Andy Biggs

Mr. BIGGS

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Georgia. Mr. Speaker, how much time is remaining?

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I stand tonight with a number of my colleagues to shed light and ask questions and discuss the conflicts of interest of Mr. Mueller and several others in the previous administration. As I recall the events of the past 2 years, it becomes clearer than ever that Mr. Mueller should resign. If he does not resign, then he should be fired. I believe he has conflicts of interest that do not allow him to proceed with his investigation in an unbiased, independent manner. Further, he has broadened the scope of his investigation far beyond his charge to examine Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. In the process, he is helping to attack the integrity, perception, and credibility of the American justice and electoral system. Mr. Speaker, my constituents want answers. Congress has sought answers from the previous administration for many years. Without exception, the Obama administration stonewalled these attempts. Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation are the subject of many of these questions and subsequent investigations. Ms. Clinton did not become President. Some say that, because of this, we should not complete our investigations into multiple allegations of misconduct, but this is misguided. No American is above the law. Losing an election does not grant immunity for misconduct. Whether Ms. Clinton is Secretary of State, President of the United States, or a citizen of Chappaqua, New York, she should be held to the same standard as everyone else. I am pleased that the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees share this sentiment. Our committees will soon be launching a joint investigation into the unanswered questions surrounding the allegations that we have mentioned. We intend to get truthful answers to these questions. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman being here and speaking tonight. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jody B. Hice), my good friend who has been waiting like patience on a monument.

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for his remarks. It is my pleasure now to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio for his eloquent comments. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Meadows).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I will do my best to sum up. What you have heard tonight, those who have been listening, are the outlines of the scandal of our lifetime--the scandal of our lifetime that began in 2009 and proceeded forth even to revelations in the last 36 hours of Mr. Comey changing the wording in his draft from the statutory culpable mental state requirement of gross negligence to merely carelessness. That is a huge change as he prepared his draft report on Mrs. Clinton and the misuse of her email server giving access--which we don't even know. We don't have access to that. But you take this back from the Uranium One situation, the transaction that should never have happened, the money that changed hands, and you look at the common thread throughout. Well, oddly enough, it is Robert Mueller. Robert Mueller sits today as the investigator of the supposed collusion between the Trump administration and the Russians to influence the election. Oddly enough, it has turned on its head. We have found out now that it is the DNC and the Hillary Clinton campaign that was funding Fusion GPS, trying to influence the American electorate. It is upside down. Yet the person who is tied throughout all of this is Robert Mueller. He is the guy conducting the investigation. Is there any clearer conflict of interest than what we see in this special investigator? Again, with my colleagues--I thank all of them who have spoken tonight--I renew my call for his resignation, short of that, his termination of employment. This is the scandal of our time. It affects our national security, the views of the American people for justice, and our elections. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for his remarks, and I am grateful to have him here tonight. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his remarks, and I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas, my friend, for his leadership on this issue. I appreciate his giving his remarks tonight. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.

Mr. BIGGS. I thank the gentleman from Florida and I appreciate his remarks. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan).

Mr. BIGGS

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Colorado, Mr. Buck, for yielding to me. I am grateful for his leadership as a conservative. It has been my honor to serve with him this past year. I appreciate him sharing some time with me tonight as I share several important stories. Mr. Speaker, these are stories of real people, not just some people who are distant to us. These are people that we know, people just like this. Mr. Speaker, one early January morning in 2015, a young man named Grant Ronnebeck began the graveyard shift at a QuikTrip convenience store in my district. After his parents divorce, Grant took the initiative to find a job working at this convenience store in Mesa, Arizona, to help his family pay the bills. He was only 21 years old. He had his entire life ahead of him. Just before 4 a.m., an angry customer walked in, demanded a pack of cigarettes, and dumped a handful of change on the store counter. Grant started to count the money, but he saw the customer pull a gun out and point it directly at his head. Grant tried to immediately hand over the cigarettes in a desperate attempt to save his life, but it was too late. The customer shot Grant in the face in cold blood, took the cigarettes, and casually walked out of the store. Grant's father describes him as being his buddy from the minute he was born and a person that brightened everybody. He did not leave the store alive that night. The customer's name was Apolinar Altamirano. He was an illegal alien with a long criminal record, including violent crimes. He was held in Federal custody, but then released while he awaited deportation proceedings. Our government let Grant down when they allowed Grant's killer to walk out of custody and onto our streets. Altamirano should have remained in custody until he was deported, but he was set free, and Grant was killed due to the government's failure to hold this violent criminal in custody until deported. Sadly, Grant's story is not unique. Many Americans are aware of another tragic incident, the case of Kate Steinle. Kate was 32 years old. She was walking along a San Francisco pier when an illegal alien shot and killed her. This illegal alien had just been released from prison again. He should have been held until deportation, but he, in fact, had been deported many times previously. Even then, he was set free, only to kill Kate Steinle. In 2014, Mesa, Arizona, Police Officer Brandon Mendoza was killed in a wrong-way crash by an illegal alien who was driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. And in January 2016, Sarah Root was murdered by an illegal alien who was drunk and drag racing in Omaha, Nebraska. In each of these cases, Grant and Brandon, I am privileged to know their parents, Steve Ronnebeck and Mary Ann Mendoza. These are fierce advocates who tirelessly work to make sure these types of tragedies never happen to another family. I am grateful for their efforts, and I believe that we are making significant headway to stop these types of catch and release programs that allow criminals to remain on our streets. In June of this year, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3003, the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, and H.R. 3004, Kate's Law, tandemly. These bills would end the policies that contributed to the tragic deaths of Grant, Kate, Brandon, and Sarah. I was pleased to coauthor the first bill, which included my legislation, Grant's Law. Grant's Law is named in memory of Grant Ronnebeck. All Americans can agree that someone who is criminally violent should not be released back on to the streets. Yet, for years, the Obama administration's policies failed to protect Americans by allowing criminally violent illegal aliens to roam our streets and neighborhoods. These types of tragedies are preventable when the Federal Government enacts and enforces the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act and Kate's Law. Congress has begun to take meaningful action to bring these tragedies to an end, starting with the two bills we passed in June. Chairman Bob Goodlatte showed leadership and commitment to ensure these important bills received swift consideration. These two bills, if enacted and enforced, would protect innocent Americans to prevent future tragedies like those of Grant, Kate, Brandon, and Sarah. When the bills passed out of the House, I hoped these bills would receive a swift vote in the Senate. That has not happened. I am still hoping for this vote to take place. I call upon the leadership of the Senate to put these bills up for a floor vote. We owe it to our constituents to put arcane tradition aside and to pass policies that will protect them. Yet, even in a Republican- controlled Senate, we cannot receive an up-or-down vote on these important immigration enforcement bills. Why is this? Mr. Speaker, I firmly believe the answer lies in the fatally flawed 60-vote rule. It is more commonly known as the filibuster, but the Senate's tradition is preventing consideration of nearly all legislation passed from the House. For example, look at our current situation. Since January, the House has passed over 300 bills, including the two immigration and enforcement bills I have just discussed. These bills will most likely languish until the end of the term, in large part, due to the filibuster rule. So what can be done about this irresponsible inaction? Well, the Senate can change the rule. Indeed, the Senate must change the rule. Many people do not realize that the 60-vote requirement is not even in the United States Constitution. It dates back to 1917, when the Senate agreed that debate could be cut off with a two-thirds majority vote. Decades later, when deciding a two-thirds vote was found to be too difficult to achieve, the Senate reduced the number of required votes to three-fifths, or 60 of the current 100 Senators. The filibuster is a tradition, barely a century old, less than half the age of the U.S. Constitution. There is a place for rules and traditions, but not when they obstruct the will of American people. Is it honorable for the United States Senate to have a gentleman's agreement to keep bills from being voted on, or to dilute our representation in the United States Senate? Americans would rather that Congress pass just and reasonable laws than to preserve extraconstitutional, institutional traditions. Americans want our borders secure and our immigration laws to be enforced. Congress is running out of time to keep its promises to the American people. We promised to ensure that what happened to Kate, Grant, Brandon, and Sarah would not happen again. The House has done its duty. It is time for the Senate to do its duty. There are no excuses to allow these bills to die in the Senate. I encourage my friends in the Senate to eliminate the 60-vote rule and to consider the two immigration enforcement bills that the House passed in June. We must not allow inaction to be the enemy of our sworn responsibilities as representatives of the American people. Again, I thank my friend from Colorado. I appreciate the opportunity to say what has been on my mind for some time.

Mr. BIGGS

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, every November we commemorate Native American Heritage Month. I am honored to share a long-standing partnership with Indian Tribes located in Arizona and across the United States. This includes our most recent efforts to extend the AMBER Alert program to Indian Country, which will ensure that every family in Indian Country is afforded the same resources to find a missing child. Today I am especially grateful to recognize the valiant service of Native American U.S. Marines during the Iwo Jima campaign: Ira Hayes, a member of the Gila River Pima Indian community, is most notably remembered as one of the servicemen who raised the American flag over Mount Suribachi. The Navajo Code Talkers were also irreplaceable during World War II. The Code Talkers effectively transmitted combat messages across enemy lines to avoid interception and decryption. Major Howard Connor said it best: ``Were it not for the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.'' Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to highlight their contributions to Arizona and the United States.

Mr. BIGGS

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank all of my colleagues who have joined us tonight to champion the cause and inquire how much time I have remaining.

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Smucker; I appreciate his comments and his willingness to participate this evening. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gosar).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Florida for his impassioned speech, his position, his comments regarding the bill, and his desire to see it altered, but I do appreciate his support of the bill. Mr. Speaker, I am certainly grateful to have this opportunity to yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smucker).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Fitzpatrick; I appreciate all that he has done and continues to do in this cause, this important cause. He is a great leader in this, and I am grateful for all of his effort here. At this point, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I am here this evening, along with my friend and colleague, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, as we advocate for the passage of the Right to Try Act. This bill, which we introduced together, has dozens of bipartisan cosponsors, including Members here tonight. We are both supportive of Senator Ron Johnson's efforts to champion Right to Try in the Senate. He has been a tireless advocate of Right to Try for years, and his bill has already passed the Senate with unanimous consent. If you are watching the Senate very closely, you will know that nothing comes out of there, and certainly nothing with unanimous consent; so that tells how strong the sentiment is in favor of this bill. Our legislation allows terminally ill patients who have no further options left--I repeat that, no further options left--the opportunity to try experimental drugs that could save their own lives. Yes, there are also provisions in our bill to protect both the patients, as well as the pharmaceutical companies who want to participate, but those provisions are secondary to the primary purpose of this legislation. The primary purpose of the Right to Try Act is to give brave patients across this country some choice over their own destinies, when all other avenues are gone. We want to give hope to these Americans, and we should all share that same goal of doing everything we can for patients fighting to save their lives. This policy has significant bipartisan support. The Trump administration strongly supports Right to Try, and President Trump has indicated he would likely sign this bill into law. Time is of the essence, for time is one thing a terminally ill patient does not have. And the status quo is not the answer. The FDA and other agency officials claim that their own expanded access program is working and continues to improve. There may be some truth to that, but the program is simply not enough; and I know that because I have talked to dozens and dozens of patients, family members, and advocates who tell me it is not enough. They come to my office, they call me on the phone, they write me impassioned letters. These same advocates have ensured that Right to Try has become law in 38 States. Think about that for a moment. With one more State, you could actually ratify a Constitutional amendment. And in half of those 38 States, Right to Try laws passed with unanimous support. In my home State of Arizona, voters approved that initiative by 80 percent of the popular vote. At a time when pundits are claiming that our politics are broken, and Republicans and Democrats can't come together on anything, here is a cause that Americans of all political stripes can unite in. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to mention how I came to really be converted to the cause of right to try. I served in the Arizona State Legislature with Laura Knaperek, who was also serving in the legislature when I first met her. By 2014, she was no longer serving in the State legislature. She was an advocate. That year, Laura was in the fight of her life against ovarian cancer, and her mission was to see right-to-try legislation passed into law. In the end, her efforts for this cause succeeded beyond everyone's wildest expectations when 80 percent of the electorate in Arizona voted to enact right to try. But, unfortunately, Laura is not with us because she lost her brave battle with cancer last year. Her legacy as a tireless patient advocate lives on. I will continue to carry on the fight not just for Laura Knaperek, but for all those patients across this country who are battling against the odds every day. I am joined by those who are here tonight, those who have cosponsored this bill, and many other advocacy groups, such as the Goldwater Institute in Arizona that continues to fight for this. I fight for Bertrand Might. Bertrand is a very special little boy. He was the first person ever to be diagnosed with a rare, fatal genetic disorder called NGLY1 that has left this 7-year-old paralyzed. Because the disease was only identified by scientists in 2012 and only a few people worldwide have been diagnosed with it, there is no cure and no treatment available. Because the disorder is so rare, a drug may never be developed to treat it. But scientists have found that Bertrand responds to certain investigational therapies. So Bertrand's family will have to rely on trying those new investigational medications as long as they have access to them. That is why we need this right-to-try legislation. I fight for Jordan McLinn. Seven-year-old Jordan says he wants to grow up to be a firefighter so he can save lives. He has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which could leave him paralyzed within 5 years and shortens his life expectancy to only 20 years. There is a drug now being used in clinical trials that is helping young people like Jordan, but it could take another 7 years for that drug to be available on the market. His parents cannot afford to wait for the FDA to give that drug its final approval. He could be in a wheelchair by then. This investigational drug could add years to Jordan's life, which would give him the chance to save others. We have already heard, when Representative Fitzpatrick discussed Matt Bellina, his needs and his advocacy. We fight for him, and we fight for Mikaela Knapp. At 24, Mikaela was diagnosed with a deadly form of kidney cancer that had already migrated into her bones before she even knew she was sick. She went through every known treatment in a matter of months and nothing worked. Her high school sweetheart, Keith, heard about a drug under development that was successfully treating people with this same cancer, but Mikaela was not allowed to enroll in the clinical trial. Mikaela and Keith launched a social media campaign to try to get access to the drug, but it wasn't enough. The FDA didn't help. Mikaela died on April 24, 2014. Five months later, on September 4, the FDA gave final approval to the drug that might have saved her. I fight for Diego Morris. When he was 10 years old, Diego woke up with a sore leg that his mom thought was just another sports injury, but the pain didn't go away. They knew something was wrong, but they never expected osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. After exhausting all treatments available, Diego's doctors recommended he try mifamurtide, which wasn't available in the United States but was being safely used and had been given the Prix Galien Award, the gold medal for pharmaceutical development in England. The Morris family wasted no time and made the move abroad to try to save Diego's life. The treatments worked. Now Diego is back home in Phoenix and back to playing his favorite sports. We fight unitedly for the countless other patients who deserve a right to try. We must act without further delay. Again, I thank those who have been here to testify tonight. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. BIGGS

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

Mr. BIGGS

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Mr. Roberto Sanchez, a resident of Arizona's Fifth Congressional District, who retired from 35 years of federal service on September 29, 2017. Mr. Sanchez began his career by serving for three years as a proud member of the United States Marine Corps. He then joined the legacy U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service in 1985 as a Deportation Officer, which later became Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2003. In 2003, Mr. Sanchez became a deputized member of the United States Marshal's Service Fugitive Apprehension Task Force for the Northern District of Florida and five years later, he was promoted to Supervisory Deportation Officer. He helped establish direct oversight to the Harris County Sheriff's Office 287(g) program in Houston, Texas. The 287(g) program enables federal immigration officials to work directly with state and local law enforcement to identify and remove criminal illegal aliens. In 2010, Mr. Sanchez was promoted to his fmal position of 287(g) Field Program Manager for ICE, where he managed and provided oversight to various 287(g) programs throughout the southwestern United States. These 287(g) programs include Harris County Sheriff's Office in Houston, Texas, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office in Florence, Arizona, and the Mesa Police Department. He was last assigned to the ICE Field Office in Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Sanchez has been a resident of Gilbert, Arizona since 2007. Outside of the office, Mr. Sanchez is a loyal fan of all Arizona sports teams. Most importantly, he is a dedicated family man and spends most of his time with his wife of 36 years, Shirley, his two children, Robert and Sandra, and his two Boston Terriers. I thank Mr. Sanchez for his extraordinary service and life commitment to our country, and congratulations to him on his retirement

Mr. BIGGS

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I express my gratitude and thanks to my colleague and good friend, Trent Franks, for yielding and for his leadership and tireless work on behalf of the unborn. Congressman Franks' fight to save each and every life is one that we should all be championing, and I am proud and pleased to be standing by his side today. I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to fight for the unborn in venues around the world at various multilateral institutions standing on behalf of the unborn. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a proud cosponsor in support of H.R. 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. If signed into law, this legislation will prohibit abortions starting at 20 weeks, almost 5 months, in all 50 States. The pro-abortion lobby will tell you to disregard the rights of unborn children, but science shows that they are just as human as you and I. In fact, emerging science has proven that babies feel pain inside the womb as early as 20 weeks old. In cases of fetal surgeries occurring after the 20-week mark, anesthesia is regularly administered to the fetus to protect against fetal pain. Doctors have also experienced babies born prematurely at or near 20 weeks who experience pain in the same way that a full-term baby or an adult would. It is inhumane to subject these innocent beings to that gruesome practice of abortion, knowing full well that they will feel every painful moment. Mr. Speaker, I think about my own children and how excited my wife and I were throughout her pregnancies. Even without today's developed science, we knew that our children were special, that they were alive, that they were helpless, and that we had the responsibility for their safety and well-being in the womb. We never would have intentionally caused pain or harm to any of our unborn children. But by allowing this practice to continue, we are not only torturing these helpless babies who will be dismembered limb by limb, we are also ending their lives. They will never realize their God-given potential on this Earth. They will never be mothers, wives, husbands, and fathers. They will never be siblings. They will never be able to fulfill the measure of their creation. Their last memory will be filled with great agony and distress. Mr. Speaker, there is nothing that we do in Congress that will have efficacy if we choose to fail to protect the most innocent among us. If, at the very least, we cannot defend those who feel pain, then we are unworthy to lead this Nation. We have a great responsibility and charge to protect these children, and we will not fail them. Please vote ``yes'' tomorrow.

Mr. BIGGS

Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Grace Kaznick of Mesa, Arizona who recently celebrated her 100th birthday. She was born in Morrison, Colorado on September 2, 1917 and graduated from Bear Creek High School in 1935. Grace married her lifelong partner, Patrick Phillips, in September 1937. Grace worked as an accountant at Loretto Heights College and for Jefferson County Schools for her entire career. Throughout her life she has been an avid golfer and has played over 139 courses in the United States, United Kingdom, and Mexico. She achieved two hole-in-ones, one in Colorado and one in our district at Apache Wells Country Club in Mesa. Since moving to Arizona in the 1980's, Grace has been very active with the Arizona Women's Golf Association. Grace has a beautiful family of four children, five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren. All five generations of her family gathered m Mesa on September 2, 2017 to celebrate her 100th birthday. Congratulations to Grace on achieving one hundred years young.