[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 25, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H315-H320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                INTRODUCING FRESHMAN REPUBLICAN MEMBERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. 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 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 would like to kick off our 
first Wednesday Special Order Hour of the year by extending my 
congratulations and warm wishes to all of our colleagues, all the new 
Members, all the Members who are returning here. We have very, very 
important work to do in the 118th Congress.
  I want to thank our House Democrat counterparts, as well, for working 
with us to ensure a smooth transition from the minority to the 
majority. It is an important part of our institution, and we are 
grateful for how this has gone so far.
  We should all be rooting for the success of this Congress, obviously, 
because when Congress succeeds, everyone in our country benefits; and 
so we have an important responsibility before us.
  We are under no illusion that the governing in such a closely divided 
body over these divided times is going to be any easy task. We know 
that. We know what the challenges are.
  But we are also under no illusion that Congress has been operating as 
it should be. We think this can be done better, and our endeavor here 
is to show everyone how.
  This problem that we faced here has been around for a long time. Look 
at just what happened in the last Congress. We had trillions upon 
trillions of dollars in government spending, which sent inflation 
soaring.
  We had votes on immensely consequential, complex, 1,000-plus page 
bills sent to us just hours before we were called to vote upon them.
  We had Congress steadily outsourcing its authority over to unelected 
bureaucrats in the executive agencies.
  We had Members dial into congressional hearing, literally, from their 
bedrooms and their basements. We had Members voting by proxy while they 
were on vacation abroad.

  With the 118th Congress, we are here to declare that those days are 
over. The House is getting back to work. We are ending remote voting 
and remote committee work in the House. That is going to restore 
greater transparency and accountability in the legislative process.
  I actually believe that when we restore in-person work, as this was 
designed to be done, as the Founders intended, as they drew it up, it 
is going to have an added benefit because I believe it will help us 
rebuild comity and foster more civility in the House.
  I am not going to belabor this point, but I would just say, at the 
end of last

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year, Congress passed a 4,155-page bill. We spent $1.7 trillion on that 
omni; and I think it was one of the worst government funding bills in 
the history of Congress.
  Instead of individual bills to fund each Federal agency one by one, 
with a roll call vote and amendments and deliberation process, we 
didn't have any of that. We had all the agencies lumped together right 
before the end-of-the-year deadline with dozens of unrelated policies 
attached to it. I mean, everything from electoral college changes to 
retirement changes, cosmetics regulation, healthcare policies, salmon 
fishing, and horse racing regulations, all crammed in there together, 
under the guise of a government funding bill.
  The process for passing this bill was almost as ugly as the 
substance. It was written behind closed doors, I mean, literally, 
behind closed doors by a handful of people. It was brought to the House 
for a vote before anybody could possibly read it, much less debate or 
amend it.
  Is there a single Member, is there a single Member of this body who 
thinks that is the way we should conduct the people's business? I don't 
think so.
  So this should go without saying, but if we are going to fund each 
government agency and make changes to those unregulated policies, we 
should do it in regular order. We should do it in the regular process.
  It should require a full, open debate in committee and on the floor, 
with the opportunity to make amendments. Republicans are committed to 
do this. We are back in charge, and that status quo that we have had 
here, where there is no transparency, no accountability, outright 
disregard for regular order, those days are over.
  Campaign season is over. The House has elected our Speaker, and now 
it is time to get to work.
  Madam Speaker, tonight, with the remaining time that we have in our 
hour, we reserved the time because we want to introduce the American 
people to some of the bright, new Republican Members that have joined 
the body here. They are going to discuss some of the problems that are 
currently facing our country.
  They bring a fresh, new perspective to this, and their voices are 
very, very important. And we are also going to talk a little bit about 
the Republican vision for how we are going to address all of these 
crises.
  We are in charge. We are here ready to work, and I am delighted to 
introduce a few of these key Members.
  I would start first, Madam Speaker, by yielding to the gentleman from 
east Texas, Congressman Nathaniel Moran. I will say just a moment 
before I yield him the time, that we are neighboring districts. I 
represent Northwest Louisiana, and then right over the Texas border is 
my friend there. He is replacing the great Louie Gohmert who has 
finally retired from Congress.
  I will tell you just a quick bit about Nathaniel. He is formerly a 
West Point student, a graduate of Texas Tech University. He has a B.A. 
in Russian language and area studies, an MBA, and a law degree. He had 
a civil practice in the east Texas area, focused primarily on business 
and commercial litigation and transaction work.
  He served on the City Council in the city of Tyler, Texas. He was 
mayor pro tem and, ultimately, he was appointed the Smith County judge, 
and he served in that capacity from 2016 until he was elected to 
Congress in 2022.
  The thing about a county judge in Texas is they are, effectively, the 
boss in that area. They hold all the power. They do all kinds of stuff. 
They are not just a judge in a court; they are like an administrator 
over the whole area; and he did it so well.
  What I love about him most is he is a family man who is dedicated to 
his faith, and he is a patriot. They have four children, just like we 
do. He represents a great area, and we are delighted to have him.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran).
  Mr. MORAN. I thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) for 
this opportunity to speak.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce myself and to re-introduce 
the First District of Texas to this distinguished body, the people's 
House.
  For those of you that do not know, the First District of Texas is 
made up of 17 counties in east and northeast Texas. The people there 
are faith-based, they are family-loving, they are hardworking, they are 
tough-minded, and they are service-oriented individuals.
  They use their independent spirits, their patriotic hearts, and their 
rugged hands to build a future centered around faith, family, and 
freedom.
  There are simply no better people in this world than those who reside 
in Congressional District 1 in Texas, and there are none more dedicated 
to seeing this world be a better place for our children and our 
grandchildren than my constituents.
  The First District of Texas boasts a landscape of pine trees, 
dogwoods, roses, azaleas, pecan and peach orchards, lakes, and beauty 
beyond imagination.
  Its economy is as diverse and strong as its people. It is not just 
home to some of the best oil and gas operations in the world, but it is 
home to innovative manufacturing, world-class healthcare, top-notch 
educational institutions, farming and ranching operations, food 
processing plants, steel and pipe companies, and so much more. You name 
it, our folks do it, and they do it with a spirit of 
excellence, innovation, and service toward one another.

  The people in east Texas know that liberty gives rise to prosperity, 
but prosperity should always give rise to generosity.
  In east Texas, the people love their God, their families, and their 
Nation, and they are willing to sacrifice all for those things. That is 
why we have so many veterans in our community.
  East Texas is filled with individuals who, out of reverence and 
respect for the most important things in life, still stand for the 
national anthem and bow at their church altar. They know how to stand 
firm for their principles and to ask for forgiveness when they make 
mistakes.
  To be sure, they know that strength and humility are not mutually 
exclusive; rather, they are values that support and build on one 
another.
  I am so proud and humbled to represent Texas' First Congressional 
District in the United States House of Representatives.
  When I was just shy of 2 years old, my parents moved me and my three 
older brothers from Arizona to east Texas in Southern Smith County, and 
they worked with other families in that area to start a Bible college. 
For almost a decade, I lived on that Bible college campus and spent 
most of my time either going to church or exploring the woods and the 
county roads that surrounded our little single-wide trailer.
  From climbing trees, to shooting snakes, drinking the nectar of 
honeysuckles along the roadside, playing football with the neighborhood 
kids, or recovering from multiple broken bones from all the adventures 
we had living in the country, several things became clear to me from my 
upbringing.
  Among them, I learned, first: that Almighty God has a call for each 
of us in this life; that we were created for a divine purpose.
  I learned that each of us have equal and eternal value.
  I learned also that the great commandment in Matthew 22, of loving 
God and loving others, should guide our every decision and action in 
life.
  I learned simply that we are all sinners in need of a savior; and I 
learned that these United States form the greatest Nation that has ever 
existed; and our Republic is great because of the breadth of the 
freedoms offered here, which come only from heaven above.
  I am proud to be the first graduate of Whitehouse High School to 
serve as a Member of Congress, and I am deeply thankful that my calling 
in life has led me to this place, to this floor, where I hope to fan 
the flames of liberty, and to create more opportunities for my 
children, my four children, and for the children of every family in 
east Texas and beyond.
  As a city councilmember in Tyler, I learned quickly that sound policy 
is so much more important than soundbites. Those 4 years on the city 
council solidified my desire to serve my community in whatever way 
possible.
  Whether as a Sunday school teacher, a church deacon, a trombone 
player in the worship band, Cub Scout den leader, assistant Scoutmaster 
for the Boy

[[Page H317]]

Scouts, or coach for my daughters' basketball teams, or simply just a 
volunteer for nonprofits across the community, I discovered that giving 
is so much better than receiving.
  I am blessed with a loving wife and four children, two boys and two 
girls, from high school down to kindergarten, and they are a primary 
motivator for me to fix what is so wrong with this country.
  I want my kids to grow and to know a country where freedom reigns 
supreme; where government is limited; and where their good decisions 
can lead to good consequences but, equally as important, where their 
bad decisions can lead to bad consequences so they can learn from their 
mistakes.
  The road ahead for America will not be easy. As a country, we must 
make tough decisions to reverse our current trajectory. If we make 
these good decisions, we will see good consequences. But if we fail in 
that task, in that mission, the consequences will get more dire and the 
future will become more bleak.

                              {time}  1715

  In fulfilling our mission, we should never compromise our principles, 
but we can be both principled conservatives and pragmatic policymakers.
  As a county judge in one of the most conservative counties in the 
State of Texas, I was proud to maintain one of the lowest tax rates in 
the State while still addressing critical areas of county government 
like improving roads and bridges, supporting law enforcement, working 
to improve election integrity, and addressing longstanding facility 
needs.
  It is possible to do both, to keep the burden of taxes low while 
still addressing the critical needs of this country, but it takes the 
wisdom to see the right path forward and the courage to take it. In 
short, it means channeling the greatness of the character of this 
country, the type of bold and strong character evident in the people of 
the First Congressional District in east Texas and in so many other 
places in this great country.
  I thank my constituents for this opportunity to serve; to be strong 
and courageous for them and for this country; and to work with all my 
might to preserve, protect, and defend this Constitution and the United 
States of America. I pledge to do just that and to do all that I can to 
make that happen.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
Texas. Texas is well represented, and the First District certainly is.
  Madam Speaker, I am delighted to introduce next for his first Special 
Order hour speech one of the bright lights in the new incoming class in 
the 118th Congress, Representative Mike Lawler from New York. He 
represents the 17th Congressional District there, which includes 
Rockland County, Putnam County, and portions of Westchester and 
Dutchess Counties.
  Before serving in the U.S. House, he represented New York's 97th 
District in the State Assembly and served on really important 
committees there--banks, education, housing. He has a broad range of 
experience.
  In the New York State Assembly--this is a neat statistic--he passed 
more bills than any other member of his conference. It really is a 
testament to his ability to work in a bipartisan, pragmatic fashion to 
approach the problems that we face. That is a skill that is going to 
come in handy here.
  He previously served as a deputy town supervisor and as a senior 
adviser to a county executive. He was also the executive director of 
the State Republican Party in New York--that is no small task--and did 
a great job there.
  He graduated from Manhattan College with degrees in accounting and 
finance. He was the valedictorian there, I would note, but his greatest 
accomplishment, of course, is his wife and daughter. They live in Pearl 
River.
  We are delighted to have Congressman Mike Lawler here. Madam Speaker, 
I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler).
  Mr. LAWLER. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Louisiana for 
the kind words and gracious introduction.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk with respect to School Choice 
Week here in the United States and to address the dire need for 
education reform across our country.
  As a child, I attended public schools. In New York, we have some 
truly phenomenal public schools. When I was in second grade, I was 
among the youngest people in my class with a September birthday, and my 
teacher, an immigrant from Russia, said to my parents that she felt it 
was important for me to be left back because I needed time to mature 
and grow.
  My parents were open to the idea so long as she was my teacher again, 
and at the time, that was not the program. They would give you another 
teacher within the grade.
  So, my parents pushed until the school acquiesced and allowed her to 
teach me a second time. It was the best thing that ever happened to me 
because it gave me the opportunity to grow, to mature, to develop. I 
went from being one of the youngest in my class to the oldest in my 
class, and that had a profound impact on me.
  As my colleague pointed out, when I graduated college, I graduated as 
the valedictorian of my class. I don't say that as a bragging point; I 
say it as the result, the direct impact, that that moment had on my 
life from an education standpoint.
  As I think about education and the impact that it has on our 
communities and our children, I believe in school choice. I believe not 
only in the right of parents to choose what education is best for their 
child but in the right of a child to get the education that will put 
them on a path to success in their careers, an education that will 
accentuate their skills and their talents.
  Whether that is a public school education or a private school 
education, a charter school or a vocational school, those options must 
be available to every child. No child should ever be victim to a poor 
education because of their parent's wealth or their ZIP Code.
  Too often, we see that children are left in substandard schools 
because of politics, and it is wrong. As I mentioned, I am a product of 
public schools. My sister-in-law is a special education teacher in the 
very district that I graduated from. She is part of the teachers union. 
I respect and admire our teachers across America who provide a valuable 
education to our children, but we must ensure, number one, that every 
child has access to a quality education and, number two, that parents, 
not bureaucrats, certainly not the teachers union, have a say over 
their child's education.
  As we recognize School Choice Week, I think it is important to 
recognize the quality education that is provided in our public schools, 
yes, but also in our private schools, our religious schools, our 
parochial schools, and yeshivas. They provide an important education, 
not just with respect to the basics of math, science, English, and 
history, but a religious foundation that plays such a pivotal role in a 
child's life.
  We must recognize the role vocational schools play. At a young age, 
we should be helping children identify what their skills are, what 
their talents are, what their interests are so that they have a path to 
success.

  Not everyone is meant to go to college. College is a great thing. As 
somebody who graduated at the top of my class, I believe in a college 
education, but it is not necessary for everyone.
  In this country, some of our most successful people don't have 
college degrees. They went the route of a vocational school. They own 
and operate their own business within the trades. They employ hundreds, 
if not thousands, of people. They contribute greatly to our economy and 
communities.
  For me, as we move forward, we need to continue to invest critical 
resources in education at the Federal level, at the State level, and at 
the local level. We need to protect local control of schools, and we 
need to protect the rights of parents when it comes to their child's 
education.
  All of this is so critical as we move forward to ensure that our 
children have a bright future and that they are productive and 
contributing members of our society.
  Education is the civil rights issue of our generation. It is so 
critical to ensure that every child receives the quality education they 
are entitled to.
  When we look at what has happened over the last few years, especially 
with the COVID-19 pandemic, where so many schools were shut down and 
children were forced to learn remotely, we

[[Page H318]]

saw devastating impacts and irreparable harm put upon our children. 
Nine-year-olds lost ground in math for the first time since the 1970s. 
Scores in reading fell by the largest margin in more than 30 years.
  The damage was not felt equally across all demographics. Schools that 
remained open, or were closed for a shorter duration, did not see the 
same decline in student performance. Unfortunately, high-poverty 
districts that went remote for a majority of the pandemic will need to 
spend nearly all of their Federal education aid just to recover from 
these losses.
  Such disparities are not new, and the COVID-19 pandemic has shone new 
light on issues that have been plaguing many communities for a long 
time.
  Students in poor communities, whether they are urban or rural, tend 
to have lower test scores, literacy rates, and graduation rates than 
their peers. Meanwhile, the presence of alternatives to underperforming 
schools has been able to improve student outcomes substantially, 
slashing the achievement gap.
  In the two decades since school choice programs were enacted in 
Florida, fourth grade reading performance rose 26 percent among 
African-American students, 27 percent among Hispanic students, and 29 
percent among students from low-income households. Similarly, math 
performance rose 27 points among African-American students, 19 points 
among Hispanic students, and 21 points among low-income students.
  In my State of New York, charter schools have made a big difference 
in some of the same students that struggle. According to 2019 test 
scores, 63 percent of charter school students in grades three through 
eight passed the State math exam compared to 46 percent for traditional 
public school students. Additionally, 57 percent of charter school 
students in the same grade levels were proficient in English language 
arts while the percentage for traditional public school students was 47 
percent.
  Any discussion on education reform must include school choice and 
support for it and support for our vocational schools, parochial 
schools, traditional private schools, and charter schools. We have to 
have an all-of-the-above approach. We need to empower communities, 
parents, and students, as well as our educators, to ensure that every 
child gets the education they deserve.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from New 
York.
  School choice is such an important issue. I love what he said: 
Education is the civil rights issue of our time. So well said.
  Madam Speaker, there is a theme here tonight. We brought in incoming 
Members of the freshman class of the 118th Congress from the largest 
States, I think. It is not just a coincidence that we chose them for 
that duty tonight. We have had Texas and New York, and we will go to 
Florida next.
  I am delighted to introduce a new Member from there, Representative 
Cory Mills. I will tell you just a little bit about him.
  He is a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran and recipient of the 
Bronze Star. He left his home State of Florida to serve his country in 
uniform and then served further our U.S. State Department and other 
government agencies in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
  In fact, he served with the 82nd Airborne Division and was a member 
of the Joint Special Operations Command, Combined Joint Task Force 20 
in Iraq. He spent significant time there, 7 years of service in Iraq 
and approximately 2 years in Afghanistan. He served in the Kosovo 
campaign in 2000. He has traveled to the front lines of Ukraine during 
the Russian invasion to provide information for USAID and Department of 
State officials.
  He is a busy guy. President Trump appointed him to the Pentagon as a 
Department of Defense adviser and foreign policy expert.
  With his wife, I love that he, in the private sector, cofounded PACEM 
Solutions International LLC and PACEM Defense LLC.
  We love that he is here with us because he is a husband and a father, 
a patriot and a combat veteran, an entrepreneur, a foreign policy 
expert, and a true American conservative. We are going to have a lot of 
work for him to do.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mills).
  Mr. MILLS. Madam Speaker, today, I want to introduce myself not just 
to the great people of Florida's Seventh District but to the rest of 
America.
  While I may not be in your district and your exact Representative, if 
you believe in our constitutionality, if you believe in the rights, 
liberties, and freedoms in which American exceptionalism once excelled 
in, then I will be your Representative.

                              {time}  1730

  I came from a very humble upbringing. I grew up in a small town 
called Auburndale, Florida, in central Florida.
  My mother and father both suffered from drug and substance issues. 
They were in and out of prison nearly all of my life--my father spent 
nearly 30 years, my mother spent nearly 7 years. I bounced house to 
house until I was finally adopted and taken in by my grandparents.
  That is a very humbling experience for me, not just because so many 
Americans today are suffering from these things, but to also understand 
that I can hear your plight. Also, I understand the significant 
importance of being a nuclear family member.
  My grandparents didn't have much. My grandfather was a welder, my 
grandmother used to do hair on the back patio for women in the 
community. We lived on very little after my grandfather's disability. 
But the one thing that we always had was our love, our faith, and this 
Nation.
  I went on to serve in the 82nd Airborne and as a member of the Joint 
Special Operations Command, to serve honorably in our Armed Forces, and 
to be a Bronze Star recipient.
  My socioeconomic status and how I was born into what family did not 
define who I am. That is something very rare in this world. That is 
something that only exists here in America.
  I have been honored and blessed to create tremendous businesses with 
my wife, where we have gone on to serve over 200 of our law enforcement 
departments: SRT, HRT, the FDLE, the Department of Corrections, as well 
as for our members of the Armed Forces. In my family, we truly believe 
in the ideas of defend, not defund our men and women in blue, and that 
matters to us.
  I would just add that as I stand here, willing to serve yet again in 
a new uniform, I want you to know that accountability, transparency, 
and accessibility to your Members should be a top priority. That also 
means accountability for the wrongdoings of our Federal Government, 
whether it is the overstepping of State's rights and individual rights 
and the violations of the 10th amendment, or whether it is getting 
accountability for the wrongdoings of open borders, a failed Afghan 
withdrawal, and the America-last policies that have threatened our 
energy independence.
  Madam Speaker, I know something about these failed withdrawals. When 
Congressman Ronny Jackson from Texas reached out to me, he had a 
mother, Miriam, with three children, a 15-year-old boy, an 11-year-old 
little girl, and a 2-year-old little girl. They were left behind in 
Afghanistan after the Biden administration chose to abandon Bagram Air 
Base to hand over to the Chinese, that enabled over 40,000 Taliban, 
Haqqani, and ISIS Khorasan to be released from their detention centers, 
but it also shut down the commercial flights that many Americans had 
planned on using to return home.
  This mother and her three children only wanted to do one thing, 
return back home to America. When Ronny Jackson called the Department 
of Defense and the Department of State under this Biden administration, 
they failed to answer the call.
  That is why when he called me, we put together a great team that went 
over, and after 11 days and three failed attempts, the Biden 
administration not only threatened to shoot down an aircraft of 
Americans, which was a November aircraft that was there to save other 
Americans, but he thwarted us in three other efforts.
  The great thing about America is that we are not defined by the 
minority, which is our Federal Government. We are defined by the voice 
of the American people, which is the majority that cannot be silenced. 
That is why

[[Page H319]]

after 11 days, multiple attempts, and crossing into impermissible 
environments, we were able to rescue and conduct the very first 
successful overland rescue of Americans out of Afghanistan and return 
that mother and her three children back and they finished out their 
school year.
  Madam Speaker, the one thing I believe in is action. While I take 
this time to speak before you today, I want you to know that that is 
not what the American people are about--politicians speaking, but 
acting.
  When it came to the 2020 riots, we didn't sit back and ask to defend 
and dismantle our law enforcement. My wife and I, we stood strong as we 
donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and less lethal goods to 
defend our law enforcement, our communities, their businesses, and 
their homes.
  If I have learned nothing in my time in the military as a combat 
veteran, as a businessowner, as a foreign policy expert, and as an 
American, it is that it is time for action.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend and I 
thank him for his service to our country. We are glad he is here.
  Madam Speaker, we have many bright lights from Florida. Another one 
that I would like to introduce next is Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, 
who is here to serve her first term. She represents Florida's 13th 
Congressional District.
  She is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and the Second Amendment 
Caucus, and is already very busy here on the grounds.
  She is the first Mexican-American woman elected to the United States 
Congress to represent the big State of Florida. She was raised by a 
single mother in one of southern California's low-income neighborhoods. 
She tells the story often that she experienced firsthand the 
devastating consequences of radical, Big Government policies in cities 
like the one she grew up in. It was a tough childhood.
  She joined the military at a young age and she went on to graduate 
from the University of West Florida with a bachelor's degree in 
biology. She served in the U.S. Air Force, and that is where she met 
her husband Andy, who is a Bronze Star recipient who earned a Purple 
Heart when enemy combatants shot at him in Afghanistan.
  She brings an extraordinary work ethic and an inspiring life story 
and her fresh perspective to our Republican Conference. We are so happy 
to have her join our group here and our conservative cause.

  Madam Speaker, I am delighted to yield to the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Mrs. Luna).
  Mrs. LUNA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address the politicization 
of what is happening at our southern border against the American 
people.
  Several years ago, before politics was even a factor or thought for 
me, I got involved as a counter-trafficking activist. During that time, 
I had the honor and privilege of working next to some very brave people 
who were working to expose what was happening with the whole 
immigration debate.
  One of the more alarming things that I found is the more that I 
addressed this issue, the more that I got involved to really shed light 
on it to the American people, the more that I was called a ``coconut,'' 
the more the color of my skin became a topic of discussion, and the 
more that the left sought to, if anything, underestimate and undermine 
my capability to address this topic because of the fact that I am a 
conservative.
  Yes, I am Hispanic. Yes, I am a veteran. Yes, I grew up and saw 
things that a lot of people, probably in this very body, haven't had to 
experience.
  But what I am standing here today to say is: What I have realized 
over that journey--what I have realized over the past couple of years--
is that I thought that in politics some people would be here to do the 
right things, and I found that it is actually the exact opposite.
  I found that within this body people will lie to the American people 
about what is happening at our southern border, not because they want 
to help people, not because they actually care about these issues, but 
because they simply seek power. I think that we are seeing that today.
  Only several years ago you could see some Members of the Democrat 
Party, some people like former-President Barack Obama say: Don't come 
here, you will get hurt in the process. Yet, the media seems to forget 
about that.
  They say now that if you are a Republican, if you embrace border 
security, if you want to stand up for people that are being trafficked 
that you are a racist, that you are xenophobic, and they seek to label 
us. It is simply not true.
  I have been down to the border three times, and I can tell you that 
on my last experience down there I went with a member of the Border 
Patrol Union, his name is Art Del Cueto. We went down to a portion of 
the border that was completely open. It was on an Indian reservation. 
What I saw and heard down there was alarming. It was alarming for 
several reasons, one mainly being that the media wasn't discussing it. 
But also, too, one of the most horrifying stories that I heard was 
actually from him saying that on just regular walkie-talkies that you 
could purchase at Walmart, you could pick up the radio frequency of 
some of the ``coyotes'' working with the cartels to actually scout out 
women that were crossing illegally and they would be brought up to the 
top of these mountains and raped. That was their right of passage they 
would say; they would joke about it.
  That is something that we should all be talking about. We pride 
ourselves in this country--being that we are a free country, free of 
slavery. Yet, that is happening every single day. We have the 
opportunity to fix it and we don't.
  Why?
  It is not because we can't fix it, we can.
  It is because of partisan politics. That has to end. In 2021 alone, 
147,000 unaccompanied minors were crossing along the U.S.-Mexico 
border. There is no question in my mind that these young people are 
absolutely exploited for entry and abuse of the asylum process that has 
been actively happening over the last couple of years, especially under 
this administration.
  The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women estimated that 60 percent 
of Latin-American children caught by cartels are actually exploited for 
child pornography or drug trafficking purposes.
  If we, as a country, cannot come together and address the simple 
issue of trafficking, of modern-day slavery, of the exploitation of 
children--minority children at that--then are we any better than a 
Third World country or a place like China that engages in human rights 
abuses every single day?
  I am tired of this. I am sitting here willing to work with Members 
across the aisle, but I don't see that olive branch because of the fact 
that I am a conservative Republican. That is wrong, and that is why I 
am standing here today.
  I hope that we, as a country, can come together. That this 
administration can accept responsibility for the absolutely 
inappropriate abuse of the media saying that they want to legalize 
everyone, that is encouraging people to come here and people are hurt 
on both sides because of it.
  Madam Speaker, if there are people willing to work with me, I hope to 
work with them. I hope to end this awful slavery that we are seeing 
every single day.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. That is 
such an important issue and we can't talk about it enough. Thank you 
for drawing the Nation's attention to it tonight.
  Madam Speaker, our final new Member that we wanted to introduce 
tonight comes from another big State, and that is California.
  I want to tell you a little bit about Representative Kevin Kiley. He 
serves the people of California's Third District in the House. He is 
from that district. He was born there. He attended the local public 
high school there. His mom was a special education teacher. I guess 
that inspired him because he began his career as a 10th grade English 
teacher at Manual Arts High School in inner city LA.
  He chaired the English Department there. He led his students to 
significant academic gains and he founded an award-winning speech and 
debate team.
  After graduating law school, he helped prosecute the civil case 
against China's Huawei Technologies for intellectual property theft. He 
defended the 

[[Page H320]]

Constitution in California courts--we have that in common. We did a lot 
of that work in the courts before we came to Congress. He became a 
prosecutor and he represented the people of the State of California 
against violent felons as a deputy attorney general.

  He was first elected to the California State Assembly in 2016, and he 
did some significant work there in his tenure. He introduced 
significant school choice legislation. He authored ground-breaking new 
laws and protections for sexual assault victims, and privacy and 
criminal justice reform, and freedom of speech. In fact, in 2020, he 
was named the National Legislator of the Year for that work for 
advancing economic freedom.
  I could go on about his bio, but I do want to mention this one little 
minor note. He has a bachelor's degree from Harvard, a law degree from 
Yale, and a master's in secondary education from Loyola Marymount. 
Clearly, he is overqualified to serve in the U.S. Congress, but we are 
glad he is here. I think he brings a lot to this body and will be an 
extraordinary Member.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Kiley).
  Mr. KILEY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that kind 
introduction. It is an honor to represent California's Third District.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to raise an important issue regarding aid 
for my constituents harmed in the Caldor fire, which I had the chance 
to discuss with President Biden yesterday.
  The Caldor fire tore through El Dorado, Alpine, and Amador Counties 
in August of 2021. The community of Grizzly Flats was leveled and 800 
homes were destroyed. With 20,000 residents under mandatory evacuation 
orders, further devastation was only narrowly avoided.
  Americans may remember the surreal images of ski slopes set aflame, 
smoke billowing from the foothills, and ash raining down on cities 
across the Sacramento Valley. Entire communities in the Lake Tahoe area 
had their survival hanging on a razor's edge and could well have been 
consumed by the flames if not for the heroics of our first responders.
  By the time the blaze was extinguished, it ranked among the most 
destructive fires in California's recorded history.
  I had the chance to walk through the hollowed out streets and roads 
of Grizzly Flats just days after the fire. To his credit, President 
Biden visited the following month as well. President Biden traveled to 
California in September of 2021 to survey the damage. After landing at 
Mather Airport, President Biden joined Governor Newsom, California 
Office of Emergency Service Director Mark Ghilarducci, and other State 
and Federal officials for an aerial tour of the smoldering remains of 
Grizzly Flats, and the surrounding area.
  After landing, CAL OES Director Ghilarducci thanked President Biden 
for the relief that had been provided to victims of the recent Dixie 
and River fires, and the relief that would soon be provided for victims 
of the Caldor fire.

                              {time}  1745

  At that point, President Biden interjected. He said: ``We are going 
to take care of them.'' ``. . . there's a lot we can do, and it starts 
off being a Federal responsibility, in my view.''
  These are President Biden's words as he was present shortly after the 
fire: ``We are going to take care of them.'' ``. . . there's a lot we 
can do, and it starts off being a Federal responsibility, in my view.''
  Yet, well over 1 year later, President Biden has yet to fulfill that 
promise and provide individual assistance through FEMA to hundreds of 
people--hundreds of my constituents--who lost everything. In fact, FEMA 
has twice denied individual assistance, even though this same Federal 
aid was provided in similarly destructive wildfires such as the 2021 
River fire.
  Yesterday, I spoke with President Biden. I reminded him of his visit 
to Grizzly Flats and of the promise that he made. The President was 
receptive and seemed genuinely troubled that the residents of Grizzly 
Flats have not received relief. He said that he would get to the bottom 
of it, and I thank him for that.
  The reality is that the President has the power with the stroke of a 
pen to grant this aid to the residents of Grizzly Flats. In fact, just 
a few years ago, President Trump did precisely that, providing 
individual assistance to victims of another California fire, the Creek 
fire. So I am calling on President Biden to keep his word and to give 
victims of the Caldor fire the relief that they deserve.
  Now, while we must remember the debt that is owed to the community of 
Grizzly Flats, we also need to reflect on how we got here. The fact is 
that these catastrophic wildfires that ravage California year after 
year are not inevitable. They are a direct result of failed policies 
and of neglect, and Grizzly Flats is a perfect example.
  The United States Forest Service actually had a fire mitigation plan 
that was announced in 2013 that would create a 15,000-acre fuel 
reduction buffer east and south of Grizzly Flats. Now, although that 
project began in 2014 and was scheduled to be completed by 2020 before 
the fire, it became mired in delays, and by the time of the fire in 
2021, only 14 percent of the work had been done.
  By the way, the Forest Service exaggerated this. They overstated the 
amount of work that had been done. They claimed that it was twice that, 
and it took an investigation by Capital Public Radio to reveal the 
truth.
  Wildfire experts believe that if the project had been completed on 
schedule, it could well have saved Grizzly Flats.
  A key architect of the mitigation project, former El Dorado National 
Forest District Director Duane Nelson, said that if the project had 
been completed, then there would have been a high probability that 
Grizzly Flats would not have burned in the Caldor fire. He continued 
that it could have meant survival.
  So even though the damage was caused in part by Federal negligence, 
we still have not gotten Federal aid. That is what makes this such a 
bitter pill to swallow for my constituents, that it was neglect on the 
part of the Federal Government that led to the fire, and then after the 
fire, the promises of the Federal Government for relief have gone 
unfulfilled.
  More broadly, as we do everything we can to get assistance to the 
community of Grizzly Flats, we need to do everything we can to assure 
that other communities don't suffer the same fate. This means taking 
the simple and scientifically backed steps that we know reduce the risk 
of wildfires: actively and responsibly managing Federal forests, 
clearing underbrush and dead trees that serve as ladder fuels, 
conducting controlled burns, and selectively harvesting mature trees 
for logging to ensure healthy forest density.
  Those are just the beginning of the steps that we can take to make 
sure that this doesn't keep happening again and again. I am calling on 
all of us to work together across the aisle to take the steps to do the 
work that needs to be done.
  In the meantime, I am calling on the President to please, today, 
tomorrow, as soon as he possibly can, with the stroke of a pen make 
good on his promise and give the residents of Grizzly Flats the relief 
they deserve.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. 
California's Third District is well-represented as everyone can see.
  Madam Speaker, as is also obvious by the sample of new Members that 
we presented here tonight from New York, Florida, California, and 
Texas, this is an extraordinary class of Republican Members who have 
joined our conference here in the Congress. We look forward to serving 
with them. These will be fateful days for our country, and there is 
much hard work ahead in the 118th Congress.
  Madam Speaker, with that, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________