Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 962, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the Speaker to immediately schedule this important bill.

Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I stand in opposition to the amendment offered by Mr. Sherman that conditions defense transfers to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan actively contributes to international security efforts. We see their forces working alongside coalition forces in countering terrorism in Afghanistan, in addition to contributing a logistics supply route vital to U.S. and coalition forces.

Azerbaijan lies in a compromising position between two hostile forces: Russia and Iran. Our bilateral relationship and the incredible amount of support the Azeris have provided to U.S. missions in Afghanistan were strong indicators of how our partnership has grown since Azerbaijan first gained its independence in 1991. We must not limit our ability to provide reciprocal support to our friend and partner in a tumultuous region.

Putin's history of utilizing military force against its neighbors, such as Ukraine and Georgia, forebodes his willingness to use the same methods against others that counter him.

The United States Department of State is responsible for the review of sales and transfers of defense articles and services. They exercise this responsibility through an interagency process that assesses each possible arms transfer on a case-by-case basis. Mr. Sherman's amendment unnecessarily singles out Azerbaijan by placing an additional certification requirement on the State Department's armed sales review process.

The length of time this amendment would add to the defense exports review process is detrimental in the event of an attack by militarily superior Russia against our security partner, Azerbaijan, while providing no added benefit to our bilateral relationship. This would include a lengthening of time in reviewing arms sales intended for Azeri forces operating in counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an Armenian-occupied territory inside the borders of Azerbaijan, which has undergone bitter conflict for two decades.

The OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, has sought a peaceful solution to the conflict since 1992. By conditioning sales to Azerbaijan, the United States Congress would tilt the United States neutral position as a member of the Minsk Group and hinder resolution efforts in Nagorno-Karabakh. By taking sides, the trust that has been built up by the U.S. and Azerbaijan through the group's efforts would be gravely diminished, and the conflict would degenerate further.

The NDAA is not the appropriate vehicle for taking sides on a political issue, nor should it be used to influence a process that clearly lies within the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

This amendment is not required. The Department of Defense already adheres to the provisions of the Department of State's March 2019 extension of section 907, which specifies that assistance to Azerbaijan will not be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.

I oppose this amendment, which halts the positive momentum of our bilateral relationship, particularly with the arrival of U.S. Ambassador Lee Litzenberger in January of this year.

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

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the Speaker's table H.R. 3401, with the Senate amendment thereto, and concur in the Senate amendment. This bipartisan bill passed the Senate with 84 votes and could be sent to the President's desk for his signature today.

Madam Speaker, now we have a Democratic Presidential candidate who seems to think that some things named to honor Thomas Jefferson should be renamed, going as far as to say, ``It's the right thing to do.'' Well, maybe he should go back to school and learn about the stunning impact our Founding Fathers had not only on American history but the history of the world.

To use 21st-century sensibilities to help frame the future may be a good thing, but to use those same sensibilities to judge the past or, worse, to erase parts of our history is simply stupid.

If we measure historical figures and places against a model of perfection, nobody and no nation will ever meet it. We must celebrate the achievements of the past and learn from its mistakes without erasing or rewriting the parts that make 21st-century Americans uncomfortable.

The story of America is the story of progress, of advancement, of always getting better. We should embrace that history in its totality.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Digital GAP Act of 2019, which I was proud to introduce with Ranking Member McCaul and Representatives Lieu and Bera.

In our increasingly connected world, internet access is a tremendous driver of economic growth. But 60 percent of the world's population remains offline and out of reach of U.S. businesses, organizations, and educators--largely due to a lack of telecommunications infrastructure.

The Digital GAP Act will promote commonsense ``build once'' policies to help ensure that companies have opportunities to incorporate telecommunications into new infrastructure construction projects.

This will provide opportunities to the private sector and reduce the cost of bringing new communities online.

The bill also presses for the removal of onerous tax and regulatory barriers to Internet access, and calls on the State Department, USAID, and other government agencies, to partner with businesses to increase private investment in internet infrastructure in developing countries.

As we compete overseas with an increasingly aggressive China, we must make America's assistance and development strategies more effective.

Bills like the Digital GAP Act and the Championing American Business through Diplomacy Act, which passed 2 weeks ago, will do just that by strengthening the United States partnership with the private sector.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Intercountry Adoption Information Act authored by my friend from Georgia (Mr. Collins).

The world today is full of orphaned children, but it is also full of loving families who are ready and eager to adopt them. All too often, American families encounter policy obstacles that delay and prevent those adoptions. Some countries have halted adoption processing, suspended foreign adoptions, or banned adoption altogether.

This information doesn't always make it across the world to waiting American families. Many times, they are already midway through the difficult adoption process when these policy changes occur.

Without full information, they cannot understand the impact on their own cases. This leaves adoptive parents in wrenching situations, separated from their child and unsure how to proceed.

This bill ensures that American families are not left in the dark by requiring the State Department to publicly report on legal and policy changes other countries make that may impact the adoption process. It also requires the State Department to explain its efforts to resume stalled adoption proceedings so that American parents know what their country is doing to successfully bring their children to their new home.

As a father of three, I can say that there is no greater feeling than being a dad. I know other parents in this Chamber feel the same way. This bill is an opportunity for both parties to come together to do something positive for American families.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins), the lead Republican on the Judiciary Committee and the author of this bill.

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

Madam Speaker, I again thank Representative Collins for this bill. American parents ought to know how foreign policy decisions impact their lives. They also deserve to know what our government is doing to help unite them with their children.

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

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

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Global Electoral Exchange Act authored by my friend and fellow Texan, Mr. Castro.

Authoritarian regimes are a threat to personal liberty, international security, and economic progress all around the world. Countries like China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela present major roadblocks to global peace and prosperity, but there is nothing that dictators fear more than free markets and free people. This is why tyrants use repressive tactics to stifle dissent and crack down on public protests.

The world is a safer, more prosperous place when individuals are governed as citizens, not subjects. This is why promoting democracy abroad has always been a bipartisan cause.

The United States must maintain its leadership in keeping the flame of freedom burning. This legislation gives us another opportunity to be that leader.

The Global Electoral Exchange Act would facilitate the international exchange of election monitors, poll workers, and civil society leaders who participate in the administration of elections. By promoting best practices and empowering foreign societies to conduct elections that truly recognize the will of the people, these exchanges will strengthen democratic institutions in other countries.

Let's pass this bill and demonstrate that America remains a beacon of hope and freedom to the world by empowering free and fair elections.

Madam Speaker, I do want to thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Castro) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows) for their hard work on this bill. Friends of democracy have an interest in free and fair elections that are credible and protected from manipulation. This bill promotes that and deserves our unanimous support.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution to denounce female genital mutilation as a violation of the human rights of women and girls.

I want to thank my committee colleagues, Congresswoman Lois Frankel and Congressman Scott Perry, for introducing the resolution and for their sustained engagement on the issue.

An estimated 200 million women and girls have been victims of FGM, which has dangerous and lasting health implications. The United States and many other countries and international organizations have called for an end to this highly invasive practice.

Every year, the Department of State reports on the prevalence of FGM as part of the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, and this is an important tool for raising awareness of where this abuse persists.

This resolution urges the Department of State and USAID to go further and to incorporate anti-FGM efforts into their existing programming around the world. U.S. leadership is important to putting an end to this human rights violation.

Speaking as the father of a daughter and a grandfather of five granddaughters, I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

In closing, I again want to thank Representative Frankel and Representative Perry for their persistence in this fight.

Every case of female genital mutilation is one too many. This resolution calls on the nations of the world to do more to stop this awful violation of the dignity and safety of women and girls. It deserves our unanimous support.

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

Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 2480. I thank all of those who had any part in drafting this important legislation.

The Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act takes an important step in improving the lives of children in every State.

This bill authorizes important programs that will provide essential support for child protective service systems and communities fighting against child abuse and neglect.

This legislation before us comes at a time when State child protective services around the country are seeing resources increasingly strained due to the opioid crisis. H.R. 2480 provides the resources and reforms needed for States to combat this crisis and ensure that abused or neglected children are getting the help they deserve.

Under this bill, States and local providers can focus on serving children and families by streamlining duplicative and burdensome paperwork requirements. It also ensures community and parent involvement in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of prevention services.

I am pleased that the bill before us today includes an amendment that I introduced with my colleague from Maryland (Mr. Trone). The amendment ensures those working in the child welfare system are of the highest professional quality.

As has been said before, this work is critical. We want to ensure these people are ready to tackle this challenging work, and States need to know how to recruit the right people for the job.

The child welfare system contains some of the most vulnerable citizens in our society, which makes it so important that those working in the field get the education and professional development that is needed.

H.R. 2480 will allow State and local providers to better serve the almost 700,000 children who are victims of abuse and neglect every year.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, so now that the Trump economy is soaring and setting job growth records following the one-two punch of regulatory reform and tax cuts, some of my Democrat colleagues want to give Barack Obama the credit.

Well, this is laughable. This was the President who refused to accept responsibility for anything that went wrong for 8 years, instead blaming it on President George W. Bush. Remember?

Not anemic job growth, government overreach, doubling the national debt, Benghazi, and incompetent foreign policy. Now they want to take credit for the great things happening in this country 28 months into the Trump Presidency.

Sorry, you don't get to do that.

This is an outrage. It is wrong; it is demonstrably false; and it won't work. The American people are not stupid.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, which would prevent the President from rightfully withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement and codify President Obama's misguided and, frankly, over-the-top emissions reduction commitments.

There are two principles, I believe, that should guide our international agreements.

First, they should be fair and beneficial to the American people.

Second, they should not put the United States at a disadvantage vis- a-vis other nations of the world.

The Paris Agreement fails on both counts.

As already noted, if we implement the commitments made by the Obama administration as part of this agreement, it could cost the U.S. gross domestic product $250 billion and eliminate 2.7 million jobs. That is hardly fair and beneficial to the American people.

As it is, the Paris Agreement allows countries to determine their own commitments, without regard to their emissions. Should this remain the case, the United States will forever be at a disadvantage to self- interested countries, like China and Russia, whose emissions continue to grow. Meanwhile, our emissions were the lowest in 2017 since 1992. Despite this, our commitments far outweigh those made by the worst greenhouse gas offenders.

I submitted an amendment that would have, at the very least, addressed the disadvantage of this agreement. My amendment would have changed the enacted date of H.R. 9 to whenever the Secretary of State could certify that Russia and China were making commitments equivalent to ours.

I regret that it was not made in order and that my colleagues across the aisle denied us the opportunity to do right by the American people. H.R. 9 is an outrage, Mr. Chairman, and I urge my colleagues to vote against it.