[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 201 (Thursday, November 18, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H6615-H6658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         BUILD BACK BETTER ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Aguilar). Pursuant to clause 1(c) of 
rule XIX, further consideration of the bill (H.R. 5376) to provide for 
reconciliation pursuant to title II of S.Con.Res 14, as amended, will 
now resume.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 803, the 
further amendment printed in House Report 117-175 is considered as 
adopted.
  The text of the further amendment printed in House Report 117-175 is 
as follows:

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     Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2101 
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       (2) Employee.--The term ``employee'' means any individual 
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       (3) Employer.--The term ``employer'' means any person 
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  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal) 
has 9 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) has 11 
minutes remaining.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
  Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 1 minute to the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the majority leader and a real 
champion of this institution.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, it is November 18, 2021. Those of us who 
serve in the Congress of the United States on this date will be able to 
tell our children and our children's children that we were there when 
the United States Congress passed one of the most transformational 
bills in the history of the Congress for the people.
  Tonight, House Democrats will vote on the Build Back Better Act as 
will House Republicans, legislation to transform our country by making 
opportunities available and equitable for all Americans.
  Its name, of course, refers to the broad recognition that too many 
Americans are just barely getting by in our economy, and we simply 
cannot go back to the way things were before the pandemic.
  We have to ensure our people can access the tools and resources they 
need, not just to survive, but to succeed.

[[Page H6616]]

  This bill does so by making investments in four key areas.
  First, it will invest in childcare, universal pre-K, and home care so 
that more Americans can get back to the workforce and grow our economy.
  Secondly, it further expands the Affordable Care Act coverage, 
reduces out-of-pocket costs, caps insulin at $35 for everyone, and 
finally gives Medicare the tools and authority to negotiate lower drug 
prices for seniors just as we do for veterans.
  Thirdly, it will bring down the everyday costs for housing and higher 
education that make it harder for Americans to secure a place in our 
middle class.
  And fourth, the Build Back Better Act makes the largest commitment 
toward addressing the climate crisis ever considered by any Nation in 
history.
  Mr. Speaker, in all four of these critical areas, the Build Back 
Better Act will make transformational investments that will help more 
Americans access opportunities and achieve greater economic security.
  This bill is truly for the people, not just those who have much, but 
those who have too little.
  Many Americans are looking at the investments this bill would make in 
America's workers and families and asking: How are we going to afford 
it?
  My friends on the other side of the aisle have raised that and I am 
sure will raise it again.
  First and foremost, Mr. Speaker, this bill does not raise taxes from 
households or small businesses earning less than $400,000 a year.
  In fact, the Build Back Better Act would provide a tax cut--contrary 
to the rhetoric I have heard on the other side of the aisle--to 80 
percent of American households next year.
  Not only that, but it will raise revenue, according to the Treasury 
Department and outside analyses.
  My Republican friends should be excited that we give a tax cut 
essentially to 80 percent of Americans, not just 1 percent. By most 
estimates, this bill reduces the deficit. This bill reduces the 
deficit. It also ensures that all of us will pay our fair share to 
support our democracy.
  The impacts of this historic legislation will be reflected in the 
greater economic security of millions of families and in the growth and 
competitiveness of a robust American economy.
  President Biden said, in fact, very truthfully, this will be 
transformational, and it will be measured in the deeper sense of hope 
that Americans will have when they see their economy working for them 
instead of holding them back.
  I am hopeful that the Senate acts quickly to pass this bill under 
reconciliation even while Republicans all sit on the sidelines on this 
historic moment, just as all but 13 of them did when we passed a 
transformational infrastructure investment bill, which will make 
America competitive in the 21st century and make businesses in America 
grow and succeed.
  Democrats will not rest until all Americans have the tools to build 
back better, to access opportunities to get ahead, to achieve real 
economic security, and to reach for the American Dream that has been 
this country's promise for generations.
  This bill, Mr. Speaker, as I said at the beginning, is for the 
people, all the people, the little people, the big people, all the 
people.
  I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to be able to say on 
November 18, 2021, I voted for that legislation which made America, as 
John Kennedy said, a great country even greater.
  Mr. BRADY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  So America, the results are in, and now we know it was all nonsense, 
just nonsense. The claim that this costs zero and reduces the national 
debt? Nonsense.
  This bill, even counting the budget gimmicks, is several hundred 
billion dollars short today, and the independent Committee for a 
Responsible Federal Budget says over 10 years it is closer to $3 
trillion in national debt.
  It won't tax the middle class? Nonsense.
  The Joint Committee on Taxation and the liberal Tax Policy Center 
both confirm that up to one-third of middle-class Americans will see a 
tax increase starting next year.
  This will make the wealthy pay their fair share? More nonsense.
  Two out of three millionaires in America will see a huge tax cut in 
this bill.
  And this will reduce inflation? Nonsense.
  Even the President's own favorite analyst, Moody's, admits that 
Americans ought to brace for higher prices for the next decade because 
of this bill and the infrastructure bill and the COVID stimulus bill.

  But there is more than just nonsense in this bill. There are 
dangerous provisions dealing with the IRS.
  Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will offer a motion to 
recommit the bill to the Budget Committee.
  I will also ask to include the text of an amendment in the Record 
that I would have offered had the rules allowed me to offer 
instructions with my motion to recommit.
  And my amendment is simple. It stops Democrats from unleashing 80,000 
new IRS agents on American taxpayers. And more importantly, it blocks 
the House and the Senate from ever imposing a dangerous bank 
surveillance scheme targeting America's families, farmers, and small 
businesses.
  The truth is the IRS doesn't need your private information. It has a 
record of targeting Americans based on their political beliefs. In 
fact, this year, they discriminated against a nonprofit focused on 
biblical teachings and continues to fail to stop massive leaks of 
private taxpayer returns to the media.
  Our Democratic colleagues claim bank surveillance is not in there. 
Yet. The Biden White House is still insisting.
  So join with us, accept this motion, and stop it right now, once and 
for all.
  Mr. Speaker, you know, Americans need to know what is in this bill. 
And under this $4 trillion Biden-Pelosi scheme, let's look at a day in 
your life.
  So you wake up in the morning and pay a ``heat your home tax.'' You 
shower and get ready and pay a consumer products tax.
  You drop your kids off at childcare and pay a ``toddler tax.''
  You drive to work paying higher gas prices. You take a break and pay 
a bigger nicotine tax. At work your company pays a Made in America tax, 
a ``small business surtax,'' or a tax on your retirement plan.
  On the way home, you swing through your pharmacy and pay a ``no 
generics'' tax. Stop for groceries and pay the ``Bidenflation'' tax on 
everything you need. And then you get your mail on the way home, and 
you get a letter from the IRS; you are being audited.
  And then you are getting the kids ready for bed, and you realize 
Democrats are forcing you to send $12,500 of your taxes to the wealthy 
neighbor to subsidize their luxury Beemer electric vehicle.
  Plus, they are getting a massive SALT tax windfall for the wealthy 
while you get nothing, except 80,000 new IRS agents to make sure ``you 
pay your fair share.''
  So when your head finally hits the pillow, as you lie awake in bed 
too worried to sleep in a community less safe, in housing more 
expensive, in a country that lurches from crisis to crisis, ask 
yourself this question: Under Joe Biden is my life truly built back 
better?
  Americans already know the answer, and that is why this President's 
polling is at the bottom of the heap and why Americans have lost any 
confidence in his competence to heal this economy.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Just before I recognize the distinguished majority whip, I want to 
take a moment to acknowledge the around-the-clock work of the staff who 
made this evening possible.
  First, my team on the Ways and Means Committee that have helped bring 
about this evening. They have poured their hearts into developing these 
policies that will make America a better place. In their pursuit, they 
have sacrificed holidays, sleep, and time with loved ones, and their 
service to our country will not be forgotten.
  Let me also acknowledge the CBO with a round of applause because of 
the great work that they have done this evening, as well as legislative 
counsel--who have not put down their pencils--to make sure that this 
extraordinary pressure that they have been under has helped to get us 
here.

[[Page H6617]]

  Now, it is always a pleasure to yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), the majority whip.
  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Neal for yielding.
  This Build Back Better bill is the third leg of a three-legged stool 
that balances the American Rescue Plan signed by President Biden last 
March and the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed by President Biden 
last Monday.
  These three bills provide the wherewithal to fix our roads and 
bridges, repair our rails, deepen our harbors, and provide long awaited 
broadband to households and neighborhoods.
  Mr. Speaker, I have often remarked that America is not in need of 
being made great. It is great and has been for a long time.

                              {time}  2030

  I often quote Alexis De Tocqueville's observation that America's 
greatness is not that it is more enlightened than any other nation, but 
rather, that it has always been able to repair its faults.
  The Build Back Better Act will repair some longstanding faults, many 
of which have been exacerbated by COVID-19 and our feckless early 
response to it.
  This Build Back Better legislation will make healthcare accessible 
and affordable for 2.2 million low-income, uninsured Americans that 
exist in the Medicaid coverage gap. It makes benefits accessible and 
affordable to millions of children who will be able to continue 
receiving the child tax credit. It will make childcare and preschool 
accessible and affordable for children who have been struggling to get 
a fair start in life; and it will make housing accessible and 
affordable for their parents.
  The Build Back Better Act will make clean air and plant life on this 
planet accessible and affordable for future generations by taking 
historic steps to combat the climate change.
  The coronavirus pandemic didn't just cause great harm for some; it 
exposed great harm that has existed for far too long, denying far too 
many of our citizens access to America's greatness.
  Build Back Better provides an opportunity to make more of our 
Nation's greatness accessible and affordable for all.
  Mr. BRADY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the chief minority whip of the Republican 
Conference.
  Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Texas for his 
leadership and for yielding time.
  Mr. Speaker, we are facing in America crisis after crisis after 
crisis created by President Biden's policies. Just look at some of the 
crises we are facing:
  There is an inflation crisis that has probably the worst effect on 
lower- and middle-income families. They are paying 50 percent more for 
gas. They are paying more for everything they buy at the grocery store. 
This Thanksgiving is expected to be the most expensive ever because of 
President Biden's radical agenda and all the spending, the trillions in 
spending that has already been done.
  So what is the answer of this majority? To raise more taxes, to spend 
trillions more dollars, jacking up inflation even higher.
  And who is it to benefit? Let's look at the Joint Committee on 
Taxation who just came out with an assessment of this.
  You know who benefits the most in this bill? The largest decreases go 
to those making a million dollars or more. That is right. The largest 
tax cuts go to the multimillionaires.
  Do you know who gets the smallest tax cuts? The smallest goes to 
those making $40,000 to $50,000. They get the least amount. And where 
are they paying for it? They are paying for it in a natural gas tax. 
Everybody who uses natural gas to heat their home this winter is going 
to be paying about 30 percent more. For what? To give tax breaks to 
millionaires in five States.
  And don't just take the Joint Committee on Taxation's word for it. 
Let's listen to Bernie Sanders, the chairman of the Committee on the 
Budget.
  Do you know what he just said yesterday about this? ``You can't be a 
political party that talks about demanding the wealthy pay their fair 
share of taxes, and then end up with a bill that gives large tax breaks 
to millionaires.'' That is what Bernie Sanders said.
  He also said the hypocrisy of that is too strong, giving tax breaks 
to millionaires in this bill. And for what? So that low-income families 
who are paying it can then see their tax dollars go to give $450,000 
checks to people that come here illegally. That is right. You are going 
to be paying 30 percent on your household electricity bills for 87,000 
more IRS agents, who President Biden says want to comb through your 
bank accounts.
  If you make more than $10,000--not the millionaires and 
billionaires--if your grandmother on a fixed income, makes $10,000, 
87,000 IRS agents will be unleashed on her bank account to then go and 
give $450,000 checks to people who came here illegally.
  Stop this madness. Did you not pay attention to the results of the 
Virginia election just two weeks ago? They said enough of the spending 
in Washington. Let's focus on helping those hardworking families who 
are being crippled by this inflation. This will only be made worse if 
you throw trillions more dollars in taxes and spending onto this 
dumpster fire.
  Let's save America. Stop. Defeat this bill.
  Mr. NEAL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
There are a lot of reasons tonight that this legislation has come 
forth. We can argue about why income inequality in America happened; 
globalization, technology, skill set, the decline of unions. But what 
we can't argue about is it happened. And we have a chance tonight to 
reverse that course.
  We speak frequently in this institution, sometimes in terms of 
hyperbolic rhetoric about history. Tonight, the vote we cast is about 
history. And the Committee on Ways and Means, since spring of a year 
ago, wrote much of this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I call attention to 33 years ago when I joined this 
institution, to just above the Speaker's rostrum. It is very hard to 
visualize; it was easier 33 years ago for me to read it than it is now 
when I walk in. But Daniel Webster said, here in this Chamber, ``Let us 
develop the resources of our land, call forth its great powers, build 
up its institutions, promote all of its great interests and see whether 
we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to 
be remembered.''
  Mr. Speaker, tonight, that is what we intend to do. We are going to 
make transformational changes that are going to lift the people of 
America to a new sense, born of optimism, as that son of Massachusetts, 
Mr. Webster, acknowledged. We are going to change the lives and 
livelihoods of Americans for generations to come; and as he noted, we 
will do something tonight that truly will be worth remembering.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BRADY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McCarthy), Republican leader of our Conference.
  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Brady for his work.
  Mr. Speaker, we are minutes away from voting on a $5 trillion, more 
than 2,000-page, bill. A bill that the White House Chief of Staff 
recently bragged is twice as big in real dollars as the New Deal was.
  Mr. Speaker, I just listened to Congressman Neal, ``to build up the 
institutions.'' I have heard that in a lot of different countries, 
countries that have a different philosophy than America. Let that sink 
in for 1 minute. Let that sink in: More than 2,000 pages, $5 trillion; 
twice as big in real dollars as the New Deal was.
  Let me be clear. Never in American history has so much been spent at 
one time. Never in American history will so many taxes be raised and so 
much borrowing be needed to pay for all this reckless spending.
  I listened to my friend, Steny Hoyer, earlier. He started his speech 
by stating this date, because this is the day he is going to tell his 
children's children where he spent all that money. Every page of all 
this new Washington spending will be paid for or borrowed from you, the 
American hardworking taxpayer.
  Every page of this new Washington spending supports more waste, more

[[Page H6618]]

fraud, more abuse, and more corruption. And every page of this new 
Washington spending shows just how irresponsible and out of touch the 
Democrats are to the challenges that America faces today.
  Nowhere in 2,000 pages and $5 trillion in spending are measures for 
more efficiency, better results, or just genuine accountability. This 
is the single most reckless and irresponsible spending bill in our 
Nation's history. Some of its effects will be quickly felt, others not 
for a few years. But I guarantee you that no matter the time frame, all 
the new Washington spending in this bill is only the beginning of 
disaster being thrust upon us.
  This year, Washington has reached the highest level of sustained 
Federal spending since World War II. That is this Congress' history. It 
took 4 years and $4.1 trillion to end World War II, in dollar terms. It 
was the most expensive war in history.
  By contrast, in the fiscal year we just finished, Washington, under a 
one-party rule, has spent $6.8 trillion. And that is on top of the 
trillions of dollars Congress spent the year before in the heart of the 
pandemic to offer relief to struggling Americans.
  Today, House Democrats want to pass more wasteful, unnecessary 
spending by Washington. The American people obviously know this bill 
won't cost zero dollars.
  Mr. Speaker, I wonder why people waited for the CBO score. They said 
it costs more but still want to vote for it. The CBO score says in 5 
years it is going to cost $800 billion; in 10, only $367 billion. That 
is what your children's children will have to pay. And they will mark 
this day that it happened.
  We know it means more crushing debt for the 330 million Americans and 
generations to come. The Democrats are showing once again that they are 
not focused on the financial health and well-being of the citizens of 
our economy. Instead, Democrats are focused on themselves, their 
lobbyists, and their special interests group.
  If I sound angry, I am. I don't think the generations will laugh at 
the spending and what you do tonight. I don't think they will laugh 
about the continuing inflation you will create. I don't think they will 
laugh about not one dollar going to support or defend the border. I do 
not think they will laugh at the benefit that China will get from this 
bill.
  It is clear to us that this bill is wrong on the merits, and they 
have responded with a single word the American public have said; 
enough. Enough with Washington waste. Enough with fraud, Washington 
abuse, and Washington corruption; enough with higher taxes, higher 
prices, and higher borrowing. Simply enough.

                              {time}  2045

  Today, millions of Americans are struggling with higher energy costs, 
higher grocery prices, and higher crime. This isn't politics, as the 
Democrats claim. This is real life in America today under one-party 
rule in 1 year.
  When our country doesn't have the resources or won't commit them to 
fund the basic needs of our citizens, like basic human security, 
nothing else matters. Yet, at this very moment, the Democrats are 
preparing to go on yet another unnecessary spending binge. Then, in a 
couple of weeks, they will have the audacity to ask Congress to raise 
the debt limit to borrow more on the overspending. I look forward to 
that debate as well.
  My colleagues on the other side often say that what Washington 
borrows and spends doesn't matter, that the lessons of history don't 
apply here. They also said the bill wouldn't cost money. Those 
Democrats are wrong, plain and simple.
  Spending your money that we do not have on programs you do not want 
is not the solution. In fact, it is the problem with Washington. It is 
getting worse every single day one-party rule is in this city.
  So many Democrats refuse to fund our police. So many Democrats refuse 
to fund genuine security at our borders. They only want to spend your 
tax dollars on programs that benefit them politically.
  As the leader of the Republicans in the House, I say, on behalf of 
the tens of millions of citizens we proudly represent, enough already.
  My principle is simple. Don't spend what you don't have and, 
certainly, on what you don't want and need.
  My fellow Americans, we don't have trillions of dollars to spend on 
programs that will never go away.
  The American people understand what this out-of-control spending will 
do because they felt it from your very first bill you passed. You 
created inflation.
  The first thing that was said: It is just temporary. Our own 
President said he doesn't know of any economist that is worried about 
inflation.
  Go to the grocery store. Stand in line at your gas station. Talk to 
one of your constituents. They will tell you because they feel it every 
single day.
  The American people understand what will happen. They understand 
because they live it in their own lives responsibly, because they set 
priorities, and because they live within their means.
  If they do it every day, why can't Washington? Why can't Washington 
ever say no?
  Many of you said you were going to say, no, you couldn't vote for it 
until you got the CBO score because you wanted to hold them accountable 
that it couldn't cost money. You got the CBO score, and it cost $800 
billion in the first 5 years.
  What are you going to say to your constituents when they ask you that 
question of why you held it up? Why did you want the paper? Why did you 
want to know? Math is hard, I guess.
  Make no mistake, overspending is just the start of how this bill is 
so completely out of touch with the needs of our people. Its 
destructive policies should also alarm every single American. I think 
we should talk about that since we debated all during the day, but a 
new bill came tonight. You let us have 20 minutes, 10 minutes on each 
side, to further that debate. Much of that was to pat yourselves on the 
back.
  In my remarks, I will go through each of these provisions in more 
detail.
  First, let me tell you why I oppose this bill. It will crush American 
industries. It will destroy countless American jobs, more than have 
already been shut down while you destroyed energy independence and rely 
on OPEC. As the price of gas goes higher, I hear from the White House 
that that might be a good thing.
  Mr. Speaker, you are from my home State. We are both from California. 
$4.50 is the average. You and I drive past those gas stations. We see 
them even higher than $5. Do you know who that hurts the most? The 
hardest working Americans. That was driven by many of the policies from 
this administration.
  I heard my good friend, Steny Hoyer--and he is my friend, and we 
disagree, but we disagree respectfully. There is something I disagree 
with that Mr. Hoyer said earlier. He said we can't go back to where we 
were before the pandemic.
  I want to go back to when we didn't have inflation. I want to go back 
to when the border was secure. I want to go back to when I didn't pay 
$4.50 for gas. I want to go back to when people were employed. I want 
to go back to when we didn't have Americans held hostage in 
Afghanistan.
  I want to go back to when we were respected around the world. I want 
to go back to when we didn't have North Korea testing nuclear weapons. 
I want to go back to when China wasn't flying over Taiwan every day and 
threatening and rattling, and when China would not offend us on our own 
soil. I want to go back to when Russia didn't have thousands of their 
troops along the Ukraine border.
  Yes, I want to go back because if we go forward with this bill, we 
won't have the resources for the things we need.
  I want to go back to when we caught those on the terrorist watch list 
coming across our border.
  I think if you simply read the polls, America wants to go back. If 
you listen to the last two Tuesdays ago, I think they said they want to 
go forward but back to what they knew, the policies that worked.
  History sometimes repeats itself. I wasn't here 33 years ago--I don't 
know if I was old enough 33 years ago to run--but I was here in 2010. I 
watched the wake-up call in Virginia and New Jersey, and I watched this 
exact same Speaker 4 days later walk the Democratic Members right down 
here and pass ObamaCare and lose 63 seats.

[[Page H6619]]

  I wondered why she wouldn't wake up to what the American people said. 
She just got a bigger wake-up call in Virginia, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and New York. In Minneapolis, where this body of the 
majority championed defunding the police, they said no. In Seattle--
yes, I say Seattle--they elected a Republican as the city attorney that 
believes in law and order.

  In New Jersey, we got good news and bad news out of New Jersey. I 
hope you listen to the good news. Did you hear about a guy who has 
never run before, who was just a truck driver? He was a Republican. He 
spent less than $200, and he defeated the second-most powerful 
politician who happened to be a Democrat in the Senate, the President 
of the Senate.
  That is the good news. Do you want to know what the bad news is? In 
this new Biden administration, we just lost another truck driver. I 
thought that was pretty good.
  Its destructive policies need to alarm you all. It would pave a glide 
path for China while placing a devastating weight on American 
companies. It will hammer American workers and American families in 
bruising inflation.
  It wasn't just Republicans who warned you about the $2 trillion you 
spent earlier in your one-party control. We warned you it would be 
inflation. It wasn't just us. Summers, who worked for Clinton and 
Obama, warned you, but you felt you had to go forward. You felt it was 
good for the American public to pay more. And it will infringe on our 
fundamental American rights and liberties.
  Here are some of the worst provisions.
  First, this bill massively raises prices on all products made and 
manufactured in the United States. It is placing a massive burden on 
American workers and consumers at the very moment we are under attack 
by the Chinese Communist Party and the companies they support.
  My friend who is sitting in the Speaker's chair right now, his 
district is in California just like mine. We see those hundreds of 
tankers sitting off our coast. One-party rule created a supply chain 
problem. One-party rule is going to empower China to even have more of 
those tankers because you are benefiting China over American workers. 
You are pushing American companies away from America.
  I guess you did that in energy as well. You just asked OPEC to 
produce more, and you will ask China to produce more. This Made in 
America tax will send our jobs overseas, send the rest of our supply 
chain to China, and make us dependent on foreign producers, foreign 
countries, and foreign dictators.
  Every single American will pay for it every single day in every 
single purchase they make. The Americans don't want to be punished, 
American employers and American job creators. But that is exactly what 
will happen with this vote. That alone is reason enough to defeat the 
bill.
  Second, this bill provides amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants 
and visa overstays. It provides this massive grant of amnesty in the 
middle of the worst border crisis a country has ever seen; indeed, the 
worst border crisis in recorded history, period.
  I know President Biden has been in office for more than 40 years, and 
I know he drove by El Paso one time in those years, but now is the 
moment he should go. He should see what the policies in a one-party 
rule in this Nation's Capital have created. He should see it is not 
just those coming across the border. They are not just coming from 
Central America. We catch people on the terrorist watch list from Yemen 
and others.
  Ask yourself this: Why is somebody that is on the terrorist watch 
list from a faraway land, why would they want to come to America? Who 
are they talking to? What do they have planned?
  It is not just people; it is fentanyl. Fentanyl is killing Americans, 
more so than any other place. Where does it come from? China through 
Mexico and across the border.
  Many of these same Democrats who support amnesty also support giving 
illegal immigrant families nearly half a million dollars each. If they 
are successful, a billion dollars of hardworking taxpayer American 
money will be given to illegal immigrants. At the same time they have 
to pay more in taxes, they have to pay more for milk and more for gas.
  The answer from the White House: Expect less for Christmas. I 
remember back in the late 1970s, in 1980, we had a President in office. 
I was in the sixth grade. He put a sweater on and told us to turn our 
heater down, and the best days of America were behind us. It is 
interesting; some of that same language and same ideas seem to be 
coming from this White House.
  This is just outrageous. By comparison, if an American servicemember 
is killed defending this country, his or her family gets less than a 
$400,000 insurance payment, those 13 Gold Star families. Those killed 
by a suicide bomber when Bagram was shut down before Americans were 
out. The prison was released. They killed 13 American men and women 
servicemembers. They didn't get $450,000, but you are going to give 
more.

                              {time}  2100

  This alone is reason enough to defeat the bill.
  How can you look at your constituents in the eye?
  With one-party rule in 1 year you created inflation we haven't seen 
in 31 years. You made gas prices higher than it has been in 7.
  You are passing a bill that gives amnesty to illegals. You are going 
to reward people who came here illegally with $450,000 from 
hardworking, taxpaying Americans. But for those who died, those 13 Gold 
Star families only get $400.
  You are charging more than $5 trillion in this bill. It is more than 
2,000 pages. Enough.
  You are empowering China to be even stronger.
  This bill spends billions of dollars to hire 87,000 IRS agents. You 
are hiring 87,000 IRS agents, but you are not hiring one new person to 
protect the border.
  And what is the job of the IRS agents?
  They are going after Americans.
  And what Americans are they going after?
  Anyone who spends $28 in one single day. If you go to Starbucks, if 
you simply put 3 gallons of gas in your car and you go through a drive-
through, maybe you get a dollar meal at McDonald's, the IRS is coming 
for you.
  You are proud of that fact. That is what you held the CBO up for: How 
much money can we get from Americans by auditing them?
  Do you know what you just provided, whom you are auditing?
  You are auditing 1.2 million more Americans. You are bringing this 
bill on the premise that you don't trust Americans.
  Do you know what Americans you are going after?
  One half of those 1.2 million are people who earn $75,000 or less. 
That is what you are trying to pay this bill from.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks 
to the Chair.
  Mr. McCARTHY. Yes, Mr. Speaker, do you know where 25 percent of those 
1.2 million audits are going?
  To Americans earning less than $25,000.
  Sometimes math is hard, Mr. Speaker.
  It will double the size of the most intrusive bureaucracy.
  So when you tell your children's children what you spent the money on 
or you talk and you listen to the speeches tonight, Mr. Speaker, and 
you listen to the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, where he 
was proud of the fact that he was going to build up these agencies, he 
is building up the IRS to go after every American who spends $28 a day.
  Mr. Speaker, that is not what America asked for. Make no mistake. 
Under this provision, every single American is a target. In the eyes of 
the IRS, you are guilty until proven innocent. That alone is enough to 
defeat this bill.
  This bill imposes a tax to heat your home. It puts American gas 
prices in the hands of OPEC.
  Mr. Speaker, I remember back when Jimmy Carter was President, I 
wanted to go visit my grandmother down in southern California. I asked 
my mom and dad if we could go--this is the same President, Mr. Speaker, 
who put a sweater on and told me to turn the

[[Page H6620]]

heater down and that as Americans we are supposed to expect less.
  I can look anywhere I want, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the amount of control one-party rule 
wants. They now want to dictate to a Member of the floor where I can 
look?
  Are you afraid of the basis of the information in the bill?
  I am glad we can look at you, Mr. Speaker. There is a difference 
between addressing and looking. I know one-party rule wants to control 
every element of our lives.
  Mr. Speaker, this President put into effect that you could only get 
gas on the even days when your license plate ended that way. So, no, I 
couldn't go see my grandmother that weekend.
  I wonder how many people this winter may not make it through because 
they can't pay the price of their heating bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I know you wouldn't want that to happen. But maybe we 
could ask OPEC to produce a little more.
  Mr. Speaker, did you know that American natural gas is 42 percent 
cleaner than Russian natural gas?
  Mr. Speaker, they are importing Russian natural gas into America.
  Why?
  Because, Mr. Speaker, our administration is allowing Putin to have a 
pipeline but not America.
  Do you know who works on American pipelines?
  American workers.
  Do you know what they do with their money?
  They buy a home, they send their kids to school, they buy trucks, 
they buy cars, they stay in hotels, and they eat out at night. But 
those more than 1 million people lost their job after President Biden 
was sworn in because he shut down a pipeline that would make America 
independent but allowed Putin to produce more.
  That is going to make prices higher this winter. In other words, 
every moment you heat your home in the winter or cool it in the summer, 
you will pay more. And every time you start your car, you will pay 
more. That alone is reason enough to defeat the bill.
  This bill will make the labor crisis worse by fundamentally 
transforming the child tax credit into welfare without any work 
requirement. It will place small business owners into direct 
competition with the Federal Government's unlimited printing press. 
This alone is reason enough to defeat the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, did we not learn that if we pay people more to stay home 
and not go to work that is what would happen? We learned that this 
year, did we not?
  Mr. Speaker, small businesses are hard. I started my first small 
business when I was 20 years old. There are three lessons I learned. I 
was the first to work, I was the last to leave, and I was last to be 
paid. I don't know if I could start that business again.
  As prices rose on everything, Mr. Speaker, the White House told us 
that is probably a good thing.

  Mr. Speaker, I even heard from MSNBC that it was good you had to pay 
more. People should.
  They are going to have to pay more as they get audited.
  This bill abandons the longstanding, bipartisan Hyde amendment.
  Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of people who have been in this Chamber 
for quite some time. Mr. Speaker, I heard the chairman of the Ways and 
Means Committee say he has been here more than 30 years. How many times 
has he voted for that Hyde amendment?
  I don't know what changed this year. Maybe it was one-party rule. 
They are now allowing taxpayer funded abortion on demand and violating 
the rights of the conscience of millions of Americans. This alone is 
enough reason to defeat this bill.
  This bill dictates our children's education standards, giving 
Washington the final say in what our children learn. Parents should 
make that decision, not government bureaucrats.
  I don't know if you dictate in this bill where children can look, 
like you tried to on this floor, but, Mr. Speaker, I don't think that 
would be right either.
  Mr. Speaker, I listened to a prominent Democrat run for the office of 
Governor again in Virginia where he said that parents should not have a 
say in their children's education.
  It doesn't matter whether you are Republican, Democrat, wealthy, 
poor, or the color of your skin. The moment you have that child, you 
will do anything. It is no longer what you become; it is what 
opportunities your children will have. It is not a place government 
should dictate.
  This nationalized, Washington-centered education will take away 
parents' choice of local control of parents across the country, instead 
of supporting and empowering them.

                              {time}  2110

  Mr. Speaker, remember when I talked about Terry McAuliffe, what he 
said. This takes it a giant leap further by putting the Federal 
Government in full control of every education.
  I am not sure if that is what the chairman of the Ways and Means 
Committee was meaning why we should build up more bureaucracy, but it 
seems to fit in this bill. That alone is reason enough to defeat the 
bill.
  Mr. Speaker, from bank surveillance to bailouts, this bill takes the 
problems President Biden and Democrats have already created and makes 
them much, much worse.
  It is no secret that this bill is too extreme, too costly, and too 
liberal for the United States. My colleagues here in the House and in 
the Senate know it, and staunch liberals in the press know it as well. 
Just a few weeks ago, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger said, nobody 
elected Joe Biden to be FDR. This even spends more than FDR while he 
was fighting a world war.
  Senator Manchin echoed that sentiment. This is not a center left or a 
left country. We are a center, if anything, a little center right. That 
is being shown, and we ought to be able to recognize that.
  The New York Times editorial board, they even went further. I am not 
a big fan of the New York Times. I read a headline yesterday. Mr. 
Speaker, you know what it said? It was talking about your party. It 
said, after the election last Tuesday, Democrats should not panic. 
Don't panic. Because they think it is already over. This bill is going 
to seal the deal.
  The New York Times, in a blistering editorial said, the Democratic 
Party ``has become distracted from crucial issues like the economy, 
inflation, ending the coronavirus pandemic, and restoring normalcy in 
schools.'' That is a quote, Mr. Speaker. That is the New York Times.
  The Times went on to describe this bill, not as a solution, but as 
part of a sharp leftward push in the party which, as they point out, 
most Americans don't want nor need.
  But despite those overwhelming warnings from moderates in their 
party, from liberals in the press, and from the American people at the 
polls, House Democrats are plugging their ears.
  Mr. Speaker, even if somebody looks at them and tells them what is in 
the bill, they want you to look away. Why? Why wouldn't they be proud 
of it?
  The Democrats aren't just ignoring what is going on. It is worse. 
They aren't even pretending to listen.
  Don't take my word for it. Listen to what a member of your own party, 
Congresswoman Spanberger, said recently. We are not willing to say, 
yeah, inflation is a problem, and supply chain is a problem, and we 
don't have enough workers in our workforce. We gloss over it.
  Clearly, the challenges Americans are waking up to every day are not 
concerns, Mr. Speaker, of the Democrats. And that is the fundamental 
difference between Democrats and Republicans.
  House Democrats are focused on securing the Speaker's legacy. House 
Republicans are focused on solving the labor crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, House Democrats are focused on mandates. House 
Republicans are focused on more freedom.
  House Democrats are focused on so-called equality. House Republicans 
are focused on quality education.
  House Democrats are focused on payoffs for illegal immigrants. House 
Republicans are focused on protecting the border.
  And House Democrats are focused on the Green New Deal. House 
Republicans are focused on lowering gas prices.
  When you look at those differences, it is no wonder the American 
people want new leadership.

[[Page H6621]]

  Mr. Speaker, Democrats have no clue about the damage they have done 
to America with one party, with one rule, in 1 year. But if the 
Democrats won't listen to our fellow citizens, they will have to listen 
here.
  Before I describe in greater detail the contents of this bill, let's 
take a step back and understand how we got into this mess.
  Mr. Speaker, we want to explain it to our children's children. When 
President Biden walked into the Oval Office on January 20, 2021, he was 
handed every single ingredient he needed for unprecedented success.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure, but I know Speaker Pelosi likes to remove 
people from committees if they don't reach the higher standards. I 
would be worried, with the much interruptions, that something may 
happen to somebody. Mr. Speaker, I am worried for them.
  All President Biden had to do was nothing. Just think about where we 
would be today if he had done nothing. Our economy would be booming. 
Our supply chain would be intact. Our Nation would be energy 
independent. Our children would be free from burdensome mandates.
  Our borders would be completely secure, without those on the 
terrorist watch list coming across. Our dollar would be sound, with no 
inflation. Our enemies would be on notice, not on advance.

  But what happened instead? The last 10 months have been the most 
radical, the most extreme, and the most incompetent 10 months in 
American history.
  Mr. Speaker, it is one-party rule in 1 year that created all this. 
From the first day in office, the Biden administration has waged war on 
American workers, American values, American borders, American energy, 
and worst of all, American families. We have never seen anything like 
this before.
  Biden terminated every successful immigration policy put into place 
by President Trump, triggering the largest wave of illegal immigration 
in all of history. Mr. Speaker, I know he put the Vice President in 
charge.
  Biden shut down the production of American energy and closed down 
American pipelines, surrendering the energy independence that was 
achieved during the Trump administration.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't know if you can remember back 10 months ago what 
the price of gas was, but I know every American can. When we were 
energy independent, it was a time when price was low. Today, the new 
Biden administration is making us reliant on foreign producers once 
again. He is literally begging OPEC to produce the energy that we could 
easily produce right here on our own shores.
  President Biden spent trillions of dollars on left-wing social 
engineering and printed money we did not have for projects we did not 
need, leading to massive runaway inflation.
  Mr. Speaker, Larry Summers warned the Nation about this in February.
  Mr. Speaker, in June or July, on a CNN townhall meeting, the 
President said he wasn't worried about inflation.
  Mr. Speaker, President Biden launched a campaign to dramatically 
raise taxes and regulations on our workers and manufacturers, 
destroying the amazing record of economic growth and job creation he 
inherited.

                              {time}  2120

  Mr. Speaker, President Biden paid workers not to work and fired 
workers who were working because they wouldn't comply with his COVID 
mandates. These were the same people who were heroes a year before when 
we didn't have one-party rule. These were the same people who showed up 
to care for us and risk their lives.
  The supply chain crisis was dramatically worsened by the return to 
the failed tax, regulatory, trade, and foreign policies of the past.
  Mr. Speaker, President Biden used the FBI to target parents as 
domestic terrorists. Can you imagine that? To use the FBI to go after 
parents, calling them domestic terrorists, without any evidence, simply 
aiming to silence their First Amendment rights. A whistleblower just 
confirmed it.
  The President's rhetoric is dividing and inflaming us rather than 
uniting us, like he promised to do.
  And when his administration missteps, and it does often, President 
Biden will blame the military, our allies, the Vice President, 
Congress, ordinary Americans, anyone but himself. That is not what 
leaders do. That is not what leaders do. Leaders take responsibility 
and then take action.
  As elected leaders, it is our job to take action that makes life 
better for all Americans. That is badly needed today, Mr. Speaker. But 
President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress have failed at that basic 
duty. Let's look at how.
  President Biden has defaulted to a failed economic agenda of the 
past. This administration is plainly incompetent and is growing the 
government at the American people's expense.
  Americans are paying more for things they need today than they can 
afford. The latest CPI report is stunning news. Mr. Speaker, the 
Consumer Price Index soared 6.2 percent in the last year under one-
party rule in Washington and almost 1 percent in October alone. It is 
the fastest pace in 30 years. Do you know what the common denominator 
is? One-party rule for 1 year.
  Last week's inflation results undercut the idea that inflation is 
temporary or transitory. If you look under the hood, the numbers 
suggest that higher prices are not only being passed on to consumers; 
they are becoming the new normal.
  Even the politicians responsible for inflation now concede that 
Americans will continue to live with it for at least another year.
  Make no mistake, inflation is becoming implanted in our economy. Too 
much money is chasing too few goods. It all started with one-party rule 
for 1 year in Washington. It first started with $2 trillion; now it is 
$5 trillion.
  Americans are also witnessing shortages and supply chain problems, 
too. Again, put politics aside and just look at the numbers. They are 
jaw-dropping.
  Americans are paying $20 to $30 more for groceries per week. 
Thanksgiving is coming, a time when Americans gather together with 
family and friends. I will guarantee you what they will talk about 
around that table: This is the most expensive Thanksgiving they have 
ever had.
  I know those in Virginia and New Jersey realize what one-party rule 
in 1 year can do. Americans are paying more for gasoline, the highest 
price in 7 years--Mr. Speaker, that was the last time President Biden 
was down in the White House--to get to and from work, to drive their 
kids to school, or to take their elderly parents to a doctor's 
appointment.
  Americans are paying more for materials their businesses need to 
operate, which means higher prices for consumers and less opportunity 
for wage increases.
  Inflation is a tax on all Americans. Inflation is robbing families of 
the future they deserve. Mr. Speaker, when Majority Leader Steny Hoyer 
mentioned this date and what our children's children will learn, they 
will probably be the first generation in 30 years to learn about when 
inflation came back. It was one-party rule in 1 year.
  Americans are bracing for higher costs to come. They realize our 
economic future is grim under President Biden. The Biden administration 
has proven themselves untrustworthy when it comes to handling the 
economy. He pursues counterproductive policies and does not keep the 
promises he makes.
  As a candidate, President Biden pledged nobody making under 400,000 
bucks would have their taxes raised, period, bingo. Mr. Speaker, then, 
on the eve of the election, he promised that those making less than 
$400,000 wouldn't pay a penny more. Mr. Speaker, as President, he said: 
I give you my word. If you make under $400,000 a year, I will never 
raise your taxes one cent.
  Each of these statements claimed to have no exceptions, no 
qualifications, and no conditions. But here we are, just 40 weeks 
later, with one-party rule, and the President has already broken these 
promises to the American people. He has broken them because inflation 
is a tax on every American.

  President Trump and congressional Republicans took a better path. We 
cut taxes and left Americans with more of their hard-earned money in 
their pockets. Mr. Speaker, it led to the best economy in 50 years.
  When taxes go up through inflation or otherwise, Americans have less 
for utilities, prescriptions, and other things they need. As prices 
continue to

[[Page H6622]]

soar, the inflation tax is hitting hardworking, middle-class families 
the hardest.
  What do you think is going to happen to inflation if this bill 
becomes law? It is only going to be greater than the first $2 trillion 
this body wasted, Mr. Speaker.
  But here is the dirty secret. Most Democrats who vote for these 
policies won't be affected by the inflation rate. But seniors, working 
families, and those living paycheck to paycheck have been and will 
continue to be, even in a greater sense.
  Through no fault of their own, good, hardworking Americans are being 
hurt by their own government. And, Mr. Speaker, that is just wrong.
  What is the White House and the liberal media's response? Telling 
Americans to just accept it, lecturing us to be more like Europe, to 
build our bureaucracies, saying we should lower our expectations.
  Lowering expectations is what it means to be an American? I think 
not. No, this is a Nation that conquered the wilderness, sent a man to 
the Moon, and developed a lifesaving vaccine to COVID-19 in less than a 
year. Americans don't lower expectations; we rise to the occasion.
  But under one-party rule, in 1 year, we have inflation we haven't 
seen in 31 years; we have gas prices higher than we have seen in the 
last 7 years; we have Americans stranded once again in the Middle East, 
being held hostage; we have a border unsecured, with fentanyl coming 
across, increasing by 300 percent. Every city in America is a border 
city now.

                              {time}  2130

  We have Putin with a pipeline, but a President who tells Americans 
no. We have a President who looks to OPEC to produce more, not American 
energy.
  Mr. Speaker, another area where President Biden and Democrats in 
Congress are failing is in the energy crisis. The American people want 
to afford gasoline, afford to heat their homes, and enjoy the upcoming 
holidays together.
  But what are they going to have?
  The most expensive Thanksgiving in the history of America. God forbid 
you have to drive for Thanksgiving because you are going to pay more.
  Americans don't need their government spending billions of dollars to 
subsidize car chargers or parks for the wealthiest people in the 
country.
  Mr. Speaker, it is not just Republicans who warn you. Mr. Speaker, 
even Jared Golden on November 17, a Member of the Democratic Party, 
said, ``If you'd told me a year ago that the second-biggest piece of a 
signature bill of this Congress was $280 billion in tax giveaways to 
millionaires, I'd have told you the Republicans were in charge.
  ``Proponents have been saying that the BBB taxes the rich. But the 
more we learn about the SALT provisions, the more it looks like another 
giant tax break for millionaires.
  ``The fact that more people and organizations on the Democratic side 
aren't up in arms about this is wild.''
  Mr. Speaker, maybe they are not up in arms because they just got the 
bill. And you allow 10 minutes on one side and 10 minutes on the other 
to debate it.
  Mr. Speaker, I know at times it is hard to hear what is in the bill, 
but I think the American people have a right to know.
  Over the last 9 months with one-party rule in this city, families 
have watched energy prices rise dramatically. West Texas intermediate 
has doubled since President Biden took office, and a gallon at the pump 
costs 60 percent more.
  You know where that comes from?
  The hardworking taxpayers who have to live in a lower standard 
because of one-party rule in Washington.
  What does that mean in everyday life?
  It means that when families fill up at the gas station, they are 
seeing the highest price of a gallon of gas in 7 years. That is the 
last time Joe Biden was in office, Mr. Speaker.
  It means that from the factories making new products to the trucks 
that transport them to the retail stores that sell them, every part of 
the supply chain is paying more for energy.
  In every State in America the average price of a gallon of gas is now 
over $3 for the first time in years. In my home State of California, 
Mr. Speaker, the average price is over $4.50, and in some parts it is 
as high as $7.
  Mr. Speaker, when I listened to the White House, I thought they would 
be concerned. They said it was good, people should pay more.
  The pain is being felt beyond the pump, too, Mr. Speaker. When 
families turn on the lights or heat their home this winter, they are 
expecting the price of heat will be 54 percent higher.
  Mr. Speaker, when we are back in these Chambers next year, I will 
wonder how somebody on a fixed income chooses to pay their heating bill 
or maybe go cold throughout the night.
  The energy crisis we face today is devastating for working families. 
Every dollar spent on gasoline is a dollar that isn't spent on 
groceries or other essential goods.
  And yet, the reaction from this administration, who kneecapped oil 
and natural gas production by canceling new pipelines and freezing new 
lessees altogether, when asked if the United States would increase 
energy production, the Secretary of Energy told CNBC, ``That is 
hilarious.''
  Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, that is not funny to the American 
public. That is not funny. They expect more from their leaders. They 
expect their leaders to look out for them, not Washington and one-party 
rule looking out for themselves.
  Go watch the video for yourself. It is just a few seconds. It 
perfectly captures the Biden administration's incompetent contempt for 
the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, as I listened to the other side make their comments, not 
once did I say something. I disagreed with what they said, but I knew 
there was a moment in time when I could speak.
  I know, Mr. Speaker, that people might disagree with what I say, but 
we are in America. We are in Congress. I respect their position, even 
though I believe it is wrong.
  I respect that they may believe they want to build up these 
bureaucracies.

  I respect that they think spending more with inflation, that somehow 
that won't cause more.
  I respect the idea that you shut down an American pipeline and allow 
Putin to have one and the prices go up. I think you are wrong, but I 
respect the right for you to say it.
  Mr. Speaker, not once did I look at Chairman Neal and tell him he 
couldn't look at me. Not once did I say something to him as he made his 
point.
  Mr. Speaker, just last week we set a record here twice by holding a 
vote open longer than this Congress ever has. We have changed more of 
the history in Congress than at any time of any Congress under one 
party and one rule.
  Members get fined $5,000 when somehow they walk through a 
magnetometer and they didn't hear. Do they get any recourse?
  No, they get a letter.
  Mr. Speaker, you may have set a record tonight for trying to control 
the House. Maybe they don't like hearing what is in the bill because 
they haven't read it, but I think, regardless, Mr. Speaker, the 
American public has a right to hear it.
  Mr. Speaker, I will tell you this: I don't care how many times I am 
interrupted. I am not going to stop until the American people hear it.
  Mr. Speaker, I know the Speaker says we have higher standards. I am 
just hoping to see them.
  It also isn't funny for Californians like Scott Daniel, who runs 
Young's Commercial Transfer in Porterville, California. Scott told me 
that higher prices are making it hard to stay in business. Scott says, 
Mr. Speaker, ``My company alone will burn around 3 million gallons of 
fuel this year. And with fuel as expensive as it is right now, that 
adds millions of dollars to our bottom line, which makes it really hard 
to stay in business and keep this going. More importantly . . . it's 
immediately going to hit all of your food at the grocery store.''
  Mr. Speaker, that is why your Thanksgiving in America is going to be 
the most expensive.
  The President talks about a world where every nation plays by the 
same rules, but when it comes to global elites, he makes sure the rules 
he applies to us don't apply to them. That is how socialism works. You 
see, they build up the bureaucracies. They spend

[[Page H6623]]

more than they spent during World War II. It creates inflation, creates 
supply chain problems.

                              {time}  2140

  By the way, those who run society, get ahead; while those who make 
society run, are pushed back.
  Republicans know there is a better path. Instead of wasting the 
energy potential in this country, we want to unleash it. We don't want 
to build up government, we want to build up American families.
  Instead of killing good-paying jobs, we want to create them. Instead 
of canceling the Keystone Pipeline, we want to complete it. Republicans 
will make America energy independent again through innovation so 
working families have affordable, abundant energy.
  So the answer won't come as you will have to pay more. What they will 
hear is they will pay less and have more for themselves.
  You know, I just mentioned Scott Daniel, the owner of a commercial 
transportation company, who talked about how high prices are hurting 
his ability to do business and deliver goods. But that is not the only 
way Democrat policies are making it harder for businesses to survive.
  Another is a labor shortage. Walk down any Main Street, if the crime 
is not too bad for you to do it, or a city avenue in America, and I 
guarantee there will be help wanted signs. Ask a waiter how many shifts 
she or he does in a week, and I bet they are covering for someone else 
because they are short-staffed. Ask if they had to take anything off 
the menu because the restaurant can't afford to find it anymore. I bet 
they have. This is what our small businesses are dealing with. As a 
former small business owner, I know these conditions aren't 
sustainable.
  And, Mr. Speaker, if Democrats just cared to listen, they would know 
that, too. Instead, the Democrats' idea of an economic plan is to 
punish citizens who are producing for our country and working to 
support their families while rewarding themselves and others for 
staying home.
  Americans don't deserve to bear the brunt of policies pushed by one-
party rule in Washington who will never feel the effects of them and 
who will receive a solid paycheck every month even if they show up to 
vote or not.
  Joe Biden's Presidency has often been compared to Jimmy Carter's 
Presidency. He has proven that comparison wrong every step of that way. 
That comparison now is unfair to Jimmy Carter.
  Mr. Speaker, when you study the history of America in the late 
seventies and in 1980, Americans were held hostage in the Middle East. 
Today, we have hundreds of Americans being held hostage in Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1979 we had inflation, taxing of every American. 
Today we have inflation we haven't seen in 31 years.
  Mr. Speaker, in the late seventies, we were beholden to OPEC. Today, 
Mr. Speaker, we have a President who begs OPEC. Mr. Speaker, in the 
late seventies President Jimmy Carter told us the heater had to go down 
because the price is going up, and we needed to expect less as 
Americans. Mr. Speaker, today the White House laughs if you ask them 
what their plan is for America to become energy independent and lower 
gas prices.
  Mr. Speaker, in the late seventies, we were concerned about the 
Soviet Union, of the buildup in Europe. Today, Mr. Speaker, Russia is 
building up along Ukraine. They have more money for more soldiers 
because they got a new pipeline while America was denied.
  Mr. Speaker, after the 1980 election, those problems went away 
because you no longer had one-party rule in Washington, D.C. You had 
policies that didn't talk about building up the bureaucracy. You had 
policies that unshackled what held back the American worker. When those 
policies were enacted a decade later there was no longer a Soviet 
Union. There were no longer two Germanys. The Berlin Wall had 
collapsed. The shipyard workers of Poland understood. They knew that 
America was more than a country, that America is an idea.
  Thirty-two years ago, one million students went to Tiananmen Square. 
They built the Goddess of Democracy, Mr. Speaker, that looked just like 
the Statue of Liberty. They put it directly across from the portrait of 
Mao. They understood the greatness of America. Who doesn't remember 
that man standing in front of the tank when China was rolling in? He 
stood in front of that tank. When the tank moved to the right, he moved 
to the right. When the tank moved to the left, he moved to the left. 
Then he climbed on top of that tank. I cannot tell you his name, Mr. 
Speaker, because I doubt he is alive. They respected America. They knew 
what America stood for.
  Mr. Speaker, now we have a bill that will bring more ships from China 
to America because it will give them an incentive.
  Mr. Speaker, I hear your party talk a lot about a Green New Deal. 
Ninety percent of all those are being built in China. So you are taking 
the hard-earned tax dollars of Americans, you are shutting down the 
policies you don't like, the energy you don't care for, and 
laying those off while making the gasoline prices higher and taking 
their tax dollars and shipping it to China. And you are creating a 
greater inflation, Mr. Speaker. One-party rule for 1 year.

  Mr. Speaker, if there is good news for America, it is less than a 
year away. It is less than a year away. And I tell you, America, help 
is on the way. History repeats itself, and, oh, it is going to repeat 
itself big next November.
  Mr. Speaker, while the Democrats' action on our economy such as 
antiwork welfare programs and massive unneeded stimulus has left 
Americans worse off, it is their inaction along the southern border 
that has left our country less safe.
  You see, Mr. Speaker, it wasn't just Americans left behind in 
Afghanistan, it was billions of dollars of our military equipment.
  Mr. Speaker, do you realize that the Taliban has more Black Hawk 
helicopters than two-thirds of the NATO countries? More than Australia? 
Mr. Speaker, do you realize when Bagram shut down and 5,000 of some of 
the worst human beings escaped, Mr. Speaker, do you realize by the 
Biden administration opening up our border, more than 160 countries of 
people have come across that border?
  Mr. Speaker, they don't have to wear a mask or be fined. They don't 
have to be tested. The government actually pays them for a trip 
somewhere in America.

                              {time}  2150

  Inaction on the southern border.
  Mr. Speaker, almost every single Republican on this side of the aisle 
has been to visit the border, almost more than once.
  Mr. Speaker, I heard the President, who has been in office more than 
40 years, say he drove by El Paso one time. But when we went to the 
border earlier this year, after one-party rule in Washington, that 
changed by executive order.
  I can wait, Mr. Speaker. They can finish their conversation. You can 
finish.
  Don't lower your mask, you will get fined.
  Mr. Speaker, I know you hold the gavel, but I heard from your side of 
the aisle tell me when to speak, where to look, and what to do, and 
interrupted many times.
  I heard your Speaker talk about a higher standard. Mr. Speaker, I am 
waiting to see it.
  Are you going to laugh, too, Mr. Speaker?
  Mr. Speaker, I know your side of the aisle has no problem removing 
people from committee. I wonder if people keep talking they should be 
removed from the floor.
  Mr. Speaker, when we traveled to the border in February, we watched 
something we have never seen before. We sat and we interviewed a new 
facility that just was built, and it is built in the capacity that it 
would never be filled. It hit a record that day. And we interviewed the 
families and asked how long they had been on the road. They said ever 
since President Biden told us to come.
  As we sat with those brave men and women of our border protection, we 
watched what they had to do, the job they were doing day in and day 
out, the conditions, when COVID was rampant and nobody being tested. 
And we went up along the line, against the wall.
  Mr. Speaker, this is important. I think people should listen, and I 
will show you the point why.

[[Page H6624]]

  As we talked to the border agents, they told us they are seeing 
something they have never seen before, where people would rush the 
wall. So everybody would go there, then they would come the other way, 
the cartel, bringing fentanyl across. They said they had never seen 
anything like it.
  And I asked them--I listened to the Vice President. One-party rule; 
one year. And I sat and I talked to the border agents. They told me of 
the border cities that had to close their schools because of the 
cartels coming through and shooting; of the ranchers who are having 
their houses burned or their grandchildren kidnapped. Then they said 
something so shocking, I had to ask them twice.
  You see, I heard the Vice President say, This is just a Central 
America problem. I said, Is that really what is happening? Oh, they 
told me people were coming from 160 countries. They said they just 
caught people on the terrorist watch list.
  I came down and we did a press conference. In the press conference, I 
mentioned that we had caught people on the terrorist watch list from 
Yemen. Do you remember the USS Cole, the American Navy ship that was 
bombed? Or maybe you need to refresh your memory. It was recently.
  You know the U.S. Embassy that was overtaken? No, I am not talking 
about back in Iran in 1979. I am talking about the comparison to today. 
And as I said that to the American public--I respect all of you, you 
come here because you want to legislate; I expect you would be shocked, 
too, that you would probably call me up, What can we do? You want to 
protect your constituents. I know you do.
  Mr. Speaker, there was a Member of the Democratic Party on the Intel 
Committee, tweeted, said I was lying, said he gets the same intel as I 
do because I am on the Gang of 8. Interesting, when I put the facts 
out--I don't know, maybe the mail is slow--I never once heard him 
apologize. Or worse yet, I never once heard him say, How can we stop 
it? How can we stop it?
  I didn't even see an amendment added to this bill--think about that 
for one moment, for the American public. You are spending more money 
than we spent to end World War II. You are hiring 87,000 IRS agents, 
not one Border Patrol agent, not one new dollar.
  You are providing money for amnesty. You are providing money, 
$450,000, for people who came here illegally, and you are taking it 
from American hardworking taxpayers. But you do nothing to stop those 
on the terrorist watch list from coming across this border. Nothing.
  There has been nearly 1.7 illegal border encounters at the southern 
border since President Joe Biden became President. And our border czar, 
Vice President Kamala Harris, still has no plan to support our Border 
Patrol.
  Now, let's put this in perspective. There has been more illegal 
border crossings between the months of February and October under Joe 
Biden than in 2018, 2019, and 2020 combined. So when somebody asks me 
what does it mean if you have one-party rule for 1 year, you get more 
illegal crossings simply from February to October than you did in 2018, 
2019, and 2020, all combined.
  What do you think is going to happen after the billions of dollars 
you spend in this bill providing amnesty? That number will look small 
to you.
  Mr. Speaker, but I am sure some people will say let's wait to see 
what the CBO says. So when the CBO comes back and tells you you got 
millions more, it is okay; we will still vote.
  Let that sink in. What is the Biden administration's reaction? To now 
consider paying illegal immigrants $450,000 per family, an action that 
President Biden admits would incentivize more people to come over 
illegally.
  Mr. Speaker, when we tell our children's children about this night, 
we will tell them that is where their future went. When they ask us why 
did they pay such high taxes, we will remind them about this night, 
because we built up our bureaucracy.
  Mr. Speaker, you are actually celebrating this bill.

                              {time}  2200

  That is more than some of the 9/11 victims received. Think about 
that. Mr. Speaker, my friend Steny Hoyer said so proudly, he mentioned 
today ``our children's children.'' How do we explain that those who 
were killed on that fateful day of 9/11 received less than those who 
came across illegally?
  It is okay. I will be here a long time.
  Mr. Speaker, I have to apologize to you. I think I am upsetting 
people on the other side of the aisle when I tell them what is in the 
bill. They just yelled at me that they are leaving. I apologize. Mr. 
Speaker, nobody on this side of the aisle wrote this bill.
  I thought that was going to be different, Mr. Speaker, because I took 
President Biden at his word. I took him at his word when he said he was 
going to get COVID under control. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, more 
Americans have died this year than last year under COVID.
  Mr. Speaker, the $450,000, that is more than some of the 9/11 victims 
received. It is more than the next of kin receives in insurance to 
those 13 Gold Star families of those killed by a suicide bomber, who 
was in the prison at Bagram.
  Mr. Speaker, I watched in disbelief as President Biden said he would 
do nothing different. I watched in disbelief, Mr. Speaker, when he had 
a press conference and told Americans it was safe to come to the 
airport. In less than 30 minutes--you were on that conference call, 
too, Mr. Speaker. The Secretary of State and Joint Chiefs said, no, it 
wasn't safe to come to the airport.
  Mr. Speaker, there are many people who have served this Nation, 
served in the armed services on both sides of this aisle. I have never 
watched Members work so hard to get the American hostages out of 
Afghanistan to only be shut down by our own State Department.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to tell you a personal story. Mr. Speaker, I 
picked up the phone one morning when this first started, and I called 
the regular number to the White House. I said I would like to talk to 
the President about what is happening in Afghanistan. The White House 
recently called and wanted to know if it was really me. To the 
President's credit, he called me back.
  I said: Mr. President, I know you are trying to hold this deadline 
for the Taliban, but what about our allies? What about those from the 
U.K. and France who fought side by side, not because their country was 
attacked, but because we were attacked?
  He told me he wasn't going to budge.
  I said: Mr. President, there are thousands of Americans who are held 
there that can't get out.
  He said: Kevin, no, no. The number is much smaller.
  I said: Mr. President, what is the number?
  Oh, it is just smaller.
  I have watched the President look America in the eye and tell us he 
would not leave until every American is out. What do you say to those 
Americans who are still stuck there? The last time we felt like this, 
Jimmy Carter was President.
  Mr. Speaker, what does it say to those Gold Star families? Mr. 
Speaker, I had one in my office, a father whose daughter wasn't even 
supposed to be there but volunteered. She was an electrician. Just days 
before, you see photos of her holding a young child. She told her 
sister: I am going out in front of the wall because you can't believe 
it. Someone needs to be there for them.
  She wasn't supposed to be out in front of that wall.
  That suicide bomber that was locked up in Bagram who never should 
have gotten out--and that we never should have shut down--killed 13 of 
the finest Americans we know. Do you know what this bill does? Nothing 
for them.
  It gives more money to an illegal person who crossed this border. I 
am sorry, Americans expect more. Our priorities should be different. 
These people risk their lives every day for us. Just let that sink in, 
to your children's children.
  One-party rule for 1 year has brought us inflation we haven't seen in 
31 years; gas prices are the highest since the last time President 
Biden was down at the White House; a Thanksgiving that is going to cost 
you more than at any time in your life.
  A border where there are 1.7 million encounters, a border between 
February and October that more people have crossed than 2018, 2019, and 
2020 combined--Mr. Speaker, the closest the President has ever been to 
the border

[[Page H6625]]

in 42 years is to drive through El Paso. Mr. Speaker, the Vice 
President is the czar of the border.
  This isn't a Republican or Democrat issue; this is the safety of this 
Nation. What do you think is going to happen to that border when you 
provide a billion dollars in amnesty? What do you think is going to 
happen when you reward people with $450,000?
  Where do you get the money? From the hardworking taxpayers of America 
who have less to give. Do you know what? They are going to have to give 
more because you are hiring 87,000 IRS agents to come after them--1.2 
million more audits. And half of all those 1.2 million are going after 
Americans who make $75,000 or less.
  That is what you base this entire bill on. That is what you waited 
for the CBO to tell you, how much money can we get from them.
  How is that possible? The payments for illegal immigrants are just 
the latest data point in a much larger trend of failures on this 
border, cheered on by leftwing activists. President Biden and Vice 
President Harris have presided over the greatest series of border 
security blunders in American history.
  Mr. Speaker, if 160 different countries had people come across that 
border illegally, if we have caught people on the terrorist watch list, 
if a suicide bomber got out of Bagram in 1 week and killed 13 American 
soldiers, do you think they know how to get into America? Do you think 
they know where to go?
  Maybe they have to go at night. They have a better chance now because 
they have night goggles that we had. They have Black Hawk helicopters. 
The Taliban has more Black Hawk than two-thirds of our NATO countries. 
They have more than Australia.
  In that phone call with the President, do you know what he told me? 
Oh, Kevin, we are going to have a lot of leverage with the Taliban 
because they are going to need help running their country.
  Why don't you tell that to the hundreds of Americans who are still 
there trying to get out?
  Every time there is a Member on this side of the aisle--because they 
care about their constituents, they try to get that American out--the 
State Department attacks them. You try to criticize them. They risk 
their own life.

                              {time}  2210

  Mr. Speaker, even in our own hearings, I respect greatly anyone who 
served in uniform, and you have some tremendous Members on the other 
side of the aisle who have. I have watched them question the Secretary 
of State and still not get an answer.
  Mr. Speaker, that Member on your side of the aisle who sits on the 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence who said I wasn't telling 
the truth that we are catching people on the terrorist watch list and 
haven't done anything about it since. I wonder if he should serve on 
the Permanent Select Committee next term. Because America needs to be 
protected.
  For anyone who thinks they are not a border city, just look up how 
many deaths you have from fentanyl. Let me tell you where fentanyl 
comes from. It comes across that border, but it comes from China.
  Mr. Speaker, let me tell you another story. I have a friend who 
serves in the Senate. Right before COVID he was on a codel with other 
Senators, and he was sitting and having a communication--maybe you have 
experienced this as well--with a military general in the Chinese 
Communist Army.
  Do you know what that general said to him?
  America, you are weak. You are weak, America. You are weak because 
you believe in God and you take fentanyl.
  Fentanyl has increased 300 percent only because the border is not 
secure. There is no city in America that is safe. This is deadly. They 
have handed the border over to the cartels, unleashing these monsters 
onto our people. They compromised our national security.
  Answer me this question, Mr. Speaker: If somebody is on the terrorist 
watch list--and Mr. Speaker, they entered our State of California. They 
weren't together. They came on different days. And do you know, right 
now, if you are a Member of Congress and you ask them: How many more 
you got?
  They don't want to tell you, just as they don't want to give us the 
number of how many Americans are still stuck there. They are hoping if 
we don't pay attention anymore, we will forget. I promise you this: we 
will not forget, and we will not stop.
  Here is what the National Border Patrol Council President Brandon 
Judd told us, ``This administration says it is just Central American 
countries, but in just one week in the Yuma, Arizona, sector we have 
seen people illegally enter from countries like Egypt, Russia, Armenia, 
Georgia, Haiti, Niger, Portugal, and Uzbekistan. . . . There is no 
better time for them to come into our country than now.''
  I didn't think Egypt and Russia were in Central America.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer this invitation: We have 
Thanksgiving coming. We are both from California. Why don't we invite 
the Vice President to come down to the border with you and me both, and 
let's take a tour.
  And while we are there, let's go to the Port of Los Angeles and Long 
Beach and talk about the supply chain. Let them see that these ships 
that are waiting and coming in when they unload, they go back empty to 
pick up more from China. They don't load American products.
  Now, it may take a little while to get from the border of San Diego 
up to Long Beach, so we may have to stop to get gas. I will split it 
with you because I know it is not cheap. But I am willing to make that 
offer.
  These patrol members along the border bear the brunt of dangerous 
policies. While the Democrats act like there is nothing going on, Texas 
Mayor Don McLaughlin told us, Mr. Speaker, just a few months ago, that 
nearby cities are expected to see an inflow of migrants much larger 
than the size of the towns themselves.
  He said, ``We're not equipped in our area to handle this. Our 
resources are strapped as it is because of the pandemic.''
  The mayor said his own town will try to quarantine COVID-positive 
migrants in hotels. But when they come back to check on them or bring 
them food, some of the migrants are gone.
  That is just not here, Mr. Speaker. When we departed Afghanistan, a 
lot of people got on that were never searched or had gone through any 
process. We put them on military bases in America. Some just depart. 
Some people have already been arrested for crimes they committed.
  We heard from our constituents who were stuck in Afghanistan who said 
they went to the airport because they watched the President tell them. 
And the Taliban grabbed their papers, tore them up, and shot at them. 
Or they are hiding in the halfway houses, and the State Department 
denied just letting them get across the border so they can get out.
  Aside from the health risks, these circumstances create physical 
risks for innocent bystanders. There are not enough officers or agents 
to handle the intake and regular patrol, so the issues are spilling 
onto the streets.
  Now, I am sure in your committees, Mr. Speaker, as you went through 
this bill, as you knew you were going to spend more than at any time in 
American history because the Chief of Staff to the White House--and 
many times, Mr. Speaker, people refer to him as the prime minister--
said, ``It's twice as big, in real dollars, as the New Deal was.'' You 
must have thought somewhere when you saw these statistics, it is okay, 
we have so much money, let's give them some and help those border 
agents.
  I am sure somebody raised that issue, did they not?
  They must have been voted down because it is not in the bill. But 
whoever raised their hand and said: Let's spend $1 billion to give 
people amnesty, that made it in.
  The only thing I question, Mr. Speaker, is why did you stop there? 
Because there are going to be billions more coming.
  You were able to do in one-party rule in 1 year just between February 
and October more than everybody has been able to do in 2018, 2019, and 
2020 combined.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if that is what you talked about, building 
bigger bureaucracies, but this bill does it.
  Mayor McLaughlin said that they had about two to three car chases a

[[Page H6626]]

week back in 2019, then none for a few weeks. Now it is every single 
day, roughly 10 to 12 high-speed car chases per week. He says, ``It's 
escalating. We've had houses broken into, we've had to put our schools 
on lockdown because they're armed out in town near the schools. When 
that happens, then we have to pull all of our officers out on a 
manhunt.''
  Mr. Speaker, how would you like to represent a city where every 
single day there are roughly 10 to 12 high-speed car chases?
  I remember on the news when there was one, the whole Nation would 
watch. They don't even put them on because they are every day.
  But where are they running by? And it is not just a car chase, just a 
cop chasing them. It is a cartel with weaponry. They are going by 
schools in America.
  In America they have to shut down American schools because you opened 
the border. You do nothing to protect it in this bill. You only 
incentivize more people to come.
  Did you put any money in here for car chases?
  Did you put any money in here for the schools?
  I hope you put money in here for drug treatment because, Mr. Speaker, 
there is sure a lot of fentanyl coming across that border.

                              {time}  2220

  He told us recently that just last spring they had to put schools on 
lockdown 48 times. Think about that. Your child goes to a school--just 
in spring--48 times they are on lockdown. Do you think your child feels 
safe? Do you think your child is learning?
  What do you think those parents are going to think when they hear 
about this bill?
  I don't think they could just leave the Chamber. I think they will 
probably want to come to a school board meeting. Maybe the FBI will 
investigate them for terrorism because they care about their children's 
safety.
  One-party rule in 1 year has brought America to this. Our children's 
education and lives are being interrupted nearly 50 times in just a few 
months. That is in America.
  When personnel and resources are pulled from one area to another 
along our border communities, it leaves families like Russell Johnson's 
in danger. You see, Russell lives on a ranch with his family in New 
Mexico, just miles from the border.
  I am proud of my family. My family emigrated from Ireland and Italy. 
They worked on the railroad, and they became a cattle rancher. It was a 
tough life. My grandfather got married, lived with his brother on the 
ranch, but the ranch didn't make enough to pay for both, so he went 
back to working on the railroad.
  To make money as a rancher, they never had to worry about a cartel, 
they just had to worry if it rained enough, or if the cattle price was 
high enough.
  Russell Johnson, it is remote, and he gets little service where he 
lives, making it a prime place to illegally enter the country.
  This is what Russell told me, with the way things are right now, we 
don't let our kids play outside by themselves. They can't play outside 
by themselves.
  This isn't Chicago. This is on a cattle ranch. There is no telling 
who they might encounter while they are out there.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going to invite Russell Johnson to come to D.C., 
and I want to invite anybody on the other side of the aisle that votes 
for this bill, and I would ask you to take his questions. I would ask 
that you point out in this bill where does it protect his children as 
an American?
  I don't think you will argue that you are going to cost him more. You 
see, the interesting thing is I am okay paying taxes if they go to 
something.
  Richie Neal says it is going to build a bigger bureaucracy. Not along 
the border it is not. It is tearing down walls. Schools are closing.
  You know, for the first time in the country, Mr. Speaker, this 
generation doesn't believe they will be better off than the generation 
before them, and this bill almost guarantees it. They are guaranteed 
they are going to have to pay more and get less.
  I will be sure and let you all know of that date. You are celebrating 
the bill. Celebrate with Russell and tell him where he is better off.
  Just think for a moment that, in America, children can't play outside 
on their own property for fear of their safety from cartels and 
traffickers. I am not talking about the city where you defunded the 
police. I am talking about remote cattle ranches in a place I think 
every American dreams they can retire one day, on a ranch.
  Build back. We are going all the way back to the westerns, I guess. 
People have to fend for themselves.
  I can't believe that is America. I don't accept it. I know we are 
better than that.
  I know some of you are mad at me, think I spoke too long. But I have 
had enough. America has had enough.
  Not only do communities at the border deserve protection, the 
selfless men and women of our Border Patrol deserve more support to do 
their job. I don't know if you have been down to tour with them. If any 
of you are going and you want to make it bipartisan, I will go. I know 
a lot of people on this side of the aisle will go with you, because we 
think it is an American problem. We want to solve it together.
  But when someone comes across the border and you have children--it is 
interesting, Mr. Speaker, when it became one party with 1 year, you 
changed the definition, they are no longer cages. It is still the same 
place. But it is the border agents who have to go off the border and 
inside to care for them, so the border is less secure.
  And now you are providing more money for them to come, less agents 
there, and it is just a spiraling effect.
  You know, between inflation, gas prices, the border, crime, there is 
a common denominator; one-party rule in Washington for 1 year.
  U.S. Border Patrol members from the southwest division of the border 
alone saved 4,920 lives in 2019; 5,071 lives in FY20; 12,833 lives in 
`21; and 836 in FY22 so far.

  Why don't we pass a bill to honor our Border Patrol agents? Why don't 
we bring them here to Washington? Better yet, why don't we go to them?
  It is our job to secure the border. You are spending trillions of 
dollars. You know what you are spending money on? Not to build the 
wall. You are taking taxpayer money or material they already have there 
and paying them not to build it.
  So Russell Johnson's children can't play. That is what you are taking 
taxpayers money for.
  That is why you are hiring more IRS agents to audit more Americans to 
get more out of them, because you don't trust that they are honest.
  There is not a day that doesn't go by--just this week--of a 5-year 
old child all by himself. You know, on one of the trips down to the 
border, I was talking to this Border Patrol agent, and I was asking 
about her job. You could tell the stress that she has felt to work 
under these conditions, the threat of the cartel, the crime coming 
across, the families, the children.
  And she told a story of three young children. She saw them in the 
distance. The oldest was five, the next was three, and the other was 11 
months.
  I said, where was the parent? There was no parent. What crowd were 
they with? No, they were all alone. If she had not found them, they 
would not have lived.
  So let this sink in. You are encouraging more of them to come. People 
don't make it all the time. People are raped. Human trafficking happens 
because they don't have the money to pay the cartel. Then when they 
come to America, they have to work to keep paying them. You are 
incentivizing that. And while you incentivize that, you make Americans 
unsafe.
  I don't know, Mr. Speaker, if it is something that the administration 
does in the Cabinet or everywhere when they are asked a question--I 
know what the Secretary of Energy did when she was asked about how to 
lower prices; she just laughed.

                              {time}  2230

  But I remember, Mr. Speaker, when Vice President Kamala Harris was 
asked about the border. She has a very definite laugh. Do you know what 
her answer was? Well, I haven't been to Europe, either.
  Well, she could go to Europe because people from Europe are coming 
across that border, too. She could go to Russia, Egypt, Yemen. She 
could go around the world.

[[Page H6627]]

  Now, speaking of safety and security, as hardworking Americans are 
being ignored by Democrat politicians, let's talk about law 
enforcement. Because, Mr. Speaker, I remember on this floor, in the 
last Congress, the chant ``defund the police.'' I remember what this 
city looked like. I remember one night looking out on the rioters. I 
remember the Speaker yelling about having the National Guard at the 
Lincoln Memorial.
  That spread across America. I can't keep count of how many people die 
in Chicago in one weekend. In Minneapolis, where George Floyd was 
murdered--and he shouldn't have been--when they decided to defund the 
police, it was on the ballot 2 weeks ago on Tuesday. It failed.
  Mr. Speaker, you and I have known each other a long time. We are 
competitive. I know you didn't get to Congress your first time out. We 
beat you that first time, but you came back. You are competitive. You 
work hard. It is not my job to give you political advice. I don't know 
if you have seen the numbers. It is nothing we are doing. You know, 110 
polls have been taken since 1981. Never, never have they reflected what 
they reflect today.
  But it is not just that. You see, we all have the pleasure and the 
honor--less than 13,000 people have ever had this honor to represent in 
this Chamber, the debates that have taken place here. And on the 
biggest of items, it is always bipartisan. The President promised he 
would bring that back. There hasn't been one time, not one time. 
Tonight is not bipartisan. He didn't work with anybody.
  You are spending the most money ever spent in a single bill in the 
history of America, the greatest Nation ever on the face of the Earth, 
and your children's children will read it was one-party rule for 1 
year.
  Mr. Speaker, I watched the American voters in States that are blue 
States overwhelmingly, from Seattle to Minneapolis to New York to New 
Jersey to Virginia, reject exactly what is in this bill.
  Look, it would be beneficial for me to cheer you on, but I care too 
much about this country. If you turn back now, you might be able to 
survive. But I know what will be more important. America could survive.
  But I know you are down on this floor, just 10 minutes debate on each 
side, and the bill just came. I know my friends on the other side of 
the aisle are mad. I know some of them have to get to Puerto Rico for a 
fundraiser.
  I am sorry. That may be one of them. It sounds like a couple of them.
  This is too important to America. It is a moment in time.
  At a time when violent crime is spiking nationally, cities under 
Democratic rule have or are seeking to defund their police departments. 
It is just another move lacking common sense, logic, or leadership.
  In Los Angeles, I represent a little of it. I don't think you have 
any of it, right? Just outside? You are to the east. The LAPD budget is 
set to be cut by $150 million, a decision triggered by widespread 
protests.
  My son just moved to San Francisco with his new wife. Do you know 
what he told me? He had to buy a car when he moved up there. He said: 
Dad, I am excited. I got car insurance. I didn't think that was a big 
deal. But my street is the safest street in San Francisco. I got a 
little savings.
  Do you know what people put on their windows in San Francisco on 
their cars? ``Please don't break the window again. Nothing is inside.''
  You know, if you want to walk to a Walgreens in San Francisco, it is 
closed. They can't make money because people just come in and take. 
That is how you build up bureaucracy. That is how you cut police.
  In Austin, the city council voted to cut $150 million from the police 
department. Mr. Speaker, you and I have seen a lot of businesses in 
California leave and go to the city of Austin.
  A good friend of mine, Elon Musk, built a car company when others 
were already developed. They said he couldn't do it. He risked his 
wealth to do it. He is pretty dang successful.
  A State rep from California--I can't use the language he used on the 
floor because it started with an f--tweeted at Elon because he wanted 
to expand his business, so he left.
  Do you know what California does? They raise their price. They tax 
you more. They cut their police.
  When Elon got to Austin, he said if you cut the police and make crime 
like the place he just left, he won't stay.

  In Baltimore, the city council eliminated $22 million from the police 
department. New York City wants to take $1 billion from the police 
budget. And here is the kicker: Many Democrats don't think that goes 
far enough.
  These efforts to defund the police send a dangerous message that 
public safety is not a priority in Democrat-run cities. Worse, these 
attacks on law enforcement demoralize officers and dismantle police 
departments. Retirements are surging. Recruitment is sinking.
  My father was a first responder. He wasn't a police officer; he was a 
fireman. My uncle was a fireman, too. I did 3 years as a seasonal 
firefighter. I wanted to be a first responder, but there was a nepotism 
clause. I don't think my mom thought I was successful because I wasn't 
a firefighter.
  These are people who 1 year ago we celebrated on this floor. We 
touted them. We touted the first responders, the medical community, the 
checkers. Why? Because they went to work in the middle of a pandemic. 
They looked after people. And after we got one-party rule in 
Washington, a lot of them are now fired; they are no longer heroes.
  President Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress can send a message 
to local officers that this lawlessness is unacceptable. Instead, you 
are enabling it.
  The Biden Justice Department dropped nearly half of the cases against 
rioters in Portland. Can you imagine that? Half the cases.
  We all watched it, burning buildings. I remember one of my 
constituents came to testify. Mr. Nadler and   Jim Jordan were there. 
Do you know why she had to testify? Because her brother was killed 
protecting a Federal courthouse. He was protecting a Federal courthouse 
in a riot.

                              {time}  2240

  You know what is worse?
  There are people in the administration at the highest of offices that 
gave money to bail these people out. I wonder why Russell Johnson 
worries about his kids playing outside.
  Biden also supports a bill passed by the House Democrats which would 
cost police departments hundreds of millions of dollars.
  It is not a Democrat, Green Party, or Republican idea. American 
people want safe streets. I don't care if you live in the poorest 
neighborhood or the wealthiest. You want your kids to be able to walk 
down that street.
  I can't forget that video of those two young kids in New York walking 
while one man is shooting another man.
  They want law and order.
  Is it any surprise they overwhelmingly rejected defunding the police 
when it was on the ballot?
  The only place that passes defunding police is on this floor. But if 
you let the people vote, they say no.
  Why? They want to be safe. That is not rocket science.
  In the liberal enclave of Seattle--former home of the so-called 
Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. Remember that, where they took over 
entire streets?
  Why did they do it?
  Because they were building a bigger bureaucracy. See, they didn't 
believe in private property. They celebrated it, just like you 
celebrate this bill--the voters elected a Republican as a city attorney 
over a self-described police apologist. Think about that. Seattle.
  Look, we are in the only occupation where on a given day we learn how 
many people like and dislike us. Come next November we will know. That 
is 435 seats. We are all competitive. We will work in all sorts of 
districts trying to capture that majority.
  I don't spend much money in Seattle. There are not a lot of 
Republicans there. But it doesn't matter when it comes to safety. Every 
American wants it except, Mr. Speaker, in this House.
  In Minneapolis, where violent crime has surged over the past year, 
voters resoundingly rejected a ballot initiative to defund the police. 
In Minneapolis.
  These results give me hope. I want the American people to know, one-
party rule will not be in one year.
  It is clear to most Americans that defunding the police is wrong. The

[[Page H6628]]

American public is getting this issue right despite the Democrats' best 
efforts.
  While our inflation rises, chaos engulfs our southern border, and 
crime overruns our cities, Xi Jinping is watching us and laughing. 
China is being rewarded with the Olympics. I didn't get to get on the 
Zoom with President Biden and Xi Jinping. But did any of us hear?
  Did he ask China why won't they be more open or let our scientists in 
to see where COVID started?
  Did he ask Xi Jinping about his promise to stop producing fentanyl? 
Because it has increased by 300 percent.
  Did he ask Xi Jinping why does he continue to fly his jets over 
Taiwan? And how much technology have you stolen from us today?
  Just this August we were reminded of the seriousness of the China 
threat after Beijing launched an advanced hypersonic missile into 
orbit. I know you all don't serve on Armed Services. I don't. And you 
are not on Intel. But hypersonic is a first-strike weapon.
  When President Biden was Vice President, they cut R&D for hypersonics 
for America. You see, China has tested more than 200 hypersonics, 
America about 9. We have a missile defense. But you see, hypersonics 
don't go high. They go five times the speed and low. You don't have 30 
minutes to calculate where they are.
  You know what China does, too? They build replicas of American 
aircraft carriers in the desert. I don't think it is to teach their 
sailors. I think it is to teach their Air Force how to bomb them.
  I am not sure, President Biden, if you asked Xi Jinping, why did you 
lie to President Obama when you built those islands and said you 
wouldn't weaponize them?
  I don't know if you watched the reports of the number of nuclear 
weapons in silos that China is building not far from Afghanistan. I am 
not sure we can keep track of it anymore because we don't have Bagram. 
We don't have Afghanistan. But we are going to look over the horizon. I 
don't know how. We don't even have light goggles anymore. We left them 
for the Taliban.
  Hypersonics are unpredictable. They are fast, and they are nuclear 
capable. If deployed correctly, they can beat our missile defenses.
  Now, earlier in this conversation I told you, Mr. Speaker, what the 
Chief of Staff of the White House said, This is bigger than a bill we 
spent on the New Deal.
  So there must be some money in here for hypersonics. I know you don't 
want to protect the border, but you surely want to protect us for our 
defense, do you not? Because it is going to lose $800 billion in 5 
years.
  But you can tell your children's children that the reason why you 
borrowed the money is so they can be alive in America and not in China.
  But that is not in here.
  So, Mr. Speaker, what are you going to tell the children's children?
  You got a really big bill, and we can't protect you. But you have got 
a lot of good products you can buy made in China.
  General Milley described the launch as a near-Sputnik moment. Mr. 
Speaker, I imagine you and I weren't alive in Sputnik. But you know 
what happened after that?
  America acted as one. They knew the threat of the future. So when 
someone on the floor that night that focused, they said our children's 
children would remember this night. We thank them for that.
  We won the Cold War, not because we rewarded people who came here 
illegally with $450,000.
  We won that war because we invested in the future.
  We won that war not because we built up bureaucracy, but because we 
unshackled our private sector.
  We won that war not because we kept having inflation. We ended one-
party rule and had the biggest economy we have had since the last time 
Republicans were in power and passed the tax cuts.

                              {time}  2250

  The sad part, Mr. Speaker, is President Biden could have done 
nothing. Part of me feels sorry, Mr. Speaker, for all of you. Because 
had he done nothing, I don't know if we could win in a year. But 
because of his actions, America is weaker.
  When Russia launched Sputnik, the United States responded with a 
sense of urgency and a show of industrial force. So when China did this 
hypersonic, what did we do? You are passing a bill that is 
incentivizing companies to leave America to be in China. The global 
minimal tax? You make more going to China. That is what your children's 
children will learn.
  But don't worry, you can celebrate. You are going to have a big 
bureaucracy in America. Remember, that is what the Soviet Union had.
  But, today, the Biden administration has responded with weakness, not 
strength. They actually said that stiff competition between China and 
America is welcome. I would like competition, but why don't we have it 
on a level playing field? Why is China given an advantage?
  Now, I was in a classroom a little while back, and we were talking 
about California, the Golden State where everybody wanted to be. Why is 
Toyota, why is Tesla, why is everybody leaving California? Then they 
got into the aspect of America. How did China rise?
  Well, a student asked me, and I asked her if she played a sport. She 
said she was a swimmer. I said, well, let me try to answer your 
question with an analogy of swimming. Picture America at a swim meet 
after World War II against every other country. We jump into the water. 
Not only do we win; we dry off before second and third arrive.
  So in the next year we think, you know, that is a little unfair. The 
other countries got destroyed a little more than America. Why don't we 
put a tax on ourselves to help the others? So we put a little weight 
belt on. We still win, but we don't swim as fast.
  As the years progress, last time we had one-party rule in 2010, you 
made this stimulus bill, so you put a 50-pound weight on. So now, when 
we jump into the pool after this bill, we don't win.
  Everybody says, why don't you swim like you used to? But the real 
question is, why don't you take off the weight belt and let us compete?
  You are adding another 50 pounds of weight to America, and you are 
enhancing China. I promise you this: China is not adding 87,000 IRS 
agents to go after their people.
  All you have to do as an American is spend $28, and the IRS is going 
to knock on your door. Don't think it is only going to happen to those 
millionaires.
  You are a family struggling, making $75,000, and you used to take 
that vacation every year. But with inflation and gas prices and heating 
oil going up, you tell your kids you can't. But we built a bureaucracy, 
so they are going to knock on your door.
  This bill, if you measure all the things it does in it, it rewards 
millionaires. It adds 1.2 million new audits by the IRS, and half of 
that goes after people making $75,000 or less.
  I know so many people like that. I worship with them, play sports. 
Our kids interact. I don't know how I tell them I work in a body that 
celebrated doing that to them. I know what their struggles are.
  You know, it is interesting. These people work hard. They dream of 
the American Dream, and you just put hurdles in front of them. You put 
struggles. Families are going to have to move in together.
  But I am going to tell them what you did. You helped everybody making 
$800,000 to get that electric car, that Tesla.
  I still live in the very first house I ever bought. I can't afford a 
Tesla. The people on my street where I live, if somebody's car breaks 
down, we work on it together. We help one another.
  I remember driving home just the other day, and there was a young 
family. It was the grandmom, the mom, and the daughter. She pulled over 
at the side of the entrance to my neighborhood. Her hood was up. Her 
car was overheating.
  I pulled up. I asked her if she needed help. She wasn't sure what was 
happening. I said: Wait, I am going to go right over to my house. It is 
a block away. I will get some antifreeze. I will get a towel. We will 
open this up, and we will fix this.
  I come back, and as I go to work on that car, another neighbor comes 
by.

[[Page H6629]]

She is a grandmother. I have known her for years. She gets out with 
water bottles to give to the family. My daughter had made cookies. I 
brought cookies for the young child in the back.
  My other neighbor works in the oil business. But do you know what? He 
won't be my neighbor long because, you see, you shut down his business. 
He told me he has to move. He doesn't live alone. His brother lives 
with him. He has roommates, and young kids, just to afford to live 
there.

  He pulls up. He gets some antifreeze. And everybody works together to 
get her back on her way.
  That is the American way. It is not building up big bureaucracies or 
raising gas prices because the White House will tell you that is a good 
thing because you can afford a Tesla. We are going to take taxes from 
you so somebody who makes $800,000 can get a tax break to buy a Tesla. 
I can't even afford to test drive a Tesla, and Elon is one of my best 
friends.
  How is the competition going? For the Chinese Communist Party, it is 
not much of a fight. You see, Xi Jinping is not going to abide by the 
term limits of his constitution. But we should trust him. We should 
just compete together because when he told President Biden he wouldn't 
weaponize those islands and he did, oh, Xi Jinping, you old friend, 
you.
  When he builds those aircraft carriers in the desert that look just 
like the American aircraft carriers, that Xi Jinping, he just likes the 
Navy.
  When he tells Australia, when Australia asks where did COVID come 
from, we are sending our nuclear weapons right down to you.
  Lithuania opened a consulate for Taiwan this week. You see, Lithuania 
has a long history of big, controlling countries next to them that try 
to push them around. But they know what freedom is.
  Do you know what Taiwan is? Taiwan is that young man who stood in 
front of that tank 32 years ago, who craved the freedom of speech, who 
understood America is more than a country.
  When I look at this bill, it angers me. We are so better than this. 
You are spending so much money. Never before--think of our history 
books. Think of how we honor the Honor Flight. Think about the Greatest 
Generation that sacrificed so much.
  We spent less to feed Hitler, Mussolini, and Japan than you are 
spending tonight. We spent less, but it cost us lives. And you are 
celebrating it. You are celebrating it when inflation is at a 31-year 
high.

                              {time}  2300

  Gas prices, Thanksgiving, a border that, in a few months, breaks 
every record of the last three years combined. And not one dollar is 
going to protect the border or make our children's children safer for 
the next generation.
  You know, I admire everybody with a job. My first job was at the 
Quick and Handy Market, and people brought bottles back for deposit. 
And my job, in 110-degree temperature, was to sort those bottles. It 
gave me a sense of worth.
  You may all admire Europe, you may admire building big bureaucracies. 
I know you even thought of a plan in here to tax people just on what 
you thought their world was worth. France did that, and it failed.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot become a socialist country. They have all 
failed. There is a reason America should lead, but we cannot lead if we 
are weakened.
  A lot of you have been to my office. In my office, I keep portraits.
  I don't know if you know this, but I wasn't born a Republican. My 
family were all Democrats. If anybody questions me about my beliefs, I 
left what I heard at home because I knew there was something better.
  There are two leaders in this Nation that still inspire me to this 
day, and I am proud of who they are and what they did. And if you come 
to my office, you are welcome. We can disagree, but we should sit and 
talk. The problems in America are too big. We can find common ground. 
We would have found common ground here, if we were welcomed.
  You see, I have this portrait of Abraham Lincoln. It is in black and 
white. A friend of mine painted it; his name is Penley. It is large, 
too. It is in black and white for a reason.
  The greatest challenge ever to our Constitution was the Civil War. 
While you are celebrating this bill tonight, you are doing it on the 
exact same floor we debated the Thirteenth Amendment, or the day that 
would live in infamy, or the civil rights.
  Mr. Speaker, the best thing you say is we are going to build a 
bureaucracy. You know, it is the anniversary just this week of the 
Gettysburg Address.
  Could you imagine being President of the United States; you are not 
the keynote speaker. The keynote speaker speaks for 2 hours. I think I 
have already broken that record. I am sorry if you are missing Puerto 
Rico's fundraiser.
  There weren't a lot of words, but this is what Lincoln said, believe 
in exceptionalism of America. Why? Because we are conceived in liberty 
and we are dedicated to the proposition that we are all equal. He goes 
on to say, but if we fail, ``government of the people, by the people, 
for the people shall not perish from Earth.''
  We were not the world power at that moment, but he knew that America 
was more than a country, that when we work for and by and of the 
people, we will always lead. There is no other nation in the world that 
is conceived in liberty and dedicated that everybody is equal.
  So when you spend this new green deal money and you send it to China 
to buy the solar panels and the batteries, look at the slaves they make 
work there. Look at the slaves they make work there.
  I am proud Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President. And I 
will tell you, at night I look at these two paintings, and I wonder in 
moments and time what if Abraham Lincoln was not assassinated.
  Malice towards none. There would be no Jim Crow laws.
  Mr. Speaker, I would love to debate Jim Crow one day, because another 
portrait just hanging down from Lincoln is Joseph Rainey, the first 
Black American to get elected to Congress. He was a Republican.
  Mr. Speaker, 60 years later, the first Black Democrat was elected to 
Congress. You see, Joseph Rainey was a slave and broke free and came 
back after the Civil War and got elected in Charleston, South Carolina. 
We defeated that original sin. But Joseph Rainey wasn't the only Black 
Republican elected. More started getting elected. And in the South, we 
had a competitive Presidential election. But the Democrats said they 
would recognize the Republicans if they moved the Federal troops out of 
the South. And when they did, the Democrats won the States and they 
enacted Jim Crow laws--one of the darkest moments in our history. Had 
Abraham Lincoln not been assassinated, we would not have to wait until 
the 1950s for the civil rights.
  Abraham Lincoln, if he was here today, he would tell you--and Mr. 
Speaker, I believe he would look to your side of the aisle, he would 
say, be fearless when it comes to votes; don't blame others.
  You see, when Lincoln was elected in November 1860, he wasn't sworn 
in until March 1861. It is late, so I am not sure if my math is right, 
if it was seven or nine States that left the Union before he was sworn 
in. Never once did he blame Buchanan.
  Mr. Speaker, today, I heard our border czar blame Trump for the 
border. I don't know, in the short months of one-party rule, they have 
broken all records. He would tell you this, though: Your children's 
children, do not put off tomorrow what you could do today.
  The debate of slavery didn't start in the 1850s. That original sin 
started at the creation of our country. Our forefathers thought it was 
too divisive so they said, put it to the side. Hundreds of thousands of 
their grandchildren had to die. We don't have that same debate today, 
but you got a big debate on this floor.
  Do not blame others when inflation is higher. Do not blame others 
when your children's children ask you, why did you make the bureaucracy 
so big, but keep the borders open, and empower China? Why did my father 
and mother lose their jobs? Why can we not go downtown? Because there 
is no police to protect us. Or that Russell Johnson's grandson or 
granddaughter, who can't carry on the legacy of a generation of a 
rancher. They will point to this night, this time, and this moment.

[[Page H6630]]

  The other portrait that hangs behind my desk is Ronald Reagan. You 
see, Ronald Reagan was a Democrat, too, but taxes became so high, you 
know what he did? He stopped working. He took the incentive away.
  Sound familiar? If you pay people more to stay home, they will stay 
home. If you take away the work requirement--this bill now creates 90 
percent of all Americans qualify for the child tax credit. But what did 
you do? You took away the requirement to work; hurting the small 
business. Then you took away the Social Security. You might as well 
take more American taxpayer money, because you got all these IRS agents 
but you are giving it to people who are not Americans.
  Reagan would tell us this--Reagan is in color and Reagan is smiling.

                              {time}  2310

  Mr. Speaker, I think at moments of the times Reagan would talk to my 
party. We are not perfect by any means. He would tell us: If you 
believe your principles bring people more freedom, be happy about it. 
People will wonder what you are drinking. I am a happy conservative, 
but not tonight.
  Reagan would tell us this--and he would talk to this entire body. He 
would tell us, Mr. Speaker, peace without freedom is meaningless. Think 
about that for one moment: Peace without freedom is meaningless. It is 
human nature that we crave peace, but we only attain it with freedom.
  Reagan came into office after Jimmy Carter made inflation high; 
Americans were held hostage; gas prices, you could only go to the 
station on odd and even days. He was happy and honored to be able to do 
it. People had written us off.
  There were two Germanys. I remember, in my high school, they had one 
of those Hallmark shows about the Soviet Union invading us, ``Red 
Dawn.'' People on my street built bomb shelters because there was a 
Sputnik moment, much like a moment we just had. That is what our top 
military agents tell us, Mr. Speaker.
  Reagan had the same dilemma. He was in his second term, and I believe 
he was in Iceland, sitting directly across from Gorbachev. They didn't 
take staff into the room. Mr. Speaker, he started negotiating a nuclear 
reduction. He was getting most everything he wanted, then Gorbachev 
asked him one thing: Would Reagan end the SDI program?
  Remember what the SDI program was at that moment? It was made fun of, 
Mr. Speaker, by the Democrats. It was called Star Wars. Today, it is 
part of the Iron Dome.
  Mr. Speaker, you might remember the Iron Dome. Your party actually 
defunded that along with the police.
  Reagan didn't hesitate. He didn't ask Congress; he didn't ask the 
Senate. He said, no, I will not end the SDI, but what I will do is I 
will share with you so the world could be safe. Gorbachev declined.
  Reagan looked at everything in there, and he thought it was a pretty 
good agreement. He paused for a moment. It did nothing for those who 
were in the Gulags. It did nothing for Lech Walesa and the shipyards of 
Poland.
  He did something that most politicians couldn't do. He got up and 
walked away. Had Reagan not at that moment walked away, the Berlin Wall 
would have never collapsed in the Soviet Union.
  I tell you that story because I hope five of you listen. I hope five 
of you walk away from this bill. It doesn't bring more freedom. You 
cannot have peace without freedom.
  Do you know what is interesting? In modern history, there have been 
two U.S. Presidents to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Jimmy Carter and 
Barack Obama, not Ronald Reagan and not Donald Trump after the Abraham 
Accords.
  All elite press criticized Reagan, but he knew his principles. Reagan 
didn't have one-party rule. Speaker Tip O'Neill would spend time with 
him, would talk about the challenges. When they talked about the 
challenges, they invested not for more illegals coming across the 
border but to compete against Russia.
  Mr. Speaker, inside my conference room, I have another portrait. It 
is a big one, 8 by 16. It is a portrait of Washington crossing the 
Delaware. You all know that painting, do you not? This is a replica.
  Do you know who painted that painting? It happened Christmas 1776. 
The person who painted it wasn't there that day. He painted it from 
1850 to 1851. He wasn't even an American. He was a German immigrant who 
lived in America, Emanuel Leutze. He lived here for about 10 years, I 
believe, and then he went back to Germany.
  He knew the same thing that Lincoln knew about America, that America 
is more than a country, that we are an idea, an idea not of more 
bureaucracy but of more freedom.
  His talent was art, so he thought: I will paint this painting to 
inspire my country to have a revolution based upon the freedoms of 
American democracy.
  He gets it historically incorrect. If you look at the painting, it 
doesn't look like the Delaware. It looks like the Rhine. He is German, 
so we will give him a break, right?
  He puts Washington in a rowboat. Historians will tell you he probably 
crossed in a Durham boat. He puts 13 people in the rowboat. Why? 
Thirteen Colonies. He only shows you 12 faces.
  If you ever look at the painting--and please come to the office. You 
can bring your constituents. I don't have to be there.
  He has Washington in a ceremonial uniform, standing up in a rowboat 
in the middle of winter with his hand on his chest. If you look at our 
Founding Father, you would say that man is bigger than life. He is so 
stoic, I bet he has never lost a battle.
  Do you know what history tells us? At that moment in time, Washington 
had only been a loser. He had never won a fight. But google this 
painting to see if I am right. You have your phones, and you are 
welcome to do it. I don't want you to look at Washington. I want you to 
look at who is in the boat.
  The second person is wearing a beret. He is Scottish. The person in 
the green directly across from him rowing in the exact same cadence is 
African American. You come down the boat and in the middle is this 
person in red. They look like they are the strongest. It is a woman. In 
the very back is a Native American.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell you if that diversity was in the boat that 
night, but to this young immigrant who had lived in America, that is 
who he believed would be in the boat.
  The second to last person was a rancher, a farmer. I don't know if he 
was related to Russell Johnson or not, but the same occupation. He has 
his hand across his face. You see that it is the hand of the 13th 
person nobody sees.
  This artist was saying: Here we are, not a country but an idea. 
Having lost every battle before us but willing to risk everything on 
our holiest of nights for the idea of freedom, here is a hand. Would 
you get in and join us?
  I wish we hung that portrait in here. I wish we would look at that 
portrait, that when we brought bills to the floor, we were all rowing 
together.
  I will tell you the challenge that Washington faced that night. Our 
two biggest challenges for the future are the debt and China. This bill 
makes us a loser on both. Mr. Speaker, it spends more money than we 
spent for the entire World War II. It sends our jobs to China. It does 
nothing to stand up to them.
  I know this: It is not too late. It might be late into the night. Mr. 
Speaker, Members on your side of the aisle, they have staff. They can 
get a new plane to Puerto Rico. This is too important.

                              {time}  2320

  There are moments in time in history that change the course of this 
country, and they have happened on this floor--the 13th Amendment and 
the day that will live in infamy. We were bombed by Japan, and it 
almost wiped out our Navy. That Congress didn't turn around and say, 
Let's take away work requirements, let's give incentives to people who 
are coming illegally, and let's spend nothing on our defense; but let's 
make it bigger than any other bill we have ever had, and let's make 
sure nobody on the other side works with us. Now we are going into war, 
so we should send a letter to OPEC and to Putin because he can lower 
our gas prices and help us out.
  This is that moment. We can have that courage. We can have that 
ability.

[[Page H6631]]

It is not too late. Aside from hypersonics, the Pentagon is estimating 
China could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by the end of the decade. Last 
year they built 38 gigawatts of coal-powered plants. That is one large 
coal plant every week.
  I know a lot of Members on both sides of the aisle went overseas. Mr. 
Speaker, I know Speaker Pelosi has been able to go to Europe three 
times in the last 3 months. I don't know if it is a farewell tour. But 
if it is, I want a T-shirt.
  Mr. Speaker, we have been limited on what we can build nuclearly 
because of our agreement with Russia. China makes no qualms about what 
they want to do with Taiwan. If you wonder, look at Hong Kong. My first 
trip ever to China was back in 1995. Some of you have probably gone 
with the American Council of Young Political Leaders. They pick five 
Republicans and five Democrats under the age of 40 to go to China to 
interact to find their leader.
  I remember sitting in a room with a former U.N. ambassador, and he 
told me they became Communist because they had always been conquered by 
somebody else. There used to be signs reading no children or dogs in 
Tiananmen Square. He said, We have no fear of being conquered now, so I 
don't know what binds us together.
  When I went to Tiananmen Square it was moving for me because I 
remember that moment in time. There are two parts in history I wish I 
could have been a part of: I wish I could have been in Tiananmen Square 
and I wish I could have been there knocking down that Berlin Wall.
  There was a sign there in Tiananmen Square, Mr. Speaker. It had two 
moments: the number of days and the number of minutes until Hong Kong 
came under their control. They said that for 50 years nothing would 
change. Mr. Speaker, after unleashing COVID on the world, it all 
changed.
  But do you know what happened prior to that, Mr. Speaker?
  I am not sure; I think Hong Kong had about 8 million people. Even on 
rainy Saturdays 3 million of them would show up and bring umbrellas.
  Do you know what else they would bring?
  American flags. They knew the exact same thing as Abraham Lincoln, 
Joseph Rainey, and Frederick Douglass: that America is more than a 
country, that it is an idea. They stood out in the rain knowing what 
China would do for freedom of speech but not for more bureaucracy.
  The moment China came in, did we do anything?
  We are going to buy more batteries from them. They use slave labor to 
create them.
  If you question where COVID came from, they say they are going to 
send their nuclear weapons to you. Mr. Speaker, I don't know if we know 
how many nuclear weapons they have because we can't fly over them much 
anymore.
  But, Mr. Speaker, do you ever wonder and start to think, you have 
these nuclear weapons, you have hypersonics, and then you invade 
Taiwan.
  Do you think that may keep more people at bay?
  I don't know. When Putin took Crimea, he said he took it because no 
one said he couldn't. He has built up, along the road, Ukraine.
  Mr. Speaker, does it make you wonder after Afghanistan where 
Americans were left behind, that China flies more of their aircraft 
over Taiwan? That China did not show up at the global warming party?
  There are so many things to be proud of about our country. I am 
worried about the environment. I wish every country was like America. 
We lowered our CO2 emissions. We didn't mandate.
  Do you know what we did while we lowered them?
  We became energy independent.
  But do you know what happens when you shut down an American pipeline 
and you allow a Russian pipeline to go?
  You make the air dirtier. American natural gas is 42 percent cleaner.
  Do you know what else comes with American natural gas?
  American jobs. American kids can pay for college, they can buy a car, 
and they can buy a house. I don't know if in today's America they can 
afford to fill it up.
  But you are going to restrict America. Mr. Speaker, I have heard a 
lot of people brag about this bill. They are really happy about the 
Green New Deal. I don't know if many read the Chinese paper, they are 
happier. Because that is where you are sending Americans' hard-earned 
taxpayer dollars. And if you don't get enough, the IRS agents are going 
to pound on their door.

  Meanwhile, President Biden is acting like there is no competition at 
all. Today, on a few important issues Biden has folded on, he bailed 
out Huawei and refuses to investigate the origins of coronavirus or 
hold China accountable for its actions.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to tell you another story. This is a personal 
story with your leadership and ours. Many of us had the pleasure and 
the honor of going to the 75th anniversary of D-day. I think every 
American should go and read the headstones with the ages of the 
thousands upon thousands of Americans who all died in a short 
timeframe. Look at the Stars of David and crosses.
  I traveled with the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. As we flew in on a 
helicopter and we went down the path with the doors open, we wondered 
about those brave men. You still saw the guns of the Germans. They had 
to land, and they were sitting ducks. They had to climb up, and they 
were just being shot one after the other. They were so young. But their 
children's children are proud of them.
  When I looked at those headstones, I looked at the Speaker, and I 
wondered: what could America have done before then so that they would 
not have lost their lives?
  What could we have done before the rise of Hitler or Mussolini?
  Where could we have made that investment?
  Then I thought to the future of us as policymakers. History repeats 
itself. I watch China steal our technology. I watch them test 
hypersonics. I watch them build a new coal plant and shut ours down. 
This isn't like the Soviet Union. We are not going to outspend them.
  When I asked the Speaker: Could we create a committee with an equal 
number of Republicans and an equal number of Democrats to just focus on 
China?
  She thought it was an interesting idea. I called Steny, the majority 
leader. I presented the same idea to him. I spent 8 months on this.
  And do you know what, Mr. Speaker?
  They agreed.

                              {time}  2330

  So we agreed. We picked the number of members, and then they came 
back to me and said, no, we had to shrink it. That is okay. That is 
okay. I just really want to have this happen. Because you know Xi 
Jinping isn't going to abide by the term limits; he tries to wait 
everybody out, Mr. Speaker.
  We got so close; we invited the Washington Post reporter in to 
interview the members who were going to be on this committee. They pre-
interviewed it so we would be able to introduce it. The night before 
that moment, like the time in the boat, I was proud of Congress. We 
were going to do this together in one of our greatest challenges.
  I got a phone call. They said, we are not doing the committee. I 
said, what are you talking about? We spent 8 months at this.
  You see, COVID had hit, and they thought it might give a political 
advantage if we focused on China. I went ahead anyway and started the 
China Task Force. And in that China Task Force, all the ideas that we 
came up with, two-thirds of them, were bipartisan.
  Mr. Speaker, we talk a lot about the future. If this body changes 
power, we will have a committee that focuses on the future of America 
and China. We need to plan.
  This is going to do a lot of damage to us. I hope five of you change 
your mind. And you know what? I am going to welcome you to serve on it, 
too.
  I want one American policy. I don't want to look out in California 
and see all those ships anymore. I want to look at California and see 
all those ships leaving with American products going to other 
countries.
  We need to hold them accountable. Why would the world stay silent 
after the millions upon millions who have died from COVID?
  Would it not raise a question if China shut down their domestic 
flights but kept their international open?

[[Page H6632]]

  Welcome, Madam Speaker. I am just getting geared up. It is good you 
sit.
  Now, Republicans are offering a better approach; instead of 
cooperating with China from a position of weakness, we need to compete 
from a position of strength.
  Madam Speaker, you are new, and I am not sure you have been 
listening. I hope you were.
  I would think, Madam Speaker, why don't we have a full Congress 
briefing on China's hypersonics?
  Why don't we do one thing? Why don't we pause this bill? If this bill 
is going to spend $5 trillion, more than any other bill we have ever 
spent, more than what we spent to end World War II, why don't we pause 
this bill, have a briefing of all of us together about that Sputnik 
moment that our top military tells us?
  And why don't we rise to the occasion? Why don't we do what America 
did at that moment, with our children's children? Witness one Germany?
  Why don't we pause and let's see if we ought to spend the money 
there?
  You see, with one-party rule, the last time you had it, you cut the 
funding for hypersonics. Now, I don't remember the debate, and I don't 
know, Madam Speaker, if somebody on the other side said, by this cut, 
our children's children will be excited about this tonight.
  But I do know where we stand today, more than 12 years later; in a 
weaker position, more dependent, and more vulnerable.
  You know what that means if we want to do something different? That 
means strengthening our military, rebuilding our economy, and regaining 
our position of leadership in the world.
  I don't know how many of you are historians, but if you study the 
entire world, there have only been two nations that have had the 
largest economy, China and America. You know, in the last year, ours 
grew faster than them. But they are catching us. After this bill, they 
put a weight belt on it. You gave an advantage to them.
  What if we did this, too? What if we paused, and what if we, 
together, inspired the rest of the nations in the world and said, let's 
not reward China with the Olympics. Do you want to reward them?
  I will guarantee you their economy will be stronger after this bill.
  We can't keep being nice. We can't let them continue to lie, to 
steal.
  It also means delivering truth and accountability when it comes to 
the coronavirus.
  There is not one in this Chamber that does not know somebody who died 
from COVID. I was talking to a friend last night. He is about my age, 
but he had these two mentors. They are older men. They are farmers. He 
is a farmer. And he had been calling them. He was down looking for 
them; couldn't find them. I never heard this friend of mine get 
emotional. He said he just got a call back. One of them died from 
COVID. His father is no longer alive, but he felt he lost his father 
that night.
  You know who he was most mad at? China. I never heard him cuss until 
that night. He just felt it was so unfair. Don't we all?
  Don't we remember being in this Chamber, struggling in our own 
community, trying to find PPE just for our hospitals? You know, some of 
the brightest moments of America happened at that time. We watched 
people risk their lives. We watched what America does best, ingenuity, 
invest. We don't have one vaccine, we have three.
  You ask anybody in the world, do they want a vaccine from Russia or 
China? They want America's. We did that. We did it faster than Fauci 
ever said we could.
  You know what else we could do? We could do hypersonics, too. We are 
not going to gain on China if they tested it 200 times and we are at 9.
  Madam Speaker, hypersonics is a first-strike weapon.
  Look, I was a smart aleck growing up, and I got in a few fights. But 
the one thing I will tell you, in a schoolyard, I never won one that 
someone got to punch me five times before I could swing. But that is 
what your children's children are going to learn tonight. They could 
strike us before they could defend us.
  Are we weaker based upon what happened in Afghanistan? Oh, yes, we 
are. If you don't read China's papers, you know what they told Taiwan 
the next day? See, America won't be there for you.
  I was speaking soft, Madam Speaker, but I wasn't imitating President 
Biden.
  I imagine the papers in China will read, soon after this bill passes, 
that America is going to ask them, the Chinese to buy our bonds so they 
have greater control over us; that America is going to be weaker; that 
they did nothing to stop the flow of fentanyl made in China coming to 
America.

                              {time}  2340

  We cannot lose sight of the ultimate goal. We will not allow America 
to fall further behind like the Biden administration has.
  Madam Speaker, when they study history, our children's children, I am 
sure the chapter will read ``One-party control for one term: The damage 
that was done.''
  There will be college courses. There will be people who are nominated 
to the Fed simply because they studied the inflation that came back 
today. I don't know about you, but if you study history, there is no 
easy way of getting out of inflation. There is only pain. Don't take my 
word for it. Just pick up The Wall Street Journal and read the story of 
Turkey today.
  Madam Speaker, I know my friend, Mr. Neal, has been here 33 years. He 
has to remember what inflation looked like in the 1970s, interest rates 
in double digits.
  Madam Speaker, it is different today. For all of those Democrats, 
Madam Speaker, that would not vote for the bill unless they got the CBO 
report that told them it paid for itself--I watched some of them on 
TV--I feel sorry for them. I don't know how they will face their 
constituents again.
  But what about those 21 Members, Madam Speaker, in your Caucus that 
sent a letter to the Speaker that said to take out the IRS agents. I 
guess if you send a letter, it is okay to vote the opposite. I don't 
know. Where I grew up, in my family, that is not what we were taught.
  The CBO came back. In 5 years, it costs $800 billion, and that is 
after you have played all the tricks with all the dials where you don't 
pay for everything.
  The difference today is our debt is larger than our GDP. When that 
happened before, we weren't fighting for a Green New Deal; we were 
fighting to save America and the world. The minute World War II was 
over, it dropped.
  Madam Speaker, I think you are fighting to make this country a 
socialist country.
  Margaret Thatcher said it well: You are going to run out of everybody 
else's money. The difference now, though, is you have inflation. What 
is so sad is, you were warned that would happen. I know you don't want 
to listen to me. I know you don't like me. That is okay.
  But Larry Summers worked in two Democrat administrations. He serves 
in one of the most prestigious universities in America. He is partisan, 
partisan, but he is an economist.
  Before you passed that $2 trillion--and remember what happened. It is 
similar to this bill. It was not bipartisan. What is so unusual, when 
COVID hit, all of those bills we did, we did it together. But when 
January 20 hit, when it was one-party rule, all changed. We were no 
longer welcome. So we warned you, but you thought it was politics.
  But then Larry Summers warned you in February. You passed it anyway. 
Nine percent went to COVID. The school money, a lot of it didn't last 
but 2 or 3 months. Then we read all about these schools. They had too 
much money. They were giving bonuses to people who didn't even work.
  You passed rules that said bills didn't have to go through committee. 
You made proxy voting. I remember the negotiation on proxy.
  I remember, Madam Speaker, talking to the Speaker and the majority 
leader at the very beginning, saying: We will never do proxy. It will 
destroy the body of Congress.
  Historians will tell you that. Even when the Confederacy wasn't that 
far away, we still met. August 24, 1814, when the British burned this 
building down, we still met. Through every pandemic, we still met.
  But what we thought was that, and I disagreed, it was only those few 
people

[[Page H6633]]

who have respiratory problems. We are going to make it tough. Only a 
few people are going to do it for a short time, and they are going to 
sign a letter that says they just can't make it here.
  Madam Speaker, I was shocked when I saw a Member on your side of the 
aisle. He must have been really fearful of COVID because he was on a 
boat. It looked like a vacation to me.
  Madam Speaker, today, I got my booster shot, my third shot. I have 
had COVID. I have had three shots. I went down to see Dr. Monahan. I 
said, will I have any side effects? I got my second shot the morning of 
January 6, and I got the chills. I got the shakes that day for a lot of 
reasons. I wondered if it was the best idea to get that shot today. I 
took it anyway. I didn't know if I was going to be too tired. I might 
have a little headache now.
  But this is too important. This is just too important. This is a 
turning point in our country. We are at a tipping point because let me 
tell you what happens: You cannot curb inflation without devaluing the 
dollar or raising the interest rate. We raised it high after the last 
time the Democrats had one-party control in the late 1970s. But do you 
know what? It will cut all the economy, but we won't be able to pay our 
bills. We have too big of a debt now.
  The Wharton School is an amazing school. They would never accept me. 
They studied this bill. You didn't have to wait for the CBO. You know 
it costs $4 trillion. It also tells you it is going to lower our 
growth.
  Only two countries in the world have had the largest economy. If our 
currency is not the world currency, if our debt is too big, 
unfortunately, Madam Speaker, what the majority leader said to start 
this out, that our children's children will remember this night, oh, 
they will remember this night.
  We are a great Nation. We are exceptional. This body has risen to so 
many occasions. But on the occasions they rose before, they didn't do 
it with one party.
  If America asked me what went wrong: one-party rule for one term. 
Divided government makes you have to find compromise.
  Madam Speaker, when I came to this body, I came at a time in 2006 
when Republicans lost the majority for a lot of different reasons. 
There were only 13 Republicans, the smallest freshman class since 1914, 
and that is when they enlarged this body.
  I have made friends on both sides of the aisle. I believe in 
competition. I believe in debate. But I believe in respect.
  Four years later, it was a big night in Virginia and New Jersey. If 
you study history, Virginia and New Jersey are off-year elections.

                              {time}  2350

  Madam Speaker, your party had had power for a long time in Congress, 
for 40 years. Before 1994, there was an election in 1993, and it was a 
shock in Virginia and New Jersey, and in 1994, something unheard of 
happened. Republicans won the majority.
  I should have known in 2006 that was going to happen because in 2005 
there was an election in Virginia and New Jersey. Democrats won, and it 
flipped.
  In 2009, I was in my second term. I was a deputy whip. I remember 
certain moments. I didn't know Steny Hoyer at that moment. I respected 
him. I respected his years of service. I respected the leadership in 
which he served.
  I remember it like it was slow motion. It was back when you could 
speak in the well. President Obama had just become President. We 
invited him to our conference. He wanted to do a stimulus bill, and I 
was proud of our conference that day. President Obama treated us with 
respect. We even met in HT5, where you meet now.
  We got up one by one. I remember Kevin Brady. The President said, ``I 
want to hear your ideas.'' We didn't play political games. We gave him 
ideas. And with respect to President Obama, you know what he said: That 
is a good one. No, I am not going to do that one.
  I liked that. He said we were going to work together. As he walked 
out, we thought we were going to work together that day. Henry Waxman 
was the chairman at the time. He dropped the stimulus bill, as the 
President left us saying he was going to work with us.
  I used to spend my time down on the floor. I thank you for being 
here. I know it is late. But I would spend my time on the floor because 
most Democrats didn't know who I was, and sometimes I would sit over 
there, and I would listen, so I could learn.
  It is like slow motion, what Steny Hoyer was saying. When that 
stimulus came to the floor, it was a lot of money. It was a lot of 
money. He said, I don't know if this will work, but I do know, you are 
going to have to go home and tell your constituents why you voted no, 
why you wouldn't help them.
  I didn't want to be the party of ``no.'' So I remember sitting up in 
Eric Cantor's office, and we would bring people. Brady was there and 
Camp and Lott. He said, The President meant well, but his own party 
won't let him work with us. So let's make our own bill. Let's compete 
on the power of the idea.
  So we produced our own bill. We had outside score it, created jobs 
with less money, and 30 seconds before that gavel went down, I remember 
talking to two Republicans right here. President Obama thought he was 
going to get 60 Republicans to vote for it. He was literally calling 
Members back in the Chamber.
  That bill passed. It was popular. It is kind of like your COVID bill 
when it first passed. I don't know if you looked at the polling today. 
This was early on in that majority.
  And I remembered the whole time what Steny Hoyer said. And right 
before that election, after Virginia and New Jersey, do you realize 
more people in America thought Elvis was alive than the stimulus 
created a job?
  If you look at your COVID bill, the $2 trillion--there are other 
moments I have had in here. You know, I came in, and one of the most 
moving votes we have ever had--I wasn't here to vote on whether we went 
to Iraq or Afghanistan, but I was here to vote about the surge. And I 
came in when we lost the majority, and a lot of that had to do with the 
continuing war.
  I wanted to do something different, so I invited anybody who had an 
opinion, that was opposed, that was for it, foreign ambassadors, and I 
remember the ambassadors telling us, ``We did not agree with you 
coming, but you better not leave it this way.''
  And for anyone who serves in a body--and I served in the legislature 
before I came--nobody can prepare you for a vote like that. You know 
when you take a vote like that you are going to look a mother and a 
father or a husband or a wife in the eye, and you are going to have to 
explain why their loved one gave their life.
  So I did not want the administration to tell me anything. I was going 
to come to this conclusion because I had to make the decision myself. I 
had to look people in the eye. I voted for the surge that night. It was 
packed. It was one of the first times I spoke on the floor. I remember 
calling home. I was nervous.
  That April I went to Iraq, Afghanistan. A group of us, bipartisan, we 
spent Christmas morning with General Petraeus in one of the little 
amazing houses in there.
  And I remember that was bipartisan. I remember respecting the other 
side. I remember America coming together. It was tough. You had just 
won the majority. The debate was about war. Men and women were losing 
their lives, but we didn't think America should lead that way. There 
were people on both sides of the aisle. You were in the majority. 
President Bush was still President, and we came to what was best for 
the future together.
  Then I remember the financial collapse. I remember being on this 
floor with TARP. For any of you that were here, it was all packed. Do 
you remember the chant? 100, 200, 300, 400, the Dow Jones going down. 
The Dow Jones, I think, went past 1000.
  Ever since my days as deputy whip, I have this philosophy, the first 
one to 200 wins on any big bill. Now that proxy is here, it doesn't 
work, but for those voting in here, if you get to 200 first, that is 
usually where it is going to go.
  At that moment, more than 1000 down, the noes were at 200. Then it 
collapsed, and the market went up a little more, only down maybe 800.
  Do you remember how big that was? The world's largest economy on a 
financial meltdown, and we both came together. Because it was a big 
vote,

[[Page H6634]]

right? Do you know how much we spent then? $800 billion. $800 billion.
  You are spending $5 trillion. While we have inflation. $800 billion 
was enough to save the financial markets of America. We have got 10 
million jobs out there for people to work on. You are doing nothing for 
the border, nothing for the children's future when it comes to China. 
No incentive to go to work. You are incentivizing people to come here 
illegally. You are incentivizing people to stay home and get a check.
  I like to study history. Every great society that has overextended 
themselves has collapsed.
  Madam Speaker, I don't mean to go back to what my friend Steny Hoyer 
said, but tonight will be the night that our children's children--oh, I 
apologize, it is you back in the chair, Mr. Speaker.
  Mr. Speaker, may I ask you a question? Did you get to take a bathroom 
break and I didn't? But I understand. It's okay.

                              {time}  0000

  Mr. Speaker, tonight will be the night of that tipping point. 
Tonight, will be the night. Have you looked at the market? Have you 
looked at the numbers that just came back this week on retail?


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  November 18, 2021, on page H6634, the following appeared: Mr. 
Speaker, may I ask you a question? Did you get to take a bathroom 
break and I didn't? But I understand. It's okay. 
--------- 
{time}  0000 BUILD BACK BETTER ACT--Continued Mr. MCCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, 
tonight will be the night of that tipping
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: Mr. Speaker, may 
I ask you a question? Did you get to take a bathroom break and I 
didn't? But I understand. It's okay. {time}  0000 Mr. Speaker, 
tonight will be the night of that tipping


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


  You know what happens--please talk to the economists--if you supply 
all this money in a tight economy, you are going to create more 
inflation.
  Mr. Speaker, when I served at that time, 4 years later, we became the 
majority. I had the honor and privilege when my conference elected me 
majority whip and majority leader. And I know the frustration I had 
when you would do your motions to recommit, but I never once said I 
wanted so much control to take that away from you.
  I respect that you run for this office. I respect that your 
constituents elect you. And what your constituents do is they lend you 
power. They lend you their voice, so their voice needs to be heard. 
When you shut out the minority, you are shutting out millions of 
Americans.
  Now, I don't know what the case was, but I remember talking to my 
freshman class in 2011, and I put up the 63 names of every Democrat 
that lost, Mr. Speaker, and they had two things in common. They all 
voted for a motion to recommit, and they all lost.
  In the 8 years that we were in the majority, we never lost one motion 
to recommit.
  Why would you change the course of the history of this body to take 
away the voice of the minority?
  You are not hurting me. You are hurting millions of Americans who 
participate in the electoral system. Is that about control?
  I know our tempers flare, but I promise you this, Mr. Speaker, I will 
never tell one of you you can't look at me. Even if you are saying 
something bad about me. You have a right to do it. We are in America. I 
don't want control over you. I want to participate with you. I want to 
work with you. I want to solve problems with you.
  You know, people ask me what has gone wrong, and I will be honest 
with you, I have spent a lot of time thinking about the next Congress. 
How do we heal this place? Mr. Speaker, if you are all thinking of 
running again, for those who win, no more proxy voting. You are going 
to have to show up to work.
  Mr. Speaker, America is more than a country. We are an idea. Every 
single one here, except a few that are Native American, came as 
immigrants. I have told you about the paintings in my office. I also 
have the papers from Ellis Island of my grandfather, 100 years ago this 
year, came at the age of 10 from Italy. Giuseppe Palladino. He dreamt 
of a new world. He knew America would be better with each generation. 
He came, like many of your ancestors.
  One of the greatest strengths in this country is the rule of law. 
Even in the financial meltdown people still invested in America. So 
many times when I was in graduate school, I would do a SWOT analysis, 
strengths weaknesses, opportunities, threats. You start with your 
strengths to see if they are big enough to overcome your weaknesses. 
Are the opportunities big enough to overcome the future threats?
  We are still the largest economy in this world. But it won't stay if 
this passes.
  We have the greatest fighting force, volunteers.
  If you are wealthy and you live in another country and you are sick, 
you still want to come here for your healthcare.
  You still want to send your kids here to go to school.
  They admire who we are and what we have been.
  I talk about what made me a Republican. I was in the sixth grade. I 
turn on the TV. I watch Jimmy Carter with a sweater on telling me to 
turn the heater down, and that the best days were behind us, and that 
as an American I had to accept less. That wasn't how I was raised.
  Then I watched this other man, Mr. Speaker, that came from my home 
State of California. He went to the podium. He said no pastels. Fly 
that bold color and go to that shining city on the hill. I knew what he 
meant when he talked about that shining city. That was America. That 
was more than a country. That was an idea, an idea of freedom. It went 
beyond Maine, beyond California. I know you all believe that is 
America. But under one-party rule, under 1 year, that light has been 
dimmed.
  Our task should be to join together, climb that mountain, and reach 
toward that light. Five of you should rise up, put the country first, 
and say no. Twenty-one of you signed a letter that said take the 87,000 
IRS agents out of the bill. It is still in it.
  Does your name matter? Does the letter matter? You sent it to the 
Speaker. You told her she had to.
  Or what about those Members that said they could not vote on this 
bill until the Congressional Budget Office proved to them what 
President Biden was saying, that it didn't cost anything.

  Well, you know what, that letter is back, and, no, it costs. In 5 
years it is going to cost you $800 billion. It is going to cost us much 
more. It is going to cost us the rule of law.
  You are incentivizing people to come across this border illegally. We 
believe in the rule of law, but if you start a generation that breaks 
the rule of law, you break down society.
  You are taking this money. How you brag about how you pay for the 
bill.
  You hire 87,000 IRS agents. You are saying to America: We don't trust 
you. You are adding 1.2 million more audits. One half of all of those 
audits are going after Americans who only make $75,000 a year or less.
  And you know what those Americans are doing right now?
  They are wondering if they can pay for their gas this winter that 
goes up 50 something percent. They are traveling less because gasoline 
is the highest it has been.
  And for our President to say he doesn't know anybody worried about 
inflation, Mr. President, come to the grocery store with me because I 
will show you the prices are rising every day. Just walk the streets.
  Or what is even worse, you are spending more money than we spent to 
solve World War II, to win it. And you are proud of it. You are 
championing it.
  You do nothing for Russell Johnson, the rancher on the border, whose 
kids can't even go outside to play. From February to October more 
people have come across that border illegally than 2018, 2019, and 2020 
combined. Those are the numbers.
  Americans are dying at unbelievable levels because of fentanyl. Where 
do you think that comes from? China through Mexico.
  You heard from one of the mayors in these border cities. Just in the 
last year, 46 times the school had to be on a shutdown because of the 
cartels and the car chases. You do nothing in this bill for that.
  You have the top military general tell you about the Sputnik moment 
with China when they did a hypersonic, something we don't have because 
the last time we had one-party rule with all of you in charge, you cut 
hypersonic funding.

                              {time}  0010

  Mr. Speaker, you have a Chief of Staff at the White House that many 
refer to as ``the prime minister.'' He says this is twice as big in 
real dollars as the New Deal. You got Members of your own conference 
that said President Biden wasn't elected to be FDR.

[[Page H6635]]

  We are better than this. How can you spend so much? When the 
financial markets were melting down, when thousands of people were 
losing their jobs and we didn't know if we could still be the world 
currency, this body came together and thought $800 billion was enough 
to do the trick. We weren't in inflation.
  Mr. Speaker, you already know from your past of passing trillions of 
dollars, you created inflation. Now you are doubling down. The American 
people have said it in so many ways. Enough. We don't need more waste.
  Mr. Speaker, when you have inflation, you either devalue the currency 
or you raise interest rates. You are going to break America. We can't 
afford to pay our debt. We are going to have to cut.
  Mr. Speaker, I will tell you this, and I will make this promise to 
you, if we are fortunate enough for the American public to trust us for 
a new direction, we will change the course. We will focus on small 
business. We will focus on the border. We won't let runaway spending 
create inflation.
  Mr. Speaker, and we will trust you. We won't fine you to walk into 
your place of work, because there won't be a magnetometer out there. We 
believe we are going to work together. We believe bills will have to go 
through committee. One-party rule for 1 year has done so much damage. 
We will not let America fall further behind, like the Biden 
administration has. In a sense, falling farther behind has been the 
theme of Joe Biden's Presidency in the first 10 months. As leaders, it 
is our responsibility to understand the position and condition our 
country is in. When it is not providing Americans the opportunity to 
meet their daily needs, we must fix it.
  Mr. Speaker, we trust parents. I don't know if you heard, we 
introduced a Parents' Bill of Rights. I never thought there would be a 
day that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, would go after 
parents simply because they went to a school board meeting, and lied to 
Congress about it. It took a whistleblower to come forward.
  Mr. Speaker, I never thought there would be a day with gas prices so 
high that the Secretary of Energy, when asked for a plan of how to 
bring the prices down, to laugh. The Vice President of the United 
States that was given the job by the President to be the border czar--I 
understand why he moved it to her, because in his 42 years of elected 
office, the closest he came to the border was driving by El Paso--but 
when she was asked, she laughed as well.
  Mr. Speaker, these are serious issues, not one to laugh at. The 
American public is not laughing. When it is not providing Americans the 
opportunity to meet their daily needs, we must fix it. But that is not 
what President Biden has done for the last 10 months. That is not what 
Democrats have done with this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, one-party rule in 1 year has given us the highest 
inflation in 31 years. And I know I said it before, yes, we warned you 
from the other side, but your own side warned you as well. Larry 
Summers, serving two Democrat administrations, begged you, told you not 
to do it in February, but here we are.
  Mr. Speaker, the President, even in a town hall meeting on CNN, said 
he doesn't know anybody that is worried about inflation. I want to 
invite the President to so many meetings. I want him to go to the 
border with us. You know, I know we come from different parties, and I 
know we fight in campaigns. But when the election is over, America 
expects us to govern. There are many times--I know the President hasn't 
been to the border, but we sent him letters, we have been there. We 
will tell him what is happening. We will sit down. We will talk. He 
doesn't want to meet. I want to work with this President. These 
problems are too big. I took President Biden at his word when he said 
if he became President, he would work with the other side.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people sent Washington, D.C., an 
unmistakable message on an election day earlier this month: Our country 
has drifted too far to the left.
  Mr. Speaker, if you study history, there was a moment in time like 
this; it was back in 1994. Again, it was a one-party rule. You 
controlled it all. And when you controlled it all, your party wanted 
more control. They wanted ClintonCare. The country rose up. And at that 
moment in time, I remember watching President Clinton tell the American 
public the era of Big Government is over.
  Mr. Speaker, where is that Democrat today? Because many of these 
Members, they serve 30, 40 years; they have been there with them. And 
they just championed, We got to make the bureaucracy bigger.
  Mr. Clinton listened to the American public. You know, this last 
election was driven by intense disapproval of Democrat's radical 
policies, absolute chaos on the southern border, out-of-control crime, 
record-breaking gas prices, and inflation, a broken supply the chain.
  Mr. Speaker, I know you care about the environment, and I know you 
are not far from Southern California. I know you have seen those ships. 
You see them sitting there for a month. You see the pollution. You know 
what they are doing? They are dropping off products from China and 
going back empty.
  Mr. Speaker, we got a failing education system, where some of the 
strongest leaders in your party say parents have no right in their 
children's education. I just can't imagine that. And, of course, the 
surrender in Afghanistan. I know you cannot be proud of that moment 
either. There are still Americans there.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't know--and I could be wrong--but I don't know of 
one hearing we have had in the last month to help those Americans come 
home. I don't even know if someone would give us the number. But this 
is what I do know. Republicans are not sitting back. There are a number 
of Members who served in the military, who sacrificed in the military, 
who are still helping their constituents and others come home.
  Mr. Speaker, and the saddest part about it is, we have to work with 
other countries. We have to go around our own State Department. This 
isn't an image of a thriving Nation. It is the image of a country that 
is clearly on the wrong track and on the wrong side of history.

                              {time}  0020

  Are we better off today than we were 10 months ago? No.
  Mr. Speaker, I remember Steny Hoyer. I listened to him. He started 
off, he said, we don't want to go back. He doesn't want to go back when 
we didn't have inflation, when gas prices were $2, when we were energy 
independent, when in the last 16 months not one casualty in 
Afghanistan, when North Korea was not testing missiles, when China 
hadn't sent a hypersonic around the world, when we had the strongest 
economy in the last 50 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I know there are people who got upset with President 
Trump's personality. As I travel the country today, Mr. Speaker, I hear 
of a lot of people who want to take that vote back who like his 
policies, who understand policy matters.
  We are not better off than we were 10 months ago. Do you know the 
difference? Ten months ago, we didn't have one-party rule in this city.
  That is why the voters who could vote earlier this month 
overwhelmingly voted to send Democrats a message. Mr. Speaker, that 
message was one word: Stop.
  In 2010, you didn't listen--ObamaCare in 4 days. You are doing the 
exact same thing.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't know if Speaker Pelosi finishes out this term. I 
know she made everybody vote on ObamaCare and 63 Democrats lost.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't know if she will be here after people vote for 
it. It could be the last term for them. The problem will be that the 
damage will be done.
  Stop overspending. Stop the war on working families. Work gives you a 
purpose; I don't care what job you have. Stop giving those who run our 
country more control over the lives of those who make our country run.
  The election on November 2 this year in Virginia, New Jersey, and 
across the country, that should have been a wake-up call. Why did 
President Clinton hear it but not these Democrats? I don't know.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't want to give political advice, but when 
President Clinton heard it, and he changed course and said the era of 
Big Government is over, he got reelected.

[[Page H6636]]

  Washington Democrats obviously aren't listening to the American 
people. Instead, in a desperate attempt to save face and appease their 
extremist, leftwing base, Speaker Pelosi has crammed even more radical 
policies into a partisan bill that costs trillions of dollars we don't 
have for government-run programs that nobody wants, not even Democrat 
voters.
  What the Democrats are proposing is out of touch in the extreme. What 
we have before us isn't a social spending bill; it is a pathway to 
socialism. If you don't believe me, Mr. Speaker, if you listen to the 
majority leader and you listen to the chair of the Ways and Means 
Committee--what a prestigious committee that is.
  Mr. Speaker, Article I, Section 7 says all tax reform starts in the 
House. Our rules say it all starts with Ways and Means. It is 
interesting that your own Member, Jared Golden, talks about what you do 
in this bill. You go after people who are just making ends meet to give 
it to people who are making $800,000 and millionaires.
  These are radical policies in a partisan bill that costs trillions of 
dollars that we don't have for government programs that nobody wants. 
It doesn't work now, and it won't work in the future. In fact, as I 
said earlier, it will make the problems we face as a Nation much, much 
worse. Here is how.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if your other side left to eat, but I will 
buy dinner if they want to stay. I think it is important. I don't know 
that any have had time to read the bill.
  Consider the energy crisis that Americans are facing today: high gas 
prices and budget-breaking heating costs. Instead of relying on 
American energy to increase production and lower costs, the answer from 
Democrats seems to be to beg OPEC to produce more, gather wood for the 
fireplace, and put on a sweater.
  Do you know what happens when OPEC produces more? American dollars go 
to the Middle East. Do you know what happens when you shut down 
American pipelines? American workers lose their jobs, but Putin gets 
more.
  Mr. Speaker, winter is coming, and this bill would make our energy 
crisis worse. Consider the heat your home tax bill the Democrats have 
included in this bill. By imposing a fee on methane gas, this bill 
would penalize the very resource that helps produce the electricity 
that keeps the lights on and heat running.
  Mr. Speaker, I think I owe you an apology because I understand the 
Democrats have left, and they want to recess when I am done. I don't 
know if they can get to the airlines at this time to change their 
flights to Puerto Rico for later tomorrow for the fundraiser. I am 
sorry for that, but this is just too important.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't know if they think, because they left, I am 
going to stop. I am not. It is too important. Mr. Speaker, I am really 
not talking to them. I am talking to the American people.

  I have so much here, but I have a couple of other binders. I think it 
is important for the American people to know how this bill works. When 
I got done with the speech, I was able to collect all the amendments 
that Republicans offered that were denied. The American public should 
see what could have been in the bill, what could have helped them.
  It is probably healthy, Mr. Speaker, for all the constituents to know 
who voted how. I think that would be important.
  The effect of this heat your home tax would increase family heating 
bills by as much as $242 per year. I don't know if you think that 
sounds like a lot, but put it in perspective. How much more does it 
cost to fill up their tank of gas? How much more does it cost them at 
the grocery store? How much less is their paycheck worth because of 
inflation? It is not just this. As many as 90,000 jobs could be lost as 
a result.
  Do you know what it won't do? Reduce global temperatures by 1 degree. 
Mr. Speaker, $242 doesn't seem like a lot of money for the elite 
liberals. For all those who make $800,000, you will love this bill 
because you will get a tax break for buying a Tesla, but only if it is 
built at a union shop and if your kids go to the most expensive 
colleges.
  I don't know about you, Mr. Speaker, but I went to junior college. I 
was fortunate enough to start a small business, and I sold it to pay my 
way through college.
  You see, Mr. Speaker, I don't know if you know my story. I grew up in 
Bakersfield, California. I was the youngest of three kids. My father 
was a firefighter, and he moved furniture on his days off. My mom 
worked in a dental office. And they made an unbelievable life for us.

                              {time}  0030

  You see, Mr. Speaker, when I got out of high school, I didn't have 
the athletic ability or grades to get a scholarship, so I went to 
community college, and I am proud of it.
  Mr. Speaker, I met this guy. He had a car dealer's license, but he 
owned a liquor store. I will let you figure out how I met him. But I 
asked him if he would take me to Los Angeles because it is not far from 
Bakersfield. It is where all the car dealers were bringing their trade-
ins. When I went there you had to be a dealer to get in. I started 
buying and selling cars and flipping them to pay my way through 
college. I found out later it was illegal, but I didn't know it when I 
was doing it.
  When I went to community college, I had a lot of good friends who 
were away at college. One of my best friends was up at Stanford. I had 
some friends at USC, and I had a lot of friends down at San Diego 
State. So on the weekends I would go visit them.
  So this one weekend I went to San Diego State to visit my buddies. So 
I stopped off at the Food Town Market, my neighborhood grocery store 
that is no longer there. At one time I worked at the meat counter. I 
went there to cash a check.
  As I stood in line, something interesting had happened in California 
the day before. The Lotto started. In the last election, so the schools 
could win, too, we passed the lottery. It wasn't the big lottery; it 
was just the scratch-off. So as I cashed this check, I bought two 
lottery tickets.
  Do you know what, Mr. Speaker?
  I was a lucky Irishman that day. I won the lottery--$5,000, the most 
you can win. Think about that for one moment. In 1985 I am 19 or 20. On 
a Friday night, I just won $5,000 back when we didn't have inflation, 
and I ended up in San Diego 10 minutes from Tijuana.
  I came home, and I took my whole family to dinner. We went to the new 
hotel, the Red Lion. I was so proud of myself, I bought dinner. I could 
still tell you what people ordered: Steak Diane. My brother ordered 
dessert just to make the price higher. I gave my brother and my sister 
each $100 bucks.
  Do you know what I did with the majority of the rest of the money?
  I put it all into one stock because I believe in risk. But I also 
believe if I failed, government shouldn't bail me out. But if I was 
successful, they shouldn't tax all my money. It wasn't because I was 
bright, but I made 30 percent on my money in 6 weeks--not bad for the 
market back then.
  We were coming to the end of the semester, so I decided I was going 
to take a break from school. So I refinanced the current cars I was 
selling, I took my money out of the market, I went to the bank, but 
they weren't going to loan me anything. I wanted to buy a franchise, 
but no one would sell one to a 20-year-old.
  Another thing you will learn about me--maybe you will learn about me 
because of this speech--I never give up. So I opened Kevin O's Deli. I 
even built the counter in my dad's garage. There were good days and 
there were bad days, but by the end of the year and a half I was pretty 
successful, if you rate success based upon my family.
  I now had enough money saved that I could pay my way through college 
just as long as I went to California State-Bakersfield. I wanted to 
finish my degree. At that moment in time, I don't believe any of my 
family had finished a 4-year degree. So I sold my business. I was a 
much better student this time. My local paper, The Bakersfield 
Californian, had an article about being a summer intern in Washington, 
D.C., with my local Congressman. I had never met this man but, boy, I 
thought he would be lucky to have me. So I applied.
  But do you know what, Mr. Speaker?
  He turned me down.
  Do you want to know the end of the story, Mr. Speaker?
  I am now elected to the seat I couldn't get an internship for to work 
in. Only in America could that happen.

[[Page H6637]]

  But I am fearful, Mr. Speaker, that if this bill passes then there 
will be fewer entrepreneurs in America but more in China. The hurdles 
will be too high.
  How do you get somebody to work if government is paying you more to 
stay home?
  How do you get somebody to work on the child tax credit if you take 
away the work requirement?
  Mr. Speaker, an interesting thing, if we go back to 1994 again, 
another reason why I believe President Clinton got reelected was 
because he listened to America after they gave him that shock in 1994.
  But do you know what he signed?
  Welfare reform. Welfare reform had a work requirement.
  Do you know what happened?
  More Americans had jobs. They had a higher income. It gave people an 
incentive.
  You are doing the opposite, Mr. Speaker. You are giving an incentive 
not to work.
  And do you know what?
  It especially hurts our seniors. Listen to what Claudette Duff, 
President and CEO of Integrity Senior Services, told us about the 
implications:

       I am concerned that vulnerable seniors are not being 
     considered. While I believe we must battle climate change, I 
     am also painfully aware that most seniors have little 
     financial wiggle room. Any possibility of an added cost to 
     seniors must be seriously considered.

  How many of us have a senior person, a family member--and I have been 
privileged to meet a lot of your mothers, fathers, uncles, and aunts. 
We care for them, but we know they live on a fixed income. Those are 
the people who get hurt the most. Those are the people we are going to 
have to answer to.
  So when the Speaker talks about eldercare, we now know it is nothing 
but empty words, Mr. Speaker.
  Throughout this process, the Democrats made it clear they wanted to 
freeze the American people out from knowing what their Government has 
in store for them. Now it seems they also want to freeze them out of 
their own homes this winter. In addition to higher home heating costs, 
consider higher gas prices in our near future--even higher than they 
are today.
  Mr. Speaker, I like to take risk. I don't know if you want to make a 
wager. Let's wager dinner. Let's wager dinner. After this bill, if gas 
prices are lower, I will buy you dinner. If they are not, you buy me 
dinner.
  You believe in the bill. You believe in the economics.
  I know what President Biden recently did. I know our State is not far 
from New Mexico. New Mexico is an amazing State. Congresswoman Herrell 
represents New Mexico and fights hard. New Mexico schools get almost 
half of their money from the royalties of the energy they produce there 
on Federal land. So there it is not just the workers in the field who 
got laid off. I don't know how the schools are going to survive.

                              {time}  0040

  Maybe OPEC will send them some money. They are making a lot more. We 
should ask them.
  Americans need relief at the pump. As I said, in this past year the 
price of gasoline has reached its highest point in over a decade. The 
good news is that we know what it takes to lower our gasoline prices. 
Let's embrace innovation and American resources.
  We lowered our CO2 and became energy independent. We 
lowered coal when we offered more natural gas. We are the Saudi Arabia 
of natural gas, but the President looks to OPEC.
  Do we really think Putin wants a second pipeline because he loves 
Europe so much? It couldn't be that he wants more control. That 
couldn't be the case, would it? I don't know. Ask the people in Crimea.
  That is what America has been doing for nearly a decade; and at least 
that is what we were doing, and the results completely shifted the 
energy landscape in our favor.
  But it wasn't just energy. I don't believe we would ever get the 
Abraham Accords if we weren't able to do that. The world became safer. 
The world is a safer place and America is stronger.
  The only thing you have to look to in history is why does Putin have 
all those troops along the border? Why does China say they could take 
Taiwan?
  One-party rule in 1 year. That is what it has accomplished.
  Just a few years ago the United States, while it was lowering 
CO2, produced more oil and gas than any another country in 
the world. And guess what? Our gasoline prices reflected it. So not 
only did it help business produce more and hire more, the energy 
industry was hiring more people at a high wage, more people working.
  You watched that every day in your district. But you also watched 
what happened.
  Mr. Speaker, I am referring to Kevin Brady--what happened to Houston 
after that pipeline was closed. You had to look them in their eye.
  The sad part about all of this, I remember speaking to this man who 
worked on the pipeline. He wasn't of the Republican Party. He was in 
the union, and he voted for Biden. It was like a punch to his gut. He 
was told not just to vote for him, but work for him, because he 
believed in good American jobs, union jobs. Then they just cut it.
  Then he goes in to stand up next to Putin; and he gives him his 
pipeline. I don't know if Putin did anything to help elect him. I guess 
we should ask Schiff. It doesn't have to be the truth. You just have to 
say it.
  There were no lines at the gas stations like we saw earlier this 
year, and no anxiety that you would blow out your budget just by 
filling up your car.
  And by the way, when America is producing the energy that powers our 
lives, we do it safer and cleaner than any other country in the world. 
I am proud of that.
  You know, I come from an energy producing district. I don't know if 
my children's children can do it, because the same policy that Biden 
has, Gavin Newsom has.
  See, there was a moment in time in my county, we produced the second 
most amount of oil in the entire country. We are top in wind; we are 
top in solar; all of the above.
  But China, China's economy is growing, as they shut down. You know, a 
lot of those wells are owned by people just like Russell Johnson. They 
are called stripper wells; a lot of regulation on them, but they 
produce, for more than 100 years.
  They were there when America needed us when we were in World War II. 
And it wasn't government who invested in them, but they are the people 
you are going to take the tax from, so people who make $800,000 a year 
can buy an electric car, but only if it is built in a union shop. I 
guess that is what the President meant when he said fair.
  I don't know if Abraham Lincoln, when he said, we are conceived in 
liberty, that everybody is equal, really thought that a union worker 
and a nonunion worker were different. I think he looked at them just as 
Americans.
  And by the way, when America is producing the energy that powers our 
lives, it is safer. If the Biden administration was truly interested in 
reducing emissions they would be looking toward American oil and gas, 
not away from it.
  Instead, their methane tax, the methane tax will make it harder for 
those companies to invest in technology, like carbon capture, that 
reduces emissions. Technology will help us in the environment. There 
are so many Members behind me that have championed this.
  We should be building pipelines here in America. It is safer than a 
tanker.
  Instead, Joe Biden blocked the Keystone pipeline.
  Just listen, Mr. Speaker. Biden's press secretary said they are 
looking at another pipeline, too. I don't know, they had better get to 
a gas station.

  Mr. Speaker, I don't know. You know what you and I should do? Why 
don't we go on a codel, fact finding. You invite any Democrat you want, 
I will invite Republicans.
  Let's first go to the Keystone pipeline, and then let's go to Nord 
Stream 2, and let's see why Americas should allow Nord Stream but not 
Keystone. It would probably help our constituents if we could explain 
it. I don't know if Putin would let us near it. We will have to wear a 
mask because the natural gas from Russia is much dirtier than the 
American natural gas.
  And this makes it clear. Democrats in Congress want to double down on 
its costly extreme agenda. This bill bans drilling for oil and gas 
development on Federal land.
  What does it mean when you drill on Federal land? You pay taxes. Who 
do

[[Page H6638]]

you pay them to? The government and the schools. The kids win, too.
  You know, in my community, there is a place called Taft. At Taft 
Junior College, they have a whole program for people who want to go 
into the energy business. There are more women in that program than 
there are men. They are the brightest people I have seen.
  I was just out there. They have this old logger base. Taft has been 
through boom busts. When they first discovered oil back in the day, not 
far from Elk Hills, the Teapot Dome scandal, oil flowed freely and made 
a lake.
  I don't know if America understands, oil doesn't just go into your 
cars, your phone, almost everything you buy.
  You know, California, under the esteemed leadership of Gavin Newsom, 
has more homeless. He is shutting down the oil. He has pledged we won't 
have any combustion motors.

                              {time}  0050

  We pay 40 percent higher than other States. But I guess it makes you 
feel good. But what happens when you pay 40 percent higher for your 
electricity? You move.
  Mr. Speaker, you and I are both from California. I am sure we both 
look at the commission to see where the lines are. They will be 
different this year.
  For people here who aren't from California, 12 percent of the 
Nation's population lives in California. For the entire history of 
California, they always gained seats. Last time, they broke even. We 
have 53 seats. This year, we are losing.
  When they asked Governor Newsom why did the population go down, you 
know what his answer was? President Trump secured the border. That is 
exactly what he said. I was shocked.
  I worry about if my children can stay in California.
  Why is it that Texas and Florida are gaining seats? Why is it in this 
body you refer to them as red States? Does it have anything to do with 
freedom? Why is the tax policy in Florida that it has no State tax, and 
California has the highest? Florida has great roads. They have an old 
population. They provide for them. I guess they believe in 
accountability. They don't spend money on things people don't want. 
They don't tax you or try to control you.
  When you ban oil and gas--think about that, Mr. Speaker. One-party 
rule, 1 year. What has happened to make the gasoline prices so high? 
One-party rule, 1 year. They banned drilling for oil and gas.
  Mr. Speaker, I know I didn't go to Stanford. I didn't go to Yale. I 
didn't go to Princeton. I went to Bakersfield College. I got my 
undergrad at Cal State Bakersfield. I got my MBA at Cal State 
Bakersfield. I am proud of where I am from. But the one thing I do know 
is you have to have a bridge between fuel and a solar panel.
  I watched President Biden up in Michigan with the other Democrat 
Members driving that electric truck so fast and so excited. Do you know 
how much that truck costs? $125,000. Who do you think is going to get 
the tax break for that? I guess it is the people Jared was talking 
about, the millionaires. Maybe we could have debated that if we had 
time on the floor.
  There is a direct correlation to the price of gas and to January 20, 
and it is just getting worse. We heard earlier from Scott Daniel what 
these dangerous policies will do to customers.
  I want you to think for one moment. What if you are a truck driver? 
There are many up in my district in agriculture. They take a risk and 
buy their own truck. They have to fill it up. I imagine it probably 
takes 300 gallons, don't you think?
  The price of gas has increased by more than 60 percent. Do you know 
how much more it takes that small business man or woman to fill up that 
tank? Almost $500. Where do they pass that on to?
  So when you wonder, do we have more truckers? They have to park the 
truck. Could you pay $500 more every single day? Inflation is rising so 
fast, you are not passing that on.
  I have this dear friend. He is the mayor of Taft. His name is Dave 
Noerr. He is like John Wayne. This guy worked in the oil business, and 
he created his own business. When he runs a meeting, he will listen to 
anybody in there. He will respect them. He won't tell them they can't 
look at him. I didn't know I was that scary.
  But this is what he told us. Only as recently as 1988, the State of 
California only imported 4.5 percent of all the oil we consumed in our 
State. Think about that--1988, 4.5 percent. California, the biggest 
economy--do you know California's economy is bigger than Russia?
  But after the esteemed leadership of Gavin Newsom, last year, because 
of shutting it all down, because they are going to end oil production, 
because they are going to save the environment, we import over 70 
percent. We import over 70 percent.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe you agree with me, because all the stats say 
it. Name me one country that produces oil and gas more environmentally 
safe than America.
  Have any of you ever been up to Alaska? I went to the North Slope as 
a freshman. A group of us all went.   Jim Jordan was with me. We all 
went up there. If you park your truck, you have to put like a diaper 
underneath it. It is not oil from the ground. You can't even let a drop 
of oil out of your car.
  Do you think they do that in Ecuador or Venezuela? I am sure they 
probably do.
  It is interesting. I like to study history, and beyond America. It 
wasn't that long ago that Venezuela was the jewel of Latin America. It 
had oil. It had wealth. It had a strong economy. They had a democracy. 
Hugo Chavez ran for President and won. How did he win? He stood up and 
said: We are going to build our bureaucracies. We are going to give you 
free healthcare, free education.
  They had a lot of oil. He could do it, right?
  So he got in office. Do you know what he found out? You run out of 
other people's money. So he decided to capture businesses, but the 
supreme court said he couldn't do that. So what was his answer? I don't 
know if he started with a commission, but he tried to pack the supreme 
court. Sound familiar? When that didn't happen, he changed the 
Constitution.
  You know, I went on a codel down there. We were in Colombia, and we 
went to the border of Venezuela. Twenty thousand people came across 
that day. I would interview them, husband, wife, and young child. They 
thought all these people just didn't work hard enough. One was a 
doctor.
  Do you know what he showed me a picture of? That free healthcare in a 
hospital. There is no electricity, and when a baby is born, they put 
him in the shoebox. They use the iPhone for a light. They were coming 
to get milk, and they went an hour-and-a-half to do it.
  I pulled out my pocket and had a $50 bill. I handed it to the kid. I 
didn't realize that could be how much his father made for 6 months.
  They got hyperinflation. He tried to change the courts. They promised 
you everything is free. I am sure Hugo Chavez said somewhere, on the 
day of his inauguration, that this is the day the children's children 
will remember.

                              {time}  0100

  I am sure somewhere in a speech he said he needed to build the 
bureaucracies. I am sure he probably wrote a bill like this. But to be 
honest, I don't even think Hugo Chavez would spend this much.
  Or what about Robinson Oil Corporation? Erin is the president. She is 
in California. She says: ``We have already seen refineries move out of 
the State or reduce production, and that increases costs and causes a 
fair amount of supply issues . . . pushing oil extraction or field 
production outside the U.S. will only exacerbate that problem.''
  But what is worse is, our money is going to another country to get 
stronger.
  I hate to tell you this, Madam Speaker, most of these countries don't 
have the same policies that we do. They are not democracies.
  Madam Speaker, it was only a few years ago that women in Saudi Arabia 
got the right to drive. That is where our President asked to produce 
more oil, but he looks in the face of Americans and says no.
  Emmons Yates, vice president of the New Mexico oil and gas company, 
Jalapeno Corp., ``A lot of what I am seeing in these bills is that 
these are things that will raise costs, we all know that. But the real 
effects of them aren't going to be seen until the next 2

[[Page H6639]]

to 3 years.'' Maybe that is when our children's children will realize.
  Our colleague Stephanie Bice, she noted that many Western States 
greatly rely on oil and gas for their State budgets. Stephanie is an 
amazing Congresswoman. She is from Oklahoma. What is interesting, Madam 
Speaker, that great Chamber of Commerce endorsed the Democrat. I wonder 
what they think now. I wonder why.
  But I remember watching the commercials of Stephanie Bice, and they 
caught my eye. There was this guy who worked in the oil fields, and he 
was on a couple different commercials. He was concerned about what 
would happen if there was one-party rule. His name wasn't Nostradamus, 
but he was close. In 10 months. I don't know if he has lost his job yet 
from Joe Biden, but Stephanie Bice says: ``Approximately 25 percent of 
our State's revenue comes from the oil and gas industry. The fees, 
taxes, and regulations that this administration is looking to levy will 
impact every single piece of Oklahoma.''
  If you vote for this bill, I want you to go back to your districts. I 
want you to look families in the eye and tell them why you voted to 
make it more expensive to heat their homes, turn on their lights, and 
fill up their cars. If you are doing a townhall and you want me to 
come, I will come with you. You know, that would be healthy.
  The Speaker is from California, right? Madam Speaker, we are from the 
same State. I don't mean to interrupt. I will wait.
  Madam Speaker, I know we are from the same State. You know what would 
be healthy? I made a lot of promises to the last Speaker. I want to 
make them for you, too. We are both from California. Why don't we 
travel--I will come to your district, you come to mine, okay? And we 
will do a townhall. You can explain why you are going to vote for this 
bill, and I will explain why I did not want to. Will that be healthy? 
You know what, you can look at me when you talk. I won't interrupt you, 
and we will have a very cordial debate. I think that would be healthy.
  The power of the idea should win.
  Now, let's talk about Americans spending their hard-earned money. The 
one thing you ought to know, I tell Americans, it is your money. What 
you do with your money is for you to decide, not Washington 
bureaucrats. But get this, Washington Democrats not only want you to 
pay more in taxes, they also want to spy on what you spend your money 
on.
  Madam Speaker, I am not sure if you are the one, but there were 21 
Democrats who signed a letter to Speaker Pelosi asking for the 87 new 
IRS agents not to be in the bill. I am not sure if you were one of 
them. But I wonder why we need those IRS agents. I always thought the 
IRS was supposed to be there to help me, right?
  What is interesting, too, a number of Democrats, why we are here late 
tonight--now, why we are here tonight and not tomorrow, I know some 
people have got to get to Puerto Rico for a fundraiser, and I screwed 
that all up, and I apologize. I apologize. I apologize.
  But they asked the CBO, because there was an argument with the White 
House and with the Members, how much money could those 87 IRS agents 
get?
  And it got you to thinking, right?
  Well, these IRS agents, are they going to pay more taxes or 
something? No, they are going to go after Americans. Oh.
  So you have to start with the premise for this whole bill, that you 
don't trust Americans. So the premise is, you are guilty until we audit 
you.
  Now, what is interesting, they have done some statistics on this 
because there are a lot of things that have been said, and at times it 
doesn't pan out. So there is a new analysis of this that just came out. 
You know what you get when you get 87,000 new agents? You get to have 
1.2 million more audits.
  Now I don't know, Bernie is probably excited about that. But you 
know, Bernie wants to tax you whether you spend your money or not 
because he doesn't want you to invest it. But I would think it is 
probably just going to go after really wealthy people, wouldn't you 
think? Do you know where half, 600,000, of those new 1.2 are going to 
go? After people who make $75,000 or less.
  Madam Speaker, I know your district is in San Diego. It is probably 
much wealthier than mine. But this would probably encompass my entire 
district. You know, a quarter of those 1.2 million new audits are going 
after people who make $25,000 or less.
  You know what we should do? In this townhall, let's do it by 
segments. Let's do an IRS townhall first. And if you want, I will do it 
right before the election. Whenever you want.
  Madam Speaker, I met your family before. Your family is pretty 
remarkable. They made America proud, innovated. And they did that 
because they made investments. When I met some of your older family, 
they are not afraid to pay taxes. They want to see it go to something. 
But if they have less to give, they have less to invest, and your 
business is a pretty competitive business now. It is not that America 
dominates it. China is on the rise.

                              {time}  0110

  Democrats told us what they want to do is to spy on every American 
bank account spending as little as $28 a day.
  Now, I know if I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, 
Madam Speaker, if I asked you, you would say, no, we don't want to do 
that. You know what is interesting, Madam Speaker? That is the exact 
same answer the Attorney General gave us when we said, Are you spying 
on the parents? No, we are not doing that. But if it wasn't for an 
American whistleblower, we would never know that.
  Why would we empower the Attorney General to make parents terrorists, 
and let terrorists on the watch list come into America? That is 
backwards.
  Now, how tough is it to spend $28 a day? You go to Starbucks. What 
can you do? Can you get three gallons of gas? Does McDonald's still 
have the dollar meal? Yes. Yes. You are still going to hit it. That is 
less than $200 a week. But you know what, I was fearful when I heard 
about that. But I remember reading, 21 really tough Democrats, Madam 
Speaker, they signed a letter, and they told the Speaker, you get that 
out of there.
  You know what would be nice? Now, I don't know if it is in the rules, 
I don't know if you will kick me off committees, but good thing I am 
not on any committee. It is only me, Gosar, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. 
That is right. But don't worry, there will be many more next time. I 
never liked this new policy, but it has kind of grown on me.
  But just $200 a week. We should get a poster, because there is a lot 
going on in your life when you are a Member of Congress. Maybe those 21 
don't remember if they signed the letter or maybe they haven't read the 
bill? Or maybe that is why they left? I am not sure. But you know what 
I can do, too? Maybe we should send that letter to their constituents 
and just put up how they vote, because if they vote ``no'' I want to 
tell all their constituents they kept their word, they are fighting for 
them. Would that be helpful, Madam Speaker? I think it might.
  And that is what they do throughout its regulation and all the power 
that comes from doubling the size of the most intrusive bureaucracy in 
the Federal Government.
  Madam Speaker, the one thing I wonder with one-party rule, is that 
absolute power corrupts absolutely? I mean, I wonder, General Keane, 
what an amazing patriot he is, right? He served his Nation time and 
again, Republican and Democrat Presidents. The last President appointed 
him to one of the academies. Advisory board. We would be so fortunate 
to have him on an advisory board, would we not? But one party, one rule 
doesn't only give us inflation, doesn't give us higher taxes, doesn't 
give us higher gas prices, do you know what else it does? It picks and 
chooses.
  There is a reason, Madam Speaker, that somebody on your side of the 
aisle said I couldn't look at them. They thought they had the power. 
Can't we respect someone that risked their life for the freedom of 
America, that led men and women into battle, did it brilliantly, and 
could train the next generation, the children of children? Oh, no. Oh, 
no. We have the power now.
  You are not allowed to serve. You are not allowed to serve because 
President Trump appointed you. He is an American. Been in battle his 
whole life. Did it when many millions of Americans never would. Risked 
his life for people

[[Page H6640]]

he didn't know. Did he really want to spend more time? But he was going 
to do it because he cared about what he spent his life on.
  Is that what Joe Biden said when he was going to work with the other 
side of the aisle? When did the military become political? What do you 
think China said about that? All right. I don't think the Taliban cared 
about the pronouns in the military.
  I don't understand. One party, one rule, 1 year. It is just like 
Jared said, Madam Speaker, he never thought, if somebody asked him, 
they were going to produce their biggest bill that just goes to 
millionaires that it would be a Democrat bill.
  Oh, my God. We are so much better than this.
  If you or your family spends $28 a day, prepare to be under constant 
audit of the IRS. I don't know. We walk into these Chambers--the public 
can't come into these Chambers--and, Madam Speaker, we start by not 
trusting each other. We start by saying you can't come in unless you 
come through a magnetometer, because we don't trust you.
  I remember when we were in the majority, John Lewis and others took 
down the floor. John Lewis I respect greatly. John Lewis was a dear 
friend. He took me across that bridge a couple times. You know what 
John Lewis did? For any of you who haven't made that trek, you should 
do it. I wish you could have done it through John Lewis' eyes.
  I was so excited about the opportunity. I took my entire family, my 
son's girlfriend, who now is his wife. We were excited. And it was in a 
Presidential year, and it gets so big as you walk out of that church 
the first time, and the crowd comes around and everybody else. And John 
Lewis grabbed me at the very beginning, and he said: ``I want you to 
walk next to me.'' And I am walking, but I am getting crowded out by 
everybody else, and I fall behind. There are thousands of people.
  Do you know what John Lewis did? He stopped. He stopped and said: 
``Where is Kevin?'' And there was Hillary Clinton, there was every big 
name you could imagine there. We didn't agree on certain things, but we 
had respect for one another.
  I will tell you this, Tim Scott and I were down there on the 50th 
anniversary, and I have told the story earlier about how proud I am, 
you walk in, the portraits, the first one you will see is Frederick 
Douglass. Frederick Douglass had every reason to hate this Nation, but 
he did not. He did not. He knew it could be a more perfect Union, not 
perfect, but could strive. He didn't even vote for Lincoln, but he was 
Lincoln's friend, because he wanted Lincoln to move faster. He pushed. 
When Lincoln died and down at this park when they put the statue that 
they wanted to remove, Mary Todd was there. She had a cane of Abraham 
Lincoln. Do you know what she did? She gave it to Frederick Douglass. 
She gave it to Frederick Douglass. Respect.

  You go down, you see Joseph Rainey, the first Black American ever 
elected to Congress in 1870 from Charleston, South Carolina. If you 
know your history, that is where the Civil War started. You know, today 
there is only one Republican Black American elected to Congress in the 
Senate, Tim Scott from Charleston, South Carolina.
  And Tim would tell me the story, you know, his mother and father got 
divorced early, and he lived with his grandparents, and just recently 
he took people on a tour. The little house they lived in--I think is 
only 700 square feet--has been torn down.
  Tim gets his faith from his grandmother and his mother. If you ever 
met his mother, what an amazing lady.
  But every morning Tim's grandfather made Tim and his brother sit at 
that table and have breakfast. And his grandfather had that newspaper 
in front of him. He wanted those boys to see that. Do you know Tim 
didn't find out until after high school his grandfather couldn't read? 
But he wanted more for his boys. He wanted them to participate in 
current events.

                              {time}  0120

  Tim and I went down there on the 50th anniversary. President Obama 
was President, and John Lewis introduced him. I was emotional that day. 
Because when you think for one moment, 50 years before, John Lewis was 
beaten, almost to his death, where when he tells you the story, he will 
say, That Woolworth counter over there, I got arrested because I tried 
to eat. I got this far on the bridge--inside that coat he had. He says, 
I can't remember anymore. But they carried me back to this church. And 
50 years later, he was nominating and introducing Barack Obama as 
President of the United States.
  I am proud of the fact that Abraham Lincoln was President in the most 
dire time of our Constitution, the Civil War, and brought the Nation 
together. I am fearful of the division that is being created in this 
House.
  Madam Speaker, it almost feels like the Speaker is burning it down on 
her way out the door. I made the promise to the last Speaker, and I 
will make it to you too, ma'am. We will run it different. But there are 
some things we will keep. I may not agree with you, but I respect you. 
You have a right to your opinion, but you also have a responsibility to 
show up to work. You also should bring a bill through a committee. You 
also shouldn't debate a bill all day long and leave 20 minutes before 
you do the manager's amendment. And I know you want to get to Puerto 
Rico. I know your donors are down there. But the American people are 
out there.
  Warren Hudak runs a small business accounting firm in Pennsylvania. 
Like many small business owners, he knows how tough it is to succeed. 
Even in the best of times, this new proposal will make it much worse. 
He recently told me, small businesses in Pennsylvania and throughout 
the country are struggling with labor shortage, rising inflation, and 
supply chain disruptions.
  Given these challenges, the Biden administration's proposal to 
require annual IRS reporting of inflows, outflows from small businesses 
and individuals' accounts would just add insult to injury.
  Democrats say the IRS needs to spy on every American bank account 
because, otherwise, billionaires will cheat on their taxes. That is 
just nonsense.
  Where did the Speaker go? Did you fall?
  I will wait.
  Can I be Speaker? I can finish my speech up there.
  Eric Bruen, another friend of mine, he runs a small credit union in 
Ridgecrest, California. He also happens to be the mayor. He said this: 
Look at what it is going to do in the long run. Individuals are already 
beginning to withdraw savings from our credit unions. We don't want to 
go back to the cash-under-the-mattress approach. We obviously will see 
liquidity issues and our ability to lend to the community. This is 
going to hit the middle class and America's families the hardest, 
especially those two-income families.
  I know a lot of Members here did a lot of things before they were 
Members of Congress. I remember when I first started out; we were both 
working. We had to live on a budget. We had to cut. When we bought that 
first house we still live in today, we were living in an apartment. I 
remember a lady who was coming by and she was collecting cans out of 
our trash can at the apartment complex. And I asked her if she needed 
some furniture. Because what I wanted to do when I bought the new 
house, I wanted to buy all new furniture.
  So I loaded it all up, load it on the car--the couches and everything 
else. When we got in the new house, we had to paint; we had to get 
carpet; we had to get new shades. I ran out of money. So we had a TV on 
a box, and Connor had a little couch. And we would lay our heads on 
both sides of the couch.
  But you know what we didn't have? We didn't have gasoline this high. 
We didn't have inflation. We didn't have an unsecure border.
  I worry about those two-income families. It is not just what you are 
taking from them at the gas pump, now they have to be fearful that they 
are going to get audited.
  Madam Speaker, why can't you trust Americans? I firmly believe 
Americans are good people. They love this country. But when you start 
an entire bill to pay for it--and Madam Speaker, you promised the 
American public this would be paid for, and it is not. I didn't believe 
you when you said it.
  Do you realize you debated the majority of this bill before it was 
out here? You left 20 minutes of 10 minutes on each side for debate on 
a bill that is

[[Page H6641]]

the largest in our history. You are breaking so many records. Just last 
week, you left two votes open longer than in the history of this 
Congress.
  I never thought I would serve in a body that absolute power would 
corrupt absolutely. I have said it. I don't know if Speaker Pelosi 
stays around. Well, the damage that she is doing is a lot. Personally, 
I hope she stays. I want her to hand that gavel to me. I want her to be 
here.

  Now, the Democrats have had three chances to remove intrusiveness, 
abusive, and indefensible policy in response to the public outrage and 
opposition. When pressed, they just adjust their rhetoric. They thought 
they would fool the American public. I don't know if this happened, but 
you could envision it, right, because they are listening to what the 
Democrats are saying. So you have got Congresswoman Spanberger saying, 
Biden was not elected to be FDR.
  So what they are probably saying in the White House, let's tell the 
American public it doesn't cost anything. Just tell them; they will 
believe it. Just say it a couple times. It is kind of like, ``if you 
like your doctor, you can keep him,'' right? Or ``you got to pass the 
bill to know what is in it.''
  Then when the public found out about this IRS, it was $600, everybody 
got mad. They said, oh, no, it is not $600. It is $10,000. They didn't 
think the public would figure out $28 a day hits it.
  And then they wouldn't allow the ability at the end of the day to 
find out how many the audits it was until the last day.
  Remember when the President was asked whether they were going to give 
$450,000 to illegal immigrants that came over the border? He got so mad 
at that FOX reporter.
  No way. No way.
  The next day, it was a whole other story.
  But telling, they have never abandoned the policy. Even after we 
learned about it, it would not pay for their new social programs. They 
said this is how they are going to pay for it. The White House told 
everybody, Oh, it's 400, 400. They tried to press so many times.
  Madam Speaker, I felt so sorry for Josh. All those times he was 
promised they were going to have a vote.

                              {time}  0130

  They wanted to press you before you could read it, before the CBO 
score would come back. I don't even know why people waited for it or 
asked for it. It didn't change the outcome.
  I don't know, maybe I am wrong. I thought when I listened to them on 
TV they said: We cannot vote for this until we get the CBO score to 
prove that it pays for itself. I guess that last part was kind of like 
the 21 people who wrote and said the IRS has to be out of it.
  You just need a CBO. It doesn't matter what it says. You just want 
the paper.
  Think of the fabric of this country that it is going to tear. 
Everyone in the country knows what the COVID-19 pandemic did to 
families and local businesses. Almost immediately, the Trump 
administration and the last Congress took action to provide immediate 
relief.
  As we pulled ourselves out of the pandemic, the wind should have been 
at our backs, especially for small businesses. Americans were eager to 
go back to restaurants with their families and friends. We are eager to 
shop at local stores after being forced to live by delivery services 
and online shopping. Those people were heroes, but not this year, even 
people in the medical community.
  Do you remember how there were proposals that you even had to pay 
more to grocery workers or to nurses? But once you got that one-party 
rule, you determine if you can look at somebody, what they have to put 
in their body. They don't even care if they had COVID. We don't care 
that you were a hero a year ago.
  We don't care if the response rates for firefighters and police 
officers are going to be longer. Why? Because we have power. We have 
power, and we are going to use it. But we only use it on people we want 
to.
  Madam Speaker, I watched, in the last Congress, Speaker Pelosi on the 
floor here. She was giving a speech. We all live under the same rules. 
She said something she shouldn't. She broke the rule. Somebody 
challenged her on it. You have to take down your words. All she could 
do is yield back; she didn't want to.
  So the Parliamentarian makes the determination. I don't know if you 
were here. It was one of those other times we set a record.
  Nobody would read what the Parliamentarian said. Speaker Pelosi left 
the floor--left the floor. We were going around and around.
  So I come to the floor, and I am talking to Steny Hoyer. What are we 
going to do? Oh, my God, Speaker Pelosi might have to live under the 
same rules. Can't be. Can't be.
  They took a couple of hours. Every Member that was supposed to stand 
up there backed out. They walked up there, and the Parliamentarian gave 
them--``Oh, I am not saying that,'' and they walked. They were all 
afraid. Steny Hoyer had to do it.
  Do you know what the rules say? If you won't take it back and you 
push it and you are wrong, you can't speak anymore that day. Madam 
Speaker, that wasn't for Speaker Pelosi. That wasn't going to happen. 
So the Parliamentarian made a decision.
  Madam Speaker, I don't know if you were here at that time, but do you 
know what your party did? Rules for thee, not for me. They changed it.
  I don't know. She is from my State. We have about the same amount of 
constituents. She said they have a higher standard. Everybody on that 
side said: We can't do it to her. She is different. She is special. She 
is special. See, yes, she is.
  So when you put magnetometers up here and she walked around them, you 
know what the answer was, Madam Speaker, why she didn't get a letter 
and why she didn't have to pay? The Capitol Police determined that. 
They didn't send her one. Oh, I guess she is different. I guess she is 
special.
  When  Jim Clyburn, with his detail, walked around, he was shocked he 
got a letter: I am  Jim Clyburn. I have a detail. I am not like all of 
you.
  The only way you can get out of it is if somebody on the other side 
in Ethics will say it is okay. Do you know what Republicans said? Yeah.
  But that didn't happen to you. It didn't happen to Louie.
  I wonder why you would do that? When I read this bill, that you don't 
even trust Americans, why would you trust us? Why would you trust us?
  We are eager to be there for the businesses that are usually there 
for us. But instead of businesses experiencing new opportunities, they 
are again facing the threat of closure, and it is not because of the 
pandemic. The threat comes primarily from a historic labor shortage, 
which, as I described, is driven by Democratic policies passed earlier 
this year.
  You see, I have been in the room many times--not since you had one-
party rule. When Republicans were in power, they invited the Democrat 
leadership in. We worked together. One thing the Democrats would always 
say: We need to give people $15 an hour more than what the unemployment 
pays. Now you know where the labor shortage comes from, and inflation. 
I don't think America is cheering that.

  The economists told you. We told you. I remember being in the Oval 
Office, and I asked the President about that. They were encouraging 
small business after small business. I invited him to go to businesses 
with me. He said that is not happening. That is not happening.
  I said, Mr. President, with all due respect, you have to get out of 
the White House. I talked about the border. He said: Oh, no, no, no. We 
are making it better.
  I wondered, what is his definition of better?
  If you take away the work requirement and child credit, do you know 
who that is going to hurt? Small businesses, not large. It gives the 
incentive. The majority of Americans are going to get a paycheck for 
doing nothing.
  I wondered, when I first came in and I listened to Congressman Neal 
and Steny Hoyer, I don't know who wrote their speeches, but, man, it 
sounded like it was from Europe. They celebrated it. The sad part about 
this is we have confronted this before.
  Objection to this proposal isn't about being antifamily. Republicans 
believe the family is the foundation of a strong

[[Page H6642]]

society, which is why we have supported expanding the child tax credit 
in the past. But we also know work establishes purpose, and there is no 
government substitute for a job and an earned income. We have proven 
that time and again.
  I remember back when President Clinton and Democrats believed in 
work, when we did welfare reform and there was a work requirement. It 
gave people purpose. It gave them training.

                              {time}  0140

  We all know people who when you fall, we want to build you up. That 
should be a trampoline, not a La-Z-Boy.
  Do you know what happens, Madam Speaker?
  Families get proud. You get proud.
  By removing the work requirement, the government is putting itself in 
competition with small businesses.
  Larry Allison, the owner of Allison Crane & Rigging, told us, ``We 
are concerned about where we are going to get the employees.
  ``What are the costs of the employees going to be?
  ``I am trying to get more and more diversified today, getting ready 
for the next time the Governor tries to shut us down here in 
Pennsylvania.''
  Andy Ray, owner of BrightStar Care in Mesa, Arizona, echoed a similar 
concern, ``I find myself emerging from the pandemic, heading right into 
another one that is very clear. This legislation is very clear. I am 
extremely worried that if this legislation goes through and the 
disincentives to work continue, where am I going to get the team to do 
this? And what are my options?
  ``This bill raises taxes right when I am going out of the pandemic.
  ``And for a government that has proven so incompetent this year, do 
we honestly expect an expansion of welfare programs not to be 
overwhelmed with fraud?''
  Madam Speaker, I have some facts about our State. I don't know if you 
are taking notes. I can send them to you if you are not. Madam Speaker, 
last month, it was reported that unemployment fraud in California--that 
is where we represent--reached $20 billion.
  Do you know how many audits of people earning $75,000 you have to do 
to get $20 billion?
  Now, that is 10 percent of the State's entire budget--10 percent of 
the State's entire budget--fraud.
  Do you think there will be any fraud in this $5 trillion?
  Oh, no. No. No. No. They are going to have a lot of accountability in 
there.
  Andrew Gruel is the founder and executive chef of Slapfish 
Restaurants. Nobody had it harder than the restaurants. He is down in 
Long Beach. He is an entrepreneur. He illustrated how this isn't just a 
line-item issue on a ledger. When they shut down outdoor dining, 90 
percent of the restaurants in southern California closed.
  I had people come to me and say that they lost their job and now the 
government is telling them that there are no government benefits 
available because they misappropriated upwards of $50 billion in 
unemployment funds.
  So the government misappropriated.
  Do you know what Andrew did?
  He started a GoFundMe. He had just opened another restaurant for 
pizza, and he let everybody come in and eat for free. He struggled, but 
he kept people on.
  Madam Speaker, I cannot believe this body which was so quick to 
provide local businesses with what they needed to survive in the 
pandemic. If there is something our children's children should learn, 
when we had divided government and the pandemic hit us, I think PPP was 
one of the most amazing things we did. We kept people working instead 
of off.
  Do you know how we did it, Madam Speaker?
  We didn't build the bureaucracy; we actually tore it down. We loaned 
more money in 14 days than the SBA had loaned in 14 years.
  Why?
  First, we trusted Americans. We said: You can go to your bank, your 
credit union, or your Fintech. They know you. We gave them a little 
money for their effort. They already weren't qualified yet, but they 
worked overnight. We had problems at the beginning.
  We said: You can take this money as a loan, but if you pay rent, if 
you pay your employees, you pay your electricity, it is a grant.
  We had to modify it along the way because it was so successful.
  But, Madam Speaker, do you know what was one of the saddest moments?
  Because we really worked together on that. And this was so 
successful. But not all of the businesses got in at the beginning. Most 
of them were small. They were having problems. So it ran out of money. 
So we wanted to put more money in something we all voted for.
  I remember seeing Speaker Pelosi on late night TV. I don't know the 
name of the refrigerator. I can't afford one. I like ice cream, but I 
don't buy that kind. That is expensive. I wonder how much it costs now 
with inflation. It is probably much more. But she picked up that ice 
cream. She smiled into the camera to America and said ``no.''
  How could you do that?
  How could you do that?
  We are in a pandemic. It was working. It was bipartisan. That is the 
power of the Speaker.
  But let's talk about another idea in this bill that is so 
unbelievably out of touch with reality and flat-out dangerous to our 
citizens: amnesty for illegal immigrants.
  Madam Speaker, you are a little closer to the border than I am. I 
know this is an issue for you, too. I am not sure how many times you 
have been to the border. I am not sure if you were down there when they 
caught those different people on a different day. They came into 
California. They were on the terrorist watch list from Yemen.
  Your counterpart who serves on the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence said that I wasn't telling the truth. He says he gets all 
the intelligence.
  I don't know how much intelligence he gets, but, Madam Speaker, I 
remember seeing him and Swalwell in the Middle East with their shirts 
off on a camel. So maybe that was the time the paper came through and 
they didn't have a chance to read it. I am not sure. I thought he would 
apologize, or at the very least call and say: How can we work together?
  I don't know what advice I would give him. Maybe just keep your shirt 
on.

  During the worst border crisis in our Nation's history, Democrats 
want to make it even more attractive to cross the border illegally to 
break our laws. According to its supporters, this bill grants amnesty 
for millions of illegal immigrants.
  Now, Madam Speaker, there are a lot on your side who weren't able to 
stay. They need to get their rest. They have got a long weekend in 
Puerto Rico after this. And I understand that. But there are a lot of 
Members behind me, and if I was to guess, if you asked every single one 
of these Members if they had been to the border this year, they would 
tell you ``yes.'' Some would tell you more than once. And to anybody on 
your side of the aisle, Madam Speaker, who has not been, we will take 
you. We will take you.
  When you sit and interview people and you ask them why they come, 
many of them have Joe Biden's shirts on. They said: He told us to. He 
told us to.
  I remember early on, I was down in August Pfluger's district. It was 
one of the first big rushes. He is an amazing Member. I don't know if 
you met him, Madam Speaker, but he served our country proudly. He flew 
F-22s in battle.
  Do you know what he did?
  At 20 years you get a retirement. He left right before that. He gave 
that up to serve in this body not knowing that he would win. That is 
how much he respects this body.
  I remember I was with him that day and we were in this event and the 
mayor came. August looked fraught because, do you know what the Biden 
administration did?
  He had moved 1,000 illegals that they had caught into his city 
without even calling him.

                              {time}  0150

  You know why they went to his city? Because Joe Biden became 
President, shut down oil production, and they had little oil cities 
there. So all those people who lost their jobs, that had to leave, 
moved them in. And not one of them were tested for COVID; not one.

[[Page H6643]]

It was going rampant. And when you would talk to the doctors there on 
the border, they said more than 10 percent have COVID.
  And when you would walk--and this is interesting to me, Madam 
Speaker. I know when President Trump was President, the other side of 
the aisle called where people were stored, cages. I don't know if 
Webster took that away, but I don't hear that anymore. But it is the 
exact same place where they are, and it is overcrowded.
  But you know what is even worse? They have expanded the cages. It now 
hangs under freeways. They just walk right on across.
  But you know what happened? A news agency went down and started 
filming it; 10,000 people, just there. So what did the Biden 
administration do? They used that Machiavellian approach, right? They 
banned the news agency from using a drone so America couldn't see it. 
That is how they will fix the problem.
  Well, that didn't work. But you know, with one-party rule in 1 year, 
you can try anything. So then the Secretary came out and said, We hear 
you. We are moving them all back. They are all going back to their 
country. And lo and behold, everybody was moved out.
  And what did we find just a few days, weeks later?
  I don't know what training it is for the Cabinet, but first the 
Attorney General comes to Congress and says he is not spying on 
parents, and the whistleblower says he is.
  Then we got a Homeland Security Cabinet member, says he is sending 
them all back. And then a whistleblower shows us late at night, they 
are not sending them back. They are sending them all around, all 
around, all-expense-paid trip.
  I won the lottery, but I didn't win $450,000.
  Where is the trust and respect for the American public?
  And here is the kicker. According to supporters, this bill grants 
amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants who will be able to obtain a 
government-issued ID. But it doesn't have a single cent for more border 
security.
  Madam Speaker, I made a little wager to the last Speaker, and think 
it will be a fun wager. We have really never spent much time together. 
We should. We come from the same State.
  So let's make a wager on dinner, okay? Let's say, if this bill 
passes, I believe more people will be attracted to come here illegally. 
And I assume, if I listen to the talking points, you think it will be 
different. So let's look at this in a year. If you are right, I will 
buy you dinner. If I am right, you buy my dinner. Sound good? We can 
talk all about it.
  But this is the unbelievable kicker. Many Democrats think this 
doesn't go far enough. You know, it is interesting--and, Madam Speaker, 
you should find these Democrats, because some of them are from 
California--they signed a letter to the Speaker and said they would not 
vote for it unless this was in the bill. They got it in the bill.
  So I think Josh and those 21 and everybody that signed that CBO, they 
should talk to these people. Their letters work. I don't know about the 
other ones.
  The winners of this mass amnesty are going to be the smugglers and 
the criminal cartels who get a government-provided advertisement for 
new customers. They don't even have to advertise anymore.
  I seriously would request, let's all go to the border together. Let's 
fan it all the way through. Let's do Republican and Democrat together.
  I don't care how you feel about immigration, but I know in your heart 
you are opposed to human trafficking. And I want to sit with the 
children and let's talk to them. Let's hear what has happened to them 
on their journey because they are going to need more help than you can 
imagine.
  Let's talk to the ones who do make it; that are now going to be 
trafficked in our country because they didn't have enough to pay; of 
what they are going to have to do for the cartel.
  Can you imagine who is getting across we don't know? I fear greatly 
that someone from that prison in Bagram finds their way. They found 
their way in a suicide vest that took 13 American lives, while 16 
months prior, not one casualty.
  Why should America, Madam Speaker, trust the Biden administration 
with $5 trillion after how he handled Afghanistan?
  Why should we trust him if he looked in the eyes of the American 
public and said he would not leave until every American is out?
  Why should we trust him if he said we could do nothing better?
  Why should we trust him if he treated our allies the way he did? He 
treated the Taliban better than the U.K. or France.
  Madam Speaker, it is reported that Boris Johnson learned that America 
was going to pull out. He calls the President, who we all watched in 
that lonely photo in Camp David. He didn't return his call for 36 
hours. This is an ally we have fought side by side with from World War 
I to World War II, who has sacrificed lives in Afghanistan, not because 
their country got attacked, but because America got attacked.
  But the President of the United States accepted a deadline from the 
Taliban when our allies asked for a little longer. That same President 
promised America no one would be left behind.
  Madam Speaker, never in my life did I believe a man, woman, 
Republican, Democrat, whoever, had the honor to serve as President of 
the United States, would knowingly make that decision.
  I know, Madam Speaker, people thought the issue would leave. 
Unfortunately, it is here for decades. I am sure it put in the 
calculation of why Putin has thousands of his military next to Ukraine, 
or China pushes on Taiwan every day.
  We have seen it time and time again, allowing illegal immigration 
fuels more illegal immigration. Talking about amnesty is a public 
relations coup for the coyotes. We have seen this before.
  The losers, however, would be the rule of law, legal immigration, 
and, most importantly, American citizens.
  Madam Speaker, I know your district, like mine, has a lot of first-
generation Americans.

                              {time}  0200

  I go to naturalization services--the look on these young Americans. 
They raise their hand. Do you know what I tell them? It is a struggle.
  When my grandfather came here, Giuseppe, his father was already here. 
He and his mother had to stay back in Italy. If you walk into my 
office, right there, you get the Ellis Island. They had to say: Where 
are you going to live? Who are your sponsors? His father, my 
grandfather, was working in an ammunition factory in Connecticut.
  When I look at the faces when they take that oath, do you know what I 
tell them? Valley Forge is now their struggle. George Washington is 
their Founding Father. Abraham Lincoln is their emancipator. Martin 
Luther King spoke of their dreams. And the flag that flies on the Moon 
is their flag.
  They have as many rights as I do, who was born here, but they also 
have a responsibility.
  Madam Speaker, when I hear from my constituents who are here and 
waiting for their family, for 10 years, to be reunited, and they watch 
what is happening, they get the most upset. They left what they knew. 
They risked everything because they believed in the rule of law. They 
believed in America.
  I saw Victoria back here earlier. She knows what it is like to 
immigrate here. She knows what it is like to take a risk. She knows 
what it is like to live up to the rule of law.
  As this crisis gets worse, it will creep further into American 
cities. We know now that the Biden administration isn't sending illegal 
immigrants back. They are flying them into cities across the country in 
the dead of night.
  Madam Speaker, I don't get to see the President much. When I asked 
him about the border, he was telling me he is making it so much better.
  Can you ask him why they fly them in the dead of night? Do they get a 
discount, or is that so people don't see it?
  It is interesting to me, the word ``respect.'' I know many times I 
travel the country--I see my friend across the aisle here. The flood in 
Houston, I remember us all going down to the facility, the families 
there. We worked together. You were there; the mayor was there; 
everybody else was there. Why? Because we told each other we were 
coming. We serve together. We work together.

[[Page H6644]]

  Why would we fly people into a city and not talk to the mayors? We 
hold them responsible for public security and safety in COVID. Why do 
they have to find out? Is it because you are not telling the American 
public the truth? Every American city is set to become a border city 
and a sanctuary city.
  Madam Speaker, you live toward San Diego, and I think San Diego is a 
beautiful place.
  I loved San Francisco. I thought San Francisco was the only East 
Coast city California had. But I still remember, I was in sixth grade 
and saved up $400. That year was tough. My family didn't have money for 
a vacation. So I told my mom and dad I would give them the $400 if we 
could go to San Francisco and could go tour Alcatraz.
  Some of my fondest memories, my dad driving the van, my sister, my 
brother, my mom. My dad was a fire chief. He was straight-laced. We 
were yelling at him because we were hungry. We wanted McDonald's. We 
told him to get off. He cuts across all of these lanes, and he gets 
pulled over. He has never had a ticket in his life. Do you know how 
your father can punish you just with the look of his eye? Oh, I have 
never forgotten that moment.
  We went to San Francisco. We down to the Wharf. We went to Lombard 
Street, drove all the way as it curves down. My mom went and got 
tickets for Alcatraz, but she bought the wrong tickets. She bought a 
boat that just went around Alcatraz, didn't get to go into Alcatraz. 
Then we went to Lake Tahoe, and we went back home.
  It wasn't until my children were born, until they were in elementary 
school, that I did get to go to Alcatraz.
  My son just moved to San Francisco with his new wife. He had to buy a 
car. He was living in D.C. I had an uncle pass away last week, and they 
were home for the funeral.
  I am worried about him living in San Francisco. I read about the 
Walgreens. I was worried about him getting a car because the last time 
I was there, the signs on every door said: ``Please don't break in. I 
have nothing inside.''
  He says: Dad, I just got insurance.
  I didn't know that was a big deal. But he said: I found out I live on 
the safest street in the whole place.
  But it still costs him three times what mine does.
  I watched the policies of San Francisco change that city. I watched 
people like Chuck Schwab, who seconded his house to start a business 
that allows Americans to invest at the lowest cost possible. He has 
changed so many lives.
  Do you know what his greatest love was? San Francisco. There is not a 
museum or a homeless center that Chuck Schwab hasn't funded. He doesn't 
live there anymore.
  Do you know what my son told me? I was kind of excited when he said 
he lived in a safe place. He has a little dog, Otis. He said: But I 
can't wear my AirPods when I take him for a walk because you have to be 
looking.
  I remember another family a few years back was strolling out on the 
pier, a beautiful place to go. His family watched their daughter die, 
get shot. The person who shot her was somebody who came across the 
border illegally and took her life.
  The defunding of police has destroyed our cities. It is interesting 
that the first time I ever heard that phrase was in this Chamber. Madam 
Speaker, it was from your side of the aisle. The first time, Madam 
Speaker, was this year.
  I watched your party defund the Iron Dome for Israel. I never thought 
that would happen. I never thought that would happen.
  The first time I watched $5 trillion, bigger than the New Deal, and 
not one dollar to protect Americans--Russell Johnson. I don't care how 
you feel about immigration. The drugs that are coming across the border 
are coming to your district.
  I don't care if you live in New York or Maine. Call your coroner. 
Call your sheriff. Ask them. It comes across from Mexico, but it is 
made in China.

                              {time}  0210

  We heard from Mayor Don McLaughlin about the effects this dangerous 
policy will have on American cities, especially those that are near the 
border.
  I don't know if I will get this right. You may want to tell me, 
August, Cochise County? Yeah? You don't know.
  Sheriff Mark Dannels told us: ``The rule of law is being destroyed 
here. The violent behavior we are seeing from the cartels''--listen to 
this--the cartels call my office, saying they're gonna kill my 
deputies''--they're gonna kill my deputies.
  ``And the things we've seen, our quality of life, not just on our 
borders, but in America is being diminished.'' Maybe you haven't heard 
that before, but now you have.
  So, Madam Speaker, could five Democrats pause this bill and put some 
money in there to protect these deputies from being killed or protect 
the children in schools? It just takes five, that is all. Just five. 
You have got $5 trillion. $5 trillion. No one has ever seen this type 
of money.
  I can't believe it. Who gave you the right to sacrifice those lives, 
those dreams, those futures?
  You know what gets to me? I have told you my father was a 
firefighter. It is interesting, if you have a first responder job, it 
is not a job, it is a family. The firefighters, the police officers, 
you are together on Christmas, you are together all the time. If one of 
them needs work at the house, we are over there pouring concrete, we 
are fixing the roof. It is a way of life.
  I cannot imagine a deputy coming home, a mom, a deputy being 
threatened with their own life and looking at their children--because I 
know they don't sit back and say it won't happen to me because they see 
it every day. They see it every day. I can't walk by one without saying 
thank you.
  But you know what is happening? They are retiring. They are not 
appreciated. It is only making it worse. Just five, just five is all it 
takes. Pause the bill.
  Look, I promise, I promise if five would pause this bill, I will pay 
for your plane to Puerto Rico later, if you just help those along the 
border. I will pay for your ticket. I promise, you will get there.
  Now, let me be clear. Objections to mass amnesty are not anti-
immigrant. Republicans recognize the value that immigrants bring to 
American society, American culture, and America's economy.
  You know what is so sad? The public doesn't realize a lot of us talk 
together. When I was majority leader, I would bring Members in, and we 
would talk a lot about this broken immigration system.
  I understand, we have a government that you have got to find 
compromise. If you don't find compromise, you are going to end up just 
like we are today, one-party rule in one year.
  We brought two immigration bills to the floor, and not one Democrat 
would vote for it. You know the sad thing, Madam Speaker, I am not sure 
you were here yet. I went to a number of the Members of the Democratic 
Party who said they wanted it; it was so important, they wanted to vote 
for it. But the minority leader at the time, now the Speaker, told them 
no, they needed an issue for the campaign. They needed an issue for the 
campaign.
  So when Steny Hoyer talked about the children's children learning 
about it, I hope they read about that, too.
  We know that America is a nation of immigrants. We honor this 
tradition in history. As I often say at naturalization ceremonies--as I 
told you earlier, we are the only nation in the world, and we have 
Members on both sides of the aisle that were born in other countries--
Lady Liberty does what she does best, she opened up her arms, she 
brought you in to America, and you became a citizen.
  George Washington, right there, even if you weren't born in this 
country, he is your Founding Father. Abraham Lincoln is your liberator. 
When Martin Luther King spoke down at the Lincoln Memorial, he spoke of 
your dreams. Right, Juan? And now you have the opportunity, that less 
than 13,000 Americans have had, to serve in this body.
  But, Madam Speaker, why at times do I feel the rhetoric that I hear 
from some, they almost dislike this country? They want to tear down the 
Founding Fathers, they want to rename the schools. No one ever said we 
were perfect, but we strive to be a more perfect Union.
  I would hope those Members would come to my office, see the 
paintings, see how far we have come. Frederick Douglass had every 
reason to hate this

[[Page H6645]]

Nation. Born into slavery, sold from his parents, taught to read but 
was beaten for it. Gave Bible studies to the other slaves. Was beaten, 
escaped, became a free man, and became an adviser and one of the best 
friends to Abraham Lincoln. He had as much to do about America bonding 
together, of healing and driving where everybody would be equal.
  So, yes, we are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of 
laws.
  Amnesty is unfair to everyone who plays by the rules, whether they 
are American citizens or legal immigrants. The depressed wages, 
rewarding lawbreaking, and straining public resources. That is why 
Republicans reject the growing calls by Democrats to defund ICE and 
open our borders to everyone.
  Madam Speaker, I said, the first time I ever heard the phrase 
``defund the police'' was on this floor. The first time I ever heard 
the phrase ``defund ICE,'' I thought they just wanted to drink water 
without ice at first, I wasn't sure what they were talking about. How 
could that possibly be?
  JUAN, you would not want to defund ICE?
  Just for the American public to know, Madam Speaker, I have the 
utmost respect for Juan Vargas. He and I have served together in the 
State legislature; we serve here. We vote differently. I respect his 
character. I respect your faith. You know what I respect as well? Your 
respect of other people who have a difference of opinion. You weren't 
here earlier, I don't think.
  Madam Speaker, I couldn't believe there was a person in this body 
that told me I couldn't look at them when I talked. I have never heard 
that before. I am sure people on that side of the aisle might look at 
me as being unworthy, not equal. That is unfortunate. We are all 
Americans. I didn't disrupt one word they said. I didn't agree with it. 
I thought this place was a place of debate, a place of ideas, Madam 
Speaker, where the best idea could win.

                              {time}  0220

  Without the rule of law we could not have a fair, functioning, or 
secure immigration system. Without the rule of law, we could not have a 
free society.
  Finally, Madam Speaker, I want to discuss an issue that has sparked a 
parents' movement across this country: Education. Every parent in every 
community and every corner of this country has a right to know what 
their children are being taught and what they are actually learning. 
And no politician or government bureaucrat should have the power to 
deny you that right.
  I got a lot of hope 2 weeks ago. There are so many times in American 
society you get down. But we are the best form of government. At any 
moment, our power is not driven from here, but from people. And they 
spoke loudly.
  Republicans respect the right of parents. After all, these are your 
children, it is their future. And, Madam Speaker, these are the 
children that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer talked about, the children's 
children learning about today. I hope they are not denied to hear what 
went on on the floor tonight. That would be a travesty.
  Over the last year, everyone has listened to passionate parents speak 
out when out-of-touch politicians and ineffective school boards keep 
their children's school closed for months on end.
  Madam Speaker, I know you must have had your heart torn when we 
watched that father, the father that went to a school board--and I 
didn't quite grasp it at first. I just watched--he was being wrestled 
down. He was trying to talk. And it depends on which station you listen 
to; on one station they said he was like a terrorist. You know what we 
found out? He was handcuffed and removed. Why would he do that? Why 
would he fight so hard? The same reason all of us would: His child.
  You see, he went to that school board meeting. His daughter was 
raped. She was raped by an individual that was not of the same gender 
that went into that bathroom. That father notified the school board. 
The school board didn't know about it. Lo and behold, we found out 
later, oh, they knew about it, and the emails were there.
  Why? Why would they arrest that father? I am shocked he didn't do 
more.
  But you know what happened? That is not the end of the story. They 
just transferred that student to another school to do the exact same 
thing. I think every parent in that school should have known what took 
place on that campus; and every student, every parent should have known 
in the next school that that student was there. They have a right to 
know it.
  Madam Speaker, we introduced a bill to do just that, the Parents' 
Bill of Rights. I tell the American public if it gets denied by this 
Democratic majority, it will be passed 1 year from now. It will be one 
of the first bills we take up.
  We have seen and heard parents and children speaking out at school 
board meetings frustrated by the government-knows-best approach to 
education.
  You know what is interesting, there was an election in Virginia, and 
it was pretty big in Virginia, this issue. You had a Democrat running 
for Governor that is a former Governor, and he made a statement: 
``Parents don't have a right to know what happens in their children's 
school.'' I think he lost the election over it. But parents rose up.
  What did the Biden administration do? Well, the Attorney General 
stopped looking at those who were killing people in Chicago on the 
weekend or why Walgreens was shutting down in San Francisco. You start 
looking at the parents. They were terrorists. But when he came before 
this body, you have got to understand who this person is. He is the top 
law enforcement officer of this country.
  We are not far from the Supreme Court. I am not sure--a lawyer can 
correct me--what is the name of the statue out there, is that Lady 
Justice? She is blindfolded with a scale in her hands that is supposed 
to weigh equally. The same Attorney General came this close to being on 
the Supreme Court. He looked at the Members on both sides of the aisle 
and said he wasn't investigating them. Could you imagine what it took 
for somebody working in that body to risk their job as a whistleblower 
to put forth the information that he lied?
  Madam Speaker, I heard the Speaker just yesterday tell me they are at 
a higher standard. Madam Speaker, I know your body knows how to 
impeach. You have done it twice. You even have now Special Investigator 
Durham tell you the first time you did it it was all lies.
  If you believe in the rule of law, if you believe in these parents, 
where is Adam Schiff when you need him, Madam Speaker?
  We write law. The Attorney General is the highest law enforcement 
officer in this administration. He is supposed to be fair on both 
sides. He promised us he wasn't going to play politics. But now we have 
found that he lied there. Now they even go further. They use it for 
intimidation.
  Do you know, no subpoena in Congress since 1983 have the Attorneys 
General done anything with. For those who are held in contempt here, 
nothing ever happened. It was interesting, Madam Speaker, I don't know 
if you caught this, but Adam Schiff said, but now it is different, we 
have an Attorney General who will do what we want. Madam Speaker, Adam 
Schiff was right. He has become the most political Attorney General in 
the history of this Nation.
  Now, I worry, I worry greatly. If he lies about spying on parents, 
what else does he lie about? If he picks who he is going to go after 
based upon your political affiliation, he is not wearing a blindfold, 
he has got binoculars looking right at you.
  Madam Speaker, if we are going to hold this body to a higher level, I 
would think we could work together on this. Wouldn't you at least want 
to have a hearing on it now that you have got the facts? Wouldn't you 
want to call them back? Not for me, but for the parents. What about 
that father? I wonder if he was investigated.
  You know what is interesting, the Attorney General said he based this 
all on an organization that sent him one letter. One letter. That was 
put out publicly. Do you know what that organization did? Oh, I'm 
sorry, I will take it back. But the Attorney General never took it 
back. I wonder if we had to question, did anybody in the Attorney 
General's Office call that organization and ask for that letter so they 
could take that action? I don't know. I don't know this. I would feel 
better if that didn't happen.

[[Page H6646]]

  


                              {time}  0230

  But it is interesting to me, if they acted so fast on that letter, is 
he opening all his mail that quick? Because we have sent a lot of 
things to him. It is almost like he was already prepared.
  And it was interesting, he had like a deadline, had to get done 
before two weeks ago last Tuesday. Yeah, I don't know what happened 
back then or what the deadline would be. But why wouldn't he back away?
  You know, what is interesting with those who sent the letter, once it 
was made public, they didn't want any part of it.
  I would hope that organization would change their leadership. They 
should change their leadership, rightfully so. Over the last year, 
parents have become the teacher, the coach, the music teacher, science 
teacher, had to do almost all. But you never would have thought they 
would have become the terrorist. You never would have thought they 
would become the terrorist.
  You wonder why all of a sudden are more parents coming out to the 
school board? Could it be because of the pandemic and the Zoom meetings 
where the parents are having to teach, they are beginning to hear what 
is being taught. And it is interesting, one party, one control, 1 year, 
and the Federal Government can come after you in a school board 
meeting.
  Now, in this bill, they could dictate what your children can do. But 
nowhere in this bill does it say that parents have a right to know. 
Nowhere. Nowhere in this bill does it deny the Attorney General to spy 
on a parent.
  Madam Speaker, now that you know this information, with five 
Democrats, hold this bill up. Don't do it for me, but do it for the 
parents. Simply say, we don't need credit for this; a Parents' Bill of 
Rights. They have the right to know of the curriculum. They have a 
right to know what is being taught. They have a right to know what is 
being spent; and they have a right to know if there is a violent 
incident on the campus.
  Just five. Just five; that is all it takes. I promise you this, you 
will be the most popular five Democrats in the Nation. You will. I 
could tell you which five are in the toughest races.
  Listen, far be it from me, but it would be smart of you, because I 
will tell you this: Two of them are in Virginia. Madam Speaker, 
Governor-elect Youngkin won one by 11 points and another by 8. Biden 
had won that State by 10; he won New Jersey by 16.
  Listen, President Clinton realized after losing all those seats in 
1994 that he needed to listen to America. That the era of Big 
Government is over. In 2010, this exact same thing happened: 2009, 
Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans won. And four days later, Speaker 
Pelosi said you have to pass the bill to find out what is in it.
  So if you ask me, why am I still speaking? Because I want America to 
know what is in the bill before it gets passed. Because I trust you 
enough if you stayed and heard what is in the bill, you wouldn't vote 
for it. I don't know, my political team would probably get mad at me 
for saving some of you, but I don't care. I want to save America.
  But let me tell you what I never hear from families, hopelessness. As 
any parent can relate, our children are the most important people in 
our lives, and we will do anything to protect them and make sure they 
have the best opportunities available. That is why despite being 
targeted by President Biden's Department of Justice, parents are 
speaking out louder than ever.
  Madam Speaker, maybe you and I can go down to the White House and see 
the President. You see, he picked the Attorney General, so I don't want 
to judge the President based upon the actions of the Attorney General. 
But now that the President knows what the Attorney General did, I would 
hope the President didn't know he did this before the whistleblower 
came forward, because I know Adam Schiff will hold that for 
impeachment.
  But, Madam Speaker, now that the President knows the Attorney General 
of the United States of America lied to Congress and spied on parents 
saying they were terrorists, you know what we could do? Just five 
Democrats vote with us and we will hold the Attorney General in 
contempt. I am sure the Attorney General now will base his policy like 
no other attorney general has done since 1983 and go after himself. 
Because I am sure he is very fair. It is the rule of law.
  Parents nationwide refuse to accept lower expectation for their kids. 
And this month, we heard Virginia parents say enough.
  Madam Speaker, I hope your side of the aisle heard it. I know many 
had to go home. It is okay. They still get paid whether they are here 
or not. You can vote proxy.
  You know, Madam Speaker, I am worried about some on your side of the 
aisle. You know some of them haven't been back since they voted for 
Speaker, but they will probably still vote for this bill. I am sure 
they read it; maybe they are watching.

  Madam Speaker, I believe Puerto Rico is on the same time zone. It is 
not a long flight; it is just past Florida. You know, after the 
hurricane in Puerto Rico, I went to the minority whip at the time, 
Steny Hoyer. We were on a codel together down there. We went all 
through their struggles. We came up to Florida, toured there as well.
  You see, I was in the majority. I could have had one-party rule in 
this House. I could have gone myself and said no Democrat can go with 
me, but I don't think that is good for the House, so I reached out to 
Steny. You know, Steny will lead a group of freshman Democrats to 
Israel, and I lead a group of Republicans. We have done it for a number 
of years.
  Madam Speaker, on my first trip I went to my friend, Steny Hoyer. I 
said, let's don't go on separate weeks. Let's spend a couple times 
where we overlap, because I don't think our greatest ally should be a 
partisan issue.
  And you know when we did this--I may get the number wrong, it is late 
into the morning--but I think we had 25 percent of the Congress there. 
We did a press conference together with Steny and I talking, showing 
the entire world of our commitment to Israel. We broke up in groups of 
Republicans and Democrats alike, and we went and toured different parts 
of Israel. But you know the one place we went all together? The Iron 
Dome.
  You see, the Iron Dome is not hypersonics. It is not a first-strike 
weapon. It is a defensive weapon. You see, what the Iron Dome will do, 
it will look when a missile is shot from Gaza and it is coming, it will 
take it and it is going to calculate. If it is going to hit in a 
populated area, it shoots up and blows it up, but if the calculation 
means it goes in an unpopulated area, let it go.

                              {time}  0240

  It is technology worked on by both countries. We were so proud of 
this, 25 percent of this body. We took a picture in front of the Iron 
Dome. If you looked at each other's faces, we were with pride. We fist-
bumped each other. We went back to the King David and did our press 
conference. We were united.
  Madam Speaker, when thousands of rockets were shot at Israel just 
this year, never before have we seen these numbers. When it was time 
for our greatest ally in the Middle East--and not to provide them a 
weapon to attack anybody, but to say that exact same weapon that we all 
stood beside each other on, Madam Speaker, your party took it out. Your 
party took it out. Even today, with one-party rule in 1 year, Israel is 
now political.
  The Hyde amendment, the millions of lives that it has saved--I know 
the debate of abortion is controversial, but what has been around for 
20 to 30 years, we both agreed, whether you support abortion or not, 
don't take American taxpayer money and make them spend on it. That was 
fair. That was where we found compromise.
  That is what America looks at when they look at this body, year after 
year. It wouldn't matter if you were in power or we were in power; we 
all kept our word. If you have been here longer than one term, you have 
voted for the Hyde amendment. Your leadership--Speaker Pelosi, Steny 
Hoyer, Clyburn--years upon years, they have been here and supported it. 
One-party rule, 1 year, and it is wiped away. It is wiped away.
  Madam Speaker, when Steny Hoyer said our children's children will 
learn about today, there are going to be a lot of children who don't 
learn anything because they won't be here. They won't

[[Page H6647]]

be here. There are so many reasons why this bill is wrong.
  Madam Speaker, just five Democrats put a hold on this bill. I know 
there are more than five over there who think it is wrong because you 
told me so.
  I will never question anyone's faith. I have witnessed the 
faithfulness of people on both sides of the aisle. I prayed with them. 
We have wept together. We prayed for other Members. We break bread.
  I have seen your heart. I know what you believe. Of all the politics, 
don't do this. Don't do this. Don't do this.
  For decades, this body has upheld. From people who are the biggest 
pro-choice people I know to those who are the biggest pro-life, they 
would look each other in the eye when doing appropriation bills and 
keep their word. I know it was difficult.
  I know it was very difficult on the other side of the aisle, Madam 
Speaker. They would get attacked from some people in their own party, 
but we knew this is where we came together.
  That is the history that is being made. That is the history that is 
taking place. That is the history we can't afford. You cannot put a 
price on the life of a child. You can't.
  What is worse, Madam Speaker--I don't mean to highlight Juan Vargas, 
but for those in America who don't know him, he is a faithful man. If I 
am correct, you were going to be a priest at one time. When we were in 
Sacramento, we would pray together. I have watched your servant's 
heart.
  I just wish, of all the things--and I want to tell our Members, if 
the American public will trust us with the majority, we will bring it 
back. Madam Speaker, I know people laugh at that, but, Madam Speaker, I 
am pretty sure it is going to happen.
  I tell America, don't get down. It may be your religious belief, but 
now Big Government is going to take your taxpayer money and spend on 
it. We all know people--there are people we serve with--who their own 
lives a doctor told their mother to abort, but she didn't and then put 
them up for adoption. This is so personal to them.
  With technology today and medicine, a child can live so early. In 
America, the land of opportunity, the opportunity just to live--but how 
can we? Why is it--one-party, one rule--that you are going to go after 
people? You are going to go after people who work in the faith 
community, who have dedicated their life, who just fundamentally 
disagree with this.
  Now you hired 87,000 agents. You are going to grab it out of their 
hands. Why would you do that to them?
  Can't we disagree? Do you know how tough it was to come to that 
agreement? I don't know why it has changed so greatly. I don't know why 
there is one set of rules for you and a different one for us. I don't 
know why there is a whole other set for the Speaker and nobody else. 
That is not a proud moment for this floor. It is not a proud moment for 
the country.
  Madam Speaker, it is almost with fear when you say it. I don't know. 
Next week, there may be a $5,000 fine if I raise her name. Never, when 
we were in the majority, did I ever think to take away the minority 
right for amendment, never in the majority. When my own Conference was 
as mad as can be because the Democrats overtook this body, I let you 
express yourselves.
  They wanted to come back. They wanted to fine you. They broke every 
rule around. They put it online. They did all that. I took arrows for 
not doing something. Do you want to know why I didn't? Because I 
believe in this institution. I did not want to destroy it. I did not 
want to burn it down. It kills me to watch what is happening in this 
Congress.
  Just because you are leaving, don't burn it down because you are not 
going to be here to pick up the pieces. That is wrong. That is wrong.

                              {time}  0250

  Enough of elected officials who pay more attention to the head of the 
National Teachers Union, Randi Weingarten, than to the needs of the 
Nation's children.
  Madam Speaker, I watched that Virginia race. I watched Governor-elect 
Youngkin who was never elected to anything before. We all know what it 
is like to run. It is difficult. You are scared. They say things about 
you that aren't true. He was running in a State where people said he 
didn't have a chance, learning as he went.
  I am sure his political team said: Oh, you should bring in all these 
elected officials.
  He knew where he stood. He said: No. No. No. No. The people of 
Virginia are my heroes. They are my stars. That is who I want.
  He watched and challenged where everybody made fun.
  I remember reading on Twitter right after the primary, David 
Wasserman, who works for the Cook Political Report, tweeted. He got 
this one right; he got the last election wrong. He said we would lose 
15 seats. He got the number right but the party wrong. He said that 
there is a chance Youngkin could win.
  Madam Speaker, you have watched Twitter. Oh, my God, they attacked 
this poor man, and it looked like he would be wrong throughout this 
primary because here you are, Madam Speaker, with Terry McAuliffe, a 
former Governor and the right hand to the Clintons.
  Terry McAuliffe is the guy who loaned the money to Bill Clinton when 
he left the White House to buy his house. He has won it before, he 
knows what to do. Biden just won by 10 points less than 1 year ago.
  I watched all the people they brought in: President Obama and Kamala 
Harris. I believe what Kamala Harris said. She said: This is a 
bellwether. What happens in Virginia is an indicator of what is going 
to happen in the future.
  She is right.
  But do you know what, Madam Speaker?
  I love to study history. I watched the closing days of the campaign 
because people asked me: Could Youngkin win? Man, that is so difficult, 
but it is going to be close. Boy, he put up a good fight in there, 
right?
  I know Terry McAuliffe. I have watched him.
  How was he going to close after everything that was going on?
  Madam Speaker, at the Washington Post they are so smart in politics.
  Do you know what they wrote, Madam Speaker, after the last debate?
  This is the debate where Terry McAuliffe said that parents don't have 
a right to have a say in their children's education.
  They said: Terry McAuliffe put this race away. He turned the campaign 
around. This is it. It is over.
  So every time they write an editorial about me--they have never 
written a good one--I know I am on the right path. But Terry McAuliffe, 
with all that was going on in the schools, brings in Randi to tell the 
parents: You don't have a say, she does.
  What did Governor-elect Youngkin do?
  He held a rally. He didn't take his talking points from the White 
House that says that nobody cares about inflation and that it is good 
for you.
  Do you know what he said?
  I am going to lower the tax because I am going to help you.
  Then do you know what he said?
  He didn't say: This bill is so great. If I get in, I am going to 
build up the bureaucracy so our children's children can learn about it.
  He said that he is going to make the DMV answer the phone and say: 
How can I help you?
  He was going to break the barriers, make it smaller, hold them 
accountable, and make them more efficient.
  Do you know how many people I know in Virginia who would never vote 
for me and never vote for a Republican?
  Not only did they vote for Glenn, they walked for him, and they 
called for him. The point is, Madam Speaker, you are doing the exact 
same thing Terry McAuliffe did in this bill.
  Madam Speaker, 1 year from now, if you lose your majority, don't 
blame me. I have warned you. America has warned you. They sent you 
every sign possible. A truck driver spending less than $400, spending 
$60 of it in Dunkin' Donuts, beat the president of the senate of New 
Jersey.
  Enough of politicians who tell them they don't deserve to have a say 
in their own kids' education. Enough of local school boards who listen 
to divisive activists who want children to judge each other on the 
color of their skin, but who ignore the parents who try to explain the 
devastating and long-term effects of a year of lost learning.

[[Page H6648]]

  The message sent by Virginia parents on November 2 was loud, clear, 
and inspirational. You see, Madam Speaker, they didn't have some 
political organization giving money and training. All they had was love 
for their children--much more powerful. These are our kids, and we will 
have a say in what they learn in the classrooms.
  A few of these parents joined me earlier this month for a discussion 
on the harmful policies in this bill.
  Jenny, a northern Virginia mom and school choice advocate said it 
perfectly: Many parents are frustrated with the K-12 public schools. We 
experienced over 1 year of closed schools, disastrous remote learning, 
misspent emergency Federal money, refusal to meet the needs of children 
with disabilities, lowered academic standards, and classrooms focused 
on woke agendas rather than addressing learning loss and essential 
academic instructions. We are fed up.
  One parent told me that the school board said the kids aren't doing 
well in testing, so we are going to lower the standards. We are going 
to lower the standards.
  Do you think they say that in China?
  No. This is America. We want to raise our standards, and if the kids 
aren't learning it is not their fault. Fix it.
  Republicans hear their concerns, but, unfortunately, Madam Speaker, 
Democrats in Congress are choosing to ignore them. They would rather 
appease teachers' unions than listen to parents and students.

  Madam Speaker, I wonder what would have happened in that campaign if 
Terry McAuliffe could have said ``no'' to the union and ``yes'' to the 
parents, he had on stage parents and teachers. But I guess they didn't 
write a big enough check.
  Here is how in this bill Democrats want the Federal Government to 
dictate education standards. Make no mistake. Nationalized education 
means less control for parents and more control for Washington 
politicians who want to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on 
unionized universal pre-K.
  I listened to the President, Madam Speaker, money could only go if it 
is a union. There are a lot of States that are right to work. If you 
look at the data, right-to-work States grow faster in their economy. It 
means that Secretaries of HHS and Education have the final say in what 
our children will learn.
  I wonder if these Cabinet members will be different from the other 
Cabinet members?
  I wonder, Madam Speaker, if we ask them what will be the curriculum, 
will they laugh at us?
  Democrats describe their policies as investments. But the truth is 
these are not the kind of investments that pay dividends. In fact, it 
is the opposite.
  Will they improve education performance for children?
  No.

                              {time}  0300

  Will they keep childcare costs down and give parents better choices? 
No.
  I am not sure in the new provision, but you know what you do to 
childcare? If you want to be in childcare, you have got to have a 
college degree. Do you know how many people you are going to knock out? 
You are going to make it more difficult, more expensive.
  Some of the greatest childcare providers are your neighbors down the 
street that open up their house; that probably lost their job, if they 
are from Bakersfield in the energy industry and tried to do something 
else and cared for the children. But in your bill, it won't let them do 
it.
  Will they create new opportunities? No. Instead, it will invariably 
result in lower standards, limited choice, and more indoctrination. 
That is the path that would quickly transform society; the great 
equalizer into its greatest failure.
  I don't believe anybody in this body doesn't believe education is the 
great equalizer.
  I was visited the other day by Condi Rice. What an amazing woman; 
such talent, such a heart. She grew up in a country that judged her, 
wouldn't give her equal; a concert pianist; fluent in Russian; to the 
highest office advising our Presidents.
  I watched her on a show, The View. She has reasons to be mad at the 
country. I have never seen Condi mad. She loves this country.
  You know, the interesting thing she told me? Here she is, growing up 
in the sixties, fifties--and she is not the first Ph.D. woman in her 
family, her aunt was, because they knew what it meant for education.
  She grew up in the South. And when she watched and she got this 
question, critical race theory, with all that she went through, she 
could not understand why, in today's education, they will judge these 
innocent children based upon the color of their skin; to move some to 
the other side, to the other, because she witnessed that. She knew what 
happened to her.
  We are better. I know we are better.
  Education gives everybody an opportunity. Now, what you do with it, 
there is no guarantee.
  I am fearful that in this bill, you guarantee an income. You take 
away the incentive.
  Education is not the same. I know you go to your schools in your 
district. Just in your district, the schools are different.
  My district is unique; kids from every walk of life. I am a product 
of public school. When I go back to my elementary, it is more than 90 
percent Hispanic, a lot of first generation, a lot of school lunches.
  I give out certificates for those who reach the criteria of a GPA. I 
watch the grandparents, the parents gleam. Why? Because their greatest 
investment is their grandchild or that child and how well they are 
doing. Because they know that that generation can do better than their 
generation. And this bill tells them they don't get to have a say in 
it.
  I will tell you this, a school on one side of my district and the 
other, needs are different. But it doesn't matter if you come from the 
wealthy.
  Just outside my district, in  David Valadao's, is a charter school, 
Barbara Grimm. The Grimm family are major entrepreneurs.
  You see, in my district, there are two families that grow 50 percent 
of all the carrots in the country. Have you ever eaten one of these 
baby carrots? I will let you in on a little secret. There is no such 
thing. They are just big carrots they chop and they charge you more and 
you buy them.
  They have a workforce of like 7,000, immigrants from all different 
parts. They love education. They put together a fund to pay for the 
college of the children of their workers; that is how much they care.
  You know what? They just don't put it together and leave it. They 
started to wonder, because their projections were they would be 
spending more and they are not. They could have easily said, oh, we 
saved money.
  But then they went and listened. Why aren't the kids going to 
college? You know what they found out? The local school wasn't 
preparing them.
  They say, you know, what about the money? We will put a charter 
school in. You know who fought them the hardest? The teachers' union. 
But that didn't stop Barbara Grimm.
  The school has uniforms; does another period of school. And the 
parents have the biggest say in it. You know that school, on the 
outskirts of this farming community, in less than a couple of years has 
better scores than the wealthiest schools in my district.
  It doesn't matter where you come from. They just need opportunity. 
This takes it away.
  We have a better vision, and I don't want it just to be ours. I 
welcome you to join us. We believe that parents matter. Madam Speaker, 
anybody on your side of the aisle that believes that parents matter, 
join us. We put the parents' bill in writing. You could cosponsor.

  The parents know best; and the parents belong at the center of their 
child's education. They have not only the responsibility but the right 
to know what their kids learn in the classroom.
  Madam Speaker, I was shocked. Do you realize, in Virginia, if a 
parent went to a certain school and wanted to know what was being 
taught, they said you can, but you first have to sign an NDA. What? An 
NDA? You can't talk about it?
  You know, that kind of goes back to the 87,000 IRS agents. If you 
start with the premise that you don't trust somebody and you know best, 
and you want control, that is the policy you write.

[[Page H6649]]

  That is why Republicans have unveiled the Parents' Bill of Rights. It 
doesn't matter your wealth or the color of your skin. You have the 
right to know what is being taught in schools. You have a right to have 
a seat at the table. Our children have a right to have a seat at the 
table, too.
  Education is the great equalizer. We are all created equal in God's 
eyes. And we are going to make sure we make that happen across this 
country so all students have a bright future.
  Madam Speaker, over 10 years ago this body rushed to pass the 
government takeover of our healthcare system now known as ObamaCare. 
You know, it is interesting, Madam Speaker, when they passed it there 
was a Member in the Senate that offered an amendment. It said Members 
in Congress have to be in ObamaCare. My healthcare is ObamaCare. But 
they wrote it in a way that the staff of leadership doesn't have to be 
in ObamaCare.
  Rules for thee, but not for me.
  I remember talking to a leader on your side of the aisle. Boy, was he 
mad. He was not putting his staff in ObamaCare, and he wasn't going to 
be in Obamacare. But he was going to control it and put it on everybody 
else.

                              {time}  0310

  I got fact-checked by The Washington Post on whether I won the 
lottery and whether I had a deli. They actually said it wasn't true.
  I was on a trip overseas. It just so happened, Nick Bikakis, who is a 
friend of mine, was traveling with me to San Diego that day. He was in 
line with me when I bought the ticket. I literally said to Nick: Hey, 
Nick, you know what? If I win the lottery, I will give you a hundred 
bucks.
  You know what? I kept my word.
  This fact checker at The Washington Post called Nick 25 years later: 
Did he really win it?
  He called the food critic for Bakersfield, California, that wrote an 
editorial about my deli. But he said it really wasn't. He wanted to 
know which door opened first.
  I can't believe how far people will go to try to have control or take 
somebody down. I think he called a few of my employees. I don't know 
who was paying them.
  It is interesting. One of my top-selling sandwiches still sells in 
some of the delis back home. They really call it the McCarthy sandwich. 
But that fact checker says it is not true.
  I wonder if that fact checker--he is still there. Remember what he 
did to poor Tim Scott? Tim Scott got up and gave a tremendous speech. I 
may get it wrong; we are late into the morning. I believe his 
grandfather picked cotton. So he said he went from cotton to Congress. 
This fact checker said it wasn't true.
  Does he despise Republicans that much? Interesting.
  But did that fact checker ever check President Obama on, if you like 
your doctor, you can keep it? Because I would like him to talk to a few 
of my constituents. There is a family, husband and wife, who have a 
beautiful family. One of their sons has little movement. He is confined 
to a wheelchair and needs a lot of help. They lost their doctor; they 
lost their healthcare; and they had to pay more. That is what happens.
  I wonder if he checked Nancy Pelosi, Madam Speaker, when she said you 
had to pass it to know what is in it.
  I have said this before. It came just 3 days after Americans in 
Virginia and New Jersey elected Republican Governors, sending a loud 
and clear message to Democrats in Washington to stop what they were 
doing. When the Speaker was talking about the bill before it passed, 
that is when she famously said: We have to pass it to know what is in 
it.
  I remember that day. There were crowds out in front. I remember 
walking out to the balcony over here, watching the people concerned. 
They remind me of those parents who went to school board meetings just 
a couple of weeks ago.
  The majority in here just wanted to rush through the bill. It was 
thousands of pages, too. I didn't have a magic minute, so I couldn't 
talk this long. I wish I could have.
  I don't know if this speech is going to make a difference. But in my 
heart, I know America will know more about it.
  I hope, Madam Speaker, your Members know this isn't the last time you 
are voting on this bill. Because, Madam Speaker, I know when that poor 
Josh made that incredible dealmaking, that he was not going to vote to 
start reconciliation until he got the BIF, and he was going to have to 
get an agreement that it has to be conferenced before you vote on it, 
in less than 24 hours--it was true he didn't vote on it. He deemed it. 
He was promised a BIF vote, only to feel like he was Charlie Brown with 
the football being pulled out from him every couple of weeks.
  This bill was supposed to be conferenced with the Senate. But you 
couldn't pass it off this floor because a group of Members said they 
wouldn't vote for it unless it had amnesty, so you are all going to 
vote for that.
  It is interesting. Madam Speaker, I don't know. You need to correct 
me. But it seems to me, from this side of the aisle, that Members in 
the Democratic Party are not equal. You see, those who ask for amnesty 
get it. Those who ask for the IRS--and they are a larger number--say it 
has to be kicked out of the bill, they don't get it, and they still 
vote for it.
  Then there is this whole group that says stay tough; they are not 
voting on this until the CBO score, the Congressional Budget Office, 
the independent, affirms what President Biden has told us, that this 
pays for itself.
  Madam Speaker, did you listen to some of their quotes before the CBO 
came back? Well, it really doesn't have to pay for itself anymore.
  I don't know how you go home to your constituents because if you tell 
them one thing and you vote for another, what are they going to believe 
you on?
  I don't know. Maybe they are home. I don't know. There could be 
Members here who didn't want to change their airline tickets, Madam 
Speaker, and are already in Puerto Rico because they can vote proxy. 
Maybe they are down there. I don't know. I mean, you don't want to make 
the lobbyists wait, do you?
  I wish we had a debate longer than 10 minutes on each side for the 
final bill. How long do you think they debated the New Deal? Do you 
think it came in at the end of the night? Do you think they gave 10 
minutes to each side? You know, that was one-party rule with a much 
bigger majority.
  We have to pass it to know what is in it. Sound familiar? It should. 
It is almost what is happening on the floor today, only much worse.
  It is the Green New Deal, historic tax hikes, historic borrowing and 
spending, a government takeover of our education system, open borders 
for illegal immigration, and incentives to make products anywhere in 
the world but here in America.
  Do you know what is interesting? When we passed the tax cut bill, I 
remember watching television. I remember people coming up and shaking 
my hand and saying: I got a raise. The company saved money, so they 
gave me more money. Now that they have to pay more, I wonder if they 
will take it back?
  Do you know what is interesting, too? Since that passed, there has 
not been an inversion. Just so you understand what that is, it is an 
American company domiciling in another country to get the tax benefit. 
Why? Because they no longer got a benefit to be somewhere else. It was 
beneficial to be in America.

                              {time}  0320

  A lot of people made big decisions to move back to America. I have 
had a few of them call me and say if this passes they are staying in 
the other country. They say they have a responsibility to the 
shareholders. They could be sued because it is beneficial for tax.
  I guess Jared Golden is right when he says the second biggest item in 
here is to millionaires. But you did not leave out those who make 
between $25,000 and $75,000. They won't get SALT, but they will still 
get a knock on the door of their house from the IRS. I don't know, with 
that many agents, they probably come to your home.
  If I need to, I must remind my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle what was awaiting the Democratic Party nearly a year after that 
vote. Americans across the country stood and sent a historic message to 
Washington. Sixty-three new Republicans were elected that next year.

[[Page H6650]]

  Madam Speaker, I study history, but I haven't counted the numbers 
yet. Speaker Pelosi lost 63 there. She said, though, I remember, during 
a press interview with the DCCC chair, they were going to win and keep 
the majority.
  Remember when we invaded Iraq and they had that Iraqi spokesperson as 
we are landing on the runway saying, oh, nothing is happening here. It 
kind of felt like that.
  So she lost 63 there. I don't know how many she is going to lose 
after this vote. But I need to get that data. Could she be the Speaker 
in modern history, one of the few to lose the majority twice and lose 
the most seats? I don't know. Maybe I have got some time tomorrow, I 
will look that up.
  You know what is interesting? I remember, I don't know--some people 
in the press stay--but I remember all these press people coming to 
interview me before the last election. You know what they asked me 
every time, Madam Speaker? Can you still be leader after losing 20 
seats? I was dumbfounded. I said, did the election already happen? 
Well, no, Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, everybody, The Cook Political Report, 
oh, man, you are going to lose.
  You know what was interesting that night? That was the first night 
since 1994, not one Republican incumbent lost. Not one. Since 1994.
  Madam Speaker, you know what else happened? That number they put out 
there about 15 Republicans losing, they were right on the number. They 
were just wrong on the party.
  You know what was interesting, too? Every single Democrat incumbent 
who lost, lost to a Republican woman or a Republican minority. I 
remember after that, it was a sad day, and in Statuary Hall there, 
Steny Hoyer, he is a good man, he felt bad for everybody. So he got 
them all a resolution, and he took a photo of all of them, and he put 
it up on Twitter. Well, he was the majority leader, and I am the 
minority leader. I thought that is rude to all my Members who lost. So 
I went out there and took a picture of myself because nobody lost.
  Madam Speaker, you probably know the answer to this one. Do you know 
which State was the best for the Republicans in Congress? Our State. 
Wasn't that great? Do you know, we didn't win the majority, but we 
elected more Republican women to Congress than any time in history. 
Isn't that amazing? In California.
  Now, there was a Presidential election going on. President Trump lost 
California by 5 million votes, but I bet you are probably thinking, he 
probably picked up these seats. Oh, no, no. The four seats, he lost all 
four, three of them by 10 points.
  You know what is interesting? When you think about that in 
California, and you think about what happened in Virginia, and you 
think about what happened in New Jersey, where Biden won by 10 and 
Biden won by 16, it almost seems like there is no seat that is safe. 
After the vote on this bill, I imagine it is going to be much higher.
  You know, there are going to be some people who still get reelected 
on the other side. Madam Speaker, those people went along with all the 
rule changes. They voted for the rule package that took away the MTR. 
They voted in Ethics to fine Members on the other side. They voted to 
remove a freshman Congresswoman from her committees based upon 
something she said before she ever got here. Just voted and spoke on 
this floor of higher standards.
  What was interesting, Madam Speaker, be it a California Member with a 
Chinese spy, another California Member that uses a dossier to take the 
country through something very difficult, Madam Speaker, that the world 
has learned was not true; created the Intel Committee, Madam Speaker, 
to be an impeachment committee.
  So when we were shocked that China had hypersonics or that 
Afghanistan would collapse so quickly, did anybody ask the Intel 
Committee chair? They probably didn't have any hearings on that, did 
they? But they had a lot of other hearings.

  Madam Speaker, I remember watching the chairman of Intel on a Sunday 
show. He was really excited because this whistleblower came forth, was 
shocked by it, shocked by it. And they asked him, do you know this 
whistleblower? You could see his body language. I don't know, I don't 
know.
  But then you know what we found out?
  Oh, he knew the whistleblower. They already met with the staff. He 
has already been directed where to go. But it was a little like the 
Attorney General today, he doesn't live by the same standards and the 
rule of law.
  Madam Speaker, a lot of these changes that have been made are hard to 
change. They are going to be hard to change. We will change proxies.
  We believe in science. You won't have to wear a mask. I don't know 
what happens in that rotunda, but the science shifts. I am not sure. 
But once you get halfway past, I am not sure how the doctor writes 
that. Maybe they have better filtration.
  Do you think that is what it is? I think they might be more 
susceptible. They are older. No, not disrespectful, just history. No, 
it is the average.
  We will trust you. You won't need to walk through a magnetometer. We 
won't fine you.
  We will respect what you say. We won't tell you you can't look at us 
when you talk.
  But the one thing we will do, we will tackle inflation, we will make 
America energy independent again, and we will make sure parents have a 
say in their kids' education, and we will secure the border.

                              {time}  0330

  If you vote for the bill, I hope you know it is wrong. If you hand 
your voting card over to Speaker Pelosi, if you put partisanship above 
people, that same fate awaits you in 355 days.
  But that future is not yet set in stone. You have a chance, a chance 
to make a choice. And don't worry. You all don't have to do it, just 
five. That is all, just five.
  That choice is not the Speaker's choice because I can almost 
certainly promise you there is a good chance she won't be here to face 
the consequences before voting for this bill.
  Madam Speaker, I don't know in history there has been a Speaker that 
in 3 months, when you are working on the most important bill, the 
culmination of your career, that you have been able to go to Europe 
three times in 3 months. I am not sure if there are shirts with cities 
on them and a tour.
  But the only thing I would say, Madam Speaker, if the floor and the 
rules are going to change like this, people should stay for the 
consequences if they believe in them. That is in her own words, the 
culmination of her career. That is what she said at the press 
conference.
  Now the question, Madam Speaker, for all of you: Do you want it to be 
the culmination of yours? When your constituents call for help to 
secure benefits at the VA, where do you want them to be? When a crisis 
hits your community, such as a hurricane, or a wildfire, or an 
earthquake, where do you want them to be? Or when they are hurting, 
when they are suffering, when they are in need of your help, where do 
you want them to be? I trust that answer: Here.
  That is why you ran for the position in the first place. But if you 
vote for this bill, I can promise that many of you will not be serving 
in this body after the midterms.
  Today is not just about saving your seat; it is about saving our 
country. It is about showing your constituents and the American people 
that Members of Congress still vote their conscience, that Members of 
Congress still put country before party. Your vote is precious. Your 
vote is sacred. Your vote is yours, not Pelosi's and not Biden's. Cast 
it accordingly to your conviction and your faith in what is right.
  I ask you, is it right to raise taxes on small businesses whose only 
crime is making their product in America?
  Is it right to ignore the dire, desperate pleas of our border agents 
and pass a colossal amnesty for illegal immigrants during the middle of 
the largest wave of illegal immigration in human history? Is it right 
to cast a vote that will bring more drugs, more crime, more job losses 
into your communities? Is it right to destroy safety to accommodate 
open borders?
  Is it right to tax the energy our seniors need to heat their homes in 
the winter?
  Is it right to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans simply because 
they live in Nancy Pelosi's district or Senator Schumer's backyard? Is 
it

[[Page H6651]]

right that $200 million goes to the Speaker's district for a park? Who 
is going to protect it? It is in San Francisco.
  Today is a day to make your choice, to make a choice for your 
community. Your community isn't hives of hyperpartisanship. They 
overflow with proud Americans who work hard today so that tomorrow can 
be brighter.
  But what the radical left is trying to do today is crushing, it is 
callous, it is cruel, it is craven and a sign of colossal contempt for 
law-abiding Americans.
  This is not about compassion. It is about control.
  Madam Speaker, we watched that. We watched that from the moment I got 
to talk, first interrupted every couple of words, to when I looked to 
the side out of respect for my friends across the aisle. I was told as 
the leader of the Republicans not to look that way. Has it gone so far 
that the Democrats think they control everything? This is not Pelosi's 
House; this is the people's House.
  But what the radical left is trying to do today is crushing. It is 
worth saying again: callous, cruel, craven, and a sign of colossal 
contempt.
  I want to know if anybody on the other side, Madam Speaker, thinks 
that there is compassion in this bill. I want to know where the 
compassion is. Where is the compassion when you remove the Hyde 
amendment? How can you?
  Madam Speaker, you have been here longer than one term, right? No, 
this is just your first term? You are doing a great job. That is 
probably why they made you take the midnight hour. It is good for you 
because it is a three-hour difference. The people in California are 
still watching.
  You know, somewhere along the way this year, the voices of the 
American people vanished from this Chamber. When you think about it, 
they didn't have the chairs like this. Now, I know we all give tours of 
the Capitol, but we can't do that now because those in control say we 
can't, but do you know where my favorite place to go is? Statuary Hall. 
You know they have the little tiles for anyone who became President 
that was a Member of Congress. I like to go back to Father Serra from 
California, and right in front of that tile is where Abraham Lincoln 
served. He only served one term.
  There is a great new book I just read about his mentors. Do you know 
who some of his mentors were? His political enemies. I don't know if 
people would say that today.
  But what I like to do is I like to stand right on that tile, and I 
take the constituent and say: I want you to stand right here. This is 
where Abraham Lincoln, a young Congressman--the country was not so big. 
They were in chairs, and he sat right there.
  Then I tell them: I want you to look over your shoulder. I want you 
to look at the clock. There is a muse there. If you look at that 
artwork, she is supposed to be inscribing what is being said on the 
floor. I ask them, what time is it? If they look now, they would say 
3:40 in the morning. I ask them twice: 3:40. I say, do you know what? 
Do you know why I asked you to do that? Because that is the exact same 
view, the exact same clock, that Abraham Lincoln looked at.

                              {time}  0340

  That is what this House means. It doesn't mean what has happened with 
one-party rule in 1 year to destroy so much.
  And you know, you can go up--you take a door by my office and you go 
up, you go up in the pillars up above; and when you look down, that 
floor looks really clean. It wasn't at that time. They had spittoons.
  They fought. Democrats fought because they wanted to maintain 
slavery; Republicans said no. Divided the Nation. I could only imagine 
in a war, family against family, more lives lost as Americans than you 
could ever imagine. But Abraham Lincoln says ``malice towards none.''
  It is the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. Can you imagine 
being invited to be a speaker, and you are the President of the United 
States, and you are not the main speaker? The person before him went 
for two hours. I will give 100 bucks to anyone who can quote what that 
person said. Abraham Lincoln just spoke a few words.
  If you go to the Library of Congress every five years, they will put 
out this exhibit of what was in Abraham Lincoln's pockets that day when 
he was assassinated.
  He had two pair of glasses. Some had a little rubber band put 
together. He had some Confederate money because he had just been down 
to Richmond. But he scribbled, and he wrote a couple. You know, Abraham 
Lincoln, they didn't think he could become President. He didn't run 
again because he was going to lose. He didn't win on the first ballot 
to be the nominee. He gets elected 1860. He is not sworn in until 
March, but he is sworn in right outside there, on the east side.
  His own rivals he puts into his cabinets. You know why? Because he 
trusted Americans. He was so compassionate; when a soldier wouldn't do 
what they wanted, when they wanted to hang him, many times he said to 
let them go.
  If you go to the Library of Congress, they have--for the President, 
it is like his library card. They tell you what he checked out. Think 
about the time and place that he served.
  And he checked out this book. The best way to describe it, it is like 
fighting wars for dummies. And he checked out this book because general 
after general was losing. It wasn't until he hired Grant that he 
returned the book.
  At the same time war was going on, not knowing if we would win, just 
down the road, the Confederates. They had wealth; they had the South.
  He built the intercontinental railway, because no matter how dire the 
country looked, in those words of Gettysburg, he said, but if we fail, 
``government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not 
perish from Earth.''
  Think about the time and place. We were not the world power. But he 
knew where our power came from; the people. All I am asking you tonight 
is to listen to them. They are trying to tell you--two weeks ago. I 
don't know how clearer they can be.
  He knew we could not fail. He knew that tomorrow would be better than 
today. He risked building an intercontinental railway to bring the 
country together. That is the first President of this party. That is 
the philosophy that is instilled in us.
  You know, we hung a portrait here. He is not an American, but we 
couldn't have been a country without him. Those two men, he loved 
George Washington so much. He only had one son, and he named him 
George. They came to our time of need when we weren't even a country 
but an idea. And what did we do to them just this year? When they had 
their soldiers, once again, in Afghanistan, when they had their own 
citizens, because they have been there for 20 years, side by side, just 
like they were when we tried to create a nation.
  And what did we tell them? Sorry, the Taliban picked the day. I am 
sure they have just as many of their citizens stuck there as we do. And 
what is interesting, their country has helped us get some Americans 
out. I never thought in my entire life, I would have to go to another 
country to help an American.
  At your own State Department, if you told them of an American that 
wants out, they work against you to make sure they couldn't get there. 
But the Taliban literally told us, They can leave if you get the 
Secretary of State to say it is okay.
  Inflation now is at the highest rate in years, which is now impacting 
all Americans. Housing, food, furniture, groceries, and many other 
goods are more expensive and disproportionately higher burdening on 
lower-income families.
  The cost of home heating is projected to rise even as much as 50 
percent in the coming months. That is reducing buying power for the 
household expenses. It is especially hard on the low-income households 
and seniors on fixed incomes. What do you think is going to happen when 
the big storm comes in and somebody on a fixed income is going to make 
a determination on their prescriptions, their food, or heating.
  I am scared about that. Because you know what compassion is going to 
be? There are some that are going to make the wrong decision and freeze 
to death.
  We have not talked enough about how the massive increases in home 
heating costs are going to impact people. This winter, the poor and 
senior

[[Page H6652]]

citizens will likely face a choice. You heat or eat.
  I don't have any of my grandparents left. I have my mother. My mother 
called me the other day; she was mad. She had just gone to Costco. She 
fills up once a week. She could tell me exactly how much more she had 
to pay. She wasn't the only one.
  Literally, the threat of winter deaths are real when the high cost of 
heating homes forces them to live in homes that are too cold.
  Research has shown that energy insecurity is associated with poor 
sleep quality, mental strain, respiratory illness. Others have found 
that cold stress is connected to cardiovascular risk and declines in 
neurological function.

                              {time}  0350

  Our seniors in America struggle enough without having the policies of 
one-party rule in 1 year cost them so much. It is not just costing them 
money; it could cost their lives.
  In fact, it has been reported that excess winter deaths caused 
potentially by fuel poverty kill more from Vermont each year than car 
crashes. Think about that. Fuel poverty will kill more people in 
Vermont each year than a car crash. What do you think a 50 percent 
increase will do this year? Oh, I sure hope OPEC helps us. Maybe if he 
sends another letter.
  The projected use increases for natural gas, propane, heating oil, 
and electricity--low-income families and the elderly with preexisting 
conditions are going to be in great danger this winter. Your bill makes 
this plight even worse. It is by no means an exaggeration to expect 
thousands of excess winter deaths as a result of President Biden's 
energy policies and what you have put in this bill.
  At least the elderly will suffer at home and not be forced to suffer 
and die in a COVID-infected nursing home, like thousands of senior 
citizens.
  Madam Speaker, I watched families who lived in New York, their loved 
ones pushed into a home, infected. I watched that Governor write a book 
and win an Emmy. I watched those families. I hope they get some of the 
royalties from that book. I don't think they will get $450,000, but I 
think they need something.
  What my Republican colleagues and I want to know, what the American 
people have a right to know, is this: Did you fail to take these people 
into consideration when you wrote this bill? Madam Speaker, do we just 
consider them collateral damage? Are all of them just part of the cost 
for ramming through your agenda?
  I am wondering, how many hearings did we bring senior citizens in to 
tell us so we can listen? We have all been waiting on a CBO score for 
this bill, and they did. They projected billions of dollars in deficit 
spending. Did you consider another CBO report that was released earlier 
this fall?
  Here is what that report says about the direction we are heading. It 
kind of goes to the point that the majority leader brought up on this 
day. In the future, our children's children, that would be 2051, 
America's debt-to-GDP ratio will be over 200 percent, twice the size of 
our entire economy.
  Madam Speaker, I got an MBA, but I will tell you this, if we have a 
200 percent debt-to-GDP ratio, we will not be the world power. We will 
not have the next generation doing better than the generation before 
it.
  Every great society has collapsed when they overextended themselves. 
Unfortunately, Madam Speaker, Steny Hoyer and I disagree. He thinks the 
children's children will love this day. I am fearful. I am fearful. I 
just hope they teach it in school. I hope they can look at each other 
when they talk.
  That CBO report said a growing debt burden could increase the risk of 
a fiscal crisis and higher inflation, as well as undermining confidence 
in the U.S. dollar, making it more costly to finance public and private 
activity in the international market. I will guarantee you this, Madam 
Speaker, the dollar won't be the world currency then.
  The CBO reported that with a growing debt and rising interest rates, 
the net spending for interest more than triples the relative size of 
the economy over the last two decades of the projection period, 
accounting for most of the growth in total deficits. I guess you are 
going to have hire more IRS agents.
  A New York Times article reported that the CBO warned that such high 
debt levels would lift borrowing costs, slow economic output, and raise 
the risk of a financial crisis.
  The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog 
group, warned after a preliminary forecast was released last month that 
the Nation's long-term outlook was an air raid siren that can be heard 
for miles. It said that the mounting debt would make it harder to 
address income inequality and to make needed infrastructure 
improvements. I don't know if Buttigieg is going to solve all that.
  This is the second time tonight that I have quoted The New York 
Times. What I want to know is, does it concern you that even The New 
York Times is raising the alarm about your excessive spending?
  Madam Speaker, I don't know if you have had the opportunity--I know 
you have been here a short time--but have you ever met Larry Summers? 
Larry Summers worked in the Clinton administration and the Obama 
administration. He is highly respected on economic policy. He is a 
strong Democrat, a strong Democrat. He works hard to elect Democrats.
  He realized you had one-party rule in this country again. He wants 
you to succeed. He wants the best for you. He warned you in February: 
Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't take $2 trillion and tell the American 
public it is about COVID when only 9 percent goes to it because you 
will get inflation. He knows his business.
  There was another. It is a long night for me. It starts with an r, 
Ratner? He just came out with a warning, did he not?
  We have amazing people on this side of the aisle. Madam Speaker, I 
don't know if you ever had a chance to meet French Hill, but this isn't 
the first job he ever had. This isn't the first time he served his 
country.
  He was in the Treasury Department. He was in the time they had to 
clean up from the last time the Democrats had one-party rule. Then he 
went out and made capital. He created capital for people to grow jobs.
  I went to his district. He has a very unique district, a lot of 
history in that district and in that school.
  You took me to those entrepreneurs. They are all in this facility. 
They had such hope. They had great ideas.

                              {time}  0400

  But I wonder, if this bill passes, will they still take that risk? Or 
can they?
  I am not sure. I fear that the majority, Madam Speaker, doesn't care. 
Maybe the 21 who signed the letter to the Speaker care. I guess we will 
find out when we vote. Maybe five of them will have the moral courage 
to say ``no'' to the bill. They said it in a letter. I respect them. I 
take them at their word.
  Madam Speaker, I talk a lot about this bill, and I want to save this 
for later.
  Madam Speaker, I got a new binder. There are a couple pages. I want 
to save that for last. That is the closing.
  But, Madam Speaker, I have just spent almost a full minute covering 
this bill's partisan, extreme, self-focused, and ultimately destructive 
policies. For every one of those policies there is a reason to defeat 
this bill on the merits. Another reason is that Democrats kept 
bipartisan, commonsense amendments out of the final text.
  Do you know what is interesting, Madam Speaker?
  How many of you grew up--and I am much older than you, Madam 
Speaker--I don't know if they had it, but Schoolhouse Rock.
  Didn't you love that?
  Conjunction junction, what is your function?
  Hooking up phrases and cars. Or the Preamble, We the People in order 
to form a more perfect Union. But my favorite was: I am just a bill on 
Capitol Hill and I sit here and wait.
  That bill, Madam Speaker, taught you a lot about Congress, and in 
less than 1 year with one-party rule, they changed all the rules. I 
don't know if we can show it anymore. But that bill says you have got 
to have compromise. You have got to be in committee.
  I am afraid that this House has been closed for so long that the 
public hasn't been able to be a part of it. Luckily, I talk fast and I 
can get this

[[Page H6653]]

all in in a minute. But I can show you and tell the American public, 
take them on the inside.
  What was offered?
  What was the offer, but what was rejected?
  Because maybe they would end up liking the bill. What would be good, 
Madam Speaker, when we do that townhall meeting, we could bring some of 
these, too, because everything I am going to talk about is an amendment 
that was brought up in committee, and House Democrats rejected every 
one of them because of the enthrallment of power. I am not sure anyone 
was told not to look at each other. That may just be a rule for the 
floor.
  This is just another way Democrats aren't listening to the American 
people. But Republicans have listened. We are listening, and throughout 
this process, we offered a different path. We wanted to participate. 
Every amendment I will read offered by Republicans was rejected. This 
is a record of what is not in the bill.
  As I read this record, I want my colleagues on the other side to 
answer a simple question when you are on the beach in Puerto Rico: When 
you said the House would consider the best ideas no matter where they 
came from, did you really mean it?
  So let's start with Kevin Hern's committee, the Ways and Means 
Committee. What a powerful committee. I wanted to be on that committee. 
They never let me.
  Article I, section 7 of the Constitution says that all tax reform 
starts in the House.
  Do you know what our rules say?
  All taxes start in Ways and Means. So it doesn't matter the power of 
the Senate. It starts right here.
  Now, this is an amendment offered by Congresswoman Jackie Walorski. 
She is from Indiana, too. Boy, she works hard. When she first got here, 
she made sure women in the military were not abused. She fought.
  But do you know what she did?
  She worked across the aisle. She got something done. You see, Madam 
Speaker, when you work together, you can achieve so much. And I don't 
know, she is so optimistic. She probably thought this would pass. But 
let me read to you what she said.
  She works in Indiana, and in Indiana-2 they build a lot of RVs. She 
talks to her businesses. I have been there many times with her. She has 
got Notre Dame in there, too, Touchdown Jesus. When she talks to the 
families, what they tell her is they want flexibility.
  In today's world somebody needs to drive an Uber to buy a 
refrigerator. My kids need to be somewhere. Can I have flexibility?
  But the hard part, Madam Speaker, for your side of the aisle is that 
means you would have to release control.
  So this is what it said: Defending worker paychecks and family 
choice. Now, this would improve the existing 45(S) tax credit to better 
support employers in meeting the costs to provide paid leave benefits 
to employees.
  That sounds pretty good, right?
  This would allow employers and employees--you see, Madam Speaker, 
that is working together--employers and employees to negotiate. It is 
not government telling you. It says you guys work together, you work it 
out.
  What type of leave makes the best sense for them and their families?
  Boy, that is nice, rather than impose a one-size-fits-all Federal 
mandate that would reduce flexibility and hurt workers' ability to grow 
in their careers and provide for their family. That is reasonable. I 
actually think that could have been in Schoolhouse Rock because it 
would illustrate how government wouldn't build these big bureaucracies 
but would unshackle business, employers and employees. It would empower 
the employee.
  My daughter has practice here and there, so I will work this hour 
instead of there because it is better for me.
  Do you know what happens when you have happy employees?
  Productivity goes up.
  I will promise you this. I am a former employer. Kevin Hern has 
employed hundreds. You want to help your employees. But the Federal 
Government is telling you ``no'' now. So she offered it as an 
amendment.

  Do you know what happened, Madam Speaker?
  It was rejected by the Democrats. This could have been in the bill. 
The American public has to understand: this could have been in the 
bill. All they had to do was vote for it.
  But that would have relinquished control.
  Now, this is an amendment offered by   Mike Kelly. I love to hear   
Mike Kelly talk. He is not from Indiana, but he went to Notre Dame. He 
is from Pennsylvania. Oh, he and Victoria have a beautiful family. They 
work hard and employ a lot of people. When he talks, he says, What does 
it take to put you in this car today?
  Okay. So his amendment--because he wanted to work with the other side 
of the aisle--was making government work more efficiently and 
effectively. Whoa. I bet you that statement is almost in every mailer 
of everybody who runs for Congress. It doesn't matter which side of the 
aisle you are on. So this is starting out pretty good. That would have 
changed the effective date to 6 months after the Treasury could certify 
they have expertise to stand up a new entitlement program.
  Now, I actually believe he is helping.
  Do you know why?
  Because he is remembering what happened in ObamaCare. Remember the 
website?
  Oh, my God, never been so embarrassed.

                              {time}  0410

  I mean, when I read this, I think, whoa, why didn't a Democrat think 
of that? And here is   Mike Kelly helping you out.
  But it is not over. Let's finish it. If the government plans to spend 
an enormous amount of money, the least one-party rule in Washington 
could do is make sure it has the capability to effectively spend the 
money. Boy, that is harsh.
  You want to know what happened? The Democrats rejected it. So don't 
blame us if you make another website.
  All right. Here is an amendment offered by our Budget ranking member, 
Jason Smith. Is Jason still here? You know what? Somebody call Jason on 
the phone and wake him up. It is not very often I talk about him, in a 
positive sense, too.
  He is a really nice guy, Madam Speaker, you need to meet him.
  Okay. He is from Missouri, works hard. Helping hardworking families. 
Who is opposed to that? That would means test--means test, that is 
good, right?
  So you make sure--I mean, you would be embarrassed if you spent so 
much money in here and it just went to the millionaires because what 
would happen is, in the election, people would say, wait a minute. You 
said that wasn't going to happen. So here is Jason helping you out.
  It would means test the new paid leave benefit, limiting it to 
families with incomes under $100,000. I think that is pretty good, 
wouldn't you?
  I mean, I know, Madam Speaker, you raised the limit now to $800,000 
for those people to be able to have taxpayers benefit them for buying a 
Tesla. So I don't know, you may be upset with this; it is just limiting 
it at $100,000.
  And guarantee a minimum benefit for lower-income families. So what 
you are doing is, you are guaranteeing the benefit for the lower-income 
families. Isn't that what we want to do? We want to help the needy, 
right? And if somebody doesn't need it, why should they get it?
  Under the bill as it was marked up, the Democrat program would 
benefit substantial benefits to families--get this: Did you know this? 
Oh, my God.
  The bill you are going to vote for, listen to this, it is going to 
benefit families with incomes up to $500,000. Oh, my God.
  So you are hiring the 87,000 IRS agents to go after that poor husband 
and wife working so hard making $75,000 to give the benefit to them. 
Man, Jason was really trying to help you. But it wouldn't guarantee any 
minimum benefit to families on the low end. You are not even 
guaranteeing to those who need it.
  Man, it is anticipation, huh? You are wondering what happened. It was 
rejected. It was rejected.
  You know what is interesting? These would be good things to show to 
constituents for those who thought this wasn't good, because it would 
help them with those making $500,000. It really would. It really would.
  Okay. Here we go. Here is another amendment in Ways and Means by a

[[Page H6654]]

Member that would limit benefits to one caregiver per household for the 
same caregiving days. Okay. Let's think about that. That's kind of 
accountability, right?
  Should the Federal Government pay more than one caregiver on the same 
caregiving day? That would seem like it would be fraud, would it not? 
You would think.
  It was rejected. You know these Members never talked to me ahead of 
time, but they were really helping you out. I am surprised you didn't 
take some of these.
  Lloyd Smucker, Pennsylvania 11. You know, I was just in his district 
the other day. We were in a barn that the Amish built; every walk of 
life in there. I wish you would have gone with me. I think had you gone 
with me you probably wouldn't vote for the bill. These are hardworking 
people.
  Now, he wants to strengthen our workforce. You know, he had nothing, 
he had no money, going to school, borrows $1,000 and creates a 
construction company that is putting up ply board; builds it into 
something more. So he knows about the workforce.
  Now, that would require individuals to be employed in the last 30 
days, and have an earnings history in at least four of the last 5 
quarters in order to qualify for paid leave benefits.
  Now, that is really giving accountability to the taxpayer, would it 
not? I mean, we want a healthy people. Is it too much to ask, have you 
been employed in the last 30 days? I guess for the Democrats it 
doesn't.
  Oh, here is Brad Wenstrup. Madam Speaker, you do need to meet Brad 
Wenstrup. I will tell you a quick story. He is out of Ohio 2.
  He joined the military late. He served overseas. He is a doctor. He 
has a servant's heart. He is an athlete. He plays baseball. And any 
time you see   Steve Scalise, it is because of Brad Wenstrup.
  The moment he ran onto that field once that shooter was stopped, he 
saved his life. Why? Because he served in theater. He knew what that 
looked like. And I will tell you, that night, I went to the hospital, I 
waited for Jennifer Scalise to come up. Kevin Brady and I wrote, with 
the doctor, the press release.
  And I will tell you this, it is a miracle that Steve is alive.
  On my way home, Brad called me. Many of you called me; I gave you a 
whole different impression. Oh, he is fine. He is fine.
  Brad was the one you couldn't say that to. He saw him. He knows how 
much blood he lost. He knows where the shrapnel was.
  Steve Scalise has possibly the greatest strength. When I watched 
Jennifer Scalise--I don't know if I shared this with you before, but 
Steve and I have been friends long before we ever came to Congress. We 
were in Young Republicans together. I was actually at his swearing in 
for the State Senate in Louisiana.
  Brad Wenstrup, amazing man. He is here for all the right reasons. He 
has little Brad, cutest little guy. Little Brad likes to wear a uniform 
like his dad. He will bring him on the floor sometimes. Come say hi.
  Now, his is stopping taxpayer theft. Now who could be opposed to 
that? That would stop the greatest theft of taxpayer dollars in our 
lifetime.
  Now, I believe--I am no pollster, but I don't believe any party--I 
believe they would all support this. If you are going to take 
hardworking taxpayer money, they don't want it stolen.
  As written, the Democrat socialist spending bill--who would have 
thought this--includes a lot of loopholes. I wonder if they are going 
to talk about those in Puerto Rico.
  Madam Speaker, that would be interesting. Madam Speaker, I wonder--
and I don't have any facts here, but if it is a fundraiser in Puerto 
Rico, and there are lobbyists down there, would they celebrate if they 
got a loophole? That was never in Schoolhouse Rock.
  It includes a lot of loopholes that could be easily exploited. We 
don't want that. Republicans identified these vulnerabilities and tried 
to introduce amendments that would have strengthened the eligibility 
requirements by requiring a simple proof of identification and 
certification.
  Whoa. How rough is Brad? A simple proof of identification to get 
taxpayer money? Geez.
  You can't eat in New York without showing your COVID ID.

                              {time}  0420

  I can't fly here each week without showing my ID. The gall of Brad. 
The gall of Brad.
  Remember, Madam Speaker, I talked about all of that fraud in 
California. I think this would help. I don't know if you guessed. You 
all voted it down.
  Now to my friend across from me, Kevin Hern, from Oklahoma's First 
District. I don't know if you ever met Kevin. Kevin is one of those 
guys that is an entrepreneur, takes a risk. He is this guy right here.
  Do you know what we should do? We should do like a block party, and 
we should meet each other. Wouldn't that be better?
  I appreciate the times I got to eat dinner with you. I really do. You 
taught me how to do a townhall meeting. I am serious. And when we went 
through Israel together and you brought your sister, I thought that was 
fabulous. Oh, yeah, I remember. I think that is what America wants us 
to do. I really do.
  I will tell you what. Madam Speaker, you and I can do this because we 
are from California. Let's have like potluck dinners because we could 
get to know each other's district. I have a conference room in there. 
We don't have to do everybody at once because we want to spend time.
  Now, the only thing, it is going to cost us more. You know, 
inflation. But do you know what the good news is? You don't have to 
drive to it. I am saving you on gas.
  Kevin Hern, that American Dream of owning a McDonald's, he had to go 
through the pandemic. He knows what it was like. He knows what it is to 
try to hire somebody. Now, his amendment would protect Americans' 
existing paid family and medical leave plans and prevent unfairly 
forcing the middle class to subsidize corporations' paid leave plans.
  Here is a guy who worked--and think about his workforce. They are 
young. He is mentoring them. One of our last Speakers worked in a 
McDonald's, Paul Ryan. He is trying to look out for the little guy and 
gal. I won't keep you in suspense any longer. It was rejected.
  Now, here we go with Kevin Brady. I can't believe he left us. This is 
bipartisan retirement options and Main Street protection--this is 
important for people--that would restore the bipartisan agreement in 
H.R. 2954 in the 117th Congress. Well, that wasn't very long ago, and 
we both agreed upon it. Let's find out what it does.
  As reported by the Committee on Ways and Means by a voice vote, it 
protected small businesses from a new Federal retirement mandate. I 
wonder what changed. One party, one rule, 1 year.
  Here is an amendment offered by Vern Buchanan. That is who you really 
want to meet. It is small business protection. This guy started with 
nothing. He made a copy company, expanded it. That would exempt from 
the Federal retirement mandate excise tax on small businesses with 50 
or fewer employees.
  Well, that is pretty good, right? These are the people just trying to 
start out. They should not be held to the same standard as some big 
corporation because it is going to put them out of business. I bet a 
Democrat probably cosponsored this. Let's see.
  Oh, it gets better: minority-owned businesses, women-owned 
businesses, and veteran-owned businesses. Now, as written, the Democrat 
bill would apply to any firm with six or more employees. Whoa, whoa.
  Remember what happened with ObamaCare? You put that 50 in, and you 
crushed so many businesses. Now you are going after businesses with 
just six employees. Friends, I am sorry. I don't think the incubator is 
going to make it.
  The smallest employers lack the financial and logistic ability to 
provide retirement benefits, and paying the penalty will often be 
cheaper.
  Man, I wonder where you got that idea? Remember, in ObamaCare, you 
said if they didn't get it, you would just penalize them. It was 
cheaper, and everybody just took the penalty.
  Madam Speaker, you really have to get some new people working on 
these bills. They are regenerating bad, old ideas.

[[Page H6655]]

  The Republicans' amendment would have, instead, provided for the 
retirement support package included in the bipartisan SECURE 2.0 
legislation.
  That dang Vern. He went back to something we both agreed upon and 
offered it to you, but now you are one-party rule so you said no. That 
is interesting. You support it one day, but the next day, no, don't 
even let us look at them.
  Whoa, listen to this one: protecting workers from financial 
predators. They would strike the requirement that employers must offer 
employees the option to take half of their retirement account as 
annuities. This requirement creates a large burden on employees to set 
up these financial contracts, which at a low-dollar value will end up 
being a bad deal for retirees who rely on this for their retirement 
income.

  Why can't we let the employee have more choice? We want to determine 
that everybody makes the same amount? The Democrats rejected that.
  An amendment offered by the ranking member of Ways and Means, Kevin 
Brady: No new mandates from Washington. Whoa, that would be great.
  Now, that Kevin, do you know what he is doing? He is offering a 
bipartisan auto-enrollment that passed the House, where Republicans and 
Democrats both voted for it. But do you know what changed? One-party 
rule. They voted it down.
  Here is Jackie. She is so optimistic. She didn't quit defending 
worker paycheck and family choice. Gosh, she keeps fighting for the 
families, doesn't she? That would strike the Democrats' government 
takeover of childcare, which would increase costs for families, and 
instead insert an alternative which would improve the child care tax 
credit and provide flexibility for families to arrange for the type of 
childcare that is best suited for their family.
  Now, why would Jackie think about that? Madam Speaker, if your party 
does not believe parents have a say in their education, you definitely 
don't believe that parents have a say in their childcare. It has to be 
one size fits all, so you rejected it.
  Protecting taxpayers from wasteful duplication is a positive thing. 
Do you know how much duplication there is in government? People hate 
that. That would keep States from receiving more unnecessary government 
spending. The amendment would have required States to spend down their 
ARP childcare dollars before receiving new funds under this bill. Well, 
that is pretty smart. Make them spend their money before you give them 
more.
  Here is   Mike Kelly back at it. Mike went to Notre Dame. Not all of 
us could play for Alabama. If you want to find Mike in the morning, 
even if he is up late, he will be down at Mass. He never misses. I 
respect that man.
  His amendment is the religious freedom amendment. It is personal to 
him. It is personal to a lot of his friends. It would prevent 
discrimination against faith-based childcare providers.

                              {time}  0430

  Look, I remember when my kids were young. When we played sporting 
events and others, we went to the church. Why? Because we knew 
everybody. They knew us. We knew what was being taught. Isn't that 
interesting?
  I would hate for government to get in the way of raising your 
children with faith. Wouldn't that go against the founding of our 
country? I am not a history major, but weren't there a lot of people 
that helped found the country because of religious freedom? Surely, we 
can't change that now.
  The Democrat bill includes a constitutionally questionable 
prohibition on religious-affiliated childcare providers from receiving 
funds under the bill. Whoa. Did you know that, Madam Speaker?
  So what is going to happen here to those churches? They don't do it 
for profit. They do it because their congregation needs it.
  Do you know how many people I know that are single parents that take 
a second job so their children can go to a faith-based school for 
childcare? Do you know how many work in the church so they can get a 
discount? I guess it is rules for thee but not for me. The government 
is going to pick.
  You know, I told this story early on about some Senators that went on 
a codel to China, and this general came and lectured them. It hadn't 
happened before. He looked these U.S. Senators in the eyes, and he 
said, ``America is weak because you believe in God, and you take 
fentanyl.'' I don't know, if China reads this bill, they might not 
think we believe in God anymore.
  This could carve out the most popular and trusted options for working 
parents. The amendment would have struck the prohibition. You know what 
that would do? It would allow the parent to decide.
  Now, I don't know if this came up in the Virginia Governor's race, 
too, but it smacks of the exact same philosophy and principle. You can 
have the children, but government is going to raise them, and you have 
no say.
  I am not sure, I don't want to put words in anybody's mouth, Madam 
Speaker, but when I heard the chairman of Ways and Means was real 
excited and said we were going to grow the bureaucracy, I am not sure 
if he was referring to this, but it meets that criteria.
  Here's an amendment by Drew Ferguson from Georgia. He is supporting 
women-owned and minority-owned businesses over bureaucrats. He is 
picking the right side. That would provide $1 billion to HHS to support 
five new childcare grant programs.
  Well, that is pretty good, right? You provide that grant so they can 
start these childcare programs. That helps the economy, too. I don't 
know, maybe if a Democrat offered that, it would have been accepted. 
But it got rejected.
  All right, I have got to read one from Jodey Arrington. He works too 
hard, and he would be upset if I didn't. TAA for energy workers. You 
see, Jodey is from Texas.
  I don't know if you have met him yet, Madam Speaker. Nice guy. He 
will talk a lot, but nice guy. Spend some time with him, though. He is 
passionate. He is passionate. You know, he served in the administration 
before. He's got young kids, a beautiful wife. He is out not far from 
August. This is the energy-producing part of Texas. So he sees the 
families that are getting hurt.
  Now, this would provide assistance to communities and blue-collar 
workers harmed by President Biden's cancelation of the Keystone XL 
pipeline. I would think the President would even lean into this because 
he promised those union workers. They endorsed him, they walked for 
him. He said he was going to take care of them.
  This one probably went big. On day one of his administration, 
President Biden canceled the Keystone pipeline, resulting in thousands 
of blue-collar workers losing their jobs. That is okay, the government 
will still see them, they will audit them. The amendment would have 
allowed those workers who lost their jobs to this political decision to 
TAA benefits. Don't you think that is fair?
  Because they didn't lose their jobs because they didn't work hard. 
They lost their job because one man became President on January 20. And 
by one stroke of the pen--it wasn't anything voted on in here. You 
didn't need to defend that.
  Madam Speaker, I see friends over there from Texas. They know what is 
happening in the oil fields. They know people need help, and I know 
that. I have seen them work hard for them.
  Now, here is an amendment offered by Carol Miller. She is a fabulous 
lady, great grandma. You know she raised buffalo? She is tough. Small 
business.
  You know what is interesting in West Virginia? She would probably be 
a good person to talk to on a political basis because West Virginia 
used to be all Democrats, and she ran, and she won. There was only a 
couple of them, now they are heavily in the majority. If you ask her 
what happened, it was Democratic policies. People changed. It is kind 
of like what happened 2 weeks ago.

  This is combating maternal mortality that would take the funding from 
the ineffective Health Professional Opportunity Grants, that program, 
and put it towards funding for mothers in poverty. Man. So you take a 
program that is failing, and let's use that money for women in poverty. 
And even more, domestic violence prevention as part of the Maternal, 
Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. Who could be opposed 
to that? The majority.
  All right. I see Adrian Smith here, Madam Speaker. Have you met him 
yet? We came in together. Adrian,

[[Page H6656]]

great guy. I was at his wedding. I was going to sing, but I can't sing. 
But I did a reading.
  I don't know, if you want to see some of the cutest kids. He has got 
this beautiful son; he just adopted this beautiful daughter. We were 
actually roommates for a while, but he got married and kicked me out. 
When we ran for office, he got the President and Air Force One to come 
campaign for him. I didn't get anything. I don't think they liked me. 
He got on Ways and Means. I didn't. It was tough. It was tough.
  His mom and dad are great people. Great people. His brother, a State 
Farm agent, great kids. Kids went to Liberty, got married, some live 
here. It is good to meet people we work with. It is good friends you 
make, lifetime. Lifetime.
  You know, he is Scottsbluff. I don't know if you have ever been to 
Scottsbluff. It is in Nebraska. If he gives you his business card, 
Nebraska only has three congressional seats. There is Omaha, there is 
Lincoln, and then there is all Adrian. He has got a big district, big 
district. He wins by big margins. They like him there.
  Let me tell you what he did. He wanted to lower costs for seniors 
with chronic conditions that would require patients' exposure to 
supplemental benefit cost to be no more than that of the average 
Medicare Advantage plan for enrollees with chronic conditions. Well, 
that is reasonable. They voted it down.
  Madam Speaker, I will give you one other idea, if you walk up to 
Adrian, don't tell him I told you to say this. Just talk about horses. 
He likes to talk about horses.

                              {time}  0440

  What else do we have here? My eyesight is going. Don't worry, I don't 
have that much. I just have to get to a certain time. There is a 
record. I am competitive. You know what is the hardest part of this? I 
can't tell you.
  Now, this is by Ron Estes. Now, Ron is another guy that I met before 
we ever came to Congress. You know, he was in the Young Republicans 
from Kansas, and his wife, Susan, oh, my God, fabulous. He comes from 
Wichita. I am going to be there next week. So I don't know if you're 
listening but come on down and see me.
  So Ron, before he got here, he was State-wide elected. He is really 
focused. He is a treasure. This guy knows how to do stuff.
  Keep our promise to seniors. Now, who could be opposed to that?
  That would prevent cuts to benefits for seniors should the Medicare 
Trust Fund run out.
  Whoa. Are you telling me the Democrats voted to cut benefits to 
seniors if the Medicare Trust Fund runs out? Whoa, I don't think they 
knew what they were voting on.
  Look, I don't know what is going to happen, but I bet you that is 
going to be a mailer.
  An amendment by   David Schweikert. This guy is smart. Smart. Always 
thinking. Oh, my gosh. Madam Speaker, I don't mean to keep bothering 
you, but this one is good.   David Schweikert is one of those 
individuals that God touched. He was adopted. He has the most beautiful 
daughter, Olivia. And do you know who her favorite Congressman is? Me. 
I am not teasing. You come to my office; you'll see the picture. If you 
see her on the floor, she will run up to me. I have never seen a child 
like this laugh. Have you spent any time with Olivia? My God. Sweetest 
thing. And when she comes here, she comes to my office. She sits on the 
couch.
  Now, I am going to be in Arizona, too, in another week, and I hope I 
get to see Olivia. But   David Schweikert, this is an idea guy. He was 
just in my office tonight. He walked in, and he says, I have another 
idea for you. But he is fabulous. He has all these ideas. That is what 
this body should be about.
  Now, this one he says, true priorities. It would invest in cures, 
development, and research at the National Institutes of Health.
  Whoa, that sounds pretty good, right? Think about the pandemic. Think 
about what we have been going through.
  Now, what is it going to invest in? Diabetes, minority health, and 
health disparities, maternal mortality, and postpartum care. This is   
David Schweikert. Does not seem self-serving there. Do you know what 
else? Cancer and Alzheimer's and other diseases affecting the brain. Do 
you know, if we cured cancer and Alzheimer's, we would do a lot for 
people's lives? It would also do a lot for the budget.
  You know,   David Schweikert and I, he is in Arizona and I am in 
California. You have a little of this, too, in your district, and if 
you want to join us, you can.
  We have a Valley Fever Caucus. Now, Valley fever is an orphan 
disease. And the hard part is people don't know when they get it, they 
think they just have the flu, but it comes from the spores of the Earth 
and the dirt, right? And two-thirds of all of it is in David's and my 
district. And we got together, and we were thinking, and we created a 
symposium. And do you know, the director of NIH, the director of CDC 
came to the district, and we had a townhall meeting. And here are some 
of the brightest minds. And I said, whoa, we didn't know it was this 
big. Afterwards they invested $7 million to see how best to treat it, 
because an orphan disease, they really don't want to work with, and 
David and I have worked really hard on this. And it is not just people 
who get it, animals get it. And so there is a vaccine that is being 
tested for dogs right now. But it can kill you.
  And what happens is you could be driving through our district, a 
spore could come through the air conditioner and go inside, you never 
know, you go back to New York, and the doctor would never know to look 
for it because they don't know. So we have got to bring awareness to 
it. And David works hard on that. He really does.
  Okay.   Tom Reed. I remember Tom. Have you guys ever met Tom? He is 
going to retire after the end of this term, but he came in from New 
York, came in the majority, serves on Ways and Means, really good man.
  He has a son and a daughter. His son has some health issues. His son, 
when he was young, would come down to the gym and we would play ping-
pong. His wife, she is fabulous.
  Now, Tom has no tax shelters for Ivy League elites. That is right up 
your alley, right? That is right up your alley. Let's make sure this 
bill is not going to help Ivy League elites.
  Now, I know you made a mistake, and you are helping those $500,000 
people and those 800,000, but this time you have a chance to correct 
it. Now, this would strike out the carveout for the college endowment 
anti-abuse tax.

  The change proposed in the Democrat bill would carve the highest cost 
schools that inflate tuition and aid amounts back out of the endowment 
tax. That is dirty. That is not right.
  It was enacted by the Republican-led Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to ensure 
that endowments were being used to fund their charitable purposes of 
educating students, not simply as tax shelters for donors, pet 
projects, and vanity buildings. Now, how many of us--these Ivy Leagues, 
do you know how much money they have in their endowments? We are 
talking billions.
  The first moment I found out that I was going to have a son, I don't 
have wealth, but I believe what Einstein told me: There is only one 
miracle in this world, the compounding of interest. I don't think I was 
making more than $35,000 a year. I started taking $50 every time, and I 
bought this mutual fund. And by the time Connor could make it to 
college--I wanted him to go to any college he could get into. Smart 
kid. Good kid. Proud of him. He and Meghan, God blessed us 
tremendously. I tried to talk him out of going to Georgetown. I said, 
Why do you want to go there? Why don't you go to a California school? I 
have enough money saved up. We were able to scrounge and put together--
and we were fortunate his grandmother gave him some money one time. We 
had about $150,000. And this was important to us because we had to pay 
our own way through college. I wanted something better for my son and 
daughter.
  So we went and we toured all these campuses. But I remember when we 
walked through Georgetown, he said this is where he was meant to be. So 
I said, okay. And do you know it was a great decision. I believe you 
end up at the college you are supposed to be. It is tough. It is tough 
on parents. It is tough on students. You get rejected or something 
else. That wasn't enough money. I am still paying on a $90,000

[[Page H6657]]

loan. He is a smart kid. He got scholarships. He got help. Every year 
it went up higher. Every year.
  So if these Ivy Leagues are telling their donors they are going to 
help the kids who can't afford it, we are going to be the great 
equalizer. We are going to allow people who have never been to the Ivy 
League not to be stopped by their brain but the dollar.

                              {time}  0450

  But now, we find out they're not using it for that. They use it for 
tax shelters, for pet projects, for vanity buildings.
  Madam Speaker, I don't know, but is there somebody lobbying for these 
people? Because that would be wrong. That would be wrong.
  Madam Speaker, I am going to chock this up that you guys didn't even 
know this was in here. I can't believe you would vote against that. Now 
if you want, now that I have explained it, it only takes five to say, 
Whoa, whoa. We could still go to Puerto Rico. Let's just add this in. 
It is okay.
  Don't worry, Tom is retiring. He is not going to use it for 
campaigns. He is just using it because it is good policy. I am giving 
Committee on Ways and Means a lot of attention. I need to--let's see.
  All right. This is a good one. I am going to give Adrian another one:
  Cancer cures instead of SALT tax shelters for millionaires.
  Whoa, I bet you this is what Jared was talking about. You see, Jared 
doesn't even serve on the Committee on Ways and Means. Did you tell him 
about this?
  Now, this would make permanent the SALT deduction cap for 
millionaires. Because I remember, I listened. I listened closely. That 
this bill was going to help those under $400,000. Now, don't take my 
words.
  Madam Speaker, surely you know Jared Golden. He is in your 
conference. Have you talked to him today? He has been reading the bill. 
He is pretty concerned about it. He literally was shocked. He makes a 
quote, and I may not get it right, so don't hold me to it, but he said, 
If you would have told me a year ago that the second most amount of 
money in this thing was going to go to millionaires, I would have said 
you guys were Republicans.
  No, no, no, no. You are a one-party rule in 1 year. I can't believe 
it. They rejected it. We will bring it up next year, Adrian.
  All right. Hold on. I got to thank staff for putting this all 
together. Not bad.
  Oh, here is a good one. John Curtis, what a nice man.
  Madam Speaker, if you meet   John Curtis, he is a former mayor, 
transformed his city. He will bring you a pair of socks. He is 
literally one of the nicest men you would ever meet; he is from Utah. 
He works across the aisle; he cares about so much stuff. He is on the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce, great committee, important committee.
  Now, this amendment that would prevent millionaires--and there is 
that word again, millionaires, I think they are sneaking into your 
bill--prevent millionaires from receiving taxpayer dollars to replace 
their plumbing. Holy moly.
  Now, I don't know if you met Markwayne back here, but this guy is a 
plumber; a pretty good one. Madam Speaker, if you ask Markwayne--I got 
to highlight him for a second. He is an amazing guy. I don't know if 
they opened the gym back up, but we do a bipartisan workout. He is a 
former cage fighter. He teaches me boxing at night.
  I want to brag on myself. Is it okay if I brag on myself?
  So we were boxing. The rule was you can't hit me in the face, and I 
could try to hit him anywhere. The boxing match had to stop. You know 
why? His nose was bleeding. Not bad, right? He scratched it on my 
glove. But think about this, on a very serious note, I will give 100 
bucks to anybody in Congress that can tell me they knew millionaires 
were going to get money for their plumbing. That is outrageous. Well, 
they need plumbing, too, I guess.
  I didn't finish about Markwayne. You know, I met Markwayne when he 
first came in. And on his very first day, he missed his first vote. I 
had to call him back to come in. And Christie, his wife, oh, she is a 
saint. Now this has been written about in a lot of magazines. What 
magazine, Markwayne? Women's Health? What was it? The story of your 
daughters. Well, I know it better than he does.
  So I met him, he has these two wonderful boys, when he first came 
here--and a daughter. And, oh, my gosh, if you see the two twins. You 
see, these two twins were related to him but they weren't his. And they 
were being raised by separate grandparents. And here is Markwayne 
coming to D.C., Christie is back there working on everything. And she 
kept asking Markwayne, Let's adopt these two. Markwayne said, Oh, that 
is hard, that is hard.
  You know what Christie did? She came to him one day and she didn't 
ask that. She just said, Markwayne, I want you to pray about it. 
Markwayne looks at me--I am still the before guy; he is the after. We 
were working out late one night--if you wonder how that mirror in the 
gym got broke, we dropped a weight one night.

  But what am I going to say? Dear God, make me selfish? Those two 
little girls, sometimes you will sit here and they jump into your 
heart, just there. But that wasn't the only thing. You see, Markwayne 
is a good wrestler, too. His boys, Jim, oh, my gosh.
  And I got to spend a lot of time with Jim and Markwayne because Jim 
had an accident in wrestling that could have killed him. Took the 
oxygen out from his brain. And you know what? One week, I think he was 
in Kansas. I just happened to call him that morning to check on him. I 
said, Markwayne, it just so happens the best brain rehabilitation 
center happens to be in Bakersfield, California. It was almost like it 
was just on my heart.
  He got in that camper and he drove all the way to California. And I 
am not telling personal stories. They put this out and it has been in 
magazines. But I am just so proud of Jim. When Jim first got there, 
this is an elite athlete. This kid was only a freshman or sophomore but 
colleges were looking at him. And he couldn't touch his toes. He 
couldn't remember anything he read. You would never know it today.
  And I remember the first time he was reading a Bible verse and he 
could remember. Well, Jim had some other friends who wrestled, too. And 
this guy, he is a year younger than Jim. I don't know why things 
happen, but his father got sick; his father died. It is Markwayne and 
Christie, with a good number of kids, didn't bat an eye and brought 
them right back into the family.
  Madam Speaker, these are the people we work with. These are the 
people sometimes that the press tries to demonize without ever telling 
the true story behind something or the passion of why.
  If he gets a phone call from a woman with young kids stuck in 
Afghanistan that he would risk his own life, but his own country 
attacked him for it. He has a giving heart. He really does. He really, 
really does.
  All right. Who didn't I--there has got to be somebody. Who has been 
sitting the whole time that didn't get one read?

                              {time}  0500

  Let's do   Greg Pence. He is not here, is he? He needs his sleep. 
Greg is a very good guy. His wife is hilarious. His kids are great. He 
is on the Energy and Commerce Committee. He offered an amendment that 
would ensure policies in this bill would not lead to job losses or 
transition to lower paying jobs. Who could be opposed to that? The 
majority.
  Gary Palmer. Nobody works harder. He is the head of our policy. I 
don't know if you know the background for Gary. He played for Alabama 
football, Bear Bryant. Pretty impressive. He ran think tanks for years, 
so it is ideal to be a Member of Congress. His whole life is trying to 
find solutions.
  His amendment that he offered would require funds to be used on 
domestically produced critical minerals. Whoa. This guy is thinking in 
the future, is he not?
  This bill is going to empower China, but he is now thinking about the 
children's children so we could have the critical minerals.
  Madam Speaker, I would actually like to work with any Democrat that 
wants to work on critical minerals. I think it is very important, 
really important.

[[Page H6658]]

  Debbie Lesko. If you spend some time with Debbie, take her to dinner. 
I am not going to share it here, but just have her tell you her story 
of growing up. There is no stronger woman than Debbie Lesko.
  Her amendment would prohibit funds from going to entities tied to the 
Chinese Communist Party. Come on. Seriously? I am serious. This is an 
amendment that was rejected. I should have started with this one from 
the very beginning. That has to get five votes to say ``no.'' It has 
just got to.
  Seriously, if you vote for this bill, there is nothing that prohibits 
it for the Chinese Communist Party. Let me tell you this. When you 
spend $5 trillion, that party is going to be celebrating. Unbelievable. 
Unbelievable.
  I want to apologize to the staff. You do a great job. I owe you 
another dinner. We might make her pay if I win the bet. You are working 
late. You didn't count on this. Personally, I didn't think I could go 
this long.
  Madam Speaker, my 1 minute is almost up. Madam Speaker and 
Parliamentarian, is there any way that you can verify--I guess you 
can't say that because that would be past a minute. How far over? I can 
still tell some family stories.
  No. I will not yield. I am not trying to be rude. You are trying to 
trick me. I watched ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'' I just need the 
Boy Scouts. It is important.
  I am a competitive guy. I am a competitive guy.
  Madam Speaker, this 1 minute feels almost like 8 hours now. I want to 
thank my colleagues for standing with me, for standing with their 
constituents, as we do everything in our power to stop this bill.
  I hope the American public learned a little more. I hope my 
colleagues did, too. While it has been a long night for many of us who 
have been on this floor, my Democratic colleagues chose to handle this 
debate differently.
  There have been good moments and bad. I just never thought power 
would go so far as to tell another Member where they can look. Maybe he 
was having a bad night.
  I want to thank my colleagues on the other side for being here. I 
have enjoyed your company. I probably owe you dinner, too. Will you get 
in trouble if you have dinner with me? We don't have to tell people. 
You can pick the restaurant.
  Democrats were so unnerved with the truth behind this bill they 
booed, they yelled, they heckled, they even mocked me. Quite honestly, 
it was shameful behavior. It was shameful. I am not sure, but if it was 
on the other side, they probably would have lost their committees.
  Not long after that, Speaker Pelosi heard enough of how this bill 
will hurt hardworking Americans. She came to this floor and directed 
her Members to leave. Why are we afraid of debate? Why are we afraid to 
learn? I imagine there are Members--they are not on all the same 
committees. They didn't know they were funding the Communist Party. 
They didn't know they were paying for millionaires' plumbing. They may 
change their votes.
  Maybe that is why the CBO says it costs so much. Could you only 
imagine some senior paying a lot for their heating, but choosing not 
to, and some millionaire getting their plumbing paid for. It just 
doesn't seem fair to me. It just doesn't seem fair.
  She decided it wasn't worth their time to hear how their fellow 
Americans would be affected by this bill. That is exactly what the 
Democrats don't understand. It is not about them. It is about you, the 
American people.
  This is the longest 1 minute I have ever given. It is the longest 1 
minute ever given in this body. There is a reason why. This is a 
tipping point. This is a point of not coming back from. The American 
people have spoken, but unfortunately, Madam Speaker, the Democrats 
have not listened.
  I tried to stick to the facts. I did not yell back when someone told 
me I couldn't look at them or when they heckled me. I simply asked the 
Speaker that the House was not in order. I don't know if he set a 
record this night, but I imagine it came close, to try to get the House 
in order.
  There have been times in people's lives when they act emotionally, 
when they don't want to hear the truth coming at them. I don't know if 
that is the reason why they acted the way they did; it could be.

                              {time}  0510

  I don't believe there is ill will. I won't bring a censure. I am not 
sure if they will be back here next time.
  Madam Speaker, this evening showed that no matter the time, the day, 
or the circumstances, House Republicans will always fight for you, 
fight for your family, and fight our country.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Jacobs of California). Pursuant to 
clause 1(c) of rule XIX, further consideration of H.R. 5376 is 
postponed.

                          ____________________