Zachary Nunn

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Chad Donahue of Des Moines, Iowa, for receiving the 2026 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence and for his outstanding commitment to preparing the next generation of Iowa's skilled workforce.

A welding instructor at Des Moines Public Schools Central Campus, Chad brings two decades of field and shop experience with Sheet Metal Workers Local 45 into his classroom. He did precision work in food- grade stainless and structural steel for companies like Firestone, Cargill, and Tone's Spices, won his local apprentice welding contest three

years in a row, and has a decade of experience teaching apprentices. Chad understands firsthand the difference a great teacher can make. He overcame his own early difficulties as a student with the encouragement of an empathetic educator, and he shows that same patience with every young person who walks into his lab, including English language learners and students with individualized education programs.

His results speak for themselves. In 2025, his program's all-girls welding team captured the overall state championship, and in 2026, a Central Campus student won the Missouri Welding Institute national competition against top trade schools from across the country. Through partnerships with John Deere Des Moines Works and Plumbers and Steam fitters Local 33, his students are gaining direct pathways into rewarding careers.

On September 29, Chad was surprised with the news that he had been selected as one of just 25 skilled trades teachers nationwide, out of more than 550 applicants from 49 states, to receive the 2026 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. He is one of two Iowa teachers honored this year. The full $75,000 prize will go toward strengthening the Central Campus skilled trades program and expanding opportunities for young Iowans.

Mr. Speaker, educators like Chad Donahue are helping build the next generation of American craftsmanship. His dedication to his students, commitment to excellence. And passion for the skilled trades embodies the very best of Iowa. I congratulate Chad on this well-deserved national recognition and thank him for the lasting impact he continues to make on our students, workforce, and community.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Ray Gaesser of Corning, Iowa, who passed away tragically in a farm accident on September 5, 2026, at the age of 73. His loss is felt by those who loved him, and Iowa mourns alongside the entire Gaesser family.

Ray grew up on a small farm in southern Indiana, where he began farming at just 15 years old, taking over the family operation after the death of his father. In 1977, he and his wife, Elaine, began farming near Corning with a few hundred acres, and over the decades they built it into a family operation of more than 5,000 acres.

Ray was a devoted family man, a trusted friend, and a leading voice for Iowa agriculture. He believed farming was a privilege, and he treated the land as something to be cared for, strengthened, and handed down to the next generation to carry on Iowa's oldest tradition.

Ray's impact on Iowa agriculture reached far beyond his own fields. He was president of the Iowa Soybean Association in 2007 and, in

2014, became president of the American Soybean Association, carrying the priorities of Iowa's farmers on trade missions around the world. He co-founded Solutions from the Land and led the Iowa Conservative Energy Forum, championing conservation and homegrown energy. His service extended beyond agriculture as well. He was appointed to the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission in 2022 and chaired it until this past July. Ray often said that ``when we work together, we all benefit.'' He lived by that motto, and Iowa agriculture is stronger because of it.

I had the privilege of calling Ray a close friend, and time and again I saw that commitment up close. Whenever I had a question about agriculture, Ray was my first call. He had a lifetime of knowledge and never hesitated to share it. If I needed his counsel, Ray would drop what he was doing, drive to Des Moines, sit down with me, and talk through how we could deliver for Iowa's farmers. That is one of the things I will miss most about him.

Ray and Elaine were in my corner from the very beginning, but more importantly, they were always in Iowa's corner. From his glass-topped silo looking over his slice of Heaven on the Gaesser farm, to leading delegations around the world, Ray brought an unmatched knowledge of agriculture and a genuine friendship wherever he went. Oftentimes, just his smile and a good farm story were enough to forge a new partnership, build trust in Iowa, and strengthen a legacy of service he spent a lifetime creating.

Ray leaves behind his wife, Elaine; their children, Chris and Jennifer; and a legacy that will endure in the land he cared for and the farmers he spent his life fighting for.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life and legacy of Ray Gaesser: a devoted farmer, a national voice for American agriculture, and a faithful friend to all who worked the land.

Mr. Speaker, every family is now impacted by this. Every American knows someone who has come into contact with an AI fraud, a pig butchering scheme, a romance theft.

Right now, criminals on the other side of the world are stealing the life savings of people in our own communities, and the local officers who answer those calls oftentimes can't even do anything about it. The money moves through digital currencies, including crypto, faster than anyone can even trace it. By the time a deputy who answers the call files a report, the life savings of that family, individual, or loved one is gone.

I will share a story of what happened in my district in rural Iowa, of all places. A farmer in Wapello County was targeted through social media by an account posing as a Russian model. Over months, this Russian woman began to earn his trust and then took him for $1 million, including farm equipment that he had to mortgage.

Over months, the people behind it further earned his trust. When they realized that he had money on his farm, in cash, they hired mercenaries on U.S. soil to drive from New York to a rural farmhouse in Iowa, where, when he refused to give up his cash, they opened fire on him. Due to this smart-thinking farmer locking himself in his barn and calling local law enforcement, his life was spared. His monetary loss was immeasurable.

Sheriff Don Phillips of Wapello and his deputies worked with Federal agents. They arrested the men who showed up that day. Out of the three, they were able to keep one. The other two ended up getting away. The people who ran the schemes, the real perpetrators of this, were far overseas. They still haven't answered for a single dollar of the more than $1 million that this farmer lost.

This is no longer a rare story. In Iowa alone last year, families lost $96 million to these types of frauds, and Americans lost as much as $200 billion. To put that in another context, the entire budget for the U.S. Army is gone in 1 year, mainly to foreign actors committing fraud on U.S. citizens. Those citizens are retirees, farmers, and families.

This is now the number one financial crime impacting families. That is why, 2 years ago, I brought together Iowa sheriffs, investigators, and local detectives and asked them what they needed to combat this rising number of scams and fraudsters targeting our communities. I am proud to say that their best ideas are now in the process of potentially becoming law with this bill, the GUARD Act.

Together, we are fighting for 21st century solutions to address criminals who are using cutting-edge technology, but we are still dealing with it built from a different era. The moment that their money crosses a State line or an ocean, they hit a wall that only the Federal Government can help them climb.

This bill aims to fix that. That is why our bipartisan bill, the GUARD Act, brings together real solutions and puts legislation in place for real-time tracing tools, including blockchain tracking, as well as Federal backup when these things happen, so that we can combat it on the front line before it becomes a national catastrophe.

It helps not only my State and local law enforcement. It helps the deputy who is just trying to help a community member follow up, identify the money, and stop it before it leaves the district or the country. Most importantly, it goes after the people running these scams.

I am grateful to AARP, financial lenders across the country, law enforcement, veterans groups, and other advocates who brought these ideas forward. This is exactly what Congress should be doing: taking and hearing concerns from our local communities and distilling them into a law that can actually help save money, save lives, and, most importantly, help people right here in our own country.

Mr. Speaker, I thank colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their support of the GUARD Act.