bond status, thereby damaging Puerto Rico's economy for years, if not decades, to come.

This brings me to the taxpayer cost of today's massive flood of illegal alien children surging across America.

According to Customs and Border Protection data, in fiscal year 2012, 24,000 illegal alien children surged across our border. That surge increased by 59 percent, to 39,000 illegal alien children in FY 2013. That surge increased by another 58,000 illegal alien children so far this fiscal year, with an estimated total of 90,000 crossing our borders for all of fiscal year 2014--a startling 132 percent increase.

How should America fix this problem?

First, the Obama administration must stop enticing illegal alien children to America with promises of amnesty and money. America cannot give

free food, free clothing, free shelter, free health care, free transportation, free entertainment, and billions of dollars a year in fraudulent tax refunds to illegal aliens and then wonder why we have an illegal alien crisis.

Second, illegal alien children from Central America and Mexico must be treated equally--prompt returns to parents and homes without costly and time-consuming deportation hearings. All contrary laws must be repealed or amended.

Third, America must immediately fly illegal alien children home by the least expensive means possible. It costs as little as $258 at cheapflightnow.com to fly from Houston to Managua, Nicaragua. United Airlines flies from San Antonio to Guatemala City for as little as $363 and to San Salvador, El Salvador, for as little as $292.

At roughly $300 a pop, it costs less than $20 million to fly 60,000 illegal alien children home. That is everyone so far this fiscal year. If America used C-5 military aircraft and counted flight time as pilot training time, the cost is even less.

Given America's perilous financial condition, the illegal alien children surge issue must be considered in the context of America's debt threat that risks a debilitating American insolvency and bankruptcy.

President Obama demands $3.7 billion to spend in just the next few months on a policy that does not solve the illegal alien children problem. Think about that. The President proposes spending $3.7 billion to not solve the problem. Yet spending $20 million wisely does solve the problem.

Mr. Speaker, this is a no-brainer. It is financially irresponsible-- no, financial insanity--to spend $3.7 billion America does not have, must borrow to get, and cannot afford to pay back when we can spend $20 million and get better results and better border security.

Mr. Speaker, in 2012, Obama evicted 649,000 illegal aliens. In 2008, Bush evicted 1.2 million illegal aliens, which was 80 percent better than Obama. In 1993, Clinton evicted 1.3 million illegal aliens, which was 98 percent better than Obama.

Now, Obama demands $3.7 billion from American taxpayers to cover up the worst border security record in decades.

Out-of-control debt risks an American insolvency and bankruptcy. Obama's border mistakes must be paid for by cutting foreign aid, not paying illegal aliens billions of dollars a year in fraudulent tax refunds; or by better government management, and not by borrowing more money.

Lack of money did not create America's porous border problem. Incompetent border policy did.

Presidents Bush and Clinton did better border security with far less money. President Obama should do the same.

Mr. Speaker, sometimes the gap between political hype and reality is so great it demands a rebuttal. The Obama administration's border security hype is a case in point.

In February 2013, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano proclaimed, ``the border is secure.'' Rarely has the gap between hype and reality been so great.

Similarly, my Democrat friends and their media allies repeatedly boast about Obama's border security prowess. For example, PBS recently ran a fluff piece boasting:

In one term, the Obama administration has deported roughly

80 percent the number of immigrants the George W. Bush

administration deported in two.

PBS failed to mention that deportations are only half the border enforcement picture. The other half is ``catch and returns,'' whereby Border Patrol catches illegal aliens at the border and promptly escorts them back without the time-consuming and costly deportation process.

So, how does the Obama administration stack up if the full picture is examined?

According to Homeland Security data, in 2012, President Obama's catch and return record was way below average, with Border Patrol catching and immediately returning 230,000 illegal aliens. In contrast, in 2008, the Bush administration caught and immediately returned 811,000 illegal aliens, almost four times more than Obama in 2012. Similarly, in 1993, the Clinton administration caught and immediately returned 1.2 million illegal aliens, more than five times than Obama in 2012.

Why are Obama's catch and return numbers so bad?

A Border Patrol agent told me on Capitol Hill that Obama pushes catch and return illegal aliens into the much slower and far costlier deportation process to inflate Obama's deportation numbers to artificially make Obama's border security record look better.

The best indicator of a President's border enforcement record is the whole picture: deportations plus catch and returns. In 2012, the Obama administration deported or caught and returned 649,000 illegal aliens. In contrast, in 2008, the Bush administration deported or caught and returned 1.2 million illegal aliens, 80 percent more than President Obama in 2012. Similarly, in 1993, the Clinton administration deported or caught and returned 1.3 million illegal aliens, 98 percent more than the Obama administration in 2012.

According to Department of Homeland Security data, and contrary to what my Democrat friends and their media allies would have the public believe, Obama's border security enforcement record is the worst in more than two decades.

But there is more. President Obama repeatedly promises amnesty to illegal aliens. As 1986's failed amnesty experiment proves, amnesty begets more illegal immigration. Mr. Speaker, amnesty promises must stop because they make things worse, not better.

Further, this administration must stop paying foreigners to illegally cross our borders. This is a no-brainer. America cannot give free food, free clothing, free shelter, free health care, free transportation, and billions of dollars a year in fraudulent tax returns and refunds to illegal aliens and then wonder why we have an illegal alien crisis.

These failings contribute to America's poorest borders and produce millions of illegal aliens competing for American jobs, thereby creating income inequality via wage suppression and lost job opportunities for American citizens.

Mr. Speaker, to solve the immigration problem, America must vigorously enforce immigration laws, stop promising illegal aliens amnesty, and stop giving illegal aliens stuff paid for with tax dollars forcefully taken from struggling American families. If America will be smart and do these things, there will be no immigration crisis, there won't be illegal aliens competing with Americans for jobs, and American families can better participate in the American Dream.