Lauren Boebert

Ms. BOEBERT

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, America is great, and we are going to make America even greater in the upcoming months and years. America is diverse. America is the great melting pot of the world. We have some of the world's best and the world's finest. It is amazing. All it took were people coming together to adopt the 19th Amendment to allow women to vote. It took people coming together and collaborating to hire women as police officers or firefighters or pilots. Heck, I have flown a plane, a little Husky 180. It was a great time enjoying the sights of Colorado and all of the mountainsides. We have an economy right now that is failing because we have a party and an administration that is prioritizing DEI, something we didn't need to have women as police officers or firefighters or pilots or servicemembers, those who would offer up their own lives to serve in the honor of our great country, who would stand for our flag. Because of DEI and this administration's woke agenda and their radical views, we have now been relegated into poverty. I remember a time also where women could, if they chose, stay home and raise their children. Now women are forced to work and have homes with two incomes because they cannot afford their groceries or their gasoline to get their children to school. It is all because of the policies of this radical agenda. I am fine with diversity. America is known for being a welcoming country. This DEI program isn't what makes America great, and we never needed it to be great. I am calling for it to come to an end. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment to prohibit funding for the Bicycle Subsidy Benefit Program at the Department of the Interior. The DOI Bicycle Subsidy Benefit Program provides taxpayer dollars to DOI employees and paid student interns and/or unpaid student volunteers for the purchase, improvements, repair, storage, and/or maintenance of a nonmotorized bicycle that is used as a primary means of commuting to and from work, as well as a monthly stipend. Welcome to the Federal Government. American taxpayers' hard-earned money is being wasted on covering bicycle commuting expenses such as bicycles, bicycle locks, bicycle parking, storage, bicycle safety equipment, bicycle improvements, or accessories, including reflective lights, racks, bicycle repairs and general maintenance, personal safety and protective equipment, including high-visibility safety apparel, headwear, and bicycle gloves and bicycle share memberships as well as getting paid to bike to work. Praise the Lord. Coloradans across my district are struggling right now. They are hurting. The economy is bad. Inflation is high. The policies are ruining their lives that are brought by the Biden-Harris administration. They are struggling right now as they deal with the disastrous effects of Joe Biden's and Kamala Harris' destructive economic policies. We must redirect our attention and their money to much more important things than subsidizing employees for riding bicycles. The Biden administration has unleashed record inflation on Americans that has decimated our bank and retirement accounts, increased gas prices to record levels, raised utility bills, drove up grocery costs, and made it harder to live for the American people. The primary root cause of this record-breaking inflation was trillions of dollars of wasteful Federal spending. This excessive spending has real-life consequences that the people I represent are experiencing every single day. American families will pay an $8,581 inflation tax over the next year. They didn't vote for that, but unfortunately, too many elected officials did. Currently, 20 million Americans cannot pay their electric bill. We have seen a 4.3 percent decline in real wages since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris entered the White House. Americans have lost more than $2 trillion in retirement savings, savings they have worked their lives for. America is $35 trillion in debt, and Democrats want us to continue to print money and pay bureaucrats to bike to work when our Commander in Chief himself cannot even ride a bike. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment to cut wasteful, silly, Federal spending by prohibiting funding for the Bicycle Subsidy Benefit Program at the Department of the Interior. Mr. Chair, I sure do hope we can get this one through. I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment that prohibits the Bureau of Land Management from taking any action to finalize, implement, or enforce a draft resource management plan and draft supplemental environmental impact statement to end new oil leases on 1.6 million acres in Colorado. Colorado's Western Slope used to have a booming energy production economy. I remember because the roughnecks used to come into my restaurant. They would patronize my business and the businesses all around us. I knew we were having a really good day by the amount of mud we had to clean up off the floor from their boots after working hard all day in the field to earn a living for their family and produce good, clean energy for us, not just in Colorado and America, but throughout the world. There used to be 112 drilling rigs on the West Slope, but now we have four rigs. Now not-in-my-backyard extremists and job-killing Federal policies have driven away those good-paying jobs, those good-paying jobs that also supported local businesses. The Bureau of Land Management draft resource management plan for the Colorado River Valley field office and Grand Junction field office is the latest fossil fuels attack. This proposed land grab could remove over 1.6 million acres of public lands in Colorado from future oil and gas leasing and establish nine different areas of critical environmental concern on over 100,000 acres of BLM land. If this proposal is finalized, the United States will lose access to vital energy resources, many more than the 600 fewer wells projected by the agency to be lost by 2043. The consequences will be felt far beyond the State of Colorado where residents will lose their livelihoods and see increased gas and energy prices, yes, even more than the increases we are seeing today. BLM is proposing to close all areas with no known, low, and moderate oil and gas development potential and is basing its analysis off the oil and gas potential on out-of-date information that does not take into consideration modern technology. The Permian Basin was once thought to be low to medium, and now it is the highest producing oil field in the world. As a result, the Permian Basin would be closed if this proposal had been in place in New Mexico and Texas prior to the significant amount of production that is now occurring. This proposed land grab is nothing short of partisan politics meant to further restrict access to the oil and natural gas development that could reinvigorate the economy of the West Slope of Colorado and help ensure energy security for all Americans. There are already stringent standards and requirements in place for oil and gas producers that aim at reducing environmental and cultural impacts. This proposed rule is yet another blatant land grab disguised to dismantle the fossil fuel industry and force a green transition. Closing the door to over 1.6 million acres of vital public lands for energy development is not just an issue of economics. It is a threat to our Nation's energy independence and security. This proposal goes beyond necessary environmental considerations and instead seeks to restrict access to promising resources, hindering the potential of economic growth and prosperity, particularly in the West Slope of Colorado where we have been regulated into poverty thanks to the Biden-Harris administration. Rogue bureaucrats at the BLM shouldn't be unilaterally locking up more land in Colorado. It is urgent that we block this overreach and prioritize responsible energy production. That will help reduce gas prices during these challenging times. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, on behalf of Coloradans, I am here to say: End the land grabs, bring back the American roughnecks, and drill, baby, drill. Mr. Chair, I urge the adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment that prohibits funds made available by this act from being used to declare a national monument with the use of the Antiquities Act in Montrose, Mesa, Montezuma, San Juan, and Dolores Counties in western Colorado. Green new scam extremists in Colorado have been petitioning Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to use the Antiquities Act to designate a roughly 400,000-acre Dolores River Canyon County national monument. The proposed designation of the Dolores River as a national monument threatens to impose severe economic hardships on the communities in western Colorado. This unilateral land grab will cancel all mining in the uranium-rich area, end hunting and cattle grazing, and curtail motorized travel. These are practices that have been part of the Western way of life for generations. The Biden-Harris regime is no stranger to abusing the Antiquities Act. In little over 1 year ago, they locked up over 225,000 acres in Colorado with the stroke of a pen and prevented Colorado from using our public lands for activities that we want and need. This is a right of Coloradans and Americans just taken away. Taking even more Federal lands off the table for multiple use is attacking American energy production, American jobs, American workers, and leaving American consumers to pay the tab. This amendment ensures Joe Biden and Kamala Harris cannot lock up land by executive fiat and encourages the administration to look for stakeholder-supported solutions like my bipartisan, bicameral Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Act. This is something I worked on with my Colorado Senators. We found a way to compromise without compromising our principles. We came to a place of agreement. The Dolores NCA seeks to designate the Dolores River Corridor for the best preservation, benefit, and access of the majority. It is the result of over a decade of community engagement between rafters, agriculture producers, outdoor enthusiasts, water rights stakeholders, conservationists, miners, loggers, businessowners, and all the impacted local governments and Tribes. Disregarding the agreements achieved and the significant time vested in the Dolores NCA would be an absolute insult to citizens of southwest Colorado and would contradict DOI's own description of the Antiquities Act which states: ``The administration consistently strives to take into account the interests of this wide range of stakeholders.'' This proposed national monument designation has the potential to restrict access and land use in ways that threaten and subvert the will of the people in Colorado. I have constituents on the ground daily fighting this proposal, and I am here on their behalf to bring an end to it once and for all through the position they have elected me to, and I urge adoption of my amendment. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chairman, the gentlewoman from Maine recently said that it is her priority to focus on Maine and that I should focus on Colorado. Well, here we are with an amendment related to my home State of Colorado, and I am here to protect my constituents and our land from another land grab from the Biden-Harris administration. The gentlewoman from Maine has complained of concerns that she has with so-called climate changes and warming of the water. If that is the Maine concern, then perhaps the gentlewoman from Maine would like to partner with me from ending energy production in China who has the worst regulations and emits the most emissions of anyplace in the world and stop buying solar panels from China where they are using child and slave labor in mines in the Congo and work to partner with me for better American energy production. It is more reliable, it is more efficient, it is cleaner, and we are creating jobs. In the meantime, I will stick right here on Colorado with this amendment, and the gentlewoman from Maine can focus on Maine as she said she would prefer to do. Mr. Chair, I urge the adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment to prohibit funds from being used for the EPA's greenhouse gas reduction fund. The Inflation Reduction Act, which should have been more accurately named the Green New Deal in disguise, established a taxpayer-funded $27 billion slush fund that sends taxpayer dollars to far-left political organizations and--their favorite--the Chinese Communist Party. This green bank is nearly three times more than the EPA's entire fiscal year 2023 appropriated funds. Eliminating this slush fund will reduce the budget deficit, protect the government against corruption, and stop China from receiving our taxpayer dollars. When asked during a committee hearing if the EPA could guarantee that none of the funds from this green bank slush fund would go to China, the EPA official in charge of overseeing how funds were spent literally stated that it is a little more complicated. He didn't say yes or no, but it is a little more complicated. Over 20 million Americans are currently behind on their utility bills. The American people are not begging for more electric vehicles or solar panels. They are asking for lower energy costs. In fact, the world is demanding it of us because we could literally export freedom to our allies across the globe if we were to export our liquefied natural gas rather than purchase energy from our enemies. If Democrats wanted to do something about the current energy crisis rather than pandering to radical environmental extremists, the minority would unleash American energy instead of forcing us to use inadequate and unreliable green energy. These policies will not only fail to meet our economy's energy needs, but they will also make America reliant on wind turbines and solar panels that are made in China. America is an energy superpower. We should use our vast resources to restore our economy's vitality, ensure our national security, and put hardworking Americans back to work. Mr. Chair, I urge the passage of my commonsense amendment to put an end to the Biden-Harris regime's pandering to the CCP, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment that utilizes the Holman rule to reduce the salary of Secretary Deb Haaland to $1. Under Haaland's leadership, the Department of the Interior has shut down pipelines, delayed federally mandated onshore and offshore leases, repealed commonsense streamlining regulations, shuttered mining projects, failed to comply with numerous laws, and so much more. She also has quite a history of conflicts of interest. Under Haaland's leadership, the Department of the Interior has cultivated close and potentially improper relationships with extreme environmental activist groups, many of which are working overtime to drive the Biden- Harris administration's social and environmental justice agenda. Her daughter is a member of the Pueblo Action Alliance, which opposes all oil and gas production on Federal lands, advocates for the dismantling of America's economic and political system, and believes America is irredeemable because there is no ``opportunity to reform a system that isn't founded on good morals or values.'' Haaland's daughter even engaged in a violent protest with 100 or more protesters, breaking through police barriers and trying to get into the Department of the Interior's building. Did she just want to hug her mom, or was this a real act of violence with intent? Despite multiple attempts from this institution to do its constitutional duty and provide congressional oversight, the Department of the Interior has failed to respond to 80 percent of the requests from Congress. I would be remiss not to mention Haaland's all-out war on American energy production, from canceling the Keystone XL pipeline on day one, imposing new rules to block pipeline projects, canceling oil and gas leases on millions of acres in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, suspending oil drilling leases in a small sliver of ANWR even though Congress passed a law for this very purpose, imposing a moratorium on new Federal oil and gas leases throughout Federal lands, failing to meet the statutory deadlines for quarterly lease sales, and taking countless other anti-energy measures that have contributed to gas prices and inflation reaching record levels. We need to make America energy dominant once and for all. It is time for us to have energy security, and it is clear that it won't happen with Haaland leading the Department of the Interior. Mr. Chair, I urge the adoption of this important amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer my amendment that utilizes the Holman rule to reduce the salary of BLM Director Tracy Stone- Manning to $1. Mr. Chair, let's call a spade a spade. Tracy Stone-Manning is a terrorist, and her terrorist booby traps still threaten the lives of foresters and firefighters to this very day. Tree-spiking Tracy's abysmal record as BLM Director has included radical anti-energy activism, engagement in ecoterrorism, failure to carry out laws, and prioritization of climate initiatives and public land grabs over domestic energy production. Tracy Stone-Manning is a radicalized environmental terrorist whose repugnant philosophy includes tenets such as ``we must breed fewer consuming humans,'' children are ``environmental hazards,'' ranchers are ``destroying the West,'' and the solution to houses threatened by wildfires is ``to let them burn.'' Her hateful language spilled over into ecoterrorism when she became involved in a tree-spiking attack, threatening the lives of wildland firefighters, foresters, and mill workers in Idaho. Stone-Manning's extremist antigovernment, pro-population control, anti-law enforcement, pro-wildlife, tree-worshipping, antifarmer, and anti-responsible energy views should have been more than enough to prevent her from getting to this position, but her involvement in an ecoterrorist, tree-spiking attack, threatening the lives of wildland firefighters, loggers, and mill workers, is beyond the pale. She also perjured herself to Congress when she lied twice to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The first lie was that she denied ever being investigated by U.S. special agents, and the second lie was that she denied participating in tree spiking. She belongs not in the Department of the Interior but in Federal prison. Mr. Chair, Tracy Stone-Manning, tree-spiking Manning, has to go, and I urge the passage of this amendment, as lives are still at risk for her ecoterrorism today. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Anna Paulina Luna, the Representative from Florida, for leading this important resolution. I just have one question: What is the Biden administration trying to hide? Attorney General Merrick Garland's refusal to produce evidence establishes a clear pattern of obstruction by the Department of Justice, or rather injustice during this administration, to cover up Joe Biden's wrongdoings. Joe Biden has lied to the American people about his mishandling of classified documents. Never mind the stories about his uncle being eaten by cannibals. We are not touching that today, but he has also repeatedly denied knowing about or being involved in his family's influence peddling schemes, which the Oversight Committee can now show has raked in $18 million from foreign individuals and entities for Biden family members, including Joe Biden himself. After the debate, it has grown increasingly apparent that Joe Biden has repeatedly made false statements to the American people about his ability to even lead this country.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, enough is enough. Biden's Department of Justice has taken every step to insulate him from any consequences, whether it is hiding these audio recordings or attempting to give Hunter Biden a sweetheart deal. This is absolutely unacceptable. The House of Representatives cannot serve as a necessary check on the Presidency if the executive branch is free to ignore the House's subpoenas. It is clear the Biden crime family believes they are above the law. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this important resolution and force Biden's crooked DOJ to hand over the tapes and hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.

Ms. BOEBERT

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in favor of my amendment, which would prohibit Federal funding for the Countering Extremist Activity Working Group or implement any recommendations from the group. In 2021, Democrats and the Biden regime unjustly used January 6 to prop up this woke working group to provide cover for unjustly targeting members of our military. The so-called Countering Extremist Activity Working Group has been weaponized and implemented to almost exclusively target Republicans, Conservatives, and Libertarians serving in the military. Yet, by its own metrics, it has been a massive waste of money and time. The Defense Department continues to spend large amounts of time and money to combat extremism, yet its own analysis of the situation shows that it is entirely unnecessary. In fact, fewer than 100 servicemembers have been subject to discipline due to engagement in extremist activities. That is only 0.005 percent of the approximately 2.1 million Active and Reserve personnel. Clearly, extremism is not the problem that my colleagues on the left and media outlets made it out to be. The United States military is tasked with one mission: maintaining mission critical readiness to protect the American homeland. Sowing our Armed Forces with divisive rhetoric designed to pit races and genders against one another is not only morally wrong, it poses a very real threat to our national security. Under the Biden regime, DEI instruction and management has reached new heights that threaten to weaken the bond between America's Armed Forces and its civilian leadership and undermine our military effectiveness and readiness. All of our men and women in uniform deserve to have the best tools needed to carry out their mission to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Unfortunately, liberal ideology undermines this mission. In order to stand up to China, Russia, and terrorists, our military needs to project strength, not cultural wokeness. My amendment does exactly that. I urge the adoption of this amendment, Mr. Chair, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I just want to reiterate quickly that this is fewer than 100 servicemembers who have been targeted here, and that is only 0.005 percent of the approximately 2.1 million Active and Reserve personnel serving. Ultimately, wokeness weakens our military. Violent leftwing extremists stormed the field yesterday at the Congressional Baseball Game. In 2020 they burned down our cities. They say that we are obsessed with wokeness. They are obsessed with January 6, which their Speaker admitted that she did not have our facility properly secured. Mr. Chair, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mills).

Ms. BOEBERT. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. BOEBERT

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in favor of my amendment, which prohibits the Department of Defense from contracting with entities that are engaged in a boycott of the State of Israel. Last October, Israel faced an unprecedented attack by Hamas. Since then, they have been fighting for their very right to exist against a terrorist group that has committed brutal and horrific war crimes. Hamas is responsible for slaughtering babies, using children as human shields, raping Israeli women, and executing parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents. These brutal acts of terror are often praised by my colleagues on the left. This is disgusting, and it is absolutely wrong. I believe in standing with our allies. America's closest ally is Israel, and I have stood with them through countless attacks from the radical left. The boycott, divest, and sanction movement promotes anti- Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment around the world, and U.S. tax dollars should not be supporting entities that advocate for this disgusting practice. The BDS movement is anti-Semitic. It is an anti-Semitic cancer that has spread throughout our college campuses and has been promoted by the Hamas caucus on the left. Anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. reached a record high in the last year. The Anti-Defamation League tracked 8,873 anti-Semitic incidents in the United States in 2023, the highest number of incidents reported since the organization began tracking data in 1979. Our Department of Defense should not be contracting with anti-Semitic entities or encouraging their behavior.

Ms. BOEBERT

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to cast my votes due to a family conflict. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 227, YEA on Roll Call No. 228, YEA on Roll Call No. 229, YEA on Roll Call No. 230, NAY on Roll Call No. 231, and YEA on Roll Call No. 232.

Ms. BOEBERT

Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Biggs for leading on this issue. I rise in support of the Equal Representation Act, which will add a citizenship question to the Census and exclude illegal aliens from the apportionment base. It is past time we put America and Americans first. Joe Biden and his regime are shelling out benefits to illegal immigrants like Oprah Winfrey on her show: Everyone gets a vote. Everyone gets recognized, even if you are here illegally. In New York, aliens are receiving $53 million in free, prepaid debit cards. In Denver, Colorado, aliens get 6 free months of housing. Now, they want to hand them seats in Congress to buy their lifelong allegiance to the Democratic Party. Since Biden took office, we have seen more than 9 million illegal aliens cross our borders and more than 1.8 million got-aways evade Border Patrol agents. That is larger than the population of 32 States, Mr. Speaker. There are now at least 16.8 million illegal aliens living in the United States, enough to account for roughly 22 seats in the House of Representatives. Including these aliens in the apportionment of congressional districts impacts representation in Congress and undermines the constitutional principle of one person, one vote. Americans deserve to have their voices fully represented, not diluted by illegal aliens. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.