bureaucrats at federal agencies. yet, since taking office, president biden has signed more than 100 executive orders and insidious rules are fast flowing from executive branch agencies creating miles of red tape and running up america's taxpayers' tab by $1.5 trillion. my constituents back home are struggling to make ends meet, and it's a direct consequence of this administration's misguided policies and their insidious rulemaking. it's past time that we put a stop to the president's abuse of executive power. last fall, house republicans made a commitment to our constituents that this congress would hold the government accountable. this week, with the reins act, we have an opportunity to show the american people that we are keeping that commitment. the very first bill i co-sponsored six years ago when i first came to congress was the reins act. the reins act stops federal

agencies from legislating by fiat by requiring congress to approve all major rules before they can be enacted. this bill returns congress' article 1 legislative authority back to where it belongs and it will protect hardworking tax-paying americans. the reins act is a strong start, and i urge my colleagues to vote yes. i yield back. mr. massie: reserve. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: reserve. the chair: the gentleman from new york reserves. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. massie: i yield three minutes to mr. mcclintock who serves on the judiciary committee. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr.mcclintock: this bill presents a question that is fundamental to the republic, who is to make law.

this has been pointed out, the constitution is clear, all lengthstive powers is vested in the congress of the united states. what about that passage to my friends on the other side of the aisle do not understand? the founders wanted it to be make to make laws. they wanted every voice in the land to be heard through elected representatives and being accountable and answerable to the people. the modern state takes these powers from the people and gives them to unelected bureaucrats. unelected agency writes the law and then it enforces the law that it is written. if it accuses of violating, you have to answer in a court without a jury and the agency keeps the fines that it assesses on you. is there any more profound threat to a democracy than that? 10 times more laws are written

by the regulatory agencies. americans have being hauled into a law court for breaking an agency regulation than being charged with a statutory crime with the full protection of the bill of rights. requiring that acts that impose $100 million of costs must be enacted by the elected congress. that means if you don't like that law, you could hold your elected representative directly accountable. that is what a democracy is, a government that answers to the people. now opponents of this bill tell us we have to defer to the experts. well, that is not a democracy. that is an oligarchy. and lockdowns and experts would

say stop the spread of covid and measures not only failed to protect us and did it to the education of our children and cost lives to delayed scriengs and increased suicide rates, no representative voted for these measures, the regulatory state simply imposed them. to sort through the perspectives and advice and chart the course all the issues at hand and be accountable and answerable to the people for those decisions. this bill starts us back toward that democracy. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from new york is

recognized. mr. nadler: we have letters representing 180 public organizations, health experts opposing the reins act because of it hurting. i will enter these letters of opposition. i ask unanimous consent to enter these letters of opposition. the chair: the gentleman's request is covered by general leave. the gentleman from kentucky. mr. massie: i yield to the bill sponsor, mrs. cammack from florida. mrs.cammack: i rise today in strong support of our bill, h.r. 277, the reins act, the largest regulatory reform bill in american history. i know that sounds pretty major. but the reins act is a commonsense bill that will

require every new rule to be approved by congress before going into effect. but it is quite a bit of common sense. this is a bill that every single member of this body should support to reign in -- rein a bureaucracy that is the body of which we have the honor to serve. every single member should support government transparency and accountability and empowerment of their constituents. but i know that not everyone in washington wants more power for the people. during his first two years in office, the president added $300 billion in regulatory costs. that was left on the backs of we the american people. the american action form found new rules required 193 million

of compliance paperwork, 193 million hours to comply with new regulations from faceless bureaucrats that are not accountable and drive home how wild americans government has grown. since the beginning of his time, biden has added 1, 641 pages to the federal registry every single week, every week. that is astonn stonnishing. regulations cost $2 trillion. those costs are due to an ever increasing regulatory actions that lack proper accountability by congress and now time for congress to reassert to place new checks on the regulatory actions and regime that impact

americans in all walks of life. our constituents deserve to have their voices heard and impacts on their daily lives in the government accountable under the regulatory state and that is not the case. rather, faceless bureaucrats are creating new regulations that have impacts. in the case of this bill, new regulations that have impact of $100 million or more would be subject to coming back to congress. my constituents cannot believe how vast the regime truly is. members of this body who argue against this bill are arguing against their own self-interests and the role of congress in our own. in federal lift 51, madison said we must counteract ambition.

the ambitions have far exceeded those of the regulatory branch. this has gone on for 100 years. when it comes to 100 years, i don't care who is in the white house. i will come down to this floor and fight for this bill because we in congress must do what the founders of this nation and framers of this constitution expected us to do, provide an southern california check. look no further than the federal register to determine the rm regulations or being proposed. these are actions that congress has no say prior to going into effect and having the force of law. and the current congressional review act to disapprove is after the fact, going after

regulations and regulations. it is a useful tool but one that isn't effective but to match the size of the administrative and the regulations that are being proposed and here are a few if reins had been in effect. student loan for giveness which could cause incompetents of $1 frillion. the ban. the snap benefits that increase spending on the program by 25% totalling $115 billion, expansion of subsidies costing more than $45 billion leaving women with worse care that is more expensive. new climate riching for publicly

traded companies and putting an a burden. and not let us forget the fines and fees for good samaritans who untank will whales and makes it a federal crime to sell spaghetti thicker than 1.11 inches indictmenter. i coop believe it. it is a federal crime and americans consume on average 6 billion pounds of pasta. 30 billion industry. and we have a regulation to monitor the size of spaghetti. i promise they have a real impact and they drive up costs and cost us money. a nationwide poll in which

republicans, democrats and independents were educated on the reins act and asked their opinions. the majority all favored the reins act. this poll found that more democrats than republicans were favor of this policy. and 71% of republicans were in favor of it. i sent this poll to every single republican and democrat before this debate here. there is no excuse about not knowing this poll. more transparency and in this chamber. i can't wrap my head around why you wouldn't want people in your district to be empowered to know you are exercising your article 1 authority as a member of the peoples' house chasing political

narratives that are nonexist tarnt. i had a meeting from home builders. 35% of new homes being built in florida, that's regulation. that is insane for first-time home buyers and paying 35% more not because of inflation and a broken supply chain but because of federal regulation. 35%. you can find examples across this great country and i encourage my colleagues to talk to local stakeholders and how this impacts goods, services and energy and the cost of living and talk to any individual in nil sector and there are burdensome regulations that are killing them and it's our job to step in. you will hear the negative

impact. you will understand that congress did not approve these regulations. if you are an american who believes in the rule of law and constitution and wants more transparency and accountability, you will support this bill. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. mr. nadler: i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. massie: i now yield five minutes to mr. posey from florida. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr.posey: i thank the gentleman for yielding. let's answer some answer questions about rules. number one, what is a rule?

to be clear, rules are made by unaccountable bureaucrats. question number two, why do agencies right rules? it has been said on the floor that congress created agencies to write rules. wrong. congress created agencies to implement laws passed by elected people, not create new laws outside of their dell grated authority. question number three. most people back home make all the laws. for every laws they make unelected bureaucrats can make new rules enforceable as laws. last time i checked, 170 volumes of federal code that were passed by elected representatives. the laws known as rules made by

unelected, unrecallable bureaucrats could fill this chamber. question number four, can an american citizen end up in court by an unrecalled. yes. if the citizen is called into court, more likely to be violating a rule made by an unelected. are there any current ability to write rules that could end up putting american citizens? yes. and bureaucrats who write a rule with an impact over $100 million have to write a cost benefit analysis. question number six, can they right

it seems like it's ok to write rules enforceable as laws that neglectably affect americans if the cost is estimated to be only $99 million. question number seven, do agencies cost benefit analyses as required if the ploa possed rule has a $100 million impact? thence is no. some un-elected, unrecallable, unaccounted bureaucrats are arrogant and defiant. run rule had an $80 billion negative impact. the agency had refused to do the required study saying, you, meaning congress, can't make me. and we couldn't. not all federal rules writers are guilty of bad behavior. we have many employees who add great value to the process. we must establish needed guidelines for those that exceed and abuse legislative intent and authority. coy go on for hours but my time is limited.

i urge my colleagues to support? legislation to regain authority for lawmaking from un-elected, unaccountable, unrecallable bureaucrats by supporting this. i would like to state i collected federal registers for the last four years of the last administration. instead of throwing them in the trash like most people do, because we can't act on them, i started build ago stack in the corner. my office became a tourist attraction. i had people from almost every state come in my office and want to have their picture taken before the stack of rules implemented by unelectable, unrecallable, unaccountable bureaucrats. how big do you think that stack got to be after four years? a lot of people say probably over your head. actually it was seven stacks. over 10 feet high. over 70 linear feet of rules, longer than the entire amount of laws passed in this country

since its founding. i thank the gentleman for yielding and yield back the balance of my time. thank you. mr. massie: i reserve. mr. nadler: reserve. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. massie: reserve. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: i'm prepared to close. mr. massie: i'm prepared to close as well. mr. nadler: mr. speaker. the chair: the gentleman from new york. mr. nadler: mr. chairman, at the appropriate time we will offer a motion to recommit this bill to committee. house rule is permitted we would offer the motion with an important amendment to the bill. the amendment would ensure like vulnerable groups like veterans would not be harmed by the politicization and delay of rules under the reins act. it will harm everyone, we must at least ensure those who served

in our armed forces are not further harmed by this legislation. at the appropriate time will i ask unanimous consent to enter this amendment into the record. mr. chairman, this legislation is just the latest effort by republicans to dismantle and destroy the regulatory process. the process that protects our health and safety each and every day. regulations ensure we have clean air to breath, clean water to drink, and safe food to eat. they ensure children's toys and cribs are saivment medications are safe and defective. that the planes, trains, and automobiles we defend on -- depend on for transportation will keep us safe. ensure consumers are protected from fraud and discrimination. workers are treated fairly. veterans are fairly compensated for their service. and so much more. republicans want to stop this process in its tracks and put our health and safety at risk. just as they stopped our process of legislating last week all to prove a point to leadership.

i urge all my colleagues to oppose this dangerous legislation. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman's request is covered by general leave. the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. massie: i yield two minutes to my friend from wisconsin, mr. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. tiffany: thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, it's good to join you once again, representative massie, here tonight. in regards to the reins act, i just want to share with everybody a real world example of how the reins act could be used. i think back to the boilerrer mack issue, more than a decade ago, a rule put in place, administratively, it was not passed by the united states congress, and if the reins act would have been in place, we would have prevented the example i'm about to give you. there is a stoke smoak stack that had to be built on a pairp plant in northern wisconsin that

cost $10 million plus. and was meant to reduce emissions coming from that paper plant. do you know how much it reduced emissions? zero. no demissions were reduced as a result of them spending $10 million as a result of this administrative rule boiler mack that was put in place. think about the ripple effect of that. that company had to spend $10 million of their scarce capital on that. they wanted to do an expansion to be able to build a -- an addition on to their plant that would make a fiber that is being used, an advanced fiber being used on modern day jets. commercial aircraft. as a result of that, they had to go to the county and get a loan in order to do the expansion on their plant. so it put the taxpayers of oneida county on the hook rather

than them simply spending their scarce capital and being able to make this addition that created another 40 to 50 jobs. that's the impact that we see as a result of the people's house not voting on something like that. this is really simple. this is the a.b.c.'s of good government. the agencies should have to come back to the united states congress to be able to do something that is to institute a rule that's going to cost more than tens of millions of dollars. if this would have happened, we would have not seen -- this would not-v been in effect -- the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. tiffany: i yield back. mr. massie: i thank the gentleman from wisconsin, i reserve. the chair: the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i will not repeat myself. for all the reasons i gave a couple minutes ago, this is a very bad bill. it's very dangerous legislation. for the piece and health and

safety of the people of the united states, i urge everyone to oppose it. i yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. massie: mr. speaker, reasonable minds may differ about certain policies, but under the constitution we should all be on the same page about who should make law. congress should make law. think about some of the law that is have been promulgated by the administrative branch. things that should have come to congress. i got on an airplane a few years ago and they said, federal law requires that you wear a mask. you know what i thought to myself? we never voted on that law. we should have voted on whether that should be a law or not. i would have voted no. it probably wouldn't have passed. and if it had and the -- our constituents decided it was too onerous, they could appeal to us, not some bureaucrat. whether it's some other examples. the vaccine mandates that cost people their jobs.

these were not laws passed by congress. these were from the executive branch. then tonight we just had two bipartisan votes to repeal executive branch rules, one on the pistol brace and one on stoves. bipartisan. what does that mean? that means if they had tried to bring those as laws through congress as the founders intended, they would have failed. because there would have been bipartisan opposition to that. so, we should be making the laws here. it's very simple. when un-elected, unaccountable, unrecallable bureaucrats write the laws, the laws become more numerous and more onerous. we should pass the reins act. bring the constitutional authority back to congress to pass legislation. i urge adoption of the bill. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. all time for general debate has expired.

for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky seek recognition? mr. massie: i move that the committee do rise. the chair: this question is on the motion that the committee rise. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the aye vs. t the motion is a-- ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chair. the chair: the committee of the whole of the state of the union having had under consideration h.r. 277 directs me to report that it has come to no resolution thereon. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration h.r. 277 and has come to no resolution thereon.

the chair announces the speaker's appointment pursuant to section 803 alpha of the congressional recognition for excellence in arts, education act 2u.s.c.803 alpha and the order of the house of january 9, 2023, of the following member on the part of the house to the congressional award board. the clerk: mr. hudson of north carolina. in addition dr. depp, of bakersfield, california.

the speaker pro tempore: chair now entertains request for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cline: thank you, mr. speaker. since our country's founding, the united states constitution has granted congress the legislative authority to decide major questions of nationwide policy. yet since president biden took office, this administration has continued his assault on america's economy with costly federal regulations and executive overreach of power to advance his radical agenda. in its first year alone the biden administration finalized liberal regulations that added more than $200 billion in new regulatory costs. the biden administration has acted unilaterally on several occasions to circumvent congressional approval to pass policies that advance its far left agenda. we saw this in the biden administration's attempt to pass the unconstitutional student loan giveaway plan, putting taxpayers on the hook for

others' heavy college debt. we saw this in the biden administration's cancellation of pending oil and gas lease sales hiking up energy costs for hardworking families. and the e.s.g. investment rule that would put seniors' hard-earned retirement savings at risk. this is all unacceptable. americans taxpayers deserve to know how much the administration's executive orders will cost them before they go into effect. as our nation faces $31 trillion in debt, congress must pass the reins act. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. cline: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute mr. rows: -- mr. rose: today i rise in support of legislation i am proud to originally could he sponsor. house joint resolution 44 which would strike down the a.t.f.'s unconstitutional pistol

stabilizing rule. time after time this administration has shown little to no regard for our god-given rights protected under the u.s. constitution. that's why it's no surprise to see uneect lected agency-turn elected agency bureaucrats pushing for this outrageous and draconian regulation that criminalizes firearm ownership for millions of law-abiding americans. under this rule, many of the service disabled veterans who rely on these braces would no longer be able to exercise their second amendment freedoms and right to self-defense. that's why i was proud to be an original co-sponsor of this legislation and devoted -- to vote in favor of its passage on the house floor. shall not be infringed means exactly that. rest assured will i always stand against efforts like these to diminish our god-given second amendment rights. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore:

the gentleman from california, mr. kiley, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. kildee: mr. speaker, i rise to offer congressional to the lake tahoe pizza company to their th anniversary. they went through ary session and global pandemic. all the hard work and dedication that the family has put into this restaurant has made a success story. the founder embodies the story.

after moving from the bay area to south lake tahoe, his new home became a great location for his great restaurant. and in 1980 he moved the restaurant to lake tahoe and grew a successful restaurant from the ground up and now ownership of the restaurant has been passed to his son and many, many members of the family have all played an important role in the day-to-day operations. a family works sokol bratively to run a thriving business and inspiring to see that business passed on. the lake tahoe pizza company continues to contribute to the community. the restaurant has received

local and national restaurant and best of tahoe through a dozen times and best of tahoe pizza by the maga zen and travel channels and was filmed by discovery channels. on behalf of the house of representatives, i acknowledge the lake tahoe pizza company and their invaluable contributions to our state and local communities.

mrs. maloney has thrown the mini javelin. but running. won gold and prons medals in track and field competitions. this will be her first world olympics. they offer the opportunity to unite the world like no other event can. people of religions and political views are brought together. you nice shriver kennedy believed that they can realize their dproaght through sports and competition. in addition to working full-time, she is a global messenger. her message of persistence and excellence where she will compete since the games

inception. let me win, but if i cannot win. she has demonstrated her bravery and winning spirit. i am confident that the crowds will cheer for maloney in the athletes from 170 countries. on behalf of the u.s. house of representatives i express admiration and best witches special olympics u.s.a. and all the athletes in the world summer games. mr. speaker, i rise to mark and celebrate the 75-year anniversary of auburn park district. when it was first formed, one park named recreation park. today, the district maintains and operates many parks as well as open space, recreation

programs and community events such as community centers. i had the pleasure and i was impressed with auburn bike park and preschool program and i planted a tree at creek creation park and got a game in pickleball. this promotes the health and quality of life. for over seven deck aitdz, the district has exhibited a commitment to providing safe, quality and accessible parks that are enjoyed by all. i express thanks on bast of the 3rd congressional for the auburn recreational parks service and dedication to enriching the area with comprehensive recreational opportunities.

mr. speaker, i rise today to offer congressional recognition to a remarkable,er to her constituents and tireless commitment to public service have left a mark on our nation's history. andrea setran was born in chicago, illinois and graduated with a b.a. in education and moved to california. before serving one term as a member of the united states house of representatives, she served as a member of the united states california assembly and served as assistant minority leader. after her time, she founded the california space and technology alliance, a private nonprofit in promoting california's education and served in the leadership on

boards and civic groups focused on citizen involvement. she is a testament to the visionary of leadership, dedicated public service and commitment to serving with dedication and responsibility. her contributions have shaped the aerospace industry in california and protected taxpayers and improved the lives. the impact of her legacy will endure. it is with the utmost respect and admiration that i commend her exceptional service and contributions to our state and nation. from speaker, i rise to investment in renewable. the mammoth complex located out of mammoth lakes, california has

been powering. a new facility has been added to the with the addition of the four plant, the total generation will double and produce enough to produce 45,000 homes. and presenting low visual and no impact. the owners and mammoth geothermal for their leadership and dead keying for clean resources to the community through their support of local projects, scholarship and applaud the forest for the close

partnership and collaboration on this important project. on behalf of the hypes and third congressional district of california, i am pleased to celebrate on the house floor this valuable addition to the complex. i rise today to recognize a truly outstanding individual, dr. john jay for his service to our nation and community. he earned his bachelor of arts degree and he used an education and experience to serve our nation as a naval flight surgeon and senior surgeon. he served with honor in desert shield and desert storm and ended as a captain of the medical corps. doctor established the first

practice in bishop california in 1966 and only orthopedic surgeon between los angeles and he served for 18 years on the northern board of directors as president, vice president and director at large. he was active in the planning and construction of a new 25-bed critical access poupt which were eight hospitals in california. he served as vice president and treasurer of the association of california health care districts and named the association's trustee of the year in 2015. the doctor has touched countless lives and made a meaning impact. on behalf of the united states hopes i am horp, and years to the people and the state of

california and united states of america. mr. speaker, i would like to take a moment to discuss a hearing that was held last week by the house education and work force committee where a acting secretary of labor, julie su testified as a witness. as back ground, ins su has been nominated by president biden to be secretary of labor. she has been in a role for several months and the nomination has been stalled for those months. the biden station is being reported by bloomberg has set up a nightly war room. but there is a reason that the nomination has remained stalled because she is the wrong person for the job.

the testimony she gave last week was evasive, nonresponsive and in cases dishonest that provided further come firmation that she should not be the next secretary of the secretary of united states. she tried to cancel at the last moment. chair via foxx began the hearing and said to missu. the committee began working with the department beginning in march when you would not appear in may, we honored your request in june that was offered by your staff. so, chair foxx continued on a late friday evening following the staff told us you were no longer able to make june 7

work. the only reason she did appear before the committee is that the committee was going to resort to a subpoena to get her there otherwise. that was the first major issue. first, her response on the topic of proposition 22, which was a major labor initiative passed by california voters less than three years ago in 2020. ms. su was california's secretary of labor at the time. she would have been substantially affected whether this initiative failed or passed. california voters chose to allow companies like uber and lyft to continue to use independent contractors and allowing them to stay in california. when i asked ms. sioux -- su,

she answered. how did i vote on propose 22. i don't remember how i voted on that. mr. speaker, this exceeds all bounds of plausability that the secretary of labor for our state did not remember how she voted less than three years ago. it is fairly to safe to conclude this is a false statement. and i gave her several opportunities to correct her statement on that and she did not rehe tract. that is her statement on the record that she did not remember while she was california's secretary of labor. second was her testimony with respect to a.b.5 which is a law that made it impossible for countless professionals in california to continue their careers and abolished

independent contracting in hundreds of professions and condemned across the and she has been called a one who enforced it and did it in the most broadest way as possible. after the law passed she was on the record celebrating its passage. you would think she would have a better answer. after i asked that, she said i don't know what, what, i don't know, i don't know. tell me, give me a little bit more on what you mean by that. . . . i gave her several possibilities to see whether it was a good law. she refused to answer. i asked her if she was involved in the drafting of a.b.5.

she responded no. she then contradicted herself later in the hearing when my colleague asked her, she said she did provide technical assistance. when i asked ms. su whether she was aware people have lost their livelihoods in california because of this law, she said, i have heard from people who have said that. she reiterated that exact language again. i've heard people who said that. i've heard people who said something different, too. i have had people tell me that, she said. refusing each time to recognize the legitimacy of these claims. refusing to recognize that we have had countless people who have lost their livelihoods in california. and it was no less than two days after that hearing that we got yet another example of this. when the city of los angeles announced it was having to terminate a contract with almost 100 truckers for a road repair

program that had been around for around 130 years and the department of public works in the city of los angeles specifically cited a.b.5 as the reason it was candling that contract. there are countless exfertion like this. the most ms. su is willing to say i have heard from people who have said that. next i asked her about her role with the massive $32 billion at a minimum unemployment fraud that occurred in california on her watch. i asked her several times, do you take any responsibility for that fraud? she evaded the question several times before finally saying, yes, i do take responsibility to the fact the system did not deliver in way that is we would have hoped it would -- that it deliver. i asked her several times what she would have done differently. what she's learned if she could do it all over again. and she could not name a single thing that she would have done differently to prevent this $32

billion unemployment fraud even though the independent state auditor and leading democrat lawmakers in california have blamed her specifically for the fraud. i also asked ms. su about the migrant child labor crisis that has been uncovered by "the new york times." i asked her whether she had communicated the scale of this problem to the white house prior to this year? her response was, i don't know. i don't know that. i along with several other members of the committee asked ms. su if she would commit to not changing the joint employer rule, or bringing a new joint employer rule that would threaten the entire franchise business model. she was evasive each and every time and would give no such commitment. she made comments such as, we do not have a plan to do that. it is not on our agenda. i commit to follow all the rules of rule making. everything that we are required to do.

i pledge to you we'll go under my leadership, under my tenure if he department of labor. i can't sit here at this moment and tell you with certainty everything that's going to happen. we tried several times, myself and several members of the committee, she would not commit to not bring a new joint employer rule. finally, i asked ms. su about the economic performance of her home state of california where she was the secretary of labor for governor gavin newsome and was the labor commissioner for several years before that. i asked her if she knew where california ranks among the states when it comes to its unemployment rate. she did not know. the answer is that california has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation. i asked acting secretary su if she happened to know which state has the highest poverty rate in the country. she didn't know. the answer once again is california. i asked acting secretary su if she knew which state has the lowest rate of earnings growth,

net earnings growth of any of the 50 states, she didn't know that, either. once again the answer is her home state of california where she was the secretary of labor. mr. speaker, i think it is clear based on acting secretary su's record that she is not the right person for this role. she is not the right person to bring the highest labor position in the land. in our country. at this moment of such great importance for the american economy and american work force. and i will once again encourage president biden to withdraw her nomination and to nominate a secretary who will be on the side of american workers. mr. speaker, i would like to take a moment to offer a little bit of background on the individual that president biden is planning to appoint as the new director of the c.d.c. it is being widely reported he

will name dr. mandy cohen of north carolina to this post. interestingly the position of c.d.c. director will soon be in her position starting in 2025 based upon legislation passed last year it was recognized this is a position of such great importance that during the covid era was so relevant to the lives of so many people that it should be a senate confirmed position. however, that provision has not taken effect yet. so if president biden does, in fact, move forward with this appointment as has been reported, there will be no opportunity for her to be vetted. with the appointment not yet official, this really is the one opportunity americans have to weigh in on whether this is the right person for the job. and we need to recognize that there is a huge gap in the level of trust that americans have in our entire public health

establishment based on many of the things that have happened in the last few years. i'll point to a comment from the c.e.o. of facebook or metta has -- meta as it's now called mark zuckerberg. take so stuff around covid earlier on in the pandemic where there were real health implications, there hadn't been time to tbli vet the scientific assumption, unfortunately a loft establishment on that waffled on a bunch of facts and asked for a bunch of things to be censored in retrospect ended up being more debatable or true. and that stuff, mr. zuckerberg continued, is tough. it undermines trust. we are learning more and more about the role that the c.d.c. and government authorities played in those efforts to censor certain facts or opinions related to covid-19. many of which in the words of mr. zuckerberg ended up being more debatable or true. we also saw the c.d.c.

throughout the covid era take truly radical positions such as recommending masks for children as young as 2. this was -- this defied the international consensus. it was not what the w.h.o. recommended or the european counterpart of the c.d.c. recommended. it was the c.d.c.'s position. we also saw how the department apparently, the c.d.c. apparently changed its school reopening guidance in february of 2021 after pressure from teachers unions. texts between the outgoing director of the c.d.c. miss walensky and randy wine garten have been uncovered showing this level of coordination how the guidance was revised based on input or pressure from the unions. and this is not a role head of the teacher's union that is selected for based upon one's scientific credentials but

played an important role in guidance used to keep many, many schools across our country closed and deprive millions of kids of the education that they deserve. they had statements on the transmissibility of covid on vaccinated individuals that turned out to be incorrect. and we turned vaccine mandates struck down by the courts as unconstitutional. with all that as background let's turn to the question whether dr. mandy cohen of north carolina is the right person to restore trust in our public health system. i would say based upon her record she absolutely is not the right person. indeed, she manifested the very pors tendencies -- very worst tendencies of the covid era. let's start with the method she used for shutting down the economy in her own state. i want to first give you her words when she described it.

she said that our scientific team in coordination with looking at recommendations for our centers disease control and others and understand again what we have learned this year about how this virus spreads, we know there are settings and activity that is are lower risk. it doesn't mean there are no risk but lower risk. we know there are things that are medium risk, things that are higher risk, so forth. you would think this is a very considered process that she went through. however, feedback from others in her state suggested the opp opposite. dale, who is the north carolina state treasurer said, quote, i tried for months during covid to get the council of state to convene with dr. cohen to explain the lack of transparency in the data used to shut down our economy and our schools. these decisions disproportionately occurred lower and fixed income adults and kids. by closing schools and the economy, it closed opportunity and upward mobility for students and citizens. the damage, he said, is

generational. so that's how another statewide elected official in north carolina described the level of transparency and implications during the covid era. what's even more revealing is comments that dr. cohen recently made shefer. in contrast to more method logical approach she claimed to have followed, she made these comments in a 2022 interview with the duke health sector management management. she said, when asked how she decide what to lock down, what to remain open. i would probably call the person i called most the secretary of health and human services in massachusetts. dr. cohen went on when she was like, are you going to let them have professional football? i was like, no. she's like, ok. neither are we. neither are we. i just want dr. cohen laughs at this. she goes on, so it was, you

know, conversations like that. so, or, i would be like, when are you going to think about lightening up on masks? they are like next monday. i'm like, ok, next monday. see, this is what we all suspected was happening. in many of these states that seemed to have no rhyme or reason to the way they went about these lock down and reopening policies. here you have president biden's own presumptive nominee to be the c.d.c. director saying, yes, that's what she did. in a flippant and arbitrary manner she decided what industries could be shut down and which would remain opened. as well as what would be mandated and what wouldn't. in addition to that, dr. cohen adopted many policy that is were on the extreme end of the spectrum when it came to covid mandates. for example, in july -- july 26, 2021, she said, schools with students in k through 8th grade should require all children and

staff to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. we have already seen this was a position at odds with the international norm. she repeated plans that turned out to be false with regard to transmissibility. she said, in 2021 interview, with the business review, what we heard from the c.d.c. last week was even better than what we heard before, satellite we had heard vaccines protect you from getting covid. i think the new piece of information for us was we now have more definitive data to show that it prevents you from getting -- giving covid to others. that's what mask is. about protecting you from giving covid to others even if you don't know you have it. she also promoted masks for vaccinated individuals seven months after the c.d.c. dropped its mask requirement. she said, quote, we still need to mask. everyone. this was during december 20 news briefing. even if you are vaccinated, wear

a mask in public, indoor spaces, and if possible a medical grade mask for more protection. this is in december of 2021. in addition to that, ms. cohen threatened to sue a school district, union county school board, for their decision to drop contact tracing in september of 2021. the dispute came after union county health department officials would not work with the district on reducing quarantine times if students presented a negative test or other measures were used. they were trying to get kids back to school. school officials made this request to minimize the impact of quarantine has on students and families the union county public schools said. local health officials would not consider this request despite the fact that health individuals around the state had implemented similar measures. the district also refuted cohen's claims about infections in the district using her own

agency's data. dr. cohen also strongly supported mandates, vaccine mandates for health care workers. in july of 2021, she said, quote, thank you to the north carolina health care association and the health systems that are leading the way requiring vaccination for employees for taking action to protech the health care work force, their parents, our communities, and the state. vaccinations are our way out of this pandemic she concluded. dr. cohen also was -- wore a double mask at an event in january of 2021 and even post add photo of herself wearing a mask with dr. fauci's picture on it. mr. speaker, while this is not an appointment that will be subject to a vote in either house, i would simply encourage president biden to acknowledge the lack of trust that exists right now in many parts of this country. .

even mark zuckerberg saying we had public health decisions that undermined public trust, and instead appoint a c.d.c. director who will adhere to science, adhere to norm, and not take us down this road ever again. thank you and i yield back to my colleague from missouri. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman will suspend. under the speaker's policy of january 9, 2023, the gentleman from missouri, mr. burleson is recognized for the remainder of the hour as designee of the majority leader. mr. burleson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to honor the lives of two great missourians who burned brightly but sadly, their lives were cut short. the first public servant from missouri is william dustin. william thomas dustin, his nickname was dub, was the father, public servant and

county community leader. dub was a well-educated man. he earned degrees from middle tennessee state, james madison, and a law degree from american university. upon finishing his education, he started a life of public service here as a legislative assistant to then-senator john ashcroft, a legend, until he returned home to branson. he subsequently became branson's city prosecutor in 2006 before becoming city attorney, a role he held until being elected county prosecuting attorney in 2018. dub had many jobs in his life but his favorite was being dad. he loved spending time with his wife and daughters, he loved cooking, and he loved restoring ford cars. dub is survived by his

wifecharlie, his daughters shylow and riley, his aunt, his suses sins, extended family and the young family. on behalf of southwest missouri, i join tainey county and our community in honoring his life, memory and the lasting impact. the second great missourian is ron richard. ron richard was a father, a grandfather, a local businessman, and a dedicated public servant. to the city of joplin and all of missouri. ron started his life out owning and operating bowlingall lees before entering a life of public service. during his three decades of public service, he served as a councilmember and then mayor of joplin. he then served as a state

representative and was elected by his colleagues to be speaker of the missouri house. and then eventually, he served in the state senate, where he was then elected by his colleagues to be the president pro tem of the missouri senate. in fact, mr. speaker, ron richard is the only person in missouri history to serve as the leader of both chambers, the house and the senate, and only the fifth person in our nation's history, have done so. his career of service did not end with his retirement from the legislature. he was appointed by missouri governor mike parson to the missouri southern state university board of governors, a position that he held at the time of his death. he also served on the board of the missouri higher education savings program and continued to be active in local and state

politics. but beyond the titles and the accolades, he was a mentor to -- a mentor and a friend to all who knew him, including me. ron is survived by his wife patty, children kara and chad, his grandchildren, siblings and numerous family members that loved him. it's an honor and a privilege to have known him. and to have had him as a constituent as well. he exhibited a life of service and we mourn his untimely death. our prayers are with his wife patty and the rest of his family and friends. i'll say my life in public publc service began as a freshman, green, wet behind the ears, and ron was my speaker. he was my leader. and while being speaker wasn't

the last role he had, he was able to be the president of the senate, to me, he was always my speaker. missouri lost a good one. with that, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2023, the chair recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. grothman, for 30 minutes. mr. grothman: thank you. we go home every weekend and in june when we go home to wisconsin, what do we think of? what's going on in june? june is dairy month in wisconsin, it's dairy month

around the whole country. of course last weekend i spent dairy month at breakfast on the farm in winnebago county, breakfast on the farm in another county, having all kinds of cheeses. whether you like colby or. prof. loan, whether you like your milk past rised or raw, whole or 2%, whether you like cream cheese or just plain cream, wisconsin is america's dairy capital. june is dairy month. whoo. now, on to our next topic. i've just been reeding -- reading about a k.g.b. defector and what he wrote should be required reading for all congressmen and all young children. he points out, his name, he's since died, is yuri bezminov.

he was a defector in the 1980's. when he defected, he defected to china, he gave an interview about the k.g.b. and he said things that i think are different than what the average american thinks abat the k.g.b. he pointed out about 85% of k.g.b. employees were not spies. they were not going around looking for nuclear secrets or finding out more of our military. they were wide in the open. they were engaging in psychological warfare. subversion, to destroy the american psyche. he pointed out that what they do is out in the open. if only the press would pay attention. well, you can see he was a newcomer to america, because he thought the press might pay attention. but he pointed out that at the time, people might think we were at peace but in fact we were at war. it was a war of psychological

warfare. nikita kruschev said the same thing, he felt they'd destroy america from within. it would not be a military attack that would destroy america, it would be america losing confidence in itself. there are a variety of ways in which the united states is in my mind in danger. last week we talked about the huge deficit and president biden through a variety of bills last year certainly put the value of the dollar at risk. you can say we're in danger because we're losing the value of the family. and of course john adams said that america, our constitution is built for moral and religious people. totally unfit for any other kind. we've got situation here in which a group called black lives matter, which had a lot to do with the democrats maintaining their majority in 2020, that black lives matter was opposed to the traditional nuclear

family. of course they have a lot of allies here in congress who presumably didn't object to that. so that's another way we could tear down america, through our growing welfare state, having more and more people without the psychological background of a family. we certainly have a problem with the southern border. no normal country could survive unlimited immigration. we see two things going on down there. we see over 200,000 people a month streaming across the border and we also see, compared to past administrations, even people who break the law are not deported. so you could say that's another way we're being destroyed from within. it's not a military attack but it is over 200,000 people who have not been trained how to become americans, who have not had it drilled into them the free toms we should respect and that we are -- freedoms we should respect and that we are a great country because our constitution is supposed to --

our great constitution is supposed to have a limited government. limited government and we are supposed to be self-reliant. that's certainly a problem. we have the bizarre transgender movement and i ran into a gal the other day who had literal surgery taking away some of her organs at 15 years old, puberty blockers, that's another way to completely try to blend the difference of the sexes, would be another way to destroy society. but what i'm going to focus on tonight is the biden obsession with racism. you know, i think if there's one issue that joe biden seems most obsessed other over, it's this idea that supposedly in the united states we're a racist country. he brought it up four times in his inaugural speech and talked about white privilege once. this year in his state of the

union speech, again, joe biden talked about the racist police and how people have to, you're a person of color you have to tell your children to watch out for the racist police. so thoivel is a -- an important message from joe biden. he's certainly acted on it as well. right now, his department of labor nominee she may make it, she may not, claimed in the past that we are a society built on white privilege, kind of this bizarre hatred of white people that i thought was merely in academia but joe biden decided to try to appoint someone head of the department of labor who felt that way. i sure hope the senate rejects her. he appoints, or is trying to appoint, general charles q. brown,ed of the joint chiefs. he right off the bat said we have too many white officer he wants to restrict the number of white officers in the military to 43%. in other words, he doesn't want

qualified white people becoming officers because he's got some psychological problem there. and i think we have to pay atongs that sort of thing when it comes to the biden administration. not long, this is not limited to president biden, not long after he took office, both senator duckworth of illinois and senator hy roe noah of -- senator hirono of hawaii threatened joe biden saying they didn't want any more white men, they wouldn't vote for any more white men. he talked to them, they backed off to a degree. i should say, no white men unless they were gay. which gets back to the breaking away of the family that we have in the democrat party right now. noition that, president biden wants in his budget to have new

equity action teams in all of our government agencies, the department of interior, the department of justice, these equity action teams presumably will enforce the type of thing that senators duckworth and hirono wanted. they want to look at people's race before anybody gets hireed. they want to look at somebody's race before they get a government grant. i think it's something that the american public is not discussing anywhere near as much as they should. it's kind of particularly ridiculous because of course you're never probably going to have a country in which more immigrants who have different -- different ethnicity than the native born have succeeded so much and are so accepted. if you look around the most successful ethnic group in america today are indian americans. you know. you look at other wildly successful group, filipino, chinese, japanese, korean,

cuban. thomas seoul wrote 40 years ago, i can't vouch for whether it's today or not, that by the second generation immigrants from the caribbean, of african descent, outperform the average american. so at a time where the overwhelming evidence is that racism has very little role in america, owe biden is trying to elevate the potentially hard feelings by doing all he can by not treating people equally and looking at people racially. i think we should have a discussion over this and it doesn't have to be in congress but should be here as well. but the discussion should be in periodicals and online what the answers to various questions are. first of all, how long should this go on?

preferences based on race or based on sex, preferences for women, have been going on since 1965. going on with this thing 58 years. i have a feeling when president johnson kicked it off, there was a mild policy under president kennedy, but kicked off by president johnson, i don't think he didn't think it would be going on for 57 years. should there be a time when it ends? when we give people preferences or identify people by their ethnic group, what defines somebody in their ethnic group? right now, we identify or put on the government forms, african-american, latin-americaian, asian, nature-american, what makes up a

person in these groups? you self-identify. in the case of he liz beth warren, 128th native american, she felt she was native american. i don't think that is right but that is right for her to be a professor in harvard law school. a half percent, quarter percent and one-eighth and a lot of these people would never guess what ethnicity but we have d.n.a. tests nowa-days and who gets preferencees and where you come from. right now, if your ancestry was in spain and you come to the

united states you are considered european. but ancestry is spain and ancestors three generations in cuba, you are considered an ethnic minority. to me, that seems a little bit silly. i'm not sure what the difference is and the person from cuba, came here 50 years ago. so does this make any sense when you fill out the forms and see who is going to get the government contract or harvard law school and treated different or someone from italy who someone who was italian descent or air again ten yeah, that is something we ought to have a public discussion. if you are sphr america. right now, if you show up and

not a citizen, you can get citizens. the vice president's own dad came here from jamaica. the first time this kicked in, i thought it was to make up for slavery or jim crow or somebody like the vice president's dad, he wasn't mistreated in america. he came here for the land of opportunity. is that fair when we try to identify different groups as somebody who really never suffered should they be getting these preferences? i think that is something we should be talking about. we are supposedly helping the underserved communities but the way the programs work today and the different areas and golf

employment and employment in businesses that do business with the government, golf contractors if you have a business and admissions to universities. should there be a wealth component. if i'm the son of a multi millionaire, do i get preferences? it is wrong to say i'm a member of the underserved group. i will come back what thomas soul says. usually it benefits the well-off people that comes up from the progressive. familiarity with your background? if i'm going to claim to get preferences because my ancestors came from peru. and never lived in a spanish

country. should i get preferencees there? something to do with this? are there jobs that should be exempt where it is based on merit. a lot of medical schools to take the mcat test. we associated with the doctors who did the best on the test. if you are going to be a doctor, a matter of life of death. we have medical schools saying we don't want to look at any test based on intelligence but base on what you say on anes a or how many groups you volunteered for. and maybe we should have this preferences for certain jobs like college professor and it's not a matter of life or death

that is not as good and get the better people for the medical field or for den ties try or for airline pilots or air traffic controllers or say, we can afford to have people that aren't as good as air traffic controllers because what is the worst that could happen? but that is the question we should be asking because the biden administration is walking down this path. that's why they have these equity teams and we want to know what standards the equity action teams are using. i had a fellow come up to me a few years ago who worked in one of our federal agencies and he loved the job and went to college for the job and told after 10 years, he was told, you

are not a veteran. was that fair? or if they are going to continue down that path shouldn't we make it public that this guy to school to learn about a field to excel in to be told you are a white guy and not a veteran, too bad. that ought to be discussed before we hurt any other people. in any event, i think this is a topic to look at. i think it is certainly one way to cause hard feelings in america. and thomas soul wrote about affirmative action 40 years ago and other countries that went down this path, america is not all the way down the path but has the same experiences he in america. and it is supposed to be

temporary, 57 years later, it is still here. and maybe restricted to one or two ethnic groups. people of african descent and people who come here never were mistreated in the united states come here and are given preferences where their ancestors were born centuries ago. i want to make a point why this is and joe biden is trying to make add another preference group and add middle eastern and north-african people. i rattled off the different backgrounds but we don't keep track of people of algeria, syria or iraq. we should have a discussion. and background of those

countries but more and more people coming here. joe biden says if you are from america and you apply for a job and have an immigrant from algeria or iraq, people should be given preference dances and see what the appropriate course of action is. whatever the course of action is after a thorough public discussion not just pushed under the table because it is a sensitive topic. in any event, i would ask the press to look into this situation, we want to find out what rules president biden's equity action teams are operating under. is it right to add north african or middle easterners to this topic?

should we give preferences to people who have no background of discrimination and people who just show up? i would like to hear what the pundit class has to say. i would like to see maybe the work force committee or the judiciary committee look into this and see what the different view pointsr because it affects a lot of america canes -- americans and americans. and moving down this train without having a public discussion. those are my comments on that topic. that is a topic that people ought to look into. and ought to review how they want to destroy and review and go down the path of nigeria, sri

lanka. ma last yeah or singa important and it doesn't work out very well. nobody talks about it around here. we throw that open for discussion. i would like to thank you. anybody else who like any time here? ok. ok. so thank you very much. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time under the speaker's announced policy of january 9, 2023, the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. roy, for 30 minutes. mr. roy: i thank the speaker and i thank the speaker and comes down to the floor and uses the special orders as we call them. i often say we would have more

engaged actual debate, not the fake debate that we go back and forth over a bill tay will be passed on a partisan basis and pick an issue and go in debate and i would enkurnlg my colleagues where we have reasonable disagreements and try to deal with. for too long in this country, in the house of representatives, we have been dealing with a uni party and dealing with not a lot of difference in the total output of what this floor does. we get it past and nobody is going to vote for. and knowing they are going to go the white house and not signed and not 60 votes in the senate

and pushed comes to shove when it comes to a spending bill, it's all the same, it is all the same. only explanation for being 32 trillion in debt. and now by virtue of the bipartisan effort of this body, the bipartisan effort of the senate, the signature of the president, we issue $36 trillion in debt in january of 2025. we know this. we did it. but we didn't materially change the trajectory. we dented it a tiny. we had a spending freeze that is part of the deal because we haven't done the appropriations process and patted ourselves on the back.

oh, we had to get this done because we might default. every time we talk about this effort and must raise the debt ceiling or get to a place where we are going to default on the debt. the fact is, that is simply not true. we were never go to go default. the president of the united states was never going to choose in terms of prioritization of payments to end up in a place where we nt going to make payments on the bond. that is a fact. we play this game. and to raise the debt ceiling and increase the borrowing level, maybe we then we get up to the date and what happens? people say you're going to default. all of wall street calls all the folks and they say, well, you're going to do that, aren't you? and everybody hops.

both sides of the aisle. and so here we sit. yet again. going from $32 trillion to now predictably, $46 trillion in january of 2025. as sure as the sun coming up, the house of representatives, the senate, and the president just agreed to mortgage your children's future again. because that's what we do. that's what the house of representatives does. and the point here is, as i said, we were never going to default on our debt. but what we are going to do, with almost the same amount of certainty as what i just described, is default on the american dream. that's where we're headed. is a full scale, unequivocal default on the american dream. all led by the people who were supposed to be representing the american people in this great

republic, barreling us right down the path if we're not there already, on default on the american dream. the hardworking american family right now, today, sitting out there in this country, unable to afford groceries. unable to afford gas. unable to afford housing. unable to afford health care. i talked to staffers in this building in their 20's and they look at me and they go, how am i ever going to afford to buy a house? and they genuinely mean it, they don't know. the hardworking plumber, in the district i represent, in central texas. never took out a student loan, but now being forced to pay for his neighbor's master's degree. or the veteran paying for some liberal arts make ■to getth same student loan benefits he earned by risking his life for america.

the nurse who wants to save lives, without a federal bureaucrat telling her she has to take a needle in her arm to keep her job. the blue collar workers watching their way of life, sacrificed to the climate cult and billions of tax corporate crony subsidies in the so-called inflation reduction act. enriching elite wealthy investor, true, and corporation, true, all while empowering the chinese communist party and weakening our own grid and undermining our national security, all true. the rancher right now in texas pulling -- putting diesel in his truck but forced to subsidize a tech worker making six figures to buy a tesla hundreds of miles away. true. this body just encouraged it. minority and poor taxpayers trying to make ends meet are audited by the i.r.s. three to

five times more than other americans. the fact is we are on the brink of defaulting on the american dream. and it is not enough, it is not enough to play politics and just pass something and then try to point the finger at the other party about, well, we just got this and it's better. because that ain't working. it's simply not working. we had a rather raucous meeting in our republican conference this morning. i make it a practice not to talk about what we do in private meetings. some of my colleagues do not adhere to that same standard or rule. tends to leak like a sieve. so a lot of the conversations we had in that private meeting are not fully private now. so to my colleagues, both sides of the aisle, but in particular my colleagues on this side of the aisle, my republican colleague, let me be very clear.

i will be happy to engage personally any time, anywhere, on any of these issues. we can have disagreement, we can reasonably disagree. but i'm going to say emphatically right here in front of god, in font of all the people i represent, in this hallowed chamber, i don't give a rat's rear end what you think compared to what my constituents think. i don't. i don't. my job is to care what my constituents think. my job is to care about what people on the airplane or down the street who pull me aside every day and thank me and thank a few of my colleagues for daring to stand up against the uni-party and an institution that's trampling their way of life. i will stand with them. i will stand with the american people, sick of having the american dream pulled out from under them. i will stand with them. i will be happy to work with my

colleagues. i love and respect many of my colleagues. but i do not answer to my colleagues. i answer to the people i represent and i'm going to darn well stand up and defend them. i'm going to stop, i'm going to fight to stop spending money we don't have. i'm going to fight to secure the border of the united states. i'm going to fight for all of the people i just described who are losing their ability to afford a home, afford dproasris, to be able to carry out their livelihood, their job, without being forced to take a needle. i'm going to fight for the guy trying to put see sell in his truck and not have to subsidize a test lasm i'm going to fight to stabilize the grid. i'm going to fighter to stop encreaturing -- encroaching china -- china encroaching on this public. and i'm not going to go make ads

when you condition do anything. i'm not going to try to sell the american people on something that didn't occur. but that's what we do in this body. all the time. and it's time that that stops. we have a duty, yes, a bipartisan duty, if any one of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would like to join the party of standing up for the american people and standing up in defense of this country. instead of a radical leftist ideology that results in a pride flag being hung at the same level as the united states flag on the front of the white house. people topless, parading around the front of the white house. the white house. the people's house for their president. have we no respect? does the flag of the united states mean nothing?

it's the flag of the united states, men and women have died for that flag and they've put that flag up to the side, flanking, a pride flag of the front of the united states president's house. it's despicable. and we do that right here on the eve of flag day. tomorrow is flag day. the flag of the united states stands for something so much bigger than any of these people running around pretending like they're standing up for, oh, we can't have established religion, we're for separation of state. yet their religion is represented by that pride flag on the front of the white house. it's a religion. just like the cult of climate

fetishism is a religion. every bit as much as any religion. how many lives have been lost with that flag on a patch on the arm of one of our men and women who have fought for this country? and that's what they do? i'm at a loss for words. i really am. i'm going to read one thing here. then i'm going to yield to my friend from pennsylvania. but it's going to take me a couple of minutes. one of my favorite songs is "the ragged old flag" by johnny cash. it goes like this, and i will not do this nearly as cool as johnny cash does. i walk through a county

courthouse square on a park bench an old man was sitting there i said your old courthouse is kind of run down he said no i'll do it for our little town i said your flagpole is leaning a little bit that's a ragd old flag hanging on it he said have a seat so i did he said is this the first time you've been to our lit tunnel? we've got a little hole in that flag there when washington took it across the delaware and it got powder burned the night francis scott key sat watching it writing "o say can you see" it got a bad rip in new orleans with packingham and jackson tugging at its seams it almost fell at the alamo beside the texas flag but not waved on through got cut with a sword at chance

horseville and the south wind blew hard on that ragd old flag on flanders field in world were i she got a big hole from a bertha gun she turned blood red in world war ii hung limp and low by the time it was through she was in korea and vietnam she went there she was sent by her uncle sam she waved from the ships on the briany foam now they've about quit waving her here at home she's been burned dishonored denied abused and the government for which she stands is scandalized throughout the land pheers she's getting threadbare and wearing thin but she's in good shape for the shape she's in she's been through the fire before and i believe she can take a whole lot more

so we raise her up every morning take her down every night don't let her touch the ground fold her up right on second thought i do like to brag i'm awfully proud of that ragd old flag. tomorrow on flag day i hope we honor that ragd old flag. i know my friend from pennsylvania is proud to be a pep of congress but i would think more proud to have worn the uniform and served his country. i yield. >> i thank the gentleman from texas, i thank him for bringing up this subject. each one of us feels maybe differently but i don't know whether people know this or not but actually a united states flag code. there's a decorum we follow that we're supposed to follow when displaying the flag. how you wear it if you wear it. the flag is not supposed to be festoon the flag is in the clothing.

and the flag, the standard of america, the standard of freedom, the standard of liberty, recognized around the globe, is second to no other flag at all and to have it fly flanking the pride flag on the white house, you said you were at a loss for words. i too am. i think to myself, well, it was just, it was just this morning i communicate home every day, i talk to my wife and i let her know i love her and we get on with our day and then we reconnect in the evening. mr. perry: but this morning i reminded my children, not thinking about what was going to happen at the white house, having no clue, but i reminded my children, tomorrow is flag day. make sure you get up early, get the flag, and fly the flag in the front of our house. because it's important that america knows that their

representative, my community knows that their representative respects what our country is about and its standard, and its standard, and it is a new low. every single day. my friend from texas has talked about it as appropriately and as particularly as anybody can. the destruction of this country, evidenced so many different ways and every day you wake up, you turn on the tv, you open up a newspaper, you listen to the radio, you talk to somebody and you say to yourself, i can't believe this is happening in america. and every day you think, we have reached the apex of the nrveghts adir, the lowest of the -- of the nadir, the lowest of the lows. and every day the left takes to us a new place of a new low, a new disrespect, a new destruction of the country that we love. so i am very, very proud to stand with my friend, the gentleman from texas, to say that there's an urgency to

saving, to restoring this republic. we always, we stand up speaking of the flag and pledge allegiance to the flag and we say to the republic for which it stands. most people, i would guarantee you, don't know what a republic is i'm going to school you really quickly here. a republic is a place where the individual citizen is supreme. is sovereign. and their views represented by the people they elect, are supreme and sovereign. and i ask you, in a country where some agency where nobody was elected, there's no accountablebility -- no accountability that says you're not going to be able to drive the car you choose, you're not going to be able to buy a stove to cog your family meal, unless the is that a republic? i would argue that it is not. i would argue that it is not. i am proud and happy and gratified to stand here on the

people's house with my good friend from texas that i too, understand the urgency and will not accept anymore, and i, too, withstand the ire of my colleagues if it means defending the people here from the tyranny that eminates from this town, this building and this by the establishments or whatever you want to call it from the hard-earned dollars from the people at home that can't afford grossies, new home, new car. i'm sick of it and i'm going to do everything i can with the moments every single time so i don't have to look back and say i wish i would have. i'm not going to do. where there is fight in me, i'm going to be in it defending

those folks back home from pennsylvania's 10th district and quite honestly and across the united states of america. i yield to the gentleman from texas and i'll stand by. mr. roy: i thank my friend from pennsylvania. and i want to reiterate on this day of flag day, my appreciation for his service to this country where the uniform that is in congress. he understands what citizenship means. and i'm deeply appreciative of him for it. i'm deeply appreciative for his friendship and the appreciative of the friendships that i have here in this congress, my colleagues and proud to serve with across the spectrum and those colleagues who are willing to stand in the fire when it's needed.

we don't have much time left, ladies and gentlemen. i don't say that lightly. you cannot look at this country with objective, clear eyes and believe that we are on the right path. we're not. and we are so far off the right path, it's going to take a massive course directiontive to save this republic for our kids and grandkids. our children and grandchildren are on the precipice of inheriting now as i said before $36 trillion of debt guaranteed give or take a few billion in january of 2025. and i'm going to be honest, to be lectured by some of my colleagues this morning, to be

lectured about my motivations for why i'm here on the floor of the house and speaking right now and for it to be alleged that it is for clips or for money, the only thing that would have made it ironic that the meeting occurred at the nrcc. the fact is it is our job right now to defend the country and not wait for some time in the future. i don't want to hear anything thing that we'll do it when, we'll do it when we have senate when we have 60 and bigger majority and when we have someone in the white house. why don't we do it right now? right now? let's have these debates.

let's have these fights on the floor of the house, right now. i can promise you the debt deal we just passed ain't going to get the job done and everybody knows it and they will sell it as something that it isn't. that's water under the bridge. that is a hell of a water under the bridge. $4 trillion of water under that bridge. we have to work to pass appropriations bills. will those appropriations bills turn the trajectory away from the ice berg? that is the question for my colleagues. we should appropriate to the fy2022 levels that we have been talking about since last december. we should appropriate the federal bureaucracy that the

precovid levels because nobody should think we are going spend on that, the american people want the bureaucracy to be shrunked and country back and lives back and i believe they don't want bureaucrats interfering with their freedoms and we should stand united in defense of the american people in fighting for their freedom. that's what we should do. my friend from pennsylvania have anything else wish to add? mr. perry: we never thought, look, we got together, this house, republicans stood united and pass stood united and we knew it wasn't going to be perfect, we knew that. and we understand that president

biden didn't want it and chuck schumer couldn't pass any bills over there. but we thought we would get something, something. it was 1.5 trillion for a date certain arbitration number certain for said policy. we lost on both ends of the deal. $4 trillion uncapped spending and none of the policies in the reins act to stop the unbridled regulatory state, that's not there. work requirements not saving us money. rescissions where we took money and send it back to the treasury. we rescinded. i would yield to the gentleman from texas. mr. roy: i am going to close with this, an opinion in the united states district court for the northern district texas,

defendants pleaded guilty to transport and harbor illegal aliens on behalf of the cartel they participated in a con expire and and their participation included operating a stash house in fort worth, texas and transporting those in the united states upon full payment. the smuggling organization charged $10,000 in between $12,000 to smuggle a child. i want to stop there. more money tore smuggle a child illegal alien. law enforcement discovered the fort worth portion of this after a man in maryland paid the organization to have his daughter and child after they were smuggled from honduras.

he paid them $1 thurks,000 to smuggle his wife and child and where the husband contends a member of the smuggling organization demanded he pay $23,000 before his family would be released. the member told the husband quote, he would do things to his daughter if he did not make the payment and goes on to describe the absurd yits of cartels in this republic, in this country and we are doing nothing about it. he closes out, the judge, the guidelines, the sentencing guidelines do not take into facts when recommending an proposing appropriate range. it fails the most meet the requirement that any sentence

has and the parties are providing notice that they vary upward from the range that they may address this at the time of sentencing a federal judge us having to step in to do the work that we are supposed to do here, to stand up and defend this country, not just for ourselves but for the people being abused in our name. these are human beings. texans are getting ravaged and people dying from fentanyl and migrants getting abused in the false name of compassion. thousands of dollars to be paid to get out from a stash house. as we head into flag day tomorrow and think about what that flag represents for people around the world seeking to come around here, is that what it

is? is it to be in a stash house where a little girl is being threatened. why should we appropriate money to the department ofhomeland security that refuses to secure the homeland? we have a job? we have a job to represent the people of the united states and to actually do what we are supposed to do to defend the united states and ensure we have a conch nation. we should think that about tomorrow while the united states flouts the united states flag and we should honor it right here and should honor it and remember that the flag consists of 13 horizontal stripes, seven alternating with six white. the stripes represent the 13 colonies and 15 stars of the union. the colors of the flag.

red symbolism is hearty. and blue represents perseverance and justice. are we going to stand up for those tom or stand up those for the rest of this congress or continue to punt for such future date when everything works out politically so you can stand up and do what you know is right today. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time does the gentleman from texas have a motion. mr. roy: motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor, say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. and the motion is adopted. accordingly the house >> lawmakers today passing bills

repealing a rule on firearms a stabilizing -- a measure on gas stove regulations and a call for russia to immediately release wall street journal correspondent ryan gershkovich. also the house attempted to override a presidential veto of a joint resolution blocking washington dc's policing reform law, that legislation bands police choke holds and broadens access to body worn camera recordings. the measure failed to get the two-thirds majority vote needed to override the president's veto, more live coverage of the u.s. house when lawmakers return here on c-span. >> watch video on-demand anytime online at c-span.org and try our points of interest feature, a timeline tool that uses markers to quick guide you to new jersey -- worthy and interesting highlights. use points of interest anytime online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered

view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including media,. >> at mediacom, we believe that whether you live here, or here, or in the middle of anywhere, you should have fast, reliable internet. that is why we are leading the way and thanking you. >> mediacom supports c-span as a public servi, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democrac >> former president donald trump has plead not guilty it's federal court to 37 counts in relation to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. he spoke to supporters from his bedminster new jersey golf club in the hours following his court appearance in florida. ♪