[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 130 (Thursday, July 27, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H4124-H4129]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ISSUES OF THE DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy) is recognized for
60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, as I was preparing to give remarks, I was
listening to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and one of
the points being raised was about champions of Title IX and what would
they say. I think that is a fantastic question.
Just today, in the House Judiciary Committee we had a witness, a
young lady who is a swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania. I asked
her whether Lia Thomas is a man or a woman. This female swimmer replied
without hesitation that, indeed, that swimmer is a biological male.
Now, that gets sometimes dismissed as, I don't know, humorous or
absurd or whatever in these culture battles, but the fact is the young
lady testifying was a victim of sexual assault and didn't want to have
to be in a bathroom changing with a biological male.
Yet, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle dismiss it. They
dismiss Riley Gaines' concern about competing against a biological
male, while they champion Title IX. You literally can't even make it
up. Come to the floor, champion Title IX, and yet they destroy Title IX
by virtue of saying, oh, yeah, it is fine. It doesn't matter if you are
a dude. Suit up, jump in the pool and swim.
I asked one of the witnesses today, I said, well, you know, is the
international federation of swimming, or whatever it is called, is that
some grand rightwing conspiracy?
She kind of chuckled and said no. She knew where I was going, which
is, that organization had banned Lia Thomas and other biological males
from competing against women in the 2024 Olympics because of course
they did, at least if they are being at all rational. It doesn't mean
that won't change. It doesn't mean that the irrational won't take over.
It doesn't mean that the absurd won't define how we live our lives.
But at least, in this case, the committee said, huh, yeah, maybe a
dude shouldn't swim against girls in the swim meets.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle dismiss that as
rightwing lunacy, MAGA extremism. I never know what I am. I support Ron
DeSantis and I am a MAGA hater. On the floor of the House, I am a MAGA
extremist because I dare to stand up for the American people who are
sick of having their world turned upside down.
I have my colleagues on the other side of the aisle saying, well, we
have important work to do, but all they care about are book bans. Well,
that is just a lie. It is just a straight-up lie, the accusations of
book banning.
Do you know what kind of books have been put on the chopping block in
Florida? Books that have straight-up pornography in them that parents
dared to say, wait a minute, I don't think I want that in the public
schools library.
Now, wait, is that what a book ban is? Because if it is, sign me up.
Sign me up because I don't want that in my kids' library, and that is
actually the fundamental question.
Are we going to stand up and say we are going to stand up for our
kids? Are we, in this body, are people who just want normalcy and their
lives back in legislatures across this country and in governors'
mansions across this country going to stand up and say yes, there is
man and there is woman; and no, the men shouldn't compete against women
in their swim meets or their track meets.
No, we shouldn't put pornography of any kind, straight, gay,
otherwise, in the public libraries of our kids' schools, and then be
labeled as book banners; because if that is what you are going to do, I
am going to stand up and say yes.
Meanwhile, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to shut
down free speech. They want to say anything I am saying--in fact, what
I am saying right now, they would say is disinformation. What I am
saying right now, they would say if I put it on social media, they
would be all too happy to have Big Tech companies with the power of
government shut down my speech.
Now, I am protected on the floor of the House, but every American is
supposed to be protected with free speech. I am going to keep saying
it. I am going to keep saying that Lia Thomas is a dude, and I will say
it here, and I will say it on social media, and I will say it on the
streets. If they dare try to stop me, that is what the First Amendment
is all about, and we are going to stand up and defend that. We are
going to stand up and defend normalcy.
We had accusations that, oh, this is all made up. We actually had
somebody in one of the hearings today in which we were talking about
transgender issues and so-called dysphoria, we had a young lady who, I
could barely speak after I heard her testimony. I could barely figure
out what to say to her because she had started to be transitioned,
changed sex, realized that she was going to lose the ability as a woman
to breastfeed her children--hopefully one day--and she stopped.
She was testifying today about the horrors of the pressure being
placed upon her to change her sex. She broke down in tears.
Then she was talking about one of the other witnesses at the table, a
mom that was talking about her child, the Democratic witness, and
saying how important it was to be able to have the transition.
Here is what our witness, Chloe Cole said:
``I understand that Mrs. Reynolds is scared for her child and I just
want to set the record straight that I don't hate her. I don't think
anyone in this room hates her.
``In fact,'' she said as she began to cry, and all of us, by the way,
on the dais were holding back tears, ``I see my own mother and my own
father in her, and that clearly she dearly loves her child and she is
doing the best with that she has been given and, unfortunately, it is
not much, and for that I am sorry.''
She remained emotional and she continued, she said:
``I think every parent deserves the utmost grace and guidance with
how to help their child. I don't wish for her child to have the same
result as I did.
``I don't wish for anyone to regret transition or detransition
because it is incredibly difficult. It comes with its own difficulties
and it is not easy.''
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle call that hate speech.
They say that if we bring these questions up about transitioning
people's sex, their God-given chromosomes and sex because you have got
pressure on social media and the devil that is or are these devices
that our kids spend hundreds of hours on, and you wonder, if I dare say
that, oh, no, that is hate speech.
If you think I am crazy, look around the world. Look around the
world. We had a public official in Finland who was being prosecuted
last year, prosecuted, and is still having to go through it, for daring
to have distributed materials saying that she believed in traditional
marriage instead of same-sex marriage. She was being prosecuted,
despite being a member of the Parliament.
I am just telling you, America, it is coming to a theater near you.
Don't think for a minute that the people who are decrying what I am
saying as hate speech don't want me to be in jail for it. They do, in a
heartbeat. I would be put in jail for daring to stand up in defense of
my faith, my values, my beliefs and, in this case, for simply saying
there is man and there is woman. That is where we stand as a society.
I heard my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--this is not
what I came to the floor to talk about, by the way. But I heard my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle talking about schools and how
we want to, you know, scare parents, by talking about these issues.
This is all to scare parents they said in the hearing.
Well, how about this? Today, news report: Vermont school district
removes male and female from the reproductive system lessons.
Let that sink in for a minute. I want you to think about it.
What is the first thing you do if you are a farmer and you get a new
calf, or you are trying to--what do you do? Is it a boy or a girl?
What is the first thing you do when your baby is born? Is it a boy or
a girl?
They are literally taking out of the lessons in the Vermont school
district on reproductive system, they are taking out male and female.
That is so bat-crap crazy I can't even possibly put it into words.
[[Page H4125]]
Yet, I am the one, according to my colleagues on other side of the
aisle, who is hateful because we are trying to pass in a National
Defense Authorization Act language to say that perhaps--color me
crazy--our Defense Department should be focused on a mission to kill
people and blow stuff up when called upon to do so, hopefully, on a
limited basis, but really dadgum effectively when called upon to do so.
I think if I polled most Americans, they would say I want my defense
to be better than every other country, by an order of magnitude, highly
trained; and I don't think any of them would rank diversity, equity,
inclusion, or transgender surgeries high on the national defense
authorization list of priorities, or climate change.
I don't think most of my constituents care that they drive around
battery-powered jeeps or battery-powered Hummers or battery-powered
tanks. They actually want them to work. They actually want them to blow
things up.
So we dare to say, how about the National Defense Authorization Act
focus on defense?
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle come down crying hate,
crying that we are injecting culture wars into the Defense Department.
Well, wait. Who exactly is it that injected culture wars into the
Defense Department? This administration, my Democratic colleagues, and
we are trying to get defense back on track. We did so, by the way.
But our Democratic colleagues in the Senate are going to refuse to
take up the version of the National Defense Authorization Act that we
passed. They are going to want to cleanse it.
Let's not forget, some of my colleagues from the other side of the
aisle, that when they cleanse it, what they are really doing is
polluting the Department of Defense, which is driving down recruiting
and driving down our effectiveness. We are losing simulations by the
day. Our numbers are going down by the day. Our effectiveness is going
down by the day. Our stockpiles are going down by the day because they
have turned the Department of Defense into a social engineering
experiment wrapped in a uniform, and that is criminal and we shouldn't
stand for it.
That is not the only thing we shouldn't stand for. Yesterday, I had
the pleasure of having Alejandro Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland
Security Secretary before us in the Judiciary Committee. I reminded the
Secretary that about 15 months ago he appeared before the Judiciary
Committee.
When he did so, I asked him, point blank, Mr. Secretary, do you have,
in your job as the Secretary, operational control of the border? He
said, I do.
I said, wait. You have operational control of the border? I pulled up
the statute, the Secure Fence Act, which requires this country and the
Secretary carrying out his job to maintain operational control.
{time} 1645
I pulled up a second board with the statute definition of operational
control. It means you do not allow anybody to come across the border
and into our country without papers and knowing who they are. You don't
allow illegal trafficking. You don't allow narcotics to come across.
You have operational control of the border.
I put all that up. I said, are you sure you have operational control
of the border? The Secretary said, I do. I pushed on it multiple times.
Funny enough, in a different hearing later this year over in the
Senate, the Secretary changed his tune. He said: Well, by that
definition under the Secure Defense Act, I don't use that one. Under
that definition, nobody has ever had operational control.
The fact is, the Secretary wants the American people to believe that
our country is in charge of our border when anybody with eyes knows
that it is the cartels that have operational control of our border. It
is wide open and lawless while Americans are dying as a result of
fentanyl poisonings; migrants are dying in the false name of
compassion, as my Democratic colleagues pat themselves on the back
while 53 people roast in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, which I
represent; and little girls are sold into the sex trafficking trade, as
exposed in the ``Sound of Freedom.'' Cartels are making tens of
billions of dollars moving human beings for profit.
That is what is happening, and my Democratic colleagues don't care,
and the Secretary of Homeland Security doesn't care. The Secretary of
Homeland Security lied in front of me, in front of the entire Judiciary
Committee, in front of all America, by saying that he has operational
control of the border when faced with the statute, knowing what it
means and knowing full well that he does not, we do not, our country
does not.
Governor Abbott was being criticized on the floor today by my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle because he is putting up
barriers. He is putting Texas DPS, Department of Public Safety,
troopers down on the Rio Grande. He is deploying barriers in the middle
of the Rio Grande. He is being criticized for being heartless.
Who is it that is heartless? Those who want the rule of law enforced
and to tell the world that you don't flood our borders in a way that is
going to empower cartels and endanger yourself, or is it heartless to
allow all of those people to get sold into the sex trafficking trade,
die in the Texas heat, get abused, get used by cartels like the Federal
judge in Texas who upward departed a few weeks ago from the penalties
under our statutes and the sentencing guidelines because he ran across
a case where the cartels had a stash house in Fort Worth, Texas, a man
illegally here, a father who was in Baltimore, Maryland, and he was
being told by the cartels his daughter would be raped if he didn't pay
$23,000.
That is happening every day in our country, every single day in the
supposed greatest country on the face of the Earth and in history. We
stand here, 435 of us, in front of that flag, and that flag is supposed
to mean something, and it sure as hell doesn't mean anything if little
girls are getting raped right here in D.C., up the road in Baltimore,
in Houston, in San Antonio, in Laredo, in Fort Worth.
We have evidence it is happening every day, and we don't do anything
about it except pat ourselves on the back and say, well, we can just
interpret parole and interpret asylum laws and just tell the world to
come on up through Mexico, but don't mind the fact that thousands of
you are going to die. You are going to get used by the cartels. You are
going to pay millions of dollars, and your little girls are going to
get exploited--the sound of freedom, indeed.
We should be ashamed of ourselves. By the way, that goes for
Republicans and Democrats because it has happened under both of our
watches for far too long.
Why am I standing in front of this chart? Because, about 4 months
ago, we passed in this body H.R. 2. We passed legislation that we
know--we don't believe; we know--would take significant strides to
securing the border of the United States, reestablishing operational
control, limiting the flow, limiting the power of cartels, empowering
ICE, empowering Border Patrol, reestablishing the rule of law so that
we can be the beacon of hope that people want to aspire to come here to
live under. Of course, that bill is sitting over in the Senate that
doesn't give a whit.
What do we do about it? That is my question for Republicans. I can
sit here and bash my Democratic colleagues all day long for not caring
about what is happening in Texas, for not caring about the five kids in
the school district where I live who died from fentanyl poisoning, not
caring about the 200 a day dying from fentanyl poisoning while fentanyl
pours cross our border, not caring about what is happening to Border
Patrol agents, not caring that the Secretary of Homeland Security lied
about Border Patrol agents allegedly whipping Haitian migrants, which
we knew didn't happen and the Secretary knew didn't happen 2 hours
before he went to the microphone and said they did it and they did it
because of systemic racism.
All of that is true, and my Democratic colleagues will not want to
pass H.R. 2. So, what will Republicans do about it? That is the
question, and the answer is that we should recognize the power of the
purse.
[[Page H4126]]
James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 58: ``The House of
Representatives cannot only refuse, but they alone can propose the
supplies requisite for the support of government. They, in a word, hold
the purse. . . . This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded
as''--and this is the most important part--``the most complete and
effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate
representatives of the people for obtaining a redress of every
grievance and for carrying into effect every just and salutary
measure.''
What that means is, we get to decide how the tax dollars and the
borrowed dollars are spent to carry out the laws of the United States
and no one else. We control the power of the purse. We are the people's
House. It is our job to decide how those dollars are spent and then
hold the executive branch accountable for carrying out the laws using
those taxpayer dollars.
That is not only our opportunity; it is our duty in the House of
Representatives.
That is the question for Republicans. Will we take inventory and
decide whether we care more about steak dinners at night, making a golf
event, or coming down to do three votes in a week and then getting home
for the weekend?
I mean, I noticed today is Thursday. We have one appropriations bill
passed. We are not coming in tomorrow. We are blowing out for a 6-week
recess. The government is going to run out of money on September 30.
That is one thing we know.
Most people I represent would tell you that they don't think we ought
to spend more money, that we ought to spend less. So, the question is,
between now and September 30, approximately 60 days from now, are we
going to find the ability to pass appropriations bills that reduce
spending, take our country back, and, most importantly, check the
executive branch from the tyranny that they are engaging in over the
American people?
The Department of Homeland Security is decidedly not securing the
homeland. It is just true by any objective measure.
Last September, I asked my House and Senate Republican colleagues if
they would vote for a CR and continue to fund the tyranny being waged
by this administration. I sent a letter with six pages of examples of
how a CR would continue funding the very things the GOP Members of this
body campaign against.
That was September 27 of last year, about 40 days before the November
election. What are the things GOP Members campaign against? Open
borders and funding for open borders; authoritarian bureaucrats, the
FBI, the IRS, the ATF, and the funding for those bureaucrats;
tyrannical public health agencies that shut down our economy, mandated
vaccines, mandated masks, and funding for those agencies; destructive
energy policies through the Inflation Reduction Act, EPA, and
Department of Energy undermining the ability of this country to produce
reliable energy that makes the world work--by the way, 3 billion people
on this planet do not have reliable energy and a billion people don't
have electricity at all; funding for radical, anti-American ideologies
at the Department of Education, NPR, and HHS; funding for the
degradation of our national security with a woke Department of Defense.
Nevertheless, 22 Senate Republicans still supported the CR, as did 10
House Republicans.
Funding runs out on September 30, and here we sit, once again--with
two notable differences. We are now operating under bloated spending
levels established by the FY23 omnibus bill passed last December. If
you don't know what that means, it is just the way this place works.
Spending runs out in September. If we haven't passed appropriations
bills through both bodies that are signed by the President, people
freak out. They want the lights to stay on. October 1 rolls around, and
they pass a continuing resolution to keep the government going. Might
pass it for a day or a week or a month. Often, they pass it for about
75 days.
Why would you do that on September 30 for about 75 days? Do the math.
That ends up in the middle of December. The uniparty establishment of
Washington elite, who doesn't give a crap about debt, who doesn't care
about what is happening in their country at the end of the day, really
cares more about getting home for Christmas. That is why.
What happened last December? That happened. A couple of days before
Christmas, a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill was passed, funding
Ukraine to the tune of about $45 billion, increasing defense spending
by about 10 percent, increasing nondefense by about 7 percent. All of
that got done while what? While we are at $32 trillion of debt and
counting, long before, by the way, a big deal was cut raising your debt
another $4 trillion on Memorial Day.
Again, that happened while Republicans were in charge of the House,
and 17 Republican Senators voted for that. Why? I will tell you why:
The defense establishment in this town, combined with those who wanted
to try to do something for Ukraine, said: Well, we know we have a lot
of debt, but we have to cut a deal. I want to go home for Christmas. I
want to wear a blue and yellow pin on my lapel. I want to feel good
about myself. That is okay. I will pass the buck down to my kids and
grandkids with a big pile of debt.
Again, I am going to ask my Republican colleagues, will we vote to
continue to fund this tyrannical government while our border is wide
open, little girls are getting abused, some 80,000 to 90,000 Americans
a year are dying from fentanyl poisoning, cartels are in power, and
China is in power? Are we going to continue to do that?
{time} 1700
We have the power of the purse. Will we use it, or will we curl up in
a little ball, like we tend to do every single year, and say: ``Oh, no,
they are going to criticize us for a government shutdown''? Every year,
like clockwork.
I am all for moving the appropriations bills and getting them done by
September 30, but I can promise you, as sure as the Sun is coming up
tomorrow, Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats are not going to bless the
appropriations bills that we move through the House. They are not going
to. They are going to then want to claim it is Republicans who are
shutting down the government.
The question is, when we wake up on October 1, are we Republicans
going to have agreed to spend even one more dollar to advance a
tyrannical government that is stepping over the rights of the American
people at the Department of Justice and the FBI, that is funding a woke
government at the Department of Defense that leaves $85 billion behind
in Afghanistan with no real accountability?
Importantly, for the purpose of what I want to talk about more right
now, is the border. We have seen 5.6 million illegal crossings since
January 2021. Under Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden, the number
of known or suspected terrorists caught by border agents has increased
each year: fiscal year 2021, 15, their first year; FY22, 98; FY23, 140
so far.
You think: ``Oh, gosh, they are doing their job. They caught all
these guys.'' Well, what about the 1.8 million or so got-aways? Is
anybody concerned about the got-aways when you know you have 140, so
far, individuals nabbed who are known or suspected terrorists?
We have lost 85,000 kids, gone missing, can't track them.
As I said before, Border Patrol has seized 22,000 pounds of fentanyl.
I don't know if you understand, but a sugar packet of fentanyl could
kill most of the people in this room, depending on its strength. They
have seized 22,000 pounds of fentanyl, which would kill hundreds of
millions of people.
China sells the printing presses to cartels to make the pills that
are killing our kids, kids that take Xanax or Adderall, boom, one pill,
dead. It happens all across America. There are 72,815 fentanyl
poisonings, 200 per day.
I represent Texas. As of this month, 46 Texas counties have declared
an invasion because of the number and volume of migrants entering their
communities. They have to deal with schools. They have to deal with
hospitals. They have to deal with crime. They have to have police do
the job that needs to be done. They have to deal with bailouts. They
have to deal with fences getting cut. They have to deal with livestock
getting out. They have to deal with fentanyl pouring into their
communities. They have to deal with marijuana traffic. They have to
deal with all sorts of dangers.
[[Page H4127]]
Texas has appropriated $10 billion to deal with the border. Texas
should get that paid back.
I will be very clear. This Member of Congress will not vote for a
single CR or DHS appropriations bill that does not address the border
security issue, turning H.R. 2 into law, removing the actors at DHS
that refuse to do their job, and paying Texas back for the damage being
done to the State I represent.
I am not going to be alone. If those Senators think they are going to
roll us, they have a fight on their hands--including Republican
Senators. I don't care what party you are in. I don't care if you are a
Republican or a Democrat. The time for our border being in chaos and
dangerous and endangering migrants and endangering Americans, the time
for that to end is now, not after another Presidential election.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle say: ``Oh, we like to
use all of this for politics, to raise money, to campaign on it.'' My
constituents are sick of hearing about it. I don't get a whole lot of
praise from my constituents for talking about it. They want us to end
it. They are exhausted--ranchers breaking down in tears, 75-year-old
crusty Texans who find a dead body on their ranch or are worried about
their children, their livestock getting out, the ranch that has been in
their family for years. Moms come to me having lost their children,
like Stephanie Turner, who lost her son, Tucker, and who I have gotten
to know, along with dozens of others.
The Secretary of Homeland Security has the audacity to come before
the House Judiciary Committee and say he has it all under control and
lie. Yet, a number of my Republican colleagues run around going, well,
that is not a high crime or misdemeanor. Constitutional scholars,
indeed.
It is, in fact, an impeachable offense to lie under oath, and the
Secretary of Homeland Security has lied under oath. Putting aside all
the other stuff, putting aside ignoring the laws, putting aside
endangering Americans, all purposefully, put all of that aside, you
think, ``Oh, that is maladministration. Maladministration was rejected
by the Founders. Don't you see, Chip?'' I get these lessons all the
time, Con Law 101, from my colleagues.
First of all, not 100 percent true. Maladministration is viewed by
some of the people who have studied this to have been subsumed into
what was known to be high crimes and misdemeanors at the time our
Constitution was adopted.
Put that aside. The Secretary lied to us. That should mean something.
That should matter. We should act on it. Either remove him or stop
funding him or both.
I am going to call the question. This is fair warning. Oh, don't
surprise me, I am told around here. Don't be surprised. It is July
right now. We have 60 days until the government runs out of funding. I
am telling you, I will fight the rule. I will fight every bill that
comes to this floor that in any way will fund the Secretary of Homeland
Security to continue to lie and fail to secure the homeland.
The things that we need to do we laid out in H.R. 2, the bill we
passed this spring to secure the border: restart infrastructure, border
wall construction; clear the cane; build roads; provide the resources
needed to actually contain the flow; permanently implement the remain
in Mexico policy that President Trump adopted that requires migrants to
stay south of the border while any asylum claim is adjudicated; end
catch and release; keep migrant families together while their claims
are processed; treat minors from noncontiguous countries the same as we
treat minors from Mexico by saying we will return them to their
families; and end parole abuse and asylum abuse, restoring them to
their original intent.
These things will reestablish the very rule of law that attracts
migrants to come here. If you think and say, as my colleagues on the
other side of the aisle often do, that this is anti-Brown, anti-
Hispanic racism, that is a lie. Talk to Hispanic Texans, Hispanic
Americans, sick of watching their communities get decimated, sick of
watching the rule of law crumble, sick of watching cartels get into
power, sick of watching their own die from fentanyl poisoning.
I am not going to allow the race-baiting and the game that we are
going to call you racist to cow me away from standing up and defending
the border of the United States, which we are required to do. I am not
going to do it.
That is why I am going to keep offering amendments to end diversity,
equity, and inclusion programs. I am going to keep offering amendments
to stop the racial division being sowed by my colleagues on the other
side of aisle, including the President of the United States and
everybody running these agencies, undermining our Department of
Defense, dividing our country, sowing seeds of hatred rather than
bringing us together under that flag united. We should end it. I am not
going to back away from it ever.
Let me close with one final point. I have some colleagues who I know
want some time, and I will be happy to give it to them.
I have focused a lot on the border. There are a lot of things that
need to change. When we passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act as a
Republican Party in, I think, April, I felt that was one of the high
watermarks, along with passing H.R. 2, of this Congress and laying out
a vision for where we want to take the country--find a path forward to
balance the budget, limit spending, cut the size and scope of the
Federal bureaucracy, secure the border of the United States, limit the
devastating damage that the so-called Inflation Reduction Act will be
causing on our ability to be energy independent and the strength of our
national security from energy freedom, cutting down the expansion of
the Internal Revenue Service. There are other items in that, but we
laid out an agenda. I hope we will stick with that as we go through the
appropriations process.
In addition to the border, I have to say that the Inflation Reduction
Act, which is effectively funding slavery in China, Congo, and around
the world, needs to be ended, needs to be capped, limited, or ended.
Goldman Sachs estimates the IRA's unreliable energy subsidies will
cost $1.2 trillion. Do you want to know how you ended up with $32
trillion, soon to be $36 trillion, in debt? There you go. We pass a
debt ceiling limit increase. Within a month, we had already added
another trillion dollars to the debt.
The IRA massively subsidizes EV purchases and manufacturing. The EPA
has mandated two-thirds of new cars be EVs by 2032. I live in Texas.
Driving from Austin to Midland ain't easy to do in an electric vehicle.
I also don't have $70,000 sitting around to buy a new car that then is
expensive to deal with when the battery goes out.
All of this is heavily owned by China. China has 80-plus percent,
pushing 90 percent, of the battery-making manufacturing base. We are
literally handing to China our entire energy security. It is like
literally one of the stupidest things a free people has ever done. At a
moment when we have military strength and economic strength that is
being challenged around the world, the geniuses of this administration
and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle decide we need to turn
over our energy industry to our adversary.
It is so much worse. The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces 70
percent of the world's cobalt. NPR reported on how modern-day slavery
in the DRC powers the rechargeable battery economy with children and
mines. There are probably 10,000 to 15,000 tunnels that are dug by hand
by artisanal miners. None of them have supports, ventilation shafts,
rock bolts, anything like that, and these tunnels collapse all the
time, burying alive children who are down there.
Trafficking--you have these malicious, sometimes called commandos,
who will abduct children, traffic children, and recruit children from
other parts of the DRC.
China owns 80 percent of the industrial cobalt mines in the DRC and
controls 15 of the 19 primary mines in the country. It controls almost
80 percent of electric vehicle battery manufacturing. Eighty percent of
solar panels installed in the U.S. come from Chinese firms. I could go
on and on.
Meanwhile, while they do this, China has 1,100 coal-fired plants. We
have 250. China is building two new coal-fired plants every week. We
are sitting around playing unicorn games saying, hey, let's throw up a
few more windmills and solar panels and just hope that we will be able
to get our power from China.
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{time} 1715
Can you image, in 1939, going: Hey, let's go over to Germany and say,
Why don't you provide our energy, we have a deal for you--or Japan.
Here we sit. I want to bring it back to the final point and then I will
be yielding time to my colleagues in whichever order they choose.
This is about humanity. We are empowering tyrants who are abusing
children in mines around the world, enriching a handful of leftist
elitists in the country through corporate cronyism to the tune of $1.2
trillion in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act while little children
get exploited.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle pat themselves on the
back because they are fixing things for climate change. No, you are
not. You are not denting CO2 production. You could get rid
of every single internal combustion engine and you are going to drop
CO2 production by 2 or 3 percent.
Meanwhile, our border is wide open. Meanwhile, as I said today, while
I am sitting here in this Chamber a little girl has been driven up I-95
through the Nation's capital up to New York as part of the sex
trafficking trade. The data indicates that it is so prevalent that it
is likely true.
We know of the stash houses around this country. We know of the
abuses being perpetrated on children. We know of the deaths of our
children in this country to fentanyl poisoning. I am not going to
subsidize and fund evil.
I am asking my Republican colleagues to join me in committing--before
we get to the September 30 shutdown--to join our arms together and
stand to thwart an administration that is tyrannically undermining our
freedom and our safety in Texas and throughout this country. Little
children, our kids, and our people are dying by the thousands because
we refuse to do the basic duty of government, which is to secure our
national borders.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Langworthy).
Mr. LANGWORTHY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Roy) for yielding to me.
Mr. Speaker, as we go through our appropriations process, as we
started here today, we must ensure that the United States is prepared
to combat China. While the left wants us to focus on the latest
partisan pet project, China's actions demand comprehensive and
strategic response to safeguard our national security, economic
competitiveness, and democratic values.
Internationally, China's aggressive military buildup poses a direct
challenge to the United States. With the largest Navy in the world and
efforts to rival our capabilities, it is crucial that we prioritize
investments in our defense to deter any potential aggression and to
protect our interests in the Indo-Pacific region. Additionally, the PLA
Rocket Force's efforts to build a significant stockpile suggests that
China is preparing for long-term competition and conflict.
China's global infrastructure projects further solidify its position
as a trade and economic power. While economic cooperation is important,
we must be cautious of the potential debt-trap diplomacy where China
leverages loans to seize assets and influence the policies of indebted
countries. This undermines the sovereignty of nations and challenges
the rules-based international system, and directly counters democratic
values.
Closer to our own borders, China's ambitions in South and Central
America and its plans to establish a listening station, as they call
it, in Cuba to monitor U.S. bases are clear signs of their growing
assertiveness and aggression. We must not underestimate their
determination to expand their influence and challenge our homeland
security.
We are also engaged in a tech race with China. While we currently
hold an edge in innovation and technology, complacency could lead to
China overtaking our sector. We must invest in research, education, and
technological advancements to maintain our lead and secure our national
interests, not to mention the use of social media like TikTok to gather
data on our citizens.
Furthermore, the influx of cheap goods from China into the United
States has had more adverse consequences, well beyond the surface that
people understand. It cuts the incentive for American manufacturing and
promotes China's use of forced labor, which goes against our values as
a Nation that upholds human rights and fair labor practices.
We cannot afford to ignore the challenges posed by China's rise and
assertiveness. We must be prepared to take a comprehensive approach
that combines strengthening our defense capabilities, upholding
democratic values, investing in our economy and technology, and
safeguarding our citizens' interests in data.
This is not about escalating tensions or seeking confrontation, but
rather about responsibly protecting our great Nation's interests and
encouraging global peace and stability through American strengths.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Owens).
Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to support the U.S.-Taiwan
partnership. I recently joined a congressional delegation to visit
Taiwan. While in Taiwan I met with President Tsai Ing-wen and discussed
our shared national security, economic, and political interests.
I also witnessed firsthand how patriotic and fiercely resilient the
people of this island nation are in the face of an increasingly
aggressive Communist China.
Taiwan is a critical partner to the United States in the Indo-Pacific
region and shares our unwavering commitment to freedom, liberty, and
democracy in every corner of the world.
Moreover, we have longstanding economic ties.
Taiwan is America's eighth largest trading partner, and America is
Taiwan's second largest trading partner.
Taiwan's ingenuity, entrepreneurial spirit, and skilled workforce
have resulted in an island nation of just 23 million people producing
90 percent of the global semiconductor supply--vital components in the
microelectronics ecosystem--and essential to life in our modern digital
age.
In addition to strong economic collaboration, Utah and Taiwan have
strengthened their relationship through educational and cultural
exchange programs.
The decades-long economic, cultural, and geopolitical bond between
our two beloved countries has established a legacy of mutual
understanding, regional security partnership, and deep appreciation for
our shared values.
Unfortunately, the Chinese Communist Party's evil regime increasingly
encroaches on the territorial integrity of Taiwan with provocative
military exercises and the buildup of its armed forces in the region.
This threatens the rules-based international order.
That is why I joined the House Republican majority to establish the
Select House Committee on the Chinese Communist Party to counter the
imminent danger posed by the CCP to the strength, resilience, and
sovereignty of Taiwan.
Mr. Speaker, I was proud to vote ``yes'' on the fiscal year 2024
National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA, to provide robust
investment in our defensive capabilities in the Taiwan Strait and
support their right to defend themselves from CCP aggression.
As a member of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, I reaffirm my
commitment to policies that continue to improve the U.S.-Taiwan ties
and enhance America's military infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific
region and ensure peace in the South China Sea.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Utah.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Salazar),
my friend.
Ms. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome Miami's new
resident, and futbol legend, Lionel Messi. It is an honor to host a
world-class athlete in my district.
Messi signed onto Miami's soccer team, Inter Miami, which kicked off
its inaugural season in Major League Soccer 3 years ago. His presence
is already making an impact in my community. He brought home the first
win of the 2023 Leagues Cup with a free kick in the 94th minute of the
game.
Today, Messi is a household name, but he was born to humble
beginnings in Argentina. His father was a manager at a steel factory
and his mother worked in another factory.
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He started playing futbol at the age of 4, coached by his father,
making his senior debut at 18 years old. He credits his dedication to
soccer to his beloved grandmother, Celia, and continues to honor her at
every game he plays.
Some of his many achievements include winning the World Cup and its
Player of the Tournament award in 2022, being named best FIFA player
three times, and winning the Champions League four times.
He has scored over 800 goals at club level and he scored the most
goals of any player in a calendar year with 79 of them.
Personally, Messi is a devout Catholic and lives his faith through
charitable works. He established the Leo Messi Foundation in 2007,
working to improve children's access to healthcare and education.
Inter Miami is blessed to have this elite player on their team, and
the significance of his presence extends beyond the field.
This extraordinary player is going to inspire children in my district
to work hard to achieve their dreams. He said, ``I start early and I
stay late, day after day, year after year. It took me 17 years and 114
days to become an overnight success.''
The lesson he is conveying is that you can pray for a house, but
sometimes God gives you a hammer, lumber, nails, and talent. Don't be
fooled into thinking that he did not answer you, you have to put in the
hard work.
Every person has the opportunity to succeed if they are dedicated to
accomplishing their goals, especially in this country, the United
States of America.
Mr. Speaker, I welcome Messi to Miami, and may his hard work be an
inspiration to everyone who has a dream for their life. God bless him,
his wife, and his three sons as they begin a new life in Miami, which
is part of the 27th Congressional District, the best district in the
United States.
Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I close by recognizing an individual that I have grown
very fond of in my time here at the House of Representatives. I don't
do a lot of these Special Orders and come down and talk about
individuals, but since I have been in the House, getting to know Joyce
Hamlett has been an extraordinary pleasure and honor.
I wish Joyce were on the floor at this moment because she is going to
be retiring here shortly, either tomorrow or next week. She has worked
here on the Hill for 35 years.
Speaker McCarthy already gave a fantastic speech detailing her bio
and background. She grew up in North Carolina and she will be returning
to North Carolina. She devoted 35 years here, working up from being in
the cafeteria with her mom, if I remember correctly from Speaker
McCarthy's speech, and serving as the elevator operator.
For over a decade, she has faithfully protected the mace. The mace of
the House of Representatives is one of the oldest symbols of the United
States Government representing Congress' order and authority. Her duty
is to protect the mace that opens the House each day and closes it each
night.
Mr. Speaker, I would note she was also responsible for keeping
decorum on the floor of the House of Representatives, and I have been
the recipient of her admonition on more than one occasion. It has been,
frankly, an honor to receive it.
Mr. Speaker, I will miss her and I wish her God speed in her
retirement. I thank her and all the staff that serve the House of
Representatives. She is one of the best. I have worked with a lot of
people over the years, she is an exceptional human being. We are a
greater country and a greater body for her service.
Mr. Speaker, God bless Joyce, and I hope to see her today or tomorrow
before she goes off to North Carolina.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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