Bob Good

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

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

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

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

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to reduce to $1 the salary of the director of the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology within the FDA. As part of the Republican House majority, conservatives were able to secure important reforms to the House rules, including reinstating the Holman rule, which dates back to the 1800s and was created to reduce spending, but it has also been used as a measure of accountability to exercise oversight over unelected bureaucrats by reducing salaries of Federal employees. I invite my colleagues to consider this amendment as a form of oversight, transparency, and accountability--what value does this office provide, and is the person who occupies it using their position for political purposes? Earlier this year, the FDA updated the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy for the main chemical abortion drug, mifepristone. This document changed the policy surrounding the distribution of the drug, making it easier to access, and, therefore, more dangerous for women. Many peer-reviewed studies show that women who take chemical abortion pills are at risk of severe side effects, including hemorrhaging, the need for follow-up surgery, and even death. Yet, this FDA guidance would formally eliminate the in-person distribution requirement. My amendment provides scrutiny over the bureaucrats who issue documents--not laws--that literally carry the power of life or death. Whatever values these offices provide to drug safety has been clouded by political judgment, and Congress should take a serious look at those offices, and we can start by holding pro-abortion officials accountable for such a destructive decision. I urge my colleagues to stand for life in support of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of my amendment to reduce to $1 the salary of the director of the Office of Risk Management within the FDA. This amendment asks the question: Is this person who oversees the Office of the Director of Risk Management actually protecting women and children from risk? The office is one of at least seven within the FDA that helped develop a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS, for the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. These REMS documents are required by the FDA for certain drugs with serious safety concerns to help ensure the benefits outweigh its risks. It is baffling to me that these bureaucrats would acknowledge that mifepristone is inherently dangerous, yet advance policies that discourage a woman from even having to show up at a doctor's office. Earlier this year, the FDA updated the risk evaluation mitigation strategy for the main chemical abortion drug mifepristone, and this document changed the policy surrounding the distribution of the drug. Chemical abortion has four times the complication rate of surgical abortion. These risks would only increase with advanced pregnancy and lack of medical supervision. Of course, mifepristone REMS doesn't factor into the risk evaluation process, and the drug ends the life of the precious, innocent child in the womb. Mifepristone deprives the developing child of the hormones that he or she needs to grow and then is paired with another drug to violently expel the child from the womb. My amendment provides needed scrutiny over bureaucrats who issue documents that literally carry the power of life or death. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to stand for life and support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to reduce to $1 the salary of the director of the Office of New Drugs within the FDA. This amendment provides accountability on behalf of the 63 million children lost to abortion since 1972. If our Federal agencies are not protecting the most vulnerable among us, we should not give them more of our hard-earned taxpayer dollars. This year, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine brought a lawsuit against the FDA with evidence that the original approval process for mifepristone was incomplete. This case argues that the FDA wrongfully fast-tracked approval and neglected the pediatric study requirement. The case is still ongoing, but the details show a pattern of the FDA systematically removing any meaningful safeguard from the drug to make it as widely used as possible. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to stand for life and support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to reduce to $1 the salary of the director of the Office of Compliance within the FDA. Americans don't want their taxpayer money funding bureaucrats who make decisions contrary to their values. In this case, this director was complicit in harming women and their unborn children by loosening restrictions on mifepristone, the chemical abortion drug. The FDA has even looked the other way to permit chemical abortion drugs to be distributed via mail, which clearly violates the Federal law outlined in the Comstock Act. Americans expect Federal regulators to value women's safety and children's lives more than profits for the abortion industry. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to stand for life and support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to reduce to $1 the salary of the director of the Office of Medical Policy within the FDA. In 2020, chemical abortions became the number one abortion method for ending an unborn child's life. In that year, we lost 492,210 children. Instead of making it easier for women to get access to the abortion pill, the FDA should be banning it. We should work to make every pregnancy a happy one and support the fantastic pregnancy resource centers, churches, and families that help women in difficult situations choose life for their children. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to reduce to $1 the salary of the director of the Office of Regulatory Policy within the FDA. Mr. Chair, between 2007 and 2019, total FDA employment increased 79 percent. Today, there are over 18,000 employees. The FDA actually makes it very difficult to discern the exact number among the thousands of employees who were responsible for the updates to the abortion pill Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy. We can glean from FDA documents that multidisciplinary teams, including at least these seven offices I have mentioned across my debate time, played a role in approving the changes that eliminated the in-person distribution requirement of mifepristone and allowed for retail pharmacies to dispense the abortifacient. The names of specific individuals responsible are shrouded in mystery. The names are redacted from public documents related to this massive policy change, but we can reasonably conclude that the directors were indirectly or directly responsible. Whatever value these offices provide to drug safety has been clouded by these political judgments, and Congress should take a serious look at these offices. We can start by holding these pro-abortion officials accountable for such a destructive decision. Mr. Chair, I ask my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. My amendment will defund three radical executive orders issued by President Biden. These executive orders are intended to combat so- called discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. The weaponized bureaucratic regime wants to promote everything regular Americans stand for: freedom of speech, marriage as being between one man and one woman for life, and other values that so many people outside of Washington hold dear. The Biden administration wants to instill fear in the hearts of regular Americans. My amendment would block any taxpayer dollars that would be used for the implementation of these woke executive orders in any agency. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which, by the way, saw significant Democrat opposition, clearly outlines who is protected from discrimination. Now, the left wants to impose extra requirements on businessowners and the American people and force them into either having to walk on eggshells or face being sued for a supposed incorrect statement. This amendment will defund President Biden's directives to promulgate woke ideology throughout the entire government instead of serving the American people. This culture of fear is not what made America the Nation that it is. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Chair, I urge strong support for my amendment for the values that have made America the country we love today. Democrats are opposed to the very idea of America so much that they oppose the values that Americans know and love. My amendment will preserve that America and fight back against the left's woke agenda. I urge my colleagues to support this effort and vote in favor of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the extraordinary life of service of 20-year-old Louisa County EMS and firefighter Mia Ethridge. Mia was fatally injured in an accident back in July while responding to a call for help. She tragically succumbed to those injuries on September 1, 2023. Firefighter Ethridge leaves behind a great legacy of passionately serving her community and will be remembered by many for her kind and welcoming personality. Stafford Fire Captain Gustavo Leite, who trained Ethridge, described her by saying: ``She was always there. An incredible young lady with leadership, she had the heart and the spirit.'' I offer my sincerest condolences to the family, friends, and community, and my prayers remain with them as they grieve the loss of her life. In 2 Corinthians, Chapter 1, Paul writes: ``Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.'' May her family find comfort in this as they mourn her passing and remember her life. It is an honor to recognize the exemplary public servant that Mia Ethridge was and the selfless devotion she had to helping others. Path Forward on Appropriations

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, the appropriations path forward is simple, but it requires strong leadership from the Speaker, who must, one, persuade the Republican Conference to support the return to the 2022 spending levels that he committed to in order to ascend to the position in January and for which 217 Republicans voted in April; two, pass our 12 appropriations bills out of the House at the committed 2022 levels, implementing the Republican policy priorities for which we campaigned and the American people entrusted us with the majority back in November; three, the passage of those bills represents a good-faith effort to appropriately fund the government and avoid or quickly end any pause in affected nonessential spending, and then it is the responsibility of the Senate to avoid another Schumer shutdown; and, four, ensure strong, principled, and courageous conservatives are included on the conference committee to negotiate with the Senate for the best possible outcome for the American people. The American people are counting on us. They have entrusted us with the majority as we ran on returning fiscal sanity to this House and implementing Republican priorities that would reverse the harms under which the American people are suffering perpetrated by the Biden administration.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, the Constitution gives the responsibility for the Nation's finances to the House of Representatives. It is the House's responsibility to pay the Nation's debts, to manage the Nation's finances, to protect our ability to borrow, when necessary. The Founders warned us about the dangers of excessive debt, the dangers of perpetual debt, and yet we find ourselves with the highest level of debt to our GDP that we have had since World War II. The World War II generation came out of a literal battle, a war to save the world from imperialist Japan and Nazi Germany, which caused significant borrowing to fund that war, to fund that conflict, but that generation paid that debt down to a manageable level shortly thereafter. Here we are today with $32 trillion in debt, nearly $100,000 per American citizen. I have said that many times on this floor, in committee hearings, in speeches and interviews, $100,000 per American citizen. One time when I said that on this very floor, it was opposite the then Budget Committee chairman from the other side, Mr. Speaker. When his time came to speak, he said, stop saying that. We are not asking anybody to pay it back. As if it was not real, as if it was monopoly money, and if it didn't matter. However, the days of spending without consequence are now over. I believe the American people are beginning to connect the numbers, the stats, the dollars, what they hear about with Federal spending, the deficit and the national debt, to their own very lives, because the American people are suffering from 40-year high inflation. As a matter of fact, the consumer price index showed today that prices have risen 17 percent in the 2\1/2\ years since President Biden took office. That means $1,000 in 2020 is now worth just $832 today. Americans are experiencing record-high inflation, 40-year high inflation, but it is even higher than the 17 percent for the essentials, for groceries, for gasoline in the tank, for utilities, and, yes, for housing costs. The average mortgage today payment is $1,218, which is more than double what it was when President Biden assumed office. That is a direct result of Federal spending causing massive inflation, which was then reacted to by the Biden Fed that has raised interest rates to 20- year highs, further exacerbating it. Of course, we have had our credit rating lowered for just the second time in our history. Americans are suffering under this debt. Americans' futures are more bleak financially because of this debt. It is a terrible threat to our children and our grandchildren, and we, as the Republican majority, must do something about it. We, as the Republican majority, elected by the American people after running on a platform of fiscal responsibility, are leading a House of Representatives that will have a $2 trillion deficit this year. We are here tonight with this Special Order time to talk about our spending, to talk about our deficit, to talk about our national debt, and to talk about the budget battle that we are in at this very moment, the appropriations process to fund our government, and what we will do with the faith and the trust the American people placed in us last November when they gave us the House majority. I am pleased to be joined by a couple of my distinguished colleagues tonight. I have with me Congressman Ralph Norman from South Carolina and Congressman Clay Higgins from Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Norman) to share his thoughts on this topic tonight.

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Maimed

Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman) has said, debt is the opposite of freedom. There is a biblical principle to that. It says the debtor, the borrower, is a slave to the lender. Again, the Founders warned us about the consequence of excessive debt. I was reminded, as Mr. Norman was speaking, that I feel like I am living through the movie of how to destroy a country produced by President Biden. If you were going to set out to destroy a country intentionally 2\1/ 2\ years ago, what would you do different than the things that Mr. Norman has outlined today, whether it is our border invasion, purposefully, willfully facilitated by this administration, or whether it is our national debt with predominant responsibility to the Democratic Party, but also contributed to by Republicans? We have the opportunity to do something about that now in this Congress. Mr. Speaker, I recognize my friend from Louisiana (Mr. Higgins) to express his thoughts accordingly.