[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H6927-H6932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOUSE REPUBLICANS' ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2023
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Moore) is recognized for
60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special
Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I am grateful to host this last Special Order of 2023,
and to allow my colleagues to speak on House Republicans' legislative
efforts this week and achievements on behalf of Americans this whole
entire year as we have taken over the majority at the start of 2023 and
share a little bit about what we have accomplished.
This week we passed legislation to lower healthcare costs, increase
price transparency regarding healthcare, allow schools to make their
own choices on nutritional aspects, such as the type of milk that they
provide to their students, and ensure Americans receive the answers
they deserve regarding the inquiry into the Biden family's peddling
schemes and nefarious business dealings.
Tomorrow, we will vote on the National Defense Authorization Act for
fiscal year 2024, a comprehensive and robust bill that will provide for
the needs of our servicemembers and enhance our national security
efforts, while keeping liberal ideology out of our military.
I am pleased to have some of my colleagues here to speak on these
bills and the ways that they have delivered for their constituents
throughout the year.
No one has done that more than the Representative that will address
this next, particularly on her strong focus with respect to defense. I
have an Air Force Base that is part of who I am, part of where I grew
up, so close to the community that I get to represent. She is in a very
similar situation and has an intense focus on providing for her
district and the needs of making sure that our men and women have what
they need to secure our Nation and take the fight to our adversaries.
I yield to the gentlewoman from Virginia (Mrs. Kiggans).
Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of
the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. As a member of
the House Armed Services Committee, I have had the honor of working on
this important legislation for months and am proud of the final
bipartisan bill we produced to strengthen our national security.
One of the main reasons I came to Congress was to restore America's
military strength and improve the quality of life for our servicemen
and -women. This bill takes several critical steps to help us achieve
that goal.
In total, this year's NDAA authorizes $886 billion in national
defense discretionary programs with the focus on improving our
readiness and recruitment, supporting our servicemembers and their
families, strengthening partnerships with our allies, increasing the
lethality of our Joint Force, equipping our warfighters to successfully
complete their mission, and ensuring vigorous oversight of taxpayer
dollars at the Pentagon.
I wanted to speak specifically to a few components of the NDAA, why
it is a great bill, why I am excited to support it and encourage my
colleagues to do the same.
First of all, a large component of the NDAA is about supporting our
servicemembers and their families. It secures the largest pay raise in
20 years for our servicemembers at 5.2 percent. We continue to see our
servicemembers struggling with the economy. They are unable to afford
things, not just gas and groceries, but things like buying a new home,
buying a new car. We have servicemembers that still qualify for things
like SNAP benefits and WIC benefits. We still see food pantries that
exist on our bases. Providing that important pay raise, again the
largest in over 20 years, was a very important component of taking care
of our men and women.
This NDAA also authorizes $356 million over the President's budget
request to renovate and build new barracks. We had a GAO report come
out recently that really highlighted some of our insufficiencies when
it comes to housing, especially unaccompanied housing--the mold issues,
the pest issues, and the out-of-date infrastructure that is old and
dilapidated. We can do better for our servicemen and -women. This bill
provides just that.
It is a starting point. There is a lot to do, but I am excited to
support it for that reason. The NDAA also includes a parents bill of
rights at DOD schools.
I represent Virginia's Second Congressional District, so it is kind
of the birthplace of the parents' rights matter movement. We were able
to incorporate why it is important to have parents involved in their
children's school into this NDAA piece so that it applies to DOD
schools as well.
The bill also authorizes DOD to reduce the out-of-pocket childcare
expenses for military families and provides $153 million over the
President's budget request for the construction of new childcare
centers. In my district, I have Naval Air Station Oceana. Our base has
over 1,600 people on the waiting list. That is not acceptable, and my
base is not alone.
If you were to look at other bases, they have the same amount on
their waiting lists. We can do better than this. It is an important way
to support our servicemembers and their families.
This bill also authorizes an additional berthing barge to provide a
safe and healthy housing alternative for Navy servicemembers during
dry-dock availabilities. We just had an article come out about the USS
Stennis in Newport News, which is where the shipyard is. It will be the
first to have off-ship housing, free WiFi, and better parking. We have
to take care of our servicemen and -women who are in these extended
port periods, especially when their ships are being repaired. This bill
does just that.
This NDAA also provides oversight for taxpayer dollars. It cuts $37
billion in inefficient weapons systems, Defense programs, and Pentagon
bureaucracy. It requires mandatory DOD audits, and it also establishes
a special inspector general to oversee and monitor security assistance
going to Ukraine.
I have been a supporter of Ukraine. I think we need to continue to
support that fight in Ukraine; however, it cannot be a blank check.
There has to be some accountability, and this inspector general will do
just that.
This NDAA also improves readiness and recruitment, and this is
something I have been focused on. We have a recruitment, retention,
quality of life task force that has been part of our Armed Services
Committee. We have been focusing on that for several months now. This
NDAA is a good place to start.
It creates a grant program to expand the capacity of our shipyards.
We see
[[Page H6928]]
that we are behind in our shipbuilding capacity. We know that China is
outpacing us. China is rapidly approaching 400 ships, while we are
hovering at just under 300. It is so important that we invest in that
shipbuilding piece and, additionally, supporting our ship repair
industry.
This bill also increases the number of Junior ROTC programs and
instructors at U.S. high schools. That is such an important part of our
recruiting for our Armed Forces. I want people to be in our great Navy
and Army and Air Force and to join our great military. It is a great
way for people to have jobs and education benefits and healthcare.
Plus, there is no better place to advertise for our military than
starting with our young people. Putting that investment in the JROTC
programs is so important, and this NDAA does that.
This bill also extends military recruitment and retention bonuses and
special pay authorizations. We have got to stay competitive with
civilian jobs that are out there. I know there is a lot of competition
in workplaces, and this NDAA will help the military to stay
competitive.
It also rejects the Biden administration's efforts to reduce the size
of our Navy by protecting four battle force ships with years of service
life remaining. The President had asked to decommission eight ships,
and we reduced that number to four. We really can't afford to
decommission any ships, in my opinion, but we cut it to four. We have
to make sure that we are providing oversight of the money and
investment that we are putting in ship repair. We need to watch that
our ships are getting repaired and they are getting repaired on
schedule because we need every single one of them.
This bill also establishes enlisted training pilot programs at
community colleges offering more educational opportunities for our
enlisted servicemen and -women. It prohibits DOD from contracting with
any CCP or Chinese-owned or controlled company operating in the U.S.,
which is such an important piece of national security.
This NDAA also strengthens partnerships with our allies. We need our
friends now more than ever. This bill fully funds our Pacific
Deterrence Initiative. It provides for the implementation of the AUKUS
agreement with Australia, unlocking over $3 billion in Australian
investments in the U.S. submarine industrial base.
It authorizes over $987 million in INDOPACOM Commander priorities,
which were left unfunded in the Biden budget. It strengthens training
and advising for the military forces of Taiwan and extends authority
for the transfer of weapons systems, as well as precision-guided
munitions to Israel.
This NDAA also protects our own national security. We do have some
border wins that we were able to get and secure in this NDAA. It fully
funds the deployment of National Guardsmen in support of Border Patrol
activities. It extends the Pacific Deterrence Initiative to enhance
U.S. deterrence and defense posture in the Indo-Pacific region. It
funds initiative of $14.7 billion, an increase of $5.6 billion over the
budget request. It prohibits the DOD from reducing the number of
intercontinental ballistic missiles below 400 or reducing the
responsiveness or alert status of the arsenal.
I am also proud that my colleagues from both sides of the aisle
supported my effort to include critical provisions from my Sailor
Standard of Care Act in our Nation's most important Defense bill. These
provisions will directly benefit servicemembers and their families in
Hampton Roads and throughout the country by improving our
servicemembers' quality of life by increasing access to mental health
care.
As a nurse practitioner, focusing on mental health care, especially
for our military members and especially for our veterans, has been
something that I fight for every single day. We had provisions of the
Sailor Standard of Care Act get into the NDAA and into the Conference
version, which we will be voting on tomorrow.
{time} 1830
Some of those provisions are that it examines reimbursement rates for
mental health care providers under TRICARE.
When I meet with mental health care providers in my district, and
throughout the country really, they have that same concern, they want
to be reimbursed. There are not enough of them.
We want them to be partners in care for our military members and our
veterans, so we need to make sure we are providing that reimbursement,
and we are providing it in a timely manner.
This bill also directs the Navy to look into constructing and
managing a dashboard to track quality-of-life programs and their
utilization rate. So we are looking at things like healthcare,
childcare, spouse employment, housing, and we are making sure we are
providing the best services we can, again, for our military.
This bill requires a report on the feasibility of expanding TRICARE
for life to include a benefit for the SilverSneakers program, mimicking
the existing benefit that is included under some of our Medicare
Advantage programs.
We had constituents that asked for this program. They want to utilize
public gyms and recreation facilities, and so we would like the TRICARE
program to cover it for our older adults who would love nothing more
than to go exercise.
This bill also assesses the feasibility of providing additional
mental health resources to limited-duty sailors. In Hampton Roads, we
saw an increase in the suicide rates for sailors that we took out of
the workplace, that we took out of the mission, and we kind of had them
in a waiting area.
In this bill, we are looking at how long is that taking to medically
process people out?
Are we providing those mandatory mental health screenings?
Are we taking care of them? Who is providing that care?
This bill is going to look at expanding that care so that chaplains
can do it and corpsmen can do it. There is a shortage of mental health
care providers. So really looking holistically at how we are providing
the mental health services to our servicemen and -women and providing
them with the best mental health services that we can.
The harsh reality is that the world is a dangerous place. The United
States and its allies are facing unprecedented and rapidly evolving
threats across the globe. China is outpacing us in warship production.
China has 350 ships and is quickly moving to 400 ships compared with
our 293.
Iranian proxies have attacked American bases and troops stationed
overseas over 46 times since October 17. Israel is countering the most
horrific attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
North Korea launched its first military reconnaissance satellite into
orbit last month with the help of Russia. Russian aggression continues
in Ukraine, with Putin threatening to go after NATO member countries
next.
Now more than ever, we must prioritize and project American strength
across the globe. This legislation goes a long way in achieving that
goal. The goal of this legislation is deterrence, it is all about peace
through strength. America leads the world in peacekeeping forces, and
it is so important. I can think of no other country that I would want
to have this role than our great Nation, the United States.
In closing, Madam Speaker, the fiscal year 2024 National Defense
Authorization Act ensures our military can remain the best in the
world. It refocuses our Nation's efforts on advancing military
readiness and quality of life to make sure our men and women in uniform
are ready to fight tonight.
As a former Navy helicopter pilot, as a third-generation veteran,
military spouse, and mother to children who serve, I will always be the
loudest voice for our military men and women in Congress. I urge all of
my colleagues to support this critical legislation.
Passing this year's NDAA by a wide bipartisan margin would send an
important signal to the men and women defending our freedom that those
of us in Congress will rise above our differences to prioritize their
needs and our national security above all else.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentlewoman's
comprehensive view of the defense bill that we are going to be
finalizing tomorrow. The Senate is currently voting on it right now
actually.
This is one of those amazing things that Congress finds a way to get
something done for our servicemen and -women. You talk about TRICARE,
not
[[Page H6929]]
only talk about TRICARE, but about the housing and the healthcare
issues that our servicemen and -women face with rampant inflation going
on. They get squeezed more than anybody.
They don't exist in the private sector. They can't go to their boss
and ask for a raise. They are serving our Nation, and they are getting
squeezed by the same type of fiscal policy that has created this type
of inflation.
Our bill addresses so much of that, but it also goes to the lethal
aid that we need to defend our Nation, the deterrence that you talk
about. Particularly in my district, the F-35 program is so key and
important, and the naval shipyards in Mrs. Kiggans' district, so I
thank her for the work that she does.
I am thrilled to be a part of something at this time of Christmas to
show our servicemen and -women that their Representatives care about
them and want them to be successful. We look forward to finishing up
that process this week.
I am going to spend some time tonight talking a little bit about the
always fun question that we get to talk about. I remember lobbing this
question over to the Democrats when they were in the majority quite
often: What have you accomplished? You do a bunch of messaging bills,
and none of them get passed in the Senate.
Now that we have had the opportunity to be in the majority for just
less than a year, as it comes up on the end of the year here, it is
good to take a moment to think about what we have accomplished. Can we
answer that question?
What do we need to do to address any criticism that may be out there?
Have you accomplished enough? Washington is a tough place.
I look forward to having a chance to look back on the year and share
a few wins. I will try to articulate it here a little bit, but there is
always a unique context.
The part I keep reflecting on is, I came to Congress in January 2021,
and I have been here almost 3 years. What is important to look at is
juxtapose 2023 with 2021. President Biden was in the White House. The
Senate for the last 3 years has been controlled by a Democrat majority.
For the first 2 years of my time here, we had what I will call a
triple majority, when you have the White House, Senate, and the House
in one-party control.
2023 versus 2021. Immediately, as we entered into the 117th Congress,
the Georgia Senate flipped, which I think was a surprise to the
Democrats. It was a surprise to the Republicans, but we will work to
rectify that.
However, within a month and a half, with budget reconciliation--where
it does not have to go through the Senate filibuster because we didn't
have the majority in the House--there was a $2 trillion bill passed
immediately, a $2 trillion bill that was masquerading as a COVID relief
bill. We had addressed the COVID relief bills in a bipartisan approach
prior to that. There was a $2 trillion bill that got passed with no
offset spending, completely additive to the national debt.
Within months after that, we saw the fastest increase in inflation
that we have seen in 40 years to the point where you basically wipe out
an entire family's salary for a month of each year with the amount of
inflation that happened so quickly.
That doesn't just happen. That happens because of monetary policy.
When you add and you load the system with that type of spending, you
immediately get inflation. That is not just a Republican saying that;
it is not just a Democrat saying that. That is the way economics works.
When you load monetary policy and you have so much money chasing so few
goods, prices for Americans skyrocket, particularly middle-class and
lower-income Americans.
Just being in the majority, what has taken place in 2023? We curbed
trillions of dollars of spending. When the majority at that time, the
Democratic Party, had the White House, House, and Senate, they could
virtually pass any type of fiscally related, budget-related bill that
they wanted without having to go through the Senate filibuster to reach
compromise.
In those circumstances, they can pass a bill on party lines. They
chose within the first month and a half to pass a $2 trillion bill that
led to the most rapid increase in inflation that most Americans have
seen in their lifetime. You are seeing inflation still high. We are
still reeling with the effects of that, but it has leveled off because
Republicans are in control of the House of Representatives.
Just by being in control of the House of Representatives, and the
hard work that it took to win back the majority, we immediately curbed
all of that spending. It wasn't just the $2 trillion bill. They passed
an Inflation Reduction Act, the IRA, that had nothing to do with
inflation, but that was nearly a trillion-dollar bill. They thought
maybe it was going to be $400- to $600 billion. It is now estimated to
be well over that.
What that bill was was a failed Solyndra-type policy. It is broadly
accepted among Republicans and Democrats that the Obama-era kind of
mini Green New Deal with Solyndra and this tax break that was given to
them was a massive failure. This isn't just, again, a Republican saying
that. That is largely accepted that a $500 million bill was largely a
failure. That is a lot of money, and that is a big failure for the type
of policy you are trying to create. That was $500 million.
The Inflation Reduction Act, which basically mimics what took place
with Solyndra, where you are trying to pick winners and losers in the
energy world, was in the range of $400 billion, which is far more
expensive than what it was even billed to be.
By being in the majority, we keep all of this stuff at bay, and we
keep that amount of monetary supply from ever even reaching the system.
With the addition of having to raise interest rates as high as we did,
that will curb inflation. If I say nothing else, that is an enormous
win for what our Republican majority is doing.
President Biden had a $5 trillion tax-and-spend plan--much of which
he wasn't even able to accomplish because it wasn't popular enough even
among Democrats to pass--that we were able to defeat over the last 3
years, but still that amount of spending got put through.
As I talk about some more things here, that is key. I hope that
Americans can understand that by Republicans creating a split
government, we make it so that we don't allow a Democrat agenda. That
is, during the election, when it was former Vice President Biden and
current Senator Bernie Sanders, they were going back and forth saying:
Oh, I don't agree with your policies, you know, Senator Sanders. I am
the more moderate candidate. I will be smarter with fiscal
responsibility. That was what the former Vice President, candidate at
the time, Biden said.
As soon as he got the White House, House, and Senate under one-party
control, they basically implemented a Bernie Sanders-type approach. He
probably wanted several more trillion, but to put a $5 trillion tax-
and-spend policy together, it was catastrophic, and every single
American felt it.
I could go on and on about the fiscal side of things. It is clear
that in order to get inflation under control, Republicans in the
majority are the best thing that we have going for us in the House. We
level off that spending, and we try to curb that back down. I am
hopeful that we can continue to be successful at that.
I am the father of four young boys. I am terrified of their future
with the amount of money that we are borrowing for our national debt
each year, what we are having to spend more and more to cover the debt
servicing. It is really scary.
Let me take it out of the fiscal side. In January of 2023, Americans
were done with COVID. We didn't need these COVID policies to still
exist. We needed to move on. Republicans put a bill on the floor to end
the COVID emergency that was still in place with President Biden after
almost 3 years in the White House.
The very week we put that bill--we announced that bill was going to
be voted on on Wednesday or Thursday. By Tuesday, the White House had
announced, yeah, we are actually going to pull that back now. That type
of stuff doesn't happen unless we are in the majority, and we force the
White House to pull back. They recognize it is not popular. Even
Democrats were going to support our resolution to end the COVID
emergency, and the White
[[Page H6930]]
House responded. They respond when we push back on bad policy.
These things are simple examples, but as you can see, we are in a
position to be able to force the Biden administration to accept
commonsense policy.
Another one, Chairman Comer and the Representative from Georgia,
Andrew Clyde, put together some very sensible, well-thought-out
resolutions to push back on the direction that Washington, D.C., was
approaching some of their crime legislation and how they were dealing
with basic crime in the city.
{time} 1845
All of a sudden, we didn't know how it was going to play out, but
they put that up. Democrats recognized it. They actually read it and
said: Do you know what? This actually makes a lot of sense. We can't be
this soft on crime.
Just by us putting forth that legislation, the White House came out
and said: You are right. We are going to sign that into law.
This doesn't happen that often. Usually, there is just kind of: If
the Republicans suggested it in the House, we are just going to veto
it.
We are putting forth commonsense policies that the American people
broadly agree with. By doing so, we are forcing the Biden
administration to come onboard.
How many times did President Biden say: We are doing a clean debt
ceiling. We are not going to address anything in the debt ceiling.
The debt ceiling gives us an opportunity to address the fiscal state
of our Nation. Republicans stood firm. We put together a really strong
bill, sent it over to the Senate, and let the White House know that we
are going to demand significant changes in our trajectory. That was met
with months and months of inaction from the White House.
What took place after they started negotiations? They recognized that
President Biden was not going to be able to continue to spend like he
was. He was going to have to accept that Republicans are going to stand
firm to lower discretionary spending.
For the first time in over a decade, maybe more, we are going to
spend fewer dollars in our discretionary budget than we did the year
before. Usually, these grow at a rate of 1 to 5 percent. This is a time
where we are actually going to reduce it, saving over $2 trillion in a
10-year span, cutting out that much from the budget, putting caps on
it.
We got that accomplished, and we are working through that process
right now. I look forward to finalizing that in the first part of the
year and realizing those true cuts.
Are there bills that we force President Biden to sign? Yes. I am
really proud of the work that we have done.
Are there things that we have accomplished here in the House that are
historic? Look at H.R. 1 and H.R. 2. They are the two best energy and
border immigration bills that you have ever seen come out of this
place.
If we adhere to it, we would be living in true prosperity with
respect to how we approach our energy. We would be doing it cleaner,
safer, and with better standards than anywhere in the world.
We would be trusting our industry instead of outsourcing and sort of
outsourcing that guilt. ``I am okay with Iranian oil. I am okay if
Russia continues to do that.'' We don't sanction the Nord Stream
pipeline, but we sanction and get rid of our own pipelines. It does not
make sense. The energy policies of the Biden administration do not make
sense.
What are we doing as a majority to push back? We stood firm on the
debt ceiling to make sure that we got portions of H.R. 1. We would love
for that whole bill to be passed. It is apparently not going to, but we
took portions of that.
Some of the worst going on in our economy right now is this horrible
permitting process through these archaic NEPA standards. We stood firm
and said this doesn't go through unless you give us this type of
permitting reform.
We are doing the exact same thing right now, using our majority. For
the first time that I have been here in 3 years, Democrats in the House
and the Senate are saying: If we are going to move forward on Ukraine,
I get that Republicans are going to stand firm on the border.
We were having 1,000 to 2,000 encounters from the last three
Presidents, Republican and Democratic Presidents, mind you. We are over
10,000. We have had millions and millions of encounters. We do not have
control of our southern border, and Republicans are saying, with our
majority, we are going to stand firm.
That is going on right now, similar to how we used the debt ceiling
leverage to be able to accomplish some very good policy changes.
It is not easy to be in split government. It is a lot of back and
forth and a lot of, ``This is your fault. It is not our fault,'' a lot
of name-calling, a lot of back and forth on this.
We are standing firm on the key things that matter to our Nation--
energy and immigration and border policies that make sense and are
humane.
We cannot have the cartels running the border. They are making
billions and billions of dollars by taking advantage of policy. It is
so simple. It would actually improve President Biden's approval rating
if he would recognize that the Migrant Protection Protocols that were
in the previous administration were actually quite positive. They saved
lives. They saved our National Guardsmen and -women's lives. They saved
immigrants' lives.
It is nonsensical that we can't do it. We are going to use any
opportunity we can to do that. That is how we are using our majority.
I have talked about H.R. 1 and H.R. 2. Those bills should be passed.
If they truly went on policy, the Senate would recognize that, and we
would have a much better outlook for some of the key things that we are
doing.
It is not a reality, I get that, but what from those bills can we
make sure that we get done? That is the stuff that we are working on.
That is where we are pushing our majority.
Another one that I have been heavily involved with--and I think back
3 years ago. It was considered a conspiracy theory that there were any
nefarious business dealings going on with Hunter Biden. The media
wasn't reporting it. Social media entities were kind of squashing it.
They were suppressing this information. This was all during an election
year.
Fast-forward 3 years. You have now Hunter Biden not willing to show
up to a deposition, but he is here saying he did a lot of wrong things,
admitting fully.
Another nine indictments have just come out. It would have been more
if the investigation wouldn't have been slow-played so that the 2014
and 2015 tax crimes weren't covered under a statute of limitations or
limited from that statute of limitations. There would be significantly
more to be able to prosecute Hunter Biden on.
The American people 3 years ago thought that that was just a hoax. If
we are not in the majority--if Republicans are not in the majority,
there is no admission that what Hunter Biden had done with his business
dealings was illegal. There would have been no subpoena power to be
able to share that.
In the Ways and Means Committee, we have jurisdiction over the IRS.
Some very brave IRS whistleblowers came forward and provided some
testimony.
We have to keep that completely quiet. We are not publicizing this.
These are private meetings. We are not trying to get clicks because of
this. We got ahold of this testimony, and we had to be mum about it. We
couldn't say a word. From Thursday the week before all the way until
Thursday the next week, I wasn't allowed to say a word about it.
We knew on that Thursday we were going to be releasing the
whistleblower testimony that basically claims that there was an
investigation into Hunter Biden and that the Department of Justice was
slow-playing it, was giving preferential treatment. There were
inconsistencies on how they were prosecuting or moving forward with
this investigation.
That was to take place on Thursday. We were going to release all this
information. For the last 3 years, there could have been a plea deal
announced with Hunter Biden.
It was Tuesday morning. This was to be released on Thursday, but
Tuesday morning, all of our phones blew up with a notification that
said Hunter Biden just went into a plea deal.
I called our committee and asked if we knew about that. I mean, we
are set
[[Page H6931]]
to release this information, the whistleblower's testimony, on
Thursday. Did we know about this? No, we didn't. This just came out.
It immediately reminded me of why it is important for Republicans to
be in the majority and what we are doing in this majority.
We said: We have to end the COVID emergencies. We are going to put a
bill on the floor.
Within a day of when the White House realized we were going to put a
bill on the floor, they decided to end the COVID emergency measures.
Fast forward to June when this whistleblower information was going to
be released. There was, all of a sudden, a plea deal on Tuesday before
we were going to release it on Thursday.
What has happened since? We released this information. It is very
credible information. They have been vetted over and over again.
The information they provided is disturbing. It shows illegality. It
shows a connection from Hunter Biden to what extent President Biden--
maybe Vice President at the time, from 2016 to 2020, before he ran--is
involved.
There are alias emails. There are WhatsApp messages. This reeks. The
American people recognize that. The vast majority of people say: Okay,
there really was corruption going on here.
That was to be released on Thursday. We released it on Thursday. That
plea deal has fallen through. There have been significantly more
allegations and indictments that are going to be posed to Hunter Biden.
It was clearly a plea deal that was not sound. Now that the
whistleblower information is out there that we used our Republican
majority to release to the public, to let them make the decision, we
all of a sudden are changing the way that Americans know what is going
on with their government.
I get a little frustrated when I hear, ``What are you doing with your
majority?'' We are creating government accountability.
Go look at the Commitment to America that we started off with, that
Speaker McCarthy pushed hard to get ready to go for when we took back
the majority. You can go down the list, from energy, pro-growth tax
policy, immigration and border, and government accountability.
We created, in the first of this term, a competitiveness against
China. It was very bipartisan, very sincere, no messaging along with
it. They just put out a report on how to go about doing it.
Our Ways and Means Committee is working with GSP to incentivize
closer allied countries, to bolster them up, get them involved in our
trade agreements so we can move some of our manufacturing from China.
These are the ways that we are creating a productive way forward on
how we are leveraging our majority to deliver for the American people.
The last 3 years have been tough to watch on an international stage.
National security and foreign policy is something that I get heavily
involved in. I have a background in it. I love seeing our Nation work
to solve some of these problems.
Our allies in Israel know that they have our support. This has
largely been bipartisan, and I have appreciated the dialogue that it
has created with our colleagues.
Ukraine is in a tumultuous place with the regime, with President
Putin and what he has done. They have been able to fight back with our
assistance.
We need to make sure that we don't let--the reality is that we have a
major border problem. The fixes are actually quite simple.
I still remember talking to Vice President Pence and the process they
went through to create a simple policy that said: Make your asylum
claims, but you have to remain in Mexico during that process.
That alleviates the pressure at the border, and that disincentivizes
the cartel activity so they have no real leverage down there.
Now, they are lying to people, saying as soon as you get across the
border, you get lost in the system, but you will be in America, and all
will be well. That is a lie to those immigrants who are coming here,
hoping for a better future.
It is a simple fix. That is all we are asking for, and we are going
to require it as we move forward on supporting our friend and ally
Ukraine.
We are taking control. We are making sure our government works, and
we are using our majority to solve problems.
There are a whole bunch of additional things on this chart. As I look
back, I am extremely proud of the work that we have done over the last
year.
I will end with the National Defense Authorization Act. It has
authorized $886 billion for critical national defense priorities. That
is an increase of $28 billion over the fiscal year.
While we are still finding wasteful cuts within the entire
discretionary budget, this bill sets the standard for the readiness and
modernization improvements that Congress needs to make sure that our
defense has what they need to excel.
This includes a 5.2 percent increase in servicemember basic pay to
account for inflation. It can't account for all the inflation, but like
I started with, we try to level that off using our Republican majority
to squash massive funding measures that go out from the Biden
administration.
We are also trying to increase what we can provide to our servicemen
and -women. It commits $360 million to bolster housing assistance and
childcare support for military families and funds crucial military
construction improvements across the country.
It accelerates advanced radar and technology development to address
emerging threats to our homeland, provides DOD with a multiyear
procurement certainty to increase stockpiles of critical minerals and
rare earth elements, and funds the ground-based strategic deterrent.
The bill also prevents land purchases by Chinese-backed entities and
prevents DOD research grants from going to universities that partner
with Chinese entities.
The NDAA for fiscal year 2024 also includes several conservative
wins, such as banning the teaching of CRT in the military, ending the
bureaucratic DEI overreach, establishing a parents bill of rights for
military schools, and preventing the military Green New Deal.
It is not where we need to be establishing energy policy. You can
just grab H.R. 1 if you want to establish a real energy policy.
{time} 1900
All these wins are with a Democrat-controlled White House and Senate.
These are significant wins.
When you really think about it, I didn't expect to have so many under
a split government. It goes back to what Leader Steve Scalise said,
that these are commonsense policies. When you cut through the politics
of it and you can build better relationships with our partners on the
Democratic side of the aisle, you can really look through and see that,
yes, this makes sense.
I was kind of told by my media network that this is bad. Some voices
back in my primary would say that I can't support anything that a
Republican does. But this is actually quite reasonable. We need more of
that.
We are sincerely trying to push more of that, and that is why we have
been able to accomplish so much with opposition of the party in the
White House and the Senate.
This is just the first 11 months of work, but my colleagues and I
look forward to--first, a merry Christmas and a happy new year; I hope
that we get back to be with our families--coming back ready to build on
these wins and finish a lot of what we started: to get our fiscal house
in order, ensure we have a strong defense, and deliver for the American
people.
That is something that every single one of us, regardless of party,
wants. We differ on the approach many times, but we want the same end
goals.
I urge my Democratic colleagues to recognize that the stuff we are
putting forward is truly common sense, and not to let politics continue
to get in the way. As we approach how to navigate and get that done in
the crazy political system like we have, common sense will win out.
My colleagues and I are really just thrilled and proud to be able to
emphasize and show what we have done, and I look forward to building on
these.
As we wrap up the NDAA this week and look to finalize the funding for
much of this, let's continue to keep the American people as the guide
on what
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we want to accomplish, not our own personal political endeavors, but to
truly know what is best for the American people and do a better job of
that.
We as a Republican majority will continue to deliver with those types
of commonsense policies.
Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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