[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 11, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H158-H159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SECURING A BETTER FUTURE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Williams) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WILLIAMS of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer perspective on 
the purpose and mission of this 118th Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to speak here on the House floor for the 
first time. I am the first nuclear submarine veteran to serve in the 
United States House of Representatives in the last 50 years, and only 
the second in our Nation's history.
  One particular submarine patrol, we pulled into Pearl Harbor to take 
World War II veterans out to sea with us for the day. By naval 
tradition, we stood at attention and saluted the USS Arizona as we 
passed by. One part of the experience we shared with these veterans was 
to demonstrate the tremendous pressure of the ocean.
  In the control room with the periscopes, we would tie a string from 
one side of the hole to the other, about the width of this rostrum 
behind me. Our submarine's hole is made of high-strength steel to keep 
the water out and the crew safe. On the surface, this string would be 
taut like a guitar string and would sit about a foot off the deck. But 
as we submerged our boat, the pressure of the sea would compress the 
hole and that string would begin to droop. By the time we reached many 
hundreds of feet below the ocean, that string would lay flat on the 
deck. The incredible pressure of the ocean visible for everyone to see.
  Now, like that submarine that I served on, America is under 
tremendous pressure. And like that string sitting on the deck, we can 
all see it. It is inflation. It is the border. It is the lawlessness of 
our Federal agencies. It is clear that our Nation is in trouble.
  The failed policies of the current administration are only taking us 
deeper and deeper. Now, with a Republican

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majority led by Speaker McCarthy, we have the leadership for this 
critical moment in time.
  In 1963, the nuclear submarine, the USS Thresher, was conducting 
engineering trials off of Cape Cod when they encountered an engineering 
problem. The crew was able to bring the boat to within 100 feet of the 
surface, but they lost their battle as the submarine descended below 
what is called ``the crush depth,'' all hands were lost.
  Americans have voted for a Republican majority in this House to 
reverse the policies of the current administration and to start to 
relieve the pressure that is all around us. The commitment to America 
is exactly that plan for exactly that purpose--to unite this Chamber 
and to lead America back to safer waters.
  A typical submarine crew would be about a quarter of the number of 
seats in this Chamber. Imagine for a moment that many people together 
in a steel tube, hundreds of feet below the ocean for months at a time. 
I have spent 500 days at sea, and I can tell you that after so many 
days not everyone on the boat is going to like each other. The thing 
about submarines is there is no easy way off. No matter what we think 
of each other at the end of the journey, we arrive in the same place 
together.
  Let's talk about where we want to end up. For starters, when 
something is broken on the submarine you don't scuttle the boat with 
the crew aboard. You keep fighting to fix what is broken, triaging 
critical systems, and getting the boat to a safe depth. That is exactly 
what we witnessed last week as we chose Speaker McCarthy. He has been 
chosen to restore faith in this Chamber and unite our party.
  Freedom is a fragile thing. We saw that under Democrats' one party 
rule. A strong Republican Conference is key to securing a better future 
for our children, our grandchildren, and for generations to come.

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