Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, this bill ignores the harm that anti-law enforcement rhetoric and unchecked violence have inflicted on our communities and our police.

Since last year, we have seen businesses and communities terrorized, burned, and looted by criminal gangs and thugs, while some elected officials justified the violence, called for defunding the police, and moved to tie the hands of law enforcement. In essence, lawlessness prevailed and accountability failed. This legislation doubles down on that failed policy.

In my home State of Wisconsin, we watched city officials in Madison, Kenosha, and Milwaukee stand by as violent rioters destroyed property, monuments, shops, and livelihoods. Sheriffs in my home State tell me they are having significant retention and recruiting issues. This will only exacerbate that. It is a back door to the misguided defund the police efforts. Defunding the police does not make the police safer.

Mr. Speaker, this bill empowers criminals, while stripping cops of the tools they need to do their jobs and due process guaranteed to them by the Constitution. It exposes law enforcement officers and their families to potential retribution by criminals.

Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Madam Speaker, there isn't enough time to talk about all of the crazy things in this bill, so I am going to focus on the one provision I think takes the cake and something that should have been put in this bill.

The bill before us today, which I am calling the politician enrichment act, will force American taxpayers to fund partisan political ads.

You heard that right, Mr. and Mrs. America. All those negative, mudslinging campaign ads you see on TV every election cycle--the ones you can't stand--well, now you have to pay for them, too. In fact, you get to chip in $6 of your money for every $1 the politicians raise.

How is that for the swamp taking care of its own?

But, wait, there is more:

This new taxpayer-funded gravy train will expand a loophole in campaign finance law that is already big enough to drive a fully-loaded Brinks truck through.

Madam Speaker, thanks to a generous carve-out in Federal law, Members of Congress are able to funnel campaign contributions into their personal bank accounts by simply hiring their spouses as campaign consultants.

In fact, one high profile Member of the body--this body--exploited this loophole to the tune of $2.8 million in the last election cycle.

You think it is bad now, Joe and Jane Taxpayer? Just wait until you see how bad it gets when you are paying for it.

Madam Speaker, I filed an amendment with the Committee on Rules to close this loophole, one based on a bipartisan proposal introduced by Mr. Schiff and supported by Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Clyburn, and Speaker Pelosi in the 110th Congress. But the Committee on Rules chose not to allow us to vote on that amendment today.

I wonder why?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment, specifically, a provision in here taking a trail in Wisconsin and turning it into National Park Service unit status.

This proposal before us has not been introduced as a standalone bill this Congress and has not been heard by the Natural Resources Committee. We have not discussed the impacts of elevating this trail to National Park Service unit status, and there have been no hearings to afford local officials or adjacent landowners the opportunity to express their views.

Too often in this body, we see Members who represent urban constituencies rushing to expand Federal control over rural communities far from their own homes. And too often, these decisions marginalize the voices of people in the affected communities who must live with the consequences: Federal land management agencies in Washington, D.C., imposing new limitations on access, use, and impacts to private property owners.

Mr. Speaker, we have also spent much time in this body discussing the Park Service maintenance backlog, which is significant. We should be mindful of that backlog and the fact that land managers lack sufficient resources to care for the units already under their supervision.

I am also concerned that the passage of measures like this one will further fuel the Federal Government's insatiable appetite to annex yet more private property. And more Federal land ownership means further erosion of the property tax base, higher local property tax burdens, and strained local budgets.

Let me give you this analogy. A homeowner, their roof is falling in. The lot next to them comes up for sale and they say, gosh, I have got to buy that lot, and they don't take care of their own home. That is, in effect, what we are doing with our national parks here in the United States of America.

To be clear, I believe that Wisconsin is home to some of this country's most special places, including this scenic and picturesque trail. On this fact, my Wisconsin colleagues and I agree.

But I believe this amendment is the wrong approach, Mr. Speaker, and I would encourage a ``no'' vote on the amendment and the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose H.R. 803, the western wildfire bill.

Make no mistake, while some seek preservation, what we need is management. It always seems like those who seek to preserve, they go to the places that are most well managed. These places now will suffer as a result of that.

But I want to emphasize three things that all Americans are going to lose with this bill.

Job security: We have already seen 11,000 jobs jeopardized by the abrogation of a contract by President Biden in regard to the Keystone XL pipeline.

Economic security: Lumber prices continue to rise. Taking timber off the marketplace is not going to make the cost of building a home any cheaper. You want to get kids out of their parents' basement? You are not going to do it this way, by raising the price of being able to build a home.

National security: We have become an energy-independent country here over the last 10 years, and it has gotten us out of the forever wars in the Middle East. This jeopardizes those achievements.

Job security, economic security, national security are all at stake here with this bill.

Madam Speaker, while America and Congress' attention has been diverted from the real issues, we have seen something over the last couple of weeks that is going to compromise American security in three ways.

One is national security; two, our economic security; and most important for millions of Americans, their job security.

First came the White House decision to shred the Keystone pipeline permit, a slap in the face to our friends in Canada and a pink slip for countless Americans who rely on the strategic energy security project for their livelihoods.

But you know what may have happened, most importantly? With a stroke of a pen, a contract was eliminated. Can other countries trust America anymore? Can Americans trust our President and our executive branch when, at a stroke of a pen, they unilaterally say that contract is null and void?

Then came the moratorium on Federal oil and gas leases, the prospect of a long-term drilling ban on public lands, and even steps to halt energy projects on private land.

The White House has also pushed the U.S. back into the U.N.'s Paris climate treaty, subjecting American interests to the whim of international bureaucrats. By the way, the English were smart enough to get out of one of those agreements. They called it Brexit.

These things will kill family-wage American jobs that can't be outsourced, raising prices at the pump and draining trillions of dollars from the U.S. economy. All of this was done with a stroke of a pen, without approval from Congress, and the ramifications will be disastrous.

Madam Speaker, when it comes to national security, it is no coincidence that we have seen peace break out in the Middle East over the last few years. The diplomatic achievements of the Trump administration in that troubled region are a result, in part, of policies that have made American energy dominance a reality. We gained the upper hand when we began producing more petroleum and became energy independent in America. By turning back the clock on these historic gains, the new administration is putting more American lives and treasure at risk.

Closer to home, the economic costs will also be dire. The cancellation of the Keystone pipeline and new energy restrictions have put Wisconsin jobs on the chopping block, including more than 2,000 jobs at Michels and Precision Pipeline, two fine American companies and Wisconsin companies. These companies will not be the only victims of the Biden administration's great leap backward.

Thousands of downstream companies provide support services to pipeline firms, businesses like parts suppliers, steelworkers, fracking sand mine operators, and even restaurants, taverns, and other Main Street businesses that count energy industry workers among their customers. All of these businesses are in the crosshairs for another economic hit, this one inflicted by their own government in Washington, not a pandemic in Wuhan.

Even more galling was the administration's glib response that these hardworking Americans should simply suck it up and find better jobs. Is that what unity looks like, Madam Speaker?

By taking aim at Americans who work in oil and gas, the Biden administration will cripple a key stream of revenues for State and local governments, funding that they rely on to pay for schools, road repairs, first responders, and public health services. In Wisconsin alone, the loss of revenue associated with the cancellation of Keystone is estimated to hit $3 billion.

I would like to emphasize, while we are here with the chair of the Western Caucus and hearing from Members from the west side of Mississippi--Wisconsin is on the east side of the Mississippi--it is Eastern States that are going to be hit with this equally hard, including the States of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

While people in our communities are struggling to pay their bills and find work, this administration is killing jobs and making their lives more expensive.

While those on the other side are pushing a $350 billion State bailout, the White House is choking off their revenues.

While our Nation faces rising threats from foreign adversaries, the other side is taking active steps that will make America less safe, less secure, and less self-reliant.

American workers are tired of being lectured about carbon emissions by people who fly around the world on private jets, like President Biden's climate czar, who admitted that even if U.S. emissions dropped to zero, it would make no difference because 90 percent of CO2 comes from other countries. In fact, a third of the total global emissions come from China.

The bottom line is that access to affordable, abundant, and reliable energy is essential to a dynamic economy supporting millions of good Made in the USA jobs in American manufacturing.

Madam Speaker, when the White House attacks homegrown energy jobs for purely political gain, China wins and America loses.

Madam Speaker, my father once said to me: Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

In the short time I have served in this body, one thing is clear: This is not a serious place.

Last year, we watched as the other side delayed COVID relief for months to inflict maximum pain and sway the outcome of the election. The Speaker said as much.

Yet, these last 2 days, we have seen just how fast they can move when they want to exact political retribution on their opponent.

My friends on the other side now have complete control of both Houses of Congress. In a few days, they will control the entire executive branch as well.

Madam Speaker, Joe Biden has talked unity and healing. Is that what this is today? Is accusing Republican lawmakers of sedition and calling for their expulsion the plan for healing? Is working with Silicon Valley to digitally disappear those with whom they disagree with the plan for reconciliation?

I was among the first to condemn the riots in Madison months ago, and I condemn what happened last week. But where were the swift accusations of incitement and insurrection from the other side last year? Is today's political theater a preview of what the American people can expect from single-party rule, 2 years of double standards, of punishing those who voted for someone else?

Madam Speaker, I hope Mr. Biden is watching today and that he will rise to the moment and call off this effort to rub salt in the wounds of millions of Americans.

It is now time for all of us, Democrats and Republicans alike, to turn down the temperature.