Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 2 p.m. Friday, June 16, 2023; and further, when the House adjourns on that day, it adjourn to meet on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, when it shall convene at noon for morning-hour debate and 2 p.m. for legislative business.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth and Mamie Spears, who are celebrating their 80th wedding anniversary this year.

When they first met, Mr. Spears would walk several miles each way to visit Mrs. Spears before asking for her hand in marriage. When they married, they decided to call Effingham, South Carolina, in the Pee Dee home, and have been there ever since.

The couple shares a strong faith in the Lord and has raised their large family of 6 children, 13 grandchildren, and several great- grandchildren to do the same. They have always enjoyed fishing and farming together and now live a quiet and peaceful life.

I extend my sincerest congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Spears and wish them many more joyful years together.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to wish the Palmetto State, South Carolina, a happy 235th birthday.

On May 23, 1788, South Carolina became the eighth State to officially join the United States of America.

From the stunning coast of the Grand Strand to the rich farmlands in the Pee Dee, to the rolling hills of the Midlands, to the historic charm of the Lowcountry, and to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the upstate, I cannot think of a better place to call home.

Our $29 billion tourism industry drives our State's economy. People flock from all over to witness our rich heritage and our incredible atmosphere. We welcome over 40 million visitors each and every year. I have lived in South Carolina my entire life, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy birthday to my favorite State, the Palmetto State, South Carolina.

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. 3091.

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

Mr. Chair, I rise to call on my colleagues to support H.R. 3091, the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act.

This week is National Police Week, and I applaud the majority's dedication to supporting and celebrating our Nation's law enforcement officers who risk their lives every single day to keep us safe.

This bill is just one legislative commitment we are taking to support our brave men and women in blue. This legislation would allow current Federal law enforcement officers in good standing to purchase a retired service weapon at market value from a Federal agency.

Current Federal regulations require all Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Secret Service or U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to destroy weapons after they have been retired from Federal use. That means that these retired firearms must be crushed, cut, broken, or deformed to ensure that they are rendered completely inoperable and cannot be used again.

According to the Fraternal Order of Police, multiple law enforcement agencies are currently in the process of replacing their service weapons.

This means that 20,000 firearms would be destroyed, an $8 million cost to the taxpayers. Taxpayers are paying for those weapons twice-- when they go into circulation and when they are retired.

Not only does this legislation have the potential to save millions of dollars in waste, but it would offset the cost of purchasing new weapons and fund other agency expenses.

I thank the cosponsors of the bill and strongly urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 3091.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).

Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I am proud that this legislation passed favorably out of the Judiciary Committee last week and already has a considerable number of cosponsors.

As we celebrate, honor, and remember our men and women in uniform during National Police Week, I am proud to bring this legislation to the House floor for a vote that will allow Federal law enforcement officers to purchase retired service weapons and prevent wasteful spending.

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

Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to this amendment.

Mr. Chair, good standing is already universally understood by all Federal agencies. If an officer has been suspended, they surrender their badge and gun and do not have law enforcement authorities.

This is not a new concept. In fact, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, signed into law 19 years ago, requires a finding of good standing by the agencies in order for retired officers to be eligible to carry a concealed weapon.

By requiring an agency to adopt standards to determine good standing for the purposes of this bill, her amendment would establish a double standard where a law enforcement officer could be in good standing for the purposes of their job, but the agency considers them not to be in good standing for the purposes of purchasing a retired service weapon. This potential two-track system is ripe for abuse.

For these reasons, Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I will just reiterate what we previously discussed.

I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support today of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023. For years, we have heard from this administration, we have heard from our colleagues across the aisle that we are imagining a border crisis. There is nothing to see. Everything is fine on our southern border.

We are not imagining an increase in human trafficking. We are not imagining the dramatic escalation of fentanyl and fentanyl poisoning in our country. We are not imagining 5 million people who have entered this country illegally, the 1.2 million got-aways, or the nearly 100 people that were on the terrorist watch list since this President took office. We are not imagining a border crisis.

Cartels are making $13 billion a year off of smuggling people into this country. We are destabilizing an entire country because we are failing to act. This doesn't include what they are making off the drugs they smuggle either. This, quite simply, Mr. Speaker, is unconscionable.

While we are bankrolling the cartels, we are bankrupting our country. I visited the southern border, and I wish that more of my colleagues across the aisle would have done the same. Because when you go down there and you listen to farmers, ranchers, family members, hospital systems, people all over from every walk of life, they say the same thing when we asked them at our hearing: Is the border secure?

The resounding answer from the entire crowd of several hundred was no.

Do you feel safe in your community?

No again.

We see this time and time again from this administration where they have failed to act and put our Nation in jeopardy. This crisis is a drain on law enforcement. It is a drain on hospitals. It is a drain on taxpayers and resources across the board.

South Carolina is 2,000 miles away from the border, but we, like every single State, are a border State. We see the fentanyl in our communities. We see what is happening on the southern border. We see what is going on in our neighborhoods across this country. Our entire Nation is dealing with the effects of Joe Biden's border crisis.

It is the Federal Government's primary responsibility to protect our Nation and secure our borders, but that is not happening.

We must resume construction of the wall. We must hire more Border Patrol agents. We must end catch and release.

Mr. Speaker, we must pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate Boulineau's IGA, a family-owned, legendary establishment in the Cherry Grove section of North Myrtle Beach, on its 75th anniversary.

This iconic brand started with the Boulineau family in 1948. Today, the Boulineau family has eight different businesses--everything from gas stations to ice cream shops, to a seafood restaurant--that occupy over four square blocks, with more than 175,000 square feet of retail shopping. It seems like every corner has a splash of that iconic Boulineau red.

Local businesses are the heart and soul of my district in South Carolina and, indeed, the Nation, and I am grateful for the hard work of families like the Boulineaus, who are dedicated to serving their communities.

It is amazing to see the growth of a hometown business over the course of the last 75 years, and I wish them nothing but success for the next 75 years.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the proceedings had during the recess be printed in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Ms. Renee Atkinson of Aynor High School for being named South Carolina's Teacher of the Year.

Aynor High School and the entire Horry County School District are blessed to have such a dedicated public servant who has touched the lives of so many of our children in her 20-year teaching career.

Not only is she exceptional in the classroom, but she devotes time to helping other teachers in Horry County learn and grow.

Our country's future relies on great teachers like Ms. Atkinson who mold and shape the lives of our young adults. I thank her for her passion and service to our community.

Mr. Speaker, we appreciate the mark she has left on her students, our community, and the great State of South Carolina. This is a much- deserved recognition.

Congratulations to Ms. Atkinson.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the Inland Port Dillon's 5-year anniversary.

South Carolina ports are a huge driver to a robust economy in our State, and I am proud that the Seventh District in the Pee Dee plays such an integral role in our State's port system through the Inland Port Dillon.

When I visited there last month, Mr. Speaker, I witnessed firsthand how the port connects South Carolina businesses to a global marketplace.

I thank the dedicated team at the Inland Port Dillon for their work to import and export thousands of container ships every year.

This port is as beneficial to the Pee Dee as it is to the rest of the State. It is a huge driver for job growth and economic development in this underserved area of South Carolina.

I look forward to seeing the port's future success and positive impact in our region.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to extend my congratulations to the city of Florence for being awarded the 2023 Great American Main Street Award by Main Street America, an award that hasn't been given to another South Carolina city for 20 years.

This is such a well-deserved recognition of the city of Florence's dedication to preserving its history and culture and maintaining a thriving community.

Downtown Florence is booming with restaurants and local businesses, residential growth, and community involvement, and I am thrilled that the city has received this national recognition of their dedicated work to create such a great place to live.

I am looking forward to seeing the continued success of the city of Florence, as it is such a vital part of the Pee Dee region of our State.

Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act.

From the minute that President Biden took office, he waged war against American energy production and the independence that we previously held.

The Biden administration canceled the Keystone XL pipeline on day one, imposed a $6 billion tax on natural gas, and promised $27 billion to special interest climate groups, and severely limited our fracking capabilities. These are just a few of the examples of why our energy prices are up 40 percent since the President took office.

In my mind, everything that can be made in America should be, including energy. American-made energy provides jobs, creates economic growth, lowers prices, and is an important part of our national security.

The United States must become energy independent once again, and regulatory hurdles for energy production here at home must be rolled back. This begins with permitting reform and cutting the burdensome red tape that suppresses innovation and development.

I was proud to work on commonsense reforms in the South Carolina General Assembly, and I am excited to see this being done at the Federal level. H.R. 1 is a top priority for House Republicans. We want to work for the people, not against them.

Mr. Chair, this legislation will enhance our Nation's domestic energy production while lowering energy costs for Americans across our great country. I urge everybody to support H.R. 1.

Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 140, Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act.

I thank Chairman Comer for his leadership and work to bring this issue to the floor, and I appreciate the hard work of the House Oversight Committee.

As promised, House Republicans have already opened the transparency floodgates, shedding light on a slew of this administration's failures and oversteps in their position of power, working against the American people.

Because of this work, the House Oversight Committee has deduced that Federal officials have been using their influence and position of authority to censor Americans on social media platforms.

This is a blatant threat to every single American's First Amendment rights, Mr. Chair. The Federal Government should not be able to nitpick what speech is or isn't allowed in this country or limit citizens from freely voicing their opinions, which includes on social media platforms.

Our government, Mr. Chair, and, indeed, our Constitution were created to protect those freedoms, not suppress them.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill and prohibit Federal employees from using their authority to influence and censor the lawful freedom of speech.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 104, a resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party's use of a high- altitude surveillance balloon over United States territory as a brazen violation of United States sovereignty, introduced by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul of Texas.

I would never have imagined that my Saturday afternoon would have been disrupted due to a Chinese spy balloon. Not only did it float across most of South Carolina, it floated across the entire Continental United States, and ended up over my district and, out of all places in this country, the balloon was shot down right off the coast of my hometown, Surfside Beach, which I represent.

And yes, it does--if you watched it and if you were there on the ground--sound like it was straight out of a sci-fi movie.

There is no question that the response or, rather, lack of response from this administration, in my opinion, was negligent.

More than 19 million people annually visit our area to enjoy our beautiful beaches and southern hospitality along more than 60 miles of coast that is known as the Grand Strand.

Myrtle Beach is known for many things, Mr. Speaker, but part of that equation has never been an international incident taking place right off of our shores.

The Chinese Communist Party last Friday, February 3, said that this was merely a weather balloon gathering meteorological data that got lost in our country. It is comical to me that they would actually think that we would fall for such a bogus claim.

Let me be clear: This was a blatant violation of American sovereignty as part of the comprehensive surveillance program on the United States as well as other countries across the globe.

This was a test by the Chinese Communist Party, and it saddens me to say that I think this administration failed that test.

This is the United States. Our foreign policy has always been built on peace through strength. This is our wake-up call. It is time for President Biden to step up on the world stage and take a page from one of my favorite Presidents, Teddy Roosevelt: Speak softly and carry a big stick. While diplomacy should always be our first objective, we must be prepared to respond with strength when necessary.

This resolution shows that the U.S. House of Representatives, in a bipartisan fashion, condemns the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to deceive the international community with their false claims of intelligence collection. I call on this administration to promptly and decisively act to further prevent surveillance attempts in the future.

Section 2:

``The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

``He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

``The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.''

Section 3:

``He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.''

Section 4:

``The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.''

Article III, Section 1:

``The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.''

Section 2:

``The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States,--between Citizens of different States,--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

``In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

``The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.''

Section 3:

``Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

``The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.''