[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 23, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3071-H3078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1815
              REPUBLICANS ARE ADDRESSING THE MAJOR CRISES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gimenez) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, during our time tonight, my colleagues and 
I will address the major crises happening here at home and happening 
abroad. Our message tonight will all have a consistent theme: House 
Republicans are leading the fight, whether it is protecting the Hyde 
amendment, taking action to fix President Biden's economic crisis, or 
holding China accountable for the COVID-19 coverup once and for all.
  On the last point, the time has come for Congress to take seriously 
its job to hold China accountable for their role in the proliferation 
of the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has killed over 600,000 
Americans, ruined the American economy, forced into closure many 
people's livelihoods, and destabilized our way of life.
  Just as we did in the aftermath of 9/11 and in response to the Great 
Recession, Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues on her side of the aisle 
cannot abdicate Congress' constitutional responsibility to investigate 
the origins of COVID-19 and the roles both the Chinese Communist Party 
and the World Health Organization played in preventing an expeditious 
global response.
  A March 2020 report by the University of Southampton found that if 
interventions in China could have been conducted 1, 2, or 3 weeks 
earlier, then cases could have been reduced by 66 percent, 86 percent, 
and 95 percent, respectively. That is inexcusable.
  Luckily for the American people, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and 
House Republicans have a plan to hold China accountable and ensure an 
atrocity such as the CCP virus never happens again.
  The American people deserve transparency. That is why Congress must 
declassify information related to the origins of COVID-19. Yes, that 
includes any report that comes from President Biden's recent requests.
  For far too long, the government has allowed individuals with known 
ties to the CCP or Chinese state-owned enterprises to benefit from 
American research and innovation. That is why we must continue to 
pursue policies that curb any gains made by the Chinese Communist 
Party.
  It is also time for Congress to prohibit the National Institutes of 
Health or any entity that receives grants and funding from NIH from 
conducting research or spending resources on research with malicious 
foreign actors. This includes China. Our taxpayer dollars should not be 
going into arming our adversaries.
  Foreign policy is a crucial element in holding China accountable. 
Congress must compel the administration to flex its foreign policy 
posture and reform the World Health Organization. As more information 
comes forward, it is evident that the WHO was complicit in China's 
coverup of the exploding pandemic. Their negligence is directly 
responsible for the loss of millions of lives. We need trusted actors 
such as Taiwan to form part of the organization.
  In keeping in line with a tough foreign policy stance, Congress must 
implement a new round of tough and deliberate sanctions on anyone--
whether they are Chinese nationals with ties to the CPP or high-level 
executives at the World Health Organization--who willfully participated 
in the coverup of the COVID-19 pandemic and helped prevent a robust 
global response. Millions of lives are on their hands.
  Another tool at our disposal is for Congress to pass the resolution 
introduced by my Florida colleague, Congressman   Michael Waltz, and 
Senator Rick Scott to prevent Beijing from hosting the Winter Olympics.
  Finally, we need to allow them to sue the Chinese Communist Party and 
any CCP official who participated in the coverup that killed over half 
a million Americans. They deserve no sovereign immunity.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for us to do our jobs and join Leader 
McCarthy and the House Republicans in holding China accountable, 
holding our adversaries accountable, and ensuring an atrocity such as 
this never happens again.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to introduce the Congressman from Texas, 
Congressman Van Taylor. Congressman Van Taylor is a decorated Iraq

[[Page H3072]]

War veteran and an important member of the Financial Services 
Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Taylor).
  Mr. TAYLOR. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Florida's 26th 
District for yielding.
  On the heels of a global pandemic, which crippled small businesses 
and hurt workers, President Biden has offered a budget that doesn't 
address the problems that we so desperately confront as Americans.
  There is not any additional funding for border security at a time 
right now when our border is in crisis, despite the fact that this 
budget has the highest sustained tax burden and is the largest budget 
ever in the history of this country. It is the largest budget to ever 
be before this body.
  The prescription in that budget is exactly the opposite of where we 
need to be going. As our economy comes out of the fits and starts of 
recovering from COVID, this threatens to overheat even further our 
economy.
  We know our economy is overheated. Let me give you a couple of 
examples.
  Since May 2020, home prices have increased by almost 13 percent. Used 
car and truck prices are up over 20 percent. Lumber prices are up over 
300 percent. Cold rolled steel has gone from $630 a ton to $1,450 a 
ton.

  Our economy is overheated. The last thing we need is the massive $55 
trillion of taxes and spending that is in the budget today in front of 
this body. You heard me correctly, Mr. Speaker, $55 trillion directly 
from the pockets of Americans who are already struggling to pay these 
higher gas prices and to pay for higher prices for groceries. This is 
all a result of President Biden's misguided fiscal policies.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my Democrat colleagues to please reconsider your 
support for Biden's broken budgeting methods. In the great State of 
Texas, small businesses and families live within their means. We must 
do the same.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleague from Texas 
for his great words.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the 22nd District of Texas 
(Mr. Nehls), who is a veteran law enforcement officer.
  Mr. NEHLS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight some of the stated 
goals of the INVEST in America Act.
  The INVEST in America Act creates and sustains good-paying jobs, 
restores global competitiveness, tackles climate change, modernizes 
infrastructure, and spurs long-term economic growth.
  These are laudable goals that most if not all of us here support. 
However, Mr. Speaker, when you focus on the rail title, the INVEST in 
America Act misses on all of those marks and, in fact, has the 
potential to turn back the clocks on our envy-of-the-world freight rail 
system.
  Freight railroads provide excellent, high-paying jobs, with a Class 1 
freight employee's compensation averaging $132,000 per year.
  On competitiveness, the freight rail industry met the demands of our 
Nation during the pandemic by never closing and continually moving the 
goods we needed to preserve public health. They did all of it, I might 
add, without asking for any bailout money.
  On the environment, freight railroads are also the most fuel-
efficient way to move freight over land. On average, railroads move 1 
ton of freight more than 480 miles on 1 gallon of fuel.
  On modern infrastructure, unlike the rest of our Nation's 
transportation system, our freight rail system receives the highest 
grade from the civil engineers for their infrastructure, a B.
  On economic opportunity, freight rail's economic impact in 2017 alone 
manifested itself in over 1.1 million jobs, $219 billion in economic 
output, $71 billion in wages, and nearly $26 billion in total tax 
revenues.
  The freight railroads can meet all of these goals because the 
railroads, not the American taxpayers, spend the $25 billion annually 
needed to improve and maintain their infrastructure. Private companies 
are simply better custodians of infrastructure networks than the 
Federal Government, and we should be utilizing that simple reality, not 
bemoaning it.
  While President Biden, Secretary Buttigieg, and Chairman DeFazio 
regularly profess their love for trains, the truth is that it only 
extends to the highly subsidized passenger version.
  The INVEST in America Act spends almost $100 billion on Amtrak. 
Amtrak ridership was already collapsing outside of the Northeast 
Corridor before COVID. Where passenger rail makes sense, private 
companies like Virgin Trains are building new passenger lines.
  The rail title couldn't include provisions to accelerate the 
deployment of new safety technologies on freight rail but ensures that 
French toast will be served on every Amtrak train. It does nothing to 
expand freight rail service by moving new and in-demand products like 
liquefied natural gas but will pay to roll empty Amtrak trains through 
new parts of the country.
  If Amtrak is so good and deserves an 850 percent funding increase 
from the previous rail title, I challenge everyone voting for the 
INVEST in America Act to use Amtrak instead of an airline the next time 
you need to head from your district to the Capitol.
  This rail title is too expensive, too damaging to the economy, and 
too partisan to pass. However, it is not too late to work together.
  I introduced an amendment to the Rules Committee to strike the entire 
rail title. The base text is simply too flawed to fix, and we must do 
better.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to introduce the Congressman 
from California,  Mike Garcia. Congressman Garcia flew over 30 combat 
missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom as a naval aviator. We thank 
him for his service.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garcia).
  Mr. GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call on 
Congress and the Biden administration to hold China accountable for its 
role in the COVID-19 pandemic. The evidence suggests that this virus, 
like too many other things in the world, was made in China.
  Despite the growing evidence surrounding China's lack of transparency 
and mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic, House Democrats continue to 
stonewall Republican efforts to investigate the origins of COVID-19. 
Republicans have made numerous calls for the need to investigate the 
origins of COVID and hold China accountable, but the majority has yet 
to hold a single hearing on it.
  This is shameful. Americans deserve transparency, and they deserve 
answers. We must hold China accountable for its coverup of this deadly 
virus that has taken the lives of 3.8 million humans worldwide, 
including 600,000 American lives.
  Under the Trump administration, we had an investigation in place to 
investigate the origins of COVID-19, but that necessary investigation 
was ended by this Biden administration. Instead of holding our 
adversaries accountable, the current administration is bowing down to 
them. They have chosen a strategy of appeasement rather than 
accountability.
  If America wants to remain a leader on the global stage and if we 
want to remain a safe and secure nation, then we must hold China and 
other adversaries absolutely accountable.
  My Republican colleagues and I stand ready to work across the aisle 
to deliver the transparency and answers that Americans deserve. I hope 
that our colleagues across the aisle will join us in our efforts.

                              {time}  1830

  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, Glenn Grothman from Wisconsin is an 
experienced legislator in Wisconsin and a United States Congressman.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  As we turn on the news every night and we think again and again about 
all of the changes to America that have happened in the last 4 months, 
it is so easy to just focus on the border or focus on the inflation or 
focus on the constant drumbeat that America is a horrible, racist 
nation. And by doing so, we forget the huge changes we have had in 
American law and American funding that affect the number of abortions 
that happen not only in the United States, but around the world.
  It is hard to believe that throughout most of this country's history, 
even before ultrasounds were invented, the consensus in this country 
was that abortion was horrific; it was murder.

[[Page H3073]]

  What have we done in the last few months?
  First of all, we have repealed the Mexico City policy so that funds 
are once again going to organizations abroad that don't directly but 
indirectly fund abortions.
  Secondly, we have overturned President Trump's Protect Life rule, 
which will reopen Title X Family Planning funding for Planned 
Parenthood. We believe that under this, Planned Parenthood has received 
$60 million a year, which not only, in part, goes to fund abortions, 
but also goes to fund an organization that is designed to encourage or 
change America's traditional dislike of abortion.
  We are restoring funding to the U.N. Population Fund, which supported 
China's birth limit law, and is also proselytizing for abortion.
  In the latest attack on unborn babies and pro-life Americans, 
President Biden released a fiscal year 2022 budget that removes the 
Hyde amendment, the longstanding provision that prohibits Federal 
funding of abortions.
  We don't believe this is what Americans want. The vast majority of 
Americans do not support taxpayer funding of abortion. So much for the 
unity that President Biden promised us.
  There is, over time, more and more scientific literature that 
demonstrates unborn babies can feel pain at a very earlier gestational 
age, at the 15-week-old gestational age. So much for science. This is 
pro-abortion extremism. We can start by making the Hyde amendment 
permanent by passing H.R. 18, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I couldn't agree more with the gentleman 
about the Hyde amendment. I think the majority of Americans couldn't 
agree with the gentleman more about the Hyde amendment. We need to 
maintain that the majority of Americans do not want to fund taxpayer-
funded abortions.
  Mr. Speaker, Congressman   John Rose from Tennessee is an eighth-
generation farmer and a key member of the Financial Services Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Rose).
  Mr. ROSE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Gimenez for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise before you tonight to speak on behalf of those 
who cannot speak for themselves. The right to life is one of the 
founding principles of our Nation. Every human being born or unborn is 
entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  Our government was created to secure these rights without exception, 
not to take them away. Yet, today, we see this right under attack as 
the Biden administration continues their war on the unborn by seeking 
to remove the Hyde amendment, a longstanding pro-life protection that 
has saved 2.5 million lives from abortion since 1976.
  As a father of two sons, Guy and Sam, I have been blessed to watch 
them grow from a tiny dot on a medical monitor to the strong and 
healthy boys they are today. When I look at my sons, I am crestfallen 
for the millions and millions of children whose lives have been cruelly 
taken right as they were beginning.
  Not too long ago, President Joe Biden stated: ``Those of us who are 
opposed to abortion should not be compelled to pay for it.''
  But this proposed budget fails to include the Hyde amendment, making 
it clear that President Biden does not value life. Before coming to 
Washington, I vowed to be unapologetically pro-life.
  I stand before you tonight because I, along with most of my fellow 
Tennesseans, disagree with this administration and believe taxpayer 
dollars should never be used to fund abortions.
  Societies are measured by how they treat their most vulnerable. That 
includes the unborn. This is why it sickens me to see the Biden 
administration's intention to use the power of the Federal Government 
to force us to support and fund organizations that perform abortions.
  I thank God for the miracle that is life, and I will work to secure a 
chance at life for every unborn baby so that we may hear their voice, 
see their potential, and give them the same basic opportunity at living 
that we have secured and received ourselves.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  Congressman Glenn Thompson from Pennsylvania is the ranking member of 
the Agriculture Committee. Mr. Thompson and I share a common experience 
as former firefighters.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Thompson), a Congressman and a former firefighter.
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank my brother 
firefighter for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the importance of the Hyde 
amendment.
  In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson penned three 
unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  As Members of Congress, it is our job to uphold those rights, and 
that can start with protecting the Hyde amendment. For over 40 years, 
the Hyde amendment has maintained bipartisan support and passed through 
Congress. Even President Joe Biden, then-Senator Joe Biden, supported 
this amendment.
  The Hyde amendment ensures that Americans are not forced to pay for 
abortions with their tax dollars. But this year, the Hyde amendment is 
under attack. The current administration budget proposal calls for the 
Hyde amendment to be removed from the fiscal year 2022 budget. This is 
radical, even for Democrats.
  The Hyde amendment saves lives. Since its original introduction, 
nearly 2.5 million lives have been saved from abortion. With nearly 60 
percent of Americans agreeing that taxpayer dollars should not be used 
to fund abortions, we must keep the Hyde amendment in the fiscal year 
2022 budget and beyond.
  For these reasons, I am proud to be an original cosponsor of H.R. 18, 
the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. This bill would make the Hyde 
amendment permanent and governmentwide. Mr. Speaker, we know life 
begins at conception. That is why we must stand up and continue to 
fight for the unborn.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Thompson for his comments.
  Mr. Speaker, Congressman Scott Perry from Pennsylvania retired as a 
brigadier general in the Army and now represents the people of 
Pennsylvania's 10th District. I thank the gentleman for his service.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).
  Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Gimenez for being here and 
inviting us.
  Over the past year and a half, the American people have endured a 
nationwide pandemic and its impact on every aspect of all of our lives. 
More than 600,000 Americans have died, and their families have suffered 
the immeasurable grief of that. This was all preventable.
  The Communist Party is directly responsible. I don't know why we 
can't say it. I don't know why we can't look into it. Our economy was 
devastated and lives were crushed; things that can never be gotten 
back. People lost jobs. People lost their dreams. It can't be gotten 
back.
  It is going to take our economy years to rebuild. Americans want 
answers and they deserve answers. I don't understand why the majority 
party here doesn't want to investigate this. They want to investigate 
everything else, but they are not interested in this.
  Let me tell you what we know. In November of 2019, scientists at the 
Wuhan Institute of Virology came down with a sickness consistent with 
COVID-19. We know that the World Health Organization's initial report--
and I say initial because it was so politically charged, they had to 
come up with another one--China maintained sole authority of those 
investigating it.
  Oh, by the way, 60 of the people who were investigating it weren't 
scientists. Somehow we trust them, but we can't have our own 
investigations. The Chinese Communist Party is guilty of obstruction of 
evidence. It is clear. It is clear.
  Now, while the majority has denied calls for an investigation, 
continuing the cult of fear--and let me talk to you about the cult of 
fear. Remember when touching a doorknob was supposed to give you the 
virus?
  You couldn't shake hands. You had to buy as much toilet paper and 
water as you could because you couldn't go to the store. You couldn't 
visit your loved

[[Page H3074]]

ones. And heaven forbid your kids go to school. And even today, when we 
want our kids to go to school, we are told we are terrorists and 
science deniers.
  Let's stop the cult of fear. Let's stop it. Let's get the majority 
party, let's beseech the majority party to open an investigation 
because the American people deserve to know the origins of this virus.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for his comments. I 
couldn't agree with him more. My opening statements were about China 
and their complicity, and we do need to investigate China and the World 
Health Organization and find out what did they know and when did they 
know it. Again, as I said, if we had known about this 1, 2, or 3 weeks 
earlier, we could have saved an incredible number of lives.
  Mr. Speaker, Congressman   Michael Cloud represents the 13th District 
of Texas and is the only Texas Republican on the Agriculture Committee.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cloud).
  Mr. CLOUD. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate being here, and I thank the 
gentleman for leading this. This is such an important topic.
  We have seen ourselves in the last year and a half go from the 
greatest economy the world has ever seen to very perilous times for the 
American people.
  Some of it not of our choosing; some of it, unfortunately, of our 
choosing. About a year and a half ago I would ask in virtually every 
meeting I went to in my district throughout Texas, I would ask every 
industry: What is your biggest problem right now?
  And they would tell us: We can't find enough people.
  Now, the reason was very different a year and a half ago than it is 
today. I get the same answer, but for very different reasons. A year 
and a half ago the economy was doing so good. Businesses were booming. 
We were hiring. Wages were growing across every demographic. Now it is 
because we are paying people to stay home.
  This is an attack against the American worker, against the American 
economy, against the American work ethic that took us from struggling 
Colonies to an amazing, amazing influence on the world stage, to the 
greatest economy ever in all of humanity.
  Now, what is really troubling is to see the attack against the 
American worker that this administration has chosen to pick out, 
certain industries that were very strong for us, particularly the 
energy industry. We have seen pipelines shut down here, while pipelines 
are encouraged to be built in our adversarial nations. We have seen 
this push toward green energy so that we can buy solar panels from 
China, while China continues to build hundreds of coal power plants.

  So this, obviously, isn't about the environment. This is about 
destabilizing the economy here at home, while we empower adversarial 
nations abroad.
  Recently, I was at the border. And we funded border infrastructure in 
the last administration. But now we have stopped it, even though the 
contract is already signed, and we won't even continue the contracts 
enough to plug in the lights that are already built at the border.
  What is going on at the border is wreaking havoc on communities 
throughout our States and throughout this Nation.
  We talk also about China and the devastating impact they have had on 
the coronavirus. We need to investigate that. This administration needs 
to step up and investigate that. There was some talk some time ago 
about how Fauci had sent money to the Wuhan lab and whether or not that 
was funding gain-of-function research or not.
  Whether or not it was, what in the world are we doing sending money 
to a Wuhan lab when China is the number one thief?
  They steal more intellectual property than any other nation-state 
from us.
  We can make America work. America works when we support the American 
worker. Let's get back to doing that.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Cloud for his comments.
  Mr. Speaker, Congressman   John Joyce of Pennsylvania is part of the 
Doctors Caucus and has worked with the U.S. Navy at Naval Hospital 
Portsmouth in Virginia during Operations Desert Shield and Desert 
Storm. I thank the gentleman for his service.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce).
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, my commitment to life is 
rooted in the unequivocal truth that every person is created in the 
image and likeness of God. As a father and a grandfather, I can tell 
you that there is no greater gift than new life.
  As a doctor, I can tell you that science confirms what we have known 
for centuries. Every unborn child is a person deserving of fundamental 
rights. During the span of my own medical career, I have witnessed 
remarkable innovation. With today's technology, there can be no doubt 
that a child in the womb is a living person.
  Despite this evidence, Democrats are mounting unprecedented attacks 
on pro-life protections. First, President Biden repealed the Mexico 
City policy. Then House Democrats blocked the Born Alive Abortion 
Survivors Protection Act. Now they are attempting to repeal the Hyde 
amendment, which bans Federal funds from being used to pay for abortion 
services.

                              {time}  1845

  Since 1976, this key protection has been attached to all legislation 
passed in Congress, preventing American taxpayers from funding abortion 
against their will.
  It is wholly reprehensible to require pro-life Americans to pay for 
abortion against their conscience. As Congress considers appropriations 
legislation, I urge my colleagues to dispense with their attack on the 
longstanding Hyde amendment.
  To uphold the dignity of human life, we must preserve this 
protection. It is simple: The Hyde amendment saves lives.
  Despite the challenges ahead, we must persevere in this fight. As we 
read in Romans 12: ``Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with 
good.''
  Our enduring commitment to protect image-bearers and defend the 
sanctity of human life will prevail.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, who would know better about protecting life 
and saving life than the good doctor from Pennsylvania and my 
colleague, Congressman   John Joyce.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), who 
has led a distinguished career in business and public service and 
serves as a member of the Financial Services Committee.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and appreciate him calling 
us together tonight to talk about the mistakes that President Biden is 
making, the crises that his policies are brewing across a number of 
areas.
  Tonight, I rise, Mr. Speaker, to address the state of our economic 
future.
  In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress came together last 
year on a bipartisan basis and targeted relief to provide for families 
and hardworking Americans.
  Now, as vaccines are distributed and Americans are returning to work, 
the Biden administration is spending an unprecedented amount of money 
in an untargeted way. Six trillion dollars, Mr. Speaker, and $6 
trillion of deficits for 10 years to come. They are funding a manic, 
untargeted wish list that, in my view, is going to impoverish our kids 
and grandkids and contribute to too many dollars chasing too few goods.
  When you combine this fiscal policy with the Federal Reserve buying 
of $120 billion of Government debt every month, you are brewing 
inflation, Mr. Speaker. In my view, inflation is just a tax on 
hardworking Americans trying to save for retirement, trying to save 
money for kids in college, trying to buy the necessities of gas, food, 
build a new home, add onto a home; and this inflation is a tax on 
working Americans. Joe Biden and his illiterate economic policy, both 
in monetary policy and fiscal policy, are contributors.
  Mr. Speaker, Republicans have a better way. We have a better way to 
target spending, balance our budget, and not impoverish our kids and 
grandkids. If Republicans take this House back, Mr. Speaker, we will 
get our economic house in order.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Meuser), who comes from a family dedicated to public service. He 
serves as a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Education 
and Labor Committee.

[[Page H3075]]

  

  Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, we are here with over 600,000 American 
fatalities from the COVID virus.
  Anyone who referred to the COVID virus as the China virus, or 
originating in Wuhan, has been somewhat ridiculed along the way. Yet, 
the evidence continues to mount that the origins of the virus were 
certainly from Wuhan and very likely from the Wuhan virology lab.
  Leader McCarthy recently put out eight pillars of action, an action 
plan, for what we, in a bipartisan manner, as Americans, should 
mandate, should require, should pursue.
  The first, number one, is declassification of intelligence; bringing 
transparency to U.S. intelligence about what China knew about the 
virus, about its origins, and when they knew it.
  Number two, prohibit the dangerous gain of function research in and 
with China.
  Number three, prohibition on the National Institutes of Health that 
are funding adversarial foreign governments. We need to ensure American 
tax dollars don't fund foreign governments intent on harming the U.S. 
and our allies.
  Number four, an overhaul of the World Health Organization and 
counterintelligence investigation. Transparency and clear understanding 
of the inner workings of the World Health Organization is what 
Americans and the world are demanding.
  Number five, utilizing existing authorities to perform investigations 
and launch independent investigations of COVID's origins.
  Number six, visa restrictions and sanctions on any agency or 
individual who there is evidence to show was involved in any form of 
coverup or misleading of the general public when it comes to COVID's 
origins.
  Number seven, yes, waive Chinese sovereign immunity; allow families 
of COVID victims to sue China for any damages.
  And, unless the above is met, we relocate the 2022 Olympics from 
China. The world cannot gather in China for peaceful games when we have 
strong evidence to believe that this virus originated in Wuhan and was 
covered up.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from 
Pennsylvania's 13th District for those strong words and strong ideas on 
why we need to hold the people accountable who unleashed this horrific 
virus on the United States and the world at large.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Miller), 
who is a farmer, a business manager, and a member of the Agriculture 
Committee and Education and Labor Committee.
  Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration is 
promoting its American Jobs Plan as an infrastructure proposal. In 
reality, it is just a tax-and-spend package that has little to do with 
actual infrastructure.
  We can all agree that the Nation's infrastructure is a key component 
to a well-functioning economy. However, Democrats are disguising a 
liberal wish list of big government programs as infrastructure.

  Of the $2.25 trillion in total spending, only 5 percent is going to 
go toward traditional road infrastructure projects.
  The Biden administration is labeling everything they propose as 
infrastructure in an attempt to deceive the American people into 
thinking that they are talking about roads and bridges.
  Our constituents deserve an honest accounting of what Congress 
proposes to do with their hard-earned tax dollars.
  President Biden's infrastructure plan is not about infrastructure; it 
is about growing the size and power of the Federal Government.
  This plan is fiscally irresponsible, and it adds to the massive debt 
burden that we are leaving our children and grandchildren. We should 
mourn over what we are leaving our children and grandchildren.
  The American people deserve better.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I couldn't agree with the Congresswoman 
more. As a father and a grandfather, it is atrocious, the debt that we 
are going to be leaving our children and our grandchildren. We are 
stealing their future. They will not have the money that they need to 
provide for their programs and their infrastructure that they are going 
to need to fund in the future. That is one of the reasons why I 
wholeheartedly agree with her.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Mann), who is 
a fifth generation Kansan and proudly serves on the Agriculture 
Committee and Veterans' Affairs Committee. He represents Kansas' First 
District.
  Mr. MANN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss winners and losers under 
President Biden's policies.
  When I was a kid playing eight-man football for the Quinter Bulldogs 
in rural Kansas, there wasn't much room for debate on the winners and 
losers of the game. You either won or you didn't. You either scored 
more touchdowns, more 2-point conversions, and got more tackles than 
the other team, or you didn't. Plain and simple.
  The same is true with America today. President Biden's progressive 
policies make for very clear winners and very clear losers. Consider 
these three examples:
  Winner number one: Communist China. Loser: America.
  On January 31, 2020, America received warning that the coronavirus 
had possibly been engineered in the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 
Wuhan, China. In late 2020, America began investigating the link 
between the spread of the coronavirus and the Wuhan lab. In one of his 
first acts as President, Joe Biden prematurely ended the investigation 
into the Wuhan lab.
  Now, with new, insurmountable evidence that the coronavirus could 
have been engineered in the Wuhan lab, President Biden and Speaker 
Nancy Pelosi refuse to investigate the origins of COVID-19 even with 
overwhelming support for an investigation. On top of that, President 
Biden refuses to stop American taxpayer-funded research at that very 
Wuhan lab.
  It has been more than a year since the pandemic shut down the 
country. Today, nationwide, coronavirus cases have dramatically 
decreased. America is finally getting back to normal. Businesses across 
the country are ready to reopen and welcome back customers. 
Unfortunately, President Biden's bonus, the new monthly unemployment 
checks being distributed on top of the already existing unemployment 
checks, is paying a premium for workers to remain at home rather than 
finding work. The data doesn't lie. There are nearly 8 million job 
openings in America right now, a new record. I have heard from 
countless small business owners in the Big First who cite the Biden 
bonus as the reason they cannot find workers and completely reopen.
  While Communist China covers up COVID-19, President Biden is denying 
science, keeping people unemployed, and hurting America's prosperity. 
Under President Biden's policies, America loses.
  Winner two: The Mexican cartels. Loser: America.
  President Biden created a full-scale crisis at our southern border. 
He promised outright citizenship to more than 11 million illegal 
immigrants, placed a moratorium on deportations, and halted border wall 
construction.
  These lax policies lure drug cartels, who in turn make hundreds of 
millions of dollars exploiting children. The cartels will even throw 
migrant children in the Rio Grande as a distraction, to avoid being 
apprehended. The daily average of unaccompanied minors crossing the 
southern border has skyrocketed since President Biden took office.
  These policies also create chaos for Americans living near the 
border. American farmers and ranchers on the border are forced to check 
their livestock in the daylight, as it is too dangerous for them to 
leave their homes at night. American families are keeping their kids 
indoors at all hours of the day. American law enforcement officers and 
Border Patrol are overworked and shorthanded.
  Meanwhile, President Biden and Vice President Harris have yet to 
visit the border and refuse to secure our country and enforce 
immigration laws. Under President Biden's policies, America loses.
  Winner three: Socialism. Loser: America.
  Just a few weeks ago, later than any other President in a transition 
year, President Biden released his $6 trillion

[[Page H3076]]

budget. The budget is the most egregious, most shortsighted, and 
costliest budget America has ever seen.
  President Biden's budget is a progressive wish list in disguise. He 
wants us funding the Green New Deal, spending $174 billion on subsidies 
to the electric car market and $40 billion to retrain employees who 
lost their jobs after he blocked the Keystone Pipeline, all in an 
attempt to replace the oil and gas industry. He wants $63.5 billion for 
international spending, but none for America's longtime ally, Israel, 
clearly bowing to Democrats on their record of anti-Semitic language 
and slurs. And he refuses to protect our dollars from being spent on 
abortions, removing a pro-life protection that 77 percent of Americans 
support and a protection even Biden supported for years before his 
Presidential campaign.

  While socialists are pleased with Biden's latest spending spree, the 
economic disaster to follow will cripple American families' purchasing 
power and leave future generations with the crushing burden of the 
national debt. Under President Biden's policies, America loses.
  Sadly, the greatest loser in all of this is our freedom, the freedom 
to open our businesses and make a living when we choose, the freedom to 
own land without the fear of a land grab, the freedom for law-abiding 
Americans to own and use firearms, the freedom to live out our faith 
without being persecuted by the government, the freedom to speak freely 
on college campuses, and the freedom to win.
  Our Founding Fathers ensured that these freedoms do not flow from a 
king, another country, or government, and they never will. Under 
freedom, America always wins.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. 
Carl), who is a successful small business owner and a valued member of 
the Armed Services Committee and Natural Resources Committee.
  Mr. CARL. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Gimenez for overseeing this and 
calling us together.
  Mr. Speaker, let's not forget what we have gone through in the last 
year and a half.
  In the last year and a half, personally, I have seen a campaign that 
we have had to run while talking through doors. We had campaigns that 
were virtually unheard of in the past.
  Those of us that did win, when we came to Washington, we were all 
treated equally, but we were treated like a disease. We were locked 
down in a hotel; our food was slipped to us through a plastic cover, in 
a paper bag; and that is the way we lived for a week through 
orientation.

                              {time}  1900

  I am not blaming anyone. We had no idea what was going on. We all 
lived in fear. We all worried about this. But we are Americans and we 
are tough. We are tough. So we have made it. We have made it so far.
  The changes we have seen, the birthdays that we have missed, the 
parents that we have seen that have passed away without us being there 
with them, I mean, we have all lived through this. We have got to reach 
across the aisle, and we have got to get America answers, answers to 
where this pandemic actually started. I encourage everyone to do that.
  Millions have lost jobs and necessary incomes while countless others 
lost loved ones to the virus. Meanwhile, the American public is 
constantly being misled over the origins of the spread of this COVID-
19.
  First, we need to declassify all information related to the origins 
of COVID-19. Then we need to prohibit the National Institutes of Health 
from giving funds to irresponsible foreign governments, like China. 
And, finally, we need to investigate the Chinese Communist Party's role 
in the origin and the spread of this virus.
  The evidence is clear that the Chinese Communist Party intentionally 
hid information and lied about the truth about this virus. It is time 
for answers, and it is time for us to hold them accountable for the 
spread of this horrific pandemic. The American people and the whole 
world deserves to know the truth.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stop, hesitate, 
and let's work together on this. Let's join together and find out the 
truth and prevent something like this from happening again. It is very 
important to this country and this Nation.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Babin), who represents Texas' 36th District. He is a lifelong 
resident of east Texas and my colleague on the Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee and the Science, Space, and Technology 
Committee.
  Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Florida, a former 
mayor, for yielding. I am a former mayor myself.
  Mr. Speaker, every single action that the Chinese Communist Party 
takes leaves me with no doubt that they are not friends of ours. For 
years, Beijing has stolen American intelligence, technology, and 
intellectual property in their relentless pursuit to supersede us as 
the number one superpower in the world.
  So it should come as no surprise to anyone that more than a year 
after COVID-19 magically manifested itself and escaped China and took 
the world by storm, killing millions, we are still asking ourselves: 
How did it happen? Is there something that China is not telling us?
  The simple answer is yes, there is plenty that the CCP is not telling 
us. We can't even begin to solve the question of how this happened 
until we start a formal investigation.
  Unfortunately, it is not just the CCP who refuses to allow a 
transparent and thorough investigation into the pandemic's origins. It 
is also my colleagues across the aisle. After all, secrecy and 
diversion seem to be a standard practice for both the Democrat Party 
and Beijing.
  Why are the Democrats refusing to allocate resources so that we can 
solve the problems and questions surrounding something this major?
  They are perfectly happy to spend $1.9 billion of Americans' hard-
earned tax dollars for security upgrades to the Capitol complex due to 
the events of January 6, where one person died, but cannot be bothered 
to spend a dime to investigate how 600,000 Americans died.
  There is mounting evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic started in a 
Chinese laboratory and that the Chinese Communist Party covered it up.
  Don't the more than 33 million Americans who have been infected with 
COVID and the loved ones of the more than 600,000 Americans who passed 
away from it deserve an explanation?
  To blindly just believe that this global pandemic started from a bat 
in a wet market in the very same city where genetic analyses of 
coronaviruses are done at the Wuhan Institute of Virology without doing 
any sort of an investigation is a dereliction of our duty. It is 
inexcusable and downright ignorant.
  This administration and this Congress must hold the Chinese Communist 
Party's feet to the fire and give us some answers. We deserve the 
truth.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Franklin), my friend and colleague. He has served as a naval aviator in 
the U.S. Navy for 26 years. I thank him for his service.
  Mr. C. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, because of its great 
weather, beautiful beaches, and low taxes, a friend who once served as 
my Congressman liked to say that, for many around the country, Florida 
is the reward for a life well lived.
  As liberal States continue to run their governments into the ground 
and the pandemic has accelerated our ability to work remotely, it is no 
longer just retirees who are moving to the Sunshine State in droves. In 
fact, nearly 330,000 have relocated there in the past year alone.
  With its strategic location along central Florida's I-4 corridor, 
Florida's 15th Congressional District is one of the fastest growing 
areas in the country. Our current transportation infrastructure is 
already inadequate. It is a problem that will only accelerate going 
forward unless we act now. I am sure many communities across the 
country can relate.
  Both sides of the aisle can agree that our Nation's highways, 
airports, water infrastructure, ports, and broadband networks are the 
arteries of our national commerce and worthy investments of taxpayer 
money.
  The good news is Republicans are taking the lead to meet these 
infrastructure needs. First, we are proposing a major overhaul of our 
Federal

[[Page H3077]]

project review and permitting processes. When I formerly served on the 
board of the Transportation Planning Organization in my home district, 
we routinely had critical needs that waited years for funding. Some of 
those have still not been funded. So speeding up that process is a 
critical first step.

  We are also proposing a $460 billion framework that will make crucial 
investments in our Nation's transportation system, water 
infrastructure, and broadband networks. This framework represents an 
investment in the real infrastructure Americans need, not bizarre 
reinterpretations of infrastructure or partisan pet projects.
  Congress has talked about infrastructure investment for years. It is 
time to put words into action. I hope the President will continue to 
listen to voices on both sides of the aisle to enact a bipartisan 
solution that our country so desperately needs.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Tennessee 
(Mrs. Harshbarger). She has been a successful pharmacist and business 
owner for over three decades.
  Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the 
important need for an investigation into China's role in the origin of 
COVID-19.
  More than 600,000 Americans and 3.8 million people have died 
worldwide from the virus, and now it is becoming more evident than ever 
that the virus may have originated from a leak at the Wuhan Institute 
of Virology.
  It is also clear that China withheld critical information at the 
beginning of the pandemic to cover up how deadly the virus could 
become. We have demanded an investigation to find out what Chinese 
Communist Party leaders knew and when they knew it. My colleagues from 
across the aisle have blocked our attempts.
  Millions have died and countless others have suffered from the 
economic effects of the pandemic. The American people deserve answers 
as to how the outbreak originated, and the Chinese Communist Party must 
be held accountable if they are responsible for the outbreak and its 
global spread.
  The bottom line is this: China lied and people did die. We need an 
investigation now.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Wittman). He is an experienced government official. We share a common 
background in local government, having both served as mayors.
  Mr. WITTMAN. Mr. Speaker, over 3.8 million people across the world 
have died from COVID-19, over 600,000 Americans have died. We deserve 
to know how the COVID-19 pandemic began.
  There is mounting evidence to show that the Wuhan Institute of 
Virology is a probable source of that. If we look at the assertions by 
China to say that this was transmitted naturally from a bat through a 
wet market, things just don't add up.
  If we look at the information we have gotten from our intelligence 
communities, if we look at what we have seen to this point across the 
whole spectrum, we deserve to know exactly what has happened.
  If we want to uncover the truth behind COVID-19, if we are serious 
about preventing future pandemics, if we are serious about holding 
China accountable, then I believe we need to do everything we can to 
follow the science.
  By profession and by education, I am a biologist. In fact, I worked 
in and ran laboratories for years, laboratories that handled pathogenic 
organisms. I know the things that need to be done to uncover exactly 
what happened at the Wuhan lab.
  It doesn't make sense to look at the assertions that China makes and 
somehow believe that that is indeed the case. I don't think that this 
is a random event. I do believe that there are links to the Wuhan lab 
that must have an independent and thoughtful evaluation of exactly what 
happened.
  We have to force China to allow a free, objective, and independent 
evaluation of exactly what happened at the Wuhan Institute of Virology 
and determine what role did it play in the origins of this pandemic. We 
have to do that.
  I want to ensure the investigation happens and that we hold Chinese 
officials accountable. That is why I introduced The World Deserves to 
Know Act, because, indeed, the world deserves to know. The World 
Deserves to Know Act will sanction key Chinese officials in their 
Centers for Disease Control, in their national health commission who 
obfuscated data, the data necessary to determine exactly what happened; 
and also, through our intelligence gathering, to identify those 
individuals in the Chinese Communist Party that persecuted scientists, 
that persecuted citizen journalists that sought to divulge the truth 
about what happened there. There must be a free, open, and independent 
evaluation that is allowed in order for us to know. Again, the world 
deserves to know.
  In the meantime, what my bill would do is also prohibit funding from 
going to China from any U.S. institution, our universities, our 
colleges, anyplace that would send money either to the National Health 
Commission or any entity associated with the National Health 
Commission, like the Wuhan lab for the research that we have seen going 
on there, the gain-of-function research. We have to make sure that that 
happens.
  I want to make sure, too, that we identify where dollars have gone 
from the U.S., from the National Institutes of Health or any other 
governmental entity or any entity associated with our Federal 
Government, State governments, or local governments that may have sent 
money to China for gain-of-function research. We have to know exactly 
where the money went, where it came from, and who was the decisionmaker 
about how that money got there. And that needs to go all the way up 
through our bureaucracies not only at the Federal level, but at the 
State level also. Anywhere there is an association, that needs to be 
known.
  I want to make sure, too, that my bill allows Taiwan observer status 
in the World Health Organization to make sure that they check China's 
malign influence over the organization. Taiwan was at the very 
beginning of making sure that this was transparent.
  This is not about political gamesmanship. This is about getting to 
the truth not only for the sake of truth itself, but to make sure the 
United States never suffers another pandemic like the one we just 
endured.

  I hope that all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me 
in holding China accountable and supporting and cosponsoring The World 
Deserves to Know Act.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. LaMalfa). He represents California's First District. He 
serves on the Agriculture Committee and the Transportation and 
Infrastructure Committee.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, we talk a lot about infrastructure around 
here. The American people wonder what is that actually going to mean 
coming out here. Well, it really needs to be focused on things that we 
are short of, but would be fixing our highways, fixing our bridges, 
things like that.
  In California, where I come from, the subject is water. Water storage 
is desperately needed. We have had some years of drought, but we also 
have not added to our water storage in a significant way in 40 years. 
With a growing population, there is a growing need.
  For example, what does that mean to all Americans, not just 
Californians?
  The food we eat. The top crops in California that are grown 
approximately 99 percent or more in California are almonds, artichokes, 
celery, figs, garlic, raisins, kiwis, honeydew, nectarines, olives, 
cling peaches, pistachios, plums, sweet rice, and walnuts.
  If California is not growing those items, where do we intend to get 
those?

                              {time}  1915

  For almonds especially, California grows all the domestic production 
Americans use and 77 percent of the global production. We also produce 
92 percent of the Nation's avocados, grapes, lemons, and mandarins. No 
avocados? No guacamole.
  What are we going to do, import all this? We have to be producing 
this stuff in the State of California.
  What does that mean? We need to invest in water infrastructure. We 
can be raising Shasta Dam, which is a Federal project. Eighteen feet 
yields over 600,000 new acre-feet for these crops. We could be building 
Sites Reservoir. Both of these have been invested in slightly by the 
Federal Government lately. We need to do much more because we are the 
leading State in so

[[Page H3078]]

many of the important products that Americans actually use.
  So, we have to talk a lot more about water storage.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________