[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 80 (Wednesday, May 8, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2989-H2991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ADDRESSING IMPORTANT ISSUES AFFECTING AMERICANS
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. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the 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. Mr. Speaker, House Republicans are addressing
important issues affecting Americans across the country.
This week, we passed legislation out of the Energy and Commerce
Committee to stop the Biden administration from imposing further
regulations on home appliances and pushing their rush to green energy
agenda that squashes consumer choice.
I can't believe we have to even say that in the U.S. House of
Representatives, that we have to even deal with this type of
nonsensical policy, but it is an important thing to do, to be able to
push back on this, again, rush to green energy agenda that makes no
sense.
As Americans struggle with historic inflation and everyday goods and
energy costs, it is important that we have the ability to purchase the
appliances that best suit our needs rather than overregulated
appliances that, per the Department of Energy's analysis, will increase
upfront costs by nearly 30 percent.
I hope Americans can understand that. This type of nonsensical
overregulation is just going to cost them more money in an inflationary
period that has been persistent since Biden took office.
We continue to stand up to anti-Semitism on our college campuses and
hold university leadership accountable. Speaker Johnson has convened a
probe into the leadership failures at our colleges and universities and
the ways that they have allowed dangerous and harmful protests to
overrun their campuses, putting Jewish students and community members
in danger. We will not stop until Jewish students feel safe on their
campuses again. This is a basic, fundamental right.
Last week, the House Committee on Homeland Security released
documents that identified over 45 airports throughout the Nation that
have been used by the Biden administration to secretly fly over 400,000
illegal immigrants into the United States, from Miami to Los Angeles,
from Washington to Chicago. As this crisis at our southern border
continues to wreak havoc on our communities, this is unconscionable.
President Biden's failed border policies have only further
jeopardized our national security and risked the safety of our
neighborhoods.
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for my colleagues to be focused on these
key important issues and for them to join me this evening briefly.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Owens).
Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, after the October 7 terrorist attack on our
ally Israel, a wave of hate has washed across our Nation. Our Nation's
college campuses have been the focal point of a wave of anti-Semitism
that I never thought I would see in America.
I have heard directly from Jewish students at our elite universities
who have seen anti-Semitic mobs up close, donned in their terrorist
scarves while shouting in support of the terrorist group Hamas.
These scenes are straight out of the Jim Crow 1960s South during the
days of segregation and the KKK. The difference is the KKK bigots of my
era hid their faces under white hoods. The pro-Hamas bigots today hide
their cowardly faces behind face masks.
It was my sincere hope that we had left this hate in the past, but
the slow march of Marxism has spread like a virus. It has even affected
our K-12 system, where our children as young as the second grade are
spewing anti-Semitic chants of kill the Jews.
Students, activist teachers, and administrators up until now have had
[[Page H2990]]
zero accountability. Well, accountability is finally here.
The people's House has the moral clarity to call out anti-Semitic
hate and bigotry. As a House Republican majority, with committee
oversight and the power of the purse, we are going to do the people's
will and put an end to this Marxist-indoctrinated bigotry. We are
putting all options on the table as we demand our educational
institutions step up, do the right thing, and protect our Jewish
students.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Utah for
his steadfast voice on these key matters.
Mr. Speaker, I am also grateful to welcome my colleague and the House
Republican skipper to share his message.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams).
Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Mr. Speaker, American campuses once respected
and envied across the world have become breeding grounds for the
radical left to promote their anti-America agenda.
For weeks, Joe Biden, far-left Democrats, and university leaders have
stood by as woke mobs have stormed college campuses across this Nation.
These so-called leaders have allowed thousands of students to
blatantly disregard the law and build encampments on campuses for the
sole purpose of harassing and intimidating Jewish students, even
physically barring them from attending class. Authorities have turned a
blind eye as these hateful people continue to destroy property, deface
statues, and burn the American flag.
There must be consequences. We must respect our Nation and protect
our schools and our students. This is not free speech. There are not
peaceful protesters in this group. These are terrorists hiding behind
masks and using violence, threats, and intimidation to control Jewish
and Israeli students.
Today, I am proud to introduce the No Student Loan Forgiveness for
Antisemitic Criminals Act, which would bar any student who is arrested
for engaging in anti-Semitic activities within the United States from
receiving student loan forgiveness through Federal income-driven
repayment programs.
Clearly, these out-of-control students have never faced meaningful
consequences in their lives. If woke leadership will not hold these
violent protesters accountable and keep our students safe, House
Republicans will. I can guarantee that defunding violent gender studies
majors will end this chaos immediately.
No one should feel unsafe on campus. Anti-Semitism is a virus that we
cannot allow to spread. Let us not forget, on October 7, 2023, Israel
was brutally attacked by Hamas. We must stand with Israel as they
protect the future of Israel and the Jewish people.
On another note, what in the world is going on with the Boy Scouts?
In God we trust.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I will share a couple of thoughts
about this. I actually think it is very important as we are going
through this moment right now in our country, as we see protests
continuing on at colleges, to emphasize the importance of peaceful
protests, the things that are done lawfully. We don't probably spend as
much time focusing on the good examples that come out of this.
We have to be a nation of the rule of law. We have seen excellent
examples from universities across the country as well taking a very
clear, simple stance about offering opportunities for peaceful protest,
but when they cross the line, they are going to be punished. We saw it
from the University of Florida and others throughout the country.
Those are things we need to highlight. Those are things that are
important to celebrate, that we are navigating that tricky line of
making sure that we have the ability to protest. That is fundamental to
who we are as Americans, and I commend those leaders.
Instead of just always talking about all the negative that is coming
from this lawlessness that we see in a lot of ways, I commend those
leaders who are across our country at different universities making it
very clear that they are not going to tolerate anything that crosses
the line. If you don't do that, you will continually see people cross
the line.
Now, commencement ceremonies are being canceled. These kids have
families, parents. Kids and students have put countless hours into
their education to get to this moment. The commencement ceremony is one
of the most special things that you could do in your academic
experience. To then give in to this overextending of their protest
capabilities just ruins the experience.
I hadn't even thought about it until I was talking to one of my
colleagues, but this is the same group of people who probably had their
graduations canceled because of COVID 4 years ago. Now, they are going
through a similar type of situation. We are seeing it happen, popping
up across the country. It is flat wrong.
We need stronger leadership. We have shown that in the last few
months from the House of Representatives with the House Republican
hearings that we have had. I think what we saw with the inability to
call out genocide for being against the code of conduct clearly is the
wrong direction to go, and I think there was a nice recourse. People
lost their jobs because of it, as they should have.
This is going to be one of those moments when they are not doing
enough to protect the silent majority on these campuses that want to
attend class, that want to put their money to use in something
productive.
The more that this type of nonsense continues to happen, we are going
to see a shift away from these types of universities that aren't
focused on what they should be focusing on, which is preparing those
young minds and those students for the next-generation workforce. That
is somehow lost in all of this. We are seeing it.
I am proud to represent a State that does such a good job with higher
education. We are not immune to protests and things like that, but we
are doing the best we possibly can to make sure that the rule of law is
followed.
My oldest son is 11. I can't imagine helping out with tuition one day
and then not even being able to go to a commencement or my son not even
being able to get to class because of a group of people who have no
idea and don't understand centuries and centuries of turmoil in a
particular region. Hamas was elected 15 or so years ago and has made it
impossible for Palestinians and citizens of Gaza to remove them from
power. It has inflicted so much evil will on those innocent
Palestinians, but they want to be in a position of supporting them.
It is fascinating that they think that they have it all figured out,
that they understand Middle East policy, that they understand centuries
and centuries of turmoil. It flat doesn't make sense. As a parent, to
have a university president not be able to move forward to continue on
with commencement is beyond me.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Burchett).
{time} 1900
Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the
consequences that come when we stay home on election day.
Since President Biden took the oath of office on January 20, 2021,
this country has been unrecognizable. Unrecognizable, Mr. Speaker. We
will lose it completely if we don't get out in November and vote for
constitutionalists who will defend the oath they took. We are in a
battle for our way of life, and we better start acting like it.
Since Biden took office, he has let over 10 million illegal aliens
cross our border, the government has completely weaponized our Federal
agencies against the beliefs and interests of the American people, and
war has broken out around the globe.
If you don't want to keep paying hundreds of billions of dollars to
clothe, house, and make sure illegals are getting quality medical care
before the veterans who served our country, dadgummit, you better get
out and vote.
If you don't want to see theft and assault in broad daylight, violent
protests in our streets and on our kids' college campuses, and see our
men and women in law enforcement demonized, dadgummit, you better get
out and vote.
If you don't want public school systems to tell your children that
changing their gender is okay, that praying in public is wrong, and
that our flag is
[[Page H2991]]
a reason not to stand for the national anthem, you all better get out
and vote.
If you want a secure border, a fair justice system, and law and order
in our communities, you better get out and vote.
If you want a military that is focused on its mission and not about
meeting diversity quotas and having male recruiters out in dresses, you
all better get out and vote.
If you want cheap, clean energy that is made in America instead of
relying on our enemies, we better get out and vote.
If you want to quit sending money overseas to pay for drag shows and
climate initiatives, we better get out and vote.
If you don't like where we have been, don't like where we are now,
and don't like where we are going, folks, we better get out and vote.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for that great
message.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________