[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 190 (Wednesday, December 7, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H8813-H8818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REPUBLICAN CONTROL WILL PROVIDE ACCOUNTABILITY AND PRODUCE RESULTS
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick).
Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 4, 2021, the
gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) is recognized for 60 minutes as
the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that
all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special
Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Louisiana?
There was no objection.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friends
for joining us on the floor tonight at this late hour. It has been a
long day on Capitol Hill, but there are things that need to be said
here.
It is December again, and of course that means that we are in the
homestretch of a new Congress, this Congress, the 117th. The
homestretch of any Congress, as we know, is when the threat of bad
legislating is at its most pronounced. We have certainly seen all that
here this week.
Government appropriations have been taken hostage by Democrats who
want to spend even more. They seem to have forgotten about the
trillions of dollars that have already been spent earlier this year.
The NDAA has been taken hostage just today by Democrats who think the
right to vote is under some sort of secret threat. I guess they didn't
pay attention to the massive voter turnout in Georgia just yesterday.
Here tonight, they rushed through a rule to codify same-sex marriage
and create a private right of action that will vilify and supercharge
attacks on people of faith.
Madam Speaker, this lame duck session is doing serious and lasting
harm to our Republic, and I guess it is a fitting end to this--what
really has been a disastrous Congress overall under Democrat rule. We
have with trillions upon trillions in government spending, sending
inflation for all American families soaring.
We have had votes on immensely consequential, complex, thousand-plus-
page bills, handed to us just hours before those votes. We have had
Members dial into congressional hearings from their bedrooms and
basements and even while on vacation in Europe--proxy voting.
Thankfully, this is all about to come to an end, mercifully in less
than a month.
The American people have spoken and the American people have given
Republicans control of this body to provide accountability and produce
results.
Madam Speaker, this is a legislative body and it is high time for
this body to get back to the work that we are supposed to be doing for
the American people. Come January, that is exactly what we intend to
do.
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for joining us here today to
talk about all of it.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the great State of
Tennessee (Mr. Rose).
Mr. ROSE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for
yielding and for claiming the time this evening.
Madam Speaker, in 27 days, adherence to the constitutional principles
will be returned to this institution.
In 27 days, accountability will be returned to our government.
In 27 days, Republicans will take the majority in this Chamber,
secure the committee gavels, and begin the long climb to deliver a
strong economy, a safe Nation, a free future, and an accountable
government.
I say ``the long climb'' because over the course of the last 2 years
of one-party Democratic rule in Washington, America has lost its way.
We have seen trillions of hard-earned tax dollars and trillions
borrowed from the next generation wasted. We have seen our national
border overrun with millions of illegal immigrants and enough illicit
and deadly fentanyl to kill every American many times over.
After decades of trying, America finally successfully achieved energy
independence under the Trump administration. But in 2 years we have
seen this country driven back into the ditch of energy dependence on
foreign dictators and the high energy prices that come with it.
We have seen the funding of an army of 87,000 new IRS agents to go
after the middle-class, working Americans in this country, catastrophic
failures in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, and a justice
system targeting concerned parents, vaccine mandates damaging our
military readiness, unelected bureaucrats run amok in virtue signaling,
and Big Tech in cahoots with our government to stifle free speech for
half of the American citizenry.
That is a mind-boggling amount of damage over 2 short years, and even
a strong Nation like America can only take so much. But, thankfully,
the turnaround begins on January 3, 2023, when Republicans retake the
majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
All of these issues are vitally important to the good folks back in
my home of middle Tennessee. But I truly believe no issue is more
important than that of the right to free speech. George Washington
said, ``If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may
be led, like sheep to the slaughter.''
We recently learned that Twitter colluded with the Biden campaign and
allegedly the FBI to suppress damaging information to President Biden's
campaign. This only makes me wonder:
What else are these Big Tech companies hiding?
Soon enough, we will be able to find out.
Additionally, Securities and Exchange Commissioner Gary Gensler
appears to be on a mission to destroy our small farms and businesses.
He failed to provide proper oversight of crypto companies while cozying
up to the biggest crypto fraud of the last decade, all while not
appearing before the House Financial Services Committee in over 428
days.
Proper oversight will be on its way in 27 days.
Madam Speaker, for too long unelected bureaucrats have not had to
answer to the American people. Make no mistake: no stone will go
unturned in order to deliver the accountability the American people
truly deserve.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. That is
so well said. There are so many issues to cover.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess).
Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, he so quite correctly outlined some of
the difficulties facing Congress as we get to this end-of-the-year
crunch of legislation that has to pass before the end of the year.
There is no place where this is more pronounced than for our Nation's
doctors. The very people that we asked to get us through the pandemic,
the very people that we have asked to take care of us. And now we
arrive at the end of this Congress, and we say: Thank you for your
service, here is your pay cut. And they go: Wait, what? A paycheck.
The Surgeon General came to the Doctors Caucus earlier this year and
said he is concerned. He goes around and talks to doctors all over the
country, he is concerned about the level of burnout that he is seeing
in the Nation's physicians. He said he has never seen this before.
It really should not be a surprise. You work doctors and nurses day
and night during the pandemic, and then
[[Page H8814]]
you turn around and say, You know what, we don't value what you do. The
evidence for that is right as we barrel into the end of the year, there
are significant cuts to the physician fee schedule, sequesters, paygo,
budget neutrality requirements that in aggregate spell about an 8 to 9
percent reduction in payments for physicians.
For years, I fought to repeal the sustainable growth rate formula.
The sustainable growth rate formula was repealed in 2015. I thought,
hallelujah, we won't spend every December having to worry about how to
make our doctors whole because the formula has gone away.
But now through administrative actions and through budgetary
requirements, doctors are facing these pay cuts. So here we are in
another December trying to scramble together a doc fix so our doctors
can remain in practice.
But what makes this year so different and what makes this year so
devastating to the Nation's doctors is on top of the 8 to 9 percent
cuts in Medicare, they are facing 8 to 9 percent inflation. Nowhere
else in the Federal Government could you say, Hey, we are going to hold
you at level funding and not take into account the fact that the cost
of living adjustment--it would be a pay cut anywhere else.
Well, I will tell you this, it is a pay cut in your doctor's office,
and they are feeling it. The aggregate weight of these pay cuts is
going to be such that we will drive doctors out of practice. I hear
from docs all the time that they are going to have to close up shop.
What does that mean? It means further consolidation within the
healthcare industry. It means further hospital zoning physician
practices, private equity-only physician practices because we just
can't keep up with what the government is doing to us.
Now, there is a chance that something will happen before the end of
this year and stop these cuts before they are administered. But I will
tell you this, in the new Congress--in the next Congress--it is my
intention that we have to be very serious about tackling this problem
in our authorizing committees.
Madam Speaker, I am on the Committee of Energy and Commerce, I expect
that very early in the year we will be intentional about fixing this
problem because we can't find ourselves here in December of another
year where our docs are saying, We are at the end of our ropes, and we
just can't take it anymore.
This is a serious problem; it needs to be fixed. President Biden
would talk about, Hey, Republicans, they are going to cut your Social
Security and Medicare.
Well, Mr. President, you know who is cutting Medicare right now?
You are. It is your agency, and you won't stop it. Next Congress,
Republicans will.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the doctor for
highlighting that. It is such an important issue, and just one more
example of so much that has gone wrong here.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr.
Burchett).
Mr. BURCHETT. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about
immigration. The Democrats and the mainstream media need to take
responsibility for their cover-up of President Biden's border crisis.
The liberal media hasn't made a peep about the fact that over 4
million illegals have been encountered at our southern border since
President Biden took office. That is a record number, Madam Speaker, 4
million people. We have never seen this before.
They also kept the Biden administration's dirty little secret when it
started flying illegals into Knoxville, Chattanooga, and all over the
country in the dead of night without telling anyone, without telling
the State authorities, and definitely not telling the Congressman from
the Second Congressional District about it.
But then the media had a field day when Republican Governors sent a
few buses of illegals to New York and Martha's Vineyard. I kept waiting
for one of them to say, Buffy, quick, we have got illegals out here.
This administration is trying to keep us focused on things like
climate change and woke social programs instead of their disastrous
handling of our southern border. Of course, the media follows the
Democrats' lead like a lost puppy dog. They cover what the Democrats
want them to cover, and it is a shameful way to do journalism--a once
respectable occupation.
{time} 2030
It is a disgusting cover up of a very simple truth. We desperately
need to close the dadgum border, Madam Speaker, and strengthen our
immigration laws.
We need to reform our asylum system, which is a total joke, so
illegal immigrants aren't eligible if they travel through a safe third
country. We need to clarify in our laws that gang and domestic violence
are not grounds for asylum; those are grounds for moving neighborhoods,
not moving countries, Madam Speaker.
We also need to fully implement some policies like the Remain in
Mexico policy, which is a reasonable policy, and which is critical to
our national security, Madam Speaker.
Our liberal media need to stop kowtowing to the Democrats and start
reporting on the facts. The American people deserve to know what is
going on. And I guarantee you, the more they know, the more they will
demand these kind of real changes from the disastrous Biden
administration.
Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Johnson for his more-than-lackluster
attempt at democracy tonight. I, for one, enjoy it, and these young
people over here seem to be enjoying it themselves, all five of those
young people.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I really do have the honor
to yield next to a friend and colleague who will be retiring at the end
of this Congress.
Since 2005, he has represented the dozen counties stretching nearly
120 miles down Texas' eastern border with Louisiana. I represent one of
his neighboring districts over that border; and in our region and, in
fact, I can say nationwide, Congressman Louie Gohmert is a household
name.
Prior to his election to Congress 9 terms ago, he served as a
district judge in Texas, and Chief Justice of the Twelfth Court of
Appeals of Texas. He is also a captain in the U.S. Army. He served our
Nation bravely.
Judge Gohmert has been a bold defender of America's founding
principles his entire life and career; and whether he is leading a
debate in our House Judiciary Committee, or in the Natural Resources
Committee, or setting the example for all of us with his tireless
advocacy here on this House floor, Louie Gohmert has been a consummate
servant for the people and for our great Nation.
Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield to the gentleman from the great
State of Texas (Mr. Gohmert), my friend and my colleague.
Mr. GOHMERT. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Louisiana for his
kind comments. The truth is, he is one of the reasons I am comfortable
leaving.
There have been times when I was extremely concerned about people
standing up for what is right; whether it was standing up to our own
leadership or leadership of the country, including the White House,
leadership of our own party, or the other party. But I have been
encouraged; that is why I was willing to take a big chance on running
for office statewide, even though I got in so late.
That was a matter that I will not be able to save Texas from
suffering; but I have got great comfort here.
What does concern me greatly about our country, I think the bill that
was just--we took up the rule on just now, concerns me.
As I know my brother, Mike Johnson, knows and believes, as one of
the leaders I know here on the floor, Moses, we believe, got word
directly from God, and Moses passed that on, saying that a man shall
leave his father and mother and a woman leave her home and the two will
become one.
When Jesus was asked a question about marriage and divorce, he quoted
Moses verbatim. Jesus, of course, some people say, was a great teacher,
taught a lot of great things. But as C.S. Lewis pointed out, he said he
was God. He said he was one on with the Father. He said so many things
like that, it is very clear, he didn't have a choice to say he was a
good teacher because he was either a liar, a lunatic, or he was Lord,
as he said.
But the Founders, the huge majority of the Founders were not only
believers
[[Page H8815]]
in what Moses and Jesus taught, but they were strong practicing
Christians.
Nowadays, school children are taught, Ben Franklin was a deist,
someone who believes, basically, that some deity, something, some
force, created the universe, and if that deity, thing, force, whatever,
still exists today, it never interferes with the ways of men.
But if you go back to the Constitutional Convention, Ben Franklin
gave a speech when things looked like they had come to an end; they
were going to go no further. There was so much yelling and
disagreement.
Ben Franklin was recognized by the President of the Convention,
President George Washington, and he pointed out that they had had so
much disagreement over everything, and he said--he pointed back to the
Continental Congress, and he said: In the beginning contest with Great
Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this
room. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered.
That is not a deist saying those things. But he went on to say--and
these are His words. We know because the speech was so profound others
there asked him for a copy, and he sat down and wrote the speech and
everybody that heard it looked and said, yeah, that is exactly what he
said.
He went on to say, we know: I have lived, sir, a long time, and the
longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth. God
governs in the affairs of men; and if a sparrow cannot fall to the
ground without his notice, is it possible a nation could rise without
his aid?
He said: We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writing, that a
nation cannot rise without his aid; a home will not rise without his
aid. And he assured that this nation could not be built without his
aid.
In this book, ``Wall of Misconception,'' by Pastor Emeritus, former
head of the Presbyterian Seminary in Philadelphia, Peter Lillback, a
great historian, he points out that President Washington, in his first
inaugural address, frequently referred to the Almighty. His very first
act as President was to pray. Washington prayed that God would secure
the liberties of the new Nation.
He went on to say that no one should be more grateful to God than the
people of the United States of America in light of what God had done
for them throughout the war. Although the new nation had just gone
through the tumultuous time after the revolution of creating a new
civil government, the process fraught with sectional rivalries and
tensions was accomplished in a peacefully unique way that called for
pious gratitude--those were his words--since this implied even more
divine blessings to come.
The implication Washington drew from all of this was that America
could not expect the continuing ``smiles of heaven'' if the eternal
rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained were
disregarded.
We must remember that when Washington attended the Anglican churches
of his day, he, along with the congregation, recited the Ten
Commandments from the list behind the altar.
In Washington's historical context, ``the eternal rules of order and
right which heaven itself has ordained'' could only refer to the Ten
Commandments, given that this was the belief of almost every American
in Washington's day who read or heard his inaugural address.
Along with his solemn inaugural address that graced America's first
auspicious pageant of civil religion, Washington's inauguration
contributed other religious precedents.
He was sworn in as President with the use of the Bible. This Bible
has been sacredly kept by the Masons of New York City. The page where
Washington placed his hand for the oath of office was marked by the
turning down of the corner of the page. Interestingly, the marked page
is Genesis 49, the chapter where Jacob, the father of the sons of
Israel, bestows his blessings upon them.
By this time, Washington had long been called the ``Father of His
Country''. The parallel of the text in the inauguration was not
accidental.
Tradition has that he said, so help me God. That was not a written
part of the oath. Then he bent down and he kissed the Bible.
But the religious elements of Washington's inauguration were still
not complete. Next, he led the Congressmen and everyone else across the
street from Federal Hall to St. Paul's Chapel for a 2-hour service of
Christian worship to commit the new nation to God.
According to Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, she knelt with President
Washington as they received the Eucharist together. This is part of our
history. That was the very beginning.
It is interesting to note, as Jonathan Cahn did, that on 9/11, the
one building that was considered part of Ground Zero was not broken,
cracked, damaged whatsoever, was that very St. Paul's Chapel, where our
Nation was committed to God during that period in which all of the
Members of Congress, the President, Vice President Adams, they were all
there participating in that time of prayer and committing this Nation
to God, to the Almighty.
On visiting there, I was informed that the graveyard that is right
behind the chapel on the side facing the Twin Towers, that when they
fell, a huge tree, sycamore tree, at the back of the cemetery was
completely uprooted. Jonathan Cahn pointed this out.
But there, the proprietor, the caretaker said that tree fell across
all those graves and not one gravestone was cracked, broken, harmed in
any way, nor was the chapel, not even a window cracked. It was seen to
be a miracle the way that building where our Nation was first committed
to God was so very protected. Amazing, the history.
I know that there have been civilizations throughout history that
have recognized same-sex union. But if you do enough digging, you find
that when it came to actual marriage, that that was considered part of
having children and a family, as God had said, go forth and multiply.
That was considered--marriage was considered for having children and
building a family.
Yes, of course, you can build a wonderful family by adoption. Now we
are told that men can get pregnant. We wonder, you know, with the
incredible advances of medicine, just how much man will take on the
role of being his own God. It is a very dangerous thing because every
time a nation has gotten to that point, they didn't last much longer.
{time} 2045
If you want to attribute that to just nature or nature's God, as our
Founders did, then you have your choice, but it did not bode well for
such a Nation.
Now, back when the United States was a majority, a vast majority, of
strong Christians, leaders of the country could appeal to the Judeo-
Christian beliefs and the teachings of Moses, of the prophets, of Jesus
and the apostles in the New Testament. Those things could be appealed
to in the hearts of most Americans, and they would find great
reception.
Now, the polls, studies, and surveys indicate that a majority of
Americans do not attend church and do not seem to believe in a loving
God. The appeals, therefore, of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
an ordained Christian pastor, who appealed to the better nature in
America, that love was stronger than hate, and love could overcome
hate, and love would bring the Nation together.
But since there are so few now, most don't seem to have a common
agreement about the Judeo-Christian teaching that once overwhelmed the
Nation at a time early on, when Harvard was established, Yale was
established, basically to teach Christianity and educate people for a
great future.
In fact, if you go back and look at the pledge that students had to
make about their devotion to Jesus Christ, it is really staggering. But
that is how things were started. That was an amazing start for this
country.
Only a country that had turned its back on the teachings of Dr. King
and the person that Dr. King called his Lord and Savior could become so
hypocritical as we have as a Nation. We think, too often, we are God;
we know better than God; we know better than Moses.
I expect sometime that his bust depicted in the middle of this
Chamber as the greatest lawgiver of all time, somebody will complain
that needs to be taken down. Never mind the fact that
[[Page H8816]]
there are great lawgivers, like Hammurabi. Some have been talking about
the Code of Hammurabi and the Justinian code. Those are people who are
up there.
Most people are not aware Napoleon was a lawgiver through the
Napoleonic Code. Thomas Jefferson is up there. People hopefully are
aware he was not at the Constitutional Convention; he was representing
us in Europe. But he did help with the Northwest Ordinances and was in
Virginia. He helped with laws that became a helpful framework for our
Constitution and our laws.
Democrats preach long and loud that George W. Bush was not a
legitimate President, that he stole the election of 2000 and stole the
election of 2004. For that reason, they then objected to his election
on the House floor on January 6 not of 2021 but of 2001. Then there was
objection on this floor January 6 of 2005.
Although we sat here and waited for our chance to vote on the
counting of the electors, no one in here realized that, according to so
many Democrats today, when you object to electors, you are an election
denier, treasonous, and guilty of sedition. None of us suspected that
at the time that objections were made on the other side of the aisle.
In fact, on January 6, 2017, when we had 11 different objections from
Democrats saying that Trump stole the election, we didn't realize that,
according to the Democrats, the Democrats that objected were guilty of
treason and sedition and that they should really be run out of public
altogether and should not be allowed to participate in government. In
fact, they shouldn't be allowed to actually be seen out in public. It
was so despicable that their neighbors should reject them and run them
out of the neighborhood.
None of us on this side of the aisle--I remember--in 2005 and 2017,
we didn't realize what the Democrats are now telling us, that those
were acts of sedition and that they were showing themselves to be
election deniers. We thought that because the Democrats were following
the procedures that were set out in the Constitution, they were
following their beliefs and their constitutional rights. We didn't
dream that they were committing sedition and treason, as they are now
saying that apparently they were doing.
It was shocking to me that Democrats were alleging that Donald Trump
stole that election and that he stole it with the help of collusion
with Russia. We heard those claims. It took a while longer, after a
multimillion-dollar investigation that found nothing of the sort. Gee,
it turns out, as the investigation has gone on, that actually the
Democratic National Committee, the Clinton campaign, members of the
FBI, members of the DOJ, and the intel community were working in
conjunction first to prevent Donald Trump from getting elected and then
also working after he was elected to have him removed from office.
Now, most of us were upset on this side of the aisle with the
continued, ongoing, never-ending efforts to remove Donald Trump from
the office to which he was duly elected. But we didn't realize that the
Democrats' actions, according to their explanations now, amounted to
sedition, treason, a coup d'etat, and all of these other things we have
heard in the last 2 years.
It is shocking because I don't know of anybody on our side of the
aisle who realized that what was going on, on the other side of the
aisle, was actually an attempted coup and seditionist treason. We
didn't realize that because we hadn't heard from the Democrats until
the last 2 years that to raise such issues was exactly what they were
saying.
Now, they have even hypocritically turned to the government,
billionaire businesses, banks, and individuals to get them to go
against Republicans and start letting some Republicans, like the
President of the United States, know: ``We don't like your politics,
and we will never allow you to do business with our banks and our
businesses. We are going to try to break you, bankrupt you.'' We didn't
realize that those were helpful things to do on behalf of our Nation.
I don't think they are indicative of what Dr. King, the reverend that
he was--he had studied the Bible. He had even studied Gandhi's life and
how peace was the way to make progress, peaceful protest. He preached
against going after your enemies, going after your opponents, trying to
destroy them. He preached what he knew, and that was Christian love.
But what we have illustrated here is a Nation that has turned from
God and, to borrow from Longfellow, to allow hate in this country to be
strong and mock the song of peace on Earth, goodwill toward men.
Overall, this Nation was one in which the people could be appealed to
on the basis of a loving God who through, we believe, the Savior
pointed out the two most important commands, to love God and love each
other, and on those two hang all the law, all the prophets.
Actually, if you were to do an outline and put love God and love your
neighbor, you can put all the laws from the Ten Commandments and most
laws today under one of those two.
We have been so blessed in this country. Our Founders, nearly all of
them, believed it was because they were trying to pursue freedom.
Historically, as an old history major, as somebody who has never
stopped reading and learning history, we look back, as so many
historians have, at the American Revolution. Many believe that the
American Revolution came about because of the great Christian awakening
that occurred in the 1700s, when most of the Nation repented of sins,
of wrongdoing, and asked for forgiveness. What grew was a love of
liberty and a love of freedom.
Historians have looked back and said, wow, that war ended, and it
ended in the Treaty of Paris, 1783. I was surprised to see an exact
duplicate of the Treaty of Paris, 1783, because of the huge words that
started the Treaty of Paris. I did not realize that they were so big,
and I didn't realize that is how it started. But if you think about
making a treaty with the biggest, most powerful country in the world in
1783, what would you put on the document to scare Great Britain, with
the biggest Army, biggest Navy, what would you start it with to make
them afraid to break their oath? Well, the Founders started with the
huge words: ``In the name of the most Holy and undivided Trinity,''
Trinity talking about the Father, Son, Holy Ghost. ``In the name of the
most Holy and undivided trinity,'' that is how that started.
They thought that is powerful enough that even the British will be
afraid to break that oath. That is what they signed.
{time} 2100
Others pointed out that, in the 1800s, there was a great awakening,
and that same yearning and love of freedom led so many to say that
slavery must end, that we cannot continue.
Actually, Thomas Jefferson, of all people, put that as the biggest
grievance in the Declaration of Independence, that King George ever
allowed slavery to begin. Those who would say that the Nation started
with slavery; no, Jefferson said it started in spite of it, that it was
a blight on this country, and blamed King George for ever allowing it
because it was damaging the country and would damage the country.
But in the 1800s, after the Nation's second great Christian
awakening, we had a Civil War, and 500,000 Americans were lost, 500,000
casualties lost in that fight, but we emerged stronger out of it.
It took a while, but there were people who had the love Lincoln had
developed. He started out in his twenties bragging that he was an
atheist, but by the time he was President, as Stephen Mansfield points
out in his book, ``Lincoln's Battle with God,'' he knew there was a
God. He knew God was at work, and he knew that they should have love
for people even with whom they disagreed.
But our country has abandoned the teachings of Moses, of Jesus, of
Dr. King. I have idolized the ``I Have a Dream'' speech for nearly all
of my life. It is so profound. It provokes tears. It is so powerful.
But that part of the dream where people would be judged by the
content of their character and not the color of their skin, we were so
close. Now, this country has been fundamentally transformed, and, now,
teachers are telling children to judge people by their skin color.
What has gone on? We have colleges that say that they are so
omniscient that they know the way to go is to have segregated
dormitories.
[[Page H8817]]
What happened to the dream? It has turned into a nightmare. How could
this happen? Perhaps if there was a third great awakening, many
believe, we could get back on track.
Why was the American Revolution successful? We didn't kill a lot of
people after the American Revolution. We signed a peace treaty. We
asked them to leave us alone, and we would leave them alone. So, why
did the French Revolution end up with--you can find, I have seen
estimates, some people say as few as 13,000 heads cut off with a
guillotine. Some say 44,000 heads chopped off.
We didn't have that after the American Revolution. Why was that? Some
historians say because ours was about love of freedom and liberty, as
the Bible taught, and the French Revolution was about a love for
revenge. We are seeing that vengefulness play out.
There is nothing wrong with disagreeing. As the preacher said--and I
know in the 1960s Lyndon Johnson was given credit, but Dr. L.L. Morris
said it back around 1950 before I was born, said it to my parents: If
two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.
I have said that in deacons meetings at our church when people say we
all ought to have exactly the same idea. No, it is good--since we are
all human, nobody is perfect, and nobody has 100 percent lock on God's
wisdom--that we exchange ideas, and we argue. It is okay to argue.
When I talk about a battle, I am talking about a battle of words.
Some people in here are unarmed in a battle of words, and some are
quite armed in a battle of words. But that is a good, healthy thing, to
disagree. Otherwise, we would only need one dictator.
I am afraid we have been moving in that direction. So many of the
things Orwell talked about are happening. We have people on the other
side of the aisle who basically want a ministry of truth that will
write down what the truth is, and anybody that disagrees with that will
be guilty of a crime.
I haven't heard anybody on the other side of the aisle talk about the
enforcement mechanism. That was called the ministry of love. They would
pick you up, torture you, and keep you in the basement of the ministry
of love, torturing days, weeks, years, whatever it took until you would
repeat whatever they told you was the truth. It is the kind of thing
that would kill a Galileo for saying that Earth was not the center of
our solar system.
We need to have open minds, but it is important to learn from history
because when you don't--everybody knows the saying--you are destined to
repeat it.
We have a chance, and I believe with all my heart that it is because
God is a merciful God. He has been mocked. We have his name right up
here: In God We Trust. I know lots of people have been trying to get
that down, but it is still there, and I know it will still be there for
the next 2 years.
But we have to get over this thing of being vengeful. Even Federal
judges here regarding January 6, like I have said before, people that
committed violent acts, people that did destructive acts to this
building, they deserve to be severely punished, but there were some
that walked into the building and seemed to be welcomed. People say
they are terrorists, and Federal judges have called them all kinds of
names, called them seditionists, called them all kinds of things when
they weren't rioting. Some were, and they need to be punished, and they
have been.
But to have Federal judges throw the Constitution out the window and
say: I haven't heard the evidence, but you are a seditionist, and you
are dangerous. We need to make sure you are punished. You are a threat
to the country--when there was no evidence of that for the individual
before the judge.
The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson), one of the great
constitutional scholars in this body, and my friend, he really does
understand the Constitution. One of the things I hope happens is that
we will start subpoenaing judges. We impeached two Federal judges early
on when I was here. It is time to bring them in and find out if there
is a basis for impeaching them.
Are they going to continue to want to punish people in pretrial
confinement, even though that is unconstitutional?
Are they going to continue to judge people and issue rulings when
there is no evidence whatsoever on which to base the vile things they
are saying about the individuals before them?
We need to know because if they are going to continue to be like
Judge Roy Bean in his courtroom, which too many Federal judges are
these days, it is time to stop it. Make them accountable. Let them know
that there are checks and balances, and they are not God.
They took an oath, and they will be judged by that oath. If they are
not following it, remove them. I hope that will happen, a shot across
the bow.
I am grateful to have served in this body. I was hoping that, when I
left, I would feel confident that our freedom was preserved for the
next generations, at least the next one or two. I don't know. I see too
many disturbing issues.
{time} 2110
But I believe God is merciful, and he has given us a chance. I will
be hopeful, and I will be praying for my colleagues that will be here
next year. Let's get back on track. Let's don't do things out of hate.
Let's don't do things out of revenge. Let's do things for a love of
freedom so we don't have 44,000 people get their heads chopped off
because people were overwhelmed and just insatiable wanting revenge.
I am very grateful to my friend for yielding to me today. He is a
true--I started to say ``patriot,'' but I know some judge chastised
someone for being a patriot; wanted to punish him more heavily.
So, hopefully, we can get back to a day when loving the country
patriotically is a good thing.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for his
comments. He has been a great example for that, and that was a fitting
end to a long career and a lot of hours here on this floor articulating
the truth and standing for America's founding principles.
Madam Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Louisiana has 7 minutes
remaining.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman
from Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff), another good friend, colleague, and a
patriot.
Recognizing A. Keith McDonald
Mr. KUSTOFF. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a really close friend of
mine and a strong leader for Bartlett, Tennessee, A. Keith McDonald.
After serving as the mayor of Bartlett for 20 years, Keith McDonald
has decided it is time for a well-earned retirement.
Keith has dedicated his entire life to the betterment of our
community in west Tennessee.
He is a graduate of Clarksville High School, Freed-Hardeman
University, and the University of Memphis.
As a young insurance agent, Keith played an instrumental role in
forming today's Bartlett Chamber of Commerce and also developing its
industrial park.
Now, prior to his government service, Keith traveled to Japan to help
recruit brother industries to invest in Bartlett as the anchor tenant
of that park.
Keith decided to further give to his community when he joined local
government. So, in October of 2017, Keith became an alderman for the
city of Bartlett and was elected its mayor in 2002.
There have been so many accomplishments during Keith's tenure as
mayor during the past 20 years. Perhaps the most significant is Keith's
leadership in creating and establishing the Bartlett City School
System.
Now in its ninth year, the school system has further demonstrated
that Bartlett is a great place to not only operate a business, but also
educate children and raise families. None of it would have happened
without Keith McDonald's drive and determination.
I talked with Keith's son, Brooks, about his father's life and
career. Brooks told me that at home Keith taught his children about
what Keith called the 80/20 rule, and that is that 20 percent of the
people do 80 percent of the work. It is a lesson that Brooks has never
forgotten and that Keith has continuously demonstrated both in his
faith and in his community and in his family.
[[Page H8818]]
Now, speaking of his family, that is what is most important to Keith.
Whether it was leading his son's PTA groups or serving as their Scout
leader, Keith has always been that strong and loving father for Brooks
and for Ryan.
Without a doubt, the city of Bartlett will certainly miss Keith
McDonald's vision and leadership.
To Brooks and Ryan, I know that you are proud of your father's public
service. To Keith's wife and his partner, Patty, we thank you for the
years that you have given and all that you have given over these last
20 years.
Roberta and I wish Keith and his family the best as his public
service concludes over the next few days. To Keith, job well done.
I thank the gentleman for yielding his time and for leading this
Special Order hour tonight.
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
fitting into the hour and honoring Mayor Keith McDonald. He sounds like
a faithful public servant and one I wish I had the pleasure of knowing.
We commend him on his long public service, and it is fitting that we do
that on the night that we are bidding farewell soon to our friend and
colleague, Congressman Louie Gohmert, as well.
These are the kind of faithful public servants that the Founding
Fathers had in mind, that they would serve selflessly for a long tenure
and give themselves to their community.
Madam Speaker, I know the clock has wound up and I am out of time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________