Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 2051) to reauthorize the Missing Children's Assistance Act, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on S. 2051.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act, which authorizes the support for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC. NCMEC is the national clearinghouse and resource center for protecting missing and exploited children.

Protecting our country's most vulnerable children has long been a national priority. That is why Congress created the Missing Children's Assistance Act, MCAA, in 1984 to provide Federal coordination of State and local efforts to recover and support missing and exploited children.

At the opening ceremony for NCMEC, President Reagan proclaimed, ``All Americans, and especially our youth, should have the right and the opportunity to walk our streets, to play and to grow and to live their lives without being at risk.''

Ever since, NCMEC has dutifully served as the national resource center to find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent child victimization. Reauthorizing the MCAA is imperative in today's times of unparalleled and evolving threats to children, both online and out in public.

S. 2051, the Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2023, is bipartisan legislation that renews the MCAA through fiscal year 2028 and takes critical steps in helping NCMEC better respond to crimes affecting children across the country.

A companion bill, H.R. 5224, was introduced in the House by Representatives Bean and Courtney, and I thank them for their work on this important issue.

S. 2051 would improve NCMEC's ability to assist law enforcement to identify, locate, and recover missing and exploited children; develop educational materials to reduce the risk of child sex trafficking, online enticement, sexual extortion, and cyberbullying; provide education and technical assistance for conducting background checks on individuals working with children; offer support services to missing and exploited children and their families; and facilitate requests to have child sexual abuse material removed from the internet.

In fact, NCMEC's commitment also extends globally, collaborating with international organizations to combat the issue of child exploitation. Such collaborations ensure a united effort against international trafficking threats, particularly in a world increasingly interconnected online and ever evolving with the advent of artificial intelligence.

When President and CEO of NCMEC Michelle DeLaune was asked by the Education and the Workforce Committee at a recent hearing how concerned on a scale of 1 to 10, she was

about AI threats to children, DeLaune responded an 11.

Earlier this year, Big Tech CEOs testified before the Senate and received sharp criticism for rampant child exploitation on their platforms. Those CEOs have blame to share, but the House of Representatives has a duty to fulfill.

Passing the Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2023 means we will ensure NCMEC has the tools needed to protect America's most vulnerable children today and in the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean), Chairman of the Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee.

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

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.

The successes of NCMEC over the past 40 years and the need for its continued funding have been well established. Today, NCMEC, with its 450 employees, operates a unique public-private partnership that is the essential formula for effective governance, working with families, law enforcement, schools, community leaders, and nonprofits.

In 2023 alone, NCMEC received 148,695 calls, and the organization assisted law enforcement, families, and child welfare with 28,886 cases of missing children and recovered 88 percent of those cases.

With the passage of S. 2051, the Missing Children's Assistance Reauthorization Act of 2023, we can ensure continuing success for

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to report to the House that Article III courts have once again protected the American people from extreme executive overreach.

I am talking, of course, about the President's so-called borrower defense rule. On Friday, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stopped the regulation in its tracks for now.

This key decision gives strong reason to believe that the borrower defense scheme will be permanently scuttled.

Writing for the court, Judge Edith Jones said: `` . . . we assess a strong likelihood that the plaintiffs will succeed on the merits in demonstrating the Rule's numerous statutory and regulatory shortcomings.''

This is a grand slam for taxpayers and for every American who never stepped foot on a college campus yet have been forced to pay for others' student debt.

God bless our Republican system of checks and balances.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize Jared L. Perry, a major in the United States Marine Corps, an exemplary North Carolinian, and a proud native of Ashe County.

On April 5, Major Perry will officially retire after 16 years of service to our Nation, a record of service that is admirable and respected.

His service to our Nation has led him to travel to Central and South America on the USS Iwo Jima, to Afghanistan, where he served two combat tours, as well as to the Indo-Pacific. No matter where he has traveled to in service to our Nation, one thing has remained the same: his commitment to advancing and safeguarding the values and freedom that make America the greatest country in the world.

I congratulate Major Perry on his well-earned retirement. The entire Nation thanks him for his service and sacrifice, and we are forever grateful.

Madam Speaker, a Biden agency called PBGC wanted to fleece the taxpayer of $127 million by funding pensions for dead participants.

Let me repeat: $127 million for dead pension participants.

Only after repeated calls by the Committee on Education and the Workforce for PBGC to correct its work has it decided to claw back those funds. Thanks to the tireless work of the committee, PBGC is being held accountable.

Accountability and fiscal responsibility were once shared, bipartisan values.

A former Republican Senator has been famously quoted as saying: ``A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you are talking real money.''

This Senator's colleague, William Proxmire, notoriously presented the Golden Fleece Award to the government organization that had fleeced the American taxpayer the worst on any given week.

The American people are tired of being fleeced. President Biden has already misspent billions in fraudulent COVID payments. I say not a dollar more.

Mr. Speaker, today marks the 1-year anniversary of Julie Su's tenure as Acting Secretary of Labor.

Why 1 year as Acting Secretary? Su doesn't have the support or votes to be confirmed.

As California's Secretary of Labor, Ms. Su allowed fraudsters to steal $32 billion in unemployment insurance, and she supported AB5, a State law she now wants to make Federal law that denies workers the freedom to choose their work.

Now, she is pursuing a radical agenda at the Department of Labor, writing 75 new regulations that will hurt workers and job creators.

Acting Secretary Su continues to thumb her nose at Congress and the American public. Under Ms. Su's leadership, the DOL has stonewalled congressional oversight. In fact, in December, she failed to comply with a duly served congressional subpoena.

The American people deserve better leadership at DOL. The President should withdraw Ms. Su's nomination.

Madam Speaker, the Biden administration is desperate to shore up support before the November election.

It is so desperate, in fact, it has announced its intent to co-opt the Federal Work-Study Program and begin paying college students to register voters and to work at the polls.

That is right, the Federal Government will be handing out cold, hard cash for students to scoop up votes.

Vice President Harris in recent remarks billed this scheme as nonpartisan and one that will promote voter participation for students. Nobody is buying that pitch, Madam Speaker.

Here is the truth: The Biden administration is turning the Federal Work-Study Program into a vote-buying sweepstakes.

Enough with the smoke and mirrors already. The American people are not fooled.

Mr. Speaker, as our Nation faces a myriad of catastrophes, one of which is an open southern border and the mass migration of illegal aliens, Washington's fiscal house sits in utter disrepair.

That is the reality we face. If we don't grasp the reins soon and stamp out wasteful spending, our Nation will suffer serious consequences that will continue to compound.

Not a penny of taxpayer money should be directed to frivolous spending binges overseas while the southern border is sitting wide open. We should take care of our country's needs first.

American families and hardworking taxpayers across the Nation demand that action be taken to cut spending, restore fiscal sanity, and get our country moving in the right direction.

Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly agree with them, and I have taken action to restore fiscal order in Washington.

To cut wasteful spending and protect taxpayer dollars from rampant abuse, I have supported commonsense amendments to the ongoing fiscal year 2024 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Operations appropriations package. These amendments slash funding for the United States Agency for International Development by half, transfer millions of dollars from the Peace Corps budget to the spending reduction account, eliminate millions in funding for the Global Environment Facility fund, and prohibit funds from being used to implement the Paris climate agreement.

Our children, grandchildren, and future generations of proud Americans to come deserve fiscal order in Washington and our country's needs being put first. Anything less is entirely unacceptable.

In addition to my continuing efforts to uphold fiscal order and put the needs of our country first, I have also cosponsored H.R. 2445, the Special Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance Act, legislation which would establish an office for an inspector general for Ukraine assistance to oversee all funding made available in support of Ukraine.

Specifically, this legislation requires the President's nominee to serve as the Special Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance to be confirmed by the Senate; directs the Special Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance to submit quarterly reports to Congress on obligations and expenditures of U.S. funds and the provision of military equipment; requires a report on the Ukrainian Government's compliance with anticorruption measures and comparisons of America's contribution to Ukraine to those from our NATO allies.

Mr. Speaker, oversight of taxpayer dollars and resources should never be cast aside or abandoned. We can stamp out wasteful spending, put our country's needs first, and ensure effective oversight of taxpayer dollars all at the same time.

My record on cutting wasteful spending is clear, and I will always fight to ensure that the dollars of hardworking taxpayers are not only respected but also protected.

Madam Speaker, at this very moment, America's dedicated farmers and the Nation's entire agricultural community are facing a serious threat.

That threat is the Communist Chinese Party's continued purchasing of American farmland. This is a threat that I take very seriously and one that I remain committed to fixing.

Here is the truth: The Chinese Communist Party has absolutely no interest in supporting our Nation's food supply.

It cares only about improving its own bottom line while kneecapping a community that has always put food on the tables of families in every ZIP Code in America.

Think about the threat that is being posed to our national security as more American farmland is acquired by the Chinese Communist Party.

My record is crystal clear on standing with farmers, and I have recently taken action to confront and expose the Chinese Communist Party's covert agenda.

I have cosponsored H.R. 7131, the AFIDA Improvements Act of 2024, legislation that makes serious reforms related to how the United States Department of Agriculture shares data on foreign investments in agricultural land.

What is more, I have cosponsored H.R. 809, the Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People's Republic of China Act.

This legislation requires the President to take necessary actions to prohibit the purchase of public or private agricultural real estate located in the United States by nonresident aliens, foreign businesses, or any agent, trustee, or fiduciary associated with the Government of the People's Republic of China.

Further, under this legislation, individuals or businesses with direct ties to the Government of the People's Republic of China will be prohibited from certain programs administered by the Secretary of Agriculture.

Madam Speaker, the simple truth is that our Nation's food supply and supply chain are better off when American farmers are put first.

The interests of the Chinese Government should never be put first. This threat is one that should not be ignored.

I have long held that North Carolina's agricultural industry is the best that our Nation has to offer. It has always been and will always be a force to be reckoned with.

Last Congress, I was proud to be a recipient of the Friend of the Farm Bureau award in recognition of my voting record in support of farmers across North Carolina and the Nation.

These hardworking men, women, and families work tirelessly every day to support our Nation. I will always stand with them and push back against every attempt to undermine their livelihoods.

Mr. Speaker, at a San Francisco Bay Area school, only 16 percent of students were reading at grade level and only 8 percent were proficient at math.

The school spent $250,000 in taxpayer money on a group called Woke Kindergarten to help boost test scores for some of the country's lowest performing schools.

However, after 2 years with Woke Kindergarten, student scores are worse. Now, only 12 percent are reading at grade level and fewer than 4 percent are proficient in math.

There is more. The head of Woke Kindergarten is on record wanting ``a world free of the U.S. empire''; believing space aliens are oppressed; and supporting ``a free Palestine from the river to the sea.''

A teacher who questioned the program has been put on leave.

I wish this were made up, but it is real and, sadly, encapsulates so much of what is wrong with our education system.

Madam Speaker, roughly 18 million students fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA, each year. Yet, this week, the Department of Education celebrated 3.6 million forms being submitted. That is 20 percent, a failing grade in any classroom, yet the Biden administration considers this success?

Countless students and families are being negatively impacted by this administration's outrageously incompetent implementation of a bipartisan law passed more than 3 years ago.

The Department had plenty of time to prepare for the FAFSA rollout. Instead, it zealously and recklessly pursued an illegal student loan scheme. The Department's actions have had real consequences. Students are hurting, especially low-income students who are most dependent on taxpayer aid from the Federal Government.

The Department promises that colleges will receive financial aid information in mid-March. Given this Department's empty promises and missed deadlines throughout the past year, I won't hold my breath.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee for yielding and for his great work on this impeachment resolution.

Mr. Speaker, Secretary Mayorkas' political career is on the chopping block, where it rightfully belongs. He has failed to apply the laws that would stop this invasion at the southern border.

To those who claim that this impeachment is for purely political purposes, you are dead wrong. This is about upholding the rule of law that governs our Republic, the same rule of law that Secretary Mayorkas has ignored and forsaken every day.

Secretary Mayorkas has had innumerable opportunities to enforce the laws that are already on the books but has chosen not to. He has earned his own impeachment.

Let's be clear: Our entire constitutional system is predicated on the idea that Congress creates laws, and the executive branch enforces those laws.

Allowing this abuse of our constitutional system to go unchecked could spell the beginning of the end for our Republic.

I am proud to serve as a cosponsor of these impeachment articles. The rule of law must be restored at the border immediately.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 443, the bipartisan Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act, sponsored by Representatives Walberg and Sablan.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at noon tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, February is Career and Technical Education Month. I join the Nation in commending all the educators who play a vital role in preparing America's students for prosperity in the 21st century economy. However, there is often a disconnect between the curriculum taught at schools and the skills required for in-demand jobs.

There are currently 9 million unfilled jobs in the United States, and job creators are struggling to find qualified workers. Career and technical education programs offer a practical solution to bridge this skills gap. These programs offer students hands-on experience and skills that will allow them to excel in the workforce. By equipping students with the competencies they need to be successful on the job, career and technical education programs give participants an invaluable head start.

Building a strong, skilled workforce is a national priority. Now is the time to strengthen career and technical education.

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Committee on Education and the Workforce advanced the College Cost Reduction Act, CCRA, a landmark bill that would lower the cost of postsecondary education and provide much-needed relief for countless students and families.

For too long, colleges have been given free rein to charge exorbitant tuition for degrees without a worthwhile economic benefit. This legislation would ensure that that is no longer the case.

Don't take my word for it. Preston Cooper from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, FREOPP, states: ``The College Cost Reduction Act would hold colleges and universities financially responsible for unpaid Federal student loans while delivering direct aid to institutions with low prices and strong student outcomes.'' Cooper notes the key provisions of the bill would save billions while lowering tuition costs. Those include loan repayment assistance.

The bill pares down the confusing array of Federal student loan repayment plans to two: a standard mortgage-style plan and an income- driven repayment plan.

Student loan risk sharing: Colleges, rather than students, are responsible for the cost of repayment assistance. Schools would be required to compensate the government for a portion of the forgiven unpaid interest associated with their former students.

Performance bonus: Schools may be eligible for new direct payments from the Federal Government known as Promise grants. These payments are determined by a formula that rewards colleges for low-income student enrollment, high graduation rates, low tuition prices, and strong graduate earnings outcomes.

Loan limits: The bill caps aggregate student loan limits at $50,000 for undergraduate students, $100,000 for graduate students, and $150,000 for students in graduate professional programs.

Maximum price guarantee: Colleagues must guarantee that the net tuition that students pay in their first year will not increase in subsequent years, for as long as the student is enrolled at the institution.

College is an investment for families, and they should know that graduates are receiving a financial return.

As such, the centerpiece of this legislation builds off of the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act and measures the return on investment of college programs by comparing the ratio of the total price students were charged relative to the value-added earnings graduates receive from their degree.

Not only does this metric provide a sector-neutral way to assess whether students are better or worse off for enrolling in a given program but provides a measure to which institutions can be held financially responsible or financially rewarded for the outcomes of their students.

This means that, among other actions, institutions can reduce or eliminate the risk-sharing penalties by lowering their price, and in doing so, can become eligible for additional performance-based funding, like PROMISE grants that require that, at a minimum, the total price paid by students is at least equal to the value-added earnings of graduates.

For example, Preston Cooper's analysis of the CCRA highlights several institutions who are promoting economic mobility and would benefit substantially under this legislation--the State Technical College of Missouri, which could receive millions in flexible performance-based PROMISE funding.

In fact, Cooper's analysis finds that almost 90 percent of community colleges would financially benefit under the bill after accounting for risk sharing and PROMISE grants.

Most importantly, the bill benefits students by ensuring that as a condition of receiving PROMISE grants, institutions would provide students an up-front, guaranteed price for their entire degree program.

This means that for up to a maximum of 6 years, colleges would lock in students' tuition, making it far easier to budget needed resources, and also to weigh the cost of postsecondary education against perceived future benefits, such as their value-added earnings.

Policy experts across postsecondary education agree that the CCRA will help lower college costs. Here is what others are saying about it:

Andrew Gillen of the Texas Public Policy Foundation:

``Much is in the College Cost Reduction Act, but the most important changes revolve around transparency, financial aid reforms, deregulation, and accountability. . . .

``Overall, the College Cost Reduction Act would be a dramatic improvement for higher education.''

Michael Brickman of the American Enterprise Institute:

``The College Cost Reduction Act provides the first substantive and comprehensive proposal in years to reform the way colleges and universities are funded and held accountable. There's a lot to like.''

Finally, Beth Akers of the American Enterprise Institute:

``The College Cost Reduction Act represents the largest serious and comprehensive higher education reform package in decades and, in theory, has plenty of bipartisan appeal.''

Everyone can agree that college is too expensive and a temporary Band-Aid like one-time loan bailouts simply won't cut it.

The College Cost Reduction Act is a promise from this Congress to the next generation of students that we are pursuing lasting solutions to the value problem in postsecondary education. It is also a promise to taxpayers that they will no longer be forced to pay for someone else's debt.

You don't have to take our word for it, though. Go listen to and read the mounds of evidence in support of the CCRA. I am proud of the work of the committee to advance this bill, and I look forward to a robust debate upon it reaching the House floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, this week, the House Committee on Homeland Security is marking up Articles of Impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his stark dereliction of duty at our Nation's southern border.

I believe that Secretary Mayorkas deserves to be impeached for his failures, and my intention is to vote in favor of his impeachment.

That said, it is because of House Republicans' commitment to restoring regular order that we have now reached this critical juncture. Regular order has allowed the Homeland Security Committee to conclude its investigation into Secretary Mayorkas and move at an expedited pace in its consideration of these Articles of Impeachment.

It is well known that I voted to refer the impeachment process to this committee. Regular order can and should be followed, especially on such an important issue as this.

What has come to light now is that the vote to refer these articles to the Homeland Security Committee expedited the process by giving that committee sole jurisdiction over the articles. That vote gave us the quickest possible timeline to move these Articles of Impeachment to the Senate where a conviction can and should be affirmed.

We must also acknowledge that regular order has also preserved precious taxpayer dollars that would have otherwise been wasted if the Committee's investigation had been immediately cut short.

Mr. Speaker, while we are on the topic of the southern border, let me address the Senate's secret border deal.

The President has claimed that he needs Congress to pass legislation to empower him to secure the southern border. That is patently false. Congress has no such obligation to do so.

President Biden has always had the authority to enact measures at the southern border to deter illegal aliens from entering our country: ending catch and release; ceasing exploitation of parole authority; reinstating the remain in Mexico program; expanding the use of expedited removal authority; renewing construction of the border wall.

Let's not forget about what authority is granted to the President under the Immigration and Nationality Act as well: ``Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.''

Again, the President already has the authority to secure the southern border. Even in precedent set by the Supreme Court in Trump v. Hawaii, the President can make ``decisions whether and when to suspend entry, whose entry to suspend, for how long, and on what conditions.''

Mr. Speaker, President Biden is acting as if Congress has tied his hands

and the only way he can secure the border is with more congressional approval.

The truth is that President Biden has been sitting on his own hands for months on end. Perhaps he should take a long, hard look in the mirror.