[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 191 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H8859-H8865]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FAREWELL TO CONGRESS

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


                             General Leave

  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, reflecting on my time in Congress and in the

[[Page H8860]]

Pennsylvania General Assembly makes me think about how blessed I am, 
and we are as Americans. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to 
serve the outstanding people of Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional 
District and Pennsylvania's 85th legislative district.
  I am also thankful for all the lessons and people who God placed in 
my life. At a time when I needed guidance, God placed people before me 
to give me that guidance and that example, and then He gave me the 
wisdom to accept that guidance and put it to work.
  My dad, at a very young age when I was very young, taught me a work 
ethic second to none. My grandmother taught me the importance of an 
education and how to be proper.
  Max Bingaman, owner of Bingaman & Son Lumber in Kreamer, 
Pennsylvania, taught me business, leadership, and how to be an adult. I 
can't say enough about my wife and her family. My wife and brother-in-
law are here today. I am so blessed to have them in my life. My wife 
and her family taught me kindness. My mother-in-law is the kindest 
person I have known. It is not always heard people talking about their 
mother-in-law so affectionately, but she was very kind. It is often 
said that behind every successful man there is a surprised mother-in-
law. That is a little joke of mine that I say. But my wife's family is 
truly exceptional, and I am very blessed that I married into that 
family almost 38 years ago.
  The list could go on, but the point is no one accomplishes anything 
alone. America is the greatest country on Earth. Nowhere else in the 
world can a poor kid like me go from picking up aluminum cans along the 
side of the road to owning his own home, running a business, starting a 
small business of his own, and get elected to the Pennsylvania House of 
Representatives or the United States Congress.
  Growing up, we never were envious. If we wanted something for 
ourselves, we were taught that we had to work for it. Hard work and 
education is the way to succeed in America. We knew the American Dream 
was attainable no matter who you are or what you have.
  We never used being poor as an excuse. In fact, my grandmother taught 
me many things at a very young age. I was about 12, she was about 75, 
and she sat us down at the table one day. I don't know what my brother 
and I had done. My brother was 1 year older than I. She said: Boys, 
people who make excuses are weak.
  We never used an excuse. We never let anyone, or our government 
define us. In today's world, if we had grown up now, people probably 
would have tried to define us as at-risk or disadvantaged. No, we were 
just poor. Because if you believe in God, and you live in the United 
States of America, you are not disadvantaged or at-risk.
  I have used the experience growing up and the examples that the many 
people taught me over my lifetime to shape me into the person and 
public servant I am today. It has been the honor of my lifetime to 
represent the good people of Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District 
over the past few years, and I thank them for having the confidence in 
me to do that job.
  Our team worked to hold government accountable, create opportunities 
for workers and job creators, provide veterans with improved care, 
expand quality healthcare for rural communities, support our farmers, 
and bolster the Commonwealth's natural gas industry.
  One of the best parts of representing Pennsylvania's 12th 
Congressional District has been traveling the district and meeting the 
outstanding, intelligent, and hardworking people who live in our 
communities. That is where the real work happens and from where the 
solutions to our problems come. These are the people who make a 
difference.
  As politicians, we all go out, we campaign for office, and we all 
talk about jobs and jobs and what we are going to do. My friend, Bob 
Garrett, the president of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of 
Commerce, reminded me of this one time. He said: You know, Fred, you 
can't be pro-jobs and anti-business.
  I think that is a lesson that people in the Beltway could learn 
because the job creators and the workers who work in those jobs are the 
people who are put on the line every day to work and create the wealth 
in America.
  I can say with confidence that every day our team brought their voice 
and the values of the people of PA-12 to Washington, D.C.
  I am incredibly grateful and honored for the work that we have 
accomplished. It was made possible by the integrity, passion, and 
commitment of our entire team.
  Mr. Speaker, what an outstanding group of individuals they are. In 
fact, our district director and chief of staff is here today, and I 
just want to give a shout-out to Ann Kaufman who is one of the hardest 
working and intelligent people I know. I thank her for her work. Jon 
Anzur and Nick Barley are here with me today. They are just great 
people. I appreciate the passion and the commitment of the entire team. 
Without their efforts, their contribution, and their service, we would 
not have been able to serve Pennsylvania's congressional district so 
well. It would not have been possible.
  Though I will not be in Congress next year, I am reminded of a quote 
from Ronald Reagan. President Reagan said: ``There is no limit to what 
a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the 
credit.''
  I see some of my friends. I thank Mr. Kelly so much, and I appreciate 
him being here, as well as Representative Miller-Meeks. I think I saw 
somebody else over here. Dr. Foxx is here. These are great individuals 
and public servants, but I would say these are people who have 
servants' hearts. They are people who have helped me throughout my time 
in Congress.
  To the rest of the people here in the Beltway: America's greatness 
does not come from buildings and politicians. It comes from her 
citizens who are guided by our Lord God Almighty.
  A personal example I can give to that, I mentioned a gentleman who 
has meant so much to me in my adult life and has been there to support 
my family whenever we needed it. His name is Max Bingaman. Max took 
this young kid, employed him, taught him business, and taught him how 
to behave and the taught him the right things to do. My life is better 
because of Max.

                              {time}  1500

  Max, our community, our Commonwealth, and our Nation are better 
because of you. You have touched so many lives and have been a great 
example to so many people.
  Take that example of Max Bingaman, and there are many other people 
that do that. As I mentioned, it doesn't come from inside these walls. 
It comes from across our great Nation, and we need to make sure that we 
honor and respect those people for whom we work.
  While our Nation still faces many challenges, I am more confident 
than ever that we will be successful if we continue to believe in the 
greatness of the American people.
  Get government out of the way, protect our God-given freedoms, and 
allow Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money. In fact, they 
have earned it.
  I am often asked what I plan to do next. The answer is, I do not 
know. Whatever the good Lord has in store for me next, I will build 
upon the work our team has accomplished to ensure America remains that 
shining city on a hill that forebearers saw from afar.
  It looks like we have some other people.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly), 
my colleague.
  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, Fred and I met several years 
ago. A mutual friend of ours by the name of Tom Marino had been elected 
and then decided to leave the Congress. We were really fortunate 
because the person who came in after Tom was Fred.
  We formed kind of an instant friendship. I think a lot of it is 
because of who raised us, because we oftentimes talk about family.
  I was looking at different things that people have said over the 
ages. This is Thomas Aquinas, over seven centuries ago, who summed up 
what Western civilization understood to be the natural debt of 
gratitude all human beings owe to God, family, and country.
  Isn't that the truth for all of us? Who is it that we owe this 
incredible life we have? Those who came before us.
  We talked today, as we talk often. Mr. Speaker, 1\1/2\ million men 
and women gave their lives. It wasn't so much that they gave time; they 
gave

[[Page H8861]]

their lives in order for us to practice this incredible form of 
government, this representative Republic.
  People often get confused and talk about our democracy, our 
democracy, our democracy. We are truly a Republic, and every voice gets 
heard, every voice gets counted, and every person gets counted.
  I think, for my friend and I, we spend a lot of time together. When I 
look up in the gallery, his family is here.
  Where is Camrie? Camrie, stand up, honey. You are so little, I can't 
see you from down here. There she is.
  She is my favorite source of energy. I have never seen a child with 
the energy she has. But you realize, she is just an offshoot of her 
grandma and grandpa.
  Listen, we have had great fun together, but I think more than 
anything else, when you come to Washington, if you have never been here 
before, and you have not served the public before, one of the things 
when you come to Washington that you are told right away is, if you 
want a friend in Washington, get a dog.
  Well, for me, it wasn't getting a dog. It was getting a chance to 
serve with Fred Keller. We do a lot of things together, mostly talk 
about family and faith and the opportunity we have to serve the people 
who sent us.
  It is never about me; it is always about we. It is never about us; it 
is always about our families. It is about our wives. It is about our 
children. It is about our parents and grandparents and aunts and 
uncles.
  You talk about your former employer so well that I feel I know Max. 
Although we have never met or shook hands, just from the way you have 
talked about him, I feel I know who he is, and I know how important he 
was in the whole being of Fred Keller.
  This is truly one of the most unselfish men I have ever known. He 
doesn't come here for himself. He comes here for his family. He comes 
here for the people he represents.
  He comes here for those 1\1/2\ million men and women who have given 
their lives to give us the opportunity to practice this incredible form 
of government.
  I know sometimes we get mixed up about what this is all about when we 
sit here and say this is the people's House, with the emphasis on the 
people. It is not Fred Keller's House. It is not   Mike Kelly's House. 
It is not Virginia Foxx's. It is not Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks'. It 
is about the people we represent, and each of us represents about 
three-quarters of a million people.
  I know that every week when we have the chance to come here and share 
time together and share the opportunity to actually bring about 
legislation, as do you, Mr. Speaker, we need to take a breather 
sometimes and forget about all the hyperbole and think about all the 
blessings we have because there is truly no place else in the world 
like this. There never has been, but it is up to us to make sure it is 
available for that next generation.
  When I look up in the gallery, and I see Camrie up there, Fred 
doesn't come here for Fred. Fred comes here for Camrie and for Karsen 
and for all the other people he represents back in Pennsylvania.
  I think that is the beauty of us, who are so fortunate and so honored 
to serve, because it is not about us. It is about our constituents. It 
is about all those who came before us.
  I have to tell you, buddy. I hate to see you leave because we have 
had a lot of fun together. We shared a lot of meals. We shared a lot of 
stories.
  You are great at entertaining my staff. They get bored with me from 
time to time. They always say, boy, I hope Mr. Keller stops by today.
  We have formed an incredible friendship. I have gotten to know Fred. 
I have gotten to know his wife and his family. He is truly one of the 
finest Americans you could ever be around.
  It has been a wonderful time. It has been a wonderful life, not to 
coin any famous movies that are a favorite, but I have to tell you that 
it has been a great time, buddy.

  The service you have given to God, to your family, and to your 
country is immeasurable. We are going to miss you being here, but I 
know this is not the end of the Fred Keller story.
  I am a phone call away, brother. Any time you need me, I am a phone 
call away. It has been a pleasure serving with you.
  You have some fan favorites here with you that I think we should hear 
from.
  One of my all-time favorite people is Virginia Foxx, who is sitting 
beside me. Dr. Foxx is one of a kind, and you know from serving on her 
committee just how special she is.
  Mr. KELLER. Thank you, Mike, for your comments. Love you, pal.
  Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Love you, too, buddy.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I have to say, about Dr. Foxx, I remember 
when I first got here, and they were working out committees because I 
came in in a special election. I had to promise not to create any 
trouble for Dr. Foxx, I think is what it was. But I think what it 
really meant was you better work hard. I think that is what it meant. 
You better contribute. You better work hard.
  There isn't anybody who runs a better ship when it comes to making 
sure that we accomplish the goals on behalf of the people we represent 
than a great mentor, a great person who has become a friend over the 
past few years, Dr. Virginia Foxx.
  Ms. FOXX. As we say here sometimes to save time, I certainly 
associate myself with the very eloquent words of Congressman Kelly. He 
is so good. You see that he needed no notes. He can just come up here 
and speak without anything.
  This is a tough day for me to come in and talk about your leaving, 
Congressman Keller, but we want to let you know how much we appreciate 
you. That is why we are here.
  One thing I have learned about Representative Fred Keller while 
serving with him in Congress is that he is someone who always shows up 
prepared to work on behalf of job creators and workers, and he is 
committed to upholding the Constitution.
  I am so glad your staff and family are there in the gallery with us 
today because I know they have heard positive things about you before, 
but I think it is helpful for them to hear us come here today in this 
special place to say these things to you.
  I have greatly appreciated and admired Fred's strong commitment to 
conservative principles. As a businessman and job creator himself, he 
knows the free market works and is dedicated to protecting it.
  It is clear why Fred recently received the Guardian of Small Business 
Award from the National Federation of Independent Business.
  His stalwart defense of limited government and fiscal responsibility 
will serve as an example to current and future lawmakers alike.
  Fred has been an important leader on the Education and Labor 
Committee. As the Republican leader on the Subcommittee on Workforce 
Protections, Fred worked hard to protect the rights of workers and job 
creators.
  He was well suited for this function because he has real-world 
experience in business. Managing a plant of 250 people for 25 years 
gave Fred the experience needed to serve our country's workforce. The 
committee and this Congress have benefited from his insight and wisdom.
  I have also admired Fred's commitment to the sanctity of life, which 
has been second to none in this body. I will never forget the story 
Fred told during a hearing that none of us had ever heard before and 
were not expecting to hear.
  The story was about his son, Freddie, who suffered a traumatic brain 
injury at a young age. Doctors told Fred and his wife that there was 
zero chance his son would recover. Despite pressure from doctors, Fred 
and his wife refused to take their son off life support. Freddie 
recovered and is now in his thirties, working for the healthcare 
industry. What a victory for parents' love for their son and the 
principle of life.
  Fred's commitment to life didn't end back in his son's hospital room. 
It is something he has been dedicated to throughout his life.
  No matter where he goes, Fred wears a pin on his collar that 
represents the exact size and shape of baby's feet at 10 weeks after 
conception. It is a daily reminder that life is sacred, and it is our 
duty to protect the most vulnerable.
  It is no surprise that Fred received an A-plus rating on the Susan B. 
Anthony List National Pro-Life Scorecard.

[[Page H8862]]

  As he said on the House floor: If my time in Congress is to be 
remembered for one thing, let it be that I fought to defend the 
sanctity of life.
  You have certainly done that, Fred.
  Congressman Keller, we will remember. We will remember that you stood 
against the Democrats' radical pro-abortion agenda. We will remember 
that you stood up for the conscience, rights, and religious freedoms of 
healthcare workers. We will remember that you gave a voice to the 63 
million unborn babies killed in the womb before they had voices.
  Today, when our first freedoms are called into question, we need 
leaders who will take a stand without wavering and defend our 
constitutional rights. That is exactly what Fred did when he introduced 
the Restoring Academic Freedom on Campus Act. Defending the freedom of 
expression on college campuses is imperative, and I appreciate Fred's 
work on this issue.
  The freedom to speak and think freely comes from God. Students should 
not have to sign away their First Amendment rights after enrolling in 
college, especially if those institutions accept taxpayer funds. It is 
time for colleges and universities to be held accountable when they 
refuse to protect the free speech of students and faculty.
  I also greatly appreciate how Fred led the Congressional Review Act 
resolution against OSHA's tyrannical vaccine mandate. Fred used every 
legislative avenue to help nullify President Biden's emergency 
temporary standard that would have forced millions of workers to get 
the COVID-19 vaccine or face losing their jobs.

  His commitment to protecting the individual liberties of every 
American stands out. When OSHA finally withdrew this authoritarian 
measure after losing at the Supreme Court, Fred and I celebrated.
  This is a lesson to us all. Even when the hill is steep, we must 
fight on. In this case, standing up for the Constitution saved so many 
Americans from being coerced into making a medical decision they were 
uncomfortable with. We need leaders who have the courage of their 
convictions. Fred is such a leader.
  Being a leader means having the prudence also to know which hills to 
fight on, which hills to abandon, and which hills are worth dying for. 
I believe Fred and I agree that the preservation of our God-given 
rights is worth any and every sacrifice, and that is why it has been an 
honor to serve alongside him.
  Common cause always creates uncommon bonds, and I will miss you as a 
partner.
  Lastly, Fred has something that far too many of our national leaders 
lack: humility. Fred has always cared more about service than the 
spotlight.
  Saying Fred will be missed is an understatement. He is what every 
statesman should be: prudent, decisive, and gracious.
  Congressman Keller, we wish you the best in your future endeavors, 
knowing that whatever you do next will be in further service to the 
American people.
  From a grateful country and from someone who is honored to call 
herself your friend, thank you for all you have done to protect freedom 
and constitutional government. You will be missed.

                              {time}  1515

  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Foxx. I certainly wasn't 
anticipating my friends being here today, but I do want to say to Dr. 
Foxx that she is a great example, and, of course, we have 
Representative Miller-Meeks here.
  But I would like to say to Dr. Foxx, if I can, as I told my friend, 
Max Bingaman, when I decided not to run again, I said, Max, I don't 
have to be elected to serve. Think of all the people we represent that 
make a difference every day.
  When they take a kid like me and invest time and resources in them, 
that is what the people across America do. That is what you do, that is 
what   Mike Kelly does, that is what Representative Miller-Meeks does. 
I will stay in touch with all my friends that are here to make a 
difference. I thank them all for that.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-
Meeks).
  Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I don't know if I am going to make it 
through this without a tear either, Dr. Foxx.
  Mr. Speaker, I have had the privilege of spending the last 2 years 
across the hallway in the Longworth Building from our colleague, Fred 
Keller. Throughout that time, I have been lucky enough to get to know 
Fred and his staff, and each was eager to lend a hand as my own staff 
and I adjusted to our new office, which was a little bit of a challenge 
because we had a contest and so we were a little late adding staff.
  I think one of the easiest ways to judge a Member of Congress is by 
their staff and the team they assemble. Team Keller has always been 
helpful, insightful, talented, intelligent, kind, and thoughtful.
  I also got to know Fred and his wife when we met for a longer period 
of time last summer at Nemacolin in Pennsylvania, his home State. He 
and his wife and my chief of staff enjoyed getting to know one another. 
I got to know Fred as a family man, who was elected in a special 
election, as a surprise to his wife when he let her know that he was 
going to run for Congress.
  I got to know he and his family, and especially his family members 
that he would bring up to the Capitol, his granddaughters who can be 
found running up on the seventh floor or here in the Chamber.
  When I asked his staff about Fred, one of the things they said struck 
me because it is also the reason that I ran for Congress. Fred wanted 
to make the American Dream accessible to everyone regardless of their 
background, their social status, their upbringing, their class, their 
race, or where they come from.
  To do so, he spent his days bringing Pennsylvania to Washington and 
taking Washington back home. He believed, rightfully so, that D.C. 
could benefit from more hard work and fewer frills.
  Now, I don't want you to think that Fred is only a serious person 
because that would underestimate another part of his personality. I 
also enjoyed spending time with Fred at the Education and Labor 
Committee, and being in the minority is no fun.
  Once I caught Fred--more than once--thinking out loud and speaking 
under his breath. And because I sat next to him, when we were permitted 
to do so after the COVID requirements were lifted, I thought he raised 
some very salient, erudite points.
  As the next Republican to speak, I added them to my own 5-minute 
speech. After I finished speaking, Fred turned to me, and said: You 
raised some really good points. I laughed, and said: I certainly hope 
so, they were the points that you made, and I stole them. He had no 
idea that he speaks out loud and under his breath, and that I would 
listen to him and hear him, but that was Fred.
  He was and is full of great ideas. We were so very fortunate to have 
him as a colleague, and I was tremendously saddened the day he 
announced he would not run for reelection, and that I would miss him as 
a colleague and as a friend.
  I really look forward to what is next for Fred because he will always 
be in service, he will always succeed, and he will always be a leader 
because what makes a leader isn't their title, it is not their 
position, it is not the pin they wear on their lapel.
  What makes a leader is an individual, who, by their example, inspires 
and motivates others, who challenges others to go beyond what they 
think is their capacity, and reach heights that they did not know they 
could even reach. Fred does that for his children, for his 
grandchildren, and for all of us.
  I have a feeling this isn't the last that we will see of Fred, and I 
look forward to future encounters with he and his family. I thank Fred 
so much for gracing me with all of his intellect, his ideas, his quiet 
comments under his breath, his salient points, and getting to know his 
family.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Miller-Meeks for that, she is 
truly an outstanding individual, a veteran, one of the people that 
stood on the line to defend our freedom and our way of life. That is 
why we are here, so many fought, and so many cared about the idea that 
is America. There are so many people that will continue to do that, and 
for that I tell them thank you for your service.

[[Page H8863]]

  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert), 
my friend and my granddaughter's friend's dad. When you have grandkids, 
you sort of lose your title.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, you got to admit, a lot of people love 
Representative Keller. It has been fun, actually, watching them come up 
to the microphone and say actually sweet things about him. But the best 
thing is his granddaughter, my little girl just loves playing with her.
  That is something I do hope this body does more of in the future--our 
kids. In the last couple of years they haven't been here. Before the 
pandemic, we would look out and people would have their families here. 
I will tell you, that helped in the relationships.
  My little girl would go and jump on Maxine Waters' lap because she 
loved her necklace. I still have a great picture of that. Until this 
day, every time I see Ms. Waters she asks about my little girl. In some 
ways, it is those family units and how you build human relations in 
this body.

  Just a thought for what is left of the majority and those things. We 
need to sort of think about the things that bind us together once again 
as people.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Keller giving me a little bit of time 
here.
  Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons we are doing this is we have been 
trying to do a series of presentations, and I keep being fussed at that 
I should do them shorter because we are trying to throw out lots of 
ideas.
  For the last year, I have been coming behind the microphone and 
walking through just how terrified I am, and how terrified I believe 
all of us should be, on what is going on in the numbers. We are going 
to do the routine again. The beauty here is there is hope, and I am 
going to keep bringing ideas that do a couple things.
  Number one: Make us freer, healthier, wealthier, but also show a path 
that we can grow, and we don't have to be crushed by the coming debt. 
Let's sort of walk through some of this.
  We always start with this slide because this one really bothers 
everyone. This one makes everyone angry and it is the math. Today, we 
have $31 trillion of debt. In the next 30 years we add $114 trillion of 
borrowing. Every dime of that $114 trillion that is coming, 75 percent 
of it is Medicare, 25 percent is Social Security. The rest of the 
budget actually has a positive balance.
  We got old.
  Is the graying of America Republican or Democrat?
  It is neither. It is just demographics; it is what we are. The 
unwillingness to deal with the reality that if you want to save the 
country--if you do not want my 5-month-old little boy that we are 
adopting, my 7-year-old little girl that plays together with others, if 
you want to save their future--do understand, today, 25 years from now 
we have to double their tax rates; we have to double your tax rates; we 
have to double corporations' tax rates just to maintain the baseline 
spending, and that is still with us going to like 140 percent of debt 
to GDP.
  Do we understand how bad the numbers are?
  It is demographics. So what do you do?
  I am trying to pitch sort of a unified theory for us to think about. 
I am sorry this upsets people, but the math will always win. Instead of 
the craziness that goes on around here with where ``I got my feelings 
hurt,'' maybe the most powerful thing we can do is demonstrate we give 
a damn.
  Growth is moral. Growth helps Democrats and Republicans, it helps 
poor people, it gives opportunity to the middle class. It is good for 
all of us. We are trying to say, okay, I have been spending lots of 
time behind the microphone talking about technology that can crash the 
price of healthcare. We are going to do a little more of that today.
  But I am going to also talk about other ways we can do regulation 
that keeps us still healthy and safe but is much less bureaucratic and 
much faster. I am going to come back in the next couple weeks, if we 
get time, and talk about revolutionizing the tax system that 
incentivizes us to make things in America instead of functionally a tax 
system that incentivizes us to buy things made in other parts of the 
world because that is what we have today.
  We are going to also talk about immigration--it is really 
uncomfortable to talk about, you are going to have to decide as a 
society: Do we keep the open borders that I have in Arizona where we 
functionally have a mass poverty movement into the United States? Or do 
we move to a system that maximizes economic growth?
  You have got to decide, if you want us to have the money to be able 
to pay for Medicare, I have to have the economic growth.
  Then the other thing is, what do we do to incentivize our brothers 
and sisters to stay in the labor market?
  You just became 65. Are there things that we could do in a spiff on 
your Social Security, so you stay in the labor market?
  How about if we let you keep your half of the FICA? What can we do?
  There is a crazy piece of math out there for under 35, particularly 
males--they are not participating--there are numbers of them who have 
disappeared from the labor markets. This makes some of the math really 
difficult if you are trying to grow because it is not enough to have 
the disruption in the cost of the healthcare, if on the same side over 
here we don't have the economic growth.
  Mr. Speaker, I am going to run through these fairly quickly because I 
want to keep the theme going. I am going to be dogged about this 
because we are going to save this country. We need to think a little 
bit differently because right now we are still having the same debates 
that we were having in the 1990s on this floor.
  Last night, I mentioned this. Tonight, I thought I would bring the 
board with me. What would happen if I came to you tomorrow, and said: 
Hey, there is this thing that looks like a kazoo, and you blow in it 
and it almost instantly tells you you have a virus. It instantly 
bounces off your medical records. It instantly could order your 
antiviral. Oh, and by the way, the newest versions look like they can 
detect about 25 different dead cancer proteins.
  Wouldn't that be really good for our constituents? Wouldn't that be--
the ability for that hardworking family, that working mom, to not try 
to find a way to take the day off from work, to be able to organize the 
kids, to find out if she can go into an urgent care center, but 
functionally have a breath biopsy in her medicine cabinet?
  I will argue that it is both moral, it is faster, it is healthier, 
and it crashes the price of healthcare. This body keeps that type of 
technology illegal. It is something that would save so much time for 
the working people in this country, and we keep it illegal because this 
place is so much like a protection racket. It is not utopian, there are 
a dozen different versions, and it exists. Much of it has already made 
it through the FDA. Our problem is we don't reimburse it and we don't 
make it legal so it can write the script.
  If you don't reduce the cost, you can't do marginal--I have some 
people come in here and say, well, we have an idea. We can remove 2 or 
3 percent out of healthcare costs if we do this. We had 16 percent 
healthcare inflation in many of our markets so far this year. Great, we 
can find a 1 or 2 percent rounding error.
  Do you understand how much trouble we are in?
  Your government functionally is an insurance company with an army. It 
is going to be an insurance company where the insurance side is going 
to start consuming every dollar and the army is going to have to get 
smaller. It is demographics. It is the reality where we are.

                              {time}  1530

  Why wouldn't this body take an experiment and say let's make it 
legal. If you can find insurance, if the manufacturer can find 
insurance for it, FDA approves it, why wouldn't we let this write a 
script? There are dozens and dozens and dozens of these things.
  For those of that walk around with these smartwatches or your fancy 
supercomputer in your pocket, the fact of the matter is, we should be 
using every piece of technology to crash the price of healthcare.
  Last night, I came and showed some slides about a path, and who 
knows, maybe it doesn't work. But there might be a path for a cure for 
diabetes. Diabetes is 33 percent of all healthcare

[[Page H8864]]

spending. It is 31 percent of all Medicare spending. It may be the 
leading contributor to income inequality.
  You go, huh? Look at the data. Look at my data sets of who is 
suffering, who is going blind, who is having their feet cut off.
  I represent a tribal community with the second highest per capita 
diabetes in the world. Is it moral not for us to go and throw every 
smart idea and sometimes the resources we need to cure it?
  Wouldn't that be more moral than this crazy ass argument of, hey, 
let's go build more clinics so we can help people manage their misery, 
because that is what we do here. We are better than this. Well, no, we 
are not better than this, but we could be.
  So let's go a little further down the crazy line of, what do you do 
to grow the economy? So think about what we did last week. We are going 
to stop this strike because we are going to fight for the way we move 
goods out of the port and put them on trucks and then put them on a 
rail car and move it over here.
  Yes, we have all the environmental issues of, yes, it is really 
dirty, it is really filthy. Oh, but the Democrats in their inflation 
reduction--crazy name for what the bill actually did--bill, made it so 
if they are going to take the green money, they can't actually do 
certain innovation; they can't automate because they have to protect 
all their longshoremen union folks because that is who writes them 
checks.
  So in one hand, we give great lip service; we have got to fix the 
supply chain; we have got to get greener in the economy. And then they 
make it illegal. It is in your legislation. You did it.
  Yet, at the same time, we have brilliant innovators--and these things 
aren't Republican, they are just the next generation of innovation--of 
autonomous rail platforms. You take the container off; you put it on 
the platform. You hit the button and you say, go to the spur over here 
and dump this at the warehouse. Go take this and put at the 
manufacturing facility.
  It is electric. The environmental load is dramatically cleaner. It 
would be a revolution of efficiency.
  We keep saying, well, we have got to fix the supply chain. Well, damn 
it, you made parts of fixing the supply chain illegal.
  Why does this place act like a barrier, a protection barrier of 
allowing innovation in the economy?
  We do this over and over and over. Most of the Members don't know it 
is happening. But we have functionally made that disruption that grows 
the economy, that if we don't have that growth, we are absolutely--we 
are in real trouble. Go ahead.
  Mr. KELLER. Can I just say you inspired me to think of something. 
This is the only place that does less with more; the only place that 
does it. I am sorry. You are talking about this efficiency and stuff, 
and I just look at this place.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. We make it illegal.
  Mr. KELLER. And during COVID they talked about essential jobs.
  Well, I tell you what: This is probably the only place on Earth where 
there are some jobs that are not essential.
  But anyhow, sorry for taking your time, sir, but it just reminded me 
that this is the only place on the face of the Earth that does less 
with more.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. How many times--and you have some of this in your 
district--will we get the lobbyists and the folks come in--and this has 
been going on for 30 years, so this is sort of one of the running joke 
scams around here.
  We need money for rural broadband. We do. I have--well, communities 
in Arizona--I don't represent them--they have been waiting 20 years for 
that line to get out to the chapter house on the Navajo reservation.
  The fact of the matter is every inch of this country actually has 
broadband right now. They just happen to be satellites. We have what, 
five companies? A couple of them already have most of the satellites 
up.
  Mr. KELLER. Actually, I have an F-150 that I can run seven devices 
from anywhere in PA-12.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. What is yours? I drive a long-bed pickup truck.
  Mr. KELLER. 2022.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. When I had my midlife crisis, I didn't want a new 
wife or a Porsche, I just wanted a long-bed pickup truck; and mine is 
10 years old.
  Mr. KELLER. I got the F-150 so I didn't have to buy a generator 
because it has one in it. So that was my justification for that.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. But you think about this; if I really cared about 
that community--and you see where this ties in, this is back to that 
unified theory. I believe much of my healthcare I can use technology, 
but I need access to the broadband. But I am going to wait for the wire 
to show up because that is incredibly inefficient.
  But I do have an option right now where something like the Starlink 
satellites, I could actually put up a little oval-shaped dish so they 
have the broadband, so they can use the healthcare technology, let 
alone the education technology and the other things. I need you to see 
this as a unified theory.
  But, instead, we are going to take that tax that is on your cell 
phone bill, hand it out to companies, and then we are going to wait 
another decade for that wire to get out; and it never gets there, when 
they already have access to broadband.

  This could be urban, too. The technologies exist. So let me go to 
crazy town.
  Mr. KELLER. You are already here.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. No, no, no. This is one, it is a little more 
ethereal, but it is in the field. It is being tested right now. I am 
not going to do the whole thing about a C4 plant and a C3 plant. 
Remember your high school biology class.
  But what would happen in a world--I am sorry, this slide is a little 
old, so it is a little beaten on. How do you get the Agriculture 
Committee to have an honest conversation saying, you do realize there 
is about to be a revolution in food?
  This whole thing called synthetic biology: They basically figured out 
how to take a plant--our high school biology plant--the plant really, 
really wants a carbon molecule so it turns it into a sugar so it can 
grow. It accidentally grabs an oxygen. It doesn't need the oxygen, so 
it has to spend all this energy getting rid of the oxygen so it gets a 
carbon so it can grow.
  What happens if the plant every time got a carbon molecule?
  In some plants you could have a 40 percent improvement in growth; 
dramatically less water; dramatically less land needed; dramatically 
less fertilizer. This is being tested right now, I think it is 
University of Illinois. It is out there.
  How much discussion have we had that there is a revolution coming in 
agriculture? And it would be incredibly productive. It would be 
incredibly disruptive because, what happens in agriculture land if, all 
of a sudden, I have crops that grow dramatically more efficiently?
  But it would also be amazing for the environment. At 40 percent 
production improvement--which you are not going to get, but if you did, 
theoretically--in world agriculture, you do realize that would be like 
removing every car off the face of the Earth.
  How many hearings have we had on is this coming, is this feasible?
  No, because that would require thinking, something we just don't do 
here.
  The other thing I am going to give you is just a conceptual idea, and 
if anyone is crazy enough, go on YouTube, Schweikert Environmental 
Crowdsourcing.
  Five, 6 years ago, I did a little YouTube cartoon. It is like 90 
seconds, with this concept, you could actually attach a little 
environmental sensor to the bottom of this.
  How about if in your community you had a couple of thousand people 
driving around with a little environmental sensor saying, hey, we are 
keeping an eye on the air quality. Hey, it is spouting off. I have some 
clowns over here painting cars in the back of their house, but the 
motorcycle paint shop over here that has its filters, it is not setting 
the alarm off. Leave them alone.
  What would happen if your environmental data was living data?
  You wouldn't need people to go fill out paperwork. You don't need an 
inspector. Do file cabinets full of paper make the environment cleaner? 
They don't, they just build bureaucracy.

[[Page H8865]]

  What makes the environment cleaner is knowing when someone has done 
something stupid and stopping them.
  Crowdsourcing. The data is living. Use a living data model. And guess 
what? You can do that for water, for sound; you can actually do it for 
health. You can do it for all sorts of things.
  How many hearings has this place had to discuss dragging our 
regulatory environment; and it is not deregulating, it is smart 
regulating. Make us more efficient.
  It turns out, the data says that we would be healthier, cleaner, 
faster, and you would get the bad guys, and you could build a model 
where you just leave the good actors alone.
  If you are the motorcycle paint shop, and your filters are working, 
and your booth is working, why should you be bothered? Just leave them 
alone; and if they screw up, a crowdsourced environmental sensor model 
will catch them instantly.
  You would be amazed the pushback you get because, well, we are a 
consulting firm. You just put us out of business. Hey, I work for the 
group. I shove paperwork in the file cabinets. Why do you want to 
unemploy me?
  We are going to have to have the discussion if we intend to survive, 
where we are going population-wise, debt-wise.
  Remember, functionally, in 10 years, we have two $1 trillion running 
deficits, and it is demographics. It is trying to pay for healthcare. 
We have got to have the growth, and we have got to have the technology 
disruption and healthcare, or we are in for some very dark times.
  The fact of the matter is, we could have incredibly prosperous times 
for the future. But that prosperity is only going to come if I, and 
you, and the people who are willing to listen to this are willing to 
pound on Members of Congress and our staff and the lobbying communities 
and our creative thinkers out there and say, okay, guys. There is hope 
out there. There is hope. We just need to be willing to think 
differently and embrace the disruption and embrace an economy that 
actually starts to do good things for our people, instead of basically 
being a protection racket for incumbent models.
  It is uncomfortable, but there is hope. But there is no hope if we 
keep doing the same thing.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Pennsylvania for letting me do 
this. We are finding the only way it is going to sink in is if I keep 
coming and giving more and more examples that there is hope if we just 
do things differently. So I thank the gentleman for giving me some of 
his time.
  Mr. KELLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for his 
insight. I have nobody else to speak in this hour, so I yield back the 
balance of my time.

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