Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the life of a fine newspaperman, a title he cherished in his more than 57 years as a journalist in Memphis. As many have said since he passed on Saturday, September 27, 2025, at age 82, he touched more lives than probably any Memphis journalist by covering the not-glamorous but important beats of high school sports and the outdoors, hunting and fishing as both a reporter for The Commercial Appeal and as a host of his radio call-in show.

Mr. Rea went to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he met his wife Miriam, and covered the Razorbacks as a freelance student journalist. He then worked for The Arkansas Democrat in Little Rock. In 1967, he took The Commercial Appeal job and moved to Memphis, covering Friday night football games and getting to know the players, their parents, teachers, coaches and fans. It was great--he would say ``gREAt''--way to get immersed in the community and feel its pulse. As a Daily Memphian columnist and longtime former Rea colleague and friend Geoff Calkins put it: ``He didn't write about mayors or city council members or NBA stars. He wrote about the kid who pitched a three-hitter or the girl who scored the winning goal for her soccer team or the neighbor who caught a particularly fat bass . . . He wrote about your neighbors and friends.''

After 21 years of high school sports, in 1988 he moved on the outdoors beat and continued supporting the paper's Mid-South Fishing Rodeo that helped thousands of kids learn and love fishing. After his official retirement from The Commercial Appeal in 2001, he wrote for the DeSoto Times and served as editor of Mid-South Hunting & Fishing News and hosted the Saturday morning show ``Outdoors with Larry Rea'' on WMC-AM for more than 25 years. His final show was August 30, 2025. Over his long career he was named a member of the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Writers Hall of Fame and received the Tennessee Wildlife Federation Conservation Communicator Award in 2022.

I express my condolences to his wife and children, his extended family and his many friends and colleagues. Larry Rea was a Mid-South institution, and he will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, we have talked at long length about the threat to democracy and the fear of an authoritarian leader in Washington.

The time is now. The authoritarian leader in this administration has surfaced. When the head of a communications company says that a television personality's comments can cause a television station or should cause a television station to cancel his show and

it happens, that is authoritarianism. It is also when the government dictates what should and shouldn't be said on television and whether they should be punished and using the power of the government to suppress free speech.

The President then followed up and said that NBC should get rid of two of its late-night shows. CBS has canceled their late-night show.

I don't know what Johnny Carson or Jack Paar would think about all of this. I am sure Alec Baldwin wouldn't like it, and President Trump didn't like the way he treated him. Chevy Chase falling over Gerald Ford would probably put him in bad positions, too. Comedy is comedy. Free speech is free speech, and we shouldn't step on it.

God bless the First Amendment.

Mr. Speaker, today Representative Beyer, Senator Whitehouse, Senator Wyden, and I introduced a billionaires tax bill.

Billionaires don't pay their fair share of taxes, and with the Trump tax program starting in 2017, they have increased their wealth tremendously.

Not paying taxes on real estate and stocks and all that they don't trade or sell, just accumulating that wealth over and over again while hardworking people, firemen, nurses, you name it, pay on their wages is wrong.

We need to have a tax system that collects from people who can afford it, as well. Pope Leo said in an interview recently: ``CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving,'' now, it is ``600 times more than what average workers are receiving.''

To the news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world, Pope Leo said: ``What does that mean, and what is that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we are in big trouble.''

We are in big trouble because that seems to be what is valued all the way to the White House, where they are using cryptocurrency to make money out of their position, and it is wrong.

Mr. Speaker, I plan to introduce the Billionaire Income Tax Act on Wednesday and will hold a press conference with the House cosponsor Congressman Don Beyer and the Senate bill sponsor Ron Wyden.

It is an effort to establish a level of fairness in federal income taxation and prevent millionaires and billionaires, and the aspiring trillionaire, Elon Musk, from taking advantage of the tax code to pay what, for them is pocket change. I have not asked him, but it looks like Pope Leo would endorse the Billionaire Income Tax Act. He recently did an interview with a biographer and excerpts were released on Sunday. Speaking of societal polarization, he said it is in part caused by income inequality. One factor, he said, and I'm quoting him, is ``the continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive. For example, CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it's 600 times more than what average workers are receiving. Yesterday the said news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean and what's that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we're in big trouble.'' I agree with Pope Leo and hope our bill will have a significant effect on what everyone seems to acknowledge is a huge and growing problem.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay my respects to Shelby County Sheriff William ``Bill'' Oldham, who passed on September 4 at the age of 75.

A lifelong Memphian, Sheriff Oldham served for 27 years in the Memphis Police Department rising through the ranks from patrolman to Police Director. He then was elected to two terms as sheriff and was honored by fellow lawmen with the Tennessee Sheriff's Association as Sheriff of the Year in 2015. He dedicated his life to law enforcement, serving and protecting our community with integrity, professionalism and character.

A longtime parishioner at St. Louis Catholic Church, growing up Mr. Oldham attended Nativity, St. Thomas and Memphis Catholic High School and then attended what was then called Memphis State University. He was a big sports fan and cheered on the Tigers, Cubs and Notre Dame's Fighting Irish. He also coached teams at St. Joseph, St. Paul, St. Louis and Bishop Byrne.

His love of children was demonstrated in his treatment of incarcerated young people and he never gave up on them. His own three children called him ``Chiefy.'' Among his sterling qualities was his love of justice and commitment to doing the right thing in an effort to make our community a safe place for all.

I extend my sincere condolences to his wife of 53 years Jean, his children Neal, Katie and Beth, his grandchildren and his extended family, his law enforcement colleagues, and his many friends. Memphis has lost a moral leader. His was a life of service to others and was well-lived.

He will be missed.

Mr. Speaker, what Members of the Democratic Caucus are doing to my right is signing a discharge petition to release the Epstein files.

They need to be released because the American public wants to see them. The fact that so many people in power don't want them released says there is something there that smells.

What smells is the fact that children, girls, were raped and sexually abused. The people who did it don't want it revealed to the American public.

We need to be open and transparent. If there are perverts among the leadership, they need to be exposed, because the American people do not respect that and will not respect anybody that engaged in that kind of conduct.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to sign the petition. I hope everybody signs the petition, and we get an unredacted copy of the files.

Mr. Speaker, we are going to adjourn and not do the peoples' business because we have thus far gotten an ``F.'' An ``F'' for the work of the people in this Congress. We have taken health care away from hundreds of thousands of people. We have taken SNAP payments and nutritional sustenance, away from tens and hundreds of thousands of people. We have made injuries to the Earth, God's Earth we are here to preserve, and we only use. We have taken away from women the right to go to Planned Parenthood to have health care that they need. We have taken away protections for clean energy to change the rate of growth of global warming that affects our planet and affects our future with hotter and hotter summers, flash floods, fires and disasters. It will increase our reliance on fossil fuels, which make the air dirtier and people sicker, all while we are taking away people's health care. This Congress has earned an ``F.'' We do not deserve a better grade.

I am ashamed to be a part of this Congress, but I will stay because people need to stand up, speak the truth, stand up for things the American people have always stood for: justice, due process, the rule of law, fairness, caring about the little guy, caring about giving people something when they need it, but not giving something to people who have too much--millionaires and billionaires.

Just think, Mr. Speaker, of the harm the rescissions bill did to public broadcasting--NPR and PBS--legacies of President Johnson's Great Society that help our citizens stay informed. Think of the harm done to life-saving foreign aid that keeps children fed and vaccinated from dreadful diseases that can and will cross our borders in check. And the Big Ugly Bill does substantial harm to critical programs and to the people who rely on them, so millionaires can get a tax break and the rest of the country gets huge and endless deficits and trillions more in debt.

Newsweek reported this week that the current Congress is one of the least effective ever, passing only 27 bills since January 3, far fewer than in previous Congresses at the same point. Unfortunately, the biggest, ugliest bill we passed, and the rescissions package will contribute to incalculable pain, suffering, and death all around the world.

Come to think of it, maybe this Congress should get something worse than a grade of ``F.'' Maybe those voting for these cruel and dangerous provisions should be sent to the principal's office and expelled.

Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 218.

Madam Speaker, we are going to adjourn and not do the people's business because we, thus far, have gotten an ``F'', an ``F'' for the work for the people of this Congress.

We have taken healthcare away from hundreds of thousands of people. We have taken SNAP payments and nutritional sustenance away from tens of hundreds of thousands of people. We have made injuries to the Earth, God's Earth, which we are here to preserve and we only use.

We have taken away women's rights to go to Planned Parenthood to have the healthcare that they need, important healthcare about their bodies.

We have taken away protections for clean energy, to change the rate of growth of global warming that affects our planet and affects our future with hotter and hotter summers and more and more problems: flash floods, fires, and disasters.

This Congress has earned an ``F.'' We do not deserve any more.

I am ashamed to be a part of this Congress, but I will be because people need to stand up, speak the truth, and stand up for things that the American people have stood for for a long time like justice, due process, fairness, caring about the little guy, and caring about giving people something who have not enough but not something to people who have too much: millionaires and billionaires.

Madam Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 5 o'clock and 38 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at 10 a.m. for morning-hour debate.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Sue Ann McClellan, the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law Assistant Dean for Admissions, who will be retiring on July 30 after 30 years.

Dean McClellan has guided students at my law school alma mater into the legal profession by keeping a close eye on undergraduate prospects, encouraging applicants, evaluating candidates and then watching them mature through the bar exam and on to successful legal careers both locally and across the country. She was instrumental in the creation of the Summer Law Intern Program (known as SLIP), which encourages diverse and talented high school students to work as interns in private law practices, corporate law offices and government agencies, often spurring an early interest in pursuing the profession. She was also involved in the school's response to COVID-19, by addressing the ongoing decline in enrollment, and in the School's 2010 move from the main university campus to the former U.S. Customs House, Court House and Post Office building on the Mississippi River Bluff downtown. She is a 1976 graduate of Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois, with a degree in Sociology. She received a Master's degree in Higher Education Administration in 1985 from Southern Illinois University-- Carbondale, and a Doctor of Education degree in Higher Education Administration in 1995 from the University of Memphis.

Through the years, Dean McClellan has been like a mother to students and follows their careers with pride. In a statement released by the University, Dean McClellan said: ``I've always felt that listening is such a critical element of building a relationship. And relationships are what all of this is built upon.''

I congratulate Dean McClellan for a stellar career advancing legal education and helping produce the talented legal professionals for which the university is known.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things we did in the big, ugly bill that passed last week or the week before is that we put more money into ICE than we put into the FBI.

The United States' largest investigative function will be in ICE, not in the FBI. We put more money into chasing people who fix our roofs, take care of our yards, take care of our children, take care of our seniors, work the back section of the restaurants, and make America work. We should be putting that money into finding criminals that the FBI should be finding.

We have a crime problem. That should be first. The people committing felonies, rapes, murders, and child sexual abuse is what they said they were going to go after in the immigration fights. Yet, now they are going after statistics and records for deporting more people than any other country in the world.

It is a shame. Crime should be focused on in the FBI and not, as President Trump said today, that the FBI should be working on voter fraud, public corruption, and election fraud in the 2020 elections, and then he said thugs and criminals.

The first order is to protect us from criminals. Save America. Put our moneys where they serve the best purpose, and that is the FBI, not

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay a heartfelt tribute to Karanja Ajanaku, a respected reporter and editor in Memphis, who passed on Tuesday at the age of 70. A native of Natchitoches, Louisiana, who was raised in Kansas City, Dr. Ajanaku came to Memphis in 1977 right after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism as Leroy Williams Jr. He started at The Commercial Appeal as a beat reporter and was the first Black reporter to cover City Hall for the newspaper. He later became the paper's night news editor and a deputy Metro Desk editor for over 26 years. I first met Karanja, then Leroy, when he covered the general assembly while I served as his state senator. We became friends and visited often and, in the pressroom and in legislative plaza, that friendship continued for the rest of his life. I had and have nothing but the highest respect for his acumen and values. He was a first class reporter and a first class human being. In 1986, he had his name legally changed to Karanja Aidoo Ajanaku, reflecting his cultural sense of self as an agent of change, and was thereafter recognized by his colorful African dashikis. He said his adopted name meant ``the guide who puts things in place.'' He joined The Tri-State Defender newspaper, focusing on the African American community, in 2007, and rose to be its Executive Editor before retiring in 2023. A mentor to many in those newsrooms, Dr. Ajanaku was known for his grace, compassion, patience and dedication to accuracy. The Tri- State Defender, in a statement mourning his loss, said ``He was committed to elevating the African American voice in this community

through his exceptional journalism and incredible eye for a great photo.'' In addition to all of that, he was a genuinely nice guy. In a 2018 profile story in Memphis Magazine, Dr. Ajanaku expressed concern about the decline in newspaper reading and its impact on the quality of our democracy, ``We've got people who are growing up that can't read. And many who can, can't read in context. They can't comprehend stuff. If you're going to live in a democratic republic, you're going to live where the individual has to be informed, and if he doesn't have the tools to take in the information and make informed decisions, you've got a problem. It's a greater threat than Russia.'' I express my condolences to his twin children, daughter Jamila Ajanaku, of Phoenix, Arizona, and son Karanja Ajanaku, Jr., of Nashville; a sister, Jacqueline Broadus of Reno, Nevada; two brothers, Randy Williams of Kansas City, Missouri, and Ronald Williams of Leavenworth, Kansas; and his six grandchildren; his former newsroom colleagues, his admirers and his many friends. His was a life well-lived. As Dr. Ajanaku himself said so often: The journey continues.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to amend the rule to make in order the spirit of Jesus as it is spoken in Matthew: He was sick, and I healed him. He was hungry, and I fed him.

Medicare, healthcare, SNAP payments, and nutrition payments should not be taken away from fellow passengers on this Earth.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the life of Ms. Marzie Thomas. Ms. Thomas served as my district director in my Memphis office since 2013.

She came to my office first in 2007. She was an outstanding human being who cared about everybody that came into her office and who needed constituent services. She was a special person in Memphis because she represented what people in Memphis do, who are really good people and who care about others.

She cared about her family, Alonzo Thomas, her husband who passed away in 2024; her two children; her grandchild; and her sister who survives her.

She cared about her church, East Trigg Baptist Church, a famous church where the Reverend Brewster was known for his gospel songs that he wrote and sang. She was in the choir and had a beautiful voice. She was very dedicated to her church and Pastor Beasley.

She was concerned about our country, serving for a long time in my office. She was just a wonderful person. She was a great friend to me. She cared about me greatly, and I miss her much. She had a life well- lived, and I was thankful and fortunate to have her work with me in the office.