Michael Burgess

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, this has all been so moving and so lovely, but if anyone tuned in late tonight in C-SPAN, they probably thought I passed because it really did sound like a eulogy. I am still here, and I will continue to text and call and inform everyone, analyze, as I think Mr. Lucas put it. I am good at analysis. I will still give the benefit of my insight. I thank Mr. Weber for doing this. I didn't expect it. I have got some of my great staff up there in the Gallery who have been watching and hanging on every word. This has been very, very kind. I really don't know what else to say, but I wanted to assure people that I was still here. It has been so moving. People might have thought I had left the building, but Elvis is still in the building.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the Congressional Review Act, a lot of times, people don't think about it. It is not something that registers or strikes a lot of cords in people's souls, but let me just tell you something, we all have those moments in our lives: I remember where I was when the man landed on the Moon. I remember where I was when a world leader died. I remember where I was when the Congressional Review Act was allowed to go into law under George W. Bush early in his administration that prevented the institution of what was called the repetitive injury rule. I ran a small medical practice at the time, not a big business. I had 50 employees in my office, and I was going to have to change every computer terminal, every keyboard, and every keyboard rest to be in compliance with the repetitive injury rule that some agency in the Federal Government had produced. Congress, early in the days of the Bush administration, passed the Congressional Review Act, which reversed this rule. I remember pulling into my driveway one evening, probably early the year 2001. We didn't have cable news and 24-hour news back then. I was listening to NPR on the radio. The news came across the wire that Congress had repealed this Federal rule that was going to cost me tens of thousands of dollars in my small medical practice. Although that was a small step for man, a giant leap for mankind, it was at that moment I realized in my mind the importance of my Representative looking at the rules that are produced by a Federal agency. I didn't need more paperwork to make my life safe at that point. Clearly, I urge this body to support the rule and the underlying legislation. The bill allows Congress to more efficiently review rules issued during the midnight hours of the President's term by reviewing more than one rule at a time. This change would let Congress properly oversee agency rulemaking in the period when a disproportionate amount of rulemaking historically occurs. Mr. Speaker, for perhaps the last time, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Speaker, I would just point out that in the last election that the gentleman keeps referring to, Republicans did prevail. They prevailed up and down, Presidency, the Senate, and the House. It is a narrow margin to be sure, but it keeps you on your toes when you are trying to manage a very slim majority. I think for the first time in history, there is a larger majority in the Senate than there will be in the House in the next Congress. The American people heard a vision articulated by our Presidential candidate, President Trump, and they responded to it. I mean, what has failed the last 2 years has been leadership from the White House. It has been nonexistent. We are entering a time where there will be a bold vision for America, articulated by soon-to-be 47th President Donald J. Trump. I, for one, am grateful and looking forward to his leadership on that. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, can I just point out for the record that the number of rules produced by this Rules Committee under this Republican majority is more than the number of rules that were produced in the previous Congress under a Democrat majority. That is just a fact of life. Look, I recognize this time of year, it does get tense. The ranking member knows well that the committee has to remain flexible to be able to give the Speaker the tools he needs to get done whatever needs to be done for the government to be funded for the end of year. It is not always a pretty process. It wasn't when Democrats were in charge, and certainly this year, the challenge remains. I do want to say this: The motion to vacate the Speaker a year and some months ago was a mistake. It was a mistake brought to the floor by individuals who had a particular axe to grind, and they ground it. It hurt the country, and it was wrong. We are so fortunate that Speaker Johnson stepped forward. He took the challenge that the Conference provided him, and he has provided excellent stewardship in the 16 months that have followed. We are enormously grateful as a Nation, especially at this time at the end of the year where we are giving thanks and we are looking around and counting our blessings. Well, one of those blessings that families should count is Speaker Mike Johnson because he has really placed the future of his country front and center in his life. His family has had to make sacrifices, and he has had to make sacrifices. Yes, we have made some sacrifices on the Rules Committee. I freely admit that, but this country is worth that. As we wrap this up--and this may not be the last rule of the year. You never know. The excitement is always around every corner. As we conclude this debate, I, for one, just want to say how grateful I am to the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, for the work that he has done in delivering us and getting us here. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. These are interesting talking points that have come up against a bill that the minority purportedly says didn't do anything in the first place. Let's look at what the facts of the case are. This bill does nothing to change how the Congressional Review Act works. It does not change the look-back period for disapproving rules. It remains 60 legislative days from the point at which a rule is put in the Federal Register. That is current law. It does not change whether Congress can block substantially similar rules. Congress is already able to do that. It is authorized under law and unchanged by this bill. It does not proactively constrain or eliminate executive rulemaking authority. All this bill does is allow Congress to do what it already can do in a single bill rather than having to file multiple bills. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, last night the House Committee on Rules met to report a rule providing for consideration of H.R. 115, the Midnight Rules Relief Act under a closed rule. The rule provides for 1 hour of general debate equally divided between the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees. It also provides one motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, first off, I will start today by saying thank you to everyone who has prayed for our family and sent letters, flowers, and best wishes over the past 2 weeks. Your thoughts and your prayers have helped our family as we deal with an almost unimaginable crisis with the loss of our beloved daughter, Christine. The support from everyone in this body has been overwhelming, and I hope everyone knows that my family appreciates the support. We met overwhelming grief with overwhelming support, and for that I want to thank people. With today possibly being the last time I manage this debate, and if this body will indulge me, I will express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity of a lifetime to serve as chairman of the exceptional Rules Committee. When I was first elected in 2003, I could never have imagined serving in this capacity and performing such an important role in our legislative process. Throughout my career, I have made a point of always saying ``yes'' to a challenge. When Speaker Johnson called me, I knew I had no choice but to accept. Serving on this committee, let alone assuming the role of chairman, has not been an easy ride, and the legislative process is not as smooth as what we learned in ``Schoolhouse Rock!,'' but it has only allowed me and my appreciation for the House of Representatives to grow further. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to serve as its chairman. It has given me a front-row seat to history, and whether I agreed with the decisions being made or not, this committee continues to be a model for how Members conduct themselves in the House of Representatives, respectful but ever-passionate, and I hope you all continue with that strong and honorable tradition in the next year because the American people have high expectations, but, frankly, they deserve the best from us. I also will take a moment and thank the Rules Committee itself, my personal staff, the Rules Committee staff, who have worked so hard to ensure that I am prepared every day and that this body can conduct its work efficiently. For the past 22 years, I have been blessed to be surrounded by an amazing, smart, and talented staff. Without each of them, I would not have gotten to where I am today. I thank my Republican colleagues for your continued commitment to prioritizing legislation that is always in the best interest of Americans. You all have a tall order next year, but having gotten to know each of you over my time here, I have every bit of confidence that this House is up to the task. I appreciate Mr. Speaker's indulgence, and now we will get on to the business at hand. Yesterday, the Rules Committee met to report on a rule providing for consideration of legislation that is as timely as it is fundamental to our constitutional checks and balances. The Congressional Review Act, or CRA, provides the primary legislative check on regulatory overreach by allowing Congress to reverse a rule by resolution. However, that is a single rule, and Congress' ability to keep up with these new regulations is constrained by its ability to write and pass new bills as fast as an administration can send them out with trillions of taxpayer dollars and resources at their disposal. Administrations of both political parties tend to overwhelm Congress at the end of their term with hundreds of new rules. These are known as midnight rules, representing billions of dollars of new regulatory burden in the span of just a few short weeks. Congress has historically struggled to keep pace. The executive branch has exploited the inefficiency of the Congressional Review Act because bureaucrats know that Congress simply does not have the time or the resources to consider hundreds of rules, draft a bill for each one, and get each one signed into law by the time that rule would take effect. The result is our constituents bear the burden of this new bureaucratic cost without any accountability to eliminate it. H.R. 115 makes a small change to existing law to allow Congress to catch up to this expected onslaught of new regulations as the Biden-Harris administration leaves office. The bill will streamline the process Congress already employs with respect to executive rulemaking. It does not change the lookback timeframe, congressional prerogatives to block similar rules, nor does it eliminate or constrain the executive rulemaking authority in any way. These things are already in existing law. All it does is simply allow what Congress can already do in one bill instead of hundreds. Doing so will allow Congress to keep up with the rapid pace of midnight rules, reining in the Federal bureaucracy at a time when historically it is its most aggressive. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1616 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Chairwoman Kay Granger on her retirement and congratulate her on three decades of dedicated service to the 12th Congressional District of Texas and the United States of America. Chairwoman Granger has been a great friend and confidant to me, providing guidance and giving helpful advice. As a senior member of the Texas delegation, Chairwoman Granger has been an influential, conservative leader who prioritized the 12th Congressional District of Texas and has led the Appropriations Committee with ample experience, wisdom, and grace. From being the first Republican Congresswoman from Texas to being the first Republican woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Granger will be leaving with an impactful legacy. She has always fought for our national security, our troops, and Veterans, to provide all the support they need for their daily sacrifice to our Nation. I have been honored to work with the Chairwoman on advancing legislation that benefits Texans and strengthens our state economically. On behalf of her constituents, the Texas delegation, and Republican colleagues, Kay will be greatly missed and our Nation thanks her for her commitment to America.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution. The previous question was ordered.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for that admonition. I will try to be careful to keep that in mind during my closing remarks. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Massachusetts is correct. He has provided me ample opportunity to study the clinical and psychological materials for Trump derangement syndrome, and I do feel that I have got an advanced degree in that after spending these years on the Rules Committee with him, but let me bring us back to the focus of the bills before us. On the Prove It Act, H.R. 7198, the gentleman bemoans the fact that the American people sent us here for lower prices at the grocery store and to pay more attention to how their lives have been affected by this out-of-control government that we have seen for the last 4 years. I don't know where the gentleman has been for the last 4 years, but I have had trouble getting a phone call answered by a Cabinet Secretary for 4 years. I, unfortunately, am not going to be serving here any longer after this Congress, but I am actually excited about a time when Congress can interact with the heads of Federal agencies and get their calls returned. That will be a novel approach. With regard to the Prove It Act, let's focus for a minute on what this bill does. This requires Federal agencies to provide transparency regarding the impact of Federal regulatory decisions on small businesses. That is so simple. If you are worried about prices, might you also not want to consider the cost that the regulatory regime of this administration has imposed upon businesses and what happens to those costs? They are not just absorbed by the business. They are passed along to the consumer. That is the way it all works. Providing regulatory relief for our small businesses will prevent small businesses from having to pass those costs on to their consumers. The Regulatory Flexibility Act is not a new phenomenon. This was enacted back in 1980 and requires Federal agencies to consider the effects their regulations have on small businesses and other small entities. The RFA's goal is to reduce the economic impact of agency regulation on small businesses. That sounds like a good thing to me. If you are trying to consider opportunities to lower costs to the consumer, it seems like that is just exactly the type of thing you would want to do. In 1996, long before Donald Trump became President, Congress amended the Regulatory Flexibility Act to add judicial review relative to some of its provisions to require some agencies to hold small business advocacy review panels and mandate that Federal agencies produce regulatory compliance guidelines. Congress has not amended the RFA since 2010 when it made technical corrections and mandated that the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau convene small business review panels when promulgating rules. Again, all of that seems like good government and a good idea, especially in an environment where you want to control costs. After Congress enacted the Regulatory Flexibility Act, some evidence suggests that fellow agencies seriously undertook the policy of reducing the regulatory burden on small businesses, but evidence shows that the burden on small businesses continues to increase. Mr. Speaker, that is why we are here. That burden continues to increase. What happens then is the cost of goods and services increase and are passed on to customers, customers who are our constituents who sent us here to do something about the high prices that they pay. Mr. Speaker, I urge this body to support the rule and the underlying pieces of legislation. These bills solve critical issues facing our country today. They are thoughtfully drafted and worthy of bipartisan support. I thank the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on the Judiciary for their work on these bills. I urge a strong showing of support in this body. Now, I will comment briefly on the ranking member's issue with the waiver provided in the rule before I yield back. I understand his role is to find shortcomings in what the Rules Committee produces. He is good at that. He does a fine job of that, but he also tends to have a very short memory of when he held the gavel. I will remind the ranking member that when he had the gavel, his committee waived paygo 25 times, which is more than the majority by several factors. I am proud of the work we have done on the committee, even with the challenges that the ranking member can appreciate. Again, I urge this body to support this rule and support the underlying legislation.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared for the gentleman to close.

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

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, my colleague has talked a lot about the Victims of Communism Foundation and the bill that has been introduced to support their efforts. Unfortunately, he misses the point of the bill. Congress specifically chartered the Victims of Communism Foundation to study the abuses of communism. This was actually signed into law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. We have no doubt that harmful political ideologies besides communism exist, but the point of this bill is to educate students specifically about communism. There is an acute need to educate students on the topic given how many students are ignorant to communism's abuses, and this is the work that the Victims of Communism Foundation is best equipped to conduct. Mr. Speaker, if Democrats wish to expand, my colleagues are free to introduce their own bill covering other topics, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Alford).

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, last night, the House Committee on Rules met to report House Resolution 1602, providing for consideration of two pieces of legislation. First, the rule provides for consideration of H.R. 5349, the Crucial Communism Teaching Act, under a structured rule, with 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and the ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce. It also provides for one motion to recommit. Second, the rule provides for consideration of H.R. 7198, the Prove It Act, under a structured rule, with 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. It also provides one motion to recommit. Mr. Speaker, a report recently found that nearly one-half of Gen Z students are unaware that the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for more deaths than Nazi Germany. One-quarter of Gen Z students holds a favorable opinion of communism, and nearly 20 percent think that communism is a better system of government than capitalism. Further, roughly 500 million copies of ``The Communist Manifesto'' have been sold since 1848, more than three times as many as ``The Lord of the Rings,'' and more than twice as many as ``A Tale of Two Cities.'' The ignorance is stunning given one-fifth of the world's population, over 1 billion people, lives under Communist control. Our youngest generations' view of communism is a failure of our educational system. The Crucial Communism Teaching Act bolsters the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation's ability to educate high school students on the facts, history, and dangers of communist ideology. According to the foundation, Communist governments have caused the deaths of over 100 million people and oppressed hundreds of millions more since the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. I hope this body continues to show strong, bipartisan support for this important piece of legislation. The second bill under consideration is the Prove It Act, which continues House Republicans' efforts to rightsize the Federal Government and eliminate unnecessary burdens on our job creators. For too long, Federal regulators have ignored or underestimated the cost that they impose on small businesses. The result is a regulatory state that is simply crushing small businesses. Some estimates put the regulatory toll as high as $14,000 per employee annually. This is on top of the cost of inflation, supply chain issues, energy unaffordability, and other burdens that the Biden- Harris administration has inflicted on our communities and our livelihoods. Today, small businesses spend over seven times as much per employee as medium-sized businesses on regulatory compliance. When we disadvantage our small businesses, Communist governments like China fill the void with their own. The Prove It Act will empower small businesses to hold regulators accountable and force them to consider the impact of the regulatory red tape that they impose. This commonsense legislation makes certain that agencies are complying with their statutory obligations and accurately account for the costs of their rulemaking. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bills, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1602 and ask for its immediate consideration.

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

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor U.S. Army Sergeant Arthur Othello McNitzky. Arthur was the first Denton County soldier to die in combat in World War I. His call to service and sacrifice made a lasting impact on multiple generations. McNitzky was raised in Denton, Texas and answered the Nation's call to service, enlisting in the U.S. Army on June 30, 1917. He was listed as a Private in Company M, 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Division, U.S. Army. After enlisting, McNitzky was sent for training to Camp Bowie in Fort Worth. McNitzky was killed in action during the Battle of Argonne Forest in St. Etienne, France. The Battle of the Argonne Forest, also known as the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, is recognized as a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I. The Battle of Argonne Forest was hard fought over an agonizing 47 days, from September 26, 1918 until November 11, 1918. For his valiant service in action, Sergeant McNitzky was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French government. His mother, Emma McNitzky, and her daughter, Rosa, traveled to France to claim Arthur's body and bring his remains home. He was buried beside his father, August McNitzky, and shares a headstone with him in the McNitzky family plot in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Denton, Texas. Sergeant McNitzky's selfless sacrifice is to be respectfully reflected upon and remembered more than one hundred years later. We are forever grateful to the many men and women who have served and continue to serve in our nation's armed forces. On Veterans Day 2024, Judge Forrest C. Beadle, Denton County Criminal Court No. 3, and Commander of American Legion Post 71, presented me with a United States flag that had been planted at Sergeant McNitzky's gravesite. The label reads ``SGT Arthur O. McNitzky The American Legion, Post 71 Denton, Texas Remembrance Day October 8, 1918-October 8, 2018''. STILL SERVING. It is my honor to recognize Sergeant McNitzky's sacrifice and the continuing service of Denton's Post 71, in honor of Sergeant McNitzky, with donation of this special American flag to the Denton County Office of History and Culture.

Mr. BURGESS

Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, prior to coming to Congress, I was a medical doctor. In fact, I still have an active medical license. I feel like I should go back and seek a designation as a specialist in treating Trump derangement syndrome, because after 10 years on the Rules Committee, I really feel that I have earned that. Several years ago, the columnist George Will opined that--this was in the Clinton administration. I was just a regular guy. I wasn't in political office, had no aspirations to be in political office. George Will opined that the country was evenly divided, he said, but fortunately it is not sharply divided. Now, since then, we have seen a country that has evolved and become more and more and more sharply divided. That is too bad. That is a shame. It robs us of some of the ability we have to get things done when our divisions are so deep and divisive that we simply cannot overcome them. Last week, I felt as if the national fever had broken. It broke because President-elect Donald Trump won the election. He won it decisively. There is no further contest that is to be had over the Presidential election because it is done. The American people spoke and they spoke clearly. Why did they speak clearly? They spoke clearly because they felt they had not been listened to and they had not been heard. I mean, the gentleman brought up that the country had been hurt by the policies. Oh, my gosh, your own Democratic economic expert said don't do the American Rescue Plan, don't do the Inflation Reduction Act, you are going to kill people with crippling inflation, Steve Rattner, the former Secretary of the Treasury, when you were doing your reconciliation bills last Congress, and it all fell on deaf ears. Then what happened? Inflation shot up to 9 percent. Although in recent months you say, oh, well, it is back down to 2 percent, I am sorry, eggs are still at their peak that they were at the time of that 9 percent inflation. You don't get to walk the prices back down just because you have kept the inflation rate down for a particular month. Madam Speaker, the American people did speak, and they spoke the need for a new direction, a direction for this country where economic prosperity, limited government, and opportunity are once again the three cornerstones of the American Dream. Today begins a new chapter by considering measures that thoughtfully solve the very real challenges created by the Federal bureaucracy. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying legislation. Let's get back to work on improving the lives of the American people. Our long national fever has broken. Let's get to work. Let's get on with the future.