Jodey Arrington

Mr. ARRINGTON

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Chair, in May of this year, two foreign nationals, here illegally under President Biden's open-border crisis, attempted to breach the Marine Corps base in Quantico in a box truck. These are not isolated incidents, Mr. Chair. They are part of a disturbing trend that put our installations, our technology, and, most importantly, our servicemembers at risk. This amendment is straightforward. It funds the necessary upgrades to the gate infrastructure at bases like Dyess to comply with the Department of Defense force protection standards. Reinforcing access control preventing unauthorized entry is common sense. As I said, it is straightforward, and it will help both our servicemembers, our air arsenal, and our overall national security posture. Mr. Chair, I thank the judge for his leadership, and I urge adoption of this amendment.

Mr. ARRINGTON

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to hail from the Food, Fuel, and Fiber Capital of the World, which powers, feeds, and clothes our great Nation and beyond. Today, I am honored to celebrate an occasion that represents the true embodiment of the spirit and unparalleled ingenuity of West Texas--the groundbreaking of the Crossroads Business Park in Big Spring, Texas. This development is the first major business park in West Texas tied to the Ports-to-Plains initiative, which will transform the I-27 corridor from Dumas to Laredo. The hundreds of acres of new office space the Crossroads Business Park will create is a model of how Ports- to-Plains will fuel investment in West Texas and represents a major boon for Big Spring, Howard County, and the entire region. This business park offers a new hub for commercial opportunities and job creation, and I am proud to recognize such a remarkable commitment to our community. This project is also thanks to the strong investment made by Howard County, the City of Big Spring, the Big Spring Economic Development Corporation, the Cross Ell Ranch Corporation, the Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission, and the Texas Department of Transportation and their commitment to making this vision a reality. On behalf of the 19th Congressional District of Texas, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all involved in this project for their dedication to our community. God bless, and go West Texas.

Mr. ARRINGTON

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, it is really difficult for me to be in this Chamber and hear my Democrat colleagues disparage our country and how we treat immigrants. The fact is, they are defending lawlessness. They are defending the invasion of our sovereign country. They are promoting and defending people breaking the law, cutting the line of millions of people who are respecting our laws, our country, and the safety of our citizens. What you won't hear from my Democrat colleagues this morning is to condemn what is happening in L.A., and the violence being perpetrated against our law enforcement agents who are simply trying to uphold the laws of the land. That is how upside down and backward the Democratic Party has become. You won't hear any of that. These people are risking their lives for you and for me and our families and our communities to stop the flood of drugs and crime pouring into this country. It is unacceptable. Honoring the UMC Emergency Medical Services Team

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a group of heroes that have been a lifeline for the people of Lubbock County for 50 years: the UMC Emergency Medical Services team. Since their first 911 response back in November 1975, well before the University Medical Center Hospital even opened its doors, UMC EMS has been on the front lines of saving lives and serving our communities in west Texas. We are fortunate to have the highest level of healthcare and emergency response professionals protecting our families. In fact, UMC EMS is one of just 46 EMS systems worldwide with a dual accreditation. Their team has earned the American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline Gold Award every year since 2019, a well-deserved honor. Mr. Speaker, I thank everyone at UMC EMS, past and present, for their unparalleled care, for their endless compassion, and most of all, their commitment to excellence and service to the people of west Texas. I congratulate them on 50 years of incomparable service, and here is to 50 more. God bless America, and go west Texas. Congratulating Coahoma High School Bulldogettes

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an extraordinary group of young ladies that have accomplished something that no other Texas softball team has in the history of softball in Texas, the Coahoma High School Bulldogettes have secured their third straight championship. This historic achievement speaks to their drive, their determination, and overall commitment to excellence as well as, of course, the leadership and commitment of their coach, Alex Orosco. The Bulldogettes have put their community on the map, and all of Texas is taking notice. I congratulate the young ladies on such an unprecedented accomplishment. I thank them for representing the best of west Texas. They are all winners on and off the field and in every sense of the word. Again, God bless America, and go west Texas. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I think I can say a few things in 2 minutes, believe it or not, about some of the comments my colleague, Representative Baumgartner, said about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and its positive impact on rural America, the heartbeat of this country. The food, fuel, and fiber capital of the world, west Texas, I can tell you, appreciates what is in this big and beautiful bill. It is more than just stopping a 22 percent increase in taxes for hardworking Americans who suffered an inflation tax of about 20 percent over the last 4 years. It is beyond sustainable. We could go through the list of the largest spending cuts of wasteful, woke, and fraud in this Federal Government. That is two times the deepest cut to wasteful spending in the history of our country. We can talk about energy dominance, the most significant commitment to opening up energy resources in this country to bring down the cost of energy prices for our families and to make American energy dominant again. We are so blessed by our natural resources. I will talk about the farm bill reforms. Republicans are strengthening the safety net, the risk management tools to stabilize the ag economy with respect to the volatile prices, the volatility in weather and the investment in trade promotion to open up new markets and opportunities for ag products made here and grown here in the USA. We have provisions in there that strengthen rural hospitals so they can provide basic care to the hardworking farmers and ranchers and energy producers and their families. We have welfare reforms that stop trapping people in dependence on the Federal Government and encourage them to get out and work and do something with their hands and be blessed by it and to restore the dignity of work. Mr. Speaker, I know my time is up. God bless rural America, and God bless west Texas.

Mr. ARRINGTON

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a group of remarkable young women from the plains of West Texas who are making history on the national stage, our Texas Tech Lady Raiders' softball team. These athletes have battled all season long, with an impressive drive, determination, and an unmistakable West Texas will to win that has taken them from the first Big 12 Championship in program history and a chance this week to win the College World Series. Coach Glasco and his Lady Raiders represent the best of West Texas values, hardworking, humble, and pure class on and off the field. All of West Texas and all of Red Raider Nation are cheering on the Lady Raiders, our fearless champions, as they fight for the scarlet and the black. The Lady Raiders need to go out there tonight, all gas and no brakes, and beat those Texas Longhorns and then turn around and beat them again and bring that championship trophy home to Lubbock, Texas, where it belongs. Guns up and go West Texas.

Mr. ARRINGTON

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Utah for yielding. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Moore is a dear friend not only to me but to my children. My children don't know him well. They have met him, but the reason he is a friend to my children and to your children and grandchildren is because he is fighting for their future. He cares about this Nation. He believes that we are on an unsustainable fiscal path and he believes that if we don't intervene, we will not only jeopardize our economic strength but our national security, our global leadership, and God forbid, a sovereign debt crisis certainly would rob our children of their freedom and opportunities in this great land. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Moore for his leadership on the committee. I thank him for his strong voice and vision and most of all for his courage to do the right thing not only for our citizens and our constituents of today but for generations of Americans, who, by the way, will inherit the whirlwind of our recklessness in terms of the unbridled spending and unsustainable debt if we don't step up in this historic moment. Let me comment on some of the things that Mr. Moore was mentioning in his remarks. Let's do a comparison and contrast with our Democrat colleagues when they had control of both Chambers and the White House. They, too, used the tool of budget reconciliation to advance what was their partisan Democrat agenda. Over the last 4 years under the Biden-Harris administration and Democrat control, they added $8 trillion to the national debt. They did it by expanding the Federal Government, offering ObamaCare to people making hundreds of thousands of dollars, price-fixing in the drug markets and having premiums go up on seniors. They did it by expanding the IRS by 80,000 IRS agents and by offering tax subsidies to green energy corporations to the tune of $850 billion. When they had the tool of budget reconciliation and unified Democrat leadership, that was what they offered to the American people: more spending, more debt, more government, and less freedom. We have the tools and unified Republican control of both Chambers, and we are investing in border security and defense because we believe the safety and security of the American people is job number one, like providing the common defense is the first and most important job of the Federal Government. Secondly, we are spending money to allow hardworking American families to keep more of their money and to incentivize investment, growth, job creation, and wage increases. We have been sputtering along because of the failed economic policies of my Democratic colleagues in the Biden-Harris administration and their unbridled, reckless spending. There is your comparison. One gives you more government with more spending and debt, and the other has a complete offset with a modest reduction in deficit spending, a 10-point reduction in debt to GDP. We have the largest tax cut, the largest spending cut, the largest investment in border security and defense in the history of this country, and the most significant commitment to unlocking American energy resources in our Nation's history. Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of what we did in this bill. There is so much to talk about, but some of the myths and false claims that are propagated to suggest that this bill will somehow increase the debt are totally false and using a baseline, a CBO score, with a growth assumption based on the policies and laws of the last 4 years. I think 1.8 percent growth is actually generous considering the last 4 years and the economic policies of our Democratic colleagues. What we did was we assumed a growth rate not based on CBO, JCT, or any other predictive modeling. We said the best way to predict future achievement is past performance. What did President Biden have as an annual average growth rate? What did President Trump achieve? On average, Biden was at 2.7 if you control for COVID. If you control for COVID, then Trump had a 2.8 percent annual average. Since World War II, the annual average has been a little over 3 percent. We picked a conservative number, but we know we will outperform it with good energy policies, work incentives, deregulation, America First trade, and locking in low taxes from TCJA. That 2.6 annual average, that conservative growth assumption, will yield $2.5 trillion over the 10-year budget window. If you stack the spending reforms--which, by the way, are the deepest cuts by two times in our Nation's history. If you add the two, you totally offset the cost of border, defense, and any cost associated with reducing taxes. It is fiscally responsible. It will do the two things that you primarily need to do in order to restore the fiscal health of this country, put it on a stable path, and prevent or stave off a debt crisis of some magnitude. It grows the economy. It deals with economic growth, which brings revenue to the Treasury. Mr. Speaker, 1 percent growth over the projections of CBO is $3 trillion against the deficit, and it starts to bend the curve on deficit spending. Now, is this going to save the country from a debt crisis in the future and address the $120 trillion unfunded liabilities in 30-year accumulative projected debt? No, but this is the first in my lifetime, probably since the post-World War II era--when we were coming out of this same level of indebtedness, with a debt to GDP of around 120 percent--it is the first time since then and in my lifetime that we have taken a meaningful step with growth and spending reforms to start bending the debt-to-GDP curve and start turning this Titanic before it sinks and we do irreparable harm to our Nation and our kids' future. We have to rinse and repeat this process. There are no silver bullets. There is no one reconciliation bill. Even in generations past, coming out of comparable debt after World War II took two decades, and that was an easier exercise in reducing spending because it was mainly defense after a war. We are talking about entitlement spending. We are talking about a lot of promises made to a lot of people. We are talking about $2 trillion that we are borrowing now annually to pay for those promises, 50 cents on the dollar of which is just servicing the debt or our interest payments. Mr. Speaker, we have work to do. Nobody knows that better than Mr. Moore. No one also has called out the fact and reality that at some point, with some of the larger mandatory spending programs, we are going to need Democrats and Republicans to join forces to put the Nation first to solve the problems of sustainability and solvency of programs like Social Security and Medicare that our seniors depend on so that they can have peace of mind and so that our children can actually expect the same safety nets and the same opportunities in this country. It will take tremendous political courage. Nobody has that more than my friend, Blake Moore. He speaks the truth, and he has said this is his top priority since he was sworn in in his first term. He has made good on that pledge and promise. I believe that if we continue to do the things that we are doing in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and we join forces like Ronald Reagan did with Tip O'Neill, which was the last time that Social Security and the solvency were addressed, I think, quite frankly, it is an opportunity made for President Trump. He is the greatest dealmaker we have ever had in the Oval Office. When I was a freshman and he was recently elected, he did what nobody thought we could do. He revamped and restructured our biggest trade relationship and trade agreement with our two biggest partners, Canada and Mexico, which was known as NAFTA. Then, we had USMCA, and our trade activity and our jobs and wages in agriculture and manufacturing have gone up since, and we had overwhelming bipartisan support. I have seen President Trump in action. I believe this will be not just a tremendous legacy. I think it would be the biggest legacy. Let's reignite growth. Let's rein in some of the spending and root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in these programs. Let's reinvest in our sons and daughters in uniform who do the most difficult and dangerous jobs. Let's look not where the puck is but where the puck is going, as they say in hockey. Why would I know anything about hockey? I am from Plainview, Texas. We don't play hockey in west Texas, but I always loved that analogy. You have to skate to where the puck is going. While we are doing these things in the short run, in this budget window, in this decade, let's look out and be leaders. Let's address those things that we know are coming, and that debt crisis that looms large. Let's extend the hand of bipartisanship to our friends and Democratic colleagues, again, for the sake of this country, like my hero who inspired me to get involved in politics, Ronald Reagan, did back in the day. I said that I want to be like that guy, and it was for a lot of reasons. I just got back from the economic forum out there in California and saw the museum. I was reminded of what a statesman leader he was and how he was the right person to work with Tip O'Neill and our Democratic colleagues to do something really big that hasn't been done in 40-plus years. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Moore for the opportunity to address our colleagues. I thank him for his leadership, his Conference leadership and on the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee. It is an honor to work with him. God bless our great country. Let's get that One Big Beautiful Bill Act and that America First vision that is wrapped in that reconciliation bill to the President's desk. Most importantly, let's make it a reality for the people we serve and for the country we love.

Mr. ARRINGTON

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 436, I call up the bill (H.R. 1) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, for the last 4 years, the American people have suffered one self-inflicted crisis after another--from the chaos at our southern border, to our crime ridden streets, to a cost-of-living crisis that decimated working families from sea to shining sea--leaving Americans weaker, our country more divided, and more vulnerable than it has been in generations. Mr. Speaker, lest we forget how we got here and why this moment is so important and so consequential in the life of our country. Let's reflect on the recent history. Under the leadership of Biden-Harris and congressional Democrats, our Federal Government failed to enforce the laws of our land and unilaterally surrendered our sovereign border to terrorist drug cartels. On top of that, our military mission was reduced from warfighter readiness to ideological indoctrination. We lost the confidence of our allies, the respect of our enemies, and America's influence on the world stage. Unbridled spending and failed fiscal policies sent our country's economy into a tailspin. Trillions in deficit spending, trillions more in regulations, cradle-to-grave welfare without work, and an all-out assault on American energy independence wreaked havoc on our economy and created the worst inflation crisis in 40 years. In November, the American people gave President Trump a historic mandate and unified Republican leadership in Congress to reverse course on these failed policies and their disastrous consequences. That is exactly what this bill does, Mr. Speaker. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act delivers: The greatest single investment in border security and national defense. The largest tax cuts for families and small businesses. The most significant commitment to unlocking America's energy resources. The largest reduction in spending in the history of the United States by two-fold. However, in an attempt to derail our efforts, Mr. Speaker, you can be sure of this: Our Democratic colleagues will use their tired, old tactics of fear-mongering and false claims. Mr. Speaker, they would like to lead you to believe that this reconciliation bill is a ``tax cut for the rich on the backs of the poor.'' Their narrative throughout this process has not only been misleading, Mr. Speaker, and completely untrue, it preys on the fears of our Nation's most vulnerable. Here is the truth: The 2017 tax cuts lowered tax rates for every American household at every income level with the lower income families benefiting the most while actually increasing the amount of taxes paid at the top 1 percent. Mr. Speaker, $3 out of every $4 in the Trump tax cuts didn't go to corporations. They went to individuals. Workers experienced a record 25-year wage increase. Families received an additional $5,000 in median household income, and income for the bottom 50 percent grew three times faster than the top 1 percent. As a result, Mr. Speaker, a record 6 million Americans were lifted out of poverty. This won't stop our Democrat colleagues from scaring you, Mr. Speaker, with fallacious statements that children will go without food, seniors will be stranded without healthcare, and the disabled will be left to die in the streets. All of this is just a cover for what they really want to do. They want to protect healthcare and welfare at any cost for illegal immigrants at the expense of hardworking taxpayers and our--our-- citizens who depend on them. Crazily enough, Mr. Speaker, they also want to abandon the commonsense, Clinton-era work requirements that reduced government dependency by 80 percent. Instead, they would trap millions of people in poverty and rob them of the dignity of work. By the overwhelming results of this last election, it is abundantly clear that the American people see through this too, and they have totally rejected the Democrats' radical agenda. Their message to Washington was clear, Mr. Speaker. They want competent leaders, commonsense policies, and a commitment from all of us to put America and Americans first. Now let's give the people what they voted for. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, the CBO doesn't say economic benefits. It talks about Federal resources. That letter actually affirms the success of our bill. Because of reasonable, commonsense work requirements and because of prohibitions on illegal immigrants getting taxpayer-funded social services, we will actually have people moving up and out of the welfare trap. We won't have people siphoning off money who are not eligible. That is success--not to them, but success to my Republican colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Thompson), my good friend from the Keystone State and the chair of the Agriculture Committee.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), the chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, my Democratic colleagues surely recognize and remember that for the last 4 years they racked up $8 trillion in record debt. If we add the record interest rates from the record inflation, that would be another $5 trillion. I don't know that we need a whole lot more lecturing on the national debt. Our balanced budget reconciliation bill actually reduces the deficit in the 10-year window by $140 billion, and it brings the debt to GDP down by 10 percentage points. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, 91 percent, on average, of my colleagues, voters, constituents, friends, and families, pay the standard deduction. Democrats' opposition to this bill, if they were successful, would actually cut the standard deduction in half. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves), our Transportation and Infrastructure chair.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleagues that, over the last 4 years, their failed economic policies and their unbridled spending put a 20 percent regressive inflation tax on working families all across this great land. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), my good friend and our GOP chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for my ranking member, but he is rattling off numbers and saying that this many people will come off of the welfare rolls in my colleagues' districts. Let's remind the American people: The people he is talking about are folks who are in this country illegally, or they are able to work, and they are not working. They are able to work, and they are not working. Mr. Speaker, for the record, Democrats are opposing the commonsense policy and what every American's expectation is at a base level that people who are able to work will work. It is good for their soul. It is good for this country. It is the right policy, and my Democratic colleagues are fighting us on it. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the Keystone State, Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker), my friend and vice chairman of the Budget Committee.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, according to NumbersUSA, over the last 4 years when the Democrats were in charge of this town and millions of people were flooding into this country from across our border, we were spending $9,000 per illegal immigrant on taxpayer-funded social services. Mr. Speaker, that is more than we spend on our own citizens who depend on Medicaid. That is more than we spend on military benefits for our veterans. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), my friend and fellow Budget Committee member.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gill), a fellow Texan who is also on the Budget Committee.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the gentleman. Budgets do reflect values. The values of the Republican Party and my colleagues are to protect 40 million families from having their child tax credit cut in half, 26 million small businesses who have the highest marginal rates would lose the 20 percent deduction, 2 million family-owned farms and the farming families would have the debt tax exemption slashed in half. Mr. Speaker, those are our values. We want people to keep more of their money. We want this economy to grow. We want people to have better opportunities and bigger paychecks. We want to give folks hope for a better life to come up and out of poverty, out of welfare, and put their God-given talents to use. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), a friend and fellow member of the Budget Committee.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what is big: $900 billion in special interest tax breaks to green energy corporations that my colleagues passed unilaterally in the Inflation Reduction Act. That is big. The billionaires that got rich off their tax breaks got a big break, and we aim to phase them out or repeal them so we can bring energy costs down and strengthen America's energy independence. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Stutzman), my friend.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, one of the problems with the work requirements in the supplemental nutrition program--and I am sure Mr. Takano knows this--is that States have been allowed to game the system and not effectively enforce those for able-bodied adults receiving services. In California, in fact, nobody is working who is on food stamps who is able to work. Nobody is working, so it is not fair to those people. It is not fair to rob them of the dignity of work. It is not fair in our fiduciary role to the taxpayer. Mr. Speaker, we are turning this ship around. We are cleaning the mess up here in Washington. We are putting incentives in place that will do well by everybody involved. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), my friend.

Mr. ARRINGTON. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Fry).