Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise with a heavy heart to honor the life of former Knox County Commission Chair Thomas ``Tank'' Strickland who passed away on July 18 at 70 years old.

Tank grew up in east Tennessee and attended Austin-East High School. He graduated from the University of Tennessee before becoming the first Black chair of the Knox County Commission. He dedicated his life to making Knoxville a much better place.

When he announced his retirement, he said he hoped he left every single situation, organization, and person in a better condition than when he started.

Mr. Speaker, that was a great understatement.

Even after retiring in 2016, Tank continued to serve the east Knoxville community and the entire community as a whole. Just a week before he passed away, he asked me to honor some other east Tennesseans, Leo and Judy Whiteside, here on the House floor for their service to the community. He handwrote his notes about them and sent them to our office. This is truly a testament to how much he loved our community and the folks around him.

Mr. Speaker, I am thankful not just for his service to Knoxville but also that I could call him a dear friend. When my daddy had his stroke, Tank would check on my mama every day in the hospital. My mama would always say: ``That handsome young man came by.''

I guess he had a way with the ladies, and my mama loved him.

Tank was a dear friend to my parents and my girls. He left behind a great legacy and made our community a better place. He leaves his lovely wife, Terry, and a bunch of Omega Psi Phi brothers.

I know he is in Heaven with Jesus, Mr. Speaker, but in a selfish way I will miss him for the rest of my life.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor World War II veteran Anthony R. von Klock.

Anthony is 95 years old and was born in Waltham, Massachusetts. Anthony was drafted into the Army Air Corps, where he served as an airplane and engine mechanic. He completed his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas before he was stationed at Great Falls Air Force Base in Montana and Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, and in Japan.

He received an honorable discharge in 1949 and earned the World War II Victory Medal and the Japanese Occupation Medal. During the Korean war, Anthony was called back to service, where he was stationed at the Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi.

After serving in the Air Force, Anthony worked for Mackey and Eastern Airlines while living in Florida with his wife, Leah, and two daughters. He received the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award in 1996 for his accomplishments as a senior mechanic.

Madam Speaker, it is my honor to recognize Anthony von Klock as the Tennessee Second District's July 2023 Veteran of the Month. I thank Anthony for his service to our great Nation.

Do Not House Illegal Immigrants in Public Schools

Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the latest scheme to house illegal immigrants in public schools.

The mayor of New York City announced plans to house illegal immigrants in gyms on up to 30 public school campuses, which is a move that poses a serious risk for the students attending those schools.

Our children's safety should come before anything else, and we need to stop

this kind of nonsensical policy in its tracks before it is too late.

This is just another addition to the long list of Democrat schemes that waste taxpayer dollars and fail to prioritize the safety and well- being of American citizens. It dries up resources that should be used to improve our students' education, and it also puts those children at risk.

Parents should not have to send their children to schools knowing that they are sharing a campus with illegal immigrants whose backgrounds we know nothing about.

We need to protect our schools' true purpose: educating our children and keeping them safe, not providing shelter for illegal immigrants.

Recognizing Leo and Judy Whiteside

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Leo and Judy Whiteside for more than 50 years of dedicated service to the people of Knoxville and their continued love for each other.

These two have spent a lot of their free time doing great things for those in need in and around our community. They have delivered Mobile Meals to homebound residents, given communion to church members who were unable to attend the church service, and even advocated for a citywide class reunion at the Austin-East High School. Go Roadrunners.

When people volunteer in their communities, it demonstrates what is really in their hearts. It shows they are willing to sacrifice their free time, effort, and money to help those in need and expect nothing in return.

Madam Speaker, I am so proud to represent people like Leo and Judy, who love the people around them. They love their family and friends, but they also love strangers they have never met before and take true compassion on them.

If you want to know how to care for your community, I think you should look to Leo and Judy for an example. Leo and Judy have been doing it for over 50 years, and so many lives have been made better because of them.

Madam Speaker, I thank Leo and Judy. Their service and kind hearts have made the Knoxville community a much brighter place. I am proud to represent them.

Madam Speaker, our troops risk their lives and make sacrifices every day in service to our

great country. Many have given their lives to defend the freedoms we take for granted, including my Uncle Roy, who died fighting Nazis in France during World War II.

Unfortunately, our military has become a victim of the woke agenda. The Federal Government should focus on strengthening our Armed Forces, but Democratic leaders lost sight of that a long time ago.

Defense leaders in the Biden administration are now focused on creating the most diverse military instead of the best military. They spend time and taxpayer money pandering to those folks because it scores political points, Madam Speaker. It scores points with the woke mob, and the world is laughing at us for it.

Military leaders are forcing soldiers to read books on critical race theory and scheduling drag shows on the bases, of all things.

President Biden requested around $150 million in the defense budget for diversity and inclusion programs. That is the American people's money spent on this nonsense, Madam Speaker.

If the Biden administration is so serious about prioritizing so- called equity, then no one should have a problem with my amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would require anyone who identifies as a man to register for the Selective Service. If these folks want to be treated like men, they need to act like men.

I don't support the woke agenda, as you know. I am fully against it, but if Democrats want to play ball, then let's play some ball. Let's see what excuses they come up with for opposing this plan that puts some real responsibility on the folks.

We are all sick of these games. We are sick of the Democrat leaders' hypocrisy. If they insist on going down this road, they should expect the responsibility that comes with it, or we could toss the whole woke agenda in the garbage can where it belongs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to underline the partnership between the United States and the Republic of India.

I recently met with India's consul general, Dr. Swati Kulkarni, and an entrepreneur, Mohit Mankad, in my Knoxville office. We talked about India's developmental journey, its leadership over the G20, and the growing partnership between our countries.

I believe it is important to the United States to align itself with countries that share its values, and our Nation clearly has a lot in common with India. They are, apparently, the oldest democracy in the world. We all value democracy, the free market, and international trade.

I see these values in my Indian constituents who came to this country to live out the American Dream. They work very hard to earn an honest living. They love their families, and they contribute to the communities around them.

I fully support expanding our diplomatic relationship with India. As we work toward that goal, I will encourage the Indian Government to make it safer for Christians and people of all religions and faiths to safely practice their faith in public as they do in a truly free society.

I think we would all benefit from a closer relationship and growing our shared values.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Hardin Valley Academy AeroHAWKS for their achievements at the American Rocketry Challenge.

AeroHAWKS Team 1 came in first place, and Team 2 came in 10th place. Both teams scored high enough that they were invited to participate in NASA's Student Launch Initiative, and Team 1 has just headed to Paris, France, to represent the United States in the International Rocketry Challenge.

I say ``Paris, France,'' because many of you realize there is a Paris, Tennessee, and that is home to the world's largest fish fry. I wanted to clarify that.

This was Hardin Valley's first appearance in this competition, and they competed alongside nearly 800 teams from 45 States. The fact they did so well demonstrates their intelligence, dedication, and teamwork abilities. They rose to the challenge and brought pride to east Tennessee.

My office gave these students a tour of the U.S. Capitol before their competition here in Washington, and it is clear these students are passionate and bright and will do great things with their future.

I congratulate everyone from Hardin Valley Academy who competed in the American Rocketry Challenge. I wish the best of luck to Team 1 as they compete in Paris for the world title. They are making east Tennessee and the entire Nation proud.

Mr. Speaker, on a personal note, from my days of rocketry with my Estes rocket, I believe my V2 rocket is still in the tree of my neighbor's house. I will state for the record that if any of these young people would like to climb up and get it, I would gladly reward them.

Honoring Corporal Joe Allen Vinyard

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an American hero who has finally been laid to rest in Blount County.

Corporal Joe Allen Vinyard was part of the 774th Tank Battalion during World War II. He tragically lost his life in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, an important battle on the European front right before the Battle of the Bulge. Many of the men who sacrificed their lives for our freedom that day were not identified, including Corporal Vinyard.

In 2021, folks working at the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency figured out one set of remains could have been Corporal Vinyard's. Thanks to DNA testing from samples the family provided, scientists were able to identify his remains. By September 2022, the family had been notified that he would be brought back to Blount County.

Corporal Vinyard was laid to rest in Grandview Cemetery in Maryville this past weekend. He is buried beside his parents, just a few miles from his home. After almost 80 years, Corporal Joe Allen Vinyard has finally come home.

Honoring Sergeant Daniel Clifford Britton

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Sergeant Daniel Clifford Britton, who served our country during the Gulf war.

Daniel graduated from Temple Baptist Academy in 2006. He went on to the University of Tennessee and participated in the Army ROTC program and enlisted in the Army on September 3, 2008.

Sergeant Britton attended his initial Active-Duty training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After graduation, he was assigned to the 15th Infantry Regiment. He graduated from the air assault course in September 2009, and in 2010, he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he earned his Combat Infantry Badge. During his service, he was awarded the Iraq Campaign Medal with two stars, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal twice, and many others. He was a patriot and loved this country to its core.

Sergeant Britton passed away in May and left behind a daughter who he loved with his whole being. I offer my condolences to his daughter and all his friends and family who knew and loved him.

It is my honor to recognize Sergeant Daniel Britton as the Tennessee Second District's June 2023 Veteran of the Month. His service to this country, his community, and his family will never be forgotten.

On a personal note, Mr. Speaker, as a Christian, I am not a very good one, but I owe everything in my life, except for my salvation, to the men and women who wore our country's uniform. I thank you for this opportunity. I appreciate your testimony here on the floor about that man, one of our brave officers, who lost his life. I thank the people in the gallery for standing up and showing him that respect.

This is a great country we have, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, brother, for your friendship.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life of former Knox County Executive Dwight Kessel, who passed away on June 3 at the age of 96.

Dwight was born to Wayne and Edith Kessel and grew up in Beckley, West Virginia. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he came back to Knoxville and graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in industrial engineering.

Dwight started his political career in 1963 by serving on the Knoxville City Council, then as Knox County clerk, and eventually became the Knox County executive in 1980, which is the position we now call the Knox County mayor.

He also worked with a whole lot of charity organizations, including the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley, Boy Scouts of America, and National Conference of Christians and Jews.

He was a family man who loved the Lord and was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Knoxville, where he was a trustee for 15 years, served as a deacon, and faithfully taught Sunday school.

Behind me right here is a picture of all the Knox County mayors who went to last year's Knox County budget address--myself, Mayor Schumpert, Mayor Jacobs, and Mayor Ragsdale, and Mayor Kessel is down on the bottom.

I know we are all thankful for Dwight's work that paved the way for Knox County mayors who followed him, including myself.

My wife and I are praying for Dwight's family. He will be greatly missed by our community in Knox County.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a good friend of mine and an even better lawyer that recently passed away in Knoxville, Bernie Bernstein.

My friend Jerry Becker delivered the bad news last week. Bernie and my father were good friends, and they served on a draft board together.

Bernie served in the United States Air Force and was a respected lawyer and leader not only in the Jewish community but in every community he was in, especially in Knoxville.

My dad had two compliments he would give people. He would say: ``You would make a good marine,'' or he would say: ``He is solid.''

He always told me that if negotiations were ever going south, just let Bernie speak because he was solid. Mr. Speaker, he was that.

There is a Holocaust memorial that we built in the West Hills Park when I was in the State legislature with the help of some folks, and Bernie was one of those.

He gave the words that are on the stone that stands there today. I remember we were supposed to have the dedication at the memorial, but dadgummit, it was raining cats and dogs, so we ended up having it at West Hills Baptist Church.

Oddly enough, Bernie was dear friends with Pastor Prince who has since passed away. His son is now the pastor there, and he is my good friend.

I walked up thinking no one would be there. The doors opened, and it was completely jam-packed. It was packed because he was not only a leader in the Jewish community, he was a good friend to everyone he met.

My dad was right. Bernie was solid, and when he spoke, people listened. Thank you for being such a dear friend. You will truly be missed, Bernie

He leaves his wife and two children. I wish him shalom.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the NOTAM Improvement Act.

I thank my friend from the great State of Minnesota, my friends across the aisle, George, everyone here. I thank you all so much for being here today.

Nearly 3 million people every day count on flights in the United States to safely get them to where they need to go.

The Notice to Air Mission System is how we make sure that that will happen. The system is how we tell pilots about possible hazards.

When the system gets all jacked up, flights can't take off. It is just that simple. Back in January, planes across the country were grounded for the first time since 2001 because of a damaged file in our Notice to Air Mission database.

We need to prevent this from happening, Mr. Speaker. We need to prevent it from happening again and also look at what other improvements could be made.

Safety isn't a joke. It should be one of the Federal Aviation Administration's top priorities, not worrying about over 4 ounces of honey in your baggage.

This bill has bipartisan support, and there isn't any reason that it shouldn't pass with overwhelming support now.

The reason the press isn't here is mainly because we are agreeing on something, and we are working together, which is what this body is supposed to be doing, dadgummit.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you all so much for allowing me to be here.

Mr. Speaker, this week is National Police Week and I want to recognize all the brave officers, the men and women who risk their lives and their safety every day to protect and serve our communities.

Average citizens try very hard to stay away from certain types of people: murderers, rapists, drug dealers, gang members, domestic abusers, many I call dirtbags. These are the people our police officers deal with every day in the line of duty. They run toward danger when the rest of us run away.

They take criminals off our streets. They bring justice to our country. They protect us no matter what. They even protected the wave of antipolice protests that have been happening across our Nation. Imagine that. That takes true integrity and dedication to their work.

We all benefit from their service, and we need to back them up however we can.

I am incredibly grateful for our law enforcement, especially the local sheriffs' offices and police departments and my good friends at the State troopers' office in Tennessee's Second District who work so hard to keep us safe from these bad people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Fire Control Seaman Second Class Robert L. Luttrell, an American hero who served during World War II to fight the evil empire of Japan.

Luttrell graduated from Central High School in Knoxville and enlisted in the Navy in 1943. He was assigned to patrol gunboat PGM-18.

In March 1945, the PGM-18 was sent to Okinawa to protect minesweepers and destroy mines as they floated to the surface. Oddly enough, Okinawa is one of the islands my father served on.

On April 8, 1945, his ship struck a mine, and the blast lifted the 280-ton ship out of the water and ripped a giant hole in the starboard hull.

Seaman Luttrell was able to launch a life raft and help nine other sailors into the raft, including his commanding officer, but the raft was still tied to the ship and couldn't be untied.

Fortunately, Luttrell was able to cut the raft loose with a knife he had made from a hunk of metal he found in Hawaii.

He saved the lives of fellow servicemembers and showed true courage and quick thinking in the face of danger.

Too many times, Mr. Speaker, we call people heroes, and maybe they dribble a basketball, throw a football, or catch a baseball, but our true heroes are the men and women who wore our country's uniform and continue to do so like yourself, Mr. Speaker.

It is my honor to recognize Fire Control Seaman Second Class Robert Luttrell as Tennessee's Second District May 2023 Veteran of the Month.

Mr. Speaker, Americans are sick and tired of seeing the Biden administration spend millions of their taxpayer dollars to fund and enable an invasion of our southern border.

This administration is using nongovernmental organizations, NGOs, to push illegal immigrants all over the country. A report by The Heritage Foundation found that these illegal aliens were shipped to 431 out of 435 congressional districts. This report also shows the overwhelming number of resettled illegal immigrants were sent to, oddly enough, Republican districts. This is a massive resettlement program, Mr. Speaker.

Under President Biden, the number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. exceeds the population of some U.S. States.

We have had over 5 million illegal crossings plus over 1.3 million got-aways.

Title 42 ends tonight, as we all know, and the flood will get worse. We have seen the pictures, Mr. Speaker. We have no idea who these people are, where they are going, or what they will do. The situation will take a huge toll on our Nation and touch every community in every State.

We have caught people in the past that have been on the terrorist watch list. We have Communist Chinese coming over our border. We don't know what they are up to, as well.

Mr. Speaker, we owe it to the American people to finish the wall, end catch-and-release policies, and close the asylum loopholes that are big enough for a caravan to walk through.

President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have dug a big hole for the American people. If we want to save this country, we need extreme border security measures to stop this open invasion now.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chairman and his leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of overriding President Biden's veto of H.J. Res. 27. Overriding the veto would get rid of a Biden administration rule that hurts American landowners, small business owners, and farmers.

Back in 2020, the EPA addressed a longstanding problem. It got rid of a broad and confusing definition of waters of the United States, also known as WOTUS, and replaced it with a definition that was much more specific and easier to understand. But no good deed is left unpunished.

Mr. Speaker, landowners need to know if their body of water meets the definition of a WOTUS, because if it does, then it is subject to much, much stricter environmental regulations.

Of course, the Biden administration is doing what it does best, and it is messing up the situation.

It is like my dad used to say about education: The problem we have with education is we called in the people who created the problem to fix it.

That is what they are doing.

It repealed that clear definition of a WOTUS from 2020 and replaced it with a more confusing and ambiguous one. This means a lot more landowners, small business owners, and farmers will need to hire expensive lawyers and consultants just to figure out if their body of water now qualifies as a WOTUS. This is another example of bringing in the bureaucrats to fix a problem that they have created.

A lot of my constituents are farmers and landowners, of course. Many are both of those. It is hard enough for them to take care of their land and follow these crazy environmental regulations without adding the burden of trying to figure out what these regulations are in the first place.

Basically what we have done is we have taken this away from the mom and pop farmers, the people who have inherited the land and who respect the land. No one respects the land more than a farmer, Mr. Speaker. We are replacing it with multinational globalist corporations who control politicians like the puppet masters that they are.

This administration needs to stop throwing bureaucracies at every situation it can get its hands on.

Mr. Speaker, it just doesn't work. This time it will hurt Americans who work hard to take care of their land and their businesses.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Corporal Chris Bryant, an American hero who has served his country and community for the past 26 years.

In January of 1997, he left the Knox County Sheriff's Office to join the Marine Corps. He graduated basic training as an infantry machine gunner and was assigned to Kings Bay, Georgia, where he was stationed to watch over the nuclear sub base.

In 2002, he returned to the Knox County Sheriff's Department. In 2004, he was assigned full time to the narcotics division along with his K9 dog, Storm.

During his 12 years in the narcotics division, he has worked for the FBI Drug Task Force and has been promoted to lieutenant. In 2023, he enlisted in the Tennessee Army National Guard and is currently attending military police training in Smyrna, Tennessee.

Our country's heroes are the men and women of our Armed Forces like Corporal Bryant, who have served and sacrificed for our freedom and protected our communities.

It is my honor to recognize Corporal Chris Bryant as Tennessee's Second District's April 2023 Veteran of the Month.

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the work that the chairman and the committee have done on this very important piece of legislation.

Mr. Chair, I rise today to talk about why we need H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. I can't think of anybody in this country, especially working folks, especially the people in the Second Congressional District, who I represent, that say to me: Tim, I need to pay more for my energy. They don't. They say: My energy costs are out of sight. We have to feed our kids. We have to buy books for school. We have to buy clothing for our kids. We can't afford these higher energy costs.

The Biden administration, unfortunately, and the Democrats in Congress keep pushing these Green New Deal-style agendas. Honestly, Mr. Chair, they just don't work. There hasn't been a new development in solar in over 20 years, and windmills are just what they are. The wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always shine in east Tennessee, and I am sure that is the way it is across this great Nation. It is costing Americans way too much.

We are done with all this nonsense, Mr. Chair. H.R. 1 is going to end restrictions on importing and exporting natural gas. What could be wrong with that?

Why in the world are we doing business with our enemies, the people we continue to send money to? We have hundreds of years, by recent estimates, of gas in the ground that we could be getting out using safe and environmentally sound methods.

The burning apparatus now is so much safer than when this was first started, it is ridiculous. We need to fix this permitting process. We keep saying--and I have heard the White House say many times through their spokesperson--that we are permitting all these wells. Well, they don't permit the pipeline to get there. It is like we have a gallon of fuel in the ground and we are trying to pull it out with something about as big around as a needle point.

We have to process our energy projects so they can get off the ground in a reasonable amount of time. By the time we get to the end of it, the cost is so high that it is very cost-prohibitive. We have to make the Biden administration resume the lease on most of our Federal lands and waters that they have restricted.

We have to roll back President Biden's $27 billion slush fund for these Democrat special interest groups and these projects that amount to nothing but woke policy changes.

We have to stop the liberal States from abusing section 401 of the Clean Water Act, which they use to add a bunch of unnecessary red tape to every project they don't like. It seems like when we find a good resource, they put these barriers in place. It is just not right.

Mr. Chair, we need to focus on keeping Americans' homes heated and their lights on. Nothing should be more important, especially since we are forced to purchase it from our enemies overseas--the people that hate our guts. They love our dollars. We pay them and the next thing you know, they are burning our flag. They are saying things about us that aren't true. They are causing us all kinds of problems.

The best energy solution, Mr. Chair, above all, is the solution that we need oil, gas, and nuclear energy--like they are working on at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It is not in the district that I represent, but it backs up to where I am. There are over 6,000 people who work there that live in my district. It is also home to Big Ed's Pizza, which is a wonderful place--I will just throw that in.

Mr. Chair, H.R. 1 is going to spur energy innovation at home, and I am proud to support it. I appreciate the great work that has been done on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor firefighter Les Gibbs on his retirement. Les is one of the best friends I have in the world, Mr. Speaker.

When I was a single man, I would always enjoy going honky-tonking with Les because he didn't drink. Neither did I, and I knew I wasn't going to have to do anything. When we would go to the Cotton Eyed Joe, the ladies would be tripping over me and pushing me out of way to get in line to dance with Les.

Les has always been a good friend to me, and my parents loved him, too. When I would ask him to go eat pizza with me, he would always ask: ``Are Charlie and Joyce going?'' It was always clear to me that they ranked a little bit higher than me on his list, and that was okay because I had very cool parents. He loved them right up until the end, and he was the man who actually carried my momma out of the nursing home when she died.

You could always count on his motorcycle to run, and you could always count on mine to break down. When I got a new bike, which was actually a new bike for me but old for anybody else, he would say, ``Oh, I got a new rope,'' because he knew he was going to have to pull it. That was a true statement.

I was there on the day he was sworn in as a firefighter in the city of Knoxville, and I wish I could be in Tennessee instead of Washington when he retires. I am hoping that my beautiful wife, Kelly, and daughter, Isabel, will be there. They love Lester. He has always been good to me and my folks and the community around him. I can't thank him enough for that.

He has been a great friend to me, and he has been a better firefighter. He has been a great friend to hundreds, if not thousands, of other people. I wish him nothing but good times in retirement.

Thank you for everything, Lester, you have done for me and my family, brother. You are very much loved.