Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to table at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to table at the desk.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Keith Allen of Latta, South Carolina. Keith was a treasure in his community and in our State, and I join those who knew him and loved him in mourning his passing.

Keith was proud to be a fifth-generation farmer and considered himself blessed to manage Betty Allen Farms. That farm has been in the Allen family since 1837, and Keith was incredibly grateful for his roots to the land. For him, farming was more than just work. It was a calling and one that he was honored to step into.

In 2022, Keith was awarded South Carolina Farm Bureau's Distinguished Service Award. That same year he was named South Carolina Farmer of the Year by Sunbelt Ag Expo. Over the years, Keith was a partner in helping me to understand how I could best serve the farming and agricultural community in our State, and for that I am incredibly grateful and blessed.

I join the State in praying for Keith; his family and friends; his daughters, Kate and Karen; and his beloved wife, Libby. His life was one well-lived, and he will be remembered as a man of duty and honor.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Joe Wilson for organizing this fitting tribute to a statesman who we will surely miss. I join my colleagues here both from South Carolina but really around the country, and indeed around the world, in mourning the passing of our senior Senator, statesman Lindsey Graham.

Lindsey was more than just a Senator. He was a dedicated public servant, a fierce advocate for South Carolina, and an even better person and a great friend. His life, his legacy are the people and the lives that he touched, the energy that he brought to public service, the dedication to issues, the enjoyment of a good argument, even when you disagreed with him, and the humor that he always had really in almost every situation. It really was kind of a hallmark of who he was.

He was from central South Carolina, born to working-class parents who died very early. He was placed in an incredible predicament, at 21 years of age, to take care of his 13-year-old sister. What an insane thing to think about in our country right now, that somebody would do that and that they would not just try to do it--a lot of people would try to care for their siblings--but that they would be successful in that endeavor and really stop and take a moment and make sure that your number one mission was the success of your family and your young sister.

Lindsey's entire world was turned upside down when he lost his parents, but he did a remarkable job. I think that shows who he is as a person.

He has had a lot of titles, Mr. Speaker. He was in the State legislature; he was a Congressman; and he was our Senator for 30 years. In South Carolina, we have Senators for a long time. Thirty years is a long time in this body, and what a mark it is that he left.

Some people come up to Washington, D.C., and hit ``yes,'' hit ``no,'' and think that they have done something impactful, but Lindsey Graham was a mover and a shaker. He really understood how to maneuver and how to work with people to accomplish something.

I think it was said by Mr. Wilson earlier that even when you disagreed with him, he found something that we could work on together. That is a hallmark of who he was.

I first saw Lindsey when I was 18 years old, and he was campaigning for the first time for the United States Senate. It was after 9/11. He was in Congress at the time but was campaigning. Our President then, George W. Bush, was campaigning with him in Columbia, South Carolina. I just remember at such a young age, just the moment after 9/11, how impacted the country was and the feeling of unity. Certainly, the President captured that at the time. He captured that, and it really helped land him in the United States Senate.

I, fortunately, interned for him. It was an interesting summer because Lindsey always liked to tackle tough issues. He didn't come up here to not be in the middle of the fray.

President Teddy Roosevelt talks about the man in the arena, that even if he fails, he does so striving valiantly. That particular summer, Mr. Speaker, was the summer that he tried to tackle comprehensive immigration reform, which landed him in a lot of hot water from both sides of the political aisle.

I just remember that summer. Of course, I loved it. I had never been to D.C., but I loved the experience of fielding phone calls and seeing how our government works. That was who he was.

Later, Mr. Speaker, when I got elected to Congress, the Senator jokingly asked if I wanted my desk back from when I was an intern and my old headset back, but the scars from that summer were still fresh. I did not take him up on that offer.

The great thing about the Senator that I would say, just as a person who grew up watching his career and then being part of Team South Carolina and fighting for the State, was that he really invested in people. He would work with Congressman Wilson's office and Congressman Clyburn, the whole delegation. He would work with our new addition, our fantastic addition, Mrs. Biggs, to try to find ways to advance issues that she was working on.

He worked on things that mattered to South Carolina, whether it was an appropriation for a firehouse in Cheraw, South Carolina, whether it was a piece of legislation that he and I worked on, the Logan Federico act, it would be a phenomenally good change in the way that we track violent criminals in this State.

He always had his finger on the pulse of what was going on. He was always thinking about how to make the lives of South Carolinians and the American people a little bit better.

Everyone knows how impactful he was not just in the Senate but with the White House. He was the unofficial whisperer to President Trump, how to navigate and have success in this body and in this town, making sure that you are delivering an agenda that the American people elected you to do.

That takes real courage, that takes guts, and that takes a lot of long days and evenings navigating that endless array of traps that you could fall into, Mr. Speaker, but that was who he was. He didn't sit around and wait for things to happen. He was always in the middle, trying to make sure that we were delivering on the things that we said we would.

It was always an honor, Mr. Speaker, to work with him and Mr. Wilson, of course, and this whole delegation. It matters greatly. His loss is going to be tough to deal with just on a personal level but also on the way that he helped deliver for South Carolina.

In 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes: ``I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for His appearing.''

My friend, Lindsey Graham, has fought the good fight. He has kept the faith. Although unexpectedly, I know he is reunited with his parents. He has received that crown, and in the midst of that beautiful reunion, he has heard the words: Well done, My good and faithful servant.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Deputy Solicitor Jacob Lynn Godwin of Hartsville, South Carolina, upon receiving the Order of the Palmetto, our State's highest civilian honor. This distinguished award reflects Mr. Godwin's life of service, integrity, and dedication to justice, as well as his deep commitment to the people of the Pee Dee and the State of South Carolina.

A lifelong resident of Hartsville, Mr. Godwin has served his community through an accomplished legal career, including roles as a law clerk, assistant solicitor, judicial law clerk, public defender, private attorney, and now Deputy Solicitor in Dillon County for the Fourth Circuit Solicitor's Office. In each capacity, he has earned the respect of his colleagues and community through his professionalism, compassion, and commitment to fairness under the law. Beyond the courtroom, he has generously supported organizations such as Cypress Adventures, the Hartsville YMCA, and the Pee Dee Coalition, while also mentoring young attorneys and law students.

Mr. Speaker, Jacob Lynn Godwin's receipt of the Order of the Palmetto is a fitting tribute to a servant leader whose impact reaches far beyond any title. I ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating Deputy Solicitor Godwin on this well-deserved honor and in thanking him for his outstanding service to South Carolina.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, the Mexican cartels have never had better lobbyists than the Democrat politicians across the aisle who insisted that nothing was wrong for years.

As our communities were flooded, Democrats told the American people not to believe their own eyes, not to see the rising crime and the melees and the fracturing and the problems in every community across this country.

When the border was overwhelmed, they said it was secure. In fact, they told us that we were imagining a border crisis. When communities demanded action, they offered excuses. When law enforcement came forward and said we need resources, they were lectured by the ivory tower that Democrats sit in about compassion.

Their immigration policy boiled down to three simple words: deny, deflect, and delay. Their strategy was overwhelmingly rejected thankfully at the ballot box in the last Presidential cycle, but they refused to accept it. They refused to accept the reality.

The American people are done being put last at the expense of themselves and put in last place behind illegal immigrants. They are tired of being treated as if nothing is wrong. Something has been fundamentally wrong with our border for a long time. When we want to come and fix it and listen to the people who sent us to Washington to fix the most fundamental thing about a country, it is borders.

We are told all types of unimaginable things. We are here on immigration and a border bill, and we are told we are dealing with the economy on their end.

This is about the border and securing the most fundamentally sacred thing in our country, which is our border. I think this is basic stuff. Fund law enforcement and don't defund them. Let them enforce the law and do their job.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Latta High School baseball team on winning the Class A state title in South Carolina. This championship marks the program's 10th state title and its first since 2018, a tremendous accomplishment that reflects the team's determination, resilience, and commitment to excellence.

The Vikings finished the season with an impressive 27-10 record and showed true championship character when it mattered most. After trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Latta mounted a comeback, highlighted by a go-ahead two-run double from Caden Hyatt. Throughout the season, the team benefited from outstanding contributions across the roster, including strong performances from Darren Alford and David Greer, whose play helped power the Vikings' successful run.

I also want to recognize Head Coach Robbie Brown, Assistant Coach Aaron Miles, the players, families, school community, and all those who supported the team throughout the season. Their hard work and dedication brought great pride to Latta and to the State of South Carolina. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating the Latta Vikings on this well-earned championship.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Carroll E. ``Ed'' Hawn, Jr., a veteran, a hardworking member of his community, and someone who will be deeply missed.

Ed proudly served our country in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, and his service was something he carried with him throughout his life.

After returning home, Ed built a long career at Perdue Farms, where he worked his way up to become Shipping Superintendent before his well- deserved retirement.

Outside of work, he enjoyed the simple things in life. He especially loved hobbies like model trains, quilting, and machine embroidery.

He leaves behind his loving wife, Linda, their three children, and an extended family and community who will miss him dearly. Bronwen and I extend our prayers to them as they grieve his passing.

On behalf of South Carolina's 7th District, I express my deepest condolences and thank Ed and his family for his service to our country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the career of my friend, Lonnie Thompson, of Florence, South Carolina, on his retirement after 45 years of service to SOPAKCO.

While SOPAKCO might not seem like a household brand, this incredible company has played a critical role in supporting our men and women in uniform, dating back to World War II. They have become an institution in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina and a leading provider of MREs to the Department of War.

Lonnie is a proven leader in our community and in the shelf-stable food industry. He helped FEMA develop a civilian version of the MRE, which has been utilized for disaster relief purposes for more than a decade. Earlier this year, he was named as one of the most influential leaders of the Pee Dee.

Prior to joining SOPAKCO, Lonnie proudly served in the U.S. Army and National Guard for 17 years, where he honed his leadership and organizational skills as a tank commander.

Lonnie has two children, three grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and was married to the love of his life, the late Dorothy ``Dot'' Thompson, for 49 years.

I am grateful for Lonnie's service to our community, State, and country, and for his unwavering support of our men and women in uniform. I wish him well in his retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Diane Orlowski. She was a true force of nature. We came to know her affectionately on the campaign as Mama Deetz.

Mama Deetz would go shopping. She would call and make tons of volunteer efforts. She would do parades. She really was everywhere, but she had such an exuberance, a spirit about her, that was infectious. If someone heard her laugh, they might not even know what the joke was, but they were captivated by the laugh and would find themselves laughing, too.

She was a leader in the Myrtle Beach area, but also in Connecticut in the business community. She had decades of experience as a businesswoman. After retiring, of course, she did like most and retired to the Grand Strand.

We are going to miss her very deeply because of the life that she led and the person that she was. She loved her family dearly, her sons, her grandchildren. We were always impressed by the stories that she would share, the trouble that she would get into with her grandkids. She brought light into every room she was part of, and her absence leaves the world a little bit quieter without her laugh echoing through it. She will be deeply missed.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor Department of Natural Resources Officer Charles Ruth for 31 years of exceptional service to the State of South Carolina.

For more than three decades, Charles devoted his career to protecting our natural resources and preserving the outdoor traditions that make our State unique. During his time with South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, he served as the State's big game coordinator. He helped oversee the management of deer, wild turkey, and black bear populations across our State.

Over the years, Charles helped shape over 100 laws, engaged directly with the public of South Carolina, and ensured our wildlife policies were based on sound science and respect for landowners and sportsmen.

Thanks to his commitment, South Carolina's approach to wildlife management remains one of the strongest and most respected in the country. His work will continue to benefit our State for generations.

Mr. Speaker, in rather sad news, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Eddie Floyd of Florence, South Carolina.

Dr. Floyd was a lifelong Gamecock, a respected physician, a pillar in his community, but more than his titles, he really embodied a life of service to others.

From his decades caring for patients to his more than 40 years of leadership at the University of South Carolina, including serving as chairman of the board of trustees, Dr. Floyd believed in investing in people and in the future of our State.

He loved his community. He loved his family. He loved his alma mater certainly, and he worked every day to make all of them stronger. He leaves behind a legacy of service, leadership, and kindness.

Mr. Speaker, my prayers are with the Floyd family and with everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. South Carolina is a better place because of his service.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the opening of the Purdy Welcome Center and Conservatory Gardens at Brookgreen Gardens, a National Historic Landmark in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. This is the largest capital project at Brookgreen in the last thirty years. It will welcome visitors from around the world with a conservatory of living plant displays, including an expansive orchid collection, sculpture made from plant materials, and a wetland garden and trail that teaches best environmental practices.

I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Brookgreen Gardens on this milestone and in celebrating the cultural, educational, and tourism benefits it will bring to our state.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to set the scene in contrast to some of the revisionist history that Democrats seem to be talking about today.

The definition of a showerhead was outlined very clearly in a 1975 act that Congress passed, not some bureaucrat and not some administration. Congress actually got together and said we are going to have some efficiency standards on showerheads and a number of other things. We are going to pass this bill, in 1975, and for over 30 years that was the national standard.

Even the American Association for Mechanical Engineers, this is their definition that is in this bill. Along comes the Obama administration, and rather than take the very simple, easy-to-understand, congressionally mandated standard of what a showerhead is, the Obama administration, in some closet somewhere, decided we are going to reinvent the definition of a showerhead.

Now, why is this important? Because this is exactly why people have a problem with Washington, D.C. They make rules that are not congressionally driven, that the people elect their representatives to be their voice in Washington. No, it is some unelected, unaccountable bureaucrat that decides to create a problem and then solve the problem that they created.

This is a microcosm to a much larger problem. That is overregulation. I think the ranking member said Trump changed the definition. No, he changed it back. He changed it back to what Congress intended to begin with.

Now, we have the Biden administration that comes in and pulls it back again. We have this ping-pong effect of regulations that are creating uncertainty for manufacturers and creating uncertainty for consumers. You can take showerheads, but the Biden administration also did this on home appliances, gas stoves, any number of things. The degree of regulation that Democrats and their bureaucratic allies are willing to do even, as something as small as a showerhead, that should send alarm bells. Why are we not empowering people to make choices about what they want in their own homes?

If they want a nozzle that dribbles on their head, then go get one of those. If you want something that slices an orange, then go get one of those. That should be your choice as a consumer. But we find ourselves in this endless game of whack-a-mole in Washington, D.C., because bureaucrats create problems and then solve them like they have done something meritorious for the country. It is total BS.

This bill is quite simple: It restores the definition of a showerhead to what Congress originally intended in 1975. It was a law for 32 years before the problem was created by the Obama administration. Then they solved the problem.

The President is absolutely right not just on showerheads but on home appliances. The Democrats want to talk about energy costs. For a second, by the way, I think it is really rich coming from them because I think eight of the top ten States with the highest energy costs are blue States that are run by Democrat State legislators and Democrat governors. They want to talk about the rising cost of energy. It disproportionately affects blue States. Why? Because they have terrible policies.

This bill is quite simple: It restores the definition that Congress originally intended. If an administration, any future administration, wants to change policy, rather than that coming from the bureaucrats, it should come before Congress. Congress set the efficiency standards in 1975, and if Congress wants to address those, that is Congress' prerogative, not some unelected, unaccountable bureaucrat in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 951, I call up the bill (H.R. 4371) to amend the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 to enhance efforts to combat the trafficking of children, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

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 H.R. 4371.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this legislation, H.R. 4371, the Kayla Hamilton Act.

This legislation, at its core, is about common sense, in that if we had done a simple fix like this, Kayla would still be alive. It is something that I think my Democrat counterparts have lost track of during the last administration.

During the Judiciary Committee hearing, Kayla was referred to by one of my Democrat colleagues, who repulsively called her a ``random dead person.''

Kayla was a beloved daughter. She loved life. She loved her family. She had a cat named ``Oreo'' that she cared for. She loved her God. She was a young woman whose future was stolen from her by someone who never should have been in this country to begin with it.

In 2022, during the Biden-Harris administration, Kayla's killer illegally crossed the southwest border as an unaccompanied alien child, what they commonly refer to as a ``UAC.'' Walter Javier Martinez, a 16- year-old Salvadoran national, admitted to authorities that his aunt paid a guide $4,000 to smuggle him into the United States.

As is required by law with most UACs, Walter was then transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services. Instead of conducting a basic criminal or gang affiliation check, HHS instead focused on programming and wellness activities while missing clear signs of gang involvement.

Despite incomplete information and the sponsor's lack of legal status in the country themselves, HHS approved the placement. Martinez ran away within weeks from his sponsor, becoming 1 of more than 150,000 UACs that the last administration lost track of.

According to his sponsor, months later, Walter left to: ``do what he was doing in his home country--get in trouble on the streets and hang out with gang members.''

The Federal Government just needed to make a phone call to El Salvador. That is all that would have solved this. Instead, Kayla was brutally murdered because the government failed to vet Walter, a known MS-13 gang member with gang tattoos and a criminal history.

The Kayla Hamilton Act will help to ensure that another murder like Kayla's does not happen. First, this bill requires HHS to find out for UACs who are over 12 years of age if there is a criminal history or gang affiliation or gang activity in the child's home country.

Opponents falsely claim that the bill mandates strip searches. It simply allows checks for gang tattoos during routine medical intake. This stuff already happens. We are just asking that somebody ascertain whether that tattoo is related to a gang.

We also ask that they check their home country and see if they have a criminal background. We are not doing that. This is common sense.

Under this bill, gang-affiliated UACs would be housed in a secure facility designed to protect them from themselves and others. Opponents say this provision will lead to the indefinite detention of children.

In reality, UACs will be held only for the pendency of their immigration proceedings. That is it. When an alien is in a secure placement, their immigration proceedings generally are resolved expeditiously, within weeks or months.

Next, the bill bars illegal aliens from serving as sponsors. I think that is a key component to protect the children themselves. UACs should not be placed in the home of a person with no immigration permanence in this country, where their caregiver may be deported at any moment. That is not a stable environment for a child to live or thrive.

The Democrats say that this bill will cause family separation. This reform ends the perverse incentive that encourages illegal alien parents to have their children smuggled across the border. That practice is happening right now. This has been happening for years, particularly under the last administration. We should not be complicit in the smuggling of children into this country. No more.

In the last administration, the UACs were placed with sponsors before required background checks were even finalized. Mr. Speaker, that is kind of the point, right? For a UAC, we are not going to place a child in somebody's home where we don't know who they are and don't know their background. That is actually what was happening under the last administration. In some cases, criminal and sex offender checks were never initiated.

H.R. 4371 will end this insanity. By enshrining in law rigorous background check requirements, this will ensure UACs will not be placed with criminals or child abusers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this very important legislation to take a first step in reforming our very flawed UAC Program.

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

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

I prefer to keep the focus on the actual bill and not distracting arguments on a myriad of topics.

I think it is important to remember how we got to this place. We got to this place because of the failed policies of the Biden-Harris administration that imported millions of people into this country, that smugglers, paid in cash by parents in other countries, smuggled kids into our country.

Many of those kids, probably the vast majority of them, are innocent kids. But the Democrats in the House, specifically in the Judiciary Committee, seem to focus that that is the entire picture. That is not the entire picture.

Walter Javier Martinez was a gang member, and we didn't know it. Our own Federal Government, that is tasked with protecting the lives of the citizens of this country, did not know because they never called his country of origin. If they had, instead of doing paper-mache or other things they were doing for this kid that came into the country, they would have found out from his country that, yes, he has a history of gang activity. Yes, if we had screened him for gang tattoos, we would have found that, yes, he has a gang tattoo.

All we are saying in this legislation is that we have a little bit of common sense in this country. At the end of the day, when somebody comes in, the vast majority of these kids will probably go to a sponsor and not be in some sort of secure facility. But for the kids who are over 12 and under 18 who have a history of criminal actions, who have a gang tattoo on their forehead or another part of their body, all we are saying is maybe we shouldn't put those kids in our streets, right? Because every week seems to be another story, another Kayla Hamilton.

For the 3 years that I have been a part of this body, what I have seen is that the other side of the aisle buries their head in the sand to the real malaise that is going on in our streets

when these immigrants are causing a lot of these problems.

Why don't we get a little bit smarter about the things that we do in this country? Maybe we wouldn't have so many Kayla Hamiltons. I think that is important.

On the flip side of this equation, we know that the last administration lost kids, hundreds of thousands of kids. They did not know where they were. That is unconscionable to me that we were so busy--HHS, with Secretary Becerra, was so busy trying to set up his Ford assembly line that he was pushing people out into our communities who run away and who cause mayhem in our streets. That is alarming to me that our Federal Government would not be more responsible.

Can you imagine going to a State family court and saying to the Judge: Don't worry about the background checks; just send the kid out. Don't worry about the background checks on the sponsor. Just place them in this home, because at least he has got a roof over his head. We don't know anything about the people he is going to live with, but just place him up there. That State court judge would be thrown out of his position in a minute.

Somehow it is okay for the Federal Government to not do its job here. I think that is reckless. I think that is completely irresponsible, not only to the citizens who expect safety and security from their Federal Government but to the kids who are here.

Why would we give a child to a sponsor who we don't know anything about their background? We haven't done the sexual background checks; the sex registry checks. We haven't done the criminal background checks to see who these sponsors are. We are just going to let the kid go out there.

By doing nothing, that is exactly what the Democrats are arguing right now. I think that is irresponsible on so many levels.

Part of this is to protect future Kayla Hamiltons from happening in this country by unscrupulous and dangerous minors who are in this country. The other is to protect the kids themselves from sponsors who haven't been properly vetted.

If we care about the safety and well-being of children, which I hope that we all do, this is an easy lift, that our Federal Government would have a little bit more common sense, that we wouldn't set up a Ford assembly line and push people out into our communities and lose track of where they are.

In the case of Walter, think about this: He goes to his sponsor and within weeks he is gone. The Federal Government had no idea that he left, for months. The only way that they found out was after he killed Kayla Hamilton, months later.

The sponsor didn't say anything. Walter didn't turn up anywhere until he killed somebody. We didn't know about it? We didn't know about these things? I think that is reckless.

This bill is common sense. I think this country wants a little bit of common sense. I think they deserve a little bit of common sense. They want their Federal Government to work for them. They want to feel like when a child comes to this country, however he or she came to this country, that we would vet them before we place them in our communities and allow them to cause mayhem.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), my good friend.

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

Mr. Speaker, just briefly, in response, I appreciate the comments, but I wish that the gentlewoman from California would have been in the Judiciary Committee hearing to learn what the law actually says. It is something that she

has completely omitted from her remarks.

She said that kids are subject to strip searches under this bill. Mr. Speaker, we already do medical evaluations of children when they come into this country. That is already in practice. All we are saying is that when there is a tattoo on your shoulder or on your forehead that is a gang tattoo, then maybe we shouldn't send you into the streets.

They said that this bill is anti-children somehow, that it keeps children from being separated from their families. If there is somebody who is smuggled across our border who has a gang affiliation or prior gang convictions or charges in their country of origin, then maybe we shouldn't unite them with their family in this country when they are a danger to themselves and to the rest of society.

I appreciate the comments, but I think a little bit of homework and due diligence would have made those remarks a lot more effective.

I think it was said that the sponsors already receive background checks. Yes, presumably, they do. However, in these cases what we saw during the Biden-Harris administration was while the background checks were ongoing and not yet complete, we were sending kids to houses with sponsors without background checks.

That is the rub. That is the problem. That is what this bill will fix so that we no longer have the lawlessness that we saw in the last 4 years.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I have been sitting here stunned and astonished for 1 minute that just 1 second ago I talked about what the law was, and despite that, the gentlewoman from Illinois comes forward to, again, repeat the same old, tired hackneyed lies that they have been perpetuating for months about this bill.

If they want to complain about theses strip searches that they say occur or are occurring under this bill, maybe they should go talk to the Member of their conference who wrote the original law that processed this: the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. That was a Zoe Lofgren bill.

They want to complain about the medical evaluations that happen right now under a bill that they wrote, and they want to blame Republicans.

This kind of reminds me of: The economy is the Republicans' fault, but they are the ones who caused the inflation crisis under Joe Biden. The border is secure, but we saw millions of people illegally come into this country causing mayhem. Housing is too expensive, but they have regulated all businesses in this country into the ground in the last administration.

These are things that they have caused.

They want to talk about how we can perfect the medical evaluations of minors who come into this country. Fine, we can talk about that. However, I think there has to be a little bit of ownership for a minute that they are the ones who created the dang law, not us.

All we are saying is that when you go through that medical evaluation, Mr. Speaker, when you come into this country and you are screened, that we just look for gang tattoos.

The hyperbole is, quite frankly, disturbing and absurd. There was one member of the Democratic Judiciary Committee who said that kids were going to have a colonoscopy because of this. The last time I checked, Mr. Speaker, you can't get a tattoo on your colon. That is not how this works. We are just saying that when you go through this medical evaluation, Mr. Speaker, that somebody checks and says that they have a tattoo. They have a tattoo on their shoulder, on their forehead, on their neck, on their ear, below their eye, I don't know.

When we identify that and it looks like a gang tattoo, then maybe we shouldn't release that person into our streets. I think a little bit of intellectual honesty would go a long way. If they want to talk about medical evaluations and whether we should do them or not, good, then write a bill that amends the bill that they already wrote that became law in 2008.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman said that we were ripping children away from their mother's arms. Let me remind the gentlewoman from Florida that these are kids who are by themselves when they come to this country. However their parents decide that they should send them here. They are here without their parents. That is why they are a UAC. That is the legal term, an unaccompanied alien child. They do not have their parents present.

Again, the gentlewoman thinks that we are criminalizing kids. No, we are not. We are just saying that we should check the backgrounds of these children when they come in because not every child is this innocent, sweet child when they come in here. Most of them probably are, but not every one of them is. Sometimes, they have very troubled home lives and troubled communities, and for whatever reason, they are in our country.

Let's not repeat the mistakes of their country of origin and just let them out onto our streets. In the case of Walter Javier Martinez, he didn't stay with his sponsor but for a couple of weeks. Then, he was out on the streets by himself again, doing the exact same thing he did in his country of origin.

Let's get the facts a little bit straight when we talk about this.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, today, we have an opportunity to take seriously the deficiencies in our UAC Program that have been exposed in the last 4 years of the Biden-Harris administration. Kids who are gang members in their country of origin are allowed to go to a sponsor.

Instead of doing background checks on the kids or checking for tattoos, we give them papier-mache projects and ask them to identify their gender if they feel comfortable talking about it. These are things that actually happened with Walter Javier Martinez.

Rather than take that money that the American people have given to the U.S. Treasury to spend for their safety, we are doing these ridiculous things instead of actually vetting a gang member from El Salvador.

Why don't we do it a little bit better in this country? Why can't we be a little bit smarter in this country?

Mr. Speaker, I will concede very easily that most kids are probably innocent. I have no problem with that, but for the ones that aren't, why are we putting them on our streets? Why are we not conducting adequate background checks on their pasts?

It took, in this case, a local cop in Maryland calling his country of origin to find out, after Kayla was murdered, that he had a criminal past. Why wouldn't we do that on the front end before we have a Kayla Hamilton?

On the flip side of this, I think this is just common sense, that if the law says that sponsors should undergo background checks before we release a kid, sure. Under the last administration, they were too busy pushing kids to sponsors at a record pace that they never even allowed those background checks of the sponsors to come back. They pushed kids into homes before we even knew what the sponsor was like, who they were, or what kind of background they had.

Mr. Speaker, that is reckless endangerment of a child. If we have, all of a sudden, the care and custody of an unaccompanied alien child, maybe we should make sure that the person we send them to isn't a criminal themselves, isn't engaged in sexual exploitation, and isn't engaged in human trafficking.

That is common sense, but what I have heard is that we are going to keep repeating the same tired lies, the same tired fabrications of what actually is going on in this country. Let's be a little bit smarter about the way that we do business.

We can protect kids with this bill. We can also protect our citizens to make sure that Kayla Hamiltons don't happen in every community in our country.

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