Thomas P. Tiffany

Mr. Speaker, isn't it interesting that we are here debating TPS for Haiti today? It is interesting because the t in TPS stands for ``temporary.'' It has never been intended as a rolling, multigenerational amnesty program. Yet, that is exactly what it has become: an amnesty program.

In fact, during the 4 years of the Biden-Harris administration, this tool was used to extend de facto amnesty to more than 1 million aliens who entered this country without a visa. If this bill is passed, which was originally declared by President Obama in 2010, it will be extended yet again, this time through the end of the decade.

That is 20 years. That does not sound temporary.

Yet, it isn't just Haiti. Every Democrat administration has abused TPS. There are currently 1.5 million aliens from a dozen countries present in the United States under TPS designations, some of which began decades ago.

Somalia's TPS was first extended during the administration of George H.W. Bush in 1991, back when Paula Abdul and Bryan Adams topped the Billboard Top 40 charts. It remains in place yet today, thanks to an activist judge.

President Clinton gave TPS to Hondurans in 1999, when Microsoft had just replaced General Electric as America's most valuable company and gas was 92 cents a gallon. That designation lasted more than a quarter century and was only terminated last year after a lengthy court battle.

President Clinton's successor, George W. Bush, granted TPS to nationals of El Salvador in 2001, a full year before the BlackBerry smartphone would hit store shelves. That designation also continues, despite the fact that El Salvador's tourism ministry openly promotes posh, all-inclusive, luxury resorts and boasts one of the lowest homicide rates in our hemisphere. This is absurd.

Mr. Speaker, TPS was never intended to be the Hotel California that allows illegal aliens to enter any time but they may never leave. It is time to put the t back in TPS and close this permanent administrative amnesty loophole.

I ask for a ``no'' vote on this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church of Merrill, Wisconsin, on its 150th anniversary.

First organized by families of German immigrants in a meeting on April 24, 1876, services were held in a public schoolhouse in the town of Jenny, Wisconsin, which later became Merrill.

St. John Evangelical has had two subsequent structures within Merrill and, since 1953, has worshipped within a beautiful stone edifice at 1104 East 3rd Street.

During its first years, it shared a pastor with neighboring churches and finally called on its first pastor, Reverend Paul Luecke, on August 5, 1883.

Today, the members of St. John are proud of their continued provision of a daycare facility and an educational resource for their community in a parochial school. During several decades of its existence, German was the church's primary language. With the close of World War I, the congregation had transitioned to holding its services primarily in English.

For continuing its work of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ through 150 years, it is my great pleasure to honor St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church of Merrill today before the United States House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Jack Link of Link Snacks, Incorporated, on his induction into the Wisconsin Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

Born and raised in Minong, Wisconsin, Mr. Link learned the fundamentals of meat processing at an early age in his family's butcher shop.

By the mid-1980s, after the family meatpacking business closed, Jack identified an opportunity to improve the quality and consistency of meat snacks available in the marketplace.

These efforts led to the creation of Jack Link's Beef Jerky. What started as a small Wisconsin operation has now grown into the world's largest manufacturer of jerky in the world. Through it all, the company has remained 100 percent family owned.

Jack Link's induction into the Wisconsin Manufacturing Hall of Fame is a well-earned recognition of a man who built a manufacturing powerhouse while staying true to Wisconsin ingenuity and values.

Jack has also been a strong supporter of education in the Northwoods, contributing to the Northwood Foundation and funding Jack Link's Aquatic and Activity Center. The center provides the Minong area with its first space for swimming, fitness, and youth programming.

Madam Speaker, I thank Jack Link for strengthening America and Wisconsin's manufacturing, and offer congratulations to Jack, Mary Jo, and the entire Link family on this honor.