Jim Jordan

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop) to control the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just want to read from the title of the bill. ``H.R. 350, 117th Congress, 2d Session. To authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices within the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity and require the Federal Government to take steps to prevent terrorism.'' Well, we already know what this looks like. We have already seen this happen. The Department of Justice went after parents who showed up at school board meetings to voice concerns about what was happening in their child's school. Never forget what they did. They put in place this apparatus to report, to snitch, on parents. The timeline here, I think, is so important. September 29, last fall, the leftwing political organization National School Boards Association writes a letter to the Biden administration asking exactly what this bill does. It says: Use domestic terrorism/counterterrorism measures against parents. And guess what. Five days later, the Attorney General of the United States writes a memorandum that does just that, again, what this bill would codify and put into practice. He sends out a memo to every single U.S. Attorney around the country. In that memo, he says: Set up a dedicated line for threat reporting, a snitch line on parents. And guess what happens after that. Sixteen days after that, the FBI sends out an email to agents all across the country saying: When you investigate these parents, when you are doing this, parents who reported on the snitch line the Attorney General established, put this designation, this threat tag label, on their name. All of that happened, and we know it happened, because whistleblowers came forward and told us about two dozen cases where this took place. This bill is going to codify exactly what they have been doing. That is why this bill is so harmful. One of the situations, one of the cases, a mom who showed up at a school board meeting was reported, and the person who filed the complaint said: Well, she is in the group Moms for Liberty, and she owned a firearm. Imagine that, a mom who cares about freedom and actually exercises her Second Amendment liberties. Now, what happened in Buffalo we know is as wrong as wrong can be, but this legislation wouldn't prevent the terrible crime that took place there. This bill is the same bad bill that Democrats pulled 2 weeks ago because a few of them actually had concerns about First Amendment protected activity and what this legislation could do. Again, specifically, it says it wants to create new offices to investigate folks in our armed services, in our military, and in our law enforcement for the possibility of infiltration by white nationalism. But, of course, it says nothing about threats from the left, threats like antifa. We know what happened the summer of 2020. It says nothing about that. This bill is dangerous because we have already seen the weaponization of government. We saw it in the IRS a few years ago. We have seen it in the FBI, as I just pointed out, most recently the Department of Justice working with the FBI to go after parents. This bill formalizes what we have already seen. That is why it is so dangerous. I urge a ``no'' vote on the legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we don't give cover to anything. White nationalism is wrong. We have always said so. Everyone knows that. But I tell you who does give cover, when the chairman of the Judiciary Committee says that antifa is a myth, that is giving cover. That is a statement made by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee after we had testimony from FBI Director Wray talking about the dangers of antifa, after Attorney General Barr told us that antifa was involved in instigating and participating in violent activity. Talk about giving cover. Give me a break. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz), my friend and colleague.

Mr. JORDAN. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Roy).

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman.

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. It is about to get worse as the Democrats look to--as the Biden administration looks to repeal title 42. I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. The majority leader, just a few minutes ago said--used the term ``danger to our democracy.'' Danger to our democracy. Think about this. Democrats have closed the Capitol, allowed proxy voting, kicked Republicans off committees, won't let Republicans serve on this select committee--the first time in the history of the Congress the minority leader was not allowed to put on a select committee the individuals he or she selected; first time in the history of our Nation. The Democrats are trying to end the electoral college; trying to end the filibuster; trying to pack the Court. This committee, the January 6th Committee, altered evidence and presented it to the American people as if it were true. And they accuse us of being a danger to our democracy? Mr. Gaetz was right. We have got a border that is complete chaos. We have $6 gas in California, $4 gas everywhere else in the country. We have crime at record levels in every major urban area in this Nation. And we have an inflation problem that is at a 40-year high. And this committee has more contempt resolutions for a purely political reason. I think the whole committee is pure political, designed to do one thing; keep President Trump off the ballot in 2024. The gentlewoman from Wyoming, in her opening comments, used the term, ``false message.'' False message. She used to say big lie. Now I guess it is false message. When she said it, I started jotting things down. Think about all the false messages we have got from them in the last few years. They told us the protests in the summer of 2020 were peaceful. We got a billion dollars' worth of damage around our cities that says it wasn't. They told us the dossier was real. They told us it was Republicans, Republicans who wanted to defund the police. That one is almost laughable, if it wasn't so serious for our law enforcement and for the families who live in those areas where mayors and city councils did defund the police. They told us the FBI didn't spy on the Trump campaign. We know that wasn't true. We have got inspectors general reports that tell us all kinds of things of what they did in front of the FISA Court. They said Trump colluded with Russia. We have got a Mueller report, 19 lawyers, 40 FBI agents, 30 million hard-earned American tax dollars in that report that said that false message was just that, false. They told us COVID didn't start in the lab; sure looks like it did. They told us the lab wasn't doing gain-of-function research; sure looks like it was. They told us the vaccinated can't get it. We know that is wrong. Every day there is a new announcement: Member of Congress is getting it; fully vaccinated, boosted, and everything else. They told us those who are vaccinated can't transmit it. They told us that was wrong. And you talk about the biggest false message, the biggest false message that has just been confirmed in the last week, how false it was? The Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. The Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation. October 22, 2020, 2 weeks before the election, Candidate Biden, in a debate, is asked about his son's business dealings with foreign companies. He says: ``Nothing was unethical.'' He said: My son has not made money with business interests--with companies with an interest in China. And we all know there are 4.8 million reasons why that statement was not accurate. And how do we know? Washington Post told us. Not me, not President Trump, not Republicans, The Washington Post told us last week, two stories last week, a week ago today, one at 11 a.m., one at 11:04 a.m.; two eight-page articles, 4 minutes apart, confirming what we knew, but what big media, big tech, Democrats colluded to keep from the American people just days before, just days before the most important election we have, the Presidential election, who is going to be our next Commander in Chief. The laptop was real. The eyewitness was real. The emails were real. The only thing fake was that collusion from those individuals, those entities to keep important information from we, the people, in the run- up to the most important election we have. And oh, by the way, they were joined by 51 former intel officials, joined in the collusion. You know what is also interesting? It is funny how that story has changed. Eighteen months ago, it started off, it wasn't his laptop. It quickly switched to well, it was his laptop, but it was Russian disinformation. And now it is, well, it wasn't Russian disinformation, but Joe Biden had nothing to do with it. Now it was, well, Joe knew what was going on, but he wasn't really involved in anything wrong. Ron Klain told us that, the Chief of Staff told us that Sunday. We need to be focusing on the issues that the American people want us to focus on. You want to talk about danger to our democracy and the biggest false message. I would say what happened--one of the biggest dangers to our democracy and one of the biggest false messages is what happened 18 months ago, where that story was kept from the American people. We could dig into that, find out what went on there, why that happened. And we could also focus on the record crime, record inflation, record price of gas, and the chaos on our southern border that is about to get worse.

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Record crime, record inflation, record gas prices, record number of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border. And what are Democrats doing today? Legalizing drugs; legalizing drugs and using American tax dollars to kick-start and prop up the marijuana industry. Wow. Such a deal for the American people. Every major urban area has increased crime, and Democrats are legalizing drugs and propping up the marijuana industry. Mr. Speaker, 40-year high inflation. It hasn't been this high since 1982. We have some Members not even born then. Record inflation, and Democrats are focusing on legalizing drugs and kick-starting the marijuana industry. Record gas prices, $6 gas in California; $4 gas everywhere else, and Democrats are legalizing drugs and helping the marijuana industry. And, of course, 2 million illegal immigrants crossed our southern border in the last 14 months, and Democrats are legalizing drugs and helping the cannabis industry. Oh, and by the way, we could be focused on this issue: We have a Justice Department that is treating parents as domestic terrorists, spying on moms and dads who simply show up at school board meetings. We know that is going on, putting a threat tag label on parents, this designation, this label, on moms and dads simply standing up for their kids. And Democrats are focused on legalizing drugs and helping the cannabis industry. The Democrat majority leader said, Why are we dealing with this today? You know why they are dealing with this today? Because they can't deal with the real problems facing the American people. The left won't let them. You think the left is going to let them do what needs to be done to bring down gas prices? We sat in a hearing a few months ago. One of our Democrat colleagues in that hearing--we had the CEO of the oil and gas company--he went down the line and said, Will you pledge today to decrease production? They want less oil and gas. Literally, he went down the list. I said, What do you want, $8 gas? And the truth is, they do. The left will not let the Democrats do what needs to be done to the help the inflation problem, the energy problem, the illegal immigration problem on our southern border. So what do they do? They legalize drugs. Wow. Wow. This is wrong, and everybody knows it. Let's focus on the thing that matters for--as the majority leader said--for middle-class families who are having to drive to work, pick their kids up at school, take their kids to Little League practice, spending four and five bucks a gallon to get them there and back. Let's focus on the things that matter. Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote.

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the majority leader just said that the bill is not about hair; the bill is about discrimination. I would say he is wrong on both counts because disparate treatment cannot be based on race, color, national origin. That is already the law. That is constitutional. So, he is wrong on that statement, and the bill is definitely about hair. Here is the title of the bill: Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. So, he is wrong on both counts. So, the bill is about hair. What the bill is not about is dealing with the crazy energy situation we find ourselves in today. The bill is not about opening up ANWR. The bill is not about increasing domestic production of energy so we don't have $5 gas. The bill is not about dealing with the inflation problem, the 40-year high inflation problem that this country faces, the problem that is impacting moms and dads and families across this country every single day. The bill is not about that. It is definitely about hair. It is not about that. It is not about dealing with the border situation, the 165,000 illegal encounters on the border last month alone. It is not about that. It is not about that. The majority leader was wrong when he said this bill was not about hair. That is all it is about. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop), my friend and a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Joe Biden inherited a relatively stable and calm world, and in 14 months, we have complete chaos. Think about last summer. Think about that video last summer where you had people trying to jump on the wheel of the plane as it was taking off in Afghanistan, that situation there, the debacle that was the exit from Afghanistan. Think about what is going on in Ukraine today. Here at home, in 14 months, we went from a secure border to complete chaos, over 2 million illegal immigrants coming into this country in 1 year. We went from relatively safe streets to record levels of crime in every major urban area in the country. We went from stable prices to record-high inflation, 40-year-high inflation. We went from energy independence to $5 a gallon gas and the President of the United States begging Iran and Venezuela to increase production. In 14 months, from stability to chaos. Today, what are the Democrats bringing to the floor? A bill that is titled Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act of 2022. That is what we are focused on today. How about a world where gas prices aren't $5 a gallon? How about a world where you can actually walk safely on your streets and not have record levels of crime? How about a world where inflation isn't at a 40-year high? How about a world where we are actually energy independent? Those are the issues we should be focused on. But Democrats today, Friday, March 18, 2022, with chaos all over the place, this is what they are focused on. Madam Speaker, as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee just said, we have civil rights laws that cover any kind of discrimination. It is covered. It is wrong if it happens. But this is what the Democrats are focused on. Fourteen months of chaos, and we are doing a bill on hair. I think the American people expect more from their Congress, expect more from their elected Representatives, and I hope we can actually focus on the things that matter to the American people. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just want to point out, the majority leader just 3 minutes ago said the reason the bill is on the floor today is because of the minority. That can't happen. We don't schedule the floor. The reason the bill is on the floor today is because the majority is bringing it to the floor. I would love to be able to have the power as the minority to bring legislation to the floor because if we could, I tell you what, it wouldn't be this bill. It would be a bill dealing with energy, a bill trying to bring down the price of gasoline, which is at $5 a gallon in some States. It would be a bill trying to deal with the border situation. I wish we could schedule the floor. Let's hope the American people are going to make a change this fall and put us in a position where we can schedule the floor because if we do, if we get that power, we will focus on those kinds of issues. The majority leader of the House of Representatives just said the reason the bill is on the floor today is because of the minority. That cannot happen. I wish it could, but it can't. Those are the kind of arguments we are getting. We should be focused on the issues the American people want us to focus on right now. Families across this country, all families want us to focus on certain things. But not the Democrats. They are going to focus on the hair bill. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop).

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

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

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

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would just--avoiding? It sounds to me like the Democrats are avoiding the issues the American people care about. That is our point. I am focused on what the families in the Fourth District of Ohio come to me and talk to me about. They are talking to me about $5 a gas; guarantee it. My guess it is the same in all your districts as well. They are talking to me about the border, our southern border that has been complete chaos now for 14 months. They are definitely talking to me about the price of eggs, and milk, and butter, and food at the grocery store, about everything, because we are at a 40-year high inflation. Avoidance? The people who are avoiding the issues the American people care about are on that side. And to get lectured and using that is so wrong, so out of touch with the American people. Avoiding. You have got to be kidding me. We want to focus on the issues the American people care about. That is the whole darn point. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Bishop).

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, for all the reasons we have talked about and what we should be focused on here, I would urge a ``no'' vote on the legislation and hope my colleagues will do the same. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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

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

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I would just say that I hope we do have a unanimous vote and support this good piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, the bill before us today recalls a dark period in our Nation's history. Lynching is an especially horrible act of violence. It was and is as wrong as wrong can be. Last century, lynchings were a common atrocity committed by the Ku Klux Klan against the Black community. From the 1880s to the 1960s, approximately 4,743 individuals were lynched in the United States, of whom 3,400 victims were African American. The bill before us today will make lynching a hate crime under the Federal code. There should be no doubt that our Nation condemns lynching in the strongest possible terms, which is why I was surprised that the bill reported out of committee minimized the importance of the gravity of the crime of lynching. I am pleased, however, that the majority is bringing this version to the floor rather than the text reported out of committee. The bill reported out of committee simply criminalized conspiracies to commit any type of hate crime no matter how insignificant the injury. The bill before us today criminalizes a conspiracy if death or serious bodily injury occurs. Madam Speaker, I hope we can all stand with one voice and condemn the atrocity of lynching. I urge a ``yes'' vote on this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. JORDAN

Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, what is Congress doing today? What is the people's House--under the Democrat majority--what is the House of Representatives up to today? Passing a bill to prohibit conduct that is already unlawful under the law. Discrimination based on hairstyle is already unlawful. That is what the Congress, what the House of Representatives, is going to pass today. Think about it. That is the priority today when we have gone in literally 1 year's time from a secure border to complete chaos. Two million illegal crossings in 1 year on our border. In fact, we don't really have a border. We have gone from safe streets to record crime in every major urban area in 1 year's time. They are focused on a bill to make conduct that is already unlawful, unlawful again, I guess. We went from energy independence to the spectacle of the President of the United States begging OPEC to increase production. We have gone from stable prices to a 40-year high inflation rate, and Democrats are focused on this bill. This past summer we had the debacle that was the exit from Afghanistan. As we speak, the Ukrainian people are fighting for their lives, and Democrats are passing a bill to prohibit conduct already unlawful under Federal law, a bill that says you can't discriminate based on hairstyle, which is already unlawful. We have had a year now where Democrats attack every liberty we enjoy under the First Amendment, every single one. There are still some locations in America where a full congregation cannot meet on a Sunday morning. There are some places where you still can't assemble and can't petition. The Democrats have kept the Capitol closed to the American people, their own darn Capitol. How are you supposed to come in and petition your Member to redress your grievances if you are not even allowed in your Capitol that your tax dollars pay for? Of course, we know what they have done to freedom of speech and the attacks there. Their focus today is on this bill. Madam Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote. Let's focus on the issues that I think the vast majority of the American people want us to focus on like crime, like the 40-year high inflation rate, like the border problem, and like the fact that we were an energy independent country just a few months back. Let's focus on those issues. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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