[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

[[Page H6932]]

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.

                          ____________________