[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 145 (Tuesday, September 15, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              THREAT OF AI

  (Mr. Blair of Georgia was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. BLAIR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the importance of 
artificial intelligence and to challenge this Congress' abdication on 
its regulation.
  While we fail to debate, the technology is already rewriting the 
American labor system. Goldman Sachs estimated this April that AI is 
eliminating roughly 16,000 net American jobs every month. Stanford's 
analysis of payroll data finds employment for workers aged 22 to 25 in 
AI-exposed occupations running about 19 percent below trend, while 
experienced workers in those same fields show no comparable decline.
  Run that back. The damage is landing on young people, on the first 
job, on the rung of the ladder that a kid from my district needs to 
reach their potential.
  What has this Congress done? Nothing, except entertain proposal after 
proposal to strip States of their power to act. Twice now, Congress has 
overwhelmingly rejected preemption, including a 99-1 Senate vote 
against a 10-year moratorium on State AI regulation. Still it comes 
back.
  Let us be clear about this record. This body will not pass a Federal 
standard, and this body will not let States pass one either. That is 
not caution. That is negligence, which brings me to my second point.
  Mr. Speaker, the House returned for votes last night and leaves on 
September 17. Leadership canceled the final two votes in September, 
meaning Members will not return back to the body until after the 
November election.
  While that may be good for those of us who are on the ballot and need 
to retain the confidence of voters, it is not good for the hardworking 
American people who expect us to be doing things to make their lives 
more affordable.
  As the newest member of this body, sent here to represent the people 
of Georgia's 13th Congressional District through the end of this 
Congress, I would sure like to do my job.
  Let me put that into context. Through just August 31, the House had 
held floor votes on just 65 days, the fewest at this point in any 
comparable midterm year since 1994. The House spent 383 hours in 
session, the lowest in three decades of comparison, and Congress has 
enacted just 34 public bills into law. At this same point in the last 
midterm cycle, we had enacted 93.
  The Speaker's answer to this call? ``We are doing phenomenal work.''
  Phenomenal work, Mr. Speaker? With a national debt north of $40 
trillion, with appropriations unfinished, a stopgap running out in 
December, and with an unregulated technology reshaping every workplace 
in the country, we can do better.
  Mr. Speaker, I came to work. As far as I am concerned, with the 
challenges facing this Nation, we need to run through the tape using 
every moment we can to serve the American people.
  Instead, we are going home, but not because the work is done. We are 
going home because the work is hard and because an election is on the 
way. The American people are entitled to notice the difference. We can 
do better than this.

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