Marjorie Greene

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, as we convene this week, I would like to ask all of my fellow colleagues and Members of the 117th Congress to reflect on the words right there on the wall: In God We Trust. God created us male and female. In His image, He created us. The Equality Act that we are to vote on this week destroys God's creation. It also completely annihilates women's rights and religious freedoms. It can be handled completely differently to stop discrimination without destroying women's rights, little girls' rights in sports, and religious freedoms violating everything that we hold dear in God's creation. As we are reflecting on the 500,000 people who have died from COVID- 19, I would like to remind everyone that over 62 million people have been murdered in the womb in our country and that our tax dollars many times have funded it. This is an evil that should not exist in our land, and I ask all Members of Congress to stop this evil now.

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, to my Democrat colleagues, to my Republican colleagues, to my district back home in Georgia 14, to the American people, to my mom and dad, and to my husband and my children: I have been here for 1 month and 1 day, and I have gotten to know part of my conference--my Republican colleagues--but not even all of them yet. I haven't gotten to know any of my Democrat colleagues, and I haven't had any conversations with any of you to tell you who I am and what I am about. You only know me by how Media Matters, CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the mainstream media is portraying me. What you don't know about me is that I am a very proud wife of almost 25 years and that I am a mother of three children. I consider being a mother the greatest blessing of my life and the greatest thing that I will ever achieve. I am proudly the first person to graduate college in my family, making my parents very happy and proud. I am also a very successful businessowner. We have grown our company from one State to 11 States. I am a very hard worker. I have always paid my taxes. I have never been arrested. I have never done drugs. But I have gotten a few speeding tickets in my day. What you need to know about me is I am a very regular American, just like the people I represent in my district and most people across the country. I never, ever considered to run for Congress or even get involved in politics. As a matter of fact, I wasn't a political person until I found a candidate that I really liked, and his name is Donald J. Trump, when he ran for President. To me, he was someone I could relate to, someone that I enjoyed his plain talk; not the offensive things, but just the way he talked normally. And I thought, finally, maybe this is someone who will do something about the things that deeply bother me, like the fact that we are so deeply in debt, that our country has murdered over 62 million people in the womb, that our borders are open and some of my friends have had their children murdered by illegal aliens. Or perhaps that maybe we can stop sending our sons and daughters to fight in foreign wars and be used as the world's police basically. Or maybe that our Government would stand up for our American businesses and our American jobs and make the American people and the American taxpayers their focus. These are the things that I care about deeply. So when we elected President Trump, and then I started seeing things in the news that didn't make sense to me--like Russian collusion, which are conspiracy theories also and have been proven so--these things bothered me deeply. I realized that just watching CNN or FOX News, I may not find the truth. So what I did was I started looking up things on the internet, asking questions, like most people do every day, use Google. I stumbled across something--and this was at the end of 2017--called QAnon. Well, these posts were mainly about this Russian collusion information. A lot of it was some of what I would see on the news at night, and I got very interested in it. So I posted about it on Facebook, I read about it, I talked about it, I asked questions about it. And then more information came from it. But, you see, here's the problem: Throughout 2018, I was upset about things and didn't trust the Government really because the people here weren't doing the things that I thought they should be doing for us, the things that I just told you I cared about. And I want you to know that a lot of Americans don't trust our Government, and that is sad. The problem with that is, though, I was allowed to believe things that weren't true, and I would ask questions about them and talk about them. And that is absolutely what I regret because, if it weren't for the Facebook posts and comments that I liked in 2018, I wouldn't be standing here today and you couldn't point a finger and accuse me of anything wrong, because I have lived a very good life that I am proud of, my family is proud of, my husband is proud of, my children are proud of. And that is what my district elected me for. So later in 2018, when I started finding misinformation, lies, things that were not true in these QAnon posts, I stopped believing it. And I want to tell you--and I say this to everyone--any source of information that is a mix of truth and a mix of lies is dangerous, no matter what it is saying, what party it is helping, anything, or any country it is about. It is dangerous. And these are the things that happen on the left and the right. And it is a true problem in our country. So I walked away from those things and I decided that I am going to do what I have done all my life: I am going to work hard and try to solve the problems that I am upset about. So I started getting involved in politics. You see, school shootings are absolutely real. Every child that is lost, those families mourn it. I understand how terrible it is because when I was 16 years old, in 11th grade, my school was a gun-free school zone, and one of my schoolmates brought guns to school and took our entire school hostage, and that happened right down the hall from my classroom. I know the fear that David Hogg had that day. I know the fear that these kids have. And I say this sincerely with all my heart because I love our kids, every single one of your children, all of our children: This is why I truly believe that children at school should never be left unprotected. I believe they should be just as protected as we were with 30,000 National Guardsmen. Our children are our future and they are our most precious resource. I also want to tell you that 9/11 absolutely happened. I remember that day, crying all day long, watching it on the news. And it is a tragedy for anyone to say it didn't happen. So I definitely want to tell you that I do not believe that it is fake. I also want to tell you that we have to do better. You see, big media companies can take teeny tiny pieces of words that I have said, that you have said, any of us have said, and can portray us into someone that we are not, and that is wrong. Cancel culture is a real thing. It is very real. And with big tech companies like Twitter, you can scroll through and see where someone may have retweeted porn. This is a problem. This is a terrible, terrible thing. Yet when I say that I absolutely believe with all my heart that God's creation is he created the male and female and that should not be denied, when I am censored for saying those type of things, that is wrong. You see, here's the real situation: I decided to run for Congress because I wanted to help our country. I want Americans to have our American Dream. I want to protect our freedoms. This is what I ran for Congress on. I never once said QAnon during my entire campaign. I never once said during my campaign any of the things that I am being accused of today. I never said any of these things since I have been elected for Congress. These were words of the past. These things do not represent me. They do not represent my district. They do not represent my values. Here's what I can tell you: I am beyond grateful for this opportunity. And I will tell you why. I believe in God with all my heart. I am so grateful to be humbled, to be reminded that I am a sinner and that Jesus died on the cross to forgive me for my sins. This is something that I absolutely rejoice in today to tell you all. I think it is important for all of us to remember that none of us are perfect. None of us are. None of us can even come close to earning our way into Heaven just by our acts and our works, but it is only through the grace of God. This is why I will tell you as a Member of this Congress--the 117th Congress: I am a passionate person. I am a competitor. I am a fighter. I will work with you for good things for the people of this country. But the things I will not stand for is abortion. I think it is the worst thing this country has ever committed. And if we are to say, ``In God we trust,'' how do we murder God's creation in the womb? Another thing I will say to this body is I want to work with all of you for our people. It should be America first always. Always. There is nothing wrong with that. If this Congress is to tolerate Members that condone riots that have hurt American people, attacked police officers, occupied Federal property, burned businesses and cities, yet wants to condemn me and crucify me in the public square for words that I said--and I regret--a few years ago, then I think we are in a real big problem, a very big problem. What shall we do as Americans? Shall we stay divided like this? Will we allow the media, that is just as guilty as QAnon of presenting truth and lies, to divide us? Will we allow ourselves to be addicted to hate and hating one another? I hope not, because that is not the future I want for my children and it is not the future I want for any of your children.

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the blue State bailout budget. The Democrats know they don't have the votes to pass these radical policies in the Senate, so they are doubling down on reconciliation to destroy our economy with a $2 trillion taxpayer-funded spending spree. Democrats are using reconciliation for the exact opposite purpose for which it was created. With this budget, Democrats are bailing out failing Democrat-run States like Illinois and New York, expanding the welfare state, exploding the deficit, groveling to teachers' unions and teachers who refuse to go to work, and hiking taxes on businessowners who don't comply with the higher minimum wage standard. This is just the beginning. They want to pay people more money to stay home rather than allowing them to go back to work and earn a paycheck. They are fine letting schoolchildren and parents suffer while teachers' unions ignore them and still collect taxpayer-funded paychecks. American politicians sent millions of children and young adults home, closed their schools, and banned them from going to their jobs. They forced them to stay in isolation from their peers. They canceled prom, canceled sports, and canceled graduation. They claim this was for their safety, but the results have been horrific. Suicide and depression have been on the rise. Do you think any family will feel like a consolation prize of $1,400 will make them feel good about their teen that committed suicide because of the shutdowns? I don't think so. Democrats are trying to raise the minimum wage for jobs that they won't even let people go to work in. Democrats closed their States while Georgia stayed open. Why are we supposed to bail them out? Why are my hardworking constituents being punished for wanting to go to work and support their families? Democrat Governors have run their States like tyrants of third-world countries, not like free Americans. They are oppressing the American people and reaping the benefits.

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I am against the impeachment effort by the Democrats. President Trump has held over 600 rallies in the last 4 years. None of them included assaulting police, destroying businesses, or burning down cities. Democrats have spent all this time endorsing and enabling violent riots that left billions in property damage and 47 dead across the United States. Democrats are on record supporting violence when it serves their cause, in their own words on social media, on interviews, and on the fundraising platform ActBlue. Democrats support defunding the police when it is someone else's city, someone else's home, and someone else's business. Democrats will take away everyone's guns, just as long as they have guards with guns. Democrats' impeachment of President Trump today has now set the standard that they should be removed for their support of violence against the American people.

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote the President of the United States: ``I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol Building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.'' ``Go home with love and in peace. Remember this day forever.''-- President Donald Trump. I condemn this violence. Republicans have condemned this violence. President Trump has condemned this violence. But elected Democrats over the past year have promoted violence, have supported it. They fund it on their ActBlue fundraising platform. There has been billions in damage caused over this past year, riots all over this country. Do you know how many companies have endured violence and destruction? I have 83 pages here of businesses that had property damage, were burned, through the Minnesota riots. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record an article about the Minnesota riots. [From the Star Tribune, July 31, 2020] Buildings Damaged in Minneapolis, St. Paul After Riots (By Josh Penrod, C.J. Sinner and Mary Jo Webster) Twin Cities restaurants and retail stores were hit the hardest in the rioting following George Floyd's killing In the first few days after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, rioters tore through dense stretches of Minneapolis, St. Paul and other metro communities in retaliation, causing millions in property damage to more than 1,500 locations. In their wake, vandals left a trail of smashed doors and windows, covered hundreds of boarded-up businesses with graffiti and set fire to nearly 150 buildings, with dozens burned to the ground. Pharmacies, groceries, liquor stores, tobacco shops and cell phone stores were ransacked, losing thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise. Many were looted repeatedly over consecutive nights. Other property--like gas stations, restaurants and even parked cars--was set on fire, with much of it completely destroyed. The full extent of damage to Twin Cities buildings-- including residences, churches, nonprofits and minority-owned businesses--could take weeks or months to calculate. Already on the ropes from months of lost revenue during a global pandemic, some businesses may never reopen as others are still temporarily or indefinitely closed. Buildings along a 5-mile stretch of Lake Street in Minneapolis and a 3.5-mile stretch of University Avenue in St. Paul's Midway area experienced some of the heaviest damage. While this is an incomplete list, here's a look at some of those hardest-hit areas. Heavy damage near Minneapolis police precincts For three consecutive nights starting on Wednesday, May 27, rioters pummeled blocks worth of buildings near the Minneapolis' Third and Fifth police precincts, inflicting heavy damage. On Thursday night, protesters torched and heavily vandalized the Third Precinct, and destroyed at least 20 nearby buildings, including several restaurants, an Auto Zone, Minnehaha Lake Wine & Spirits, a U.S. Post Office, a cellphone store and the building that housed Talk Town Diner, El Nuevo Rodeo and others. Midtown Corner, a multi-story affordable housing project that was still under construction, erupted into a towering inferno, burning so hot that it melted siding off a nearby house. The following night, about three miles west of the Third Precinct, protesters blanketed the area near the Fifth Precinct, heavily damaging at least seven buildings-- including a U.S. Post Office, a Wells Fargo branch, a staffing agency and a Subway in a nearby strip mall. Authorities also reported that shots had been fired at officers in the Fifth Precinct area, but there were no reports of injuries. Fires near Midtown Global Market, heavy looting in Uptown The Midtown Global Market area experienced one of the most concentrated tolls during the Floyd riots. More than a dozen businesses near E. Lake Street and Chicago Avenue were destroyed by fire, and a few dozen more reported fire damage with many being burned severely. Less than two miles to the west near Hennepin Avenue and W. Lake Street, nearly 40 businesses were broken into or heavily looted, including large retailers like H&M, Timberland, an Apple store, Kitchen Window and Urban Outfitters. Just a few blocks away near Lyndale Avenue and W. Lake Street, a cluster of nearly 30 businesses sustained property damage, including several restaurants and bars. There was almost no fire damage in this area, a stark contrast to other clusters along Lake Street. Miles of damage along University Avenue Across the river in St. Paul, the hardest-hit area was a 1- mile stretch of the Midway along University Avenue between Snelling and Lexington Avenues, although damage extended a few miles, stopping just short of the State Capitol. In all, more than 70 businesses were hit, with more than a dozen sustaining serious fire damage. Twin Cities surrounding area Rioters hit buildings well beyond Minneapolis and St. Paul, with damage reported as far north as Blaine and as far south as Apple Valley. Meanwhile, clusters of attacked storefronts sprang up in places like Richfield, North St. Paul, Maplewood, Brooklyn Center and Roseville:

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Our Vice-President-elect, Kamala Harris, posted the Minnesota Freedom Fund bail link, encouraging people to donate money to bail criminals out of jail. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record Vice-President-elect Harris' tweet about the Minnesota Freedom Fund. Kamala Harris @KamalaHarris If you're able to, chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota. 4:34 p.m. 6/1/20 Sprout Social

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, we should not be hypocrites.

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. President, I, along with 70 of my Republican colleagues, object to the counting of the electoral votes for the State of Michigan on the grounds that the error rate exceeds the FEC rate allowed at 0.0008 percent, and that the people who signed affidavits at risk of perjury, their voices have not been heard in a court of law.

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. The objection is in writing, not signed by a Senator.

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise to support the objection.

Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. I would like to point out that all the cases that have been thrown out have been thrown out on standing, not the evidence of voter fraud. I would also like to point out the same people who, for 4 years, have failed to find a shred of evidence to convict President Trump of Russian collusion are the same people trying to discredit hardworking American poll watchers who are risking perjury by signing affidavits confirming massive voter fraud in multiple States. The same fake news who took the word of Christine Blasey Ford against Justice Kavanaugh, who her own friends denied happened, also dismissed the sworn under penalty of perjury accounts from people who witnessed the election fraud. The same fact-checkers who told you that Dominion machines weren't connected to the internet and couldn't be hacked are the same people telling you that there has been no voter fraud and no violations of election law. But it has been proven that these machines are connected and that they can be hacked. We have heard repeatedly argued that objecting to these ballots is unconstitutional and violates the rights of State legislatures. They would rather us affirm fraud and pass the buck back to States rather than following the process Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson, and the Framers of the Constitution designed. When States fail to do their job, we are the last line of defense. Congress is here for this exact situation. We are here to be the fail- safe when States refuse to protect the people's votes. By objecting today, we are telling the thousands of witnesses who signed affidavits that we have their back, and we will not allow local officials who violate their own election laws to steal this election from those who lawfully voted. I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Norman).