Clay Higgins

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Chair, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Chair, do I appear to be anything less than very serious? This is a serious body. I come from a humble background. I know what it is to earn a dollar or not. I rise in support of this action because it is the right thing to do. Madam Chair, I encourage my colleagues to support my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Chair, I rise to speak in favor of amendment 113 of House Rules Committee Print of H.R. 5894. Amendment 113 reduces the salary of Mr. William O'Dell, the district manager in Dallas, Texas of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. This action is in direct response to his failure to address the conflict-of-interest concern raised by my constituent, Morton Salt, demonstrating a significant lapse in supervisory responsibility and a willful neglect to perform his duty. Madam Chair, as I stated earlier, it is our obligation as sworn servants to we the people to protect the individual rights and freedoms of our citizens, and when an executive abuses his authority in our government, he must be held accountable. This obligation sometimes falls upon the shoulders of Congress and the legal and constitutional mechanism that we have devised in this body, the people's House, to hold a rogue, executive employee, bureaucrat, regulatory agent accountable for actions beyond the pale of defense. The mechanism that we have at our disposal and readily available is the power of the purse. Every effort by the Republican majority and conservatives amongst our party and our Conference, every effort to employ the Holman rule to contract the salary of an executive employee that has betrayed their oath and abused their authority, every single effort has been thwarted in this House. It is good, Madam Chair, that the people take note and that the historical record documents the votes of the Members of this body because we, too, shall be held accountable. The Founders hold us accountable every 2 years by design where a servant in this body could be quickly removed if we do not comply with the will of the people, if we do not always strive to protect the individual rights and freedoms of the people, if we do not uphold the oath that we have sworn. Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support amendment 113, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Chair, the Biden administration has been quite focused on destroying the American energy industry. This entire insane focus on allegedly protecting a species of whale in the Gulf of Mexico has been used by the Biden administration to attempt to deeply restrict oil and gas actions in the Gulf of Mexico. Whales, Mr. Chair. They wanted to stop vessels from moving at night. They wanted to stop vessels from moving over 10 knots. It is insane. Americans are struggling. Inflation is crushing us. The American energy industry should be unleashed, not oppressed. I rise in support of Representative Graves' amendment, and I urge all Members to support this amendment in support of an American energy industry that should be dominant worldwide.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment, and I thank my colleague for introducing it. Madam Chair, our history is our history, all of it. We live in an era wherein my Democrat colleagues across the aisle seem to fail to recognize the simple fact that if you are rewriting history, you are rewriting history of this body, and the American people have lost all trust in any kind of sanity coming out of my Democrat colleagues. From sea to shining sea, taking down statues. How is that working? How is that going, Madam Chair? Do we have peace in our time? Is our border okay? Is the world not on fire? Do we have more or less racial problems in America today than we did 20 years ago? It is insane, again, what my Democrat colleagues push. The confederate soldiers buried in Arlington, shall you remove their bones? Madam Chair, I support the amendment.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Chair, the EPA does not need armed agents loaded with attitude rolling up on American citizens trying to mind their own business. This is happening. It is stunning but it is happening. You have armed EPA agents rolling up on our farmers with no warrant. You have two agents emerge from an unmarked car to check the fuel in the saddlebag tanks of diesel trucks with their little strips and proceed to issue $10,000 fines. Can you imagine, Mr. Chair, your city's code enforcement being pushed by armed agents with attitudes? This is happening in our EPA. It is happening in other alphabet agencies. It is wrong, and we are going to put a stop to it one way or another. I support my friend's amendment, and I urge all colleagues to step up and push back against the weaponization of our Federal Government against the American people.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague Congressman Good, and I appreciate the words of wisdom of my colleague Ralph Norman. Mr. Speaker, let me begin with an uplifting statement. God is still on the throne, and we, his humble children, have a responsibility to be worthy of his love and grace and the anointing of what it is to be an American citizen. Every generation of Americans has risen to face the challenge and threat that our Nation has endured now 240 years. In our generation, one of the most insidious threats that we face is the degree of debt that we have allowed, in my generation, our Nation to assume. We now face a $33 trillion debt. That is $33,000 billion. Mr. Speaker, if this body were to balance the budget--which is our goal, by the way. It is why we are here tonight addressing this Chamber and the Nation that we love, standing shoulder to shoulder with each other so that our words are forever inscribed on the historical record of our country, that some stood to fight for the future of our Republic, to restore fiscal sanity to this body. Were this body to produce a balanced budget and we were to run a $1 billion surplus, Mr. Speaker, it would require 33,000 years to address a $33 trillion debt with a $1 billion surplus, and 1 billion is 1,000 million. Every American has imagined, well, what would I do if I had a million dollars? I would pay off my house, settle my debts, take care of my family, build mother-in-law a house. I would set aside some money for my children and my grandchildren. I would bring generational growth to my family if I won the lottery and had a million dollars. In this town, we throw around trillions like it is nothing. Every dollar that we spend in deficit every year is put upon our grandchildren. Is this reflective of anointed value that our Lord has bestowed upon us as American citizens? As we stand beneath the glory, Mr. Speaker, of one flag, we are ultimately one people. The challenge of this generation and this body and this majority party, this Republican Party, an honor that I wield not upon my lapel but within my heart of what it is to be a conservative constitutionalist Republican American citizen, I stand in the body that is responsible to correct course that our Nation has taken up. Mr. Speaker, it was 1980 before America had accumulated $1 trillion of debt. Since then, we have added $32 trillion of debt. It took 200 years to accumulate $1 trillion of debt, and now we have $33 trillion. It is unsustainable, so we are demanding a correction of course because our Nation is headed precipitously to a fiscal cliff beyond which we may never recover as a Nation. We love our country enough that we are willing to stand and fight for the future of our Republic. If it makes some of my colleagues uncomfortable, oh, well. If you are willing to participate in the change of spending trajectory that this generation is required to produce, then stand with us. If not, if you don't quite have the courage, at least get out of our way. If you oppose us, prepare for a fight. We love our country enough to stand in this Chamber and make some noise about the debt that we have accumulated and the deficit spending that we continue to add. Perhaps my colleague, Congressman Good, has a comment to share with the Speaker regarding the difference between our national debt and our annual deficit and how quickly we are adding to our debt at a rate that has never been seen in our history.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, our Nation can still succeed, reflective of the will of the people that we have sworn to serve. What we require in order to deliver is not an imagined, unreachable goal or an unreasonable demand. What we require of our Republican colleagues is that they embrace the core principles upon which the Republican Party has been built. Just stand upon the core principles that they claim to possess and help us save our country from bankruptcy. We have the power of the purse. May I say with respect to my colleagues in the Senate, the Founders knew what they were doing when they created a bicameral Congress. If they wanted a unicameral Congress, they would have had one. That was stated last night at our Freedom Caucus meeting, words of wisdom spoken. We are the House of Representatives. We are the voice of we, the people. We control the Nation's wealth or squander it. We have reached a point that is untenable to continue. We ask our brothers and sisters, the most conservative rank of our conference, the Freedom Caucus, all of whom we respect, we ask the Speaker, whom we elected, to stand with the conservative voice that is itself reflective of the voice of the people we have sworn to serve, let us change the trajectory of spending across our 12 appropriations bills which are filled with conservative policy that is transformative for our Nation if we can pass those bills. Let us join and stand as one and pass those bills reflective of our agreement at 2022 spending levels, and in some cases pre-COVID 2019 spending levels. None of us here, Mr. Speaker, would stand and say that the Federal Government was too small in 2019 or didn't spend enough money in 2022. All we ask is a reasonable adjustment to the trajectory of spending. This is why we are speaking to you tonight, Mr. Speaker, and we ask that our voices be heard respectfully by our colleagues. Let us save our Republic.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Norman and Congressman Good.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend votes due to an obligation in my home state of Louisiana. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 365, and YEA on Roll Call No. 366.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, my, my, my. My colleagues across the aisle say we have a short memory. We don't have a short memory. This has seemed like an eternity over the last 2 years. We had no idea, as a nation, that this much injury could be brought upon our country in this short period of time. H.R. 2 is the strongest border security package that has ever been brought to the floor in this body. Why has the majority party, the Republicans that were elected to power by the American people last year, drafted this bill over the course of the last year carefully and strategically? Because we are responding to the total collapse of our sovereignty at the southern border brought upon America by my colleagues across the aisle. If you want more of what you see on the TV today, then by all means America can support my Democratic colleagues and their policies because those are the policies that have brought this disaster upon our Nation. H.R. 2 addresses it aggressively. Our southern border is no longer a sovereign border wherein America controls the northern portion and Mexico controls the southern. It is now a theater of engagement controlled by the cartels. H.R. 2 corrects it. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand in support of H.R. 2 because it addresses aggressively the injury that our Nation suffers brought upon us by weak, disastrous policies out of the Democratic executive branch, the White House, and Democratic majority control for the last 4 years. Mr. Speaker, I urge strong support of H.R. 2.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, my electronic voting system malfunctioned and I was unable to submit my vote in a timely manner. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 112.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 22. personal explanation

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, the men and women from sea to shining sea that wear a badge have sworn an oath to the Constitution. That oath is not to a sheriff or a marshal or a chief, it is to the people of their community and deeper, the principles that have built our country. We put on our badges and uniforms, and we say good-bye to our wives not knowing if we will return. For many, many years on my way to night shift I would tell my wife I loved her, and she would hand me my little lunch. She would say: ``Come home safe.'' I would say: ``Don't worry about me, worry about the other guy.'' That was our little ritual, but the truth was we never knew if I was coming home. Right now men and women across the country are having similar conversations and wearing a badge. Just know we love you and respect you. This body supports you.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, witness then the demise of a nation once great. Witness the arrogance of thieves in suits from their wealth and comfort as they spend the American treasure of a generation yet unborn. Witness as they smile, in full knowledge that they are comfortable with taking the position that they are better managers of our Nation's decline. But witness ye, also, that the American people have had enough. We struggle, we the people. Americans from sea to shining sea cannot pay for groceries or fuel. They are cold and hungry and feel betrayed by this body. I understand that sentiment and passion because I share it.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I am so honored to speak on behalf of the people of the country that we serve, the oath that we have sworn, and bid some words of adoration and respect for our brother and friend, Louie Gohmert. I have described Louie as a living Founding Father. To those that have inquired as to whether I have known him, which from sea to shining sea, it is a common question as we travel in service to ``we the people,'' we are asked: ``Do you know this fellow? Do you know that lady?'' It is quite common to be asked: ``Do you know Louie Gohmert?'' I am honored to say yes. Louie has represented not just the people of his district, and by extension the Nation that we love and have sworn to serve, but he has represented the foundational core principles that gave birth to our Nation. In Matthew, the words of the Lord stated: ``Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.'' You, my brother Louie, should feel satisfied within your soul, good sir, because you have brought the very essence of pure principle and spirit to this great body. This Chamber shall forever resonate with your words and your love for God and country. I am honored to have worked with you, to call you brother and friend.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Long- Term Care Veterans Choice Act. The Department of Veterans Affairs has been running its medical foster homes initiative since the year 2000, and as of 2021, the Veterans Health Administration oversees about 600 medical foster home caregivers taking care of veterans in about 40 States. Medical foster homes are private homes where a caregiver provides services to a small group of individuals who are unable to live without day-to-day assistance. Currently, veterans enrolled in home-based primary care through the VA may elect to receive their care at medical foster homes. However, the VA does not cover the cost of medical foster homes for veterans that would otherwise be eligible for nursing home care through the VA. As has been noted by my colleagues, full nursing home traditional care is far more expensive than medical foster homes. Veterans must pay for medical foster homes out of their pocket or through private insurance. This bill would fix that. My bill would authorize the Secretary of the VA to enter into contracts and agreements for placement of up to 900 veterans a day in medical foster homes. These are veterans who are unable to live independently. In addition, medical foster home caregivers would be required to pass a Federal background check and undergo VA screening. They would be required to participate in annual training, and they would have to permit the VA to make announced and unannounced home visits. Finally, the VA would provide these veterans with full interdisciplinary home care that includes, physicians, nurses, rehabilitation therapists, medical healthcare providers, dietitians, and pharmacists. My bill is supported by the American Legion, the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, and the Wounded Warrior Project. In closing, I sincerely thank Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Bost for bringing this bill to the floor, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, when a natural disaster strikes across the country, be it a hurricane, a wildfire, or an earthquake, American families are displaced. It is very important that we do our best to streamline whatever assistance has been deemed appropriate in the wake of that disaster. So when we see a bill that streamlines the disaster recovery process for FEMA, that provides for a universal application for Federal disaster assistance for individuals residing in the areas hit by a natural disaster so that universal application can be used by multiple agencies, it is all beneficial. When you see a bill that streamlines the ability to provide direct assistance to individuals and households, thereby eliminating some bureaucratic obstacles, and a bill that provides more flexibility to States, I strongly encourage the support of language like that in a legislative endeavor. Whereas we may not agree with 100 percent of the language that is in a bill, it is our duty to measure the overall benefit for the citizens that we serve, and I rise in support.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Rita Jeanne Hebert Domingue of Lafayette, Louisiana, on 100 years of life. Jeanne, as she is known to loved ones, is a hardworking wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Jeanne was born in Parks, Louisiana on October 22, 1922. Her family moved to Lafayette in the late 1920s, where she attended Mount Carmel High School. After graduation, Jeanne continued her education at Southern Louisiana Institute and earned a degree in secretarial science in 1944. After graduating, Jeanne went on to work for Lafayette Power Utilities for three years until Robert Louis Domingue returned from overseas duty during World War II. She and Robert were married in 1946 and went on to have five children: Ron, Rita, Michael, Garry, and Clare. At age 45, after the birth of her youngest child, Jeanne began working as a receptionist for a urology clinic in Lafayette. She excelled, using her degree to transcribe medical records. She impressed the office with her skill and discipline, and she was even tasked with taking X-rays for the doctors. After six years, she retired to spend more time with her family. Jeanne is a devout Catholic. She has lived a life characterized by devotion to her faith, family, and friends. She is a loving wife to her late husband Robert, a caring mother to her five children, and a doting grandmother to her eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Madam Speaker, on behalf of the citizens of Louisiana's 3rd District, I honor Rita Jeanne Hebert Domingue for 100 years well lived. I wish her happiness and joy in the years to come. May God bless her and her loving friends and family.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and I thank my colleagues. I hope America is paying attention because we cannot continue to fund a government that appears to be determined to destroy our country from within. We have millions of illegal aliens crossing our southern border. We have lost all operational control, the sovereignty of our Nation at the southern border. They are asking for more money for COVID. Since March of 2020, we have spent $8 trillion just on COVID. That is $8,000 billion. You cannot convince me or any American across the country that our Nation has actually spent that money. We should have a full accounting of this money. They want more money for Ukraine. We have already sent them about $70 billion. Do you know how much Russia spends, my colleagues, every year, on their military, their entire budget? I will answer the question. It is about $70 billion. We have given to Ukraine the entire budget for Russia for their military expenditures. We have no control over this money. We are not sending them any more money, not without a fight. They want a CR passed, a continuing resolution, a short-term budget to keep the Federal Government operating until December. That is after the elections have ejected our colleagues across the aisle but before Republicans will be sworn into the majority on January 3. That is wrong on every level. It is like identifying an arsonist, banishing them from your neighborhood, and giving them gasoline and matches on the way out. We cannot allow it. We stand strongly against it, but we don't have the votes. America, there is not enough Republicans in the House of Representatives to stop this CR in the formula that the Democrats intend. We need Americans to communicate and stand strong. Align yourselves with the conservatives in the House of Representatives, like my colleagues here tonight, and help us fight the good fight to preserve our Republic. I yield back to the gentleman.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I would bring our focus on to our total national debt for a moment. As concerned American patriots, conservative constitutionalist men who love our country, we are discussing this continuing resolution, the temporary funding of the Federal Government that we stand against because of the process and the lack of appropriate regular order that reflects the failure of this body to perform regarding our budget responsibilities that were laid out clearly by our Founders. Let's talk about our $31 trillion in debt. It was 1980 in America before we had accumulated $1 trillion in debt. So in the first 200 years of our existence, America accumulated $1 trillion in debt. In the following 40 years, we have accumulated $30 trillion. We are up $31 trillion in debt. If this body were to balance the budget and run a $1 billion surplus, it would require 31,000 years to address a $31 trillion debt. Mr. Speaker, I say to my colleagues, 1 trillion is 1,000 billion. No one here, nor across the Nation that we love and serve, believes we have 31,000 years to fix this thing. We must restore fiscal sanity to this body.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. It is dangerous.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I will tell my colleague what we can agree on in the hallowed Halls of this Chamber. We can and should agree that men of principle do not intend to build the future of our Republic upon backroom deals in the dark of night in the upper Chamber of our bicameral Congress, which is exactly what happened with this bill, which is why it is now strongly opposed by my colleagues in the Republican Party. Everything we do here to advance the future of America should be based upon the core principles that gave birth to America. Perhaps my colleague could agree with me upon that.

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana

Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend tonight's vote due to a legal obligation in Louisiana. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 364. Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress Armstrong (Johnson (SD)) Barragan (Correa) Bass (Correa) Bowman (Evans) Boyle, Brendan F. (Beyer) Brown (MD) (Evans) Brown (OH) (Stevens) Carter (LA) (Jeffries) Carter (TX) (Nehls) Casten (Trone) Castro (TX) (Correa) Cawthorn (Gaetz) Cherfilus-McCormick (Evans) Cleaver (Davids (KS)) Crist (Wasserman Schultz) Curtis (Moore (UT)) Demings (Kelly (IL)) DesJarlais (Fleischmann) Deutch (Stevens) Fallon (Green (TN)) Foster (Spanberger) Frankel, Lois (Kuster) Garbarino (Valadao) Gosar (Gohmert) Gottheimer (Spanberger) Grijalva (Correa) Higgins (NY) (Cicilline) Houlahan (Spanberger) Jacobs (NY) (Keller) Johnson (TX) (Jeffries) Kahele (Correa) Khanna (Kim (NJ)) Kind (Beyer) Kirkpatrick (Pallone) LaTurner (Valadao) Lawrence (Stevens) Lawson (FL) (Evans) Leger Fernandez (Correa) Letlow (Tenney) Lieu (Beyer) Mann (Pfluger) McEachin (Jeffries) Meeks (Jeffries) Meng (Kuster) Miller (WV) (LaHood) Moore (WI) (Beyer) Moulton (Stevens) Mrvan (Jeffries) Newman (Beyer) Pascrell (Pallone) Payne (Pallone) Pingree (Kuster) Porter (Neguse) Rush (Evans) Salazar (Miller-Meeks) Schiff (Beyer) Sewell (Cicilline) Sires (Pallone) Smucker (Keller) Suozzi (Correa) Taylor (Van Duyne) Torres (NY) (Strickland) Trahan (Kuster) Veasey (Kelly (IL)) Walorski (Fischbach) Welch (Pallone) Williams (GA) (Jeffries) Wilson (FL) (Evans) Wilson (SC) (Norman) Yarmuth (Beyer)