Carlos Gimenez

Mr. GIMENEZ

Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1. Americans love election season. They absolutely love the endless political ads, having their phones blown up by political calls and texts, and having their email inboxes littered with solicitations from want-to-be politicians. My phone keeps ringing off the hook from all of my constituents just pleading for Congress to use their dollars to fund more campaign ads. This is the fantasy world that government bureaucrats and career politicians who want a Federal takeover of our elections live in. They want to take Americans' money and give it to campaigns at a 6-to-1 ratio, effectively forcing you to finance political campaigns you don't support. H.R. 1, the so-called For the People Act, weaponizes the FEC into a partisan commission and throws out commonsense voter I.D. laws, just to name a few. As one of the only Members of Congress who has actually had to implement election protocols, I speak on authority when it comes to our elections. This bill is a travesty for all Americans.

Mr. GIMENEZ

Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to this egregious, so-called police reform bill. The process used to craft this bill is nonsense. In a normal functioning Congress, the Speaker would bring together Republicans and Democrats to discuss ways to push needed police reforms. But in this dysfunctional Congress, we got a bill that strips our frontline police officers from qualified immunity, that will weaken and possibly destroy our communities' police forces. Mr. Speaker, as mayor and sheriff of Miami-Dade County, and a former SWAT medic myself, I was actually responsible for ensuring my community was kept safe from lawlessness. I understand firsthand the importance of qualified immunity for police officers to carry out their jobs. Officers perform vital tasks requiring split-second decisions under intense circumstances. Taking away qualified immunity will lead to police officers not taking the decisive actions and rendering it impossible for them to do their job. Without this security, officers will resign and deplete our police force, leaving our communities--the very ones who need a strong police force the most--less safe and costing the lives of countless Americans. Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to vote against this dangerous bill.

Mr. GIMENEZ

Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a transformational partnership announced in my districtbetween Florida International University and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.