Ken Calvert

Mr. CALVERT

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and pay tribute to Phil Green, who passed away on Saturday, July 19, 2025. Phil was an incredible father, citizen, and advocate for ALS patients, and he will be deeply missed. Phil Green's journey was one of resilience, dedication, and advocacy. A former walk-on kicker for the 1991 University of Washington National Championship football team, Green went on to build a fulfilling life with his wife Jennifer and their four children, Arianne, Hunter, Parker, and Whitney, in Temecula, California. Unfortunately, he began experiencing unexplained muscle weakness in early 2018 and was diagnosed with ALS later that year. Following his diagnosis, Green became a tireless advocate, working with prominent ALS organizations such as Augie's Quest, I AM ALS, and others, and he worked with Major League Baseball to raise awareness of ALS and Lou Gehrig's day. Beyond advocacy and raising awareness, Green was committed to advancing research by partnering with UW Medicine to support ALS initiatives at the Center for Translational Muscle Research and the Institute for Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine. His life centered on creating a better future for others with ALS, combining personal courage with public advocacy to drive meaningful change. Phil is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and four children. I extend my personal and heartfelt condolences to the Green family, his friends, and everyone fortunate enough to know Phil. Although he may be gone, Phil's many contributions have left an enduring legacy. I and many others will keep working until we find a cure for ALS.

Mr. CALVERT

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in proud recognition of four Corona High School students, Seth Hernandez, Billy Carlson, Brady Ebel, and Ethin Bingaman who were selected in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft. Seth Hernandez, Billy Carlson, and Brady Ebel were selected in the First Round on Sunday, and Ethin Bingaman was selected in the Twentieth Round on Monday. This is the first time in Major League Baseball Draft history that three players from the same high school were drafted in the first round. I am always proud to calI myself an alumnus of Corona High School, but I am especially proud this week. Corona High School has a long history of excellence on the baseball diamond. Seth, Billy, Brady, and Ethin are the latest in a long line of Corona High School players who have made their way to Major League Baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Arizona Diamondbacks are all incredibly lucky to draft Seth, Billy, Brady, and Ethin, respectively, and I know they will represent the school and our community well. I wish them all the best in the next step of their journey, and along with all Corona residents and Corona High School alumni, I look forward to cheering them on in the Major League.

Mr. CALVERT

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I think there may be a misunderstanding about bioindustrial manufacturing, what it is and what it is not. Bioindustrial manufacturing is not cultivating meat. However, bioindustrial manufacturing is critical to energetics, such as hypersonic fuels, critical chemicals for munitions and missiles, and materials that literally increase the bang for the buck. In the 1980s, the United States developed what we called CL-20, one of the most powerful nonnuclear explosive chemicals ever created, but we did not produce it at scale. China, unfortunately, found our research and then scaled production. Now, the Chinese and Russian arsenals have this very powerful ingredient. We cannot allow China to be the world innovation leader in any field, including bioindustrial manufacturing. We must continue tried and true practices to adopt new technologies to fortify the American defense industrial base. American lethality is degraded without bioindustrial manufacturing. Meanwhile, China and Russia benefit from American research. That has to stop. I am going to make a point here. BioMADE is a product. It is not a manufacturer and does not manufacture lab-grown meat. BioMADE has never funded research projects for lab-grown meat, has no current research projects on lab-grown meat, and has no plans to fund projects on lab- grown meat in the future. I think we have a misunderstanding. We need this technology for our energetics, which we use in our explosion devices very effectively. Mr. Chair, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), who is the ranking member.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, our interests are energetics that go into explosion devices. A big part of that is the BioMADE industry.

Mr. CALVERT. I am not interested in the substitutes.

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

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, this amendment strikes all funding for the Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid account. The funding is used by DOD to assist during humanitarian disasters. The funding is also used when specialized DOD experience is needed, such as detection and clearance of landmines, unexploded ordnance, and other explosive remnants of war. Even to this day, we are cleaning up World War II remnants. President Trump's budget request includes just over $100 million for this account. I urge a ``no'' vote on this amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I greatly admire the gentlewoman from Georgia's passion for ensuring support for our overseas allies are a wise use of taxpayers' dollars, but support for Taiwan must be part of that equation. Just yesterday, the Trump administration released a statement of administration policy for the Defense appropriations bill. I was very supportive of the bill we produced. One of the very few areas the administration expressed any slight disagreement with our bill was wanting more money for Taiwan. The administration has proposed including $1 billion while this bill provides $500 million. Mr. Chair, had OMB delivered budget materials to us in time for consideration, we would have certainly taken a look at providing what they requested, but that wasn't the case. Supporting Taiwan in the face of unrelenting Chinese aggression is absolutely in the vital interests of the United States. I point out that Taiwan makes 90 percent of the world's chips and close to 100 percent of the highly needed chips for artificial intelligence and high technical devices. The funding will go a long way to making sure that Taiwan has the resources necessary to help prevent a Chinese invasion. That is the position of the Trump administration, and that is the position of this bill. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment, and I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum).

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

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, the amendment strikes $15 million for HIV prevention education activities undertaken in connection with the United States military training exercises and the humanitarian assistance activities conducted primarily in African nations. This funding supports the Defense Health Program, and those funds are credited with scaling back the AIDS epidemic in Africa. This program has long enjoyed support across party lines.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, the gentlewoman's amendment would strike $500 million in funding for the vital Israeli missile defense capability. Over the past 2 years, Israel repeatedly has been attacked by Iran and its terrorist proxy groups, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. Each time, these groups have vowed to destroy the State of Israel. The United States has affirmed our resolve to stand with Israel by helping defend against the recent missile raids launched by Iran against Israel's civilian population. The success of Israel's robust missile defense capability is, in part, because these funds were provided in this bill and prior bills. Furthermore, this funding benefits our own missile defense industrial base, as it provides for coproduction activities and shared technology development. It is certainly to our mutual advantage. With that, I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment. Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the ranking member.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Fine).

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

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Chair, Jordan remains an indispensable ally in an extremely dangerous region. Our partnership with the Kingdom of Jordan is critical both to the regional and U.S. national security. We must continue to ensure Jordan can counter extremist terrorist threats and have the resources necessary to continue their role as the linchpin in the region. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment, and I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. McCollum), the ranking member.

Mr. CALVERT. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. CALVERT. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to the gentlewoman's amendment. Sadly, we saw for years how the Biden administration failed to provide Ukraine the resources necessary to fight back in an effective way against Russian aggression. Just the other day, President Trump took decisive action to provide weapons to Ukraine to defend against these unprovoked attacks. The President is right to support efforts to ensure innocent lives are no longer lost. He is right to undertake efforts to stop the bloodshed. As he continues to work toward a peaceful solution, we should not remove the ability to provide what he thinks will help the Ukrainian people to prevent further losses and use as leverage to negotiate a peace agreement hopefully very soon. Madam Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition but not the intent of the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Madam Chair, I state to the gentlewoman that certainly I look forward to working with her as we move forward with this legislation to make sure that we have the right type of language. What I am going to do is work with the gentlewoman as we move forward on this legislation to make sure that we don't have any unintended consequences in the language. We will do that as we move this legislation forward. I appreciate the gentlewoman withdrawing the amendment.

Mr. CALVERT. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time. Amendment No. 248 Offered by Mr. Ogles