stand across from the white house and the media stand. does anyone know the number of seats? i want to say it is probably like 50 or something like that. it may be more. 50 to 60. i will invite guests and the council will invite guests. >> 1.5 million is for just -- i think so. i think so. you all can write all about it. the 1.5 million, that is what it costs. the question for the people, do not want to be represented on pennsylvania avenue during the most watched the event of the political season? you can say no. i am not going to say no as mayor. i will do it now like i did the last times. just like we did it for every other president. thank you, everybody.

r pro tempore: the house will come to order. the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. january 13, 2025. i hereby appoint the honorable mike bost to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, mike johnson, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2025, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties and time equally allocated between the parties and each member other than the majority and minority leader and the minority whip are limited to five minutes, but no event shall the debate continue beyond 1:50 p.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from connecticut,

mr. courtney, for five minutes mr. courtney: thank you, mr. speaker. today, january 13, in washington, we are in a little bit of a hiatus waiting for a new administration and for new congress to begin the process of bringing forward new policy proposals and a budget. but in the meantime just in the last 13 days we have seen really, i think, groundbreaking exciting developments for the people of this country as a result of legislation that was passed in 2022 and 2023. implemented by the biden administration. the first is the pact act. in 2022, after five years of hard fought advocacy by veterans groups across the country, this measure basically opened the door for veterans of the vietnam war era, but also in the middle east era who suffered horrible cancers, heart disease, life threatening conditions to make

sure that they connected to the v.a. health care system and get the help that they need. basically what it did in 2022 was allow veterans who served in those parts of the world, in those conflicts who suffered from 23 different illnesses, we are talking about cancers, heart disease, life threatening illnesses to be able to avoid the gymnastics of having to prove to the v.a. where they were on such and such a date and how they were exposed to a burn pit or to agent orange. as a result of that, we have seen over 1.4 million veterans nationwide have their pact act claims approved. over 384,000 vietnam and post 9/11 veterans get newly enrolled in the health care system. six million toxic exposure tests were done as a result of this law. last week on january 8, secretary mcdunna of the -- mcdonough of the v.a. announced

another five illnesses are going to be added to the eligibility structure of the pact act claims system. we are talking about very serious illnesses in terms of additional cancers and myelomas that today don't get the benefit of that fast track process of getting their claims approved and getting the help that they need. again, this is make ago big difference in my district, the second congressional district of connecticut, which is home of the oldest submarine base in our nation's history w. about 9,000 sailors, and many retirees serving in the area there. over 4,025 veterans in the district have filed pact act claims, more than double the rest of the congressional districts in the state of account d has made a meaningful difference in the lives of people who wore the uniform of this country. again, because of their service incurred service connected injuries that for many, many years had long been denied health coverage. i want to congratulate secretary

mcdonough as he leaves his post for the swift implementation of the 2022 law. in addition, mr. speaker, on january 1, the department of health and human services announced a $2,000 out-of-pocket cap is going to be initiated for seniors on medicare part d program. again, 53 million seniors across the country use part d. because of the co-payment structure, many of them paid far in excess of $2,000 out of pocket. starting on january 1, because the inflation reduction act, the prescription drug reforms that took place as a result of that, there will be a hard cap that no one will have to pay more than $2,000 during a cal year for prescription drug coverage. for people who suffer from chronic illnesses such as m.s. and other cancers. this is a life changing transformation in terms of both their health care coverage and delivery, but also their

financial circumstance which for many, many years despite part d being enacted in 2002 they were incurring costs far in excess of touchdown,000. the numbers are really in the hundreds of thousands and millions of people who are going to be benefit because of that new cap. i want to congratulate secretary becerra for the swift implementation of the inflation reduction act which unfortunately was a very tough vote that took place in 2023, but it is paying off and will -- in real life benefits for 53 million elderly and people on disability who rely on the medicare system to get their lifesaving medication and drugs. again, this is real change that, again, means something in real life for people. hopefully with this new congress we are going to follow up with with this. we can extend that prescription drug benefit by passing the lower drug costs for american families act, which would extend

these medicare cost controls for prescription drugs to working age families, to peoples' employment base plans, why not? why should they have to pay more than just not now their fellow americans, but also people all across the globe. pass that law. let's help the americans of this country in the next congress. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings -- the chair now recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. joyce, for five minutes. mr. joyce: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, even as his time in office is coming to an end, president biden and his administration are still forcing out-of-touch mandates on the american people. to confront president biden's green new deal agenda, i am proud to reintroduce the preserving choice in vehicle purchases act, which passed this house in a bipartisan manner in

the last congress. this legislation would ensure that california is is unable to move forward with a ban on the sale of gasoline powered vehicles. this dramatic change would alter the way that vehicles across our nation are sold. at a time when our electric grid is not prepared to meet the demands of a fully electric fleet. it's time to put a stop to the biden administration's far left agenda. it's time to allow american drivers to be able to choose the vehicle that they want to drive. thank you. mr. speaker, the elect in this past november was a loud and clear signal from the american public that they want a secure border and safe streets. that's why my republican colleagues and i are quickly

moving legislation to secure our border and ensure that violent criminals are removed from our communities. the preventing violence against women by illegal aliens act would make any sexual offense committed by illegal immigrants a deportable offense and would ensure that they are banned from these united states. this commonsense legislation is just one step toward creating safer streets and communities for pennsylvania families and for all americans. thank you. mr. speaker, as president trump prepares to begin his second term in office, the biden administration is trying to limit his ability to ensure that our nation is is energy dominant once again. this time by banning drilling from certain federal lands. like president trump, i know that energy independence moves

us away from relying on foreign actors for our energy resources while also helping our allies remove their dependence on adversarial nations as well. as vice chair of energy and commerce, i look forward to working with president trump and his administration to unleash our nation's energy production. together we as americans can lower prices at the pump and protect our national energy security. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from wisconsin, ms. moore, for five minutes. ms. moore: thank you so much, mr. speaker, for recognizing me. i just want to start by welcoming all of our new members to the 119th congress. and to this esteemed chamber.

i look forward to finding a way that we can work together to better our country. i am introducing myself as one of the proud co-chairs of the bipartisan congressional caucus on foster youth. and i'm here to tell you that protecting our kids is not a partisan issue. and i'm inviting you to join us in protecting our most valuable asset in this country, our future workforce, our children. in any given year, there are 390,000 children and youth who experience foster care in the united states. foster care impacts every congressional district across the country regardless of whether it's red or blue or urban or rural. and our members come from all over the country and have vastly

different backgrounds and experiences. however, we all share one thing in common and that is the commitment to finding solutions that aim to improve the lives of children in care. last congress we made great strides until child welfare policy by working across the aisle to deliver real results for children and families. in july of last year, the supporting america's children and families act passed unanimously through the ways and means committee. and in september it passed this house by a vote of 405-10. this bill provided the first major increase in child welfare funding in almost 20 years, and re-authorized title 4-b funding for another five years. it also included provisions to prevent states from separating families solely on the basis of

poverty. strengthen the indian child welfare act. recover overdue child support by intercepting federal tax funds. expand evidence-based services to prevent abuse and neglect. and support foster youth transitioning out of care, among other important provisions. i am so proud to say that the supporting america's children and families act was signed into law by president biden on january 4, 2025. this feat was made possible by bipartisan efforts from members of the ways and means committee and the congressional caucus on foster youth. this bill is proof that we have one theme uniting as you regardless of parties that our children and youth key deserve loving -- youth deserve loving, stable, and safe homes. as a member of the congressional caucus on foster youth, your fresh ideas and new perspectives

will help address the ever changing challenge of foster youth in our country. you will hear directly from advocates, child welfare professionals, and even children and families with lived experience on how we polley makers can bert the foster care estimates caulk's largest event is shadow day, where our members spend the day with a former foster youth. this allows us to learn about issues facing children involved in the child welfare system directly from people with lived experience. our goal is to turn their feedback into action. so, if you care about the well-being of our most vulnerable children and families like i know all of you do, please join us as a member of the congressional caucus on foster youth. we'll be having our welcome back event on tuesday, february 11, from 10 a.m. to noon. as opened to members and staff

willing to learn about issues related to foster youth. i hope to see you there. thank you so much. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. lamalfa, for five minutes. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. speaker. well, it's everywhere. you can't avoid it in the news. it shouldn't be avoided. it's so horrible. the fires we have now in southern california that are devastating so much there. so much value. so much lost. and up to 24 lost lives now. it's an incredibly unnecessary happening. they have been raging in l.a. it happens every year santa ana winds. in the northern california portion i represent, we have had that devastation already many times. town of paradise, greenville, town of canyon dam and others completely obliterated. .. our governor has been up there to see those fires.

especially the paradise one. when president trump came to paradise and visited to see the devastation. so at the time, president trump asked him and others, what are you doing to clear the land in such a way that makes it less fire-prone, you know, to rake the forest floor, and people made fun of that word, rake, which is a technical term for some of the equipment used in forestry. to make sure areas can be a little more fire-safe, by thinning trees, removing brush, removing dead material on that. so the question is, as governor newsom goes out onsite and waves his arms and tells us it's someone else's fault, what has he learned in the last six years and what has he applied since he had this photo op in paradise as the new governor of california? it looks like not much. not much action. certain promises were made to be aggressive on land management in california. yet -- certain claims were made, but the actual numbers are 1/5 of the amount that had been

treated, the work that had been done in california. so we've seen time after time more and more fires. the camp fire in par dials. 85 lives -- paradise. 85 lives lost. the park fire last year. 400,000 acres from chico all the way up to mount lassen. the dixie fire. one million acres. this is all northern california. now, southern california is getting international coverage and rightfully so. so what are we going to do? what is newsom going to do? well, he wants to blame it on climate change. so we see time and time again, we're hearing about climate change. we're hearing about carbon dioxide. well, here's the same chart i show often on this floor. carbon dioxide represents 0.04% of the atmosphere. it's barely changed. look at the rest of the chart, what isn't co-2. they want to just make it a climate change story.

so, what are we doing to make things more fire-resilient in southern california? this is a reservoir just up the hill from the pacific pal sides -- palisades. the portion on the right here is what it looks like more or less when it's full. here's what it looks like presently. it's empty. it's been empty since last february. they've been fooling around for nearly a year, supposedly repairing the cover over the thing. it holds 117 million gallons of water. and the report to us that there's three one-million gallon tanks that ran out, the third one by 3:00 a.m. on the night of the fire above pacific palisades. what would another 117 -- approximately 40 times the storage of those three tanks been able to do for them had it been available? had the maintenance been done? the governor's going to start an investigation on it now. kind of like when he starts an investigation on high gas prices due to policy he is does to drive up the cost of fuel and make it not available and make the refineries not available and not quit drilling for fuel in california which we have so much

abundance of in bakersfield area, etc. so what are we doing here? why is this empty? why has it been empty for nearly a year, to make a little repair in the cover that might have been able to be done by reservoir staff? it's incompetence. at all levels here. so what do we have going on? is there enough water supply? he says, well, you know, we have plenty of water. well, presently, next poster, this is shasta dam in northern california. and we have -- it's dumping water right now. it's dumping water out because it still has a million acre feet of space left. but it's dumping water because they want to have room at the top to conserve for more weather. i understand that. what are they doing with that water down below? newsom's plans have stopped the delta pumps from running at full capacity to fill other water systems around the state such as the san luis reservoir which is 70% full right now and doesn't have a storage problem for flood. as well as making sure the aqua ducts are filling all the other reservoirs such as the one we

just looked at. they could fill that in a short amount of time. the amount of water that runs out due to wasted, running through the delta in an hour would fill that other reservoir and it would take a long time locally because they have to rely on either wells or coming from some other water source. we haven't quite ascertained yet because it was hard to find the information. so -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. lamalfa: what is it, governor newsom? are you going to help or just be a detriment and go on camera and blame everybody else and blame the president? we need real work done on -- to make fire conditions much safer in california and the west. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from minnesota, ms. finish back, for five minutes -- mrs. fischbach, for five minutes. mrs. fischbach: thank you, mr. speaker. president trump's 2017 tax package created section 199-a, a 20% small business deduction to help small businesses and family

farms like those in my district. in fact, three out of four small business employers in this country have benefited from this tax provision. unfortunately this deduction is one of many set to expire this year. the national federation of independent businesses has circulated a petition which has over 100,000 signatures, urging congress to make this vital tax deduction permanent and stop a massive tax hike on our small businesses. i urge my colleagues to listen to our local business owners and join me in supporting making the 199-a deduction permanent. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until the however 2:00 p.m. today.