Bob Good

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for his leadership on this critically important issue. You might say what the House of Representatives does is tax and spend. Thankfully, we are the party that wants to tax less and spend less, so it is a win-win for the American people, a win-win for freedom, a win-win for Americans as a whole. It is appropriate on this day of all days, national tax day, to be discussing the state of our tax system. It is no secret to most Americans that the IRS does not serve their interests and, worse yet, frequently uses its power to target law-abiding American citizens and conservative groups. The American people are sick and tired of dealing with a broken, confusing, and even hostile tax system. My office regularly hears from constituents who simply want to get an answer from the IRS when they are trying to do their taxes or want to know why they are forced to pay taxes for things such as an inheritance from their loved ones. Rather than take a hard look at the current situation, the Biden administration has made it clear they want to further weaponize the IRS against hardworking Americans by spending $80 billion to hire an estimated 87,000 new agents to harass, intimidate, and threaten taxpayers. In fact, in Virginia's Fifth District, one of the things I commonly hear is what we need more of is IRS agents. Of course, I have never heard that in Virginia's Fifth District. The American people deserve a better tax system that does not needlessly target them or even punish them for doing their best to work hard, put food on the table, and comply with an ever-more-complicated tax code. The addition of these 87,000 IRS agents should raise alarm bells for all Americans since the IRS and its employees regularly do not follow the limits of their lawful directive. We can point to example after example. As a matter of fact, just last month, an IRS employee was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, five counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of a false and fraudulent return, and three counts of making and subscribing a false and fraudulent tax return. Clearly, the American people do not need a more powerful and emboldened IRS. The current system must change, and that is where this bill from the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter) comes into play. The FairTax Act tax system is easy to understand, and it will save billions in compliance for taxpayers and the Federal Government. It holds all Americans to the same standard, a 23 percent sales tax. In doing so, Americans will not be onerously taxed on what they earn. Instead, they pay a fair tax on what they consume. It puts Americans in control of the taxes that they pay. It removes the discrimination that is in the tax system because everybody pays taxes based on what they consume. Organized crime pays taxes. Crime cartels pay taxes. The Mafia pays taxes. Tax cheats are paying. Under-the-table earners are paying. You get the idea. Today, the average American worker is forced to pay the Federal Government 33 cents of every dollar they earn as opposed to what we are proposing today, which is the fair tax of 23 cents for every dollar they spend if they choose to spend it. Thanks to the prebate plan in this bill, taxpayers will be able to spend up to the poverty guideline and have that amount be exempt from the impact of the 23 percent tax. Implementing this national sales tax will double the number of taxpayers in the system. Instead of having just about 150 million taxpayers who are currently having to pay income taxes, this would bring about 300 million Americans as consumers into the tax revenue. Everybody would be participating based on what they consume. Wealthy people would pay more because they spend more and make more expensive purchases, not to mention 51 million annual foreign tourists and some 12 million illegal immigrants in our country, illegal aliens who reside here. The FairTax Act is a commonsense reform that will unburden the American people and stimulate economic growth. Individuals will have more control over their finances and not be threatened with penalties or double taxation for investing and saving their own money. Rather than guess how much you owe each year or how much the government owes you, which a lot of us just had to do here, the FairTax Act will enable taxpayers to know exactly how much they are paying. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend Buddy Carter for his leadership on this that will put the American taxpayer first, unleash economic growth, and hold everyone accountable to one simple tax requirement.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the great Congresswoman from Illinois (Mrs. Miller), for her leadership on this all-important issue, this all-important opportunity to discuss the importance of faith. We are so privileged to live in a country where our right to worship or to not worship, our right to practice our faith or not to practice, to believe or not to believe, is protected, literally enshrined in our Constitution in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Our Founders, in fact, with this wonderful, great experiment in self- rule and self-governance, in a constitutional republic, literally sought divine intervention when they were forming this country. They prayed together and asked for wisdom and courage. They certainly showed that as patriots when they fought for our freedom some 250 years ago from, at that time, the world's greatest economic and military power. Our Founders fought for our freedom. They risked everything. I have a painting in my office, an artist's rendering, of George Washington, as general of the Continental Army, praying, seeking wisdom, seeking protection, seeking courage in the battle for our independence, for our freedom. Then, as the Congress came together and established this country, they sought again divine intervention. They sought wisdom. They sought the Lord's guidance in forming this country. Who were the Founders? Most of them were Christians. Most of them were Bible-believing Christians. Virtually all of them believed in a higher power, believed in a creator, believed in divine providence. Of course, the First Amendment, the reason why it was the first amendment, saying that Congress shall make no law establishing a religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, the intention of that, as they had escaped the oppression or the tyranny of England and a monarchy where there was a blended church-state, an official state church, they wanted the freedom from that so that everyone could again worship as they chose, believe as they chose, practice their faith as they chose, or do none of those things in a free country like the United States. Lest anyone should say, as commonly and incorrectly posited by some today, that there is this mythical separation of church and state, the Founders never intended that. All you have to do is read their extraconstitutional writings to know what they intended. They were seeking to protect the church from the government, never intending to protect the government from the influence of the church. That is why those very Founders, those signers of the Declaration, many of them, are the ones who started the practice of opening Congress every day in prayer, a practice we continue today. Those very Founders are the ones who declared a National Day of Prayer soon after founding this great Nation. Thankfully, that has continued to this day. America has been that shining city on a hill, not just because we have been economically strong, not just because we have been militarily strong, but as was famously said: America has been great because America has been good. America was founded upon Judeo-Christian principles, a belief that our rights are God-given, God-given rights that preceded the founding of our country, yet we are unique among the nations of the world, as those rights are protected in this country by our Constitution. No nation in the history of the world has ministered to more people around the globe, has brought the Gospel to more people around the globe, than the United States of America. No nation in the history of the world has rescued more people, ministered to more people, and freed more people than the United States of America. No nation in the history of the world has been more welcoming to people from all over the globe, immigrants from all over, to come to these shores from all ethnic backgrounds, all nationalities, all races, and to provide more upward mobility and opportunity than the United States of America. I submit that is because we are founded upon Biblical principles, Judeo-Christian principles, respect for life, respect for rule of law, respect for God-given rights. Again, that is protected in this country--unique among the nations of the world in our founding, unique among the nations of world where our rights are protected in our own Constitution. Those rights are under assault in this country. You are seeing increasing hostility from some on people of faith. You are seeing protections being eliminated for individuals or businessowners to practice their faith in the public square or to practice their faith in the way they run their business. You are seeing a lack of protection for people of faith from attack, from violence, and from vandalism at places of worship or at places like crisis pregnancy centers. You are even seeing the Federal Government targeting people based on their faith, as we recently saw with the FBI toward Catholics in the city of Richmond, just 30 minutes from the outskirts of my district. While it is still permitted in this country, we continue to open every morning in Congress, every day in Congress, every session, with prayer. While it is still permitted, I am going to take the opportunity here, with the time granted to me by my friend from Illinois, to share a little bit about my personal faith. I am a born-again Christian. I came to know the Lord when I was 9 years old. That is when the faith that my parents had raised me in became my own, where I personally made the decision to surrender to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. It doesn't matter what Bob Good believes. Bob Good has no more right to truth or a corner on truth than anyone else does. It does matter what the Bible says. The Bible says, in Romans 5:8: ``But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'' God loved us so much that he sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins so that we could have salvation, to pay for the sins of everyone in the world. John 3:16 says: ``For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.'' There is a reason why the protection of our faith and our religious freedom, our right to the free exercise of our faith, is enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution. What is more precious to a person than their own belief, their own faith, their ability to worship, their ability to assemble with other believers if they choose? What is a more important right or a more precious freedom than that? That is why, by the way, it is so egregious, just in the last couple of years, where we saw the government clamp down on the ability of people to assemble together, to worship, how they conducted their worship, whether or not they could conduct their worship. We saw that like no other time in the history of this country during the years 2020 and 2021, especially during the COVID years. What an egregious violation of the right to express our faith and to worship. We saw that on display during the 2 years when the China virus was ravaging our country. We kept liquor stores open. We kept casinos open. We kept other essential places open, but we didn't keep houses of worship open. That has done harm to our country. I think many of us recognize that America has been blessed in large part because of our dependence upon the Lord, our dependence on divine intervention, our dependence on guidance from our creator, a belief we were created unique in the image of God, created for a purpose, that there is more to this life than just the 80 or so years that God gives us if we live a long life. There is an eternity. The most important thing in life is to be prepared for eternity. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and my colleague from Illinois (Mrs. Miller) for organizing, arranging, and leading on this very important issue. I also thank her for letting me share today.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Biggs, my friend from Arizona for his leadership on this all-important issue. I also thank my friend from Montana and his remarks just a moment ago. Mr. Speaker, the Founders gave, in the Constitution, the authority for spending to the House of Representatives. It is the House of Representatives that most directly reflects where the American people are, what the American people's wishes are on a Federal level. It is not the White House. It is not the Senate. It certainly is not the Supreme Court. It is the people's House, the House of Representatives, which proportionally represents everyone across the country equally with some 800,000 citizens per representative. It is the House of Representatives that has the responsibility to ensure our ability to pay our Nation's debts and to protect the credit or the borrowing capacity for when it is necessary of the United States Federal Government. We talk often about what are the greatest threats to the country. There are numerous existential threats to our country right now, I would submit like never before in the history of the United States, brought on by the policies of this administration, Mr. Speaker, and those who had the majority of both Houses for the previous 2 years. Whether it is the open border where some 6 to 7 million illegals have swarmed into our country, facilitated and helped by this administration's policies. Whether it is our broken education system, our indoctrination on our college campuses, our K-12. Whether it is the weakening of our military, our failures on the national stage. Whether it is the threat of China. Whether it is our national debt and our spending. As we address tonight and discuss the national debt and the spending and the debt ceiling issue, the spending piece of this, the responsibility of the House is not just addressing that issue, but how we manage the United States' spending. The Federal spending addresses all of the other issues: to utilize the power of the purse, to stop funding the harmful policies. Not just the wasteful reckless spending, but the literal harmful spending that is making our country less safe, less secure, less prosperous, and less free. As we talked specifically about the national debt, it has been said already tonight, over $31 trillion. I happen to serve on the Budget Committee. A couple of weeks ago we brought before our committee, once again, OMB Director Shalanda Young, the Biden administration's budget director--funny term to apply budget director to anybody in this administration, Mr. Speaker--as we were having a chance to question the budget director for the Biden administration, I asked Ms. Young: What is the national debt? She could not tell me. She said it was somewhere around maybe $24 trillion. I corrected her that it was over $31 trillion. I asked her: How much does that equate to per American citizen? She did not know. I helped her with the fact that it is nearly $100,000 for 330 million American citizens. $100,000 per citizen. That means about $300,000 per taxpayer or per family. Mr. Speaker, I then asked her what is the percentage of debt to GDP? She did not know, Mr. Speaker. She thought it might be 90-some percent. I helped her with the information that it is about 125 percent debt to GDP ratio. I asked: When was the last time it was that high in the history of our country? She did not know. I helped her to realize that it was World War II. To follow up on what my friend from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) was saying a moment ago. We also had--another committee that I serve on, another caucus I am a part of, the Republican Study Committee--Federal Reserve Chairman Powell--he spoke to us about interest rates and about trying to bring down inflation. He shared his remarks. Once again, he did not deal with the issue of the national debt. He didn't even bring it up. He didn't bring up the Federal spending. I said to him: What is the number one cause of inflation? Historically, when we raise interest rates, we are trying to what? Cool a hot economy to ward off a recession. Instead, we have caused the inflation with the spending, and now we are making it worse on the American people by raising the interest rates in a futile attempt to reduce inflation in a weak economy and making things worse for the American people. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the remarks a few moments ago from my colleague from Arizona (Mr. Biggs), I led a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellan asking her about what Mr. Biggs was speaking about a moment ago. What is her plan to ensure we do not have a default when we reach the debt ceiling limit? How will she prioritize spending to ensure we don't result in a default when we reach that debt limit? We have not gotten satisfactory answers to that. Mr. Biggs is exactly right, Mr. Speaker. When we exhaust these so- called extraordinary measures, which part of my letter also asked: When will we exhaust those? How is that determined? We have not gotten satisfactory answers to that. But the fact is, when we reach the debt limit and we can no longer utilize gimmicks and clever tactics to try to extend that, we will simply have to prioritize our spending. We have got a record $5 trillion coming into the Treasury. Never happened before in the history of the country. Frankly, because of the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which has done what always happens in history when you cut taxes, you get more income and more revenue. Don't let the Democrats or the administration lie to us, Mr. Speaker, and tell us we have a deficit because of the tax cuts. That is simply not true, with $5 trillion in revenue coming into the Treasury for the first time in history. However, as Mr. Biggs said, we are spending over $6 trillion if we reach the debt limit, and we can no longer delay through these extraordinary measures. We will simply have to prioritize spending. That is why they don't want to do it. That is why they want your $3 or $4 trillion, as Mr. Rosendale and Mr. Biggs stated a few moments ago, because they don't want to prioritize spending. There is more than enough revenue coming in to fund Social Security and Medicare. There is more than enough revenue to pay the interest on the debt. We would simply be forced to cut discretionary spending. We have a plan that we in the House Freedom Caucus have put forward to cut somewhere in the range of $1.5 trillion immediately out of the gate. Mr. Biggs led the way on this with 500 bills with 500 specific target cuts toward those 1,200 unauthorized, but still appropriated in the previous Congress' programs. That would save us another $500 billion so that we would never have to raise the debt ceiling again if we have the immediate $1.5 trillion in cuts now, and we use the appropriations process this fall to cut even further.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my constituent, Maneuver Training Center's Staff Sergeant Dan Abbott, who was named Noncommissioned Officer of the Year at the Virginia Army National Guard's 2023 Best Warrior Competition. The Army National Guard's Best Warrior Competition is a physically and mentally challenging 3-day competition that tests competitors on a variety of skills. Held at Fort Barfoot, 10 Virginia National Guard soldiers participated in this year's competition to demonstrate commitment to the Army values that embody the warrior ethos. Staff Sergeant Abbott, a former Active-Duty soldier who has been in the Virginia National Guard for about 5 years, showcased his talent and rose above the rest. He will now go on to face soldiers and noncommissioned officers from Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the D.C. National Guard. I congratulate Staff Sergeant Abbott on his outstanding accomplishment, and I wish him great success as he continues to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia in the next round of this prestigious competition.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I rise today to lend my voice in support of H.R. 1. President Biden declared war on American energy the day he took office. In fact, he blocked the Keystone XL pipeline that would have yielded 800,000 barrels of oil per day and created 33,000 American jobs. In an ominous sign of his policies to come, he put America last and approved the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to benefit Russia. The Biden administration also illegally halted all onshore oil and gas lease sales, crushing the energy market and driving up costs. American families didn't sign up for or vote for higher energy costs, but that is exactly what the Biden administration has delivered. In fact, the price of gas reached $5 a gallon just last summer, for the first time in U.S. history. This Lower Energy Costs Act will help restore American energy independence and decrease Biden's harmful regulatory burdens. In fact, this bill repeals the natural gas tax imposed by the inflation increase act. It stops President Biden from imposing a ban on fracking. It streamlines the Federal permitting process and allows drilling on Federal lands. It rolls back a $27 billion green slush fund. It gets rid of many other green fees imposed by the inflation increase act. It ends the moratorium on new coal leasing and helps end dependence on foreign countries for vital energy. We don't need to go to China or Saudi Arabia for our energy needs. Our country has all that we need right here, put in the ground for us by the Lord above. H.R. 1 will finally allow energy producers to realize their full potential by ridding them of unnecessary and onerous permitting processes that take years to navigate. This bill is a step in the right direction to reduce the regulatory burden and reignite American energy independence, which is so vital for our economy. I thank my Republican friends for prioritizing this important issue in this new Congress, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the gentleman from Virginia, former University of Virginia basketball coach, Terry Holland. Coach Holland was hired in 1974 at the young age of 31 to be the head coach of the UVA Men's basketball program after they had only experienced three winning seasons in 21 years. Under his leadership, UVA would win more than 300 games in 16 years, make two Final Four appearances, win an NIT Title, an ACC Tournament Championship, and three ACC regular season titles. Not surprisingly, Coach Holland also won two ACC Coach of the Year awards. He retired from coaching in 1990 then returned in 1995 to serve as the athletic director at UVA. Then, in 2014, he permanently retired, leaving behind a legacy of service and dedication. Sadly, about 4 weeks ago, on February 26, at the age of 80, Coach Holland succumbed to Alzheimer's disease. His exemplary life truly impacted the lives of his student-athletes, his coaches, his colleagues, his competitors and, of course, his loyal fans, along with the entire University of Virginia community.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Chair, I support passage of the underlying bill, but I also rise in support of this amendment, which I think would truly empower parents. Adding a private right of action places the ultimate protection of parental rights back where it belongs, in the hands of parents, not Department of Education bureaucrats. For too long, the public school system has undermined parental involvement in education decisions, and parents have been helpless to hold them accountable. The union-driven COVID policies in our schools served as a wake-up call for many parents, and school boards across the country have tried to stop them from raising their voices in protest. A private right of action would make a meaningful change to the balance of power so parents can rightfully have a say in what their children are being taught. This amendment wouldn't unleash lawsuits against schools. The private right of action could only be used if the school is not forthcoming with the commonsense provisions of this bill. If the school shares curriculum, teaching materials, and their budget openly, then there is no problem. If the school notifies parents about actions from the school administrator to change a child's pronouns, then there is no standing under this bill. There is also a limit that the private right of action must be filed within 30 days of the violation. Parental rights precede government. Our government was created to protect our God-given rights. When government is working to subvert those rights, it is the right of the people to put new guardrails in place to secure our precious liberty. Guaranteeing a private right of action will ensure public schools are held accountable to the important tenets of this bill. Madam Chair, I urge support for the amendment.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Roy for his leadership once again and in particular on this all-important issue of the fiscal and economic stability of our country. More than that, not just the financial part of it, which we cannot overstate--we can't overstate the harm done to our country from a spending standpoint with $32 trillion in national debt on the backs of our children and our grandchildren, $100,000 per citizen, but in addition to that, how that debt and how that spending has accumulated for the purpose of literally harming the American people. We can't overstate how our own government has become weaponized against its own citizens, trying to control every aspect of our lives, trying to control decisions like whether or not we can have or use a gas stove; whether or not we can choose what kind of car we want to drive; whether or not we can heat or cool our homes the way that we want to; whether or not we can exercise our God-given, constitutionally protected Second Amendment rights; whether or not we can make decisions for ourselves on whether or not we can operate our business, earn a living, educate our children the way that we want to without the heavy hand of government coming in. We have $32 trillion in national debt, $100,000 per citizen. What is this President's response with the budget proposal that he rolled out yesterday? To increase spending about 56 percent beyond where it was pre-COVID. From $4.4 trillion in spending, this President wants to increase it by $2\1/2\ trillion to $6.9 trillion. That $6.9 trillion--for just 1 year, mind you--is about $20,000 per American citizen. How many Americans today would vote to borrow and spend--we have to put ``borrow'' in front of all of it--to borrow and spend $20,000 on their personal credit card to do things that are not only not helpful to them but much of which is harmful to them on top of the $100,000 in national debt that we have per citizen today? Thank God for Republicans who are going to come into the gap and stand on the wall to defend the American people and finally bring some fiscal stability to our country, cut the spending, and deal a blow against the woke weaponized government that is assaulting and harming the American people. We are going to do that with the opportunity we have as we face the debt ceiling limit. We are going to utilize this opportunity of our newfound congressional House rules that are going to allow us to put reforms in place for not just this year and next year but for the future to put us on a path to fiscal responsibility. I thank Congressman Roy from Texas for showing leadership, once again, on the most important, fundamental issues for our country.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Clearly not. And the loss of trust and confidence to the degree that it has been lost in the last 2 years in our Federal Government, in our election system, in our government agencies, in even our department of injustice, I would call it, is just so damaging to the future of our country. How do we get that back? How do we restore it? We start by not funding it, not funding those agencies, those bureaucracies that are perpetuating such harm on the American people. The gentleman made the point earlier today so well, that we talk about going back to pre-COVID spending at $4.4 trillion. At that point, that was record spending in the history of the country. That was leading us to some, at that point, maybe $25 trillion in national debt, an untold amount that we haven't had since World War II, that was pre- COVID. That was out of hand. That was out of control. It is just this President who has taken it to a new level; $10 trillion in new spending in the first 2 years of an administration has never happened before in the history of the country. But it is not just the dollars, which if this was good spending, meaning things that we thought were justified, if you will, or positive things, we don't have the money, we can't afford it, we are bankrupt. But worse than that, we are spending money, literally, to make our military weaker. We are spending money, literally, to keep our border open to the Mexican crime cartels. We are spending money, literally, to harm our kids in schools. We are spending money, literally, to try to ruin the country. If you were setting out 2 years ago to try to ruin the country, what would you do differently than what this administration has done, while borrowing the money to do it?

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. We couldn't imagine it at that time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. We are borrowing an additional $150 million to send it to Mexico that is controlled by the crime cartels, so that they can utilize that funding to invade our southern border, with the individuals we are allowing to pass through their country trafficking drugs, human trafficking, sex trafficking, who knows what, hundreds of thousands every month. Yet, we are going to borrow $150 million to send it to them to help them do it.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would add to the rule of construction a clarification that law enforcement can still enforce current law regarding obscenity matters. Currently, Federal law prohibits the interstate distribution of obscene visual matter which is not protected speech under the First Amendment. In 2016 President Trump signed the Children's Internet Safety Presidential Pledge, and this pledge sought to protect children from the harms of pornography within the limits of the First Amendment. The pledge also encouraged public-private partnerships to prevent the sexual exploitation of children online. In 2019 Members of this body, including Representatives Jim Banks, Mark Meadows, Vicky Hartzler, and Brian Babin, sent a letter to Attorney General Barr requesting the Department of Justice enforce obscenity laws and prosecute the pornography industry. The harmful effects this terrible industry has on our country cannot be overstated. In fact, at least 16 States have declared pornography a public-health crisis and a threat to society. According to Fight the New Drug, most kids today are exposed to porn by age 13, and 84 percent of males and 57 percent of females ages 14 to 18 have reported viewing pornography. Beyond the harm to these children mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, exposure of this kind is sadly often connected to sexual violence. One study of hundreds of the most popular scenes in the porn industry found that 88 percent contained depictions of physical violence or aggression, while 49 percent contained depictions of verbal aggression. The role of the Federal Government is to protect its citizens-- particularly its children--and to fight to end sexual exploitation wherever it exists in our country. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to join me in combating this terrible evil in our country and support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I would hope we would get bipartisan support then for this amendment which does further protect our children and clarify that law enforcement can still enforce current law regarding obscene matters. Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer).

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, today the House can repeal a policy from the Department of Labor that harms Americans who simply want to save for retirement. This new rule from the Biden administration says that investment decisions in employer-sponsored retirement plans can be based on climate change and other environmental, social, or governance factors. So typically without the knowledge of the retirees, their investment funds can be invested in underperforming investments that subsidize unreliable and unaffordable energy. Congress never originally intended for 401Ks to be used to advance the priorities of the phony climate movement or to push a social justice agenda. They were simply intended to help people to have the resources they need in retirement. If ESG-based stocks are higher performing, they would get those investment dollars anyway without this new rule. But Americans inherently know that investing should be about evaluating risk and return from a financial point of view. Hardworking Americans want to know their investments have strong economic fundamentals that will help them build wealth over a lifetime of work. If Congress is successful in overturning this rule, the investing standard will return to one based on financial factors only. It is bad enough that Bidenflation has eroded the spending power of many retirement savings accounts. Matter of fact, the average retirement account is down 30 percent over the last 2 years. Many retirees are having to change their retirement plans or to downsize or to work longer. There is even an increase in the number of Americans who are borrowing or withdrawing from the retirement accounts before retirement, just trying to make ends meet. Still, the Department of Labor used executive fiat to leverage trillions of dollars that would be vested in retirement plans to advance their woke agenda that can't pass Congress. With this vote, Congress can put some checks and balances to work for the American people, and I urge my colleagues in the House and the Senate to protect the retirement plans of hardworking Americans by voting for this bill.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Speaker, the Biden administration continues their all-out assault on the Second Amendment as evidenced by the President's call just last night in this very Chamber for banning weapons he finds objectionable. Madam Speaker, Democrats believe that the government should decide your God-given constitutionally protected rights. Their new ATF rule published in the Federal Register further threatens the rights of law- abiding citizens. It treats individuals who own pistols with stabilizing braces as if they possess illegal short-barrel rifles, and it forces them to surrender them to the Federal Government. If they don't surrender them, then they are retroactively declared criminals for what was then a lawful purchase, and they now face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. This is just another example of the Washington-knows-best elites who are out-of-touch with everyday Americans. So I introduced the PISTOL Act to block the ATF from redefining pistol braces as short-barreled rifles. My legislation provides a simple statutory definition of a pistol and would prevent the Biden administration from improperly classifying pistol braces or regulating them by decree or fiat. The Second Amendment is not subject to bureaucratic interpretation, and we have got to fight to protect the God-given and constitutionally protected rights of all Americans.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his leadership, his continued leadership on this subject. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring awareness, more awareness to the continued censorship of conservative voices. Leftist bias and discrimination continues to threaten a diversity of thoughts and viewpoints being represented in the public arena. It is not hard to find examples of conservative voices being silenced. In fact, we know that Democrats and the White House have been colluding with private companies in recent years to censor and eliminate conservative voices. In fact, back in February of 2021, Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee went so far as to write and ask AT&T's DIRECTV to censor OAN, FOX News Channel, and Newsmax. Then, in January of 2022, AT&T-owned DIRECTV complied and dropped OAN from their platform and their channel lineup. Now they are planning to do the same thing with Newsmax, the fourth highest-rated cable news channel, or the fourth most popular one, and a top-20 cable channel overall. Meanwhile, DIRECTV carries 10 to 12 liberal news channels with a much lesser audience, and actually pays them to be on their platform. It is wrong for DIRECTV to make nonbusiness decisions for ideological reasons that are in direct conflict with the interests of their customers, their employees, and their shareholders. Worse yet, it is wrong for DIRECTV to utilize their business to suppress conservative voices by infringing on the constitutional freedoms of speech and the freedom of the press because Newsmax is actually a media company that is trying hard to hold government accountable. Why else would DIRECTV drop one of their most popular channels? DIRECTV's actions are just another example of Big Tech and big media being leveraged to discriminate against conservative voices. Whatever happened to classic liberalism where we allowed a variety of viewpoints to be heard and let people think for themselves? Republicans must conduct appropriate oversight to determine the degree to which Democrats in Congress and the White House are colluding with media companies to suppress First Amendment freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my concerns with the ongoing censorship of conservative voices. We are all aware of the leftist bias and discrimination on social media. The recent Twitter files tell a sinister tale of censorship and discrimination against conservatives and Republicans across the country. But the campaign of censorship and discrimination by the left also extends to satellite and cable TV. The Nation's largest satellite TV provider, DIRECTV, has threatened another conservative-leaning cable news network. First, it was OAN a year ago, and now DIRECTV has threatened to deplatform Newsmax, the fourth largest cable news network. Competition is the heart of the American economy, but the mainstream media is an anti-American institution that has no regard for the First Amendment rights of conservatives or protecting a platform for all viewpoints. DIRECTV'S actions are a clear effort to discriminate against conservative voices. DIRECTV pays leftist outlets to carry their content on their satellite network, but conservative outlets are not treated the same. Many liberal channels, with a fraction of Newsmax's audience, receive payment from DIRECTV. This bias is blatant and egregious, and Congress should look into this censorship and address the discrimination against conservative voices.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Speaker, once again, we have to say: How did we get to where we are today? How did we get to where we have to have a debate to defend life that survives the heinous practice of abortion? In the infamous words of the Governor of my very State, the Commonwealth of Virginia, just a few years ago, if a baby survives an abortion attempt, the mother and the doctor would have a conversation while they kept the baby comfortable to decide what to do with it. He said that on air in a radio broadcast. I realize that the other side may not recognize the science of conception. I realize that the other side may not share the premium or the value of innocent life in the womb that most Americans have. The party of death that believes in abortion up until the moment of birth at any time for any reason--today we find ourselves even having to defend and protect life, a baby that survives an abortion attempt. If it were not so, if it were not true, then this bill should pass unanimously. I fear that will not be the case for this same party will not even vote later today against and condemn the violence at pregnancy centers across the country. Madam Speaker, I encourage everyone to support this bill and protect all life.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Madam Chair, I rise for the purpose of placing a name in nomination. What a privilege we all are enjoying tonight, we are all enjoying as elected Members of this great body; the people's House, as it has been said. What a great representation of the constitutional Republic in which we enjoy living, the greatest country in the history of the world, as we play out as the people's Representatives in selecting the all-important position of the Speaker of the people's House. I was out on the southeast balcony here just a few moments ago looking out at the Supreme Court, looking at the flag flying above this Capitol Building, looking at the Jefferson and Madison--both Virginians, by the way--Library of Congress buildings, and pausing to do what probably most of us recognize we fail too often to do, to take it in, this high privilege, this distinct honor that we have to be the people's Representatives from our respective districts in this House here in this Congress. This is the greatest Nation in the history of the world. With all of our imperfections as people and as a Nation, no nation in the history of the world has freed more people, has rescued more people, has ministered to more people, has evangelized to more people than the United States of America. And that would be a good time to respond with some applause. There is a reason why people from all over the world are trying to get into this country, many of them illegally, due to the policies of the current administration. People from all over the world are literally taking on a treacherous journey, risking life and limb, subjecting themselves to abuse to try to sneak their way into our country because they know this is the greatest country in the history of the world. No country in the history of the world has provided more upward mobility, more advancement opportunity to people of all races, all nationalities, all ethnicities like the United States of America. However, we as a Nation, we are teetering on the brink, aren't we? Isn't there just a window of opportunity to save the Republic? Crisis after crisis. $32 trillion in national debt, which equates to over $90,000 per citizen, almost $100,000 now per citizen, some $300,000 per household. When I said that on this very floor a few months ago in a budget debate, the then-chairman of the Budget Committee said, ``Stop saying that; we are not asking anybody to pay it back,'' as if it is not real, as if it is Monopoly. As I heard someone say, don't tell the other side what happens after trillion, what comes after trillion. We just spent $1.7 trillion, both parties--Republicans joining in the Senate, a few in the House--to pass a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill. Sadly and unfortunately, part of the reason why I stand here today, that was the kind of bill that has been supported by our former minority leader every time it has come up in the House, no matter who was in control in the 12 years that he has been in leadership, contributing to the $32 trillion in national debt. Yes, the other side is better at raising the debt than we are, but we have been participants. We are in crisis. We are in crisis with 5 million illegals having invaded the border in the last 2 years. When is it too much? We are in crisis with the state of our education system, K-12, college campuses, indoctrination of our kids. We are in crisis with the weakening of our military, with these NDAA bills. We are in crisis with trampling on our most basic and essential freedoms over the last 2 years in ways we couldn't have imagined pre- 2020: Whether we can assemble, whether we can worship, whether we can earn a living, whether we can travel, what we have to put on our face, what we have to take into our body, whether or not we have to disclose what we have taken in; trampled in ways we couldn't have imagined just a few years ago. The greatest reflection of where the people in the country are is the House of Representatives, and the people spoke back on November 8 and gave the majority by some 3 or 4 million votes to the Republican Party. It is not the White House, it is not the Senate, it is the people's House that reflects where the American people are, and they have trusted us on this side of the aisle with the leadership of this House. We have a window of opportunity to validate that trust, to do whatever we can to save the Republic, to earn them giving us the Senate and the White House and this House back in 2024. We have got to have a leader who not only has true conservative convictions that reflect the majority of Republicans who sent us here, but yet a courageous leader. It doesn't matter what you believe, by the way, unless you are willing to take risk to yourself personally to fight for it. We need a leader who has proven to do that very thing. We have an opportunity to make history. We will live with the decision on this side of the aisle for the next 2 years. We will answer for how we voted. I know how people in all the respective districts, like mine, Madam Chair, how they are telling us to vote. They have been telling me how to vote for 3 years, to vote for transformational change in the leadership of this Republican Party. They have told me not to vote for the status quo, not to vote for the next in line establishment creature of the swamp cartel, but to vote for transformational change. And they are watching us. They are wondering if we will hang in there or will we cave or will we give in or will we let them down one more time. I say, we are not going to do that. They are looking to us. You look and see what a great job a recent businessman did in the White House, did things no one else has ever done in the White House, did things that no one else has ever done to try to change the country, showed courage, common sense, and judgment we have not seen before. We need a businessman as the Speaker of the House. We need a businessman like Kevin Hern as Speaker of the House. We need a businessman like Kevin Hern who has led the Republican Study Committee's Budget & Spending Task Force that I have served on for 2 years and put forth the only balanced budget that I have seen--heck, the only budget that I have seen--in the 2 years that I have been here, who fought alongside us to say why don't we adopt the Republican Study Committee's budget for the Republican Party? And we didn't get agreement to do that. We need someone who will do that. We need someone who is the head of the largest caucus in the Republican Conference, someone like Kevin Hern. It is my privilege to put into official nomination Kevin Hern for Speaker of the House.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the so-called Respect for Marriage Act. Honestly, this bill should be called the disrespect for marriage act. This bill certainly disrespects God's definition of marriage, a definition that has served His creation well for more than 5,000 years of recorded history. And His definition is the only one that really matters. This bill would codify into Federal law the Supreme Court's wrongly decided Obergefell decision and ensure that the marriage laws in the most liberal State--irrespective of how more radical they might become in the future, think polygamy, bestiality, child marriage, or whatever--must be legally recognized in all States. It was wrong when the Supreme Court made law in the Obergefell decision requiring that the marriage law in Massachusetts had to become the law of the whole country when Massachusetts approved gay marriage. This was overriding the will of the people and their elected Representatives as no other State to that point had been able to pass through referendum or State legislature a gay marriage law. The fact is that traditional, biblical marriage is the foundation of a strong society and a strong culture. I will say it once again: almost everything that plagues our society is a failure to follow God's design for marriage, morality, and the family. The perfect, omniscient, and immutable God knows what He is doing. But this legislation repeals the correct definition of marriage in Federal code and requires the Federal Government to recognize any marriage if the marriage was valid in the State where it was performed. Perhaps even worse, this bill eliminates all religious freedom protections for churches or other faith-based organizations and requires everyone to participate in and recognize gay marriage. It empowers the IRS with their newly hired 87,000 agents who apparently need something to do to go after the religious institutions that simply seek to operate according to their beliefs. In fact, the bill does nothing to prevent the IRS from attacking and harming the religious organizations that have made an incredible impact in our communities across our Nation. It is simply designed to undermine marriage as a union between one man and one woman. God's perfect design is, indeed, marriage between one man and one woman for life, and it doesn't matter what you think or what I think. That is what the Bible says. This proposal is yet another Democrat attempt to undermine the fundamental values which formed our Nation and continue to hold our country together: recognition of the institution of marriage as between one man and one woman and respect for the freedom to operate according to your sincerely held religious beliefs. The legislation we are considering today is a sobering indication of the erosion of the moral values that made this Nation great. As President Reagan once said: ``America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.'' All great nations in societies fall from within. With Democrats threatening all sense of values and decency and family today by sexualizing kids in school, redefining sex and gender, and trans- surgery and mutilation of minors, it makes no sense for any Republican to support their efforts to codify their views on marriage. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues in this body to join me in strongly opposing this bill.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, Louie Gohmert is just as popular among my constituents in Virginia as he is among my esteemed colleagues' constituents from Texas. Louie was one of the first Members of Congress to come and support me in my district when I started this journey 3 years ago. He literally drove through the night to come down to Virginia to help a fledgling, aspiring Congressman down in the Fifth Congressional District of Virginia. Louie since I have gotten here has been an example of courage. As a freshman, I quickly observed him being willing to go to the microphone time and again, not only to challenge the other side but even to challenge our side when he felt they were wrong or weren't living up to the ideals that we promised to live up to for our constituents. I have admired him for his character and testimony on a personal level, his love for our Lord, his love for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Louie Gohmert is one of those people you meet here in Congress who is the same here in person as he is on TV when folks watch him. I am proud to learn from and serve with this true courageous, conservative warrior. I am proud to call Louie a friend on a personal level. He will be missed. Even in his leaving this Congress, he is leaving in a courageous, selfless act, because he could have stayed here as long as he wanted to, to represent his district. But he loves his beloved State of Texas, and in a tremendous act of courage he took personal risk in leaving this body. He has had a lifetime of service. He was an Army Captain, a Texas district judge, Chief Justice of the Twelfth Court of Appeals of Texas, and has spent 18 years of courageous, conservative service here in Washington. Thank you, Louie. I admire you, love you, and I am proud to call you a friend. God bless you.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mourn the senseless and tragic loss of life at the University of Virginia on November 13, but I also rise to recognize and honor the bravery displayed by Mike Hollins during the recent shooting at the University of Virginia. After getting off the bus and directing two students to run to safety, Mike Hollins, a running back on the Cavaliers football team, turned around and attempted to reboard the bus to help his teammates and others still trapped with the gunman. Mike's bravery was met with evil, however, as he was shot while trying to protect those still in harm's way. Thankfully, Mike has been released from the hospital. I pray he will continue to have a full and complete recovery. My prayers are also with the families of D'Sean Perry, Lavel Davis, Jr., and Devin Chandler, who are deeply hurting from the loss of their loved ones, along with the entire University of Virginia community. We are always saddened in the face of tragedy, but bravery like Mike Hollins showed gives us hope. May God continue to heal our land.