[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 14 (Wednesday, January 21, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H1159-H1162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HIGHLIGHTING REPUBLICAN SUCCESSES IN 2025
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Moore
of Utah was 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 (Mr. Haridopolos). Is there objection to the
request of the gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be joined by my
colleagues in this Conference Special Order. To start us off, I would
like to yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Owens).
Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, America is back, and so is common sense.
[[Page H1160]]
This last year has reminded us of what is possible when America has a
competent and respected leader who understands the unique role that our
great Nation should fill on the world stage.
I am grateful to have President Donald J. Trump back in the White
House with the strength and vision needed to be the leader of the free
world. One of the things I have admired most about the President is
that he is the same man behind closed doors as he is in front of the
camera. Whether you like him or not, you know what he stands for
exactly, and he will act on that.
{time} 1710
It is the type of leadership that has delivered real results for the
American people. We have seen real results on our southern border as
illegal crossings and the flow of illicit drugs has dropped
significantly.
Families are feeling real relief at the gas pump and grocery store as
their wages are going up and opportunities are increasing. In our
schools and military, the emphasis is, once again, on merit instead of
discriminatory DEI standards. In America, success should be earned and
not engineered by woke bureaucrats. It is called common sense.
Every day of this last year, the President and House Republicans have
worked to ensure that you keep more of your own money and remove the
red tape so you can thrive. We are blessed to live in the greatest
country in the history of mankind every single day. America's brightest
days are ahead of us, and I am grateful to have a Commander in Chief
who believes in the spirit and promise of America. He is a leader who
is working to make sure this beautiful country remains the land of
freedom and opportunity for all who are willing to work hard, take
responsibility, and dream big.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from the
greatest State in the Union, Mr. Owens, for his remarks. I am biased,
of course.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Bean).
Mr. BEAN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Moore so much for the
time. I appreciate it.
Mr. Speaker, it is a new year and with every new year, I like to
reflect on where am I going. What am I doing? What do I want to
accomplish this year? What did I accomplish the year before? That is a
great time to do it with America. Where are we?
It reminds me, Mr. Speaker, at the Constitutional Convention in 1787,
Benjamin Franklin famously looked at the chair behind the presiding
officer that was carved with a Sun and he asked a question that still
echoes throughout history: Was the Sun rising or was the Sun setting?
In that moment, a fledgling Nation hung in the balance, and even the
Founding Fathers did not know whether liberty would prevail.
For far too long, Mr. Speaker, the American people have felt the same
uncertainty, years of what many viewed as America last policies that
left families struggling, dreams deferred, and our Nation asking
itself: Are we on the rise or decline?
To answer that question, we need to look at where we have been for
the last year. We need to look at the results that this President,
President Trump, and where the House Republican leadership has taken
this country over the last year.
Together, we have accomplished real results. It starts with tax
relief for American families with the working families tax cut. Mr.
Speaker, do I need to remind you, it is only the largest tax cut in
U.S. history. Workers can keep more of what they earn with no tax on
tips and no tax on overtime. To our seniors, I have good news for you,
too. With the new deduction, you are not going to pay any tax on Social
Security benefits.
But wait, there is more, Mr. Speaker. We have unleashed American
energy, restored our independence, and brought down costs at the pump.
Do you know why we don't hear why eggs cost so much anymore, Mr.
Speaker? Because they don't. Thank you, President Trump.
We have restored law and order and brought accountability by securing
the border, supporting law enforcement, strengthening the rule of law,
shrinking the Federal bureaucracy, cutting wasteful spending, and
demanding accountability for every taxpayer dollar. We are seeing it in
real time. Finally, things are happening.
We have rebuilt American strength at home and abroad, revitalizing
our military, advancing peace through strength, standing firm with
allies, and deterring adversaries. We have put veterans first by
expanding access to care and ensuring the benefits that they have
earned. Our country has made that promise to them. We are honoring
promises, Mr. Speaker.
Finally, we have brought transparency and common sense back to our
institutions, dismantling DEI mandates, and restoring fairness, merit,
and basic common sense. We have begun to make America healthy again by
examining finally what is in our food supply, empowering patients,
expanding health savings accounts, and improving access and
accountability across our healthcare system.
We ran on these promises. We delivered on these promises.
Mr. Speaker, we are just getting started. Is the Sun rising or
setting? I can say with absolute certainty, the Sun is rising under the
leadership of President Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson, and House
Republicans.
Make no mistake, more is to come.
As the Sun rises, we are ushering in America's golden age: a time of
renewed strength, prosperity, and opportunity for every citizen in
every community across this great land. The best days of our Nation are
still ahead, and together, we will make America stronger, safer, and
greater than ever before. It is, once again, Mr. Speaker, morning in
America.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida
for his remarks. I feel ready to go out for the second half now, so the
Sun is rising. I wish there was a second half to play.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of
Kentucky (Mr. Barr).
Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend from Utah for
organizing this Special Order.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate a year of success, of restoring the
American Dream, and of making America great again.
One year ago, Mr. Speaker, President Donald Trump returned to office
with a clear mandate from the American people: secure the border,
rebuild the economy, tame inflation, restore American strength, and put
American workers first again.
In just 1 year, he has delivered. Let's just start at the southern
border. President Trump restored order by ending catch and release,
reinstating proven enforcement policies, and deploying the resources
necessary to defend our homeland. The results were immediate and
historic.
Illegal crossings collapsed to their lowest levels since the 1970s.
Net migration turned negative for the first time in 50 years. Fentanyl
trafficking at the southern border was cut by more than half, saving
American lives and criminal cartels designated as terrorist
organizations were stopped and the rule of law was reinstated.
Thanks to President Trump and his administration, this country
removed more than 2.6 million illegal aliens from the United States
through deportations and voluntary self-departures. More than 400,000
criminal illegal aliens charged with or convicted of crimes were
deported and over 2 million self-deportations, ending Biden-era release
incentives and restoring credible consequences.
This administration proved what Washington refused to admit for
years: that border security works when the law is enforced. President
Biden used to say that Congress needed to pass bipartisan legislation.
No, actually, as it turns out, Mr. Speaker, all we needed was a
President with a backbone to secure our border; and that President is
Donald Trump.
At the same time, President Trump rebuilt an economy that works for
all Americans. Congress passed the largest tax cut in American history,
delivering relief directly to families and workers. No taxes on tips,
overtime, and Social Security, but in my district, I will share two
perfect examples of why this legislation really helps people.
The made in America tax provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,
the working families tax cut bill, resulted in immediate investment. A
$2.5 billion investment in Harrodsburg, in Mercer
[[Page H1161]]
County, Kentucky, in my district where Apple--making the iPhone--
decided to move jobs out of China to Kentucky. Now, as a result of the
President's leadership and this Republican Congress and the working
families tax cut bill, all the Gorilla Glass, as they call it, will be
made for the iPhone and Apple watches at the Corning plant in
Harrodsburg, Kentucky. That is a $2.5 billion investment specifically
because of this bill in my district.
In addition, we are known as the horse capital of the world in
Lexington, Kentucky, and at Keeneland Sales, a world-famous, world-
class horse sale, yearling sale, every September, it has a $6.5 billion
economic impact to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We are very proud of
that, but because of the restoration of the 100 percent bonus
depreciation, they set a record this past September, $531 million of
yearling horses sold. That means jobs for working Kentuckians.
{time} 1720
Mr. Speaker, that means more economic activity for working families
in Kentucky. That means all the ancillary businesses all the way down
to the farriers and the grooms and the restaurants. All of that money
gets recirculated into the central Kentucky economy.
There were over 50 yearlings that were sold for over $1 million each.
The results were phenomenal. It was a record sale. People around the
country may not know about the horse industry, but that is just one
industry that was benefited by restoration of full bonus depreciation.
All the buyers at our auction said it was bonus depreciation that
resulted in this uptick in sales and economic activity.
Inflation, which crushed households under the previous
administration, is falling sharply. Wages are rising, and the American
people are going back to work. Mr. Speaker, 2.4 percent is where
inflation is now--near the Fed's target for price stability--down 70
percent from the height of Biden's inflation crisis. We also have the
lowest mortgage rates in 3 years.
This is where I really think the administration's economic record is
something to behold. We have seen the largest and fastest blue-collar
wage growth in 60 years. It is not just that prices are coming down. It
is that real wages, inflation-adjusted wages, are going up for the
American people.
This wasn't an accident. It was the result of pro-growth policy. It
was not just the tax cuts but deregulation. It decreased the cost of
business so those businesses could afford to retain those workers
through higher wages and faster wage growth.
Confidence is returning to the American economy, and President Trump
has taken us from energy desperate under the previous administration to
energy dominant again.
He declared a national energy emergency. He unleashed record oil and
natural gas production. He reopened millions of acres for responsible
energy development, and he rolled back radical regulations that were
driving up costs.
President Trump, in Kentucky, thank you. Thank you for putting
Kentucky coal miners back to work and putting Kentucky coal back in our
bloodstream. We don't have a choice anymore. Under the last 16 years,
we prematurely retired 290 coal-fired power plants, while China is
building two new coal plants a week. They are committed to winning the
AI race.
We took over 120 gigawatts of power offline. The energy demands of
our country are skyrocketing because of the technologies of the future,
because of digital asset innovation, because of quantum computing and,
yes, because of artificial intelligence.
Mr. Speaker, it is predicted and projected that by 2030 power demands
resulting from datacenter construction will triple just at a time when
we have been taking all of this power supply off of our grid and out of
our system.
We now have a President who is reversing those disastrous choices and
putting our coal miners back to work so that we can revitalize this
signature industry for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and power the
technologies of the future to win the race for AI dominance.
President Trump ended the war on coal. He expanded coal leasing,
rolled back Biden-era rules targeting coal-fired power plants, and
restored commonsense permitting.
Coal remains critical for grid reliability, baseload power, and
national energy security. I am proud to fight side by side with
President Trump to ensure that our miners can go back to work, our
lights can stay on, and our energy stays American so that we can
compete and win against China.
It is no surprise that gas prices fell to their lowest levels in
years, lowering costs for families, farmers, and manufacturers across
our country.
Let's not forget about all the accomplishments on the world stage.
President Trump restored American leadership and American strength. He
got rid of DEI woke ideology at the Pentagon. He focused on rebuilding
American military readiness and lethality and prioritizing the strength
of the American military over liberal leftwing politics. The result was
clear. He restored American leadership.
He destroyed Iran's nuclear weapons capability. He reimposed maximum
pressure on rogue regimes. He restored peace to our key ally Israel,
returning the hostages. He dismantled and degraded the capabilities of
Hamas and Gaza. He worked with our allies in the IDF.
He dismantled the narcoterrorist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro in
Venezuela. He negotiated peace agreements on four different continents,
proving that strength deters conflict and leadership produces peace.
Our allies stepped up. Our adversaries stepped back. America, once
again, led from a position of strength and confidence. The results
speak for themselves.
We have a stronger economy, lower inflation, higher wages, lower
energy costs, a secure border, energy dominance, and economic
resurgence. We have a restoration of the American Dream and a
restoration of common sense.
There are no biological men in the private spaces of our daughters.
There are no biological men competing against girls in their sports.
Thank goodness we have common sense in this country once again. Thank
goodness we have a President who looks to the future and who wants to
position the United States to be the leader, the crypto capital of the
world.
He signed into law the GENIUS Act--legislation, Mr. Speaker, that you
and I worked on together--and put in motion an AI action plan to ensure
that we can be the dominant leader in artificial intelligence. AI has
applications across financial services, education, medicine,
pharmaceutical development, and manufacturing efficiency and
productivity. We have only begun to see all its potential. AI will help
us deter our adversaries through the applications that AI presents by
strengthening the capabilities of our military.
Mr. Speaker, as President Trump would say, the golden age is here. We
must continue to support our President as he leads this Nation forward.
I am proud to work with him to make America great again.
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from the
Commonwealth for his comments.
It is common among Members of Congress, both the House and the
Senate, to be strong on policy. Also, many Members are strong
communicators. It is very rare, however, to get somebody who is so good
at both. The Commonwealth of Kentucky is extremely lucky to have Andy
Barr representing that amazing State. I thank him for his shared words.
Yes, we know the horses. We get it. There are horses. It is a big
thing down there.
Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleagues for being here to share
their perspectives as we look back on some of the significant wins that
we have experienced over the course of the last year. I wanted to
briefly share a little bit about stuff that doesn't get as much
attention.
As a proud father of four boys, we know that family is everything.
Family is at the center of Utah values, and I have dedicated a lot of
effort during my time in Congress to advance pro-family legislation.
I worked on legislation to permanently increase the child tax credit
from $1,000 to $2,000; indexing the CTC--child tax credit--to
inflation; and provide an additional $500 for families through 2028.
We worked to make the adoption tax credit partially refundable up to
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$5,000--indexed for inflation--beginning in 2025.
One of the most unique things that we accomplished were the Invest
America accounts, the Trump Accounts. These investment accounts
demonstrate to American youth the power of capitalism and compounding
interest. There is so much more, but that last piece is going to get a
kickoff here next week.
There will be $1,000 seeded to each child born to this country over
the next 4 years. That child will be able to track their investment
account. Usually a person doesn't even start investing until they are
30 years old.
The best estimates are you graduate college. You have a little bit of
student debt. You start a new job. You don't really start contributing
to an IRA until you are 30, maybe even older. A 401(k) starts sometimes
with your first job.
We now have a whole new generation of kids who are starting to invest
in their IRA at age zero. That is 30 extra years of potential
compounding growth that will be an absolute game changer.
Plus, this has garnered an enormous amount of attention from the
philanthropic space where Michael and Susan Dell have announced a
commitment of over $6 billion that will help children ages 1 through 10
in areas that aren't as economically advantaged. That will help those
kids take advantage of this program and also create those accounts to
watch those grow over time. It is a game changer and something we are
really excited about.
{time} 1730
Mr. Speaker, we are voting on legislation this week to support
families and pregnant women. We just passed the Supporting Pregnant and
Parenting Women and Families Act, ensuring that young families have
access to prenatal vitamins, formula, and diapers. It also ensures that
TANF dollars can be used to support pregnancy resource centers.
The Pregnant Students' Rights Act provides guidance and resources to
pregnant students so that no student feels forced to choose between her
education and her child.
Last week, I also introduced the SAFE KIDS Act to prevent foreign
adversarial nations from abusing the American surrogacy industry to
obtain U.S. citizenship for their children and traffic infants abroad.
Most of the developed world has already banned international commercial
surrogacy due to the trafficking risks, and this bill is a strong step
in the right direction to prevent bad-faith actors from taking
advantage of U.S. surrogate mothers and the children they bear.
I am proud to champion legislation that directly benefits Utahns and
families across the country. We have strong families. We have strong
communities, and these bills reflect our dedication to supporting them.
Recognizing Steve Hiatt
Mr. MOORE of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Steve Hiatt,
the recipient of the Hill Air Force Base 2025 Community Wingman Award.
Hill Air Force Base is one of the most important contributors to
northern Utah's economy and livelihood, employing over 23,000 military
and civilian employees. Every year since 2007, they have given one
individual the Community Wingman Award in recognition of their support
for the base and its personnel. This gives the base an opportunity to
recognize the impact that Utahns in the surrounding communities have on
the success of the base.
Few people have supported Hill Air Force Base more than Steve Hiatt.
For nearly a decade, he served the city of Kaysville, Utah, as a city
councilman and a mayor. This is an adjacent community to Hill Air Force
Base. During this time, he ensured that the community fostered a strong
relationship with the base.
After serving in elected office, Steve remained highly integrated in
the Hill community by serving as the vice president of the Utah Defense
Alliance, as air combat command civic leader, and three terms as
honorary commander. In each of these positions, Steve worked directly
with servicemembers and leadership stationed at Hill to better
understand and assist their mission. His work has ensured that Hill
will continue to be a successful and important contributor to our
national defense for years to come.
I am proud to recognize Steve's strong example of service, and I
congratulate him for this will-earned award. I thank him for his
support of Hill Air Force Base and his many contributions to our State
as a councilman, mayor, and community member.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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