Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Private Henry ``Hank'' Webb, an American hero.

He was raised by a sharecropper, Dust Bowl Okie family who fled Oklahoma to California in 1943 in search of work. After arriving in Wasco, California, he lived and worked for 3 years in a migrant worker labor camp.

He served in the Army for 3 years and spent most of his time in Germany with an artillery unit. After the Army, he returned to college and earned his degree in criminal justice from the University of California, Berkeley.

After graduating from college in June 1960, he entered the U.S. Border Academy, where he graduated at the top of his class. He proudly served as a Border Patrol agent for 2 years.

In 1962, he was hired as a special agent by the ``once proud,'' his words, FBI, where he served for 25 years. He received many awards and assisted in protecting President Johnson in Mexico City and President Nixon in California.

After retiring, he continued to work in law enforcement in Texas. When he left law enforcement, he and his family moved to Tennessee.

Our country's heroes are the men and women of our Armed Forces, Mr. Speaker, like Private Webb.

It is my honor to recognize Private Henry ``Hank'' Webb as Tennessee's Second District's July 2024 Veteran of the Month.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chairman's indulgence and the people who work in this committee. I appreciate that young lady over there. She is just a delightful woman, and I thank her for her friendship.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Water Resources Development Act of 2024. This legislation will extend the Asian carp prevention and control pilot

programs that direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prevent the spread of Asian carp in the Tennessee and Cumberland River watershed.

These fish are a disaster. Mr. Speaker, you need to go on YouTube and watch them. They are repopulating and nothing really can stop them right now. People love east Tennessee because of its natural beauty. It is home to many businesses, like Ingram Marine Group, MasterCraft, Malibu Boats, and others that rely on us to take care of our waterways.

Managing the spread of invasive carp has been an important issue for maintaining healthy water resource ecosystems in Tennessee and around the country. I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I recognize my dear friend, Mr. Kenneth Snyder, Jr., also known as Mickey, who just passed away. They had his funeral tonight. He was the age of 84. I can't believe it.

Mickey was born and raised in Knoxville and had a deep sense of community and service. In West High School, he was honored as one of the top 50 athletes in the school's history, Madam Speaker, and he went on to play for the semiprofessional football team, the Knoxville Bears.

He had a passion for sports and mentoring young athletes, and he left a lasting impact on countless children, the current Congressman from the Second District being one of them. He coached me in baseball and football.

Mickey dedicated over 30 years of his life to the Knoxville Police Department until his retirement as a captain in 1993. He loved his family very much. He was married to his wife, Lana Sue Hinds, but we all call her Tootie, for 65 years. They raised three children together. They had four grandchildren and a great-grandson, and Mickey adored them all.

I offer my condolences to the family, including Tootie, along with their children and their spouses, Tracey and Dan, Kristie and Jennifer, and Little Mickey that just went by Mickey and Kiersten, along with all their other friends and family.

Mickey will be remembered for his kindness and ability to bring laughter and comfort to those around him, and he won't be forgotten by the people who knew and loved him, me being one of them.

Madam Speaker, I will truly miss Mickey Snyder. He was one in a million. He was a great mentor to a lot of young people, an excellent police officer, a great husband, a great father, and a great grandfather as well.

Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Foxx for her leadership and friendship. You are a pretty cool lady.

Madam Speaker, Title IX of the Civil Rights Act was passed to protect women from being unfairly denied opportunities in education and sports.

Can you imagine drawing the short stick and having to defend allowing men to compete in women's sports and take trophies from young ladies or even careers away from hardworking female athletes?

Of course, the most famous time this happened was when my friend Riley Gaines tied with a man in her swim meet--I say ``man'' in lower case letters but she didn't get a trophy because they wanted to give it to him instead. They also had to suffer the punishment of having to see this guy walk around without any clothes on and his lack of manhood, I guess.

I recently asked Riley about men competing in women's sports in a committee hearing. She said that some men started competing before they were taking hormones. She also said something we already knew: Hormone treatments don't alter a man's bone structure, lung capacity, or his height.

Hormones don't alter many other attributes that give men physical advantages over women. She talked about how allowing men into women's sports endangers their physical safety. We see more instances of this than Democrats and the mainstream media would have you believe.

A high school volleyball player got a concussion. We also saw a boxer withdraw from a match to protect herself when she learned her opponent was a biological male. A high school field hockey player had her teeth knocked out.

I strongly support protecting female athletes and rejecting this rule by an administration that has completely abandoned them.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Luna for yielding to me.

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, Congress held Attorney General Merrick Garland in criminal contempt of Congress. He refused to comply with two congressional subpoenas and hand over the tapes of the President's interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.

After the interview, Robert Hur called the President ``a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,'' and that is a quote. It is clear the Attorney General is trying to cover up our President's mental decline, but it is not working.

Every single person can see that the President is not well. The House already voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in criminal contempt of Congress a few weeks ago for defying the subpoenas, but there are three different kinds of contempt, Mr. Speaker: criminal, civil, and inherent contempt of Congress.

Holding someone in criminal contempt puts the Justice Department, which is controlled by Merrick Garland, in charge of taking action against the person.

By holding him in inherent contempt, we put the responsibility back in the hands of Congress where it belongs. This resolution fines the Attorney General $10,000 every day he continues to defy the congressional subpoenas and hand over those tapes.

Some folks don't want us doing this right now, and I understand that. It is an election year. I think this is exactly what we need to do, though, right now. These tapes will show the American people that our President is not well and not fit to be President of the United States.

No one, not even our Attorney General, is above the law. He needs to be held accountable and hand over those recordings to Congress.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, there are well over 10 million illegals living in our country brought in by this administration: gang members, rapists, terrorists, Communist Chinese spies.

We have allowed Americans to be killed. More will be killed until, I am afraid, this administration is changed.

The sad part is that we funded this. Not me, but my friends across the aisle and some of my Republican colleagues.

This President and Democrats don't care. They see these people as one thing: blue votes, Mr. Speaker. They don't care what the heck happens to Americans. They never have, and I don't think they ever will.

They are losing every single demographic of voters. It is very obvious to me what is going on. They are hoping these people will replace the ones they have lost either through the Census or at the polls themselves.

Most Republicans claim to be against illegal immigration. They are not just against funding it, Mr. Speaker.

Folks need to vote. We need to elect folks that believe in the American way. Let's take our dadgum country back, Mr. Speaker. Let's take back our schools, take back our healthcare system, and take back our jobs.

Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Sergeant Major Thomas Humphries as Tennessee's Second District June 2024 Veteran of the Month.

Sergeant Major Humphries joined the Marine Corps in January 1983 and spent years working on helicopters at Marine Corps Air Station New River in North Carolina and Naval Air Station Atlanta.

He then spent a couple years as a drill instructor at Parris Island, where he completed boot camp a decade before.

He went back to serve in New River again, then moved to Palms, California, after he was promoted to first sergeant. In 2003, he was deployed to Iraq and participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He was then promoted to sergeant major and served in Fort Lewis, Washington, and a few years later, he retired from the Marine Corps in 2007 after more than 24 years of service.

Sergeant Major Humphries became a veterans benefit representative with the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs until July 2012 and then became the Knox County veterans service officer when I was mayor.

He represented almost 30,000 veterans living in Knox County during that time and he used his knowledge of the VA system to help veterans get the benefits they deserve.

He is now taking a well-deserved retirement. He truly cares about our veterans and troops and used his career to serve them however possible.

Madam Speaker, I congratulate him on a great career, and I wish him the best in retirement.

The Marine Corps motto is ``Semper Fidelis,'' which means ``always faithful,'' and Tom has always been faithful to his country and his beloved corps, his fellow veterans, and he has been a good friend of mine.

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, a couple of weeks ago, the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a report on the U.S. Global Agency for Global Media's failure to vet its staff properly. Specifically, one of its executives, Setareh Sieg, lied on her resume, misused taxpayer dollars, and reportedly committed workplace misconduct.

Ms. Sieg was fired under the Trump administration, then rehired under the Biden administration, under suspicious circumstances, mind you.

Whistleblowers contacted the Foreign Affairs Committee requesting an investigation into Sieg, which the committee launched in 2021.

Among other things, the report stated she lied about having a Ph.D. on her resume and played favorites with overtime. She reportedly hired a senior official based on favoritism.

I learned about Ms. Sieg's actions a year ago. I tried to cut her salary in last year's appropriations bill. She was fired by the Trump administration, then the Biden administration, of course, hired her back, despite multiple reports of misconduct.

This is not the transparency, Mr. Chair, that Americans deserve from our government. She doesn't deserve a salary and she should be removed from this position immediately.

Mr. Chair, I have a 17-year-old daughter, and I tell her continuously: Baby, you play by the rules. You work hard. You tell the truth. You will be rewarded for that. Then I go home and tell her: No, I was wrong. You don't play by the rules. You lie about who you are. You mistreat people. You get rewarded by this government.

Mr. Chair, that is wrong and that needs to be changed. I urge all my colleagues to vote for this amendment to reduce Ms. Sieg's salary to $1.

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

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I am offering this amendment to withhold funding from the United States Agency for Global Media. This agency has misused taxpayer money and also failed properly to vet its own staff.

I ask you, Mr. Chairman, is the policy of this great Nation to misuse taxpayer money and fail to properly vet its own staff that is allowed to lie on their resumes?

Back in January 2021, it was recommended the agency suspend one of its executives, Setareh Sieg, following an investigation regarding her professional behavior.

The investigation concluded that Ms. Sieg lied on her resume. She lied. She misused taxpayer dollars for personal expenses and provided lavish contracts for friends. Is this the policy of this country, Mr. Chairman, I ask you?

However, just weeks later, and just hours after President Biden was sworn into office, guess what? Ms. Sieg was reinstated to her previous position without loss of pay or seniority.

The United States Agency for Global Media should be focused on its mission to inform and engage with people around the world in support of freedom and democracy, not a policy of allowing its employees to lie on their resumes, Mr. Chairman. Instead, they are playing political games and misusing our taxpayer dollars.

I recommend we withhold funding until a time when the U.S. Agency for Global Media can prove it is capable of removing employees that have deceitful and irresponsible work histories and is capable of properly vetting its own staff.

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

Mr. Chair, at the inception of these wonderful organizations that my colleague across the aisle described, I would say they probably were very effective. I would say now they have very little effect.

I can't imagine somebody in one of these countries turning on the radio and deciding, hey, I am not going to go down this path anymore because somebody from another country is on the radio telling me to do otherwise.

I find the policy that we have of promoting people who lie and who mistreat others because of political power or their connections very offensive, and that is exactly why Americans do not trust this town.

They do not trust Congress. They do not trust government because they see people continuously getting ahead in life that cheat, lie, and do things that are inappropriate.

Things that we would not allow in our own homes, in our own businesses, in our churches or our places of worship we sure as heck shouldn't allow in the seat of this government, and this continues.

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

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

Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your service to our great country in the Marine Corps. I should have said that earlier.

I offer this amendment to prohibit any funding for the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. This is just another group of unelected bureaucrats making decisions for the American people with no input from Congress, no

input from the people's House, Mr. Chairman.

President Biden promised to be the most transparent President in history, and he is about as transparent as a brick wall. He promised honesty and accountability for the American people, and he has not delivered.

This special envoy is the opposite of transparency, Mr. Chairman. We have requested the names of the office staff as well as their titles and amount of their salaries. We are trying to do our jobs and conduct oversight over the executive branch's operations, but we have not received one bit of information from them.

If the executive branch wants to make climate decisions, it must come through Congress first. John Kerry used to be in charge of this office. When I asked him how much his climate treaties were going to cost the American people, he responded with one word: Trillions, Mr. Chairman.

This is completely unacceptable. We are $32 trillion in debt. Every hundred days, we add another trillion dollars to our debt load. We have no plan to pay it back.

It is misuse of Americans' hard-earned dollars to push this administration's political agendas, and it is putting Americans out of work.

This office of unelected bureaucrats operates like a bunch of climate dictators, and it must not receive any funding from Congress.

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

Mr. Chairman, I can remember in 1977 there was a TV show I used to like. It was called ``In Search of . . . ''

That year I remember very well because I had to go to school at Bearden Junior High School on Saturdays because of snow days. We used up all of our snow days.

The show ``In Search of . . . '' had one episode that was: ``In Search of . . . The Coming Ice Age,'' and that was the talk. We are going into an ice age. Then it was acid rain. Then it was global warming.

All these reactionary things that happen to us, all they end up doing is costing us more money and making some advisory group, a bunch of fat cats, rich.

Every time we put these environmental regulations on this great country, these unelected bureaucrats get out here and get together, and then they figure out what we are going to do, and guess what? We are the only dadgum country in the world that follows them.

We cut a deal with China. They don't honor it. In China, for instance, when they put a new coal-fired plant together, it is our 1950s technology. We follow the rules. No one else does.

These unelected bureaucrats fly around in their big jets, they look down their noses at us, and we have to suffer the consequences.

Let's talk about the reality here. This is just another boondoggle so we can run for reelection and scare people.

The water that we drink and the air that we breathe now is cleaner and safer than it ever has been in my lifetime. Those are the facts.

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

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

Mr. Chair, I rise as the designee of the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Cammack), and I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. Chair, I rise in support of Representative Cammack's amendment, which would restrict funds at the Department of State from being used to finalize any rules and regulations with an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more.

Under the Biden administration, hundreds of billions of dollars in regulatory costs have fallen on the American people with no input from Congress--once again, unelected bureaucrats.

Biden's State Department is pursuing radical climate initiatives abroad funded by American tax dollars--again, none of our business.

A 2021 Department memo directed funding away from carbon-intensive initiatives overseas, threatening projects with national security implications, Mr. Chair. Now, taxpayer dollars are being used to subsidize clean energy initiatives abroad while our own electricity prices are still outpacing inflation.

We should not allow unelected bureaucrats to impose regulatory costs behind closed doors. Our Nation needs major regulatory reform, and this amendment is a crucial step forward to a more transparent and accountable government.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to restore congressional oversight over burdensome executive actions and require that any major rule be approved by Congress before taking effect.

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

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman, and I appreciate the kind words of the gentleman across the aisle and his support for this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, when the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, over $7 billion worth of military equipment was left behind for the Taliban. This seems to be a usual occurrence for this country, no matter who is in power.

I was the mayor of Knox County. With anywhere from $10 million to $15 million, we can build a high school in Tennessee. I can't imagine what $7 billion would do across the country. Anyway, all that is outrageous.

Every cent our government spends comes from the American people, and right now, we are borrowing a whole heck of a lot of it. We are $35 trillion in debt. The fact that their money has gone to terrorists, to me, is just a complete disgrace, Mr. Speaker. This bill would help prevent any more money from ending up in the hands of the Taliban.

The bill does three things.

First, it states the policy of the United States is to oppose financial or material support to the dadgum Taliban. It also calls for a report on any foreign countries that have given financial or material support to the Taliban and calls for the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to discourage foreign countries from providing support.

This came from a conversation I had in a committee. I want to give John Stout in my office some incredible kudos for helping me craft this bill. We asked a member, I believe it was, of the State Department, this money that we give to these organizations, these countries, is there any way to keep it from getting into the hands of terrorists? In fact, he said: No. In this case, there was not.

Second, this bill calls for a report on cash assistance programs in Afghanistan and puts safeguards in place to prevent the Taliban from accessing it, keeping them from getting to the money.

Third, it requires a report on the Afghan Fund and the Afghanistan central bank and what controls are in place to make sure these funds are not diverted or misused.

Thirteen brave servicemembers, including a constituent of mine, Staff Sergeant Ryan Knauss, lost their lives in the Afghanistan withdrawal. He was technically the last American to lose his life in Afghanistan. The road I live on, the State highway, has been named in his honor. I see it every day when I drive down it, and I think about that.

I have held his parents both when they have cried and I have cried, and it is just very emotional for me. These folks lost their lives in the Afghanistan withdrawal, and we need to make sure our tax dollars don't go toward terrorists who killed Americans.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this bill, which keeps our government accountable and prevents the Taliban from getting its hands on any more of Americans' hard-earned money. I thank my friends across the aisle as well for their support.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor and congratulate Head Coach Tony Vitello and the Tennessee Volunteers on their victory over Texas A&M last night in the College World Series, bringing home the hardware to Knoxville, my hometown.

The Vols completed one of the most accomplished seasons in college baseball history, which crowned them as SEC regular season champions, SEC tournament champions, and College World Series champions, with a remarkable 60-13 record.

Coach Vitello and I spoke in the office a few weeks before the season started, and he told me when they punched their ticket--not if, when-- that he wanted them to take it all in and just enjoy it, and that is exactly what they did. If you watch any of the video from the game, his father came down on the field, and it was truly an emotional moment.

I also congratulate Dylan Dreiling on an outstanding College World Series performance. Dadgummit, Madam Speaker, Dreiling was named the men's College World Series most outstanding player after he homered in each of the final three games.

They have all made Knoxville and the entire State of Tennessee proud. I wish I were back home to celebrate with them instead of stuck here in Washington, D.C.

Madam Speaker, your 2024 national champions are clad in orange and white.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Troy Whiteside, Jr., who just graduated from Cornell Law School.

Troy graduated from Webb School of Knoxville in 2015 and went on to Cornell University where he played basketball all 4 years and was a 4- year letterman.

Troy graduated with degree in hospitality and took his skills to Las Vegas to work in the hospitality and gaming industry, and he was a champion there.

He then decided to go back to Cornell Law School. He got a J.D./MBA, which is a dual degree in law and an MBA, so he has a total of three degrees from Cornell University, Mr. Speaker.

While he was an undergrad, Troy Jr. founded IvyUntold.com, a social media platform where Ivy League students can tell their stories since many of them have overcome a lot of challenges to get where they are. Troy Jr. was no different.

The Whitesides have been dear friends of my family for years. Troy Jr.'s parents, Troy and Jackie, took care of me and my dad when my mama died. They have been wonderful friends. They are a great family.

Troy and Jackie have been successful entrepreneurs. Troy Jr.'s brother, Donovan, on the far end, D-Man, he used to work with us up here in my first year in Congress.

I can't tell you how proud I am of this family. Donovan is now a daddy. Troy Jr., in his latest achievements on top of many others, is going on to greater things, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to seeing the bright future he has ahead of him, and I appreciate Troy, Jackie, Troy Jr., and Donovan.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. Bob Overholt who just passed away at 85 years old. Dr. Overholt graduated from West High School in Knoxville and went to the University of Tennessee where he was on the football team and swim team. His football career was cut short by a knee injury.

He attended the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis and was truly a Vol for life before it was cool to be such. He mentored many University of Tennessee students and politicians over the years.

After he completed an internship and a residency, he was drafted in the U.S. Army and served as a captain and physician at Fort Myer Army Base here in Washington, D.C. He then returned to Knoxville, Tennessee, and served east Tennesseans for over 50 years.

He was the president of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine, developed the Allergy, Asthma, and Sinus Center, a world-leading institute, among many other accomplishments.

Dr. Overholt was a well-known media personality in east Tennessee. He hosted ``The Dr. Bob Show,'' which actually received over two dozen Telly Awards, and he regularly gave medical information on WBIR's ``Live at Five at Four.''

I offer my condolences to Carole, his wife of 63 years; his sons, Mark and John; their wives, Meredith and Martha; and countless grandchildren and other family and friends who loved him very much, especially the good folks at West Hills Baptist Church where he sang in the choir.

I always remember at my momma's funeral, Mr. Speaker, he came up to me after I said that momma wasn't a bumper sticker type of Christian; she lived it. He laughed about that, and he often would quote that to me.

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Bob was not a bumper sticker kind of Christian. He actually lived that life and was so generous to others. As a matter of fact, he is the only person I know to ever get mad at me for not asking him for a contribution.

Dr. Bob will be missed and is so loved in Knoxville and around east Tennessee. I thank him for being my friend.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, in light of all these other amendments, my amendment seems a little light compared to other things going on, but I bring it in all sincerity because I have had some constituents contact me about this.

This basically just prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from banning or removing the iconic photograph ``V-J Day in Times Square,'' otherwise known as The Kiss.

A few months ago, an Assistant Secretary at the VA sent a memo directing regional offices to remove the photo, alleging it depicts a nonconsensual act.

Secretary McDonough later reversed the decision, and I think it is probably because his boss realized it is an election year.

This illustrates a larger problem within this administration, Madam Chair.

This administration constantly removes or changes history because they don't like the view from their rose-tinted glasses.

Madam Chair, World War II cost the lives of 330,000 American soldiers, including my uncle. My father fought in that war, fought valiantly in the Pacific.

World War II tore sons from their mothers and husbands from their wives. It impacted every part of American society. The actions in this photo are not really romantic as the woman said herself, the actual woman in the photo. The actions in this photo are simply two people rejoicing at the end of a terrible war and the defeat of terrible enemies. More importantly, this photo represents the victory and peace felt around the country and the world.

Madam Chair, I urge the Members to vote in favor of the amendment to prevent the administration from removing this photo in the future, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Laura Sharbel, who just retired after 43 years of teaching at Sacred Heart Cathedral School and over 50 years of teaching across Tennessee.

Laura was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1949, but her family moved to Tennessee right after her 11th birthday. She attended Middle Tennessee State University and, after she graduated in 1971, she started teaching in Trousdale County.

In 1976, her family moved to Memphis, where she went to grad school at the University of Memphis, and she taught at St. Paul's and in the Shelby County School System until 1981.

After that, they moved to Knoxville, and she started teaching first grade at Sacred Heart Cathedral School.

For over four decades, Laura has shown patience, dedication, and love to the students who have come through her class. She also played a role as a friend and mentor to many of her colleagues throughout the years.

She truly has a servant's heart, Madam Speaker, and she helped so many people at the school. Laura is surrounded by many people who love her, including friends and family. She and Nolan have four children: Melanie, John Nolan, Jacob, and Maggie; and they also have eight grandchildren.

I wish Laura the best of luck in her new chapter of life. This retirement is well deserved, and I know the folks at Sacred Heart will miss her very much, and they were very lucky to have her.

Mr. Speaker, I would remind some of the Members in the back that it is crowded back there. There are a few more seats down front if they want to come down here.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize radio deejay Ted ``Gunner'' Ousley, who is retiring in June after a career that spanned six decades.

Gunner started his career at AM 1470 in Maryville, Tennessee, before working at 94.3 in Knoxville and the Hit Kicker 100.3 before moving to WIVK, or ``WIVK'' as we call it, 107.7, where he spent the last 28 years.

Gunner has interviewed some big names in country music over the years, like Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, and Taylor Swift. Yes, she used to sing country music. When she was 15 years old, she did.

Gunner loved our veterans and troops and has used his job to help them however he can. Back in 2004, he spent 3 months with the 489th Special Operations in a combat zone of Iraq and started a weekly radio show called ``Voices from the Front'' that allowed troops to communicate with their families back home and was used by many troops all over the world through the years. He has also hosted the Veterans Day parade every year in Knoxville.

Gunner has also worked with other charities, like St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Knoxville Area Rescue Missionary, Alzheimer's Tennessee, and many others.

He is a man who truly loves his country and his community. He also became the first inductee into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame Career Class of 2024.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Gunner on a great career and wish him the best in retirement. I always remember him being good to my daddy, who was a World War II veteran.