Brandon Gill

Mr. GILL of Texas

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Mr. GILL of Texas

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and service of Army Private Isabella Gonzalez, a 19-year-old soldier from Carrollton, Texas, in the district I am proud to represent. Private Gonzalez was killed in action last Friday during an Iranian strike on American forces in Jordan where she stood in harm's way to defend this Nation and the troops beside her. She had barely begun her adult life, yet she had already given everything to protect ours. Carrollton and all of Texas grieves tonight for one of its own. We also give thanks for a young woman who chose service over safety and duty over comfort. To her family, her fellow soldiers, and all who mourn her, this Congress stands with you, and this Nation will not forget her sacrifice.

Mr. GILL of Texas

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that the party of defund the police is the party that also votes to defund Border Patrol for 70 days. It is no surprise that the party who runs a Senate candidate in Texas who wants a welcome mat on the southern border is the party that will vote to defund ICE. This is the same party that for 4 years intentionally flooded our country with millions of illegal aliens, and we hear questions like: How does this make life better for the American people? Mr. Speaker, I will tell you that deporting criminals, murderers, rapists, and thugs out of our country makes our communities safer. Deporting illegal aliens who are clogging up our schools and our hospitals, on welfare, and using our social services makes life in America better for our people. Mr. Speaker, I would ask: When will our colleagues on the other side of the aisle finally put the interests of our people, the people we represent, ahead of the interests of illegal aliens? I am waiting. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill because it is a great bill.

Mr. GILL of Texas

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8463) to establish governmentwide requirements for pre- payment fraud prevention actions, to provide the U.S. Treasury appropriate data resources, to facilitate participation in governmentwide anti-fraud data sharing, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer) such time as he may consume.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8463, the Pre-Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act. I have no further speakers. I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 8463, the Pre- Payment Fraud Prevention and Treasury Data Access Act. As Chairman Comer, the bill's sponsor, explained, this legislation enhances and expands the government's financial integrity controls by codifying agency pre-payment anti-fraud risk evaluations. This will help identify suspicious payments before they are sent out the door, stopping fraudulent or improper payments before they happen. In fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department reported that they have helped agencies and States prevent and recover over $11 billion in fraudulent and improper payments. They have done this by using existing tools such as the Do Not Pay system. However, as the chairman explained, these systems are being drastically underutilized by Federal agencies and are in need of certain reforms. We can only imagine the additional savings that H.R. 8463's reforms will help achieve by increasing the pre-payment fraud prevention activities of Federal agencies and increasing the utilization of the Do Not Pay system. I encourage my colleagues to support the bipartisan H.R. 8463 so we can protect taxpayers, ensure proper program integrity, and prevent fraud before it happens. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GILL of Texas

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6916) to amend title 41, United States Code, to identify individuals who commit certain Federal felonies implicating Federal programs as an excluded source on the System for Award Management Exclusions list, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6916, the Federal Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention Act. The Federal Government pays a substantial amount of money to contractors for services to help agencies fulfill their missions. It is a privilege, not a right, to receive a contract, grant, loan, or other form of Federal financial assistance. Unfortunately, there are individuals who take advantage of these resources and use it as an opportunity to defraud the government. This bill closes a glaring loophole by prohibiting individuals that are convicted of certain felonies, primarily defrauding the Federal Government, from receiving Federal awards. Under H.R. 6916, fraudsters will no longer be able to get rich from taxpayers' hard-earned dollars. This bill requires these individuals to be listed on the General Services Administration's System for Award Management Exclusion list, thus ensuring that Federal agencies know who these individuals are to ensure they, or any entity of which they have a controlling interest, are not awarded a contract or grant. Mr. Speaker, I thank the bill's sponsors, Congressman Keith Self and Congresswoman Emily Randall, a colleague on the House Oversight Committee, for bringing this commonsense bill to the Committee. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this necessary and bipartisan bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Self).

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6916, the Federal Program Integrity and Fraud Prevention Act. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's extensive investigations and hearings on fraud in Federal programs have made one thing clear: If fraudsters are successful, they will continue to find new ways to steal taxpayer dollars. Such egregious actions require proactive fraud mitigation to prevent fraudsters and criminals from taking advantage of loopholes in our government and continuing to enrich themselves with taxpayer dollars. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GILL of Texas

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8467) to reform the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 to ensure executive agencies focus on fraud prevention, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8467, the Zeroing Out Monetary Benefits Improperly Expended Act. This bill strengthens agency efforts to prevent improper payments that lead to financial loss to the government. Estimates made by the Government Accountability Office reveal that the Federal Government has lost $2.8 trillion to improper payments since 2003. In fiscal year 2025, Federal agencies reported $186 billion in improper payments, an increase of about $24 billion from the previous year alone. These heinous findings prove that the status quo is not working and is unacceptable. This bill replaces the current broken practice of conducting backward-looking annual improper payment estimates that remain unchanged year to year. Instead, it directs agencies to focus more closely on payments that result in financial loss to the government and cost savings associated with anti-fraud activity. This bill requires agencies to comprehensively assess fraud risk management practices in their programs, such as the implementation of the Government Accountability Office's fraud risk management framework and to develop fraud risk indicators and apply key fraud risk controls and procedures. The bill also increases much-needed regular coordination and information-sharing among government stakeholders responsible for identifying and preventing improper payments. Mr. Speaker, I thank my Oversight Committee colleague, Congressman Gary Palmer, for leading on these important and long-overdue improper payment reforms. I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer).

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 8467, the Zeroing Out Monetary Benefits Improperly Expended Act, which reforms the Payment Integrity Information Act to refocus Federal agencies on proactively identifying and preventing improper payments before they happen, rather than wasting resources on backward-looking compliance activities. Mr. Speaker, we need reforms like this bill that force agencies to focus on preventing improper payments in the first place, and this smart legislation does just that. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. GILL of Texas

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8466) to require certain agencies to develop plans for internal control in the event of an emergency or crisis, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. GILL of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8466, the Taxpayer Resources Used in Emergencies Accountability Act, or the TRUE Accountability Act. This bill takes action to ensure agencies be prepared to protect taxpayer dollars during future national emergencies when Federal agency programs and spending are often rapidly expanded by supplemental emergency spending packages advanced by Congress. Between March 2020 and March 2021, Congress enacted a series of six laws providing over $4.6 billion in Federal funds to mitigate the economic and public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unprecedented expansion of government programs and lack of commensurate and adequate fraud prevention and financial management capabilities created a perfect scenario for existing program and payment integrity weaknesses to be exploited. In short, agencies rushed to get money out the door as fast as possible and, in some cases, loosened the guardrails to make funding access easier and more efficient. While the true extent of pandemic relief fraud may never be known, the Comptroller General of the United States observes that hundreds of billions of dollars in potentially fraudulent payments were dispersed. The TRUE Accountability Act requires that agencies are prepared for future emergency supplemental spending legislation. Specifically, the bill requires the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance and for agencies to develop plans for internal controls for use in future emergencies. It is imperative that Federal agencies and programs have strong financial controls in place from the start, rather than developing them after the fact, as funding is already flowing out the door during a national emergency. This bill will help mitigate fraud in future national emergencies. Mr. Speaker, I thank my Oversight Committee colleagues Congressmen Andy Biggs and Suhas Subramanyam for championing this necessary and forward-looking legislation. I encourage my colleagues to support this important bipartisan bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 10 minutes to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs).

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 8466, the TRUE Accountability Act, which will mitigate future fraud like we have recently experienced in the pandemic-era emergency spending. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. GILL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.