international development and monetary policy and he is -- he has stepped out for a moment. with that, we'll go to mr. -- there he is. he stepped in we look forward to his commentary and his insights. the gentleman is also serves on the financial services committee and is instrumental in a lot of the different things we do there as well as former chairman of the oversight committee if i'm not mistaken. mr. barr: i thank ms. barragan: i -- mr. barr: , i thank mr. luetkemeyer. that's where all the jobs are created in this country and for the life of me on the heels of a horrible third quarter g.d.p. numbers, i don't know why the biden administration wants to put new taxes on small

businesses. the g.d.p. numbers for the third quarter were far short of what economists predicted and biden's plan to build back better is a $400 billion tax hike on creating small businesses and the bulk comes from the expansion of the 3.8% net investment income tax that is going to hit active income for these pass-through business owners. democrats want to expand this to investment income of individuals actively involved in l.l.c.'s s-corporations, those small mom-and-pop businesses in our country. they are pushing a tax hike on american businesses that will be a gift to china, russia, japan europe and better to be a foreign company than an american one. these will kill american jobs

and destroy small businesses as they struggle to recover from the pandemic. as if this wasn't bad enough, democrats want to arm the internal revenue service with $80 billion in additional funds to target american small businesses and families. not only will small businesses in kentucky see their taxes go out, they will see additional audits. on top of that, this legislation will add fuel to the fire of the burning inflation crisis. this year, the consumer price index is up 5.4%, the highest is 13%. and well above the fed's 2% target and highest in 30 years. the longest inflation surges, the risk of inflation becoming

embedded grows more and more, this big government socialist tax, bore and spend bill wilbury entrepreneurs in taxes and debts. one interest group that will be happy with this bill if it passes are the unions that fund the democrat party. there is a proposal to provide additional incentives exclusively for union-built electric vehicles. this runs counter to the democrats' purported goal of reducing carbon emissions and getting more electric vehicles on the road. that's because nearly half of all u.s. auto production comes from work forcees that have chosen not to unionize. of the 60 auto makers in the united states that build electric vehicles, only two are

unionized. democrats are pitting american auto workers at union plants at the auto workers who work at the toyota plant in georgetown, kentucky. but small businesses are impacted because small businesses that are not unionized are part of the supply chain. there is no environmental benefit for additional carbon reduction achieved by favoring union-made vehicles over non-union-made vehicles. while they democrats talk about electric vehicles, this bill restricts the ability for tax credits to actually reach consumers. this is because democrats are limiting the tax credit to union-built u.s.-assembled vehicles and applying it to the current market. estimates indicate that only two over 50 electric vehicles would

qualify for the full tax credit. this is not building back better, this is a payoff to political supporters. nearly half of u.s. auto production comes from work forcees that have chosen not to unionize. why are we punishing these manufacturers of electric vehicles? it's not about the environment or promoting electric vehicles but about a political payoff to union supporters of these campaigns. this provision is nothing more than that. a payoff to the union bosses who control democrats in congress and the democrat in the white house. we should be for small businesses. if we are for the environment we shouldn't discriminate against nonunion auto makers and the small businesses that support nonunion manufacturers like toyota in kentucky's 6th congressional district.

i thank you for your leadership in opposing this massive tax increase of small businesses and helping me highlight the hypocrisy of the supporters of this bill. mr. luetkemeyer: thank you, congressman bower. as you can hear from him his explanation of the bill and its provisions and its effects on small business and consumers and very, very thoughtful explanation of it and we appreciate his insights and concerns. lots of problems with the bill and appreciate mr. bower's -- barr's comments. we have the gentlemanfrom louisiana, mr. johnson. vies chairman of the republican conference and going to explain some of the problems and pitfalls with this tax proposal that is unwieldy and harmful bill to our people and the small businesses in this country.

mr. johnson: i thank mr. luetkemeyer and all of my colleagues on the small business committee for leading this discussion. and this is very important. the democrats' radical multilaterally bill is bad for america and we can see it and the voters can see it, too. while we are right here, there are voters lining up down the road in virginia and cannot wait to vote for their next governor and it is a tossup but going very, very well for the republican candidate. the reason this is noteworthy and everyone is watching this and everyone is so excited is because this is a state that president biden won by 10 points just several months ago and there is no conclusion to draw other than that the democrats are leading our country down the wrong path. that's what the polling says and

the mainstream media outlets have said in the last few days. it is the content, the content of this tax-and-spend agenda and not just the costs for our american families, you have to think of the harmful effects that it will have on our local businesses and many we know are operating on shorter hours. but specifically, the legislation that is being debated and pushed through even this week is that the democrats want to increase osha penalties, increase penalties on small businesses and reduce the pass-through deduction, that is a tax. and you know what that amounts to, a tax. they want to make the child tax credit pay the same whether you are working or not, which what

will that do, exacerbate the current labor shortage. the democrats' bill in spite of what they are saying will definitely increase taxes while prices are soaring and increase workplace penalties and our companies are trying their best to get back to work and encourage not to work and how the supply chain has slowed down because of lack of workers. there are nearly 32 million small businesses. they are our main employer and employ more than any other big company. this is the mainstay and lifeblood. and deli managers and barber shop owners and bookstore owners. small businesses across the country had to fight tooth and nail to survive the covid-19

pandemic. the last thing this congress needs to do is make it more difficult for these businesses but that is what our democrat colleagues are trying to do. as for the rest of the bill, they are still working on it. we heard there may be a deal on prescription drugs. and lots of promises made and broken here the last few weeks. the democrats are still trying to include amnesty in the spending bill. what that has to do with the reconciliation. hopefully the parliamentarian on the senate side will put a stop on that. i have to die degrees and talk about this amnesty problem because not only will it be a small burden on our businesses and take jobs away, but you have to consider the appetite that our friends on the other side of the aisle have for amnesty.

we spent 13 hours in the judiciary committee about three-weeks ago working on their effort -- the democrats pushed that through to draft amnesty onto the spending bill. after all those hours, late at night, we asked them if there was any end for this appetite for amnesty and talking about as many as 10 million illegals and we brought a few amendments and we talked about this in our conference and we said, gee, if you are going to grant amnesty and you have the votes in the committee to move this through but we want to see if there is a limit, so we brought an amendment to the bill and said what if someone is a known ms-13 gang member, surely you want to exclude them. and every single democrat on our committee voted that down we said, what if somebody is a

convicted sex offenders, surely, surely, you would not want to include them in your amnesty plan. every single democrat voted no. i said what if someone is a convicted criminal, convicted of d.u.i., alcohol and drugs, terrible crime, you all said in your speeches, it kills thousands of americans, surely if someone has been convicted of at least one d.u.i. every democrat voted it down. what if they have two or more d.u.i. convictions every democrat voted it down. 10 or more d.u.i. convictions, every single democrat voted no. there is no limit what they want to do. they want to spend trillions and trillions of our tax dollars

before we know the score on this and before we know the text has been read. democrats have a mere three-seat majority in this house and we have a 50-50 split in the senate. they are acting if they have a big majority to transform the country. and what they have presented is the most partisan, most expensive legislation package in the history of this country using the slimmest majority possible and before they tell the american people what's in it. a tossup election in virginia is a case of what is to come for congressional democrats in 2022 if they do not immediately ditch this ridiculous spending plan and harmful government overreach. the day we have a battle and competing ideologies and agendas and now free market capitalism versus big government socialism.

i yield back. mr. luetkemeyer: you made a couple of points here with regards to some of the discussions you had with regards to amnesty. did it deal with the $450,000 payment that the president is proposing to all the folks that come here illegally. was that talked about? mr. johnson: i so wish that proposal was on the table because we would have liked to have heard about that. if you add that up, $1 million per family and billions in costs overall. and by the way, the little payment that the illegals would be given is more than we give to gold star families. it is more than the victims of 9/11 that they have received for their pain and suffering. and those separations are permanent, not temporary.

mr. luetkemeyer: we could be giving $450,000 payment to an ms-13 gang member. mr. johnson: and multiple d.u.i. felons. there is no element. mr. luetkemeyer: doesn't seem toll bother they are going to spend their constituents' dollar and give it to an ms-13 gang member, holy smokes. it below zero you away. mr. johnson: incredible. you can't make this stuff up. i'm glad he pointed out the socialist agenda is being rejcted by the people of this country. very likely today we are seeing the first reaction to that at the polling places. i also areeshate his -- appreciate talking about the increase in taxes and the negative effect of small businesses and regulations as well. it's concerning whenever we have

seen no tax and it changes on a daily basis. we are going to be asked to vote for this thing before we see what's in it. seems like i heard that before. let's move on and we are excited to have the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. meuser, next, to give us his thoughts on the monstrosity of a bill here and the tax and spending actions of the administration. mr. meuser is the ranking member of the small business subcommittee on growth, tax, and capital access. thank you for being here this evening. mr. meuser: thank you to my good friend from missouri, the republican leader of the small business committee, will luetkemeyer. madam speaker, i am as both of us are, i think, deeply concerned about the adverse impacts that the democrats' budget reconciliation plan will have on our smaition's small businesses. today small businesses are battling severe labor

authoritiage -- shortages, inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, and potential mandates that are causing uncertainty and threatening small business' viability. that's happening today. members of congress should be focused, all members of congress should be focused on pro-growth policies to help and empower small businesses, start-ups, and american entrepreneurs. we should be discussing a smart, deregulatory environment that allows the smallest firms to operate independently. instead, our democrat colleagues are attempting to push through partisan, completely partisan legislation with trillions of dollars in reckless spending and over $420 billion at least in tax hikes on main street job creators. small businesses need better, they deserve better. approximately 2/3 of american jobs are created by small businesses. their spent is our nation's economic strength. president biden continues to tell business owners and all of

us that this bill is going to reduce inflation and create jobs. this reconciliation bill -- by the way that's reconciliation with a w it will do the opposite t will wreck our economy unless somehow the president and the democrats have figured out how to defy basic economic principles which is pretty much like trying to defy gravity. you cannot disincentivize work and create more workers. you can't flood the economy with more dollars and drive down inflation. this just isn't how it works. it's against the simple laws of cause and effect. presently we have a labor crisis that is at historic levels. how did new government programs that disincentivize work support millions of small job owners or business owners who are struggling to fill open jobs? has anyone ever met a single small business owner who believes raising their taxes will somehow help them build back better?

the answer is a resounding no. and most of us know this firsthand. i worked in small business for years. i do hold regularly business town halls, talk with small businesses every day. we hold hearings where small businesses are saying the same thing. higher taxes, pending mandates, expanding the i.r.s. that will be a welcome addition to their day. inflation, energy costs. i just got a text from a businessperson, sending me a picture of over $4 a gallon gasoline and saying, well, i won't repeat what he said. energy product shortages and labor shortages are smothering and perplexes american businesses. small business owners are literally pulling their hair out. they are working harder and getting less for it. small businesses are not asking us to spend billions on a civilian climate corps or more

i.r.s. agents or amnesty. but they are demanding that congress not raise their taxes, not issue confusing mandates, and that we won't make it more difficult for them not to just prosper but to survive. it is time for the democrats to halt this reckless tax and spend spree that does nothing but exasperate the numerous crises facing americans today. reconciliation is a bad bill. it has been an even worse process. and truly an insult to small business -- businesses counting on us. with that i yield back, madam speaker. mr. luetkemeyer: i thank the gentleman from pennsylvania for his insightful remarks. appreciate quantifying this is a $420 billion hit to small businesses. his comment about working harder and making less, we understand the pandemic caused a lot of dislocation, but we should be

past that now. we should be helping businesses get back on their feet, not kicking them -- feet back out from underneath them and adding to the uncertainty with the additional rules and regulations. i'm excited to have one of our newest members of our conference, congresswoman young kim of california, she herself has been a small businessperson -- woman in the past. look forward to her insightful remarks. mrs. kim: thank you ranking member luetkemeyer for yielding and arranging this timely special order to discuss how taxes, increasing prices, and reduced workers fool are impacting our main street u.s.a. which is the true backbone of our economy. i represent california 39th congressional district which lays the in the trie counties of los angeles, core rang and an san bernardino counties. i have the pleasure to represent one of the most diverse districts in the country with a

very vigorous entrepreneurial spirit. unfortunately it has been trampled down by unclear guidelines on lockdowns, increased red tape, labor shortages, high inflation, and now supply chain crisis. mr. luetkemeyer, as you know very well, a new threat is looming on the horizon in the form of increased taxes and burdensome regulation through the poison reconciliation process. instead of working with us to tackle the issues impacting small business owners and workers, this administration and this house majority are looking to add more fuel to the fire with the fiscal expansionary measures at a time when economic analysts say that we could see inflation above 3% well into 2022. this is a run on inflation not seen since the early 1990's.

in my home state of california, recorded their highest average gas prices ever last friday. someplaces are recording close to $6 per gallon. and this is all taking place when some of our colleagues in the majority are calling for a total domestic ban on gas and oil production which will undeniably increase price force all goods and services. prices for all goods and services. to add insult to injury, california recently released its job reports showing the highest unemployment rate in the nation and unemployment claims kept increasing. so let's ask ourselves why is california seeing an uptick in unemployment dlaims claims when nfib is reporting over half of small businesses have job openings they cannot fill? why is california seeing a record number of job create

yours -- creators leaving to establish their businesses in other states? the answer is very simple. many are tired of sacramento punishing entrepreneur adventures through some of the highest taxes in the country and burdensome regulations. let's learn from the mistakes connected in california and instead work to empower entrepreneurs, job creators, and main street. let's get back to the path of prosperity where we are not punishing success and we make it easier for individuals and families to establish small businesses and serve the community that we all love. i want to thank you again, ranking member luetkemeyer, for your leadership on our small business committee and for being a fearless advocate for main street u.s.a. and entrepreneurs all across the country. with that i yield back. mr. luetkemeyer: i thank the gentlelady from california for

her remarks. we certainly appreciate the comments. she made a comment with regards to entrepreneurs. the small business folks are the entrepreneurs that make our country work. they are willing to take the risk. work long hours and wind of getting paid last if at all sometimes. i'm glad she pointed out the lesson we should be learning from california who all the times we look to california to see what the latest trends are. right now the latest trend is who is the last one out turn the light off. i think we need to look at that and listening to those citizens, those businesspeople who are leaving the state due to high cost of taxes and regulations and just to be able to work there. excited now to have another new member to our conference, also a member of the small business committee, former state senator from the state of wisconsin, the congressman, scott fitzgerald.

mr. fitzgerald: thank you, ranking member luetkemeyer. appreciate that. madam speaker, the biggest tax increase for small business in over 50 years. let me say it again, the biggest tax increase for small business in over 50 years. this is what president biden and my colleagues across the aisle are proposing in order to pay for part of their multitrillion dollar spending package. the president, the democrats, have proposed a range of option that is will hurt economic growth and fall on the backs of small businesses like raising the corporate tax, raising the individual tax rates, taxing unrealized capital gains, and giving the i.r.s. authority to spy on americans' bank accounts. in announcing the tax increases, the biden administration said,

their agenda, quote, will protect 97% of small business owners from tax increases. while delivering tax cuts to more than 3.9 million entrepreneurs. but here's the problem. it doesn't add up. the statement doesn't add up. it doesn't hold up to the scrutiny. the reality is that approximately 1.4 million small businesses are structured as c corporations. meaning that they will be subject to the proposed 28% corporate tax rate. what is it now? 21. let's talk about s corpses. if you are not familiar with the scorp or l.l.c., an individual small business owner's taxes flow through the s-corp. so what's going to happen?

they are going to increase the individual tax rate. what will that mean? s-corp s&l l.l.c.'s will see an increase in the amount of taxes they are paying. add in as my other colleagues have already brought up this evening on special orders, rising inflation rates, increased cost to goods and services, shipping delays, labor shortages, and the small businesses will find themselves in a hole. they are trying to jump-start themselves right now out of a pandemic. and we are going to tax them more? it makes absolutely no sense. for nearly a decade i was an owner of a small business. and if you would have told me in 1990 when i started my small business that you would be facing labor shortages, tax increases, and supply delays, guess what?

i wouldn't have started a small business. you would be out of your mind to start a small business under those types of circumstances. and guess what? we are seeing that happen in my home state of wisconsin. the restaurant industry, gyms, manufacturers, construction companies, they are all struggling right now. if you are back in the district and you are talking to people, and you are at a chamber meeting, or you are at some type of specific association related to an industry, they will continue to tell you we are in trouble. we are in trouble. and yet the biden administration and the democrats are looking at increased tax increases on these small businesses. we must give small business a chance to succeed and this trillion dollar reconciliation package and the subsequent tax increases, it does just the

opposite. if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle truly want to save small business, they will drop the spending plan, cut taxes for small businesses, replenish the restaurant revitalization fund, and drop the arbitrary vaccine mandate. that's what would get employees back to work. these small business owners deserve an opportunity to chase that american dream. and as at that stands, this reconciliation this reconciliation package will take that opportunity away from them, and i yield back. mr. luetkemeyer: i thank the gentleman for his comments and appreciate pointing out something that this is the biggest tax increase on small businesses in 50 years, the biggest increase in taxes on small businesses. in our committee, recently, we

had the small business administration director and one of members from our committee asked the director if she had been advising the administration on the tax policy in this bill and had done any studies as to the effect of those taxes on small businesses. and couldn't get a response and said it isn't something we should be concerned about. here is the director of the small business administration whose prime duty is to work with agency for the benefit of small businesses in this country and was not going to think that this bill was important enough with the taxes and other extraneous things in there to think about working on it and advising the administration about what could

happen to small businesses? there was a huge disconnect about what is on going in the real world and what they have the utopian view of how they would like things to be in the future under a socialist regime. this is nuts. how in the world can you put a bill together and have an effect on small business and not study the effect of it? absolutely breathtaking. i look forward to the gentlemanfrom new jersey, congressman van drew, a small business person himself and has experienced these hardships and problems and going to tell us what his views are and how could impact his business. mr. drew: i thank the ranking member for yielding. as we approach the upcoming hole dwai season, which is the busiest time of year for many

american families and for many industries, i am, we all are greatly concerned about the state of our country. gas prices are the highest we have seen in nearly a decade, forcing families to contemplate if they can afford to travel for the holidays. worst yet, those wishing to travel further are worried about their flights and worried they may be canceled at the last minute because there aren't enough pilots to fly the planes. those who have served their money for months to buy their loved ones something special for christmas worried that their delivery ry will be stopped at our back-upped ports. make no mistake, all of these crises happening at once. it is a result of failed biden

administration policies and rejection, a whole-out rejection of the longstanding values that made our america great. authoritarian vaccine mandates on many vital industries have led to labor shortages on a massive scale. overtaxation on small businesses and their owners due to an increase in the individual tax rate threaten 30,000 jobs in an already struggling job mark et. overbearing red tape in this socialist reconciliation bills will raise 500% and small businesses going bankrupt. something we have already seen far too much of over the last two years. this is not what america wants.

we are struggling to sustain a valuable and available work force. democrats' overregulation on our businesses and government handouts are leading to a cradle-to-grave welfare state crippling our country's ability to recover from the pandemic and once again strive as the strongest nation on earth. and it's all coming to a head and all coming to a head this holiday season. we cannot, we cannot continue to weaken american business. we cannot continue to weaken american supply chains. we cannot continue to weaken the american dream. we cannot continue to weaken the greatest nation on the face of the earth, america. we are the greatest country that

has ever been and ever will be. why is the left trying so hard, some so desperately to destroy that greatness? we must get americans back to work and support policies that allow our businesses to flourish and not wither away. it is the basis of america. i will continue to fight along side my colleagues to ensure these bad policies and decades' long consequences are prevented and we will continue to fight for good policies that opens our country back up and gets our people back to work and makes us strong and puts america back to the foafer front of the -- forefront of the world stage. i thank you, ranking member, and i yield back. mr. luetkemeyer: i thank the

gentleman from new jersey for his remarks and reminding us that inflation is a tax as well. i think we need to remember that, so when you go to the gas pump and last january i got it for $1.89 and last monday, it was $3.19. same amount of gas but only difference was it was a dollar higher. so inflation is a tax and small business folks display and have to work to make their business work and affects the americans. i yield to congressman keller who has a great story and look forward to his concerns about this bill, the socialist reconciliation bill. mr. kelly: -- tr

mr. keller: when we should be doing everything to strive the work force, president biden's radical socialist agenda is driving a wedge between job creators and the work force. drawing upon 25 years of experience in private industry, working in a factory and later managing that factory, i understand the challenges that our businesses face and what it means to get up every day, go to work and support a family. president biden and house democrats aren't looking out for the american families. if they were, they wouldn't be increasing the tax rates for small business owners or dumping more than a trillion dollars into the economy that will only worsen the inflation we have seen in the supply-chain crisis. this build back better scheme is a far as and it is simply out of

control. this controls more of their actions. that should be the person who earns it, not the government. and when you look at these tax policies, when you look at inflation, when you look at the fact that this administration has taken us away from energy independence, people are spending more for grossies and more for fuel and heat their homes and that is controlling their money because of their poor policies. the best thing government can do is get out of the way and return economic independence to the american people. i thank the ranking member for having this special order and allowing us to point out that we believe, we believe in the american people. they built the greatest economy the world has ever seen and built the greatest nation on the face of the earth and i just wish that president biden would

get half as frustrated with china and russia and the taliban. thank you, ranking member, and i yield back. mr. luetkemeyer: i thank the gentleman for his insightful remarks and his comments. pouring more money into the economy adds to inflation and look at the comments by the c.b.o. when they scored the bill, they said we didn't need it, that we would have #% growth at the end of this year if we did nothing and we spent $1.9 trillion and runaway inflation and want more money to be spent again. this is nuts. government control -- and i appreciate his. and this is about controlling businesses. it's not about -- again, it's about the belief that other side

seems to be goodness and greatness of government. i appreciate his comments and reminding us of those facts. how much time have we got left? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman has nine minutes. mr. luetkemeyer: i think we have rolled this around quite a while and hit on the high points but i want to make a few closing remarks. the american people deserve better than this. we are here to be able to help them, not to harm them. we want to lift them up and empower them, we are here to give them hope, not destroy hope and you do all those things on the positive side by empowering them and let them be who they are rather than take them away and the government taking control. i had the opportunity with one

of the positions that i hold here in congress to meet with a lot of foreign finance ministers around the world because they are jealous of what we have. we have something that most countries don't have and that is economic freedom. to change jobs. you want to start a new business, start a new business next week. most places in the world, can't do that, and that is a huge difference and economic freedom that entrepreneurial spirit that we have in this country makes us different than everybody else. this monstrosity of a socialist reconciliation bill is a dagger in the heart of small businesses who have built this country. and big businesses, where did they start from, they started as a small business. they started in somebody's

garage or university research lab and scratched on the back of a napkins. they are willing to put their ideas on the table, their money in their beliefs and risk everything to make this work. this bill that we are talking about this evening is a dagger in the heart to those people who are willing to take those risks and provide the jobs. as a reminder, when we unleashed the power of the people with the tax cut bill of 2017, we wind up before the pandemic adding 1.2 million more jobs. first time in history that we had that sort of numbers for people who -- for people to apply for. the fundamentals are still there if we don't destroy them.

add to the uncertainty that a lot of good friends in the small businesses are concerned about, the taxes will be the burden that will be overcome and probably will drive them out of business. very concerned about the direction of this administration. they seem believe again. and we want to empower them and continue to protect them and work with them. thank you for the opportunity and allowing us to have this special order. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time under the speaker's announced policy of january 4, 2021, the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. cartwright is recognized as the designee of the majority leader. mr. cartwright: i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to

revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cartwright: we are here to talk about these amazing bills coming up. having to do with our investment in the united states of america, both in the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the build back better act. these two these two bills taken together will create millions of american jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure, and building clean energy technology to combat climate change. together the build back better act and the infrastructure package are expected to create two million jobs a year on average. they will reward work by cutting taxes for working families and lowering costs on the things that keep folks up late at night

like health care, childcare, and home care for aging relatives. and we are going to pay for that investment and those investments in our nation and in working families by making sure that the ultrawealthy and the corporations pay their fair share. the build back better act will not add to the deficit and no one making less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in taxes. that's the promise that president joe biden made. we intend to keep it. madam speaker, we have here representative brian higgins of buffalo. he is a ninth term member from western new york. prior to serving in congress representative higgins was a history and economics instructor at suny buffalo state college.

he also served in local state elected office. congressman higgins has been a fierce advocate of stronger regional and national economic policies. he currently serves on the ways and means and budget committees. he's also the democratic chair of the house northern border caucus. he is a chair of the house cancer caucus. and he is a house lead on the canada-u.s. interparliamentary group. at this time i yield five minutes to congressman brian higgins of new york. mr. higgins: i thank the gentleman for yielding. i was listening intently to the other side extolling the virtues of nothing. but a cynical assessment of the american economy, when the

american economy in fact, needs investment. a couple facts i want to clear up here. if the united states economy had grown at the increased rate seen under democrats since 1933, the average income of americans would be more than double than it currently is today. economic growth since 1933, 4.6% under democrats, 2.4% under republicans. annual jobs increases since 1933. under democrats, 2.8%. under republicans, 1%. since 1962, democrats created 21 million more jobs than republicans. 10 of 11 of the united states recessions between 1953 and 2000

began under republican administrations. george bush i, a republican, created a $300 billion deficit. william clinton, a democrat, wiped out the entire deficit and left the next administration, bush 2, with a $300 billion surplus, who turned that into a $1.3 trillion deficit. obama, democratic president, cut that deficit to $600 billion. mr. cartwright: would the gentleman yield for a question. we have just been listening to our colleagues across the aisle complaining about so-called socialist tax increases that we have in store. does the gentleman know what the top marginal tax rate under the eisenhower administration was?

mr. higgins: that would be 91%. mr. cartwright: 91% under the republican eisenhower administration during the 1950's. and what happened to that 91% if the gentleman knows? mr. higgins: it was reduced to 77% under a democratic administration, under john f. kennedy. mr. cartwright: we are talking about the top marginal tax rate which is in the 30's right now, am i correct in that? mr. higgins: that's right. i think the point that's being made here is despite perceptions to the contrary and the assertions of those who have now left, perhaps because they can't defend this, clearly the american economy performs much more efficiently, much more effectively under democratic administrations. and that is why, that is why the build back better program

invests not in wars that don't create any new roads and bridges in america, that don't -- doesn't pull any kids out of poverty, that does not provide childcare and child tax credits. complete waste of money. brown university just came out with a study that said, americans paid $6.2 trillion in the past two decades in three middle east wars. the buy back better program invests in america by rebuilding america, by investing in young america so that they become safer. better nutrition. more economic activity at a very, very young age. every single study points to the same conclusion. that you invest in kids, child

tax credit, pre-k, childcare, you produce a more productive citizen. university studies for every dollar you spend you produce in long-term economic benefits $7 to $le -- $8. i yield back to the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. cartwright: thank you, representative higgins. madam speaker, i want to talk about a few things. i want to talk about jobs. tax cuts, and lower costs for american families. first jobs. together under the biden administration we have already created nearly five million jobs this year. growth is up. wages are up. and unemployment right now is down below 5%. together with build back better the bipartisan infrastructure bill, we'll create millions more

jobs. good-paying jobs. american jobs. union jobs. jobs that cannot be outsourced. cannot be offshored. this infrastructure package makes the largest federal investment in public transit ever. it is the largest federal investment in passenger rail since the creation of amtrak. in pennsylvania alone, the state will be opened up to over three million people with access to amtrak. in northeastern pennsylvania, amtrak has assessed that adding a line to reach northeastern pennsylvania will add 8 $87 million a year in additional economic activity in pennsylvania. these are amazing smart investments. investments that we have to make in our country if we expect to compete with europe, with china,

with russia, places that are investing in their infrastructure. we are talking about the largest investment in clean drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in american history. this is how we avoid catastrophes like what happened in flint, michigan where little kids got brain damage from drinking lead tainted water. from pipes that hadn't been replaced in over 100 years. this infrastructure investment will ensure that every american has access to reliable high-speed internet. this is the kind of investment that the federal government knows how to make. this is the kind of effort that we have succeeded at before because we have seen it. 80 years ago it was the rural electrification act which brought electricity to places in

america that did not have it and would not have it today if the government hadn't brought that into effect. the rural electrification act that essentially did the same thing with electricity what we intend to do with broadband internet access. we can't believe people behind. because that's what we do if we go on the same path we are on. this infrastructure bill helps us tackle maybe most importantly the climate crisis by making the largest investment in clean energy transmission and electric vehicle infrastructure in history. build back better will work with the infrastructure package to make even more investments in electric vehicles and other clean energy technology to combat climate change while making our economy more competitive. rebuilding our infrastructure means rebuilding our middle class. it means jobs, jobs, jobs, and

more jobs. before i move on to tax cuts, i'd like to recognize a fellow member from pennsylvania, congresswoman mary gay scanlon. she's a second term member representing pennsylvania's fifth congressional district. in congress, representative scanlon has continued her work as a lifelong advocate for children and families. she currently serves on house judiciary and the house rules committee. she's vice chair of the house administration committee, and congresswoman scanlan -- scanlon and her husband mark have three adult children. they reside with swa mart -- swarthmor with a lot of pets. i yield five minutes to her. miss scan ms. scanlon: thank yo-

ms. scanlon: thank you, representative cartwright. for my adult children and so many of the college students in my district, that is the number one issue is climate change, finally, finally taking meaningful action to address climate change. but these bills do so much more than that. after more than 50 years of failed trickle-down economics and unfulfilled promises to prioritize our nation's infrastructure, the last administration decided to punt on infrastructure and double down on giveaways to the rich. by passing yet another tax cut for the ultrawealthy. and what did that get us? widening income inequality, a shrinking middle class, crumbling roads and bridges, and increased corporate welfare. for too long america's economic policy has resolved involved around support for the rich and powerful rather than working people. with president biden we are

ready to change that. i'm proud to be part of a congress that is prioritizing the american people. in partnership with the biden administration, democrats in congress have set out to offer the greatest potential for american families and american small businesses to achieve prosperity and the american dream. in half a century. we need both the bipartisan infrastructure investment and jobs act and the build back better act to meet that potential and deliver a fairer, more balanced economy that works for all americans. after too many infrastructure weeks to count, congress will soon deliver a infrastructure bill to the president's desk that creates economic opportunity for all americans. in the 21st century and beyond. my district, pennsylvania's fifth, is home to philadelphia's airport, port, and rail yard, miles and miles of interstate highways and passenger rail lines, and regional commuter and light rail lines that link philadelphia and its suburbs. our infrastructure is aging. heavily used and in many cases

beyond its useful life span. anyone who has been stuck in traffic or a pothole on the expressway, the blue route, or i-95 knows how important an infrastructure bill is to our region. states and local governments in pennsylvania and across the country simply don't have enough money to meet basic maintenance needs, much less to invest in modernization, expansion, or other improvements to our national infrastructure. that's precisely why the infrastructure investment and jobs act is so critical for my district and our national economy. the infrastructure investment in jobs act will fix our ailing roads and bridges and fund improvements to other critical infrastructure at our port and airport. these upgrades are essential to maintain our region's position as a logistics hub on the east coast and ensure america's competitiveness in a global economy. america can't engage in international trade if it can't get goods in and out of the country or across the country

due to crumbleling infrastructure -- crumbling infrastructure anti-latest backlogs in processing. the covid-19 pandemic brought into sharp focus how essential the internet is for americans to work for find employment, to participate in remote learning torques access health care, to stay connected with friends and families, and to carry out any number of basic activities in the 21st century. . yet millions live in areas with no broadband instray structure or they can't afford it. in addition to investing in broadband infrastructure the bill will also lower prices for internet service and create a permanent program to help more low-income households access the internet. much like the federal government's efforts to provide electricity to every american nearly 100 years ago this effort will be transformative. it'll drastically improve the

ability for all americans, no matter where they live or their income level, to access services and opportunities that are essential to modern life. another aspect of the infrastructure bill that's important for my district is the funding it provides for climate resiliency. particularly flooding. communities like eastwick and economic engines like the philadelphia airport are especially vulnerable to climate change. we've seen the damage done by flooding, hurricanes and even astonishingly in southeastern pennsylvania tornadoes. sadly these extreme weather events are only getting worse. funding from the infrastructure act will make our communities safer and our infrastructure more resilient to the impact of climate change. but fixing our nation's physical infrastructure can only take us so far. the burn infrastructure bill creates jobs that will provide new opportunities and reduce costs for many americans but it won't change the calculus for

the working mom or dad who can't find adequate childcare for their kid. it went improve our schools or prepare students for the jobs of the future and it won't reduce the spiraling costs of prescription drugs. all these factors are holding back families from fully participating in our economy and in turn preventing them from buying homes and building wealth for retirement. without addressing failings of our human infrastructure, a majority of american, particularly women and people of color, will continue to be held back. that's why we need universal pre-k, better access to affordable child care, a dependable system of care for seniors and investments in higher else and work force training. the build back better act will lower the cost of thing that keep families up at night while also delivering a massive tax cut for the middle class through the expanding child tax credit and earned income tax credit giving the middle class more breathing room. that is what my constituents need.

already this year, through the american rescue plan we passed in march, we've seen the child tax credit benefit 126,000 children in my district alone. that's 76,000 families who got extra help for essentials like child care, food, and diapers. much less paying for cool clothes and extracurricular sports or putting something aside for college. by making the most significant investment in children and care giving in generationing we're helping individual families and the country as a whole because when people, particularly women, can get back to work, because they know that their family members are cared for and ensuring access to quality day care and preschool, sets children up for success. making them more likely to graduate, pursue higher education, hole jobs, pay taxes and have higher earnings. in addition to increasing the maximum for pell grant awards

the build back better act expands opportunities for americans to participate in job training programs that prepare them for careers in fast-growing sectors. this bill is going to help the working people in pa-5 and across the country. it will help families like the one i met, a mom who was beaming about her son's good-paying new job at the philly shipyard which he got after completing a maritime career development program at delaware county community college. it will help low income workers in my district who work two or more jobs every day but still can't make ends meet. it will help families that struggle to pay for the prescription drugs that keep them alive without forcing them to choose between for going medication or housing or heat or food. and the best part, the build back better bill is paid for by making those at the top pay their fair share for a change. 17 nobel prize winning

economists recently wrote in support of this legislation. and i quote, because this agenda invests in long-term economic capacity, and will enhance the ability of more americans to participate productively in the economy, it will ease longer term inflationary pressures. we have the chance to set a new path that creates real, sustained economic growth and benefits everyone, not just multimillionaires and real estate developers. it's time to get this done for the american people. and i yield back to my colleague from pennsylvania. mr. cartwright: thank you, representative scanlon. you know, i appreciated your mentioning potholes. you don't have to be from pennsylvania to understand the scourge of potholes. i will say that in my own hometown of scranton there was a study done about how much it cost car owners every year to

drive over, you know, to play the pothole slalom every year and hope that you don't damage your car they do damage their cars. and it costs on average $1,400 a year for car owners to drive over these rough roads. it's something that only the government can do. fix the roads. pave the roads. fix the bridges. thank you for mentioning that. in fact, i would be remiss if i did not mention the us is qua hannah river flows through northeastern pennsylvania. it by sects the two towns of pitston and west pittston. and there are only two bridges over the susque harvetion nna at pittston to west pittston and one is out right now. it's out because it's really old. it hasn't been maintained properly because the money wasn't there, the investment wasn't made we didn't get the job done.

this is exactly why we have to make these investments. i thank you for your time this evening. ms. scanlon: thank you. i've heard of other states with that problem. i think kentucky has a bridge that's out right now that is desperately in need of repair. mr. cartwright: i want to go back on the question of infrastructure for a moment and yield an additional two minutes to our colleague from buffalo, representative higgins. mr. higgins: thank you very much. my two colleagues from pennsylvania were very clear about the component parts of the plan and the good thing they do for individuals but the good things that they do for our nation as a whole. you know, the conservative economist from moody's analytics, mark zandy, did an analysis of the 2017 corporate tax cut. he said that for every dollar you gave away you could expect to recapture 32 cents.

that's a loss in investment of 67%. an infrastructure, conservative economist says for every dollar you spend on infrastructure you produce $1.60 in economic activity. the gain on investment in infrastructure is 60%. so it's beyond the bricks and mortar of infrastructure. it's also the good that that does for the growth in the economy. and i would leave you with this. you know, the oil age isn't going to end because we run out of oil. the oil age is going to end because we find a better way than the internal combustible engine. something that's quieter. cleaner. and eventually cheaper. and guess what. this bill, the build back better, the infrastructure bill, has money to provide charging

stations to facilitate the making and the using of electric vehicles ending this nation's addiction to foreign oil. with that, i yield back to the gentleman from pennsylvania and i thank you. mr. cartwright: thank you, representative higgins. thank you for your time here this evening. we've talked about creating jobs. and build back better is about creating jobs. it's also about helping workers keep more of their hard-earned paychecks by cutting taxes for the middle class. thanks to the american rescue plan, the child tax credits monthly tax cuts are already helping parents put gas in the car to pay for child care so they can go to work and help fuel our economy. the latest data analyzed by the j.e.c. found that these tax cuts are generating more than $19 billion in spending in local

economies each month. throughout our nation. the data are clear. when working families keep more of their hard-earned money, that's more money pumping into local businesses and supporting even more jobs. that's why we're going to -- we're working to continue those tax cuts and more through the build back better act. democrats pass the child tax credit and the american rescue plan without a single republican vote. that's right. every single republican voted against more money in the pockets of hardworking families. now, it's democrats who are working to extend the child tax credit. this contrast could not be clearer. when democrats control the congress we cut taxes for working people. when republicans control the congress, they cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires and corporations.

and they leave middle class families out to dry. madam speaker, we are joined tonight by my esteemed colleague, representative paul tonko of the capital district of new york. he is the -- he is a sixth term member of congress from upstate new york, a lifelong public servant. throughout his career hee been a strong fighter for the environment and sustainable energy and he currently serves as the co-chair for the sustainable energy and environmental coalition caucus and a member of the energy and commerce committee. representative tonko is a long-standing champion for the working class, advancing policies that create jobs, provide economic opportunity, and ensure that senior citizens are able to retire with dignity. at this time, i yield six minutes to the gentleman from new york.

mr. tonko: thank you, representative cartwright. thank you for leading us in type's discussion. on infrastructure and -- both physical and human infrastructure. let me start by extending my comments toward the child tax credit you made mention of in your last comments. the data now are available from july and august as we all know families reseed their first check dm july. and what a bit of welcome relief. and as we look at where those dollars went, 47% from july and august payments, those are the data available currently, 47% went to put food on the table. food on the table. 28% went toward utilities including broadband. so we're talking about kids doing their homework. we're talking about parents having an opportunity to reach

the outside world. middle income america to have cottage industries up and running. so 75% of that tax cut went to food and utilities. and other incidentals absorb the remaining amount of payments. that's a staggering statistic. that should tell us something about the value added of this tax cut. as representative cartwright indicated, there's a deep contrast, stark contrast, between republican leadership in the house and democratic leadership in the house. when the majority was run by the republicans they joined the former president in providing a tax cut for the 1% of highest wealth in the country. this reaches across the spectrum of middle income communities and those looking to ascend the middle class and the statistic that i find most heart warming is that one half of children living in poverty in our

country, one half of those children, will be lifted out of poverty with this child tax credit. that's a moral standard that we should all embrace. if you want to really see a comeback in our economy, we support those families. middle income families. those looking to ascend to middle income. those are the families that need the shot in the arm and it's going to happen by further extending that tax program. so our heart is with children. our heart is with those children who need early education. 3 and 4-year-olds that will be able to have advantage to the programs that will provide, not only educational training but cognitive skill development. cognitive awareness. social awareness that will drive the factors that lead to a productive life. and so many times education

experts will cite the availability of early ed as the big factor in determining the jut come of a person's work career and the dollars that individual brings home that is very important. and then access to quality child care. so many families are not rejoining the work force because they don't have access to health care and if the schools are in this undecided state, whether they're going to have virtual learning or in classroom learning or part of each combined, they need the security of child care. so so the human infrastructure that is part of the build back better act introduced envisioned by this president, president biden, is tremendously reinforcing to so many families across the country. powerful information and

powerful re-enforcements that enable them to dream their version of the american dream. when we talk about the physical infrastructure, i would be remiss if i didn't equate that to the 20th congressional district of new york. my district hosts the eastern mouth of the erie canal. and the vision for infrastructure in really difficult times by governor dewit, was connect the great ocean, the atlantic, with the great lakes. and that inspired not only the development of new york as a port, entry port, we now know what a metropolis it is, but inspired the necklace of communities that were given birth to as mill towns. and then inspired a westward movement. that's infrastructure playing into our economic development into our future. it has expanded the turf of this country. it gave so many people the

opportunity to insert their skill set, their passion, their abilities into products that fed the quality of life around the world. mr. cartwright: would the gentleman yield for a question. is it true that the gentleman from new york is trained as an engineer? mr. tonko: yeah. not a civil engineer. but mechanical and industrial. those engineers, they are powerful. they make the world spin. and that whole fete -- feat, if you were to visit the erie canal and see the lock that is were developed at a time when nodend equipment and machinery wasn't available, it was not only an engineering feat, but a tremendous salute to the workers and skill of the work ethic. mr. cartwright: the gentleman was discussing the necklace of communities that followed the erie canal. earlier on this evening i was talking about how amtrak

assessed that restoring passenger rail in northeastern pennsylvania would result in about $87 million per year of additional economic activity along the line. does that hold water? mr. tonko: absolutely. as we invest in rail you increase ridership if you get from a to b in a quirk time period than you would by car. it makes common sense and economic sense. from rail to broadband i have communities in my district that are unserved or underserved with broadband services. today this is about doctors reading x-rays, children doing their homework. cottage industries launching and staying in business. this is an important bit of modern day infrastructure. it's akin to the electric rural electrification act of the 1930's in the last century. we have a history that speaks to

us, boldly, about what infrastructure meant. the electrification, the rural electrification act made america buzz with economic activity. provided economic justice by reaching every corner of this country. which broadband will do. let me just mention this and i'll close with this for now, representative cartwright. i chair the subcommittee on environment and climate change reporting to the energy and commerce committee. under our umbrella falls the responsibility for the clean drinking act. so the water infrastructure, drinking water infrastructure in this build back better effort, and infrastructure in general, is about making certain no children drink out of leaded ieps pieps. 10,000 pipes in this country that are feeding homes, serving homes, there is no way children, families should be drinking water that has lead in it. and we know that it's a

permanent damage. irreversible. we know that it's about social and economic justice. and then we also provide for more dollars in the s.r.f., state revolving funds, which 50 capitals across the country receive in terms of the federal down payment for water infrastructure. i was in county government back when i started my career. and we had much more of a partnership with washington. today we are getting on average maybe 4% to 5% of all projects that are water, drinking water based as a federal share. come on, we can do much better than that. if we don't, the issue doesn't go away. local property taxpayers have to pick up that burden. it is a regressive tax. for many, many reasons we are onboard here with a plan that really speaks to, you know, the definitive times in which we reside. we now are living in a moment of

history where we need to re-engage, re-engineer our skill sets, our resources, to advance an innovation economy. to do that we need a 21st century tool kit and build back better act. the infrastructure act. they do it. they provide, it's a good down payment. we'll still have more work to do. but, you know, the president has a vision. it's bold but we know that leaders in the past, governor dewit clinton, president eisenhower, president franklin roosevelt, all the votes, teddy roosevelt with parks and setting alongside lands for park development, these were giants in their times. and we have a giant now calling on congress to help bring the vision into clear view and tether it into the communities across this country. with that, i yield. mr. cartwright: it's true, isn't

it that the build back better act and the bricks and mortar infrastructure act, they work together. they dovetail to achieve the visions you are talking about. mr. tonko: worker training, apprenticeship programs, skills development, childcare so that families can comfortably go to work and know that their children are in good stead. we have many households that ledded -- that are headed by single parent moms. many households that have both members of the household couple having full-time jobs. it's a different economy, different times. we need to adjust. we need to invest in america. into her people. and that's what this measure is about. i'm also involved with the offshore wind industry. making certain that my district, hundreds of miles away from any offshore wind project, is going to have many jobs, because we are going to be building foundations, we are going to be building tower components, we

are going to be imild building the ancillary pieces that are part of it. we may be building some of the turbine blades. then installed in the offshore capacity along the eastern network where everyone is going to prosper from this. and we are going to clean the environment. which is a demand of the generations behind us and those yet to be born. they have the right to demand clean air, to have make clean the air they breath and safe the water they drink. it is a mission that is justified and we need to be part of that justification. mr. cartwright: thank you, representative tonko. obviously, madam speaker, we have an engineer on his toes here this evening. who has picked up on a lot of the points that have been made previously. for example, representative mary gay scanlon and representative tonko both brought up the similarity between expanding broadband internet access to all of the rural place the -- places

and nooks and kranies and hollers in this country. the similar between doing that and enacting the rural electrification act 80 years ago by president franklin ruse vet. if we -- roosevelt. if we hadn't done that, so many people would have been left behind, literally in the dark. and if we don't do this, we are going to leave americans behind in the quest for knowledge and keeping up in the modern economy by use of high speed broadband internet. another thing representative tonko just mentioned, madam speaker, is about filling jobs. i represent northeastern pennsylvania. i talk to employers a lot. employers of manufacturing jobs, employers of retail and restaurant jobs. and the lament has been constant. with manufacturing jobs it predated the pandemic.

it was that we can't find people trained up to do our work. we can't find people who know how to run the modern version of the lathe machines to manufacture parts in their businesses. the build back better act includes a lot of money for work force development. it is a big favor being done for employers, for companies that do manufacturing work. but it goes beyond that. as representative tonko just mentioned, there are so many families, single parent families where either the mom or the dad probably predominantly the mom is home watching kids and doesn't have options for childcare or for pre-k that would enable them to go out and go back to work. and that's what we are seeing right now after the pandemic. in fact, we have wilkes bear,

pennsylvania in my district, the cheap officer of the chamber of commerce did a survey and touched on the point representative tonko just made. the survey showed of the people who took themselves out of the work force because of the pandemic in restaurant and retail jobs, of those people, 54% of those who have not gone back have not gone back because they are watching kids at home. because of the scarcity of options for childcare. remember, when you are working in restaurant or retail, if you are busing tables, you are not making enough money to hire a nanny. are you not making enough money to get the top option in daycare. that's why the build back better act comes in handy. what it does is -- above all remember this. it does a favor for those businesses, those small businesses, those employers,

they are trying to fill those jobs that are open and going begging for people to come fill them. the build back better plan by establishing eun universal pre-- establishing universal pre-k and beefing up childcare options gives those parents the ability to go back to work and fill those jobs and power our economy. what do you think? mr. tonko: would the gentleman yield. representative cartwright mentioned, madam speaker, the strength of manufacturing. and growing our manufacturing jobs. the pandemic alerted us to a supply chain crisis. so the build back better act speaks to addressing the shortages that we had for manufacturing. supply shortages. that is critical. but we also combine the efforts for manufacturing to be more profitability ible and provide more jobs by addressing retrofitting manufacturing so it's energy smarter as an outcome.

we know we have a very robust plan, a goal that is very robust by the year 2015 to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions. if we are going to achieve that we have to reach to every sector of the economy in order to attain those goals. and though we need to look to manufacturing. and retrofitting manufacturing, making certain it's energy smart, making certain it can compete in a global marketplace with all the tools at their finger trips is an -- tips is an important standard that is established in the build back better act. the president says we are at an inflexion point. i couldn't agree more. we are now in a focus mode where we are going to determine the best outcomes by combining legislation and resources that will speak to the most forceful competitive, sharpest competitive edge for our business community. or four manufacturing base. for our manufacturing base. to address our supply chain. to hold down energy costs.

reduce costs, reduce the tax burden on households, and provide a vision that will get us to where we need to be. it is about time that we had this sort of leadership. not just reducing programs, cutting down government, not seeing the effectiveness of sound government, now we have a leader that understands the partnership, the public-private partnership, business, working with government to address the needs of those businesses, their workers, worker training, having the resources to be robustly competitive so that we grow a more fair, more just, moreau bust, more sustainable economy. it's a powerful economy. mr. cartwright: mr. cartwright: thank you, mr. tonko. you repeated the word competitive three times just now and i couldn't think of a more appropriate word. madam speaker, it's a tough world out there we americans may think the world owes us a living but it doesn't. we have to get out there and

compete. our businesses have to compete. our people have to compete. we have to be at the top of our game to win those, keep those jobs and make sure they don't go to europe or russia or china. those countries are investing in themselves. they're building fast railroads, they're building their roads and bridges. they're investing in high speed internet. all of these things and as a result, we better be at the top of our game. and that's what we do with the build back better act and these infrastructure investments. now i talked about jobs and tax cuts, but cutting costs for american families has to be covered as well. as representative tonko mentioned, this bill will save most families more than half their spending on child care and deliver free pre-k for every 3 and 4-year-old in america as we talked about, that'll free up

moms and dads to go to work. it'll also provide money for senior care. there are a lot of folks at home that can't leave the house because they're taking care of an elder at home. that's another thing that these bills help. just think about what it means to a working family in northeastern pennsylvania or anywhere else in the country that they can be freed up and go back to work and fill jobs that are going begging right now. it means parents can go to work and fuel our economy, knowing their kids, or their elderly parents, are taken care of and that is good for our entire economy. now we know that elder care and child care isn't the only thing keeping parents up late at night. it's about making ends meet and making sure they can afford good health care coverage. these bills beef up the patient protection and affordable care act. almost to the point where we almost have universal health

care in this country and that is so good because it keep ours hospitals afloat. you know what happened in pennsylvania before we got the expansion of medicaid under the affordable care act? we started losing rural hospitals. man, it's no longer a theoretical thing, you know. when your hospital isn't there because it went under, your health care, your actual health care suffered. not your coverage. your -- the -- your chabses of making it if you had a heart attack or stroke go way, way down if the local hospitals are not financially sound and robust. this will lower health care costs by strengthening the affordable care act. very important part of this bill. you know maybe the most important thing that people miss about these bills that we're working on right now, the build back better act is paid for.

it's fully paid for by making sure that the ultra wealthy and corporations pay their fair share. it will not add to the deficit. no one making less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more in taxes. in fact, working families are going to see their taxes cut because build back better rewards work, not wealth. this contrast is worth repeating, madam speaker. when democrats control the congress we cut taxes for working people when republicans do, they cut taxes for millionaires and corporations. no more. as the president often says, for far too long this economy has worked great for those at the top while hardworking americans who built their couldn't -- who built this country have been cut out of the deal. democrats are dealing with -- are deeing working people back into the deal by building an economy that give themes a fair

shot and we're going to make sure it's paid for by asking the ultra wealthy to pay their fair share. it's only right. madam speaker, it's so important that we pass these bills. you know, representative tonko, i spent some considerable time talking about the importance of rebuilding and maintaining and expanding our bricks and mortar infrastructure. that's so important. these are assets that were passed down to us from the greatest generation. who are we to think that we don't have to maintain them, take care of them, expand them, make them better. and make them work for a modern economy and all of the needs that american workers and businesses have to stay competitive in the world. i say, let's pass these bills. let's get the job done. let's fulfill the vision for the american workers, the american

people, and our entire nation. congressman tonko, do you have some final thoughts? mr. tonko: yes, if the gentleman would yield, i don't know how much time we have remaining but i'll take whatever time we have here to also cite the fact that some of the greatest looking institutional buildings in our districts are from the f.d.r. era. libraries that speak significantly to the cityscapes. institutional settings. schools that really laid out an image of importance to children. how great education is we have been taught by generations before us that there should be a commitment to people across this country, especially children, to invest in our tomorrows. how dare we just pass by and just cut everything and not help build. and we're hurting ourselves by not investing in those resources

that will get us to a stronger economy. research money that will be part of the $555 billion that is part of the investment in climate change. it's much stronger than that but there in the build back better act is the opportunity to advanced that effort. now that will include a number of jobs from the trades, installing a lot of the renewable energy and innovative concepts. retrofitting manufacturing and the like. but then there are going to be the white collar jobs. as engineers and planners go to work on investing in the newness of discovery and that will come with many people working in labs and research centers that will get us to a stronger outcome. where there is no vision, the people shall perish we learned that when we opened our book. and that should speak to us. it is important for us to have a vision.

a boldness of vision that will take in investment but certainly render lucrative dividends for the people in this moment and those generations that will follow us. let them look, 100 years from now, at this moment and say they got it. they invested, they received great assets from those before them. and they saw that they had to do likewise and contribute to the tomorrows that that group will enjoy 100 years out and beyond. so this is our omit to real -- this is our moment to really shine you talk about the efforts to pay for that this effort is paid for. that's a good balance that we bring into the house. we tell people that we've balanced it so that there's a payment mechanism for all that we choose to do. that wasn't the case, that was not the case, with the huge tax pit of 2016, they expected a trickle down and that it would

pay for itself. what did we see happening to the deficit? it bloated from that tax cut. and then you'll hear debate on this floor about raising the debt ceiling so we can pay our bills. america can pay her bills. and what was their message? they want this money so they can spend more. no, we're paying the dollars off that you incurred as bills when you were president and you were the republican leadership in this house. that's paying for bills that came if the last several years. this payment mechanism will make certain we go forward with an investment in america that is paid for. and that will reach the great many of us. the great middle income community. the strength of america is -- lies in her middle class. the strength of the middle class lies in union jobs which is part of this package. thanks to our partners in unionized labor, union labor, they have worked with us to develop a blueprint for a

sounder tomorrow. so let's get aboard. let's get this done. let's go forward and show people that america is strong. that she is at her best when she embraces that pioneer spirit that i saw when i mentioned the erie canal. there's always been that pioneer spirit within us. it's part of our d.n.a. and how dare we deny it as we come together in this moment, crucial moment where we're asked to come up with the response to a global economy where it's not the u.s. running the entire economy of the world, where we have to compete and compete effectively. and where we give the people of this country the dignity of work. where they can earn a great and fair check so they can support their family, pay for the roof over their head, set some money aside and enable their children to enjoy that future set-aside. that's what this is about. this is speaking to america, her

families and those in need. and it will result in a stronger, healthier workplace and one that has a sense of hope and if we can deliver the commodity of hope to the doorsteps of americans, we will have achieved so thank you, president biden. thank you to the leader shep in the house. thank you representative cartwright for leading us this evening in this great discussion. mr. cartwright: thank you for your comments, congressman tonko. you can tell when you get congressman tonko, a guy from amsterdam, new york, revved up about the erie canal, he's going to give you a good speech. and a good speech is what we need to be doing ieght now because we have to -- doing right now because we have to have the people understand the importance of passing this infrastructure bill, the build back better actering passing them together because they fulfill the vision, not only of president biden but a vision

we've all been waiting for for for the longest time. representative tonko and i have been serving our entire time in congress, for me nine year, for you 11 years -- 3 years -- 13 years, waiting for infrastructure to happen. mary gay scanlon, representative scanlon, spoke earlier about the infrachuckture -- infrastructure weeks we had urn the last administration, we had infrastructure week after infrastructure week, she said that as a joke because it never happened, we labeled weeks infrastructure weeks and nobody ever did anything about it. we're here to say president biden and the current democratic majority in the house, we are going to deliver for the people on the vision of infrastructure and making our economy and our american people competitive on the world stage. madam speaker, i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. under the speaker's announced policy of january 4, 2021, the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. bergman, for 30 minutes. mr. bergman: thank you, madam speaker. i'm proud and honored to host today's special order in light of veterans day being just around the corner on november 11. here in d.c., and back home in

michigan, i stay closely connected with all my fellow veterans and i can tell you this. from the afghanistan debacle to lingering backlogs as the v.a., it's not been an easy year for veterans and their families. but i want to remind you all veterans, you are not alone. we are here with you. we are listening. and we are working through the difficult times to get things done. you're going to hear today from many of my colleagues who not only share this feeling but want to remind you that we are working every day on your behalf not for any political reason but because we strive to thank you and honor you for your service to our nation. with that, i now yield two minutes to my friend and

colleague and fellow marine, mr. mr. bost: i thank the general for leading, general bergman you're doing a great job. madam speaker, i'm proud to join my friends and fellow veterans here today to honor the generations of men and women who have served this great nation from the greatest generation of veterans to the youngest generation of veterans. we are undeniably lucky to have men and women who are willing to lay down their lives for others. this veterans day comes exactly two months after the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. in that sense, it is an even more pungent reminder than usual of the sacrifices veterans have made so that we can be free. for 20 years, soldiers, say

alreadis -- sailor, airmen, marines, guardsmen, special forces unit, reservists, in and around afghanistan prevented another terrorist attack on the homeland. for 20 years they made the world safer. for 20 years they gave the afghanistan people a taste of freedom. the freedom for afghanistan women and girls to pursue education and a career. the freedom to play sports. the freedom to be christian. the freedom to live without oppression and terror. like generations of veterans before them, they spent days, months, and years thousands of miles from home. they missed births, birthdays, weddings, funerals, anniversaries, and holidays. they protected those they will never meet. they looked our enemies dead in

the eye and refused to accept defeat. as a veteran, father, and grandfather of active duty service members, and the lead republican on the house veterans' affairs committee, i cannot be prouder of the millions of men and women who selflessly answered our country's call throughout our history. this veterans day i en encourage all americans -- i encourage all americans to pause and remember those who have defended our way of life. their service should always, always be honored and celebrated. we owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. last and certainly not least, i want to share a message for those who may be struggling. if you are a veteran or you know someone who is a veteran that's going through a tough time, please reach out and ask for help. it's the right and brave thing

to do. your service mattered. you matter. the veterans crisis line offers free confidential support to all veterans. simply call 1-800-273-8255 and press one. that's 800-273-8255 press one or text 838-255, 838255 or visit www. veteranscrisisline.net. may god bless our veterans, their families, and the united states of america. i thank the gentleman for the time. i yield back. mr. bergman: thank you, mr. bost. i now yield two minutes to my friend and colleague and fellow air force veteran from texas, dr. babin. mr. babin: thank you, general bergman, for having this very worthy special order tonight on veterans. on the 11th hour of the 11th day

of the 11th month patriots will come together to celebrate america's brave protectors, past and present. as the son of a world war ii veteran, a veteran myself, and father of a decorated navy seal it is sometimes very difficult for me to adequately express the deep rooted gratitude that i hold for our military. the same gratitude historically held by a majority of our great country. this year, however, something is different. the people of this nation still honor our service men and women. unfortunately some in the white house don't seem to do that. this administration would rather focus on our military being woke rather than being prepared and ready for a potential war with our enemies. my heart especially goes out to our veterans of afghanistan, the biden administration and our military leadership failed you and the afghan allies that you worked so closely with for

decades. to the men and women of our armed forces who sacrifice so much over the last 20 years, i say this, hold your head up high. your service protected countless freedom loving people and prevented terrorism from thriving in the united states and our post-9/11 world. ronald reagan once said, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. we didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. it must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. no one understands this truth anymore than our vets. i promise to continue using my position in congress to serve those who have served us and to all of our current and former soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, guardians, and coasties, i gratefully and humbly say thank you. i yield back. mr. bergman: now, madam speaker,

i yield two minutes to my colleague from pennsylvania, mr. mr. kelly: i thank the gentleman. madam speaker, i rise today to honor the great men and women who serve and have fought in our military and risk their lives to protect this great country of ours. each november we are reminded of the heroism our veterans displayed both at home and abroad. my congressional district, pennsylvania's 16th congressional district, is among the largest constituents of military veterans in our commonwealth. more than 45,000 veterans called pa-16 home. that's one in 15 of my constituents. it would be hard to go to any home anywhere in the district that i serve and not find people who have served in the military. our office has a dedicated veterans outreach program. some of our representatives. right now it's francis, 36 years he served. we also had john, a vietnam vet

who never stopped serving. after he came home, he's been part of our service outreach program and has dedicated his entire life to taking care of our veterans. also a good friend and a guy who has done a great job, tony, another iraqi war veteran who served in our office taking care of our veterans. and now is a p.s.o. last but not least, john, who is an afghani war veteran. i talked to john about the afghanistan withdrawal, i said john, i want to make sure you're ok. mike i haven't slept for five days. i lost friends in afghanistan. i held them as they died. some of them came back home. but they were deeply wounded and injured. probably will never fully recover. and i just don't understand how we arrived at that type of withdrawal. i keep thinking to myself, was it worth it? the loss of lives, the loss of

limbs. was it really worth it? all i kay is to him, john, for 20 years our men and women in uniform have kept their home country safe. i don't know what more you could have done. and i too feel the sense of your loss and how deep it is. remember the american people will always, always be indebted to you for what you have done. we know how difficulties the last few months have been. we look back and what happened in afghanistan and our withdrawal from afghanistan and we keep wondering why, why this true 1% of americans go and serve. how can they look at what's happened and think things are all right? that's why this month, this november, this veterans day it is absolutely critical that we take time out of our daily lives and anybody we know that served we thank them for their service, we thank them for their sacrifice, we thank them for everything they have done for this great country. i ask people to please remember,

when they left to go serve us and protect us, some of them never came home. never got a chance to celebrate another thanksgiving. never got a chance to celebrate a christmas. most never had a chance to get married, have children, and enjoy the american life. they did it because they love this nation. they gave everything they could possibly give. and there is a saying out there that all gave some but some gave all. that is so true. that is why on november 11 every single american should stop and say a prayer for those who not only lost their life but those who came home injured and some injured in way they will never be able to have the life they had before they left. they are entitled to everything they have been promised. more importantly they deserve it. they deserve that. so on this date, november 11, let's all stop just for a minute

and think just how much this country, this nation, meant to those who served. thank you so much. i yield back my time. mr. bergman: thank you. i'm proud to yield to my friend also from pennsylvania, dr. joyce. mr. joyce: i thank the gentleman from michigan for holding this special order tonight. and for his service to our nation as a general in the united states marine corps. as veterans day approaches this year, we should all take time to recognize and honor the men and women in uniform who served our nation in iraq, in afghanistan. two of our colleagues, representative brian mast from florida, and representative dan crenshaw of texas served in afghanistan and now serve their country in the united states capitol as our colleagues. please know that your commitment and your sacrifices were not in vain. over the past two decades, our

nation has been more safe and more secure because of your vigilance and because of your service. in november we also recognize national veterans and military families month. during this month and every month we must be committed to providing the services that all of our veterans need. please know that if you or a loved one is struggling, there is help and there are resources that are available through the veterans administration. congress must always remain committed to supporting our veterans, and i am proud to be supporting legislation to ensure that the department of veterans affairs returns to full staffing levels to handle the backlog of requests that have been created by the covid-19 pandemic. this veterans day i ask all of us to renew our commitment to the men and women who have served our nation.

i ask that we ensure that they have the care and the resources that they need. i want to take special note to thank my wife who served in the united states navy for more than 12 years. and heresies ter, julia -- and her sister, julia, who served in the united states army. i want to thank the gentleman -- general from michigan for holding this special honor that allows us to recognize the importance of our freedom. our freedom that was given to us by the veterans who served our country. general, semper fi. mr. bergman: thank you, sir. i accept that for all the veterans who served, especially the marines. now it is my honor to yield to my friend and colleague from north carolina, mr. rouzer. mr. rouzer: i thank my friend from michigan. with veterans day just around

the corner, i'm pleased to join my colleagues to honor the brave men and women who have valiantly answered the call of duty to serve and protect the united states. in north carolina we have a rich tradition of military service and we are blessed to have a large community of veterans in the seventh congressional district. it is because of their selflessness and heroism the united states remains free and continues to be the greatest light for liberty mankind has ever known. their families have devoted just as much to this noble cause. over the past year and a half, many of our citizens across this great land have struggled with impacts of the covid-19 pandemic. none have been more affected than our veterans and their families. those veterans who have seen the horrors of war carry scars, some are physical scars, others are emotional scars. mental health has always been a

need for many given what they have been through. the botched withdrawal from afghanistan has further exacerbated that mental anguish for so many who have served. this is why now more than ever it's important that congress pay tribute to our country's service members and our veterans. it is also important for them to know that america supports them. to every veteran across this great land and their loved ones, we thank you. and we are forever indebted to you. it's my honor to serve as a voice for north carolina veterans in congress, and i will continue to support vital measures to honor, provide support, and deliver results for our nation's heroes. may god always bless them. mr. bergman: thank you. i yield to my friend and army veteran, mr. gohmert of texas. mr. gohmert: i certainly

appreciate my friend, the general, using this time to pay tribute to veterans. seeing the statistics from article 2018, 71% of young americans between 17 and 24 are ineligible to serve in the military. 24 out of 34 million people in that age group. the demographics of the military as of 2018 indicates that there is just under 1.29 million people serving, men and women, serving in the military. that's less than .5% of the u.s. population. we owe our military the deepest amount of appreciation and thanks. i just went back to the office this afternoon and get another

plea from another service member. these people are the very tiny few volunteers willing to step up and defend america at you will all cost, including their own lives. jesus said that's the greatest love there can be. they love their country. they love those they serve with. they are willing to face anything except corrupt high ranking officers who are so busy sticking their heads up the atree yums of the white house that they are not concerned enough about their own men. we saw that in the exit of afghanistan. and commanding officers didn't care enough about their own troops. this notice says you either take the vaccination without regard

whether you have bad reactions to things in there like the warnings say, we want to experiment you like we we did the airmen, this is wrong and we should be standing up for our servicemembers not only saying thank you, but thank you and you shouldn't have to serve and follow orders that are experiments that we have outlawed such experimentation on our servicemembers. so thank you. we owe you a debt of gratitude and going to be fighting for you here and i yield back. mr. bergman: i yield to tim walberg. mr. walberg: i'm pleased to join my friend and all my colleagues in paying tribute to those who serve. what we say tonight will be

totally inadequate to express what needs to be expressed, but i must say it any way. veterans day is a moment to pause and say thank you to the men and women who chose to defend america's freedoms and the people who supported them from home. we have an obligation to display our gratitude and make sure we care for the physical and mental health for those who serve. in congress, we have advanced a number of bipartisan initiatives. the veterans mental health care improvement act was signed into law. and more support will be available to the veterans compensation cost-of-living adjustment act which helps veterans and families to keep up with ever increasing inflation. these laws are but the work must

carry on so we continue to keep our promises to those who have served. that's why this week i will be interviewing a bipartisan piece of legislation prisoner of war priority care actcare act that l assign the highest status for hospital care and medical services provided through the department of veterans' affairs to veterans who are former prisoners of war. for the wounds both seen and unseen, we owe a debt of gratitude to our veterans. we say it with profound sincerity. we can't make up for the costs, but we can support as the days go by. today, just like every day, we thank you. god bless our nation's veterans. mr. bergman: i yield to my friend from pennsylvania,

mr. keller. mr. keller: thank you to the gentleman from michigan for hosting this special order and thank you, general bergman, for your distinguished service. america's military is the most powerful fighting force on the planet and draws its strength from the determination and might of its members, the men and women who have answered freddie mac's call. this veterans' day we recognize the many sacrifices our veterans made to secure the blessings of liberty for all to enjoy. from the dawn of our nation, valiant americans have risen to confront every threat we face. for generations, america's veterans have served with honor beating back tyranny to the ends of the earth. we recognize the military families, wives, husbands,

families and siblings. we are fighting for them in congress like the records act that would expedite records so they can access benefits they have earned. a grateful nation salutes your service. may god bless your service and the united states of america. i yield back. mr. bergman: i yield to my friend and border colleague from wisconsin. mr. tiffany: thank you mr. bergman and it ace neighbor to the upper peninsula of michigan. on veterans day has been celebrated under different names but the premise remains the same. we pause to honor the men and women who have served our nation and kept us free. we honor their love of country, their patriotism and their

willingness to sacrifice for a greater good. our country has faced many challenges in the last 100-plus years to normandy to the global war on terror. every time, our warriors have answered the nation's call. this year as we close the chapter or afghanistan, we are reminded of the sacrifices thief made, the kindness in their hearts and dedication to the mission. this veterans' day reflects on the gift they have given us, respect their service and thank them for their sacrifice. because of them, we live in the greatest nation on earth. on behalf of my constituents, thank you. and may god bless all of you. mr. bergman: i now yield two minutes to my friend and colleague and navy veteran, mr. clyde, from georgia.

mr. clyde: thank you general. it was the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, world war world war i and was called armistice day and the day we honor the service and sacrifice of those living and gone before us. this isn't another day off work or enjoying a federal holiday. it is about honoring those who have served our country and sacrificed so he we can live until freedom in the greatest nation on the earth. i grew up in canada. my mom was canadian, my father was a united states citizen and u.s. navy officer in the korean war. we didn't call november 11 veterans' day but wore a red

poppy to remind everyone. this is a picture. it talks about those poppies and i was required to member rise that poem because it is so powerful. the symbol of the poppy for remembrance did not come from canada, it came from my home state of georgia. from a professor at the university of georgia named michael. the highway between georgia is called the highway to honor her efforts. in 1917, she took a leave of absence from the university to volunteer with the young women's christian association. in november of 1918 inspired by the poem, she vowed to wear a poppy as a remembrance of those

who sacrificed in a war. in flanders field the poppy flow. that mark our place and in the sky, the larks still bravely singing fly, and we are the dead short days ago, we live felt dawn. loved and were loved and now we lie in flanders fields. take up our coral with the foe, to you from failing hands we throw the torch to those who hold it high. if you break faith, we shall not sleep though poppies grow in flanders field. men and women put their lives on the line. we must not and cannot break faith. as we celebrate veterans day let's honor their sacrifice by asking one simple question, how can we carry the burdennen for

liberty. may god bless america and may god bless our military. mr. bergman: thank you. you know, in closing, during my 40 years in uniform and now here in congress and also even before uniform being raised in a family of world war ii veterans and because of my parents' guidance and example, i dedicated my life to military one form in another. there is one thing about veterans day that i want to make sure that i talk about and that is all of you talk to a veteran, don't just say thank you for your service. engage them and find out about

their story. because we don't know how many more days that we might have to walk the face of the earth and so important for us to share our stories as veterans with the next generations. thank you, thank you, thank you. and we live in the greatest country in the world because men and women have sworn an oath. let us never forget them. may god continue to bless our troops and veterans and families. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the alyields. under the speaker's announced policy of january 4, 2021, the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, for 30 minutes. mr. davis: i ask unanimous

consent to revise and extend my remarks and include extraneous material. i am delighted to come to the floor this once -- evening on the order of this special order, because i come to pay tribute to an iconic american, john h. johnson, the founder of johnson publishing company, founder of "ebbony" magazine, "fashion fair" and three radio stations and three television stations and lots of other business interests. growing up in southeast arkansas during the 1950's and coming into contact with a "jet

magazine that school teachers may have in their possession or one of the ministers have brought to town or the hairdresser may have had one or two, that was an exciting thing for a young african american-american boy in the rural south. little did i know that the man responsible for those products had grown up just a few miles away or at least until he was ninth grade, john h. johnson, arkansas city, arkansas, close

to lake immediate, greenville, mississippi, all of those little towns. and of course, john h. johnson was being a storiy teller. he used to tell the story of how his mother, johnny, when you finish the eighth grade, we are going to move to chicago, so you can go to high school. and when you finish the eighth grade, i didn't save enough money for us to move, so you have to go through the eighth grade again. and he would say, no, mom, that's all right. i'll just go to work and help you save money. and she said, nope, you are going to the eighth graild

again. and -- grade again. and as bright as he was, he had to do the eighth grade twice. and of course, he eventually they did move to chicago. he did go he did go to high sch. matter of fact he wept to high school with redd fox and gnat king cole, and mr. abernathy who owned and built a taxi company. even went to school with professor black who just died a few weeks ago. tim was 102 when he released his last book two years ago when he was 100. so johnny johnson did go to high school at fill its -- phillips. became president of his class. of course editor of the

yearbook. editor of the school newspaper. and he was then offered a scholarship to the university of chicago. he won't sure he could go because he wasn't sure he'd have enough money even with the scholarship. he made a speech with the urban league continue and the fellow who owned supreme life insurance liked it and he hired him to come and work for him. so he was then able to make use of his scholarship and go to school. after working for supreme for two years he actually became the president's assistant because he was so industrious and so bright and all of everything that he was.

they decided to go into business for himself so he managed to borrow $500 or make use of $500 that his mother let him have or use, and he started his publishing business, a little magazine. and he developed it and got so good at it, he did another one. so he developed the ebony magazine, he developed the jet magazine, and at the height he had 2,300,000 subscribers. he was zipping and zooming. part of what propelled him was the fact that in 1955 when

emmitt till was mutilated, murdered, and killed he published the gruesome photographs of emmitt till. many people proclaimed that that really jump-started in a serious way the modern day civil rights movement because, as people saw the gruesome of the murder of emmitt till, they became motivated, engaged, involved, it was the era that produced dr. martin luther king, john lewis, civil rights icons, but at the same time that mr. johnson was publishing his magazines, he was really

projecting the positivity of african-americans. showing blacks who were superstars. promoting the idea. the fact that he had to come to chicago to high school was not really anything unusual. many towns in the rural south at that time did not have high schools for african-americans. matter of fact, many of them didn't have any schools at all. julius rosen wall and booker washington teamed up and got with people in communities and they built 5,000 schools. they are called the rosenwal schools. matter of fact our iconic colleague john lewis attended one of those.

john went to a rosenwall school. but john johnson continued to develop his business and became so good at it, he was a great storyteller himself, he didn't work as a journalist. he worked as a business man. but he had stories that he could tell. i was so amazed to get to meet him and know him and live in the area where his cousin lived who introduced me to him, and i remember we were in a group, an organization and somebody said, we needed to raise $500 for something. and somebody said, well, why don't we ask johnny johnson for it? and his cousin, miss willie

myles burns, the head of the subscription department and worked for him, held up her hand and she said, johnny johnson, who is that? the fellow, the guy down there at ebony. miss burnes, you mean mr. john h. johnson? he ain't no johnny johnson. he is mr. john h. johnson. she said, he's my relative. and i call him mr. -- mister every time i call his name. obviously mr. john h. johnson continued to develop his businesses and ended up on the forbes 400 as one of the wealthiest 400 people in the

united states of america. he received every accolade, every honor, every possibility of people acknowledging what he could do and what he had done. he used to tell a story about building a building, owning a building on michigan avenue and he couldn't purchase it because people who owned it wouldn't sell it to him, so he got a friend of his to purchase it for him. and even to this day the legend in chicago is that he has the only building on michigan avenue that has a driveway where you can drive in off the street and go through the building. notwithstanding any and all of that, johnny johnson was a very

common man. you could walk up to him and talk with him. he went down every day and picked up his newspaper and had a conversation with the person who sold the newspaper. of course he ended up with all kind of honorary doctorates degrees from harvard university, the university of arkansas. i was thrilled and delighted to go down to arkansas city with him when they decided to move the home that he had lived in from where it was located and moved it downtown to make a museum out of it. and it was a two room house. it's called a shotgun house.

shotgun just meant you could open the front door and open the backdoor and you could look all the way through. out into the back. well, they moved the house from its location down to near the courthouse in arkansas city. that's where it currently is located. of course mr. johnson was given the medal of freedom by president clinton. he was man of the year from the national chamber of commerce. the spingarn medal from the naacp. all of this but still being a regular kind of person. of course the congressional

black caucus honored him. how could we not? he was obviously an icon who demonstrated that it really wasn't so much where you came from as much as it was where you were going. didn't really matter what didn't exist. it was what you created. and he obviously was one of the most creative individuals. he had a book publishing company that lorraine wrote before the mayflower and published it. after all was said and done, johnny h. johnson was an unusual man. an outstanding man. that the poet may have been

thinking of him when he suggested that if you could keep your head when all about you is losing theirs, and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, make allowances for their doubting, if you can wait and not be tired by waiting, being lied about or being hated, and yet don't look too good or talk too wise, if you can dream and not make dreams your master, think and not make thoughts your name -- aim, if you can meet with triumph and disaster, and yet treat those two impostors just the same. well, john h. johnson, the man who will always be a historic figure, who gave so much to

america, told the arkansas general assembly two years ago decided to make his november 1 a state holiday honoring a native son, john h. johnson. mr. johnson, thank you for what you meant not just for arkansas, but what you meant for america. thank you, madam speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yield back.

under the speaker's announced policy of january 4, 2021 the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. roy, for 30 minutes. mr. roy: i thank the speaker. i rise today to speak a little bit about the current state of affairs with respect to our relationship with china. and our nation's response to it. i do so at a time when we are, i'm yet again sitting in an empty house chamber as often i am when i'm speaking here,

because we don't really have debate here on the floor of the house, even when it's on important topics. we have votes. today for example on 12, what we call suspension bills. tomorrow we'll likely have votes on another, i don't know, five d breath with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle will produce the legislation to further cripple our economy, spiral us into massive amounts of debt, pay people not to work, disrupted supply chain. we are all waiting around while our colleagues are fighting over which horrible bill they can unleash upon the american people. it is quite extraordinary, the peoples' house.

we are going to have a $1.5 trillion or 3 trillion. are we going to cut it in half with the same disastrous bills. that is what our colleagues are doing. meanwhile, china is preparing to kick our rearend and we are playing tidally wimption talking about climate change and diversity quotas and china is actually preparing to kick our rear end. china hasal nuclear hyper sonic vehicle can circle the globe and missing by 24 miles and has stunned the united states military. well, that is concerning both

because of the capabilities of the chinese and the fact that our u.s. military was stunned. both of those two things are concerning. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff interrupting equity and inclusion over at the pentagon bolted out from that important session and said that the chinese military was expanding military and the missile test is coming close to a sputnik moment and this comes after recent that china is developing 250 new missile silos in three new locations across china. in the wake of biden's disastrous afghanistan withdrawal, china is willing to increase hostilities towards

taiwan. just last week, the president said the threat is growing. when the regimes expands tendencies, democratic countries should come to stand against them. taiwan is a nation of 23 million people opposed to communism. where is president biden? where is this congress and my democratic colleagues wrestling with their spend-a-thon to send a signal that we are going to stand along side with taiwan against a rising chinese military. the commitment but china is calling their bluff and why shouldn't they after the disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan.

thanks to taiwan that the world was alerted to the coronavirus. c.d.c. reported the human-to-human transmission. and january 3 of that year, dr. redfield sent an email to send and september another email to the c.d.c. director. and w.h.o. helped cover up the threat. and found no clear evidence of the coronavirus. february 24, nancy pelosi said to come to chinatown but china was kicking out journalists in 2020. and now what do we know? we know there was gain of function research on going.

america was funding it and now we see precisely what was going in wuhan and china and americans' involvement with it. the fact of the matter is china's serious. and we are not. talk about coal for a minute. china's not taking part in the climate hysterics taking place in glasgow and is not undercutting its own supply of its energy like we are. why might that be? china needs reliable power while we silt around fume bling with the president of the united states taking coal vasts in scotland. china is planning to build 43 coal plants while we are decommissioning coal plants and

not burning clean natural gas and no. no. no. we like to live in union corner land. that has not been working out so well for us all we can go down and drive down co-2 while we undermine our own national security and drive people into energy poverty. they are using the chinese, that coal to produce the manufactured goods that we consume in the united states including 80. and abandoning brag gram and we can't compete on that stage. and you can have all of your solar and wind in the year 2021. and literally my colleagues are

in a fight about how crazy green can the infrastructure bill they want to advance or the reconciliation bill they advance be. meanwhile china leads the world in emissions but they got 43 coal-fired plants but what these jean uses say they are not going to build coal-fired plants in other parts of the world. you can't make up how stupid the leadership can be than what we have in this country. let me say this, if i can come up with every possible way to weaken our country, every possible way to make this country exposed on the world stage, i don't think i can come up with a better plan than what the current administration and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and this body are

doing. what can they do that is worst than driving us into energy poverty taking away our a built to compete on the world stage and beings porting gas instead of the president of the united states begging opec to open up more oil and energy supplies. i'm not even sure you can put into words how pathetic it is for the united states of america to be on the world stage begging for energy supplies when we sit on a bed of fossil fuels that we can use the power of this world. we have the technology in the world to develop nuclear power and not doing it. meanwhile, china's importing 800,000 iranian crude per day. isn't that great. it is talked the president is

taking cold-water baths and talking -- i couldn't understand his speech while congressional democrats are in a fight over their trillion dollars of spending and most trowlg of all, our department of defense is in a race that is not in a race to beat china, not in a race to beat iran or stand next to israel to make sure we have the strongest fighting force in the world. no. no. the brilliance of the pentagon and the white house and this body and in the senate is in a race to train our soldiers the finer points of critical race theory and climate ideology. you can't make this stuff up. it has been 64 days since president biden's disastrous

withdrawal from afghanistan and there has been zero accountability for the president and the secretary of defense and general milley. how many times do we come down here and talk about whatever horror has gone on in the world. have we talked about the drone strike that killed 10 people including seven children that would qualify as a war crime? where are my colleagues on the other side of the aisle beating their chest about war crimes. i remember what they were saying when president bush was in office. i remember all of the protests. where are the protests of a dead family? is this the strategy that they like to talk about so much that

the american people are supposed to trust? there is an unknown number of american citizens, 200, 400, still stranded, 1378 americans killed. $85 billion in defense assets and taliban has that, controlled of over $800 million. brag ham airfield, go ahead and take it and president biden is going to send millions to afghanistan, for what? it's not only abandoning afghanistan but empowering the taliban and now our other add veer areas. hamas said we congratulate the defeat of the american occupation on all afghan lands and congratulate the movement.

and taiwan needs to learn. where are my colleagues on the other side of the aisle? do they care. iran is going to hit a series of war trials. my democratic colleagues are talking about socialism and race division and gender equality. got to be equity. president biden is walking away from israel. biden refuses to step up to iran and fails to and lifted sanctions on two. over the last three months, a report said china imported iranian crude. and now refusing to stand by israel. our closest ally and wants to

reopen the consulate. directly undermining jerusalem as israel's eternal capital. and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle don't care. fudge dollars that continues to undermine pt existence of israel. now congress in its wisdom, both sides of the aisle, my colleagues on my side of the aisle 2/3 are guilty of this as well said we need to give the ndaa their authorization, we are giving them another 25 billion of authorization and not going to get anything out of milley or austin or the brass out of here and say what happened in afghanistan but can you explain what you are doing with your

officers and climate education? no. no. we are going throw them a whole bunch more money. to my constituents and americans, this isn't done yet. make sure your senators and members of congress know how you feel how you feel about authorizing a massive defense authorization that gives more money to the department of defense with no accountability for afghanistan and that drafts our daughters. yes, ladies and gentlemen, in the infin it wisdom of your leaders in congress and this administration, the plan is to have our 18-year-old girls, including my daughter, who is 10, have to go down and go sign up for selective service. most americans i talk to don't

want that. they don't want that buried in whatever 1,000-paged bill in defense spending but where are my colleagues on this. 2/3 of this group voted for this bill because oh, we can't, we can't not support the pentagon. why can't we not support the pentagon when the pentagon is not running a military to blow things up and kill people wrl china and iran wants to do us arm, iran wants to do israel harm and adding women to the draft without a debate on this floor and in the senate? we are going to take are hrm guns away from our servicemen and women and not seek mental health.

including a sense of congress that d.o.d. should select electronic or zero emission in new combat vehicles to require the screens to submit to congress greenhouse gas emissions. creating a pilot program on the sustained aviation fuel. they are promoting a woke agenda in the department of defense. requiring the department of defense to hire and train gender advisor, including creating an office of countering extremism which would have the power expel military members, where members of an extremist organization, codifying a diversity, equity, and inclusion training requirements, subsidizing plan b for service members, and now the defense climate adaptation plan. you can't even make this stuff up. china is sending missiles around the globe, and we are responding

with a defense climate adaptation plan. in what universe do the leaders of the greatest country in the history of the world do this? in this new climate change plan, ordered by president joe biden, released last week would affect every level of command. troops will be educated to improve their climate literacy. according to the report, the topic should be taught to all during professional development training and advance courses. in order to properly respond we need to have the knowledge, tools, and ability to make climate informed decisions at all echelons. we continue to fund in this ndaa that my colleagues so readily supported, funding for department of defense that engages in critical race theory training. last month -- last spring, a recommended reading list to

facilitate the growth and development of sailors. one of the books is how to be an anti-racist. advocating critical race they'rery. the navy's second book, a book quote, white fragility. white people are inherently racist. you like to take a pa ruesal of the department of defense website find the chief diversity officer senior advisors for diversity inclusion. the director, office for diverse inclusion, director for equal opportunity and compliance. the director of the department of defense diversity and influential collusion. the director of the commandant of the department of equity -- i don't know what the acronym stands for. in this plan, this so-called plan, quote, climate change is an existential threat to our nation's security and must act swiftly and boldly to take on

the challenge. the department of defense intends to champion climate consideration inside and beyond the department of. department. that at the department of defense. the fact of the matter is while china, iran, perhaps the 5,000 terrorist that is were released that we had housed in afghanistan, dozens, hundreds of terrorist groups across the world, they know full well this country is not remotely serious right now about defending ourselves, defending our allies, standing alongside israel, standing alongside taiwan, pushing back on china, ensuring our positioning in the middle east is strong or securing the

southern board of the united states where we increasingly find individuals from state sponsored of terror, from china coming into our southern border. happens much more regularly than people understand or be comfortable with. but no response from here. response at the border as we know is to encourage more traffic. allow asylum to be abused. stop building the fence. there are parts of the fence sitting in a field ruing -- rusting in texas. we are paying contractors not to build the fence. but paying people not to do things is what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are particularly good at. let's borrow lots of money and print lots of money to pay people not to work. borrow lots of money, print lots of money to pay people not to build a fence. i mean can i get into the not doing things business?

maybe my colleagues will be glad to not have me not do congress. can i get paid to not do congress? we are in the not doing things business. it's absolutely absurd. what we are doing on a daily basis endangering this country. secretary mayorkas, president biden, utterly refusing to enforce our laws at the border. failing to faithfully execute the laws. refusing to use title 42. refusing to use the migrant protection protocols. dead bodies keep piling up in south texas. i talked about it here before. again to an empty chamber. state dinners are more important than the migrants dying in south texas. we can talk about that, right? we have a body trailer that a sheriff had to haul in to put the bodies in the body trailer. does anybody care? does anybody care about the rape

trees. the stashes house? the cartels making tons of money? moving people into our country who want to hurt us. rather than exporting the rule of law and building a strong relationship with mexico and building a strong relationship with salvador, honduras, the rest of the western hemisphere to kick china's butt, we are retreating. we are importing lawlessness. importing people that aren't always wanting to do us good. we are endangering our country in the sproas. we are shutting down power plants. china's building power plants. our president is literally sitting over with a bunch of leaders who flew 47 some odd private jets to hang out and preach about climate change, and they are not going to dent

climate change. we got out of the paris agreement and we outperformed the paris agreement. how? by clean burning natural gas, exporting it, and working to try to use technology and innovation around the world to have clean, abundant energy that empowers human flourishing. there are billions around the planet right now that would die to be sitting in a room like this with air conditioning or heating and lighting. they are burning dung, wood, paper, whatever they can get. we got all these hollier than thous preaching to people taking cold water baths, speak -- seeking to truth undo human flourishing all in the name to boughing down to the altar of a secular worship of a planet they are actually harming with their absurdity. and in the process endangering us through our national security

while china, while china builds coal fired plants. while china builds missiles. we conduct classes on critical race theory and on climate change. that's what we are doing to our country. as we look ahead next week this body will not be meeting. we'll be celebrating veterans day. every single one of us will no doubt go to an event, try to visit with veterans, thanking them for their service. but i got to be honest with you, what do i tell those veterans when they come to me the did -- was the last 20 years worth it? i tell them it was worth it because they fought and stood up to defend this country to keep terrorists from attracting -- attacking us on this soil. they are asking a reasonable question when the president of the united states abandons

americans, assets, empowers our enemy, empowers china, leaves our border open, destroys our economy, undermines our ability to produce clean burning energy, leave the future for our children weaker against the world, without the ability to have the kind of flourishing and prosperity that you deserve as americans. i don't know what the result will be in virginia tonight. but i know one thing, there is a lot of american people awakening to the absolute disaster that is being inflicted on this country by a radical leftist regime whether it is in this body, the senate, this administration, or in the capitol building designed by jefferson in richmond, california. or in the halls of the school board in loudoun county sitting on their hands allowing another little girl to get sexually assaulted because they wouldn't actually address the fact that a girl had been assaulted and they knew it and they did nothing

about it. and then the democratic candidate in virginia says, parents have no place in the school board, guess what? the american people think they do. and they are right. the american people know we should have parents in the school boards. parents in the classrooms. impacting what their kids are learning. and they don't want to turn it over to leftist radicals who want to remake our country, teach their kids that up is down and down is up. that's what's happening. the american people are waking up around this country. they are waking in virginia. awakening in texas. awakening where they are kicking out people from their school boards. and they are awakening to an administration that wants to destroy our ability to compete and beat china. we are not going to do that. we are going to beat china. we are going to stand with israel. we are going to have clean burning energy. we are going to be able to power our homes. we are going to be able to teach our kids what they ought to learn. stand up if there are men and women.

we are going to stand up for the greatness of this country. we are going to provide the opportunity for them not by lecturing them. not but mandating to them. telling them they have to get a vaccine. not by shutting down businesses. not by talking -- walkingway but boldly carrying forward the america that we know. through the consent of the governed. doing that which we can do as americans without begging for permission from a government that wants to weaken our country rather than advancing it. madam speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields. pursuant to section 11-b of -- 188 the house stands adjourned negotiations ongoing on president biden's social

spending package. lawmakers could take up that bill and the infrastructure built later this week. the house returns, live coverage on c-span. ♪ announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more. >> cox is committed to providing families affordable internet. bridge the digital divide one student at a time. cox, bringing us closer. announcer: cox supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. ♪ announcer: c-span's washington journal. every day we take your calls live on the air of the news of the day and discuss policy issues that impact you.

wednesday morning, we will discuss the results in the governor's races in new jersey and virginia, also the political environment heading into campaign 2022. a look at president biden's build back better plan and upcoming fiscal deadlines. watch washington journal live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning on c-span, or on c-span now, our new mobile app. join the discussion with your text messages, facebook comments and tweets. on wednesday, the fbi and homeland security officials testify on efforts to counter domestic terrorism. watch live at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span3, online at c-span.org or watch ♪

get c-span on the go. watch the biggest political advance live or on-demand anytime, anywhere, on c-span now. access highlights, listen to the radio and discover new podcasts for free. download c-span now today. ♪ pres. biden held a news conference wrapping up a trip for the cup 26 climate summit. he is talking about enacting the climate change commitments he made and the status of the infrastructure built -- bill.