[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H4233-H4235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF CHARLIE KIRK
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr.
Schweikert of Arizona was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of
the majority leader.)
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, instead of an hour of another economics
presentation, we need to have a conversation.
Is the evil winning? A couple of hours ago, one of my constituents
lost his life. There is a 16-month-old whose daddy is not coming home.
There is a 3-year-old little girl whose daddy is not coming home.
Erika, the wife, can you just imagine what is going on right now? Do we
really now live in a country where words take your life?
Last weekend, it was either Monday or the weekend--and Andy will know
the proper name. There is a newspaper called the Beehive or something
like that--forgive me for not knowing the name--and it actually did a
whole expose on Charlie Kirk coming to universities in Utah to actually
spread his message.
If you actually read it, it was a classic conservative message of
hope, of loving people, of believing marriage and prosperity were
really good for Americans, and a message for young people.
The other half of the article was about how many people in Utah hated
this message and what they would do to stop him because, as you know,
having a conversation now is--particularly, if it is conversation that
doesn't support collectivism, the left, and some weird dystopian view
of what America is--your kids don't have a dad that comes home.
Look, I am not here to try to make this a drama. Maybe we
hyperpersonalized it a little bit. I have a 3-year-old little boy at
home, and I have a 9-year-old girl. My little girl is scared to death.
When she is home with mom, she has to walk through the house every
evening and make sure every window and door is locked because we had
someone attack us a couple of weeks ago in a Costco parking lot.
This is America. Great job.
I have asked a couple of my friends who knew Charlie Kirk better than
I do--actually, my brother knows him better than I do. The morality of
a life that is taken at age 31 that was actually just trying to make us
better--and that cost you your life? What is wrong?
Every Member of this body, particularly on our side, I beg of us,
understand and embrace this message of love, conservatism, prosperity,
hope, and the morality of family. We have to make sure this legacy of a
young man who was actually having a remarkable impact on a society that
is lost--let's keep that message alive because it is worth fighting
for.
The idea of someone losing their life for words--I am going to sit
down. Andy, bail me out here.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs), my
neighbor.
{time} 1900
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, today we tragically lost a tremendous leader
and a friend. We didn't lose him so much as he was taken from us.
Charlie Kirk was an inspiration to an entire generation, and I
believe that his legacy will grow. He will be remembered as someone who
changed the course of this Nation.
[[Page H4234]]
He was the founder of one of the most influential movements,
political movements, of our time. We live in an interesting time. We
see political movements. President Trump has fostered the MAGA
movement, perhaps the most powerful in the history of the country.
However, let's just talk about what Charlie Kirk did in Arizona, and
then we will talk about his most important contributions.
He founded an organization, Turning Point USA, and a whole group of
related Turning Point affiliates. They are headquartered right there in
Arizona. He was just absolutely remarkable.
Arizona is a battleground State. What did they do? In our State,
Turning Point Action, together with other coalitions, actually turned
out more than 300,000 low-propensity Republican voters, right? What is
the difference? The difference was it made Donald Trump win Arizona. It
helped Donald Trump win Arizona by the largest margin of any
battleground State, 160,000 votes, a 5 percent, 5-point victory.
He fostered a movement. He fostered the movement because he was
smart. He was erudite. He was passionate. He was generally calm, took
on all comers, unafraid to talk with anyone about his message.
While we consider this movement, we know that people in his
generation and younger are actually moving to the right. A lot of
people say they are moving to the right because they have been
disassociated by the left, they have been disillusioned by the left. I
think there is probably some of that to it, but they don't move to the
right unless there is an invitation. So he invited people to come and
to share his love of freedom, family, faith, God, and country.
Charlie will be a historic figure. He really will be. He will be one
more in a long line of those who are good whose lives are snuffed out
by those who are evil, but his memory will remain strong.
I would suggest that the most important role that Charlie filled was
as a loving husband, a father, a devout Christian who shared his faith
unapologetically, without fear, with tremendous courage, charisma, and
compassion.
My family invokes our thoughts and prayers on behalf of Erika and
Erika and Charlie's two young children. We pray that God covers them
with peace and gives them the comfort of the holy ghost.
Mr. Speaker, I want to just close with a couple things. We always say
there is no place for political violence in this country, and there
should not be. This assassination was meant to instill fear. It was an
actual assassination, a political assassination.
What must we do? Well, we certainly speak peace, truth, and comfort,
but we respond with courage because the message Charlie brought was
there is a good way. This country has much to offer everyone, so we
will double down. We will reinvigorate and restart our engine.
Those who want to destroy this country, whether it be because they
want to destroy our faith in God, whether they want to destroy our
freedom, whether they want to destroy our education--David mentioned
that--we will persevere because there is much to be learned from this
young man.
Mr. Speaker, my family and I say may God bless Charlie and his
family; may God bless the entire TPUSA team, who are in mourning and
grieving; and may God bless the message of freedom that America stands
for.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms.
Boebert) and I were talking in the back. I yield to her to please share
her thoughts.
Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Schweikert for reserving this
time in the people's House to honor our friend, Charlie.
Today is a really hard day. This is unexpected, obviously, but the
moment we heard that something had happened, I was able to get on the
phone with faith leaders throughout the Nation, and instantaneously
there were prayer groups formed, mighty men and women of God, faith-
filled Christians, believers who stood in the gap and interceded for my
friend, Charlie.
I thank God for that faith. The prayers were not in vain. God
promises that His Word will produce what it says it will. I do not
believe that Charlie's life being stolen in this manner is in vain.
Charlie is a pioneer. A Greek word that God has brought to my
remembrance each and every day for more than a decade is archegos. If
you look it up in a Strong's Concordance, it is word number 747. In
some way, God reminds me of this Greek word archegos on a daily basis.
Even when I think I understand it, I still ask him to give me a deeper
revelation. I believe today God highlighted exactly what it means.
Charlie personified this word, and it is ``pioneer'' in the English
language. It is one who pioneers a way, who makes a way for others to
follow. They may not be the originator of the thing, but someone who
fearlessly takes charge; who courageously goes into the unknown; who
faces adversaries unafraid, unashamed, boldly; and influences others to
continue down that path; that is exactly what Charlie Kirk has done.
Charlie Kirk was a husband, a father, a man who spoke more of family
than he ever did politics. For those who didn't know him personally,
they may just see him as a political figure. But to those of us who
knew Charlie, who listen to his message on a regular basis, who
attended his events, we know that rather than talking about tax rates
and GDP, he was more talking about the nuclear family, talking about
faith in God, talking about the value of marriage, how children need a
father in the home, how they need both parents, how you uplift one
another rather than tear each other down, and that is exactly what
Charlie did.
He would sometimes go into the enemy's territory, and he would give
those who saw themselves as his enemy a platform to speak, and he would
have debate. He never promoted violence. He condemned violence at every
turn. He gave data, thoughtful responses, and he shared his faith each
and every day. He was a pioneer who shared his love for Jesus,
proclaiming the Lordship and reign of Jesus each and every day.
Faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the Word of God, and more
literally, that second word ``hearing'' in Scripture means
understanding. Faith comes by hearing and understanding the Word of
God. I believe that Charlie Kirk was on a mission for America and the
world to hear and understand the love of God, to have a revelation of
the love of God so that they would know the hope of their calling, so
that their intervening would be enlightened, and they would understand
that there was a hope and a future, a desired outcome that God had
purposed them with.
{time} 1910
Charlie Kirk understood that you have to be a doer of the Word, that
faith without corresponding action isn't faith at all.
Charlie took action each and every day. We heard that he was moving
our youth to the right, but I think, more importantly, Charlie Kirk was
moving our youth to God, to faith in God, to read the Scriptures. He
lived exactly what he spoke each and every day, being the example,
being the change that he wanted to see in America and beyond.
Charlie Kirk has a legacy, not only through the work that he has
done, but through his wife, Erica, who I humbly ask each and every
person to pray for her and their children. Those prayers right now mean
so much.
Charlie Kirk is present with the Lord. He is in the fullness of joy
right now, present with Jesus. He is not hurting. He is not suffering.
We are the ones who are feeling loss. Erica and those children are the
ones who are feeling loss, hurt, and pain. It is the Holy Spirit who I
ask to surround them with his wraparound presence and bring them peace,
peace that surpasses all understanding in this time, to guard their
hearts, to heal their broken hearts. We know that joy will come.
There is a time of mourning, but that joy is not just a suggestion.
It is the battle plan that will get them through each and every day of
their lives.
In this moment, I want to quote one thing that my friend Charlie
said. He has given so many of us an opportunity to speak truth. He has
given us his platform, an ability to reach into the hearts and lives of
millions of our youth, and beyond.
In a recent quote, he said: ``You are commanded to go do something
productive with your life, to go give and to
[[Page H4235]]
produce and to risk and to then go sow into other people. That is a
Biblical idea that has made the world a profoundly better place.''
Charlie Kirk was a doer of the Word, risk-taker, and bold defender of
truth, and he has sown into the lives of millions, and that harvest
will produce
30-, 60-, and 100-fold.
Charlie, you have a legacy. Thank you for honoring our Father God.
Thank you for proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Thank you for
expressing the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit.
We will not be silenced. That would be a dishonor to everything
Charlie has done over the years. We will be bold. We will speak out. We
will go forward. We will continue to move our youth closer to God. We
will continue to press in and get a grip on God as he has a grip on us.
This day, September 10, 2025, truly marks a turning point in our
Nation and throughout the world.
Mr. Speaker, God bless Charlie Kirk, God bless Turning Point USA,
Andrew, Tyler, Erika, and everyone who is a part of the team. God bless
them.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Charlie. It has been such an honor to serve
alongside him.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, I have a challenge for everyone out
there who thinks you know things. A little while ago, I was sent--and I
hope this is either a bot or just someone who is having a mental health
issue, who was putting out horrible, evil comments. You could tell this
is a person who has never actually listened, never actually gave a
moment.
Here is my challenge to particularly my brothers and sisters on the
left, a lot of us on the right, and those who consider themselves
populists everywhere else in between. I need to apologize. My world, I
see the world through math. It is sometimes a little cold. Maybe I
should learn to spend more time like Mr. Kirk, with just the morality
of family, of prosperity.
My challenge to you is to go online, go actually watch some of the
actual videos, not the interpretation of them, not someone who is
offended because it is a violation of their collective dystopian view
of the world, but the actual videos. Go find something where Mr. Kirk
is basically saying here is the philosophy.
Here is my hope. Here is where I actually think that if we embrace
this, all of us, our society would be better, more prosperous, more
loving. I challenge you, before you start to actually think you
understand--why is it some of us who sometimes are best of friends,
sometimes we beat the crap out of each other, and we are all here
saying the same thing to you?
Do words that I actually believe are based on what we are as
Americans, based in our founding documents, should those words take
your life? Should they leave a 16-month-old, a 3-year-old, and a wife
without a father and husband?
{time} 1920
Mr. Speaker, if the movement is going to work, if the movement is
going to save our future, if the movement is going to give hope to a
generation that in many ways has been crushed by so many things we have
allowed to happen, it needs someone like Charles Kirk going out and
saying: Look, there is hope. Here is a path.
Go watch the video. Go watch and read what is written. If we are
going to have an opinion, make it based on actual information and not
on some propaganda on social media.
This can't be what we have become, but it is. There is a pit in my
stomach when I think about how Steve Scalise almost lost his life and
when the President was shot at. I have heard stories from Members,
which we try often not publicize, who have been assaulted and had a
bullet through their office windows. I think about my own experiences
with my children in my arms.
We are politicians. There is a certain risk and a certain insanity
that goes with doing this. How many of us are out there who have built
a very powerful and very successful organization but are also telling a
story that is America? It is actually what made us.
Go read the actual documents. Go watch the actual videos. After that,
if folks have an opinion, it is their opinion. They are Americans. We
get to have a belief, but don't make it a belief based on ignorance.
For everyone in my community, in the Phoenix and Scottsdale area,
Charlie's home, I ask them to please pray and extend kindness. I say to
his family--Erika and his two children--he is not coming home.
Please, God, let's not make this what our future looks like. We have
got to be better than this, even when the messenger that is ultimately
a message of optimism and prosperity and morality and love takes a
life.
Mr. Speaker, I come up here every week and talk about the economics
and how terrified I am about the debt, deficits, and demographics.
Maybe I should just be terrified of what our future looks like when we
have someone at 31 years old, who has built a following just telling
the truth--Mr. Speaker, I have to stop myself from rambling because I
have a thousand thoughts going through my head. Many of them are quite
angry. I promised myself I wouldn't come up here and do a tirade.
Let this be a moment of reflection and particularly for those who
fill my text message, fill my emails, and fill my mailbox at home with
hate. If there are people on the left who are full of burning hate,
maybe now is a good moment of reflection for what those folks have
brought to our society. Is this really what we are?
Actually take my challenge. Go actually watch and go read what
Charles Kirk was actually trying to communicate. People might actually
find out it is not that foreign to where their hearts are at.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________