Jim Jordan

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Fitzgerald).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear. The Democrats want to go from COPS to community organizers, and they want the American taxpayer to pay for it. That is what they want to do in Democrat-run cities. Mr. Speaker, read the bill. It talks about stipends to be used for graduate education or social work. That is what the bill is for. It is not about putting cops on the street. It is about transferring wealth from the people who funded their police and communities around the country, who funded their police, and giving American tax dollars to cities who didn't fund their police so they can use it for community organizers. That is what this bill is about. That is why we are against it. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Arrington).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no idea what my distinguished colleague and chairman of the committee was referring to there, but I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing. Mr. Speaker, I would just add this: One of the phrases we heard from the Democrats over the last couple of years is ``reimagined policing.'' Well, now we know what they mean. Now we get it. They want to take money from communities who funded their police and give it to communities who didn't, so they can get past this whole defund the police that has been their mantra for the last couple years. In fact, as I said before, I am surprised by some of the statements I have heard from the chairman of the committee, because as I said, in June of 2020--and it is a direct quote--``There should be substantial cuts to the police budget. . . . `'--by Mr. Nadler. Now he has got a bill that supposedly, they are saying, funds the police, but we know it doesn't. It takes money from communities I get the privilege of representing in west central Ohio who never, never defunded their police. They made sure the men and women in blue got the resources they needed to protect their communities. And now the Democrats are saying: We want to take taxpayer dollars from those communities and set up these grant programs so we can give it to social workers. This is straight from the bill, so we can give ``a stipend to be used for graduate education in the area of mental health, public health, or social work. . . . `' That is what they want the money to be used for, not for the people who are stopping the crime that is happening in every major urban area around the country. That is why we are opposed to this legislation. I hope it goes down. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz), my friend and colleague, a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I would say, if this bill was so important-- we have had over 20 markups in the Judiciary Committee--why didn't this bill come up? We have had markups in the last 2 days on one occasion, so I don't know why this bill didn't come up. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this is about giving dollars to community organizers. This bill is most definitely--$5 billion goes to Health and Human Services, $1.5 billion goes to the Department of Labor, zero money goes to law enforcement. In the last bill, they could at least make that case somewhat. This bill you can't. It doesn't give one penny to law enforcement. In fact, the legislation explicitly says it can't go to police officers and it can't go to police departments. But what it does do is this: sets up an Office of Community Violence Intervention to administer programs or activities related to violence intervention; it sets up a Community Violence Intervention Advisory Committee; it sets up a National Community Violence Response Center. Three new bureaucracies in the Department of HHS. I mean, wow. This is all about taking money, taking American tax dollars from communities who did fund their police and setting up three new bureaucracies, $5 billion for community organizers. If that is what you are for, vote for it, but I sure ain't. I know the folks I represent and, I would guess, most Americans aren't for that. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Moore).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, for reasons we have articulated on the previous bills, we oppose this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock), my friend and colleague and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I oppose the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, S. 3103 eliminates the statute of limitations for a minor victim of a human trafficking offense or a Federal sex offense, to file a civil action to recover damages. Studies indicate that many of these crimes go unreported or victims sometimes wait years to disclose their abuse to others under current law. A victim may file a Federal civil claim up until when the victim reaches the age of 28 or up to 10 years after the discovery of the violation or injury. This legislation would allow victims of human trafficking or sex offenses to seek civil remedies regardless of when the crime took place. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this legislation extends the authorization for a special assessment for the Domestic Trafficking Victims' Fund for 19 days. The special assessment is a $5,000 fine levied against someone convicted of certain Federal trafficking and sexual abuse offenses. These offenses include human smuggling, human trafficking, and sexual abuse of minors, among others. This $5,000 fine is in addition to other restitution or compensation that offenders might be forced to pay, such as court-ordered fines, orders of restitution, and other fines related to victim compensation. Of course, an additional $5,000 fine can never adequately deter criminals from committing these heinous acts. A much more effective solution would be to make it more difficult for criminals to traffic and smuggle people across our borders in the first place. Unfortunately, House Democrats are flat-out unwilling to do anything to stop the Biden border crisis. For 21 months, we have seen how dangerous criminals have exploited our open borders to smuggle people and drugs, particularly fentanyl, into our country. The blame for the border crisis, and also our crime crisis, lies squarely at the feet of the radical left's agenda and their anti-law enforcement agenda. House Republicans are more than willing to increase penalties for human trafficking and human smuggling, but the House can and should do much more to address the catastrophic border crisis caused by President Biden's failures. Literally, in 20 months, we have gone from a secure border to no border. It would help if we actually had a border again to deal with these issues that we are discussing here today. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, fifty-three years ago this summer, Commander Neil Armstrong and his Apollo 11 crewmates achieved something once thought impossible: Successfully landing on the moon and returning safely to Earth. They succeeded despite the life-threatening dangers they faced and the countless things that could have gone wrong during their mission. I am especially honored to represent Neil Armstrong's birthplace: Wapakoneta, Ohio, which takes great pride in being the home of the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. Proposed by then-Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes and built with matching funds from area residents, the museum opened on July 20, 1972--three years to the day after the historic first moon landing. Now under the stewardship of the non-profit Armstrong Air and Space Museum Association, the museum has expanded through the last half- century to celebrate not just the career of Neil Armstrong but also the contributions of many other Ohioans to aviation and space exploration. This year's Summer Moon Festival, held from July 12 to July 17, featured several special events at the museum in celebration of its anniversary--including meet-and-greets with astronauts, new displays of artifacts from the museum's opening, and a drivable lunar rover replica. A July 20 gala at the museum was headlined by Larry Connor of Dayton, Axiom Mission 1 astronaut and founder and managing partner of The Connor Group. Madam Speaker, on behalf of the people of Ohio's Fourth Congressional District, I thank the staff and countless supporters of the Armstrong Air and Space Museum for their ongoing work to celebrate the life and lasting impact of Neil Armstrong, a man who ``took a small step but left a giant legacy.''

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, who are they going to harass? Who are these thousands of IRS bureaucrats, leftwing bureaucrats, Lois Lerners at the IRS, who are they going to harass? Middle-class families. We know who it is going to be. It is that assistant football coach at the local high school who teaches history and who has this side business. He mows lawns in the summer. He paints houses in the summer. He pays his taxes, but he is going to get harassed. We know how this works. We have seen it before. This bill raises taxes. It creates a whole new bureaucracy to go after taxpayers. Such a deal, using your tax money to come after you, the taxpayer. Such a deal for the taxpayer. My guess is they will all be working remotely. They won't have to pay the $5 to drive to work like people in our districts do. They will be working remotely, drinking their fancy coffee, going after the guy who is helping kids and has this side business in the summer. That is who this is going to come after, and we all know it. Everyone knows it. The country knows it. This is disgusting. I hope y'all vote ``no.''

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Hudson).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, for years, the Democrats told us: We are not coming for your guns. Oh, yes, they are. Let's be clear. The Second Amendment is as clear as possible. That is their beef. The Second Amendment says: The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. But they don't care. In fact, the sponsor of this legislation said so in committee. He said: ``Spare me the BS about constitutional rights.'' They don't care about that fundamental liberty law-abiding citizens in this country enjoy, and they are coming for your firearms. Six weeks ago, it was the red flag law, where someone who doesn't like you can report you to law enforcement or to a judge. There is a hearing that you can't be at, your counsel can't be present, you haven't been charged with a crime, but they can take your firearm, they can take your property, they can take away your Second Amendment liberties, and then you have to petition for a subsequent hearing to get that right back. And you have done nothing wrong and have not been charged with a crime. Then House Democrats passed the unconstitutional legislation that said 18- to 20-year-olds can't purchase a firearm. They can fight for our country, but they can't purchase a firearm. And today they are coming for your guns, 24 million of them. That is right, 24 million AR-style rifles are in the hands of law- abiding Americans today, as we speak, and those individuals will not be able to sell or transfer that property. In the Heller case, the Supreme Court made clear that the Second Amendment protects firearms in common use at the time. During the markup, Representative Bishop asked the chairman: ``Is it the point of the bill to ban weapons that are in common use in the United States today?'' And the chairman said: ``The problem is that they are in common use.'' So, yes, this is the goal. This is why it is unconstitutional. Couldn't be any clearer. Democrats don't care what the Constitution says. Fortunately, courts are correctly applying the Constitution. Last week, a Federal District Court judge in Colorado, who was appointed by President Obama, issued a temporary restraining order against the Town of Superior, Colorado, to prevent it from implementing an assault weapon ban. The judge wrote: Plaintiffs have stated that semiautomatic weapons, as well as magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, are commonly used by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes and, therefore, cannot be banned. And guess what this bill will do? It won't make communities safer. It won't make them safer at all. In fact, in the Heller case, the Supreme Court said: The Second Amendment protects firearms in common use at the time and also said ``for lawful purposes like self-defense.'' Three weeks ago, July 7, 2022, a Florida homeowner used his AR-style rifle when individuals forcibly entered his home. After the homeowner opened fire, the individuals immediately fled. When asked if the homeowner would face charges, the Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said: Absolutely not. The homeowner is protecting himself. And in Florida, you can do that. You can protect yourself. Democrats tried this ban before. It didn't work. It won't work now. You know what it will do? It will make communities, I think, less safe. What will make communities safer, though, is if Democrats stop defunding the police, stop cashless bail, and start prosecuting criminals. They are taking away firearms used for self-defense by law- abiding Americans. This bill is wrong. It will make communities, I think, less safe, and it is unconstitutional. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.